Kylo's Topics (2)

This is insane levels of edging Also I’ve been reading since release and I have a lot that I need to unload so beware.

Is it safe to assume that the Mob from Minamoto’s pov is canonically what he looks like? We know Mob is an unreliable narrator thanks to multiple instances that contradict with his own narrative.
Can we also talk about the way Mob sabotages himself so much and doesn’t even know it? He could get out there and try to get a girlfriend. If all the girls have blurry faces, then that goes without saying that he can differentiate between the girls and the cross dressers/effeminate guys. His paranoia is making him fumble because if you think about it, he could have accepted the chocolate and then on the high chance that the giver was a man, he could simply reject them. Mob himself has acknowledged that heartbreaks can lead to new flags so who’s to say the flag wouldn’t just redirect? Also there’s so many things that he’s overlooked and is still overlooking. I like that he’s comfortable with Toujou because it feels like he has someone he can be (mostly) himself around but it’s also kind of naive because there are plenty of BLs that follow the troupe of “I was initially in love with one brother (or thought I was) until I ended up falling for the other brother. (Although it’s usually portrayed as a MC falling in love with the younger brother. A well known example would be Junjou Romantica.) We actually see this executed in the story where in chapter 63, MC dyes his hair and a flag is raised for Misato. It took Hatano joining the group for Mob to be more cautious when he should’ve been wary from the start. (In the drama, they do a great job with putting that into play though because Mob tries to be considerate towards one of Ayato’s friends and it backfires because it triggers a flag.)
There’s also the spinoff troupe (which is exactly the troupe at play here, lol) where the MC’s brother will get their own love story. This troupe itself is pretty common too (“Love Me, Love my Dog” is a spinoff of “Hoshi to Harinezumi”) In this case, it’s likely that Ayato was the MC of his own story and then Mob’s story began as a spinoff, hence the whole thing with Hatano starting off when it did. On the note of Hatano, I think it’s pretty funny that MC actually did acknowledge the Older Uke + Younger Seme reunion troupe (ch 53) but failed to realize that Hatano might have been the reason he’s thought of as a mob. I say that because if you think about it, now that Minamoto has indirectly confirmed that Mob IS attractive (because Minamoto sees people for what they look like since his mind reading abilities have neutralized the effects of the universe to a degree, making him somewhat flag immune and we know this because the love filter doesn’t pop up for him when he’s looking at flags.) It’s more likely that Mob is closer to the “look average from afar but is attractive up close” stereotype than anything else. Ayato pretty much confirms this too because it’s no secret that they look similar. It’s more likely that Mob wasn’t attracting flags because his love story had already been put into place but because Mob gained awareness, it shifted the trajectory of the story so the universe had to compensate for it somehow. (Chances are, they were set to reconcile much later since Hatano wasn’t even in the same class as Ayato) It makes sense too since all the information we know about them so far is very in sync with the kind of story that would have taken place. (MC meets Hatano when they’re both kids and helps him out with his bike. That was the turning point for Hatano. It was mentioned in chapter 67 that past Mob complimented Hatano on his long hair and called it cool when Hatano was initially feeling self conscious about it. The flashback confirms that MC really is the person from Hatano’s past too.) Hatano might not have been endgame and was probably going to be rejected by Mob as a progression of his own story. Mob might have actually been set to have his own wife and kids like he hoped but him becoming aware changed that because it altered his place in the world. (Going from being a mob character to a main character) This would also explain why Hatano went from being a one-off character like the other flags to now being the only legitimate love interest. His confession caught MC off guard because he couldn’t remember Hatano and that was probably because of that. It could also be because Hatano’s confession was premature. Usually, a confession like that is what kicks off the story because it’s used as build up but in this case there was no buildup because it wasn’t supposed to happen. (Each of the other flags had some degree of buildup, with Mob predicting them off the bat.) That would also explain the introduction of SSR-kun. Although ironically enough, I think SSR-kun might have actually progressed their relationship further. Especially since Mob played right into the troupe without realizing it. His “You’re right, I’m not good enough for them” response is typical in a BL story when a third-party character is introduced for the sake of fanning the flames and he walked right into it thinking it would have the opposite effect.
Taking Hatano into consideration, the universe might actually be the reason behind Minamoto not being able to pinpoint Mob. The more progress Hatano makes, the less flags Mob gets. The less flags might also be a way to weaken Mob’s guard. We have 3 years before Hatano confesses again so it could be leading into that. MC eventually stops getting flags altogether and overtime he’s a lot less cautious and then after not getting jumpscared, he thinks the coast is clear until Hatano pops up. Minamoto might’ve also had his own love story laid out for him but because of Mob, it’s been altered. (Ex. He might’ve been set to fall in love with someone who’s mind he couldn’t read but because of the MC’s long monologues, that might’ve been thrown out the window) I think that’s also what makes them so much more interesting. It’s not planned. There’s a lot of buildup between them and they’re not even fully aware of each other. They know of each other but that’s about it. It’s also pretty clear that they aren’t intended to meet because the coincidences are far too great to just be “coincidence”. Minamoto has been losing sleep and money over trying to find Mob and he doesn’t even realize that he’s been right in front of him before. The universe has to be at fault because they’ve been in the same room soooo many times before and yet they’ve never once held a conversation. Minamoto comes close to catching him and every single time without fail, something conveniently happens that deters them from meeting. They finally meet, even make eye contact and yet there’s nothing. Nothing happens and it’s because it was never supposed to be something. Anything could’ve happened in that moment to spark a connection and I think that’s why I enjoyed that chapter so much. Hell, Misato could’ve popped up and been like “Niichan! What a coincidence!” But that doesn’t happen either. It’s the most mundane interaction we’ve gotten to see and I love it because it perfectly encapsulates their relationship and characters. They’re both looking for normalcy despite their disposition. I’d like it if this story got multiple endings but with the canon ending being either Minamoto or Mob getting married and settling down.
Also we never got to see Kikuchi’s flag get properly redirected so I wonder what happened to that? (Ch 19?) We do see him in the drama and for whatever egregious reason, they made him endgame. (At least in season 1, I think? I haven’t watched the 3rd season yet) Sorry for that, the story has a grip on me but I’d like to know other people’s opinions.

If the janitor wasn’t a creepy, grown ass man, I would’ve loved to see him and the Pres together :*D It’d be an interesting dynamic.