#Because Touya had NOTHING but ABSOLUTE control of his quirk | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

shxtodxroki · 1 year

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𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚗𝚜: 𝙼𝙷𝙰 𝙼𝚎𝚗 𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚂𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚂/𝙾

Summary: What do the MHA men think of a partner with a quirk that gives them mental manipulation powers like those of the Scarlet Witch?

Warnings: Swearing, a tiny bit of angst, VERY slight suggestiveness in Dabi’s but nothing major

Characters: Dabi (Touya Todoroki), Twice (Jin Bubaigawara), Hawks (Keigo Takami)

Word Count: 1.4k

Note: Because the request asked for the reader to possess only SOME of the Scarlet Witch’s powers, I decided to focus on giving them the ability to manipulate matter with their mind. This contains the Scarlet Witch’s power of telekinesis as well as the ability to see people’s thoughts, give them visions/alter their memories and perception AND the ability to essentially control the recipient through their mind, just to have a clear establishment of the reader’s powers before beginning the headcanons. I know that’s a lot for one quirk, but it’s what I thought fit best for the description of “Scarlet Witch powers” and TECHNICALLY it could all fit under one quirk along the lines of “mental manipulation”.

♡ Touya Todoroki ♡

- Dabi’s definitely proud of you and your amazing quirk, both as your boyfriend and as your partner-in-crime/colleague

He’s known about you since before the two of you started dating, and he knew he wanted to work with you from the moment he saw you.

- That didn’t mean he necessarily trusted you right away or anything, that came with a lot of time and relationship-building (especially because he new you could manipulate him mentally using your quirk if you wanted to), but he could see right away how powerful and skilled you were, and what an asset you would be to him and the League if you worked together

- And so he brought you to the League, slowly developing feelings over time as you proved just what a valuable asset you were to the League as a whole, and what an amazing partner you’d be to him as he began to trust that you wouldn’t use your power on him for any nefarious reasons

- Once the two of you are together, he’s honestly pretty protective of you

- It’s been a long time since Touya had anything that he was actually afraid of losing, but now that he has you, someone he can truly say he loves, the thought of someone trying to take you away from him is terrifying

- He’s not dumb, he knows that if he saw your potential before ever meeting you in person, other people do too. Heroes and other villains as well most likely, and with threats of heroes trying to lock you up and other villains trying to steal you for themselves, he can’t afford not to be protective

- He knows you can handle yourself, you’re an absolute bad-ass and your quirk makes it nearly impossible to face you head-on and win. But he can’t help but worry, and when he’s gone so many years without feeling that kind of worry, it overwhelms him and he’s compelled to do everything he can to keep you safe

- He’ll agree to train with you when you ask him in order to help you improve your skills with your quirk, but again, Touya’s not stupid. You can literally control his mind, he knows he has no chance of winning against you

- But he’s happy to help you strengthen your skills anyways, and he does give it his all each battle. He’s just accepted from the start that he’ll almost certainly not beat you, so his ego doesn’t get bruised when he inevitably loses

- Plus he finds it really hot when you look at him with the glowing red eyes you have whenever you’re using your quirk, red vapor emitting from your skin as you show off your amazing power. It’s quite distracting, in all honestly, and it’s led him to pull you in for a kiss and suddenly end your training session as you get completely distracted by your needy boyfriend more than once

- He likes to subtly brag to the other members of the League, too. Whenever you capture a hero or complete a mission without so much as a scratch left on you, he’ll mutter a satisfied, slightly protective “That’s my s/o” just loud enough for the others to hear him with the biggest shit-eating grin across his face :)

♡ Jin Bubaigawara ♡

- Jin is genuinely very proud of you and your amazing powers, he thinks you’re amazing all around and he tells everyone he knows about how strong his s/o’s power is

- He’s a very enthusiastic boyfriend, you see, and he loves taking about how amazing you an your power set is to anyone who will listen. (Which is beginning to become a difficult feat, as everyone in the League is beyond sick of hearing him talk about you at this point and he doesn’t really talk to anyone else much)

- He loves the League very much and considers them his family, but you come above even them. He’d rather die than let anything happen to you, and he makes sure you know that any time you go out on a mission together and tells you that his purpose is to protect you while you get the job done with your skills :)

- As your boyfriend, he’s also more than happy to help you improve your powers and grow stronger. He’s down to spar with you whenever you want to train, and he’s more than willing to get his ass kicked battling you if it’s helping you grow in the long run

- He’s never outright made you promise not to do any mind-control or getting into his head/altering his memories or perception, as he just trusts you not to do anything like that to him. Whether you betray that trust or not is up to you, but he never feels the need to have that conversation because as his partner, he trusts you wholly and completely

- He knows that your power requires full concentration, so he tries his best to ensure that whenever you’re training your mental abilities on your own, there are no distractions.

- He himself is pretty easily distracted, though, so unfortunately sometimes things slip through the cracks and someone/something manages to break your concentration and mess up your training

- He would do a lot of convincing to try and get you to join the League, because he thinks that you and your quirk would be an amazing asset to the League and working together would mean he would get to spend even more time with you!

- Jin never really wants to leave you alone, so he loves the idea of getting to spend more time with you, but if you really don’t want to work with the League, then he wont push it

- If you do decide to work with the League, though, he does everything he can to get you and the others to get along and to get them to see how amazing you and your powers are, even though that’s a difficult task considering how some of the League members react to new people lol.

- He’ll find a way, though, and soon you’ll become an absolutely essential member of and powerhouse to the League :)

♡ Keigo Takami ♡

- Keigo first saw you when you found yourself in the top 10 heroes of Japan one year, noticing quickly how you were the only person around his age in the top 10 alongside him

- He had seen you on TV before and knew the basic ideas of what your quirk could do, but when he saw you in person for the first time, he immediately knew that he wanted to get closer to you

- Something about you was just electric to him, drawing him in without even trying (and that wasn’t you using your quirk on him at all, he was just utterly infatuated with you even during your first ever meeting lol)

- The two of you talked a lot that night, Keigo even walking you home once the event was over because he wasn’t ready to stop chatting quite yet

- Despite only knowing the man for a few hours, you felt a connection and decided to confide in him, confessing that sometimes your powers were incredibly difficult to handle as a pro hero

- Having the power to see people’s thoughts, create illusions in their head and completely control them if certain circumstances were met was a very heavy weight to bear, and there were often debates amongst the public (and even in your own head) about how to ethically use your power, and what was too far

- You were careful to only ever use your ability to see into peoples’ minds when you absolutely needed it for a mission, you’d never use it on anyone in your personal life even as a joke. But it was still a heavy burden to bear and a very tricky power to balance in your position, and Keigo was incredibly sympathetic to that struggle

- He’s heard the debates about your powers before, and after that night he becomes one of your biggest defenders as he sees you’d never use your powers for anything other than good

- Especially after you start dating, whenever you’re brought up in interviews or people ask how he’s able to trust you as his partner with a power like that. he defends you and tells them that he’s 100% certain that he and all the other people you love can trust you. He knows for certain that you’re a good person, and wouldn’t abuse your power for personal gain

- When you first started training together his pride is definitely a little wounded by how easily you’re able to beat him when you max out your power lol, making a little pouty face that you have to kiss off his lips as you smirk in victory

- But over time he accepts that he’s no match for you in direct combat, and he takes great pride in how powerful you are, always going on and on about how “My s/o’s an absolute powerhouse, it’s pretty hot. You should see them in action” to his hero friends lol

- He does still like to tease you sometimes about how “spooky” you look when you use your power, though, saying you look like you belong in a comic book with red vapor wafting off of you in waves

- He knows that just because you’re powerful doesn’t mean that you can handle everything on your own, though, so he tries to make sure that you always have help and aren’t being forced to take on difficult missions on your own, and he always makes sure that you have a loving, cuddly boyfriend to come back home to and relax with at the end of all the days filled with difficult villains you have to face :)

Request - Anonymous said: hello!!! how are you? i saw you have your request open so i wanted to ask some hcs of hawks, dabi & twice with a reader that has some of the scarlet witch powers, not all of them bc that will be weird lmao??? if you could that would be amazing but if not that's totally okay!!! <3

A/N: I’m sorry if this request isn’t exactly what you wanted anon, I wasn’t sure which aspects of her powers you would want included in this so I tried to choose a set that would fit together/at least somewhat make sense as a single quirk and also what would be the most interesting to write! Also apologies if Twice’s isn’t the most accurate or if it isn’t as well-written, I did my best but I’ll admit I don’t know a ton about him as a character so I’m not sure how well that section turned out but hopefully it was okay, since I got to get to know his character at least a little better after finally catching up on season 6! ( Also I’ve told you guys before that I primarily write based on requests, and I’m especially inspired by/quicker to finish headcanon requests, so if you have any requests (especially for headcanons) please send them my way and I’ll happily write them for you! :)

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If you’d like to be added to any of my taglists, you can fill out this form here! Thank you for your support <3

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doodlegirl1998 · 6 months

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So I'm looking into Dabi's past since I'm planning on making a post about him, then I get a reminder of why Endeavor is a horrible father.

When it's revealed that Touya's quirk hurts him because he didn't inherit his father's resistant to heat, he just tells him to give up knowing FULL well that he wants to be a pro hero like him.

So what does he do? Get him to someone that can possibly make something to decrease the burns? Get him to quirk counseling? NO! He planned on having MORE children to break his fucking spirit and give up!

Not to mention that when Rei calls him out and telling him that Touya only wants his acknowledgement, Endeavor gives a reply of he can only show the world of heroics instead of trying to be a decent father.

WHY IN THE FUCK ARE WE SUPPOSED TO ACCEPT HIS ATONEMENT AGAIN!?

Hi @theloganator101 👋,

It is baffling how Hori expects us to root for Endeavor's 'atonement' when Endeavor's actions decimated Touya and Rei's mental health along with the rest of the Todofam's.

I'll focus on Touya here since that's what the focus of your post is.

He deliberately had his son Touya to surpass him and All Might. He treated Touya like an object he was creating and as soon as it was revealed that Touya was 'defective' Endeavor threw him away and forced Rei into having two more kids to replace him.

Endeavor had no interest in being a father. He does not care about Touya or any other member of his 'family.' He cares about his dream first - his creation of his 'masterpiece.'

He literally committed marital rape to Rei in doing forcing her to have two more children against her wishes (which is UNFORGIVABLE - put this man in jail or kill him don't try and 'redeem him' - wtf Hori?!) But he also deliberately crushed Touya's spirit, neglected him, shoved him on to Rei (in true abuser fashion) and gave no shit to Touya's declining mental state or the fact that Endeavor made it known prior to this that Touya 'was born for a purpose' then expected him to just give it up!?

While Endeav does nothing proactive himself to help Touya give it up or help his mental state in general? What a joke of a father. Most parents would react with worry at Touya's self harm and find him professional help, Endeavor on the other hand? Just shouts at Touya, hits his wife and avoids Touya more.

Even the escalation of Touya accidentally burning himself alive, which is a fucking horrific thing to experience and way to die especially for a child, didn't make Endeavor stop or re-evaluate things. That's truly villainous. That was HIS son, that he believed died yet Endeavor just kept being the same abuser for a decade after?! We are now meant to buy his 'change' is sincere and that he loved all of the Todofam after he got what he wanted!? Fuck off with that Hori.

How are we meant to buy that Endeavor loves any of his family when he only started his joke of an atonement when HE got what he wanted (the number one hero position?)

The absolute insult of this creative choice is one of the most disgusting things about MHA. Endeavor's wish to 'atone' should have been portrayed as the manipulative farce and the escalation of abusive control tactics it is. And Dabi should have been allowed to kill him.

#mha critical #bnha critical #anti endeavor

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jeireilostt · 11 months

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MHA MANGA/ANIME SPOILERS

Mentions of: E*ji Todoroki/Endeavourwhore, abuse, Todoroki stuff.

———

Nothing upsets me more than when people attempt to blame the Todoroki kids for all of that shit that happened.

Especially Touya.

People go on to say that Touya was a brat for the way he acted. And that his downfall was HIS fault.

No?

Like- Endeavour made Touya believed his entire worth was based on being a hero. And we all saw how Touya reacted to him saying there’s more to life than being a hero.

Which to me is an obvious sign of saying, "You don’t have to do this anymore. I have a replacement." But that’s just me. We don’t know what the characters true thought processes are so we won’t really know.

But for Touya’s whole life, it was his soul purpose to be the number one hero for his father. Only for it to suddenly be cut off and taken away from him.

He was a child. Children are usually reliant on their parents praise and attention, and for someone to suddenly cut that off from them just like that? That's going to mess anyone up. Especially a child And ESPECIALLY Touya.

Not to mention the fact that he never experienced what a loving marriage between parents or loving household? Considering Rei and Endevour’s marriage being arranged And for a good while, Touya probably couldn’t bond properly in the beginning with her due in training?

Like how Shoto couldn’t play with his siblings because he was training (I don’t know exactly if I’m wrong correct me if I am).

And I see people talk about how Natsuo and Fuyumi could’ve helped.

The even YOUNGER victims of neglect? Help their oldest and younger brothers?

What were they supposed to do? Hit their 6’5 father who bursts into flames?

And people even blame Rei. I understand she burned Shoto and caused him a lot of trauma from that.

But why did she do that? Because she went insane. And why did she go insane? Because of Endeavour.

The only person who isn’t a victim of abuse in the entire Todoroki family is Endeavour. He’s the problem.

And always HAS been the problem. Redemption arc or not, he deserves everything that has come to bite him in the ass.

And for what? A status that shouldn’t mean jack considering saving people is your job? And yet he’s the one hurting people. That’s not very heroic, if I’m being honest.

Touya (Dabi) wasn’t saved. So he eventually became a villain, while Shoto was. The roles could have been easily flipped.

Dude was in a coma for 3 years, and that itself probably made the whole thing even worse for him. Bro wanted to apologize to his mom and the others; he wanted Endeavour to look at him again, and he tried to go home. Only to see the same thing happen to Shoto.

Dude had 3 years of his life wasted. That would make a person spiral. Who knows what it does to an already abused, traumatized kid whose quirk quite literally is killing him?

And not to mention his body burning? And a massive forest fire and burned flesh being replaced with ROTTEN skin? I’m surprised the dude even lasted that long before going batshit.

And the worst and most ironic shit ever. Is the fact that Touya had an ice quirk the entire time. It just wasn’t unlocked.

All of the pain and suffering was for nothing. And it’s just downright sad that he was his father's "perfect masterpiece" the entire time.

I will say I don’t like how Dabi hates Shoto for something he had no absolute control over, but it’s understandable.

