The Dangers in My Heart, Episode 20: The Art of Romantic Fluff

[@georgewebb9074]

Loving this so far

[@KebusuNiisan]

Ichikawa's mom definitely knows what she's doing with that wedding song. Compared with the previous episodes, this one is more laid back and chill. But as they say, this is also the calm before the storm.

[@camillesharem]

We should elevate Ichikawa's mom to honorary wing woman.

[@jackieboib]

Yamada turns up at the house and Mom's already asking for grandkids🤣

[@camillesharem]

@@jackieboib Work has aged mom! She wants to see her grandchildren before the next financial year!

[@camillesharem]

@@jackieboib Work has aged Ichikawa's mother... She needs her grandchildren before the next financial year!

[@Iso20227]

From my perspective as a reader and a member of the general audience, we absolutely love these scenes that give us more time with these characters, even though they may be useless to the plot. Each second we spend learning about them, every chapter we can read with them, every scene that we watch, it means a lot to us in the audience. And with my experience as a writer, our job is to tell a story well, yes, but it’s also entirely done *for* our audience. If everything we write is meant to make our readers enjoy reading our stories, then a few useless scenes that they enjoy are entirely worth the time to write. Also, I’m jealous of Ichikawa’s ability to be selectively schizo. I want the ability to create alternate personalities and have them dictate my every action from only my point of view. Seems like a useful skill.

[@camillesharem]

If you're enjoying Ichikawa's mental alter egos and their abilities, then I would definitely commend Legion by Brandon Sanderson. Very short novellas that are mystery thrillers where I guys interacts with scores of different personalities and all their memories and skills. And you're absolutely right: We should be writing for our characters, for our audiences, and for ourselves, to deliver a story we are happy with, with characters who come to life on the page, and who will resonate with and entertain our readers. It's a high bar, but it is reachable! And that's the bar that everyone should be trying to clear, because that is the best way for any story to be successful.

[@Iso20227]

@@camillesharem that’s another reason why I love writing lore. I want people who look for it to be able to find it, but I don’t want it to be necessary to understand what’s happening. I also don’t want to shove it down my readers’ throats, I want it just under the surface. "The audience actually wants to work for their meal, they just don't what to know that they're doing that. That is your job as a storyteller. To hide that fact that you're making them work for their meal". -Andrew Stanton (creator of Wall-E) Good, well written, well placed lore makes me so unnecessarily happy, and I want to be the reason that others feel that too.

[@Amuro1X]

Hey boss, you're a bit mistaken. The script she's reading this episode is for a role she already has, which will come into play next episode. What you're hinting at is a different thing she needs to audition for.

[@camillesharem]

Thanks for the correction!

[@dpolaristar4634]

​@@camillesharemYou definitely wrote this video when you were sick/tired. I think your voice was a bit rough on the Beauty and Beast video as well

[@dpolaristar4634]

