Tumgik
#honestly a lot of different types of rival/enemy characters
isekyaaa · 1 year
Text
Character.ai has proven to me that I would be a terrible darling for a yandere story I either get killed or they go full deredere :/
29 notes · View notes
Note
Time to apply as a new sibling for Yoichi!
Hates bank vaults- Vaults are boring because there is no entertainment value or enrichment for any living thing going in there. My preference is a large open terrarium with a lot of people and enrichment and plenty of places to explore! So all of Planet Earth!
Prefers Captain Hero to the Demon King- *quietly hides my Demon King/Captain Hero fanfic behind my back* Demons are cool, especially if they're reformed and get pulled into a pseudo-friendship with the Hero where they're always snarky with each other. But Captain Hero is better because at least he has no plans to destroy the world...that was the Demon King's plan in the original, right?
Villains need not apply- I don't think I'm a villain, I'm just someone who enjoys writing stuff!
Yoichi would like someone younger than him so that he can be an older brother, but this is not a strict requirement- I'm probably younger so that's covered! I also have experience as the annoying younger sibling, I even learned how to pick locks just so I could bother my older sister!
Must have a tolerance for PDA- I can just go into the other room and let you have your peace. If it's directed at me though then I'm fine with hugs. More than likely I'll just hole myself up in my room to write the next chapter of my Cap- I mean the next chapter of a romance novel...
Yoichi's hair care products are not to be borrowed under any circumstances- You don't have to worry about that because I have my own hair care products and we likely have very different hair types. Mine is thick, curly, and oily to the point where it gets greasy easily...especially if I use the wrong product.
You must be able to defeat All for One in combat. This is very important because All for One will certainly try to murder you for replacing him.- Oh he already declared his desire to murder me when I filled out one of his applications. So there's nothing new there! Honestly he'd have a hell of a time trying because he isn't the first, nor is he the last who wants my head on a silver platter...and one of the ones who wants my head is kind of an all powerful being who would take one look at All for One and decide to rearrange his face because it would be funny.
The Demon King / Captain Hero fanfiction is actually not a problem! Even though Yoichi prefers to ship Captain Hero with his rival, he wrote some Demon King shipping fics just to annoy his older brother. If Yoichi manages to lock All for One in a bank vault as he was plotting yesterday, then he will read your fanfiction out loud to the prisoner.
Your question about the Demon King's motives launched a long rant from Yoichi that I will spare you. Suffice to say that the Demon King wanted to have total control over the world but in Yoichi's eyes destroying people's free will is the same as destroying them.
Some characters might argue that authors are the real villains. You've committed countless crimes against Yoichi and his loved ones. Fortunately for you he's willing to overlook that because you're tormented All for One too and because of the Demon King / Captain hero fanfiction. Also Yoichi really wants to see the look on All for One's face when one of his hated enemies gets added to the family.
Myself, I recommend a fireproof house.
16 notes · View notes
Text
A shipping trope I’ve noticed
So no two ships are ever exactly the same as they come from different fandoms, different levels of canonness, different levels of toxicity, and all that shit. But there are definitely tropes. Like certain types of characters that are often shipped together.
There’s one in particular that I have decided to try to emulate in my own original work, because I personally believe it to be the most fun and I’ve never seen a lesbian version of it done. It’s always two guys or a girl and a guy, never two girls.
This trope is one that I feel goes unnoticed by most people despite the fact that it’s usually like THE ship of the fandom it’s from. I’ve only ever seen it handled in a way I truly liked once. And that was because unlike in most cases the creator himself had some level of belief in the ship but intentionally left it ambiguous rather than it just being the fans who decided it should be this way putting in all the leg work themselves to build the ship from the ground up and neglecting canon details such as how the characters actually interacted meaning it would probably be toxic.
I like to call this ship the “Lovable Psychopaths” trope.
A basic rundown of what it is, is we got as usual, two characters, a usually very dark setting and plot although this isn’t entirely required, as well as usually some very amoral cast members, but again, not required.
One of these two characters is a complete fucking lunatic. Very outwardly so. Maybe not right away, but they show their cards pretty fast if it’s not literally one of the first things we learn about them. They tend to be violent, totally insane, they have a tragic past which isn’t IMMEDIATELY explored but it very likely will be and will impact the audiences views on the characters greatly. The character is again, insane, and usually completely evil or at least a rival character, or a villain for a little while, but they are more often than not one of if not the most popular character in the story due to their dialogue, appearance, demeanour and backstory making them highly endearing. They usually are the one with a more obvious thing for the other character although this is not required. This is also where I find it’s often mishandled by a one sided thing that may not even be a crush at all being seen as mutual love.
The other character is usually less liked, but honestly a much more in depth and interesting character if the fans weren’t so busy being distracted by all the other shit going on. The character tends to, but doesn’t have to at all, seem outwardly very sane, very reserved, and sort of like a foil to the other character. This is not at all the case. In fact, this character tends to be WAY more messed up than the other character ever could be. They are completely messed up, twice as tragic at times, capable of far far worse crimes for instance playing a somewhat active role in causing the apocalypse or killing god. This character is often also interpreted as an UwU femboy if male, or as a tsundere softie if male or female, which pisses me off but ok go off. This character is very interesting in the way the act, they usually take on a protagonist role and regardless of what their actual relationship is with the other character wether they are a friend or enemy, they interact a lot, tend to be at odds with eachother, and have an interesting dynamic.
This ship occurs a lot, and I have yet to see anyone ever bring it up.
I believe if handled incorrectly, and by that I mean it having no canon bearings and being entirely collective headcanon, it is one of the worst tropes ever. I think things that save it is if both characters are decidedly better people by the ending, if there was even a hint of intention from the creator to even have these characters have a bond, if they have any positive interactions, and for gods sake if they are both legal, not related, not at a major power imbalance, it’s not obviously one sided, and not overtly stating that their negative traits are not negative and that neither character is capable of being held accountable for any of their actions.
Other people might have mentioned this I’ve just never seen it in any “shipping dynamics” images which is weird because I’ve been in multiple fandoms where it’s happened and happened to be front and centre, so it feels like no one has really given it much thought.
I’ll talk about how I plan to utilize this in a repost of this with no tags attached because I do not feel it to be related nor do I want to force anyone into hearing stuff about my project.
3 notes · View notes
Note
Is there any fic you would recommend us on ao3? Something that stole your heart or that was different/special for you?
Uhhhhhhh My Immortal
…Ok no, actual rec‘s. Um.
Meet us at the Milk Bar is a really good fic. It’s about all the NPC‘s in Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask getting together one by one to spend their last hours until the moon falls onto them, and man. The emotions. You don’t even need much context from the game to understand it (though it obvs has more impact that way) so please, read it.
That’s kinda the main one rn but for a bunch of other stuff (ignore it, it’s just a lot of self-indulgent fic recs)
Harry Potter and the Lack of Lambsauce. A fic about Gordon Ramsey (the way he‘s presented in his shows) being a professor in Hogwarts. I know it sounds like a pure crack-fic, but isn’t, has 99 chapters and is genuinely pretty good as far as I can tell. And I don’t even care about Gordon Ramsey, let alone Harry Potter.
The Heart and Soul Series which is pretty much the Kirby fic series (I don’t. Actually read anything Kirby related otherwise, surprisingly). Though, granted, it needs a bit of character context. Enemies to friends but they’re still rivals and also idiots.
(grabs the funny subway man) YOURE GOING BACK HOME FUCKER is not a crack fic. It’s a submas reunion fic. The Hurt/Comfort is real and strong with this one
And also 97% of what I read is in Legend of Zelda & related fandoms, sooooo. Yeah. If nesting multiple readmores into each other were a thing, I‘d put one here, but alas. I
Hero, what ails you? Whump. Hero collapses after being too stubborn to realize he’s got pneumonia, gives skeleton-mentor a second heart attack in the process
My Inner Life, their outer Nope. Roast-fic. Assortment of various Zelda characters torture themselves live-read and comment on the fic "My Inner Life“, also known as the My Immortal of Zelda fics
Dimensional Links, the OG of OG‘s of "throw all the Link‘s together“ AU‘s, pretty much the first ever fic I read, forgot everything what happens in the plot but still remember it being really good so it must be
And speaking of "throw Links together“ AU‘s, since you genuinely can’t take two steps in any Zelda tag on AO3 or tumblr without coming across Linked Universe stuff might as well throw some of those here too
How to kill a God Really engaging Murder Mystery with lots of world-building. Might as well be Original Work. Which is great so you don’t even need any context!
The Most Sincere Kind of Lie someone put this one in a collection called "Darkest LU shit I can find“ and. Yeah. It’s really good. Angst. So much Angst. It hurts a lot, but it’s. Just. Really well written
Stick a Fork in 'em cause they Done got Roasted crack/roast fic parodying the way fanon generally writes the different Links. I hate/love how accurate these are lmao
A Fishing Rod in Hand is Worth 2 in System Memory LU but glitches are a thing. Whatever this particular type of "4th wall break but not quite“ is called (Undertale does that too) I like it. + Crack treated seriously is always fun. + this has an actual story, so honestly I‘m not even sure if it can still be called crack, + it comes with descriptions for all the glitches, + while it says 6/? the way it currently ends makes for a pretty good open ending so it’s cool
1 note · View note
lost-in-fictionn · 2 years
Note
Hii idk if u do this but if u do Can you pls recommend me Enemies/Rivals to Lovers fics with
"who did this to you?"
Going from last name to first name after some time happens-
One bed
Oh. Oh.
Fuck it.
(preferably not fandom ones)
Generally just the most famous Enemies/Rivals to Lovers books. They don't have to be all in one ofc i just wanna read some bc i can't find any bc idk how to use AO3
Hiii 👋👋
I, uhhh, don't look at the names of the fics that I read 😳👉👈 I honestly can't remember any of them right now. I know I've read the tropes you mentioned A LOT, but the names... And mine were all fandom ones. I usually read about my fave couples in different scenarios. I know my answer will be no help to you but I'd like to show you how I filter in Ao3, so maybe you can find something you like this way?
I'm a mobile user, so these are all screenshots from mobile website but I don't think the desktop version is much different.
Type the ship you want to read about in the search bar however you want, and click on the official ship tag in the first fic (it's in red in the picture below)
Tumblr media
You'll go to the official tag like shown below. See, there were 327 fics for what I searched but 19k+ fics in the official tag. That's how I know I'm in the right place lol. Then click on the filters button.
Tumblr media
You'll see a screen like this
Tumblr media
You can include or exclude the things you like or dislike (tags, ratings, characters, fandoms for crossovers etc.)
Tumblr media
Tumblr media
And you can decide whether you want pain or relief by choosing complete fics or not. You can decide how long you want your fic to be. You can decide if you want crossovers or not.
Tumblr media
These are how I decide my fics usually. I'm sorry I can't help you more. As I said, I usually read about my fave ships (see the pics? I'm a dramione sucker lol). Or you can ignore my first instruction and search enemies to lovers in the search bar. I'm sure you can find more that way actually.
Hope you find what you look for :))
4 notes · View notes
heretic-altias · 1 year
Text
There’s that job tier list going around but honestly my characters have such narrow skill sets I can just talk about my OCs for once and tell you what they’re good at.
Altias started out as an archer, but picked up mch in HW and with it engineering as a whole. She’s a SUPER talented magitek engineer and weapon creator. She could easily rival Cid if they didn’t have such different focuses. That just comes with being a super good gnb and mch as well as things like blacksmith, armorer, and carpenter. Whatever you need to make weaponry, she’s talented at. Her gnb is more Garlean based than bozjan, but she definitely has pulled inspiration from both and then also summoning magic. She studied summoner extensively, and while she’s never actually been a summoner, she incorporated their way of summoning egi into her weapons to empower them. This led to her being corrupted by an actual primal, a strange fusion of Bahamut and her own insecurities that just lives in her head rent free now, but it kind of worked out bc she can draw on his power now, it only took an entire expansion of her being high risk bc the primal was trying to take over her. Her studies focus now on fusing magic and magitek in a way the Garleans never could being incapable of using the former.
Akku’s talents have always been more diplomatic than anything else. Even his echo lets him see people’s emotions (he later learned that the more accurate description was he could see their dynamis) like an aura around them. He was initially a ninja by chance, the rogues helped him out and gave him some training when he ran away from home and ended up in Limsa. Zelda (a friend’s OC) later took him on as a student to specialize that into ninja. He was decent enough in practice, but in battle he’d freeze up. He spent a long time seeing himself as kind of a useless warrior of light since he couldn’t fight like the others. So after ShB he resolved to do things his way instead of trying to be like the others, and learned conjury leading into white magic. This is his real skill set, he’s a healer not a fighter. His offense magic is generally water aspected (Enbarr is very helpful) and non lethal, just keeping enemies away from him so he can focus on healing his allies. In ingame job terms, his only REALLY GOOD skill is whm, but ninja is something he’s trained in.
Kito has a lot going on, but his skill set centers around his unusually dark aspected aether which is really strange, particularly for the warrior of light. DRK has always been his number one talent, to the point he was genuinely afraid of his own power for awhile. But he hung up that sword after EW, and picked up rpr when traveling to the void which also matches well with his dark aether. But he uniquely also combines the class with drg, he was accidentally soul bonded to Twintania freeing her from the binding coils (think an inheritance cycle dragon and rider type relationship between them). So instead of a rpr avatar, he draws on her power and his own dark aether creating an odd mix of rpr and drg that’s ultimately mostly rpr in training and appearance. He’s also a really good botanist, he studied plants in bozja before it exploded, but those are really his only canon job skills.
1 note · View note
sukirichi · 3 years
Text
jujutsu kaisen characters as students in high school: (non-canon AU)
featuring: itadori yuuji, fushiguro megumi, gojo satoru, getou suguru, & ryoumen sukuna notes: some parts include you as their friend, or even their high school love! (this is unedited/ not proofread)
masterlist ! requests are open 
Tumblr media
𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐑𝐈 𝐘𝐔𝐔𝐉𝐈
he’s not the brightest bulb, but he makes up for it through hardwork and enthusiasm
yuuji is literally that classmate everyone is just friends with
the type who waves with a smile, saying “good morning!” the moment he walks through that door
with that being said, since he’s everyone’s friend, i headcannon that yuuji doesn’t really have a best friend because he’s so open and available to everyone it’s hard to have just a one on one conversation with him
not to say he’s always surrounded by a crowd that you can’t get near him, but everyone likes talking to yuuji
he just fits in so well and understands people 
kind of like how he easily clicked with junpei (please, i miss him, i still can’t believe that he’s...you know...)
whether it’s the guys raving to him about sports
or girls shyly talking about their crush on class or about that new shojo manga
yuuji is open to anything and everyone. this boy wears his heart on his sleeve and he’s honestly such a precious boy, please be kind to him <3
the type of student that gets called to answer in class but isn’t shy to admit he doesn’t know the answer while rubbing the back of his neck
he does pay attention tho
i think it’s canon that yuuji is a dedicated man, like from that time he just watched movies straight and kept his cursed energy controlled so the cursed corpse would stop hitting him
overall, yuuji is a very hard working student! 
he wouldn’t get over the top grades, but he’s really proud of himself (and he should be!)
also that one kid in class that is surprisingly good in sports despite his lanky figure and laid back persona, because all the other sports-craved people are always flexing or challenging other captains 
but plot twist, this boy is ripped and very, beautifully kept in trim
yeah he’s not really into club activities that much
not because he hates them, but he’s just not that into it. he’s more than glad to join in whatever activities though and enjoys them, but if asked what he’d like to do, it wouldn’t be that first thing that came to mind
in conclusion: itadori yuuji is the class sunflower that lights up everyone’s day  🌻
yuuji’s role: the hard worker! 
