#Daiya no Ace is not about friendship

[lazuliquetzal]

i want to hear the sports anime manifesto

Okay short version:

My life was a sports anime for a bit, and watching sports anime makes me nostalgic for those days.

Medium version:

The typical shonen sports anime deals with themes of camaraderie, ambition, and the intersections of camaraderie and ambition, which ALWAYS hits me right in the chest.

I'm not an ambitious person by nature, but--you know that one poem floating around on here, the one about the moth that wants nothing more than to fly into the flame, and how it would be nice to feel that kind of all consuming passion? Yeah, that's the feeling I get from sports anime.

And often, for the Team Sports anime, you'll get characters who have nothing in common except that they Love the Same Thing--a friendship/rivalry/(romance) formed on the basis of a shared interest. That's sweet as hell!

And they're super predictable and low stress for me. Very easy to watch! Total popcorn shows. Also I like listening to people infodump about their passions. Someone loved their Sport so much they wrote a whole-ass story about it, so yeah, eat that shit up.

Long version:

The Socioeconomic Inequalities of High School Sports

In high school, I was on a crappy underfunded soccer team (with a healthy dose of sexism) and due to [sports league division reasons] the schools we played against were almost exclusively private schools.

I cannot describe how existential it is to be wearing a hand-me-down formerly white-turned-disgusting-gray uniform that's at least five years old when playing against a team that gets brand new windbreakers every season.

(If you've read AAB, YES this is where my obsession with the windbreakers comes from.)

(Hilariously, the guys team got windbreakers but we didn't.)

(I am not over the fucking windbreakers.)

But anyway, when you're constantly losing to private schools you get this fucking complex about it.

This should come as no surprise but like. People with the time and resources to practice their Thing get good at their Thing.

Playing pick up soccer at the park is practice. Playing rec league soccer is organized, repeated practice.

Playing competitive club soccer is all of that, plus a coach who knows How To Coach and What The Sport Is, plus you get morale-boosting uniforms and the chance to play with and against other skilled players. So you're exposed to a lot more, and thus, you learn a lot more.

Competitive club soccer is also Expensive. Rich kids get good.

There's a reason why the "Powerhouse School" is a thing in sports anime, because it's a thing in real life. People with leisure time and money get to invest in their sports development, and everyone else gets left behind in the dust. It's basically a microcosm of capitalism.

The underdog sports story is (quite tragically) bootstraps propaganda. All you have to do is be really good and work really hard and have A LOT OF PASSION to get good at your sport! The cream rises to the top! This is a meritocracy! Let's ignore all the other factors that go into an individual's development as an athlete!

(My brother got scouted for club soccer as a kid. He actually went to tryouts and got offered a spot and a scholarship and everything, but there's SO many hidden fees after the initial registration. Uniforms, equipment, travel and accommodation, tournaments, plus like, the time sink, so we never signed him up. And equipment-wise, soccer is one of the cheapest sports you can play--just imagine the price for something like baseball or hockey.)

In sports anime, there is no reform. There is no revolution.

But sports anime isn't really about that. It's about the narratives we create when we convince ourselves that we deserve to win.

(You know what I mean. Every billionaire is convinced they're some sort of heroic underdog. The same exact kind of 'working your way up' narrative.)

Sports anime is like, the uncomplicated power fantasy of playing the game. It's a world where you are rewarded for your hard work, because it's narratively satisfying. It's a world where it's safe to want things, because you have the exact same chances as the private school kids.

I used to be an obnoxiously competitive child. Then I got all my competition beaten out of me by 3 straight years of constant losing in my clownagerie of a high school soccer team (affectionate). I am going to admit that experience made me a better person and I would not trade it for anything, but I also had to like, relearn how to want things. And maybe real life is not as equal opportunity as the world of sports anime, but I think it's good to want things.

Of course, the winner-loser dichotomy makes sense in sports because of the inherent nature of competition, but it doesn't make sense in stuff like society and economics because that's like, competing over the right to live. That's where the capitalism metaphor ends,

Does sports anime actually go into the socioeconomic inequalities of sports? No. Of course not. Giant Killing never got a season 2.

But it is something I think about when I write sports anime fic. Even if it's not the point, it influences my characterization. The ego of a prodigy character in a shitty sports program is different from the ego of a prodigy character in a rich kid sports program. I am obligated to my amateur attempts to capture the complexities of the high school sports environment in my fanfiction because I am fucking insane I had a specific high school sports experience and they do say to write what you know.

#MEG I SWEAR TO YOU I WILL READ TANGERINE AT SOME POINT #I have so many thoughts about sports anime which is tragic because sports anime is not that deep #it is never that deep #part of the reason why I got so sucked into Daiya is because of the powerhouse school setting #and the fact that Eijun was so obviously lost because he never had that kind of organized system before #people give Seidou a lot of shit for 'not helping Eijun' enough but genuinely it's because he has NO CLUE how to reach out #I poured so much brainpower into Eijun's backstory in my brain it's embarrassing as hell #*shaking fanfic authors by the shoulders* YEAH THE CUTTHROAT COMPETION SUCKS BUT YOU DONT FIX IT BY SENDING HIM TO A DIFFERENT SCHOOL #I also am the only person who understands Miyuki Kazuya (exaggeration) #everyone gives him shit for the Nabe thing and look. yes he was wrong. #but I was once in that same exact situation and responded exactly the same way #Daiya no Ace is not about friendship #it's about Ambition #and people tend to make Eijun the sweet sentimental sunshine friendship guy #but he has JUST as much cutthroat ambition as Miyuki #that's why they work. that's why they understand each other #there's a whole essay I could write about Misawa but it's basically just chapter 18 of AAB #anyway if you want to watch a sports anime that does the Healthy Ambition and the Friendship Thing in the most wholesome way possible #watch Haikyuu. it really is the perfect sports anime. #shame the fanfic is 99% ship because the sports aspect of it is SUPER sweet #asks #jumpstrike #I'm answering jumpstrike but Tav I hope you see this too #lazuli talks #sports anime

[antimonyandthyme]

baseball AU!! /eye emojis forever

thank you for the ask! <33 and also to @thechestnuthead alice too who wanted to know about wip 4!

this is the baseball martian au, there's a little sneak peak of it here.

i started this fic when i was in full daiya no ace (baseball manga) fanatic mode, when i was like oh my goodness i know what an rbi is i know what a homerun is i know what the power of friendship is (oh wait that's naruto) uh huh uh huh i can totally write a baseball fic. then @sebstagram and @sebrrari got me into real baseball and it's a little more daunting now LMAO because there are rules??? actual rules??? the boys i like don't just get to hit homeruns all the time??? no???

anyway, seb is this pitcher who doesn't just pitch with a 3x3 target board in his head when he throws, he does it 3-dimensionally (this is how you know i watch anime), he's heralded as one of the best, but it seems as if it can't get him anywhere. because. catchers can't catch his balls, they find it extremely hard to get along with him, no one forms a good battery with him. he questions every call of the catcher, he doesn't trust their judgment, only his own. their team limps through the games, and in the third year it seems as if seb might be dropped.

along comes mark who gets traded in, legendary catcher in-the-making who can't really stomach seb at first, this young hotshot who thinks he knows all there is to baseball, and maybe seb's memorized all the rulebooks and scorecards but that isn't the essence of baseball, baseball is–don't say romantic don't say it–romantic. anyway they clash and their first few games are abysmal until mark grabs seb in the locker room, says, don't think i can't catch your best. 100 mph sinker. your nastiest slider. your curveball that even trout can't hit. don't think i can't catch them, because i can. give me your best. i can take it, asshole.

something clicks and seb starts listening to mark. mark stops getting so annoyed when seb shakes his head whenever mark throws up a signal because now he gets it, that's just seb's way of working through the problem, breaking the batter down. things get to a head when a batter yells at seb and mark nearly punches the batter because that is his pitcher to yell at, nobody else gets to do it, and seb watches it all wide-eyed and maybe horrifically turned on and then he hauls mark away after the game and proceeds to kiss him senseless.

#athy texts #fanfic #rpf #baseball au #martian #ask game

[asunflowerana]

❧ mootship - daiya no ace (ace of diamond) edition ⚾

n: no one asked for this but, I'm just too in love with this anime and need to share about Daiya's men with my babies😍 also, I just love matching up my friends with hotties so pls indulge me.

@bagladyk ⇒ ❧ Takigawa Chris Yuu: baby, I have no words to describe Chris other than the most incredible, patient, kindest, amazing man that exists there. He's one of the third-year players, and he's so mature, he learned a lot from his past and that made him an admirable man. He also has a plot similar to what Teppei went through. Trust me, there's no way you won't fall for this man. I love him with my whole heart and trust that he's the perfect one for you.

@sennsational ⇒ ❧ Sanada Shunpei: haha you're both too perfect for each other. Sanada is just so amazing, he's the ace of his team and he has a humble aura of leadership, caring, and fighting for his teammates, and that's so admirable. He's also a cheeky brat, and that's what makes him even more interesting. Also, HE'S SUPER HOT, MY HEART CAN'T TAKE EVERY TIME HE APPEARS HE'S JUST SO HANDSOME.

@imaushi-ji ⇒ ❧ Kominato Ryousuke: baby Ji, I can see already your eyes getting interested in him. I don't know how to explain Kominato's personality, to be honest, he's just so unique, only those who watched him understand what I'm saying. Kinda brat? Yes. Sarcastic and helpful in his own, questionable way? True. An amazing, funny, handsome, talented third-year player? 100% And yes, he's also tiny, but I promise that didn't influence my choice for you (maybe a bit 🤭).

@arquitecturadelanada ⇒ ❧ Okumura Koushuu: baby, my choice was based on your love for Sakusa. Kou is a great character, it's nice to see him slowly opening himself to others. He's similar to Omi in personality, but what makes him admirable in my opinion, is how he cares for others: he's brave enough to face whoever he needs if that means defending his teammates. It's natural for him. Also, his introvert personality is really funny to watch hehe.

@vespersposts ⇒ ❧ Miyuki Kazuya: to be honest, I struggled to pair you up baby Ves, cause Isashiki Jun also matches so much with you. But Miyuki is Miyuki. He's fantastic, baby. Simply that. There's no way you can't have him as one of your favorites because he's just too amazing to not like. As one of the protagonists, you'll have a lot of time to enjoy him. I'm not sure he'd know how to properly how date someone (he's smart at baseball, not at women 😂), but you can bet he'll be the best, and most trustful and truthful in everything he does for you. Also, he's a cheeky brat, so expect a lot from him.

@the-chronicles-of-a-bookworm ⇒ ❧ Kuramochi Youichi: This boy. In the beginning, I thought he was just a brat, who would make jokes and be a troublemaker. Hannah, how wrong I was. This boy has such a good, pure heart. He might be a bit chaotic, but he was a mature figure in multiple situations. He cherishes his friendships, works hard, he motivates, and he supports. Seriously darling, there's no other boy that will take such good care of you, as Kuramochi will. I trust 100% that he'll cherish you like the princess you are.

@ceriphina ⇒ ❧ Kominato Haruichi: the most precious, adorable couple in the world, yes or of course?? Baby, Haru might not be the tallest or strongest, but he's so so brave, clever, and talented. He's one of my favorite batters and players, is just an epic moment to watch him play, aaaaaa a prodigy, that's what he is. And he's so humble and supportive at the same time. I love his sweet, shy personality that makes us want to kiss his cheeks. He'd be such an intense and at the same time gentle lover, caring for you in every single detail.

@sugardaddyreo ⇒ ❧ Narumiya Mei: not gonna lie baby, he's a full brat: sometimes arrogant, and too confident for my like. But girl, isn't he talented? He truly is one of the best pitchers in Japan, and a good ace for his team. He's also really funny to watch, handsome, and most of all, he's passionate. And I'm sure that, even with all of his flaws, he'd try his best to be the best partner he can be for you, and love you as hard as he can.

