#hq analysis

[afterthelambs]

Ushijima-Oikawa parallels with Kageyama-Hinata

To me, Ushijima and Oikawa are like a tragic parallel to Hinata and Kageyama. If Oikawa had gone to Shiratorizawa then he and Ushijima could've had the partnership that Kagehina had. But because he didn't, they will never know what it's like to make the other feel invincible.

Shipping goggles aside, the parallels have to be intentional (haikyuu is too well-written for it to be just a coincidence): Both Ushijima and Kageyama were framed as naturally gifted volleyball monsters. Meanwhile Oikawa and Hinata believed that they were just average (even though the people around them know that they have their own strengths). Ushijima was the one who kept winning against Oikawa, just like how Kageyama was always ahead of Hinata. Both Hinata and Oikawa went abroad to gain experience so they could finally beat their rival. Ushijima and Kageyama are both awkward, intimidating, and ASD-coded while Hinata and Oikawa are framed as easy-going extroverted chatterboxes. These pairs are literally so similar it's crazy. Look at them and tell me it's not intentional

It also makes sense when you consider that their playstyles are also complementary. Kageyama and Hinata were a good match for each other because Hinata needed Kageyama's precision and Kageyama needed someone agile to match his own speed. But Ushijima's only requirement is for the ball to be set high and the right distance from the net so it's easy to hit. And which setter is known for dedicating themselves to their spikers, giving them easy sets? Oikawa. They truly could've been a terrifying duo.

I think Furudate was trying to show what Kageyama and Hinata could've been if they didn't team up. They'd still be strong, sure, but not invincible like they were in Karasuno. (as opposed to the Miya twins, who were supposed to show what they could've been like if they had an equal from the very beginning)

But in the end it all worked out for everyone! They all got to play on the world stage together. Ushijima and Oikawa even had their reconciliation at the all stars match (still waiting on the Oikawa-Kageyama reconciliation please please please 👀). They're all happy so I suppose it isn't actually tragic. I just cant help but wonder what could have been if Ushijima and Oikawa learned what it's like to be each other's greatest ally. Hinata and Kageyama were so lucky to have found each other after all.

[hoao]

oikawa is a perfectly crafted character. he’s silly and insufferable and has a ridiculous way of behaving but he’s also determined and strong and committed and hardworking. if you dive deeper, he’s also desperate, insecure, and he yearns and he wants and he fights. he’s scared his hard work will never be enough because there are people who are already one step ahead of him, people he considers geniuses.

“talent is something you make bloom, instinct is something you polish.”

i don’t think anything will ever stop him from doubting and feeling insecure, and iwaizumi himself once told him he’s probably never going to be satisfied. however, by breaking free from the constant pressure of “the talented ones”, he can polish his hard work, his instinct, his drive.

it will lead him far, yes. in fact, it leads him to another country, dealing with another language and another culture and another world. he momentarily forgets just how fun volleyball can be, until meeting hinata reminds him of it. he grows up to be fierce and motivated and passionate and on the opposite side of the court, representing another country and standing up for his “petty pride”.

he’s a character that drives me insane because i relate to him in ways that scare me. am i talented? or is what i have “just” instinct that i have to polish? am i a sort of imposter between people who are born great? people who have to work hard, just like me, but they seem to be doing it a bit more effortlessly?

hard work is always hard work, no matter the raw material (talent/instinct). but oikawa is so good and relatable because he knows it and he still feels like he needs to do more, more, more. he feels different from the others, and when first confronted with this reality it almost takes control of him. (kageyama is what he will never be, he despises him because of it).

and what’s an even bigger paradox is that nobody ever looks down on him. he does it all by himself. kageyama and ushijima and hinata and everybody else, they all look at him for what he is: a good player, a scary opponent, someone they fear and someone they look up to simultaneously, someone they have fun playing against, someone they want to beat, someone worth their time and efforts, someone who’s crazy good at what he does.

as always, haikyuu is so real for this too. our mind works in very weird ways, sometimes we don’t take into consideration others’ opinions of us unless they’re negative, we’re never satisfied with ourselves, we always want more.

oikawa is a perfectly crafted character. he has flaws and he’s so intensely human people might despise him for it. and the path furudate built for him is so fitting and so hopeful it has me believing there’s a chance i’ll get there too. not to Argentina, not to the Olympics. instead, to a future where my hard work means something (to me!).

and what if i don’t feel like the others? what about it? it will never be “just” instinct. it’s my hard work, my pride and drive. it will lead me places because i demand it. when oikawa breaks off the cycle, he becomes insatiable. “i will defeat everyone, so be ready!”

