#Like not even a little bit. He likes that his friends have their flaws/quirks. He likes them for who they are

[imminent-danger-came]

You know also just realized that MK is the "Plan Man" and Destiny has been explicitly stated as "having plans" (great or foul), like MK is Destiny or could go toe to toe with Destiny, depending on whether or not their plans converge or differ.

[thr0wnawayy]

Chapter 429 has been my Dabi's Dance

I can't stop smiling.

I wanted to start off by saying thank you. Not to Hori, but to you all. Every last one of you in these tags for your contributions. Be it analysis, re-reads, fan works or simply your perspectives. I look forward to seeing what you will make in the future.

So, Thank you.

I suppose I should start at the beginning. MHA was always in the background of my life and I hated it. I don't watch anime and yet still MHA related media would make it's way onto my socials in all it's obnoxious forms. This went on for years.

And then suddenly, it stopped. It seemed like MHA's craze had died down, I'd still see it from time to time through merchandise but never to the consistency it had prior.

That was until Dabi's Dance was published and the net went wild.

I knew a few things about Endeavor from my past exposure, he was universally hated and abused his kids and wife (to the point she scalded her son in a fit of psychosis).

Deciding I had nothing better to do, I found myself searching to see what kind of consequences would befall such a monstrous character.

Would he fall like Icarus, be torn apart by the public, how would the family he ruined react to the news?.

And then, nothing. No punishment, no reaction. Just dead air.

I recall that my face dropped internally. My blank expression mirrored my phone screen's sterile nature, as it displayed the information in front of me.

He got away with it. So I did some digging and it got so much worse.

Bakugo's evasion of any consequences or damages, coddled and shielded by Hori's inability to go through on anything.

Hawks who murdered a near crippled man on a hypothesis, for the mere crime of having the "wrong" quirk, for not giving up, for being "unlucky"

Aizawa, Hori's little mouthpiece. who decides to play judge, jury and executioner with the futures of students he's supposed to be teaching. Only for the Nedzu and the narrative to allow him, his friends turned into lapdogs that agree to the letter.

The Commission who strive to keep theirrotting husk of a system alive through assasins, child soldiers and indoctrination.

Even if it's gears must be lubricated with blood, even if it means lying to the world and having them clean up the mess. They MUST stay on top, the illusion must be upheld.

I just couldn't fathom how this was seen as a good thing.

And somewhere along the way I began to feel something akin to hate. Not your typical ire, one powered by anger, no.

I wanted to see how low Hori would go, just how horrifically he would mangle a series that everyone had once praised.

I wanted to witness what wonders a jaded community would create, to show what they were capable of (to create and understand MHA in a manner Hori wishes he could even emulate a fraction of)

I wished to see your own expressions of love and hatred.

The thought of witnessing the breaking point, the dust settling to expose all the glaring flaws and infested wounds of MHA. It buzzed in my brain like electricity.

The idea that when all was said and done, you, the people would do what Hori couldn't/wouldn't and forge the bones and salvagble bits of MHA into a story worth remembering.

One where abusers are punished for their crimes instead of rewarded

Where victims can have a voice, feel and grow, carve their own paths and move forward from their trauma.

Where the implications of MHA's rotting and disingenuous society get explored instead of swept under the rug

Where people get a chance.

I waited eagerly for the day it would all fall apart.

So, do you know what I did when I logged onto the tag and saw your posts!?.

I laughed, the shrill giggle in the back of my throat quickly surging into an almost manic cackle. It was like lightning, vindicating and sobering all at once. My face was stretched to it's absolute limits with how wide my grin was. I could almost hear the shattering of MHA's last bit of integrity and I loved it.

The realization MHA's greatest threat was the author himself, It's one that I grasped long ago (as far back as the Dark Dekiru Arc) and I'm sure most of you understood this as well.

But to see that more of you are starting to get it, to realize there's no going back. That as the curtains draw near and the lights begin to dim, there is no other side here. Violence begets violence and Hori's gone past the event horizon.

It feels, hopeful. Perhaps we can build something worth saving.

It's been a wild ride so far and it's still ongoing. Hori's time is long over, it has been for a while now, so I suppose what I'm asking Is:

Now It's Your Turn, what's your play?

_______________________________________

Update:

IT'S FINALLY HAPPENING!

[yellowbunnydreams]

Do you need some Vitamin D? (Incubus! William x Oblivious! F! Reader) [Part 1]

~Hi lovelies, I'm aware I have been a shitty author and disappeared for a long time, but I have been trying to get caught up with real life and honestly kinda hyper-fixated on minecraft for a week but I'm determined to write! I want to give you all the lovely things so here is an extremely belated Valentines Day fic about monstrous William Afton~

~Happy Valentines, Galentines, Pal-entines and fork-tines to you all! Today we're doing something a little bit silly and something very sweet in honour of the romantic day....A silly fic of monster William x oblivious reader, because let's face it, we all have at least one moment where flirting has gone straight over our heads and we missed the boat.~

@ruh--roh-raggy

CW: 18+ MINORS DNI. Fluff, age gap (Reader 20's - William Afton 40's(?)), teratophilia, meet-cute, punny pick-up lines, scenes of working out, minor porn-logic, ditzy! reader, could be classed as bimbo! reader?, size-difference, flirting, monster-lover, sexual innuendos, Monster! AU

William Afton ran his tongue over his teeth as he lost himself in thought once again. His silvery eyes watching you behind gold-framed aviators as you chatted with your co-workers, the blaring and beeping arcade lights casting colours against your skin in a way that made the older man suck a breath in through his teeth and click his tongue disapprovingly at himself. William had excellent control over himself both professionally and personally, there were plenty of times where his nature wanted to take hold of the reigns and control his actions but he rarely let them.

You were his little indulgence.

As the type of creature he was, it was hard to control obsessions and indulgences. Where did the lines cross? It had been years since he last let himself slip over the line and it had resulted in some unwanted agreements and commitments, a fact he was constantly reminded of whenever he received a letter from his thankfully former wife demanding reconciliation. She never knew the real him though, and William couldn't ever remember a person beside his best friend and his best friend's wife that had ever seen the real him. Just as he had seen the real them.

But as you turned and glanced at the older man leaning in the doorway into the 'employees only' corridor and gave him a little bright smile like always, he couldn't help his usually stern expression quirking at the corner of his mouth to return the smile slightly. You had that affect on the taller man, even if you were unaware of it or his perhaps less than selfless intentions behind it all.

You'd been working at Freddy Fazbear's pizza for just over two months, and in that time you'd made plenty of friends amongst the various members of staff. The cooks knew your break order and always happened to have an 'accidental' order of your favourite cheesy garlic sticks when you'd had a tough shift, people knew that they could rely on you to cover shifts when sick or that you actually knew where the first aid box was.

In general, people liked you, even if you were keenly aware of your one persistent flaw. You were...naïve, at times, and sometimes jokes and stories flew over your head whilst talking with other staff members. And sure, sometimes you'd had your female co-workers come up to you after some guy had talked to you and walked away looking dejected, only to be told they were flirting with you. But you weren't looking to change those things about yourself necessarily, and nobody ever said it was a bad thing that perhaps somebody who was interested in you would have to try a little harder to grab your attention.

"Afton's staring at you again." Your co-worker tutted, crossing her arms and making you look over towards him despite her hissed protests. Spotting the taller man with greying temples and those thin gold aviators that gave him a much more sophisticated look despite his yellow pin-stripe shirt that was a little baggy on his seemingly broad body. Giving him a friendly smile as he was indeed looking your way, seeing his usual frown twitch slightly as he nodded at you and shoved off from the wall, beginning to wander back into the halls of the pizzeria. "He's such a creep."

"He's not! Mr. Afton's lovely, maybe he's just shy?" You suggested, making the woman in front of you raise her eyebrow sceptically.

"Maybe if he was in high-school, he's a grown ass man, he should say something to you if he wants to say it!"

"Well, he and Mr. Emily do like to stand around and make sure everything is running smoothly. He's probably staring cause we're standing around." Shrugging your shoulders as your colleague shook her head and threw up her hands with an exasperated sigh.

"He's been staring at you for like....a month now? Anybody would think you were being sized up to be eaten or something. Or maybe he wants to fuck you." Wriggling her eyebrows suggestively, you smacked her arm and felt your cheeks heating up as you shook your head.

"Don't be silly! Or rude! Mr. Afton wouldn't think like that towards any of us, we're part of the Fazbear family!"

The young woman looked over at a couple of their co-workers sneaking kisses in the pass, with copious amounts of tongue like teenagers who had just discovered the concept of french-kiss and were delighted with the prospect. Shaking her own head as you wandered off to continue working, not wanting to disappoint your bosses.

"Yeah, perhaps a little more 'incestuous' than you realise though." Muttering under her breath as she trailed behind you, helping with the cleaning chores you both had to complete before the next dinner rush.

Meanwhile, William made his way into the offices at the back and made the man already inside jump slightly at his sudden entrance. His dark, short curls greying slightly and wearing an obnoxiously yellow shirt and brown slacks that made William's stomach turn slightly at how bright his friend was. Henry smiled at him from his desk and turned back to looking at the papers on his desk, allowing William to squeeze past and slip into his desk in the back.

The wooden top was cluttered with sheets of paper in neat stacks and animatronic parts in various spread states of disarray. Afton despised paperwork being out of place, but something that he deemed creative like his animatronics were fine to be in various messy states, art to him was supposed to be chaotic and messy. But his thoughts were distracted by that little smile you'd given him, running his thumb over his index nail repeatedly as he stared at his desk.

Henry noticed his silence and turned around in the swivel chair, facing his friend with a curiously raised eyebrow before scooting closer and forcing William to look up at the sound. Frown on his face as Henry broke out into a grin.

"You went out to look at that employee again didn't you?" Henry teased, making the taller man groan and rub his face under his glasses, jostling them from the comfortable position they had been in and forcing him to adjust them before he glared at Henry.

"None of your fuckin' business."

"Oh you did! And it our business! Do you think you might...pursue?" He asked, leaning on the edge of William's desk, making the other man sigh and shrug his broad shoulders as he averted his eyes back onto the projects on his desk.

"Been a while since I...Think I'm just an old bastard at this point." A slight smirk tugging at his lips as he watched Henry rolling his eyes, a huffing, snorting sound that William recognised as a more annoyed sound.

"Where did all your bravado go? Are you sure your previous wasn't a succubus or something? Sucked all the life out of you."

"Wouldn't that be fucking ironic. Must've been a vampire, drained me dry and not in the nice way either." Henry pulled a face and leaned over to smack William on the shoulder, the firm clap reminding William how strong Henry was despite his more slender frame and growing stomach from his wife's cooking.

Both men sat there for a moment before Henry sighed, running his fingers through his curls and shaking his head to dislodge the soft round ears from ontop of his head. Feeling his face getting slightly more full as his teeth pulled at his gums uncomfortably, blinking up at William who simply blinked back.

"Nearly new moon huh?"

"Yeah, it fucking sucks that I can't really leave the office or the house in case, but that's what I have my best friend and my wife for, huh?"

"Don't let your wife figure out they're separate titles." William chuckled, watching as Henry stretched his jaw and pawed at his face as he tried to encourage his more ursine features back into place.

"No way, I value my life and she will absolutely hand me my ass in silver bullets." Henry laughed and shook his head, looking back onto his own desk and spotting the poster for an upcoming event that made his face light up in an even brighter smile as he turned back to William. "You know what you should do?"

"What?"

"Ask her to the staff Valentine's staff-do!"

"Absolutely fucking not!"

"Come on, why?" He whined and William huffed, curling his lip up to reveal teeth a little too sharp to be human before he cleared his throat and cracked his neck, giving Henry a much more normal smile afterwards.

"It's so stupid, and plus, I need to refresh my skills, that takes time you know."

"Just go with what you've got! In fact, start today! Go out there and get flirting! If you don't have a date to that staff-do, I swear to god William, I'll bite you."

"Can't pass on the ursanthropy to me, Henry. But the thought of you biting me in any form is unpleasant." William sighed and stood up from his desk, watching Henry scooting back to his desk and rolling his eyes as he sighed.

Afton hated things like Valentine's Day, thought about all the overpriced flowers and chocolates that were out and about and the tacky foil decorations that would be used once and then ripped down within a day and never mentioned again. But Henry, annoyingly, was right about the fact that it was an opportune time to ask you out and flex his fingers with the charm a little.

It didn't take him long to find you, carrying piles of flat pizza boxes to make-up for takeout and humming slightly as you headed down the winding corridor, peeking over the top of the stack to see where you were going before a pair of hands reached out and took some of the boxes on the top.

"Let me get some of that for you, sweetheart." He chuckled, easily holding the boxes in his large hands and making you smile appreciatively, adjusting your grip on your own stack and feeling better that you could see where you were going and wouldn't run into anybody.

