#most wanted rewrite

[dreadark]

that ivan loves till is the most obvious thing about them

but. does ivan know that…?

the ivan that regards his own feelings as shallow, the ivan that learned how emotions are expressed only from copying others… does he even know that the love he’s felt for so long is love? probably not. and part of the reason is the one he loves himself

because the easiest example he has of love is till's feelings to mizi. till outright calls it love, and ivan watches him so much he has to be aware of this and till’s love to mizi is totally unselfish, right. he doesn’t seem to actually want much from her—just that she's still there and still "mizi"

but ivan can't be satisfied with just watching he… wants. ivan wants till’s attention, till’s affection—

surely this selfish wanting can’t be love

...no wonder he was never able to express his feelings straightforwardly when he belittles them so much but he can’t stand not having anything either, so he does… whatever he does instead to get any scraps of attention he can, from someone he's convinced doesn't care about him at all only showing affection when till can't see it, right until he knows he's going to die

but ivan's feelings for till are all he still has of himself... to think of them as shallow...

I've seen this translated as "I should've been kinder" to him (till) or to her (sua)

but really, the one he should've been kinder to was himself

#alien stage #alnst #alnst ivan #ivantill #i have a lot of thoughts on till -> mizi too but this is long enough #just attempting to rewrite my twt rambles more coherently #idk why i wrote this so dramatically tho... #'thank you for being the victim of my shallow emotions' is going to haunt me to my grave #ivan's character is just a careful balance between his natural freak nature and his extreme depths of self-loathing #making him the most miserable guy ever #...really once you realize so much of what went wrong is thanks to ivan just hating himself too much to even think of them as friends. well #c...can we bring him back... don't die like this..... #(also you know. with the implications of how 'pets' are treated #wanting someone physically must feel... even more wrong

[shummthechumm]

sol and his guard, jingo (aka rewrite ramblings)

#wc #red and silver #warrior cats #warrior cats rewrite #warrior cats au #jingo wc #jingo warrior cats #sol wc #sol warrior cats #so YEAH in the rewrite the cats that we see in sunrise are still following sol #including jingo who is one of his most trusted cats #she's like 3000% willing to chokeslam any strange clan cats who try and attack her boss #which seems to be happening a lot now so she has her work cut out for her #since sol is actually semi-competent in r&s he is. fairly good at keeping cats loyal to him i'd say #i mean who wouldnt want to follow the guy who can speak dog and predict the future #shumm's art #you should've seen him chew out those dogs bro no im not lying it was so cool

[ganondoodle]

(wip)

another screenshot practice for totk rewritten, this time in the underground, as requested (will do more of the interior of a "shrine" later on (its a lab really) )

(armor set: head and middle piece = shiekah research/tech set -still in development-, legs = ghirahim set, based on his clothing from my comic) (ability selected = power injection)

#ganondoodles #art #zelda #ganondoodles rewrites totk #wip #loz #totk #unsure about the color of the ability #i think blue would be the best bc of its power #but i think im gonna go for orange #since its the most clealry different #and stand by tech is orange #also the power injection is so you can power broken tech #like a door or an elevator #and for the prototpye titan i want the player to be able to do it but sicne its a TITAN it only twitches and still uses all your battery #so it shows you OH it CAN be powered but not like this #game design and all #like you can use the ability on everything but its not gonna do anythign for most of the time

