Fanfic idea for khr and AC crossover where tsuna get taken by his aunt after his mother died and his father cannot be contacted, said aunt just enroll him to kunugigaoka because they have good reputation hoping that in that kind of highschool tsuna can avoid being bullied
There Tsuna meet Yukimura sensei then later koro sensei who put faith in him and actually tried to help him without belittling him
So we know that Dying Will Flames are due to wave energy and resolve.
If you don’t, refresh yourself here. It’s part of the lecture series.
Now then, to quote the wiki:
“While humans can have a number of Waves of different attributes flowing inside themselves, usually only one of these Waves actually has the capacity to ignite the Flames of a Ring. Also, cases of individuals with multiple Waves that can light up Flames - and thus can carry Rings and Boxes of different attributes - are known to exist. Still, even among those, it is rare for someone to become skilled enough to use Flames and Boxes of different attributes in battle. Incidentally, individuals that possess a Sky-attribute Wave Energy are regarded as exceptionally rare.”
So Storm-attribute wave energy gives you Storm Flames. Lightning-attribute wave energy gives you Lightning Flames. Sky-attribute wave energy gives you Sky Flames.
Seems pretty straight forward, really.
There’s just this question: Why then can Skies open all types of Boxes in the future but only use Sky Boxes to their maximum potential?
That Sky Flames can open all boxes is stated by 10YL Hibari , even though Skies are not as effective as say a Cloud opening a Cloud box or a Rain opening a Rain box. A Rain box won’t open to someone that doesn’t have Rain-attribute wave energy. A Sun box won’t open to someone that doesn’t have Sun-attribute wave energy.
So what is Sky-attribute wave energy?
How is it produced? Why can it open all types of Boxes in the future? Is it like the skeleton key of Flames? Can the Harmony Factor really be used that way? What exactly does Harmony mean? Byakuran likely knows but he hacks the universe and doesn’t share everything he knows, that bastard.
Unfortunately it’s not really explained in the manga. There’s something about ‘Skies being the most mysterious flame’ instead. I absolutely hate that.
So Sky-attribute wave energy can be detected but what is it?
Is it produced naturally like the others? If so, why can it open other boxes, even if it can’t use them to maximum effectiveness?
Or is Sky-attribute wave energy something that’s only possible when there’s a balance of other wave-energies? Is that why they can power other boxes but not to the extent that Mist Flames or whatever other Flame-type could their specific boxes?
I know which one makes the most sense to me and it’s the latter.
I mean, Harmony. Sky Flames open all the boxes. Therefore if all the wave energies operate on different frequencies because color and wavelength and physics say that they do or else we’d see them as different colors if they stayed in the visible spectrum. Sky-attribute wave-energy must operate on all of them at once or something like that.
Therefore it makes sense that Sky Flames are equal parts Storm, Rain, Lightning, Sun, Mist and Cloud Flames. Hence why Sky Flames can open all the boxes but can’t use them as effectively.
However due to the size and balance of wave energy being determined at birth, chances are that the size/power of Sky Flames can be overwhelming power or even underwhelming. It just depends on the Sky, genetics and chance.
I think these variations of Skies would depend on the balance of flames/sizes of wave energy inside a person. That stuff’s determined at birth, or else more people would train to use it because flames are practically superpowers. I mean, we have the 7th Boss of the Vongola who had the weakest Sky Flames out of all the Bosses of the Vongola. Then we have people like the Secondo and Xanxus who have Sky Flames unique enough to gain a name of Wrath Flames that they can call upon when angry/at will.
The questions that would remain unanswered would then be these three. What’s the lowest equal ratio of flames a person can have and still have usable Sky Flames? What’s the absolute weakest Sky Flames could be yet still be able to be used as Flames? Why are Wrath Flames so rare? Because Wrath Flames being a mix of Sky and Storm is just on the word of a manservant of Rasiel, not someone like Verde who is an expert because Xanxus isn’t explaining it to other people.
So Sky Flames remain the most mysterious Flame due to lack of hard data. Why would it be so hard to include an explanation in the manga really? For that matter, can you explain which system the Zero Point technique works on?
I’m quite fond of my headcanon of equal balance/ratio of other flames = Sky Flames. Because that means there are variations in Sky Flames even by slight percentage and their users from the ideal balance of 16.67% of each Flame (100/6= 16.67.) Like 15% Sun and 17% Lightning or something. How would that change things considering the personality characteristics typical to each Flame?
This variation between Skies can explain things like Wrath Flames -extra percentages of flame/s added to Sky Flames made from some ratio less than the ideal 16.67% like say 15% (15x6=90) which gives 10% to distribute and cause a variation known as Wrath Flames. It explains how the Seventh had such weak Sky Flames because he had a far smaller amount of one flame or another and so couldn’t use a lot of Sky Flames without disrupting said ratio; hence why his Sky Flames were ‘weak.’ (Like a Rain Flame proportion of 12%. So at best he could use 72% of his total Flame capacity for Sky Flames because 12x6 =72 when most other Bosses could use like 93% or something.)
So Sky Flames remain mysterious flames that have their own unique properties and abilities due to being able to take all the individual properties of each Flame and use them all together which does strange things like turn living creatures to stone. I believe that they’re made of an equal ratio of other Flames because that makes sense and explains the variations of types.
I was thinking about Tsuna having kids, and how it’s basically guaranteed that one of them would have to become the next vongola boss, and I keep wondering how he would deal with that.
I can’t imagine Tsuna wanting to bring a child into the mafia world knowing he would be the direct reason they are dragged into it. Even if Tsuna manages to clear some of the blood on vongola’s hands and legitimize the business, that’s not something that can be accomplished in just a decade or two. And honestly, I don’t think vongola will ever be able to completely cut ties with the mafia.
But at the same time, he wouldn’t really have a choice. He’s one of the last members of the bloodline. (If all of Nono’s sons are dead, does that make Tsuna and either Nana/Iemitsu the final surviving members of Giotto’s lineage? If the Vongola Rings can only be inherited by Giotto’s descendants, what happens when the bloodline dies out? Does an entire part of the trinisette system just… disappear?)
Because of that, he would be pressured from all sides to have a child. The tyl future was intentionally vague for story reasons, so there isn’t much to go off. But if Tsuna dies, there is no one left to inherit the throne. Honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if the vongola started pushing him in his early twenties to have a child, “just in case.” Look at Timoteo, he had three children, and all of them died. That’s another reason everyone would want Tsuna to have multiple kids, and yet another reason Tsuna wouldn’t want to.
And then, if Tsuna does have a child who manages to grow up (survive), when would they be expected to become boss? Tsuna would definitely want them to have a proper childhood for as long as possible, but if his child becomes boss early, then Tsuna and his guardians could retire early. Who does he choose to sacrifice? He wouldn’t mind sacrificing himself, of course, but what if stepping down meant freeing his guardians from their duties, letting them finally spend time with their partners, kids, and hobbies? Would Tsuna keep them tied to him, knowing his own child now has guardians who can take over?
And that’s ignoring the cases where the child wouldn’t even be good boss to follow in Tsuna’s legacy (whenever that would be because they would be too bloodthristy or naive or miriad of other things).
There’s really no winning scenario for Tsuna here (quite a pattern if you think about it). I started this thinking Tsuna would want a child just to be able to retire early, but then I thought about it for more than one second I realised it would likely be another thing pushing him back to vongola seat. Tsuna really doesn’t have choice in any conceivable way does he.
it's funny that in the anime, tsuna is shown as average guy and no one notices him, even though in the fandom, he is the most popular character and is generally recognized as very cute (not to mention, he is literally a copy of giotto, who is INCREDIBLY HANDSOME)
One of my favourite things about Tsuna, that I don't think people really enjoy, is that he's useless. A lot of ff, especially on wattpad or ff net, change his personality a lot by making him a martyr or a cold-blooded assassin. I just think it's a shame. He's useless, and I love that about him. Even in the ending, he's still dumb and clumsy and terrified and it's him. I love that Amano wasn't afraid to keep that when he made KHR more serious. A true zero to hero. (Bottom line: Tsuna's great.)
okay so i didn't plan to ramble so much, but should have actually expected it because i've been thoroughly consumed by a 10th gen and especially a tsuna brainrot lately lol. so yeah, have said ramble under the cut.
and tl;dr is that i totally agree with this and so i wrote an essay about it no one asked for. <3
SAY that!!!!!!! you're so right and you should say it and i hope we all know it. also i was literally just talking about this too, like. tsuna IS a loser and it's a fact and the truth and it's the POINT. it's entirely by design, it's intrinsic to tsuna's character and it's the foundation on which everything else about him is built upon. and it's not who he is at his core, obviously, but because he's a loser and grew up one, and was perceived through this lens in other people's eyes and was given what they decided was the warranted and deserved treatment because of it, tsuna ends up with the personality he has and the outlook on life and people he has. he ends up with the convictions and principles and beliefs he has about life and people, and ends up with the wants and wishes and needs he has about them.
tsuna being a loser is absolutely fundamental to what khr is all about and to what tsuna's character especially is all about. and taking that away from him doesn't change the message of khr to an unrecognizable or significant degree, but to me it, does absolutely do that to tsuna's character, and so i inevitably lose non-negligible interest whenever it happens.