You would hate the thing that supposedly "screwed you over." And why would it really make a difference if Dabi wanted to kill Shoto? He never necessarily bonded with him to form an attachment (he kind of disliked him from the get-go), And also due to the fact that Dabi has already killed people.

So what’s another person? Especially one you disliked the moment they were born, right? It’s screwed up, yeah, of course, but I can see why he’d be like that.

He lost his "purpose" all because Endeavour deemed the other child "more worthy," so no wonder.

(He’s a dumb waste of space if you ask me)

Which is also the endeavor’s fault. I’m not justifying Dabi’s actions or whatever.

No matter what, he’s still a villain, which is bad or whatever (I still love him and enjoy him slaying everyone💀).

But it’s understandable. And there’s a reason why. But there’s no way in hell that Endeavour is good.

Sure, he’s trying to change, but that doesn’t change what you’ve done already.

He’s the real villain here. And also, I like the evil/villain/anti-hero characters the most so maybe I’m biased or whatever you think.

But I’m sick of people saying that it’s their fault for everything that happened.

It isn’t.

They were put in a place of abuse. So they eventually acted negativity to that abuse.

And I certainly can’t wait for Endeavor trash to die at Dabi’s hands. I’ll be dancing on his ashes beatboxing.

Now I’m gonna go read happy Todoroki siblings fanfiction till I pass out. GOOD DAY TO YOU.

(IDC about your opinion if it isn’t the right one 🥱. Especially if you try to defend flameshit over there)

#todoroki family #todoroki angst #touya todoroki #natsuo todoroki #fuyumi todoroki #rei todoroki #enji todoroki #we hate enji in this house #Endeavour sucks or whatever you spell his name #Todoroki kids #bnha dabi #Dabi #boku no hero acedamia #my hero acedamia #Todo kids #boo tomato tomato #mha spoilers #kinda?????????

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marunalu · 1 year

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Hi! I just wanna say that I love your posts when it comes to the dad for one theory (considering that I love the theory myself and have been a fan of it for a long time) and they really erase my doubts about it (for the most part). Although there will be those who oppose this theory and come up with things that might make sense idk. I kinda want to know your thoughts on those who think that dad for one might instead cheapen izuku's (and by extension inko's) character

Awww thank you for your kind words and Im happy that you like my dfo posts 🥰. I get what you mean, one moment you believe a theory is 100% true and then one person comes with a very solid counter argument and you feel like your whole world view was just smashed into pieces, no matter how much prove you have on hand! 😂

But when it comes to dfo Im absolutely convinced its canon, the only argument against it that people had for years was "bUT hISaShI hAs aN fIRebrEaTh qUirK" and they still use that argument, or that afo doesnt have freckles, almost as if a child cant have freckles even if the parents dont have them.

I have no idea why people think it would cheapen izukus character, personally I feel it would flash him out. People fear we will get an "Im your father" copy reveal but hori writes his twists better then that. Look at the "dabi is touya" reveal and how well done it was or the ua traitor reveal. Hori is good in writing twists, he will not do a cheap empire strikes back darth vader reveal. There is so much potential in izukus and his fathers relationship, so much drama to unfold, alone afos backstory and why he startet a family in the first place or what his plans were at that time is so fascinating to think about.

I saw a lot of people claiming, that it would turn izuku in some kind of "choosen one" if he is afos son or that it would destroy the message that even a "nobody" can turn into a great hero! I dont see it that way. Izuku trained his ass off to be able to control ofa and to be seen as worthy to have it, trained harder then anyone else in his class and archieved things in just one year not even pro heroes have archieved in their whole career. And he managed that thanks through pure willpower, his own talent and stubbornness. It has nothing to do with his potential parentage, because his father isnt even part of his life as far as we know! Izuku is special because he made himself special! He isnt special because of his dna, so no I dont get why people think it cheapens his character! He still would have archieved this things, no matter if afo is his dad or not!

#bnha #bnha dad for one #izuku midoriya #dad for one theory

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linkspooky · 3 years

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Who is it who really needs saving?

is the question Dabi asked when Tokoyami came to rescue Hawks in the middle of the raid war arc. Dabi asks this question just after Hawks stabbed twice in the back with the justification that it would save people, despite the fact that Twice was also a victim too, and also someone in need of saving. Dabi’s question is especially poignant because it asks who is hero society invested in saving, a question that is repeated by Twice who believes Hero Society only saves the good victims, and Himiko as well who asks if Heroes save people, then was Twice not a person.

I bring this up because chapter 299/300 end on another parallel between Dabi and Hawks. Both of them have their backs being shown, however, Hawks is already healing due to the nature of his quirk, whereas the permanent burns on Dabi’s skin has already gotten worse. Hawks and Dabi also have opposite goals at this point, Hawks to support Endeavor, and Dabi’s ultimate goal is to bring him down. However, Rei’s words over Endeavor’s panel add another layer of complication to this. “Those regrets and guilt, the rest of those have borne that burden much more than you have.” Endeavor is suffering, but he’s not the one most in need of saving. I believe next chapter rightly, Rei is going to point out that the ones most in need of saving are the ones who suffered the most because of Endeavor’s actions. Endeavor was never the one in need of saving, and in need of redemption in the first place, rather it was Dabi.

1. Started From the Bottom Now We’re Even Lower

Hawks and Dabi are seeming opposites even from their origin points. Hawks was born in a poor household the son to a minor villain, Touya a rich household the son of the number two hero. Hawks family name basically means nothing to the point where the hero commission easily erased it, whereas Dabi’s family name has dominated his entire life. Touya from a young age was given everything he needed to become a hero and his father even encouraged him, while Hawks was on the run from the law and couldn’t even leave his small house without getting yelled at.

At first, Hawks was born with a quirk that both of his parents disapproved of as they constantly asked him what his wings were even for, and seemed disgusted by his mutation. While at the same time, Touya was born with a quirk that his father was happy with, a fire quirk even stronger than his own which Enji thought gave him enough of a potential that he didn’t need to worry about finding an ideal hybrid quirk. He could pass all his techniques onto his firstborn son who seemed eager to learn.

The only real similarity between both of them was that for both children, Endeavor was clearly their favorite hero. Touya was eager to please his father and train with him in order to inherit his hero techniques, and when Endeavor captured Hawks father, it convinced Hawks that heroes were real.

However, both of them experienced a sudden reversal of fate. This is where circumstances for both of them flipped. Touya’s quirk was in fact revealed to be a very harmful hybridization of his parents two quirks, he inherited his father’s flames but even hotter, while at the same time inheriting Rei’s sensitivity to fire which made th overheating flaw even worse on him causing his quirk to deliberately harm his body. Hawks however, is an ideali hybridization of both of his parents quirks. His mother Tomie has a quirk that creates eyeballs and seems ideal for searching, watching and locating things, while his father’s feather quirks on his arms that could sharpen into blades turned into wings on his back that were both capable of searching and detection like his mother’s eyeballs and sharpening into blades like his father’s.

At first it seems destined that Touya was ging to become a hero, while Hawks had no hope for him, but because of the nature of their quirks the opposite happened. When Hawks was young he was able to save a busload of people from crashing which got him recruited by the hero commission. While it’s implied that Touya kept trying to train on his own even after Endeavor stopped the training and abandoned him in favor of Shoto, and because of that Touya had his training accident at Sekoto peek and burned to death.

Dabi and Hawks are seeming opposites, but they’re actually quite similar if you think about it. Both of them grew up in abusive households that are intentionally paralleled, they have controlling and physically violent fathers, and mothers who are coded as mentally ill, Tomie was unfit to take care of a child, and Rei was eventually pushed to a breaking point where she was unable to anymore and then forcibly separated and institutionalized by her husband. Both, also experienced a separation from their mother, Rei was hospitalized around the time Toya finally died, and the Hero Commission promised Tomie support if she cut all ties from him. Both of them also dreamed of becoming heroes, and tried their best to, even Touya after his father rejected him kept training on their own.

The only difference between them is circumstances, Hawks was saved because he was born with a useful quirk, Touya despite his father being the number two hero was never saved.

2. We’re the Heroes, Who Don’t Do Anything

In fact it’s implied that Enji intentionally looked away and forced himself to forget Touya’s suffering. For instance, the first time Touya trains with Enji he’s shown wearing a sleeveless shirt. Every time after that, Touya has long jacket sleeves on. When he’s crying to Natsuo, when he’s pulling out his hair, and the last memory from before his death, every time Touya is shown hiding his arms. We also know that Dabi, has burns that go all the way up his arms which is exactly where his flames emerge from. It’s also the place where Touya burns himself when Enji remembers training with him for the first time.

It’s likely that Touya was walking around with burns up his arms from the training he was inflicting on himself, and Enji simply didn’t notice because his unreliable narrator status, he forgets everything he has done to other members of his family, or intentionally downplays the severity of it in order to avoid the guilt and consequences of his actions. Hence why he can say things like “I never meant to neglect you” to Natsuo, when we saw him call Natsuo and the others failures from Shoto’s perspective, because in Enji’s perspective he’s just a good father who went wrong somewhere along the line, whereas from Natsuo’s perspective he never really acted like a father towards him at all.

Enji only ever sees his own intentions, and not the impact his actions had on others. He only saw his heroic ambitions, and not the way he taught Touya that his only value was his quirk, and then completely tossed him aside as a failure and ignored all his suffering when Touya kept trying to get his attention. That he intentionally neglected Touya until either an accident or a suicide claimed his life.

Either way it’s a running theme that Endeavor hesitates when it comes to saving his own sons. Despite seeing himself as both a hero and a father, he completely fails in both roles to them.

He froze when it came time to save Natsuo from Ending, and the second time when Shoto was begging Endeavor for help against Dabi, Endeavor chose not to do a single thing. In fact the only thing that moved him was Deku’s pep talk that exclusively stoked his ego and called him a good mentor, which caused Endeavor to finally move into action.

Endeavor is a hero in name who has no interest in directly saving others, because his number one priority has always been to stand at the number one spot and feel like he’s accomplished something. He didn’t notice Touya was most likely continuing the training on his own, and was spiraling that badly until after Touya had died, and even after that happened he still continued the training with Shoto like nothing happened, even mentioning that Touya was a small mistake.

When the wounds from Touya’s death were still fresh, it seemed like barely anything more than an afterthought to him. There are some people who even theorize that Enji only believed Touya was always alive because he had never truly faced the guilt of Touya’s death and his role in it, that it was a comfort to him to believe his son was still secretly alive out there.

The signs were obvious that Touya was spiraling, but he was neglected so much that Endeavor the number two hero who prides himself on most cases resolved didn’t notice what was going wrong with his son until he literally burned himself alive, and even then that wasn’t enough to stop him from mistreating his other son and forcing him into painful training.

Touya’s neglect is as much abuse as Shoto’s favoritism and training, that’s the point of the golden child / scapegoat dynamic, they are both being abused. Enji was the only parent in the household, and if his kid was burning himself, and injuring himself all the time and it got to the point where the child literally died because of a lack of adult supervision, Enji could be prosecuted for manslaughter in a court of law. There are cases where adults just, do absolutely nothing for their kids, and those kids sometimes die of neglect, starvation, because of their parents completely failing to take care of them. It’s just as sinister a form of abuse as physical abuse. In both cases a child’s needs aren’t being provided for by their parents.

Dabi is someone who could have been easily saved by his father paying attention to him, and should have been saved by the man who prides himself as the number two hero, but he was left to rot. This is a running theme with Endeavor, he’s a hero who continually fails to save his family.

Dabi’s situation is also a metaphor for hero society at large. Who are the types of people that Hero Society prefers to save? Those who are useful to it like Hawks. It intentionally turns a blind eye to cases like Touya, Tenko or Twice. If Touya did have burns on his arms from training but was able to cover them up just by wearing long sleeves, and Natsuo was the only one who knew then that goes even further to explain Dabi’s specific obsession with discrediting Endeavor.

If Dabi’s father had just acted like a hero, or acted like a father then he would have been saved. If Dabi’s father had noticed the person most in need of saving was right next to him, the incident where he burned to death never would have happened. Which is why Dabi’s grudge is specifically against heroes who do not act like heroes. Heroes who, cannot save anyone because they are too self involved to perform the duty of saving. He shares Stain’s obsession with ideologically pure heroes, that only heroes who put saving others selflessly over everything else should be allowed to exist and the rest are pretenders to the title.

Notice how Dabi pulls on the scars on his face when begging the people to think about this, about who should really be allowed to call themselves heroes.

Dabi’s entire arc revolves around this question. Who are the real victims? Who are the ones that really need to be saved? Dabi is a character of mystery and subversion who is constantly hiding his real feelings.

Dabi is commented on being heartless about Twice’s death, but his actions contradict his words. Dabi goes out of his way trying to avenge Twice even after it’s already too late to save him, even burning up his own body to do so. He tried so hard we see literally there are new scars growing on his back the next time we see him Post-War Arc.

I’d also like to bring up that while Hawks accuses Dabi of feeling nothing about Twice’s death, Hawks is the one who killed him, and who after the fact shows no regret in his actions because he’s completely justified it to himself. He even remembers Twice like he’s some kind of old friend he took inspiration from, and not a person he manipulated into trusting him then killed. My point is it’s a reversal, Hawks is set up as the one who cares about Twice as a friend, but really was only using him. Dabi claims he was only using him, but he’s the one who showed an actual emotional reaction to Twice’s death and made an effort to save him.

If I were to say this is one more point of foiling between Dabi and Hawks. They both don’t see themselves as victims and because of that they deny the victimhood of the other.

Dabi accuses Hawks of becoming a murderer because his father was a murderer. Hawks when he learns the truth about Enji, takes Enji’s side over Dabi’s, believing Endeavor being the true victim in need of help in that situation. This is because Dabi and Hawks both deny their own victimhood, and they project that on each other. Dabi denies his victimhood and pretends to be the villain instead, he’s the villain who is going to take down Endeavor and therefore he’s not suffering. Hawks denies his own victimhood and his abusive past and pretends to be a hero, he’s helping Endeavor become a better hero, so therefore all the abuse Endeavor committed is in the past so therefore he doesn’t have to think about it. Both deny themselves and therefore deny any similarity in one another.

They’re also two people fatally wrapped up in their own circumstances they turn a blind eye to the suffering of others. Dabi assumes that Shoto is “good” and therefore, must have been raised with love and had it better than him and was raised with love. Whereas Hawks assumes that Twice is “good”, and therefore worthy of saving because he helps other people. In both cases, neither Dabi nor Hawks really understand Shoto or Twice, they’re just judging them by their own projected standards. Dabi only understands his childhood as Touya desperately trying to work for Enji’s attention, so Shoto who had Enji’s attention must have had it good. Hawks was saved because of the bus accident where he saved people as a hero, so obviously it makes sense he reach out to try to save another good person who just had bad luck.