[can-of-slorgs]

caw 🦅

#neopets #neotag #neoart #eyrie #mutant #vin doods #I can't beat the allegations that i doodle dnd creatures on a daily with this one huh #god i love mutants eyries so much i'm sorry i gavehim more draconic features but uGH; #what great colours lmao #I also gave inverted knees to the hooves cause i aint doing whatever neos doing #can you tell i have a thing for dnd and dragons in general im so sorry JAKLSDF #also in topic i've been so wanting to make a neo player's manual for so stupidly long its insane #might actually do it at one point #i had species and proficiencies and everything at one point i think its all gone lol #also for a fact that i'd be a me-thing for the most part #like i'd be the only one wanting it or playing according to it #my other friends none like neopets so yeah #god do i want to dm a neopian adventure i have tons planned lmao #but oh well #i'm super greatful for all positive commenta ad every like and reblog you guys ave given meeeee #i sound like a broken record but i swear i try to not leave this blog for long but i always read your tags and crack up to them sajhas #i know i've left a couple of you on read that actually wanted to know about my characters BUT IM SO SORRYYYY #my master's taking so long and everytime there's something new and have to rewrite and replan everthing everyday i hate it here #but i will do it #i know i will #both the lore writting and my thesis HASJKHASJS #anyways if you're still reading dont be afraid to shoot up a couple of messages! It might make this blog less dead

[faithisland]

end of screenshot

this is actively just malicious.

painting this strawman like we are claiming actual radfem ideology are you fucking kidding me

no one has ever said that. we point out that gay cis men face these same issues, that MOC do, that disabled men do. this is in EVERY. SINGLE. post refuting him.

he is now officially actively intentionally mischaracterizing the transmasc community

#if anyone has EVER said that #absolutely everyone at the forefront of this conversation would immediately call out their internalized radical feminism #absolutely NONE of this has to do with biological assignment making us inherently oppressed #that is absolutely SLANDER #it is about being someone who society wants to be a woman #and actively choosing to be a man #and rejecting the responsibilities of womanhood #at best that is the most bad faith reading possible #cw transphobia #cw transandrophobia #and to link it with cis gay men #ITS THE FAILURE TO PERFORM MANHOOD CORRECTLY #both at once #bc transphobia doesnt HAVE to make sense guys #they are not trying to be internally consistent #disclaimer: i used internalized wrong in these tags but i will not be rewriting all of them :) have a nice day

[ball-of-butter]

i remember being genuinely scared to ship mareven because im a toddler that uses tiktok so my first intro to mareven shippers were just crazy maven stans who romanticise his mental illness. i remember one so vile i had to comment hate on it because they were bringing my bae mare into this like mare get behind me rn. and then they doubled down saying her rejection to maven made him more mentally unstable LIKE it was her responsibility???

#this is why most my mutuals are marecal shippers 😭 #i meam tumblr mareven shippers tend to have more self awareness thank GOD #had me defending marecal and mare AND cal individually on that app. it just wasnt pleasant #and then them chalking up his evilness to lie the blame at elara’s feet only. ewwwww ur misogyny is showingggggg #the lack of media literacy on that app is making me stress so much im going bald #fr was trying to not ship mareven bcuz i could not be seen with those embarrassing mfs. its why im on tumblr now lmfao #like why cant yall just ship mareven not in a platonic or romantic way but in the secret third soulmate way as intended why do yall have to #-be weird and rot ur brain when it comes to black haired blue eyed evil white twinks?? #red queen #red queen series #war storm #glass sword #kings cage #maven calore #mare barrow #mareven #this post started with mareven now i want to just rant about how bad those maven stans are at understanding his character #maven would hate yall irl #and they always treat mare as a self insert when shes such a strong character on her own. shes behind me and i have guns out blazing at yal #rewriting

[raiiny-bay]

new character page wip

#i edited the shit out of this code ngl #idk what i'm gonna put under the music section yet #the picture is just a place holder #i definitely like this layout better. not looking forward to having to do new pictures of everyone. again. #i'm also rewriting everyone's bios. again. bc i want them to reflect their current selves more #rn they're like a weird mix of their canon & post-canon selves & they just don't feel very. cohesive. ig #like. most of my edits take place in post-canon so i think their pages should match that? #they're not accurate to the versions of them that i share on here. that's what i mean #mm i just confused myself trying to think about it #ok. i'm gonna go have lunch & then i guess i'll write or something #i had something else i was gonna say but i forgot lol #rainyrambles

[wtfastaroth]

I have so many Trix headcanons, I could talk for days.