"Thanks Mr.Afton! I hope this isn't too much trouble." Watching as William shrugged and chewed over his lip, glancing over you briefly.

"It's no trouble, hey! Do you like raisins?" He asked suddenly, making you pause as you mulled over the question.

"I mean...I'm not keen?"

"Then how about a date?" William grinned from ear to ear, watching your expression gleefully as you blinked up at him.

"I mean..I might like them? Haven't tried raisins in years, I might have to try them again. Thanks for helping Mr. Afton!" You smiled, wandering through the corridor and towards the front of the restaurant once again, not aware of the flabbergasted look on her boss' face as he stared after you.

You weren't sure what had changed the next day when you came in for your shift, early as always and humming to yourself when you cleaned up. Henry Emily and William Afton came in through the front door, silence between them as you noticed that Henry had a pair of dark sunglasses on despite the early morning light and William had on a tight black t-shirt and jeans, looking more like a biker with a bit of a dad-bod going on. Blinking in surprise as neither of them were really dressed in the professional attire you were used to them being in.

"Good morning Mr. Emily, Mr. Afton!" You called out, causing both men to stop and turn their attention towards you. Afton looking at you with that stern expression he always had whilst Henry attempted a smile, although it fell quickly and settled back into a slightly pained look, causing your brow to furrow with concern.

"Ah, morning," your name was added quietly onto the end, Henry reaching up and rubbing his hand over his face. Secretly checking himself for any subtle transformations, William glancing at him from the corner of his eye before turning his attention back to you. "How goes set-up?"

"Well Mr. Emily, although...are you okay? You look a little sick and tired today. Maybe you should be at home?" Voice laden with concern and head tilted slightly as you watched Henry, managing to miss William's slight smile at your concern for his friend. Henry shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders lightly.

"Ah, yeah just not been sleeping well. Not sweet enough dreams perhaps." Trying to put some humour back into his voice as William lit up and decided to try out another technique on you, feeling his face settling into a confident smirk once more as he looked you over. Somehow you made even the uniform look cute.

"Not like you, hey sweetheart? You're sweet and a dream." You turned to look at him as the much taller man spoke, the same blank expression on your face for a moment before you laughed and shook your head shyly, averting your gaze from his silvery eyes. Wondering if you had ever been so close to him, other than when he picked up the pizza boxes for you.

"You're too nice Mr. Afton, I really just try to be myself." Shaking your head and not noticing as Henry scowled at William from the side, shaking his own head and rolling his eyes behind the sunglasses. "Well, I better get back to work, please take care of yourself today Mr. Emily, and please look after him Mr. Afton." Giving each of the older men a smile before turning back to your duties and allowing them to move on. Still curious as to why they were dressed less formally.

Henry all but grabbed William and dragged the taller man into the back areas and to their cramped little office. Both men staring down as Henry took off his sunglasses and revealed his more yellowish green eyes, the pupils blown out as he struggled to keep himself full in check as the new moon was only a day away. Holding onto his friend's thick arms for a moment before crossing his against his chest, foot tapping impatiently as he had to look slightly up to see William's face.

"What the actual fuck was that?"

"What was what, Henry?" William asked coyly, smirking as the werebear before him huffed and growled in annoyance. Narrowing his eyes as Henry gestured back out towards the main floor where you were.

"THAT! Was that you flirting?"

"Yeah? Girls love that shit, just cause you get that whole 'mate' thing doesn't mean everybody does buddy." William rolled his eyes and crossed his own thicker arms across his broad chest, staring down at the smaller man as he shook his head. Henry running his fingers through his dark curls for a moment as an exasperated sigh escaped him.

"When did girls like that, the eighteen-hundreds?"

"Watch it, and it was the eighties as you well know."

"Either way, you're an old bastard."

"Shut the fuck up, Emily." William growled, his own teeth changing slightly as his lip curled and revealed sharper canines than before. His own monstrous nature leaking through his carefully held together image before Henry blinked and he was back to normal.

Both men headed off into the offices, Henry still shaking his head and glancing at William with a sense of disbelief. His friend was loosing his touch and honestly, he wasn't sure what he could do to rectify the situation without being blunt and to the point which would entirely ruin William's whole thing.

"You're possibly the world's worst incubus, William Afton." Henry muttered under his breath, making William snort and smirk in return as the office door opened and he allowed his features to shift slightly. Sharp teeth, flatter more squashed nose and nails sharper as greyish brown fur started to creep down the back of his neck and onto his forehead, mixing into where his salt and pepper hair normally was neatly swiped back.

"Says you, I'm just getting started." His features turning back to normal as he shook his head. Cracking his neck and rolling his shoulders as the monster once against became the man.

Your phone buzzed on the bedspread as you sat eating cereal in bed and watching some true-crime programme that had come on when you turned on the TV. Almost missing the soft sound before you reached for it and tapped the screen with your thumb to light it up, pausing as you saw it was a text notification and heart pounding slightly as you saw the name attached to it.

William Afton.

Tapping it open, you wondered if perhaps he was asking you to cover the shift the next day, since you had a couple of days off. Although it was usually Henry who reached out and he never texted, always phoned since it was 'more professional'. He had looked sick earlier, so it wasn't out of the realms of possibility that he was handing over the responsibility to William to try and limit how much stuff Henry himself had to do. You paused as the text loaded after a moment and your eyes instantly landed on a photo of William.

It took you a moment to register. But it looked like it had been taken from around waist height and pointed up his body, his greying hair slicked back and wet like he'd just gotten out of the shower, those gold wire aviators catching the light but still able to see his grey eyes and his greying beard. His broad chest was covered in a tight purple shirt, sleeves rolled up to the elbow, the first three buttons undone and letting you see a touch of his dark chest hair that you somehow never realised you knew would be there.

Confused, you looked at the text that came afterwards, your eyes straying back up to the picture occasionally as you tried to figure out what on earth was going on.

'What do you think to the new shirt?' Still confused, you balanced the bowl of cereal on your lap before texting back, thinking on what to reply as you scanned the picture one more time before your fingers moved across the keyboard.

'It's a nice colour on you Mr. Afton. Did you mean to send this to me though?' Turning back to eating cereal and watching the TV for only a moment before your phone buzzed again and you looked at his name popping up on the screen once more, tapping on it to read as you chewed over your next mouthful.

'Shit, really sorry, this was meant for Henry. Thanks for your feedback though.' You tried for a moment to think how your name might end up next to Henry Emily's in his contacts but didn't think too hard about it, popping another spoonful into your mouth before texting back, wanting to reassure the older man that it was a simple mistake.

'It's no problem, I'm not doing anything at the moment anyway. Was just surprised that you texted me.'

A few minutes passed before your phone vibrated again, and you were welcome to the distraction since the programme had become kind of boring and predictable, it was clear who was the murderer and anything was better than the cliche music and dramatic cuts on the screen.

'Not doing anything? A young lady like you should be out and about! I'm curious as to what type of nothing you're up to now though.' The text made you laugh and shake your head, chuckling as you texted back quickly. You weren't sure what it was about the text exchange with William Afton, but it was enjoyable and you couldn't help the involuntary scroll up in the chain of texts to look at the photo again whilst you waited for his reply after your own.

'Sat in bed, eating cereal and watching TV. Really nothing exciting Mr. Afton. I can imagine your evening is more exciting than mine.'

'Well that rather depends on your definition of exciting. What would you be up to if you didn't have the cereal?' A strange question, but you shrugged and replied in the only way that came to mind. Totally unaware that William Afton was across town and laid in his own bed as soon as you mentioned being in yours, a small smirk on his face with one hand tucked up behind his head as he thought it was genius to potentially lure you into a salacious conversation.

'Get up and get cereal :p'

Your reply left his blinking at his screen and he turned his head to look at the floor length mirror across the room, seeing his more monstrous face staring back at him. Soft bunny ears folded back across his head and covered in a fine layer of salt and pepper fur. His large figure spread out across the bed, his clawed fingers running over his head and flatter face, nose twitching as his now pale purple eyes stared back behind his glasses. The bedding up to his waist hiding most of his transformations, tucking his knees up and curling up his lip to reveal his sharp teeth as his foot stamped in annoyance against the mattress. Crossing his arms around himself in a motion of comfort. The lagomorphic incubus was beginning to doubt his own abilities and he didn't like that.

What was it about you that resisted him so easily? He wasn't entirely sure, but he thought it might have something to do with the fact you had always seemed to have a few things...go over your head, to put it politely. Chewing on his lip as he looked at himself once again in the mirror before he closed his eyes and tapped his head back against the headboard, frustrated that it wasn't going exactly to plan.

Unaware of your boss' frustration, you gave up waiting for him to say something back, glancing at the clock and wondering if perhaps he had simply fallen asleep. But you had a small smile that he had talked to you for so long, and wondered if he had enjoyed the conversation too. Putting the dirty bowl on your nightstand to be cleaned up in the morning and sighing as you settled back into bed.

Scrolling back up, you couldn't help one last look at the picture he had sent, cheeks flushing with heat as you shook your head, tossing the device to one side as you rubbed your face. Wondering what on earth had gotten into you that you kept going back to look at your boss and admire the little features of his face.

[rewrittenmha]

Hero Killer Stain Arc

As far as arcs in MHA go, this is the only one I would call almost perfect.

This was the arc that (should have) set the tone for the rest of the series. It was dark enough to show us the severity of being a hero, laid out the flaws of hero society, and tells us why Izuku (our main character) is different and has the power to change things.

I hesitate to change much about it.

I think there's something to be said about Izuku's reaction to Stain. As far as people who call out society, Stain is the only one who gets through Izuku's ideals if only a little bit. No one else- not even Lady Nagant, who had the most valid argument- made him stop and think.

I do have to wonder if this was because of Stain's admiration for All Might. And that... isn't a great look for Izuku in all honesty.

So instead, I want Stain's words to really affect Izuku. I want him- as someone who's studied heroes all his life- to really think on the things he's seen. Thing he might have justified in his head at the time. I want him to reflect on what Todoroki told him about Endeavor and Quirk Marriages. I want his idealization of heroes and the societies heroes protect to be challenged.

This will be the start in deconstructing not only Izuku's blind hero worship, but also the circumstances in which he grew up in. What allowed Bakugou to torment him all those years? What was it that decided that he wasn't equal to his peers?

I mentioned this before on my main, but the one thing I always thought would benefit the Stain arc was also breaking Tenya's idolization of Tensei.

Stain brings up great points in canon, but they're undercut by the fact that Tensei- as far as we know- is a good hero. So Stain targeting him really undermines his actions and goals. Sure, you can make the argument that it's all heroes other than All Might that he sees as the problem, but it just makes Stain look like a hypocrite because we have no proof of that either.

So, Tensei won't be as innocent here.

It happened when he was just starting out as a hero. Tensei Iida had just graduated from UA and became the hero Ingenium. He was dedicated to upholding his family's ideals: noble, honest, and good.

But as a rookie, he came across something he wasn't supposed to see. He was investigating an underground drug ring where he witnessed Lady Nagant- one of the top 10 heroes at the time- kill another hero, albeit one a lot less known.

Tensei panicked and demanded to know what she was doing. But her eyes were so haunted and empty that he couldn't bring himself to move. When she answered him, her voice was hollow. She told him that this was the society they were tasked with upholding as heroes. And that if he had a problem with it, he could take it up with the HPSC. And then she left, like nothing had happened.

She was arrested just a few months later.

Tensei never said a word about it. And the guilt has been haunting him ever since.

He confesses all of this to Tenya after Tenya's confrontation with Stain. Tenya is confused and upset; all his life he has been taught that standing up for what's right is the foundation of the Iida family. He doesn't know how to feel about this information...

But then he remembers how Izuku had rushed in to help him without hesitation. How he always stood up for others, no matter what. How he never gave up.

Izuku... inspired him. Izuku made him want to be a better hero. A hero who always did the right thing, regardless of if it followed all the rules or not.

Shoto has never had friends before. He was never allowed to. He was told he was better than everyone else, including his brothers and sister. But being there for Izuku and Tenya felt... good. Like others relied on him, and he could rely on them too.

He's been sheltered all his life so outside of Endeavor he doesn't really understand what Stain is talking about. Heroes are usually good, like All Might, right?

But what if... more of them were like his father than he had previously believed?

Meanwhile, Yaoyorozu- upon learning that Uraraka is interning with Gunhead- decides to take the invitation from him that was also offered to her. She wants to know how Uraraka held off so well against Tokoyami when she couldn't. Uraraka thrives under Gunhead's tutelage, but Yaoyorozu struggles. She, no matter how hard she tries, can't seem to learn how to think on her feet.

Yaoyorozu comes off as cold at first which intimidates Uraraka, but then she realizes "Oh, this rich kid has never had a normal social interaction in her life." She makes the effort to be kind to Yaoyorozu, who has never had a real friend in her life and doesn't know how to respond to this compassion.

