“Turn ons? So lewd, anon-chan,” Oikawa teases. He narrows his eyes, leaning in close to your face. “I always appreciate a good make out session. We can see where things go from there,” he breathes against your ear, pressing a delicate kiss to the underside of your jaw.
“Do I miss anyone right now?” the peak spider considers. A sigh escapes as he looks out the window at the London city line. “Don’t tell them I said this,” he finally replies, a dark blush creeping up his neck, “but I really miss my Sohoku guys.”
The ace blushes a bit, scratching the side of his neck. “A secret huh?” He looks down. “Um, I….I have a crush on someone,” he says to the floor. Before he can go on, Oikawa bounds into the room, slamming into his back.
“Oooooo, Iwa-chan, are you finally confessing to Chi-chan?!” he exclaims.
“Sh…shut up trashykawa!!”
Hi Anon! This is totally ok, I love discussing characters of
one of my fave animes.
Oh my Oikawa, lol, the little brat, right?
So, first off, I have NEVER read the manga, so if there is
more revealed about him in it I am not aware of it. All of my opinion is based
off watching the anime and reading him in fic.
I’ll put a spoiler warning here since I am going to be
talking specifics. Anon, I’m assuming you’ve seen all the anime as well.
I was like you when I was first introduced to his character.
I thought, “Ok, here’s the “villain” of this season.” And in a way, he was. But
so was all of Aobajosai. They were the obstacle to our precious crows succeeding
and when they lost against them I was pretty much crying. When they won, I was
cheering.
That was my first watch through of seasons 1 and 2.
Then, after the third season emotional rollercoaster, I went
back because I’m addicted and watched from season 1 again.
And I started to like Oikawa a little more.
I saw more how he’s so in tune with his team, how amazing he
is but how it’s bred from freaking hard work and not “natural” talent like
Kageyama. His backstory, instead of revealing the villain to me, exposed a
scared and very much still young boy, unable to handle responsibly the pressure
being put on him.
He had a breaking point, we all do, and yes, it shocking to
see him almost strike Kageyama, but I understood it a bit better. Did it excuse
it? No! But it made a little more sense to me.
Oikawa, for all his control on the court, is still immature
and annoying. But somehow, that’s become part of his appeal.
In my next point, we’re getting into the realm of reading
between the lines, subtext and inference.
I also really love Iwaizumi (and not just cause homeboy has
FAB arms!). He’s an amazing senpai who for all his gruff nature really cares
about his team; including Oikawa. But with him, it’s different, they’re friends as much as they are teammates.
For all the blows he deals Oikawa and the teasing Oikawa gives Iwaizumi you can’t
help but see a genuine friendship in their interaction (I do not ship them romantically. To me they are bros now and forever
but that’s my opinion).
All that to say, I almost feel like if Iwaizumi has found
redeeming qualities in Oikawa beyond his abilities as a volleyball player, maybe
I can see them too.
I see his dedication to get better (borderline obsession but
it is what it is).
I see his focus on making sure all of his team are
succeeding. He brings out the best in all
of them.
I see him being good to his family (he’s spending his day off with his nephew. He could be
doing anything and he chooses to do that). I mean sure, he could have been
forced into it but knowing Oikawa if he was don’t you think he’d be complaining
about it? I do, so that tells me he made a choice to spend time with him.
I see him giving advice to Kageyama despite his dislike of
him. Yes, he’s petty in how he does it, but he still does it. If he really didn’t want to, he’d tell him to go fly
a kite.
I see him indirectly compliment Kageyama as part of the
weirdo duo when he’s speaking with Ushijima.
I see him directly
compliment Hinata after the Date Tech victory.
When you go back and watch again with the goal of paying
more attention to the “secondary” characters other than Karasuno, there is so
much revealed. I mean, I don’t know about anyone else, but I was focused solely
on the crows the first time around because that’s who the story is centered on
first. Those are my boys, I want them to win no matter what.
But then I watch a second, a third, a fourth time and I gain
new favorites, I love each character a little more.
Including Oikawa.
I will also say, my enjoyment of his character has stemmed
from reading probably some of the very same fics you’ve been avoiding. And I
get it, I do. If you don’t like a character, why read about them? But I think
if you were to give them a chance, you might be surprised how much you start
falling for him because there are SO MANY talented authors who draw out all
that subtext I mentioned earlier. They dive deep into his character and create
head canons (or maybe stay in canon with the manga for all I know about it)
that I find myself going right along with because they fit.