Tumblr media
𝐅𝐔𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐔𝐑𝐎 𝐌𝐄𝐆𝐔𝐌𝐈
hands down, megumi is THAT student
if you’re volunteering in the library, you can sure as hell guarantee you’ll see megumi there
he doesn’t like studying in class because it’s too noisy, so if he’s in school, you’ll always see his name in the library logs
he’s that kid that aces all exams
the type to scowl when he sees a 96% mark because he’s expecting a perfect mark
okay before you come at me, i’m not saying megumi is that annoying smart kid in class that goes, “Oh, I’m so dumb, just a 96?”
no he’s more frustrated at himself because he knows he studied hard and lost sleep over it. he’s just wondering where he went wrong. he has literal note cards and customize flash cards on an app on his phone, waking up every four am and probably taking supplement classes after regular school hours
i headcannon that megumi is someone who always wants to do his best and actually goes through lengths to prove his worth
maybe it stems from having the need to show who he really is and what he’s capable of
but yeah i can totally see him doing that
also that cute student that keeps visiting the cafe every saturday morning, wearing a black hoodie and headphones tucked in, his pretty hands nestling over a book
he looks like a gamer but honestly i don’t think he’s got time for that lmao
would also be that guy people find hard to approach because of his quiet and reserved self
he’s pretty intimidating too
definitely sits beside the window at the back of the class. you can’t fight me on that
just because he’s smart and loves studying, it doesn’t mean he’ll sit on the front row and raise his hand every damn second
the teachers will encourage him to participate in class a little bit more, especially after seeing he’s awkward during group activities, but megumi just really prefers to do things by himself
i also headcannon him eating in the cafeteria like everyone else instead of having his alone time during a rooftop? like idk i can’t picture megumi completely isolating himself like that
he blends in well in a way that you know he’s just like everyone else; a human
but he also stands out in the manner that he’s a lot more introverted and reserved compared to everyone else
surprisingly good during sports and relay games
100% reliable
the type to stay up at midnight to finish a group project, sighing because his groupmates doesn’t care as much as he does, but turns it in anyway the next day
he’d be annoyed at them, but he doesn’t really like confrontation so he doesn’t out them to the teacher like that
but he’s also not someone who lets people walk over him, so he’ll simply say something about his groupmates becoming more responsible and to be serious for once as a “warning”
and yeah, he may be closed off, but once you get really close with him (even better if you have similar interests) you’ll find there’s a lot more to him than what you’ve originally seen and he’s actually a pretty great friend and supportive classmate
would teach you instead of just letting you copy his work or snap pictures of his notes
ugh he’s so responsible and morally right and that’s so attractive help
in conclusion: fushiguro megumi is the hidden gem  💎
megumi’s role: the intellectual outsider!
Tumblr media
𝐆𝐎𝐉𝐎 𝐒𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐔
man...i don’t know how to start this
i’ve said this about megumi, but gojo is also that student
no, in fact, he’s THE student
everyone loves him. literally everyone
the teachers? smitten
his classmates? in love
the school guard? calls him by his first name
the cleaning lady? turns into a star with the way she lightens up when he’s there
the cafeteria staff? yeah free food because he’s gojo satoru
gojo is what i like to call the “one who has it all” because....well, he kind of does
he’s really smart and talented, which comes as a surprise to everyone in the first day of school when he nearly gets kicked out for falling asleep in class
only for everyone to be shocked that he knows the answer already and the teacher is only discussing chapter 1 lmao
yeah he’d be that kid who always sleeps in class
or is playing games on his phone behind an open textbook
he literally doesn’t listen to what the teacher is saying at all - or at least that’s what he wants you to think
man is a god at multitasking and his seatmate would snicker because he’s crushing his enemies at a phone game, but then gojo coolly corrects the teacher about history or something
he’s pretty laid back tbh
but when he’s got everyone’s attention on him? ofc he’d show off
basketball meats are wild. even students from neighbouring schools would visit just to see gojo play - and he’s not even an official member! the coach just asked him to replace a sick player but boy won that champion shot
omg BASKETBALL PLAYER GOJO I CAN’T
but he pretty much excels at everything
except cooking class, gosh, don’t ever bring this man anywhere near a fire. that’s probably the only thing that really got him to detention this time because he always somehow talks himself out of getting that red card with his words and charm
also that kid that would receive lots of confession letters, chocolates, and random gifts in his shoe lockers
he knows he’s handsome and he’s not shy about it. in fact, he’s shameless when it comes to his allure on people
but he also doesn’t really date anyone (it’s canon this man won’t stay loyal to a single woman lmao)
if he and megumi were classmates, they’d be sort of rivals
megumi would always come on top of class, but gojo is just a breath away from the former’s perfect marks. if it only weren’t for megumi’s squeaky clean record and reputation - whereas satoru’s is TAINTED as heck - and the fact that gojo doesn’t really study as much as gumi, then yeah he’d also be top of the class if he wanted to
on a much more serious note,,,gojo acts like nothing really bothers him and he’s simply that effortless
but i feel like he grew up with tutors from a very young age and that’s how his natural intelligence was just further improved and increased with that type of environment in his childhood
and unlike megumi, i don’t think gojo would really have a set goal in mind on who he wants to be or what he wants to do in the future
he’d just be enjoying the moment <3
in conclusion: gojo satoru is the effortless god!
satoru’s role: the lazy king everyone is envious of 
Tumblr media
𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐎𝐔 𝐒𝐔𝐆𝐔𝐑𝐔
the playboy
you can’t argue with me on this one
he just is, i feel it deep in my SOUL he just is
moment he walks in, all classy and suave aura and all, you can honestly smell and taste the amount of confidence that drips from him
probably came from a well-off family
probably the mayor’s kid lmao and he’s been used to the attention ever since he was young
much like megumi, he’s not really the type to show off his intelligence
and similar to gojo, people are surprised he’s actually got them brain cells just because everyone is more focused on his appearance first
like who would expect this tall hunk beautiful beast of a man with long hair and piercings actually liked classic novels and could effortlessly recite sonatas and poems in different languages
yeah i headcannon that getou is an intellectual, cultured man
ofc having long hair and piercings isn’t allowed in his school, but because he’s geto and the school knows about his family’s influence, they just let it slide
probably comes late to school too
he eats in the cafeteria, but you don’t really see him indulge much. some days, he’ll have his own fancy bento box prepared by a family chef, but geto is actually pretty simple and humble that he also buys packed bread or canned coffee 
takes the library volunteer by surprise when he drops by one friday after class to borrow an old classic novel that even your professors had a hard time analysing
but geto’s like, “oh this? yeah i last read it when i was thirteen, thought i’d read it again”
IDK WHY but I can see him as sort of breaking the rules when it comes to the school uniform
top three buttons of his shirt open when he’s feeling hot or something
doesn’t really keep his tie that tight too
but overall, geto is a composed and well-put together guy
i just can’t picture him slacking when it comes to his appearance, he’s too fancy and pretty for that
he’s also similar to megumi in a way people find it hard to approach them, but most definitely, geto also receives confessions often 
i can see him dating someone after being interested in someone in school and actually being serious with them unlike gojo
then they would be “that” couple that’re just so couple goals
not the type that goes overboard with pda and pulls off the angry face emoji when they hear someone talking about them and they’re like, “NO HE’S MINE”
okay that’s cringe but i legit witnessed that way too many times in high school yall cant blame me lmao
but they’d be more like the chill laid back couple that supports each other in everything and you can just tell they have a happy, healthy relationship
(oh to be getou’s girlfriend in high school and his first love and all his firsts)
in conclusion: getou suguru is the unpredictable!
getou’s role is: that one classmate you really admire but he’s so far out your league but he’s genuinely a good guy anyway so you’re happy for him no matter what <3
Tumblr media
𝐑𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐌𝐄𝐍 𝐒𝐔𝐊𝐔𝐍𝐀
okay okay hear me out but...the stoner
i really can’t see him any other way guyssss
and if you’re his classmate, you most likely wouldn’t see him that much either
dude is like 2-3 years older than everyone in class and he doesn’t give a shit about it
he’ll come like...once a week, if he’s in the mood enough
teachers don’t even bother scolding him for his tattoos anymore because there’s rumours going around he’s the son of a yakuza leader or that he’s a gangster who sells organs or some creepy dark stuff
ofc he doesn’t do that
he just does drugs and gets drunk at most
sukuna doesn’t really have that much friends either. yeah he parties with people and often gets high with some older kids, but he doesn’t genuinely enjoy their companies either
would totally come to school with his uniform unironed
red-eyed from his high and naps at the back of the class, making the teacher soften their voice in fear of waking him up
also doesn’t have a pen or paper
i mean...he doesn’t even bring a bag
fails the exams all the time, making him repeat year by year, and he’s even known for beating his senpai up for something stupid and sending the guy to a hospital where he stays for two weeks
but on the other hand
he’s also freakishly attractive and surprisingly easy to talk to
you probably bumped into him one time and you profusely apologize, but then he notices something about, something odd like, “did you just cut your hair?”
“uhm yes...you noticed?”
sukuna shrugs lazily, “noticed something was different, but whatever. it looks good on you though.”
he’s just soooo nonchalant most of the time, it’s hard to believe he’s actually pretty violent
but yeah this man has anger issues i’m sorry
but with that speaking, i actually don’t see sukuna as a bully with like a gang of his “followers” or that type of jazz
he’s more like the kid that hides under the bleachers or gets high in a storage room while everyone else is occupied with school festivals
it’s a shock he even came, but sukuna just says “free food is always a gift” but ofc it’s not free food...he just steals from the stalls
now here comes the fun part
so now that we know sukuna pretty much is a hopeless case...suddenly, he isn’t? maybe he meets you, the class volunteer who goes out of their way to visit his shabby apartment just to hand him his class work that he’s missed out on
he obviously disses you at first and ignores you, telling you to get lost
but somehow your kindness and persistence has him breaking
now he starts coming to school often, carrying a pack of gum or mint pops because he smells like weed and he’s slightly conscious of himself
this is supposed to be just them being students in high school, but i could honestly sukuna changing colors once he just gets a better grasp of what would be good for him
or maybe something finally interests him and gives answers to his silent questions
i feel like he’s such a troubled kid and just lacks proper care and attention, but once you become his friend and show him you don’t have bad intentions, he’s actually a loyal and decent guy
and when you two finally get close, you eventually gain enough courage to tutor him. sukuna is actually pretty smart too, he just doesn’t like studying, but when you compliment him, oh man, he melts
“yeah, you actually got that right! i told you you could do this!”
tsk,” he scoffs, “that’s all kindergarten shit.”
“if it is, then why haven’t you graduated?”
“shut the fuck up.”
although he sneers, you and sukuna have gotten close enough that you know both of you don’t mean anything bad behind those words and it’s all light hearted teasing
oh and when you ask him to take a picture with you for “high school memories?”
sukuna is disgusted
“get that thing away from my face - did you just take my photo?”
“yeah, you look pretty cute here! i’m so printing this and putting this in my album.”
sukuna is about to scold you even more, but the thought of you putting your photo together - even when he’s frowning in the picture - in something as sentimental as a photo book really has him softening up
would even try - keyword is try - to study more just so you’d stop frowning when you see his paper covered in red marks all over again
and he’d even try cutting down on his weed for the sake of his “health”
ofc he won’t suddenly - or ever, even - become the amazing student megumi is
he’ll still get into trouble because he’s impulsive and has poor coping skills, also he’s not good with words or dealing with his emotions
but on his good days, he’s a pretty funny guy
it just takes a lot to see that side of him, but it’s worth the time and patience
also i was expecting to write funny scenarios or imagines of stoner! sukuna because he’s too high to even hold a proper conversation sometimes but all i got is him saying weird words like “snail trap” or something when you ask him how his day is
would also have that garbled little laugh when he’s so out of it
sukuna will try to be better though, you just need to be patient him
but my GOSH when he finally graduates
he’s going to hide that little smile because deep down, he’s also pretty proud of himself and how far he’s come <3
lol now this makes me want to writer a high school au lololol
in conclusion: yeah he’s the stoner with a good heart 
which is so not canon...this shouldn’t even be a headcanon we know ryoumen sukuna is PURE EVIL but oh well maybe when I’m down from my sukuna high I’ll write him a lot more canonically
883 notes · View notes
teklarn · 3 years
Note
I NEED A PART TWO FOR BAUKGOU’S AWKWARD CONFESSION!!
𝓫𝓻𝓾𝓽𝓪𝓵 - 𝓴. 𝓫𝓪𝓴𝓾𝓰𝓸𝓾 𝓹𝓽. 2
character(s): katsuki bakugou x fem!reader
a/n: k the first one kinda blew up and i've been on tumblr for like a week and it made me rly happy receiving the requests ty <33 thank u for all the reblogs too !! this is a bit later than i hoped it would come out b/c half of the original fic was deleted by accident, but i’m on summer break until sept 5 so hopefully i’ll still update frequently. 
𝕣𝕖𝕓𝕝𝕠𝕘𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕!
summary: bakugou finds he’s rejecting his feelings for you in fear of becoming weak, however he just can’t seem to ignore you. 
genre: lil angsty, fluffy at the end
warnings: cursing, one-sided pining, gave reader a quirk, the fighting scene is bs i cannot write action scenes at all im so sorry lol,  second hand embarrassment for our dearest dynamight :(
word count: 2507
pls don't mind any typos! i try to edit to the best of my ability but i tend to type fast and i might miss a few or a lot of things. 
- - -
read part one here my loves !!
you found yourself bored, cheeks puffing out as you swirled around the drink in your glass cup, sitting across from midoriya. he was muttering again, which you’d always found cute, however you weren’t listening this time at all. 
part of the reason you’d rejected bakugou was due to the fact midoriya had requested your attention first, and not as friends. if you’d told bakugou that, it would just wound his delicate ego on top of the fact that you truly had no interest in him whatsoever. 
at the moment, though, he was the only thing on your mind. there was no sudden spark of attraction you’d felt when he’d confessed. of course, anyone would find it flattering that the katsuki bakugou found you attractive. his standards were higher than the clouds. 
at the moment, it felt like something was blocking your chest from feeling something for him, however you couldn’t pinpoint what it was. 
“—it was amazing, right, y/n? y/n?” 
your eyes flickered up to meet the emerald, wide-eyed eyes of your friend. you contemplated lying, but it was no use. shaking your head softly and pursing your lips, you set your drink down. “i’m sorry, midoriya. i’m just kind of...out of it, i guess you could say?” 
he cocked his head to the side. “’out of it’?” he repeated. 
“yeah,” you sighed, head pounding. 
“is everything alright? maybe today isn’t the best time for this.” 
“yeah,” you agreed. “maybe.” 
“do you want to go back to the dorms?” 
you nodded, massaging your temples. “yeah, yeah let’s go home.” 
midoriya let out a soft chuckle through his nose, smiling. “alright.” he offered his hand, and you gladly let him heave you up. 
“i’m sorry about this. honestly, midoriya, i enjoy your company, i really do. but i never assumed you’d catch feelings for me too—” 
“too?” he blinked. the two of you continued on your way back to Heights Alliance. 
you gulped. “yeah, there’s—” 
“are you saying you caught feelings for me, as well?”
your eyes fell blank, lips parting in question. “no, uh. you know what? never mind.” you giggled gently in hopes the two of you would laugh it off without another thought. perhaps you should keep you and bakugou’s quiet interaction to yourself. midoriya and bakugou were already rivals enough. 
the following week was agonizing in many ways. sitting beside bakugou guaranteed that you would get strange, judgmental looks. it never guaranteed his stolen glances. when you’d catch him staring, his cheeks would flare up, and you swore he had smoke puffing out his ears. 
each time, he looked as if he would explode. what can you expect from a guy like him? 
it was easy to assume you’d just pissed him off, though. you weren’t the type of person to tell everyone you’d been asked out, but you needed to speak to someone about it. the thought had been nagging you, stuck at the back of your mind but just on the tip of your tongue. 
you even found that you were distancing yourself from midoriya, who, after asking you out, had insisted you begin calling him izuku. over everyone else, you’d choose him to speak to about the matter, but ever since you’d discovered he had feelings all along, it was strange being around him. 
you viewed him differently. he shot you glimmering smiles and blushed softly when you said his first name. 
“y/n?” 
you twisted around to see mina rocking on her heels behind you. “yes?” 
“are you okay? you seem...how do i put this.” she tapped a pink finger against her lips. “off. you seem off. is everything alright?” 
your brows raised. “oh, yeah. i’m good. thanks for checking in.” 
“is there anything you want to talk about?” she adjusted her hero costume. you and the rest of the girls were currently changing for another training exercise. 
yaoyorozu fixed her hero costume. “i don’t mean to impose on anything, but i have to agree with mina, y/n. of course, there’s no pressure to tell us anything. you’re under no obligation to unless you need and want to talk to someone, but we’re here if you need us, okay?” 
you nodded, smiling softly. “thanks you guys.” 
it was the same training as before, however you were able to select a partner of your own. being that there were 21 students in the class, there was always ought to be a group of three, or one person left out. you’d come into yuuei out of pure luck, as some like to put it. 
you’d found it offensive they’d assumed it was that and not your own pure skill. it’d taken a while to re-convince yourself that you were worthy of being in the class, even if you were usually the odd one out. 
most students had already bonded by the time you arrived here, so finding a partner wasn’t always easy. once you and midoriya had gotten close, you two did most things together, however at the moment, you weren’t quite feeling it. 
surprisingly, your eyes caught bakugou standing alone, eyes scanning the room for a partner. kirishima must have partnered up with another friend, then. it was always them together. 
unfortunately, you weren’t quick enough to avoid either of them. bakugou was already trotting up to you, eyes locked on your figure just as midoriya began jogging to your side. 
in perfect unison, they asked, “be my partner?” (in two very different tones, of course.) 
you blinked between them, about to answer when aizawa came up behind you three. 