Uraraka helps her to stop overthinking. Tells her to stop thinking about what her opponent will do so much and look at what they're actually doing. It improves Yaoyorozu's already decent combat ability, which she's grateful for. She sincerely thanks Uraraka and confides in how she felt like she failed at the Sports Festival. Uraraka sympathizes; it's hard to be overlooked and cast aside when you know you're capable of doing so much more. For the first time in her life, Yaoyorozu feels understood

(They're besties, your honor)

Notes:

This one's more of a summary because there really aren't many changes to this arc other than Tensei's flashback. I was thinking of making him an HPSC assassin too, but a) I thought it would be more meaningful if he just happened to be in a place where he made the wrong choice and b) I like to think that the Iida family is descended from some of the first heroes. I feel like the HPSC couldn't sink their claws in them

The "main trio" as of the moment will be Izuku, Tenya, and Shoto as was (presumably) intended. I loved their chemistry in this arc and I feel like the three of them balance each other out really well

I almost forgot to take Momo out of that terrible internship. Having her work with Gunhead along with Uraraka was a great opportunity for Momo to actually connect with another girl. I feel like Horikoshi had all the girls like each other and get along for no other reason than they're all girls. Even MomoJirou and TsuChako are like that to an extent

To add to that, I also felt like Horikoshi focused way too much on Momo becoming an even better planner instead of being able to think on her feet. Her and Izuku are kind of opposites that way and it would have made for some great parallels between them

Do you guys think Best Jeanist would still take an interest in Bakugou? He lost pretty early and didn't have the chance to throw his tantrum at the awards ceremony. He definitely wouldn't get nearly as many offers in canon. I feel like him being mentored by Jeanist or not is an indication of whether or not he'll be redeemed idk it just feels that way

[bicheetopuff]

Grill I have a sudden thought. Epiphany if you will.. Call it curiosity even!

Kirishima is kind of a parallel torwards Izuku in some way when being friends with Kats (just more, confident and less bullying and Kiri being a rock)

But what about Iida?

like, For some reason- Iida does seen Izuku as a rival and kind of want to prove himself that he can be more with or without izu-

I am- I'm not sure how to word this. I am not good with words, but I think what I want to say that Izu and Kats kind of have a type when befriending others

Iida & Katsuki (Similarity)

Loud

Studios

Prideful

Not chill

Goal minded (I'm stupid maybe)

Rule binding (Kats is just very chaotic in responding to rules)

Both probably sleeps at 8 PM

I'm not sure anymore I think you can list it better than I do-

Help this is not even remotely a coherent thought, so please just ignore it if it doesn't make sense

Have Izu for your troubles!💞

bkdk is the only ship I ship, just- thoughts

Don’t worry, bkdk is constantly on my mind too, I get it.

I actually really love the way Izuku and Iida’s relationship parallels Katsuki and Kirishima’s and it makes me kinda sad that people stopped talking about them.

I wouldn’t say that they parallel in dynamic very much, but they parallel in a sense that Katsuki and Izuku are so obviously jealous of each others friends. Well… not jealous, but there’s definitely a feeling of, “I’m glad he found a friend who treats him the way he deserves to be treated, because I am in no place to be the one to give him that no matter how much I want to,” kind of mutual insecurity. And it’s made so blatantly obvious (even being confirmed in an interview) that I genuinely wonder what Horikoshi was thinking when he decided to do it. Like, what were his intentions with that? Outside of obvious yearning?

Like, I feel like Iida and Kirishima is who bkdk wishes the other could see them as. Kirishima has that same overly positive spirit and self sacrificial heroic attitude that Izuku has that Katsuki hates so much. The difference is, Izuku’s self sacrificial attitude isn’t healthy while Kirishima’s is, because Kirishima’s quirk is literally a shield which makes it nearly impossible for him to inflict injuries onto himself deliberately like Izuku does. Kirishima is Izuku without the fatal flaws that worries Katsuki so much. Now with Iida, he’s an organized goody two shoes with a tendency to let his emotions spill over in a scary/somewhat violent way, just like Katsuki. However, Iida is also missing Katsuki’s fatal flaws. Iida is stubborn but he’s able to let people into his life and he doesn’t have an explosive temper, nor does he have an extremely inflated ego. He has a similar social pressure that Katsuki had growing up with his family and other adults in his life pre-projecting him to be a great hero and having him set a standard for himself that he isn’t able to reach until realizes his weaknesses, which he’s able to do a lot faster than Katsuki was able to.

They don’t just parallel in their relationships, but they parallel narratively too fairly often. I touched on it a bit in this post [x], but I’ll explain it a little more since I find it fascinating.

Since Izuku views Kirishima as Katsuki’s ideal friend, and Katsuki views Iida as Deku’s ideal friend, they kind of act on it in a way that ended up setting up the whole narrative about hand holding in the story.

With this,

Being a clear call back to this:

(I also wanna point out that the memory of Ochako saying that “he’ll think it’s disgraceful to get rescued” being recalled in both of those chapters)

I feel like both “You’ve always managed to outpace me!!” and “I probably shouldn’t be the one…” are proof of that insecurity I mentioned earlier. They truly don’t believe that they’re the most important people to each other, and their mutual belief in that just kind of proves them wrong ironically. These two scenes is them indirectly extending their hand through someone else, because they think that someone else would do it better.

There’s way too much emphasis on them being scared to hold hands for it to be considered platonic, IM SORRY BUT IM NOT BUYING IT

I’m sorry if this wasn’t coherent, it’s literally 2am where I am…

[khattikeri]

prefacing this post by saying this is not a ship bashing post; i like all these ships; i am musing on my own personal preferences

i think the reason why i like wangxian and bingqiu just a little bit more than hualian boils down to the misunderstandings, with the sex scenes of their respective stories being insights into those misunderstandings.

in mdzs, lan wangji and wei wuxian's misunderstandings come about because 1) they were acquainted but not seriously close friends 2) they had to deal with a massive war and its aftermath. lan wangji was worried for wei wuxian's personal safety and had romantic feelings for him. wei wuxian was slowly led to believe over time that lan wangji didn't really like him much and wanted to harm him just like everyone else in spite of wei wuxian's righteous actions.

combined with their respective upbringings as a respectable second son and the dubiously accepted son of a servant who always has to watch his own back, there's a lot for them to untangle after the death and resurrection and feelings realization! but the moment they do realize that they're mutually in love, they jump on the chance to stay together, no more miscommunication, no waiting, no more turning away from each other again.

and the respective sex scene: you explicitly see the peerless illustrious hanguang-jun lan wangji straining, apologetic and still openly nervous during his and wei wuxian's first time. because they didn't talk things out! they were too excited! they were too happy and intent to have each other after all those years of pain so they rushed into it without really discussing anything beforehand. so lan wangji doesn't actually know if wei wuxian is going nooooo~ in a sexy way or if wei wuxian actually seriously wants lan wangji to stop. it's flawed and they work out each other's preferences later on, but they both enjoyed themselves and continue to do so even in future sex scenes.

in svsss, shen qingqiu and luo binghe's misunderstandings come about because 1) former is a modern day transmigrator compelled to not reveal anything about the story or what he actually feels for any of the characters 2) the latter is desperate to understand the former's contradictory actions and to not be abandoned.

combined with several miscommunications and hasty assumptions (e.x. luo binghe thinking that shen qingqiu must've harmed him because he despised luo binghe's half-demon ancestry; shen qingqiu thinking that luo binghe intends to torture him the way he tortured the original story's counterpart shen qingqiu) and you get a fascinating and heartrending dynamic where they clearly adore each other and are dismayed at the idea that it's inevitable for the other one to despise them and want to hurt them. things clear up because they show each other their devotion and intent to stay.

and the respective sex scene: their first time isn't even written to be titillating! they're still in the middle of battle. luo binghe's mind is being overpowered by the demonic sword xin mo, so even though shen qingqiu is okay with dual cultivation/sex to pacify the sword's lust for conquering, it's extremely rough and unpleasant. it is violent and painful and leaves shen shingqiu so battered he looks like he's been assaulted, which horrifies luo binghe when he finally regains his senses.

they're distraught as hell! it traumatizes them both! and yet in spite of that and in spite of their fears of being hurt they want to stay with each other and they actively choose to keep being with each other. they improve their communication and clearly seem to understand each other's quirks and sexual preferences better in the extras and after marriage.

versus in tgcf: xie lian and hua cheng got along with each other from day 1. there was a spark the moment xie lian met san lang on the back of that ox cart. they talked for ages and were endeared to each other basically immediately! even during the ghost bride mission where they didn't really speak to one another, xie lian clearly felt a connection to the mysterious groom who gently and safely led him through the blood rain.

through all their present-day adventures and the final battle, even when they separate by choice or by force of circumstance, hua cheng and xie lian don't ever have a serious falling out. hua cheng is loyal to the bone and xie lian is also deeply drawn to hua cheng; both their respective insecurities are treated seriously and with sincerity by the other. there may be some confusion about each other's feelings, but even that isn't twisted to the point that they completely misconstrue each other's intentions and characters.

there isn't a central misunderstanding or miscommunication between hualian the way wangxian or bingqiu had; just a mutual past to be unraveled, and the looming question of if xie lian will actually act upon his feelings/the fact that he's attracted to and in love with hua cheng.

and the respective sex scene: we don't have any explicit sex scenes due to censorship. everything is in xie lian's rather selective point of view (and he's the type who hides certain details from readers for entire volumes on end!) so the most we get is the skimmed summary: xie lian really enjoyed it and hua cheng is kind of rough. just the implication that hua cheng was naturally amazing and satisfied xie lian fully, without any particularly humanizing aspects or awkward/upsetting first time moments.

of course tgcf is a beautiful story and a lovely romance in its own right, but personally, i found mdzs and svsss's main pairings more compelling because of the misunderstandings and how the sex scenes tied into the characters' personalities and overall relationship arcs.

[yandere-daydreams]

Just went through all your genshin android doll au and now I'm. Thinking.

A reader who works with young kids in some capacity, maybe a teacher. Buys a second hand Albedo bot (because lord knows they dont make enough for a brand new one) with some bugs. It's not quite "isolate you from friends and family" levels and more... Clinginess. Anxiety when you need to leave for an errand. But he needs to stay home while you're still fixing him up with YouTube how to videos, just in case.

He has many quirks still remaining by the time hes able to join the classroom, but they're completely harmless. His tendency to make too much or too little eye contact, trailing after you like a duckling for the first few weeks, rocking and clicking his tounge(? Voice box?). But these are all traits you've seen before in your own kids, and his body language isn't something that needs to be fixed. It's helpful for some of your students to open up and express themselves, when they see an adult figure like them.

But of course, he still gets rather lonely. He wants to take care of you when your home, it's how he keeps your attention. He gets irritable if he's idle for too long. So you pick up a Klee model since he gets along so well with kids, and they're both models approved to used in classrooms. She's more then energetic enough to keep him busy, and they get along like bread and butter. Or a house on fire. You still have to buy second hand after all, and Klee came with some fixations. But thats nothing an equipped science bot can't handle, Albedo keeps her satisfied with science experiments. You buy another fire extinguisher just to be safe.

It isn't until you're fixing up a Albedo you got at a steal (free99) from the seller who gave you Albedo and Klee that you realize you've become somewhat of a hobbyist. This one will probably be your last permenant bot, considering his higher needs, but you've gotten quite good at fixing up quirky models. This Albedo reverted to his beta personality that had been left in some forgotten folder, and no one could quite get him to go back. But thats not your goal.

You patch some of the more... Aggressive tendancies and bugs, and leave the personality itself in tact. This gains you quite a bit of favour with your new companion, and he's quick to fall into your daily life. He exhibits some... Jealous habits with your original Albedo, picking on him and trying to one up him any chance he has. But thankfully Klee and the classroom is something they can both agree on, so it rarely extends past an (usually) innocent rivalry.

Sorry for the surprisingly long ask, but androids are one of my favorite tropes!! And Albedo (and his double) are one of my favorite characters... Please enjoy my ramblings

tw - unhealthy relationships, obsessive behavior, all albedos ini this scenario are extremely questionable.

dkljfdkdjksdjfksfsdjfsj i have not touched the sex doll au in a hot minute but i think albedo's 'beta' personality would probably have been developed and refined as an attempt to give one of the child-friend robots a bit of an edgier personality before immediately realizing that that's,,, just not a great idea and mellowing him down into our current and well-loved albedo. needless to say, when you get him in the same room as his replacement, he's less than pleased - as is your first albedo, your original companion, as he's intent on reminding you as often as he can. still, you're his precious master, and he's fond enough of klee, so he bares with the unwanted company, makes-nice with your first albedo droid, helps around your classroom, tries to prove that he can help you the way he's supposed to, too, even after the dozenth time you turn him down. you say you just doesn't feel right to sleep with the same android you bring to work everyday, but he has a feeling it might have something to do with the rip-off you keep so close to your side, the flawed copy who can't seem to go a minute without your attention. you refuse to believe him, but he swears that he's seen his copy drop that innocent mask, spare a smirk over your shoulder as you compliment him on another day of keeping your classroom relatively un-wrecked by grade-schoolers, slip into your room tonight after klee's powered down for the night. clearly, he's not the companion you deserve. clearly, teyvat made a few mistakes when they took his programming and butchered it.

and, while you might be too oblivious to see it, it's clear to him that your little family could do without a duplicate.

