#are there any ACTUAL villains in sports animes?

[sojourner-between-worlds]

Midwestern Villain Orgin Story: totalled one too many vehicles hitting deer on the exact same stretch of highway

[whalesforhands]

what’s yours is mine (7/?)

previous masterlist next

pairing: geto suguru x reader x gojo satoru

You don’t know a lot of things, and you readily admit that. What you do know, is that the friends you’ve made aren’t something you will ever regret. Until your physical body weakens and becomes nothing, you’re more than happy to give your all until you wither away.

What’s yours can be theirs, too. They’re your friends, after-all. (Omegaverse AU)

“You’re not going to get any better if you don’t lie down.”

Yet you don’t listen, only clinging harder onto your Mama and pressing your face into her thigh from behind, helplessly balling her clothes into your fists as she watches the stove that had yet to be turned on.

Where a pot of uncooked rice porridge still sat atop, cold and unappetizing; totally unfit for a sick child such as you.

It was a curse that you swore had beset you on this unlucky day as you woke up groggy and sapped of your energy, stumbling over your blanket with shortened breaths as you tried to get to the bathroom.

You’re sure of it. An evil villain had blackened your soul, diminished your health and withered your spirit— All because you were a hero. That’s why Mama came upstairs only to find your half-dressed self face-planted onto the futon, your body trembling and clearly struggling to dress yourself without her as your eyes went teary from stress and the resentment of your weakened limbs.

“M-Mama…” Your voice is weak, strained and clearly upset as it tips over into a sob as you’re scooped up into her arms, her forehead pressed against yours in hurried moves as her much cooler hands hold your limp body.

You’re burning up.

“Honey, I think you’re sick.” It’s in a quiet coo, a soft trill to her tone in attempts to hush the beginnings of you throwing a fit.

“I-I’m n-not sick…!” You denied, hands curled into weak fists to throw a miniature, and very fatigue-ridden tantrum as your eyes tear up, bottom lip trembling as you try your best not to cry.

And Mama knows that you’re not the type to deny yourself from such things. Not the type of good child that would decline being babied and fawned over by her within any given circumstance. But she gets it, gets you.

It’s the day of the sports festival after all.

At the ripe young age of 8, sports has always been a defining point in popularity and the general likability of an individual in their class. A time for kids such as yourself to build repertoire, to build a reputation for themselves. A way to be labelled as ‘someone’.

Simply put, it was your opportunity to make friends without actually ‘making friends’. A, in your opinion, relatively smart way of flouting Satoru’s promise and Suguru’s disapproving gaze.

(Even if it made you sad to make them sad…)

So you chose to take part in the relay race, the one team based event that you think you could not possibly be bad at, your hand raised high into the air and eyes sparkling with a determination that made you believe that there was definitely a victory in sight when your teacher called for volunteers.

It went against your yearly choice of being on the cheer team, but you think change can be a good thing.

(Heroes always talk about it in anime.)

That’s why. That’s why your face was burning hot with the passion that was meant to be exerted upon the relay race, the tears leaking out of your eyes and soaking into your Mama’s skirt meant to be ones that would taste like victory when you brought great honour and glory to Class 3B.

It just wasn’t meant to be.

This is definitely the world’s revenge for making your friends upset. Heroes definitely do not have it easy, even if you did single-handedly save Satoru’s playground.

You can’t even eat the super delicious character bento that your Mama had stayed up late last night to make you as your bottom lip wobbles, frustration running high and your hands balling up the fabric of her skirt as you try your absolute hardest to make the swell in your throat go down.

You don’t want to cry. You’re strong. You’re capable. That’s why you’re a hero. That’s why you can’t let the villain who cursed you win.

And when a hand is gently rubbing your head from above alongside the sound of a pot clattering closed; it was enough to make the dam that you had so desperately tried to keep closed burst open.

“It’s okay to be sad.”

She knows how much you trained for this day. How much you let her smear sunscreen all over your face, whining and letting her pat your cheeks as you slip your feet into velcro sneakers, waving her goodbye with your waterbottle tucked underneath your armpit and a hanky in your pocket.

“Satoru said he’ll help me train.” Your look of determination barely falters as you smile up at her. “So I’m gonna work really, really hard.”

Gojo Satoru. The anchor of your class, the star boy who effortlessly gets the best grades despite sleeping through most of the lessons, and the one unanimously decided by the majority that he is the running last because that was just how fast he was. Don’t get yourself wrong, Suguru was fast. And really smart too.

But Gojo Satoru was just too exceptional even for the above average.

So that’s why you’re out here, an empty plastic cup in your hands acting as the ‘baton’ and Suguru waving a palm in front of your face to break you out of your daydreaming trance.

“You sure you wanna train when it’s so hot out?” His brows are furrowed and his lips are downturned into a frown. “Satoru and I don’t mind, but you don’t really like playing outside.”

Other than the playground anyway.

“Mmhm.” A nod of your head and the clenching of your fingers around the replacement baton as your own eyes hued with a fiery resolve met his worried purple. “I gotta do it.”

You’ll do it for glory. For the future where you’ll be as highly revered as your friends, for the classmates to even possibly think that you were the slightest bit cool.

“You’ll help, right?” Your smile is innocent and far too happy, the giddiness on the cheeks that were too cute for him to say anything else.

“…okay.” Anything for you.

This was your hero training arc.

“And Suguru’s gonna be passing to you from that tree, and you’ll pass to me! So we’re gonna practice that by running up and down this path I made Kimi-chan mark out!”

“Seriously? Where’d ya even get them?”

“I made Kimi-chan buy them, duh.”

That sounds easy enough, right? The cones that had been laid out practically beckon you as your ears no longer pick up on the chatter between your 2 friends, a giddy excitement in your stomach as you clench your fists with blazing resolve.

Well, some things are easier said than done.

A fall.

“(name)-sama, are you okay?!” Hands hurriedly pulling you back up to your feet as fingers fumble over your knees. “That was quite a bad fall…!”

Another stumble.

“I’ll run faster so that you have more time to pass to Satoru, okay?” His words are only slightly chopped, slightly winded from the multiple laps that he had gone as his hanky presses against your scratched knee.

An unprecedented tripping over your own feet. Or was it the air…?

“W-What? Ya were so close that time! How’d ya even fall?!” Gojo Satoru is the one who catches you this time, having hurriedly trying to break your fall having noticed the slightest odd bend in your ankles.

“Kimi-chan! How long did that take?!” He pants, wiping the sweat off his brow as the baton sticks to his slick hand, snowy hair sticking to his forehead as Suguru fans himself under the shade of the tree you were all taking refuge under, letting you catch your breath by leaning against him.

Said caretaker looks up from where she was icing your bruises, hands moving swiftly to take another look at the timer. “Exactly 2 minutes and 38 seconds, Young Master.”

“Ehhh? That’s so slow!”

And while you don’t cry a lot, but it doesn’t mean that you never will. It doesn’t mean that you don’t feel frustrated at the fact that you ran so much every single day after school, panting and feeling the heat of the sun on your hands, the sticky feeling of your clothes on your skin as you try not to feel faint. Try to get your bearings back every single time the boys practically ran laps around you.

Training is difficult. And it’s even more difficult to have to come to terms with what was now out of your reach.

“There’s always next year,” Her hand pats your back as her voice is barely above a whisper, gently wiping your tears as you feel her hand upon your chin, gingerly making you release your jaw so that you won’t bite down on your lips.

“What you worked hard for won’t disappear just like that.”

So that you won’t be so hard on yourself either.

“B-but I can’t—“ Can’t do anything even if you worked so hard for it. It’s become useless all on its own, even when you had so clearly forced down more vegetables these days in preparation, gulping down lots and lots of water to aid in the healthiness power up.

“What you can do now is do your best to cheer for your friends, okay? Then your effort won’t go to waste if you cheer really, really hard for them.” Your sight is blurry as you blink through your tears, staring up at the soft expression of your Mama’s face, the fever patch on your head making you start to feel faint.

“You’re really good at cheering too.” Not to brag or anything, but your Mama is definitely right. But you think your running is definitely and hopefully much better.

But that’s the only thing you can do for them now. A second chance, a gleaming, glowing chance that paves way to make up for the fact that you couldn’t win together with them.

So you accept it.

“Okay…” Even if you can’t see them, even if you can’t even cheer for them physically like you did in the previous years. But you’ll pray, pray really really hard in your head that they will win, that they would be the ones to bring the glory that you couldn’t.

You really hope it goes well. You really, really, really hope so as your chin rests on your Mama’s shoulder, your legs wrapped around her waist and her hand patting your back as she carries you up the stairs.

You do wonder how they’re doing up to now, though. Hopefully… Winning?

“No!” A cross of his arms and a huff of annoyance. “No way am I gonna receive from some nobody!” A decisive stamp of his foot into the dirt below, his back turned onto the only other person here that would even dare to go this close to him, especially when he’s kicking up a dust cloud alongside throwing yet another tantrum.

“You’re being too much, Satoru.” He sighs with a palm pressed to his forehead, his hair now shorter than ever so as to comply with school regulations as he watches his stubborn friend.

At least it won’t get in his face when he’s doing sports. Much unlike the fuming Gojo Satoru in front of him.

“Oi Suguru! How could ya let that hag tell us what to do?!”

And Geto Suguru feels like his head was going to split open. “Our homeroom teacher only suggested that we get a replacement because we’re short of one.”

At least, that’s what he’s been trying to get across for the past 10 minutes.

“We don’t need anybody replacin’ her!” Another stomp onto the ground as the blue-eyed boy pouts even harder, making a pebble launch off the ground and rocket towards the concrete wall to ricochet with a force full of repulsed impatience. “They’re gonna be stupider than her for getting sick t’day!”

