#Enji and Stain I could understand | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

i-cant-sing · 6 months

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May I request Todoroki family with a reader with a birthmark /port wine stain on their face? I feel like they’d be smothered even further (the reader can also joke about getting free laser surgery cause when that shit happens it smells like burning flesh (a jab at Dani lmao))

Portwine stain used to be my fav topic ever. Like you could ask me anything in pathology and I don't think I'd remember it, but someone even hints at it and ID KNOW WE'RE TALKING ABOUT PORTWINE STAIN cause like the moment I saw pictures of it on patients, I was like "?????? How is the name so ACCURATE????"

So with Todoroki fam, I think their reaction is mostly based on how you feel about your skin. So, if you're like more confident and rip anyone a new one if they try to bully you, they're also gonna treat you very normally (except maybe Rei). But if you're insecure about your face, then they're just gonna baby you to the max as well. Rei is always cooing and going over the top with compliments "aww baby, you're always beautiful in my eyes! You're like a pretty princess! I'm your mother, I would never lie!"

Enji mostly tries to encourage you with few but deep words, something along the lines of "beauty always fades away. It's what on the inside what matters. Make yourself so skillful and abled that you don't allow this to be a barrier between you and opportunities. I'll always support you." And obviously, he'd pay bucks if you want to remove this stain/mark.

Natsuo again, using his few years experience as a medical professional or as a med student will try to comfort you like a psychiatrist and also bring in derma creams and ointments that's ij research phases and not easily accessible to the general population.

Fuyumi again, coddles you but less patronising than Rei. She does want you tell her all about it, whether if someone said something even slightly mean to you, so that she can tattle to Dabi about it and he can "deal" with the person.

Shotou is the most indifferent to it. Like there isn't much difference to how he'd react if you didn't have this mark. He's still as attention deprived as ever and he's still sticking by your side, and maybe deep down, he might even feel closer to you now that you have a portwine stain/birthmark on your face.

Dabi... well, ofcourse his first reaction is to tease you about it, relentlessly. But if youre actually super insecure about your looks, then he's also the one who's super understanding and helpful. Like he finds you crying as you look at yourself in the mirror, he just sighs and walks over before breaking the mirror and engulfing you in a hug. Probes very carefully until you confess to him that someone said something very awful to you.

He comforts you, makes you his signature marshmallow hot chocolate and then pays a visit to said bully and like.... mutilates them very badly, beyond recognition, but still keeps them alive so that they get to live through the agony and dilemma you do on the daily.

#yandere dabi #yandere dabi x reader #yandere bnha #bnha headcanons #yandere mha #bnha imagines #yandere endeavor #yandere todoroki clan

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villainsandvictimsalliance · 1 month

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Ok, I’m arguing with someone about the Todoroki family, and like I get there maybe some responsibility on Rei’s shoulders as a parent. However, they’re saying Rei was abusive towards Enji, that she abused him and her being aggressive and constantly yelling is what changed him. They said he was a victim turned abuser, and that his family emotionally abused him. Did Rei abuse him? Was he emotionally abused by his family? Like the situation was a spiral I guess but in no way did it give off that he was the victim of the family situation???

Tell them to reread the manga. In the best way possible, really. I probably have to reread the manga too because I don't remember all that well the whole Todofam drama, but here I go:

Long post, beware!!!!! ;)

For what I know, Enji's trauma started with the death of his father. That's what motivated him to become a hero. After that, he got blinded by his perfectionism and his jealousy towards All Might.

The only reason the Todofam exists is because Enji wanted a child with both fire and ice quirks. That's why he proposed to Rei. The Himuras were very old-fashioned, in the sense that they didn't even like their members marrying outside of the family so as to not stain their names. Their quirks got weaker with time, they started losing money and influence. That's when Enji arrived: he'd give money to the Himuras if Rei were to marry him.

Now, Rei's trauma comes from her family and the ways of the Himuras. Her trauma didn't start with Enji, but it surely intensified with it.

Attempting to create a quirks through arranged marriages is a dangerous dangerous thing to do. We see a doctor telling that to both Enji and Rei. They were aware of that. The problem with the union of Enji and Rei is that, even if there was love at the beginning —even if— it depended solely on the quirks of the children. A man who willingly pushes away his children because they don't have the quirk he wants and that forces their mother to raise them alone— that's not a good husband or father, you know?

Rei was there to provide him with children and to take care of them. It sounds more like she was an employee than her wife. It was abuse right from the start, okay?

Rei did what he asked. Birthed his children and took care of them. She was submissive at first. Went along with his plans. You know the drill.

When it was revealed that Touya's body couldn't handle the heat of his flames, that's when things got ugly. They knew the risk, it shouldn't have been a surprise. At that point, Enji had put a lot of pressure and expectations on little Touya. He filled the kid's head with lies, made Touya value himself only by his dad's expectations. Touya was born for one reason alone and he had been living for it and it was killing him.

Rei saw that. Enji saw that.

Both tried to do damage control and backtrack, but Touya was too smart. While they told Touya he could live his life as something else than the hero his father wanted, he knew that it made him a failure in their eyes. The stress of destroying her children's lives got to both Rei and Enji. It wasn't something intangible. It was their son burning alive right before their eyes. It was their son telling Rei the truth of her marriage to her face.

Let's be honest here, Rei was one step away from being a slave. She married Enji to save her family and damned children in the process.

I think in order to properly understand Rei's role in the whole drama, you need to consider certain cultural aspects. Like how women are viewed in Japan, what is expected from them once they get married, the power a husband has over his wife, how women get economically trapped by men in relationships all the time... I'm not an expert on those aspects, but it's worth mentioning them.

Now, back to Rei and Enji.

Rei started "fighting" Enji after Touya was fully deemed a failure. You can see that she didn't like the idea of another child, especially because it'd be terrible for Touya's wellbeing. It'd confirm he was not enough. Still, she went along with Enji's plan. It was not a happy house. Enji was acting more and more aggressively, Rei was more and more nervous. Shouto was born and Touya tried to kill him— he didn't want to be replaced, he did not want to lose his place at home.

It started building. what happened to Touya was not confined to Sekoto Peak. It was years in the making, that tragedy. I can only imagine how Rei felt when she got the news. She had begged her son to stay, but her submissive role couldn't save him. It wouldn't be enough.

Touya dies. Enji spirals.

Horikoshi is careful to draw Rei terrified. She tells ugly truths to Enji's face. Is that abuse? Is it abuse if a woman who's being treated like an employee and who had to watch her husband traumatize their kids screams at said man? We know that Enji was physically abusive with Shouto and that he even went against Rei, which made Shout stand up to him to stop him from hurting his mom.

The only reason why Rei had a mental breakdown (freaking diagnosed) is because the very eyes of Enji were enough to make her shake and want to defend herself physically.

It's obvious she was scared for her life. It's even more obvious she was convinced he would hurt her. She was terrified of her own children 'cause they looked like him.

Rei was definitely not the best mother. She didn't deserve to reach that level of abuse, tho.

What made Endeavor be like that is the violence of the society he grew up in and his very own competitiveness and low self-esteem. Then the consequences of his own actions. For All Might and Deku to feel like they need to protect Shouto from Endeavor? For Rei to rather be in a mental hospital than at home? For Touya to go back and decide he didn't want to be alive?

He is textually treated like a villain in the manga. At least at first.

Even if Rei confronting Enji caused him some psychological damage, it's the same as saying that a criminal got physiological trauma from committing his crimes. Saying Rei was the one who made him like that is awful victim blaming.

Enji created all those situations himself. I guess that's why Rei reminds him at the hospitals that he doesn't get to play the "poor me" role, when they all have been dealing with the hurt of what happened to their family.

Later, Endeavor acknowledges it himself. He takes responsibility for it, stops feeling pity for himself and decides to do something about it. Namely, puts his life on the line to solve the issue with the Todorokis. You know how fire is known for its purifying properties? You can say that the Todofam burning together gave them a second chance, somehow.

Their resolution involved Rei taking an active role in saving Touya (same with Fuyumi and Natsuo), while Enji put himself at the service of the son he always ignored and mistreated. I didn't write it, it was all Horikoshi.

So again, kindly tell the other person to reread the manga and then you both can engage in that discussion again. As it is, I doubt it'd reach any productive term.

Hope this answer satisfies you, anon!!!!!

#shan's asks #bnha #my hero academia #mha #boku no hero academia #league of villains #lov #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #rei todoroki #todofam #anti endeavor #anti enji todoroki #todoroki family #todorokis #bnha manga spoilers

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emjiroki · 1 year

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Omegaverse *and* tribal au just the thought has me freaking drooling...... and the world building opportunities that secondary genders could bring in to tribal life like just imagining all the ways it could work is so cool!

Also just like. Enji in leather and jewelry and nothing else... Enji in the firelight under a full moon... Enji with tattoos that celebrate his successes... Enji scooping you up and carrying you to somewhere at least passably private to fuck your brains out....... 🥺😳👉👈

AAAAAAHHHHHH okay yes this has been making me crazy!!!! (Disclaimer the only reason the tribal au headcanons weren't Omegaverse was because a nice anon asked if I could make the headcanons regular, I totally understand that Omegaverse is not for everyone! BUT NOW I HAVE A GREAT EXCUSE TO GO FERAL) sorry it took so long everyone I hope you enjoy

Link to the non a/b/o tribal headcanons

18+ ONLY below the readmore

Your courtship was short, a week at the gathering before you agreed to travel back with him to the mountains and only a month before he publicly proclaimed before his tribe council that he, their Chief, would be taking you as his mate and future bride

Enji knows you're his fated mate from the moment he sees you. He always kind of knew his former omega wasn't it, inspite of the arranged marriage. After she had left back to her home tribe he really thought he'd never find love again, until he met you at one of the large tribe gatherings during the harvest season. Your scent drew him in like a moth to a flame and he knew you were his

He did his best to keep to tradition and not copulate with you until your bonding ceremony, so the foreplay was almost constant. He was barely in the mindset for meetings with his tribe members or any sort of celebrations or other important ceremonies, his mind constantly fixated on stretching you on his fingers and drinking your slick down like ambrosia. Your cries of pleasure were like angels singing in his ears and could be heard very clearly to anyone straying too close to his hut. Unfortunately for them...

The first full moon of the summer season finally came your bonding ceremony, he had discussed his tribal traditions with you before hand to make sure you were comfortable and that you weren't caught off guard due to the nature of the ceremony. The beginning was simple, Enji slaughters a goat for a blood sacrifice in your honor and the Shaman paints the blood across you and Enji’s chest first, across your heart for eternal love and across your face and eyelids to ward off negativity and evil. But the second half of the ceremony after your marital beads are place around your throats is the part he tried to make you comfortable with

The tribe council has to be present for the official bonding and first knotting, to at least see you connected and bonding marks fresh bleeding. It made you a little uneasy at first, but with Enji being as aggressive as he is they all kept their eyes to the floor as he shielded you from their view.

He was delicate as he laid you against the fur bedding, whispering reassurance and promises against your skin as he breached your virgin entrance for the first time. The combination of your scents and smell of your blood staining his cock had him nearly going feral but he kept himself steady so he didn't hurt you. It was the last thing he ever wanted to do. "I love you, so much. Endless as the river my sweet omega" he whispers as he kisses the overwhelmed tears from your cheeks. And you believed him, could feel it through the grip of his fingers laced with yours above your head as he began to move and fuck into your soft body. It took a few minutes to adjust to his size but soon you were calling for more, locking your legs around his waist and pulling him into you until his flushed head was tapping your cervix with every thrust of his hips.

Enji was coming to his end just as soon as he expected, your tightness milking everything from him until he was dizzy with your sweet scent flooding his senses. He was holding back drool as he watched your eyes roll back and your pretty swollen lips part in ecstasy. "A-Alpha I'm-" "Cum for me love, let me feel you so I can give you everything" with a strangled and barely coherent cry you were tensing and squeezing around him so hard it nearly forced him out until one of his strong hands locked your hips into place as he growled deeply and released into your warmth, his knot sealing your entrance to keep his cum inside.

With aftershocks of your orgasms racking our bodies you two sealed the bond, your mating marks red, raw, and prominent against your throats as you tasted each others blood. Everything felt calm and peaceful after the bond was set, the pheremones calming and instincts feeling the rightness of everything settling in. The council was all but forgotten about until the motion of them leaving the hut had Enji snarling and holding you close to his body protectively, your blood staining against his chin and bringing forth the true animal version of his instincts that had your inner omega preening and purring against his strong chest.