Despite the fact that both of them are pretty much emotionally dead and in deep denial of their true feelings.

Dabi has also made a show of how little he cares about Natsuo, while at the same time his most famous line from the pro hero arc is “overthought things and snapped...”

Dabi is also the only one who notices it’s dangerous to bring Tokoyami onto a battlefield. This is when he asks the question, who is it who needs saving.

We learn at around the same time, the hope from the Pro Hero arc was intentionally a set up by Dabi to bring Endeavor down, and show everyone eventually that Endeavor hadn’t truly changed.

These are all small details yes, but keep in mind we’ve really only gotten crumbs of Dabi’s characterization so far because his perspective is one that has deliberately been kept from us. We see his past through almost everyone else’s eyes but his own - because so far the focus has been on Endeavor.

Just like Dabi set up Endeavor’s earlier success only to bring him down, this might also lead to a reversal in the narratives. In 299, Hawks believed Endeavor to be the one in need of help. We are also as an audience set up to believe that the narrative arc will focus around Endeavor’s redemption. This is before the series revealed the circumstances of his son.

However, Endeavor and Dabi are literal opposites. They’re inversions of each other. Dabi pretends he doesn’t care any more for his family and will go out of his way to hurt them, that all he cares about is revenge, but at the same his ideals are heroic. In his actions and ideals he’s the one calling for a better society. Dabi is the most independent and distant from the league it’s true, and so far he’s denied their friendship, but at the same time it’s Dabi who is the most idealistic of the league. Shigaraki wants to destroy the current society, Himiko wants a society that’s easier on her, but it’s Dabi who has the ideals for a society he wants, one where heroes are held to standards and act like Heroes. It’s dabi better than anyone else who makes the standards for mass appeal. Because, deep down Dabi still has heroic aspirations and drive even if it comes from Stain of all people he’s inspired by. He has some sort of ideals, a world he’s trying to create.

Whereas, Endeavor doesn’t have any heroic ideals at all. His idea of being a hero has always centered around fame, status and the ranking of number one. He’s a hero unconcerned with saving people, only defeating villains to prove his strength. Endeavor presents himself outwardly as someone who is trying to do what’s best for his family, and working towards being the best hero he can be but his intentions are revealed to be selfish, at the same time as Enji’s narration is revealed as unreliable. It may have been set up for an inversion all along, with the setup being that Enji is the one who needed to redeem himself, when Dabi was pushed to the background. Around this time Rei also tried to reassure others, that he was trying to carry his regrets with him.

However, as soon as Touya’s identity is revealed, Rei’s stance reverses. Now she properly calls out that, Enji hasn’t been carrying his regrets at al.. Instead, he’s been forcing his family to carry the burden of it while he gets to go play hero in front of the public.

As soon as Touya is revealed to be alive, it’s not Enji who is the center and focus of conversation but rather Touya. In 299, Hawks believes that it’s Endeavor whose in need of saving, but we’re shown that Endeavor only really seems to pity himself in this situation.

It’s Rei who shows up to remind us, who really is in need of saving in this situation. Not Endeavor but rather those who have been burned the most by Endeavor’s actions.

Which may be the ultimate parallel between Hawks and Dabi as well, Hawks can’t see himself as a victim so he can’t realize who the victims who need his help the most is. Whereas, Dabi in the future may receive the change of heart he needs to reopen his heart again and accept others, and therefore learn to accept himself. Dabi is set up for a reconciliation between his two selves, Touya the victim and Dabi the villain. While ultimately, Hawks will intentionally turn his back on Keigo the victim, because he can only ever see himself as a hero.

I’m not suggesting that Dabi is good or Hawks is bad, or the other way around, not something as simple as that but that Dabi is open to change, and this will lead to him eventually opening up to others. Whereas, Hawks who is given practically every opportunity to change, and even escapes killing Twice with no permanent consequences, (his wings are growing back, and he even is freed from the hero commission) chooses to support Endeavor once again. It’s Dabi who calls others to think and reevaluate, and is actively trying to create a change in the world, whereas Hawks only interest is protecting other heroes and not the victims that heroes themselves create. Because in his mind heroes are good and that fact will never change.

Because Dabi is the one trying to create change, while Hawks continues to cling to Endeavor I believe we’ll eventually receive a reversal for both of them. Just as the narrative around Dabi has changed from irredeemable villain to person in need of saving, we may see exactly what was foreshadowed in this panel happening. Dabi walking towards the light, while Hawks falls further and further into the shadows - because it’s Dabi who is looking for that light, while Hawks chooses to remain in the dark. Hawks was saved once, and now he believes that everyone who is good gets saved, unless they are unlucky like Twice. It’s Dabi who knows the truth, that there are heroes who don’t save people, and it’s Dabi who is at least trying to confront that truth head on and change it rather than just ignoring it.

In a way Hawks is someone who has gone blind from looking too closely at Endeavor’s light, whereas because Dabi was failed by Endeavor and fell into the shadows he at least knows the truth about what it’s like for those who don’t get saved, and unlike Hawks can’t keep deluding himself that this is a world where everyone who deserves it gets saved.

#dabi #hawks #toya todoroki #touya todoroki #takami keigo #mha meta #my hero academia meta #my hero academia theory #bnha 299 #bnha 300 #mha 299 #mha 300

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codenamesazanka · 4 years

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Sorry to say this again, but like, I can’t stress enough how much I am loving Horikoshi’s writing right now.

Horikoshi-sensei has given Endeavor an sort of impossible choice of what to do about his son that he inadvertently turned villainous, Touya/Dabi. It’s one thing to deal with his abuse privately, within the family, go through only the interpersonal consequences, as it so often the case irl. But Horikoshi says no, Endeavor must face the full consequences upon consequences of the chain reaction of his abusive behavior. He stands to lose everything and more as he arguably should as someone who abused his authority/power/quirk (standing in for ‘personality, individuality’, essentially his entire unique being).

I’ve seen a common opinion that Endeavor hasn’t ‘suffered’ enough in the narrative to earn a redemption. Leaving aside the fact that I in general don’t agree with the idea of suffering as a sort of penance, this is it. How much more can the man who wanted to be the strongest, who was so caught up in his ego, who now wants to make amends— how much more can he suffer than this? For a man like him, defeated and failing to take down Shigaraki Tomura and the League, humiliated on the national stage (especially this, I think; abusers are usually narcissistic, seeking control over their victim, over their image), all the work he has done gone - it’s the worst situation imaginable for Endeavor’s character.

It’s absolutely delicious irony. You can’t even feel sorry for him because this is the natural and logical result of his sins; reaping what he sow. It’s narrative justice coming for its due. This is the corner the author as written Endeavor into, the test given - symbolically, the ultimate test for abusers in rehabilitation.

See, thing is: There’s no incentive for Endeavor to change anymore! Before, him changing would’ve ‘rewarded’ him: having a family, becoming a true hero, worthy of the title of Japan’s No. 1 Hero, the new pillar and ‘symbol of peace’. Now all that is gone, or at the very least so very much more difficult and grueling to achieve. No reward at the end of this journey, no positive reinforcement, no peace, nothing. All that’s left is this: will he go back to thinking only of himself, or will he accept this fate and continue to think of his victims? Will he continue to commit to atoning and becoming a better person, simply because it’s the right thing to do?

IMO, it’s an real good portrayal of one of the aspects of domestic violence, weaven seamlessly in the storyline, achieving character development through worldbuilding (in a way?), connected with the bigger themes of the story. As a story with impact, I don’t think you can slam home the point any harder than this - abuse has long lingering, devastating and sometimes irreparable consequences. When Endeavor harmed his family, he had harmed their hearts, their lives, and—

being that his motivation was inseparable from being a Pro Hero whose choices effect lives (Heroes are people who save people, then is a Villain not a person, it’s tainted everything you’ve built, the whole system that as always rejected insane guys, like those who aren’t considered good or virtuous, all of the downtrodden folks), Endeavor has also harmed the world.

#Endeavor #Todoroki Enji #Todoroki #bnha #mha #heroaca #horikoshi kohei #Hero Society #league of villains #nalslastworkingbraincell #everything here is my opinion! I can be completely wrong smh #I’m personally very touched by how Horikoshi is handling this #I respect him and the story he’s telling a great deal #just me tho

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hopeless-ro-simptic · 4 years

Text

Familiar Cerulean Eyes Pt. 4

Click here for other parts. Part 5

Warning: This shit gets intense. Not smut but like character almost dies. Be prepared. Dabi’s alpha really comes out in this one. He angry boi.

Word Count: Just under 2.5 K

Taglist: @skzero-99 @superblyspeedydragon @jparra4587 @flyingowls @emrysaaryn @imuziawi @sheedaabee @peculiarinsomniac @littlelovebug98 @plutoneu @giftofwonder @kitty-kat-ash @fukyouthink @anarchys-bnha-mess @threbony @orenjineki @toobsessedsstuff @bamf-barnes

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You woke up from your nap, your neck stiff, to the annoying sound of Dabi’s phone going off for what you were pretty sure was the third time in five minutes. Whoever was trying to contact him really wanted his attention, and he wasn’t giving it to them.

Instead you watched with wide eyes as the annoyed villain gave another meaning to burner phone, watching the melting plastic drip onto the floor, holding it from the top of the phone so not to get the melted plastic on himself. He was sitting up on the bed and looked absolutely done with whatever was going on with that phone. Running his hands over his face pulling his skin with a deep sigh before he noticed you watching, replacing his expression with a smirk as he pulled out a cigarette lighting it with his finger and placing it between his lips before leaning back against his forearms.

“Good morning, Princess. Well I guess I should say good night.” The shadows on his face being exaggerated by the lamp next to his bed by his cigarette tray. He was just in an old tattered wife beater at this point, the hoodie piled up on the corner of his bed like he was using it as a pillow. It was only then that you noticed his singular pillow was tucked between you and the armrest of the chair you were in, and the furry blanket draped across your body. You could help but sniff it, shocked that it smelled brand new and unscented. For some reason you pouted at that. Which he didn’t miss.

“H- ahem… How long was I out?” You’re throat was dry making your voice scratchy and you were silently grateful when he reached out to you, handing you an unopened water bottle.

He hummed thoughtfully to himself glancing at the window, blowing out a puff of smoke that started to collect in the air. “Maybe five hours? I tried to get you to move to the bed and stretch out but you’re pretty mean when you’re asleep”

“I’ve been told that before,” You stood up out of the chair, letting yourself stretch out and folding the blanket up neatly on the chair, pretending like you didn’t care about it, the butterflies erupting in your stomach. You could feel the eyes of the alpha in front of you drag along your body, slowly taking in what was before him. There was nothing you could do to stop him, and after your nap your omega was starting to wake up and was enjoying the stares for once. It did feel kind of nice that someone thought of you like that, like you were something worth looking at. You tried not to dwell on it. Instead you located the snack bag, riffling through it to locate something to eat, the alpha next to you as he continued to puff smoke out like an angry dragon, making lazy circles in the air.

Finally, after some deliberation, you picked out a candy bar, turning and leaning against the dresser facing the door and opening it. Your stomach ready for food, your foggy brain, however, was not prepared for the door in front of you to collapse suddenly in ash, the number one villain in Japan standing behind it, five fingers up where the previously standing door was, rage in his blood red eyes. The stench that enveloped the room could not be mistaken for anything other than a very angry and pissed off alpha.

Dabi reacted quicker than you, jumping up in between you and the offending alpha with a snarl ripping through his throat.

“What is this? Playing hooky with some dumb useless omega? Can’t keep it in your pants, Dabi, long enough to answer my calls?” The tall and lanky blue haired alpha stepped into the room menacingly, and while Dabi was easily bigger than he was, you knew that the other alpha outranked him. That he was more dangerous.

“Get out, she’s mine.” The smell in the air was choking you as the two alphas pumped out enough pheromones to coat the entire block, along with the smoke emitting from Dabi’s body, his temperature rising and blue flames appearing in one of his hands threateningly. Your omega let out a loud chirp realizing the situation. You were in a very small flammable room, with two pissed off and very dangerous alphas. That were about to fight because of you. And you had dropped your candy bar.

Shigaraki moved first, he reached for you, but Dabi reacted faster, grabbing your wrist and spinning you behind him the opposite way past Shigaraki, thrusting his enflamed hand out towards the alpha, essentially switching your places, the lamp providing the only light in the room other than the light from the hallway outside being dusted in the process, Shigaraki hissing in pain at being touched by Dabi’s fire before he started laughing maniacally. You could smell the fear coming off of yourself as you stepped back into the door frame. You realized this was it, you could run. But you weren’t sure you would get very far. You hesitated not sure what to do, your omega chirping wildly as you searched for an answer.

Dabi continued his onslaught of fire, burning scorch marks into the walls as the blue haired alpha dodged. An annoyed hiss leaving his lips. “Kurogiri!”

Shigaraki moved again, this time disappearing into a black mist that appeared in front of him. You could hear Dabi snarl out whipping around to grab you, but he was too late. Four fingers were wrapped around your throat from behind you, and you could smell the distinct scent of ash and decay radiating off of the alpha that had you trapped. The room went silent other than your whimpers that you couldn’t control. You had heard very little about Shigaraki, but after the USJ incident, Shoto had talked about the villain who could dust anything or anyone with just a touch of five fingers. At the time you had thought the villain was scary. With how shaken up Shoto was you thought you understood what he was trying to explain. But being here, in this moment, with your life just a finger from ending, you truly understood the extent of the fear that those kids had gone through. You weren’t even sure if this villain’s quirk would work against you, but you didn’t want to test it.

“Maybe next time you’ll answer your phone instead of entertaining a stupid little omega whore.” You couldn’t even feel the tears streaming down your face, your voice had gone silent. You never smelled anything as sour as the fear radiating off of you. Not even when Endevor had engulfed you in fire for the first time when you were just a pup to test if your quirk would protect you.

“No! Please!” The look on Dabi’s face was heartbreaking. The sound of his voice cracking at seeing you like this, about to die due to his negligence, echoed around the room. The word ‘please’ ringing in your ear, almost as loud as your own roaring heartbeat.

For some reason, that word made Shigaraki pause, glancing with confusion to you behind your back, and for some reason, that brief second made you realize you didn’t want to die seeing Dabi with that look on his face, it reminded you so much of a look that another alpha had given you so long ago. So you did the only thing you could do in the moment to make him feel better.

Dabi doesn’t think he has ever heard a purr so heavenly. You sounded like an angel. Like a siren desperately calling him out to sea. He didn’t think he would ever listen to another purr again and enjoy it, with one noise you had ruined him. It was sad, scared, but beautiful and comforting and all at the same time, even with the current predicament you found yourself in. It was all that his alpha could do to return your purr with an attempt at a calming scent, one that he hadn’t emitted for a long time, and it was a shaky attempt at best, but your omega could still pick up on the change in the smell of the air. You closed your eyes, purring louder and focusing on that spicey warm smell of cinnamon, letting your mind wander back to the one of the last times you had smelled something so nice.