“Then our class would be a person short, Satoru. And don’t call people stupid.” Because you’d probably be the one to make that comment right about now. Not that it matters, even if it came from the noiret who even tried to dissuade him with words that you’d probably say—

All for naught. Even if they mimicked the way you spoke, it just doesn’t have the same effect. So Geto Suguru had decided to just give up entirely to be the crass, straight to the point self that scratched at the nerves of the neighbourhood Gojo.

(And it looked like Satoru liked this version of him better, anyway.)

It doesn’t make logical sense to skip out on manpower. Not at all, especially when they’re in this specific category looking for a win. Yet, Suguru gets it as his nose scrunches and his brows furrow. He gets why the boy is so adamant on your position not getting swiped from underneath their noses.

(He won’t admit it though. If he does it first, it means Satoru wins.)

“It’s not like you can stop being sick all of a sudden.”

You worked so hard, after all. You would never be the type to lie to skip out on this. You’re just… Unlucky. Or was it their fault for making you play in those rain puddles…?

(“It’s not fair! I even made my maids pack extra special Digimon bentos to eat t’day!”

“Eat them yourself then—“

“No!”)

Alas, he still has to deal with the spoiled prince whom even the teachers seem too scared to make him upset. Seriously, what is up with everyone and the Gojo family?

“Then you just gotta run faster!” A poke of a proud finger into the young boy’s chest, a purposeful prod that was barely teetering on a threat as those shiny blue hues were ignited by a flare of indignation.

A glare that commanded Suguru’s obedience and compliance as those angry cheeks puff up even more.

Suguru would like to deny it, but you’re right when you say that this spoiled, stubborn, annoying boy was c—

“I don’t wanna receive from anybody else!” A click of his tongue as his shoe kicks at the dirt below him, and a smack against the black-haired boy’s shoulder as flabbergasted amethyst clashes against unrelenting sapphire.

“And we’re gonna win, no matter what. So don’t drag us down or I won’t forgive you!”

Good god, he was so difficult to deal with. Not that this was anything out of the ordinary for Geto Suguru, though.

A sigh, and childlike hands that clasped their together into a determined handshake, fingers squeezing into a promise just as the blare of the loudspeaker comes on to announce the start of their event.

“Say that to yourself first, Satoru.” A tightening of their hands as the ‘handshake’ gets ever tighter with their growing adrenaline. “I won’t forgive you either if you lose to the rest of them.”

(“Also, can’t ya eat your bentos yourself? My mama packed me one too with cold soba—“ He immediately shuts up when he spots the angry pout on his friend’s face, red cheeks and fuming anger that threatened to have steam blow out his ears.

And the— Sight of eyes that looked like they were gonna… Cry?

Oh.

“…let’s save some for (name) when we eat them later.”)

——

“Dear,” A cool hand pushes your hair back as you groggily blink awake, tummy still warm from porridge and forehead feeling slightly damp from the soft, moist cloth against your heated skin. “Are you feeling better?”

“Mn…” You think your body is starting to feel less heavy, less burdensome on your bones as you let out a groan, small hand reaching out for the glass of water that looked like it was floating in front of you.

Magic glasses of water taste the best. You would know since you had a couple today. At least… You think it’s magic. It is, right? That’s why they always fly around and looked like there was always more than one surrounding you.

“Geto-san came over with some soup when she heard you were sick.” She’s gently smoothing down your hair as you start to perk up, shifting slightly so as to be able to sit up properly against your Mama’s arm supporting you against your back.

“You can eat it later, okay?”

You hope you have strength to go over and thank her later, though… Do you have to give her something as thanks too? It must be hard, having to make a soup that would help cure the curse upon your body…

Mama stops momentarily as she watches you from above, humming slightly when you finally down the rest of your glass and let out a little sigh, fully going lax against your Mama’s cooler to the touch body as you cuddle up against her.

She should take more off days to stay together with you more—

“Oh, and your friends. They came over to visit as well.”

And that has you whipping around to face your Mama, the sudden movement making your stiff neck cramp slightly from how long you laid down.

But it doesn’t matter. The pain won’t stop you. Won’t stop the racing thoughts you had through your head that mostly overpowered the soreness of your neck.

Was the sports event already over? Did they win? Did they lose— No. Wait. That’s impossible. Your friends could never, would never lose. Oh, but what if there was a possible chance there was? Even if heroes suffered a little bit sometimes the villain could still win—

“But I couldn’t let them in.”

“(name)’s mama! Is she awake yet?” This was probably the third time they had knocked against the front door, hands on his hips and blue eyes staring up at the all too patient woman.

“Satoru— My mama said we have to wait.” Purple eyes blink up at her apologetically. “Sorry, (name)‘s mama, we can wait a while longer—“

“But it’s been like— Too long, Suguru! How much longer until she wakes up???”

Oh. That sucks. You visibly deflate, a whimper escaping you as your shoulders slump into defeat. You can’t even talk to them or else you’ll pass your dirty, cursed germs to them…

“Nothing a call can’t fix,” She uses a soft handkerchief to wipe any remnant moisture, petting your head as her eyes briefly meet the drawn curtains of your shared bedroom.

“And I might… Have a better idea.”

Excited waves from the window, shimmers of gold against reflective glass and your widening eyes as the summer breeze flutters the curtains and ruffles through your hair.

It’s windier than you thought, with the sun in your eyes and the cicadas singing in this heat.

(Or was it because you just spent most of the day sleeping?)

“Look! I won the medals for us!” Half his body was practically hanging off of the window ledge, hands holding all 3 shiny medals as his lower half was held back only by the more responsible friend clinging onto Satoru’s waist and pulling with all the might an 8 year old might have.

“Satoru! Don’t lean over the window— And we won those together!”

A haughty huff.

“Ya, but you didn’t cross the finish line, did ya? I did! But look, look! We got your medal too!”

(“You’re so annoying!”

“Blehhhh!” A stick out of his tongue as excited blue kept jumping in place despite the dangerous position he put himself in. “Kimi-chan’s already down there to catch me just in case, anyway!”)

Golden and shiny and everything that encompassed a winner. It shone so brightly even when competing against the late afternoon sunshine, stood out even when held

Winners. They’re winners.

But if you think about it all on your lonesome, looking upon those shiny medals and standing by your window with your futon wrapped around your form…

There’s something odd about this empty feeling inside of you. Something that lingers in the same sense disappointment would, swirling around you and making you feel… Bad.

Why? You’re happy that your class won, happy that they managed to win the glory you’ve been going on and on about in your head. They’re winners, beat out all the other people who trained hard for this event as well. What is this disgusting feeling of secretly hoping that they lost?

So why? Why is it that you feel this way even as they smile so proudly at you, proclaiming that they’ll personally hang the medal around your neck when you get better so that they can dub you a winner too—

“See? Ya didn’t have to worry about us at all, (name)!” His sparkling blue eyes close to form a matching grin with Suguru who was too busy smiling at you despite your sick state, eyes too busy to notice Gojo Satoru smacking his shoulder when they’re stuck staring at you.

“You’re getting better, right? Your Mama said that you slept a lot. We can talk more with our telephone when Satoru’s gone cause he’s annoying.”

“Hey! I want a string telephone connecting to all your houses too!”

“You live too far. So it’s only mine and (name)’s.”

Ah. You think you get it now. Understand why you feel this way as your hand gingerly presses against your hot cheek and sliding up to your eyes to feel the wetness that was starting to form.

When did you—?

It has your friends doing a double take.

“(name)… Are you crying?” Please don’t cry.

“I-I think she’s just happy that we won! Right, (name)?” Please don’t cry. Not right now.

Because you realize these weren’t tears of happiness, after all. It was the realization that— Despite all your training, despite all the effort you put in to help them, help this class…

They didn’t need you to win after all.

“…yea! Good job!” Your smile feels too unlike any that you’ve ever given, all stretched awkwardly and like it didn’t belong.

This wasn’t you. You know it so, since this is your own self you’re talking about.

You’ve definitely been cursed.

——

And so, it wasn’t long after that you finally recovered, finally able to properly get onto your feet. Finally able to get dressed without your Mama's help, finally able to pick up your backpack without faceplanting onto the ground... All that healing food did wonders.

("You're so happy today, Satoru." You can't help but smile at the boy holding hands with both yourself and your black-haired friend as all 3 of you sat in his car, listlessly listening to the radio together as he sat directly in between the both of you, tips of his ears red as he tries to act... Cool.

"Oh? Satoru, what's with that face?" A smug smile and upturned purple eyes. "Don't tell me it's because you missed-"

"Shut up, Weird Bangs!")

So imagine your surprise when your teacher beckons someone in from outside your classroom door, the entrance sliding open and the taps of an unfamiliar pair of shiny, brand new indoor shoes against the floors of this familiar classroom.

A new kid. One that had a pretty mole by her eye and her prettier name written so neatly upon the blackboard in such neat chalk lines that you just can’t help but feel envious.

“Ieiri Shoko. Please take care of me.” With only the slightest bow as she stares ahead blankly, eyes avoiding the whispers of your already chattering class.

It must be scary, right? To have to stand there and do that… You don’t think you want to be in her position right now.

“Do you think she’s scared?” It’s a thoughtless whisper to the only other person who could possibly hear right now, your own gaze meeting familiar purple.

“Maybe.” He’s dismissive, as if he didn’t care too much as he takes out his pencil case. “I brought the colour pencils you wanted to see, by the way.”

Ohh—! You’ve been wanting to—

“She looks boring.” His crass huff from your other occupied side makes you think he already doesn’t like her. “Don’t talk to her, (name).”

Shimmering comets for eyes turn to meet yours, glowing with a certain spark that had hidden thoughts.

“You’ll get into trouble.”

“Thank you, Ieiri-chan. Please sit at the empty desk near the back by Minato-chan.” A shuffle of papers as your homeroom teacher neatens the stack. “I want you all to be nice to our new friend, okay?”

“Okay, sensei!”

“Good! Now let’s begin class.”

Lunch rolls by far too quickly today. You swear the clock is definitely moving faster than usual.

