midnightcookiz

[midnightcookiz]

oh boy, here I go. Tbh i feel a little embarrassed to ask for a headcanon request, but your hcs always make my day, and I couldn't resist. If kelbrey was real, I always imagined her hiding her relationship with kel from the rest of the group and the hooligans. Can I have some headcanons on this?

Embarrassed??? No nonnie!! I love to hear from you guys!! It’s the best part of my day (and trust me today is not a good one) I love to hear that I’m a good part of your day <333 I can’t always promise to be prompt in answering y’all but I love to see them and it makes me super happy!! Never any embarrassment necessary!!

I normally see it as Kel and Aubrey being like lol we’re dating get over it, but let’s play with this idea a bit together nonnie because I think it’s interesting. 

Aubrey isn’t ashamed of Kel. That’s not it at all. She is just a complex person, and one of her complexities is her need to hide things. The others didn’t know about her home life, and they didn’t know about her connection to Kel, Sunny, and Basil, so it fits her character profile. Aubrey is used to hoarding and hiding the things she loves. If she never shows the world, there’s no way that they can be taken from her. 

Telling everyone is just too much pressure on something that is young and still growing. They still don’t know what to call each other or what to do really. It’s a first relationship for both of them, and they’re jumping into the deep end head first. 

In the end Aubrey asks if they can keep it secret. At least at first. Kel agrees steadily, mostly because he’s not sure how to explain to Hero that he’s dating his former bully. Then they just...never transition into telling people. 

I imagine for the beginning it is fun. It’s interesting to see how they can get away with secret kisses and where they can go for discreet dates. But then it keeps going. and going. and going. Aubrey denies any romantic feelings towards him when Vance teases her for her “crush’ one day, she points out how hot one of his teammates is another. At night it’s his window she’s climbing into, and it’s him she’s saying she loves, but the duality of it starts to hit Kel in the face. 

I like to HC Kel has a little bit of an inferiority complex (How could he not with literally the perfect big brother?) And usually he can deal with his low self esteem in healthy ways, but the longer they sneak around, the more he gets to thinking that maybe Aubrey doesn’t actually think he’s enough for her. 

He tries to brush it away, but ideas like that are like weeds. They root deep and poisonous, and they don’t let go easily. He begins to pull away, to prepare himself for the inevitable moment she gets bored of him, for when she finally grows tired of being with someone who isn’t worth her time. 

Now Aubrey isn’t the most emotionally intelligent person out there, but she can tell something is wrong with her boyfriend. He smiles less, he isn’t as eager to spend time with her, and when they do he sometimes looks at her in this wistful way that twists her stomach. 

Now enter Basil. Beloved Bagel. 

Basil is not a person for confrontation, but he is the one person that Kela and Aubrey told that they were dating. He has become Kel’s confidant for all questions relating to their relationship, and although he’s never had one of his own, he’s doing his best to help. 

So Basil knows exactly how worthless Kel has felt to Aubrey the last few weeks. How he’s just waiting for her to be done with him. How low his self esteem has gotten when it comes to them. And Basil is...not happy. 

He loves Aubrey, she’s the closest thing he has to a sister, but she’s also hurting his best friend, and he can’t understand why. So when she comes home from being denied to hang out at Kel’s for a third time that week because he’s “busy” and starts to rant to him about how “selfish” Kel is being, he kinda snaps at her. 

He doesn’t tell her everything, but what he does tell her is enough to make Aubrey incredibly uncomfortable. She’s seen the results of bad relationships. She swore she would never be like that with her partners, but somehow it ended up just as bad. 

She asks Basil what she should do, and he can’t tell her. He’s already far too involved in his best friend’s romance, and being stuck in the middle is stressing him out. Aubrey apologizes (a rarity for her) and asks him to help her with just one more thing

Late that night Aubrey texts Kel and tells him that they’re having an impromptu picnic together tomorrow because they “need to talk” Kel barely responds beyond telling her he’ll be there. He’s sure this is the end, and he can’t bring himself to drag it out asking her to tell him why. They’ll have a clean break after weeks of waiting, and they can both move on. 