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“Leave her alone!” A growl came from the young red headed boy in front of you, he was getting closer and closer to presenting age and his secondary sex was growing stronger by the day. There was no doubt now that he would present as an alpha. Endevor was proud.

He was also annoyed at the pup’s disobedience.

Endevor shoved you to the ground, you chirping softly and curling in on your self as you looked up at the two males.

“You want me to leave her alone? Then prove to me that you can handle this. Do it Touya. I want you outside in five minutes, and you are going to get that move perfected or she becomes target practice.” Endevor turned to leave at that point, sending one more glare in your direction before muttering. “Prove to me there was a point in wasting the money on this runt.”

Immediately Touya dropped down in front of you, pulling you into his arms, checking you over for injuries.

“I’m fine… Touya I’m fine.” You pushed him off of you. For once in your life you were upset at him. Angry. And he couldn’t understand why.

“I’m sorry, Y/N, I should have stopped him sooner. I just am too weak to over power him. I promise I’ll get stronger.”

“No! That’s not what I want! I just want you to be safe! Stop trying to prove that you can do this stupid move. Do you not see what it’s doing to you? Touya you are burning yourself up! You are going to end up hurt in a way that might not be fixable!” You stood up, brushing yourself off, ignoring the bruised pain where endevor had you held up by your throat. Ignoring the way your eyes your eyes burned with unshed tears. You couldn’t protect Touya if he was so worried about you all the time. You had to suck it up.

“Y/N,” Touya’s face looked completely torn. All he wanted to do was to be good enough for you, and if it meant hurting himself just a little he would do it.

“I have to Y/N… I have to get stronger, to be able to protect you.”

He pulled you back into his arms, placing soft little kisses to your cheeks, releasing the calming scent of cinnamon that he knew you liked so much. He would do whatever it took to keep you safe. He wouldn’t let you cry anymore. He would do whatever it took to protect you. To give you the life you deserved.

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You threw yourself into Dabi’s arms, a sob leaving you lips the second that the fingers detached from your throat. He collected you into his grasp, hugging your face to his chest, lightly pressing his lips to the top of your head, petting your hair soothingly as he glared daggers at the other alpha who was watching in awed confusion, his fingers tearing at his neck with scratches.

“What the fuck is your problem?” He was angry. He was livid. He was going to kill him for scaring his precious omega.

You couldn’t help yourself, your omega wanted comfort, from the only person in the room that would give it to her. You leaned up on your tip toes and nuzzled gently against the alpha’s scent glands, inhaling the scent of cinnamon, smoke and whiskey, trying to calm yourself down. Earning a soft strangled sound from the alpha’s throat.

“Get out!” He wasn’t going to say it again, you were finally warming up to him and it was because you were terrified. He hated that it was in this situation but all he wanted to do was to make you feel better. All his alpha wanted to do was worship you.

The blue haired alpha was scratching his neck in thought, watching the exchange between the alpha and omega in front of him. He could tell she wasn’t bonded. Hell, she wasn’t even scented by him thoroughly it seemed, yet the alpha in front of him was acting like she was more than just some groupie he found to warm his bed. As far as he was aware, Dabi had never shown any interest in an omega other than to deal with his ruts, and they usually didn’t want anything to do with him after that, screaming profanities that could be heard throughout the compound that was the leagues base where most of them stayed. In fact, Shigaraki was pretty sure Dabi never brought anyone to his personal shithole of an apartment, always stating that he didn’t want them to stink up the place.

Dabi leaned down, running his nose against your scent glands in return, cooing softly in your ear that everything was okay. You were okay. He was going to kill him and that everything was okay and then the two of you could take a nap and relax and everything was going to be okay.

For some reason, the threat didn’t even phase you.

Finally, Shigaraki groaned in annoyance. His fingers stopping their itching as he turned to the beta Kurogiri, who you just now registered was there, mumbling something quietly to him before snapping at the couple in front of him.

“If you want to play house then do it on your own time. We have a mission to do.”

“I’m not leaving her unprotected” Dabi snarled back the tension in the room still thick, causing your omega to curl further into his arms until you were flush against him, your face hiding in his neck whimpering soft pleads for him to protect you. You knew within three seconds that you much rather cuddle up against the murderer in your arms than have to face the hand covered alpha that wanted to rule the world.

“Fine, fine. Then bring your pet. I don’t care.” Shigaraki turned and slipped into the black mist that was Kurogiri’s portal, another one appearing underneath you and Dabi, swallowing you whole as you let out distressed chirps.

#bnha omegaverse #alpha dabi #omega reader #bnha #mha #mha omegaverse #dabi is a todoroki #dabi is touya #dabi #dabi x y/n #dabi x female reader #dabi x you #dabi x reader #crispy

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baku-writes · 3 years

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Omgggg I just love the hawks request you did it was amazing and sooo good imma request something similar to it but with DABI/ Touya todoroki can you do where the reader and Touya as children like yk childhood friends both grew up with parents who abused them and one day Touya was about to get beaten badly in training and the reader took it for them ( timeskip when they learnt Touya died they were absolutely sadand almost suicide? And DABI finds her in time and they just talk and confess? <333 :)

AAAAAA I LOVE THIS IDEA!! Personally, even though Dabi isn't my fav character I love his backstory. I just find it so interesting.

Touya todoroki x gn!reader (mostly children versions so angst and fluff)

TW: Abuse, fake suicide (?), suicidal thoughts, minor bodily injury (mentions of burnt skin, bruises and blood). ANGST, spoilers (?)

Back from the dead

Summary: you and touya todoroki grew up together and were both victims of brutal parenting. However, when you took the punishment for Touya it was the final straw... he wasn't Touya anymore...

Life was difficult.

It always had been.

Your entire life you were told you would be nothing, your parents beat you into submission until no motivation ever sparked within you other than to be what they wanted. They wanted a hero. The next number one, just like allmight. They didn't want another version of endeavor, but a capable young hero who could fight any villain and take them down with ease.

Your parents weren't pro heroes, both were rejected by UA and didn't pass the hero course for any other school. It crushed them. But also drove them to insanity. Everything they had ever worked for in their childhood come crashing down within a short period of their lives, that is how the both met. However, when they had you they saw a sadistic glimmer of hope. Hope that their 'spawn' could do what they couldn't and hope that their child could live out their dream for them.

And so they would train you. And train you. And train you. Until you couldn't walk, talk and sometimes even eat due to exhaustion. But once they realised they could no longer give you any more training boosts due to their lack of experience, they handed you off to the number 2, endeavour. Even though they despised him, if that is what they had to do to make you strong.... they were going to make you do it.

And there you met Touya. A young boy, the same age as you, with aspirations and dreams of becoming the hero his father wanted him to be. However, like your parents, they taught this motivation through sadistic punishments and abusive training.

It was obvious the kid was worn out. Burn scars scorched his arms and even his face. It confused you, but also made you protective of him. You hated how overworked he was. You hated to see him get hurt. Ofcourse you wouldn't tell anyone this, knowing your sadistic parents they would threaten his life to motivate you.

One day it was the usual training. Your parents dropped you off at the number 2's house, with only a single bottle of water and a small dirt kids towel. Your overgrown and unkept hair was in an uncomfortably tight messy bun and your limbs ached from the previous days grueling training.

The day started off as normal: using your quirk until you couldn't do it anymore or collapse from exhaustion. Your quirk is called manipulation, it allows you to manipulate the shapes of near by non living objects, fir example you could make a smooth rock spiky. However, your quirk took a lot of focus and energy, so far you could only use your quirk on objects as large as a vase, you were only young.

Touya was next to you, hot flames spewing from his hands and arms. Singing his skin and burning the near by area... that was until he noticed his dads near by ornament fall and shatter on the ground.

Was this ornament important to endeavor? No. But would he still be pissed? Yes.

Fear immediately clouded Touya's mind....

"Nonononono" his panicked cries began to fill the room as you ran over to him, his cries would only alert endeavour sooner. Not because endeavour would be worried for him, but because endeavour would be angry at whatever he had done.

"Touya calm down. Here, I'll sweep it u-"

You barely had time to look up when you hear the sound of the door slam and angry heavy footsteps head towards the training room. Oh no. He's heard.

The door slammed open and silence cascaded over the room. Everything went still as time began to slow, the only sound you could hear was your heart thumping against your rib cage. Touya was going to get hurt.... and you hated that.

"Touya..... did you break the ornament?" He was calm at first. Some may see this as a good sign, but you two know better. He was going to explode any minute, he was a ticking time bomb waiting to blow.

"DID YOU BREAK THE FUCKING THING?" His voice was raised, his steps heading towards the two of you.

He raised his hand, ready to hit his son until your voice chimed in. Weak and unconfident you stood in front of your chest friend as you spoke.

"It was me... I broke it."

Silence filled the room. The scowl on his face grew deeper as he grabbed onto your arm with force.

"You know what's going to happen. Don't tell a fucking soul, you hear me?"

.....

After around 10 minutes you left the backroom, beaten and bloodied. Ofcourse, it wasn't to a severe extent, but still enough to hurt and be noticed by any possible strangers.

Touya didn't speak to you for the rest of the day.... and the next day training was cancelled...

Touya was dead.... death by fire. It was suicide. You knew it.

(TIME SKIP, CURRENT TIME)

The fall from the bridge seemed welcoming. You had got no where in life, running away from your parents at the age of 16 you found yourself helpless and homeless years later.

Recently, you discovered everything was a lie... Toiya wasn't dead... well the Touya you knew was. But the body if him was alive, just being controlled by a man who goes by the name "Dabi". You didn't want to accept that ot was your friend, you didn't want to accept the fact that you still liked him. He was a murderer... you should hate him. But what you hated even more was how you pitied endeavour, the abuser who tortured you two and lead his own son to 'suicide'. He had changed, but you will never forgive him.

The hopelessness and confusion in your life was too much. You let the cool air whip against your face for the final few minutes, you might as well enjoy the last moments in your life. Ironically, it was peaceful, you never really got peace before. And it had to be your final moments that ot decided to make an appearance.

Now was the time. The time to end this miserable life. The time to end the memories and pain that tormented you for years. You would never have to get hurt again, the pain will just stop and never appear. No one will miss you, your friend is gone and your family was never there. Tears began to pour down your face as you realised your life was nothing but a misery... you never even lived. You just survived...

You took a step closer to the ledge.

Until you felt a harsh tug pull you back and force you onto the concrete floor.

"OW WHAT THE HELL?!"

Your head shot up to glare at who ever pulled you down to the ground. But your blood ran cold as a white haired 5'9 figure covered in burn scars stood in front of you...

"D-dabi."

Shock overwhelmed your system, the tears ran down your face faster as you come face to face with your 'dead' best friend. The boy who abandoned you all those years ago..... the man who you never got over...

"Come on now, you know that's not my name." His smile creased his face and wrinkled his scars a little and his held out his hand to you. Warily, you took his hand and allowed him to pull you up. Should you trust him? He was a murderer.... but he was your friend.....

"Long time no see, huh?" He chuckled a little bit. Was this a fucking normal meeting for him. Is he making a guxking joke out of this.... after he abandoned you all those years ago, just to become some low life thug who murders people. INNOCENT PEOPLE.

"What the fuck? Is this funny to you? You think this is funny? Laughing when you left me all those years ago. Laughing when you become this.... a- a... A monster, a freak who murderers out of revenge? Fuck you."

Anger shot through you. You don't care if this gets you killed, either he will do it or you'll do it yourself. He was a monster. A killer. Everything you ever despised in one person. A person you used to love turned into a revenge crazed maniac who kills the innocent.

Surprise flooded his features as you rammed a finger into his chest.

"YOU KILL INNOCENT PEOPLE. YOU HAVE PROBABLY KILLED FUCKING CHILDREN! Who the hell do you think you are coming to see me after what, 5 to 10 years? FUCK I don't even remember anymore because I don't see the point in keeping track of the days I had to live thinking you died! You're a monster...."

Your figure began to crumple, your tough exterior caving in as your pent up emotions broke free from their cage. You collapsed into his arms as he ran a soothing hand down your back. You were so confused.... you were angry yet happy. Sad at what he had become but proud of his strength to fight back...

"Why did you leave me Touya? I c-could of saved you..."

The cool breeze blew against the two of you as Touya continued running soothing strokes down your back. Suprisingly, he was guilty. But he wasn't here to see you upset. He was here to get you, save you, help you. He was here to take you to the LOV, his new family.

"I know I left, but I'm here now. I'm taking you to the League, but I promise they won't hurt you. They are family, you want to change the world right? Fix society? That's our goal too. We have all been hurt one way or another.... but please. Come with me. Let me make up for the time we have missed out on so far, let me be the man you need."

You looked up at him, your eyes sore from crying and nose running. Slowly, you nodded. His warm embrace was welcoming, the first hug you have had in at least 5 years.

"Okay...... but you have to take ms out on a date first." A small goggle escaped your lips as you expected a disgusted face to scrunch his features.

But instead...

"Sure, but we're heading over to the LOV hide out right now sweetheart."

Surprise filled your features as be smiled again, his smile just like his old self.

....

Maybe the new Touya wasn't that bad... maybe the old Touya never left...

-----------------

Never wrote for Dabi before so I hope this is good enough!!! Sorry if it took a while to write, I've had a few mental health things pop up within the last 2 days but I'm going to be okay <33. Let me know if this is what you wanted 💞💞

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nightlight-stardust-and-rain · 3 years

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Hmmm. Bnha fusion au. This was inspired by Steven universe which I don't know much about but this post is about Fuyumi, Touya, and who they are when fused.

So in this au they're twins. Fuyumi is born with a frost quirk (as we still don't know her quirk) and a resistance to fire, while Touya is born with an incredibly powerful fire quirk and a resistance to ice and cold. Fuyumi's power is not strong enough for her to injure herself, but Touya's sure is.

Endeavor is persuaded that they were born as twins because they were destined to fuse to cover each other's weakness. Separately, he finds them weak but fused they could be his masterpiece. Fusing is easy for the twins, both because they are twins and because they are close :) but the person they become (who, due to gender confusion, goes by they/them) isn't what Endeavor wanted.

Touya's fire power, being much more powerful, drowned out Fuyumi's simple frost quirk, creating an individual whose power was almost completely fire-based (with a VERY cold body temperature and the weak ability to create light frost on their skin) and absolutely not fireproof (Fuyumi's resistance to fire only made their fusion resistant to heat and heatstroke, not fire).