“Heyyyyy. Stop studying and let’s go playyyyy!” A poke of your cheek as you stare at Suguru’s workings, eyes narrowing as you try to make sense of these complicated numbers.

“Ah, make sure you erase this. You’ll get confused if you don’t.”

“Is this right?” Your paper is pushed towards the more helpful of your friends, anticipating his praise as you wait with bated breath as his purple eyes scan over the worksheet.

You definitely got it this time. Definitely.

“Suguruuuuu! Y’er so slow, I’ll do it!” And that has him snatching up the starting to crumple sheet, blue eyes screening over it with ferocious and frightening accuracy, his cute brows furrowed and his bottom lip jutted out as he lets out a huff.

“This one’s wrong.” A finger taps against your paper, drawing a circle with his fingertip as he yawns. “And this one. This too.”

“The last one was s’pposed to be right but ya forgot to carry the 1 over.” His cheeks puff with dismissiveness when he looks up to only see Suguru comforting you with pats on your shoulder.

Oh.

“W-What? I only checked ‘em over!” He’s not at fault again for something, right? He was sure this was a more straightforward thing of being correct or not, something that shouldn’t be that big of a deal even if it’s because of the way he spoke—

If you hadn’t gotten them all wrong, that is.

“…it’s okay, (name). We can just practice them again.” And you pout, letting Suguru pat your head in consolation as you stare down at the hurriedly marked paper that was handed back to you. “Satoru just doesn’t know how to be nice cause he’s mean.”

“Hey! I can be nice!” Fuming rage and his hands slamming against his desk. “I’ll help ya both study later if (name) gives me a hug and the pudding in your fridge!”

And he’s serious about it. You can tell by his shiny cheeks and those smug half-lidded eyes that he would help— Even if you didn’t give him the pudding. The hug would be mandatory, though.

“What does my pudding even have to do with all this?”

All this whilst that new girl sat alone in the back of the class by herself. She’s not good at making friends, you notice. Quietly keeping to herself as she flips through a book, ignoring the cries of your schoolmates running down the hallway and into the wide, wide yard.

And when hands squeeze your cheeks together, mushing your face into his palms and making you turn away—

“You shouldn’t look at other people when we’re here. Sato—“ He stops himself, eyes moving from the pouting boy and back to your face that was in his hands. “I don’t like it.”

You must’ve been staring for too long.

——

“I don’t wanna go!” He’s clinging to you, backpack hastily thrown onto the ground as Kimiko-san tries her absolute hardest to persuade her young master into the car.

“Please, Satoru-sama. You have martial arts training—“

“Don’t wanna! I wanna stay with (name)!”

So all you can do is stand there and pat his shoulder, his head on your not at all stiff shoulder as you reciprocate his overly attached self, blinking up at a panicking Kimiko-san before down to the head of fluffy white.

“Suguru said he’ll beat you up with judo if you don’t go.”

Because he’s in the club. And he’s really good at it. Better than Satoru, actually.

“That dummy’s not gonna beat me.” It’s off handed and far too self assured as it’s muffled by the strap of your bag.

“You don’t know that.” You really don’t. Suguru’s been going on and on about training a lot, and he let you both see how he could do a flip once. At least— You think it counts as a flip anyway.

And you can hear him mutter unintelligible words, before he pulls away, his hands grabbing onto your shoulders and ferocious, narrowed eyes staring at you head-on with a pout on his lips.

“You better be at home to play with me when we’re back!”

“Okay.” You nod, sticking out your pinky towards him as you smile. “I promise.”

“Hmph!” He takes it, roughly, with a pout that turned into a satisfied smile as he finally— Finally gets in the car.

(“Thank you so much, (name)-sama…”

“It’s okay. I heard Libras were unlucky today cause the stars aren’t aligned for them. You should be cautious about the people around you, lest you run into trouble.”

“T-Thank you, (name)-sama…? Please get home safe. Weather reports say that it will rain soon.”)

And what unexpectedly occurred— Was the fact that the new kid was waiting in the same area as you were, waiting out the rain due to a neglected umbrella that probably sat near her door.

Which was the same case as you were. Except— Despite Kimiko-san’s warning, you ended up wandering around school too long in hopes of getting to watch Suguru train.

“Hi.” You’re trying to make conversation now that it’s just the both of you. Alone. By yourselves. This is a rare chance, honestly. You can count how many times you’ve been left like this by your friends on one hand throughout the years you’ve all been together.

It’s a chance you don’t really want to pass up. Time to put those social skills you’ve gleaned over the years into good use.

(From all those TV shows you’ve watched, of course. Your zodiac sign said that you’ll be lucky if you put yourself out there! And you’re outside right now, so you definitely have been buffed. A special power-up, if you will.)

“…hello.” A response. This is a success. A major success that you got on your own accord.

(Onto the next phase!)

“So didya hear about the… Recent sports festival?” You nod your head. Perfect. Perfect follow-up. “Our school held one a couple days ago.”

“Oh. That.” She doesn’t look up from the book she had been reading all this time. And now that you’re much closer to her than you ever were before—

You realize it’s a manga. Not a book. Technically, she is holding onto a book, but utilizing the hard cover page to cover up the fact that the manga had been sneakily slotted in.

“I was meant to join just a day before, actually. But I made my mama wait a couple days more.”

What.

“You waited until the day after?” Why? Why would she— This new girl do such a thing when it could bring you and your class such great glory?

“But the sports festival is fun…” And a great chance to make a ton of new friends. She’s not under the same promises that you made.

She goes silent, the mole on her cheek rising with her huff as she looks off to the side, out to the open air space that held the path to the school entrance as droplets of water tap against the tips of her shoes.

“Cause it’s bothersome.”

Oh. That’s a new type of answer.

“Do you hate bothersome things?”

And finally— She looks into your eyes, pushing back a stray strand of her long hair and her eyes hued with dews of luster brown that reminded you of the autumn sunset surrounded by orange leaves and sunset rays.

“Yea.”

“Oh.” That’s all you know how to say now, actually. Um… How do you respond to that?

So you go silent. You think she might be annoyed. Hopefully she’s not? You hope she likes you, though. And that you left an okayish impression. Should you tell her she’s pretty? But still, Suguru’s prettier but you can’t tell her that—

“Do you… Usually let them treat you like that?” She sounds… Bored. Maybe taken aback. Or was it simply just curiosity?

Either way, you’ve never really heard anyone ask about that— Other than your Mama, of course. But you tell her everything practically everyday.

“Is there something—“ How should you say it? Is she trying to tell you something? You think it’s fine, even if you don’t know how other people view it. “Bad about the way they treat me?”

You watch as she thinks for a bit, staring off to the side for a bit and up into the dark skies as the rain starts to pour just that little bit harder.

“Not at all.”

——

“Stop looking at me like that, you brat.”

Your eyes were practically boring into him as you watch him rub at a bruise on his cheek, his knuckles stained with dried blood and his green eyes narrowed into a mean glare.

“Did you beat up some—“ You try to think about how he described those people the last time you talked to him— Which was around last week, maybe?

“Butt ugly misters?”

It’s not the exact wording he used, but whatever he says makes you scared to parrot them since you’ve seen one of the old aunties— Sugimoto-san quite literally gasp when she heard him talk once.

“They’re motherfuc— Bad people. Don’t call them misters.”

“You said you didn’t care what I call them though.”

And all you get in response is the click of his tongue. “Whatever, brat.”

Silence. It’s steady and beating and not at all uncomfortable as you watch him pull out another piece of his snack, big teeth chewing with an open mouth and manners flying away. Yet, you still end up asking from your built up curiosity and these mere few minutes just before either of your friends would make it home.

It’s your free time, anyway.

“Mister, am I a bothersome person?” Like those thugs that he gets into scraps with practically every month?

A deep huff as his teeth chew on dried squid, gnawing at the tough exterior as he stares off into the oranges of the sky. “Duh. Who even likes annoying brats like you?”

Even when he says it like that, you can’t help but feel that it’s not true. There’s a reason you hang around him, a reason you still stay despite how mean and nasty this almost adult can be and how often he lies about how he definitely didn’t get into fights.

It’s because he reminds you a little of Satoru.

His words may cut, may be a little overwhelming and cruel. But they ultimately held no weight, nothing particularly soul-crushing or tear weeping.

You might even dare to say that even his insults sound very comforting to you.

That was why you were eating the very crushed biscuits that had been almost mashed into dust right out of the very crinkled plastic packaging that it came out from right now.

(He bought it for you.)

“Nuh uh. Mama says I’m a good kid.”

Maybe it’s the sincerity in your tone, the innocence that can only come from a child that got him thinking.

He doesn’t know how to describe how he’s feeling right now as he stares down at his bruised knuckles, bloody and calloused and hastily bandaged as he grunts.

“Then stop hanging out with me if you think that, kid.”

previous masterlist next

[sepublic]

Homesick: The Lost TOH S1B Episode!

So the storyboards for Homesick gave us the Healing Glyph, which incorporates the alchemical symbol for Water, just as the Fire Glyph has Fire (obviously) and Plant has Earth (not as obvious but still very much so). Makes sense, water is often associated with cleansing and healing; Take for example Avatar the Last Airbender! Not only that BUT;

Prior to Any Sport in a Storm, John Bailey Owen, a head writer for the show, tweeted this book plate! I and others lost our minds over what appeared to be a S1-era graphic with an unknown fifth glyph, and speculated about it…

Now we know. It was the Healing Glyph all along!!!!!! It was indeed another glyph! And its placement with the four we know makes me suspect the writers still intended for most spells to be accessed via glyph combos, it’s just that the base glyphs of the Titan would’ve been five and not four! And Healing being one of the Titan’s main glyphs in an earlier draft makes sense, given the Titan has to have VERY good health to stay alive in her rotted state for so long, as well as resurrecting Luz, being the literal grounds for life on the Boiling Isles, and even regenerating imperfectly, which was a concept brought up by the writers for why certain aspects of the isles are fleshy or have entire body parts.

