#is needed. however the main character of the story aka the one we've been following so far aka me will be the main perspective we follow tho

[kinki-cami]

Marsh, remember, we're asleep, dont make any sounds... (not that you can because youre not a plush with a voice box but still.) The worst part about trying to pretend to be asleep is that your eyes want to be open so they keep trying to open but your also trying to keep them shut without squeezing them so they Involuntary flutter while being closed. And the worst part is that i can hear that affini approaching this room. Do affini use the bathroom? I hope thats where theyre going and arent- aaaand it is this room. Fuck. Ok hopefully they dont try to kill mee🎶

"Well, isnt my sweet petal so cute when asleep~" H-how did that plant know i was trans? AAAHHHH and they called me cute. "I was sure she was much more of a stone sleeper. Perhaps her blood sugar is just low, her files did say she had diabetes." Oh shit. Ok, they know i have diabetes, as long as they dont try to do anything I'll be fine. "I ought to wake her, however, just to be certain." Ok this plant is definitely just mocking me at this point.

"Petal. Petal." The affini said in a quiet voice, gently shaking her shoulder. "Well, i know you sleep like a rock, but i also know you dont sleep THIS much like a rock. I had to put your stuffed animal on the other side of you so you wouldnt accidently throw it off again." She opened her eyes in fear, before promptly closing them and hugged her plush tight.

She whispered something quiet enough that it was completely inunderstandable.

"What was that petal?"

"they're not an animal" she whispered barely understandable in a grumpy voice, a twinge of fear underlying the grumpiness.

"Oh well do you mind telling me what it is while i take you blood sugar then?"

"Why should i when youre probably just going to kill me soon anyway..." She could feel the clouds of depression flooding her mind. The sheer fear and anxiety making her want to give up but she wanted to hold out for just a little bit longer.

"And why would I want to kill you, cutie?"

Being called that shut her mind down momentarily. "I dont know... its all just stupid rumors, im sorry" her voice started to shake as she finished the sentence.

"It's alright petal, no need to be sorry, here why dont we give you something to calm you down."

"No!" She screamed, terrified something bad was going to happen to her. "Please... can you just... let me come to terms with my fate please?"

"And what fate would that be?" The affini was keeping a calm voice and let her just talk. According to what the affini read about her she wasnt too talkative and seemingly kept to herself, she couldnt help but notice just how much this little sophont was talking compared to others who were quiet and kept to themselves.

"Uh-Umm enslavement or something-i dont know-i want to at least say goodbye to myself and everything before anythingharsh or strict comes to me" at this point she was uncontrollably crying, her mind rushing with every possible negative thing that could happen to her.

"Well, if you're so worried about what you think might happen, do you want me to tell you what we do to cuties such as yourself?"

She thought for a moment before coming to the conclusion of 'well if i know whatll happen i cojld better mentally prepare for it' "uh-um, sure" she said between sobs

"Well, petal, what we do is we take everyone who is sad or sick or fussy or destructive and we bring them into our homes and make them feel better, sure they become our pets, but how you used to live it was either suffer or suffer more, but here you have every need taken care of without any need for debts. But the more you resist the more drastic we take things, nothing too bad really, some just need to have all of their stresses taken away, even if they wont admit it. So whatll happen with you is first we'll fix you right up making your body work how its supposed to, so you wont be reliant on taking artificial insulin. Then what we'll do is give you some drugs to take away aaany of your stresses and then we'll find just the right affini for you, or at least whoever wants to take care of you whichever comes first!"

After what she felt was a bunch of rambling coming from the affini, she calmed down a little, as why would someone who sounds like theyre both really happy to explain this and a bit like theyre daydreaming about what theyre talking about, especially, based on what she could hear through her thoughts, sounded like someone who didnt purposely deal any harm to people.

She was able to calm down just wnough to stop crying and after a bit of adjustment and drying her eyes she looked up at an affini for what felt like the first, in context time. It was a little unsettling, vines forming what look like they should be lips, and wood surrounding majority of the face making an uncanny humanoid face. Her mind didnt react too too due to the adrenaline of fear coursing through her veins at the time, a rather large cloud of depression clouding her judgement as well.