“are you guys in the group of three?” your teacher deadpanned. 
your shoulders slumped. “yeah, i guess so.” 
“get to work. you’ve already wasted five minutes standing around.” 
you nodded politely. “yes, sensei.” 
you swallowed. bakugou’s crimson gaze was pinning you in your spot, and midoriya’s lips thinned with a lack of enthusiasm when bakugou looked back at him. 
“get to work, you three,” aizawa repeated, walking away. 
“i can take on both of you.” bakugou cracked his knuckles. 
you clenched your fists. “we already know you’re at the top of the class, bakugou. there’s no need to rub it in our faces.” 
he averted his eyes, cheeks flushing red. it was like a sad, silly way of letting you know you won this fight. 
“i’ll go against you two,” you said, adjusting your hero costume. 
midoriya’s eyes widened. “what? y/n, but—” 
“but i’m not strong enough?” you finished for him. you knew where they ranked in strength, and while yours was just as powerful, if you let one thing slip, your arrows would disappear and you’d be dust. “that’s exactly my point, you two are practically at the top of the class with your quirks.” 
“tch, don’t hold back,” bakugou said, readying himself. 
“don’t go easy on me,” you mocked. 
“y/n, do you really think this is a good idea—” before izuku could finish, you and bakugou launched yourselves at one another. 
you charged forwards. an arrow flew from your hand, twisting its way right through the smoke of an explosion. when it cleared, bakugou was nowhere to be seen. 
a gasp fell from your lips as you turned around just a little too late. your ears rang terribly as your back collided with the ground. 
izuku cried out. green lightning flashed, and he was at your side in a moment. “kacchan!”
you groaned, sitting up. bakugou cut through the smoke with an arm. “fight me, damned nerd. there aren’t any pauses in a real fight.” 
you wriggled yourself away from midoriya. “midoriya, you’re my enemy in this.” 
“bu—” 
“no buts. fight me. and don’t hold back.” 
midoriya noted the determination in your eyes and stood, giving you a sure nod. you were back on your feet in a second. bakugou flew in the air and came crashing down just as fast as he conjured a blast in his right hand. 
attacking wasn’t your best option right now. you were smart enough to know that. an arrow appeared flat at your back and pulled you from where bakugou was targeting. 
cement flew into the air. 
that blast could have wounded you badly. possibly killed you, if he’d hit the right spots. 
in the air, you examined their zealous features. midoriya’s brows were furrowed in that determined smolder. 
bakugou, as always, looked angry. as expected, he charged first, shooting himself into the air. his foot nearly collided with your face, missing my barely an inch. you took your shot, revealing the arrow you’d hidden behind your back. the tip collided with his chest. 
you left the arrow to complete its command and stick your blonde opponent to the wall and trap him there while you went after midoriya. 
while he bested you in strength, you did the same to him when it came to speed. you dodged his punches like they were weak attempts at hitting a ball in a park. 
you grinned. in a battle of strength and speed, whoever landed the first hit would win. there was no question. 
twisting in the air, you allowed the ball of your foot to shove midoriya to the ground. he cried out as his face was crushed into the cement. 
it was perfect timing, as bakugou ripped free of your hold, the arrow keeping him in one spot dissolving into air as soon as its purpose was lost. 
your head whipped around to see him charging for you. 
your fingers curled. the headache pounding at your temples was beginning to get hard to ignore. 
bakugou launched himself at you, spinning in the air like a missile. he really wasn’t going to howitzer you...right? 
when he didn’t slow down, you threw your body to the right, the attack just barely missing your leg. it scorched a bit of your thigh. a groan fell from your lips as you cupped the area around the burn, shuddering with pain. 
bakugou’s chest was puffed proudly as he marched up to you, hands cracking with excited explosions. 
he pulled back his right arm, ready to spark up another fight as midoriya recollected himself. you bit your lip to hide the fact you were quivering. 
it was sudden, but bakugou paused when he saw your hand fly up. 
“give me a minute...” you gasped out, skin still sizzling. 
“y/n! are you alright?” 
you didn’t respond. midoriya smacked his friend’s arm. “kacchan! what’re you thinking?”
“midoriya, i’m fine. don’t stress over it.” you limped to your feet, rejecting the extended hand from your green-haired friend. “i’ll just go see recovery girl.” 
“do you need—” 
you smacked midoriya’s hand away, a little bit more rude than you intended it to be. “i’ll be...fine.” you offered a weak smile to hopefully make up for your tiny outburst. 
although you could see in his eyes he wanted to help, midoriya nodded and stood by, hand falling back to his side. you clutched around the patch of burned skin. the sting had faded a bit, however there was a soreness to the wound that felt like a constant stabbing to your leg. 
you swallowed the pain down, marching towards the exit with determination and a bit of a limp.
you looked back to see midoriya had gone off to tell mr. aizawa what was going on. your teacher nodded, understandingly. 
there were a few worried glances and offers for help in the hall, but you’d neglected them all and found yourself relieved to see recovery girl in her office, typing away. 
she turned as the door opened. “please knock beforehand next time—oh, dear. y/n? are you alright?” 
you gave a tense nod. “mhm. just got a bit banged up in training today.” 
the old woman pursed her lips, smile lines becoming evident. “i see.” she led you to the small cot reserved for patients such as yourself and directed you to sit down. 
she examined the bruise. “it’s fairly bad. what happened?” 
you made a gesture to the door. “i was brawling with bakugou and things got...intense.” 
“that boy has quite an extreme side to him, as i’ve come to notice.” 
“mhm,” you agreed. 
“unfortunately, y/n, i have no ointments to be able to treat this properly.” 
you nodded sheepishly before the old woman smooched your cheek. a soft green glow radiated around you. 
when she pulled back, she said, “now, your body will be trying to catch up on the healing process. that’s what my quirk does. speed up recoveries. since it’s sped up, you’ll require some rest, preferably sleep. i’ll make sure your teachers know you’re excused for the rest of the day, sound good?” 
“yes, thank you recovery girl.” 
she pushed herself out of her rolling chair and left the room, smiling at you.
your eyes fluttered shut not long after that. 
the sun was gone when you woke up, the hallway light flickering off. 
“good, you’re awake.” 
you looked to the left. you cried out, gathering the white sheets around yourself despite being completely clothed. “bakugou! what the hell? you stalker! you creep!” 
bakugou took the slap you gave him on his arm. it was light, and didn’t do much damage. 
“what...what do you want?” 
even in the dark, you could tell bakugou’s cheeks were burning red. “about...about the other day. i wanted to talk to you about it.” 
your chest fluttered in unwanted hope. “there’s nothing to talk about.” 
“dammit, y/n, i wish there wasn’t anything to talk about. you’re insufferable and annoying and i can’t stand being around you because no matter what’s going on, you make my chest feel all funny. it’s stupid, and i can’t take my eyes off of you.” 
heat rushed to your cheeks. “i’m flattered, really. but i-” 
“i’m not asking you to reciprocate my shitty feelings. if anything, it’s better if you don’t.” 
“bakugou, i wasn’t...” you paused. 
“you what?” he snapped, voice soft despite his tone. 
“i was going to say that ever since you...ever since you asked me out, i’ve been conflicted about my own feelings.” 
“the hell is that supposed to mean?” 
“i’m not sure if i like you back or not, bakugou. but hearing you say all this...makes me want to give it a shot. sort of. also, why the hell are you watching me sleep?” 
bakugou swept hair from his eyes. “don’t go and try to change the subject on me, dumbass.” 
you gulped. 
“so what’re you saying?” 
“i’m saying,” you started, “i’m saying that maybe i want to go out on that date with you.” 
“say it again.” 
“what?” you looked up, his eyes boring into yours. 
“i said i want you to say it again. tell me you want to go out on a date with me.” 
it startled you how sure he was when he knew what you wanted, too. this was unlike the last attempt to ask you out. 
“katsuki bakugou, i want to go on a date with you.” 
he grinned. “where to?”
224 notes · View notes
bonsai62 · 3 years
Text
I just realized something... I was talking to this person one time on a post before and as I was typing that’s when i realized something:
This is for my fellow Nobamaki & Itafushi shippers! If you guys don’t ship it then it’s okay! This is just like a small analysis in my eyes and the way I read things! I can be wrong or just love reaching on a shit ton of things but this is all for fun and I love sharing with you guys!
Let’s get started! Also, this contains spoilers!
Do you guys realize that Nobamaki/Itafushi actually parallel to each other? Let me explain in shitty English and basic grammar and vocabulary lol:
As I watch and read Jujutsu Kaisen I see a lot of parallels between characters; Gojo with Megumi or Yuji, Getou with Megumi and Yuji or Nobara and Maki... but what I want to parallel between characters is:
Yuji & Maki
1. Raw strength:
Both are hella fucking strong and for people who don’t have cursed techniques, they know how to kick fucking ass. What made me realize that both of them are the same is honestly during the baseball game. I like how we were able to see Maki and Yuji making a home run... okay well Momo fucked up Maki’s groove! Haha! But during the Tokyo vs Kyoto event, Maki and Yuji go ham on their enemy.
Tumblr media
Yes, Maki used weapons but still, we can’t deny she got good speed and strength that is similar to Yuji’s. That’s why I wish I can see them both doing a bad ass duo fight together.
I have a small headcanon that Yuji actually enjoys training with Maki the most because I feel like he can understand someone who shares similarity in natural raw strength and speed. And Maki feels the same way and it’s a good excuse to bully Yuji as a joke. I would honestly love to see that! Lol!
2. Their story:
Yuji and Maki honestly have it bad. Yuji loosing his only family member (his abuelo) and becoming Sukuna’s vessel which leads him to a future execution. For Maki is the fact that her family treated her like garbage and having to leave her sister behind and eventually her sister dying.
Both Maki and Yuji share that same pain when it comes to loosing someone. We saw Yuji with Junpei and in the Shibuya Arc with Nanamin and Noabra. Again, Maki the same with Mai.
I think what made me even realize it MORE on how alike and how they parallel with each other are these images right here and how they worded their final saying:
Tumblr media
In the Shibuya Arc, Yuji lost it. He lost it with Nanamin and Nobara (but luckily for Todo, he was able to pick his feet back up).
If I was Yuji, I would’ve reacted the same way because imagine having the idea you want to save people no matter what but people keeps dying around you or by you? It’s tiring and I would’ve had a mental breakdown too.
After kicking Mahito’s ass, Yuji says there is no reason anymore. For me, when Maki’s arc came it really reminded me of this:
Tumblr media
When Mai died and was killed by her own dad. Her dad took away someone who was precious to Maki no matter how much they didn’t get along. Maki really wanted to create the Zenin clan just for Mai to be safe and free.
Again, same with Maki, I would’ve killed the whole clan too because of how in general the Zenin clan is and how they treat people.
3. Having a “curse”:
Nanamin to Yuji: “You’ve got it from here”
Tumblr media
Mai to Maki: “destroy everything”
I don’t necessarily mean a curse curse but it’s more like final words that someone important to them said before dying.
For Yuji, he won’t die because Nanamin believes that Yuji can move forward and save the world.
As for Maki, Mai tells her to destroy everything in order for things to change (I might be wrong). It’s for the Zenin clan to start fresh. That is another way I kinda Interpreted (again, I can be wrong). Maki still isn’t done with destroying things plus she is going to move forward just like Yuji. 
I have a thing that if the higher ups find out about Maki, she would be on the verge of being executed as well. So imagine both Maki and Yuji together being executed.
Now on to the next pair!
Megumi & Nobara
Again, this is just me analyzing. But if you ship Itafushi and Nobamaki, you can actually see another pair that parallels to each other but so far I haven’t seen anyone compare them yet, or it’s just me lol!
1. No rivalries:
I think what I love about these ships so damn much is that there is NO RIVALRIES. Even if you don’t ship them you have to admit it is amazing seeing a m/m or f/f getting along without being damn rivals. I’m glad Gege decided not to do that especially towards the women because it does get so tiring that two women don’t like each other for no damn reason or fighting over the main guy or other main guy. At least when Nobara didn’t like Mai or Momo, she had a reason for not liking them.
And don’t get me started with Megumi and Yuji. I was so happy to finally see two boys be friends instead of the usual, boring rivalries. I’m a be honest with you, I was pretty shocked that Gege was able to make Megumi and Yuji be so close and trust each other as friends. It’s a breath of fresh air for the two ships like omg I was happy not seeing the basic shonen bullshit with the f/f and m/m relationship.
2. Hyping up their pairs:
What I mean by hyping them up, I’m talking about the potential that Maki and Yuji has that Nobara and Megumi sees from them. Nobara since the start acknowledge that Maki is strong and vice versa with Megumi with Yuji. What made me see that Nobara knows that Maki is just amazing and strong was during the baseball when Maki was able to hit almost a home run. Nobara just knew that Maki would be able to make that home run but again Momo ruined her moment! Lol!
Tumblr media
As for Megumi, we see while the Tokyo students came up with a strategy to win against the Kyoto students, we see him saying that Yuji can actually beat all their asses without curse energy or energy(one of those). Megumi reassures to people that Yuji can take care of himself and is very useful. Another time Megumi reassured that Yuji is strong is when he was in his bed healing from Hanami’s attacks and when they fought tiger against that one dude (forgot his name)
3. Thinking about them/defending them:
Now… this is really what made me think why Nobara and Megumi parallel with each other
It’s becasue I feel like they’re the ones who are more attached and over protective with Yuji and Maki than how Maki and Yuji are with them.
Now, I’m not saying it’s vice verse with Maki and Yuji. But I’m talking about how Nobara and Megumi expresses it. Let me explain:
While reading and watching JJK, we see how Nobara is with Maki compared to anyone else. And no, I’m not saying that Nobara isn’t overprotective with Megumi or Yuji but just the way she is towards Maki. I would honest love to see how these girls got along and how they became close!
Ever since Maki and Nobara had that deep conversation about why Maki choose to be a sorcerer, that is when I actually started shipping them because of how much respect Nobara has towards Maki and it continues to develop more and more with the two of them. We saw how Nobara got super defensive when she fought against Mai (First time) and started dissing Mai. The second time was with Momo, when she was straight up talking shit about Maki.
I love how when Nobara was talking about Maki and Yuji when fighting against Momo. However, I felt a different vibe towards it as well. What I mean by that is that I got more of a “big sister vibe” toward Yuji and a “I love and respect Maki”
But again, I feel like Nobara had some sort of feeling and attachment toward Maki ever since that fight with Momo and more than anyone else too. However, that is just me though! You do t have to agree with my reaching!
Tumblr media
For Megumi and Yuji… First of all… Megumi would not hesitate to pull a trigger if anyone is trying to harm Yuji. What made me see that was against Kamo and the Kyoto students. I swear that day Megumi was literally about to commit murder.
Yeah, Nobara got pissed but she went easy on them, but Megumi didn’t. Oh no, he was about to commit a felony. He wanted all the smoke. He wanted that curse. I swear I even felt how pissed he was. I just feel like every time and separates, shit goes down the wrong way and everything goes wrong.
For me, shipping Megumi and Yuji is a whole ass different post but I won’t do that lmao same with Nobamaki because I can write a whole ass essay why I love how compatibly/perfect for each other lol
Bonus:
But guess what… during the Kyoto and Tokyo event, same shit happened with Megumi like Nobara: Megumi was thinking of Tsumiki and Yuji. And again, I felt like it was still different when Megumi was thinking of Tsumiki and Yuji. I find it crazy how Nobara and Megumi were thinking about two people during that event:
Nobara: Maki & Yuji Megumi: Yuji & Tsumiki
Tumblr media
This is my personal favorite image of Nobara and Megumi. *wink wink* it’s basically the same image on who is important to to them.