They don't have much of the markings that usually indicate a fusion. Their soft, spiky hair is entirely white, they do not have extra limbs. They both have blue, similar-shaped eyes so no heterochromia. They're twins, after all. Their fusion just simply looks like a third one of them (even if on occasions where they fuse when they're upset, the fusion has four eyes - the upper left one and the lower right one are grey, and they don't quite know where that comes from)

Even if it's an improvement (after all, they do have the resistance to overheating), Endeavor is very disappointed, and begins to train Touya just as much as Fuyumi-and-Touya (the fusion doesn't have a name yet. Endeavor calls them "you" and they are not permitted to fuse outside of training. They do not need a name yet). Touya begins to hate. Hate training, hate pain, hate fire, hate his father. Fuyumi hates too. Quietly, but she does. She hates the burns she receives when Endeavor trains Fuyumi-and-Touya, she hates the echoes of pain she gets from her twin when he's training. She hates the cold, burning gaze of their father who sees them as nothing more than tools to accomplish his goal. Her hate is quieter than Touya's but just as intense.

They don't want to live like this. To die like this (because their father will kill them he's going to kill them and they won't go down quietly)

They decide to fuse outside of training, in secret, just to see (they just want to stop being invisible-meek-Fuyumi and weak-crybaby-Touya. They just want to forget the bruises on their skin). Pain is lesser when you share it, and even if their fusions body is weaker, their mind is stronger. Whoever-they-are (they still do not have a name. They will get one, when theyr'e sure to have a future) is kind like Fuyumi, Passionate like Touya, Stubborn like both of them. Touya's anger is decreased by Fuyumi's patience and calm, Fuyumi's fearful side is reassured by Touya's fierce protectiveness and bubbling love for her. Their kindness was doubled, and in the same manner their hate for Endeavor only increased.

In a way, they think, maybe Endeavor was right. They're twins, and they were born to cover each other's weak points. Just not the physical ones. They never had the time to think about who they were before, but they like it. They like existing.

The twins decide to fuse more often from now on. It's beneficial for both of them ; they share each other's pain and understand each other better, while becoming a better individual person than they are separately.

But then comes the day of Touya's death.

It was a 'training accident' of course. Endeavor pushing too hard, and Touya loosing control of his blue flames. It was simple, in the end. Fuyumi felt her twin's pain and reached for his burning body in the middle of the inferno. It's all it took for them to fuse. Still burning, they escaped from their house.

After healing from most of the burns, even if they were permanently scarred, they decided to keep living on the streets (it was always better than going home). Whoever-they-were decided to name themself Dabi. It was incredibly fitting due to the burns, and no one would suspect someone with a name like that to have a weak frost quirk in there.

They decide to dye their white hair black, because they'd be less recognizable that way and also because at the time, Dabi was a bit drunk on the freedom of being away from Endeavor. That's where the piercings come from.

Dabi decides to stay themself instead of separating. They like who they are like that, and Touya and Fuyumi were twins, it feels natural for them to be fused. They like being fused (that and Touya's burns would be far greater than Dabi's if they were to defuse). But Dabi's hate for Endeavor still burns brighter than their own flames, and while Fuyumi's calm strategic side tells them to wait and bide their time, they know that they will have their revenge one day (and this revenge would imply more making Endeavor face consequences and live with them than killing him).

They instantly adopt Toga when they join the LoV (Dabi is kinda the ultimate big sibling). At first they think Twice is, like them, a permanent fusion (one that didn't quite settle mentally) but turns out that no, it's just trauma. They find a new family in the league :) aaaand my idea didn't go much further than that (the reveal to the LoV that Dabi is a fusion would be fun) feel free to write it!

#dabi bnha #dabi #todoroki touya #todoroki fuyumi #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #mha au #mha #bnha #fusion au #Dripping stardust

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bbq-hawks-wings · 3 years

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Chapters 301-302: Do as I Say, Not as I Do.

One of the biggest struggles as a parent is living out the example you teach your kids; and if Rei and Enji had been able to do that they might have been able to save their family and all those caught up in the carnage today a lot of grief. As much as this is the entire Todoroki Family's flashback, it mostly belongs to Rei, Enji, and Touya who took the brunt of their failure as parents and had the most spectacular fall because of it.

Both of them dearly loved their children and hated to see them suffer, but they were unable to face themselves and each other to build a strong foundational relationship on which to act as an example.

Their relationship was one based on a literal transaction - not love, not even mutual respect. It could have been salvaged long before things became irreparable, but neither of them were able to step beyond the confines of the conception of their union and grow it into anything more.

Because Enji's goal always came first and Rei didn't have the courage to put her foot down for even her own children's sake, it spiraled out of control into the blazing hellfire that left all of them scarred for life.

And to be clear, Endeavor is the one predominantly to blame for this scenario as he held almost all the power in the relationship. He was the one with the money and means of provision, and if he decided to abandon Rei and her kids she would have to hobble back home to a family that would berate and guilt her for the rest of her life for being useless, a failure, and a burden since they rested their financial stability on her to keep them afloat and now not only would have to care for her on tightened belts, but possibly the children she brought in tow.

So while her hesitancy to do anything to oppose him is beyond understandable she herself also owns that she fully knew she was enabling him and was personally familiar with the pain her inaction caused her children - going as far as to say she didn't deserve the title of "mother."

With a foundation of, "the only reason we got married and had children is to realize Enji's goal of becoming the #1 hero vicariously through them" their insistence that the kids could find something outside of being a hero and still have their love and respect is rendered invalid. Rei says as much when he brings up conceiving another child once he realizes Touya chasing his dream would result in his eventual death.

Children are smart and perfectly capable of following or developing logic with the facts they have. Touya picked up immediately that his parents started having more children as soon as he was deemed unable to fulfill Enji's wish and stopped having them as soon as he got what he wanted.

What Touya wasn't able to recognize was that this was Endeavor's way of trying to have his cake and eat it, too - have a baby that surpassed All Might AND not destroy his favorite child. He was not able to piece together that his father was trying to save him from his quirk because Touya's foundational concept for his parent-child relationship with Enji was, "realize my dream and make me proud." If Endeavor had been able to stop all together and say, "Gaining my dream is not worth losing you," and embrace his son disaster could have been avoided.

He just couldn't let it go.

Every time Touya tried to lean in on what he'd been taught and what was being shown to him (the promised child gets my attention) Endeavor leaned in further to the negative reinforcement of ignoring Touya and distancing himself from him which was only fuel upon fuel upon fuel to the fire.

Endeavor can't face Touya because he can't let his dream go, and he runs away from his responsibility as a father and puts in on Rei instead. Rei tried to step up at that point, but by then Touya refuses to listen to her because he can't respect her with the foundational relationship he knows his parents have with each other. When Rei can't make him stop, Endeavor doubles down on both her and Shouto, becoming physically violent in the process. Rei's mental state continues to deteriorate until she can't even see her own children anymore past their father who has them all trapped in this nightmare. Touya tried to lean on his siblings but dismisses Fuyumi who can't see his perspective, places a double emotional burden on Natsuo who is being hit on all fronts as the middle "failure" child, and resents baby Shouto for even being born. Shouto, Fuyumi, and Natsuo are forced to live a vicious cycle of screaming, abuse, and neglect as they can see their family unraveling at the seams but are completely powerless to stop it.

Touya lashes out at first, then withdraws into his own self-guided training, and eventually snaps when he reaches his breaking point that absolutely nothing he can possibly do will be able to bring his father back to him; and Touya dies in the flames of his own agony taking over and engulfing him alive. Though he somehow managed to survive the accident, by all accounts the little boy that Touya was dies that day; and the effects of that loss ripple through the family to the present day.

At what point after this he became Dabi I'm not sure. He's worked with Dr. Ujiko since then, but the details of their arrangement is unclear. Fuyumi and Natsuo have done their best to simply move on and create their own lives since then; and in a twist of fate Endeavor's insistence that Shouto continue hero training puts him in a school and in a class where he begins to make friends and find a support network that encourages him to begin to choose his own paths in life which also leads him to reaching out to his mother again. In the wake of the house of cards that is Hero Society crumbling with the fall of All Might, Endeavor has finally had to face the reality of his inadequacy and the evils be inflicted on his family.

By the time they're in the same room together again for the first time in years, all of them are different people. They all still have the same memories and the lingering feelings are strong; but what brought them together is also what tore them apart - Dabi, who is also not the same person he was when the ashes of this family came crumbling down.

They feel that the house who birthed this monster must have a significant hand in bringing him in and saving the public. This isn't a family issue anymore, and even if not every member of that household holds responsibility for what Dabi's become all of them want to do something to put out the fire that's now spread to the rest of the country.

#chapter review #she speaks #might as well post this now while it's at least sort of relevant

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hamliet · 3 years

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I think your blog is one of the best out there. Maybe becuase of this , maybe because of your awesome takes... I find it hard being in the fandom. And I wanted to share this very unpopular opinion. The more it goes on the more I wonder : how did Enji turned into this? Most of all in fandom tends to justify touya because he’s the result of Enji’s abuse. However Enji isn’t a natural born abuser. I’ve read and saw plenty: he has not manias of control. He accept easily his wife to leave him (he wanted to build an house for her and since Shoto’s accident he hadn’t forced himself on her). He wanted an heir, true and he was more neglecting (which is a form of abuse). But many time were found evidences in studies neglecting parents have issues of their own. Which can be found in their original family and / or society (if no mental illnesses are implied).

This made me wonder. I love Japanese culture , novels and society. And one of the most recurrent theme , especially some decades ago, is the high pressure people are exposed. It was and sometimes still is a nichilist model in which you die or fly and sometime you can’t hope to Rise once again when you fail. For example the concept of “you need to go at a go prek to get in a good university and find a good job” is often depict and put to extreme in many media. This inspire even books in which families are up for anything to push their children and they are under great pressure. Since Enji seems a not so bad man per se, has no mental illnesses , the only thing left is his immense obsession that must come from something. And the fact that in society a man must be successful... I think here it is.

The fact he can’t express his feeling correctly for the most of MHA , neither he can’t read them at the point of being perceived “with no compassion at all” comply the stereotype of the father with way too high standard , this can’t come from nothing. It’s not hard unreasonable thinking he was most likely pressured as much when younger , and that broke him at some point (which is a recursive theme in many others novels). This doesn’t justify him, but it might explain why he ended up like this.

But while everyone seems to be able to... forgive dabi , justifying his doings becuase of how he was raised while condamning 100% Enji. However the lingering theme of my hero’s villains is that they aren’t a monster , they’re turned into one; and society played a huge role. I don’t stand for Enji’s actions (who would) but ultimately? If all villains were broken by society at some point (being AFO the only exception for now) why can’t be him too? Broken by a society that demands from heroes to be perfect , to never be weak, even through total desperation? Society even made a joke of all might who gave his life entirely and part of his organs for Japan. Rather than only condemning Enji for his doings , much like is doing with Dabi, the spotlight should be society again.

He did wrong. Terribly wrong. and now everyone is ready to crucify him. But how society taught him better ? How society perceive heroes as humans , how far they can be weak and fails and not be blamed? Like father , like son. Touya is the result of his family , I think it should be considerated Enji was the product of a corrupted society. Which never correct itself , never tries to change... they just discard heroes and villains alike just for not being “perfect”.

Hi! Aw, thank you for your kind words <3

So, I’ll break this down a bit, because I think this discussion needs a lot of nuance. I agree society affected Enji, but I don’t quite think that a victim of society is remotely comparable to being a victim of parental abuse.

To start with, I fundamentally disagree with the notion that abusers are born, and hence don’t buy that Enji is somehow different (or better) because he wasn’t born that way.

To note, I talking specifically about physical/emotional/spiritual domestic abuse, not about sexual abuse (and I don’t wanna talk about that because it’s not relevant here, so no one send me asks about it, thanks).

Abuse is a description of an action and its affects. I’ll quote @linkspooky’s meta on Hawks last week: abuser is not a bad word, it’s not just something that bad people do. It’s an unhealthy relationship dynamic that even good people, even sympathetic people can participate in. It’d be great if we could just do a genetic test and determine if someone is an abuser (actually it wouldn’t be great; it’d be dystopian and terrifying), but that’s not how people work.

However, “abuser” is seen as a bad word, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing (nuance/abuse is horrific and takes such a toll on people that I’m glad it is given serious weight in some respects, although imo it’s overemphasized in fandom places and underemphasized in real life) and I’m not getting into good/bad/pluses/minuses of linguistic connotations here.

Hence, I would actually categorize what Rei did to Shouto as abuse, and I do think the story indicates she was neglectful towards her other children. However, I have never labeled her an “abuser” because of the negative connotation as is clear she is not a repeat offender and Shouto doesn’t even blame her--he blames Enji, and I don’t think that’s an incorrect assessment either. It’s complicated. Abuse victims can be abusers at the same time as they are victims (ask many a kid of an abusive dad what their mom was like; at best if they didn’t intervene it’s usually neglectful and often people go no contact with both parents). People we love and care for can participate in abuse.

Mental illness is also complex in its relationship to abuse. Mentally ill people are far more likely to be victims of abuse than perpetrators, and mental illness doesn’t make someone predisposed to being a bad person. Mental illness does affect how I see Rei’s actions, because she was clearly out of her mind at the moment she burned Shouto’s face; at the same time, mental illness doesn’t erase harm done even if the person can’t be held super culpable. Enji on the other hand was not mentally ill in the same way; he was able to think logically and separate right from wrong even within society (because society clearly still views beating your kids as bad).

It’s actually not really accurate to say that Endeavor didn’t try to control Rei and just let her go--he put her in the institution to keep her away from Shouto, which may have been motivated of course by trying to protect Shouto, but was more likely “trying to protect his masterpiece.” Rei instantly regretted what she had done; Enji didn’t show regret until after Kamino. Also, Shouto himself views it as taking their mother away, not as protecting him. In fact, he sees it as removing his protector and leaving him with just the abusive dad. Plus, Rei’s doctors probably wouldn’t have let him see her. So I absolutely do think Enji is a control freak.

For Enjii, there’s no indication of prior trauma besides just not getting what he wanted. But, as you say, I do think Enji was absolutely a product of society--culturally, though I’m not qualified to comment on that, and within the manga’s own framing of that culture. However, while Enji is a product of society, he is not framed with the child framing that is present around Touya; hence, why he’s not a victim in the same sense. He was an adult when he started doing bad things, capable of reason, as far as we know and there’s no indication this isn’t the case. He was ~20 when Dabi was born, so that means he was looking for a quirk marriage at the very latest by 19. That’s like starting your career as an administrative assistant and being pissed you’re not CEO like, a year after starting! That implies that he had a sense of entitlement at a very young age, entitled to the point of believing kids were not full people but instead extensions of himself to ignore, beat up, and cast aside as he pleased. Every aspect of Enji’s personality screams of toxic masculinity as well.