@officialparentofadrien ⇒ ❧ Yeung Shunshin: Also based on your love for Midorima, Sunshin is very similar to him, but also with his personal traits that make him a really nice person. It's beautiful how passionate he's about baseball, moving countries just to experience a new level of his favorite sport. That proves how he doesn't fear the new or changing his scenario if that means he'll achieve something he knows it's worth it: you, for example. And he's actually very rational, careful with his choices, and has his own way of demonstrating support for others. I think he'd take great care of you, darling.

@omiyours ⇒ ❧ Hongou Masamune: best pitcher of his age = fact. He's an unstoppable force inside the field and has such a fiery personality. He's probably the hardest character to read, and that's what makes him even more interesting. I think he'll be just as passionate as a partner. I won't lie to you baby, your journey together won't be easy; but he won't, ever, be crazy enough to do something that'll tear you both apart. You'll be his everything, and he can't live without that.

@darkchocola ⇒ ❧ Mima Souichirou: I think he's someone who'll have your attention, darling. From what I know of Mima, he's a hard-working player, and trust me when I say he doesn't take a loss for granted: whatever it takes, he'll achieve his goals and defeat his rivals. His introverted personality is also really funny to watch, and to be honest, it must feel nice to have someone so reserved as him, opening his heart fully for you, as I'm sure he would.

#{ mootships } #{ daiya no ace } #this was so fun to do it hehe #i've been planning this over a couple of weeks #i hope you guys enjoy your matches #tetsu helped me looking for it #and seiichi bickered with him 😂 #( my two s/os from daiya ) #daiya no ace #ace of diamond

[aliavarrin]

Chapters: 16/?

Fandom: ダイヤのA | Daiya no A | Ace of Diamond

Rating: Teens And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Relationships: Miyuki Kazuya/Sawamura Eijun

Characters: Sawamura Eijun, Miyuki Kazuya, Kuramochi Youichi, Kominato Haruichi, Furuya Satoru, Yuuki Tetsuya, Takigawa Chris Yuu, Kominato Ryousuke, Kawakami Norifumi, Isashiki Jun, Tanba Kouichirou, Fujiwara Takako, Kataoka Tesshin, Yoshikawa Haruno, Yui Kaoru

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Fantasy MMO-Like World, Magic, Swords, Raids, Dungeons, Japan Set in a Medieval-Fantasy World, Classes Decided By Baseball Positions, Gaming Lingo, Friendship, Didn’t plan on making this MiyuSawa, But that is where my brain is taking it, Light Miyuki Kazuya/Sawamura Eijun, WIP, Not Beta Read

"Okumura Koushuu?" Yuuki stated though his eyes remained locked onto the piece of parchment in front of him. 

"Yes."

"Class?" 

"Berserker." 

"Main role?"

"Tank." 

EIjun's eyes darted between Yuuki and Okumura as the interview progressed. Though the conversation itself wasn't very riveting. 

It just so happened that Eijun had been with Miyuki and Haruichi when Yuuki hunted Miyuki down to sit in for the interview. Out of boredom and curiosity, Eijun tagged along and no one said anything about it; maybe except for Okumura, though he hadn't vocally spoken his inquiries, instead, sent Eijun the occasional side-eye. It didn't help that Yuuki introduced himself as the captain and Miyuki as the main tank, yet here Eijun sat, currently nameless. 

They were settled in one of the smaller, unused conference rooms in Seido, with he, Yuuki, and Miyuki sitting on one side of the sole wooden table, while Okumura was on the other. Okumura was rigid in his chair, yet his eyes were narrowed into a glare; whether from anger, nerves or that was simply how his face was, Eijun couldn't be sure.

Being witness to the interview brought Eijun back to when he first arrived at Seido, which was a vastly different experience than what Okumura had to sit through. Befuddled, Eijun leaned closer to Miyuki, and with a hand shielding his mouth he whispered, "Why is this so different than when I joined?"

So far, Miyuki had been leaned back in his chair, arms folded across his chest the entire duration of the interview. Even now, his gaze was hyper-focused on Okumura, almost as if he were searching him for something. However, because of that, Miyuki didn't respond right away. In fact, he took so long that Eijun had to wonder if he even heard the question at all. Yet, just when Eijun began to debate asking again or waiting until after, Miyuki tilted his head toward Eijun, eyes still trained on Okumura, and mumbled, "You were recruited. He applied." 

Keep Reading

#ace of diamond #diamond no ace #daiya no ace #miyusawa #misawa #miyuki kazuya #sawamura eijun #fanfiction #fanfic #writing

[kalorphic]

I can't remember if I've asked you this already or someone else has if so I'm sorry. I'm looking for some anime to watch and wondered if you could reccomend me some of your faves.

Hoo boy, that’s a seriously long list 😂 (please make sure to check them all out if you have any triggers, because some of these are pretty messed up).

One Piece - all time favourite, could not recommend it enough (but be aware you’d have over 1K episodes to catch up on lol).

Fairy Tail - it’s a walking cliché of fanservice and friendship, but by god I love it (also Natsu/Lucy is my all time favourite ship).

Gintama - so weird, so crude, so funny, it’s a comedy/parody anime that may confuse and baffle at times, but a lot of the bigger arcs that follow a linear plot are so good.

Full Metal Alchemist(: Brotherhood) - I’ve watched both versions and Brotherhood was imo superior, but the 2003 version doesn’t slack, so if you’re willing I’d give them both a try (can never get enough FMA is what I’m saying).

Wolf’s Rain - my first anime and the one that led me into the rabbit hole, kind of surprising because I was like 10/11 and this shit was deep.

Bleach - okay, I have a real love/hate with Bleach but you can’t go wrong with everything up to the end of the Soul Society Arc, after that I will take no responsibility lol.

Jujutsu Kaisen - if you haven’t watched this (or read it), you need to go do that now.

Hunter x Hunter - top tier anime, it’s as popular as it is for a reason. The Chimera Ant Arc…yeahhh.

Bungou Stray Dogs - I binge watched every season without issue, kept my focus pretty much the whole time.

Blue Exorcist - many peoples gateway anime, it’s fun, it’s angsty, and it’s not a good idea to trust your favs.

Banana Fish - this fucking manga/anime…(please be warned that there are a lot of triggering scenes and topics involved).

Nanbaka - another parody/comedy anime that smacks you with the feels, seriously it’s a good one.

Akatsuki no Yona - look everyone is really pretty, I want to marry my own Hak, and Yona is a bad bitch (although don’t listen to people screaming about character development, there wasn’t actually a lot lol).

I gave up with the descriptions because I have no patience, but here’s a list to keep you busy for a while (this is more of list that I’ve watched, but I’ll bold the ones that I really enjoyed):

K Project

Kamisama Kiss

Amagi Brilliant Park

Cowboy Bebop

Naruto (could not recommend Boruto less if I tried though)

Ao Haru Ride

Charlotte anime

Moriarty the Patriot

Eighty-Six

Monogatari series

Castlevania

Black Lagoon

Dr Stone

Corpse Princess

Golden Kamuy

Beyond the Boundary

Hetalia

Under the Dog

Zank You no Terror

Shingeki no Bahamut

Durarara

Another

Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song

Akame ga Kill

Red Data Girl

Gangsta

God Eater

Corpse Party: Tortured Souls

Magi: the Labyrinth of Magic

Sk8: the Infinity

Blast of Tempest

Tokyo Ravens

Samurai Champloo

Death Parade

Assassination Classroom

Aldnoah Zero

Daiya no Ace

Kara no Kyoukai

Gakkou Gurashi

Shakugan no Shana

Nanana Buried Treasure

Vanitas no Carte

Golden Time

Jormungand

Strike the Blood

Fireforce

Blood Lad

Aoharu x Kikanjuu

Mekakucity Actors

Sailor Moon

God of Highschool

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Hamatora

Re: Zero

Kiznaiver

Deadman Wonderland

Violet Evergarden

07 - Ghost

Fukigen na Mononokean

Relife

Twin Star Exorcist

D Gray Man

Requiem for the Phantom

Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV

Neon Genesis Evangeline

Touken Ranbu

Katekyo Hitman Reborn

Laughing Under the Clouds

The Ancient Magus' Bride

Sakurako-san no Ashimoto

Baccano

Natsume Yuujinchou

Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade

Drifters

The Empire of Corpses

The Rising of the Shield Hero

Ergo Proxy

The King’s Avatar | Quan Zhi Gao Shou (I know this is a donghua but shush).

#ask #not if related #anime recs #some of these I barely remember as this is an old list #but you should be able to find some good ones in there #the bolded ones are ones that I know for certain that I liked

[apparently-artless]

Hi, art...For the animanga ask, what are your top 10 favorite moments from your fav anime or manga?

I have a lot of favorite moments on different series, so I'd probably give the top 10 that's left an impact on me and I haven't forgotten yet despite watching/reading these scenes a while back. To make it more specific, I'd be focusing on sports anime because my mind is filled with sports-themed anime right now. XD This is not in any particular order. Also, there are a lot of spoilers here, BE WARNED!! Decide for yourself first if you want to continue reading. Anime mentioned are the following: Daiya no Ace, Ao Ashi, Blue Lock, Haikyuu!!, Oofuri and YowaPeda.

Sawamura Eijun becoming Seidou's Ace

Anime/Manga: Daiya no Ace Act II

Reason: Who wouldn't? I think this is the moment that every DnA fan has been waiting for.

Aoi Ashito becoming a successful playmaker

Anime/Manga: Ao Ashi

Reason: This was the coach's intention, to begin with, when he asked Ashito to become a defender. For Ashito, playing as a forward meant a lot but he was asked to give it up and he did. He struggled and struggled and was finally able to use his strengths to the fullest. Of course, he still has a lot to learn but it's the start of him becoming a professional player. I can't remember the number of times I read this part in the manga.

Isagi and Bachira stopped depending on one another

Anime/Manga: Blue Lock

Reason: I really love Bachira and Isagi's relationship even at the start of the story and it became even better when the both of them realized that they were depending too much on each other and decided not to do it anymore. It helped both of them develop as individual players and at the same time, they developed another form of friendship and rivalry.

Furuya started calling Sawamura "Eijun"

Anime/Manga: Daiya no Ace Act II

Reason: Furuya is meant to be Sawamura's rival from the start. So when Furuya mellowed out and started expressing himself, I found their friendship and rivalry so adorable. Furuya never calls others by their first name, and when he did during the first game at the Summer Tournament, everyone was surprised. It's a very big deal because that's Furuya calling "Eijun" and Eijun himself seems not to mind.

Hinata Shouyou's "Nice Receive"

Anime/Manga: Haikyuu!!

Reason: I've watched this scene too many times. I felt like this was Hinata's moment that Bokuto was talking about. And then after that game, he just kept improving and improving during that tournament that it's so frightening and exhilarating. Can't wait for "Karasuno vs Nekom" to be animated. I'm still a bit frustrated about the ending though. XD

Arata's confession to Chihaya

Anime/Manga: Chihayafuru

Reason: Arata's confession was a surprise for me. At that time, I was only watching the anime. It felt sudden but at the same time, the timing felt right. And Arata!! He was so adorable when he confessed!! After that, Chihaya was in a daze. Totally different reaction than when Taichi confessed to her. Fufufu. ^^

Abe held Mihashi's hand

Anime/Manga: Oofuri (Ookiku Furikabutte)

Reason: This act was first done to Abe by the coach and he was advised to do the same thing to Mihashi. As soon as he did, he realized a lot of things about Mihashi and the painful past he went through back in middle school. Yes, just by holding his (pitching) hand, he realized that Mihashi is a good and hard-working pitcher. He understood what his true role is as a catcher and what he should do for his pitcher. I really love this scene, I can watch it all day. XD

Onoda tried his best to stand to meet Imaizumi after he won the second time

Anime/Manga: Yowamushi Pedal: Limit Break

Reason: I know a lot of people got tired of watching this anime after the second season. But I thought I had to continue because there might be scenes worth watching, and this happened to be one of those. The first time Onoda won the race, Imaizumi lifted Onoda like he was so weightless. lol. This time around, Onoda forced himself to stand as soon as Imaizumi arrived, and they talked while hugging each other. Imaizumi is still a bit inconsistent when it comes to calling Onoda by his first name but in this scene, he continued addressing him as "Sakamichi". By the way, while they are hugging, there are people in the background taking photos. XD

Ashito was about to give up when he was forced to play defender position but Hana managed to convince him not to

Anime/Manga: Ao Ashi

Reason: I started shipping Ashito and Hana right after this. Everyone tried looking for Ashito but it was Hana who knew where she could find him. Cooking for him, calling his mother, and telling him the words he needed to hear. Hana managed to do all of these at that moment. She truly is her number one fan and I love her for it. I love them both!! (≧◡≦) ♡

Seidou won against Ichidai

Anime/Manga: Daiya no Ace Act II

Reason: Inashiro is Seidou's rival, but I loved the Ichidai game more. Why? Because it was the very first game that Sawamura was able to show his true prowess as Seidou's ace. He was pitching against Sankou's batter and he only allowed one run. It was also phenomenal. The way they won and overtake Sankou and then won at the end. Sawamura's pitching inspired the whole team, and the team responded by scoring 2 runs against Amahisa.