Trix hobbies headcanons

Icy's hobbies

For me, Icy is a person who really enjoys her own company, she invests a lot of her time in herself, hobbies that are calm and solitary are her favorites.

Photographing landscapes and moments is something she loves to do, enjoying a calm breeze and keeping this moment forever is magical. She has countless chaotic photos of her sisters, and many unforgettable moments together saved on a sheet of paper.

Taking care of herself is always therapy for her, skicare and nail care are the best moments of her day. She always invests in herself, trying to be her best for herself, and not for anyone else.

There is no one more competitive than her, she loves games, all of them, especially the difficult ones, which last for hours, she will keep playing until she emerges victorious.

If Icy plays an instrument, it has to be the piano. She plays it since a very young age and she loves it, it calms her down a lot, she prefers to play already created melodies, Like Beethoven's and Sonya Belousova's.

Darcy's hobbies

As much as she appears to be the calmest of the trix, Darcy is not very different from her sisters, the difference is that she keeps what she feels and adapts to situations. She will demonstrate what you want to see. This made her look for ways to express what she really felt.

Creating, she loves to create, be it texts, poems, bracelets, jewelry, necklaces, paintings and much more.

Darcy is a lover of literature, she can read for hours, absorbed by the words.

Meditation and yoga came from her need to deal with her thoughts, meditation helped her with her powers and yoga helped her with her mind.

Motorcycling, She loves motorcycles, participating in races, riding a motorcycle at night, the adrenaline calms her down.

Stormy's hobbies

Stormy loves cooking, testing new recipes, baking, everything, it's truly a passion.

She loves cinema, visually entering thousands of universes and stories is magical for her. She really likes watching films inspired by the books that Darcy reads so they can talk about the story.

Swimming is something she doesn't do very often, but she loves it.

Literally her happy space is the moment when she is dancing, dancing helps her spend all her energy, she loves trying different types of dance, even if some are very difficult for her.

#these are kinda different from most of the common headcanons of the fandom lol #but i wanted to escape from what was expected #asth rewrite #winx trix #winx club #stormy winx #darcy winx #icy winx #winx rewrite #winx headcanons #moodboard

[prosebushpatch]

Okay so I recently, finally, watched Wish and I have some thoughts. Overall, not as bad as everyone makes it out to be, but still has a lot of fundamental story problems and I've got to get them off of my chest. I'll mostly be focused on Magnifico because I think his motivations and arc largely represent the problem with the overall theme.

Okay so my biggest problem with Magnifico is his motivation. His tragic backstory. How on earth does he go from losing his whole family to thinking, the only way he can prevent that from happening again is to grant wishes? The logic doesn't track. It almost makes sense in his creating a kingdom where he protects everyone and "doesn't even charge rent," but it does not make sense with his wish granting. Having a great need to be control to make sure he doesn't lose anyone ever again can be a compelling motivation for a villain, where we see lines crossed that don't justify the intent, but in the movie, he's too self-absorbed to seem to have any actual care for the people of Rosas.

I think if the motivation was changed to something like Magnifico had once been a bright-eyed, enthusiastic wish granter who blindly believed all wishes were good but learned the hard way that that wasn't true could have been a better fit for the overall goal of the movie. Imagine that he granted a wish for a wicked person who used that wish to hurt others, or if Magnifico granted a wish but that wish ended up ruining the person's life because what they wanted wasn't what they needed (i.e. Remember The Princess and the Frog? Dig a little deeper) and that person could have went after Magnifico and blamed him for their troubles (harkening back to We Don't Talk about Bruno). This would be an understandable tragic backstory for Magnifico, and better explain why he's so careful about the wishes he grants. And, perhaps the reason he keeps the wishes he doesn't want to grant is to keep the people in his kingdom docile. No one will be angry with him for not granting their wishes if he makes them forget them and lose that drive and motivation, which makes more sense than the unexplained hording them like he does in the movie? Why does he keep them in the movie other than admiring the wishes? It doesn't make sense to me.