Alas, the episode the Healing Glyph appears in —Homesick— wasn’t animated. But it does have Luz being in Hexside as a plot point, showing how she has to rely on the magic around her to make things for other classes, like potions. So this episode might’ve been drafted after the executive mandate for more Hexside, and been intended to air after The First Day even!

Given Homesick’s storyboards open with an introduction to its the crew members while No Tree Left Behind doesn’t… I think Homesick was made during a different stage of development, after the final version of S1A had been storyboarded in fact! While NTLB was before S1A’s final drafts were settled on, hence Lilith being more villainous like in the pilot and using Luz as a hostage (which detracts from Agony of a Witch’s significance as that sorta thing being the first time it happens). Adding to my point is how the demon hunters return in Homesick, with Tom alluding to Hooty’s Moving Hassle;

Of course, the name Homesick’s H doesn’t fit into ‘A witch loses a true way’ which has me suspect the titles for S1 weren’t finalized when this was storyboarded, either; So before we got S1A’s titles officially revealed. Or maybe the message would’ve ended differently, while still starting with ‘A witch loses’. I can imagine how development for a season can change past its midway point!!!

But yeah, this is the missing glyph! The lost episode! Why wasn’t it animated, I wonder; Maybe there wasn’t enough space for S1B and the writers felt every other episode shown took priority (I will not tolerate Sense and Insensitivity and Really Small Problems slander, King’s development DOES matter). Maybe they ran out of budget, they reached the episode limit for a season. S1 was meant to be 20 episodes but instead got 19, so S2 compensated with 21! We got an extra episode for S2 because of it… Only for the show to be cancelled after Agony of a Witch aired, so it really needed that extra episode to set up S3 ugh. Reminder that we lost fourteen episodes’ worth of screen time because of Disney!

Anyhow, Homesick could’ve been our missing episode to round out that number. Again, I don’t know why it was left out, but I wonder if the character of Caduceia (who appears in this episode) had her design repurposed for Raine Whispers, whose teenage appearance is alluded to later in S1B. But that photo could’ve been added late in production, during the time in which things were actually animated! If we look at the production codes for S1, it has 101-120… But there isn’t a 117.

I should clarify that production codes don’t always align to episodes’ intended order; Something Ventured, Someone Framed is 109 while Escape of the Palisman is 108. But SVSF has to happen before EotP, because EotP references Luz being enrolled in Hexside, which happens in SVSF. So as far as I can tell, Homesick (aka production code 117) happens after The First Day. We see Eda’s ring, so it’d also have to occur before Wing it like Witches!

But then again Clouds on the Horizon’s storyboards gave Amity the portal key when she lost that eleven episodes ago, so who knows what happens in production or what details get messed up by storyboarders, especially since production isn’t always chronological; Homesick’s storyboarders might not have known about the ring in WilW while working on the episode. The lack of Healing Glyph in other episodes makes me wonder if it was supposed to be Luz’s last one, even!

She doesn’t use it in WilW where it could’ve helped Amity at the end, but then maybe that episode was altered in response to no more Homesick. In fact maybe the episode was cut because the writers were concerned about the Healing Glyph not having established limits (which they learned from by later in S2 giving Luz’s invisibility combo the breathing requirement), which takes away a lot of tension and can write them into a corner. I know that feeling… In the episode it was powerful enough to heal Hooty of his entire illness, and as Dana says, limitation breeds innovation so such a boon for the protagonists had to be removed to make room for potential conflict and dilemmas later on.

Since Homesick’s conclusion depends a lot on and revolves around the Healing Glyph, they might not have been able to rework the plot to still make it work in the S1B context, not in enough time, plus we already know that the final show didn’t need the episode that much in the end if there’s no glyph for it to offer. And then the animators went back and edited WilW to foreshadow Raine since Caduceia as a character was now cut, leaving her design repurposed for Whispers instead.

On another note, Homesick’s photo of Manny with his face blurred also indicates he was meant to be a mystery as early as S1B, aka his death as a motivator for Luz was in plan at least since then; Makes sense, Manny giving Luz her favorite book is based off of Dana’s own childhood experience with her father, so she would have that in mind well before The Owl House was even an idea prompted out of spite! Additionally, Camila WAS meant to be a nurse, and this was changed at some point during or after S1B’s production!

And with all this speculation on development aside, I want to address how this could still fit into current canon; I’ve HC’ed that different Titans have different base glyphs and different designs, though the function of some spells may align (such as King and his papa having Light). So maybe Healing is the second of King’s glyphs, and Luz discovers it when Eda or someone else casts a healing spell!!! I could see a very abridged version of Homesick happening post-canon, after the show’s final scene.

[bibibbon]

UA teachers suck and UA sucks as a school

UA literally just sucks. Honestly this school has failed so many people especially izuku in particular.

Maybe it wouldn't of actually earned this title if we got more academia arcs but from the canon stuff we have so far it sucks!

No bullying policy?

So you see a student outright bullying another student and you decide to do nothing?!?!?! The student then doesn't even get any concequences for his actions?!!!!?!?!

Exposing students to the whole world after a villain attack?

So right after usj you have the sports festival and you don't even decide to delay it because UA's security measures have to look like their on top and apparently that's the logic behind it. Also, reminder that the UA sports festival is MORE POPULAR THAN THE OLYMPICS. So watching 15-18 year olds use their quirks to harm eachother is alright???! Like aren't you basically using minors for other people's entertainment?!?!

I mean realistically speaking you could of tried to delay the festival or just make the first years not do it that year. Just have them do tournaments with only heros present so you actually protect students safety and don't have people and villains watching/witnessing their weakness

Lying to the public about students being psychologically fine?

We never saw the phycological evaluation that the students did after the training camp incident and saying all students were psychologically fine was such A big lie considering you had a GROUP of students go and try and rescue another student because they couldn't trust the teachers enough to handle the situation which idk about you but that says A LOT.

Chaining up bakugo?

Look I hate bakugo I really really do but muzzling a whole student and making him a whole public disgrace has to be illegal? ...Right. like if bakugo wasn't going to cooperate then just disqualify him and make todoroki the winner and save yourself from attracting villains to kidnapping the kid.

Acknowledging that your entrance exams are badly done but then not changing them?

Seriously, we get aizawa talking and talking about how useless and illogical the entrance exams are but then nedzu does nothing... ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT IT. aizawa had a point about the exams favouring people with offensive quirks but can he really talk about that when all he does to teach his class is just play sick and twisted logical ruses on them? Also shouldn't the exams focus on different aspects of heroism instead of defeating villains?

Aizawa and his teachings being accepted?

I don't know about you but aizawa being a teacher is wild to me. Like this is the guy who actively does NOTHING to help his students but trains a student that's not even in his OWN CLASS!! He then goes on to not even read his students files which contain some very important information that could explain some or majority of his students behaviours that he isn't bothered to understand!!!! Also the amount of expulsions he has even if they are on paper they are literally a death sentence to students as it permanently destroys their records and ruins their chances in finding any normal job let alone becoming heros. He also only points out the problems with his students and then does nothing to help LITERALLY NOTHING!!

Is therapy a thing in UA?

No like this is actually a serious question because if you're telling me that hound dog is a therapist then I might as well leave because how is he a therapist when he offers nothing and is cannonically seen as threatening by all the students?!?!? Also were 1A or 1B even offered therapy after what they went through?!?! Like some of 1A literally showed some clear trauma responses and UA does nothing about it. Oh and this isn't even mentioning what hound dog done to izuku ( izuku is a gag and so is his pain) oh and what about mirio did he get any support after nighteyes death

Midnight in the anime?

We all have our own problems with midnight but her in the anime is totally different then the midnight in the manga. In the anime she continually flirts with students and you get it she does stuff she isn't supposed to. In the manga its a bit different but there are some scenes like the final exam arc where it's a bit weird

[bakubonez]

Winner

Katsuki Bakugo x GN! Reader

Summary thing: Katsuki has developed a craving for something that he can’t have—you.

A/N: I got bored 🗿 I’m not sure if this is much good but whatever

Warnings: angst(I think, idk), you get with Izuku/seem like you do, random swearing but minimally, not proofread

Katsuki had been winning in life for as long as he could remember. He was good in school, he had an awesome quirk, annoying but loving parents—all that good stuff. But it all seemed to get flipped upside down when he came to UA.

It was an odd realisation. In his mind, being able to attend UA seemed like a quick fix to all of his problems. He’d be the best there, he’d get a head start in his journey to becoming the next number one hero, to fill All Might’s place.

But he was wrong.

First of all, Deku of all people had gotten a quirk. He’d manifested the damn thing seemingly overnight. It was horribly frustrating to see the previously defenceless loser go from weak and frail to holding a great power. It wasn’t cooler than Katsuki’s, obviously, but it was still annoying.

He could deal with Deku’s nonsense. He’d just use it as motivation to beat him to a pulp during their time at UA, and after they graduated he’d shove his face in his victory.

Then another issue came along. You.

You had proved yourself to be powerful, too. He’d seen how you had done in the entrance exam, and in the little tests Aizawa threw at the class, and the Sports Festival. It was infuriating.

You were so… different, though. It had taken a while for Katsuki to put a label on what he felt for you, but when he did, he knew he was screwed. You were so smart, and you actually got along with him decently when he wasn’t trying to bite your head off for existing in his direction. He didn’t like it. You were just another weak spot that he had to work on, right? It would go away.

It didn’t. The year dragged on, villain fight to villain fight, class to class, but his little admiration for you never seemed to leave. Sometimes he’d forget about it, but there was always something that reminded him of you. Whether it was your empty desk in class, passing your favourite snack in a store, coming across a photo of an animal you liked—there always seemed to be some trace of you, deeply embedded within the world around him. It was strange.