Kel gets to their secret spot in the park, and is surprised to see not only his girlfriend, but all of their friends. Even Sunny is there, seeming confused as ever, but happy to see him. Aubrey gets up from where she was sitting on the picnic blanket and walks over. She takes his hand in hers and leads him over. 

She acts like they do when they’re alone. She leans against his side and plays with his fingers and presses short kisses to his cheek. Kel is in the twilight zone, everyone but Basil and Sunny seems confused, and Aubrey is pulling a total 180. Finally Angel cuts through the rising tension with a weak joke. 

“What are you guys dating or something?”

Kel goes to correct him on autopilot, but before he can say anything Aubrey in a rush before him blurts out her own answer

“Yeah. Today’s actually our six month anniversary. It’s going really well, even if I can be a lot to handle sometimes. Couldn’t ask for anyone better,”

The Hooligans burst into shocked yelling demanding answers and shouting out their shock. Kel can’t help the tiny indulgent smile. He looks down at Aubrey and is surprised to see she’s watching his reaction with an uncharacteristically nervous expression. He rolls his eyes and presses a soft kiss to her hair, murmuring a quiet thank you that only she can hear. She squeezes his hand tight to her and nestles closer. 

They still have a lot to talk about, and it’s not all solved, but it’s perfect for now. 

[midnightcookiz]

in terms of popularity do you think Uraraka is popular? like comparing her to the other shonen female leads like sakura, mikasa, nobara/maki(now) or makima? she ranked 16th in the last popularity poll which makes me wonder what is it about her character that hori wrote that failed to stick with the audience? or is just the lack of screentime her character has gotten?

I can't believe I'm about to say this, but this question is a little too meta for me lol.

I'm referring to the surface question rather than what I think you really mean by it. Like, I don't actively keep up with who is popular. I just incidentally might learn about these things. And you referenced a bunch of characters to compare Uraraka to whom...uh...honestly I had to Google some of them lol. I do not read/watch any of those manga/anime.

But I think you're really asking:

In what ways does Uraraka's character hit or miss with the audience? Why does it turn out like this?

First of all, I would just point out that you should note how you phrased the question. You didn't ask me why is Uraraka not as popular as other characters in her own manga, or other popular characters in other popular manga. You compared her to other women characters in other manga, specifically female leads. Uraraka is in many ways a character drawn to fit a token trope of shounen manga.

“Female lead.”

As if a woman can't be the main character of a shounen (they can, see Maka Albarn of Soul Eater and Emma of The Promised Neverland).

As if each manga can only have one female lead (there can be more, see Winry Rockbell and Riza Hawkeye of Fullmetal Alchemist).

I just want people to really consider how we think (or don’t think) about these things. It’s important to examine that.

Second, I’ll knock out the obvious issues with Uraraka’s popularity. She lacks screen time, she lacks meaningful personal motivations and character development outside of her relationship with the male main character, and she’s fairly removed from the main plot of the story. The saddest part is that it didn’t have to be this way.

Third, my general opinion on the matter: Uraraka is popular.

She’s very popular. I don’t think I’ve encountered a person who hasn’t been moved by her character/story. The problem is...we haven’t seen her in years.

I don’t think people hate Uraraka. I don’t think people even dislike her role as a romantic interest for the main character. In the beginning.

She disappeared as a character the moment her crush developed in the final exam arc. When it was Izuku crushing on her, it was cute. Because when Izuku was crushing on her, we got to see what he saw in her. She is a great character. I freaking love her. I also want to believe Izuku loves her, but...he doesn’t think about her anymore??? He doesn’t even think about their friendship that much either. It’s so bizarre. He used to treat her like a queen, and not in that creepy pedestal way (well, aside from how he used to treat EVERYONE like that). Now he barely notices her. I don’t know what to make of that other than the fact that I hate it. They do have some nice friend/romantic moments in the Joint Training arc (season 5) that almost get us back to those basics, but they ultimately don’t go anywhere.

But really, I think people like Uraraka...when she shows up. She just doesn’t often do that. And when she does it’s so brief that it just isn’t enough.

Who is Uraraka the character? I’m talking about the Sports Festival, of course, but I’m also talking about the martial artist.