Also, almost every person who has ever done something wrong (and those who haven’t!) is a product of their environment as well as of their genetics, but I wouldn’t classify everyone as a victim--even though technically I suppose they would be, but the connotations are just not particularly fitting--and I wouldn’t call Enji one. Enji might be a product of society, but his kids are victims of a deliberate choice he had to be a terrible parent. Society sucks, but we don’t choose it and it doesn’t choose us in the same sense a parent chooses to treat their kids a particular way. So, rather than saying Enji’s a victim of society, I think it’s more of society reaping what they’ve sown in terms of their #1 being revealed as a mass abuser; it’s karmic.

So to return to his character and Enji is also a representation of toxic masculinity--that is why for me personally, his crying this chapter actually resonated. Like, I think it was well-framed in that his victims didn’t feel sorry for him and he cried before he knew they were coming, and while I get that people think he has no right to cry (as Rei and Natsuo said!). I see why people interpret that as manipulative, and while I absolutely think it was self-pitying, I also personally see it as human and realistic, and perhaps as a slight chipping away of the toxic masculinity that he embodies. We’ll see. I’m still no fan but that was the first moment in his redemption arc that struck me as sincere.

#Anonymous #abuse tw #endeavor

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popcorn-hero · 4 years

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The Tales of the Todorokis

Acknowledging character development and writing character development is not and making excuses for ones crimes.

Disclaimer: I read, I interpret, I express. This is a long post filled with images. Also probably some horrible grammar

Apologizing: Apologizing is acknowledging ones faults and vowing to never commit the same mistakes. What has happened has happened. Nothing can change the past or the effect it had. What you do now, does not change or erase the past, but it helps guide a path of healing for the future. It can be the start of change and morphing into a better person. BUT, only if that person truly means it.

Apologies is not making an excuse for yourself.

Forgiveness: Forgiveness can be rightfully given, or not. It can be a tricky thing to understand at times. Forgiveness doesn’t remove the pain. Forgiveness doesn’t erase the memories. But for some people, forgiveness is a key to freedom, for inner peace. For other people, forgiveness doesn’t offer them that, and that's fine too.

We are not monoliths, we are individual people, with individual brains, with individual emotions, with experiences that affects us as individuals. Our stories might overlap - they might even be identical, but how we process it may not be.

I don’t like this narrative I’ve been seeing recently in the fandom of Horikoshi being an abuse apologist. I think Horikoshi is challenging us and its working.

The Tales of the Todoroki’s: Enji, Rei, Touya, Fuyumi, Natsuo, Shoto

6 people

6 perspectives

6 stories

1 truth

Each viewpoint and each experience from everyone is very important in putting the pieces together (yes, even Enji). In fact, I think it was important to have Enjis viewpoint to the situation because it was such a contrast to what we’ve heard and seen from everyone else. In Enjis mind, he truly thought everyone was complaisant. He saw nothing wrong with attempting to live vicariously through his kids. In the same breath he expresses contempt for this children, its also laced with disappointment

He speaks of Rei as though she was consensual, but we know he essentially used her a valuable Mare and hurt her as well.

His treatment of Rei cannot be erased, justified, or forgotten. It happened. We as the audience are suppose to carry that in our minds because we are reading a story about Heroes. This challenges us to understand that heroic actions is not what a hero makes.

There are cops who (most of them tbh) that become cops simply for the power dynamic, not because they desire to protect. A lot of cops abuse their spouse.

Rei: We are only introduced to her through the lowest point of her life and we have no insight on how Enji acquired her (yeah that sound harsh, but isn’t that what happened) nor her domestic life with him. What we know of her are scenes of her pain, and I think thats relevant enough. She may have had some “good” moments out of her situation, but she was still a mouse trapped in a lions den. Good days do not erase her state. Thats why this panel, was so odd to me

Because it implies that Rei was complicit in having kids even though we as the audience understand that he basically brought her for that single purpose. Now note, this is coming from Enjs mouth, not hers so I can’t sit her be like “oh yeah she was fine with everything”

To me, this is simply Enjis projection because what was Rei honestly going to do? Say no? But who’s to say that she didn’t want Touya to be lonely? Idk, that panel was too wishy washy for me.

Moving on

She replies to Natsuo by saying that's not true

Its not in his defense like how Natsuo claimed. Rei never states that she forgives him, and we can see she is still on her journey of healing when she mentions shes still a bit scared of him. However, she acknowledges his acts as stepping stone for his own path of atonement.

If she does come to forgive him later in the story, thats her decision (Horikoshi actually lol). If she doesn’t, that her decision.

Natsuo:

The only insight from Natsuo is his resentment towards his father with what happened to Touya and the hurt of their mother. It is revealed later that Natsuo was Touya confidant in the house (I’ll get into that when I talk about Touya).

But He doesn’t forgive him....or hes not at that stage yet

When endeavor saves him from the villain, we are able to see Natsuos raw thoughts:

He’s conflicted: He wants to maintain the peace, but he can’t deny how he feels.

Natsuo felt like he had to compromise his feelings, and that shouldn’t be fair. Even thought he is the middle child, I feel like he took on the presence of the big brother and wanted to protect his siblings. But when you have a man like Enji as your father and you know how he is.....standing up to him as a child is terrifying

So when Enji says this

I’m like: DUH! Of course he would feel like that

But I’m taking this scene has Enji recognizing how he made Natsuo feel as a child which showcases. he owns up to the fact that he pushed Touya to the edge.

Yet with all that said, hes not suppose to forget. Hes not suppose to suppress how he feels. And even at his age, that child inside him still hurt and was never offered a chance to properly heal. I know what that feels like.

Natsuo must figure out what he needs to do to find peace - however that may be.

Fuyumi :

We don’t have much insight to Fuyumi and I’m sure her experience is completely different from her brothers. One, because she was a girl and Enji is misogynistic, I doubt he gave her any type of attention as a father figure especially since she only inherited her moms quirk. I don’t recall signs of physically abuse on Fuyumi and (Natsuo), but there probably was demeaning behavior at some point. Just being in that environment and seeing their sibling subjected to that, negatively impact her however

But with Fuyumi, she is trying to move on

I think Fuyumi is on her path of forgiving her father - thats her choice to make to find peace for her experience. After expressing her desire to move on as a family, she ask Shoto how he feels....

Oh my sweet prince Shoto:

Shoto has a lot of baggage and being one of the main protagonist, we get a more in depth experience on his relationship with is father. I’m not going to go into too much detail because we all know he detested his father. I’m mainly going to focus on this middle ground that I find him at.

In the panels above he mentions having grudges and how it clouds the mind. Thats a toxic feeling to carry with you, especially when you’re trying to be a hero. He recognized that, and he’s been working on fixing that. Even his mother had to forgive herself towards what she did to him.

Shoto is not here to forgive Enji, hes here to forgive himself

What I mean by that is the fact that Shoto experienced self-hate. He hated a part of who was, how he looked, where he came from. He had no control of his childhood, but he now has control of his future. At the sports festival, that was Shotos first step towards finding his healing. It wasn’t about Enji apologizing to him. It was about him.

And now look at him, he’s more social, more expressive, more powerful once he began to love himself. He got there on his own and with the support of his friends.

It doesn’t change what happened to him, and it doesn’t erase his feelings However, it gave him control over himself.

This is almost the same position Natsuo is in. He hasn’t seen anything (yet) for himself that warrants him to forgive his father. Maybe we will see it in these later chapters... maybe we wont.

Thats his decision

And last: Touya

Touya, touya, touya touya......

I honestly don’t know how to tackle his situation, but shoot me

From this memory (by Enji), Touya appears...enthusiastic. He appeared that he wanted to train with his father.

And I think this is where things went wrong in his rearing. He was GROOMED .

Enji, being who he was, probably placed the ideas in Touya head of great success, importance, power, fame, ect. These things sound good to a child, and being the only child at the time, he had all his fathers attention. But as he got older and his quirk became incompatible, things started change.

Even before his quirk no longer became compatible for him, Enji still didn't see Touya as his ideal child, but he accepted it. Touya looks to be about 6 here meaning Shoto wasnt born yet or an infant.

Going by the ages given for Shoto, Fuyumi, and Natsuo I’m going to state that

Touya was 13 when he staged his death

Fuyumi was 11, Natsuo was 8, and Shoto was 5 and thats when we are introduced into in abuse.

So there is a 8 year window between Touya shift in his relationship with his father and the start of Shoto gaining his quirk.

That is a missing puzzle piece, and I can only speculate what happened in that time period to drive Touya to his mental breaking point and what his father did or, didn’t do for him.

Here, there is more white in his hair and he looks to be maybe 10? And this is when he starts to question his existence.

I can’t say all that Touya went through from the time Shoto was born to his faked death.

I think Touya suffered from feeling abandoned by his father father, the feelings of being a failure because of these ideals of greatness only to be sideline. That he was just a placeholder like the rest of his sibling and not worthy to work along his fathers side.

I don’t think he faced the same treatment from his father as Shoto did. I think he became blinded by approval and pushed himself to his limits to compete for Enji attention, He probably developed depression, anxiety, and a lot stressors as he became more and more incompatible with his quirk

And I think thats why there is the hate for Shoto because he feels like he took away his purpose ( which has nothing to do with Shoto but everything to do with Enjis grooming)

We know Touya is absolutely not on the scale of ever forgiving his father for what he did. For him to sit there and watch his father on TV and proclaim to be a hero when he knew what went on behind closed doors, it can drive him towards wanting to retaliate.

His story showcases damages of a broken child. Where Shouto found liberation, Touya remained bound to the ambers Enji left on his worth and lies on being a hero.

Not everything can be fixed, and once a crack forms, it will continue to spread until it shatters.

In conclusion

The Tale of The Todorokis is not to serve as excusing abuse. Its a showcase of how 1 man can affect the lives of many people in different ways. It is a tale of moving forward, finding peace, and gaining control over your own person.

Enji knows he can’t snap his figures and all will be well. Though I think some actions he could have done was to take it upon himself to address the country, come clean, and maybe retire as a hero, but he’s not a perfect character.

But I’ll take what I can get. Enji knows his place, he knows what he has done.

Happiness to his family is absence

Its there space

And there nothing more better he can do than that.

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kiwilana · 3 years

Text

TouyaMight

sdkfjhsdkf listen don’t judge mE

this is a thread ive been writing on twitter since november,,,,,

--------------------------------------------

Pissing off his father always gave Touya the greatest thrill. To know he was the one to put the angry scowl on his face and the furrow between his brows, well, it brought him a sense of sadistic joy.

What? He deserved to give his old man shit considering all the fucked up shit he had to go through

So whenever an opportunity came up to fuck with the number 2, Touya took it.

Painting over the billboards that had his dad’s face? Kids play.

Ruining his costumes with bleach in very strategic areas? Amateur hour.

Bulk ordering All Might Merch to his agency? Done and done.

So when Touya joined his father and siblings at the most recent Hero’s Gala and saw the number 1 hero was also in attendance well…. He couldn’t just /miss/ a perfect opportunity like this! It would practically be a crime!

Fuyumi of course knew him all too well, he could see her bee lining to him, and he just /smiled/ and gave her a jaunty little wave, ignoring her calling his name as he sidled up to where the number 1 hero was conversing with others.

Touya could practically feel the heat of his father’s stare as slides in close to the blonde, one scarred hand delicately placed on a deliciously muscular arm.

“Hey, I don’t think we’ve met before this, the name’s Touya Todoroki, it’s a pleasure to meet you All Might.” Touya flashes him his best smile, a soft curl of his lips and a fluttering of his eyelashes.

He knows he’s a sight, white hair styled back, slinky black dress with high slits, heels, and of course the multitude of burn scars covering a majority of his body.

Endeavor had nearly blown a gasket when he showed up like this, it was only the fact they were in public that kept him from scolding Touya.

“Young Todoroki! It is a pleasure to meet you! It’s certainly unfortunate we haven’t been able to meet before now, I do not often attend these sorts of functions!” All Might’s smile was wide and bright and Touya kinda wished he had a pair of sunglasses damn those pearly whites were shining in his eyes.

“It /is/ a shame huh? We could always meet up afterwards, I know a few restaurants.” The temperature in the room rose by several degrees and Touya could hear his sisters groan and Natuo’s muffled snort.

The conversations around them had fallen into startled silence at the fact the son of Endeavor, All Might’s biggest rival, had just asked the number 1 hero out.

All Might could only stare at Touya in shock, the offer of a date was unexpected and the hero couldn’t fight the flush that burned the tips of his ears, “I appreciate the offer young Todoroki but unfortunately I will have to decline.”

Before the white haired man could reply Endeavor is there, large hand wrapped around the slim arm and pulling him away, face positively thunderous.

“Maybe next time All Might!”

Touya laughed even as Endeavor dragged him out of the event.

Mission accomplished.

--------

The argument Touya and Enji got into once they reached home almost made the spectacle not worth it. Especially when the argument got heated enough and accusations thrown around that Touya’s tenuous control on his quirk slipped.

The dark burn across his arms didn’t even hurt, not really, and that was the bad part. It meant that he’d burned straight past a 2nd degree burn to 3rd and he was going to be stuck in the hospital /again/.

He hated being stuck in the hospital, he practically lived at the goddamn place. The whole staff knew him since he'd been coming there since he was young, how fucked up is that.

The pitying looks as they gave while they looked over his burns and decided whether or not he’d need another skin graft were so fucking annoying.

He hated all of it.

If he snarked more at the staff then necessary it wasn’t his fault really. The place was boring and stressful and he hated being stuck here.

There were never that many other patients for him to talk to, the hospital was a private one for top heroes and their families, so Touya rarely saw other people. Most of his day was spent chatting with doctors and nurses and bitching about the extra meal replacement drinks he had to take.

So when he noticed the frail looking blond man, he couldn’t help but be interested. The man was sitting outside in a hospital gown, and Touya took a seat next to him.

“Damn, what’d happened to you?”

At least the guy didn’t look offended, a win in Touya’s books honestly.

No, the guy snorted a laugh and gave Touya a surprisingly soft smile that made the gauntness of his face soften and Touya couldn’t help the thought that he wasn’t bad looking when he smiled.

“A fight with a villain unfortunately. He got a lucky shot in and damaged me pretty bad.”

“Damn that’s gotta fucking suck. Especially since you’re stuck in this boring as hell place now.”

That earned him another smile.

“Oh I don’t think it’ll be that bad, after all you’re here no? The man who asked out All Might is quite interesting I think.”

