Arc #1 – Battery

Arc #1 – Battery

Chapter 1: A Dead Ball in Karakura w/The Flock // Kevin, new to Japan, takes some time to do some batting practice. Here, we establish him as an energetic guy who plays baseball and who also thinks of others. He doesn’t actually strike at the Hollow until it comes at him, and when it seems he has killed it, he goes out of his way to give it a funeral, as well as to donate a large sum of money to the owner of the batting cages for having killed what he believes to be a spirit of Japanese baseball.

Chapter 2: On the Town w/Meridith // We find out what happens when Kevin runs into another Quincy for the first time outside of his training. From thinking she’s a shrine maiden to thinking that he accidentally got her hurt because of stirring up the crows, to understanding (finally) that she’s another Quincy and that there are some serious threats out there, Kevin takes Meridith to safety and sees to it that she doesn’t run into any trouble. His compassion and feelings of being a protector take center stage here, though the undercurrent of lighthearted mischief remains constant as well.

Chapter 3: Feeding the Flame w/Meridith, Yuki, & Watari Suzumei // I listed this as a 2.5 as it is only one post. Kevin stumbles upon a passed out Meridith after her fight with Yuki. Not understanding that the wolf-girl is a Shinigami, Kevin rescues both of them from the dark alleyway they are tucked away in, setting up future conflict with Meridith for having saved the Shinigami and adding an extra zest to his interactions with Shini in the future. Though he does not do much here in the way of back and forth, this thread is important because it sets him up for a rollercoaster of emotion over how he instinctively treated the injured Yuki.

Chapter 4: Convalescence w/Meridith //Kevin watches over and stops a recovering Meridith from going off on her own and getting in trouble. They discover that the Shinigami he saved has been taken away and, after some antics with very silly clothes, enjoy a burger together after deciding that they’re done running.

Chapter 5: Push the Limits! w/Zenji Hatayama & Meridith //Kevin gets in a fight with a Shinigami immediately after killing his first real Hollow and, after a quick back and forth with his bread and butter pitching, he discovers that the true power was inside of him all along, in that it’s not actually his glove that he draws power from, but instead the surgically repaired arm that his family doctors mucked around with in order to start his Quincy training. Kevin does as the thread title suggests and pushes his limits against a spiritually stronger foe. Though he comes out of the matchup without a clear W, he finally understands the dangerous world he’s gotten himself involved in.

========================

This arc follows Kevin DuBrow, baseballman extraordinaire, through his arrival in Karakura. He isn’t the best Quincy, not by any stretch of the imagination. If it hadn’t been for an untimely injury, he’d have stayed in baseball and not gotten mixed up in this at all, but if there’s one thing Kevin can do its roll with the punches life throws at him.

In this arc, we see his ignorance of the spiritual world, Japanese culture, and the dangers posed by the things that go bump in the night. He pays for this ignorance frequently. He fails to finish off the flock of crows when any other Quincy likely would have. He lets a Shinigami survive who he really should have killed off. Worst of all, he gets his ass absolutely handed to him by another much stronger Shinigami and only makes it out with the help of his friend Meridith.

At the start of the arc, Kevin is an independent Quincy out to kick some Hollow ass and look damn good doing so. By the end, he’s had a harsh awakening that it’s not going to be that easy. Alone, he’s screwed. With Meridith forming a battery with him, they’re able to stand up to crazy powerful Shinigami. Just imagine how strong the Quincy could be if they were actually organized into a team…


PS: Judge me publicly.

Kevin a baseballman's intro, let's see if this is a premise that rises above the goofiness of its origins.

We begin at five stars and add or remove based on notable additions or glaring omissions.
+0 - Writing - He's well written, he's fun, he's a little goofy. Some of the threads drag on, but it isn't so bad. Consider more brevity. Try to confine the silliness to more meaningful moods and moments to avoid making him seem as much of a joke and dig in to the real moments a little more gleefully. I feel I did a lot of this feedback during the release request but to be honest, Kevin is fine and I have no issue with him moving forward.
+0 - Story - It's a nice establishing arc, you meet a bunch of people, there's some solid storytelling, a bit bleachy.
+1 - Growth - I like this a lot. Kevin goes from a dopy quasi aware of spiritual matters fella to slugging it out with a Shinigami and throwing his hat into a somewhat sure to fail Quincy rebellion.
+0 - Impact - You thread with a lot of people and really seem to work well to give them what they need. No complaints here but nothing that leaps out as aggressively impactful

Congrats! This is a solid 6 STAR request! Go ahead and link this post to your profile and redeem for

5 Threads x 6 Star Rating = 600 EXP!