there's a reason why to the very end amano made it a point to show us and remind us that tsuna only barely changed. and not in any of the ways he's been and has been considered a loser all his life. there's a reason why he looks at friends, knowing that he only barely changed, and goes "but now i have friends anyway". because the thing is that he's just as deserving of them now as he would have been even if he had gotten them from the very beginning. even without him having to "prove" himself worthy of it first through all the mafia things he goes through throughout the manga.
which is the point. which is the point. do you get it?
tsuna is a loser. tsuna will keep being a loser even as he keeps growing and keeps becoming better and more capable and confident in his strengths. tsuna has to remain a loser for the message of khr to stay true to what it is. do you get it???
because tsuna IS bad at all the things that makes him a loser, and so what of it? it's completely insignificant when it comes to what kind of person he is. it has absolutely no bearings on or affect in any way the worth and value he has as a person, nor the respect and decency he should be treated with as such. which are all something he's (and everyone else) inherently due for no other reason that he IS a person too. that he's been born another fellow human being just the same as everyone else.
tsuna's a loser and it's been held against him and he's been harshly punished for it and it shouldn't have. it's wrong that it happened and that everyone around him let it happen. because sure, tsuna's a loser at these specific things, but so what of it? he's good—he's great at other things that matter so much more and are the only things that matter when it comes to, like. the things we owe to each other as human beings sharing the same earth and reaching for the same happiness. and the ways we owe each other to treat each other because we're all human beings capable of inflicting pain and being hurt the same way.
tsuna sucks at studying and at sports and at talking to girls, and he's clumsy and awkward and a coward and lazy and doesn't want to have to try hard in life, and he doesn't know how to approach people, but he's good at people. he's good at kindness, at understanding. he's good at mercy and compassion and forgiveness and giving second chances. he's good at seeing the worth in people despite all their imperfections and flaws, no matter how obvious or deep or seemingly unforgivable they may be. he's good at loving people for all their imperfections and flaws too, making it easier for them to love themselves too. he's good at making the most out of the happiness within the little things in life, helping others realize that maybe this is all they need out of life too, that maybe it's enough and they don't have to work themselves to the bones to be more and better and perfect, and reach some arbitrary greater height. he's good at knowing what is right and where to draw the line, and what should be fought for and protected to the very end.
tsuna's great at all of those things, which becomes more and more apparent as you read the manga. and he could have learned to be great at these things so much sooner if he was just allowed to, because he's always had it in him to be great at all these things at the same time as he was bad at the other things. and part of why he's a loser and remains one is, of course, because he was harshly and cruelly and unfairly bullied for it for years, to the point it destroyed any kind of self-esteem in him before he had the chance to show he also was much more than that. and another part of it is that he's thirteen years old when the manga starts and should have been allowed to be. but yet another part of it is that it's also just who tsuna is and it's okay.
tsuna wasn't secretly or unknowingly super skilled and talented and better than everyone else all along, and it's okay. and he felt bad about it and thought lesser and lower of himself because of it because he was made to, but it's still okay if he doesn't feel like changing that part of himself even once he grows out of it. it's still okay if he still feels at peace being the way he is in that respect, because it just has no bearings on what he calls happiness and his abilities to find it. and i firmly believe that even if reborn never showed up in his life and brought everyone else along with him, happiness would still eventually have found its way to him. people—his people, people who'd have been able to see him for who he truly he is in all his imperfections and who'd have loved him for them and for everything else he also is, would still have found its way to him. and maybe, in a scenario where life is a little kinder to him once he's out of school and allows him the time and peace to pick up the broken pieces of his self-esteem and self-worth off of the floor, tsuna would be even brave enough to be the one to look for them first, to reach out to them first.
i firmly believe that even if reborn never showed up in his life, another reborn would have eventually showed up in his life anyway, because—
because this is the point of tsuna as a character. because khr is all about growth, about it never being too late to do better by yourself and others than you did yesterday, about you never being too far gone to start learning how to do that, and about how, despite undeserving and unworthy of it you think you are, there will always be people who eventually and inevitably will be willing to love you anyway, healing the pain away and making it worth it and making you a better person for it. and of course, tsuna's journey throughout the manga is the embodiment of all that more than anyone's else, but khr is also about how you're deserving of kindness and love and happiness even right now, in all your flaws and imperfections. even before you start doing anything about it. it's also about how you're still deserving of people to have your back, to support you, to help you back up on your feet and help you heal the bruises from the fall. how you're still deserving to have people to hold your hand and stand by your side right where you currently stand, making it more bearable and kinder and loving and happier until you're ready to walk on a less harsh path. hand in hand and side by side still.
tsuna's a loser, and it's no personal or moral failure of his in any way. it's not a flaw of his or something he ever has to overcome if he doesn't feel like it. and it's not something that should have ever taken anything away from him where it matters the most for so many years. it shouldn't have been allowed to, and it's wrong that it was--tsuna was being unfairly and cruelly wronged every moment it was allowed to happen.
tsuna's a loser, and still went on to love people and to be loved back just as wholly and fiercely, as it should be and should have been all along. tsuna's a loser and remained a loser through everything he achieved throughout the manga anyway, proving (even if he should never have had to) that happiness and love was still within his reach all along. as it should be and should have been all along.
tsuna's a loser, and he's still loved for being one too, not in spite of it, never in spite of it, and it's only right that he is. it's the only right way it should be.
and it's so, so important to me that tsuna carries this message within him and embodies it so relentlessly and unyieldingly and proudly throughout the manga, and it's absolutely the one thing i personally love about him the most.
(also on a side but still relevant note, i do personally mean tsuna's a loser, and not useless by any means. and when i call him a loser, i'm only saying it factually with no judgement attached to it, and would use another word with the same meaning but with none of the (or less of anyway) negative connotations attached to it if i could think of it lol. but yeah, "useless" is just the demeaning monicker and nickname that was forced onto him so relentlessly and for so long, he came to believe it to be the truth too, but it still doesn't make it true. it isn't, does not actually truthfully reflect on him or is an accurate assessment of who tsuna is and what he can become. what tsuna actually is, is lacking in certain areas to an extent people around him just decided it'd mean he'd never amount to anything in life, but once again, just because they believed it and made tsuna come to believe too, it still doesn't make it true.
tsuna is not useless and has never been so. and he didn't get the opportunity to learn it for himself before people decided that was all he could be, but then do learn that once reborn shows up in his life. and we learn it alongside him as we witness and accompany him on his journey through the manga that tsuna always had it in him to live a good life. and maybe to not make something great out of it too, or something that'd leave a mark behind him once he'd be gone, or something admirable other people would strive to achieve in turn, but so what of it? what does it matter when it's not something tsuna himself cares to do, when it's not something he needs to do to still be happy and content and fulfilled with his life anyway?
tsuna would have done just fine at life as long as he'd have been left alone to try his best shot at it. i mean, take the fact he's bad at studying as an example. and he's bad at it because it's simply something that doesn't come easy to him, but also the bullying sure as hell can't be helping the matter, especially when we know some teachers are in on it too. and maybe tsuna still wouldn't manage to achieve average grades or above average grades even without the bullying, but no doubt he'd do a lot better than he does in canon if he was just left alone to try his best at it anyway no matter how bad at it he is.
now as it is in the manga, he does go on to live a great life, by becoming vongola decimo and all (it's strongly implied anyway), but it's still very much not something he wants or something he'd call happiness. if it was left up to him, tsuna would have gone on to find and build his quiet and peaceful and unremarkable daily life for himself, and would have been perfectly happy with it. with or without reborn showing up in his life, once again, for the reasons already discussed above. and some people would still pity him for it, would still see him as lesser and lower for it, would still force their beliefs ln him that his life is lacking and that he should strive for more and better, but that very life still would be everything he's ever wanted out of it. and he'd still hold on to it tightly and protect it and fight for it unyieldingly through thick and thin, comes hell or high water.
which is, again, the point of tsuna as a character. tell me you get it. this is what his character all comes down to it. this is what he fights for and what keeps him standing back up again and again, both for himself and for other people too, especially the one he loves, so they can at least have the chance to choose if it's something they also want for themselves because it's what they also call happiness. the mundane and unremarkable and ordinary.
because the thing is, tsuna is so very plain and unremarkable and average, and then fails at even being average, and still, still, happiness and love and acceptance have been within his reach all along. and still, he's been deserving of them all along. and still, he's been due those things all along.
because these are not things that should ever have to be earned. these are not things that should be tied to your inherent greatness or lack thereof, or to wether other people think you worthy or deserving of it. these should not be tied to how hard you worked beforehand to get them and prove yourself worthy of them, even if you can't help but feel it unfair then that other people got those things easier than you without first having have had to do all of that. and these should not be tied to how grandiose they might be, or how impactful, or how much it makes people look up at them and envy them for themselves too.
and you should be worthy of them, should know how to cherish them and look after them so they'd flourish and prosper, and it's only right they're taken away from you if you turn them into something hurtful both to you and to other people, but happiness and love and acceptance are things that should be given. for no other reason thay we've all been born in this world without asking to. from a human being to another human being. and if it's not given to you, you're well within you right to name them that wherever you find them, and pick them up and hold them close to your heart and refusing to let go, comes what may.