#animangaask #daiya no ace #ao ashi #chihayafuru #yowamushi pedal #blue lock #haikyuu!! #oofuri #spoilers #manga spoilers

[revasserium]

Do you have any tips writing childhood friends to lovers? I'm trying to get it sweet and nostalgic but it's just ehhhh not working.

Also do you watch daiya no ace?

ohhh!! i love childhood friends to lovers :)

i guess the biggest thing is to really lean into the "childhood" part -- and i always love writing kids bc the way the look at the world is so "new", right? they're always encountering new things because their world view is literally always expanding. and love to them is such a basic, obvious thing, because (hopefully), they're born into it -- they should know love implicitly from their parents, and so when kids love something, it's a pure, almost overwhelming kind of thing --

think about when you'd love stuff as a kid -- it was your whole fucking world!!! and it's all-consuming bc you don't know any other way to a feel a thing. you only know huge happiness and huge sadness and HUGE HUGE HUGE good and bad things!!! and you don't have the words to explain it all but you feel it. and that's what i love about childhood friends bc the love is so unbiased and unabashed and so, so true.

you can write a love that's the purest form of love, without any ulterior motive or nuance.

in terms of technically writing childhood friends, i like to keep my language simple and the concepts simple. put yourself in the mind of a kid -- you only have so much vocabulary to explain the things around you, so you gotta make do. you can also get away with absolutes, like "momma said its true so it must be true" that kind of thing because to a kid, if an adult and esp a parents says something is true, then it's like... law. so you can play with concepts that way.

and then as you track the development of the childhood and the growth and the friendship, i like to focus on the complication of emotions as the characters learn to process them -- ie, when someone's 7 vs when they're 13, the way they think and feel about a thing is totally different. the feelings of a 13 year old are much more faceted and you can start to have actual conflict.

also, if you're really going for the nostalgia factor, put in repeating jokes! develop it into a theme and then use it as a recurring thing in your fic! there's no better way to show the progression of a relationship than to use literally one or two "stationary" points and show how both characters change in their relationship with "the thing". in haikyuu, for kageyama -- it's the whole "king" thing.

for childhood friends, it could be as simple as sharing icecream -- having that as idk... a way for character A to apologize to reader via offering them icecream. and then build the entire fic around that. then the icecream becomes a metaphor, it becomes something more than itself.

mmmmm let me know if you need more concrete examples, anon! :) i'm happy to try and dig through my own childhood friends to lovers fics to try and illustrate, but yeah! idk if this advice will do you any good but!!! i hope it kinda helps! :D

#writing advice #what a FANTASTIC TROPE i LOVE #🌧 raindrops

[raccoonkaz]

DAIYA SPOILERS

THIS AINT PROOF READ SO BARE W ME IDK ENGLISH 💀!!!!

Okay so like y’all know that chapter where Miyuki finally opened up to someone else and that someone was Furuya? and Eijun kind of heard their convo bout Miyuki talking bout wanting to be a pro athlete to Furuya and Eijun got jealous and insecure because they’re are the current battery?? I wanted to mentally hurt myself so IMAGINE IF ..💭

A foreigner recruiter from a famous and strong baseball team has been watching Eijun since he joined Seido and saw how strong he have gotten and wanted to recruit him ASAP before anyone else take him. The foreigner talks to Rei about their interest towards Eijun and Rei was shocked and let them meet Eijun. Then finally the two talked about the recruiter wanting to have Eijun into their team… Eijun was hesitant at first but he felt like he’s not worth the be Seido’s ace or the team doesn’t appreciate him enough so Eijun agrees…The foreigner secretly trained him for the time being (the team kinda suspicious why he’s been away, except the coach and Rei… they knew the situation but they don’t wanna tell the kids) Then Eijun suddenly left Seido without telling everyone else a goodbye and even before the 3rd years graduated. The recruiter took care of Eijun and treated him like their his child, Eijun worked extremely hard studying a new language and training hard to become the strongest ace. The recruiter told him about the 3rd year graduation is today and asked if he wants to meet them but Eijun declines.

2-3 years later everyone we know in Seido graduated and some became a pro athletes too. They missed Eijun cause they haven’t heard anything about him for 2 years. Eijun been doing hectic training abroad from the recruiter’s friend, an athlete trainer… then after years of training the trainer finally accepted him as a pro so Eijun finally qualified to be part of the foreign team. The team are optimistic bout the news and welcome him :’) they formed a strong friendship that they even invited Eijun to get a matching tattoos w the team and Eijun happily agreed. Now his bond w the team is strong cause their teamwork expanded when playing cause of how much they all trust each other. In the other hand, the Japan team wanted a strong team to go against the team Eijun is in( because duh Eijun’s team strong asf and went off every games!) (BUT WAIT! Eijun been playing w the team but remained unknown until he faces Japan baseball team😈 The boys and the coach did their best to make sure no one finds out who he is!) So the Japan team formed a strong JP team, mostly Seido alumni and maybe a few of Inashiro Industrial’s alumni?? (You can pick whoever u want to be in it idc but as long as Yoichi, Miyuki, Furuya and Haru are in it!!) So then the JP boys heard about this not knowing Eijun will go against them! and glad they all reunited again and they practice and practice and watch the opposing teams play every night. Until the game day everyone are nervous and shit. The day JP team got outta the bus shit was packed and hurried to go inside the stadium while they were going into their teams locker room they saw few players from the team they are going against. Everyone having a heavy staring contest and then left without saying a singl word. Miyuki went out the locker room to go to the restroom and then saw Eijun alone passed by then he tried to chase him down, but Eijun didn’t notice him because he’s listening to music. Miyuki was desperate to call his name out but couldn’t so he tried to reach Eijun’s forearm. But got cut off by a mans voice yelling Eijuns name. It was Eijun’s partner, a strong catcher and also ranked as the top 1 best baseball player of the year idk the unknown catcher pulled Eijun and told him to everyone’s waiting for him. Eijun happily LAUGH OUT LOUD and patted his partners back to come w him too.

Miyuki was shocked and jealous of their closeness, when the other catcher smirked at him and purposely wrapped his arm around Eijun’s shoulders to make fun of Miyuki😳 MIYUKI GOT HEATED AND CLENCHED HIS HANDS. Then during the game everyone wilding and shit after Eijun finally introduced himself to the crowd. The JP team was shocked. Blah blah blah they saw how strong Eijun have become and the JP team’s points wasn’t even that close compared to the foreign team……

Eijun’s team won, JP team lost. Now they’re depressed, JP team audiences are devastated. Furuya played as the Ace for Japan’s baseball team, he couldnt moved due to shock of their performance. Eijun was staring at them w no sight of sadness but a competitive aggressive expression. He then turned around without saying a single word and happily celebrated w his team. WAIT WHY NOT LETS SPICE THINGS UP?! coach Kataoka and Rei was watching the game and was also shocked of how much Eijun grew. The coach felt something that is definitely not joy… he felt like he should have paid attention to all of his students because he understood Eijun’s actions. After the game and interview the foreign team wanted to go out to eat and explore Japan while they can. Eijun was the last one at the locker room and when he got out he saw his former classmates and teammates. He just stared at them for a good 1 minute then softly said “Good game.” He turned around and left. Miyuki and mochi shouted his name wanting an explanation. Those two words Eijun said were the first words he ever said since Sawamura and Miyuki locked their eyes… Eijun didn’t bother looking at them and continued walking down the hallway away from them creating a bigger gap than they already have… a gap that Miyuki is unable to reach.

Pls dont laugh 😭I’m embarrassed to share this but let me know if I made a mistake !

Btw don’t copy my SHIT OR ELSE ITS ON SIGHT!!☹️😠 I might post this on Wattpad and AO3!!

#ace of diamond #ace of diamond x reader #chris takigawa yuu #daiya #daiya spoilers #diamond no ace #diamond no ace x reader #eijun x miyuki #furuya satoru #kominato haruichi #miyuki kazuya x reader #kuramochi youichi #kuramochi x reader #kominato ryousuke #narumiya mei #sanada shunpei #ace of diamond imagines #ace of diamond headcanons #sawamura eijun #misawa #daiya edit #jun isashiki

[linarants]

DAIYA NO ACE 259

Okay so. First of all, i am getting tired of the "miyuki shouldn't have said all this to furuya" "he should've went to eijun instead" OH MY GOD STOP. Liking or not, miyuki and furuya have been friends and a sucessful battery ever since furuya came. They bond well, they understand each other, and so what?? This does not mean that miyuki and eijun aren't friends.

All daiya friendships are built in its own unique way, and that's what makes the caracters and their relationships so interesting for me. Miyuki and Furuya's friendship is different from the misawa friendship and thats FINE. it's not a problem, and it's actually pretty natural. Miyuki has the right to talk and to share things with other friends. It shouldn't be this much of a problem. Miyuki has stated numerous times that he does value eijun, both as a pitcher and a friend. Don't go throwing it all away bc of some discussion between them.

Allow me to remind you guys of some moments

The team and kataoka DID discredit eijun, but he bloomed into this fantastic pitcher and reliable senpai, he just need that confidence back, that got lost from being overlooked in his first year. Although he is confident on the mound, off of it te questions if the team sees their true ace in him. And you know what? This is not a Furuya problem. In all seriousness, furuya stood by eijuns side multiple times, this boy have been nothing but a good and respectful friend and rival. Don't go blaming him for pursuing his own dream. And also don't blame him for being friends with miyuki, he was always so closed and emotionally unavailable that i see such relief in him for finally being able to trust his own team. Don't try to take this away from this boy. Liking him or not, he is not at fault for this.

Last but not least: the reason behind the misawa fight isn't even 100% who miyuki is talking to. Sawamura himself talked about not having as many games left with his partner as he thought. He's upset about this sudden realization too, and kinda panicked. Eijun does not deal with deep feelings really well and often goes overboard with it. Am i bashing him for It? No. It's merely a personality trait and is completely okay too. They are young boys, they will fight. It's a part of their development and it's NORMAL. We are getting too deep with something that is not even anyones fault.

Anyways, i REALLY got too deep here lol, but i've been kinda holding all of this since three chapters ago, and it was the time to let it out. I hope you guys somehow enjoyed the read and that i could make my point in a simple and clear way :) Hope to see them all okay again soon.

#daiya no ace #misawa #miyuki kazuya #sawamura eijun #furuya satoru #rant #my rants #daiya 259

[jangpoo]

I’ve been meaning to post on here in forever but like I just have had so much going on. But I’m starting to get into Daiya and anime again, so I want to talk about it.

It’s glaring to me that some people haven’t actually watched or played baseball before. And if they have, maybe there isn’t a great understanding of the nuances. And this isn’t me gate keeping or saying I’m better than anyone, but simply an observation based on what people say. But anyway I just want to talk about it.

Terajima does an EXTREMELY excellent job of portraying the sport. The issue I find with baseball is that it’s really fucking boring at times. There are so many times you watch a game and think, nothing is happening (and this can be true of any sport but I especially see it with baseball). However, I believe that many times, if you actually understand the sport or have experienced it before, you find a lot of the nuances come off the panel even better in this story.

