the mkulia alliance IS in character
ive heard a lot of people, some of them mkulia shippers, saying that while the evil lesbian alliance is great to watch, it isn't in character for mk and julia. however, i believe it is, and i believe it's still consistent from last season, and this is why:
facades
mk and julia were both hiding under facades in the beginning of sesaon one. mk was downplaying her skills to fly under the radar, and julia was posing as a chill influencer both to maintain her online image and not make herself a threat. these two facades had their advantages, but also their downsides. mk's contributions, specifically in the skull challenge, went unnoticed by her team, while julia had to completely hide her true personality. mk expresses frustration at everyone thinking she hadn't done anything when she got her team the win, and julia later goes on to say that it's exhausting to pretend to like yoga and whatnot. for most of the time they interact in season one, mk and julia are not behaving like their true selves.
animosity
did mk and julia have a rivalry once julia's true self was revealed? yes. did it result in mk's elimination? also yes. was mk the one to instigate that rivalry by posting the video of julia's true self? absolutely. and while they definitely had beef while this was going down, in the end, it was better for both of them. julia says that it's freeing to get to be her true self, and she even gains followers from it. the consequences of being her full nasty self don't catch up with her for a while after mk's elimination, and the worst thing that happens is julia too gets eliminated. as for mk, julia revealing that she watched everyone's confessionals means that while mk can't fly under the radar as much as she previously had, she gets to be recognized for her brains and sneakiness. because of their initial rivalry, mk and julia don't have to keep hiding their true selves.
necessity
julia and mk are both smart enough to know that in order to survive on their team, they NEED an alliance to counter the bowie-raj-wayne voting power. and seeing as scary girl was the first boot, and chase and ripper are chase and ripper, it makes sense that they would gravitate toward one another. especially with their underhanded playing styles, and especially being the only girls on the team. julia and bowie did not like each other in season one, and they still teamed up to counter the priya-millie alliance. julia has already proven to be willing to team up with people she doesn't like in order to stay in the game.
friendship
they became enemies in the first season, but after the passage of time, a necessary alliance, and most importantly, the shedding of their facades, it's reasonable that they could become friends. mk only got to interact with the real julia for an episode's worth of time, and julia never really got to see the real mk. now, she's watching mk steal an intern's uniform, sneak into production meetings, stash cheating supplies, and get the challenge answers from computers. julia is seeing a whole new side of mk, and as someone who appreciates vicious, strategic competitors like herself, i can absolutely see julia growing to like the real mk. and mk doesn't have to hide her true self from her team anymore, as she can be very upfront about cheating.
despite her rivalry with bowie, julia also had moments when she enjoyed being in an alliance with him (talking in the confessional about how they both thought they would be in the final after priya and millie were supposedly dead via avalanche) and trusted that he had her back (not thinking that he would double cross her and vote for her instead of millie even though it was the smarter move for him). i think it would make sense for julia to enjoy an alliance with mk and admire her clever thinking.
as for mk, yes, julia got her booted last season, but mk instigated that by exposing the real julia, and i think she's aware of that. i also think that even though she was the first person to see the real julia, mk still didn't understand that she wasn't just a mean girl with an influencer persona, she's a force to be reckoned with. julia loses it for her team in the episode mk is eliminated in, so mk doesn't get to see julia doing great in other challenges before her own screentime is over. i believe mk underestimated julia when she exposed her.
seeing as emma was able to watch the episode where she thought chase was performing an act of love for her when it was really just for pizza, it's completely reasonable for mk and julia to watch or at least know of each other's actions in the last season that they didn't get to witness in person. their first direct interaction is complimenting each other's moves/style, meaning that they have a greater understanding of how the other girl operates than they did last season.
because of how they play/interact with others, mk and julia don't have many friends. the closest thing julia has is bowie, who's more like her rival, while everyone else knows she's mean and doesn't like her. meanwhile nobody on mk's team would like her after she stole their stuff, and nobody else would like her for secretly watching their "private" confessionals. it makes sense to me that not only would they latch onto the other girl out of necessity, but because they're someone who can actually appreciate their play style and not turn against them because of it. not to mention mk can finally hang out with someone who likes her sarcasm for a change.
and while mk and julia definitely act like they have a romance plot in the future (and god i hope they do), i don't think their interactions together are very out of character even though they're praising one another and enjoying each other's company. julia is still mean and enjoys people getting hurt, mk is still devious and has no qualms about cheating, they just get to scheme and sabotage with someone by their side now. and while this development was unexpected even for a lot of us mkulia shippers, it is hardly unwelcome, and to me, hardly illogical. thank you for coming to my td talk.
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Ride 771: A new gear!!
Pag 1
1: This is the fight's gong!!
Pag 2
1: Ohuruaaaagh!!
Pag 3
1: Buooooogh
2: The lead is here, two people!!
3: Sohoku and Hakogaku!!
So the ones who are aiming for the sprint line on the first day of the Inter High…. Those two…
4: are the same two people from last year!!
5: Huh waa
There are still almost 3km until the sprint line, but …
Pag 4
1: They're accelerating like they're right before the sprint line!!
Ruaaagh
Oooooogh
2: They're so fast!