After a moment you could hear the tribe cheering from the news of your consumation, the great bonfire starting and soon the smell of roasting meat reached your hut and your growling stomachs. "As soon as the knot releases we can join the celebration if you'd like" he says quietly as he strokes his fingers along your spine in a soothing pattern, your own fingers tracing the tattoos along his chest and arms, his many years of success telling stories across his skin. "I'd like that, but could we spend a bit longer in here together, just us?" You asked, feeling vulnerable after your private moment. "Of course, anything for you" he says with a rumbling purr, nosing against his mating mark, "my beloved mate and soon to be mother of my pups".

If anyone has anymore Tribal au thoughts or requests send them my way because I love this au!!! Doesn't have to be omegaverse btw

#omg this got long!!!!#i hope everyone enjoyed this cause i did 🥴#i couldnt help myself this was so self indulgent and i ATE THIS UP #alpha enji todoroki smut #alpha enji todoroki x omega reader #tribal au #tribe chief enji todoroki #tw omegaverse #tw knotting #emji ♡#em writes ✍#inbox 💌#i hope anon sees this!!!!

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niki-phoria · 1 year

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Hello! I hope your well!

Could I request todoroki x with a Male or GN reader whose quirk is shapeshifting?

Perhaps they find us as some kind of animal in the rain and take us in unknowing of who we are!

If not I can settle for a little cafe date,

Thank you again!!

pairing: prince!todoroki x cat shapeshifter!male!reader genre: mostly fluff, slight angst word count: 1.5k

a/n: i'm doing okay, thank you for asking :)) i loved this idea so much, thank you for requesting !! i had this idea for prince shouto so i made it a royalty au, i hope you don't mind also i am a proud endeavor hater i will slander that man in every single fic i write

tw slight mention of blood, slight animal abuse, implication of child abuse

“shouto?” you’re surprised to see him standing at your door, flinching in surprise when he throws his arms around you. his body knocks into yours as he cries into your chest, quick breaths about something you can’t understand. tears roll down his cheeks as you pull him back a little, hands on his shoulders. “what’s wrong? why are you crying?”

“touya-” he gasps. “touya’s gone.” you let him crawl back into your arms, rubbing a hand down his back. you can feel tears prick at your own eyes as shouto grips your shirt as if he’s afraid you would disappear when he lets go. and maybe he was right to be.

“shouto?” fuyumi calls out. she rushes over to you, kneeling down next to shouto. “oh, shouto,” she whispers. shouto continues clinging to you, hiding his face away.

“shouto, it’ll be okay, fuyumi’s here.” you whisper. slowly, he pulls away, wiping his tears. he glances between you and his sister before gently letting go. “i’ll come see you tomorrow, okay?” he sniffles, nodding.

“you promise?” he holds his hand out.

you intertwine your pinkies together. “i promise.”

he holds onto your hand for a few more seconds before finally letting go. “okay.”

the next morning, the castle guards who used to ruffle your hair and joke around with you are cold as they stop you from entering. they only separate to make room for the king-todoroki enji. he glares down at you coldly, as if you were a stain to be removed. “stay away from my son.”

“but-i promised shouto i would come to see him!” your protests are ignored when enji turns around.

“take him away.” he instructs before disappearing back into the castle.

you weren’t strong enough to fight against the guards as they shoved you out, throwing you to the outskirts of the kingdom. “i’m sorry, y/n,” a knight murmured before turning to follow the others back to their posts. when you woke up you were in an unknown part of the kingdom, covered in dirt and newly formed bruises, and all alone.

living so far away from the rest of society had it’s perks. with no one around to potentially hurt, experimenting with your quirk became one of your favourite pastimes. you would jump around, testing if things were easier to do as a cat or a human, honing your skills to be able to survive with nothing around but trees. however, with nobody nearby, you weren’t used to seeing people.

the man slinks around, poorly hiding himself behind a tree. you silently watch him, orange fur shining in the daylight. when he sees you, he kneels down, outstretching a hand. hesitantly, you make your way over to him, sizing him up. he waits patiently as you approach before grabbing you, twisting your leg uncomfortably. he presses a sharp knife against your thigh, preparing to cut you. you mewl, unable to get out of his hold.

“hey, look what i found!” he yells. in the distance you can hear trees rustling before another man comes into your view. he cocks his head and then grimaces.

“i thought we were hunting for food.”

“we are,” the first man shakes you. you hiss at him, failing to scratch his arms.

“i’m not eating a cat.” the second man says, shaking his head.

“come on, there’s nothing else out here!” the second man sighs, defeated.

“fine. if we can’t find anything else, we’ll eat the damn cat.” you cry when the man holding you presses his knife deep into your flesh. you can see a gun slung across his back. his partner is holding his rifle, using it to clear through the trees. it’s too dangerous to change here. you can’t fight. and even if you could, they could easily shoot you. you don’t stand a chance. the man holding you throws you unceremoniously into a bag where you’re plunged into darkness.

after what feels like hours of being thrown around inside of the bag, the pain from your leg makes you dizzy until you fall unconscious into a blissful sleep.

the ground is muddy as shouto walks along the castle grounds. normally he wouldn’t be out this late. the sun had begun to set already, coating everything in sight in shallow golden light. his fists clench by his sides as he focuses on the ground in front of him, anger still crawling in his chest from his earlier argument with his father. his father. what a vile man. shouto pushes the argument from his mind, forcing himself to relax. he outstretches his fingers, unclenches his jaw, and rolls his shoulders. though the tension in his body remains, he feels better.

shouto stops entirely when he notices it. a small, orange kitten laying in the dirt. it’s back leg is bloody and bent in the wrong direction. it lays unmoving, even as shouto approaches. he gently rubs a hand against the cat’s back. it flinches awake, but doesn’t move away from him. shouto leans down to pick it up, holding the animal against his chest. he whispers reassurances, rushing to bring the cat inside the castle and to the doctor.

despite protests that the cat was “just an animal” and that he “wasn’t a damn vet,” the man was in no position to deny the crown prince. shouto watched as he gently maneuvered the bone back into place before slowly stitching the wound closed.

“take it,” the man gestured to the cat, throwing away the needle and bandages. shouto did so silently, wrapping the animal in a nearby towel and bringing it into his room. he ignored the confused looks from guards as he shut the door behind him, laying the cat down on his bed. it had fallen unconscious again, laying unmoving against shouto’s silk sheets. shouto found an odd comfort in the cat. having never had pets before, he gently pet the animal while it slept, watching it unil the sun set and the room was plunged into darkness. shouto left the cat on his bed, crawling underneath the covers and watching it until he too was fully asleep.

the first thing you feel when you wake up is pain. it stings from your knee down to your ankle. the wound wastes no time in making itself known. you shift, moving to sit up. you’re no longer on the ground, covered in dirt and blood. everything around you is ornate, covered in red and gold-symbols of royalty. something shifts next to you-a boy. the prince. todoroki shouto.

it’s been years since you’ve seen him. he looks the same, though his scar has faded significantly in the years since the accident occured. he’s hardened from the five year old boy you knew into a strong sixteen year old teen. you can see some scars on his hands from training. he looks so peaceful as he sleeps, bangs falling into his eyes. you freeze when he shifts a little before waking up. he blinks at you, sitting up in alarm. you’re preparing for him to yell for guards, for them to rush in and pin you down, drag you throughout the castle walls and throw you outside into the dirt, where you belong. but he doesn’t. wide heterochromic eyes stare into your own. you shift uncomfortably, tail wrapping around yourself protectively.

“what’s your name?” shouto’s voice is deeper than you remember.

“y/n,” your voice is raspy. your throat stings with irritation. you need to drink something.

“y/n,” shouto repeats. a moment of silence falls over you two. then, shouto whispers. “do you remember me?”

“shouto,” you whisper. he’s quick to pull you into a hug, wrapping his arms around your waist. you bury your face into his chest, taking him in. even after so much time apart, he feels familiar.

“why… why didn’t you come? that day,” he whispers. you blink away tears gathering in your eyes, grabbing onto his hands when you pull away.

“i tried to, your father-he ordered the guards to stop me. they left me in the woods. i didn’t know where i was. i never forgot about you, i promise.” you stare down at the floor, worried for how shouto is reacting to the news. his fingers are cold as he raises your chin.

“i never forgot about you either.” you can’t help but wrap your arms around him again, this time letting your tears fall. your hands shake as you grip onto his clothes, holding him close to you. shouto pulls you even tighter, waiting for you to calm down before pulling away a little.

“i love you,” shouto whispers. your breath hitches as you look up at him. “can i kiss you?” you nod, gently pulling shouto into a sweet kiss. he smiles into it, pressing a kiss to your forehead after you pull away.

“i love you too. i’m glad you found me.”

“i missed you,” shouto murmurs. your ears twitch a little when he scratches them. a deep pur escapes your chest as you nuzzle closer into his chest.

“i missed you too.”

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transhawks · 1 year

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Why I'm excited for Stain:

So, it's interesting but despite Touya calling Spinner an empty cosplayer, in his grief/mania at seeing Twice killed, he pushed away the League and mentioned Stain and his creed, linked it to himself. While I believe a lot of what he said during that speech was him lying to himself, I do think there is more here. You would think this is just a throwaway line - surely Dabi can't really be that attached to Stain's deeds or beliefs? Except what if it was laying the groundwork for his saving?

We keep seeing this theme of having to connect to villains, understand them, to save them. Shouto has failed to reach his brother twice now. What if he asks another villain what else he could do? I'm not sure what will be said or how this will be approached but I have a strong feeling aside from having Iida's arc come full-circle from this encounter, whatever happens with Stain and the two Back Alley kids will be significant in helping Shouto realize how he can reach Touya. Of course, Enji has to do his part too, but ultimately it's Shouto's job in this story to reach out to his big brother.

#shouto #todorokis #bnha spoilers #bnha stain #iida tenya #dabi #bnha predictions

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xskyll · 2 years

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“Todoroki-san…” Shouto had never cared about honorifics before, but something about Midoriya’s voice speaking his name with such careful, precise formality made him feel like he’d stepped into a fog of humid air. It was thick and oppressive and uncomfortably stifling in a way his quirk could never abate. “It’s not Ka—Bakugou-san—it’s not him I’m avoiding. I mean,” he bit his lip in the same way Midoriya did when he wanted to slow his speech, to ensure he took the time to choose his words carefully, “it’s true that it’s weird for me. It’s not just the cousin thing. Or, I mean, maybe it is, in the end, but it’s just…where I’m from, my Katsuki, he’s always protected me. So it’s odd, being near yours. I know your Izuku isn’t me, but…well, we’re similar, right? I think maybe we have to be. So I don’t like the idea that there’s a version of me out there that a version of my cousin could hate. But more than that…Todoroki-san, more than that, the person I’m avoiding is you.” “Midoriya.” He wasn’t sure what he was going to say and he wasn’t given time to figure it out before Midoriya was speaking again. “I’m sorry,” he said, gripping the edges of his jacket and twisting them in his hands. It was a nervous gesture he’d seen dozens of times, performed by hands that were rough and mangled and broken and nothing at all like the pristine hands he was now looking at. “I’m sorry,” Midoriya repeated. “It’s such an awkward situation. I sort of…I thought maybe your teachers, or your heroes, or whatever it is, I was hoping they would figure things out and this wouldn’t come up. But they haven’t and…I’m so sorry, but if I’m being honest, Todoroki-san, it really hurts to look at you and it feels unfair, because the others, they say I look a little different from your Izuku, but for me, you look just the same. You look exactly like my Shouto, so when I see you, it’s hard because…because in my world, Shouto is…he’s everything, Todoroki-san. To me, I mean. He’s everything. And I know he feels the same because he looks at me like I’m everything, so when I see you and you’re looking at me like you don’t like me, and it’s with his eyes—” “I do like you,” he interrupted. “Or him. Midoriya. The one from my world. He’s one of my best friends.” Midoriya smiled and any words Shouto had left to speak turned to dust in his mouth. Midoriya smiled like he’d been hurt. He smiled like he wanted to apologize for his own injuries. “It’s not that kind of like, Todoroki-san.” Understanding bled through him like a slow-growing stain, permanently altering the fabric of his person. “You mean…you and me…?” “Right. And so that’s why. A Katsuki that isn’t my cousin and a Katsuki that dislikes me…that’s odd and it makes me feel a little strange, but it isn’t something I can’t handle. But a Shouto that treats me like I’m only a friend…that’s more than I can bear. So please. I know I’m overexerting myself. I know it isn’t healthy to keep practicing like this. But right now, this is all I have. So please, Todoroki-san.”