This would give Asha more of a reason to oppose him, if it's shown how his desire to not get hurt or to inadvertently cause hurt turned into a paranoia where he drains people of wishes to fly or play music that inspires others. And, as a side note, we need to see more of how Rosas is a kingdom of people who lack drive and motivation, where only those younger than 18 have that special part of them that inspires them to chase after a dream (something that Astor Rhymemaster touched on). Because that's the point of wishes, right? That's the point of the entire Disney canon. A dream is a wish your heart makes. That star can only get you so far, it takes hard work and determination. It's wanting something better in life, it's dreaming of leaving behind all you know to chase after a tangible light. It's finding a new dream, it's finding a new wish as you grow and learn about yourself and the world.

I don't think the movie Wish understood what makes wishes so important in Disney stories. You know what wishes do? They ignite change. It's not about getting what you want, it's about finding the courage to chase after something better. Ariel wants to be where the people are, but really she wants to be somewhere where others are willing to understand her and in the end, she finds that and makes amends with her father, who finally is willing to see her for who she is. Rapunzel wants to see the lights, and that desire pushes her to leave a tower she's been trapped in her whole life, learning that the world is not as cruel and cold as her abusive mother told her. Cinderella wants to go to the ball, to dance with people who treat her as a person and not a servant of cinders and ash. That wish is granted by a fairy godmother and gives her a hope that is worth fighting for, a hope that helps her reclaim what is rightfully hers; a glass slipper that fits only her and the love that comes with it.

Wishes inspire change. The movie should have been about that. Magnifico could have been right, that some wishes inspire negative change that can drag down multiple people. The kingdom of Rosas could have been so placid because change is scary. Maybe Magnifico could have convinced people, after taking their wish, that it wasn't worth it. Maybe the wish ceremonies could have changed so it wasn't portrayed as some sort of lottery everyone looks forward to, but Magnifico would grant wishes on the spot if he decided they were good and worthwhile, and he would lock away the wishes that would cause trouble and tribulations. 18 year olds could be enthusiastic to give him their wishes, thinking they were surely good and worth granting, only to forget their wish and be told that their wish would have only brought about their unhappiness, this would have justified a more solemn tone in the kingdom, setting up a world where people are mostly downtrodden, thinking their wishes are bad and pointless and they're better off without them. Imagine Cinderella or Rapunzel being told their wishes weren't good, reinforcing all the things their abusive families tell them, taking away that hope and courage to find something better for themselves.

Here's where the true conflict could come in. Asha could be onto this from the beginning, and her opening song could have been about this concern that the people who didn't get their wishes granted aren't willing to try at all. (Because, after all, why doesn't Sabino play music at all? Having that taken from him would take so much joy and creative expression from his life!) But why does Asha know something is amiss?

Simon.

Imagine that Magnifico has a strict rule not to ever share your wish with another person because then it wouldn't come true. It makes sense with our own superstitions, and then makes it so that no one knows anyone else's wishes. Maybe your best friend changes so drastically after giving up their wish, but you believe, like everyone else, that their wish would have only caused suffering. What can you do about it? Well what if Simon told Asha about his wish? What if Asha knew his wish wasn't dangerous and couldn't imagine a way that it could go wrong? That would give her a reason to doubt Magnifico and put more emphasis on how Simon has lost his drive like all the other adults in the kingdom. And it can also emphasize in the end that sharing your wishes and dreams with others can be a powerful thing. Just the act of sharing your dreams can inspire others to go after their own, and they can give you the encouragement to chase your wish too. Wishes inspire change, love gives you the courage to make it happen.

Imagine if the star boy used to be a human, who wished to help others and lost his humanity to do it. Imagine his wish confirms Magnifico's belief, that wishes cause suffering because star boy lost his tether to earth and is separated from the people he loves. Imagine how he foils Asha who also wants to grant everyone's wishes. Imagine him ensuring she doesn't make the same mistake he did while she gives him a reason to change again, to anchor himself to humanity again because he loves her enough not to leave for forever.