“Damn, so you saw me get rejected! Well, then you already know me, what’s your name? Since it seems like we both might be stuck here a while.” “I am Yagi Toshinori, it’s a pleasure to meet you properly Touya.”

-----

The next time Touya meets Yagi several days have passed by. He finds the older man slumped over in one of the comfier chairs, IV line in his arms and he looks absolutely /miserable/.

Touya can’t help but feel bad for the poor guy, he looks worse than usual, his tanned skin unhealthily pale and breathing laboured.

So he settles in next to Yagi, arms and legs thrown over the arm rests of his chair.

“Damn, you’re lookin’ worse today Yagi-san, what happened?”

The tall man blinks at his new companion, a small smile stretching across his face.

“Ah, we’re trying a new treatment today and well… it’s a bit taxing. I’m afraid I won’t be very good company today Todoroki-san.”

“Ah man, don’t call me that, makes me feel like my brothers or dad. Call me Touya.”

“Touya-san then.”

Touya fixes his eyes on bright blue ones and grins, he thought it would’ve been more of a struggle to get the blond to call him by name.

“Well, since you’re feeling bad, how about a story? Natsu and the nurses used to read me some when I was stuck in bed.”

He doesn’t even really wait for a response before starting.

“So you like, remember how I told you I asked out all might yah? Lemme tell you about it. So like, there’s this party, and dad wants us all to go because the public has been asking about his family and all that. And so I came to the party, dressed amazingly right. Like I got this bOMB ass dress. Dad nearly blew a gasket when I came in it."

Touya wiggles his fingers and arms, making motions as he tells his version of the events. The growing smile on Yagi’s face just made him be more dramatic with his storytelling and movements.

-----

"And there he is. There's All Might. The big kahuna himself. And my little brain gerbils start moving. And I get the idea. ‘How else should i make dad mad today?’ And that’s when it comes to me. ASK OUT ALL MIGHT."

“Wait was this before or after you kicked the guy who whistled at you?”

“After- so anyWAYS-”

-----

"And then the car explodes."

"What????!"

"Okay not really. Figuratively. Dad burned the roof again."

"Okay so maybe a little literally? I dunno english is hard."

"Touya were speaking japanese"

"Fuck"

-----

By the end of the story they’re both laughing and Touya feels light and happy as Yagi chortles at the selfie he managed to take while being dragged out of the party.

It was nice to see Yagi smiling again instead of hunched in on himself in pain and discomfort.

“Thank you Touya-san, your story really did help. You’re quite the story teller. I’d love to hear more of them from you.”

“Sure! I always love having a captive audience, it’s the drama queen in me. “

-----

Yagi is the one to find Touya next time.

He finds the younger man pressed in a dark corner under a staircase of all places.

He wouldn’t have even noticed him if he hadn’t heard the soft sound of sniffling, and his heroic heart couldn’t just leave someone that’s so obviously in distress alone.

It's a bit uncomfortable to climb under the staircase to settle next to Touya, listening quietly to his sniffles. It makes his heart squeeze a little and Yagi has to fight the urge to give the younger man a hug.

Touya eventually notices him, big turquoise eyes meeting his own blue ones, there's tears clinging to the corners of his eyes.

“Do you want me to call your nurse Touya-san?”

Touya shakes his head, lips pursing together before he drops his head down onto his arms.

“No. ‘S okay. ‘S nothing they can do. ‘M not allowed any more pain meds until tomorrow.”

The confusion on Yagi’s face has the unscarred parts of Touya’s cheeks flushing.

“I.. had some issues with getting a/ddicted a few years ago. They’ve kept a tighter control on my medications since then. ‘S kay tho. The pain’s not too bad.. I’ll get over it soon.”

“Then.. how about I tell you a story? Let’s see… there was this time when I was in America…”

By the time Yagi reaches the end of his crazy tale Touya’s smiling and laughing, pain forgotten for the moment.

“Honestly Yagi-san! How do you accidentally steal a penguin!”

“Ah well! That’s a mystery not even I know! And I was there!”

The tears on Touya’s cheeks were from laughter this time, and Yagi smiled so softly, a big hand reaching up to gently brush them away from Touya’s cheek.

And Touya /leans/ into his hand, eyes fluttering shut as he pressed into the warm and calloused palm.

Yagi can feel his heart race faster and his ears burn red at the serene face.

“Thank you Yagi-san… will you tell me another one…? It’s.. it’s a good distraction from the pain.”

“Of course Touya-san.”

The two of them spend hours like that, sitting under the dark staircase, Touya eventually leaning against Yagi’s bony shoulder, eyes shut as he listens to the deep voice rumble out tales of his times in America.

It’s how their nurses find them.

They’re practically frantic with worry considering the two have been missing for hours.

They get scolded thoroughly and before they separate Touya wraps one hand around one of Yagi’s own and gives him another one of those smiles that makes the blond’s heart race.

“Let’s have lunch tomorrow Yagi-san.”

“I would love that Touya.”

-----

It becomes a new part of their routine, meeting up together to have lunch.

The both of them were on pretty similar dietary plans, both meals were full of high calorie foods. Yagi explained it was to keep his weight up as he adjusted to the loss of his stomach. While Touya told the blond that his quirk burned through his calories so fast that if he didn’t constantly eat he’d easily end up malnourished.

They end up closer as the days turn into weeks. It wasn’t uncommon to find them together, sitting and chatting, even occasionally finding them leaning against each other, the fatigue taking hold as they napped against each other.

You could say the nurses had a field day with that one and took quite a few pictures. And if Touya and Yagi might’ve asked for their own copies well.. That was their business.

If Yagi had a picture of them tucked into his wallet no one needed to know.

And if Touya had his tucked into his desk drawer, that was for him to know.

Occasionally visitors would come for Yagi, a small old man, a rather plain looking man and occasionally a man he recognized as All Might’s sidekick, Sir Nighteye. Those days he wouldn’t see much of Yagi, his lunches were spent alone in his room craving the presence of the other man.

Yagi asked him about it, the day after he received Sir Nighteye as a guest again, and asked him why his family never seemed to visit him.

Explaining to Yagi that his father didn’t let his siblings come visit was… awkward. The frown that crossed the normally jovial blond’s face at his explanation made Touya feel…. Ashamed? Awkward?

He wasn’t quite sure honestly, but his cheeks burned and he rubbed at the back of his neck, unable to look into those piercing eyes.

So he didn’t notice when Yagi moved closer to him.

Not until those bony arms were wrapping around him, pulling him into a gentle hug, his bony chin resting atop the fluffy white mess that was Touya’s hair.

And Touya just /melted/. He slumped into those arms, cheek rubbing against Yagi’s shirt as he clung to the older man. He could feel the pressure building up in the back of his throat and had to blink back tears.

How long has it been since someone’s held him?

“It’s alright Touya. I’m here.”

The soft voice and warm hands resting on his back, it was enough, and Touya shook in those deceptively strong arms, soft sobs leaving him as his tears soaked into Yagi’s shirt.

They spent hours like that, Touya curled in Yagi’s arms, the blond never letting him go, even when his tears ran dry.

It was so warm.

Touya never wanted to leave his arms.

-----

Then the day came for Touya to be discharged.

He’d stayed in the hospital for over a month now. The skin grafts on his arms had attached properly and had healed enough that he could go home. Fuyumi told Touya that she’d be the one coming to pick him up, Dad was going to be at work and unavailable.

She told him she’d be there after school let out.

Touya felt something sink in his chest as the nurses removed his bandages for the last time. His arms were… hard to look at and he avoided it as he slipped on the loose long sleeved shirt. Touya packed away the few clothes he had, fingers pausing over the picture of him and Yagi sleeping against each other.

His chest squeezed tight at the thought of leaving. He didn’t want to leave the blond man. Ever since that breakdown in his arms Yagi had been so kind, the blond man was always touching him, lingering touches on his hands and shoulders, bringing him into hugs more often.

Touya didn’t want to lose that.

He… didn’t want to lose what connection he had with Yagi.

He didn’t want the blond to forget him.

He….

He liked him.

Touya had to find Yagi before he left.

-----

It wasn’t hard to find him.

When Yagi wasn’t in his room or with his nurses and doctors, it's a safe bet to say he’d be outside relaxing, and he was. Seeing him sitting there made Touya’s stomach flutter and fuck he felt /nervous/.

The smile Yagi gave him when Touya stepped towards him made his heart beat faster, he could feel his palms getting clammy with sweat. Fuck.Touya had never felt like this before. It was.. Overwhelming.

“Touya! It’s good to see you!”

How could one man be so adorable?

“Yagi… you’re.. You’re looking good today.”

Touya could feel the nerves twisting up at his insides as he took the offered seat next to the blond, the hot cup of tea Yagi gently pressed into his hands helped ground him a little. He could do this. He didn’t know if there’d be another chance.

“I’m being discharged today.”

Yagi’s smile shrunk and he sighed deeply, “So soon..? I’m going to miss seeing you. I’ve greatly enjoyed your company here Touya. It’s made my stay much more bearable.”

“Yagi. I…”

Touya trailed off as those bright blue eyes stared into his own, and he couldn’t help himself.

His scarred hands gently cupped sunken in cheeks and Touya leaned up, pressing his lips softly against the older man’s, just a soft press of their lips that made Touya’s stomach flip flop in joy and dread.

“Yagi, I really like you.”

Yagi’s stunned silence filled the small courtyard, beautiful blue eyes wide with surprise as a bright flush grew across the tops of his cheeks.

Touya thought he looked gorgeous.

“I. Well, I ah, I’m flattered Touya but.. I am many years older than you. I’m older than your father.”

/That wasn’t a no./

“So what? I don’t care about that Yagi. You /know/ that. I like you. I really really like you. I want to spend more time with you Yagi. I want, I want to hold your hand, I want to kiss you again, I want to eventually take you out on dates. I. If you really don’t, feel like that. It’s /okay/. I just. Fuck-”

He was rambling, his eyes squeezed shut and hands gripping his pants. Touya couldn’t put into words all the things he wanted. He just.. Wanted Yagi.

Larger hands gently wrapped around his own and Touya blinked watery eyes up, and Yagi was much closer now, mouth quirked in a small smile that made the white haired man’s stomach flip pleasantly.

“Touya. Is this.. Do you really want this?”

“/Yes/.”

And those lips were pressing to his again and the dread in his stomach disappeared as those big hands held him so gently, like he was something fragile and /precious/, and Touya clung to the taller man, pressing kiss after kiss to his mouth.

By the time they stopped they were both flushed and panting, lips swollen and wide smiles on their faces.

“Well then, I suppose you should call me Toshinori now.”

Touya laughed and kissed the man again.

“Whatever you say Toshi.”

#my writing #yagi toshinori #touya todoroki #looks away

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diaco1968 · 4 years

Text

Way down we go

Villain Dabi x villain reader

Warning! Angst! /My poor burned chicken nugget ;^; /assumed Dabi as Touya Todoroki/ a tiny little villainous violence in the flashback/ What would I expect listening to way down we go by Kaleo

~You let your feet run wild

Time has come as we all, oh, go

Down

Yeah but for the fall, ooh, my

Do you dare to look him right in

the eyes?~

You two clicked the moment you were first 'forced' to interact. Not by the shared hobbies or the flavour of tea you liked or the books you've read. By the width and depth of the stinging scars on your souls nobody could see without a knowing eye. Not for the better. Your quirks not compatible in the way ice and fire are. But compatible in the ways of feul and fire. You took away the sting of his own fire eating at his own flesh with yours. He brought you down when you spiralled out of control and started to burn yourself up. With the way blue and green flames ate away at everything around them and turned it to ashes, soon enough it was just the two of you alone sent on tasks and missions by the boss boy. The others not willing to even stand by your sides for fear of the chaos you brought. It would get the job done so good enogh anyway.

~and way down we go~

It was your curse and your blessing. He opened up to you like so many before him. Well as much as he could, not being one of so many words. You couldn't help but wonder every time, what was it about you that apparently screamed confidentiality and comforting? Comforting enough to get this rough patch work of a delicate soul trust you like this. Trust you with letting your fire cool down his uncontrollable flames*. Not that you would ever think of betraying him. You owed him more than you'd ever let him know. The freedom you felt when for the first time you let all you had loose. The fact he didn't let you overheat and burn yourself like he had promised. Like he had no one to do for himself.

~Oh, 'cause they will run you down,

down 'til the dark~

This last task was nothing serious. Until it was. You were not supposed to run into anyone interrupting your mission. It was supposed to be an abandoned building, no patrol. But there was. The patrol, was the worst person you could've imagined having to face on his internship with his mentor. Shoto was right there trailing after none other than Enji Todoroki. You almost got noticed when you rounded a corner right in front of them, only slipping away because Dabi pulled you back in cover in time with a hand on your shoulder. You watched the 'father and son' on the job in silence, your own forgotten and abandoned.

~Yes and they will run you down,

down 'til you fall~

You only realised he never removed his hand when his grip on your shoulder tightened ever so slightly. As stoic as his face was, his eyes were filled with emotions. Emotions that were all too familiar to you. Emotions that burned the soul from within more vicious than any fire ever could. After all you've talked about this once before.