the point of tsuna is to say with his whole chest and while believing every word to his very core that "you've been unfairly withholding happiness from me when you had no right to deem me unworthy of it to begin with, and i will never let anyone take it away from me again now i found it anyway and should have been allowed to find it all along."
the point of him is to say "who are you to tell me i don't get to have happiness too? especially because of things that don't even make it harder for anyone else to find happiness too, that don't hurt anyone else, including myself, and that won't make it harder for me to find my version of happiness? who are you to call my happiness any less meaningful that yours, to see it as lesser than yours just because we have different definition of it? who are you to decide what i call happiness isn't actually making me happy or isn't happiness at all, just because it's not something that would make you happy to? who are you to make it harder for me to reach happiness just because you think i shouldn't get to have it?"
the point of tsuna as a character is to say "this is what i call happiness, and this is the happiest i've ever been, no matter how many other people may believe there's some greater happiness i could achieve and should strive for to achieve instead. these are the people i love, right the way they are in this very moment in all their flaws and imperfections, and with all the room they still have to become even better and all the potential they still have to fulfill, and i will keep loving them just the same should they choose to stay right the way they are anyway and wouldn't change anything to them.
the place in life i'm at right now and the people i'm surrounded with right now is everything i've ever wanted, and i will fight you to the very end if you try to take it away from me or change it in any way just because you think i should want more and better and it's not actually all that important or meaningful. and i'll win.
try me."
and another thing in khr that's also so, so important to me and that i love so much, is that tsuna's allowed to be right about this. he's always and constantly proven right in this stand he takes over and over again and is rewarded for it too. is rewarded by having only barely changed by the end of the manga, and not in any of the ways people tried hard to change him against his wishes.
the narrative always and constantly takes his side on the matter, and does allow him to keep winning over and over again. not without cost, not without paying the price for it, but still he undisputably and undoubtedly wins over and over again.
yes, yes, yes!! this!! i wanted to write so much about tsuna's character but there was a character limit...
(tldr; at the end)
tsuna is, single-handedly, the most interesting protagonist i've ever read upon or had the pleasure to watch. he's the amalgamation of a zero-to-hero protag. i've seen people label characters like deku or naruto as the best zero-to-hero protags, but i strongly disagree. tsuna is, without a doubt, the best in my book, simply because no other mc struggles as much as tsuna.
tsuna doesn't suddenly get the best grades or is able to tackle anything he desires. he doesn't suddenly gain the ability to face any scary situation. yes, he gets a ten-minute boost of strength and, eventually, the ability to tap into a calmer state of mind during fights.
but it was never his dream or his intention. deku always wanted to be a hero. naruto always wanted to be hokage. asta always wanted to be the wizard king. tsuna didn't want, well, anything. he just wanted to get by. he doesn't want to be decimo and, even in the end of the manga, he doesn't want to be decimo or neo vongola primo. he doesn't long for anything like that. he doesn't want something grand or something noble.
tsuna, as far as i could tell, really only wanted friends, even if he rejected the friends he has at first. not that one could blame him. gokudera tried to kill him, ryohei is incredibly passionate, lambo is a spolit brat, hibari is very violent, and mukuro is mukuro. yamamoto and chrome are the only ones (in his main group) who he accepted because they were reasonable.
it's clear that tsuna didn't have any friends pre-canon. he was a loner who couldn't score past double digits in tests, couldn't run ten metres without getting exhausted, always cowered out of things, skipped school, and was a massive klutz.
fanfic tends to exaggerate tsuna's circumstances regarding middle school. we never get any sort of implication that he was bullied more than being called 'dame-tsuna' or people making fun of him confessing to kyoko in his underwear. fanfic exaggerates it to 'he was beaten and harassed' and that just isn't the case. it's fine to do that, but people tend to accept that as canon due to how often it appears in fanworks.
there's also this weird theory where nono sealing tsuna's flames made him this way, but that's just the way people try to justify liking tsuna. they don't like to admit that they like a character who isn't conventionally 'cool'. they don't like that tsuna's clumsy and weak and cowardly.
but i love that about him. i love how amano isn't afraid to keep tsuna the same even when he decided to take his gag manga more seriously. he doesn't even change the other characters. gokudera is still a weird puppy, yamamoto is still an oblivious weirdo, lambo is still a spoilt brat, ryohei is still a weird enthusiast, hibari is still a weird delinquent, mukuro is still a weird phycho. and reborn is still a weird tutor.
i used to be obsessed with those weird fics where tsuna was secretly badass, but that isn't him. i was also obsessed with other series with cool, stoic protags, and i didn't understand how amazing tsuna's character is.
all throughout the manga, tsuna is constantly denying the position of decimo, only involving himself when he's forced to or when his friend is in danger. he was perfectly willing to give the position up to xanxus until he decided that xanxus isn't a good person. even later on, when he teams up with xanxus, he does it out of necessity.
i love that tsuna doesn't forgive any of the bad guys for their actions. he doesn't like mukuro, even if he feels sorry for him concerning his past. he doesn't forgive byakuran, only teaming up with him for the benefits. he doesn't forgive daemon. at all.
he forgives enma, because enma was being manipulated, and enma was his first, true friend, who was also the only sane man. he bonded with enma, thus he finds the capacity for forgiveness.
he isn't a martyr. if people are shitbags, then he won't easily forgive or pardon them.
on that note, tsuna is not inherently nice. he does plenty of kind things, but he's not nice. he frequently snaps at people, mostly for comedic effects, but also in stressful situations. and i love that.
kindness isn't something that tsuna just has. it's something he has to learn. when he's stressed, he snaps, like in the future arc when he yells at the girls and lambo. he has to take a step back and calm down and apologise to them in his own way.
something else i love is how you can see his progress in improving himself. at the start of the series, he gives up incredibly easy and would rather run away from a fight. he knew giving up would result in others being hurt or whatever, but he gives up anyway, only charging in when forced to or shot by a dying will bullet.
however, as the series progresses, you can see him slowly start believing in himself. when reborn asks if he can develop a technique, he says 'maybe'. he doesn't deny it or give up. and you can see this in full throttle when he goes to save enma. he refuses to give up on him. you can see it when he refuses to give up on reborn. you can see it when he's prepared to give up his life and livelihood to save the arcoboleno.
his character means so much and i hate how people try to hide it with fics that present him as a hidden badass, or fics that blame his clumsiness and stupidity on flame sealing. his character tells us that, no matter what, you can improve in every way that matters. you don't need to be super smart or super athletic to be happy. tsuna is none of those things, yet he's happy. not because he's a hero who saves people, but because he has friends.
his friends bring him a happiness that good grades or good scores or a good body would never give him. he had people who like or love him for who he is. he has an amazing tutor who never gave up on him. it's because reborn refused to give up on him that tsuna was able to believe in himself and i love it.
the idea that all you need is someone to believe in you in order to believe in yourself is beautiful.
in short: i love tsuna, please read katekyo hitman reborn.
i don't... agree with everything. there's some specifics we interpret differently, but i wholeheartedly and totally agree with the message as a whole!
i will say that tsuna is "properly" and "fully" bullied tho. there's a scene with enma where they both end up being beat up, and also another scene where some other students try to corner him, with the implication it could escalate to violence, but gokudera is there and make them back off. if i'm not just inventing that scene anwyay lol, but the one where he gets beat up with enma definitely happened.
but also even if scenes of physical violence are rarely shown, you can tell they do happen by the way they treat tsuna overall. like the way mochida punched him for confessing to kyoko? which would be one thing because tsuna was only in his boxer at the time lol, but then he set up that whole fight for the obvious and express intent to publicly humiliate him by beating him up through kendo. and people cheered him for it, showed up in numbers to watch with the full expectation tsuna wouldn't be able to put up a fight at all. and they were all okay with that, it was just entertainment for them they clearly felt entitled to and took for granted. and if the way enma was bullied while at namimori (re: him getting beat up) is any indication of the way nami bullies act, then it's safe to say they also beat up tsuna too.
(and on the other end even if they didn't, the verbal abuse is harsh and cruel and vocal and constant, and plenty enough in and of itself to inflict deep and lasting damages.)
and it's important for me to say that, because i also agree that tsuna isn't inherently nice. like, in the light of this, of the years of bullying he went through by the time the manga starts, he had all the reasons in the world to be bitter and resentful and angry and hateful. to be hurt and decide he'd hurt back in retaliation. but he still values kindness and chooses to learn how to be kind. and he still chooses to be kind over and over again whenever he can. which is why i like to say that the most defining quality of his is his resilience, and why it's also his quality of his i personally like best.
because tsuna's resilient, he's able to be and remain all the other things he also is despite the things he goes through, be it bullying or mafia bullshit. but specifically about the bullying, because he's resilient, tsuna's been able to bear it while still protecting his ability to be kind anyway. and his want to be kind too, to learn how to be when given the opportunity or when the need arises because he puts value and worth in it.
because he's resilient, tsuna's been able to go through the years-long of harsh bullying while still protecting his ability to be good, and to do good in the world and to/for other people whenever he can and whenever he's allowed to, and that is so, so very brave of him.