Don’t mind me, I’m just back on my nonsense. Anyone who knows me knows I love Idol Izuku, so this is just based on one of the many daydreams I’ve had on that subject. In this one, a quirk accident causes Izuku to swap places with an Izuku from an alternate universe. This Izuku is cousins with Katsuki (thus the eye color change), has a quirk that is related to increased agility (which he uses for dancing), and is dating Shouto. In this world, there are no heroes or villains, but simply law enforcement and criminals. Quirks aren’t as strong or diverse as they are in the normal bnha world. UA exists, but rather than training heroes, it’s simply a renowned school for specialized career training. Izuku is in their music academy, under Hizashi. Shouto and Katsuki are in the law academy, maybe?? Katsuki wants to grow up to be Izuku’s bodyguard, lol. Enji is a professional fighter—sort of a quirk MMA type of thing—and he wants Shouto to follow in his footsteps. Shouto doesn’t want to. I’m thinking he might want to be a defense attorney. Anyway, I’m never going to write this as a fic but enjoy this little blurb!

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bnhaobservation · 11 months

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Quick ramblings about how Iida, Shouto and Ochako will become heroes, about how Touya’s (inner) fire wasn’t stopped yet and about how Enji is finally starting to do things right with regards to chap 390

Despite it being pretty short, there’s plenty of good things happening in chap 390.

For start Iida gets a special mention for finally managing to fulfill becoming the person he wanted to be.

Iida wanted to be a hero but note how he became the person he wanted to be not by beating some Villain… but by helping Shouto reach his family, by running as fast as he could, carrying him so that he could reach his family.

When we started the story, heroes were the guys who beat up Villains. When his brother got hurt, Iida thought his duty was to take care of Stain, who, despite being a Villain, is the one who forces Iida to open his eyes on who a hero should be. As Iida talks about how great of a hero is brother was and how he’ll kill Stain for hurting him, Stain’s answer is:

“Save HIM first. Forget about yourself for a second and try saving others. Don’t wield your power for your own sake. Because getting trapped by your own hate and acting out of pure self- interest… makes you the further things from a hero.”

While Iida will also take at heart Deku’s words about a hero being one who gives help even when it’s not asked, Stain too influenced him by making him a hero that exists not so much to beat people but to help others.

Iida is not in this battle to beat Villains to a pulp, he’s here to help Shouto, to support Shouto to allow him to do what he wouldn’t be able to do with his power alone, reach his family.

So we switch to Shouto and to how it’s good to see him having to run for the last bit.

Shouto is giving his all. At the start of the series one of Shouto’s flaws is he was only putting half of his efforts in becoming a great hero, counting solely on his ice Quirk and on himself. Now… to reach his family he first uses both Quirks to help Iida go even faster, and then he just uses his own body. For the last bit he doesn’t push himself forward with his Quirk but with his legs. Shouto is using everything he has, he’s putting his whole effort into saving his family.

And, as he runs, he thinks back to how he’s connecting with his classmates and how sometimes, in order to connect, he has to talk with them and even argue (note that the images in which he says there’s conflict don’t show him and the others fighting with fists/Quirks but arguing) but that this helps them to better understand each other.

He’s basically remarking the importance of TALKING, instead than dealing with others with just a show of strength or keeping your feelings for yourself, which, I think, will be the next step the Todoroki family will need to do to help Touya. They need to talk, to tackle their negative issues and understand each other so that they can solve things. Touya himself implied if they (as a family) had talked sooner, things would have gone better among them and, even though up till then Touya has been suicidal… in what he assumed were his last moments he expresses a wish to talk more with his family.

This is a call back to Sekoto Peak but also to when he left the orphanage. Both times he said he had more to show/say to his family therefore it wouldn’t end there.

And then Shouto finally reaches his family and uses again Great Glacial Aegir… and it’s noteworthy as he does he’s shown as being a crying child. The last time Shouto used it he was shown as a crying child as well. The scene shows his desperation, the core of it all, Shouto deep down is still a child who’s hurting and being forced to act in a certain way, being placed against his brother.

And there’s another thing that’s relevant. Although Shouto saves the day, Shouto admits he didn’t do it alone, that his power wouldn’t have been enough to stop Touya, that he could do it only because the rest of his family helped him, because he was never a masterpiece creation.

And that’s important because that establish Shouto is no more a tool, someone who’s meant to win and surpass All Might through pure strength.

He’s the opposite of what his father wanted, he uses ice instead than fire and can’t reach more power than Touya alone… but at the same time Shouto is totally an amazing hero because he put all his effort in this and became a person, not a masterpiece, the last family member that was needed to solve the situation. In that moment, when Shouto appears and put in the mix the final power that’s needed for them to save the day, finally Shouto is part of the family after having been kept away from it for so long and it’s part of it on his own terms, by using ice.

And, in a way, he reconciles with his brother, he calls him ‘Tōya Nī’ (燈矢兄 “big brother Touya”) instead than ‘baka aniki’ (馬鹿兄貴 “stupid big brother’) which is more respectful and admits his fire was stronger, that he reached uncharted territories he couldn’t surpass.

When they first fought all Shouto believed about Touya was that he had brute strength, stronger than his own, but, through the fight he was forced to acknowledge “It wasn’t just sheer firepower! The whole time big brother Touya studied and trained his Quirk on his own! My brother’s honed instincts are bolstered by his hard work and obsession.” (Chap 363) and how “We’ve all hit our limits and then some! We gave it everything! And yet… he’s the only one… still standing! Even though I share our father’s blood too… only Touya’s able to keep going!” (chap 374)

Shouto begins to see his brother for someone who’s more than just the brute strength of his Quirk. One of Shouto’s previous flaws was that he, like his father, wasn’t good at looking at others but now he’s starting to see Touya and validating him. He’s not a failure, he’s someone against which Shouto alone couldn’t compete.

And this is also an impressive progress for Shouto’s growth and, I hope, something that will further help him reconcile with his big brother… but I think SHouto might get some more space. Because this was about him reconnecting with his family, but now I think he has to show his family the way toward a potentially happy future, opposite to Natsuo who thinks what wait them is hell.

Future reassuring hero Shouto should be the one who’ll give his family hope.

But, while this is all growth for Shouto and he’s getting on the right track to reconcile with his family and with his brother, at the same time this is only marginally helpful for Touya because they didn’t make HIM stop, they just stopped his fire.

I’m not sure how much Touya has understood of Shouto’s speech… but overall the whole family isn’t really seeing him even if they’re looking at him.

Because, remember the last time Shouto used Great Glacial Aegir and we saw that, when Shouto did it, he was actually a crying child? Touya too was represented as a crying child. Touya’s power has been characterized by growing the more he’s distressed. The fact his fire grew so big was a hint of Touya’s desperation. He can’t cry anymore and he masks his feelings with anger. He tells his family to die and wants to die as well. He’s still desperate, although he had a moment of happiness when he thought the family was finally watching him, as he implied before, it came too late.

He got attention, but to him it was ‘negative attention’, they didn’t focus on him because they loved him and cared about him but, again, because they wanted to stop him. He had to become a Villain and threaten to nuke Japan in order to have them look at him. So, of course, what he got is nowhere near enough.

They didn’t understand his origin, nor Dabi’s, they didn’t understand his sadness, they just felt they had to stop him again, without really triggering what was keeping him going.

In a way, until Touya’s sadness isn’t cured, Touya isn’t saved, his fire isn’t stopped, it’ll keep on burning him and, as long as it burns him, he’ll keep on expanding it to burn the others.

Natsuo sums the situation saying the future that awaits them is hell… which means in the end he thinks they don’t have hopes for improvement. Even though they had stopped Touya, even though they could reconcile as a family so something good could come from it, he thinks what happened is too big, it overshadows everything. He thinks the situation can’t be salvaged.

In this mess finally Enji tries to do something… which is apologizing to his son. While it’s, of course, a really small things to do, it’s worth to note Enji, like Bakuko prior to apologizing to Deku, never apologized.

He acknowledged his sins and said he wanted to atone but he never said to his family he was sorry.

In chap 250 he thanked Fuyumi for her efforts and in chap 252 he acknowledged his mistakes to Natsuo but when he said Natsuo didn’t have to forgive him, that he only wanted to atone, he didn’t really see how, as long as Natsuo and Shouto can’t forgive him, their anger toward him will plague them., like his anger toward All Might plagues him.

Although he wants to do something to atone for his family, up till now, his atonement was for himself, because HE wanted to do something. And, in fact, the moment he should have stepped up and saved Natsuo for Natsuo, he hesitated because he feared Natsuo would keep on hating him.

Now instead he’s apologizing, not so much for himself but for his family. He’s trying to connect to Touya, to his family through that apology. Those words aren’t anymore for his own benefit but for Touya and his family. He’s willing to listen to Touya’s words even if they hurt him where before he was avoiding things that would hurt him.

His atonement before was an act for himself, in fact event hough Fuyumi wanted them to be a family, he wanted them to live in another house while he would keep on living in his old house. It’s not that it was an ideal solution for him… but it was still a solution that required him less effort than making himself be forgiven by fixing things with his family in a way that would make them stop hating him.

Buying a new house, for someone with his money, was overall easy.

Teaching Shouto his moves was what he wanted. And dying with Touya still saved him from having to deal with Touya’s hate, the way he wanted to avoid having to deal with Natsuo’s hate. By letting Touya vent… and being there for him as he does so… he’s actually doing something FOR HIM, even if, of course, it’s small (but well, at the moment no one is up on doing much).

So yes, the apology is a small thing… but it’s the starting step. I still think there’s something else he should apologize to Touya. The problems didn’t start when he didn’t go to Sekoto Peak, they started earlier. Like Deku’s mom, he gave up on his son when he thought his Quirk wasn’t suitable (or, in Deku’s mom’s case, when she learnt he was Quirkless) where Touya needed what Deku’s mom will give to Deku later on, support.

When Enji lost faith in Touya that’s where he broke him, where he pushed him to try harder to regain that faith.

Touya’s origin was his dream to be a hero like his dad, because he believed that was his place in the family, the reason why he was born in his family, Dabi’s origin is when he gives up on that dream, on his family, and start walking the path to become a Villain.

Sekoto Peak undoubtedly was something big in his life… but technically, after Sekoto Peak, he was still Touya… he still tried to come home. It’s when he lost hope there was a place for him in that home Touya ‘died’ and Dabi was born.

So, probably, Enji’s apology doesn’t have to stop to Sekoto Peak, Sekoto Peak wasn’t even the last straw, he has to go further back, to when all that started. He has to return Touya’s place in the family.

But, interesting enough, Shouto, who’s the only one who knows, apart from Touya, how Dabi wasn’t born after Sekoto Peak but after Touya returned home, faints. He can’t offer help for understanding his brother.

So I think the whole Todoroki saga might not be ended yet.

They still need to understand Touya/Dabi’s origin and deal with it.

In a way this ties in with the blue gentians, Rei’s favourite flowers which, in Japanese flower language represent justice and victory but also mean “To feel compassion for your sorrow”.

Probably this is something Touya really need, for someone to understand his sorrow and feel compassion for it.

And, to use Toga’s words, they’ve to give him back his smile, as, as Touya said, smiling is why we live their lives. In order for Touya to want to stop dying and killing his family, they’ve to give him back his smile, his happiness, which they can’t do if they believe from here forward it’ll be hell, if they believe there’s no hope. Loss of hope is what lead to Dabi’s creation.

Said all this, I love how Toga turns toward Touya’s flames with tears in her eyes and, probably thinking he died, wonders if he managed to smile in the end.

Both Touya and Himiko has lost hope, they’re smiling as Touya said but their smiles aren’t really genuine, they don’t look forward to living their lives.

Enter Ochako who’s the one who loves seeing smiling people.

I think Ochako might tackle another part of the puzzle. Previously she was concerned with what happens when heroes are hurting. Now she might start being concerned with what happens when Villains are hurting. I think this will be her final step, how she’ll fulfil herself as a hero.

Whatever, we’ll see where this will lead us.

#BNHA Spoilers #Ida Tenya #Todoroki Touya #Todoroki Shouto #Todoroki Enji #Todoroki Natsuo #Todoroki Fuyumi #Todoroki Rei #Toga Himiko #Urakawa Ochako #BNHA ramblings

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problemswithbooks · 2 years

Note

Endeavor and All Might interacting after the war is such lost potential it’s disappointing

Yeah, it really is, especially when I think Enji and All Might could have had a more meaningful interaction overall then All Might had with Stain.