The reason Uraraka is great...or was...is because she was destined to be a combat character on equal footing with many of the male fighters. She was allowed to get dirty. She was allowed to get ugly. She was allowed to be a mess. She was allowed to be competitive. She was allowed to be intimidating. She was allowed to be scary. She was allowed to be awesome.

Nothing illustrates this better than Bakugou vs. Uraraka.

If I did a poll of reaction YouTube channels watching that episode for the first time, I guarantee 75% minimum would have cried at least once during that episode. Real tears. Because Uraraka’s story, her character, her motivations, they are real. And they are universal. They aren’t feminine or masculine, they are purely relatable.

That’s a big part of why I love it when Uraraka interacts with Bakugou, or Iida, or Kirishima, or Asui, or anyone in a friend/comrade/competitor relationship. She’s so goddamn real, exactly the kind of girl I would expect to enroll in a hero school.

But when she’s forwarding the romance subplot? She’s stale. She’s flat. She’s boring. She’s not real at all. She’s just gone.

A part of me secretly hopes she’s a deconstruction of the female lead/romantic interest trope and fully rejects her crush, not because I have anything against IzuOcha (I don’t, I want it to be more interesting) but because she just deserves better and it’d be a nice twist on such a stale trope. It’d be the only thing that could justify the boring romance subplot, even if it doesn’t justify how boring it is. It could end with some commentary on how love is incompatible with hero work, which is a subplot we’ve seen a few times like with Kouta’s parents. Would that conclusion be worth it? Probably not. But it’s better than nothing, I guess.

I miss feral Uraraka, the one who scared the shit out of Bakugou. I miss her so much. Give her back.

[midnightcookiz]

Cursing in english       then       Cursing in your native language

[midnightcookiz]

some of my favorite little kacchako things

1.Ochako finds Bakugou funny

i just think that’s adorable ok, she finds his temper tantrum against Kaminari hilarious and that’s adorable. she takes complete joy in it an that makes me happy

2. He calls her “Round-Face.”

like. omg. that’s the dumbest insulting nickname i’ve ever seen from him and i love it??? it implies a lot; A. that he’s a huge dork, B. that he thinks her face is round, C. the first thing he could come up with in regards to an insulting nickname for her was “Round-Face” and honestly that’s just so lame i love it

what a fucking dork

(in case anyone is curious, here’s a post about the translation of “Round-Face” vs. “Angel-Face.” long story short, “Round-Face” is the correct translation)

3. Bakugou taking Uraraka seriously

B/C HONESTLY I LOVE THAT HE DOESN’T GO EASY ON HER AT ALL, AND THAT BY DOING SO HE’S SHOWING HER RESPECT AS AN EQUAL. JUST. WHAT A GOOD SCENE 

HE’S TESTING HER. HE’S SEEING WHAT SHE CAN DO. HE’S SHOWING HER RESPECT AND TREATING HER AS AN EQUAL AND WANTS TO SEE WHAT SHE’LL DO AGAINST HIM. AAAHHH JUST WHAT A GOOD SCENE

4. Uraraka thanking Bakugou for taking her seriously, and Bakugou’s surprised expression in response to it

i just love this little interaction ok she thanks him for not letting his guard down. and this just throws him off completely, because he wasn’t expecting that. he just looks so genuinely surprised and caught off guard by it. it’s an expression we’ve never seen on him by this point, and it’s just so interesting to see

5. Bakugou acknowledging that Uraraka nearly took him out

i just….. love that ok. it’s the first time we’ve seen him pushed to that limit, where his hands are pounding from overusing his quirk, and she’s the one who did that, and he’s acknowledging that

6. BAKUGOU USING URARAKA’S NAME

LIKE HE FIRST STARTS USING IT DURING THEIR FIGHT AFTER SHE IMPRESSES HIM WITH HER FINAL ATTACK, AND IT’S A SIGN THAT HE RESPECTS HER. HE STOPS USING THE “ROUND-FACE” NICKNAME AFTER THAT ATTACK, B/C SHE SURPRISED HIM, IMPRESSED HIM, AND AFTERWARDS HE ONLY EVER REFERS TO HER BY NAME

ONLY BY NAME. HE ONLY DOES THIS FOR KIRISHIMA AND ALL MIGHT. EVEN AFTER THEIR FIGHT, HE CONTINUES TO REFER TO HER BY NAME–EVEN WHEN HE’S PISSED OFF AT HER. EVEN IN HIS OWN HEAD, WHERE NO ONE ELSE CAN HEAR HIM. 