"So is there anything else you would like to know?" The affini cheerfully exclaimed.

"Umm... will i be stuck here forever?"

"If by here you mean with an affini, then yes, if you mean with me, probably not, i dont normally take pets, just sorta..." she helicoptered her arms around, "rehabilitate them is all, well not even that, but its close to what i do, think of me as your live-in therapist. And if you mean on this ship, then definitely not, unless you want to of course, that CAN be arranged. Thats up to you, however."

"Gods please no, i dont want to be stuck again!"

"Of course! I mean you'll have to be here for a few days first before ANYTHING else can happen, just so we know for sure you wont... try anything. Anyway if you dont mind I'll be taking your blood sugar now."

"O-ok umm do you need to-" she froze as the affini stuck one of its needles into her arm.

"Im sorry petal, do you not like needles?"

"no" she said quietly, still trying her best not to move.

"I'm sorry would you like to do it another way next time?" The affini asked, removing their needle from her arm.

"Yes please." She responded quietly. She felt herself calming down, finding it dofficult to remember anything since she tried feigning sleep.

"Good, now petal, would you like to introduce yourself or would you like me to introduce myself first?"

[mysterylover123]

Some More Talk About Parallels: BKDK and the Narrative Frame

Warning: I've tagged all the ships I talk about in this post, but no one (aside from the obvious) is in focus.

So I've been thinking a lot about Character Parallels in My Hero Academia lately. This started when I made these really popular posts:

Bakugou + Uraraka Parallels: https://mysterylover123.tumblr.com/post/645294173928505344/bakugou-uraraka-parallels

and

MHA + Boys Admiring Girls

https://mysterylover123.tumblr.com/post/645370264217075712/mha-boys-admiring-girls

This started with me noticing first that Bakugou and Ochako seemed like parallel characters (not my original observation, lots have noticed). Then that each of the boys seemed to have a girl who acted like a female counterpart -

Deku=Tsuyu, Ochako=Bakugou, Momo=Todoroki, Mina=Kirishima, Jirou=Kaminari. And subsequently, TsuChako=BKDK; Minachako=Kiribaku, MinaJirou=KiriKami, etc.

All so good so far, but then I noticed that while Momo has a few moments with Ochako and Tsuyu, their dynamic doesn't really resemble Todoroki's relationship with the WonderDuo. Rather, the duo that Momo relates to who resemble Deku and Kacchan is actually Jirou and Kaminari, as I posted about yesterday:

Between Momo and Todoroki, I think the resemblance between MomoJirou and TodoBaku is actually striking too; the basic dynamic, the occasionally snippy friendship started at USJ, the way that the two duos Owned the second half of Season 4 (and the movie); more so than Momo/Ochako, MomoJirou parallels TodoBaku.

But the entire basis of the comparison I made was Bakugou and Ochako as counterparts. So I started pulling back and rethinking this. Maybe instead, the similarity is not just the Gender Counterpart, but that most of the supporting characters form into pairs (And occasionally trios) that resemble Deku/Kacchan.

aka:

Kaminari/Jirou - Kaminari plays Deku's role, Jirou Bakugou's.

Tsuyu/Ochako - Tsuyu plays Deku's role, Ochako Bakugou's.

Ochako/Iida - Between these two, Ochako becomes Deku's role, Iida Bakugou's.

Todoroki/Momo: AS I pointed out in another post, Todoroki plays Deku's role, Momo Bakugou's.

Kirishima/Mina: Kirishima as Deku, Mina as Bakugou; this one is pretty obvious.

Mirio/Tamaki; All Might/Endeavor, Erasermic, The First and Second OFA users, even Shindo/Tatami, and Bakugou's Parents Masaru and Mitsuki; multiple character duos throughout the series that parallel the mains. Obviously, the point of these parallels is to draw upon the large, overarching character duo that forms the heart of the show.