Again, for Nobara and Yuji’s relationship, I just love the way it is. She gives me “big sister” energy towards Yuji and vice verse. Yuji and Nobara are those chaotic siblings that are the hyper ones while Megumi and Maki are the chill ones that can actually keep them down. There has been one occasion where both Megumi and Maki calms Yuji and Nobara down because of how they were acting and I’m not gonna lie it’s kinda cute lmao:
Tumblr media
4. Not leaving them:
During the Shibuya Arc, Maki and Nobara separates but at one panel, Nanamin was telling Nobara and Nitta that he was going to join the Zenins. Nobara quickly picked her head up and suggested that she wanted to join him in order for her to be with Maki (this is a stretch but hey Iike being dramatic) however, Nanamin quickly declines her and tells her that it’s too dangerous. I think she was disappointed that she couldn’t go, but hey, Nanamin is a gentleman and he knows when a child is gonna end up getting hurt. I thought it was cute that she was super worried about Maki and just doesn’t care and wanting to join her.
Tumblr media
Tumblr media
Now, up the recent chapters, Megumi really shows us that he doesn’t want Yuji leaving him or he wants to stay by his side. Those few chapters really made my heart feel some type of way because it just the way Megumi is for Yuji and I can honestly feel how much he cares for him. As I mentioned above, I feel like everything goes to shit when those two aren’t together and I hope that they develop more and more. There has been two more occasions where Fushi doesn’t want Yuji to be left behind; one during when they were in prison and the second during the fight against Hanamin. The eyes that Fushiguro gives Yuji is full of trauma and careness.
In conclusion, I can’t wait for Nobamaki and Itafushi to develop more and more in future chapters. Again, you guys don’t have to agree with me on this. This is just for fun and sharing is fun too! If I’m overreaching then I’m sorry I just can’t help it :(!!
I hope you guys enjoyed my lil analysis! I’m sorry for the bad writing, I’m not very good at translating my feelings as I’m typing because my brain goes all over the place lol! But please, feel free to comment or give me an ask! I’ll be happy to elaborate more for you guys!
Stay safe y’all! And good night or morning!
323 notes · View notes
lemonade-if · 2 years
Note
First of all, I absolutely adore all your characters and your plot, they re incredible!
And your writing is great! I love slice of life ifs and I'm glad we are getting more. :))
I am curious as to what genre you tend to gravitate more towards when it comes to reading, is it the same genre that you prefer to write in or are they completely different? In terms of characters what are your favourite types of characters to write and your favourite types to read? Is there any clichés that you're a huge fan of/never get tired of seeing? And last question in terms of interactive fiction as a whole what genres and themes do you feel aren't represented enough in if and you would like to see more of?
Thank you so much for your kind words! You've honestly made my night. Thank you for such an indulgent question, too. I'll put this under a cut for those uninterested in an old man's long rambling :- )
Lemonade is quite different from the stuff I prefer to read and write. My favorite genres are seinen and darker psychological series, and Lemonade is overall a happy, vanilla series. I actually rewrote the opening about 6 times, because the tone was too bitter and hopeless at first 😂 If I wrote Lemonade in the style I usually write in, it’d sound like a story being told from Yuushin’s perspective.
For reasons both within and beyond my control, there are a lot of things I feel like I missed out on as a teen; a lot of things that I could never have closure in; a lot of mistakes and regrets...I guess Lemonade is a bit like my own personal therapy. Somewhere inside this tired, jaded adult is a person who still wants a second chance at reliving the hopes and joys of youth.
My favorite characters to read are the ones you can't decide whether you like or hate. Even if they're against the hero, you're not sure if you want them to win or lose. Tsurumi Tokushirou and Ogata Hyakunosuke are the best examples of this I've ever come across (from Golden Kamuy, one of my favorite manga of all time). Another great example is Takahashi Hisanobu from REAL (my favorite manga of all time).
I like writing all types of characters: jackasses, stick-in-the-asses, smartasses...why are they all asses? If I had to choose, unhinged or raunchy characters are probably the most fun, since I don't have to hold back. Dumbasses are fun too. Another ass...
You didn't ask, but my least favorite is writing cool characters. I get so worried about whether or not they'll come off as cool enough. I bully Yosuke the most because he causes me the most stress.
I love many cliches! In terms of relationship dynamics, Grumpy x Sunshine, Delinquent x Honor Student, Enemies to Lovers, Rivals to Lovers...In terms of general cliches, I like every single angst cliche under the sun. If it hurts me, I'm all in :D
Personally, I'd love to see more IFs that are:
Non-fantasy slice of life
Stories that take place outside of Western society or history
Relationship/character and choice-driven stories (romance or not)
I have a few more story ideas of my own in terms of addressing the above...but rest assured, I won't touch them until at least one book of Lemonade is complete :D
43 notes · View notes
makeste · 3 years
Text
some meta about Izuku, Katsuki, and trust
Tumblr media
and choosing to trust is the real bridge that goes to accepting that person as a part of your live again and what the offender has to earn. I think the interesting aspect of Deku and Bakugou's relationship is that Deku has always trusted Bakugou, and I would say more than he had forgiven him at the start of the story (where he does show more frustration and resentment towards Bakugou's behaviour and see him as a jerk) but despite that he can always trust Bakugou to him himself, attested to
the fact that Deku feels very confident about how Bakugou will act or what Bakugou's true motives are and probably the reason why he always sees Bakugou as a hero despite his hurtful behaviour is because Deku 100% trusts Bakugou even if he's doing something disagreeable or that will hurt him. Knowing someone and trusting is not exactly the same and I see it as trust because of Deku willingness to be co-operative. On Bakugou's side he is mistrustful of Deku and thats where the communication
breaks down and there has been plenty of meta exploring why Bakugou has deep rooted problems around Deku and his journey is him taking accountability of that and changing to be a better person. While understanding and miscommunication get their fair due I think trust and mistrust are the true bedrocks of the bkdk river bed because that allows for how they can still be so connected despite the miscommunication (with Bakugou mistrust is mixed with some trust) because of knowing.
anon I really enjoyed this, thank you for sharing your thoughts! I concur with just about all of this, and this ask got me thinking a lot about the nature of trust, and how it applies to Izuku and Katsuki’s relationship.
I think a lot of people’s reactions to reading the sentence “Bakugou and Deku have always trusted each other” would pretty much be, “???” and “lol what.” like, yeah, sure. they trusted each other so much that Bakugou decided that throwing a tantrum for ten years would be an appropriate reaction to Deku trying to hold his hand. classic Trust, right there!!
lol but I honestly think this is true, though. it’s just that there are different... levels?? types?? of trust. let’s go with types. there are different types of trust, and what makes Izuku and Katsuki’s relationship so interesting to me is that it’s kind of the opposite of what these fictional rival-type relationships usually are. it’s basically the difference between knowing, and understanding.
okay so first of all let’s back up here to make sure we’re all on the same page. we’re defining trust as “firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone”, which is the Oxford Language definition and which works pretty well for me. you’ll note, btw, that the current relationship between Katsuki and Izuku more or less meets all four of these criteria.
reliability - both boys regard each other as dependable and are willing to rely on each other in a pinch (although Izuku is currently having some difficulty with that, but that’s another topic for another day).
truth - both are honest with each other, though not completely honest (this is the aspect that Katsuki still needs to work on, as he’s currently hiding his desire to atone).
ability - neither of them have any difficulty with this. Izuku admires Katsuki’s ability so much that he’s made it his own gold standard since childhood, and Katsuki respects Izuku’s ability enough that he made him his main rival, and never doubted that Izuku was qualified to receive OFA and become All Might’s heir.
strength - as with ability, this is another aspect of trust that neither of them has ever struggled with. in fact, a lot of their relationship struggles happened specifically because Katsuki never doubted Izuku’s strength, but feared it because he didn’t understand it.
so yeah. there’s a lot more trust between them than most people realize, I think. but the thing is that the type of trust they have is based more on knowing than understanding, and that’s where so much of their conflict stems from.
when I say knowing, I’m talking about the kind of awareness that comes from familiarity and experience. this is the type of trust that’s difficult to take shortcuts with, because it mostly just has to be accumulated over time. this is all about learning what someone is like through observing them and being around them. and it’s just as much about being known as well, because at the same time that you’re learning who the other person is, they’re learning about who you are. and that’s where trust starts to work its way in. it’s the slow unveiling of who you are, and laying it on the table piece by piece over time. and every time another little piece of you is revealed and accepted, and every time you accept one more piece of who the other person is in turn, that trust increases a little bit more. this type of trust takes a long, long time to build up, but in exchange the foundation it creates is pretty much rock-solid and nigh-indestructible.
understanding, on the other hand, to me is more instinctual. it’s about empathy and insight. and the interesting thing is that it’s possible to know someone for years upon years, and yet never truly understand them. and on the flip side, it’s also possible to understand someone within minutes of meeting them, even if you know almost nothing about them. if “knowing” is about learning who someone is, I would say that “understanding” is about learning why they are who they are. this type of trust isn’t necessarily always mutual, but it does necessitate forming a connection with someone. because empathy is such a critical component of it, it’s basically impossible to understand someone and not form an emotional connection to them in some way. this type of trust can be far more powerful and intense than the “knowing” type of trust, but the flip side is that it can sometimes be less stable and easier to break.
I think that the majority of fictional relationships, especially the ones that become really popular ships, are based more around the latter type of trust because of its intensity and unpredictability and potential for story development. the thing is, both of these types of trust are necessary for a good ship (and when I say “ship”, I’m talking about both romantic and platonic relationships just fyi). if neither type of trust is present on at least some level, then there’s really no foundation to start building up the relationship. so most of the time a ship will start out with one or the other, and then over the course of the story they'll work on building up whichever one was lacking.
and because of how stories work, the majority of the time we’re going to be dealing with characters who at first don’t know each other all that well. and so the relationships we get are ones where the characters first form some kind of emotional connection that builds understanding, and then over time they start to learn more about each other and build up that kind of trust as well. I feel like 90% of ships have this kind of dynamic. it’s the basis for things like enemies-to-lovers, fake dating AUs, and basically any kind of trope in which the characters get stuck somewhere and are forced to spend a lot of time together. it’s good, and it works.
but the fascinating thing about the relationship between Izuku and Katsuki, though, is that it’s actually the exact opposite of this. the premise of Izuku and Katsuki's story is that these are two people who’ve known each other their entire lives, but have almost no understanding of each other whatsoever. they know almost every little detail about each other, so much that they hardly even think about it. but all of their conflict is based on the fact that understanding between them is basically nonexistent.
and to me this is such an intriguing dynamic. the two of them know each other like the back of their hand. they’re familiar with the smallest habits. they can predict each other’s actions. they know how the other person thinks. and they have the kind of trust that comes with having seen the other at both their best and their worst. Katsuki is capable of letting his guard down around Izuku in a way he doesn’t do around anyone else. he cries in front of him on multiple occasions. he lets Izuku call him “Kacchan” long after their other childhood friends have stopped doing so. and even though he fears and resents Izuku’s strength early on, he also subconsciously acknowledges it in ways that even he doesn’t realize (e.g. “don’t you dare get into U.A.,” rather than “you can’t get in” or “you won’t get in”). he knows Izuku.
but he doesn’t understand Izuku. he knows who he is, but he doesn’t understand why. he knows that Izuku is strong, but he can't wrap his head around the nature of that strength. and because he lacks that understanding, this vital aspect of the trust between them is lacking, and is all too easily broken when Katsuki falls into the creek and Izuku tries to offer his help. Katsuki knows that Izuku is a good person, but he doesn’t understand that goodness, that selflessness, and so he’s mistrustful of it.
on the flip side of the coin, however, Izuku has the utmost faith in Katsuki. to him, Katsuki is the strongest, smartest, most capable and most amazing person in the world (aside from All Might). and Izuku, unlike Katsuki, actually does understand his childhood friend at least a little bit. he understands Katsuki’s reasons for wanting to be a hero. he understands that Katsuki is not just mindlessly pursuing strength. he understands that Katsuki’s motivation is about overcoming obstacles and beating challenges. and most importantly, he understands that Katsuki, in spite of everything he’s said and done to Izuku over the years, is fundamentally a good person.
and this is crucial. because, along with the bond of familiarity they’ve built up together over the years, it’s this other, one-sided bond of understanding that is responsible for their relationship enduring for as long as it did despite everything. as you put it, anon, Izuku’s trust is ultimately what becomes the bridge between them. on some level, he trusts in Katsuki’s innate goodness. he believes in it in spite of all of Katsuki’s attempts to persuade him otherwise. e.g. when Katsuki suggests that he go jump off the roof, Izuku is hurt by the words, but he never once takes them to heart, because he knows on some instinctive level that Katsuki doesn’t mean them. and so he grumbles to himself about Katsuki needing to think before he speaks, but aside from that he never gives the words another thought.
Katsuki would no doubt consider this yet another example of Izuku not caring enough about himself or taking himself into account. but it really is more than that. the reason the words don’t cut deep in spite of them being vicious and well-targeted is simply because Izuku knows that Katsuki isn't truly that cruel. and he knows that on a level so deep that Katsuki is never able to break it despite his best efforts. he can’t break it, because there’s nothing to break, because it’s true. the reason the relationship endures in spite of everything is because deep down Katsuki is fundamentally a good person, and so Izuku’s trust, in the end, is based on truth. and so it never fully breaks, and eventually, it becomes reciprocated.
and that’s what their story is all about. it’s two people that have known each other their entire lives, but have to work in order to build their understanding of each other. unlike many ships, they start off already having that foundation of knowing and being known, and so their story instead is about forging that connection of empathy and insight. and it doesn’t come easily to them at all. but they keep at it.
anyway, so thank you again for sharing your thoughts on this, anon. I didn’t even get into the topic of forgiveness, but I agree with you about it being a process of letting go of negative feelings and resentment. I also agree that forgiveness is a separate thing from trust, but I do think trust plays a big part in one’s decision to forgive or not forgive. it's a lot easier to forgive if you have an understanding of the other person’s actions. and it’s also far, far easier to forgive if the offender’s actions are long in the past. and because the latter is now true in Katsuki’s case, that shows a pattern of him learning from his mistakes and not repeating them. which further builds trust, especially in the “reliability” department. and so even though forgiveness and trust are two separate things, they’re still connected. and in many ways, by working to rebuild the understanding between him and Izuku, Katsuki is also working towards earning Izuku’s forgiveness, even though that’s ultimately something that can never truly be earned, but can only be granted.
I’m not sure if I’m really making my point very clear here lol, but basically what I’m trying to say is that while the relationship may have once been one-sided in this aspect, it’s not anymore. it’s mutual, and they’re both putting the work in. and Katsuki is also doing his part without any guarantee or expectation of forgiveness on Izuku’s end. it’s unconditional. he’s doing it because he wants to atone. and he’ll continue to do it whether he’s forgiven or not. and that’s important. it’s important because it shows that the relationship has value to both of them. and it’s important because neither of them wants to lose it. they want to fix it; they want to make it stronger.
and ultimately what that means is that the relationship will continue to endure, despite their ups and downs. because even though it may have started out as something incidental -- two boys who just happened to become friends because they spent a lot of time together as children -- it’s not, anymore. it’s no longer just something that happened, something that just accidentally came together. it’s something that they’re both working to build. they want to trust each other. they want to understand one another. their relationship is no longer something that simply withstood and persisted -- it’s something that is now being nurtured. and you love to see it.
so let's see, how do I even begin to tl;dr this post lol. something something blah blah blah trust, understanding, childhood friends, knowing someone, having faith in someone, being the recipient of that faith, and working to become worthy of it. they're very confused, but they care about each other a lot, and they are good boys.
292 notes · View notes
shihalyfie · 3 years
Text
Shounen anime character archetypes, and how the Adventure and 02 characters don’t entirely follow them
Tumblr media
Adventure is a kids’ show, and so it’s only natural that its characters would have certain surface archetypes common to others in the genre, like “the impulsive leader” or “the cool-headed rival”...except it actually doesn’t, really! It was actually a deliberate decision to make the characters go against their archetypes, and even the ones that did toe closer to it still had a number of nuances that distinguished them greatly from what you would usually expect from these kinds of characters. A lot of this was a deliberate attempt to make the characters relatable, so that it would allow each and every one of them to have their own unique strengths that their usual archetypes wouldn’t generally allow them to.
To be clear: tropes are not a fundamentally bad thing, especially since fiction very much relies on them to communicate (Adventure and 02 sometimes being so contrary to media expectations that they often frustrated viewers for not apparently making sense), and moreover, there are tropes that still are very true to reality (for instance, although the archetype of the “crybaby child” wasn’t in this series, many people have stated that Tomoki in the significantly more conventional Frontier was no less a realistic representation of what a child his age might do in an unfamiliar world). It’s also quite foolhardy to claim that Adventure and 02 never indulged in tropes at all, of course. However, things that fall outside the conventional mold are much more difficult to find proper representations of, and there’s an unfortunate trend of many (especially those in the mainstream who don’t quite remember the series well, or mainstream press) often pigeonholing Adventure and 02′s characters back into those tropes because that’s what you’d normally expect of them, sometimes to the point of negatively comparing them to other things -- and that’s just something that really isn’t fair to the series!