Imagine the movie confirming that, yes, change is scary. Chasing your dreams won't always make things better. You might fail more than you succeed and some wishes cannot coincide with each other, leading to grief and strife. But some wishes are worth it. Sometimes, chasing after something better and failing is worth leaving a worse situation. Sometimes taking that chance is worth it, and, like in all fairy tales, if you are kind and generous and act with love, that will make all the difference in the end.

Also, I know everyone wished for a Magnifico and Amaya evil power couple, but imagine if Magnifico was truly in love with Amaya, as he is in the movie, but that love is eventually his undoing. Like Amaya leaps in front of Asha, and Magnifico stops or redirects his attack because she's the one thing he loves more than himself and that is the weakness that Asha and co can take advantage of. Imagine Amaya keeping Magnifico in the mirror and he gets to dote on her from his imprisonment for forever. I'm just saying. At least 30 sickos like me would be into that. Imagine the depth it would give to the themes of love and change and wishing and how acts of love make all the difference.

Alright, I'll get off my soap box. I just really wish Wish could have been stronger because these fairy tales Disney is famous for matter. They really do. But the movie feels too stale and shallow and too much of a cash grab that knows the outline of a disney musical, but is unable to understand the heart of why they work.

#rose and rambles #wish 2023 #disney #disney wish #if you read anything i post let it be this im shaking the bars of my cage #I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS ABOUT FAIRY TALES AND DREAMS LET ME AT THE PEOPLE WHO MADE WISH SO SHALLOW #ILL MAKE THEM TEA AND GIVE THEM A GOOD SCOLDING #WHILE STEALING THEIR CLOTHES AND PUTTING ON A FAKE MUSTACHE TO TAKE OVER WHILE THEY'RE NIBBLING ON NICE COOKIES #THAT'S A TOTALLY NORMAL THING TO DO RIGHT #if you want to tell a good story you gotta tell it yourself <- my villain origin story #or at least my Sebastian kiss the girl moment. i can't believe they took out star boy. God forbid independent women have romantic interests #anyway im obsessed with how Magnifico always called Amaya “my love” and i think we can do beautiful and twisted things with that #Also i kind of hate the whole 'oh there's no saving him from this evil magic corruption' like le please that's the most stupid thing to eve #be in a fairy tale #just proves these people didn't actually read the snow queen #also also go watch Astor Rhymemaster she's a genius and explains songs IN SUCH AN IN DEPTH WAY #i haven't interacted with much other wish stuff so idk how others are rewriting it but this my ideal

[rewritingcanon]

i actually dont care anymore im saying toxic wolfstar rights them mfs were not healthy when they were younger its time to love them for who they are

#i am an ‘old wolfstar’ truther mainly bcuz most of the appeal in their dynamic comes from when theyre older #and bcuz they can help each other heal and be healthier and more mature at that age #but if yall want to cling onto young wolfstar so bad its time we all be fr and look at the situation presented to us 😭👍 #dont be afraid…. to make ur fav ship appropriately reprehensible…. #i would make a post about toxic wolfstar yuri but that is for another day… #harry potter #hp #wolfstar #remus lupin #sirius black #marauders #marauders era #rewriting

[likeasaltedwound]

sometimes i think about how sam was always meant to outlive dean and how HARD he tried to change that. His big brother is dying of a heart attack, his big brother is dying of a car crash, his big brother is dying over and over on tuesday, his big brother is dying by the hellhounds, his big brother is dying by his hand, his big brother is dying in a barn and i just. fuck. your elder brother will always die first, that's the way it's supposed to go kid.