I was ready to freak the fuck out when I heard you make stuff up about the basketball wager, until I read the text. One thing I don't understand is, I can understand you missing a line in a scene, but you then proceeded to make an entire narrative based off one missed line in this video, I'd think at least the rest of the episode would clue you in that your head canon was a bit off, and in particular your a source reader so you had a layer of foresight to fall back on that anime onlies did not. Were you like tired and in need of sleep or had a cold when you wrote the script of this episode? I think the most interesting point you made is about "trimming the fat" in terms of story. I agree that often times people in criticism are often too determined on the "necessities" they suck a lot of the meat built off them. The way I see it is follows, fluff (In this context fluff can be anything not just romcom hijinks, but saguka action scenes, fan service, mecha transformation etc.) ergo anything not strictly necessary to get the "main idea" is actually "necessary" because if you strip away everything that is not the bare bones plot, you end up more with a wikipedia summary or the plot feels more like a Chess Match, in that the characters feels like cogs to move the plot along instead of agents making decisions. And in real life people don't always do things to "rationally" move things along. People do things for their own sake. I think what's more important is whether the fluff is "earned" most people that complain about "fluff" or "pointless scenes" are usually people that either due to personal disinterest/bias or the writer failing to hook them, aren't invested into the "important part" to begin with and are waiting to get through it. I think this episode was important to show the fruits of Ichikawa's labor in building a relationship with Yamada, and letting him enjoy it. (Maybe enjoy it a little too much.....poor guy strong desire and being unable to act on it is hell.....) I see it as a necessary "breather episode." Plus I do think a lot of people when choosing a genre are too an extent looking for a certain type of "fluff" wrapped around the story. Sci Fi fans want to see Sci Fi cool shit explored, even if the some parts might be "excessive" to non Sci Fi fans. Basically Fan Service is good. (The Broad kind not just sexy women.) Its the spice on the main dish. I think its okay to "pander" to a certain audience and realize that making one decision will appease some people and NOT appease others and you have to choose. Of course I also think even plot important decisions have a similar weight. There have been certain shows where some people complained they "should have done x" instead of "y" when if they did that we might have gained something from x but lost something from y. I think sometimes its a matter of direction and different branches on a tree, rather than one being better than another. There is no perfect sauce but their are perfect sauces. An animal built for speed has to sacrifice what an animal built for stability has and vice versa. For an anime example Which I'll Spoiler Tag Below: [MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR 86, PARTICULARLY THE SECOND HALF] ......... ......... In the second half when The Republic of San Magnolia is invaded and falls to the Legion. Lena the Female MC is presumed dead and absent for a chunk of the show (After basically being a main character in the first half.) A lot of people missed her, or thought the constant POV switch from Shin and Lena would have had more interesting pacing. However the question of what happened to her and how it weighs on the the Male MC, Shin's mind (And how he loses one more attachment to this world that is keeping him from succumbing to his abandonment complex and survivor's guilt.) is an important part of the second half, and if we the audience knew she was okay it would make the reveal to both us, and Shin that she is alive and their reunion not hit as hard. Basically its a case of how much info the audience has vs what the characters in the story have. And depending on the story you might want the audience to be in the know and not the characters, the characters to be in the know and not the audience, the audience and characters to be about even, and any combination in between. But there are trade offs you make with any choice. ............ ............ [SPOILERS END HERE] Point I was making is I think something we have to be careful that the criticism we make is about how well the story is executing what its trying to do, verses whether we just want the story to be something else instead. Are you judging a fish by its ability to fly? (Fucking flying fish still ain't as good as a bird fight me!) On a final note, Yes Ichikawa's Mom is very much shipping them, which honestly isn't that unrealistic. I don't know what kinda child you were when you were young, I suspect the more social, risk taking, type based off your stories. But for children that are either Shy, Introverted, Autistic, Disagreeable, or otherwise don't "sync" with the people around them in some way, parents often worry about if their kids will be accepted by others and if they can find happiness and find someone that will love them. So when they see any sign that is the case, they will probably be very much in favor with it and I'm sure it brings them joy and comfort. Mom being heavy handed with the Wedding March is 100% realistic.

[@jackieboib]

i honestly though the anime editors where gonna put a towel on her for the bath scene, i didnt think she was gonna be nude😱

[@camillesharem]

The manga is risky already, and where the studio has the budget they will follow suit!

[@jackieboib]

@@camillesharem well we're gonna find out in 2 weeks - a month from now whether they use that condom or not. so if theres a season 3😳....

[@camillesharem]

@@jackieboib Hahaha! That condom is such a Chekov's Gun and I love it! I am very certain we're getting a third season. They cranked out season 2 so quickly! And the manga is fairly popular.

[@jackieboib]

@camillesharem fair, but if theirs actual sex between two middle school kids, idk. That might not be weird in Japan because of their laws governing age of consent, but on the internet... that's a different story. Japan already gets kind of a hard time for being the country with the lowest age of consent in the world

[@camillesharem]

@@jackieboib That's up to the mangaka... They need to do what they feel is best for their story. The sad fact of the matter is that most middle schoolers have already had sex before entering high school. And I do say that's sad because physical intimacy can lead to so many problems, both physical and psychological, unless the people involved do have far greater world experience and understanding of their actions. That's something no teen has! In my own series, The Legend of the Ten Lords, there are teens who boink. My hope is that the readers will pick up on the subtext without me having to spell it out that they're being dumb. And I do have one character who calls that stuff out, but he's not present in the story to fit a Bible between every couple and make sure they're not doing the dirty! He's just been around the block enough to know it's a bad idea. But teens will do as teens do. I think that's part of the charm and allure to The Dangers in My Heart, how relatable Ichikawa and Yamada are in figuring out themselves and what it means to be in love. And the fact that they haven't done the dirty yet is far beyond what many real teenage couples do...