Disclaimer: Note that the following post works first and foremost off of the original Japanese version, so if you’re coming purely from the American English dub, there may be some substantial differences in what’s described (most noticeably in regards to Mimi and Daisuke).
Taichi
Tumblr media
While shounen media has been a lot more willing to change things up a lot since Adventure first aired in 1999, the general idea you get of a shounen protagonist is a hot-blooded one who charges recklessly into everything on impulse. Taichi definitely fits a handful of the traits on principle in that he’s a passionate sports boy, and one who takes an “action-first” philosophy and often acts on impulse, but there’s a lot more nuance to that than you might expect.
Firstly, it would be very off to pigeonhole Taichi as the belligerent type to like fighting and to charge into everything thoughtlessly, because while Taichi does get cocky in the midst of battle while riding the adrenaline, he’s not the kind of person who likes fighting enemies just for the sheer sake of fighting and defeating them (and, in fact, it would probably be incorrect to say this about any Adventure or 02 character). As is pointed out by Koushirou even when Taichi is at one of his most haphazard and reckless in Adventure episode 16, Taichi’s actions are still always out of consideration for others, and he’s the kind of selfless person who in fact only hits his most reckless points when he’s cracking so much under the pressure of needing to do things for everyone’s sake that he even throws himself into the fray out of self-sacrifice. Even during the late points of the series in Adventure episode 45, he felt that the method of “pushing forward despite everything” was the best way to repay the sacrifices their Digimon friends had made for them -- he has a tendency to advocate for actively doing things because he firmly believes that sitting around doing nothing won’t solve anything, or would result in more victims. He has had introspective moments of weakness (see Adventure episodes 17, 20, 21, etc.), and it’s specifically because he has to reconcile the facts that he knows nothing good will come out of being a sitting duck, but he also has to figure out a way to do it that won’t accidentally cause collateral damage.
Taichi is “impulsive” in that he tends to play things by ear, but that doesn’t always mean he advocates for the most aggressive solution -- in fact, there are times where he’s often too chill and is picking the simplest and least complicated thing to do for now while he tries to figure it out later. Plus, it’s not like he recklessly charges into battle against everyone’s wishes -- the few incidents he does are explicitly marked as his moments of weakness, and in fact the reason he gets into conflicts with Yamato so much during the early part of the series is technically because he’s taking the time to argue back at him and try to make his point instead of just going ahead and doing it anyway.
Taichi doesn’t have that much of an ego! Adventure episode 28 reveals that he’d never even thought of himself as the group’s “leader” to begin with, nor did he necessarily think he should have the position (by all means, despite how unreliable he was at the start of the series, responsibility belonged to Jou as the oldest in the group). But Taichi has a remarkable knack for seeing things on the bird’s-eye view, and that’s what makes him suitable as a leader -- not in the traditional shounen sense of just aggressively pushing everyone forward into battle, but looking at the full picture and making judgment calls, delegating jobs, and bringing people together. It’s a much more true-to-life description of what a “leader” needs to be beyond what media (or even real life resources, honestly!) would usually suggest, and Taichi being someone naturally suited to this position encompasses most of his personality -- it unfortunately makes him not very good at seeing the little things in front of him, but he’s capable of assertively and firmly making decisions for the sake of everyone’s welfare.
And even when Taichi does hit the general shounen lead trope of being on the argumentative or irritable side, a lot of it has to do with the fact he’s a bit of a playful troll who doesn’t take things seriously enough, not that he’s brash and wants to start a fight -- he sometimes makes insensitive remarks because he was under the impression others shouldn’t be taking it so seriously (”it was just a joke!”), or he gets defensive when someone (usually Yamato) calls out his plan for not being that great. But on the flip side, the fact he treats people equivocally and without distant weirdness allows him to have a sense of charisma to bring people together (it’s the very reason Koushirou was willing to approach him to begin with), and because he has a priority of pushing everyone forward productively with a sense of firmness, he’s able to conclusively make judgments and decisions during times others would hesitate. Even if they turn out to not be great decisions in the end, they’re still decisions that he consciously thought through to at least some degree, made for the sake of helping everyone and pushing them forward.
Yamato
Tumblr media
Yamato’s archetype is one that goes down to appearance -- the cool-looking, bishounen rival who advocates for a more “rational and cold” approach in contrast to the lead protagonist’s hot-bloodedness, who looks down on him for being stupid and irrational, and refuses to get near anyone due to looking down on them (or the concept of having friends in general). This is to the point where his own voice actor saw his design and immediately expected him to be this archetype to the point of worrying that he might not be able to pull off this role, only for himself to find out that Yamato is the exact opposite.
Yamato is, in fact, one of the most openly emotional and compassionate people in the entire original Adventure group, and given that Taichi is actually someone who often is too chill and doesn’t take things seriously enough, Yamato is actually the one who actively instigates fights with him and escalates things to physical levels, because he perceives Taichi as being inconsiderate. His first focus episode (Adventure episode 3) has him completely go off his rocker for Takeru’s safety, but while Takeru definitely elicits the most extreme reactions from him, he really does escalate fights immediately the moment he feels sufficiently offended on others’ behalf. So in other words, “rational and cold” are just around the last words you should be ever using for Yamato.
Moreover, what seems to be detachment from the others ends up ultimately just being a byproduct of awkwardness -- even as early as Adventure episodes 6 and 18, he had no problems openly laughing and smiling with the others, and it was just his prior lack of friends beforehand that made him unsure of how to open up to others. Adventure episode 51 has him directly say in words what his actual reasoning for his awkward behavior and friendless background was: it wasn’t that he didn’t want to be near others, he was just so obsessed with being independent and self-reliant that he felt that he shouldn’t be dependent on others. He liked others’ company, and he didn’t look down on them at all -- he cared a lot about the others’ welfare, he was just averse to the idea of actually being emotionally dependent on others, until he was able to be snapped out of that mindset and able to understand that relying on others doesn’t indicate a personal failing.
These kinds of characters usually are fueled by some kind of pride or condescension, but in fact Yamato doesn’t have that at all (in fact, you could more accurately say that it’s insecurity more than anything). Even when he openly breaks down into a crying mess in front of everyone (he has the highest cry count in Adventure, at that!), he doesn’t seem to have any shame about having exposed some of the rawest parts of himself to the others -- think about how this archetype would usually get embarrassed about people finding out they’re “soft” -- and there’s no evidence that he has any sense of superiority whatsoever.
By the time of 02, since he’s portrayed as having become openly sociable and cheerful, for all intents and purposes, the only thing he has left in common with the archetype is just the fact he seems to be really into a sort of edgy aesthetic. Otherwise, he’s just as emotional as ever, makes even some of the funniest facial expressions in 02, is on fantastic terms with Taichi (it is very important that the single punch he lands on him is purely in a sense to snap him out of it and not made out of anger or condescension), and, really, if you want to say that he has a responsibility of reining Taichi in, considering Taichi’s penchant for being a little too assertive about his decisions, it’s just in the sense of lightly reminding him not to get too ahead of himself, which is not any worse than keeping an eye on a cat with a track record of getting into willful trouble. This is especially because, after all, Yamato is someone who has compassion for others’ welfare and feelings -- and that includes Taichi, too.
Sora
Tumblr media
This kind of character is usually thought of as the “badass action girl”, especially since Sora is established as also being rather physically active much like Taichi, but one thing that often comes with this sort of character is that they often “have it together” all of the time and are seemingly implacable in personality. Adventure goes out of its way to indicate, even as early as episode 3, that while it is true that Sora has it together and is capable of pulling her own weight, she is also not a saint -- that is to say, she’s capable of having moments of pettiness, poor judgment, or irrationality like any other flawed human being. In fact, her first focus episode (Adventure episode 4) has her outright look down on Piyomon for being, in her mind, overly mushy and clingy and not really up for the job of protecting her, only to be proven very wrong at the end of the episode.
One thing Adventure and 02 don’t shy away from is the concept of “selflessness to the point of self-destruction” -- it’s good to be kind and considerate, but at what point are you doing so much for other people that you’re not properly taking care of yourself? In Sora’s case, the problem is defined as compulsive -- even when, in Adventure episode 26, she claims herself to be an inconsiderate person who doesn’t care about anyone and is incapable of love or affection, it’s revealed that, despite consciously thinking that, she’d still gone out of her way to help everyone behind the scenes in the last few episodes because she still couldn’t stop wanting to help people. Even her own flashbacks (and rather inaccurate testimony) about her past with her mother have a constant thread of her working for others’ sake more than she’s doing anything for herself.
In other words, being this image of a perfect, well-behaved, reliable person whom everyone can depend on no matter what is actually pretty unhealthy for her, because she’s capable of cracking under the pressure and not being allowed to be, well, a normal human being once in a while. Being that sort of person requires constantly catering to obligations (real or perceived) to others, which she’s unfortunately capable of falling so deeply in and not thinking of herself at all to the point she gets self-destructive. Because her problem with this is so bad, Jou and Yamato reaching out to her in Adventure episode 51 literally just involves reminding her about the sheer concept of personal will and volition, because without that, she’d basically considered herself a piece of the situation who does everything she does because that’s what she has to do.
And yes, indeed, a “lead” female character in this position would usually be played up heavily with the main lead male character, because media traditionally loves to hint that the sheer existence of a male and female lead with any kind of relationship whatsoever means that they have to be fated to be in love, but given the philosophy of not wanting to apply tropes unless there’s an in-universe rationale for it (of which “pairing the main male and female leads” is directly cited as one potential such trope), it is true that just because Sora knew Taichi from the soccer club and is usually the first-listed female character in Adventure doesn’t really necessarily indicate she should be obligated to fall head over heels in love with him (especially because they don’t interact nearly as much as you’d expect two characters with that kind of backstory to, and Koushirou, who’s also from the same club, hangs with him much more prominently) -- and in fact, when the issue of her love life does come up in 02, it’s treated as a very non-dramatic issue that becomes a background element of the narrative, which is not how you’d usually see the issue of romance or a love life usually treated in the kind of media that loves to bring that front and center most of the time. While the fanbase loves to treat it like it was some kind of love triangle, that kind of reading actually requires an extra dose of interpretation from a very ambiguously portrayed situation that ultimately isn’t given much fanfare by even the characters in-universe, because, really, two fourteen-year-olds dating is...rather commonplace and not actually that big of a deal, especially when compared to something like preventing monsters from blowing up the city.
Koushirou
Tumblr media
Adventure actually has two plays on the traditional “nerd” character, separating the archetype into one who’s good with data and random trivial information (Koushirou) and one who’s good at rote memorization and doing practical calculations that are good for school environments (Jou). So already, there’s a bit of subtle nuance in the fact it makes this distinction at all, in that there are different ways to be “smart” -- Koushirou’s depth of knowledge is significantly less practically applicable than Jou’s in most ordinary situations and isn’t tailored well to institutional expectations like school and exams, but he has a much wider range of things he knows about and ends up more directly pertinent in regards to his knowledge about computers and data analysis.
In any case, a “smart” character would often have an angle of being condescending, i.e. lording over others that they know so much more than them and knowingly being showoffs as a result, or actively disliking people and considering machines to be superior. In the case of Koushirou, however, it’s established that while he does have a certain level of intimidation around other people and find himself more comfortable around his computer, and while he can get absorbed in gathering information or rambling off about things because he’s passionate about it, he doesn’t actively dislike nor look down on others (rather, he’s actively intimidated by them, according to Adventure episode 38), and he states outright in Adventure episode 10 that he doesn’t want to spurn Mimi nor does he care about his computer more than he cares about others, he just genuinely thinks that what he’s doing right now will benefit even Mimi in the long run, too.
Koushirou may not be experienced in dealing with other people and may be a bit uncomfortable in high-pressure social situations, but at his core he’s a very kind and compassionate person who cares about others! The fact he’s constantly polite to others isn’t just out of awkwardness, but also out of a genuine desire to keep courtesy and distance, and as the series goes on it turns out he really is as polite and humble as he sounds -- he’s doing it because he’s shy, not because he considers himself above the others, and by Adventure episodes 38 and 54 he says that he would like to be able to speak more casually and be closer to others, it’s just that it’s going to take some time for him to do so. And even if he does mess up a social situation, if he’s informed he’s messed up, he’s easily capable of taking this to heart and trying to do better (which makes up all of Adventure episode 10 when he eventually realizes he went too far with Mimi). Just because he may not be fantastic at handling the fallout doesn’t mean he doesn’t fundamentally care or want to minimize harm to others. Not only that, he’s also one of the youngest in this group, and for all it’s worth, he shows every indication of being properly respectful of his elders from his position.
Moreover, while Koushirou is so heavily associated with his computer, the series doesn’t take long to establish that the computer really is not the focal part of his character as much as it’s the concept of “gathering and analyzing information”. However much knowledge Koushirou had gained prior to the series, and whatever tech skills Koushirou may or may not have (if you look closely, his tech feats aren’t actually that impressive within the scope of Adventure and 02, and a lot of what he does in terms of tech feats is heavily outsourced), are considered relatively unimportant in comparison to his actual attitude about it, which is that he never stops wanting to learn more or dig deeper into things whenever something’s piqued his curiosity. The conflict in Adventure episode 24 that establishes the true, functional meaning of the Crest of Knowledge has very little to do with computers at all, but rather Koushirou insatiably pursuing more about the Digital World itself and Gennai, and, really, the topic could be anything as long as it’s new and interesting -- it’s just that computers (especially ones connected to the Internet) are a convenient place to gather and analyze different kinds of information, and the Digital World happens to be an absolute treasure trove of new things to discover.
In other words, Koushirou knows a lot of things not because it gives him some status of superiority over others for being “smart”, but rather because he’s genuinely passionate about exploring and learning about things, and you can also see it in the difference between the way he approaches “gathering” information versus “disclosing” information. During times he’s focused on gathering or analyzing information, he focuses on it and tends to shut others out because he wants to make sure he’s uninterrupted and can get every little detail out of it, and whenever he’s talking to himself, others might sometimes get lost in his rambling, but whenever he’s put in a situation where it’s of importance that he explain to others (examples being Adventure episodes 19, 28, and 42), he clarifies when people have questions, sometimes checks to make sure everyone’s still following, and, in general, has no sense of condescension about the fact he knows more than them, with the implication that wants the others to be able to understand and appreciate the information he’s passionate about.
Koushirou is also one of the most visible seniors in 02, because as someone whose defining trait was “curiosity and inquisitiveness”, it stands to reason that he’d be the one most curious about what his juniors are getting involved with, what’s going on with the Digital World, and anything else to do with it (hence why he occasionally asks his juniors to test things for him, such as in 02 episode 17, and hauls himself all the way down to Tamachi to pick Ken’s brain about anything he knows in 02 episode 33). Again, like in Adventure, his character portrayal actually has very little to do with computers, despite what the imagery and archetype would suggest -- it’s more about how he’s now become able to take a leadership role like that of the computer club and start coordinating and organizing people to be able to figure out even more things, while also being able to personally unravel more of the mysteries behind the Digital World and the story itself.
Mimi
Tumblr media
Coming from a background of being a bit pampered and spoiled, Mimi aligns a bit to the “pretty girl” archetype that generally has a few things associated with it -- someone who might be a bit materialistic or fixated on appearances, and someone who’s a bit condescending or high-horse in compared to others. So it’s interesting that Mimi is actually portrayed as, for the most part, not that absorbed about appearances or materialism (it’s not to say she doesn’t care at all, but any references she makes to appearance are vanishingly rare in the series, and she’s even willing to warm up to the Numemon or Scumon/Chuumon and not hold grudges against them), and in fact all of her “complaints” that she makes in the early parts of the series are meant to be in line with what an average child would have in her situation. Complaints like “I don’t like this” in reaction to little things like having to get dirty or endure something tiring aren’t complaints she makes because she looks down on it as much as she’s just had a very sheltered upbringing that hadn’t involved a lot of hardship, so now that she has to grit her teeth and go through a lot of difficult things, she simply has low tolerance and high sensitivity and is having difficulty coping.