How many kilometers per hours are they going at!?
A bike can go at that speed!?
3: But those two….
Was it my imagination?
Pag 5
1: They were smiling!!
2: Hahaha, not bad, San-na!!
You're keeping up with my acceleration!!
Keeping up!? With your acceleration!?
Buah!!
Oi oi, that's-
Pag 6
1: My line!! Orange!!
Honestly, I'm surprised!!
2: I'm number 4, the ace climber, and I'm a Hakogaku third year
Honestly, during the last year both my power and my acceleration
3: have increased by several steps!!
4: Is that so!!
5: There are practically no sprinters within the club who can keep up with me!!
6: But you did
You didn't just stick to me from behind, you lined up!!
What does it mean!! It makes the corners of my mouth turn up!!
Pag 7
1: Hahaha that's because
2: He's shooting ahead!!
3: I'm a genius!!
5: Nice acceleration!!
Pag 8
1: Orange!!
2: The speed of your attack, your acceleration power and the lack of hesitation when taking the curve!!
Hahaha
Pag 9
1: It's really like you said, you definitely powered up!!
You got stronger since last year!!
4: Even while taking a curve in an unsteady position, with my shoulder hitting against yours.......
5: What's wrong, San-na, what's this
6: Are you about to say something secret you can't let the spectators hear?
Pag 10
1: you counter it firmly with the trunk of your body!!
2: Didn't they just make contact with each other while taking the curve!?
Waaaa
Sohoku's number 4 pushed back that huge guy from Hakogaku with his hips!!
3: Buah!!
You're the only one
4: You're the only one who can make me shake like this!!
Pag 11
2: They hit each other again!!
It's a super close combat!!
So what’s the deal with all your banging around since earlier, then?
Ah, that?
3: Is this a request?
You mean you want me to show you
Pag 12
1: the true essence of my special explosive acceleration!?
Okay then, watch closely!!
4: His movements are so fast!!
5: This my Special Highstone
Pag 13
1: Hyper acceleration!!
Pag 14
1: He left me before my own eyes!!
Is this guy for real!?
Dammit!!
2: This is fun!!
3: Are you surprised, San-na? Hahaha
Until last year, I accelerated with the image
4: of a gear going into place
Get in
Get in
Get in
Pag 15
1: But now I've come to the point that I can freely make it go into place matching my own timing!!
4: The number of gears I've prepared is
5: “Number”!?
6: The first one is “white”
7: The second one is “shironeri*”
8: The third one is “pale yellow”
9: The fourth one is “gamboge*”
The fifth one is “orange”
(*NdT.: all the names are colors, these ones are Japanese traditional colors)
Pag 16
1: All together there are six levels!!
This year I divided my acceleration in six stages!!
2: Six stages!!
Seriously!?
Pag 17
1: And by the way, my acceleration from earlier was “unbleached silk” the second stage
2: Did it feel fast!?
3: Naturally, once we get before the sprint line I'll use
4: the sixth one, “golden yellow”!!
Pag 18
3: Dammit
4: So there's also things like this in the Inter High
Seriously?
5: Now I understand the reason for our hard practice and for the harshness of training camp
Without that I wouldn't have been able to fight on this stage
Pag 19
1: Issa and Doubashi..... just when I thought the sprint fight was narrowed down to those two.....
2: Another person comes chasing!!
3: Did he break away from the pack behind and got here!? He wasn't there with us earlier!!
In such a short time he shook everyone off and chased us!?
4: Even though I've been pedaling at full throttle since earlier, he keeps getting closer!!
5: So there's also things like this!? At the Inter High!!
Pag 20
1: It's filled with monsters!!
Hayaaaa
2: But that's fine by me
I thought my part was over....
But there's still work left to do!! I won't let this guy get to the lead!!
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Thinking about how Ochako acts in 425
These two moments in the past come to mind
Just after Kamino:
And in the war arc:
Ochako's character encompasses at least two things; the whole "who protects the heroes who need protecting" and wanting the people around her to be happy. The latter has the side effect of moments like the above where during or after a disastrous event, she thinks about how she doesn't like how much has changed and wishes for things to "go back to how they were"
So I think some of that leads back to 425
It almost feels like an attempt to bring back the usual shenanigans and teasing of the class in their own ways
To me, this isn't just Ochako making a comment about Izuku's hair. This is her saying "hey things have changed, I hope they go back to normal". It falls in line with what Ochako is like and what we've been shown about her before
This said within the context of Izuku's behaviour in the chapter too, the way he's both unusually quiet and also kind of seems to be trying to reach out to Ochako and Shouto is sad. It's almost like Ochako's words could be viewed as "you've changed, I hope you go back to your normal self". It's sad because Izuku isn't behaving like he usually would, he's strangely quiet and it's understandable because of everything he's been through and everything he's continuing to go through
Again, more shenanigans, and Ochako is smiling and laughing and Izuku just. stares
Things seem to have gone back to how they used to be, except they haven't, not really
Imo, while the characters are acting as if things will go back to normal, the story makes it clear in 424 and 425 that things are still different and have changed. Over and over, it's people saying/implying "can't wait for things to go back to the way they were!" and immediately being hit with "will they ever though?"
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