[sociopathicartist]

Sans Headcanons

(Some romantic, some platonic, some just general ideas, will label them)

G - Sans probably fidgets a lot.

Not something too noticeable, you’d have to be paying close attention to notice it. Just simple things like tugging on the sleeves of his beloved jacket, or making sure his gloves are snug and tight on his hands. Also just other easy fidget stuff- shifting his weight from one leg to the other, swaying side to side a bit. He keeps his hands in his pockets a lot since he doesn’t like when people comment on it. It’s an easy way for his mind to stay distracted and calm whenever he’s not sleeping or watching a show. His fidgeting isn’t that noticeable, he doesn’t have the energy to bounce his leg or twirl something in his hand all the time, that sounds exhausting, but just something to keep him occupied while he’s busy doing nothing or watching his friends chatter around him.

G - He reads labels on literally everything.

Why? Nobody’s too sure. Anytime he’s handed a soda, or a bottle of ketchup, or he sees his brother’s shampoo in the shower (which he finds funny which brand Papyrus buys since he doesn’t even have hair), he just grabs it and reads the ingredients. It’s just interesting to him what’s inside stuff, and he finds it funny whenever there’s something unexpected. Why is there Red Dye 40 in a potato chip bag? He’s not sure, but he’s glad he just read the ingredients and found out that silly gem. Maybe it’s something else to keep his mind occupied, or perhaps it’s just a silly quirk he has that nobody really questions or notices. Either way, he will be reading the label and ingredients on anything you give him.

R - He loves dropping casual compliments.

Anytime he sees you. Anytime.

‘god, you look great.’

‘i like that color on you’

‘hey, beautiful.’

Just drop of a hat 24/7, almost anytime he speaks. He loves letting you know just how amazing you are, and what’s a better and easier way to show that? It’s something that he can do all the time too- over text, on call, in person, on paper. Unlike other ways to show love like physical touch or making you breakfast in the mornings, compliments and cute nicknames are something he can always give to you.

G / P / R - He’s set in his way a lot of the time.

Nothing demeaning or anything. I can’t place the right word for it, but a good example would be if someone was debating or telling him something that he didn’t think was right, all they’d hear is,

‘yeah’

‘uh-huh’

‘surrrree.”

It wouldn’t apply to serious things like arguments where he needs to be mature and communicate, but it would apply to just an opinion debate. Something like, what color is better for this, what this person is doing that he thinks is wrong but another thinks it’s fine. Sure, it’s not the most mature thing, but everyone has quirks or flaws to them that aren’t very mature. It can feel a bit mocking or facetious when he does it, almost like what you are saying is just kinda being tuned out.

P - He thinks of you a lot.

I put this under the platonic category, but it can for sure apply to romantic.

He likes to send little photos to you over the text of something he saw that reminded him of you. He’ll try and watch a movie or listen to a song that you said you liked. Just little things that he does because he values your friendship, not even needing a romantic reason. He just cares for you, so of course he’s going to take on a hobby you suggested he tries, or cook something you said you liked for both him and Papyrus to try. Why wouldn’t he do that? He’s thoughtful, that’s what friends do.

G - He pays a lot of attention to random things.

I guess this doubles with him fidgeting a lot and reading labels on stuff, but I wanted to elaborate a bit more. He’s a detailed character even though he’s very lazy and nonchalant. He pays attention to people, we know this from in-game dialogue, why wouldn’t it be the same for surroundings? He looks away quite a bit when talking to Frisk in the game, so it’s natural to assume he has a bit of a hard time holding eye contact. When he’s talking to his friends or whenever he’s maybe just alone, he likes to look around at things while he listens. He’ll see the ducks wander across the street, or maybe take note of how hot it is outside that day. He just likes focusing on the small details in life that help remind him a bit of his current state and keep him mentally grounded, whether they’re important to other people or not. Little things like noticing the drawings on coffee to-go cups, or how the color of the sidewalk becomes a bit lighter whenever he takes a turn down a certain street all just help him think a little bit clearer. Grasp a bit more onto reality, let him know everything is real and he’s here. He also just likes noticing the things nobody else really does.

Sorry for not uploading in a while! I’ve been enjoying my summer break:), but I’ll be back to uploading pretty regularly. Do you guys want to see more general headcanons like these, or should I stick to romantic/domestic ones? Hope you enjoyed it!

[chaifootsteps]

I know it's been said before but do you think it's definitely the case that Stolas is Viv's self insert, or she's at least seriously projecting on him?

it just seems so unintentionally revealing that the only way the writing makes sense anymore is if Viv genuinely doesn't think Stolas' flaws are flaws. She thinks he's behaving either in a totally understandable way or that his issues are minor quirks at worst

he spent the entirety of apology tour being petty and awful in a way he hasn't been since s1, but in a worse way in some respects because he obviously thinks he's in the right

he acts like he's owed Blitz's love and loyalty even when he was just using him, he has complete and total disregard for the lives of anyone he can't use in some fashion, he's rich and privileged and in complete denial about the power that gives him over other people, he treats people like garbage only to gaslight them about it after the fact, he's been told multiple times he's the problem only to reject it or act the victim again five minutes later, he acts like a petty mean girl and is a total hypocrite about numerous things, he expects to be easily forgiven when he asks for it even if he gives the most wormy non apology ever

so much of this maps so cleanly onto the way people describe Viv - that she's dismissive or outright hostile to anyone who aren't her favorites, that she treats people like expendable work machines, that she feels entitled to have people work for little pay and hates when they complain, that she shit talks or abuses friends only to turn around and be nice to them again

I try and take discord screenshots with a grain of salt until confirmed but there's a whole lot of smoke around the way Viv acts and her writing is so incompetent it can't help but feel a bit revealing about the way she views power and what right and wrong is. I can't help but think it's just going to grow into fire as NDAs expire

and as far as hb has gone lately, right and wrong are just 'how much does this character suck up to Stolas, accept lousy treatment from him or stick their neck out for him'. It's more than just the show worshipping power and treating it as self justifying, it worships this one rich character who just happens to be the victim of basically everyone else

I don't think Stolas started out as Viv's self-insert and I don't even know that she's doing it intentionally, but he definitely reeks of the way she handles conflict and views her place in the world.

Stolas's entire deal is that he's "trying," that he "feels bad" for his mistakes and he's totally sorry and won't do it again, even as it becomes increasingly apparent to the audience that he really isn't, that he keeps repeating the mistakes he's ostensibly sorry for, and that he's getting worse. That's Viv to a T, whose last apology was in 2019 -- and it was one of those "Sorry you think I'm the actual worst and that I can't do anything right" apologies -- and who's never apologized since. Viv, whose biggest enemy is herself and whose most outspoken critics have been her maltreated former employees.

Stolas in Viv's mind is a little insensitive sometimes, longing for love, and up against a world (both in-universe and out) full of unfair, unkind people who just don't understand him. Stolas in actuality is manipulative, a gaslighting liar, and most of the characters who speak out against him have considerably less power and privilege and have been hurt by him.

Remind you of anyone?

[wilsonphiggs]

I fucking hate mcsm btw (lying)

hey guys so I thought a bit too hard and I was thinking about how I would rewrite the story. one of my gripes specifically being with how they handled lukas and axel’s relationship. I went on a really long tangent on how I would’ve fixed it and I’ll paste it under the cut. (WARNING: IT’S A REALLY LONG RANT.)

so, I didn’t really like how they treated their dynamic. axel was so concerned for petra—and that’s understandable, considering she’s a friend—but they never gave a reason as to why axel SPECIFICALLY was worried so much, which caused him to lash out more. therefore, resulting in him mad at lukas for getting scared, along with the fact that he was the leader of the ocelots, yatta yatta etc. etc.

but my main point is: their mutual disdain for each other not only felt forced, but artificial. it felt so unreasonable, with axel shoving lukas around for seemingly no reason at times. not only that, but axel was just generally an asshole of a character. I get having someone joke around a little rudely if it’s all jokes and you know that—my friend group and I are like that all the time. but there’s a fine line between crude humor and outright bullying your “friends” or allies. not to mention he was just a frustrating character. “but… finders keepers!” when EVERYONE is in danger and he just refuses to give up the thing that would stop the witherstorm? a dick move.

and apologies, but lukas felt a little TOO nice at times in the first one or two episodes. yes, he’s generally a nice guy. and yes, he’s had some moments of getting frustrated or prickly. but considering that he was rivals with this group for so long, admitted that he didn’t really think highly of them for a while, AND petra herself called him arrogant? you can’t blame me for thinking that he was a bit too kind, even if he was trying to stay on good terms with everyone while the world was seemingly ending. yeah, he was awkward. and no, I don’t think he should’ve been outwardly hostile. but I don’t think he should’ve been quite as friendly as he was.

they should both have little quirks and flaws, but they should also both be lovable characters in their OWN ways. this is honestly how I would’ve written it:

it would’ve been better to make axel really stand off-ish because he doesn’t know how to really act around someone who was once “bad” in his eyes, but is now suddenly “good.” especially when the change is so sudden. distrusting, awkward, unpleasant interactions would feel much more natural rather than downright antagonizing lukas at every turn.

axel is really awkward and is a little distrustful of him because of so many factors, but maybe lukas interprets that as aloofness and detachment. lukas tries not to really disrupt conversations because he feels as though he’s intruding, but axel perhaps interprets that as arrogance and conceit. miscommunication, misinterpretation—these are much more natural ways of having animosity grow between two parties.

and hey, even better! this could allow you to have a choice ACTUALLY make a difference TELLTALE GAMES. (the company infamous for having choices in games that don’t Actually matter!)

maybe if you have axel stay behind with lukas to fortify the temple while also getting magnus, MAYBE you can see them actually visibly get along better! even if axel went off on his own to get magnus—which was him straying from the plan—maybe they agreed and decided it was for the better to get the order together again rather than just a few members. maybe you can see them having similar ideas, talking more, etc. etc.

and on the other hand, if you go with axel for magnus and choose olivia to stay, maybe axel feels a little more bitter towards lukas since olivia went off to get ellagaard. he feels bitter since he just let her go instead of convincing her to just STAY and wait for petra like the original plan was (even though he knows he would’ve broken that himself to go out for magnus, but moral highgrounds and such.)

yeah, sure. it’ll end in you getting both members of the order anyway. that won’t change. BUT, it still affects the characters! it fleshes out the characters more. makes them both have perks AND flaws! it HUMANIZES them, makes them more realistic.

and MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, if the conflict between them builds up enough, you might have to choose one side or the other at some point in the story! there could be several decisions that alter their relationship and how they function! one of your lifelong best friends who has ADMITTED that you’re one of his only friends, and you can tell he cares about everyone there (even if not entirely obvious,) or a friend that, while you once bickered a ton with in the past, is now genuinely making an effort to change and care and seems generally more agreeable now? they both love you and your friends, undoubtedly, but they’re too bitter to be around one another. there isn’t enough room for the both of them. one has to go, jesse. so, who’ll it be?

in fact, maybe there’s a scene where lukas and axel are in danger. in the ellagaard route (followed by more good decision making,) one actually saves the other from said situation and everyone lives. in the magnus route (followed by more bad decision making,) they both intentionally sabotage each other and you have to choose to save ONE. either that, or it’s as originally said, where there’s a story-changing fight and you have to choose one or the other.

this is a minor thing but I could not stop thinking about it. but oh well them’s the breaks pal /ref

[itsnothingofinterest]

So, after reading and looking back over the last few chapters… remind me what was the point of showing Trash for One being the most manipulative manipulator who ever manipulated? To the point he was Tomura’s Dad’s Drinking Partner? Was it to just deflect all criticism of hero society and be like “Ohhh nooo it was really AFO, he’s the real source of tragedy… and not like the systemic problems that festered long before All Might?

Honestly, I think it was to give Deku an easy out.

Because yeah, the source of Tenko’s problems were societal issues well-established during and prior to All Might’s influence on society. But what’s Deku supposed to do about any of that? I don’t think he has it in him to even criticize All Might’s hero society or so much as acknowledge its flaws, let alone how to fix or improve them.