I’m sure this is a much longer answer than you were
anticipating and most of it probably seems like random rambling, but I hope it
in some way conveys why I am now a fan of Oikawa and think he does deserve
another chance.
If you have any further questions or want to talk more I’m
available through asks or DM.
That goes for anyone!
Thanks for asking my opinion, I’m humbled that you would
want it. 😊
First off, thank you for the compliment, both on the fact
that you like my writing and that you would ask me for tips. That is definitely
high praise indeed.
The first thing is just
keep writing. Now, that may sound odd but the phrase practice makes perfect
wasn’t said for nothing. The more you do something, the better (hopefully) you
will become because you will grow the existing skills you have.
Read…a lot. And I’m not just talking other imagines, though
that does help. Read books, read multi-chapter fanfictions of your favorite
shows, read different genres of stories to help glean their tones. Often there
are multiple tones which can occur in a story even if you have a centralized
theme (romance, horror, etc) so having a pile of inspiration to draw from is
helpful. Also, re-read stories you love with the intent to pay attention at how
you’re feeling, what you’re seeing in your mind. Notate what about the story
draws you in and think how to emulate (not copy of course) that in your own.
Keep a journal or notebook (paper and electronic) to write
down new ideas, plot points, dialogue, scene set up, etc. Inspiration can hit
at almost any time and it really sucks to have a GREAT idea or to work out a
plot point that was giving you trouble only to forget it later because you didn’t
write it down.
Get your ideas out but try not to critique too much as you
go. Some of that is fine because you don’t want to create double work for
yourself when editing. But I find that sometimes when I’m paying too much
attention to finer details I lose my overall focus of what I’m trying to say.
So instead, I just write what’s in my head and allow myself to worry about
trimming it down later. This works for me, it may not for you or others and truthfully,
I don’t do it all the time. But when I allow myself the freedom to just write sometimes I find my best stuff
comes out because I’m not overly criticizing it as I go which can stifle
creativity very quickly. I hope that made sense.
The above leads into the next: Re-read your work repeatedly. The first time, look for
grammatical, spelling, punctuation, and tense errors. Clean up the mess
(because it happens to all of us).
After you finish editing as above, step away from what you
just wrote and let it sit. I don’t always follow this because I get impatient
with myself but when I do manage to I’ve found my writing is of a higher
quality. If you can let it sit for a whole day without revisiting it, it gives
you a chance to read it with fresh eyes when you go back.
Now, after you’ve let it sit, if you’re working on a
multi-chapter, read the previous chapter and go right into the next. Check the
flow and makes sure everything makes sense. Does it feel choppy? Too wordy? Not
enough description? Too much description? How does the dialogue, feel/sound?
What can you do to convey your message as cleanly and simply as possible?
Writing with great description and detail is fine but our brains are really
good at filling in gaps using our imagination. We don’t have to spell
everything out.
When doing the second read through, if something feels like
it doesn’t fit or may fit later or you even wonder what the heck you were
thinking, don’t delete it. Open a separate
word doc and take what I call the scraps and put them there. Label however you
need to in order to remember what they are for. I usually have a scrap doc open
for any story I’m writing and use it only for that story. If I start a new one,
I open a new scrap doc and use it. This way, if you came up with a really great
scene that just didn’t feel well placed in one part of your story, you already
have it ready to go for the next. I’ve even had lines of dialogue that felt
more appropriate for later in the story and just hung onto them until I could
use them.
Finish your cut and paste then let it sit again if you can.
Again, this is to allow your brain time to step away from what you’re so close
to so that when you read it one last time you’re not filling in gaps or
glossing over errors because your brain is supplying the answers and your eyes
aren’t able to see them.
If you have someone you can trust that will give you honest
feedback, ask them to read it. Take their opinions and apply changes where
necessary. I have one person I bounce stuff off of and it helps me a lot. If
you don’t want to have someone you know personally do it, seek out a beta
reader.
Don’t give in trolls, just don’t. If someone has something
constructive say, listen with a grain of salt because you CAN’T PLEASE
EVERYONE. I stress this because I have to remind myself of it often.
The biggest thing to remember is: have fun. Writing like
this, while challenging, is supposed to be fun. It’s an indulgence to explore
options for characters you love so make sure you’re enjoying it!
I hope that answers your question and isn’t too
overwhelming. Everything I described above can be used for imagines/scenarios
too and your blog will stand out if you apply them.Thanks again for following, reading and reaching out. I’m
happy to help if you ever have any more questions. You can send an ask or DM me
if you like.
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