One of my favourite things about Tsuna, that I don't think people really enjoy, is that he's useless. A lot of ff, especially on wattpad or ff net, change his personality a lot by making him a martyr or a cold-blooded assassin. I just think it's a shame. He's useless, and I love that about him. Even in the ending, he's still dumb and clumsy and terrified and it's him. I love that Amano wasn't afraid to keep that when he made KHR more serious. A true zero to hero. (Bottom line: Tsuna's great.)
okay so i didn't plan to ramble so much, but should have actually expected it because i've been thoroughly consumed by a 10th gen and especially a tsuna brainrot lately lol. so yeah, have said ramble under the cut.
and tl;dr is that i totally agree with this and so i wrote an essay about it no one asked for. <3
SAY that!!!!!!! you're so right and you should say it and i hope we all know it. also i was literally just talking about this too, like. tsuna IS a loser and it's a fact and the truth and it's the POINT. it's entirely by design, it's intrinsic to tsuna's character and it's the foundation on which everything else about him is built upon. and it's not who he is at his core, obviously, but because he's a loser and grew up one, and was perceived through this lens in other people's eyes and was given what they decided was the warranted and deserved treatment because of it, tsuna ends up with the personality he has and the outlook on life and people he has. he ends up with the convictions and principles and beliefs he has about life and people, and ends up with the wants and wishes and needs he has about them.
tsuna being a loser is absolutely fundamental to what khr is all about and to what tsuna's character especially is all about. and taking that away from him doesn't change the message of khr to an unrecognizable or significant degree, but to me it, does absolutely do that to tsuna's character, and so i inevitably lose non-negligible interest whenever it happens.
there's a reason why to the very end amano made it a point to show us and remind us that tsuna only barely changed. and not in any of the ways he's been and has been considered a loser all his life. there's a reason why he looks at friends, knowing that he only barely changed, and goes "but now i have friends anyway". because the thing is that he's just as deserving of them now as he would have been even if he had gotten them from the very beginning. even without him having to "prove" himself worthy of it first through all the mafia things he goes through throughout the manga.
which is the point. which is the point. do you get it?
tsuna is a loser. tsuna will keep being a loser even as he keeps growing and keeps becoming better and more capable and confident in his strengths. tsuna has to remain a loser for the message of khr to stay true to what it is. do you get it???
because tsuna IS bad at all the things that makes him a loser, and so what of it? it's completely insignificant when it comes to what kind of person he is. it has absolutely no bearings on or affect in any way the worth and value he has as a person, nor the respect and decency he should be treated with as such. which are all something he's (and everyone else) inherently due for no other reason that he IS a person too. that he's been born another fellow human being just the same as everyone else.
tsuna's a loser and it's been held against him and he's been harshly punished for it and it shouldn't have. it's wrong that it happened and that everyone around him let it happen. because sure, tsuna's a loser at these specific things, but so what of it? he's good—he's great at other things that matter so much more and are the only things that matter when it comes to, like. the things we owe to each other as human beings sharing the same earth and reaching for the same happiness. and the ways we owe each other to treat each other because we're all human beings capable of inflicting pain and being hurt the same way.
tsuna sucks at studying and at sports and at talking to girls, and he's clumsy and awkward and a coward and lazy and doesn't want to have to try hard in life, and he doesn't know how to approach people, but he's good at people. he's good at kindness, at understanding. he's good at mercy and compassion and forgiveness and giving second chances. he's good at seeing the worth in people despite all their imperfections and flaws, no matter how obvious or deep or seemingly unforgivable they may be. he's good at loving people for all their imperfections and flaws too, making it easier for them to love themselves too. he's good at making the most out of the happiness within the little things in life, helping others realize that maybe this is all they need out of life too, that maybe it's enough and they don't have to work themselves to the bones to be more and better and perfect, and reach some arbitrary greater height. he's good at knowing what is right and where to draw the line, and what should be fought for and protected to the very end.
tsuna's great at all of those things, which becomes more and more apparent as you read the manga. and he could have learned to be great at these things so much sooner if he was just allowed to, because he's always had it in him to be great at all these things at the same time as he was bad at the other things. and part of why he's a loser and remains one is, of course, because he was harshly and cruelly and unfairly bullied for it for years, to the point it destroyed any kind of self-esteem in him before he had the chance to show he also was much more than that. and another part of it is that he's thirteen years old when the manga starts and should have been allowed to be. but yet another part of it is that it's also just who tsuna is and it's okay.
tsuna wasn't secretly or unknowingly super skilled and talented and better than everyone else all along, and it's okay. and he felt bad about it and thought lesser and lower of himself because of it because he was made to, but it's still okay if he doesn't feel like changing that part of himself even once he grows out of it. it's still okay if he still feels at peace being the way he is in that respect, because it just has no bearings on what he calls happiness and his abilities to find it. and i firmly believe that even if reborn never showed up in his life and brought everyone else along with him, happiness would still eventually have found its way to him. people—his people, people who'd have been able to see him for who he truly he is in all his imperfections and who'd have loved him for them and for everything else he also is, would still have found its way to him. and maybe, in a scenario where life is a little kinder to him once he's out of school and allows him the time and peace to pick up the broken pieces of his self-esteem and self-worth off of the floor, tsuna would be even brave enough to be the one to look for them first, to reach out to them first.
i firmly believe that even if reborn never showed up in his life, another reborn would have eventually showed up in his life anyway, because—
because this is the point of tsuna as a character. because khr is all about growth, about it never being too late to do better by yourself and others than you did yesterday, about you never being too far gone to start learning how to do that, and about how, despite undeserving and unworthy of it you think you are, there will always be people who eventually and inevitably will be willing to love you anyway, healing the pain away and making it worth it and making you a better person for it. and of course, tsuna's journey throughout the manga is the embodiment of all that more than anyone's else, but khr is also about how you're deserving of kindness and love and happiness even right now, in all your flaws and imperfections. even before you start doing anything about it. it's also about how you're still deserving of people to have your back, to support you, to help you back up on your feet and help you heal the bruises from the fall. how you're still deserving to have people to hold your hand and stand by your side right where you currently stand, making it more bearable and kinder and loving and happier until you're ready to walk on a less harsh path. hand in hand and side by side still.
tsuna's a loser, and it's no personal or moral failure of his in any way. it's not a flaw of his or something he ever has to overcome if he doesn't feel like it. and it's not something that should have ever taken anything away from him where it matters the most for so many years. it shouldn't have been allowed to, and it's wrong that it was--tsuna was being unfairly and cruelly wronged every moment it was allowed to happen.
tsuna's a loser, and still went on to love people and to be loved back just as wholly and fiercely, as it should be and should have been all along. tsuna's a loser and remained a loser through everything he achieved throughout the manga anyway, proving (even if he should never have had to) that happiness and love was still within his reach all along. as it should be and should have been all along.
tsuna's a loser, and he's still loved for being one too, not in spite of it, never in spite of it, and it's only right that he is. it's the only right way it should be.
and it's so, so important to me that tsuna carries this message within him and embodies it so relentlessly and unyieldingly and proudly throughout the manga, and it's absolutely the one thing i personally love about him the most.
(also on a side but still relevant note, i do personally mean tsuna's a loser, and not useless by any means. and when i call him a loser, i'm only saying it factually with no judgement attached to it, and would use another word with the same meaning but with none of the (or less of anyway) negative connotations attached to it if i could think of it lol. but yeah, "useless" is just the demeaning monicker and nickname that was forced onto him so relentlessly and for so long, he came to believe it to be the truth too, but it still doesn't make it true. it isn't, does not actually truthfully reflect on him or is an accurate assessment of who tsuna is and what he can become. what tsuna actually is, is lacking in certain areas to an extent people around him just decided it'd mean he'd never amount to anything in life, but once again, just because they believed it and made tsuna come to believe too, it still doesn't make it true.
tsuna is not useless and has never been so. and he didn't get the opportunity to learn it for himself before people decided that was all he could be, but then do learn that once reborn shows up in his life. and we learn it alongside him as we witness and accompany him on his journey through the manga that tsuna always had it in him to live a good life. and maybe to not make something great out of it too, or something that'd leave a mark behind him once he'd be gone, or something admirable other people would strive to achieve in turn, but so what of it? what does it matter when it's not something tsuna himself cares to do, when it's not something he needs to do to still be happy and content and fulfilled with his life anyway?
tsuna would have done just fine at life as long as he'd have been left alone to try his best shot at it. i mean, take the fact he's bad at studying as an example. and he's bad at it because it's simply something that doesn't come easy to him, but also the bullying sure as hell can't be helping the matter, especially when we know some teachers are in on it too. and maybe tsuna still wouldn't manage to achieve average grades or above average grades even without the bullying, but no doubt he'd do a lot better than he does in canon if he was just left alone to try his best at it anyway no matter how bad at it he is.