So instead focus shifted for a bit to Tenko specifically hating his house; y’know, the domestic abuse angle…Which Deku still doesn’t know how to deal with or have anything to really say about. So that’s a flop too.

So then it got changed to Tenko having self-deprecating views on his quirk and how no one would accept him for that, which we learned about that very chapter and makes little sense when you think about it (like, his many villainous friends and followers accept him fine); but hey, at least Deku can do something there…by giving a 2-panel speech about holding hands. This apparently completely erases Tomura’s hated. But also doesn’t actually resolve Tomura’s actual motives so that one’s actually a flop too.

Luckily(?) Deku erasing Tomura’s hatred also brings AFO back to life, who just so happened to also have given Tenko his trauma quirk and may have helped build the house; and Deku may have never grown past being an All Might clone in any way, but any All Might clone can punch a villain. (Sad he can’t save their victims when he does but a hard enough punch makes that problem disappear too.)

And apparently, he punches villains so inspiringly that it causes people to just resolve all those problems that festered long before All Might. Turns out it's just that easy (guess All Might wasn't punching hard enough).

And so, even though Deku basically failed to save Tenko to any real degree from pretty much every conceivable angle, it all just kind of works out in a way that’s really contrived & insulting and Deku still gets to save the day & fix everything by just punching AFO really hard. That was the point of bringing AFO back as the biggest bad behind everything.

[kitthepurplepotato]

My weird roommate, Midoriya Izuku!

Alternative title: Midoriya Izuku’s weekly shenanigans!

Midoriya Izuku x Reader

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🥦Summary🥦

“So you are telling me that you lost your job and got evicted on the same day?”

Well, yes. You’ve never been a lucky gal and you are also quirkless. Jirou, your pro hero friend decides to help you out of your misery and give you an opportunity to live beside a mysterious man for barely any rent. The mysterious man is ends up to be the pro hero you’ve been obsessed with for ages! After a few days you realize that Izuku Midoriya is an absolute weirdo… in a really adorable way.

Week by week, the reader explores Midoriya’s weird habits and slowly falls in love with all his flaws. (Eww, so cheesy.)

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Genre: Comedy, romance (no smut, sorry! Might get a bit suggestive, but that’s it!)

General info and warnings (each chapter will have their own): swear words, blood, injuries, potential other hero ships, tooth rotting fluff and extreme amount of awkwardness. No real angst! Reader is 23, Deku is 25.

Other minor relationships in the story: Kirishima x Bakugou, Denki x Shinsou

16+ for safety!

About the author: English is the potato’s second language, please be kind to the potato.

Check out the potato’s Master List!

UPDATE: The story is now being translated to Vietnamese! Click here to read it! Thank you @izukuslittlekitty 💚

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Week 0 - Just go with the flow!

“So you are telling me that you lost your job and got evicted on the same day?”

“Don’t be so dramatic, Jirou. I still have a month to pack my stuff and I wanted to resign anyway. No biggie, really.”

Yeah, no biggie. The bottle of wine in your hand is only for pleasure, not to soothe your broken heart.

You’ve never been the luckiest gal if it comes to… well… anything. First, you were born quirkless, then you ended up helping your family financially for years after the family business went to shit, then right when you were about to be freed from the responsibility as your parents started a new business which actually made money this time, you lost your job and your really cheap apartment. You are not really stressed about the money part as you do have a side hustle; well, if you can call doing Pro Hero fan arts for commission a side hustle; and thanks to your upbringings you always made sure to have some spare money in the bank.

Your main problem is the fact that you just can’t have anything easy. Maybe you do have a quirk after all; one called “Forever Unlucky.” Quite a catchy name, actually, you might make a character based on this in the manga you’re about to draw.

“Bestie, I have an idea. I will sort out all your life problems. Give me one day.” The call cuts off and you are left alone with your thoughts. Oh, well. At least you can start your manga today… Or write a silly fanfiction about Deku being your roommate. You haven’t uploaded anything new to Tumblr in the last few months anyway.

~•🥦•~

“I’m not going to beg you, but this is a really good opportunity. You should take it. You’re the only one I trust enough to ask. Take that as the biggest compliment of your life.”

Oh well, this is such a lovely opportunity indeed; Move out of your place and move in with a random guy you can’t even check on social media because Jirou is a secretive little shit and doesn’t tell you his name. This person is also a guy, if that wasn’t obvious. There are so many things that can go wrong, it’s actually ridiculous.

“Sounds like this is a really great way to end up in a ditch, Jirou.” You sigh. You know she’s just trying to help you, but this is shady business. What if the guy is a pervert? Or a murderer? Okay, a pro hero like Jirou wouldn’t hang around a murderer but this guy can still be a pervert.

“Y/N, I shouldn’t be telling you this, but the guy is a pro hero. You love pro heroes, right?”

“Well, I do love them, but until Grape Juice is in the business this doesn’t make me feel any better about this.”

Oh, little Mineta. The fact that he’s still alive and rocking is beyond you. The guy had more scandals than rescues in the last few months.

“Y/N.” Jirou tries his best to sound authoritative. “You don’t have a job, you have nowhere to live, your parents live in the middle of nowhere. You also wanted to take time off to make a manga and get rich and famous. I’m giving you an opportunity to basically live in a fancy ass apartment for free and all you have to do is take care of a fucking cat and pay electricity and water. I know it sound like a stupid fanfiction, and to be fair, this is one, but bitch, let yourself be lucky for once. If everything goes to shit, I’ll let you sleep on my sofa until you find a place.” Jirou takes a deep breath after saying all of this without taking a single breath.

“I’m taking your bed. For 3 months.” You negotiate, clearly about to make the riskiest decision of your life.

“Deal.” Jirou answers and your phone beeps. “Call this number for more info. He’s waiting for your call.” The phone cuts off again and you can’t help but freak out.

NOW?!

You really wanted to sleep on this, give it a second thought, make a plan, get your thoughts together but oh well, you really can’t have it easy, can you?

If this would actually be a fanfiction, it would suck balls; there’s nothing but phone calls, jumping from one person to another, and the plot is way too unreal to be believable. What a shame.

The main character is also really lame; she’s a 23 years old who still reads and writes fanfictions and she lives in a fucking bubble where being a mangaka is still a legit dream to have. *

*the one writing this fanfiction is 28, so in case it wasn’t clear, this part was supposed to be a joke.

You sigh and grab your phone to make the last phone call of the day; you’ll definitely turn that shit off for the rest of the day after all this trauma.

~•🥦•~

“H-hello?” A shy voice comes through the phone.

As a pro hero enthusiast, you are absolutely ashamed of yourself; you have zero idea who the fuck you are talking to.

His voice is comedically high, his stuttering is absolutely adorable, but feels kinda fake; or is it the voice that’s fake?

“Hey man, Jirou gave me your phone number…” You are just about to explain your reasons for calling when the mystery man interrupts you with a high squeak. Is there a hero who’s quirk is being a rubber duck? With your luck, this is Grape Juice. Yeah, it’s definitely him.

“Yes! Y/N!” He squeaks again, this time, in pain. “Sorry, I just got back from patrol. I got hit by a quirk, so excuse my voice.”

Yeah, how original. The mystery man suddenly gets hit by a voice changer quirk right before a really important phone call, so this way the mystery man stays mysterious until the first, dramatic encounter. This smells extremely fishy.

“Let me guess, a random villain called Helium Man?” You ask, clearly not believing a single word. Is this really fucking Grape Juice lying about his voice to clear the suspicion?

“It was a child, actually. He wanted a picture and a hug but his quirk just manifested and he hit me with it by accident. I should be fine in 24 hours.”

Oh, a pro hero with a big heart who loves children and animals and stops in the middle of his patrol to hug a child? Yeah, sounds legit. Well, it really does sound legit, that’s something a hero would do. Fuck.

“Uhm, that’s a really nice story, yes.” You grumble, absolutely sure this is a stupid April fools joke. You can’t stop thinking about Mineta.

“Ahh, sorry to bother you so late at night with my rambling, I tend to ramble a lot actually.” A self deprecating laugh leaves the mysterious man’s mouth, and even with the annoying high voice, it sounds absolutely adorable. Fuck, are actually falling for this prank? “Long story short, I’m barely at home and my cat is really lonely and the flat is way too big for the two of us so I want to have a trustworthy roommate who can take care of the flat and my fluffy little son when I’m away. I’m not in need of money, hence why there is no rent and if it comes to the other bills, if you can’t pay them, that’s fine. I asked my friends to ask around in case someone in their close proximity is in need of a new home and Jirou recommended you. She spoke really highly of you.”

That was a really long short story for the fuck’s sake, but that’s fine. After all the Pro Hero Deku interviews, you are kinda immune to this kind of thing. You try to think about who else is prone to rambling in the hero world, but you honestly can not think of a single person.

“And if I understand this right, I won’t be able to pry any information out of you about your identity until I actually say yes and move in for… safety reasons?” You cut the bullshit for him and get to the main reason of your anxiety. The guy on the other side squeaks again.

“I’m really sorry about that. To tell you the truth, my name is well known in this country and I want to make sure the person moving in with me is not after my fame or my connections.” The guy says, then starts to ramble again. “I mean, there is no problem with someone being a fan of me or anything, it’s not about me feeling like a bigger person and not wanting to mingle with the crowd, I really don’t mind that kind of thing, I just want to make sure the person associated with me on such a personal level isn’t trying to use my name as a stepladder? Ahh, to be honest, these aren’t even my words, these are manager’s, she’s a little bit overprotective, because apparently I’m really naive if it comes to the real world… Ahh, I’m rambling again!” The guy makes another squeaky noise, clearly giving up on landing a good first impression with you. You kinda want to hug him.

“Well, I’m definitely not after your fame and it’s not like you are the number one hero Deku, so don’t worry too much.” You try to sound reassuring to calm the mysterious man down a bit.

“Do you not… like Deku?” He stutters, his anxiety obvious even without seeing his face. Is he also a Deku fan?

“Oh, I do. I really do. But I’m not sure Deku would appreciate me bringing a life sized cardboard cutout of his into his own flat together with my 10 limited edition figurines, then walk out of my room to get a glass of water in my Deku pajamas.”

“You can’t have 10 limited edition figurines, there is only 5 available.” The man giggles, and fuck, he’s adorable.

“Well, I have two of each. One in a box one without it, duh.” You roll your eyes, even though no one can see it.

“Fair play.” The mysterious man replies. At least your obsession won’t be a problem then. “So do you want to give my flat a try? I’m only home one day a week so even if you don’t like me, I won’t be too much of a bother to you.”

Fuck, you can’t say no when he sounds so sure you won’t enjoy his company. You don’t know this man but you want to show him he’s good enough to be your friend. If this is Grape Juice, he’s doing a really good job in deceiving you.

“Yes, I’m in. Please, don’t be a weirdo.”

This might not help with the guy’s anxiety, but for your own safety you decide to not tell this man that he actually made your heart race faster already.

“I can’t guarantee that, but I’ll try my best. See you soon, Y/N! Don’t be a weirdo!” He hangs up, his giggles getting more and more muted as he moves his phone away from his face to turn it off.

So let’s sit down and think about all the new information you got during this phone call.

This mysterious man has a high voice, apparently from a quirk related accident, but he might be lying to get brownie points.

He’s indeed a pro hero and a really well known one, which means he’s probably a UA graduate.

He knows Jirou and by your knowledge you are the only one in her friend group who’s not connected to her old schoolmates in some way, so this person might be an old classmate of hers.

This person knows what to say to make himself be more likeable but that doesn’t really mean much as Grape Juice is also really good at first impressions. His true self usually comes out after a few days, but until that point the guy is smooth as fuck, apparently.

Grape Juice also has a high pitched voice…

Fuck.

22:30

You: It’s fucking Mineta isn’t it?!

Jirou: Did you call him?!

You: Yes! He sounds like Grape Juice in those interviews when the interviewer is hot! His voice was also high!

Jirou: I need more information, wait.

Jirou: I can’t believe I’m friends with someone so stupid.

I swear on Denki’s life, it’s not Mineta!

Pack your stuff as soon as possible, the sooner you move in the sooner I can laugh in your face when you realize how fucking wrong you were.

You can’t believe you are doing this. Who in their right mind would move in with someone they know jack shit about?!

Well, apparently that’s you. You might need to get another appointment with your old shrink as something is clearly wrong with you.

~•🥦•~

“So, this is the building.”

“You are absolutely shitting me, Jirou.”

Today is the day. All your life is in boxes, your new place is a few steps away, your Deku cutout is resting under your arms because you won’t let anyone touch your husband with their filthy hands.

You almost drop the poor guy when you take a look at the area around you; this is the fanciest part of the city, nothing but skyscrapers with massive bulletproof windows; this area is so posh that people come here for sightseeing. You can get a massive mansion anywhere else for the price of one single flat in this part of the city. Only the biggest pro heroes and celebrities can afford this. You are quite sure you read on a gossip site about this area being the one where the top 10 probably resides.