I mean, I love Stain and am really happy he had more screen time, but it didn't really contribute much in the long run, that Enji couldn't have done better given his more fleshed out character and connection to All Might.

All Might was clearly seeing all the destruction and Izuku's spiral as his fault, and coming to terms with the fact that his way of doing things wasn't the big fix he thought it was. I'm sure hearing about Enji's abuse due to his desire to surpass him didn't help either. In that moment he feels like he wasted his life and that he's a complete failure--it's his darkest moment.

And Enji's just had his darkest moment to, plus he understands the feeling of having realized his choices led to long term failure and pain for others. Also Toshi gave him advice when he first became 1# and it's be great to have a call back to that.

The thing is, Toshinori does need cheering up in that moment, but I can see why some people thought it was completely absolving him of any bad choices he made, or fluffing him up. One of Stain's few character traits is his obsession with All Might being the only Hero--he's a fan boy, so his words come across as pure praise, even if I think Hori was trying to have the moment have more depth.

With Enji being the one to talk to him, he can relate to All Might instead. it would be better framed as "yes, some of your choices ended up causing problems, but not everything you did was bad", instead of "you've actually never done anything wrong and are perfect". Enji has been in that head space before and in a way still is, but unlike Enji All Might did do good and did try to help as many people as possible. Having Enji acknowledge that All Might did inspire people for the better over all and admit that his obsession was his own fault not Toshi's would be huge for his character as well.

Giving them this moment would feel like a conclusion to their relationship as well, because Enji's dislike for All Might wasn't fully addressed back when he asked for advice. Toshi didn't have all the facts then about Enji's ugly obsession, and didn't seem to feel much for him at all past 'coworker'. This puts them on more equal footing and lets them talk more openly about their mistakes and how they want to fix them.

It could end with the core message of bnha--plus ultra, aka trying your best and going beyond limitations. Yes, they both fucked up (one way more then the other) but they can keep going and continue to try to do better. Not everything Toshi did ended in despair and he did some really good things that helped spark the desire to help people in others, but those choices that ended in something bad, Toshi can get back up, do his best to learn from his mistakes and fix them as best he can.

It's just a more impactful scene then the one with Stain because they're both far more fleshed out as characters and have an actual history to work off of. It can still happen in Kamino, and honestly it'd be really symbolic later if during the scene it was Enji who takes the sign of the All Might statue, while Touya later destroys it. They can also get the info about the time frame closing from a recovery team at Tarturus or something--though I see no reason to shift the deadline one way, only to have it go back to what it was prior due to Star's sacrifice. It'd make more sense to have a small time skip before Star's fight, and have her actually extend the deadline for them. That way we feel like Izuku got more of a break, and training time between then and the second war.

As for Stain, I don't really know. He hasn't show back up in the story yet so it's hard to say if that conversation with All Might had any long term effect on him. Or how/if he'll have any sort of small arc of his own with Iida. If this was supposed to be a turning point for him he'd have to be included somehow, but I doubt that's going to be the case. But only time will tell how taking him out of the scene would impact the story. For the moment though having it be Enji instead seems to work way better.

#ask #thanks for the ask :)#bnha #bnha spoliers #mha #endeavor #All Might #toshinori yagi #enji todoroki

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hamliet · 3 years

Text

Dabi’s Missing Heart

So I’ve been seeing two main responses to Dabi’s character as portrayed in BNHA 292, both of which I feel touch on a very surface understanding of his character and role in the story despite seeming like opposite takes.

Take #1:

Dabi is an unfeeling monster created to show the redeemability of Shigaraki and Enji in contrast with his true eeeevil villainy! He will never be redeemed!

Take #2:

Dabi is a sweet softy who did nothing wrong! He will never be redeemed because of this chapter which is so out-of-character!

Note how they both have the same endpoint. I’m not actually gonna address the redemption question much because I can’t fathom what this panel foreshadows if not Touya’s salvation (alive):

I’m not looking to debate this either; I’m just putting it here because I know it’ll come up if I don’t.

Instead, I wanna address Dabi’s character. He’s my favorite, and I’ve been asked a few different times whether I enjoy him as a villain or as an uwu poor baby, and my answer is always both.

Dabi is a villain. This chapter’s rampage is, in my opinion, not remotely out of character for him. But neither is it the summation of his character, and he surely is not meant to make Enji look good by comparison.

So, who is Dabi?

Dabi is kind of a flaming jerk, and that’s why I like him. He’s an abuse victim who gets to be angry and crass and sharp. He pushes people away because he doesn’t want to open up to them and get burned (heh). He’s just like Shouto in that, except with a dose of murder.

Believe it or not, this is a very realistic response to abuse, and very common too. It’s good to see that representation. If the writing was indeed just “he’s bad get rid of him,” well, that would of course be a terrible representation. But seeing a mean victim get redeemed? Now that’s some good sh*t I’m here for.

If you want a sweethearted, misunderstood soft victim, there is one in MHA, and that’s Shigaraki. Dabi is not these things, but that does not mean he’s not a victim or that he’s somehow an unfeeling monster.

You see, Shigaraki is a heart character. Dabi’s the mind. (Heart and mind characters are a literary pattern that is utilized in literature across the globe; it’s not an eastern/western cultural thing. It has its roots in alchemy.) The problem is that you can’t have a heart without a mind nor a mind without a heart. If you lack one, you’re missing half the picture, and you won’t accomplish anything.

We see this with Shigaraki in his quest to look for ideals, something to believe in, purpose to justify/enable acting on his feelings/emotions.

Dabi, in contrast, has conviction and ideals, but eschews any kind of personal connection and care.

So, both Shigaraki and Dabi struggle to unite heart and mind--but they need to do precisely this.

It’s not a coincidence that Shigaraki expressly envisions both Dabi and Himiko when musing on what his purpose is.

Yet Shigaraki is able to unite more easily with Himiko as opposed to Dabi because Himiko is also a heart character. She claims to be motivated by extreme empathy that warps around to become a lack thereof (wanting to be who she loves).

Shigaraki’s motivations are basically revenge for hero society not saving him--which encompasses both a deep internal and external (societal) need for empathy and a need for better ideals. Shigaraki needs Himiko and Dabi. They’re a trio, and all of them need each other to grow. But Himiko, being similarly driven expressly by emotions, is easier for Shigaraki to understand and work with.

The irony is that Dabi is actually a very, very emotional character as well. But what he does (as is typical for a mind character) is repress them, compartmentalize, dissociate. He constantly pushes people away, yet admits privately, to himself, that he’s primarily (and paradoxically) motivated by family. This is emotional, yet Dabi claims he “overthought” and, according to other translations, “snapped” can be actually be read as “went crazy” as a result over overthinking (note: both are mind allusions).

Dabi repressing who he is--Todoroki Touya--is symbolic of him repressing his emotional side, because again, family and emotions are tied together for his character. Now his identity is acknowledged, and Dabi claims to be losing his mind (again), claims that he can’t feel, and yet is completely consumed by emotions. Like, does anyone think he’s being methodical and calculating this chapter?

It’s not just negative emotions (rage, hate) that drive Dabi in response to his family. His seeking belonging and emotional connection is present even in a chapter where he tries to murder two members of his family and laughs off the risk to the life of another.

See, Dabi first asked Shouto to validate his pain:

But like, given the circumstances, of course Shouto doesn’t really respond well. How Shouto responds is this:

Shouto’s words are triggering. And keep in mind I am not blaming Shouto: he’s in shock and he’s a kid. I’m merely trying to explain how it likely comes across to Dabi.

You’re crazy. Your feelings don’t matter. You don’t really care about Natsuo! You’re a villain and that’s ALL you are. Not a brother or abuse survivor. Just a villain.

So, uh, yeah, Dabi then retreats back to being unable to feel, dissociating as has always been his coping mechanism. But that’s not all: Dabi’s been repressing for so long that of course he’s gonna go a little insane in response to the dismissal of everything he’s trying to point out. Why wouldn’t he? His family dismissed his pain back then and now again, and so, without that heart, without those emotions, principle is all Dabi has. This has been present since long before Stain’s ideology came into his life:

Now, he answers this question of existence through Stain’s ideology. Purpose is all he has, and to him, Shouto and Best Jeanist are dismissing that too. Why are they dismissing it? Best Jeanist dismisses him for an ideal: the overall good of hero society. Shouto has a mixture of this ideal and also like, genuine shock and pain.

Back to Dabi. Dabi’s summation of himself and his purpose is incorrect and harmful to himself and others. I’m not excusing him or justifying, just explaining. It’s a tragic reflection of what Endeavor raised both Touya and Shouto to be (and thereby ironic that BJ uses an ideal to dismiss him):

Instead of being raised to be the symbol of hero society--as Endeavor intended--he exists to destroy it. The root is the same: Dabi assumes he exists for hero society, as a tool. He dehumanizes himself, hence why his quirk physically harms him (which also fits his almost religious zeal for Stain’s ideology). But it is not all Dabi is. He’s not a tool, he’s a person, but to acknowledge he’s a person involves acknowledging his heart/emotional desires, and that gets to my next point.

Dabi’s not a reliable narrator about himself. At all. I’ve written about Dabi and dissociation before. So let’s look at Dabi’s devotion to his ideals, the ideals he puts above people and claims he only cares about... because there are moments where Dabi goes against those ideals.

For one example, Dabi’s gone against those ideals when he’s allowed his personal need for revenge (an emotional/heart motivation) to overcome his longterm plan. Like, he was fully about to get himself killed here, even though that would likely mean no one would know the corruption of the Todoroki family and hero society, just for the chance to prove to his father that he hurt him.

In addition, I’ve talked before about how Dabi’s the only character in the entire damn manga to comment that maybe using child soldiers is not okay. While it’s not explicitly stated, it’s reasonable to conclude that Dabi considers the abuse of children in hero training a sin of hero society that ought to be purged (hence, part of his ideals).

That said, I have also pointed out that Dabi has gone after children in the past when it benefits his mission (Bakugou would like a word). So let’s look at four examples of Dabi and his principles concerning kids--since, after all, he claims to be motivated by heroes who hurt kids.

Firstly, Dabi’s “save the cat” when he spared Aoyama.

Why did he spare Aoyama? We can only speculate, but it seems quite likely there are two reasons: 1) hurting Aoyama would not add anything to his overall goal of downing hero society, and 2) a terrified, cowering kid might just have been a teeny bit familiar to Dabi. Here, his ideals--destroying hero society--either take a backseat to a reflection of his personal pain (and)/or his ideal of not abusing kids directly contradicted his ideal of bringing down hero society. But the important part is that in this instance, Dabi chose mercy and the goal of bringing down hero society was jeopardized as a result.

So then why did he attack Tokoyami, Nejire, and Shouto this arc? Well, Dabi does things he knows are wrong for the sake of accomplishing his overall purpose. He does things he knows hurt himself for this purpose. This isn’t new. If he can’t be acknowledged, can’t exist as a person with emotions, then he at least will ensure he still has a purpose.

In addition, let’s look at what sets Dabi off in all of these instances. (Again, this isn’t me saying “well actually Dabi’s justified.” He’s not. I’m just pointing to what’s in the text to explain the machinations beyond “bad guy do bad.”)

Dabi tries to reason with Tokoyami, pointing out that Twice was doing essentially what Tokoyami is doing: trying to save his friend(s), but Tokoyami doesn’t listen (also again: not me saying Tokoyami should have listened--realistically, in this situation, it makes sense Tokoyami trusted his mentor!)

Only after his reasoning was rejected did Dabi go to flames mode. He could have just let Tokoyami save Hawks, but instead he really wanted to kill Hawks and that overrode his other principles. Was this just because of his furthering his goal--killing the #2 hero would help destroy hero society--or because of a sense of personal revenge for Twice? That’s open for interpretation (in my opinion, it’s likely a mixture, because again, it tends to intertwine more than Dabi likes to think it does). His principles and/or emotions are brushed aside, and Dabi Does Not Like That.

Dabi does this again with Shouto this chapter, asking him where he stands on their family issues, and gets brushed aside, and then Shouto goes into his rage mode and Dabi responds. Again, not saying Shouto is rational here or that he should side with Dabi’s murderous plan, but like, his words really don’t come across well to Dabi.

Dabi going after Shouto after explaining things, asking Shouto for help, and then having his pain dismissed is pretty much a repeat of Tokoyami. When Dabi’s pain is dismissed, he says fine, let’s aim for the highest principle possible: making Stain’s will a reality, and damn any emotional ties.