Katsuki had made the mistake of confiding in Kirishima about his feelings. Unsurprisingly, Kirishima had acted like he’d just gotten the best news of his life. Finally, Katsuki was feeling emotion other than rage and irritation. In fact, it seemed almost like infatuation instead. He was thrilled.

Kirishima had urged him to confess to you. You two made a good duo, why not give a relationship a shot? You’d be one hell of a power couple.

He wasn’t entirely sold on the idea, though. What if it didn’t work out, or you said no and embarrassed him? He didn’t want to take that risk.

Eventually, however, Katsuki came to terms with the idea. He quite liked it, actually. Now it was time for him to actually tell you how he felt.

That had proven itself to be a challenge.

Katsuki had started focusing heavily on you, trying to find a time where you were alone so he could finally man up and tell you that he liked you, that he’d liked you for months and he was tired of sitting on the sidelines while everyone else got so much of your attention. With his focus, came an awful realisation.

You were awfully friendly with Deku.

The two of you seemed to be attached at the hip, almost. The nerd would follow you around like a lost puppy, yammering on and on about some stupid nerd shit. Typical nerd behaviour. It had made Katsuki’s heart hurt a little.

You’d laugh at Deku’s dumb jokes and help him with mundane tasks, you’d sit with him and work with him during group assignments any time you got the chance to, you’d look at him with this… this look. A look like the one Katsuki gave you.

Ever since Katsuki had gotten to UA, it seemed like he just kept losing. He lost to Deku, he lost the respect he’d gained in middle school, and now, he’d lost you. He’d never really had you, not really, but god, he’d wanted to. He really had.

Katsuki couldn’t bring himself to butt in between you and Deku, though. It hurt so, so badly to see you two basking in each other’s presence, like you completed one another, but he couldn’t find it within himself to pull you two apart. It was all Deku’s fault. You were so happy with him. How could he take that from you?

He didn’t want to accept the truth, but he had to, eventually. He’d lost to Deku again.

[docgold13]

Heroes & Villains The DC Animated Universe - Paper Cut-Out Portraits and Profiles

Toyman

Winslow Schott Sr. had been a kindly and ingenious toymaker who dreamed of building a magnificent toy factory. Bruno Mannheim offered to finance the factory, yet once it was built it became clear that Mannheim was a mobster and only wanted the factory as a front to launder funds from his criminal operations.  The factory was later raided by the police and while Mannheim was able to skirt responsibility, Schott was sentenced to a long prison term and ended up dying while incarcerated.

Schott’s son, Winslow Jr. ended up remained to foster care and spent the next several years passed from one foster home to another.  When he reached adulthood, Winslow Jr. had become obsessed with ‘reclaiming’ his lost childhood, so he created a childlike persona for himself. He inherited his father's mechanical acumen yet the ‘toys’ he created were actually sophisticated and deadly weapons disguised to look like harmless playthings.  

Now calling himself The Toyman, Schott returned to Metropolis.  Sporting a ghoulish porcelain mask resembling a grinning child, The Toyman set about a plot to use his deadly toys to extract murderous vengeance on Bruno Mannheim.  Toyman had little regard for any innocent victims that might get caught in the mayhem and Superman thwarted Toyman’s initial efforts to kill Mannheim.  After Lois Lane wrote an unflattering exposé on The Toyman, the villain had his toys kidnap her so that he could have the reporter hear his side of the story.

Superman was able to track Lois down and saved her from The Toyman.  The villain appeared to perish in the ensuing chaos, but it would not be long before he turned up once again.  Mannheim had died in the service of Darkseid and now Toyman focused himself entirely on gaining vengeance on Superman.  He joined the Superman Revenge Squad and later accepted membership in Gorilla Grodd’s Legion of Doom.  

Actors Bud Cort and Corey Burton provided the voice for The Toyman with the creep of a villain first appearing in the fourth episode of the first season of Superman: The Animated Series, ‘Fun and Games.’  

[avactors]

A quick rundown of the AU

In this AU "Animation vs" is a franchise consisting of movies (AvA), spinoff TV series (AvM), several specials (AvMath and AvPhysics) and webisodes (Actual Shorts). Outside of them every character are their own person with a different name, free to partake in other movies and interviews.

All characters are implied to be human and male, but you're free to interpret all of the writing as you wish.

Writing materlist:

AvA6 trailer interview - Victim

AvA30 interview - King and Purple

AvA4 debut interview - The Color Gang

Characters:

Since all of the characters are real people, it's only fair that they would have real names as well. For now all of the real names will be labeled as "[character name]" for the ease of consumption.

Alan Becker - Director and one of the writers of the franchise, concept of which he had created during his senior year of college.

Victim - A rather well-established actor due to being one since early age, but one that suddenly disappeared from all the media after AvA1's sudden sucess, only coming back in the latest 6th installment. The reasons why he disappeared stay unknown

The Chosen one - A medium level actor, who directors always seek to hire together with [TDL] due to their on-screen chemistry and dynamic. Almost exclusively plays positive heroes, so AvA's role was a new experience for him.

The Dark Lord - Started his career at the same time as [Chosen], quite often auditioning for the same roles, which ended up in half-joking bickering behind the scenes, in which directors saw potential, hiring both to be opposing eachother as a hero and a villain. He is essnetially a real-life foil for [Chosen], even if they became good friend over such a long time working together.

The Second Coming - Has essentially zero roles before AvA, but is a long-term fan of the franchise, making an impression on Alan with his extensive knowledge of the franchise and sometimes over-the-top energy.

Red - Is the youngest of the Color Gang (they still have this name and it still was given by the fandom, they're just aware of it now) and so far didn't really play any major roles aside from one child comic relief in a series that had recently ended, making this his first serious role.

Yellow - The second oldest in the main gang, already had minor roles in a few movies, sharing some with [Blue] as well. That is his first time in the lead role, however.

Green - Is hardly an actor, only having appeared in sports shows on TV and online, but, being a fan of the franchise, he couldn't pass an opportunity. Refused to get a double and ended up making all of his stunts by himself. (Yellow and Green are both anime lovers and more often than not wear anime merch to interviews, making sure to match when they get interviewed together)

Blue - Wasn't actually that interested in auditioning, but after [Yellow]'s recommendation was taken to play the part. The part of Blue being a good cook actually came from [Blue], making all of his lunches for himself. Quite often sneaks out "netherwart" from the set. Other actors joke about him being actually addicted to it. (Netherwarts are an edible prop, made of sugar candy)

Purple - A rising star of the industry and a son of late [Orchid]. Was invited to star in the AvM series by Alan. Purple's backstroy in the series was partly inspired by [Purple]'s actual life events.

King Orange - An old-school actor, known and lowed by the fans, who was also invited in the series by Alan, but joined because of [Purple] and pressure from [Gold]. Is new to the series format, only really taking part in movies before AvM.

Gold - Is actually [King]'s son, who insisted on trying to play the part of Gold in the series and, much to his father's disstress, got the role. Essentially grew up with the franchise, so was extremely excited to be able to play. Also was brought to the set by [King] several times and grew really close to Purple who is much older, even calling him "brother".

[Orchid] - An actress and a singer who had died when [Purple] was just a teen, leaving him almost completely alone. Used to be good friends with [King], and also often brought [Purple] to various sets and got him to become an actor in future. (Her death resulted in [King] essencially adopting [Purple] as [Navy] was nowhere to be found)

The list of characters will be updated as new ones make an appearance.

[kawarikisaki]

It really shouldn’t be surprising Hakuba is strong he’s a modern Holmes like Shinichi and Holmes casually straitened a fire poker a villain bent to intimidate him. Wouldn’t surprise me if he worked on being surprisingly strong just because he wants to be like Holmes.

Mm yeah.

I always kinda forget that Shinichi’s that strong, too, since most of the times we see Shinichi, he's actively melting from poison... but yeah, he's pretty strong.

And as far as the Gosho boys go I had honestly always thought of Hakuba as being physically stronger than Kaito or Shinichi just by pure merit of being bigger (he's a little taller and wider canonically, but I tend to make him a bit taller than that still). But like while its safe to assume that as a sherlockian detective he'd take up some kind of hobby or sport to train his body I’d really just thought of him as being strong in a casual way.

Strong enough that he doesn't sweat when he's chasing after Kaito. Sure. Strong enough to lift a person? Yeah probably, there are any number of reasons a detective may need to carry someone-

But what really got me was how effortless it looked.

My boi didn't struggle.

He Strong.

Let's break it down (cause I assume no one asks me these things expecting me to be normal about them). Fair warning there’s about to be a lot of estimates here:

We know Hakuba is 180 cm (5'11") and 65 kg (143 lbs). These are numbers Hakuba gave us himself so they could be inflated, but it actually tracks with the height that we have for Kaito so Im just going to assume this is correct.

Now then the numbers we have for Kaito are 174cm (5'7") and 58kg (127lbs).

Making Kaito approximately 89% Hakuba’s weight.

And of course its going to be quite a while before this case gets animated so we can't have a exact measure of how long he was holding him, so im going to lowball it and say it was 3 minutes, maybe I'll revisit this when its animated.

And maybe I’m projecting... but it would mess up my back if I held that much weight for that long.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Seto Kaiba

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

Every good anime revolving around a game, sport, or competition needs a great rival to antagonize the main character. A rival is a character who helps push the protagonist to their limits, and forces them to apply what they’ve learned in order to beat them. Now, a rival like that typically isn’t someone who is going to get a Psycho Analysis, as most rivals are just garden-variety jerks at worst. For instance, Gary Oak is a bit of a snot, but he’s literally a child and he turns things around and becomes a decent guy relatively quick. Or hell, look at Miles Edgeworth; he spends most of the first Ace Attorney butting heads with Phoenix Wright in court, but he’s pretty quickly shown to be far more concerned with finding the absolute truth than any truly nefarious purpose. Ultimately, most rivals end up being genuinely decent people who just take competition a little too seriously and eventually develop into staunch friends and allies.