That means, Deku might live close by. Or… he might be your neighbor.

Fuck, you are such a fangirl.

“Close your mouth and let’s go.” Jirou takes your free hand and pulls you into the lobby; yes, there is a massive lobby in the building just like the ones in fancy hotels. There is a fucking Starbucks in there, only for the residents which might sound absolutely ridiculous and a waste of money but seeing the size of the building (and the fact that the people living in it are loaded) they probably make enough money to keep it going without any loss. It might also be really helpful to the residents as going into a busy coffee shop while your face is all over the high street billboards doesn’t sound like the most pleasant feeling at 6AM in the morning.

Jirou waves to the guy sitting behind the lobby desk. The guy’s eyes scans Jirou’s full body; like literally scans it, sounds effects and all, then moves to you. He does the same thing and pushes a button; a massive door opens on the side of the lobby which leads you to a row of elevators.

“Mind to explain what just happened?” You mumble, while Jirou scans her fingerprint and presses the highest numbered button on the wall.

Fingerprints? Really?

“Oh, that’s Josh, he’s from America. He has an X-ray vision. He checks everyone new before letting them into the building, except the actual residents. I’ve been here a lot of times but he doesn’t like me so I get scanned every time since I tried to go up with a knife hidden in my boots that one time. I tried to tell him I left it there by accident, but he didn’t buy it.” Jirou sighs, like it’s a common mistake and to be fair, as a pro hero it probably was, but damn, these people live in another world for sure.

“But most pro heroes have weapons, don’t they?” You ask, really interested to hear more about this as it doesn’t really make sense to you.

“He doesn’t question it if you are in your hero suit, and he doesn’t bother the actual residents, but I was in my casual clothes and he was new back then. Don’t worry, you live here, you’ll be fine once he gets used to you.”

Well, you have a feeling that this Josh guy will be your new reason to feel self-conscious for the next few months. “Oh, also, remind Zuku to put your fingerprint on the system so you can use the elevator…” Jirou suddenly slaps her palms on her mouth.

“Zuku?” That name doesn’t ring a bell. Jirou let’s out a long, relieved breath.

“We are literally about to meet the guy, shut up and see it for yourself.”

That’s fair.

The ride to the 43rd floor is long and excruciating (it was 2 whole minutes!), but eventually the elevator dings in a pleasant voice and the door opens to a hallway with only one massive door.

This is the highest level of the building. And there is only one door.

“Does he live in a fucking massive penthouse?!” You literally shriek. Your little peasant ass can not process this shit. If buying a flat in this area was expensive, a penthouse is basically the price of a full office building. Whoever this guy is, he is loaded.

“It’s not that big actually, half of it is a rooftop garden with a pool and a hot tub, you’ll love it.”

“Oh, I see, so the flat is not a big deal, there is a fucking pool there instead, yeah. No biggie.”

Jirou is just about to give you a snarky reply when the door opens up; green curls poke through the small gap, shy and embarrassed from not being able to keep it in his pants and wait until the two actually knocked.

After a few seconds, he opens his door properly and…

The one standing in front of you is no other than…

“Pro Hero Deku?!”

The green haired hero scratches the back of his head, his self-deprecating laugh even more adorable than the last time; which isn’t really a surprise as back then he had a voice of a gummy bear high on crack.

“Uhm, hi, I’m Midoriya Izuku.” He waves awkwardly and comes over for a hand shake but you are frozen in place. This is not real. This is a fucking prank. No fucking way…”Can I take the cutout? I made some space next to my All Might one, they will be besties!” The greenette laughs awkwardly and slowly takes the cutout from you, looking at you the way you look at a stray, aggressive dog when trying to pet them for the first time.

“His name is Izu-Izu, Y/N’s husband, please treat both of them well.” Jirou says with a straight, but extremely red face and jumps into the elevator, her loud laughter resonating in the walls as the doors close on her.

This is the most awkward moment of your life. This just can’t get worse. You are on the top of the most expensive building in the country, in front of the hero you’re absolutely obsessed with since you first saw him in the UA sports festival. That said hero is now gently holding your fucking cardboard cutout of himself, looking at you warily, probably contemplating if he needs to take you to a hospital.

“Show me my room, I’m too mortified to speak.” You mumble, looking at a dark spot on the fancy marble. “There’s blood on the floor.” You inform the green haired hero like that’s a perfectly normal thing; and to be fair, it probably is in this household; and make your way after the hero.

You really hope the ground swallows you whole and you’ll never need to look into Deku’s eyes ever again.

~•🥦•~

You: I hope your guitar amp short circuits.

Jirou: Rude.

… Next Part!

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Yay, I hope you enjoyed the first part!

If you would like to be added to the taglist, just ask! 💜

Random fun facts:

- I actually googled the average size of a skyscraper in Tokyo for this ficc and I also googled how long it takes to get to his floor, just to be “realistic.” 😂

- The whole voice changer thing was my boyfriend’s idea! We love a good, supportive boyfriend! 😂

- If you like the style of this story and you fancy some Reader x Bakugou Katsuki, check out my other ficc, Bakugou Katsuki’s daily Shenanigans! These two are basically twins.

See you in the next chapter! Reblogs, comments and likes are appreciated, they keep me going! 💜

[pistatsia]

Don Lorenzo: We all come from childhood (Part 1)

In fact, I have so many questions about Lorenzo that I'm just- I'm not ready to let him go. I love him so much. I really hope that someday we'll get a novel/chapter with him and Snuffy, because otherwise, the world would be too unfair.

He's good, caring, funny, the best, and generally-

Okay, this is where I'll stop and get to the point haha

(Here somewhere I'm looking too deep, somewhere I'm ignoring the farcical setting of Blue Lock. A lot here is based on my own experience (I also was thrown out of home by my parents when I was 13). Some things of course will be misinterpreted since the whole truth is known only by Kaneshiro-sensei. Also, consider the fact that most of the things described here are unconscious)  

1. Relationships/Attachment

Lorenzo is a very loving and grateful person. 

It is evident to anyone that his relationship with Snuffy is imbued with warmth and trust. Lorenzo genuinely loves him, he is willing to do anything for him.

Even his conversation with Barou is initiated in order to get him on Snuffy's side, going through all of his traumas and 'exposing himself' to Barou. Making himself vulnerable, because telling someone that you were once abandoned by your parents is like showing them that you have a flaw that made the most important people in your life disgusted with you. That you're wrong. It's like pointing at your chest and saying 'here's the heart, if you want to hurt me, hit me here'. 

And he's doing all this to help Snuffy.

And it's obvious that Snuffy wouldn't have asked him to do that - it was Lorenzo's initiative. He loves him very much - even though Snuffy isn't perfect, and of course has made his mistakes (which you can't avoid when you're in your late twenties picking up a teenager off the street after a friend's suicide and career collapse). But that's something we'll get back to a little later. 

Lorenzo doesn't pay attention to any of this - he doesn't care what else Snuffy could have given him. He's grateful for what Snuffy has already given him. 

Speaking of his relationship with Barou, it's obvious that they both care for each other equally. Barou isn't rude to him (well, 'not rude' like classic Barou), he accepts him despite all the quirks (I'll come back to that too a bit later), and Lorenzo feels it. For him, Barou is a 'Snuffy' type of person, perfectly accepting and gentle, without the endless pull-push in affection. They're like a reference point that helps ground and gain confidence in the relationship with both of them.

Lorenzo is also quite open in his affections. He has a certain authority within the Ubers, giving them the command to "get to work". He doesn't avoid people or push them away in the fear of intimacy and the pain that follows, but reaches out to them himself. In doing so, he shows no visible fear of being rejected - on the contrary, he behaves as freely and even strangely as possible, without trying to adjust his behaviour to society's standards; behaviour that would make him 'his own'. Remember this moment, because it will be important a bit later.

He adores both Barou and Snuffy so much because they accept him without question. Like, you're like this, so what? 

They accept him absolutely.

But why is that acceptance so important to Lorenzo?

2. Fear of abandonment.

I think it's redundant to say that having experienced this as a child, it's impossible to become a person with a completely healthy type of attachment. His parents, the people who brought him into this world, who were supposed to teach him how to live, feel and love, abandoned him in the street alone, leaving him to survive and starve. In doing so, apparently keeping his other two brothers for themselves. Lorenzo was the only one left behind. Can you imagine how a child feels after something like that? If they were kept and I was abandoned, I'm definitely broken, I'm disfigured on some primal level, I'm always worse.

I was already born wrong.

The fear of rejection is something that is 99% likely for Lorenzo to have. 

Remember his motto: "Give me a job. Give me money. Give me love." What can a man whose most basic desire is love be afraid of? That he'll lose it.

Can you imagine what that does to the psyche? After such events, one can't help but question oneself. What did I do wrong? Why did things happen the way they did? If I had behaved differently, if I had stayed away from my parents, if I had been more obedient, would I have been kept?

Was it all my fault?

And he lived alone with these thoughts not for a day or two - but probably for years. He says that he lived this life already when he 'was little'. These thoughts may have been reinforced afterwards because he began to realize the moral wrongness of what he was doing to survive (stealing). The psyche can be very persistent in convincing us of bad things: you should have found another way, you let everyone down, Snuffy picked up someone who wasn't worth it. 

Beyond that, as much as I like to portray Lorenzo and Snuffy as parent and child in my writing, it's likely that their relationship is more of a friendship. Even the graffiti caption in the moment where Snuffy picks him up says "who finds a friend finds a treasure".

Snuffy probably didn't live with Lorenzo for a long time - I think he picked him up, fulfilled his wishes, and then sent him to treatment and helped him with his football career. That's already a huge gift, and even more so for Lorenzo. They kept in contact, they saw each other often, they probably called each other.

But at the same time Snuffy was playing at a football club and winning trophies, which you can't do if you're not 100% invested. He was on constant travelling between countries and games. He just didn't have time to always be with Lorenzo - and it's likely that Snuffy (who wasn't given the "How to deal with a teenager abandoned by his parents and saved from starvation" manual) might not have thought about it. It would have been fine on his end. Why? Because Lorenzo, especially as a child, would not have shown him that anything was wrong - remembering the way his parents had thrown him out, he wouldn't have let it happen again. He wouldn't talk about his problems, he wouldn't impose, he'd do anything just to please. Just to be comfortable. Maybe even blaming himself for having those needs, because Snuffy already seemed to have done a hundred times more for him than he should have (from his point of view, of course).

He'd do anything to avoid causing trouble - only for not being left behind.

Imagine - getting someone's love, and not being able to feel it all the time? Constantly losing the only person who ever genuinely loved and cared for you and gave you a chance to start a new life, seeing him off on flights and likely for seasons to other clubs (it's not known how long Snuffy played for the Ubers, but it's likely he was under contract with them and then the club loaned him out to leagues in the countries where he wanted those trophies for Mick. Otherwise the chronology between Mick's death, Lorenzo's find and Blue Lock seems too compressed). It's in some ways even scarier than not feeling love at all ever. Because it's far worse to get love and then lose it again and again.

Even so, Snuffy showed him what it feels like to be loved. He gave him purpose and a new life. He gave him an understanding of that healthy basic need that Lorenzo is so eager to fill - the need for love.

But then we look at his behaviour and we have... questions. Why is Lorenzo so embarrassing? Why does he act so defiant? Why doesn't he adjust to others like, for example, Isagi and Hiori, who were also afraid of being alone? It would seem that if you're weird, you'll never be accepted. If you don't fit in, you won't be loved. Yes, we can say that he just still doesn't fit into social norms because he missed the moment of childhood adaptation to this world, and just doesn't know how to do it. But as the conversation with Barou shows, he is capable of being completely serious in the right moments. He consciously behaves the way he is, without holding back.

We can say that Snuffy showed him that he could be loved for nothing, for himself, whatever he was. But still, after experiencing so many rejections Lorenzo would either fixate on Snuffy alone (only he cares about me, and no one else) or still subconsciously withdraw into a passive role in human relationships. Again, making himself comfortable.

But why does he behave like this in spite of this - making jokes about money, meowing and barking (I'm sorry), not shying away from making jokes about rivals and acquaintances? Why is he so uncomfortable for them?

Because the best defence is offence.

Most likely, when he was a kid, Lorenzo did tried to adjust to his parents. And obviously, even if he succeeded, they still ended up abandoning him. His strategy didn't work, and then it probably didn't work while living on the streets either. He tried to secure his safety, to make sure of it, but then he was tossed out of it.

And that's been imprinted on his memory.

It's both a defence mechanism on his part and an unconscious demonstration of "here I am, this is how bad I am". He was already rejected when he tried to fit in - so why try now, especially when he has Snuffy? 