#supernatural #sam winchester #dean winchester #just FUCK!!! it makes me insane #not to discredit the amount of times sam died and was brought back/similar by dean #but with dean there's a distinct sense he's fixing something that's not MEANT to happen #sam is not meant to be put in a supernatural gauntlet and he sure as hell is not supposed to jump in hell #dean avoiding sam's death feels almost like the natural course of action bc the baby brother is not supposed to die #and specially not by these magical fatalities #while sam is the opposite the very thing he's trying to avoid feels like how things were always meant to be #he can rewrite and reshape their story all he wants but its so POWERLESS and most importantly so pointless #supernatural meta #if this makes a scrap of sense

[starrysharks]

are u planning to do anything with charlotte? the ghost hotel girl?

or minty?

i actually did have an idea for a short comic about them, but i really forgot about it until around a few months ago when i drew up a few potential redesigns for both of them. they're really still up in the air - i might end up selling them as adopts, but i do actually want to do something with them!

(also, here are the redesign sketches from around may-ish? i might end up finishing these designs when i'm in the mood to draw more halloweeny stuff, though they'll probably look a lot different as my artstyle + chara design work has improved)

(the minty pic is also for an unfinished ref sheet!)

#ask zeno #zeno's art #charlotte cardamon cinnamon #minty #(just giving them their own tags for when/if i do expand on their universe) #one thing is i feel like a lot of my oc universes/stories are very similar in plot with the exclusion of ultimate excalibur #i feel like its always a girl and her friend going on a little adventure often in a single location to retrieve the girl's lost memories 😭 #beryl's story falls into this as does reassassination to an extent and when i was first writing it out so did charlotte's story #so if i decide i want to do something with them expect a full rewrite #(for context originally charlotte's story was about her starting the hotel to save a specific amount of lost souls #so that she herself could rest. not exactly regaining memories but i think the tropes i follow the most are memory loss #and having to do tasks to get to something. read about the herculean tasks once as a kid and never recovered

[the-martyrfication-of-the-matron]

Playing around with concepts for some of Aphmau’s new s2 outfits.

#most of her outfits would follow a very different style to this #but this is something I’d want her to wear at some point #aphmau #aphverse #rewrite #aphblr #minecraft diaries #mcd #amaranth #aphmau shalas’haska

[neproxrezi]

Fabric is supposedly more optimized than forge. Both of them still have mods being developed for them but imo fabric has more interesting ones and they tend to run a little better

i think i figured it all out! thank you everyone for your help

hehehe square aurora borealis

#dibi #minecraft #by far the most annoying part of the whole affair #is how EVERY MOD WANTS FIVE HUNDRED MORE SUPPORTING MODS #it's like installing skyrim animation mods #i love the paraglider in skyrim that mod is legit a game changer #but installing it is like. okay download seven framework mods. two of those require mods to rewrite the entire codebase #oh one of those mods is gone. find a dodgy mirror reupload #oh the game updated. figure out which version to downgrade your game to so it still works #then reinstall everything #i've more or less given up on modding skyrim bc of it suddenly updating again #but minecraft was easy in the end by comparison #i just needed a LOT of supporting / framework mods huh #i couldn't get bobby to work #i might need to try distant horizons instead #or something... #there seemed to be a few options for the same thing

[kimbapisnotsushi]

you seem to have a good read on HQ and your takes are great, so i have a question...and if you'd rather not go there, please ignore this! but i see oikawa get called "arrogant" quite often and i'm curious, would you say he is? what is it that makes people think that? imo he has a plenty of flaws, but i truly don't think arrogance is one of them. self-centered, sure, but not arrogant i think. i'm open to being wrong, i'm just legit so confused by that particular criticism, it makes me doubting my reading comprehension. i feel like that one post that's like "free my man, he didn't do that. he did a lot of other stuff tho" LOL. if you do answer this, then thanks for your time!

oh, dear anon. this is a very very big question and i'm honored you think i am capable of providing an answer that does it justice!! i don't consider myself an oikawa expert by far, but i'll do my best because he's still very beloved to me, and i hope whatever i say helps!