now as it is in the manga, he does go on to live a great life, by becoming vongola decimo and all (it's strongly implied anyway), but it's still very much not something he wants or something he'd call happiness. if it was left up to him, tsuna would have gone on to find and build his quiet and peaceful and unremarkable daily life for himself, and would have been perfectly happy with it. with or without reborn showing up in his life, once again, for the reasons already discussed above. and some people would still pity him for it, would still see him as lesser and lower for it, would still force their beliefs ln him that his life is lacking and that he should strive for more and better, but that very life still would be everything he's ever wanted out of it. and he'd still hold on to it tightly and protect it and fight for it unyieldingly through thick and thin, comes hell or high water.
which is, again, the point of tsuna as a character. tell me you get it. this is what his character all comes down to it. this is what he fights for and what keeps him standing back up again and again, both for himself and for other people too, especially the one he loves, so they can at least have the chance to choose if it's something they also want for themselves because it's what they also call happiness. the mundane and unremarkable and ordinary.
because the thing is, tsuna is so very plain and unremarkable and average, and then fails at even being average, and still, still, happiness and love and acceptance have been within his reach all along. and still, he's been deserving of them all along. and still, he's been due those things all along.
because these are not things that should ever have to be earned. these are not things that should be tied to your inherent greatness or lack thereof, or to wether other people think you worthy or deserving of it. these should not be tied to how hard you worked beforehand to get them and prove yourself worthy of them, even if you can't help but feel it unfair then that other people got those things easier than you without first having have had to do all of that. and these should not be tied to how grandiose they might be, or how impactful, or how much it makes people look up at them and envy them for themselves too.
and you should be worthy of them, should know how to cherish them and look after them so they'd flourish and prosper, and it's only right they're taken away from you if you turn them into something hurtful both to you and to other people, but happiness and love and acceptance are things that should be given. for no other reason thay we've all been born in this world without asking to. from a human being to another human being. and if it's not given to you, you're well within you right to name them that wherever you find them, and pick them up and hold them close to your heart and refusing to let go, comes what may.
the point of tsuna is to say with his whole chest and while believing every word to his very core that "you've been unfairly withholding happiness from me when you had no right to deem me unworthy of it to begin with, and i will never let anyone take it away from me again now i found it anyway and should have been allowed to find it all along."
the point of him is to say "who are you to tell me i don't get to have happiness too? especially because of things that don't even make it harder for anyone else to find happiness too, that don't hurt anyone else, including myself, and that won't make it harder for me to find my version of happiness? who are you to call my happiness any less meaningful that yours, to see it as lesser than yours just because we have different definition of it? who are you to decide what i call happiness isn't actually making me happy or isn't happiness at all, just because it's not something that would make you happy to? who are you to make it harder for me to reach happiness just because you think i shouldn't get to have it?"
the point of tsuna as a character is to say "this is what i call happiness, and this is the happiest i've ever been, no matter how many other people may believe there's some greater happiness i could achieve and should strive for to achieve instead. these are the people i love, right the way they are in this very moment in all their flaws and imperfections, and with all the room they still have to become even better and all the potential they still have to fulfill, and i will keep loving them just the same should they choose to stay right the way they are anyway and wouldn't change anything to them.
the place in life i'm at right now and the people i'm surrounded with right now is everything i've ever wanted, and i will fight you to the very end if you try to take it away from me or change it in any way just because you think i should want more and better and it's not actually all that important or meaningful. and i'll win.
try me."
and another thing in khr that's also so, so important to me and that i love so much, is that tsuna's allowed to be right about this. he's always and constantly proven right in this stand he takes over and over again and is rewarded for it too. is rewarded by having only barely changed by the end of the manga, and not in any of the ways people tried hard to change him against his wishes.
the narrative always and constantly takes his side on the matter, and does allow him to keep winning over and over again. not without cost, not without paying the price for it, but still he undisputably and undoubtedly wins over and over again.
yes, yes, yes!! this!! i wanted to write so much about tsuna's character but there was a character limit...
(tldr; at the end)
tsuna is, single-handedly, the most interesting protagonist i've ever read upon or had the pleasure to watch. he's the amalgamation of a zero-to-hero protag. i've seen people label characters like deku or naruto as the best zero-to-hero protags, but i strongly disagree. tsuna is, without a doubt, the best in my book, simply because no other mc struggles as much as tsuna.
tsuna doesn't suddenly get the best grades or is able to tackle anything he desires. he doesn't suddenly gain the ability to face any scary situation. yes, he gets a ten-minute boost of strength and, eventually, the ability to tap into a calmer state of mind during fights.
but it was never his dream or his intention. deku always wanted to be a hero. naruto always wanted to be hokage. asta always wanted to be the wizard king. tsuna didn't want, well, anything. he just wanted to get by. he doesn't want to be decimo and, even in the end of the manga, he doesn't want to be decimo or neo vongola primo. he doesn't long for anything like that. he doesn't want something grand or something noble.
tsuna, as far as i could tell, really only wanted friends, even if he rejected the friends he has at first. not that one could blame him. gokudera tried to kill him, ryohei is incredibly passionate, lambo is a spolit brat, hibari is very violent, and mukuro is mukuro. yamamoto and chrome are the only ones (in his main group) who he accepted because they were reasonable.
it's clear that tsuna didn't have any friends pre-canon. he was a loner who couldn't score past double digits in tests, couldn't run ten metres without getting exhausted, always cowered out of things, skipped school, and was a massive klutz.
fanfic tends to exaggerate tsuna's circumstances regarding middle school. we never get any sort of implication that he was bullied more than being called 'dame-tsuna' or people making fun of him confessing to kyoko in his underwear. fanfic exaggerates it to 'he was beaten and harassed' and that just isn't the case. it's fine to do that, but people tend to accept that as canon due to how often it appears in fanworks.
there's also this weird theory where nono sealing tsuna's flames made him this way, but that's just the way people try to justify liking tsuna. they don't like to admit that they like a character who isn't conventionally 'cool'. they don't like that tsuna's clumsy and weak and cowardly.
but i love that about him. i love how amano isn't afraid to keep tsuna the same even when he decided to take his gag manga more seriously. he doesn't even change the other characters. gokudera is still a weird puppy, yamamoto is still an oblivious weirdo, lambo is still a spoilt brat, ryohei is still a weird enthusiast, hibari is still a weird delinquent, mukuro is still a weird phycho. and reborn is still a weird tutor.
i used to be obsessed with those weird fics where tsuna was secretly badass, but that isn't him. i was also obsessed with other series with cool, stoic protags, and i didn't understand how amazing tsuna's character is.
all throughout the manga, tsuna is constantly denying the position of decimo, only involving himself when he's forced to or when his friend is in danger. he was perfectly willing to give the position up to xanxus until he decided that xanxus isn't a good person. even later on, when he teams up with xanxus, he does it out of necessity.
i love that tsuna doesn't forgive any of the bad guys for their actions. he doesn't like mukuro, even if he feels sorry for him concerning his past. he doesn't forgive byakuran, only teaming up with him for the benefits. he doesn't forgive daemon. at all.
he forgives enma, because enma was being manipulated, and enma was his first, true friend, who was also the only sane man. he bonded with enma, thus he finds the capacity for forgiveness.
he isn't a martyr. if people are shitbags, then he won't easily forgive or pardon them.
on that note, tsuna is not inherently nice. he does plenty of kind things, but he's not nice. he frequently snaps at people, mostly for comedic effects, but also in stressful situations. and i love that.
kindness isn't something that tsuna just has. it's something he has to learn. when he's stressed, he snaps, like in the future arc when he yells at the girls and lambo. he has to take a step back and calm down and apologise to them in his own way.
something else i love is how you can see his progress in improving himself. at the start of the series, he gives up incredibly easy and would rather run away from a fight. he knew giving up would result in others being hurt or whatever, but he gives up anyway, only charging in when forced to or shot by a dying will bullet.
however, as the series progresses, you can see him slowly start believing in himself. when reborn asks if he can develop a technique, he says 'maybe'. he doesn't deny it or give up. and you can see this in full throttle when he goes to save enma. he refuses to give up on him. you can see it when he refuses to give up on reborn. you can see it when he's prepared to give up his life and livelihood to save the arcoboleno.
his character means so much and i hate how people try to hide it with fics that present him as a hidden badass, or fics that blame his clumsiness and stupidity on flame sealing. his character tells us that, no matter what, you can improve in every way that matters. you don't need to be super smart or super athletic to be happy. tsuna is none of those things, yet he's happy. not because he's a hero who saves people, but because he has friends.
his friends bring him a happiness that good grades or good scores or a good body would never give him. he had people who like or love him for who he is. he has an amazing tutor who never gave up on him. it's because reborn refused to give up on him that tsuna was able to believe in himself and i love it.
the idea that all you need is someone to believe in you in order to believe in yourself is beautiful.
in short: i love tsuna, please read katekyo hitman reborn.
Hello, everyone. To today's episode of Tumblr user Rebo-chan loses her mind and assigns each and every Vongola guardian a flower that I have painstakingly searched high and low for (I wish I was being dramatic, I got too invested in this as I worked on it). Is this done in a state of mania? Perhaps, but I am diseased by COVID-19 as we speak and this is what I will do with the time I am meant to be resting with. Nonetheless we must get started. Content under the cut, because I can NEVER make a short post. It's against my core beliefs clearly.