Beyond that, Mimi is consistently portrayed as likeable and devoid of malice or condescension towards anyone -- so much to the point that even at the beginning of the series, she saw no reason to look down on Koushirou or make fun of him when her classmates did, because she didn’t see why she should. Mimi is said to be someone who is so naturally likeable that she has no problems making friends with anyone, which is why she’s the one who’s able to gather together allies at the end of Adventure -- because she lacks condescension or malice, and is compassionate enough to never get on the wrong foot with anyone, everyone ends up able to get along with her with no problem. As one of the youngest in the group, she’s polite to her elders and uses proper honorifics on everyone, and moreover any lashing out she does is purely defensive and not aggressive towards others. She lashes out because she doesn’t like herself or her friends being hurt, but otherwise she doesn’t care to do anything cold or rude towards others, nor have a grudge; her first focus episode (Adventure episode 6) involved her having absolutely nothing but "they don't seem like they're having fun" towards everyone making fools of themselves in front of her, and she even goes as far as to outright call them her “friends” at a time in the series when everyone barely knew each other! This is also why 02 depicts her as having already made a ton of friends in America (such as Michael, or the attendees of the huge party in 02 episode 14) despite having been there for only a year; she’s that likeable to the point she can get along with people from even an entirely different country easily.
Mimi is “extremely empathetic”, which means that she won’t cause harm or pain to others because she herself feels their pain when they’re in trouble or hurt -- the closest she got to being on a power trip was her “princess” mental health crash in Adventure episode 25, which almost immediately led to her having nightmares about everyone feeling betrayed and potentially hating her and turning around in less than one night. Hence, she won’t do anything to hurt others’ feelings, because she herself feels hurt if she does. However, that means that once the Dark Masters arc kicks in and many of their friends are hurt and killed in the process, her feeling every bit of that makes her the first to take it the hardest and become unable to fight (and, by extension, is very tied to that “extra sensitivity” that made her so sensitive to pain or unpleasant experiences at the beginning of the series). Mimi is consistently portrayed as a pacifist, and while many other shounen battle series would portray this as a weakness, Adventure episode 50 establishes that while it of course isn’t good for her to sit around doing nothing, it would be inhumane to force Mimi to personally participate in something that causes her so much pain, and instead may be better channeling her abilities to bring people together by amassing allies and contributing to the struggle in other ways. While Mimi does eventually get herself together enough to participate in the direct fighting in Adventure and 02, she never gets portrayed as someone who enjoys it for the sake of it besides the end goal of protecting others, and in 02 her ability to bring people together and not hold grudges is a much more significant influence on her juniors (especially Miyako).
As a side point, this kind of “pretty girl” character is often also stereotyped as being rather lacking in common sense or airheaded, but while Mimi certainly isn’t the paragon of intellectuality compared to some of the others in the group, she’s never portrayed as particularly lacking in common sense, and in fact her sense of empathy and sensitivity makes her very able to “read the room” and say things or act in ways that are in fact extremely helpful to others. “Emotional intelligence” is a fairly prominent character trait for many characters in Adventure and 02 (particularly in regards to Digimon partners), and, especially in a narrative where the characters are dealing with a lot of stress and emotional issues, is no less important of a role in terms of figuring out what’s going on and figuring out the best possible solution for everyone going forward.
Jou
Tumblr media
Jou’s got two archetypes going on here: one being the “studious nerd” type (touched on earlier in Koushirou’s section), and one as “the oldest and therefore most responsible” -- except we quickly find out that Jou is extremely stress-prone, often high-strung, and not particularly put-together (especially because, as it turns out, he’s actually the youngest of his own siblings, meaning he’s not particularly used to being in the role of the oldest). Nevertheless, he takes his role as the oldest very seriously, but the way it’s played is interesting: while he initially seems like the type to hold his position as “the oldest” over everyone and act as if they’re obligated to treat him with respect, Jou actually doesn’t have any indication of caring that much about status or esteem as much as he considers himself obligated to fulfill the role of the oldest and take care of everyone. Hence, why he’s willing to even throw himself recklessly on a Unimon in Adventure episode 7 -- he’s a very selfless person whose main drive is to protect others and help people more than he cares about his own status.
That extends to his role as a “studious” person too -- someone like him who comes from an “elite” family of doctors would often be portrayed as someone who themself cares about the prestige and honor of being a doctor, or at least is proud of being an honor student over everyone else, but there’s no indication in Adventure or 02 that Jou has any interest in the act of studying itself or the status that comes with it as much as he considers it part of a “comfortable routine” that’s integrated into his life, especially compared to the stress of being in an unknown world (Adventure episode 6 even has him preface his statement with “don’t laugh at me,” acknowledging how unusual it would normally be to miss something like studying). Adventure episode 35 has him be mostly rather unfazed about getting a bad grade, past an initial (understandable) bout of disappointment, hinting that this whole affair is actually him going through the motions moreso than he has any real attachment to this lifestyle. Jou doesn’t have a condescending bone in his body, and in fact a lot of his behavior has heavily to do with high stress and a feeling of obligation to help others.
Eventually, via his brother Shin, Adventure episode 38 clarifies the reason for Jou’s behavior of being the “studious type” yet also not really being into it all that much -- Jou’s doing this out of his obligation to his family more than he even personally cares about it, and the “elite” track of being a doctor was never something he personally wanted as much as something his father wanted of him. So in other words, Jou had no personal investment in status and thus can’t be motivated to do something with passion unless it’s something he personally has a reason for wanting to do. He certainly was very motivated to throw himself recklessly into situations where he could sacrifices himself for others in Adventure episodes 7, 23, and 36, because it was a no-brainer that he wanted to help people, but something like the status of becoming a respected member of society is comparatively nebulous and vague to him, especially since, as per Adventure episode 38, he has a phobia of blood that makes the profession outright uncomfortable to him.
Because Jou is the kind of person who wants to do his best for others’ sake and help others, it’s only when he rationalizes that with his father’s desire for him to be a doctor that he’s able to form a desire for it -- namely, the Dark Masters arc has him witness pain and death, and combined with him outright coming to terms with the fact that he's not that great at fighting to begin with (in Adventure episode 50), he decides that the Digital World is rather lacking in healers and that he needs to be there for them. Hence, why his goal to become a doctor is still “unexpected” in its own way, because he’s not doing it for the status of becoming an “elite” doctor the way his father wants him to, but rather one specialized in helping the denizens of the fantasy world that society isn’t all that aware of. It’s also why, in 02, he seems to be fairly unfazed by the prospect of having to temporarily ditch his studies in order to get Gomamon or his juniors out of a pinch -- because if he allowed there to be casualties on his road to becoming someone who can help people, that’d be pretty hypocritical.
Takeru
Tumblr media
The “designated kid character” usually manifests in one of two ways: one who’s an immature brat who often causes a lot of trouble, or one who’s much weaker than the others and holds the others back from constantly being emotionally overwhelmed. While neither of these are really things you can blame a child for being at this kind of age for being (especially in such a stressful situation), Takeru is nevertheless neither. Mainstream media, and sometimes even people in the fanbase itself, will talk about him being a “crybaby”, but Takeru’s moments of breaking down into tears or having extreme emotional reactions in Adventure are actually quite uncommon (Yamato’s moments of such outstrip his by a landslide, and almost all of the situations Takeru ends up that way aren’t particularly more unusual than any of the other characters in this cast, especially Mimi).
In truth, Adventure episode 43 makes it clear that Takeru detests the idea of being a “ball and chain” holding everyone back, so, as a result, he’s going out of his way to be “put-together and well-behaved” -- hence, why he, as one of the youngest, keeps on his best behavior in front of his elders and has a constant sense of responsibility. Moreover, there are multiple indications that he’s covering up his own emotions to unhealthy extents as part of his attempt to be so “put-together” -- he has moments where it’s obvious he’s thinking about the impact of his parents’ divorce (a freeze-frame in Adventure episode 3, his reminiscence in Adventure episode 12, or his talk about dislike of “family” getting separated in Adventure episode 26), but constantly tries to veer away from the topic or even lie about it (see Adventure episode 12 where he basically pretends he doesn’t remember anything at all about his young childhood despite the fact that we as the audience are shown that he very much did).
The fact that 02′s incarnation of Takeru has him show a lot more viciously negative sides of himself may catch one off-guard, and it’s sometimes been said by observers that he seems to have taken a mysteriously nasty turn in his personality, but, in fact, Takeru’s habit of being dishonest about and hiding a lot of negative emotions had existed as early as Adventure -- observe him blowing a complete irrational fuse at the well-meaning Tokomon/Patamon in Adventure episodes 22 and 33, just because things had hit him a little too closely (the latter episode is especially notable because Patamon’s statement had been completely innocuous for the most part, only for Takeru to suddenly get angry at him). Such a thing isn’t something you would have expected from an eight-year-old child, given that the archetype is usually portrayed as “innocent”, but it had remained largely unaddressed by the end of Adventure, and it’s only natural it would have gotten worse over the three years in between Adventure and 02, especially as Takeru became older and more independent. When Iori points out the strange “duality” between the kind and cold sides of Takeru in 02 episode 34, he’s really just directly stating what had been going on since the very first episode of Adventure.
That said, it’s also not like Takeru’s trying to be dishonest or guilty of subterfuge -- it’s just that his coping mechanisms are very poorly developed and that he’s constantly trying to keep the peace and come off as pleasant while suppressing all of his negative emotions under a smile, only for things like anger and personal grudge to explode all at once at inopportune times (his punching of the Kaiser in 02 episode 19 being the most famous, but you can see traces of it emerging even beforehand in 02 episodes 11 and 13 whenever things get a bit too personal, to the point it almost jeopardizes his ability to help Hikari in the latter). Hence, why the positive development for Takeru by the end of 02 involves him becoming someone who’s better able to express his thoughts and feelings with the help of Iori, who, despite being younger than him, is also significantly more blunt and straightforward.
Hikari
Tumblr media
Being tied to a Crest that’s linked to “life itself”, Hikari comes off as the sort of saintlike figure who has purity of heart all the way through and has nothing but peaceful thoughts about everything. However, a lot of her appearances in Adventure were heavily impacted by context -- other than the fact she was sometimes held back by illness, Hikari was otherwise portrayed as an ordinary playful and cheerful young girl, and there are multiple layers to her character added or enhanced in 02 that indicate that she’s not quite the saint that her archetype would suggest.
For one, like with Sora, we again see how “excessive selflessness” can actually lead to self-destruction if left unchecked: Taichi states outright in Adventure episode 48 that Hikari’s penchant for putting others before herself means that she won’t do anything for herself even if it results in self-harm. Hikari herself confirms this in 02 episode 31, stating outright that she compulsively cannot express her own feelings even if she wants to, to the point she’s outright jealous of Miyako for being able to do so. Because she’s so inclined to not burden others and to work for others’ sake instead, when something bad is about to happen to her and only her, such as the Dark Ocean-related incidents, she can’t bring herself to do anything and is forced to either rely on others’ help or simply resign herself to her fate.
That said, Hikari is also not characterized as someone who’s passive in general; because this passivity is tied to “excessive selflessness”, anytime the issue has to do with anyone else’s sake, she doesn’t hesitate and will even be firm in taking a stand. She’s so assertive that she even momentarily freaks Miyako out in 02 episode 18! In the end, it’s a textbook case of “it’s easier to do it when it’s for other people, but harder to do it when it’s for yourself, especially when doing it for yourself means bothering others,” and this is also something that had dated back as early as Adventure, when she’d made a lot of fairly independent decisions about things she felt strongly needed to be done, like giving herself up for everyone's sake in Adventure episode 36 (very much against her friends' will), or standing up for the Numemon in Adventure episode 49, or even being much quicker to accept the inevitable need to kill an enemy than the emotionally wrecked Miyako in 02 episode 44, because they’re all things she truly and strongly felt needed to be done for the sake of others.
Plus, it’s also not like Hikari’s such a pure-hearted, saintlike person who can do no wrong even at the base level -- 02 episode 6 indicates that she’s not above toying with Daisuke’s feelings for her in order to get what she wants, and in general, the fact she’s aware he likes her but isn’t doing anything about it has both the nuances that she probably doesn’t want to hurt his feelings but is also capable of exploiting an extra level of leverage over him as well. The fact that Hikari is seen as “charming” gives her a certain degree of power of persuasion to get her way, and it seems she’s quite well aware of it...
As the younger sister of Adventure’s lead protagonist, Hikari’s often also stigmatized as having some kind of unhealthy fixation on her brother, or a brother complex (also a rather common anime trope among “younger sister” characters), but this kind of reading requires a huge amount of exaggeration and extracting the relevant lines out of context; at no point in Adventure or 02 is Taichi and Hikari’s relationship portrayed as particularly unusual relative to a reasonable level of concern a pair of siblings that get along should have, especially since any behavior that is particularly notable or unusual or dependent is strongly contextualized as having to do with the above issues regarding Hikari being potentially self-destructive if left to her own devices, and how both Taichi and Hikari react to it (hence why the problem is ultimately addressed most effectively by Miyako, who has no real personal stake in the siblings’ relationship).
Daisuke
Tumblr media
Daisuke has been stated outright by Adventure and 02′s director Kakudou to have “the most anime-like personality”, and it is true that even going beyond his base profile, a lot of his characteristics are much closer to that of an idealistic shounen anime protagonist than Taichi’s are, including (as the article in question points out) that he’s a lot more “hot-blooded” on principle but suddenly loses his head when around a girl he likes. Past that, however, there’s a lot of depth going on that reveals that Daisuke is in fact quite the deceptive character.
The first thing you might realize after watching Daisuke closely enough is that while he may initially seem aggressive, he’s actually not very assertive or aggressive at all, especially in the earlier parts of the series. It's very common for the others to shut him down or overturn his opinions in the earlier parts of the series, no matter how much he may ostensibly seem argumentative about it -- he very quickly backs down, at worst seeming a bit irritated, or even going into full-on disappointment with “Oh...okay...” Hence, why Kakudou refers to him as being “prevented from doing very much in the first half,” because for the most part a lot of the decisions made by the group in said first half are made by the entire group in agreement more than they’re made by him specifically, and becoming someone who can make more firm statements is a major point of his growth throughout the series. The first major moment he’s able to do such a thing is 02 episode 20, where, despite everyone’s opposition, he continues to assertively put his foot down that he doesn’t want to pull back when doing so could result in more victims -- and that ultimately becomes the start of him starting to be more confident about doing things even when others disagree with him. Even when he does become more assertive, at no point is Daisuke ever said, in-universe, to be the “leader” of the 02 group as much as he’s simply the one giving them the drive to move forward while they all work things out as a group.
Beyond that, another point that comes out of this is that Daisuke is actually a very deeply emotional person, which means that he has very strong emotions in every direction, including those of empathy and kindness. In fact, similarly to Mimi, Daisuke’s “abrasiveness” and “lashing out” are more defensive than him ever going on the attack, since he usually does this when he feels like he’s being put on the spot, or insulted, or is suspicious. There’s a reason I like to compare him to a puppy with a louder bark than its bite -- said puppy might bark at anything it doesn’t like or understand, or get pouty and offended at times, but also will immediately switch to open adoration or genuinely wanting to make you happy, and that’s also Daisuke in a nutshell. You may notice that he never, ever says anything condescending towards others nor does he dunk on them without reason, and 02 episode 7 indicates that if he realizes he’s stepped over the line, he won’t hesitate to apologize -- something that Taichi, who often veered into the insensitive, was rather bad at doing. Moreover, whenever something deeply hurts him, he also becomes genuinely, truly upset about it -- see him openly weeping over Wallace’s problems in Hurricane Touchdown despite having just met and bickered with him, and him being very audibly on the verge of tears during the situations in 02 episodes 20, 26, and 43 (Kiuchi Reiko’s acting especially brings this out). He’s a dramatic person with an extreme emotional reaction to everything, and that often means blowing small things out of proportion, but it also means that he really, truly does feel for others and care about things with large stakes.
In addition, someone who’s this sort of “hot-blooded” would usually also be portrayed as self-absorbed and arrogant, but Daisuke reveals as early as 02 episode 8 that he’s actually extremely humble -- he knows when he’s out of depth, acknowledges when others are better than him (such as knowing even from the very beginning that he was likely to lose against Ken and the Tamachi team), and actually just enjoys being around others on sheer principle. Read between the lines and you’ll realize that a lot of his behavior actually comes not from arrogance but rather insecurity -- he doesn’t expect anyone to adore or respect him, rather, he ends up running himself in circles trying to impress others (especially Hikari) because he wants the validation of them considering him cool. Hence why he never looks down on anyone nor insults anyone, because he’s much more confident in their awesomeness, and every time he’s around elders or respected seniors, he immediately takes a much more well-behaved and respectful tone in general. For all it’s worth, he’s a pretty deferential person, and has a genuine appreciation for even the little things in life, which is why he’s okay with running a ramen cart in the future -- sure, it’s not super-flashy as a career, but it makes him happy, and that’s all he wants.