(but also - maybe take what i say with a grain of salt LMAO)

anyways, to get the main point out of the way: i completely agree that oikawa isn't arrogant! i actually haven't seen any commentary about that myself (bless!!!), so i can't say for sure why some people might think that, but my guess is that they think his pridefulness = arrogance — they think that the confidence he has in himself and seijoh contributes nothing to their actual power and is utterly meaningless if they don't win, especially in the face of ushijima. which, like, come on. what kind of captain would he be if he wasn't confident in himself and his teammates? is he supposed to tell them that they're going to lose??? is he supposed to discourage their hard work and effort???

or maybe it's because oikawa acts like he's all that, but doesn't have anything to show for it. who does he think he is? what does he think his pride is worth? what right does he have to go around making grand declarations when he has nothing to his name?

(which isn't entirely true, either, but we'll get into that, promise.)

now, do i think that he can, occasionally, be flippant, shallow, and/or petty? yeah, sure. he's got one hell of a personality about it. even iwaizumi says as much. oikawa is great at being a little shit. it's one of my favorite things about him!

but is oikawa genuinely arrogant, or self-centered? well . . . i don't think so.

see, here's the thing about oikawa: he knows he's good, but he doesn't think he's good enough. i think it'd be easiest to really explain what that meant if we broke this down into two separate parts, so let's give it a go, shall we?

(buckle up, friends, because it's about to get LONG. also: TIMESKIP SPOILERS!! and there's a tldr at the start of the tags because. WOW.)

so, first things first: if people are calling oikawa arrogant, then i'm like 99% sure that they don't actually know what the word "arrogant" means.

"arrogant" is used to describe someone full of themselves. it's used to describe someone conceited and pompous. it's used to describe someone so assured of and invested in their self-importance that they don't care for other people, and if it seems like they do, then it's usually wildly off the mark and still serves to inflate their own egos.

oikawa has never once been like that. he's been pretty much the exact opposite, in fact.

and yeah, sure, by his third year of high school, he knows he's good at volleyball, and that's fine! it's perfectly all right to claim you're good at something if you have the skills/experience to back it up. confidence is healthy as long as it isn't in overabundance, and we actually see a lot of this throughout the series!

(not to mention that this was where ushijima fell short. he was overflowing with confidence. he did not believe, for even a single second, that hinata shouyou and his meager, scrappy little flock of crows could beat him.

but oikawa? he knew. he knew what it looked like to make something bloom.)

the key to oikawa's confidence that made him better was that he could pinpoint others' strengths and weaknesses just as well as he could with his own. and (bear with me, please, i might get kind of boring here bc it's nothing that hasn't been said in the manga before) i don't mean it in the way we see the coaches or more analytical players do, as observations to be taken advantage of by everyone else; i mean that in the sense of how vital it is to his position as a setter. that was always the biggest difference between oikawa and kageyama: no matter how much more raw talent kageyama had, no matter how much better oikawa believed him to be, kageyama, especially in the beginning, struggled to do what oikawa could with a team. kageyama struggled to bring out the best in each player. and it wasn't because he didn't know how -- oikawa freely admitted that kageyama had the skill for it, that kageyama, once he got his shit together, could win against him -- it was because kageyama didn't have that same confidence in himself.

(not until much later, anyways. but that's another story, for another time.)

so, oikawa's confident. he knows he's good. he can bring out the best in each player. he's got a killer serve (and a killer smile!), a mind for tactics that borders on machievallianism, and cherishes the trust he is given like it's something precious. his coaches let him lead without leaning on them. his team has the utmost respect and admiration for him. he has a reputation. from karasuno to shiratorizawa to the whole of miyagi -- there is not a single character who knows oikawa tooru and would believe that he is, in any way, bad at volleyball.

but it's not enough. despite all of that, oikawa still doesn't think he's good enough. and that, friends, brings us to the second point.

oikawa tooru is nothing if not passionate.