But imagine a rival who never changes. A rival dead set on being the most antagonistic douchebag possible, one who is driven solely by the sheer spite and hatred they feel at being second banana to someone else, someone who can’t bear that their massive ego is even slightly bruised. A rival who may help when the chips are on the table, but who is only doing so for their own selfish and self-centered reasons. That’s a character I could reasonably review on Psycho Analysis! And if ever there was a character who fits that bill, it’s Seto freaking Kaiba.

Now, to be clear here, Kaiba isn’t a villain. He’s an antagonist, he’s an anti-hero, but for about 99% of his screentime he’s not technically a villain. But just because the series is called Psycho Analysis doesn’t mean I’m literally only reviewng psychos, and it’s about time I broke out a bit and experimented in this new year by looking at characters who aren’t totally evil, but maybe are a little bit. And as you’ll soon see, no one is a better choice to break the mold than the second best duelist in Domino City.

Motivation/Goals: To put it simply, everything Kaiba does is motivated by his ego or by spite. This is a man who has done genuinely great things, from dismantling his father’s bloodthirsty legacy of profiting off of war to opening theme parks and creating new technology to make Duel Monsters more fun and engaging for all players. All of this on paper makes him look like the most ethical animated billionaire this side of Scrooge McDuck, but there’s one little issue: Nothing he does is out of the goodness of his heart.

Do you think Kaiba actually gives a shit about anyone affected by his father’s business? No, he just dismantled it out of sheer hatred for his adopted father who, to be fair, really was a massive cunt. Do you think he went through all the trouble to make massive strides in Duel Monsters technology just so people could have fun? No, he did it all so he could exploit it in some way to defeat Yugi once and for all.

And that’s one of the biggest things that drives Kaiba: His unquenchable desire to defeat Yugi and be crowned the true king of games. The thing is, every time they have a fair fight, Kaiba gets his ass handed to him; the one time he won was by essentially threatening Yugi with suicide. His sheer petty desire to one-up Yugi extends far into the future, where he names the loser dork house of the academy in GX after Yugi’s Egyptian God card Slifer, while the ultra-cool prestigious house is named after the God he got, Obelisk. And in one possible end of his story, he goes to the most insane and ultimate extreme to try and settle his grudge (but more on that shortly).

Performance: In English, there are two main voice actors of note who have portrayed Kaiba. The first is Eric Staurt, who outside of Kaiba is best known for his Pokemon roles of Brock and James. It leads to a bit of whiplash hearing someone who sounds so similar to the affable yet horny Brock be an absolute arrogant prick, but I definitely think Stuart is able to pull it off.

The other VA of note is Martin “Littlekuriboh” Billany, creator of Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Series and the man who voices about 90% of that gag dub’s cast. His take on Kaiba is pretty much what happens if you cross Stuart’s performance with Solid Snake, and it works very well for a Kaiba who’s weirder and wackier yet somehow even more insanely egotistical.

Final Fate: Kaiba, seeing as he’s just a douchebag and not a truly evil person, doesn’t get any sort of major comeuppance save for constantly getting his ass handed to him by Yugi. There are really two possible endings for him, though if you want to be charitable they’re not necessarily mutually exclusive. The first ending is, of course, that he eventually goes on to found the Duel Academy, which means he helps kickstart the events of Yu-Gi-Oh GX in a way. Anyone even partly responsible for the rise of bisexual monsterfucker king Jaden Yuki is getting high marks in my book.

But the much more notable ending for Kaiba comes from Dark Side of Dimensions where, so consumed by his desire to duel Atem one more time despite the pharaoh finally being at rest, he leaves his company in the hands of Mokuba and goes to the fucking afterlife to challenge him. Whatever way you want to read it—that he actually used science to travel to the great beyond, that his tech killed him and he’s not coming back—Kaiba really cements his legacy as the most insane, obsessive rival ever created. If he still feels like he has something to prove by beating you, you ain’t getting your eternal rest; he will bust down the barriers of life and death to have a chance of whooping your ass. Absolute madman.

Evilness: So in this new segment, I’m going to establish how evil any given villain is and rate them on it, separate from how I rate them as a character overall. This score is basically just a reflection of how evil their actions are, with a 1 being “Barely a villain at all” and a 10 being a “Complete and utter monster.”

As we’ve already established a bit, Kaiba is more just an egotistical asshole than anything. In his early appearances in the manga you could definitely say Kaiba was a villain, and his first appearance as the starter villain of the anime definitely paint him as a dick… but after his mind crush, he definitely veers more into anti-hero territory for the rest of the series.

Normally, this would net him a solid 1, but that’s the thing. Despite the fact Kaiba frequently does genuinely good and helpful things and despite constantly aiding the heroes, he only ever does it because he feels like he has something to prove. For instance, look at his handling of the Big Five as he dismantled his father’s legacy; do you think he tore down the military dealings KaibaCorp dealt in out of the goodness of his heart? No, Kaiba did all that out of sheer hatred and spite, negative emotions that motivate just about everything he does no matter how nice it seems. Even if he isn’t actually evil by any stretch and even though he’s undoubtedly bettering the world with what he does, he’s doing it for impure reasons that mainly revolve around reasserting his own superiority. The only genuinely selfless things he does are for the benefit of his beloved brother Mokuba.

So for the first ever Evilness Score, I think Kaiba is going to score a 2/10, which denotes being a huge dick but not neccesarily evil. He’s not actually evil enough to warrant anything higher, but he’s too big of an asshole to get a 1.

Best Scene/Quote: Abridged!Kaiba gave the world “Screw the rules, I have money,” a line that perfectly summarizes a good chunk of Kaiba’s character in both the main and the abridged version of the show. But his best quote (and his very best scene) come during his duel with Ishizu in Battle City, where he decides to give fate the middle finger and beat Miss Ishtar despite her clairvoyance while giving her the following speech (in the dub):

“Hear me now! I won't be controlled! I decide my future! So now, I sacrifice my monsters! Obelisk and Gadget Solider, I send you to the card graveyard! You're so quiet, Ishizu. Where's your magic now? Or have you realized that there's no such thing as destiny? Now observe as I summon my Blue-Eyes! Show yourself!”

And more than anything, this sums up Kaiba: He has the most massive ego in history, the strength and cunning to back that ego up, and a steadfast and stubborn refusal of destiny. He plays by his own rules and follows his own path, and nothing will stand in his way. Not Egyptian gods, not prophecies, not magic or shadow games or what have you. He is unstoppable, implacable, and he won’t be denied that duel with Yugi no matter what anyone says. Not even the barrier of life and death can stop him.

Final Thoughts & Score: Unsurprisingly, as someone who grew up with Yu-Gi-Oh, I fucking love Kaiba.

Going into this, I knew he wasn’t going to be a straight example of a villain, because his evil is mostly relegated to the early parts of the manga and the start of the show, with his post-Mind Crush self being more of an anti-heroic jerkass with a heart of gold. But I think he’s just enough of an asshole to be worth talking about, and talking about antagonistic jerks opens the door to talk about characters like Toy Story’s Sid or the more hostile Pokemon rivals like Silver, Blue, and Bede here. It would have to be Kaiba blazing that trail, though; there’s no jerk more perfect to open the door to discussion of other jerks.

Kaiba is just genuinely fascinating in that, despite being incredibly static as a character, he never really feels shallow. Sure, he steadfastly refuses to change and never really becomes on the best terms with the Yugi squad, but his interactions with them are still fun to watch and he never gets flanderized to the point of being obnoxious. It’s honestly extremely impressive they were able to walk that tightrope of him never really progressing past being an asshole while still remaining a fun, likable character who it’s fun to see in action. I suppose it helps they gave him the most ludicrously badass backstory where he as a plucky little orphan boy manages to beat a businessman in chess to get adopted, fleeces him out of his entire fortune and company, and then dismantles said company’s military division to focus on gaming. And if that’s not enough, they have him do stuff like throw trading cards to jam guns!

Of course, his most appealing aspect is his single-minded obsession with defeating Yugi and proving himself as the superior duelist, a character trait for which there is quite simply no heterosexual explanation for (I’m half kidding). With most rivals, they don’t really get so consumed by their desire to defeat their opponent that they essentially kill themselves just to get another chance at beating them, but most rivals ain’t Kaiba! Really, I think the only rival I’ve seen who’s close to being on his level is Vegeta. Once again, they found a nice balance, keeping Kaiba from being too obnoxious even with his single-minded obsession with one-upping Yugi.

Kaiba is really a character who so easily could have been obnoxious or insufferable, but instead he quite honestly stole the show. Yes, Yugi and Atem’s trials and tribulations are crucial and all, but seeing the insane lengths Kaiba goes to ensure he gets another chance to summon his Blue-Eyes against Yugi’s Dark Magician is just a blast. You’re always wondering what insane rich guy nonsense the man is going to pull off next, and he rarely disappoints. Kaiba may not be evil, he may merely be an antagonistic rival, but I think he still deserves a 10/10 for being the egomaniacal asshole opponent every arch-rival should aspire to be.

[achillesmonochrome]

Ranting about the end of mha, almost two months later; because why not.

This is in regards to you-know-who losing you-know-what.

I imagine people know by now but in case somebody is scrolling to the tag, spoilers about the end of MHA.

So, for reasons that nobody really cares about; I stopped reading the manga for awhile, and came back for the ending.

Reading that Midoriya didn't have OFA was sad, but I thought that surely, there was a good reason for this, truly, this was the only way. So even if I felt was a bit contrived he getting a suit at the end that basically gives him his powers back; it had his friends paying back the kindness Izuku has shown to them, and he kept his dream so, it was just a minor hiccup on the ending.

Because my country is a fucking shit shot and I needed something to take my mind off things, I ended up rewatching the my hero academia anime, watching for the first time the seasons I missed, and ended up reading the manga bits that I had neglected all this time.

And with that insight in mind...holy shit what was the point?