Think of how pejoratively he talks about himself. How he smiles broadly when he talks about his tragic past. He's being deliberately defiant - yes, I believe only money has power in this world, yes, I was a street rat. Why does he say this, if in order to be accepted he has to hide his flaws? Yes, the past may be impossible to hide, but other things?

Because if he says it himself, and if he laughs about it himself, showing that he doesn't care, it won't hurt him so much when others will talk about it. 

He literally shouts with his appearance - that's how I am! I'm ugly inside and out, I'm a mess, I'm wrong! I'm impossible to love!  

Because if he shows it first, he can endure it when someone else says it. 

Are you saying I only care about money, Mihya? Ha, and I already know, I've already said it myself!

In a relationship, Lorenzo is prepared in advance for the fact that sooner or later this, in his opinion, ugly and vile essence in him, because of which his parents abandoned him, will be recognised, and he will be rejected again. And sets himself up a safe base so that this time it won't be as painful for him as it once was with his parents.

He adores Barou and Snuffy so much precisely because they accept this ugly shell without question. Like, here you are, so what? Sure, he probably doubts them on bad days too, but they're still like stable lighthouses for him. 

So we've covered why Lorenzo acts so openly and perhaps even defiantly. It's a perpetual test of boundaries and a way to protect himself from rejection - how much of this will you take from me? Are you sure you're okay with this? Think again. I'm uncomfortable for you. I will always be.

But there's one thing that doesn't fit with his behaviour, even with that said. 

His "There's nothing in this world money can't buy."

He is obsessed with money, explicitly saying that everything in life can be bought with it (of course, this is not necessarily true - sometimes people lie about themselves as well). He judges players by their stakes, and even calls Raichi worthless. But it seems that the love he longs for this much cannot be bought. And Lorenzo is well aware of this - 'money' and 'love' go separately in his motto.

Dissonance, isn't it? Seems strange for a man like him.

So we move on to the next part of the analysis.

3. A price of the man.

I'm actually very interested in Lorenzo's real relationship with money. I'm sure that because of this terrible background he is quite impulsive (I'll tell you more about this in the second part of the analysis), and more specifically impulsive in his purchases. Even if we're talking about ordinary ones - buying a more expensive juice in a shop, choosing an ice cream not on sale, accidentally buying an adult public transport ticket instead of a youth one. Any expense perceived by the psyche as 'unnecessary' must be met with guilt - either suppressed and ignored, or vivid. Because the psyche has no switch between 'here' and 'then'. It's used to reacting to trigger events according to a certain script that once perhaps helped Lorenzo to survive by avoiding unnecessary expenses. Except now everything seems to be fine, right? Money's there.

But you can't explain it to yourself so easily.

Let's go back to Lorenzo's statements about money and his attitude to it. He quite logically, after such a life, believes that money solves many problems, if not all of them. 

But this stance of his goes a little further than the prices of things and services. 

Remember how he was introduced to us as a character? He remembers the price of every player, he mocks Raichi, he's sarcastic in response to Kaiser's claim.

He asks - Michel, if I defeat you, will I be worth more than you?

Lorenzo still believes that people have some mythical 'value' that he alone cannot grasp. His brothers were more valuable than he was. His parents' lives without him were more valuable than he was. Every person who passed him in the street was more valuable than him.

He believes that on his own he was worth nothing - and that's why he was abandoned.

Remember what he says about his little self? Good-for-nothing. But it's not true. Lorenzo was a kid who just couldn't do anything under those circumstances. He didn't need to be good for anything - he needed to grow up and be a happy little kid. And he was robbed of that.

But he still doesn't accept it, mocking it.

The whole Mr Worthless thing with Raichi is an obvious reference to himself. Because he too, from his point of view, was once worthless. I'm worthless, so I don't matter and I'm nothing.

But why is this 'worth' of his so important to Lorenzo, especially now, apart from those people?

Because little children have nothing but themselves, and can give nothing but themselves and their love. But Lorenzo knows that he-child was not enough. He was worthless. He was not loved for who he was. But his brothers were loved. They were 'valuable'.

And this belief remained sitting inside him at a very deep level.

And, believing that on his own he is not worth love and never will be, what can he do but think of a way to still get it?

The way out for him is to 'earn' that love.

In fact, though certainly not intentionally, Snuffy's words probably played a role here as well. A deal, salvation in exchange for a football playing.

This only strengthened these beliefs Lorenzo had about himself and about living with a system of people's 'value'.

Snuffy didn't just give him 'money, work and love'. He gave him a way to earn it all. He gave him a way to gain this mythical 'value' that would guarantee his safety - that he would not be abandoned. 

On his own, he didn't deserve to be saved. 

But what did deserve saving was his talent.

The only thing that Lorenzo thought was valuable about him.

Snuffy's whole philosophy with football - a job that you earn your value with and see it in the form of rates and rental prices - actually suits Lorenzo very well. Because he doesn't feel valuable on his own - only in relation to achievements. And so this semi-comedic treatment of others as money is actually a terrible reflection of his same treatment of himself.

The more he's worth (again, the scene with Kaiser and "will I be worth more than you") the safer he feels.

Lorenzo is sure that he will be abandoned as soon as he makes a mistake and loses his 'value'. And the only way to avoid that is to stay 'valuable'.

Yes, rationally he probably knows that Snuffy won't abandon him. That Ubers care about him. That he's no longer the helpless child he once was. That he can defend himself now.

But we have not just rational intelligence, we also have an emotional one. And the latter continues to throw out familiar beliefs about ourselves, formed from childhood and youth, to any trigger, and influence all our thoughts and actions.

And sometimes it is simply not possible to fight it alone.

[fairykazu]

SNEAKING 'ROUND WITH YOU FT. KAEYA contents // snowman building, friends to lovers, confessions, pining, christmasy event note: i listened to w2e's album, 0.1 flaws and all, while writing this but this song fits better: somethin' stupid masterlist

you were waiting outside, hoping that the ring doorbell didn't trigger the notifications on your parents' phone. you bundled yourself up in a puffy jacket and some sweats, hoping that kaeya would arrive just before the cold wouldn't freeze you to death. as the snow fell from the midnight skies, you used the sleeves of your puffy jacket to make mini snowmen, naming one 'snowy' and the other, 'cup of noodles'. man, waiting for kaeya felt like forever to a point you named your snowbaby as cup of noodles. "'it takes twenty minutes' he said." you mocked kaeya as the cold bit your cheeks, reddish hue on your face. even though, kaeya probably wouldn't had, you feel like he just left you hanging.

it's gotten colder as your teeth clattered together, making each step on the patio of the house harder and harder to reach. only making it to the first step to the patio, you sat down and waited for him.

a kick of snow landed on the wooden steps as you looked where it came from, kaeya was hunched over, carrying a plastic bag of random items from the nearest shop, he was out of breath. "whew, oh my god."

"oh my god..." kaeya turned to you as your very cold face morphed into disbelief. "you killed cup of noodles-"

"how did you know i got that in the bag?" kaeya asked as he lifted the bag to show you.

looking at the instant noodle packaging made you drool a little. "oooh thank you, wait no! you killed my baby!" you cried, pointing pile of stepped-on snow next to snowy. kaeya quirked a brow,

"um, the really ugly mounds of snow?"

"yes, my beautiful baby i made while waiting for you asshat!" you sobbed dramatically as kaeya sat next to you, placing the bag of knickknacks next to him. "i am very sorry about your beloved baby, princess. but to make you feel better, i got you, hand heater packets!" rummaging through the bag, he opened the hand heater packaging, showing you the heater.

"i semi-accept your apology."

"i am very gracious, princess. as you warm up with that, i will help you create a better 'cup of noodles' snowman."

"better?" you questioned. "are you implying that the baby cup of noodles i made was stupid and bad?"

he fell down dramatically, draping his hand on his face. "princess, of course not, i will never say that. ummm," he tried to appease you with something else in his bag. "chocolate?"

"sure." you were enjoying thoroughly being pampered. he handed you the chocolate bar as he rolled a snowball in his hands, shaping it unevenly. "instead, of um, late 'cup of noodles' being here. let's make a new one?"

you quietly snorted as you agreed, "yes, you should make me a big snowman in honor of cup of noodles." he furrowed his brows, scratching his head with his other hand,

"like how big?"

you placed down the unwrapped bar of chocolate on the patio stairs and stood up. "like this tall!" you pointed to the floor to the patio's celing.

he laughed nervously, "princess, i fear that that would be too tall for me to make. what if i die instead?" his face grew ruddy from the cold, you stepped closer to him. wrapping your scarf around his neck, feeling the breeze bite you from your turtleneck, you tucked the scarf inside of the loop. kaeya flushed a little but it's not like you noticed anyway. you exhaled a laugh, tugging kaeya to your height,

"it would be okay because you died in honor of 'cup of noodles'." you two's faces were abnormally close. inching away from each other lips, you felt his cold breath ghosting your lips.

kaeya didn't try to do a flirty line with you, having you hear every sound around you. as the snow falls, dancing with each other, forming the flakes and your heart beat a bit faster than before. kaeya, thankfully, broke the ice, "so, princess, if i die, who would give you wonderful gifts?"

naturally, you guys pulled apart as kaeya took a step back. but you took a small step closer, you smiled, "you mean, peace offerings?"

"same thing, isn't it?"

---

you two were a bit further from your house, outside of your room. your window was open as the wind billowed the curtains in the room. you two eventually decided to build snowmen who were not as tall as the patio's ceiling to the concrete floor but instead mini snowmen like snowy and cup of noodles.

kaeya suggested that you two should collect branches for the little arms and rocks for the eyes for the snowmen. you agreed as along if the snowmen were you two together.

you replied, "we should make them look like us."

he smiled, his blue eyes glimmering in the moonlight. if you were mistaken, he could've been an angel too. um, snow angel. "sure."

kaeya was acting like the branches he had collected were logs twice the size of yours. "name, princess, can you help me lug this for me?"

you rolled your eyes and replied back, "if im the princess to you, why should i help? aren't you my shining knight in armor?"

kaeya hid his face into your scarf, hoping you would notice his flushed cheeks was a result of the cold. he cleared his throat, "you are so right, princess." giving you the so-called branches, you carried them in your arms, confused.

he lifted you up, carrying you in princess style. you nearly shrieked in fear as kaeya shushed you with his finger, "hey, we don't want to wake up your parents, now do we?"

"okay, kae." you retorted as he silently snorted. regardless, you dug your face into his nape or really, your scarf. you heard every beat of his heart as he hummed and rubbed circles into your back.

---

he carried you until you two reached the patio once more. you slipped out of his warm embrace as he left you to the cold, he told you that he'll be right back. you sat down against the wall of the house, placing the little branches on the other side of you. out of boredom, you started to make a few little balls to be your base for your snowmen with kaeya. the rocks he picked out somehow matched your shade of eyes, making you question if the pebbles actually turned out to be gems.

after a while, the blue haired male walked back with the plastic bag in hand and your chocolate from earlier in the other. "princess, i got you something, i forgot."

you fiddled with the hand warmth heaters in your pockets as kaeya rummaged through the bag to find a beanie. "if you're worried about your hair, it's like silk lined here." he flipped the inside of the beanie out, showing you the fabric lining. "that's very sweet, kae."

"well, i would do anything for you..." your heart stopped as kaeya's face fell to the ground, trying to cover up his slip up. "because you're my best friend. my, wait, the princess, y'know?"

"yep!" you popped the 'p' at the end. kaeya placed the beanie on your head, covering your eyes for a while. "wha?? kaeya what was that for?" you asked, trying to yank the beanie upwards but kaeya's hand had it stay put in place.

"um, just wait here for a little bit." kaeya answered, taking one of the sticks next to you. you heard him trip, face first into the snow. "GAH!" he shrieked as you shushed him,

"kae, we don't want to wake up my parents, now do we?"

"don't use my words against me, princess." as he struggled to get up from the snow, he took the branch he previously had and drew something around you.

"or what? what are you going to do? aren't you my shining knight in armor, what are you going to dooo~?" you retorted back, trying to lift the beanie up to see what he was doing. you don't know how but he was already there to stop you, "keep this down for now and turn facing the house."

"huh?"

"just do it for a surprise!"

---

he was so glad that you kept the beanie to cover your eyes as he drew a bad heart around you, taking the heart shaped chocolates out. he collected the snowballs you made prior and stacked them. smoothing out the edges as he puts your little branch arms into the snow and his snowman's arms around yours. or at least attempted to fit his stick arm near your stick arms. he took out a bow he bought before and placed it near your snowman and a little toy sword next to his.

"name, you can take off your 'blindfold' now and turn around." he told you as you followed the order. adjusting the beanie so it wouldn't make your hair too flat. did he call you by your first name? it feels strange after all, he called you 'princess' since the beginning of middle school. when he declared that he would be your shining knight in armor.