So in other words, Daisuke likes people, and he likes his friends a lot; it’s just that his tendency to need validation from others, combined with his emotional tendencies to get really dramatic about everything, makes for a surface temperament where this isn’t immediately apparent. Even his original motivation for fighting comes not from liking fighting, but from his frustration that he wasn’t strong enough to protect others three years prior (also reiterated in the Adventure novels). In the end, pretty much everything he does comes from a desire to protect others and help them, which means that he of course resents those who hurt others, and it’s why he takes Ken exploiting his otherwise admirable abilities for harmful purposes so personally in 02 episode 8. Hence why Kakudou described him as having no evil in him, and that “the only thing bad about him is his head” (i.e. he’s not very smart) -- because once you get past the initial abrasiveness, he’s extremely friendly, all-loving, and loyal, and he isn’t malicious nor does he hold significant grudges.
Even Daisuke’s penchant for being “an idiot” is played a bit differently from the usual, because it’s consistently shown to be a byproduct of the fact that he’s “simple-minded” and doesn’t do well with complex thinking or overthinking, which, in many ways, is an asset as much as it’s a drawback. It means that he doesn’t do well with complex problems and isn’t very intellectual, and it also means that he gets overly suspicious at things that aren’t what they seem or aren’t being straightforward (which is why he initially gets so antsy around Takeru and Wallace, especially the latter, whom he was suspicious of before he started flirting). But it also means that he won’t easily get distracted by platitudes or overthinking, which, during situations where the simplest answer is the correct one, will sometimes conversely result in him being the smartest person in the room. Being so simple-minded gives him a certain degree of pragmatism; while everyone else is getting caught up in moralistic issues of forgiveness or non-forgiveness, Daisuke, who doesn’t get hung up on things like grudges, becomes the most open-minded towards Ken because he practically observes that Ken is not causing problems anymore and thus should be allowed to take responsibility for his mistakes, and also successfully dissuades Ken from recklessly throwing away his life in 02 episode 26 because, as “symbolic” as that kind of penance might be, it’s also very unproductive and will make things worse for everyone. It’s also why he’s one of the first to emotionally come to terms with the potential necessity for killing enemies in 02 episodes 25 and 43; it’s not like he enjoys it, but he’s the first to point out that if they hadn’t done it, even more victims would have been taken.
And as for Daisuke’s interest in Hikari: it’s basically there as a character note as to how Daisuke will completely lose his brain cells and bend over backwards when he’s trying to impress someone he has on a pedestal, and it becomes completely irrelevant to the plot and not even brought up after 02 episode 35, so while it’s not something that vanished completely (especially since it makes a return in post-02 material), it’s also treated as an example of one the many weird hangups that Daisuke will put aside when other things become more important, and an ultimately fairly shallow thing that he hasn’t thought through very clearly (he never directly asks Hikari out nor verbally expresses having a particular crush on her at any point in the series because he’s so wishy-washy about it, which is why she’s so easily able to dodge it), rather than a guiding part of the narrative or his character.
Interestingly, Daisuke’s unusual position as a shounen lead is hinted at even in franchise meta; you might notice he’s the only lead Digimon protagonist to be so heavily associated with blue instead of the warm colors of orange or red, and when you think about it, despite having Taichi’s goggles and supposedly having the “hot-blooded” personality, you could draw just as many parallels between him and Yamato, who’s also friendly behind all of the initial awkwardness and is also a passionately emotional person.
Ken
Tumblr media
Really, the single most unusual thing about Ken’s character and his character arc is the fact that such a plotline even exists in the first place. How many series would take the main antagonist of the first half (not an underling, but the actual primary antagonist) and not only reform them but also turn them into the best friend of the protagonist for the second half? And not even in a “begrudging edgelord rival” sense, but legitimately the person who becomes a straightforward best friend with no standoffishness and full-on social-life supportiveness to the protagonist?
In any case, the entire concept of the Kaiser and his story is unusual even from the get-go -- we’re initially introduced to him as an “evil genius”, which is a common villain archetype because it’s very terrifying to have an enemy who’s one step ahead of you, but the Kaiser ends up being rather pathetic -- he’s constantly losing territory to a group of elementary school students, his “tactical abilities” have no real sense of scale beyond a soccer field sort of affair, he’s incredibly petty and will make irrational decisions just because his pride was wounded (see 02 episode 8), and seems to have no real long-term goal besides conquest for the sake of it. Eventually, 02 episode 20-21 reveals that he’d been doing this entire thing because he’d thought the entire thing was a game -- in short, he wasn’t taking this seriously at all, and the entire affair had been tantamount to an eleven-year-old throwing a tantrum.
The point being made here is that the facade of the so-called “evil genius” is significantly less brilliant than it’s made out to be, and, actually, when you think about it, Ken’s initial reformation is mostly kickstarted by himself and Wormmon moreso than it is the other Chosen Children, because while they’re there to drive the nail in, Ken had already been emotionally falling apart and realizing he wasn’t cut out for this for the entirety of the last handful of episodes, and it was ultimately his own realization and mental breakdown that did the honors -- the other kids were really mostly doing cleanup duty at the time, and Daisuke’s influence on him is more important to his process of healing than it was the initial calling it quits. Moreover, as we get to see Ken more in his proper element in the latter half of the series, it becomes apparent that the “true personality” of Ken is actually the more assertive, level-headed one, whereas the Kaiser was the childish and fragile facade; Ken is significantly more comfortable being in his normal element to begin with, and he’s not standoffish or edgy because he doesn’t even like being condescending. If anything, the Kaiser was a manifestation of him forcing himself into an uncomfortable mold in an attempt to emulate his brother, so of course he isn’t going to feel comfortable doing that once all is said and done.
While Ken in the second half does initially express some traits that can be misconstrued as standoffishness, because he’s significantly more level-headed and assertive in this state, it becomes clear that he’s not doing this because he looks down on the others or anything; it’s just that he has very strong opinions on what he thinks needs to be done, and he doesn’t hesitate to explain why he feels this way when he’s asked (he says outright in 02 episode 25 that he believes they shouldn’t be responsible for cleaning up his mess). 02 takes a stance of favoring the concept of “taking responsibility for one’s mistakes” over “penance and punishment”, so even though Ken himself does have moments of devaluing his own life due to his sins (such as in 02 episode 26), ultimately, he states that his primary goal is to fix the mess he started, and he’s not averse to working with the others for the sake of that goal. If he does initially push the others away, it’s simply because he thinks he’s burdening them too (and, likely, that he doesn’t feel he has the right to be around them), but even when he’s at his most irrational about this in 02 episode 30, he turns out to be fairly capable of being reasoned with in pretty short order. So he’s not standoffish or “edgy” just for the sheer sake of it nor for drama, and it’s why he ends up on a very conciliatory relationship with Daisuke and the others by the end of the series, with very little, if at all, in common with the usual “rival” archetype you’d expect in this kind of series.
Considering that Ken is characterized as “kind” and “soft”, it’s easy to not realize that he’s actually one of the most assertive people in the group, and more so than Daisuke (note that he never seems to be all that easily intimidated even when the universe seems out to get him, and in 02 episode 29 he even offers to do the “dirty work” of potentially having to kill an enemy in lieu of the other kids if push comes to shove because he knows they’re uncomfortable with it). Although the issue of the Dark Seed makes it ambiguous as to how much of his turn into the Kaiser was supernatural interference and how much of it was himself, either way, the series doesn’t try to absolve Ken of his sins just because there was something extra pushing him over the edge -- again, the series operates less on “fault” than it does “responsibility” -- and when you look at these kinds of traits, you realize that the Kaiser existed because Ken had always been capable of this kind of aggressiveness, he just doesn’t do it because he doesn’t want to unless it’s necessary, nor does he like it. It’s also why he banters so playfully with Daisuke in most post-02 material -- like many of the other characters in this narrative, being “soft and kind” doesn’t mean he’s necessarily a saint, he’s just someone who willfully chooses to be a good person for the most part.
Miyako
Tumblr media
Miyako is a character who has a lot going on with her at once, having a ton of traits that you normally wouldn’t see combined into one character because they usually occupy separate archetypes (and, in a textbook case of reality being a lot less clear-cut than fiction, she’s the one character out of this group said explicitly to be based off a specific person). The fact she’s outwardly aggressive may make you think of the “badass action girl” type, but she’s also the kind who gushes over hot guys and fits the stereotypes of the “materialistic girly-girl”, and on top of that she’s a computer specialist working under Koushirou who begs the image of a “nerd girl”, and, unlike all of these archetypes, she’s a rather sloppy mess of a person who ends up loudly running her mouth, being prone to panic, and spitting out the first thing on her mind without restraint. On top of that, these traits tend to mix easily, so as much as she’s in-your-face about trying to physically fight things, she’s also the kind who’ll aggressively hug or dote on anyone she likes (which is a lot of people). Miyako is closer to the shounen brash hero archetype than even Taichi or Daisuke are, and yet is also closer to the “materialistic girly-girl” archetype than Mimi is at the same time.
Much like Koushirou, the part about being good with computers is much less of a prominent part of her character arc than you might initially think -- she herself doesn’t actually bring it up much during the course of the series, and, much like computers are an outlet for Koushirou to follow his thirst for knowledge and insatiable curiosity, Miyako’s connections with computers and tech have a lot to do with how she constantly goes out of her way to be helpful to others, such as being helpful to Koushirou as his junior, or helping out Iori’s mother with their computer (02 episode 1), or helping Yamato’s band (02 episode 29), or getting to do something helpful for the group in general (Diablomon Strikes Back). She’s not particularly show-offy or even all that fixated the actual subject as much as she’s proud of the fact she got to do something helpful and useful, and it ties deeply into her personal struggle with how to be capable of doing good for others when she’s actually not the striking image of a mature, put-together person who would usually be good at that kind of thing.
Miyako is consistently portrayed as having a complex about her “aggressive” tendencies -- she negatively compares herself to Mimi (02 episode 14) and Hikari (02 episode 31), on the grounds that she’s less put-together and more insensitive than them, and labels herself a “bad partner” for being such a sloppy person (02 episode 18). She does not want people to get hurt because of her actions, especially because whenever she loses grip on herself like this, that’s something that’s very liable to happen (which is exactly what happens with Hawkmon in 02 episode 18), and her tendency to be judgmental or to have no brain-to-mouth filter means she can be occasionally insensitive (see 02 episode 31). She even ends up fostering an idea that Hikari must be thinking of her badly, while she’s at it (02 episode 31)!
The end result of Miyako’s character arc is that, while she ends up needing to adjust the more negative aspects of her personality that involve causing trouble for others and being insensitive, that doesn’t necessarily mean that she has to completely change her personality to accommodate that. Hawkmon assures her in 02 episode 18 that he likes her the way she is, and, as it turns out, Hikari and Miyako both realize in 02 episode 31 that Miyako’s in-your-face, aggressive personality is very helpful when dealing with someone who’s so closed-in and repressive like Hikari, because it means Miyako has the right temperament to go out of her way and reach out to her despite how high of a hurdle that would normally be. On top of that, a consistent thread from the beginning of the series is that her over-the-top antics bring the group proper cheer, with the kids genuinely enjoying the vibrance she brings with her dramatic Digital Gate entrances, and multiple significant scenes indicating that her being dramatic and silly will make people laugh and be happy. So in other words, Miyako is capable of being emotionally supportive and helpful while also being her aggressive and messy self, and there’s no need for her to have to change herself drastically to resolve the supposed “contradiction” that one might initially think this poses.
Miyako��s also generally the first female character billed in 02 (mainly because Hikari’s returning from Adventure), but she isn’t particularly teased as having any romantic relationship with Daisuke; not that they don’t have a compelling rapport, but any idea of them having any real feelings for each other isn’t exactly stated to any significant degree over the course of the series. Miyako herself comments on multiple people being attractive over the course of the series, and it’s interesting in how this is played; the earlier parts of the series involve her completely losing her head and getting weirdly hung up and fixated on her targets of attraction to the point of getting derailed over more important matters (see 02 episodes 6, 8, 14), whereas she’s later able to express this in a lot more straightforward of a manner without being weird about it (02 episodes 38, 39), and so in the end, it’s not exactly a fundamental sin for Miyako to be open about the concept of attraction, especially as it ends up not really having a huge place in the overall narrative, which is consistent with Adventure and 02 not really treating romance or attraction as if it’s such a game-changer for these kids at this point in their lives.
Iori
Tumblr media
Iori is the youngest in this entire group of twelve, and yet carries himself with a sense of maturity that goes far beyond his age, to the point he even comes off as one of the most mature in the 02 group despite being younger than all of them by a significant margin. Even taking into account the concept of the “precocious kid”, however, Iori’s not only polite but also very stoic and stern, meaning he often can come up with some really passive-aggressive or stern remarks (completely in polite Japanese). Of this entire group, the youngest one is the most likely to completely roast you with some well-timed statements.
However, one important fact to keep in mind is that Iori isn’t doing this because he’s “naturally” stoic or emotionless, but because he’s deliberately suppressing himself in an attempt to be well-behaved. (A really big clue in the Japanese version that Iori’s facade is “slipping” is that he ends up losing his composure and using casual Japanese instead of the polite form that he so constantly adheres to.) This is something that partially comes from his upbringing from his family, especially his grandfather, but even said grandfather is concerned that he’s a bit overkill in this regard (see 02 episode 6). By all means Iori should be allowed to express himself a bit more freely, but he keeps restraining himself and trying to be well-behaved in front of all of these elders that he develops a complex over the one time he allowed himself to act excited and cheerful in 02 episode 16, to the point the episode ends with Submarimon basically dragging him out on an undersea trip so he can enjoy something for once, dammit.
Iori is described as “clumsy at expressing himself as a child”, and 02 depicts the problem that comes out of the flip side of a young child being so mature that they have more comfortable company with older kids than kids their own age: Iori is outright isolated from his peers because of how different his mentality is from theirs (02 episode 3), and moreover, his stubborn insistence on doing things a certain way to the point even his grandfather thinks he’s overdoing it is, in fact, his own way of being “childish”. He’s basically trying to follow the honorable principles he wants to follow from his family, but taking them to their logical extreme because his view of the world is too simple-minded from his lack of life experience. Hence, why he develops such a black-and-white view of morality trying to categorize people into boxes of “good” and “evil”, and why he ends up trying to follow principles to pretty impractical extremes such as thinking that a single white lie is going to send him on a path to moral debauchery. In short, he’s a young child trying to deal with very abstract concepts much bigger than him, and dealing with it in a very simple-minded, overly reductive way befitting that of someone his age.
However, one thing Iori does acknowledge is that he’s probably not going about this the right way, and that he needs to understand more about others if he wants to do better. From the very beginning of the series, Koushirou (02 episode 2) identifies him as someone who has a “curious mind” like himself, but while he initially expects Iori to be like him in terms of being curious about the Digital World, Iori’s “curiosity” ends up manifesting more in terms of wanting to know about how humans work and what’s the right thing to do. This is how he ends up breaking through to the very convoluted and repressive Takeru, because he has the drive to poke through Takeru’s many layers and figure out what’s going on with him, and it’s how he eventually manages to become more open-minded about the issues surrounding Ken and Oikawa despite initially having been so hostile to them. All things considered, “understanding morality” is a pretty heavy burden for someone who’s supposed to be the designated kid character!
160 notes · View notes
misscrawfords · 3 years
Text
3 or 4 families in a seaside town...
I get big Emma vibes from Hometown Cha Cha Cha. Honestly, kdramas in general I feel have a lot in common with the plots of historical Western romantic comedies - it's something I find very interesting - but that's a tangent for now. But this show has a very particular vibe.
The thing that most strikes me is the setting. Both Hometown and Emma rely on the location of a small town to provide the basis of its characters and plots. Both Highbury and Gongjin are almost an extra character in their importance. The nature of the small town provides a reason for the characters to be there and gives them a strict hierarchy within village life. In Highbury, the relative class status between the Woodhouses, Westons, Knightleys, Coles, Goddards, Elliots etc. is key to the plot. In the same way, society in Gongjin is also highly structed from village chief to restaurant owners to landlords to grandmas and then to the incomers who are Hyejin and Miseon, the film crew, the actors, the pervert etc.
The other aspect of the small town location that is so similar between the two works is the aspect of a community knowing everything about each other, gossip, and care. In Gonjin, gossip forms the backbone of the community's life, including making things very awkward for Hyejin while also being used as a vehicle to hint at and resolve mysteries about characters' backstories. In the same way in Highbury, everyone knows everybody's business and one of the most clever aspects of the novel is the way in which Miss Bates' seemingly random gossip in fact contains all the crucial information needed to solve the mystery of Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax. This same gossip and threat of it is also very hurtful in particular to Jane.
