NEVER FORGET WHAT THEY TOOK FROM YOU

my greatest pride is whenever no-psi-nan reblogs a saiki k birthday post from that fictional characters birthdays blog and its some ass backwards character that no one should know my mentally ill autistic ass can come in and be like "actually this is this specific single gag background character that is from one of the least remembered chapters/episodes in the whole series". without fail.

This arc was a ride

Kaidou manga panels I like: (pt 157)

Oh No He's Hot: feat. Kuboyasu and Nendou

From: vol 8 ch 83

Thinking a lot about Kaido today and his whole perspective about lying/telling the truth when it comes to your loved ones.

It's interesting to me that Kaido always seems to be the first to freak out in the scenarios in which they all find out that Saiki is a psychic, or whenever they're close to finding out (actually pretty similar to his reaction to finding out Kuboyasu used to be a delinquent too). There's an obvious element to it of him feeling like he's been deceived right away even if he can rationalize it eventually and realize that maybe it doesn't really matter.

The thing is he... isn't the most honest person out there either. There's his whole deal with his chuunibyou complex, for one, though like others have pointed out, in a way that's more true to who he is than –and this is what I was specifically thinking about– how he seems to present himself to his mother.

It's not that everything Kaido's mother thinks about him is completely wrong. People have different aspects to them and the vision she has of a Shun that can introduce himself easyly to people, who's sweet and obedient isn't necessarily all that wrong.

He seems to behave with his siblings in the same way he does with his friends but not with his mom. It stands out to me that she thanked Nendo and Saiki for being his friends because he's "shy", when we've seen him being everything but that. But isn't it true anyway? His whole act seems to give him the confidence to actually call attention and interact with people, but Saiki and Nendo seems to be his first friends in... well, who knows, maybe ever? (Not counting Raiden since he was more of like an older student he admired rather than a friend, I take it).

In the end both sides of who he is are partially true to who he is, but I think his more extravagant behavior is definitely him finding in it a way in which he can fit in and be himself, so it rings more true. He wants to be someone special, who belongs, someone who's well liked and brave and powerful. And in a way it works! Fake it til you make it. While he's not becoming an overpowered guy from another universe fighting against evil anytime soon, he does find courage in his act, and he ends up surrounded by people who might think he's being silly but they aren't bullying him because of his dramatics. He has a place there in which he can just be without any expectations.

He clearly does love his mom and his mom loves him, but the dynamic there is different. With the way he plays up the "polite boy who can't do no wrong" act around her and how she uses terms of such endearment with him, it feels more... contained. Kaido knows his mom expects a certain behavior from him and he wants to please her. Everything he does to indulge himself is in secrecy (again, his whole act) and it doesn't interfere with what his mom expects from him so most of the time that's not a problem, he can study at home and go to cram school and do what she expects him to do without it clashing with who he is outside of that.

But he can't be honest with what he wants or who he wants to be because he knows she won't approve. He braces himself when she starts talking to Nendo and Saiki because he already knew she wouldn't like them not being studious (makes me wonder if he ever did have a friend before and she didn't approve. If so, I imagine they weren't close enough for him to protest the loss like with these two).

Kaido does seem to be smart, not top of the class smart but it's stated he usually does get good grades since he has good options to get into university and his overall ranking is good. But he doesn't really seem to have any particular passion for his studies, that's something his mom wants for him. He doesn't seem to hate it either, but if anything he seems to gravitate a little more toward creative endeavors; he got excited right away with the idea of making a manga with Kuboyasu, he was trying too hard at the art gallery but trying nonetheless, and then of course his daydreamings.

That's not something he's sharing with his mom. It feels natural for him to be embarrassed of his act in front of his mom, but I mean... it's hardly like he's embarrassed about doing that in front of the whole class, so I do get the feeling it might be in part because that has nothing to do with what he's supposed to be doing with his time, especially since Saiki mentions Kaido's mom is right and his grades have been suffering.

Overall, it's quite ironic in that sense that despite seemingly loving his mom, Kaido can't bring himself to stand up to her for his own wishes most of the time, and he's not completely truthful about the person he is in front of her. And yet the apple doesn't fall far from the tree because both of them think the exact same when it comes to their loved ones being honest to them.

I think perhaps that's what makes a little difference when it comes to their views; Kaido does come to accept things like Saiki being an esper and not telling him for the longest time and Kuboyasu with his delinquent past. Because while he clearly has the same ideas about a person being completely honest with you in order to have a proper positive bond with them, he hides too. There might be some truth to who he is in his chuunnibyou act in the sense of what he wants to be, but even then he's still hiding from his mom.

He's the first to freak out at the thought of being deceived by someone he cares about, but I think, at the end of the day, he does realize that honesty does matter to him, yes, but in the same way he does want to protect people even if he's terrified out of his mind and his act helps him pretend in that way, Kuboyasu earnestly trying to live in a more respectable way isn't a lie, Saiki being there for them all and being their friend isn't a lie.

On that note, this particular moment with him and Nendo is very interesting:

Because here Kaido obviously was lying on purpose for April's fools and going overboard with it, but knowing Nendo trusted him about the camera incident when nobody else did? It meant a lot, and his way of sort of solidifying that trust is promising to himself that he won't lie to Nendo again.

He obviously does keep the whole Black Jet Wings persona even so, as he does around everybody, but I do think that's in part because that's not a lie to him, it's an act and a game, but in a way it is part of the kind of person he is.

my little lord

occult club girls.

wanting to draw them because they're so underrated and I love them.

Alright then, here is my take on the whole shipping discourse in this fandom.

As someone who headcanons that Saiki is aroace with zero romantic or sexual attraction, I think it’s not my job to police anyone who likes to ship him with other characters. I can respect others who do so (and sometimes I find their ideas to be very interesting), and so can you. It’s not like getting angry over this will fix the problem over night.

I do wish less of the fandom was about shipping, because I think that the platonic relationships are the backbone of the series and are worth exploring. Despite that, I absolutely love seeing what people think about different pairings because the fandom is so creative.

It’s important to note that although Saiki says he has no interest in romance, he is written to be an unreliable narrator, meaning it’s hard to tell whether he is explicitly aroace coded or not. I like to think he is, but I don’t think others are wrong for disagreeing.

However, I do understand why someone would be upset with all of this. It is a bit frustrating to see a character you see as aroace be shipped left and right. In that case, it’s best to block users/tags that you are not interested in. Blocking something really isn’t serious, it’s simply a way to make this platform more enjoyable to you.

Anyway, I think this discourse is a bit useless. Let people see the character how they’d like. There’s no use arguing with each other. I think we can learn to respect different opinions.

The people have spoken

Enjoy these crumbs 🧎‍♀️

#i love these boys sm please

#theyre the only ones that address each other by their first names

JUST SAW SOMEONE REFER TO KUBOKAI AS “MOTORWINGS” AND MY HEART SHATTERED HOLY FUCK THAT’S SO CUTE HAGDHSHDHSHDHDJSJFJHD I’M OBSESSED :((((((