I am a little more fond of this setup for following the characters, since it's less gender based and more about the characters' personalities and overarching themes; I've already explained three of these (KMJR, TDMM and TSCHK) in detail, and the others are fairly self-evident.

However, that does present me with a final question, that I think many fans have been asking. Up until the Joint Training Arc, you could probably have made the argument that the basic parallel duos outlined here all follows a similar track to Deku and Kacchan's story.

Meeting and becoming foils/rivals (Deku and Kacchan's childhood, Todoroki and Momo in the entrance exam, Jirou and Kaminari at USJ, Kirishima and Mina in the backstory, and Uraraka and her foil being either Iida or Tsu in season 1)

The Deku analogue starts surpassing the Bakugou analogue (Todoroki to Momo in Season 2, Kaminari beats Jirou in the Sports Festival, Kirishima does better than Mina in the same arc)

The two become great teammates, though maybe grudgingly, for an arc (BKDK & TDMM=Final Exams, IICHK & KMJR=USJ, KRMN=Sports Fest, TSCHK=Training camp)

The Bakugou analogue confesses their insecurities to the Deku analogue (DVK2, Yaoyorozu Rising, Culture Fest arc, TSCHK=internship arc, IICHKO=Sports Fest prep room)

The Deku analogue helps reaffirm the Bakugou Analogue by confessing how much they admire them (same arcs for all but Ochako)

The duo cheer each other on more healthily in the Joint Training Arc (all of them except TSCHK)

During that time, of course, both duos interact pretty randomly with other characters. But earlier on, and starting in Chapter 217, BKDK themselves change their dynamic. As you all probably know, at the point we're at in Season 5, they pretty much added a third party member. Todoroki.

Ever since the Internship arc (in some ways, ever since the Sports Festival), Todoroki has been more than just Deku's friend and other rival. Todoroki has an equal relationship with both Deku and Kacchan, and you could make the case that Todoroki is just as much a part of the Wonder Duo dynamic as Deku or Kacchan.

They form something of a trinity. While Shoto isn't completely integrated into the OFA thing yet, he is so close to it that he might as well be.

And thus you get the conflict. Is MHA a story about duos - BKDK=esuqe character pairings that combine equal aspects, opposite traits, and complete each other to become great teams? Or is it actually about trios, TDBKDK=esque trinities that combine a third quality needed to succeed All Might?

This is where the question gets important to me. WE've always believed, I think ,in the simple narrative line presented by Deku and Kacchan. Win by saving, save to win. Two halves of All Might. Bring them together (and by extension, their analogue pairings) and you get your perfect hero team.

But what if Hori has actually shifted the narrative? What if Todoroki has actually been integrated into the Wonder duo narrative? Is there a third aspect of being the World's Greatest Hero that we're missing with just Deku and Kacchan as a hero duo? Since Hori is no longer using the Heroes Rising ending, what is the new one?

During the Winter Intern arc, Endeavor gave the Origin Trio three assignments: Rescue, Fighting, Evacuation. "Evacuation" is a strange title to symbolize the third category, but what if it does indicate a third aspect to heroism Shoto represents? And that integrating the three main All Might fanboys into his successors?

Shoto, who was raised to succeed him from birth and inspired by a video with his mom; Katsuki, who based his life around succeeding All Might and always winning; and Izuku, who did the same, based on his favorite video as well. And in that case, does the Momo/Kami/Jirou trinity parallel them, as I suggested?

Mind you, the "everyone is duos" concept is still just fine to me as an option. But I'm open to the idea that the story is all about trinities now. Tell me what you think.

[anarmorofwords]

I'm obviously not the previous anon, but your answer got me thinking. Firstly, I'll say that I do like what cc's doing with tlh, so this isn't hate per se? But I think her biggest mistake tlh-wise is how much of her original writing process she's shared with us.

That's what's prompted most of the 'show and not tell', in my opinion. Look at the characters's wiki pages. There's lots of trivia we've never been shown. Thomas's songwriting? Never even mentioned. James's passion for poem-making? Never heard of her. The Carstairs were going to be white (possibly half-french) ffs.