Dabi’s obsession with ideals, you might say, is a smokescreen to cover his own pain. Far from feeling nothing, he feels very deeply. (I promise I’m getting to Nejire.)

So what does this indicate? Well, that Dabi does have a heart and a conscience. But when he lets his heart act, when his heart reaches out, he gets burned. His heart jeopardizes his overall purpose, so he most often dissociates himself from it. But by pretending he doesn’t have a heart, he dehumanizes himself, and he projects that dehumanization onto others (see: seeing Shouto as an extension of Endeavor, when that’s actually the precise image Shouto is trying to shed).

It’s not a coincidence that Shigaraki has been unconscious during the entire confrontation with Endeavor, nor is it a coincidence that Himiko has been MIA. But, Shigaraki wakes up a bit this chapter not only when hearing Dabi spout about how hero society needs to burn, an ideal/the thing Shigaraki lacks, and through a less important but still-ideal-driven character in Spinner asking him to accomplish his supposed ideal of destruction, but when Dabi saves Shigaraki and Spinner.

Dabi doesn’t burn Nejire for lols (not that this makes it better because it doesn’t) or even for ideals. He burns her to save Shigaraki and Spinner, because they are his links to full humanity right now.

(Again, this is also dissociation and projection: Endeavor did this! No, Dabi, you did. You’re perpetuating violence against kids rather than stopping it.)

But anyways, when Dabi calls upon heart, Shigaraki wakes. He lends Gigantomachia and thereby Dabi and the league power.

Dabi can only grow and actually accomplish anything related to his ideals (fixing hero society) through accepting a heart--even though that will likely mean some painful surgery to shift his ideals to accommodate said heart, because pure ideals don’t leave much room for humanity. He needs to feel to actually change anything, because right now he’s just making things worse (hence, the need for saving and redemption).

I know the League aren’t the protagonists of the serIes, but their complaints aren’t exactly incorrect either (if anything they’re almost a little too valid). But through growing together, Dabi, Shigaraki, and Himiko might actually be able to accomplish something, and get themselves in a place where they can be reached and saved by Shouto, Deku, and Ochaco. Because to be saved, the kids will have to acknowledge the villains’ pain and complaints, and do something about it.

#bnha 292 #bnha meta #mha 292 #mha meta #dabi #todoroki shouto #todoroki touya #todoroki enji #hado nejire #toga himiko #shigaraki tomura #shimura tenko #best jeanist #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #bnha theory #mha theory #league of villains #spinner

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i-cant-sing · 3 years

Note

platonic todoroki family when y/n gets her first period at tries to hide it 😫 (bonus if it's Dabi who first finds out)

Yandere Todoroki Clan x reader getting her period

Well, a lot of people have been requesting about this one lately and well, I also got mine today, so lets me miserable together.

Check out my MASTERLIST for more!

Okay, so we're gonna first do the scene where reader gets her first period and then we'll do some headcanons of the family taking care of the reader during her period.

Imagine Enji and Rei are out that day, so its just you and your siblings in the house. You guys decided to have a movie night since you weren't feeling well. Fuyumi and Natsuo went out to get some snacks for the movie, and you and Shotou were making a blanket fort (and trying to stop Dabi from destroying it).

"Dabi! Stop being a jerk!" You threw a pillow at him, which he dodged laughing like a maniac, while Shotou was busy rebuilding the corner Dabi had kicked down.

"Didn't you hear? This is an all boys zone. You need to leave."He said before throwing the same pillow at you, causing you stumble back. But before you could lunge at him, Shotou stood between you two. "Y/n, why don't you go wait in your room? I'll call you when I'm done with the fort."

You huffed. "Fine. But there better be a fort here or I'm going to murder him." You left the room, grumbling curses at Dabi, who kept mocking you until you left.

Dabi soon got a phone call and he left Shotou to take it, the latter continued building the fort. When he was finished, he went up to your room, but didn't find you there. He was about to leave when he saw a red stain on your bed.

Is that... blood?

"Y/n? Y/n! Where are you?!" Shotou called out for you, worry dripping in his voice. He ran down the hall and knocked on the bathroom. "Y/n?! Are you in there?!"

"Sho? Yeah, I'm here- WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO OPEN THE DOOR? I JUST SAID I'M IN HERE!" But he kept trying to turn the locked door knob. "You're hurt! Let me in-" "NO! Just call mom or dad!"

Shotou backed away before running back down to the telephone but before he could dial Rei's number in, Dabi snatched the phone from him. "Who are you calling?" Dabi asked him, wondering if he was calling Rei to complain about him. "Give it back! Y/n- she's hurt! She's bleeding!" Dabi's eyes widened a bit as he suddenly heard you crying. Shotou immediately left the phone and ran to you, Dabi following him.

"Y/n?! What's wrong! Let me in so I can take you to the hospital!" Shotou was banging on the door worriedly as your cries grew louder, telling him to go away and call mom. Dabi pushed his younger brother out of the way and told you to get away from the door, before he broke it down and the sight they saw... a huge puddle of blood in the center of the bathroom, with your pyjamas drenched in them. And you? You were sitting in the bathtub, bawling your eyes out, telling them to call mom.

Shotou eyes widened in fear. "Oh my god. Y/n-" he tried to walk in but Dabi pushed him out. "Get her new clothes, Shotou." "But Dabi-" "Now." Shotou didn't understand but he listened to his brother nonetheless.

Dabi quickly pulled out his phone and called Fuyumi, explaining that you've started to...bleed? He doesn't remember the exact word for it but he vaguely remembers Fuyumi telling him something about it, something along the lines of "it's a natural process. All girls go through it. Maybe you'll have to help Y/n one day too" and he zoned out after that. He kind of wish he hadn't.

Fuyumi told him she'll be back ASAP and she just told him to keep calm and don't panic, because then you'll be panicking too. What she didn't know was that you were already panicking, because you didn't know why you were bleeding from down there because Rei had the bright idea of making you miss school the day they were going to have sex-ed.

"Y/n." You looked at your brother's face- is he concerned? Oh no, if Dabi is actually worried, then it means something is seriously wrong. You began to cry harder. "Am- am I going to die?" "What? No. Look, this happens to all girls. It happens to Fuyumi, mom, everyone." You looked at him confused. This is normal? "Look, just take a shower. Fuyumi is on her way. She'll explain everything to you. Don't worry about this too much. Call me if you need anything."

While you were busy showering, Dabi took your clothes from Shotou and told him to change your sheets. The younger boy was given a brief explanation about what's happening and that you're not dying. As long as you're okay, Shotou was content.

Fuyumi cane back 10 minutes later, whacking Dabi on the way in while Natsuo laughed at his brothers stupidity.

Fuyumi explained periods and stuff to you, and you learned pretty quickly. But you were to embarrassed to be with them, even though Fuyumi told you that it's nothing to be ashamed of, but she let you go to bed early that night, making sure her brothers didn't bother you or embarrass you more.

While you laid in bed that night, Fuyumi also educated her brothers about periods. And they all listened very keenly, especially at the parts how you may get painful cramps and maybe even headaches.

Boy, was that an understatement.

Your period was worse from the day you got them. Usually, girls begin with light, irregular, sometimes even painless periods. But you? You got them super bad and heavy from day 1. Not only that, you gad the worst cramps, and they were so painful that you would end up crying and even vomiting. Mood swings were one thing, but the unbearable pain that you had to endure before and during your period was the worst thing ever. You were bloated, curled up in your bed, and nauseated. You would take the week off from school whenever you got your period, and at first, Shotou would take the week off too to help you, but you didn't want him to miss out on school because of you. So you forced him to go back, telling him that at least one of them should have notes for the other. Fuyumi and Enji would have to go to their jobs, Shotou was at school, Natsuo at his dorms and Dabi was out somewhere too. So it was usually just you and Rei at home, who happily helped you out during your difficult time of the month.

Rei is making you all sorts of warm foods that are both light on your stomach and help relieve your bloating. Even if it's too hot sometimes, she will force you to drink the warm turmeric and honey milk, because it actually does end up relieving some of the pain, but it doesn't have a very significant or long lasting effect. She doesn't get mad when you accidentally mess up the sheets; she just quietly throws the stained sheet into the laundry and replaces it with a new one. She spoils you to no end, happily giving you anything you need.

But Rei does however, withhold painkillers from you. She claims that they're not good for your body, and if you're in super bad shape, she'll only give you 1 pill for the whole week. She has messed up logic, claiming that she doesn't want you to get addicted to them. That she understands that you're in excruciating pain, that you feel like someone is wrenching your guts, but she's not going to relent and give you the pills. So, she'll pull you back to bed, give you a hot water bottle, rub your sore muscles and give you some tea, cooing that you're her brave girl.

And honestly, if you weren't in so much pain and out of energy, you would've punched her, but you're busy clutching your stomach and bawling your eyes out.

Now once Shotou gets home, he sticks to your side lick glue for the rest if the day, giving you massages, rubbing your forehead with his cold hands and your belly with his warm one. He may even sneak you a painkiller (because Natsuo told him that it was okay to give it to you). He'll bring you snacks and put on a movie you wanna watch, cuddling you happily. Later, Rei or Fuyumi may also join your cuddle pile.

When you finally fall asleep from exhaustion, Shotou would get your books and start doing your homework. One less thing for you to worry about.

And when Enji finally comes home from work, he always comes baring treats for you. For some reason, he always knows what you're craving. If you're craving chocolate, he'll have that. If you want ice cream, he already bought two pints of your favourite flavours. Then once he hands you the sweet treats, he'll pull you into his lap, letting you snuggle into warmth. He'll ask about your day, showing concern when you tell him how painful your cramps were. His big warm hand will either pat your head to or rub your lower back, chuckling as you physically melt into him. If you're having a particularly bad day, he may even tell you a story or two until you fall asleep.

When you suddenly wake up in the middle of the night to go the bathroom, you'll always find your annoying brother laughing at your miserable state. He mocks you as you trudge back into bed, groaning in pain with each step that you take. (On the inside however, he's always worries when you're not talking back to him or saying something snarky. He knows you're in a bad condition when you don't respond to his remarks)

Once you're in bed though, he'll poke you and give you the warm hot chocolate (the special one that only he knows how to make) and you're not gonna lie; it's way better than Rei's turmeric milk. It's warm, sweet, chocolatey and it relieves your stomach pain. And if he's feeling extra nice that day, he may even sneak on some chicken nuggets and fries for you. They always put a smile on your face.

Just as Dabi is about to leave though, you ask him if he could stay and cuddle you. The bed is too cold and you're in too much pain. Obviously, his first instinct is to tell you to sick it up, but then you had to whimper, didn't you? Grumbling and mumbling about how much of a spoiled and ungrateful brat you are, he'll get in bed with you, heating the blankets and pulling your back flush against him. And this instantaneously works better than any painkiller in the world.

You sniffle a thanks and Dabi can't help but smile at your adorableness.

You're still a little brat though 💖

Dabi better not complain about helping you so much, because soon, he'll be replaced by boyfriend Bakugou or boyfriend Overhaul🤭🤭

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broccoliboix5peepeeman · 3 years

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Hey I've noticed in pretty much every "Future Tododeku" fic you write, whenever Shouto's full name is mentioned, it's always Midoriya Shouto. And I absolutely love it, but I'm also curious how Izuku and Shouto decided to go with "Midoriya" instead of "Todoroki". Like, I can think of the reasons why, but I wanna see how you think they talked about it and such.

I feel like ever since they started dating, Shoto's dreamed of the day he could finally become Midoriya Shoto.

He may be on better terms with his father, but the Todoroki name has followed him everywhere. For years, it was like a stain that couldn't be washed out, a constant reminder that he was born to please Enji; a tool to surpass All Might. It's always been associated with Endeavour and the expectations placed upon him.

I feel like - in the same way his hero name, "Shoto", gives him that sense of individuality - "Midoriya Shoto" solidifies this. He isn't Todoroki Shoto, born shackled to a legacy he never asked for. He is Midoriya Shoto, who is a hero because he wants to save people, who isn't emotionless and will tell someone it's okay to cry. Midoriya Shoto, who stands beside his husband because that's where he chooses to be. He's happy with who he's become.

Of course, it's difficult for Shoto to articulate these feelings, but that's okay. Izuku always seems to understand him and, after they get engaged, when Shoto nervously asks him if he can take Izuku's name, he's met with a beaming smile.

"Of course, Midoriya Shoto."