(i also happen to believe he really does defeat everyone).

[freakurodani]

dont overcomplicate it

[rk-tmblr]

“I have saved pictures of you in my phone gallery and it feels so weird. I can't swallow the lump in my throat every time I think to delete them, but at the same time I can't shake the guilt that weights me down every day I still keep them.”

-Suna Rintaro/Miya Osamu

[tsumusamuu]

i feel like the reason haikyuu attracts so many different kinds of aus is because it’s the perfect template to branch out in your writing. there’s already so much you can explore within the canon universe, but it’s also kind of a blank slate? and of course there’s an absolutely massive cast of characters to choose from and play around with. you have so many different types of people and relationships so it’s really fun to fuck around with all the different situations you can put them into lol

[kimbapisnotsushi]

okay wait. wait. kageyama went to the little kids' volleyball class without knowing WHY. he got home all torn up after fighting with hinata and saw the flyer and decided to go!! but even HE didn't know what he was doing there!! he just went with seemingly no purpose and no clear reason that we could discern after a series of events that left him raw and aching and vulnerable all over!! and the flyer was a weird thing for him to get in the first place!! kageyama, at that point in time, wouldn't have willingly signed himself up to teach little kids!!

so you know what i think? i think the flyer was meant for KAZUYO. i think it was meant for kazuyo because kazuyo was the kind of person so full of love and warmth and kindness that would have made him a GREAT teacher. i think kazuyo probably DID teach that class a few times, and kageyama was there for it. i think kageyama saw that flyer and remembered a time when he felt safe and steady and sure of himself, remembered a time when there was a hand for him to hold, and, not knowing what to do with his hands now, went to the class to see if it would help. to see if he could retrace the person he used to be, and use that to figure out what the hell is he even doing, picking fights and accusing hinata of being selfish when for so long he's been the one they call a tyrant.

i think what kageyama was looking for was a reminder that he could be "someone even better", and who was he if he couldn't find it in all the places he was loved and loved in return?

[grungeeuvu]

I love Goshiki so much and you all get to hear me briefly explaining his character:

Goshiki is the only first-year on the starting lineup of a powerhouse school that is absolutely formidable. Imagine the pressure, being selected out of the other hundred students: not just the other first years but also the second and third years. There aren't even any other first years on the bench, he is the only first year on the court entirely. Seriously, imagine the stress he is under to perform as calmly, perfectly and logically as all his cold and unreasonable upperclassmen, who've all been to nationals many times. Not only that, he is regularly told he will be the next ace once Ushijima, one of the top three in the whole country, graduates.

Everyone expects him to live up to being the ace of a legendary team, succeeding the local "miracle boy" himself. He probably doesn't have a lot of his friends in his classes due to volleyball commitments and probably is shunned by other first years on the club out of jealousy. The only company he'd really have are his other teammates, whom he is trying so hard to impress. He doesn't want to let them down, he wants to do them proud and be worth all the effort they put into him.

He is a bit loud, brazen, tries to talk big but you can see how much he looks for his upperclassmen's approval. He's making promises, he's trying to show the team that he's not cracking under the pressure, that he can brush it off too. He's challenging ushijima to prove he's fearless, to prove he's not daunted by the task everyone is expecting him to accept.

Some might read that and think I'm saying he's crumbling on the inside, that this pressure is breaking him into nothing but I wouldn't say crumbling. Hell, I don't think Goshiki could ever actually crumble. I think part of him believes this sense of confidence. I would say, though, that there is a voice in the back of his head that tells him he's not enough. Everytime he messes up, it sits in the back of his mind, every point missed he feels it. He knows he's giving his all but he wants to give more.

I love Goshiki Tsutomu and he is so often treated like a pet peeve of arrogance or Shiratorizawa's "baby" but think of it like this: Ushijima hates baseless confidence. He hates when someone's bark is louder than their bite, we see how he views Hinata for a start. Do you think he'd ever encourage Goshiki so honestly if he didn't have the potential to enhance Shiratorizawa?

Do you think Washijou would've even glanced at him if he wasn't something? Do you think Shirabu would set to someone who wouldn't score? Do you think anyone in the team would let him mess up and geek out if they didn't believe, deep down, he was as good as them?