I'm an amateur writer; I'll by no means try to compare myself with a woman that has been an author for almost two decades, but I do know that characters change. Heck, my main characters changed a fuck ton in the few months it took me to come up with a plot; imagine how much cc's characters changed since 2013.

The thing is, cc overshared a lot of stuff about these foetus characters that she --ultimately-- must have realised had no true purpose to the story she was creating. That's completely normal, but nevertheless, it's information that should absolutely not have been shared with her big-ass following; who in turn came to expect something (or is currently expecting something) that simply won't happen for logistic --thus valid-- reasons.

Leaving original expectations aside and focusing on canon, I do think what she says is shown; but not to the necessary degree. This, however, is for obvious reasons concerning the plot.

Take TMT. We've seen they care for each other --we've seen them together as a friend group arguably quite often-- but:

1) James's drama with the gracelet, which we've seen greatly dampens his emotions (one of the first things he does after getting the damn thing off is try to go to Matthew to explain himself and basically tell him he loves him and say sorry)

2) Matthew's alcoholism and the secretiveness that came after his sibling's death

3) Thomas's massive crush on Alastair, who has bad blood with Matthew and James (I could talk more about this situation, because I have FEELINGS)

4) Christopher's probable fixation on Grace (there was actually no problem with him pre-coi, but oh boy will we have drama because of Gracetopher)

Are factors that greatly damage the confidentiality of a group, no matter how close they are. If we took them away, we'd see how J+M+C protested against T going on patrol alone, how TMT had a hiding out of sorts, how J trusted in them his marriage arrangement with Cordelia, how M+C+T are among the few J tells about his shit with Belial and accepts help from, or simply their interactions. We'd see all those things, and (possibly) think they are --indeed-- close.

I'd like to take a vote of faith, and say cc will resolve these issues satisfyingly in chot, but only time will tell.

(Concerning Matthew and Anna, I do have something to say, but I'm afraid this ask is getting too annoyingly long for you, lol)

(And this is clearly just my humble opinion)

hii!!! I'm probably repetitive, but, uhm, sorry for taking forever to answer!!

While I have issues with TLH (especially CHOI) that go far beyond the inconsistency between showing and telling, I do think you have a point and that might be part of the problem.

What makes this worse, however, is that for all her interacting with fans,CC never disproved any of that. It would make things so much easier.

And you know, she does rely on information included outside of books. She expects fans to know the short stories, she sends out Musicale and other bonus content, so it's not that we're being unreasonable trying to catch up with her additional content/info.

She doesn't, however, care enough to tell us which of those are still relevant and what changed, so it's all a little bit like wandering in a mist.

Concerning TMT, I kinda agree, and I personally don't hate their friendship, the dynamic between them, or think they can't be friends. Maybe it's because of my own experiences or the ones I heard about, but I don't think friends (just as other relationships) can't have problems without immediately being written off, especially when we consider how many truly intense things they're struggling with atm. I don't doubt that they love each other and have the potential to be amazing friends again, it's just that currently their dynamic is really lacking, and while some of that is understandable considering ~the plot~, some of it seems unnecessary to me?

The four months between ChoH and ChoI were apparently rather uneventful plot-wise, and while that didn't change gracelet, or erase Matthew's alcoholism, we could have been shown some of their interactions then?

The thing about writing is, I get that there needs to be conflict and issues and all that. But you need to also get it across that this wasn't always the case, you need to show that default state (aka them being good friends) as something believable, not just say it was the case. It's a challenge, but CC is an experienced author, she should be able to pull it off.

I hope I'm making sense - to provide another example, I read a book this year where MC's loved ones were murdered at the beginning. And I get it, in that case you can't see them interacting in the plot, but you still need to show how important they were to her, sell it to the reader. That's kinda the whole deal with writing.

Well, we certainly agree here, I also hope she can still resolve all that in ChoT. Hope dies last or sth.

If you feel like it, go ahead and share what you have to say about Matthew and Anna!

Oh totally! As you can see, I don't necessarily agree, but I get that we can see those things differently, that's absolutely fine.

Have a nice day/evening/night! <3