Sawada Tsunayoshi:
The European Orange Lily (Lilium bulbiferum)
My reasoning for this starts with the fact that the "lily" itself has a lot of different meanings, but the important aspect of the lily is that its considered the spring flower and represents often meanings of renewal and rebirth. The very messaging for our sweet boy, a life restarted after he meets his mentor. An orange lily specifically has meanings dipped into warmth, joy, passion (In regards to his devotion to those he loves), 'welcoming' to new opportunities in your life (lol), and most importantly - confidence and pride. Something that he grows to be over the course of his renewal, pride in his friends. Confidence in his strength to protect them. KHR is a story about a nobody becoming somebody strong enough to protect them, even and especially when they falter themselves. It should also be noted that in Hanakotoba (Japanese flower language), orange lilies represent 'revenge and hatred'. Which I think is a factor of Tsuna we can't ignore, as sweet as he is, TYL Tsuna's actions become darker the more you think about them. Tsuna can and has killed when a villain has overstepped too far, and never forget that he just wanted to know "who" Yamamoto's attacker was. For no reason, just to look at him, maybe shake his hand lol. Fr though, that boy's made of fire, both to keep his loved ones warm and to burn their enemies. I think the orange lily fits him nicely.
Also yes, I'll do my best to color-code these flowers~
Gokudera Hayato:
A Red Fressia
So, its quite hard actually to find any sort of 'red' flowers that aren't about some sort of romantic-esque devotion. Just being a red flower inherently puts you in that category of 'passion, love, marriage' meanings when it comes to flowers. It's a real struggle, but luckily he's our only red character amongst the Vongola kids. Okay, so the Freesia is represented by the concept of friendship and ultimate trust. I think it was easier for me to find a flower that represents devotion or duty and tack it on to Gokudera, but I think that's just looking at him on the surface. The story behind the freesia is that the botanist who found them in South Africa decided to name it after his friend as a symbol of their friendship. Very lovely :)<3 For all of Gokudera's dutiful affection for Tsuna, a lot of it is based on the fact that Tsuna was his first friend and the person who he trusted first. His eventual character growth and bonding with the other guardians came as he allowed himself to trust them, when he realized that his 'duty' that he believed to be absolute was above his bonds. Rather, it's his bonds that strengthen his resolve to be the perfect right hand man. Due to the intense representation of friendship and trust, freesias are given to a loved one to represent commitment to them, not unlike Gokudera's commitment to Tsuna and therefore the Vongola family unit. It should also be noted that in Hanakotoba, freesias also have a negative meaning which is childishness and immaturity which I do feel is something that Gokudera has to work through in order to become the best version of himself and has done quite well at by the end of the series. He's our little friendship blossom :)<3
Yamamoto Takeshi:
Himalayan Blue Poppy
Let me start this by complaining that 'blue' flowers are so fucking rare, it took me forever to find something matched and was also color-coded with Yamamoto, that didn't dip into too indigo, because of the rarity of a nicely blue flower. To start, blue as a color has all those lovely Yamamoto vibes of being calming, easy on the mind, tranquility, all that beautiful stuff we know Yamamoto to be. (It's almost like Amano color-coded her characters guys..) Poppies themselves got a bit of cultural significance in the West, being the flowers given to WW1 soldiers after they'd passed as a way of remembrance. They're also known for growing in desolate war-torn areas, just a patch of poppies as well as having many soldiers buried with a poppy with them in honor. With that the poppy itself has themes of death, honor, lessons, tradition and remembrance. With Yamamoto’s connection to the Poppy flower, Yamamoto himself is..pretty death-coded. HEAR ME OUT. HEAR !! ME OUT!!!! Varia arc, Squalo ‘dies’ against Yamamoto. Future arc, Tsuyoshi is killed for Yamamoto being involved with the Vongola, Shimon with Yamamoto himself getting nearly killed and then that big moment where he offers to kill Daemon in retaliation for what was done to Kaoru. While not canon as well, the primo fillers are about Yamamoto dealing with the fact he DIDNT kill daisy and how he felt he had to be less easy-natured and actually go for the kills from now on. And of course, his attempt during daily life when he could not do what he loved anymore. He’s VERY death-coded y’all. But the poppy itself isn’t just some omen of death, but the lessons one can gather from those who have passed. Yamamoto’s own battle style is about taking the lessons of those before him who carried Shigure Soen Ryu and then growing upon that to carve a new and improved future for himself and those he cares about. He adapts to their lessons, what Squalo and Tsuyoshi have to teach him. On the fly, continuing the Shigure legacy and creating more moves to eventually pass on to the one that succeeds him. In general, he carries any lessons he has up until the end of the series and tries to never make the same mistake again. Whether that’s his lessons against the Mists he’s battled, his loss against Squalo for not having a proper sword style, and though he doesn’t get a chance against Gamma again, he’s always understood the importance of teamwork. That being said, he’s not just a poppy. He’s a Himalayan Blue Poppy. You see the himalayan blue poppy has a different meaning outside that of the ones that the other poppies do. With its rarity, it also represents success, potential, pursuit of dreams, and possibility. Yamamoto is the Vongola family’s prodigy, a natural born hitman, the star baseball player on his team. Stuck at a crossroads between his dream and being able to be in a position to protect the ones he loves. An impossibly difficult choice to make, yet Yamamoto handles it with ease. He just won’t choose! He’ll do both! Which fights very nicely with the Hanakatoba meaning of the poppy. “Fun-loving” “A reminder to remember happiness.” Along with general blue color meanings of tranquility, that is Yamamoto to his core, I believe. When things get their worst, he is there to remind everyone that it is never as bad as it feels. To wash away the blood spilled, that is the role of the Vongola Rain Guardian. His crossroad isn’t an issue to him, because that’s not what he fights for! He fights to make things easier for everyone, so they may remember happiness. That sort of thing doesn’t exactly need him to make a choice on his path. Now, does it? If he’s forced to choose, he will just carve out new possibilities for himself and the ones that he loves with the lessons he’s learnt.
Lambo Bovino:
Green Envy Zinnia
Contrary to the title, the green envy zinnia has nothing to do with envy. Quite the opposite, actually. The zinnia itself represents endurance (HEAR. ME. OUT LOL), lasting affection, joy, and various other things. So, the zinnia is super fucking tough, again hear me OUTTTT. They bloom all the way from springtime to autumn, something pretty unheard of from flowers which gave them their meaning. A green envy Zinnia specifically represents growth or a journey. Wishes of a healthy and successful growth. And I believe that is the hope for Lambo, as he progresses through the series. He is quite literally a child, both himself and TYL. But that’s just the thing for him, to the one that chose the guardians (Iemitsu, it’s very implied that it was Iemitsu), Lambo is an INVESTMENT. And a correct one if twenty years old Lambo was anything to go by. Not only that, the zinnia represents a joyous endurance. This doesn’t have to be painful for him, and it’s not as he’s allowed to both be a kid in Tsuna’s care while also holding on tight when told to stay out of the fight. (“You have to take the younger me wherever you go, he wants to go with you.”). And as a bit of an angsty little hehe on my part, the zinnia also represents missing those who have passed, that you remember someone and love them even now that they’re not with you. (“Seeing you all again, I thought the day would never happen. It’s making me emotional.”) Honestly, judging by how Lambo fights when he gets the opportunity to properly do it, he just isn’t weak. Destroying Kikyo’s box animal, fighting against Ooyama, and of course against Levi too. In Hanakotoba, the Zinnia represents loyalty. He is their youngest blossom, enjoying being around the one he considers a brother with hidden potentials to grow into someone with the ability to be Vongola’s shield. If the ones he loves ever make it to see that sight, of course.
Ryohei Sasagawa:
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
Okay, so the yarrow is first of all a funky flower. If you’ve never seen OTHER colors of the yarrow flower, I implore you to google it. Especially the red ones? Why are you so pretty? Lucky enough for this flower (and me I’m starting to lose my mind here, this was a much bigger task than I thought it would be) the different colors don’t change the meaning of the flower here which is neat. It also unfortunately has no hanakotoba meaning either. So, anyway. The yarrow. It represents a warrior’s bravery, protection, and healing. The healing comes from the fact that its a commonly used herb for bruises, cuts, and sprains. There’s also huge folklore around it which affects its scientific name, as Achilles used yarrow to take care of the men he was in charge of. This flower was also used as a ward against evil, where people would hang this outside of their homes in order to protect them from evil getting inside. A superstition developed around this leading to Yarrow to be named the devil’s nettle to refer to the belief that the devil would come around and shake the yarrow that people hung up due to wanting to curse them. This flower also represents strong everlasting love, to the point where a little tradition propped up where people would shove this flower up their nostrils whenever they had a nosebleed so if they dreamt about their crush it meant that they liked them back lol. Yall there was so much rich lore on this flower, it’s super neat. More than I could fit in here. Anyway, I’m sure yall see the connection with Ryohei acting as the group older brother, being the motivating factor for them. He was the first to go up during Varia arc and set the tone for the rest of the battles, that the Vongola would win. Last to show up during future, representing that all of them had finally been reunited. A draw against Aoba, again the very first battle, almost symbolizing HOW shimon would end. He’s the strength in their arms, acting as the last person to leave in future arc until they were ready to go. Taught them and helped lead them to make decisions during that arc. It’s almost his duty to protect the younger ones, even getting up on Hibari’s case in the fillers for not helping out his younger classmen. We can’t even dismiss the way he would prefer to shield Kyoko from everything that they go through, and getting aggressive with Tsuna when Tsuna broke something he thought both of them saw eye to eye on. Not much rattles him, honestly if you pay attention to his scenes, only getting the most nervous and agitated TRULY when he fears he won’t be able to protect someone (Asking Tsuna how Kyoko reacted to the news, Tozaru getting on his case about Lambo coming to the battle) Otherwise, he’s his happy loud confident self ready to tackle on anything for the sake of the family. Destroying the misfortune that attacks the family with their own body, the yarrow represents that duty well. For every bruise the younger one gets, Ryohei has the ability to heal it. For every fear, Ryohei tackles it first. Acting as a ward and protector for his family.