I have seen so many people, especially on Reddit and Twitter talk about how this current game is going to be another “come from behind win” and “a cookie cutter version of what terajima always does.” My issue with this is how people are not talking about why this arc is by far the best representation of what baseball looks like and feels like at times and why people consider pitching duels to be the most exciting display of the sport. Sawamura has had this game coming for the past 10 years. All of this build up was for this moment.

From a writing standpoint and story standpoint, I understand it’s fucking FRUSTRATING to see how many times Sawamura has come into a game and done poorly or been given a handicap. Even his first game as an ace was so incredibly frustrating to read. You want him to win. You want him to succeed. Especially after seeing everything he has gone through. I’m tired of watching him come into a game, doing spectacularly but wondering, what would he have been like if he didn’t have the yips. Or what if he could actually hit? Or what if he was given the same opportunities as other players? There has been so much disappointment. So people wanted him to become the ace and suddenly have this outstanding game where he is dominant and amazing and just having an out of body experience. But the truth is, you don’t just get that. You don’t just start a game as an ace and have it go your way. And I hate that shit so much. But it’s the nuances. It’s the small things that makes Daiya so special and realistic.

The reason this whole arc has been so incredible is because we see an accumulation of EVERYONE buying into ace-Jun. First, before this game even begins, we see Miyuki FURIOUS that he couldn’t get Sawamura relaxed enough for the game. He’s angry that Sawamura feels strained enough to put the team on his back and overpitch. And he couldn’t get him out of it. He couldn’t help him the way he is supposed to as a catcher. We see Kuramochi understand that when Miyuki is gone, HE needs to step up. He needs to be the one that coach can rely on to help the team grow and thrive. He wants to be trusted to the team completely. And in this game, we FINALLY see the team get angry and frustrated at not backing Sawamura up. I mean, despite how they act, they never outwardly do that. They believe in him. They’re impressed with him time after time. But they never really back him up the same way we saw them do with Tanba and Furuya. It’s always like he provides some miracle, hypes up the team, but then is the butt of the jokes again. They quietly support him and work with him outside of games. But for the first time in this game, we get them buying in. We get them trusting him and working for him. Getting frustrated for him. And I believe Kanemaru’s “anticlimactic” at bat is the absolute most obvious display of that.

Some people call it anticlimactic but they just don’t get the point. I need us to think back to the very beginning of the story. Kanemaru absolutely could not stand Sawamura. He always said that all he did was talk and had nothing to show for it. But slowly and surely, Sawamura showed Kanemaru that he was dependable. He could be amazing. And little by little Kanemaru showed him more respect. Helped him with bullpen sessions. Helped him study. Cheered him on. He even, at one point, would become so distressed for Sawamura he’d make an error and feel terrible for it. Yet each time, Sawamura proved to him, it’s okay. I’m going to work my ass off. my hard work, your hard work, it won’t be for nothing. It will mean something. And so, in this moment, Sawamura is pulling this team by himself. That’s all he can do. The other pitcher is JUST as amazing. He’s just as talented and hard working. He can do what Sawamura does. And so the team fails time and time again. And like, let’s not pretend we’re the most frustrated in that situation. The team is livid. They can hit here and there but can’t connect. Can’t string together hits to score (which is how most pitchers duels go and is super realistic). And at the peak of this, when the captain cannot hit, Kanemaru comes up to bat with vengeance. He comes up to hit the shit out of the ball, no hesitation in his mind. He wants to kill it. But the part that borderline makes me want to sob, is that it’s not for himself. He wants to do it for Seido and he wants to do it for Sawamura. He wants him to know “I have your fucking back. I am going to hit the shit out of the ball. I’m going to score a run for our ace so it can put less pressure on him.” And that’s the mindset you want as a player. That’s what a good team does. And despite hitting a ground ball and getting out, it’s that effort. It’s the will of running as hard as you can down the line. Because yeah he got out, but who fucking noticed? Sawamura. He saw how hard he tried. He saw how hard he ran down the line. So yes, he didn’t score a run, but he did everything he could. And sometimes that’s good enough. Sometimes that’s what a pitcher really wants to see. So ofc Sawamura says “That hyped me up.” It was not failure. The feelings, the will and that connection came through. And Kanemaru understands immediately and says then let’s fucking go, let’s go out there stop them and hit again. It’s such a small moment and seemingly there to keep the score tied in the story, but the meaning there is absolutely what matters. Because yes, Sawamura is the only one in that moment that can turn the disappointment around, but what it also means is that Sawamura still believes. He tells wolf-boi, “I’m not worried. I believe in the hitters. We won’t go down without a fight” and he’s right. Because he can still believe the team hasn’t quit. Because someone like that, who wanted nothing to do with him at one point in time is working incredibly hard for him.

And it isn’t just there. We see it with Nori. He’s injured and we know how hard he’s worked to be starting games. We’ve seen his hardships and now he’s injured. But he believes. He trusts Sawamura. The team trusts Sawamura. They’re frustrated for him. They’re frustrated on his behalf. He’s bought in. And that is the beauty of a pitchers duel.

To be honest I’m flashy. I like high scoring games. But a show of true competition is always present in a pitchers duel. It’s 2 guys going head to head and the one that breaks first loses. It’s exciting and stressful. And I believe that many people are feeling that in this arc. And that’s why so many people are pissed, thinking this is just another show of the same shit. When Seido get past this, they’re going to Mei. It’s gonna be the same shit. We have progressed past a point where inconsistencies no longer are acceptable. You have to be on or you lose. The other team is just as good as you. And despite how well we want Sawamura to do, we also have to accept that he won’t always be unhittable. He will revert back to bad habits at times. But the Sawamura we’re getting this game? Absolute fucking monster level shit. (And our lord and savior Chris senpai is there to watch)

There are so many amazing moments that show how well Terajima understands baseball and truly loves it. From kids purposely throwing their futures away to finish out the season despite injuries, to having kids having long crises where they have to be demoted to lower strings to get out of the funk and the loneliness that goes with it, to kids fighting about the team and prioritizing winning over friendship. The frustration of the yips, losing games you were supposed to win, feeling like it’s your last chance to win before you graduate and never play again, having to move on with life. It’s all so well done and that’s why I’ll always love this manga. I love Haikyuus story other sports mangas and characterizations but Daiya will always hit different for me.

But anyway, that’s my dumbass ramblings that probably don’t translate well into written form. If you made it this far, why? Lol

#daiya no ace #dna act ii #dna spoilers #sawamura eijun #ace of diamond

[shinsousbedroom]

Stars and their Distance

Daiya no Ace misawa FWB AU, 1/10 chapters

Miyuki Kazuya, a depressed, workaholic catcher in the NPB, and Sawamura Eijun, a frustrated influencer who just got dumped, are both looking for temporary distraction. The casual, no-strings-attached friends with benefits thing they stumble into is exactly that.

Well, it would be if either of them knew how to do casual.

[Read on AO3.]

Chapter 1: Spinning

Excerpt from “Ace of Hearts: a blog about when love comes outta left field!; Q&A: Bad Break-Up Blues”

“[…] Think of relationships like this. You’re a pitcher on the mound and there’s a line up of batters waiting to knock your ball outta the park. These are your dating prospects. When you’ve gotten hurt pitching before—tore a tendon, drilled the batter, balked, whatever it was—you might not wanna pitch again, right? But the only surefire way to lose the game is to not throw the ball at all. 

“You might be thinking, ‘But Eijun, if the batter hits a home run off your pitch, aren’t you losing the game?’ Well, if you think the point of the game is to win, sure. But to me, the point of baseball isn’t victory. It’s playing the best game you can with the best players you can. The same can be said for love. Some batters will foul out early, and some runners will never make it all the way home. But when you make that connection, when that bat slams the ball out of the park and the whole field feels the electric rush of a phenomenal play that you helped make—isn’t that a beautiful moment to chase after? Isn’t that feeling worth the risk that comes with love?

“So no matter how unlikely a batter steps up to your plate—and there will be batters you didn’t anticipate—throw the pitch! I promise, every strikeout and home run just makes you a better pitcher and brings you a step closer to a beautiful game. […]”

***

“Did you have to move right after the end of the season?” Kuramochi wiped off the sweat from his face with the bottom of his blue shirt. The whole thing was already drenched dark, consistently doused with water the whole day through as Kuramochi drained bottles over his head to beat back the unseasonably hot September day. “Take a fucking break first, Miyuki.”

Kazuya spat out a handful of screws. The bitter, metallic aftertaste clung to his mouth. “Why delay?” he said, tossing the instruction manual for his shelf to the side in frustration. It skittered across the hardwood floor and into Chris’ calf. 

Chris plucked the booklet up and thumbed through the pages of mildly helpful pictograms, eyeing them warily against Kazuya’s clear lack of progress. “Yeah, Miyuki. Why delay?”

Kazuya shot Chris a sour look and flopped back onto the ground with a groan, defeated. “Not like we’re busy during postseason this year.” 

They sighed in unison, united in the bitterness of loss. 

At least Chris’ team had been only one out from the Climax Series. The Swallows hadn’t come close, and even though it was expected from a rebuild year, the loss still rankled. Small mercies, though: Kazuya could rub in the fact that the Swallows hadn’t been last place in their league unlike the Mariners. 

Suck it, Kuramochi. He’d take his victories where he could.

Kazuya stuck his hand into the air, spreading his fingers wide as the overhead lights filtered between them. “Anyway. Moving is work, and you all banned me from working for the next four months. So really, I’m being responsible here.” His hand flopped down next to him with a hard thunk. 

Kuramochi trudged over, heavy steps echoing through the empty apartment, until his head popped into Kazuya’s vision, arms crossed and scowl fierce. “If you wanna try to fight this again, just give me a fucking reason to pin you into a headlock until you’re crying for mercy.”

Kazuya grabbed at his ankle, rolling onto his stomach for a second swipe as Kuramochi danced out of reach. 

“You can’t pull a fast one on the cheet—AH!” 

His ankles caught the edge of the shelf boards, knocking Kuramochi onto his ass. The wooden slats scraped across each other as they slid out of their neat stacks, thumping and scratching the floor until they were criss-crossed between Kazuya cackling into the floor on his stomach and Kuramochi, shocked and sprawled across the debris.

“Fucking build your furniture, Miyuki!” He cradled his foot in his hands, holding it up to inspect as he twisted it every which way. “We’re not doing the same thing as last time, when it took you a full year to finally put all your shit together.”

The weight of apathy slid back into Kazuya’s limbs, edging out the laughter that had given him a moment of relief. “What if I just didn’t?”

“Is that what you want?” Chris replied evenly.

He lolled his head towards Chris. Despite the heat, Chris had spent all day in a black turtleneck, never once hinting he was even mildly uncomfortable even at the peak of the day’s heat, lugging in heavy boxes from the sun-warmed streets. Now sitting on the floor among bubble wrap and crumpled paper, legs kicked out in front of him and waves of brown bangs framing his face, he still looked as wholly put together as ever. 

Even when Kazuya knew beyond a doubt Chris was the epitome of keeping a stone face even when he was going through the worst of it, he still couldn’t help but be jealous. 

Kazuya went back to staring at the unfamiliar gray tiles on his new ceiling. “It would be pretty funny to leave my apartment unfurnished to spite Kuramochi.”

“Finish the shelf.” Chris tossed the manual back. 

“Kominato’s the one who left the task half-done,” Kazuya said, closing his eyes, overwhelmed in a sudden wash of fury and helplessness. 

He opened his eyes to see Kuramochi and Chris hovering above him again. Both their brows were furrowed, Kuramochi’s fist clenched at his collar, Chris frowning mildly. 

“I’m fine,” Kazuya said brusquely.

They glanced at each other, then back at Kazuya. 

He sat up, forcing the other two to reel back to avoid knocking their heads together. “I’m 27, not 7,” he said, testily. “I don’t need to be put under a watch, I’m a grown ass adult.”

“We aren’t gonna—we can’t sit to the side and watch you nearly kill yourself from overwork again this off-season.” 

“Don’t exaggerate—“

“You said you had it together last year, but you didn’t. So you’re getting strict rules this year,” Kuramochi tugged at his hair, a frustrated sneer on his face. “The Swallows and your agent both know not to let you pile on more than your bare minimum until preseason. And the rest of us are going to check on you regularly because we care about your health, even when you don’t. Got it?”