HE ONLY USES THE NICKNAME ONCE, AN EVERY SINGLE TIME AFTER HE USES HER NAME.

IT’S HIS OWN PERSONAL FORM OF RESPECT AND IT MEANS THAT HE RESPECTS HER A GREAT DEAL, BECAUSE HE CAN’T BE BOTHERED TO REMEMBER ANYONE’S NAME, NOT EVEN HIS OWN CLASSMATES. IT MEANS HE RESPECTS HER A LOT OK

he uses her name and that makes me happy okay

7. Bakugou’s face after Uraraka falls

okay just look at the previous point where Bakugou is EXTREMELY FUCKING HYPED TO FIGHT HER. she impressed him and he hOLY SHIT HE WANTS TO FIGHT HER MORE, THE REAL FIGHT STARTS NOW…….. except she collapses immediately afterwards. and he’s genuinely surprised.

he was not expecting her to fall. she impressed him, and he respects her now, and godDAMN he was ready to go at it with her again, EXCITED to fight her… only now she’s on the ground because she hit her limit. 

and suddenly he realizes that someone he thinks is amazing has a limit. he’s just so surprised, maybe even slightly worried?? and subdued. someone he wants to fight, someone who impressed him and pushed him has a limit, and he wasn’t expecting that. 

he’s not really sure how to process that, and it made him pause for a moment. and i love that

8. Bakugou reprimanding Izuku for giving Uraraka a dangerous plan

okay so there are actually several reasons here why Bakugou is doing this; A. he thinks Izuku is trying to fuck with him (b/c in Bakugou’s mind, that’s what Izuku is always trying to do), B. he feels like Izuku robbed him of a good fight by giving Uraraka a dangerous plan that pushed her too far, C. he knows Izuku’s written about his powers in his notebook and could easily come up with a counter attack plan from that an given it to Uraraka….

and D. Bakugou is showing concern for Uraraka because he feels like Izuku gave her a dangerous plan. he just saw her collapse in front of his eyes. i’m sure that left an impression on him, and it’s one of the reasons why he’s so angry at Izuku here. because he just fuckng saw her collapse because of (what he thought was) Deku’s shitty plan.

in a very backhanded way, he’s showing concern for her by reprimanding Izuku for this. and i love that

9. Bakugou saying Uraraka isn’t fragile

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME BAKUGOU’S EVER ACKNOWLEDGED ANYONE ELSE IN THE SERIES, IT’S THE FIRST TIME HE EVER DEFENDED ANYONE ELSE. Kaminari is going on about how Uraraka was a fragile weak little girl and Bakugou just refuses that–he reprimands Kaminari and says there was nothing fragile about her.

and this is right after the above scene–where Bakugou finds out that Uraraka came up with that plan all on her own. that she designed that dangerous plan all by herself, and that she pushed herself to her limits by her own fee will. she knew what she was doing an what she was getting into, and she forced him into a corner with her own plan and skills.

it was all her. no one else.

“Where do you see fragile?” indeed

10. Uraraka going to Gunhead because of her fight with Bakugou

i just love that her fight with Bakugou influenced her decision here–she wants to become strong. she doesn’t just wanna focus on rescue because then she’ll end up with tunnel vision, she won’t actually improve at all. no, she wants to be well-rounded and stronger because her fight with Bakugou proved to her that she needs to improve more.

11. she’s just SO GODDAMN CASUAL WITH HIM

like before their fight, she was a little bit scared of him. but afterwards, hooo boy, she fought his fucking ass and faced the worst and lived to tell the tale. now he’s not scary to her at all. nah, she’s just 100% comfortable and casual relaxed around him, and will casually just throw out random comments or observations about him just because.

she just genuinely does not think of him as a threat at all. she’s completely relaxed and has no fear with bringing up uncomfortable topics and confronting him about them, because she’s worried and cares for him (and Izuku).

she has absolutely no fear that he’d ever hurt her, because she’s dealt with the worst during their fight, and everything after that is just child’s play. she’s just so totally cool with him now an it’s great

12. Uraraka genuinely understands Bakugou

like, seriously. she understands him better than anyone else in the series. she’s the only person to ever realize that the reason Bakugou hates Izuku so much is because he’s afraid–no one else has figure that out before. no one bothered to question why. 

but she figured it out. Bakugou is scared of Izuku–he’s terrified. he’s scared of Izuku’s potential and constantly tried to push him down. he’s been scared his whole life. the only reason Izuku and Toshinori found out was because of the Bakugou and Izuku’s fight. because Bakugou finally expressed that in clear terms for them to hear.