so were the others, of course. kageyama kept going after his grandfather's death. hinata kept going while being a nobody from nowhere with no one to back him up. atsumu kept going while osamu didn't. it's not even about just those who went pro -- kenma, kuroo, noya, and everyone else found things that they were passionate about and kept going with it. the entire story revolves around loving what you do and trying to keep that love alive, and, sometimes, that can be really, really difficult when it seems like it doesn't love you back.

oikawa was so insecure over kageyama to the point where he nearly decked the poor kid. oikawa got crushed by ushijima-- who kept telling him that his team was not good enough, that his choices were not good enough, that there was nothing good enough to be proud of -- for years in a row. oikawa was taught that there would always be someone better than him no matter how skilled he was, but if he let that stop him then he didn't fucking belong on the court in the first place.

oikawa tooru is intimately acquainted with not being good enough, but he keeps trying to be. he keeps going. he tries to keep the love alive even if he's not loved back. he pushes and practices and takes a plane far from home to become even better. even if he doesn't have the skill, even if he doesn't have the talent, even if he doesn't have the love -- he still has his pride. and what does that mean, in the end? how far does that take him?

in the end, oikawa tooru walks across a world stage and sees people who believed in him on the other side and calls it a family reunion. in the end, he gets to play the volleyball that reminds him of why he loves it and how it gives him so much love back. in the end, his pride is unyielding and unbreakable, a product of the forge. he molded it with his own two hands. he will not let it falter so easily.

arrogance would not have taken oikawa tooru this far. i hope this has proven that he is anything but.

remember: instinct is something you polish. talent is something you make bloom. and never, ever let anyone else tell you what your pride is worth.

#tldr: oikawa 's confident in himself but (believing that there will always be someone more talented) is always striving to become better #ANYWAYS #i know this one's a bit different from the itachiyama post where i analyzed each panel but like #that was REALLY hard to do for this one since there were so many good ones i could use!!! #so i ended up just smashing 2-3 panels together that i thought were best representative of each point i wanted to talk about #and then just diving deep into the whole thing #if i had done it the first way we would have been here FOREVER #literally that's why it took so long i kept deleting and rewriting and going 'holy shit how the fuck do i write this' #'how can ANYTHING i possibly say do justice to oikawa tooru' #i hope i did a good job and i hope this helped anon!!! #i genuinely think this is the most insane thing i have ever written so thanks for that i guess #oikawa tooru #haikyuu #haikyuu!! #haikyuu meta #sou says stuff

[ball-of-butter]

them: what are you thinking about?

me: nothing

my brain: do you ever just sit there and wonder how differently things would have panned out if maven had attached himself to cal instead of mare? if the key to his humanity was his brother and him only? do you ever think that maybe maven would know he wasn’t and couldn’t be good but he would try to be anyways so he could be close to cal (because the crux of it all was that he didn’t want to be alone)? or do you think maven would’ve ended up destroying the both of them because he knows no other way (and cal wouldn’t leave maven to destroy himself on his own)? do you ever think about how cal would’ve been the only person ever to let him stay close? do you ever think about how the entire fucking story would have changed because maven’s character would have been different since he’s a warped mirror of everything he loves (a small list)?

#it actually keeps me up at night #thats why elara had to get rid of cal as soon as she did ☠️☠️ #also #i dont buy the whole ‘elara couldnt take away maven’s love for mare and thomas bc it was ROMANTIC and thats diff to normal family love’ #it feels like an excuse to further the plot… and that kinda gives the impression that. idk. #like ur family cant be the key to ur humanity or the people u love most. it has to be love. which is the antithesis of the point b/w mareven #so IDK WHY THATS A PLOT POINT #anyways #maybe if i thought about it more. but i seriously dont want to ponder this LMFAO #im tired. i want happiness. #red queen #red queen series #maven calore #war storm #glass sword #kings cage #mare barrow #tiberias vii calore #done. #rewriting