“It’s not overwork,” he said, falling into the same argument that had been chipping away at him for a year now. 

“Then what is it?”

The only coping mechanism that works. The only way I can pretend to feel anything off the diamond. The only thing that makes me tired enough to sleep at night without baseball 24/7.

He settled on: “It’s just work. Making a living, some might say.”

“Hard to do that when you’re stuck in a hospital bed.”

“That won’t happen again. I was just stressed and tired and a bad day caught me off guard.”

“Yeah, it won’t again because we’re gonna help make sure the off-season doesn’t wreck you again after a long history of hiding your fucking problems until they explode.”

“At least you can’t take conditioning away from me.”

“Follow the plan your trainers set for you.” Chris’ voice cut into Kazuya’s stubbornness. “Please don’t joke about this with me.”

After a moment, Kazuya nodded his head, brusque.

Kuramochi rubbed the back of his neck, trying to break the awkward air that had sprung up between them. “Isn’t exercise supposed to help depressed people? Boost your serotonin up or some shit like that?”

“Just my luck it doesn’t,” Kazuya muttered. He cleared his throat. “Can we go back to harassing me about how bad I am at unpacking?”

“We wouldn’t harass you if you just did it.” Kuramochi stood back up and kicked at a box as he went back to sweeping the floors. “Unpack before the season starts up again. You have nearly five months. If you’re feeling feisty, try decorating your apartment, too.”

“My entire personality is baseball. I don’t care about interior design. Or anything else, for that matter.”

“You used to. Pick up your old hobbies. Bring out that telescope you had at back at Waseda. Read a memoir. All the shit you can’t do during the season, drag ‘em out into the open again.”

The wrong answer, he knew, was to reiterate that he didn’t care about any of that anymore. Seriously. “You two are busy-bodies.”

Chris handed him the power drill then returned to the pile of securely wrapped glass kitchenware. “It’s called friendship,” he said, bubble wrap crinkling.

“This is ridiculous.”

“Just try, Miyuki. Please.”

“Sure,” he said, flippantly, knowing the lie didn’t pass unnoticed from the sag in Kuramochi’s shoulders. He thumbed through the instructions, pushing aside the guilt welling into his throat. Kazuya needed this conversation to be over. “Chris-senpai, where’d you put the drill bits?”

***

“Hjnhbgfgvbhnjmknjbhgvfdbghnjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj” wasn’t the most eloquent start to Eijun’s next blog post. Of course, Eijun normally didn’t start his articles by rolling his face across the keyboard in frustration, but considering how little he’d written in the past week, this was as good a draft as any.

Eijun’s eyes flung open as the laptop shifted from under his face, tipping his head off to thunk into the table. He rubbed at his forehead, and blinked up to find Harucchi tapping delicately at the keyboard while the other hand balanced the device in the air. “Eijun-kun,” said Harucchi, peering from around the screen, “not your finest work.”

Eijun sat up and scowled, the lines of his face scrunching against the keyboard indents on his skin. “What would you know about it?” 

“I’ve been editing your posts for years,” Harucchi said. He settled the laptop in front of Eijun, then settled into the chair across from him. “If you’d like me to stop now, I can happily use that time in other ways.”

The dishes rattled when Eijun slammed his palm onto the table. “You’re not allowed to ditch me like that!” 

Harucchi raised his eyebrows. “Says the man who’s been avoiding me.”

A double blow of panic and then confusion struck him. He frowned and swiveled his head around. Snaking line at the counter, coffee scenting the air, a low hum of incomprehensible chatter: this was definitely the coffee shop he’d just discovered this morning and came to by himself and didn’t tell Harucchi about. “How’d you find me?”

“You should stop posting your location on Instagram if you don’t want to be found,” he offered with a gentle smile.

“You don’t live anywhere near here.”

“A teammate just moved to the neighborhood. It was pure luck I happened to be there while you happened to be here.” He ran his fingers against the edge of a plate by Eijun’s elbow, empty of all but crumbs. “It’s a cute shop. New haunt for you?” he asked, a touch too casual.

Eijun averted his eyes, lips pinching. He knew what Harucchi was really asking. “I’m fine.”

“I didn’t ask that.”

“I’m doing fine,” Eijun insisted. “Really.”

“I’m glad you stopped feeling obligated to go to the other cafe.” His voice was barely loud enough to reach Eijun, covered by the clatter and call of employees, and a particularly rowdy group of seven students packed at a four person table next to his little corner.

“The old place got too many baristas who sucked,” Eijun lied. As if Harucchi didn’t already know that he’d only just shoved his pride aside enough to accept he’d lost his favorite coffee shop to the break-up. “Had to find a new one.”

Harucchi pried open the plastic lid to his coffee, blowing at the steam rising from the cup. He drew in a long, slow slip of his drink. “Maybe a fresh start here means a fresh start with the blog. Talk about grinding new beans, or something…?” Eijun blanched, well aware that Harucchi’s innocent reputation was a front. 

“If you think I am going to subject my loyal followers to love advice using bean grinding as the topic—”

“You’ll have to excuse me if you had an idea in mind already. I’d thought from the keysmashing that you hadn’t.” Eijun aimed a kick at his shin under the table. Without looking, Harucchi crossed his legs, as if he’d planned on it for that exact moment all along instead of the attempt to dodge Eijun’s ire that it really was. “Is there a reason you can’t find an appropriate topic for your next post?”

Eijun cheeks puffed out, determined for two whole seconds not to tell Harucchi the truth, before blurting out, “I promised Wakana we’d wait a few months before officially announcing we broke up.” And yep—there it was, that classic Kominato passively skeptical look that circled past nonjudgmental so thoroughly that it ended up aggressively intimidating. The one that meant Harucchi was seconds away from bulldozing through all the nonsense he was seeing ahead of him. Eijun lived in terror of it. “She wanted to give us a chance to recuperate in private first,” he muttered, defensive. 

“Eijun-kun.”

“I know, I know! A smart idea for people like Wakana, but I don’t…like wallowing like this. I can’t keep sitting here thinking about how much she doesn’t want me, and it’s all I want to write about. But I can’t post any of it. It’s been nearly two months, and I haven’t moved on. I’ve just gotten madder.”

“You two didn’t consider posting a small announcement saying you were over but you needed time? Space?”

“I couldn’t ask her.” Eijun subsided, spinning his teacup in its saucer with a single finger hooked through its tiny handle. “I owe her, Harucchi. The only reason I started lifestyle and romance blogging was because Wakana got me into it. I made my start on her profiles with her followers. Talking about her now? Why we broke up? Even if I want to, it sounds like betraying her. I don’t want anyone thinking I’m trying to talk shit about her, when we’re both in the same influencer circles.”

Harucchi tilted his head, and when Eijun didn't continue on after several seconds, he prompted, “There’s more.”

So much for the dumb jock stereotype.

“If I write it, then I feel like I’m giving up on her. On us ever being something together, again.” He crossed his arms onto the table, elbows shoving the dishes and laptop uncomfortably close to the edge of the small table, and laid his head on his forearms. He closed his eyes, and said quietly into his chest, “I still love her, Harucchi.”

“I know, Eijun-kun.” A warm hand squeezed his elbow. Between their silence, the monstrous table of college students packed up and left, and suddenly the shop settled into a calm Eijun needed. 

He poked his head up from the comfort of his arms to stare at Harucchi. He was steadily sipping his coffee, one hand resting on Eijun’s elbow. His pink hair had pulled out of the bun at his nape and fell into windswept wisps framing his face and neck. He’d long since stopped wearing Ryou-san’s hand-me-downs in favor of softer, luxe sweaters and slacks, the only true expense he indulged in despite his lucrative status as a rising star for the Swallows.

Altogether, he looked gentle, dangerously so. On the diamond or off, it was easy to be lulled into a sense of security right before he whacked an unpleasant truth out of the park. 

Harucchi pulled his hand back and apologized with a glance. Eijun wasn’t sure why…until he started speaking. “You make a living off of posting about your life—and romance, in particular. You’ve never hidden your past relationship troubles from your followers, however difficult it was to express. It’s part of your brand at this point.”

Eijun’s mouth twisted as he sat up. “Wakana isn’t a branding tool.”

“No one is saying that,” Harucchi said patiently. “What I am saying: you underestimate how much of your own work goes into your success. Aotsuki was certainly helpful—but your personality and your words are why people stay. People trust you.

“You’re good at what you do, Eijun-kun. You’re honest and kind in your observations, to yourself, to your partners, to strangers, despite how difficult and personal love is. When the time comes, whatever you post about Aotsuki will be the same.” Harucchi shrugged. “Also, I’ll edit out anything that makes you sound insensitive.”

Eijun let out a heavy sigh, stretching his arms into the air and shaking off the melancholy. “Thanks for not letting me fall on my own sword.”

“What are friends for?”

For all that he felt better, though, Eijun was still stuck staring at a blinking cursor at the end of a line of drivel. “That still doesn’t solve my problem. I don’t have a clue what to post next. The schedule I followed is trash now without personal updates of me and Wakana. I haven’t been able to binge any of the manga or shows I wanted to review, either. All I got left is the advice column, but if I keep that up with nothing else, I might as well change the blog name to Dear Eijun instead of Ace of Hearts.”

Harucchi stared at him, calculating out something as he took in Sawamura’s restlessness. “You don’t have to keep writing about romance.”

“That’s what I started the blog for.”

“But that’s not why you started writing and recording back at Seidou. You’ve had success with your baseball analysis and tutorials on YouTube and Instagram. You could even say you’ve been neglecting them to chase after romance.”

Eijun groaned, loud and theatrical enough to make the meek businessman behind him jump in shock. “Maybe if I got as much engagement talking about how stupid the idea of celebrity athletes are when it’s a team sport—”

“See?” he cut in, tilting his cup toward Eijun. “You already have a topic to post about.”

“Baseball is my hobby, not my job,” he said mulishly, jaw jutting out. “My dad wrecked his love of music that way! I’m not gonna risk hating baseball after he spent my whole life yelling at me not to ‘monetize my interests’ while holding me in a headlock. That’s asking for the biggest lecture of my life!”

“You can always stop if it’s not the direction you want to go. You’re not getting married to the idea.”

“Don’t bring up marriage, I just got dumped!”

Harucchi pressed his lips together in a thin line. “Fine, don’t think of it as a marriage,” he said. From Harucchi, the sliver of impatience he let free was the equivalent of hauling Eijun by the collar and shaking him down. “Flirt with baseball. Go on a few dates. Get a benefit or two out of it. Does the metaphor suffice now?”

Eijun gasped. “Harucchi! You’re too innocent for that sort of talk!”

“My brother is Kominato Ryousuke, and my best friend writes a blog about romance and sex that I edit,” he said, even as his quiet voice went squeaky and his face mottled bright red from embarrassment. 

“Maybe I should change my blog to save you the embarrassment.”

“I also admit I have a request of you,” Harucchi said sheepishly, pressing a hand to his cheek. “The Swallows want me to get more heavily involved in PR this offseason, and I could use your help figuring out what I’d actually like to do instead of going along with every idea they propose. I’ve seen what they make the other players do, and I’m not interested in doing the exact type of promo they’ve done the past few seasons.”

Eijun crossed his arms and leaned back, chin tilting up defensively. “If you’re trying to convince me by pretending you need help—”

Harucchi shook his head, bangs bouncing across his forehead. “I hope you’ll find value or inspiration in it, too, but I was going to ask, regardless.” He grimaced into his cup. “The players who carry most of the strain of Swallows marketing are…otherwise occupied this offseason. I was volunteered to step in; management’s been wanting me to raise my profile for a while. I can’t really say no, so I may as well make the most of it.”

“I don’t want a pity job.”

“Please, be reasonable.” Harucchi smiled the shy, dreamy, polished smile the Swallows had been trying to splash across their advertising since he joined the team. “It’s a pity favor.”

Eijun snorted, relaxing into his chair again. “Fine,” he said, pulling open a clean document on his laptop. “Let’s brainstorm.”