Also, until we know more about Hisashi, I'm gonna go ahead and say "Midoriya" comes from Inko's side of the family (seen as she suits the kanji meaning). For that reason, Izuku feels a sense of pride in his surname, because he got it from the one person who's loved him unconditionally his entire life.

Plus, giving Shoto more reasons to passionately say "Medoreyah" is a win his book.

#tododeku #todoroki shoto #midoriya izuku #lovely people #AgarJelly talks #Midoriya Shoto #todoizu #todomido #dekutodo #*notices all the main ship names have todo in them and sweats nervously*#izushou

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pocketramblr · 3 years

Note

Hello, Pocket, my beloved! If you could change something (or more) in the solo arc, from the moment Izuku escaped the hospital to the last chapter you read, what would it be? Pretty please.

Sure beloved! The last chapter I think I've read is the iideku one so

- let Rei have her own pov flashbacks in the hospital please I'm tired of how her being a nonperson I don't want to see her kids all show they don't actually remember when she was isolated I don't want to see Enji talk about how she wanted this, actually, I don't want to see Touya truly got the misogyny passed down to him from his parents and grandparents. I want to see Rei's experience! Not her holding a flower two decades later! Her flashback, her family's reasoning, seriously. If we were going to lose focus on izuku to get another unnecessary Hawks backstory repeat, then we should have gotten a Rei flashback, bc Rei and Tomie are much better parallels than Tomie and Twice or whoever that was about

- ... You know how I feel about Hawks's backstory 2 electric boogaloo

- ya girl.... Did not care for how Chisaki was handled. We just used the permanent bullets! We don't know who ended up with the remaining temporary ones! Or where the cure went! Considering all that it seems like. Like if you were going to break Chisaki out of Tartarus and keep him alive, you should make him do something useful and related to that set up. But instead Nagant just carries him around like a bag of potatoes and I just.... Wouldn't have done I like that.

- Nagant was a whole nother thing I just think needed way more set up bc I kinda ~ * still * ~ don't care about her much. But you know what! That can be fixed! By connecting her to Snipe more, in a way that answers where the hell Snipe was during the war arc because he is only one of two named heroes we didn't see in the war arc. Snipe and Vlad. Where were they??? Reveal Vlad as Traitor, have Snipe do something with the temporary bullets, and have Nagant tie to both of those as a former hero turned villain who's got a snipe connection (perhaps his student?). Also give her pants. Maybe have her reflect on how the HC lied and used her and develope character where she figures out the AfO is Very Obviously going to lie and use her and then have her vanish for a while to do something big later instead, use this as her build up time so I care later instead of just exploding yet another non toga lady villain...

- uh.... Look.... Third's quirk is boring. Fa Jin is just. "OfA but a little bit more". I think I would have liked to see something less physical, or less basic. But it was handled fine in the story so as long as Second doesn't have explosion powers I will accept Fa Jin BUT I want Third's name now yes

- so like did we EVER figure out why Stain was stalking Toshi?? I kinda hope he's just keeping an eye on him so he can protect him from other villains that much try to attack him but personally yeah I think if Izuku had a confrontation with Stain instead of Nagant and Chisaki I would have cared more and thought it good. Like Stain going on about how Izuku failed from what he thought he could be and Izuku is just. This close to snapping at him. Maybe a "No one cares. No one cares what you think of their worth, dude. Take a look around you and either start helping people or get out of my way, because right now you're no better than the people who don't understand what's going on and lash out at a statue of All Might that they choose to erect." And maybe they gets Stain to go on the "protect Toshi" detail?

#remember i only complain because i care #Gentrychild #pocket talks to people

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morgana-ren · 3 years

Note

dont get me wrong i luv having absolutely feral relationships w nasty energy, but hear me out: shiggy and dabi fucking simping and gradually becoming soft and vulnerable with their equally soft s/o. the s/o can still get down w the kinky shit, but otherwise are very naive and soft uwu energy. boom those boys are absolutely done for.

I think there’s no other way. Like, when your entire body is comprised of thorns and steel, anything that worms its way inside is going to be protected by those things in turn. These aren’t open boys, they aren’t out here looking for love and affection and weakness and vulnerability. To become the object of their desire is a monumental task, and they’re actively going to resist it because it’s a tale as old as time that love fells even the most massive of behemoths. There’s so much that can go wrong, and so quickly. Losing that edge is something they can’t afford to maintain their hostile composure.

It’s amazing what a little bit of tenderness will do for someone so raw and full of hate. Of course they’re going to find you foolish at first, but even the most stubborn plant will grow with persevering constant love and attention. Softness isn’t something that they’ve ever really known, and it’s hard not to grow addicted to something soothing when all you’ve ever surrounded yourself with is tension and cruelty. In the way that a gentle creek can carve a path through a mountain, your love does the same through all the hardened, barren terrain that comprises them.

I think they’ll find very quickly that love doesn’t necessarily have to be a weakness. It can be fuel to the fire, if they’ll let it.

Tomura fights for you. His rage and hate and absolute disgust doesn’t fade. He doesn’t turn into a sap or lose what makes him him. Instead he revels in the feeling of having someone understand him, see him fully for who he is and still chooses him. The things he destroys, his goals and plans, he fights even harder to bring them to fruition because a world like this isn’t befitting of you. He can return home with hands still stained with ash and blood find your arms still open to him. Your gentle softness is such a stark contrast to everything he’s ever known but it’s just what he needs to learn, see things from another perspective and grow into the leader he was meant to be. You don’t weaken him; in fact, he grows stronger in your presence. You give him dimension and show him the other side of things, give him the love he’s been so cruelly denied. He’d lay kingdoms at your feet, and he fully intends to. Dabi takes all the love you give him and wields it as a weapon as well. The love you two share, something so genuine and true, is something that he’s always been denied. His sham of a family, the facade his father created for society as his mother and siblings suffered under his abuse, it still plagues him. He has been denied all these things and now that he understands just what it is he’s fighting for. He’ll destroy everything his father fought so hard to protect and then he will lead by example, show Enji how a real man should be. His life with you, any family you may have, this is how it should have been from the start. He can’t go back in time and change things, but he can ensure Endeavor never has the opportunity rip it away from anyone else. His life, his mother’s life, it could have been so different had it not been for the poison spoonfed to them by his father. He’s going to ensure you never suffer under his hands like that, and teach his father a lesson. He’s going to build himself up and grow by your side, strengthen himself with your love and become who he was supposed to be from day one.

It’s a shame Endeavor won’t be alive to see it.

#Shigaraki #Dabi #Shigaraki x reader #dabi x reader #hmm i am not good at fluff please forgive me #Anonymous #I spit on your FUCKING GRAVE endeavor #i really do be makin these boys sappy #*sailor moon music* YOUVE GOT TO BELIEEEEEEEVE (believe) IN THE POOOOWER OF LOVE

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makeste · 3 years

Text

BnHA Chapter 300: Days of Our Todorokis

Previously on BnHA: Hawks was all “hey Jeanist, wanna go on a road trip with me to my mom’s house?” Jeanist was all “you know it,” and so they hopped into Jeanist’s jercedes and took off. Hawks took a nap and had a flashback to his Dickensian childhood living in a abject poverty with his jerk mom and jerk dad, thinking heroes were make-believe until one day Endeavor arrested his dad and Baby Hawks was all “OH SHIT.” And then he saved a bunch of people, and the HPSC was all “what do we have here,” and blah blah blah, you know the rest. Back in the present, Hawks was all “well my life is currently in shambles, but on the plus side there’s no one bossing me around anymore so that’s pretty cool,” and then decided he was going to talk to Endeavor. Fandom was all “I can’t believe Hawks would side with his childhood hero over the man who burned his wings off and posted a video calling him a violent murderer who took after his abusive dad,” so that was fun and stuff. I can’t wait to see what piping fresh takes this new chapter will bring.

Today on BnHA: Our old friend Carbonation Carl tries to loot a Starbucks and gets his ass kicked by a senior citizen. Society is all “YEAH, WE’RE REALLY STARTING TO GET SICK OF THIS SHIT.” Old Man Samurai is all “this room won’t stop me because I can’t read it” and abruptly decides to retire, which, fun fact, is literally THE LEAST HELPFUL THING ANYONE HAS EVER DONE. Anyway so then a bunch of other punkasses follow suit, and while I won’t say that I’m actually starting to root for Stain to kill some peeps, just for the record I’m not not saying that either. Back in the hospital, Endeavor cries some tears because his life sucks, and then is confronted by his entire family, LED BY QUEEN REI, FIRST OF HER NAME, BACK IN BUSINESS AND LARGE AND IN CHARGE. Rei is all “fuck feeling sorry for yourself, we have a rogue Murder Son on the loose” and I swear to god I have never felt so alive.

so here we go! and just for the record, even though the last two chapters have been phenomenal, I don’t necessarily have any sky-high expectations for chapter 300, mostly because chapters 100 and 200 consisted of Mei Boobs, and Toadette and her horrific quirk lmao. so go ahead Horikoshi, what are you gonna pull out of your hat for this one

oh, back to this stuff again. sob

I guess there was only so much time we could spend having hospital antics and exploring Hawks’s past before we got back to dealing with the whole “the world has gone to absolute shit” issue huh, lol

omg

what’s with these bizarrely cute Noumus. why do I want to pet them

so the narrative text is going on about how people have been super paranoid about the Noumu ever since the USJ incident a year ago. so yeah, I guess the fact that there are now a bunch of them confirmed to be running around is really freaking people out even on top of everything else

wtf is happening here

what did this poor lil glass ever do to anyone. r.i.p.

OH MY FUCKING GOD

SODA SAM IS BACK ON THE LAM

tsk tsk tsk. my man has graduated from snatching purses to raiding cafes. going after that big money. this man has no business sense whatsoever lmao

OH BUT WATCH IT NOW!!

OH SNAP THE PEOPLE ARE FIGHTING BACK. WHATCHA GONNA DO NOW SAM

THIS MAN IS 172 YEARS OLD AND HE’S NOT HERE TO PLAY GAMES!!

WTF IS HE LIGHTING THIS THING ON FIRE OR SOME SHIT. GETTEM GRANDPA YEAHHHH HE’S CHARGING AT EM YEAHHHHHH

lmao so that was fun. and now we’re cutting to Wash!! omg. look at him

he’s so dedicated. too bad you don’t have a car like Best Jeanist. probably takes a while when you’re just running everywhere

you see?? you were too slow!!

NOOOO, GRANDPA. he defeated Pepsi Pete, but lost his life in the process. this is too tragic

anyway so the good news is that the cafe has been saved! but the bad news is, there really isn’t much of a cafe left. huh. I guess that’s one of the reasons why people are supposed to get a license to use their quirks like this

oh snap and now everyone is coming outside, and they’re none too happy to see poor old Wash over here

seriously Wash, get a bicycle or something. also the way this guy is gesturing so dramatically with his hand in this sort of “YOU SEE!! YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENS!!” manner is sending me

OH MY GOD

HE SPEAKS. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS. IT MEANS JEANS PUNS ARE YESTERDAY’S NEWS, FOLKS!! MAKE WAY FOR THE LAUNDRY PUNS. CAN’T WAIT TO WATCH THIS ALL... UNFOLD

“the heroes had dwindled away” okay real talk you guys, it is literally only a matter of time before they press-gang the children into picking up their slack. I still don’t know how to feel about that, but it is happening one way or the other regardless. Child Soldiers 2 Electric Boogaloo. wonder if we’ll see a rise in vigilante action as well

OHO WHAT’S THIS? THIS IS A CHAPTER OF GRANDPAS HUH

-- no fucking way

WOW. WOW. WOWWWWWW

wow. so he didn’t do a fucking thing while the rest of the top ten were being turned into red mist in the previous arc, and now that it’s all over and they need his help more than ever, he decides... THAT IT’S TIME TO RETIRE. holy shit. “fuck you” doesn’t even begin to cover it my guy. you stand there and soak up those boos you coward

ohhhhhhh shiiiiit you guys. oh shit

the “I am not here” breaks my fucking heart for real though y’all. oh man. everything he worked for is gone just like that

(ETA: okay so a couple of the takes I’ve seen on this make it seem like All Might is somehow the bad guy here?? “this is what happens when society puts a bunch of glorified cops on a pedestal”, “finally the cracks in hero society are showing”, etc. etc. so, just a friendly reminder that this isn’t happening because of too much trust and a lack of critical thinking; this is happening because the villains killed all the heroes and broke a bunch of murderers out of jail. it’s happening because an organized league of terrorists succeeded in terrorizing, and so society is now understandably awash in fear and panic. like, it’s just wild to me that AFO is RIGHT FUCKING THERE, and yet week after week fandom still has their “IT’S ALL THE HEROES’ FAULT” signs still up on their lawns. BUT WHATEVER, MOVING ON.)