"kaeya?" you turned around and saw kaeya standing with a chocolate box, swallowed his breath. you looked around and saw the mini kaeya and name as snowmen in a small, badly drawn heart. "what's going on?"

you looked down and the badly drawn heart was around you too. kaeya only managed to laugh, unable to speak to you even though he had practiced what to say beforehand. in the bathroom, forcing diluc proofread his speech to you and even making lisa make sure it's as heart felt as he wanted it to be. he only stammered out words you couldn't even hear.

the words 'i like you' scrambled out of his mouth as "i whah wuah." he wanted to hit himself because it didn't turn out right.

"kaeya, are you okay?" you stepped out of the heart carefully, making sure that you didn't kick over the mini snowmen. his breath hitched as your perfume filled the atmosphere, he's sure that the stars are burning red at this point. "your head is so warm." you pressed your colder fingers against his forehead as he gulped,

"name, i like you." you paused for a moment, glanced into his midnight eyes, the stars could exist in his eyes. wait no, you're looking for a trace of jokes but found none.

you wanted to say "i like you too." but your thoughts were caught in your throat and instead of the statement of requiting with his feelings. you replied, "what?"

nervously, he cleared his throat, "princess, i like-like you." you smiled, he wanted to engrave that into his head forever. he awaited your response and it felt like an eternity. but an eternity he'll wait to hear your response. if you reject him, it's fine because at least he could stay by your side until now.

you tried to fight the words to tell kaeya you like him back. again, the words were just stuck but actions are bigger than words. so instead of telling him, you'll just show him. stepping closer to kaeya, your lips ghosting where his were, you pressed your lips against his. dropping the chocolate box on the snowy grounds, kaeya's eyes widened but returned your kiss. you tangled your fingers with his hair as he was tapping on your shoulder.

pulling apart from the kiss, kaeya was out of breath, "oh my god," his cheeks were warmer. you giggled, "i like you too. that's what i mean."

"im so glad, princess, but also it felt like you were trying to steal my soul." you wrapped your arms around him as he tried to catch his breath. "oh my god."

"kaeya, you're so cute." kaeya looked like he forgot something, "wait."

"again?"

"yes. i promise it's good." kaeya replied as he took out a rose from the plastic bag. it feels like that bag was unlimited with the items he had bought. "name, can i be your shining knight in armor forever?"

"yes, until the world ends." he put the rose behind your ear, if you're worried about if the thorns are there. don't worry about it. he painstakingly took them out by hand until he realized he could've used gloves. you dug your face into the nape of his neck, placing a kiss there. he felt your smile against his skin. "i love you kaeya."

"i love you too, name."

[lazywriters-blog]

Just a short rant… I hope.

It makes a bit more sense why Bakugo bullied Deku (I am not condoning his actions) the main reason being that he was quirkless of course and to some extent, that he was a crybaby. But after reading the final chapters and learning that Bakugo was avoided by the girls— due to his personality, his harsh nature and even his bullying, I'd also add that to the list, it’d makes sense why he was extra explosive, he was probably salty.

Like a little too much… that could also explain why he got way worse than usual, he just thought that he was so much better than everybody and everyone, inflating his ego, and to a great extent his skills and quirk, maybe even his good looks, backed that up for him so there's that. The dude had to have been at least a little salty cause the girls didn't see him for his strengths and only his flaws I would guess, of course, he would never admit that.

And he does wear saggy pants— to look cool and stuff so there's that. And he and his middle school friends could have possibly sneaked into some shady place, like a bar. Of course, we know that Bakugo was worried about getting into trouble since he was going to apply to U.A. They ended up not going.

Then we know he got attacked by the sludge villain and the rest is history—

I don't know what to call this. Character analysis?

[threecheersforinking]

Review: Boys Over Flowers

*this review will contain spoilers!*

Hi everyone! This is going to be an extremely long, unsolicited recap of all my thoughts about Boys Over Flowers. I don't know a single person in my real life who has watched this, so I'm using this blog as my space to infodump because this show has become my new hyperfixation. If anyone at all ends up reading this, I really appreciate it! But this is mostly entirely for myself lol.

As someone who is pretty deep into the shoujo anime world and just recently getting into kdramas, I have heard of this show in passing many times. Kkotboda Namja is referenced in Korean media a lot and Hana Yori Dango is lauded as a classic shoujo in the manga sphere, so I figured it might be good to watch the show just to be able to get all the references and consume a piece of shoujo history. Originally, I thought it would be a mindless watch that I might have to force myself to finish; I started off concerned about getting through 25 episodes, but in the end, I ended up wishing there were more lol.

I'm gonna be honest, when I first started watching it, I was like uhhh this is... kinda bad. especially in the beginning. But I became endeared to the quirks I originally criticized. The slow motion dramatic replay shots, the shaky camera, the questionable acting skills all are an essential part of the show itself.

In general, the story was more compelling than I was expecting. But the characters were undoubtedly the best part of the show for me. I always find myself getting attached to media where characters are the focus, and I believe that's why I enjoyed this so much. So I am going to go into each character a bit more in depth.

Thoughts on Jandi

As far as shoujo protagonists go, Jandi is pretty quintessential and standard. She is poor, she is hardworking, she is kind. We've all seen this before. But I always liked her, and she grew on me even more as the series went on. She has the ever-present shoujo 'hard working poor girl' trait, but the show took that to a more serious level than I was expecting. The arc where she had to essentially raise her little bother by herself forced her to mature so quickly, which felt very realistic to me.

I also really loved how much of a 'girl's girl' she was; as far as earlier episodes go, the episode that focused on Minji was one of my favorites. I loved how she called out those popular girls on their hypocrisy for criticizing Minji's plastic surgery when they've all had surgery themselves. She also was such a good friend to both Minji and Gaeul and a very strong, assertive person.

As far as her indecisiveness goes, that is kind of a requirement for being a shoujo protagonist in a love triangle, but it did still get on my nerves even though I was fully anticipating it.

Thoughts on F4 (ranked in order of how much I liked them)

Yijung

Yijung was my favorite F4 boy by far. I just thought he had the most interesting and complex backstory. His struggle with his parents was very humanizing and the way he handled it so poorly felt like a realistic response to that kind of trauma. Ultimately, he made bad choices, but in an understanding and forgivable way that made him complex, not unlikeable (unlike someone else... but more on that later).

Jihoo

Jihoo was another character I grew to be very fond of. I was interested in his backstory a lot too, and although we knew from the beginning that he experienced a tragic loss as a child, learning that he carried the guilt of thinking he killed his family for 15 years really gave extra context to his stoicness and sadness. His reunion arc with his grandfather brought me to tears several times, and it really gave his character a lot more depth. My biggest issue with Jihoo is that I felt like he was almost too perfect sometimes; it's why I liked the grandfather reunion arc so much, I thought it gave him some much needed flaws.

Junpyo

Speaking of flaws, look who it is! Obviously, I have a lot of conflicted feelings on Junpyo. As someone who is actually very open minded about redemption arcs, I didn't have too much of an issue with him being a bully at the beginning, but his, truthfully, abusive tendencies were such a turn off and felt completely unnecessary. Unlike Yijung, Junpyo's trauma/bad choices made him extremely unlikable and nearly unforgivable. The constant physical violence against completely innocent people and his unwillingness to listen to Jandi explain herself were hard to watch, knowing that he's one of the romantic leads that we're supposed to be rooting for. I also felt like until the final arc, any character development he had gotten just kept undoing itself every time he found a new thing to get angry about. Despite all this, I enjoyed what his character became towards the end of the story. I just wish it wasn't such a painful and unnecessary journey for him to finally become that way.

Woobin

Woobin was kind of a disappointing character in general; I can only assume that he was a bigger character in the manga and they just didn't have time to really develop him in the show, because that's pretty much the only valid explanation for his lack of substance. At the beginning of the show, Yijung and Woobin got less screentime than Junpyo/Jihoo did, but as Yijung started to get more development, Woobin became even more noticeably lacking. They threw in that one scene where he was stressing over being the son of a mafia boss or something (which felt completely out of left field by the way) but because it was the only scene where he was given any backstory it might as well not have existed at all. Overall, he was nice to Jandi and a good friend and I enjoyed him in all the F4 group scenes, I just wish he was a bit more of a fully developed character.

Other Characters

Before I get into the friend characters, I wanted to say that something I really loved about this show was how genuinely kind all the older female characters were to Jandi. For some reason I was expecting most of them to secretly be evil or mean but they were all extremely kindhearted and helpful people, which just made the viewing experience better. Even Minji, who was literally the only one who actually did turn out mean, was able to reconcile with Jandi and end their friendship on a neutral/positive note.

Gaeul

I loved Gaeul from the start, I thought she was so adorable and the perfect best friend character for a shoujo. I honestly wasn't even expecting her to be a fully fleshed-out secondary character in the show, I thought she would just be Jandi's coworker who she gossiped with on occasion. But the fact that she became such a major player in the story made me very happy. I also really loved her with Yijung and was practically screaming at the screen for them to get together, but more on that later.

Jaekyung

Jaekyung was interesting. She was a little ditzy and out of touch, but extremely kindhearted despite her wealthy background. I think her introduction into the show, which subsequently threw a curveball into the relationship of Jandi x Junpyo, came at a good time. I found it refreshing that she was always nice and friendly to Jandi, but also didn't want to give up on Junpyo just because Jandi liked him. My biggest issue with Jaekyung was that her concession at the end of the wedding felt a little out of left field, considering how adamant she had been previously about her pursuit of Junpyo. But based on the nature of her personality, I can see that being believable. I also wish she made another appearance after the wedding arc was over, but we didn't see her again after that :(

Junhee

Junhee was yet another character that I expected to be kind of bitchy/mean but who turned out to be extremely cool and nice. The literal only thing that bothered me about her was that I couldn't fathom how she and Junpyo were supposedly raised in the same home but turned out so different, lol. I guess it's a testament to how girls vs. boys were treated in their patriarchal household, but still jarring.

The Romance

I want to start off by saying that I'm someone who is ok with love triangles. I think there's a lot of people who are tired of them and don't like them, but I am okay with it so long as it's interesting.

That being said, when it comes to love triangles I think a lot of people conflate the character they like better with the character the protagonist very clearly wants more. To me (and to most people I'd assume) Jihoo was just overwhelmingly the better choice. I'd go as far as to say he's the objectively better choice. He was always a million times more kind and thoughtful than Junpyo and truly loved Jandi for almost the entire show. However, I could never fully see him being endgame because Jandi was simply more focused on Junpyo and had more history with him.

I know this is a hot take, but I actually really enjoy the 'bickering couple' trope. I think a little back and forth roasting of each other is fun and entertaining! But bickering is not the same thing as genuine cruelty and one sided bullying. Which is pretty much what was happening at the beginning of the story. However, by the time Junpyo finally mellowed out, I really grew to love his dynamic with Jandi. The teasing was just that; teasing, and not bullying anymore. I just wish there was about 200% more of that dynamic and 100% less of whatever the hell they were doing in the first 2/3rds of the show.

As for couples outside of the main trio, I was the BIGGEST Gaeul/Yijung shipper from the minute they first interacted. I cared way more about them than the main love triangle and was on the edge of my seat whenever they showed up. My biggest criticism of them though is that it took WAY too long. And believe me, I can handle a slow burn, but at a certain point it felt so dragged out that I almost stopped caring (it wasn't confirmed canon until the literal last 10 minutes of the whole show lol). Of course, I was still pleased, but man! Give me a break.

The Show In General

I think it became obvious to me early on that this is like, the mother of all shoujos. Most of the common shoujo tropes I mentioned in this review probably either originated or were popularized by both this show and the original manga. It really set a standard and became iconic, despite its many flaws.

(Side note, I hope I'm not in the wrong for still calling this kdrama a shoujo, I think it being based on a shoujo manga makes it a fair enough label but correct me if I'm wrong)

I also just started reading the manga and wow, they uh... toned some stuff down for the show didn't they? I do like it though, it's different. But I can definitely see why some changes were made from the manga to the show. So far out of all the characters, Jihoo and Junpyo's manga versions feel the most different from their kdrama equivalents, which is a bit surprising as they are the main characters. But we'll have to see if that changes as I get further in.

I also am aware of the several other adaptations of Hana Yori Dango such as the Japanese drama and Meteor Garden (although I am put off by the fact that it's 50+ episodes?? are they an hour long too? if so... I'm not sure about that one) but I knew Boys Over Flowers/Kkotboda Namja was the one I wanted to start with due to its popularity, and I think that was a good choice.

This is a 15 year old show but I know there is still somewhat of an active fanbase for it on here so if you're a hardcore Hana Yori Dango stan please go easy on me! These are just my opinions so take them with a grain of salt.

Anyway, if anyone ended up reading this to the end thank you for reading. I'm going to be posting more kdrama reviews on this blog that I promise will be way shorter. Bye!

-threecheersforinking