Ochako figured it out long before that. (that omake takes place immediately after the midterm exam)

she’s also the only one who thought about how Bakugou would feel about being saved; and she’s right, he would, usually, see being saved as disgraceful. 

every single other time he’s been saved, he’s hated it, denied it, ignored it, etc. (the Sludge incident, Izuku dragging his unconscious body with him during the midterm exam, Bakugou refusing Izuku’s help in the forest, All Might saving him for the first time at Kamino (”I-I didn’t need you, goddammit!!”), etc)

the only reason the second rescue at Kamino worked was because Kirishima and All Might were there.

13. Uraraka being genuinely worried about Bakugou and Izuku’s relationship

like. i just love this. it’s expressed in some of the above images from the omake, too–Uraraka honestly just wants them to be on better terms. she realizes that Bakugou is scared of Izuku, and she knows that their relationship as is isn’t doing either of them any good, and wants to help them have a better relationship.

and interestingly–it seems like she wants this mostly for Bakugou’s sake. she’s more worried about how their relationship seems to be negatively affecting Bakugou, and how Bakugou’s fear of Izuku is hurting him and holding him back.

she’s so genuinely worried about this that she up and confronted Bakugou about it, to his face.

14. she is TOTALLY READY TO FUCKIN’ THROW DOWN

LIKE. AS MENTIONED ABOVE, URARAKA IS COMPLETELY CASUAL WITH BAKUGOU. SHE HAS NO FEAR THAT HE’D HURT HER. BUT THE SECOND HE GETS INTO AN ATTACK STANCE, SHE IMMEDIATELY RESPONDS BACK WITH ONE OF HER OWN. SHE IS 100% READY TO FUCKING GO AND HAS NO FEAR–SHE CAN HANDLE THIS, NO PROBLEM.

SHE ALREADY FOUGHT HIM ONCE AND SHE FUCKIN’ LIVED. SHE CAN HANDLE HIM–AND SHE’S ENTIRELY FUCKING READY TO FIGHT HIM AGAIN SHOULD SHE HAVE TO. NO HESITATION, NO FEAR, JUST THE FIGHT. HE DOESN’T SCARE HER. SHE FOUGHT HIM ONCE AND WILL DO IT AGAIN, GODDAMMIT.

related meta:

A meta about Bakugou and Uraraka’s fight

Uraraka confronts Bakugou about his feelings of fear towards Izuku in the Omake

Why I Ship Kacchako & how I think it would be good for Bakugou and Uraraka’s development

A meta about how Bakugou has feared Izuku and his potential for most of his life

A Meta about how Bakugou takes insults towards himself and towards people he respects/cares for

A meta about why the narrative keeps pushing for Bakugou and Izuku to reconcile and why it would be better for the both of their mental/emotional health

My favorite Bakugou character moments with detailed explanations why

[midnightcookiz]

kaminari has a revelation.

[midnightcookiz]

Artist’s plans.

[midnightcookiz]

mitsuba and kou among the stars!

[midnightcookiz]

Reblog if you think it’s okay to platonically say “I Love You” to your friends

[midnightcookiz]

Snowstorm followed by a sand storm in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. (SOURCE)

[midnightcookiz]

duckies!

[midnightcookiz]

[midnightcookiz]

by donpa2483

[midnightcookiz]

quick kacchako thing

[midnightcookiz]

"we did it, Mao! The monster is no more." "Half of the town is on fire."

ok so I don't rlly ship mao with anyone (yet) but I live for BC& MM's cute interactions. They just melt my cold heart. love it.

[midnightcookiz]

[midnightcookiz]

friend: Why are you up at 4am drawing kacchako

me: because ifve lost control of my life