Izuku giving OFA in order to somehow "break into Tenko's core" just feel completely contrived? Like okay, they made Shiggy too powerful, I can get that much.

But the fact that "the only way" to defeat him was to attack this core with the quirks? The idea of somehow throwing a quirk strongly enough (how does that even made sense)? Why Izuku needed to reach this core in the first place?

What was all of that?

"Duh! He wanted to reach the little boy crying!"

I'm sorry, was I dumb to think that was a metaphor for Shigaraki deserving saving, even if he was a villain who Midoriya couldn't forgive, and not somehow looking like Shigaraki had DID and Izuku wanted to reach a specific identity stuck deeply in the mind for some reason?

Was this really, the only way he could do this? Let me remind me you the idea of being a core, and that the core needed the users to break it for some reason, were all new things introduced not long before Izuku had one of the past users give him this idea.

This isn't like the vestiges, who appear as early as the Sports Festival, this came out of the blue; and truly, Horikoshi could had come up with another ending.

This didn't save Shigaraki, Izuku didn't even attempt to talk to Shigaraki and save him honestly; so why did we need this? Why did it had to end this way?

This rubs me the wrong way specially with Izuku getting the suit; because we had this nonsensical reason for him to give up OFA, just to end the story with him basically having that back.

Sure, the suit isn't OFA, and I think it would be a neat idea exploring how the suit may need things like maintenance, being careful not to break it, and things like being taken by surprise making him more vulnerable than other heroes.

But this is the end and the story doesn't explore any of that.

And look, as much as I love the idea that class 1A and Bakugo specially, wanting Deku back as a hero, enough to fund this project even if Izuku seemed content with his life, I just feel we took the little stakes we got at the end, just to be like naaaaaah.

I was willing to let that go, because I thought there was surely, a good reason to give up OFA.

But knowing how things actually went down...what was the point, again?

[italeteller]

Well, it's officially My Herover

What a god damn bummer

I remember starting the series, feeling not quite satisfied with the MCU at the time and loving Izuku and All Might and the way the series didn't take long to put Bakugo's ego in check

Then the sports festival arc blew everything out the water. Deku's resourcefulness during the obstable race, the cavalry team battle, Bakugo vs Uraraka, my boy Shinso, and the unforgettable Deku vs Todoroki really made me feel like this was a mangaka who could make an excellent story with any character, no matter how little screentime they'd had before

The Stain arc wasn't quite as impactful as the sports festival, but it did wonders for Deku, Iida and Todoroki's growth, and Uraraka's martial arts training was a welcome surprise

The training camp was Deku's finest moment. I don't care what anybody says, "My Hero" is the greatest Izuku chapter and both the manga and anime did magic with it

And then came the peak of the series, though we wouldn't know it for years. All Might vs All for One. I remember being stressed out of my mind that All Might would die, and happy beyond belief when he survived

But then cracks started appearing. The eight precepts arc skipped the all-girls team and gave Izuku a get-out-of-jail-free card to abuse his powers with no consequences whatsoever. The festival arc was great but seeing Nejire in a beauty competition didn't make up for her being skipped in the eight precepts arc

And then Izuku developed a second quirk, and the promise of six more quirks down the line, which was honestly the beginning of the end. I said as much when the chapter dropped and history had proven me right. Because Izuku was already gonna become the strongest hero in history, stronger than All Might, because that's how OfA works. There was no need to give him a swiss army knife of extra superpowers

The villain arc did little to ease my worries. It focused on the three villains that had already had the most screentime and ignored Spinner and Compress who really needed some more background exploration, and it made Shigaraki bonkers levels of powerful

And then there was the war. During the kids' first year of school. Midnight got killed offscreen, because I guess Horikoshi needed someone "important" to die but he didn't want to kill anybody actually important (seriously, go look at the list of casualties of the war. It's a bunch of nobodies and Midnight)

Star and Stripes came and died only to nerf Shigaraki, which wouldn't have been necessary ir Hori could balance his power sets

Nagant came, exposed even more the dark side of hero agencies, got immediately redeemed by Izuku and then blew up

Deku's vigilante arc was. A thing that existed. And it really showed how underdeveloped most of Class 1A were, because the big emotional scene where everybody asks Izuku to remember the good times they shared together was 80% "hey remember this one and only scene we had?". Points for Bakugo and Iida though, they got the good stuff

The traitor reveal arc was also a thing that happened. Woulda been nice if the kids had had some actual time to process their feelings and deal with the fallout of the whole thing

And then the final war. Boy, did that one drag on forever. Bakugo died, then he got better because a hero who never had any screentime with him sacrificed himself to save him except he didn't even die so no biggie

Toga and Spinner could have had something, maybe, but Hori didn't spent enough time to seriously make them impactful. Spinner especially, the whole heteromorph discrimination thing felt way too forced and tacked on at the last minute

All Might busted out a mecha suit to fight on All for One's level, which would've come in pretty handy when they fought against Shigaraki. Then AfO died, but then he wasn't dead and was actually the one who gave Shigaraki his quirk, and he ate Shigaraki's soul and became the big bad, and then he died literally 2 chapters later, and Shigaraki who had enough energy left for one last hit against AfO also died for good. Oh and Izuku lost both arms, which had been built-up to happen since the sports festival, but then he got them back one chapter later so. No biggie

And then the final chapters. Society got better, don't ask for details. Everybody is 8 years older, don't ask for timeskip designs. Izuku is now a teacher, but he gets a new mech suit that shouldn't have taken 8 years to develop considering All Might's took months, and he jumps right back up to be a hero. The end

My Hero feels like the new gen Naruto. A large cast with varied powers that 80% never get properly developed in favor of the big 3, and a very interesting world that barely gets explored

The 1A vs 1B arc really feels like the point where the series becomes something different. Side characters begone, it's the Izuku-Bakugo-Shoto story. Inko, the protagonist's mother, who always had been shown suffering through Izuku's many injuries and even got All Might to admit he hadn't been taking proper care of his protegé, got sidelined and we don't even see her react to the truth of Izuku's quirk. Izuku masters 6 quirks offscreen, whereas before the series made an absolute point of showing the process of him growing and learning and improving

I really loved this series, and I'm damn dissappointed in what it became, in case it wasn't clear. I hope Horikoshi has made enough money to rest for a while. By the end he constantly needed to take breaks because his health was just going down the drain. I hope he gets to kick back and relax, and if he ever writes anything else I'm not gonna read it

Good bye, My Hero Academia. I'll always cherish the first parts and the characters, almost as much as I'll mourn all the wasted potential they all had

[hero-nerd]

WHAT ARE SOME THINGS ABOUT MONOMA YOU'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO TALK ABOUT BUT NEVER HAD THE CHANCE TO? GO FORTH, GIVE US THE MONOMA CITATIONS. RAMBLE.

- @veras-monologue

YES THANK YOU IM ALWAYS HAPPY TO TALK ABOUT MONOMA

I think the majority of my pre-established writing with citations for him has been posted already. Whether anyone read it or not is a different question lmao. And I never set up a tagging system so they are probably lost to the depths of tumblr anyway. So if you have any questions about those please ask!!

But today I’m gonna talk about something I only ever get to talk to about with one person, our ✨ballroom dancing au✨

So this started because me and my friend have a villain monoma au where he and toga are twins separated at birth that reunite when Mr Compress brings Monoma into the league. I’m like 87% sure I’ve posted about that but again I’m always happy to expand or make another post on it. The au is mostly slice of life things amongst the league with Compress trying to parent his chaos twins while Magne sips her drink and laughs at him from the background /lh.

From here I got really into this manga about ballroom dancing I randomly picked up at the library and I’m so fixated right now, so I messaged up that friend like hear me out, ballroom dancing au

Weve been establishing that au for a bit now, Monoma and toga are siblings still that dance together, Compress is their main coach but Magne is like an assistant as well. It’s super fun /gen

One thing I’ve been thinking about is that Monoma is a really selfless dance partner, always letting Toga really shine in the dance while tailoring his dance exactly to her. The manga series talked about this idea of the flower and the frame, with the lead dancer being the frame meant to emphasize the flower, aka the following dancer. Monoma really leans into this and does it to the point where you can barely see the frame, Toga isn’t just a flower she’s the whole damn garden.

I think this is where people would disagree with me saying that Monoma would want the spotlight, but this is also where I have citations!!!

Citation one is from the sports tournament, Monoma did not mind placing low in the beginning to win his strategy. Like he said, he wasn’t some idiot chasing after a carrot on a stick, he was thinking things through to win in the long run. Of course it didn’t work in that moment (something else I could go off about) but that mind set is still there!

And then citation two is from the joint training arc. Monoma knows he is going to get captured but lays the trap with twin impact anyway, allowing his team to win. He seems to have the mentality (not just here, but this is what I pulled for citation) that a win for his team is a win for him, regardless of whether he was the one to do the winning thing. My past analysis has emphasized that his unstable identity leads him to heavily put his identity into outside factors, specifically class b, so I think this stands.

Now this is not to say that he doesn’t want to be the center of attention, be in the spot light! He very much does, although I think his feelings on whether he deserves it or not / what that looks like are pretty complex. In the joint training arc he talks about being the side character that steals the show, more beloved than the main characters, and that’s how he sees himself. However even here he calls himself a side character.

Then of course there is his big moment recently animated in the show, which would change this analysis plenty. However, applying that to him in this moment is like applying season six bakugou moments to season one bakugou, that doesn’t work! There’s chat at after development that needs to be done. I actually have a scene that ties in that stuff to give Monoma some character development in the ballroom au but that’s for another post XD.

And then tagging @logicaldelta because 1 au and 2 I’m not sure I have been able to coherently express all this to you yet lmao

[weaselandfriends]

Don't suppose you've seen Gen Urobuchi's recent movie on Netflix, Bubble? It has a lot of Madoka Magica DNA, because of course it does—but it's surprisingly bloodless for one of his stories. For that reason, I can't imagine you'd like it, but it occurred to me that its premise, with boys surviving out in the world while playing a competitive sport, had very similar vibes to some of the themes you've discussed regarding your upcoming Pokémon fic!

