How to talk about my writing without really talking about it

 

How to talk about my writing without really talking about it (and to talk about my current fangirl hyperfixation):

About a year ago, I broke down and bought a Funimation subscription. It’s been so worthwhile, but today I want to talk about one anime in particular.

Except, really, this isn’t a post about that anime at all. Not really. You’ll see.

I watched the first episode of BNHA (My Hero Academia) and thought: hmm. On the one hand: superheroes!, which, I’ve loved comics since I was a very little kid. On the other hand: I don’t know these characters, it’s all new, the world isn’t familiar yet, and…Izuku cries…a lot. I was conflicted. But, after my initial hesitance with the first ep of Fullmetal Alchemist, I decided to keep going. Why? Because every story I’ve ever loved wholeheartedly was one that left me hesitant at first.

Anyway: I kept watching…and then kept watching. And then was binging. And found a show – and a manga, because I started reading when I ran out of episodes – that contained all of my very favorite things. A big ensemble cast full to bursting with characters that I loved. Characters who were flawed, but trying, and who were all different. Characters who started out as sides, but, once they had room to show their stuff, proved just as lovable as everyone else.

Here was the kind of hero content the Marvel Cinematic Universe utterly failed to deliver to me, and I was hooked.

Season five is airing now, with new eps every Saturday, and it’s got me so hyped I’m rereading chapters of the manga and rewatching favorite episodes – especially this past week, when I’ve been laid up with the flu and feeling bad. Last night, I rewatched “Suneater of the Big Three,” because I love Tamaki, and “Red Riot,” because I love Kiri. Gosh, season four was good. My favorite characters are Bakugou, Shouto, Kirishima, Endeavor, and Hawks. And Izuku. Deku. Who, at first, was a kid I didn’t know crying too much, but who is actually the most earnest, driven, hardworking, big-hearted sweetheart who defies all the hang-ups of the “chosen one” trope and is just the best main character ever.

The thing about this story – which originates in the manga and has been carried forward in the anime – is that it unfolds slowly. Five seasons, 318 chapters, and the kids are still in their first year at UA. It isn’t a blistering, get-to-the-point sort of story. Thank God. I tend not to prefer those. No, this is a thorough, varied story that has poignant, deeply emotional moments interspersed with silliness and fluff. It’s a story about aspiring heroes who’ve dealt with so much, but who are still very much teenagers, and of their mentors: heroes who, while revered, are very real and flawed people. The juxtaposition of Endeavor acknowledging his faults and beginning to atone with the knowledge that Hawks always idolized and felt saved by him is just – chef’s kiss, truly. Deku and Bakugou’s childhood friends, to enemies, to now respected rivals and allies dynamic is perfection.

Not to mention: the villains are very well-thought-out, too. Dynamic, and with very tangible backstories. I don’t root for them at all, but you can’t help but empathize when you see their backstories. It’s such well-rounded, compelling storytelling throughout. I have been surprised again and again by the moments, and characters who’ve moved me. Nighteye. Fat Gum. Aizawa. Heck, All Might. I never expected to care so much about All Might, but I really do. I don’t really watch scripted dramas anymore, because I can’t stand the post-modern, grimdark approach of most. Not since binging FMA have I felt such love for a show/story.

But this isn’t a post about BNHA. This is a post about stories. About the fact that, sometimes, though the bigger picture isn’t clear at the outset, it’s so worth it to start down a path and accept the fact that you’ll have to learn about things along the way. The version of me that wondered about episode 1 didn’t know how eager I’d be to wake up early last Saturday to watch episode 101. That first episode – the first five, ten episodes – couldn’t account for all the action and emotion that was to come. Because that’s the thing about long-winded stories: they build on all that came before it. What might have seemed subtle or confusing at first can blossom into something truly amazing. Some stories don’t give it all away in the first five minutes. Sometimes, you have to keep going, and the cumulative effect is something impactful and lasting that you never expected.

That’s the kind of story I want to write. That’s the kind of story, right now, that I am writing. And that is why I love stories that are just a little bit fantastical and unreal. That’s why I’m so looking forward to Blood of Wolves and Lionheart. Because the stories I love best take their sweet, sweet time.