But both communities take care of each other and this is where parallels in characters start to emerge. In Gongjin, Dushik takes care of the whole village through his indiscriminate kindness and his many part time jobs and is consequently adopted as their child. In Highbury, Mr. Knightley as the richest and most significant landlord in the area also takes care of those in need, from sending food to the Bateses to offering his carriage to Jane. In return, he is respected above anyone else.
In both works the heroine is at least initially to some people entitled and dislikeable. Both Emma and Hyejin are snobs who believe themselves above the rest of the community and a major part of their character development is coming to terms with their mistaken thinking and reaching out to be a more worthy part of the community. Both make truly horrific public acts of prejudice and snobbery and must perform acts of genuine atonement before they can be accepted. (Insulting Oh Yoon's music in public for Hyejin and Emma's snub of Miss Bates.)
And yet both heroines have kindly intentions and are good, albeit complicated, people. Emma means well when she takes Harriet under her wing even if the outcomes are disastrous and her judgement of characters like Mr. and Mrs. Elton show her intelligence. Hyejin hides her kindness in acts she can be detached from such as giving charity from a distance. Both lack a mother in their life and have a complicated relationship with their father.
And crucially from the romance perspective, both are forced to confront their flaws by the hero who is the only person willing both to call them out and believe in their goodness underneath everything else. Dushik and Mr. Knightley have remarkably similar roles towards Hyejin and Emma despite their intial relationship being very different. Emma and Mr. Knightley have known each other all their life, after all.
There are various other parallels - the love triangle with the overly amiable rival, jealousy of whom helps the hero to understand his feelings; the way strange mysteries about the town and the characters' backstories are cleverly interwoven and revealed over the course of the plot... but I'd say these are the main ones.
I find it really cool to see such an Emma-esque narrative in a kdrama. Pride and Prejudice is such a straight forward type of inspiration (though tbh I rarely feel that things that people claim are obviously P&P inspired actually are - usually it's a short hand for "rich/poor enemies to lovers story" with little actual connection to the source material) but Emma is a bit different and whether there's any intentional connection or not, it's refreshing to see a story in this vein!
63 notes · View notes
thrill-seeker-if · 2 years
Note
Hi! I was wondering what some of your favourite character types are in if/media? What are some of your favourite tropes in terms of characters and plot? Also what would you like to see more of in if in terms of story, themes and representation?
Hi there!! These are some amazing questions, so i'm really excited to answer them!
My favorite character types: For romance, I'm a sucker for the cold and quiet but with a heart of gold, they just don't know how to express themselves. I also love the egotistic cocky bastard type, its very funny to me. For myself, the type of character I play is usually the same as who I am in real life. I present myself as very charismatic and manner of fact, but I also don't tolerate any bs and so I think it's a pretty balanced character. I'm a happy nerd type. I also like to not just set one talent to the absolute stats, I like to be good at several things, even if I'm not expert level at them. For friends, I honestly don't mind any type of character, as long as they are loyal and honest.
My favorite tropes: rivals to lovers (my ABSOLUTE NUMBER 1, bonus points if height difference), enemies to lovers, only one bed, fwb to lovers, opposites (light x dark, personality, etc).
In terms of storyline, like which kind of stories do I like to see? I think I love seeing stories that have the idea of a 'second chance'. You'll see later in Thrill Seeker there will be several themes of this idea of there being another opportunity, or maybe another path, that kind of thing. I also LOVE betrayal. And moral fights, between what is right and revenge.
What I would like to see more of in IF is disabled and chubby characters, especially love interests, but I don't want those parts of them sexualized or romanticized, do you know what I mean? A lot of the time with disabled characters, people will be quick to make sexual remarks about what they've gone through, and honestly I think they should be treated like everyone else. I honestly didn't know that you COULD write it, and that people would be willing to consume that kind of media, when I started writing Thrill Seeker. I would also like to see more religious ROs, but not just Christians and Jews (but I would like to see a lot more Jews of Color!! I honestly only see white ones). Sikhs, Muslims, and Buddhists are often taken out of the picture (and pretty much all asian religions, ngl). I'm working on a second WIP right now that has all those things in it, because now I know I actually CAN do it, haha
I hope you're having a wonderful day, Anon!!! Thank you so much for the wonderful ask!!
26 notes · View notes
ehbunnehsblog · 3 years
Text
Hello and howdy peeps it is yo girl again with another post but this time its dolls yeah that's right dolls! Okay but really I just wanted to do a post about discontinued dolls because I thought it would be nice and fun and since I haven't posted in a while I thought it would be a good thing to come back with and well here it is.
Numbah 1. Novi Stars
Tumblr media
I didn't have these dolls as a kid and I didn't really like the look of them although now I think they look really rad and honestly alien dolls? Amazing idea! I am not sure but I think these came out near the end of Bratz. They were made in 2012 and didn't last very long and ended in 2014 and like I said as a kid I didn't really like the look of these dolls so I can understand why kids didn't really flock to these dolls maybe since well where would they fit in like with me I played with Bratz with other Bratz i never played with another doll and a Bratz doll it just didn't feel like it fit in that universe but anyways the doll line only had 20 dolls and the names they came up with are very smart and I really think it's cool. If these were to come back I would probably buy them as long as it's a reasonable price. I can't see these coming back anytime soon but hopefully one day they will but since they I assume weren't as influential or popular as Bratz it will probably take time for them to come back to the world.
Numbah 2. Lalaloopsies
Tumblr media
These tiny (and big) dolls also came out around the end of my doll phase or I guess the best way to put it is when I was not getting into the newer dolls and toys. Lalaloopsies were these plastic ragdoll type dolls by again none other than mga entertainment they came in small and in some series big some also had hair and some were just plastic hair. I had some although I didn't play with them much but they were very charming and different from the other dolls I really like this era of dolls because they weren't meant to be humans they were just whatever like above aliens and just really whatever. These dolls also came with super adorable playsets and little pets just like another doll I will be talking about later on this list. Pretty sure I had almost all of the Lalaloopsies in this photo but I do not have them on me. There are at least 156 residents in Lalaloopsy land and 88 of them are tall, 39 are mini and 35 are little there are 150 females and 8 are males. They also have a or had a show on Netflix. Do I think these dolls could come back? Absolutely yes.
Numbah 3. My Scene
Tumblr media
My Scene were a doll line from 2002 made by Mattel. They look like the popular Barbie doll but with larger heads and have more similar fashion to Bratz, Mattel and Barbie's enemy/rival and have 3 movies (also is it just me or does the art style remind me of the show 6 teen?) Later through the years they had a decline and sadly they were discontinued. Do I think these dolls can come back? Difficult I feel like they could as long as the clothes are from good fabric and stylish and a part of me feels absolutely not. Mattel has had a really good kid friendly image with Barbie and I feel like a lot of parents would freak if they saw these doll. I didn't play with them as a kid actually I didn't even know about their existence AT ALL! But since I was really into Bratz I could totally have seen myself playing with these dolls as a kid i think their fashion is amazing and again I would love to see them make a comeback.
Numbah 4. Bratzillaz
Tumblr media
I know this should be criminal to have Bratz under a Mattel doll I apologize but I wanted to save the best for last. So Bratzillaz are Bratz but they are witches with magical powers and were made to compete with Mattel's Monster High Dolls at the time. They were made in 2012 but later discontinued while Bratz were being rebuilt since a lot of parents didn't like the look of the Bratz. These dolls were meant to be the cousins of the Bratz and they also had a web show. I had quite a few of these dolls maybe one day I will make a post about the dolls I had idk it will probably be a mini post but these dolls were pretty cool. I loved how the legs, hands and arms could move and the fabric they used was pretty nice. Do I think they could make a comeback? Eh maybe one day but I think MGA should just focus on the Bratz when they can before these dolls.
Numbah 5. Yummi Land
Tumblr media
Okay alright so I know this photo only shows one doll and that's because I had this doll. Her name is Mindy Mint Chocolate Chip and she smells like mint and like every Yummi Land doll they smell like what the character is named. This is yet another MGA doll line one I would absolutely love to come back why? Because I feel like they weren't around for a long time and I think they are absolutely lovely and different and I although I have said I didn't flock to many dolls that were different I feel like this is one I could see younger kids loving and I would totally buy them. These dolls were introduced in 2006 with a movie called Betsy Bubblegum' Journey through Yummi land. The doll lines included Soda pop girls, creme soda pop girls, candy pop girls, flower pop girls, ice cream pop girls, smoothie pop girls, sundae pop girls and a holiday special doll named Paris Peppermint Creme and another called birthday pop girls. I do not know how many of these dolls there are but just like Lalaloopsies they come in small and big. The doll I owned was a big one. What I loved about these dolls is that they came in bottles idk if anyone else gets interested by how things are packaged but for me I love it so these dolls coming in bottles were just really cool and if they ever made a comeback I hope they keep the bottle idea which now I will answer, do I think these dolls can come back? Yes. They are cute and I think a lot of people especially kids would love them because they smell nice and are just really pretty even the small ones could come back I think. I don't know how small those ones were but Barbie Peekaboos and Polly Pocket have been a thing therefore I think these dolls could make a return.
I grew up with a lot of dolls and I think some of them had really cool ideas and were different and I think that's cool. I really like how some of them were really girly and just cutesy and I think little girls would absolutely love Yummi Land dolls. I wish I had more growing up but I only had one although I remember another girl who was older than me as a kid getting one too I think she had blonde hair with all that said I will have the linkla below and I will see you next time
Yummi land info:
Lalaloopsy info:
Bratzillaz info:
Novi Stars info:
☆Thank you for reading this post if you like what you saw please give me a follow and a like I post about nostalgic stuff a lot☆
95 notes · View notes
Photo
Tumblr media
BNHA is a series that really loves foils and parallels. This is an understandable love, because it’s a cool concept, and it’s generally agreed BNHA does it in cool ways. The way the villain trio each foil one of the main UA students, or Endeavor & his family and Ujiko & his Nomu, Izuku again and Shinsou…Hawks & Twice I guess.
But one that I think is really cool, yet doesn’t really get brought into discussion a whole lot, is All Might & Shigaraki; because those two actually have a lot of interesting similarities. So having notices their similarities, it seems only fair to compare and contrast them. It is my duty as a BNHA meta writer after all. So join me, and let’s go over what cool things these guys have in common.
The way of the Shimura
Tumblr media
One thing they have in common is the teachings on Nana…at least in that, every quality All Might learned from Nana is also present in Shigaraki. The near constant smile that exudes an aura of confidence, and the habit of remembering your origin and motivation to power through the toughest of hurdles. And in addition, there’s the fact they even have a plan for the toughest of hurdled like that despite their god-like power; because being OP is no reason not to give it your all like you’re a cornered rat.
But what’s interesting about this is; they got these traits from different sources, and that has an effect on how they use them. All Might learned this stuff from Nana, and its stuff he consciously does as a result. He told Deku once that he smiles to stave off his fear, and his origin power up was preceded by him remembering Nana telling him to remember his origin for a power up. The smile is actually something he’s ended up inadvertently teaching to the next generation, with guys like Deku & Bakugou sporting big grins to mimic their hero.
Tumblr media
Shigaraki however, did not learn these traits (I mean he’s obviously not mimicking All Might, and no one ever told him the limit breaking trick). No, instead he almost seems to have inherited these tricks, and as a result he does them far more naturally. He doesn’t stave of his fear with a confident smile, he just is confident. He doesn’t have to remember to get a boost by remembering why he’s fighting, he just kind of does it as soon as things get rough (assuming he doesn’t do it from the word go). And it’s impressive enough that he seemed to figure out the limit breaking trick on his own in the first place. What I’m trying to say is that Shigaraki is better than All Might.
No but I do think it’s a cool detail how they have these traits in common due to their connections to Nana, and how they individualize these traits due to the difference in those relations to Nana.
Literal Symbolism
Tumblr media
Moving on to their most ‘neat little’ similarity, and one that’s pretty easy to pick up on, is their status as symbols to their allies and enemies (including civilian level guys on both sides of the conflict). They both have this way of inspiring faith in everyone on one side of the conflict and great fear on everyone on the other. Heck, Shigaraki has on occasion been called a symbol of fear in reference to All Might’s common title as the symbol of peace.
Even if it might be a minor thing overall, I actually think this is the coolest parallel between the two because it’s something nearly equal yet opposite about them; because generally speaking, the people one of them inspires are the people the other terrifies. Those on the heroes side, weather on the front lines or watching on TV, hold All Might in the highest regard and are terrified of Shigaraki & his League of Villains. Conversely; anyone who doesn’t support the heroes, whether they be some level of criminal/villain or just a civ unsatisfied with the current system, tend to be afraid of All Might but find Shigaraki appealing, perhaps even inspiring of hope.
Tumblr media
That last bit I think is actually the biggest difference in the types of symbols they are though. Although both inspire fear in their enemies; what All Might inspires in his allies is peace, ease, he is here to save the day. What Shigaraki inspires in the unsatisfied or oppressed is, in some way the opposite; hope. The way things are now is going to change, former certainties are inverted, and things are getting flipped on their head; and for those at the bottom, that sounds like it could turn out pretty good for them. That’s the biggest difference in how those two exist right now.
How to Change the World in 10 Very Violent Steps
But I think the biggest thing they have in common is; Tomura’s goals and the way he goes about getting them are not to dissimilar to how All Might did things when he was starting out.
Tumblr media
They both had the same starting point; thinking that society is really messed up and someone should to do something about it. And so under a powerful mentor, they set off to fight against vague bad things like “crime,” “oppression,” “apathy,” “conformity,” & “injustice”; which they quickly figured could be done by fighting specific groups of people responsible for the badness, either ‘villains’ or ’heroes,’ and on occasion some specific person or people on the top for at least a while.
From there, using all their power and great determination, and with a variety of motives from altruistic to rooted in personal revenge, they do all they can to oppose their enemies and bring them down. And anyone who gets in their way, well they get what’s coming to them; and no fuss is made because they probably deserved it if they were working for the bad guys. Besides we know their type; they’re the people who “spread chaos” or “sweep their mistakes under the rug” or whatever. So it’s okay, even if they die. And you may be wonder what I’m talking about because All Might’s never killed anyone; but remember that Hero Aca’s Japan is pretty big on the death sentence if Tartarus’ existence means anything, so he is at least “responsible for deaths.” But again, they deserved it so it’s okay; or at least that’s the mentality.
Tumblr media
And honestly, even though we can tell the big difference in morality between their actions; it’s easy to see why Shigaraki couldn’t, and instead see their actions as the same. After all, Shigaraki thinks of the government & specifically those running the hero system as just as despicable as All Might perceived All For One to be…and he is not far off on that so far. But the difference is in those below them. AFO’s empire was protected by criminals; while hero society is protected by heroes. And we can tell the difference there, but why would Shigaraki? He’s an outsider to society, so he just sees another rival empire; what’s the difference to him between the villains that maintained AFO’s or Overhaul’s order and the heroes maintaining their own order?
(Of course, there is the vast difference in civilian casualties to consider, but we can’t expect too much from a guy taught morality by AFO.)
But y’know, I’m actually interested in the implications there. Because if Shigaraki is, in a sense, where All Might once was; what might that mean for his future if he were to succeed in his ambitions? And what might that mean for Izuku, who’d likely be coming after him.
Conclusion:
So what’s the point in all this? Well for one, it’s cool. Foils are cool, simple as that; but especially when we’re talking about two of the coolest characters in the series. All Might & Shiggy are both symbols, they’re both connected to Nana and both got the same things from her, and they both wanted to improve what they saw as wrong in society, and did/do so through violence. But there’s more to fils than aesthetic.
Tumblr media
What really interests me by looking at their similarities, and what I want to close on, is the cyclical implications that arise from them. For you see, while All Might intended for Deku to be “next” it doesn’t look like that’s how it’s gonna turn out; not immediately anyway. Or, to go further back; first there was All For One as the driver of society, and then he got beaten & in a way usurped by All Might. Now it seems Shigaraki will be the one to fill the vacuum All Might left as the one to shape society, and then if things stay on course, Deku will beat him and fulfil that position himself. If that is how things turn out; it will imply a cycle of great heroes and villains taking the reins of society from each other in great battles, possibly for as long as heroes, villains, and quirks shall exist. And that sucks; which means somewhere along the lines, something is gonna have to change.
86 notes · View notes