also though, so exactly how much time is passing here now? I wanted to go straight back to the hospital and see what happens with Deku and the Todorokis. please don’t tell me we’re jumping ahead sob. my aaaaangst

OH SHIT

STAIN. LISTEN UP BUDDY. I KNOW WE’VE HAD OUR DIFFERENCES, AND I STILL DESPISE YOU FOR CRIPPLING TENSEI AND TRYING TO KILL MY BEST BOY TENYA. BUT AS IT HAPPENS, THERE ARE ONE OR TWO OTHER HEROES OUT THERE NOW WHO I WOULDN’T MIND YOU PAYING A VISIT I’M JUST SAYING

LOL BUT IT ACTUALLY ISN’T THIS MAN, FFFFFF

sob. yeah I was talking about Old Man Samurai actually but YEAH. HEY THERE ENJI

also is this entire hospital actually run by characters from Super Mario Bros though. first Yoshi and now this guy, come the fuck on that is not a coincidence

lmao they stuck him in another one of these cavernous creepy hospital rooms

wtf is it with Horikoshi and these giant fucking rooms lately. Kacchan’s in chapter 298, then Tomie’s colossal house furnished with like one table and a TV, and now this. and the weirdest thing about it though is that “huge space with nothing to fill it up” is like the exact opposite of what you’ll usually find in Japanese homes lol

so now Enji is just sitting there thinking things like “my head is fuzzy” and “I’m alive” lmao okay. not quite all there yet, huh. I’ll give you a minute

I’m so fucking curious as to who his first visitor is going to be omg. either way it’s going to be interesting af, and either way fandom is probably going to feel some way about it but OH WELL

okay now his thoughts are getting more coherent! and he’s remembering Touya, and feeling regret for freezing up and forcing Shouto to deal with everything instead

!!! OH HERE GOES BRACE YOURSELVES Y’ALL IT’S ABOUT TO GET SPICY

NO TOUYA PLEASE DON’T CRY HONEY NO PLEASE

ohhhhhhh man

okay, I mean I didn’t expect you to, but so instead then you’re just going to do... what? lie there and wallow in regret and self-pity for the rest of your life? son you know that’s not how we deal with our problems here in Shounen

though also, I totally do get it though. honestly, thinking on it, I probably would have been disappointed with any other response. but so this is where the rest of his family (including his adopted son) come into play now though, because like it or not they’re all in this thing together. and so friends, I am once again asking you WHO IS GOING TO BE THE ONE TO VISIT ENJI FIRST

AHHHHHHH

KRANCH!!!! OMG AND THE OTHERS ARE SO TINY NEXT TO HIM THAT I ALMOST DIDN’T SEE THEM AT FIRST. IT’S BECAUSE THEY’RE TWENTY MILES AWAY ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS REGULATION HOCKEY RINK OF A ROOM

holy shit I’m so excited lkjlklhlglkasdsjldfk

SDKFJLSKHLKJL

the way she has him by his collar lmaoooo. “lol nah you’re not going anywhere pal.” damn straight, siblings have to be ride or die in situations like this. banding together for survival. strength in numbers

OH MY STARS I’M JUST WARNING YOU NOW THAT I’M ABOUT TO DISSECT EVERY LAST REMAINING PANEL OF THIS CHAPTER PROBABLY YOU GUYS. WE COULD BE HERE A WHILE

love how Fuyu has absolutely no idea how to segue into THE SINGLE MOST AWKWARD CONVERSATION SHE’S EVER HAD, so she just GOES FOR IT in pure small talk mode like they’re meeting up for brunch somewhere

I KNOW IT’S A SMALL THING, BUT I APPRECIATE THAT THE FIRST THING ENJI ASKS IS WHETHER THEY’RE OKAY

lastly while I can’t wait for more of this delicious Natsu angst, I also just have to say that Enji has as much reason to cry right now as anyone on the planet. you can’t deny that being confronted by your not-dead-but-you-thought-he-was-dead son who’s all “SURPRISE DAD I GREW UP TO BE A MASS MURDERER AND I HATE YOU AND EVERYTHING IS ALL YOUR FAULT AND NOW I’M GONNA MAIM YOUR OTHER KID” with a side order of “EVERYONE HATES YOU AND SOCIETY IS CRUMBLING AND NOTHING WILL EVER BE GOOD EVER AGAIN” is enough to bum pretty much anyone out. there’s a Pagliacci the Clown joke here somewhere. BUT DOCTOR, I AM THE NUMBER ONE HERO

oh man lol he is seriously falling apart

damn. like you guys, I’m sorry, go ahead and cancel me, but I do feel compassion for the man. it’s therapeutic for me to see an abuser actually feel remorse and be truly sorry and want to change and want to make it up to his family. and it’s also compelling as fuck to read a narrative about a family that’s trying to grapple with that, because let me tell you straight up, as someone who’s done a version of that song and dance -- it is exhausting. it is a piping hot mess. it’s a gigantic mishmosh of extremely volatile emotions that all somehow all contradict one another. love, hurt, hope, anger, betrayal, resentment, attachment, longing. it’s something you can both be desperate for and also want nothing at all to do with. and attempting to portray all of that and write about it is a monumental task, and one which Horikoshi has done so, so delicately thus far, and damn but I appreciate it. anyway, so I’m here and I’m ready for my latest helping of Todoroki Fam Feels you guys

GASP

oh man. OHMANOHMANOHMAN. CAN IT REALLY BE. IS THIS THE REDEMPTION ARC OF CHAPTERS 100 AND 200???

LMAO SHE’S ALL “WE ALL FEEL BAD YOU JACKASS STOP CRYING ABOUT IT”

LAY INTO HIM REI!! SORRY ENJI YOUR PITY PARTY HAS BEEN CANCELLED IN FAVOR OF A “SO WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT” PARTY COURTESY OF QUEEN ELSA OVER HERE. THE PEOPLE TOOK A VOTE AND WE WANT LESS WHINING AND MORE ACTION

oh my god look at this lady folks

NOTE THE HAIR BLOWING IN THE NONEXISTENT WIND. NOW WE KNOW WHERE SHOUTO GOT THIS POWER FROM

(ETA: btw guys, seeing Rei handle this crisis like an absolute champ despite everything she’s been through is everything, though. I’m reminded of Hawks’s line last week about people sometimes unexpectedly finding liberation when they’re backed into a corner. like things may be shit but goddammit her kiddos need her.)

THE CHAPTER IS ALREADY ENDING SOB, IT’S ONLY A 17-PAGER THIS WEEK, BUT GODDAMN WHAT A WAY TO CLOSE

oh my god. oh my god oh my god. AND FUCK YOU HORIKOSHI FOR CUTTING IT OFF THERE sob. it’s like each week the wait for the next chapter becomes more painful. the Todofam is about to get real, and on top of that Hawks is gonna crash the party at some point down the line, and on top of that we’re still waiting for Kacchan to have his own heartfelt discussion about What The Fuck Are We Supposed To Do Next with his best friend who’s currently in a coma. all I want to do with my life is read about these three things, and all I can do is simply wait as they are portioned out in agonizing, addicting little installments every week

anyway! tune in next time as we answer the question of whether or not fandom will finally run its train of logic all the way through to its natural conclusion and somehow manage to cancel Noted Abuse Apologist Todoroki Fucking Rei. don’t act like it can’t happen. you all know nothing is sacred lol. anyways but I’m ready for anything lol, bring it

#bnha 300 #endeavor #todoroki enji #todoroki shouto #todoroki rei #all them todorokis #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha #I can't believe I've done 300 of these now lol #think I'm gonna finally have to update the post index again

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greenhappyseed · 3 years

Text

BnHA 322 - Parallels and comparisons

Not gonna lie — the first part of this arc was really rough. Luckily, from 317 onwards we’ve had some jaw dropping, beautiful moments. This chapter came on strong with ALL the feels and ALL the imagery. (I’m not going to post those images because they really need to be read fully in context.) Bakugo and Izuku as their elementary/middle/high school selves, standing on puddles of water instead of submerged in a river, Bakugo bowing to Izuku and addressing him by his real name, Bakugo essentially telling Izuku that he is — and always has been — a hero, Bakugo racing to catch Izuku with both arms when he falls, Bakugo’s war injury bleeding as he “reopens” his childhood wound.

Here’s the most impressive part to me: Bakugo courageously lays it all bare in front of the class without demanding that they “watch him” or be his audience. He no longer cares about being vulnerable in front of them, so if they happen to be there it’s fine, but he’s not apologizing FOR them or FOR him — it’s something he has to do for Izuku. Bakugo may still have his eyes set on surpassing All Might, but damn if he didn’t just surpass Enji. And Shoto fucking knows it.

After such intensity from Bakugo, I highkey love that we DON’T get an immediate reaction from Izuku. Instead, Izuku is inspired to offer his own mea culpa. (As always, Izuku looks up to and imitates Bakugo before thinking about himself.) The class just watched Bakugo apologize for his worst, and now they’ll watch Izuku apologize for HIS worst. I mean, Izuku said, OUT LOUD, the exact thing DvK2!Bakugo accused him of — looking down on others. If Bakugo can get past his bullshit and recognize Izuku’s heroism, Izuku can apologize for hurting his classmates and recognize their heroism. With everything out in the open, Bakugo and Izuku are no longer “proper rivals,” but TEAMMATES. There’s still a long way to go until they’re effective as a team with the rest of the class, but this is where the unity of the team begins. Kamino, the exact place where All Might ended, is now this team’s starting line, as Momo points out.

It’s also good to see the story acknowledge, again, that Izuku isn’t dark or edgy. He IS still the same sweet kid but AFO had him trapped in a loop. He was scared out of his mind that people would get hurt because of him and because of that he couldn’t think of a strategy to find and defeat AFO, but if he accepted help from others to come up with a strategy, then they could get hurt because of him… and around we go. This is the true terror of AFO, leaving no options for a zero-risk victory.

Next we jump to an unrecognizable UA fortified with most intense wall since Game of Thrones (because that wall was so good at keeping out the White Walkers /s). Look, we all know it’s gonna fail, but in the meantime I very much enjoy rat principal building an elaborate cage for his humans.

Also, sounds like we’ll soon see Shiketsu (Inasa! Camie! Hair dude! Meatball dude!) but no Ketsubutsu (Ms. Joke, Shindo, turtle girl). I still want to see Ms. Joke in the aftermath of the war, but I accept it’s probably not gonna happen.

It wasn’t clear from the text leaks, but looking at the images of the full chapter, it does seem Ochako’s going to try and confront the angry mob, which makes my brain think of scenes like this:

Which is to say, I have concerns this will go well. Yes, I know BNHA is a shonen, so the teens will change the world. But even within the BNHA world, suspension of disbelief is required when Present Mic, a popular radio host and pro hero who arrested Dr. Ujiko, is getting shit from the crowd. Of course, “heroes” as a group are at fault for the war, and Mic struggled with the media the last time UA was breached.

(But Mic does take a gentler approach with civilians vs the media.)

If civilians are in such a frenzy that they’re angry at Mic (who DID succeed at something notable during the war raid) and Deku (a child who fought in the war and has been rounding up Tartarus-level jail breakers ever since), then Ochako needs to BRING IT like it’s never been broughten before to make a difference. While she’s never had a major media stumble, and she’s adorable AF, giving inspirational speeches and rallying the class has never been her strength. If she suddenly blinds the crowd with brilliant oratory, it’s a bit of an ass pull for her character. Jiro and Momo have more depth in this space, though Momo’s elite background may not help in this particular situation. Ochako’s become much better at working the bureaucracy, from the entrance exam where she asked Present Mic to give her points to Izuku, to appealing to Nezu in order to bring Endeavor to UA for a confrontation about Deku.

If a crowd speech really is in store for us, then I’d love for it to involve All Might and/or Stain somehow. Both of them have incredible charisma and can inspire civilians to action. And I’ve written before about All Might’s media whoring [affectionate] being its own super power that the pro heroes are ignoring. Nobody in this arc (including Deku) has used All Might as a resource based on his decades of experience with the media OR with AFO. Why is everyone acting like All Might is useless because he’s quirkless and no longer a ranked hero? He's still got his brain and his memories. Does a "hero" need to wear a costume or hold a license to use their brain? As Kirishima says in this chapter:

Or maybe Aizawa will finally appear to defend his problem child, just like he defended Bakugo previously? (Admittedly, my solution for everything rn is “Aizawa” because I’m dying to see him.)