#daiya no ace #daiya no a #misawa #daiya no ace fanfic #lolo's fic writing tag

[blackandorange]

It’s top 10 anime of the year time!

It is, my petal! Let’s continue this yearly tradition with 

MY TOP 10 ANIME I WATCHED IN 2019

(as always, this is a list of the best anime I watched this year, not of the anime that came out this year. There’s some old stuff, some new stuff, some obscure stuff... hopefully you can discover something new!)

10. K. It’s a beautiful franchise with stunning visuals, such an interesting plot, memorable characters and an amazing voice acting cast... all of this sadly ruined by the excessive fanservice. Without it, It would have been in the top 5. 

9. Katsugeki / Hanamaru Touken Ranbu. Probably the anime you petals recced me the most, I was afraid of watching it because of the low MAL rating but, oh boy, was I wrong. I loved it so much I ended up rewatching it later in the year. I simply LOVE ALL MY SWORD SONS SO MUCH!!!

8. Cells At Work. After watching it I feel like I understand something about human biology. Finally an anime worth the hype, it was absolutely fantastic, I loved every single second of it. 

7. The Ancient Magus Bride. For a slow stories lover like me, this anime was truly beautiful. I loved the whole setting, the characters, the relationship they created between each other. It managed to be soft, even in its darkest parts. One of my favourite anime love stories for sure.

6. Psycho-Pass (Sinners of the System + Season 3). PP was originally higher in the rank but, after the ending of s3, it fell down a lot of spots. The SOTS movies were amazing, I loved them a lot, as much as I loved the beginning of s3. Too bad that, as the episodes progressed, the quality of the animation deteriorated and the plot became more and more absurd and beyond the PP logic. I was truly disappointed, especially since PP is a franchise I love so much :(

(at least Ginoza got ever hotter)

5. Tsurune. The archery anime truly didn’t disappoint. It’s a kyoani masterpiece of visuals, music, human emotions and oniric settings. It was so quiet and yet it managed to be so entertaining. A beautiful little gem. (and yes, it’s very gay)

4. Hoshiai no Sora. The anime no one planned to watch is the anime everyone ended up watching. I was so sad to hear that the season was suddenly cut in half and we couldn’t get the planned 24 episodes, but the first 12 managed to portray fucked up family relationships and friendships in a way no anime has ever done before. It’s raw, difficult and emotional, definitely worth watching.

3. Given. It’s not just the best BL of all time, it’s probably one of my favourite anime of all time. The raw emotions, the funny parts and the sad ones... everything feels so REAL in this story, I couldn’t get enough of it. I actually read the whole manga in a day and, let me tell you, I cried so much. I just... really love this story so, so, so much.

2. Daiya no Ace. When I started this 200+ episodes journey I had no idea I’d end up loving Daiya so much. What can I say, you all were right. It’s amazing, in everything. Definitely worth of being part of the holy trinity of sports anime!

1. Mob Psycho 100. A masterpiece, there’s no other way to describe it. It’s impossible to describe it because you just don’t watch MP100, you live it, you experience it, you grow in and with it. Just watch it.

And this is it, my top 10 of the 25 anime I watched last year :D

#talk to B #anime rec #top 10 anime #Anonymous

[aliavarrin]

Chapters: 15/?

Fandom: ダイヤのA | Daiya no A | Ace of Diamond

Rating: Teens And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Relationships: Miyuki Kazuya/Sawamura Eijun

Characters: Sawamura Eijun, Miyuki Kazuya, Kuramochi Youichi, Kominato Haruichi, Furuya Satoru, Yuuki Tetsuya, Takigawa Chris Yuu, Kominato Ryousuke, Kawakami Norifumi, Isashiki Jun, Tanba Kouichirou, Fujiwara Takako, Kataoka Tesshin, Yoshikawa Haruno, Yui Kaoru

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Fantasy MMO-Like World, Magic, Swords, Raids, Dungeons, Japan Set in a Medieval-Fantasy World, Classes Decided By Baseball Positions, Gaming Lingo, Friendship, Didn’t plan on making this MiyuSawa, But that is where my brain is taking it, Light Miyuki Kazuya/Sawamura Eijun, WIP, Not Beta Read

Only several days after Shogun's Keep, they arrived at Dekishi Depths. It was located off the coast of Yokohama, and they had to be up at the ass-crack of dawn as the only time Dekishi Depths was accessible was during low tide. They had to traverse over damp, barnacle-covered rocks until they found the entrance to the cave that led to Dekishi Depths' portal. 

Throughout the progression of the raid, Kazuya kept a watchful eye on Sawamura. After the completion of Shogun's Keep, Sawamura had been quiet and withdrawn, and Kazuya had a strong hunch about what the cause was. The fact that Furuya obtained a legendary weapon, subsequently making Sawamura the only one without, had to have been a devastating blow; considering he had been talking about acquiring one for months now.

It wasn't until Kazuya caught Sawamura moping around Seido's hall that he pulled him aside and dragged him to a dungeon two towns over. The dungeon wasn't difficult enough that they would be required to have a full party of six, and considering that both he and Sawamura had better gear, it was a piece of cake with just the two of them. However, Kazuya made sure to drag it out by only being on defense, which forced Sawamura into the role of sole damage dealer. But his plan worked, and Sawamura was soon laughing and cussing at Kazuya.   

After that was said and done, Sawamura appeared lighter, though Kazuya was convinced he still pondered his lack of a legendary weapon, but at least he moved past the moping phase and more toward his jubilant self. 

Keep Reading

#ace of diamond #diamond no ace #daiya no ace #miyusawa #misawa #sawamura eijun #miyuki kazuya #kuramochi youichi #kominato ryousuke #furuya satoru #my writing #fanfiction #fanfic

[cutter-kai]

Nabe’s Predicament

In Summary:

The Nabe-Miyuki-Zono arc is quite possibly one of the most refreshing Daiya arcs for the sole reason that it’s a conflict that happened outside the field instead of on it. But besides that, it was truly an eye-opening one, and it’s something so petty and yet something much deeper than what it seems. It’s very controversial? People are still talking about it even if it’s been resolved a long time ago. And it’s ridiculous how much people want to drag it out.

The Nabe arc was an arc that exposed what Miyuki lacks as a captain, what the team needed to address, the 2nd stringers’ struggles, etc. It was a very important phase in Seido’s development as a team. In my opinion, it was not designed for fans to decide who was wrong and who wasn’t. In fact, no one was truly right or wrong in that situation. It’s perfectly valid to understand which side more? It was a minor disagreement, and people will either be Miyuki or Zono in that situation who were more or less two opposite sides of the spectrum. I personally side with Kuramochi, but realistically, there was a much better way to address that conflict w/o anyone getting hurt.

Nabe’s Problem

Terajima prefaces Watanabe Hisashi (better known as Nabe) as a rather meek character. The first time we see him, he attempts to approach Miyuki to talk about something but backs down immediately after losing the confidence to continue.

(Daiya no Ace Act I, Ch. 258)

We find out eventually that he and his friends (Kudo and Higashio) have been feeling some sort of distance, a vast difference in motivation between themselves and the rest of the team. We have never seen Nabe before this, and it makes sense. He’s a player who has always been sidelined, just like the rest of the team that never had the slightest chance of making it into the 20-man roster.

Nabe’s problem is brought up again by Miyuki himself, which takes us to the next segment.

From Miyuki’s Perspective

Basically, Miyuki can be stubbornly annoying about his own set of beliefs, but ultimately, he always means well. We’ve already established that Nabe is kind of shy. He’s not very forward about his thoughts and convictions, so Miyuki had to bring up the issue again; otherwise, it would’ve stayed up in the air for an indefinite time. Conveniently, Nabe brought books for review, and Miyuki caught on to what he was about to say before he could talk more.

(Daiya no Ace Act I, Ch. 260)

“By that, you mean you want to quit the team?” “...I can’t stop someone who says he wants to quit of his own will.” Miyuki assumed Nabe was already decided, but he hadn’t considered why Nabe came to talk in the first place. That’s where things went wrong. Just hearing those words from a big shot like Miyuki left no space for Nabe in that conversation. He was talking over him. Miyuki is GOOD at reading people but only really when it comes to baseball. Even when he was trying to help Eijun through his yips, we see how he’d failed to comfort Eijun when he went and poked at his lack of control and ‘stupidity.’ That kind of prodding and encouragement only works On The Field when Eijun is looking at the prize and not when he’s already caught up in his own thoughts and insecurities. (EDIT: After reading into it more, I think Miyuki wanted to provoke Eijun into focusing singly on one thing, instead of getting caught up in his thoughts about something he can’t do. BEFORE he’d turned him over to Chris. But this is for another discussion.) The same thing happens with Nabe, because Miyuki fails to take into account who he’s talking to as well as other important things. To put it simply, Nabe, Kudo and Higashio were already feeling extremely alienated, because they felt the difference in motivation watching everyone else. For Miyuki to go ahead and say something that could potentially make someone feel disposable and replaceable, he didn’t exactly help Nabe figure things out on his own.

So chaos ensues, and the team confronts him about it.

From Zono’s Perspective

On the other hand, Zono is someone who has a lot of ~feelings~ regarding things like teamwork, friendship and whatnot. Zono might be a little more idealistic. Clearly, there’s a difference in values here. That’s mostly what it is. So feeling extremely passionate about this, Zono lashes out on Miyuki. From his perspective, Nabe came to Miyuki because he wanted to talk, but the conversation turned out to be more one-sided than he’d expected. And that frustrated Zono who understands what Nabe must feel. Miyuki has his own set of issues, but not being secure in his position was never one of them. Let’s be honest. Miyuki has the confidence to challenge The Best because he has the potential to beat The Best. But not everyone’s like him. Not everyone is the team’s indisputable 4-hole or indisputable starting catcher.

(Daiya no Ace Act I, Ch. 272)

Zono’s frustration at Miyuki was valid, but to take it out on him was not. Instead, in an ideal scenario where teenagers have an incredibly good grasp of their emotions, Zono would have taken the most logical step and given Miyuki a possible and better resolution. Or assisted him. If he really thought he was right and cared so much about the situation more than his own feelings, he would have already approached Nabe.

The Resolution

Now that that’s out of the way, the more pressing issue is to talk about how they eventually resolved it. Because I don’t think enough people talk about how they did. Surprisingly, I think Kataoka offered the best, most reasonable response to the situation. So Nabe and friends are called to the coach’s den or whatever you call it, and they bring up the thing about switching to managerial positions. Here, I think Nabe had already decided to quit. Which is valid. But Kataoka’s words really hit.

(Daiya no Ace Act I, Ch. 296)

Kataoka gives rise to the question: “Who are you swinging for?” He doesn’t give them a definite answer, but he gives them space to think. To break it down, Kataoka admits that the system can be unfair to players like Nabe who could never get their chance. By doing this, he does not delude them into thinking they will surely get their chance. But swinging their bats every single chance they could will definitely take them somewhere. Because they aren’t on the team only to play for Seido, they’re also doing this for their own sakes. It’s hopeful and realistic. It doesn’t tread into the defeatist attitude that could make players feel like they’re playing for a fruitless cause (looking at you, Miyuki). It doesn’t sugarcoat things either, because it’s okay to give up sometimes, and you don’t have to force yourself if you’re no longer into it (looking at you, Zono). If there’s still a fire burning inside of them, then they don’t have to give up yet. Kataoka takes from both Zono and Miyuki’s POVs and provides Nabe and friends more space to think and eventually decide.

Here’s a quick run-through of the resolution on Miyuki and Zono’s parts! It’s admirable how Miyuki consulted Tetsu instead of letting the issue be. Season 2 is where Miyuki learns to take responsibility. Because S1 Miyuki was a lot more playful and ~free~. He just let things happen before the enormity of things would eventually dawn on him (See: Eijun’s reaction to the home run he’d given up the first time). Miyuki makes sure to approach Nabe and make him ~feel~ part of the team, apologizing in-game, thanking him for the data, etc. This continues until after consulting Tetsu. On the other hand, Zono only realized things after Jun’d confronted him about it. After That Talk, Zono realized where he was wrong and attempted to make amends with both Miyuki and Nabe. 