Hibari Kyoya
Clematis (Etoile Violette)
Clematis is a climbing flower, to start with. One of those flowers that grow along walls and vines. It’s a very adaptable flower, able to work with various environments and thrive amongst them. They’re known as the traveler’s joy, meant to wish travelers good luck and act as protection to those who pass by them. While also having a more negative reputation, having “killed” other plants by outcompeting them considered having done the devil’s work. (The plant is actually considered invasive aha oops) The clematis though, itself represents mental fortitude, cleverness, and the ability to find hope in perilous situations. Hibari himself, I mean just that back and forth reputation is just him, no? Acting as Namimori’s protector, keeping a watchful eye on the town while also being utterly terrifying for Namimori students and almost overwhelming to those competing with him. (Dino will only find escape from Hibari in death, Mukuro is the same) But, he is also undoubtedly Vongola’s wall. Similar to Ryohei, not once throughout the series really and truly faltering. The clematis itself with its representation in mental fortitude can be given to someone when they need mental strength. I think the best way to represent this is directing you to that moment in Shimon arc when Tsuna, while not physical beaten, had been mentally tormented by everything that had happened and Hibari came to his battle to Adel. A simple, but strong “Little animal, your face right now is dull. Watch my fight.” It’s in that fight Tsuna gets his mental strength back, being given a hint to answer the question he’s been stressing and faltering over. Then there’s future arc, having been the only one TYL Tsuna trusted with the plan. Kokuyo Arc, Gokudera seeing an already defeated Hibari and taking him to the battle. Varia arc, the gang realizing that if Hibari is fighting next then they may have already won it and refusing to succumb to the poison in the sky battle. Rainbow arc, Tsuna considering them in that list of people he “just expects to help him.” He has the ability to be their hope, to be another factor of their strength. Where Ryohei is holding them up on the physical aspect, Hibari is absolutely their mental strength. (Isn’t it charming that the two eldest are the pillars of their group? I think it is). Also, in Hanakotoba, the clematis represents moral beauty and order. And that’s just the kinda man who could run something like the discipline committee, isn’t? The special thing, finally is that the etoile violette represents a sense of freedom from troubles. A free man, unchained himself and choosing to help those younger than him. Sometimes for the thrill of a battle, sometimes to actually help them with the reputation of a devil. Unpredictable, but still trusted. It’s the sky that allows the clouds to roam freely, but even someday that sky will be beaten to death.
Chrome Dokuro
Lupine (Blue Bonnet)
The Lupine flower is before anything else, a second chance at life. A recovery from one’s trauma and the admiration that comes from that. Its gratitude and kindness put into one. There’s a legend around the lupine flower about a land full of drought where Native Americans had believed would be saved by selflessness and yet no one had come forward to do anything, until a young girl came forward and offered the last of her possessions. The rain came to fall at her sacrifice, and hundreds of lupines had blossomed from the ground saving the tribe from drought and hunger as the seeds of the Lupine could be harvested to be eaten. The Lupine represents that the world will always give back if you are willing to help. Chrome, from her introduction, is told to be a girl who has nothing. With two parents who want nothing to do with her and no friends by her side. She runs forward to save a kitten and is gravely injured. With neither of her parents willing to help her, Chrome wonders if she is going to die here but is offered a deal by Mukuro. It’s here that Chrome is offered her second chance and she spends the whole series trying to return the favor to Mukuro. All while healing from her own trauma, the type of trauma that “no one could care about her”, as she is offered food and bonds from Tsuna, Kyoko, Haru, I-pin, Bianchi, Hibari, and so many others. It's in her second chance that she gets to experience what life truly had to offer her, as thank you for her continued selflessness. It’s that gratitude that she represents and the never-ending desire to give when she doesn’t accept Mukuro’s assistance anymore with her organs because she can no longer give him anything now that he’s out of Vindice Prison. She resolves that she will become someone who can protect the people she and Mukuro like. Her confidence isn’t perfect and she falters quite a bit, not believing that her powers are as great as those around her. But, that’s okay, because her goodness has brought her to people who have got her back until she can figure herself out. She has Mammon to correct her when her illusions are seen through that they are well made, but she’s just dealing with professionals and that’s why they’re seen through. There’s Tsuna who relies on her blindly, never doubting her strength to protect them as he asks her to act as defense during Shimon arc and protect Enma from his attack. Alongside with Fran, she is trusted to protect Yamamoto and Gokudera in the final battle against Vindice and taken with Tsuna against Jaegar. She has a lot of space to continue growing, but Lupin also represents voracity and happiness in Hanakotoba. She has her second chance to learn all about that, or as Mukuro put it to her, “An ending is merely the beginning of another cycle.”
Rokudo Mukuro
Aconitum (Wolfsbane)
Wolfsbane is also referred to as Monkshood. This is another one with pretty rich lore with its connection to werewolves. It’s referred to as “queens of the poisons” and has a pretty negative message to it on the outside. First of all, this thing’s poison? TOUGH AS HELL. Delirium, frothing at the mouth, vision impairment, and of course the classic coma<3 It’s got an uncanny resemblance to what rabies actually looks like. Fun, right? Okay, fr though onto its meaning. Wolfsbane is an omen that danger is nearby, not unlike the unnerving feeling Tsuna gets whenever he senses Mukuro nearby. Said to have come from Hell itself, the saliva that has dripped down from Cerberus himself. Not unlike our sweet boy. But, being an omen does not always represent something bad. Is he bringing the danger to you, or is he warning you of the true danger that lies past him? It’s a little bit of both. Aconitum represents concealed wisdom and caution in decision-making. But it also DOES represent protection, a proper and true warning of the dangers of the wild. That beauty does not always mean safe. For his twisted sense of vengeance and believing that taking over the world is the only way to destroy it for the sake of what was done to him, he isn’t necessarily wrong for being enraged about what happened to him. Yet, despite his hate, he doesn’t drag those who he cares about further down into it than he has to. He sends Ken and Chikusa away when they are going to get caught, he never uses Chrome for anything besides as a vessel to help her, and he says during Rainbow arc that if he forced Fran to continue past his limits he’d be no better than those nasty adults of his past. Aconitum balances sweetly between light and darkness, similar to Mukuro. He won’t admit it, but he cares for those amongst the Vongola. He infiltrates the Millefiore and sends the Vongola information after Tsuna’s death, he helps Chrome form a barrier around Enma so he could be safe from Tsuna’s X-Burner. And, of course he teams up with Vongola’s team during the rainbow arc. These are undoubtedly kind actions, but when Tsuna gets angry at Mukuro during Rainbow claiming that he didn’t believe that Mukuro was the type to abandon his allies, Mukuro says that that was just his idea of him. Even though it was Chrome ultimately rejecting him, he instead pretended that he really was some big bad heartless person. Definitely, Mukuro is no angel, but also he’s no demon either. He’s.. just a human at the end. The aconitum’s dance with both light and dark, a flower that tries to warn, can be read both good and bad depending on how you look at it. His rejection of his ‘official’ position as part of the Mafia, yet acting as the Vongola Mist Guardian when their goals align. He’s as confusing as the duty he embodies, but he succeeds nonetheless in ensuring the family is untouchable in his deceptions. After all, the best way to fool your enemies is to fool your allies first.
being a random mafia guy in khr must be crazy everyone is talking abt vongolas new honcho and how literally the most feared criminal ever is his mist guardian and how he burned a whole guy to ashes (they're besties now its okay) and ended a 10 generations long family feud with the simon and how he beefed with the mafia zombie police and somehow un-babyfied the arcobaleno in the process and all that and then you see him at some random function and he looks like this
like how do you not lose your shit he probably barely reaches your armpit
So I redraw Tsuna every year, technically starting way back in like 2014/2015 when I started watching the show, but starting officially in 2017 when I got my first Wacom tablet.
Here are all of my (digital) yearly drawings of Tsuna
2017, I had no idea what canvas size was
2018, still using Krita, still afraid of drawing anything but a head shot
2019, figured out how to color on top of line art i did on paper
2020, trying to figure out lighting (and his hair) and relied way too much on blues to shade
2021, experimenting with animation and pixel art, don't think I ever touched them again tbh
2022, officially figured out Tsuna's hair to the point I was happy with it. Still had no idea what the hell I was doing with line art, though
2023, just a screenshot unfortunately, as I lost the original when my old ipad factory reset itself :') I was so happy with this one too
2024 my beloved. The pose, the lighting, I really popped off.