Anyway….I love that Ochako was inspired by Bakugo. Her face before/during/after the apology is amazing. You can watch her recognize his courage in real time and build on it, like links in a chain. Like a power that grows as each person contributes…….huh…….

Also, I think Izuku needs to hear Ochako talk openly about helping the heroes who protect the citizens. He doesn’t really understand her style of heroism yet, and he needs to see the strength of her ideals —especially the power of saving and rescuing — before he sets off to save Shigaraki. She also needs to tell him what happened to her in the war aftermath, because he doesn’t know any of it. How she fought Toga and how Toga cried. How she watched other heroes quit, and how she’s inspired to help heroes who are in pain. It would be great to see Ochako and Izuku bond over a shared desire to save heroes AND villains who are in pain.

Finally, I want to appreciate the Izuku-Iida-Kirishima trio for one more moment. In this chapter, Kirishima skids to a halt catching Izuku, just as he caught Bakugo for the initial escape from Kamino. In both instances, Kirishima’s understated but steady and unbreakable commitment to his friends was CLUTCH. So, so good!

#mha #my hero academia #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha 322 #mha 322 #bnha meta #mha meta #deku #bakugou katsuki #uraraka ochako #midoriya izuku #kirishima ejirou #iida tenya #present mic #yamada hizashi #I snuck as much Present Mic as I could in this post

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linkspooky · 4 years

Note

Why do you like these morally broken characters so much?

Broken characters are more interesting because they have something to fix - by that I mean there’s an obvious reason why we might get invested in their story, and follow them, because we want to see them get better. Characters with more obvious flaws are usually better written, it’s as simple as that. Let’s go over two basic ideas of storytelling.

Character Arc - we choose to follow a certain character because there is something they’re wrong about, or something wrong about them, they have some conflcit that needs to be resolved by the end of the story, usually centering around a character flaw. Flaws are important because they give the character an impetus, a reason to change. Flaws are what get people invested in characters, because they want to see the character do better by the end.

Show don’t tell - there’s a lot of debate of what this storytelling rule means exactly, so I’m going to simplify it. A story is essentially trying to make an argument. A story is trying to persuade you of an idea. An argument is more persuasive when there is evidence behind it. For example you can tell the audience a character is empathic, but going great lengths to show that character practicing empathy will always be more effective storytelling. If I can point to something that happened in story and say this is the character doing the thing then that character has strong characterization.

Shigaraki is a better written character than Deku. He has a character arc, and everything about Shigaraki is shown instead of just told to us. Whereas the story continually tells us that Deku is special, that Deku is a good person, that Deku is empathic but his actions never really support what the story tells us. I’m going to go more into this under the cut.

1. Character Flaw

What is Deku’s character flaw? What is the thing he needs to work on in order to become a better hero. The problem is Deku never has a clear and consistently written character flaw. We as the audience are never told what exactly is holding him back, and what he needs to improve upon in order to become a hero.

Deku’s only real obstacle has been the fact that OFA is an unstable power. The only thing that’s held him back in sitautions is power incontinence, the fact that he has unstable control of his power and therefore will injure himself.

Deku loses the tournament because he can’t control OFA. Deku can’t rescue bakugo in time because he can’t control OFA. Deku fails to defeat Bakugo in his rival battle because he can’t control OFA.

Deku’s failures come from not being able to control his power, and Deku’s successes, when he defeated Chisaki, when he defeated muscle, always come from him using his power.

Except that’s boring. Why? Because it has absolutely nothing to do with Deku himself as a person. Nothing about Deku changes as a character throughout all of this. The only thing that changes is his workout regimen.

The only real thing that has changed about Deku is the number. Oh, he’s gotten the NUMBER to 45%. People cannot be summarized by numbers. People are usually a little more complex than that.

The problem with this is, Deku is given countless oppurtunites to reflect and change something about himself internally. There are conflicts that Deku constantly interacts with. We just never see Deku even think about these problems. There are conflcits in the story. There are problems in society. Deku just isn’t affected by them. Everyone time Deku is asked to think about these things he goes NO THOUGHTS HEAD EMPTY. And that’s just not very interesting. Characters are interesting because they struggle and change as they learn new things about the world, whereas Deku is just perpetually ignorant.

Deku’s characterization comes across as weak because the story just, tells us a lot of things about him, without providing good in text evidence. We are told Deku is empathic. Except he really isn’t?

It starts with Shinso. Deku hears Shinso say something that is something he could sympathize with. Deku was also told he couldn’t become a hero because he was born quirkless. Deku should sympathize with Shinso in this situation and recognize there is something wrong with quirk society.

Deku just doesn’t say anything and doesn’t respond. Even though he has an obvious chance to empathize, he doesn’t. We see another character actually empathize with Shinso later in the story.

Monoma’s speech acknowledges that it’s harder for them to become heroes, because they weren’t born with the HERO SOCIETY APPROVED TM quirks. Monoma’s speech is sympathetic because it acknowledges the difficulty that Shinso has struggled with all along. Deku isn’t ever allowed to see anything wrong with HERO SOCIETY, so he never really sympathizes with its victims. He never demonstrates any empathy where he has to understand somebody who’s circumstances might be different than his, he never has to understand somebody outside of his own feelings.

Even in story, we’re told that Shinso has some kind of special relationship with Midoriya but why? Midoriya never said anything to him. Midoriya never sympathized with him in any special way. The story even goes out of the way to show us that Midoriya just... didn’t say anything even though he understood what Shinso’s feelings were.

This is what I mean by show don’t tell. Shinso and Midoriya’s relationship is something we are told about being special, but I can’t point to anything in text to show that Midoriya did anything special to Shinso. In fact I can point to examples of Monoma being much more sympathetic and actually addressing what’s unfair about Shinso’s situation, and I can even point to characters like Denki being outright friendlier to him. We are told that Deku makes friends easily, and that he’s an empathic person, but we never see him reaching out that way in the story.

And we’re not even told what Deku’s character flaw is. Why does Deku lose in each arc? Ummm....??? Why does Deku fail??? Ummm. The only reason is because he can’t control his quirk.

2. A Flawed Character

I can just point to the text and show you these things about Shigaraki. The problem with Shigaraki in the first arc is he had no real plan, he had no real motive, and he didn’t care what happened to his allies.

No Plan.

No Motive.

No Allies.

These three things are obviously things that are missing from Shigaraki at the start of the story, and his arc is a quest to gain these things. If you notice, every single character explicitly points out how much Shigaraki sucks, like all the time.

Stain won’t work with Shigaraki because Shigaraki doesn’t have any ideals that can convince Shigaraki to work with him. The attempt for Shigaraki to recruit allies fails. This is a problem. Shigaraki fails twice, not only does he fail to get Stain on his side, but he also fails to make someone sympathize with his cause because he can’t reach out to others.

This is something that Shigaraki learns by the camp raid arc. That he needs to gather allies with sympathetic ideals, and he needs to be about some kind of cause otherwise people won’t listen to him.

Shigaraki’s first two fights are spectacular defeats that are very humbling for him, and the reason he fails has entirely to do with these flaws. It’s after this point he starts learning. The first thing is he learns to take advantage of Stain’s publicity to recruit people with similiar ideals to his cause. However, Shigaraki is still flawed going into the next arc. Camp Raid arc, Shigaraki uses the vanguard action squad essentially as disposable pawns. He manipulates them from a distance not taking any actiong himself.

Shigaraki is not a good enough leader at this point. Not only do the flaws in his plan catch up with him (his inability to get Bakugo to sympathize with him, his helplessness when All Might shows up, his overreliance on AFO to bail him out) but he once again suffers a consequence, loses something, and needs to imrpove by the next arc. The Chisaki arc revolves around the camraderie that Shigaraki was lacking in, in the camp raid arc.

It starts with a very specific and precise callout. You have no plan. You misuse the crimminals you have under your thumb, and let go of them too easily. Then, Shigaraki suffers another consequence. Because he is not a good enough leader at managing his people, Magne dies, and Shigaraki is put into a tight position. This all happens because of failings on Shigaraki’s part, the direct result of them, which challenges him to grow and improve.

Shigaraki is a twisted cycle path. However, unlike Deku I can point to the first moment in story where he began to open up with other people and share his feelings.

Why is Twice so loyal to Shigaraki? Because Shigaraki accepted him and his struggles in this movie. THIS IS EVIDENCE. If the author is making the argument that Shigaraki is an empathic character, he has moments where Shigaraki is SHOWN to be empathizing with others.

Shigaraki tells Twice he knows he’s asking him to do something difficult, and that he knows Twice is suffering, but that they’re in this together and he believes they can overcome it. Deku tells Shinso. Nothing. Literally nothing. Just doesn’t even open his mouth. In this case Shigaraki is written as the more empathic character, because Shigaraki actually empathizes with people.

Deku’s writing is so weak because it’s wishy washy. He has no central beliefs his character is written around. He has no strong emotions. And he especially has no flaw. Deku is so wishy washy he’s not even allowed to hold a simple opinion like child abuse might be bad. He’s so malleable that he just tells Todoroki that Enji should be forgiven now, because the writer is TELLING YOU instead of showing you that Enji has improved in his character arc.

Whereas, by the end of the Chisaki Arc we can see the difference in how Shigaraki has changed. He has opened up to the other people around him and now includes them as essential parts in his plan. He’s gone from “I’ll be the next one” to “We’ll be the next one.” He’s gone from hiding at the bar and plotting far away, to fighting on the front lines with his people and even using himself as a distraction so Dabi and Compress won’t be hurt.

The story is constantly trying to tell me what is so special about Deku, but I don’t see it. Because the story doesn’t have any evidence to back up its argument. Wheras, the story doesn’t need to tell me about Shigaraki. The story never tells us Shigaraki is a special boy. It never tells us he’s a good person. It in fact, tells us how much Shigaraki sucks, and needs to get better. In that way, when Shigaraki makes progression it’s clearer because the story is always clear about what he’s missing, what his flaws are, and what he needs to work on.

The Re-Destro arc once again, points out Shigaraki’s shortcomings. He has no real plan for what is coming next. He has no clear motive. He has no way of gathering resources. Because of that, the League has been failing.

Shigaraki reevaluates his origin story. He wants to destroy the oppressive society, the same way he destroyed his father’s house. Once he does that he’s able to tear down the structures of Deika city, and defeat Re-Destro because he realizes what he wants to accomplish.

Shigaraki listened to his allies that they had no resources, and then made his next priority to acquire those. Then, to skip ahead a little bit we have the latest fight Shigaraki is struggling in. Remember, Shigaraki was missing three things in the UA Raid. 1. No Plan, 2. No Motive, 3. No Allies

At the start of the manga, All Might said that Shigaraki couldn’t accomplish anything because he had hollow ideals. Endeavor repeats that accusation.

However, we know that’s not true now. We have seen Shigaraki gain all three things, an ideal to center himself around, allies, and a plan for what he wants to do and accomplish.

This scene, parallels this scene. Except we know now why Shigaraki does the things that he does, that Shigaraki has motivations, that Shigaraki has learned from his experiences.

Shigaraki’s speech has substance now, because we’ve seen the long journey for how he came to acquire these beliefs. Why does Deku want to be the number one hero? Why does Endeavor want to be the number one hero? Neither of those questions are things you can answer by pointing to events that happened in story.

Shigaraki is the result of everything that has happened to him so far, and all of his struggles have taught him a lesson. When he repeats essentially what he said to All Might at the beginning of the arc, this time we know his words have meaning. Shigaraki believes society doesn’t save people, because he’s lived it. He believes that heroes are violent, and contribute to the system of violence, because he was violently abused all his life. Shigaraki believes that society rejects the victims who needs it’s help the most, because Shigaraki has been collecting people like that in the league all of whom dropped out of society through no fault of their own. When Shigaraki makes his arguments, I can point to things that happened in the story that back up his arguments. There is evidence. I can’t do that for Deku, because everything about Deku we are told rather than shown even though he gets three times the amount of screentime.

Deku may be a better person, but who cares about that? Deku and Shigaraki aren’t real people. I don’t have to interact with them. Deku is not my roommate who I have to talk to on a daily basis. This is a work of fiction that is WRITTEN. Shigaraki is better written. That’s why - Shigaraki is a better character.

#Anonymous #izuku midoriya #shigaraki tomura #spooky speaks #metasks

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