In Conclusion

That arc wasn’t meant for fans to side with Miyuki or Zono and to criticize the other, to hold them accountable for it even after both have grown since then. It’s stupid to drag out something that’s already been resolved ages ago. What instead could be drawn from that arc is the difference in values between an absolute genius and someone who has to work twice as hard to get to a certain level of skill. Miyuki is by no means a readymade genius; he just has a natural feel for baseball to the extent that he was promoted to first string as soon as he joined the team. On the other hand, Zono has to put in more work to even get on Miyuki’s level. And this arc opened our eyes to the reality of the players on the sidelines, the players on the stands. Much of it is also deciding things FOR yourself, to learn when to step down and give up and when to keep pushing. There’s so much nuance and room for discussion. But people make it seem so much simpler than it really is.

#daiya #daiya no ace #daiya meta

[wildpokemon]

hello!! do you have any nice anime ref???

Ooo, I only really started watching anime at the beginning of last year so I haven’t seen too many, but these are some of my favorites!! (I know they’re mostly sports anime, but don’t let that deter you - I had no interest in sports at all perviously, and some of these shows are legitimately my favorite stories of all time)

Sports anime:

Haikyuu!!

Run With the Wind/Kazetsuyo

SK8 The Infinity

Ace of the Diamond/Daiya no Ace

Shounen:

Mob Psycho 100

My Hero Academia/Boku no Hero Academia

Jujutsu Kaisen

Shoujo:

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun/Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun

Fruits Basket

(descriptions/my thoughts on each under the cut bc, as usual, i cannot contain myself and it was getting too long lol)

SPORTS!

Haikyuu!! (Currently 4 seasons, season 5 TBA) - Volleyball!! But it’s really about love, learning how to be okay when things are hard, and just connecting to other people. (I know that sounds super generic but TRUST me, the way Haikyuu!! does all those things through volleyball is so so good). Plus, there’s a great cast of characters all with distinct personalities and easily some of the best character development arcs I have ever seen. It’s light, fun, and the games are intense - they really keep you on the edge of your seat! I really cannot recommend Haikyuu!! enough, if you watch anything from this list, watch Haikyuu!! lol - I have a whole sideblog (@suckishima) dedicated to it lmao, I highly suggest you read the manga too if you like the anime (it’s 402 chapters, completed last July, and I genuinely think it’s a masterpiece)

Run With the Wind/Kazetsuyo (1 season, 23 episodes - complete) - Long distance running! Unlike all the other sports anime here, this one is set in college instead of high school, and it’s based off of a novel iirc. Another great cast of characters, and a lot of really good stuff about finding and sharing your passions, discovering/rediscovering things you love, and bonding together even though you run alone. It’s not quite as like fun/humorous/bubbly as most of the others on this list, but I definitely wouldn’t qualify it as heavy angst either. Will probably leave you crying in a good way!

SK8 The Infinity (1 season, currently airing - final episode is this Saturday!) - Skateboarding! This show is full of bright colors and is just generally a lot of fun. It doesn’t take itself too seriously regarding the actual skating (there’s a lot of defying physics - but that’s part of the fun imo), but the characters take skating very seriously lmao. The show also gives a lot of care to the friendships and general relationship dynamics - it does a really good job of balancing the character developments and the skating itself. Really fun protagonists and an easily hatable villain too!

Ace of the Diamond/Daiya no Ace (3 seasons - depends a bit on how you count them, but either way there’s a LOT of episodes) - Baseball! Easily the “sportiest” of the sports anime listed here. The learning curve is a bit harder with Daiya if you don’t have much experience with baseball - the show doesn’t take as much time to explain the significance of positions/rules like Haikyuu!! does - but once you get into it, there’s a lot of really great games and hype to be had here.

SHOUNEN!

(There are lots of good shounen anime and I haven’t seen nearly all of them lol, these are just the ones I’ve enjoyed the most of what I’ve seen)

Mob Psycho 100 (2 seasons, season 3 TBA - I hope??) - I reblogged a post a few days ago that I think sums mp100 up perfectly - it really is a great mix of slice of life and typical shounen things. A young kid has insane psychic powers, his boss is a con man who pretends to have psychic powers, and all the MC really wants is to be nice, make friends, spread love and get buff lol. I smiled throughout my entire watch of mp100, and laughed a lot too. It is about taking down evil spirits, but it’s also not about that at all haha, it’s truly about love imo (are you sensing a pattern in my favorite shows??) Plus the animation is amazingly good - it’s really stylized and “ugly” at times, but in actuality it’s constantly stunning.

Boku no Hero Academia (Season 5 currently airing!) - This one is pretty universally known, but I figured I’d mention it anyway. Pretty typical shounen MC who starts as an underdog who has to work hard but then is given an amazing opportunity to finally fulfill his dreams of being a pro hero. Lots of characters with all sorts of backstories and perspectives, good rivalries, and fun fights between all sorts of different super powers. Plot-wise I don’t think it really does anything too innovative, but I’m always having a good time when I watch, and the worldbuilding is pretty fun too. I’m caught up with the manga on this one too and one thing I really appreciate is that almost everything you see feels relevant and important again at some point - there’s not really any filler arcs or anything, even though it’s an action-y shounen series, it doesn’t feel like it’s being dragged out and there seems to be clear and intentional storylines happening.

Jujutsu Kaisen (1 season, season 2 TBA and a movie coming Winter 2022) - Okay, this is easily the darkest thing on the entire list lol - I know you asked for nice anime and to be honest, even though there is humor and some fun in jjk, I don’t think I can qualify this as a “nice” show lol, there’s a lot of blood, gore and death tbh. But! I thought I’d mention it anyway! It’s about high schooled aged sorcerers who exorcize cursed objects and spirits. The magic/fighting system can be kind of dense, but it lends to a lot of really cool fights and interesting situations for the characters too. The main characters are all really lovable and provide a lot of lightness even during the serious bits! I’ve only just started reading the manga for this one, but from what I’ve heard it sounds like there’s a good amount of lore and backstories to go around. Plus, just a lot of general narrative craziness apparently lolll. The animation for jjk is absolutely insane too.

SHOUJO!

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun/Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun (1 season - 12 episodes) - I only finished gsnk last week but it’s a lot of fun! Light, easy, and dumb fun lol. The MC tries to ask out her crush and instead gets sucked into being his assistant for his monthly shoujo manga that he writes. There’s a ton of meta jokes, ridiculous scenarios and just general silliness. If you follow me bc you like Miraculous Ladybug then I think you’d like this a lot too - there’s a lot of similar vibes in some of the situations, characters and running jokes!

Fruits Basket (2 seasons, final season airing April 5!) - Okay, I’ll be honest I have mixed feelings about Fruits Basket. It’s about a young girl who has recently lost her mother and ends up living with some guys who come from a clan where some of them can turn into their specific animals of the Chinese zodiac. The series starts off pretty typically for a shoujo, but eventually delves further into the lore surrounding the family the MC stays with. It definitely touches on darker topics, but overall the messages are pretty positive. The show also has a lot to say about abuse and coping mechanisms and I think those aspects as well as the eventual focus on the more fantastical elements is where the show really shines. The original manga was written in the very early 2000s I believe, and some of the storylines do feel a bit questionable and fall into some overused and outdated tropes. Either way, I think there’s a lot of fun to be had with Fruits Basket!

Aaaah omg, sorry I wrote so much and I hope this does help!! If you end up watching any of these I’d love to hear your thoughts!

#phewww that was a lot lol #i watched a lot more than these in the last year or so but these are what stuck with me the most and what i'm mostly to - or #have already rewatched #in case you were wondering my highest to lowest recommendation order would be: #hq!! #rwtw #mp100 #sk8 #bnha #jjk #gsnk #daiya #fruits basket #but thats based just on my personal enjoyment lol #also. i need you to know how much i had to physically restrain myself from saying more about hq!! ljdalsd #i made my sideblog for a reason. i canNot shut up about it #also. concisely describing shounen is hard lmaooo #how does one make jjk easily accessible and understandable in one sentence #long post #ask #anonymous

[musicprincess655]

“Mei-san,” Itsuki says, trying to hold onto his bravery, trying to tell Mei everything he feels. “You were difficult. I never thought I’d fight with a pitcher so much, especially not a senpai. And you’re childish, and you never listen, and you’re just as unbearable as you warned me you’d be. But,” his breath left him in a laugh that barely formed, “I also learned a lot from you. I never expected to grow this much. I didn’t think I could. And I had fun. So thank you for teaching me, and leading me, even if we fought the whole time. I wouldn’t be the player I was today. Playing baseball with you was…playing baseball with you is fun.”

Mei wants a new future. Itsuki just wants.

Written for @daiyarpwk2020 for day 1: Distance/Longing (I’m running a little behind I know lmao)

If he’s being honest, Itsuki never really expected the third years to disappear after the summer.

For better or worse – and it’s been for worse before – this is a team that was built because Mei went around collecting the best players in Tokyo, drawing them in with the promise of a team of all stars that no one could stand against. It’s never made sense that they would just disappear overnight.

And it’s only been a week since they lost the final game in the qualifiers, the game that could’ve sent them to Koshien. The third years have just barely moved out of the baseball dorms. Of course they’re still around.

What Itsuki’s actually surprised about is when Mei goes tripping over his legs.

“Mei-san!” Itsuki gasps, shooting to his feet and reaching out to steady Mei, grabbing his shoulder. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to trip you, it’s just no one ever comes over here, and I hate having to cramp up, and-”

“Itsuki,” Mei cuts him off. “Shut up.”

Itsuki’s first instinct is to argue, because he stopped letting Mei treat him like that months ago, but he stops when he sees Mei’s face. He’s seen Mei upset before, even seen him devastated by a loss, but this is different. There’s something to the set of Mei’s expression that looks hopeless.

“Are you okay?” Itsuki asks, and he doesn’t really mean physically, but he also knows Mei isn’t likely to just tell him outright. “I really didn’t mean to make you trip.”

“I’m fine,” Mei says, an obvious lie. “What are you doing out here?”

“Oh, uh…” Itsuki points at his work that he’d been so focused on he hadn’t even realized he was taking up the whole hallway with his legs. “I’m really behind on my homework. I kind of left it for the summer. And my roommates aren’t working on it. They’re having a video game tournament right now. I think they’re still trying to pretend it’s not real.”

“So you needed a quiet place to work,” Mei says. Itsuki nods, playing with the idea of asking Mei to stay with him. Maybe just sitting with someone in silence will help him? “Come with me.”

“Wait, what?” Itsuki asks. Mei just turns and walks away without further explanation. “Wait, Mei-san!”

Mei doesn’t wait, though, and Itsuki has to scramble to grab all his things and run to catch up before Mei leaves him behind.

“Where are we going?” Itsuki asks, breathless.

“My room,” Mei says, like that’s any explanation. “My roommate’s never there. I think he has a girlfriend.”

“That…feels like it’s breaking a rule,” Itsuki says.

“It means I get the room to myself, so I’m not ratting him out,” Mei replies flippantly. “Anyway, it’s quiet. You can do your homework there.”

“I…thanks,” Itsuki says. That’s…really nice of Mei. Like, way nicer than he usually is with Itsuki. Not that Mei’s really outright horrible to him anymore, but their friendship is more of the tough love variety. Ever since he stopped coddling Itsuki after the last time it bit them in the ass, he demands keep the fuck up and Itsuki does his best to do so. “What did Coach want to talk to you about, anyway?”

“Nothing important,” Mei says, obviously and falsely nonchalant. “Just some stuff about my future. Nothing for you to worry about.”

“It sounds important,” Itsuki counters, but he lets it drop. Between Mei’s face and vague response, he can put together enough pieces. Mei’s a star, and he’s always expected to rise as one. It can’t feel good to have fewer options than he’d expected, and Itsuki is almost sure that’s what Mei just came from talking about.

Mei leads them both to his room, and, as promised, his roommate isn’t there. Itsuki isn’t quite comfortable in the new space, but he sets up his homework again, more room to lay on his stomach on the floor and spread all his papers out in a neat arc, and does his best to focus.