~And they will run you down, down

'til you go~

_"what do you mean there is no way a kid like me would understand anyway?" You mocked his tone as you dodged the punch, grabbing and locking the last security guard's elbow with your right arm and reaching over to grab his face with your left hand, already engulfed in emerald flames, last thing he saw was your victorious smirk and then he was blinded by the bright green light. He only managed a loud long pitiful wail before he was silenced for ever, your hand still sizzling as you let him drop to the ground. "Do you absolutely have to get so handsy? Disgusting..." Dabi scoffed looking down at you with his hands in his pockets watching the whole thing mildly amused despite his words. You brushed his comment off turning to look him straight in the eyes as you put your hands down on the desk. The flames sparked to life from your forearms, lapping at your skin down to your hands, green dancing on (s/c) gracefully before the papers and the wooden surface of the desk caught fire with only a loud hiss as a warning. "It's like... being a race horse." You started making him raise an eyebrow at you "they bring you up for races. All you know is speed. You run and run. Till one day you can't no more." The documents Shigaraki had asked you to get rid of were gone, turned to ash and pushed away in the breeze of the flames, but you didn't stop. The flames rising to your arms and shoulders. Dabi knew exactly what you were saying as much as he tried to pretend otherwise at first, with a scrunched up nose and disinterested expression. Now he was watching you mesmerized by the angry emerald flames dancing on your arms. "Then all you've ever known is gone. All the praise, all the appreciation. Taking all your worth with it..." the iron of the desk was melting and crumbling under your hands now. "It hurts, knowing that they'll be doing you a favor if only they would put you out of your misery by a bullet to the head instead they show you 'mercy' letting you 'live' by strapping you to a carriage. You KNOW you are discarded." Your cheeks and eyes were set ablaze by your own fire, borderline painful but not burning yet, the sounds of the iron under your hands giving its final resistance before exploding into a cloud of ash snapping Dabi out of his trance. He put his own flaming hand on your shoulder, the slight sting putting you off and extinguishing your own flame. "Well damn kid... never sympathized so much with a horse before... let's go back." He sounded small, you knew him enough to know he would never actually admit in words that he is amazed by your words. No 'well maybe you do understand after all' but you knew that he knew you were different. "Don't call me that." You glared at him half hearted. "Fine, doll." He chuckeld as you two walked out. There it was. The most he was willing to admit in words. You smiled making him snap at you "wipe that smug smile off your fucking face!"_

~Yeah, so you can't crawl no more~

The two of you actually followed the two of them within a safe distance, watching the great Endeavor playing the role of the daddy of the year with his most prized offspring. You couldn't bring yourself to say the word 'son'. You knew Shoto was probably no less damaged than Dabi was. If not worse in his own 'the new prized race horse' way. You pitied the boy. Dabi stopped following them when Endeavor stopped and laughed at something Shoto had said intending to be sarcastic, but the big man's obnoxious laugh managed to bring a small smile to Shoto's lips anyway. You were facing Dabi's back now, wondering if he was as surprised as you were. Dabi scoffed a few agonizingly long minutes after they had already walked away "is he actually fooling anyone?" You couldn't stand the concealed pain in his voice, this time you pat and squeezed his shoulder "let's just go back." You turned and walked away not wanting to see his face, the way he was hurting. You knew you couldn't take it. He turned your way with his head held lower than usual and hands in his pockets following behind you like a lost child.

~oh father tell me

Do we get

What we

Deserve~

* I imagine his blue fire is the most burning one??? Like way more ferocious than a normal fire. Your green fire is changeable, it starts with little heat, to the point it feels almost mellow on Dabi's skin. You've learned to control the heat though.

#dabi x reader #dabi x villain reader #touya todoroki #mha #bnha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #Spotify #SoundCloud

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linkspooky · 5 years

Text

Dabi and Hawks: Two Victims of the Hero System

This is something I have talked about before, but considering the upcoming arc is most likely going to focus on an Endeavor internship and the connection between Dabi and Hawks let’s give their relationship another in depth look. While Dabi and Hawks appear to be enemies both deceiving the other, both stringing the other along for their own purposes set to inevitably betray each other, the irony of their connection is that they’re both far more similiar than they are different. Hawks and Dabi may be the most capable of understanding each other, and yet they will not trust each other nor open up to their true intentions and so far plan to continue using each other.

So underneath the cut, an analysis of both Dabi and Hawks as victims of the hero system, and how they have more to gain from learning to trust each other rather than betraying one another for the sake of their ideals. The ideal ending is not one where good triumphs over evil, and the heroes save the day again, but one where two victims empathize with each other because of their similiar past experiences.

1. The Good Victim and the Bad Victim

The title of this section is not to insist that Hawks is good and Dabi is bad, but rather they both follow a certain incorrect dichotomy that is assigned to victims. They are two sides of opposite extremes. Dabi and Hawks are both characters who were fored to become heroes against their own wishes, because they were born with powerful quirks. They were also only valued because of their quirks, Dabi was born for the sake of becoming a hero and not as a child to be loved, and the people in the hero commission lifted Hawks from poverty not to save a child, but rather because he had a quirk that was useful to them.

However, their reactions are opposite. Hawks aspiration is to become the best hero he can be, therefore he shuts his own feelings out and instead tries to become the tool that the hero commission moulded him into being. Dabi on the other hand rebels and acts opposite of his father’s wishes for him, becoming a villain who opposes villains like his father who value quirks over herodom.

Hawks embraces and Dabi rejects. Hawks lets himself be used by the people in power over him, and Dabi attempts to burn his abusers.

One thing that defines their early life for both Dabi and Hawks is the complete control their abusers had over them. This is literally what Endeavor says in Todoroki’s flashback of him, that Todoroki is not allowed to be his own person, that he has to become what Endeavor desires him to be. He cannot exist with his own wants and needs besides what Endeavor wants for him.

Endeavor literally threw out his own children that did not comply with those desires. Dabi’s entire youth is characterized by a complete lack of control of his own life, because he as a child could not overpower a grown man who was one of the strongest heroes in the world.

Dabi is not only born not as a child to be loved, but as a tool to fulfill Endeavor’s ambition, he’s also physically disabled. He cannot use his own quirk without hurting himself. Yet, he receives no sympathy or even care for his disability because it makes him useless to Endeavor. Of course there is absolutely nothing wrong with Dabi being born disabled. He’s also not someone who is just pitiable for being born disabled and living with his disability.

However, not only was Dabi treated this way by Endeavor, but also because Endeavor was cross breeding on purpose in order to create a perfect hybrid it’s extremely messed up that Endeavor knew he might have a child whose quirk harms themselves like Touya, and yet decided to have that child anyway. And when that child was hurt he just threw them away because that child was useless to them.

Dabi’s entire life is defined by his quirk, and he doesn’t want it to be. He was given absolutely no choice in the matter, because for a period of time everything in his life was completely controlled by Endeavor. Dabi is a pwoerless child who was exploited, taken advantage of, and then thrown away.

This is why we see him rejecting Endeavor’s ideals. Dabi is not using his own victimhood as an excuse to hurt people, he is genuinely trying to create a world where children like him will never be powerless again. Yes, those ideas are shaped by his circumstances but there’s no way he could have not been influenced by those circumstances.

Dabi fights for the powerless child he once was so nobody can be exploited like him again. Dabi fights the hero system because his abuser destroyed his entire life, and got away with it, and is praised in the streets as a hero. It’s a common reaction to abuse, those who have no control of their lives in their formative years rebel, sometimes even violently, they grasp for freedom because they want to live for themselves not be exploited by the people who were supposed to take care of them.

Dabi has a good reason for going outside the system, the system has failed him every step of the way. Children who are tuaght by the adults who control their lives that the rules are in place to hurt them, are going to be unable to trust in any system of rules placed by other adults. Delinquency, rebellion, lashing out these are not excuses for people who have been abused to hurt other people, they are the messy reality of processing abuse. Especially since children who are abused become developmentally stunted and even have different functioning brains from those who come from healthy households. This is not to say that Dabi’s actions are justified completely by the fact that he is an abuse victim, but that people who react to narratives of abuse victims are far more obsessed with judging the victims as good or bad then acknowledging their abuse in the first place.

Another way this could be phrased is Golden Child or the Scapegoat. Basically two children are raised in the same household where the parents are narcissists trying to control their lives, one attempts to please the narcissitic parent and become exactly what they want, and the other cannot do that for whatever reason and therefore is labeled the failure of the family. However, neither of these are healthy reactions to abuse.

Source: [x]

Beyond judgements of good and bad, Hero and Victim, both Hawks and Dabi react to their abuse in an unhealthy and self destructive way. So, let’s talk about Hawks for a moment.

Haks is rescued from one bad household, only to be exploited by the hero commission. Just like Touya, who he was as a prson came secondary to his quirk. Even if Hawks originally wanted to be a hero, he was still forced to be a hero against his desires otherwise the same commission that saved him would let him fall back into poverty again.

Just like Touya’s entire life and self worth was defined by his flame quirk, Hawks’ entire life is defined by the wings quirk he was born with. The person he is comes secondary to everything else. Just like Dabi who calls himself by a false name when he becomes a villain, Hawks has no real name not even on his character profile and he has no life or identity outside of being a hero. Hes not allowed to be anything besides a hero.

When the hero system took in a child and tried to control his life and all of his decisions, Hawks reaction was the opposite of Touya. He let them do it. He became exactly what they wanted him to be.

Hawks accepts orders that he does not like, because he has been regarded as a tool to be used by the hero system. Yes, there is a part of Hawks that also is genuinely selfless and wants to save as many people as he can but the thing is its always Hawks who has to continually sacrifice himself over and over. Hawks was a child raised in the hero system, he has no personal life, his motto is that he goes too fast and expends too much of himself. Yet, they continually call on Hawks to give more and more to the hero system. The only result of his compliance is they continually exploit him over and over again.

Hawks attempts to be a ‘good victim’ are extremely unhealthy to him personally. Not only that but it also means the people who are exploiting children like him stay in power, because he does not do anything to question them or resist them. What he desires is to reform the system and yet at the same time he obeys every single order of the system in place because that is what he has been conditioned to do.

Hawks saves innocent people and puts their lives above his own, and continually sacrifices himself to keep the status quo and minimize the number of people hurt possible, but when the system is done using Hawks it’s just going to spit him out and start chewing up somebody else instead.

Dabi hurts people in his attempts to break the system as a whole, and because of that people will get caught up in his crusade, but at the same time Dabi is also trying to destroy the system in a way that will make it so nobody else like him can be exploited.

Neither of these solutions is right, neither of them will solve the entire problem because Dabi and Hawks are only capable of addressing half of it with their individual fights. Which is the point of having these two characters instead of being opposed learning to work together, because each character has half of what the other needs.

2. Foiling and Relationship to Endeavor

Hawks and Dabi have complete opposite perspectives of Endeavor. For Hawks, Endeavor is a hero, and for Dabi Endeavor is a villain. Dabi’s hatred for endeavor is so strong he abandons his objective to collect the Noumu in order to try to kill him on site.

Hawks has a mistaken idealization of Endeavor, which while unfortanate makes perfect sense when you realize that one Hawks has no idea what Endeavor did to Dabi, and two that Hawks response to the system that exploited it has always been to try to conform to the ideas and ideals pushed by that system. Endeavor is, the embodiment of those same ideals, that strength is everything to a hero, that the most important thing is being strong all on your own, that to be a hero you need a powerful flashy quirk to fight with.

These are ideals that Hawks was raised with, that control his reality, he cannot break free of them so easily on his own even if he was exploited by those same ideas.

Hawks feels like a victim, even though he is a succesful hero he has little to no control over his own life. He is a prodigy at becoming a hero, and yet he’s never enough. He cannot save enough people to let him take a break. He is not powerful enough to put people at ease or solve the problems of the world on his own. Because Hawks was raised in a utilitarian way where his purpose and use to others came far before his own well being and needs as a person Hawks is extremely disatisfied with his life. He feels hollow and used.

However, because Hawks attempts to conform to the hero system rather than attempt to correct it, he puts the problem on himself, and not on the people that exploited him. Hawks cannot get what he wants because Hawks is not good enough, not strong enough on his own.

Hawks is raised to feel constantly inferior, hence why he’s always the man who goes too fast, hence why he’s always taking everything on his own shoulders. This is what he was taught to be, a tool first and a person second. His well being will always come secondary to others.

Hawks wants desperately to be free of the hero system, to stop himself from being used, but it’s important to remember that Hawks is extremely young and has been infleunced for most of his formative years.

Hawks way of fighting the hero system is to be the best hero he possibly can, so that maybe he will get some time off. His way of fighting is to let himself be exploited so things might change for the better because of his sacrifice. Hawks is using the only tools he has, which is being a hero, and a disposable tool for the hero commission, in order to try to improve things.

But in taking everything on his own shoulders, he is doing the exact opposite of what he wants. He is reinforcing a system that values individual strength, and puts all the burden on the sacrifice of individuals. He admires Endeavor for his strength, but the idea that strength is what matters and what allows people to be free is only in Hawks head in the first place because the hero commission put it there.

Hawks is trying to use the tools he was given to try to improve the system, but since he only has experience inside of the system Hawks does not know any other, or better way. Which is why the perspective of an outsider like Dabi is so necessary to him.

Now returning to Dabi, while he exists as the opposite of everything he was raised to be, Dabi just like Hawks uses the tools that were given to him by his abusers. Dabi and Hawks are in a way, both products of what they were raised to be, as much as they are also reacting and trying to be different from the way they were exploited.

This is not me saying that Dabi is just as bad as Endeavor. However, at the same time one cannot look at Dabi and not see the environment he was raised in. Dabi despises Endeavor, because he tried to teach him that his quirk was everything, and the only thing he existed to be was a strong hero for the sake of endeavor.

However, at the same time Dabi also, uses his flame quirk to completely burn away his enemies, recklessly even when he knows that his quirk will burn himself in the process. Dabi’s first and most common method is to use his flame to overpower his enemies and burn them away quickly with sheer brute strength. Dabi will dismiss people as unworthy and then burn them alive if they do not fit his purposes. As different as Dabi tries to be from Endeavor, Dabi is still a reflection of Endeavor and the way that he was raised.

Once again Dabi is using the tools that his abusers gave him, and then turning them against his abusers. Might makes right, he needs power to change the world in the way he wants to, the only way he can fight is by burning away everything that stands in his way, individual strength is the most important thing of all.

These are all Endeavor’s ideas. These are also the ideas that Dabi was raised with, and groomed into becoming for a long time. Even if Dabi was able to see how much of a fraud his father was, that does not mean that the fact that he was raised with those ideas will magically go away.

Dabi was raised with unhealthy ideas of being a hero, and then sticks with those unhealthy ideas because once again just like Hawks it is all he knows. The problem is not that Dabi seeks a violent revolution against the system, but rather he does it all by himself and limits his perspective.

Hawks and Dabi are both the loners of their group. They both take on way more then they can handle to the point of being self destructive, Hawks burns up all of his feathers in his first fight, Dabi burns his skin every time he uses his quirk. They both push themselves way over their limits to accomplish what they want, and part of the reason they do this is because they believe they can only fight on their own. For Dabi and Hawks there is no one in this world they can trust, because the people that they were supposed to trust and rely on only exploited them in the end.

Which is why because they are fighting on their own in an incredibly unhealthy and self destructive way, Dabi and Hawks are both pushed to do things they do not want to do, because they feel they have to do them to accomplish their goals. Dabi is the only character on the Villains side we see expressing remorse for killing someone, because he killed a good hero like Snatch in order to continue with the league.

Hawks and Dabi are both determined to fight the system all on their own, and that determination pushes them to extremes. If Hawks murder of best jeanist is not entirely fake, then Hawks too was pushed by his ideals to kill one person in order to save thousands.

They both have an extreme amount of resolve to the point where they will destroy both themselves, and others in order to get what they view is a better world. However, both of them do not need to fight on their own, and both of them only have the tools they were given by their abusers to fight back so far.

Which is why, Dabi and Hawks learning to work together makes far more sense for both of their characters, rather than both of them eventually betraying each other and Hawks defeating Dabi in a triumph of good over evil.

#mha meta #my hero academia meta #league of villains meta #dabi meta #hawks meta #league of villains #my hero academia #touya todoroki #dabi #hawks #meta #dabihawks

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