When my mum watched Haikyuu with me, she said she found Goshiki arrogant, annoying and immature: it infuriated me and I could never quite articulate how she has misread him so much. Maybe on the surface he seems that way but it's because it is all on the surface. He is constantly trying to seem cool, for the validation and respect of his senpais, who do not seem to understand that the praise is really what he needs.

When Hinata compliments him, Goshiki shone and he performed with flying colours. The praise was all it took for him to change his mind on a dime and play with them and, not to mention, he was the designated leader of that training camp for sure!

He was the one everyone had their eyes on and he was the most advanced - you could tell that these players respected him and I hope he knew it, I hope it gave him the confidence boost he'd been lacking for so long ever since joining Shiratorizawa.

It got slightly off track at the end but I hope you followed :') I love my boy lol

[haikyuuprettysettersquad]

[mikaikaika]

Man the relationship between Quackity and Tilin's grave breaks my heart so much. The first time he was there was when he had to make the grave by his own hands after losing his child by the hands of a friend he had absolute faith on someone he helped.

The second time he was there was when he went there to destroy it with his own hands just so that it knocks some sense in him to move on and so that he can gain some control of his life only for him to spiral further and lose it all .

And now he's here, face to face again with the grave of a child who is supposed to be his but he has no recollection of and the only sprinkle of knowledge he has is disbelief mixed with self-lament and criticism for how bad of a father apparently he himself was.

Quackity has been made a witness to extreme truths that have changed the course of his life but he doesn't know of them at all . Atleast this information makes him somewhat less of a stranger to all of this but not before making him pay at the cost of losing everything that now means to be him.

[starweed]

explaining my autistic hinata hc

“star,” you may be asking, “why are you doing this to yourself? you are sick and should be sleeping, not explaining something nobody has asked you to explain.”

the answer? because i want to and none of you can stop me.

to start with, a special interest in autism is an interest that is passionate and intensely focused and they can be absorbing to the point that they’re the only thing that somebody wants to do or talk about (they’re also typically much longer lasting than hyperfixations). you can very obviously see these characteristics in hinata’s love for volleyball and how it seems to be the only thing he talks about. he practices all of the time, and sure it’s to get better, but that comes from an all encompassing love of the sport.

he also uses volleyball to connect with people in meaningful ways. one example off the top of my head is when he meets kenma for the first time. sure, the interaction starts with him asking about a video game, but you can see how hinata becomes so much more invested in the conversation once kenma confirms that he plays volleyball. he immediately becomes much more comfortable in the situation with the presence of somebody who also has an interest in volleyball.

he seems to have trouble connecting to people without the use of volleyball. he doesn’t have any friends besides the people he knows from volleyball, and that may be a lot of people but it’s still true. we don’t know what happened with his friends from middle school, but we never see or hear from them again after he starts high school. in my opinion, that indicates that he has trouble keeping up with friends when they’re not seeing each other fairly often. which also helps explain why he was so nervous about losing his friends when he was in brazil (other than the obvious reasons). he also seems to have trouble picking up social cues, when he met kenma he didn’t really pick up on the fact that kenma seemed pretty uncomfortable with the situation. there are also other instances that i cannot be arsed to find rn, but do know that they exist.

also the gestures that he makes when he’s talking about volleyball seem like stimming to me, especially since he does it when talking about what i see as his special interest. i’m speaking from personal experience when i say that i tend to stim more when i’m talking about my special interest or a current hyperfixation. the fidgeting that he does in general could be considered stimming since they’re repetitive physical movements (though those aren’t the only type of stim they are the one that applies the most to hinata).

the way he explains how volleyball works in his mind but it doesn’t make sense to anybody else (besides noya). idk how to explain this one, just thought i’d mention it. if anyone has anything to add for this one please let me know.

let me know what you think of this!! i’m open to discussion about this (i really really wanna talk to somebody about it), but please remember to be respectful even if you disagree with me. thanks for reading, i hope it made sense.