“Don’t you have summer homework to finish, Mei-san?” Itsuki asks when Mei just flops on his bed and pulls out his phone.

“I’ll do it later,” Mei says, not even looking up from the screen. Itsuki wants to scold him, but maybe Mei needs a minute, and it doesn’t really feel like the time. He just starts his own work.

Either Mei settles down and does his own work, or Itsuki gets in the zone fast enough to ignore it, but Mei stops bothering him and Itsuki gets through a good chunk of his work in the silence. It’s a lot more comfortable to spread out on Mei’s floor than it was to scrunch up in the hallway, and Itsuki doesn’t notice the time passing until Mei’s stomach growls loud enough to make him jump.

When Itsuki jerks his head up, a glance at the window tells him he’s been here for hours without realizing it.

“I guess we should go to dinner,” he says sheepishly. Has Mei just been waiting him out all this time? Or was Mei caught up in the same time slip as Itsuki, so focused the entire world seemed to fade away?

“Oh, depends if you can put your homework down for long enough,” Mei says, waving his hand like the prince he thinks he is.

“This is important, Mei-san!” Itsuki protests. “Our futures might depend on this.”

“Oh, aren’t you just a model student?” Mei teases. “Going to tell me to do extra readings next?”

“Maybe you should!” Itsuki snaps, and Mei laughs, and Itsuki almost has a heart attack about it. He’s beautiful.

Mei’s always been beautiful, but in the kind of way Itsuki always knew wasn’t for him to touch. Mei is his senpai and his pitcher, and that’s all he’s allowed to be, no matter that this last year they’ve been something a lot more like friends. Then again, Mei cried on his shoulder when they lost that game, and invited Itsuki to his room to do homework. It makes Mei seem a lot more human, a lot more touchable, and it’s the first time Itsuki’s considered that maybe he wants to touch.

So he takes Mei’s open invitation to come back, fully expecting Mei to revoke it when the moment of weakness passes, and he’s shocked when Mei doesn’t. He doesn’t even have to bribe Mei with sweets all that often. Somehow, he can’t convince himself that it might just be that Mei wants him around.

And then he gets down to his last page of homework, and he doesn’t want to lose the excuse. So he still brings all his work to Mei’s room, still spreads it out, gets to work on one problem, and as soon as Mei stops paying attention to him, starts playing a game on his phone instead. It’s dumb, and he should just tell Mei he wants to keep spending time together, but for now, this works for him.

He doesn’t expect Mei to catch him in the act.

“Are you playing on your phone?” Mei asks, unprompted. Itsuki freezes, losing his full combo, sure he’s blushing to the very roots of his hair.

“I…um…” he tries, and fails, and trails off.

“And here I thought I was doing you such a favor,” Mei says, but he doesn’t sound mad. He’s just teasing. “Letting you into my room to work on all that homework you supposedly have.”

“It’s mostly done,” Itsuki admits. “I’ve just been leaving a couple problems.”

“Any particular reason?” Mei asks. Itsuki tries to look away, hide what he’s sure must be on his face, to no avail. “Oh? You enjoy my company that much?”

“It’s nice here,” Itsuki protests. “It’s quiet. I didn’t realize you could be quiet off the field.”

“I wasn’t aware I was quiet on the field,” Mei says.

“Just sometimes,” Itsuki tells him. “When you’re concentrating. You go quiet. I’ve never seen you do that when you’re not pitching.”

It’s one of the reasons he doesn’t want to give up their time here. The quiet, the focus, the way time seems to slip away from them. This is always the worst time of the year for Itsuki, when baseball slows down and he doesn’t have as much to keep him moving. Even beyond the new closeness he craves with Mei, the way this gets the time to pass isn’t something he wants to give up.

“Well?” Mei asks finally. “Aren’t you going to show me the game?”

It’s the absolute last thing Itsuki wants to do.

“It’s kind of…it’s stupid,” Itsuki says. Mei rolls his eyes.

“Itsuki,” he sighs. “Show me the game.”

Knowing full well that Mei will make fun of him, but also knowing that there’s no way out, Itsuki turns his phone around so Mei can see the screen.

“Please don’t laugh,” he begs. Mei just looks at his phone, eyes darting all over the screen.

“A rhythm game?” he asks. “Are those idols?”

“Don’t laugh,” Itsuki says. “It’s really fun.”

It’s a hobby he’s been made fun of for in the past. Most guys, if they’re into idols, are only in it because they have a huge crush on the girls. And, okay, it’s not like Itsuki doesn’t like the girls, but that’s not the main draw. He likes the music. It’s fast, it’s upbeat, it’s easy to dance to, and he likes the way the girls dance, fast movements and quick changes that catch the eye. It looks fun, and of course, he really does like the game.

“It doesn’t sound that hard,” Mei says instead of making fun of Itsuki. “Here. Let me try.”

Scared of a trap despite everything he knows about Mei, Itsuki holds out his phone. Mei pulls out his earbud, giving himself a minute to take in the peppy tune.

“I should’ve guessed you’d like this kind of music,” Mei says. “It suits you.”

“I’m not sure if that was supposed to be an insult or not,” Itsuki says. What about the music suits him? But it doesn’t feel like Mei is teasing.

“So I just pick a song?” Mei asks.

“Here, I’ll show you,” Itsuki says, climbing up to sit beside Mei on the bed, eager to explain. “I usually play on expert mode, easy is too slow because I’m used to it, but you should start on easy until you get the hang of it.”

He’s babbling, knows he’s babbling as he scrolls down to one of the harder songs. If he’s going to play this for Mei, he’s going to show off a little bit.

The song is fast and heavy-hitting, but Itsuki’s played it enough times that muscle memory can take over. It gives him the free mental space to pay more attention to Mei, but he still almost freezes and drops his phone when Mei rests a cheek on his shoulder. It’s not enough to shake him from the game, but his heart kicks into overdrive through the rest of the song.

“So yeah, that’s uh…that’s the game,” Itsuki says, laughing nervously, trying to make it sound like he’s not freaking out at Mei’s proximity.

“Cool,” Mei says. “My turn.”

He steals Itsuki’s phone, easy as breathing, and starts poking around through the songs, listening to snippets.

“Start with easy mode,” Itsuki says. “It takes a bit to get used to the game.”

Mei visibly rolls his eyes and taps decisively on regular instead. Itsuki prepares to watch him fail, but for a first time, Mei doesn’t do so bad. It’s not even close to a full combo, but he makes it to the end of the song without dying, which is more than Itsuki could say for himself when he first started playing.

“Not bad for a first run,” Itsuki says. “I’m impressed you could make it through on your first try.”

“Well, obviously I have excellent fine motor control,” Mei says, turning his nose up. He looks so offended that Itsuki might even imply that he should fail.

Itsuki tries not to laugh, he really does, but he just can’t help it, curling around his hands to try and muffle the sounds.

“What?” Mei demands.

Itsuki can’t stop laughing so hard it shakes his sides, and he leans into Mei, trying to catch his breath.

“What’s so funny?” Mei demands again/

“It’s…it’s just…” Itsuki tries to force out between giggles. “You just looked so affronted.”

“Of course,” Mei said.

Itsuki laughs until he gets it out of his system, still leaning into Mei’s side, head resting on his shoulder, and in the quiet left over after his laughing fit, he feels almost somber and serious, and braver than before.

“Hey Mei-san?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

Itsuki almost falls off Mei’s shoulder when Mei turns his head.

“For what?” he asks

“For not cutting me out,” Itsuki says. “I know we were never really friends, and we don’t even really have baseball anymore, and maybe that’s my fault, but thank you for not kicking me out anyway.”

All his insecurities just come pouring out. All the reasons for him to keep up the pretense of needing to borrow Mei’s room, all the reasons Itsuki continues to try and extend the time left to them.

“Haven’t we already talked about this?” Mei asks. “It wasn’t your fault we lost. There was nothing wrong with your calls. If there was, you already know I wouldn’t have followed them. Stop ignoring me when I tell you things.”

“But still-!” Itsuki tries to protest, but Mei isn’t done yet.

“Do you know what Coach said to me after the game?” Mei asks. Itsuki shakes his head. “He said he could go over errors all day, but in the end, they’re not why we lost. It was because Seidou was stronger this time. That’s all.”

It’s not an answer Itsuki likes. He can’t look at Mei when he admits this next part, so he looks down at his hands instead.

“We could’ve beat them,” he says. “You’ve beaten them before. I’m the difference.”

“You weren’t the only difference,” Mei tells him. “Much as I hate to admit it, Kazuya found himself a few real diamonds in the rough. It was only a matter of time before he polished them up enough to matter.”

Itsuki snorts. Mei has always been informal with everyone, but with Miyuki Kazuya, it seems to be a special case.

“You and Miyuki-san are weird about each other,” he says.

“So everyone tells us,” Mei replies flippantly. “Itsuki. Look at me.”

Hands appear, wrapping around Itsuki’s wrists, squeezing until Itsuki finally looks away from them.

“Losing that game wasn’t your fault,” Mei says. “I have never once blamed you for it. So you don’t get to blame yourself for it. That’s an order as your ace and senpai.”

Itsuki’s heart is too loud in his throat, and he focuses hard on Mei’s hands still holding his wrists, just a few heartbeats from holding his hands.

“Since when do I take orders from you?” Itsuki tries, and his voice sounds wrecked.

“Good point,” Mei agrees. “I know I was unbearable as both a pitcher and a senpai, but you weren’t any easier to deal with. You’re cheeky, and disrespectful, and I wouldn’t wish you on anyone else.”

Surprisingly, it doesn’t sound like much of an insult. Mei almost sounds fond, and Itsuki thinks he might cry.

“Was I really that bad?” Itsuki asks.

“Of course you were,” Mei says. “But for what it’s worth, there’s not a single catcher I would’ve rather had on that field. And there’s not another person I’d want as a partner, either.”

“Mei-san,” Itsuki says, trying to hold onto his bravery, trying to tell Mei everything he feels. “You were difficult. I never thought I’d fight with a pitcher so much, especially not a senpai. And you’re childish, and you never listen, and you’re just as unbearable as you warned me you’d be. But,” his breath left him in a laugh that barely formed, “I also learned a lot from you. I never expected to grow this much. I didn’t think I could. And I had fun. So thank you for teaching me, and leading me, even if we fought the whole time. I wouldn’t be the player I was today. Playing baseball with you was…playing baseball with you is fun.”

Mei licks his lips, and Itsuki can’t help the way his eyes dart down to the peek of Mei’s tongue and linger.

“Careful with how you look at people when you say things like that,” Mei warns, his voice almost as rough as Itsuki’s. “I’d almost say that’s a confession.”

Itsuki knows he’s blushing hard, never really stopped, but he holds his ground. Now Mei will reject him, and they can move on, still friends if Itsuki’s lucky.

But Mei doesn’t do that.

He leans forward until Itsuki feels a warm weight against his mouth. He can’t stop staring, eyes wide and focused only on Mei.

“You’re supposed to close your eyes,” Mei says, and Itsuki nearly moans at how it feels when Mei’s breath brushes over his lips.

“Sorry,” Itsuki whispers, closing his eyes and trying to pretend this isn’t his first kiss, that he actually knows what he’s doing. Maybe it’s obvious, but Mei doesn’t call him out on it when he pulls back.

“Just as good as kissing girls,” he says. Itsuki whines and hides his face in Mei’s shoulder.

He can’t stop grinning, though, and Mei lets him stay, ever wraps arms around Itsuki’s shoulders and holds him. Itsuki couldn’t imagine Mei wouldn’t reject him. He never expected Mei to kiss him, to initiate the kiss.

Itsuki reaches out, grabs fistfuls of Mei’s shirt, convinces himself that this is real, feels himself fall a little. Mei his untouchable senpai, Mei his growing friend, they’re the same person, and that person wants him. Itsuki’s heart flutters until Mei complains that he’s heavy, pushes him off, and demands another round with the game. Itsuki indulges him, eyes tracing over Mei’s features as he concentrates.

He really is beautiful. And, just maybe, he’s also Itsuki’s.

#itsumei #daiya no a #ace of diamond #dna #daiyarpwk2020 #my writing #bos