I have not seen Bubble. I'm honestly awful at watching new stuff as it comes out, though like everyone else I am currently watching Frieren (and I saw Oshi no Ko last season).

As far as Urobuchi goes, I've honestly not been too impressed by the rest of his oeuvre. What I've seen includes:

Fate/Zero: Falls off hard in the second half, though the reason for this might have more to do with being a prequel than any particular decisions Urobuchi himself made

Phantom Requiem for the Phantom: Ignore the awesome name, this is so boring, also has a terrible Dice Guy villain (I'll explain what this means); however, the ending (like the last five minutes) is strong

Psycho-Pass: Another outrageous Dice Guy villain, slow start, though it picks up near the end

Saya no Uta: I actually like this, it's good

Now what is a Dice Guy? This is a term I coined when watching the extremely bad anime Akuma no Riddle. In this anime, there is a character who barely ever interacts with the plot, but rather stays in the background, sitting in a shadowy room, from which he ostensibly exerts some puppetmaster-style control over the events unfolding. The show frequently cuts to this character as he monologues to himself about deep-sounding philosophical topics such as the nature of fate and chance, topics he emphasizes by a fixation with a pair of dice he constantly rolls. For instance, at once point he might say something like "Fate is... a roll of the dice," and then roll his dice. (I parodied this specific guy in Cockatiel x Chameleon via the company boss Harper meets near the end of the story.)

Though it's not always dice specifically that the Dice Guy plays with as he rambles about intellectual-sounding topics in the most surface-level ways imaginable, the core conceit is similar, and Urobuchi loves this type of guy to no end. Psycho-Pass's villain, for instance, is constantly monologuing about and quoting literature; Phantom Requiem for the Phantom's villain has a similar fixation with theater, likening the events of the story to performances in a play.

I hate these guys. They're insufferable. And they plague Urobuchi's work. Kyubey would probably have wound up a dice guy if the necessities of Madoka's plot structure didn't leave him only ambiguously villainous for most of the story. He does, after all, fill the role of a shadowy puppetmaster. I'm imagining a world where Kyubey's speech likening magical girls to cattle isn't a one-off moment but the core defining motif of his character, and I shiver.

While a lot of fans in the space attribute Madoka entirely to Urobuchi, I like to point out that Madoka also had an auteur director at the helm with his own distinct creative vision: Akiyuki Shinbo, the mastermind behind everything produced by Studio Shaft. I think Shinbo and Urobuchi both limited some of the other's more indulgent practices, and it is specifically in their collaboration that something as uniquely special as Madoka Magica could come about.

Anyway, I apologize for going on this diatribe/rant, but I feel bad answering a question sent to me with a simple "No," so I gave you this instead. Enjoy?

[hevexns-realm]

Hello! I came here with another random question:

What type of games characters in your AU like: Video games, board games or sport games? And which ones? 👀

EEEE I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE-

Sonic, tails, and silver all love video games. Even if Sonic loves physical sports, he tends to make video game nights for everyone who wants to participate. While Sonic plays a few more edgier games like COD or even Diablo, silver and tails prefer cozier games like Minecraft or animal crossing!

Shadow is more of a board game type of guy, and the game of life is one of his favorites! Although he does play the occasional call of duty with Sonic. Sometimes he uses the voice changer Iris lets him borrow for his drag queen role and uses it to mess with little shits online who are being assholes. It’s funny as all hell, and when the villain group gets ahold of the shadow clips, they’ll be laughing about it for a few days-

Mephiles isn’t much of a gamer, he’s more into novels, audiobooks, the dark academia type stuff. HOWEVER, he does play horror games or mystery type games on occasion, when he has the time. (He refuses to admit this, as he doesn’t want anyone to associate him with his snapcube alternate counterpart. He hates the bastard with a passion, even more than I do-)

Blaze, Nazo, and seelkadoom are all similar to mephiles. They view most video games as a waste of time, or at least the violent/stressful ones. Although, they each have a comfort game of some kind. For blaze, it’s coffee talk (episodes one and two) while Nazo and seelka have a soft spot for cult of the lamb, as it’s a co-op game that they can play with either each other or can take turns playing with Iris when it’s a quiet night.

Adding onto Nazo, he really likes games where there’s always a little something at risk. The higher the risk, the more competitive he gets. This especially goes in gambling, when he knows that there’s a giant pot on the table. When it comes to physical activity, he prefers fencing, speed skating, and a little bit of the waltz on occasion!

Seelka is really into physical sports. His training is arguably the most vigorous, and is the most athletic of the three. It shows through his physique in his work attire, and Iris needs to restrain herself every time she sees him in that suit. (Every other day tbh- and nazo isn’t much better about it either.)

Iris doesn’t really know what games are, but she loves dancing and swimming! She’s actually participated in the Solaris festival as a dancer multiple times at this point, and she loves it even more throughout the years! ^^ outside of the physical stuff, she loves messing with people’s heads. Making them think she’s one thing when she isn’t. She does this with a lot of older rich men, and once she’s gotten larger spoils, she shares them with her friends! (Nazo and seelka get the largest amount before her-)

Iblis loves monopoly, the game of life, anything that relates to mortal life the way she wants everyone to live. She wants them to live their happily ever after, as long as it’s safe, she’ll be happy to support her subjects achieve their dreams!! ❤️❤️

Aeon is a valorant/league of legends player, but she plays a ton of other video games as well! (Non-toxic player, but she’s more than happy to match energy if needed-)

Rouge loves monopoly, but she and iblis have a serious rivalry with the game. Any other game they’re fine, but since both of them are good cheaters, they tend to try and expose the other! ^^

Amy loves card games! UNO, go fish, even some solitare, you name it, she’ll play it! Although, she really likes to play with nazo, as he’s literally a high-class gambler, he knows every trick in the book. She learns a lot of things from him!! ^^

Taglist:

@thebreadmeower @hunniegl4zed

Sorry it took so long, school was long, got some press on nails, and currently getting sick QvQ||

[delightfuldevin]

Been seein some rather cold takes about Daisy lately…

I’ve seen some people say that she has no personality outside of fanon, but that’s just not true. There is a very very common misconception among the fandom (at least that I’ve noticed) that if a character doesn’t appear in a “mainline” game, then they have no personality. But I’d argue that the spinoffs actually offer waaaaay more in terms of looking into character personalities. And no, I’m not talking about the RPGs ala M&L and Paper Mario as those are obviously full of personality (and Daisy isn’t in those). I’m talking about the Party, Kart, Tennis, and other sports games.

Yes, Daisy hasn’t appeared in any mainline game since her debut, but she’s been in nearly every sports game and her traits, stats, abilities, victory/loss animations, and various other tiny details add up to her personality. The fact that she’s nearly always yelling or just speaking really loud in general (noticeably more than any other character), the fact that she constantly feels a need to say her name and make herself known, how she loves flowers and considers even a small patch of flowers worth protecting, how she’s easily bored by tasks that don’t excite her and isn’t so reliable for them. She tends to jump around a lot, and spin and dance around when she’s excited! She’s apparently a rather fast runner and that is considered her specialty! These are all traits that are displayed in the spinoffs, and there’s probably soooo many more that I just can’t remember right now.

Now, I do think her tomboyish nature is probably fanon, as I don’t really remember seeing anything to show that she acts that way in the games. I think people probably think she’s tomboyish due to how loud and energetic she is. But hey, there’s plenty of fanon for just about any character from any fandom out there. And what’s so wrong with that? Isn’t the whole point of making fanworks to expand on the framework already provided by canon? If we want to stick to what’s actually “canon” then nearly everything the fandom has created would have to be tossed, because there really isn’t much to work with. Fanworks and fandoms thrive on what fans can create based on the canon work, not just sticking to it perfectly.

It’s fine if you think the “fanon” Daisy outshines the “canon” Daisy and you dislike that. But to say that she has no personality aside from fanon interpretations just tells me that you have a very narrow idea of what counts as “canon” in an already rather simplistic world. The Mario games are very simple and straightforward without much consistent lore that actually makes sense cohesively, but the characters are what keep everything tied together despite that. The characters are nearly always consistent, and that includes Daisy. Even when the setting is completely different and some random new villain shows up with some random new power source to steal or species to torment, our same well-known lovable characters will be the center of the story and that’s what makes it fun!

[sapphic-agent]

Piggybacking off that one ask, but what was the point in the 1st year students participating in the Sports Festival? They'd only been in school for not even a full month, and it's not like we've seen these kids get any hands-on hero training in their middle schools.

I completely agree with that person's opinion that it should have been held near the end of term, and the Joint Training should have been at the beginning with 1A and 1B on shuffled teams

The purpose of the Sports Festival is that it's meant to be a hero student's introduction into the hero world. It's supposed to be a demonstration to the nation about the future of heroics in Japan. But to me, it just feels like an excuse to exploit young hero students.

First of all, it's filmed nationally. Not only is it a terrible idea to risk exposing minor students' strengths and weakness to villains, it's also live so it's completely unedited. So Yaomomo getting groped by Mineta during the race is there for everyone to see. Millions of people watched Todoroki have a mental breakdown during his fight with Bakugou (even if they didn't know that was what happened, it's still completely invasive). And we all know about the League targeting Bakugou over his behavior.

These are students, but the entire thing treats them like animals at a zoo. And I would say the first years have this the worse since the second and third years are probably used to it. But the firsties are going in wholly unprepared and I feel like the people watching thrive off this, especially the pros. They're having so much fun judging and scrutinizing 15 year olds. It's actually kinda sick.

Anyway, I completely agree with the last ask. The Sports Festival should have been at the end of the year so that the first years have time to train and prepare and actually learn things