[kagehinafromtheconcrete]

can we please destroy the idea that kageyama is a sex-obsessed animal who can't control himself?? like c'mon this boy is just,,,

he's just confused all the time??? he's just as clueless as the rest of the one-brain cell squad

and he's just so??? adorable??? this is the boy who tries his hardest to be the setter his team trusts and needs cos he's scared of the incident that happened in middle school and left him with lasting trauma

he even tries to communicate with tsukki!!

he really admires hinata's trust in him??? he wants that trust. yes he's human and he makes mistakes and he's not perfect but i don't see him doing anything to break hinata's trust

if anything, when he starts dating hinata, i feel like kageyama would be doting af. he's really awkward and socially inept (i really think he is autistic) but that's not a reason to turn him into an animal who's driven by desire?? he'd try his best to be respectful and mindful of hinata's boundaries. like yes maybe he'd mess up at first, but everyone messes up sometimes, it takes communication!!

yes he does a lot of roughhousing with hinata but the art style changes to show that it's for comedic effect. haikyuu is classified as a comedy slice-of-life. he's not physically abusive and he doesn't force himself into situations.

he even tries to talk to kenma!! and when kenma runs away he leaves him alone, he's just confused cos he doesn't know how talk to people.

in conclusion:

i'm definitely not hating on nsfw content, it's ok for that content to exist!!! absolutely!!! but i hate that a lot of ppl depict kageyama as this sex-crazed beast when he's really just a socially awkward cinnamon roll bean who, deep down, is touched by hinata's trust in him. karasuno has to teach him how to high-five. he's canonically the youngest on the team, including yachi. there's no way he'd know how to do a bunch of sexual stuff, esp not as a teen?? if hinata said to stop, he would. he wants trust. he wants good relationships. he tries really hard to develop them at karasuno. he's definitely not an animal. :( he's just doing his best.

[maddy-ferguson]

i have never in my life seen a fandom hate fun the way this fandom does. someone will post a headcanon and preface it by saying "i know this would never happen but wouldn't this be so cute" and within 20 minutes someone else will make a post saying "um if you think this could Ever happen you are gravely mistaken. you don't understand anything about the show. how dare you post this on the internet. you should be ashamed of yourself" all because the first person didn't take every "agreed upon" theory into consideration like bro maybe they aren't here for that maybe they just wanna be silly and have fun maybe you should consider shutting up

[weathertheraine]

Choice breakdown pt 4 - Kageyama

Kageyama’s frames from my Karasuno five ‘choice’ video !! Drawing his eyes in this diamond-shape was surprisingly hard, oof - but I also like that he’s a little less expressive than the others overall, though of course there are subtle differences, and I had fun drawing his pupils differently each time.

Video here!

CONTROL: for the first round of more ‘obvious’ word associations, Kageyama gets ‘control’ as a nod to his position as the ‘control tower’ of the team, as well as the incredible control and skill he displays in his setting, AND the control he feels he needs to have over his middle school team.

LOVE: potentially a less obvious theme- but something I think is truly very central to Kageyama’s character. He loves volleyball, he loves his teammates, he loves Hinata - he’s just ill-equipped to deal with those feelings and to express them properly. I wanted him to look more vulnerable/caught off-guard as he feels uncertain about how to respond to his own feelings or how to show them

BRAIN: back to more of a comfort zone - again, associated with Kageyama’s skill and intelligence on the court, as a contrast to how ill-equipped he is to deal with his feelings outside of it. I wanted his pupils to look kind of robotic, nodding to how he ‘calibrates’ on the court in season 4 which I found a really fun detail, and how much he’s thinking about the layout of the court.

WAKE UP: Kageyama gets this one as a call to get out of his own head. He can get trapped in his thoughts and his emotions, becoming fixated on things to his detriment, like he does when he refuses to change his and Hinata’s quick - and, of course, his treatment of his teammates in middle school. This ‘WAKE UP’ call can be seen as him ‘waking up’ in a horrible way when they turn on him, realising that he’s been behaving like a tyrant - but also in a more positive light when it comes to his teammates at Karasuno. It’s a call to wake up and remember his teammates around him - both to ensure he doesn’t become a tyrant, but also to remember that his new friends care about him, and are sticking around.

Yamaguchi / Tsukishima / Yachi / Kageyama / Hinata

[pixiefms]

they’d make ushijima and kageyama make a hand heart at a press conference and they’d just make a circle with their hands

[rk-tmblr]

<Hurry up, Miya. The silent's being too creepy here where you're supposed to be and I cannot stand it anymore.

>Woah Omi-kun, ya surely have a weird way to admit you're missin' me...

<I do not miss you. I want you, Miya. So get a move on.

From my (soon to be) SakuAtsu Fanfiction.

[unproduciblesmackdown]

the sense of having any lore about the ancient [ten to thirteen years ago] of marble hornets times like granpa granpa tell us a greentext story....the only hitch is not having stories and instead having "i guess you had to be there" tales from the fringes, unless instead of a hitch you frame this as a bit