And of course, 2025. I was going through it so it was FAR simpler than 2024, but you know, if 2017 me could see it I think that they would fall to their knees and weep, so we stay winning.
My outrage given voice: Tsuna owes Vongola jack-all!
Seriously. All Vongola’s done is turn his world upside down.
His father hadn’t been seen or heard from, at least to his knowledge, for so long (two whole years, according to Tsuna) he thought him dead before finding out that he’s alive and well as the head of CEDEF. And he’d never have found out otherwise if Vongola hadn’t come along, or more specifically if the three heirs hadn’t been killed off. Like, the guy told Nana to tell Tsuna that he’d gone off to “become a star” which could have a lot of connotations to Tsuna but he chose to believe the guy had died. Like, granted, it could be considered callous that Tsuna never thought that Nana would’ve been hella more depressed if Iemitsu was dead if she really loved him as much as they portrayed but you gotta remember that the kid is embarrassed, not mortified or even hurt, when Nana calls him Dame (pronounced dah-may, not daym goddammit!) in his presence to his crush. He was probably of the opinion that Nana, if she was told, had gone into denial that Iemitsu was dead to the point of delusion, using whatever life insurance he had to keep them in comfort, because she’s mentally unsound in some manner or another and he didn’t want to make his house feel uncomfortable by trying to get her to ‘snap out of it’. Or, alternatively, he’d rather the guy was dead than having run off on he and his mother for whatever reason. It probably hurt less to think that way.
“Well, what about his friends?” I hear you ask. “Sit down, shut up and let me tell you.” I’d reply.
Yamamoto only started to take notice of him ‘cause of Reborn’s DW Bullet shenanigans and even then the incident with the roof, something I’ve seen others acknowledge as inevitable, - check out FFN's Reidluver's "It's a Mafia Life" for one such example - something that would’ve happened even without Tsuna’s ‘advice’, might’ve simply ended with the kid dead. Yes, Hibari might’ve been able to prevent it if only to keep the school’s reputation intact but the fact that Reborn had to shoot Tsuna twice to keep them both alive even with Tsuna buying time by talking to him, that they fell cause of the shitty fence, instead of an air mattress for just such occasions means that Hibari might not have been able to prevent Yamamoto’s death. Maybe by catching him as some people (Reidluver) would write but that would all depend on how the guy fell. He was planning to jump/let himself fall, meaning he’d be going down head first, if not in some form of belly flop, so Hibari catching him could’ve led to further injury for Yamamoto, serious injury for Hibari, a comatose state or even paralyzation if not death for one or both of them. As much as Hibari is acknowledged as the Demon Prefect, he's still a human being who hasn't ignited his Flames by that point. But Fanfic will be fanfic.
Hibari only cared for him as a student of his school and nothing more. He was the Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee and yet the only times people were punished it was over stupid stuff. Like crowding, uniform violations and noise. Or just annoying the guy. Not bullying, abuse of authority and/or lack of academic support. In a school he was supposed to be "making better" by taking over; however that's meant to be taken.
Gokudera only became aware of him because he was the Decimo-to-be and even then that was because Reborn called him in to ‘test’ him. If not for that, Gokudera wouldn’t have even been in Namimori in the first place, most likely would’ve never gone to Japan at all unless for a job or to honor his mother’s side of his heritage. Lambo’s almost the same in that he was literally following Reborn so if he wasn’t there Lambo wouldn’t have been either. I-pin was there for a job and was only allowed to stay because Fon trusted Reborn to look after her as part of Tsuna’s house guests. Fuuta also only went to Tsuna because the Decimo-to-be, after the other candidates were killed off, is “number one unable to refuse requests”. Same thing with Haru, she only became interested in Tsuna because she saw him with Reborn and even then she was of the opinion he was being a strange type of abusive toward the 'baby' that hung around him.
Ryohei didn’t even know he existed until, just like Yamamoto, he saw Tsuna do something amazing while under Bullet Influence. His sister, Kyoko, was aware of him but only as Dame-Tsuna and even then she didn’t really do anything but look cute. I don’t think we have any proper evidence that Kyoko ever interacted with Tsuna before that day Reborn showed up. That Dame-Tsuna could have gained that crush on her because of the Idol/Celebrity Effect, not because she helped him or was nice to him once or twice. She was cute, she seemed kind from a distance, she was popular, she was too good for him but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t admire her from afar. That’s what he’d been doing for a while and while he got demotivated when he found out she might be ‘taken’ by Mochida, that’s not that uncommon for other people to do. He wouldn’t be the first and he’ll never be the last. It’s only because of Reborn that she even wanted to be his friend, which could’ve been because of the whole ‘he tore Mochida’s hair out during their “duel”’ so she might’ve thought to use him to keep others away when Hana couldn’t. Like, just because someone seems nice or kind doesn’t mean that’s their true face or nature, as pessimistic as that outs me to be.
Chrome would’ve simply been dead. No if’s, and’s, or but’s about it. She only survived because of Mukuro. Who only went ‘looking’ for her because he was in a Vendicare Isolation/Sensory Deprivation Tank. And even then, that’s only because he was caught escaping a second time, to get Ken and Chikusa out while acting as bait, after Tsuna had defeated him after the first time he broke out. If Mukuro hadn’t gone after Tsuna, didn’t need to because of a combination of Fuuta asking for his protection and the Ninth’s sons being dead, he might’ve stayed free with his group or found himself killed before long. I say ‘might’ve’ because once he’d fought against people who actually knew what to do with their own DW he might’ve been discouraged with his plans but then... he might not’ve too. Who knows? I certainly don't.
Xanxus might've stayed in the ice until one of his 'brothers' had succeeded Nono. That is, if he weren't killed off, of course, due to would-be/might-be prevention of a later threat depending on what their actual relationships were like. 'Cause we don't know how the Vongola Bros felt for one another. Were they good to each other; for a given definition when in regards to the mafia? Power-hungry? Uninterested in the Throne? Did they love one another or were biding their time or indifferent toward one another or just plain rivals that respected one another? As said, we don't know. It's speculation and HCs whenever they come up in various fics. And we don't know what might've happened to his Guardians in the Varia in such circumstance either. They might've tried fighting, or laying low or they might've died trying or just so there wasn't another coup under the new Don's reign. Who knows?!
Reborn's a freelancer, so if he'd never even known about Tsuna, let alone met him to tutor him, he'd never get out from under his shared curse. Just died from it, if not in a blaze of glory as a final 'fuck you' to the System if not The Man in the Iron Hat as the Arco knew him as. Said System might have even continued passed the current generation of Arcobaleno if Tsuna hadn't been made aware of his... connections in regards to his blood.
The Shimon probably would've never come out of their Isolation/Obscurity as a Family; because the reason they even got their Long Lost Rings back - their power source that's apparently stronger than a third of the Tri-ni-Sette, one of three corner stones to the continuation of All Life on Earth! (just... what?!) - is due to the shenanigans with the Ten Year Bazooka. They'd never have learned their own history/origins - or even that Daemon Spade was alive and the reason a good portion of their Family was dead - if not for that.
TLDR: I really wish people would stop making Tsuna a pussy in regards to his friends. Specifically those moments where 'you'd be nothing without Vongola' might come up when he tries to live his life the way he wants to live it. Because it's blatantly not true. What I've put above are just bits and pieces, I'm sure others can find more, of why it's not Tsuna who needs Vongola/the Mafia, but that it's Vongola/the Mafia which needs Tsuna.
I like to think that there's a popular conspiracy theory in Flame Society that Reborn is actually Tsuna's father, not Iemitsu.
At first it starts out as a joke. Iemitsu has a reputation of being not the most competent, while Tsuna is the Vongola 10th, who is a renowned diplomat, incredibly strong in battle, and has a list of accomplishments to his name including breaking the Arcobaleno Curse.
So people start to joke that, well, it's just difficult to believe Tsunayoshi came from that, you know? And I mean, look at how Reborn acts around Tsuna. Clearly they're related.
And people joke that, sure, Tsunayoshi looks very Japanese, and Reborn definitely does not. But hey, even ignoring that genetics can behave in unexpected ways, would the man who doesn't even let anyone know his real name actually be open about his real appearance? And he's so good at disguises! Maybe Reborn and Tsuna actually look pretty similar!
And people also joke that, well, Reborn can mind-read, right? And Tsunayoshi always knows what people's intentions are. Are they actually different abilities? They do behave quite similarly, after all. Maybe Reborn's mind-reading is actually Vongola Hyper Intuition! Hahahaha. Ha.
And people point out that, hey, Reborn got to interact with Tsuna so much while teaching him, and Iemitsu interacted with Tsuna so little over the course of Tsuna's whole childhood, isn't that a little suspicious?
And of course it spirals until people aren't actually joking anymore.
Nothing Tsuna or Iemitsu says can halt these rumors. Reborn, of course, is absolutely smug and is of no help at all.
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