I really love your opinions and posts about toshi, so if i may, do you think toshinori will (or maybe has already) "learn the lesson" that others have been trying to show and tell him, and see worth and meaning in his life beyond All Might the hero?? Obviously it's not a behavior or mentality that one can change just like that, especially after so many years living behind that persona. But with so many characters around him telling him to keep on living, and he still in the end attempts a sacrifice, I can't help but wonder if he truly understands what everyone else has been trying to tell him and really try to live. It sounds like i'm not being fair to him, bc obviously it's an extreme situation of war and at this point, it's normal to act based on 'whatever it takes', but idk, i'm just worried about his character 😭

Thank you for the kind words! I'm glad you also like Toshi.

Anyway-- I think you've already brushed against the root of the issue! Rationally speaking, Toshinori does understand that other people want him to live and he's so unbelievably, genuinely grateful each and every time someone encourages him to keep living. He's completely sincere when he says that he wants to live/is going to keep living.

That being said, I don't think it's contradictory for Toshi specifically to talk about wanting to live, fully *mean* that he wants to live, and then immediately try to blow himself up. It can be difficult for people to fully understand the insidious nature of mental illness, I feel, bc they try to rationalize something that simply isn't rational (I don't want to diminish the necessary context behind Toshibomb, either: Toshi was primarily acting out of desperation to protect Izuku from AFO-- and the narrative itself chose not to reward/validate him for this.)

Like, I totally get that some Toshi fans feel betrayed/upset because it feels like Toshi isn't taking other people's feelings seriously, or bc it feels as though he's "undoing" all his character development-- but genuinely, I don't believe his development has been undone in the slightest. Toshinori is genuinely fighting to live and for his right to keep living. Toshinori also attempted to kill himself. Both realities are equally and simultaneously true for this character, even if it seems like they're fundamentally incompatible with each other. "I want to keep living for you!" and "I would die for you without hesitation!" aren't contradictory feelings from Toshinori's perspective.

(side note: I don't want to make assumptions about the experiences and lives of other fans, so I apologize if this comes across that way! I know a lot of other fans also suffer from depression and don't mean to insinuate that they lack perspective, or anything like that.)

Personally, I don’t think Toshi’s arc is remotely finished yet-- primarily because his feelings regarding Tomura remain quite conspicuously unaddressed. Toshi still needs to admit out loud what his essence as a person (i.e. aura!might) shed tears over— that in his heart of hearts, he also wants to save that boy. Izuku, Toshinori, Bakugo, and Aizawa are the characters that Tomura found himself fixating on during Act 1 bc they all represent something that failed him terribly (Heroes - Izuku, Family - Toshinori, Society - Bakugo, His Teacher - Aizawa). So, these four are the key players who will play the biggest role in saving Tomura, I feel-- and all four characters still have some critical development that's needed before they can all be on the same page about what needs to be done, and ultimately "change fate" together:

I also feel that, if there's any lesson that Toshi does still need to learn, is that it's okay to live entirely for his own sake. He's learned that he wants to live, but he ties that desire to other people and other people have unfortunately/unintentionally reinforced this ("Izuku lives for your sake so please don't talk about dying" "You gotta keep living until the day you can hear me say 'I am here!'" "Just you being here is all the push other people need to keep going" "you can only claim the title of a hero by dedicating your life to others")-- and that's where the dissonance kicks in, where Toshi is still willing to kill himself for the sake of others because he's primarily living for the sake of others. Toshi still needs someone to tell him that it's okay to live, just because he wants to, without tying this desire to anyone else.

This is a lesson I feel he can learn through being more honest about his own feelings (which again, heavily ties to him finally processing his feelings about Tomura/Tenko and then finally acting on them!). I also feel like Bakugo and Tomura (two of the most ego-driven characters in the cast) may end up having a role to play in helping Toshinori understand that it's completely okay to live for himself.

Edit: As for Toshinori "learning that he has value outside of being All Might," I feel that he has already learned this! I'm actually writing a post about what Iron Might means for Toshinori as a person & why it's a positive development right now-- So I hope that it will address your concerns, if only a little!

Thank you for what you said on that post about Usopp and Zoro’s post-water 7 relationship; I hate when Usopp’s actions in water 7 are treated like he was just being a brat. While I agree an apology was necessary, personally I think the way Zoro went about obtaining it would cause more problems in the long run if the narrative didn’t back him up. Giving your friend the cold shoulder and demonstrating that you’re fully willing to leave him without even trying to talk things out? That whole sequence left a very bad taste in my mouth. Sorry for going off in your inbox but tldr I appreciate what you said

ok ok listen, i get what you mean, ive been there as well, i too thought in the past what zoro did was wrong and unfair, and i still partially think so, but what really cured this conflict for me was that zoro said all that, thinking he's so damn rational and mature about it all, saying if the first thing usopp says isn't an apology he won't accept him back, and then usopp comes and ofc the first thing he says isn't an apology bc it's usopp, usopp who's always a little slow, usopp who always needs that extra shove to be honest, and while we probably all agree that this is a highly emotional distressing situation for an insecure guy that could have been avoided, zoro too is under a lot of stress, torn between staying true to his words or staying true to himself and the crew, the whole crew including usopp, and he too decides to not hear what usopp says, just like luffy, bc no matter how much zoro values loyalty and discipline, he breaks his own vows here for others, for usopp, bc he ofc wants usopp back on the crew as well, he said so himself that having usopp back is the best possible outcome for them (and as i like to argue, it's the only outcome for them as a crew in a long run), and they are all so young, "playing pirates" including zoro, bc they're not pirates first no matter what any of them says, they are nakama and nakama don't leave one behind

also can you imagine the dwelling anger zoro had to face from the others? nami and chopper are obvious bc they both think that this whole thing is stupid from the beginning and they are already very emotional about this, it probably feels weird to zoro that sanji is agreeing with him which kinda makes zoro wrong by default (what's up with sanji is an entirely different story but that's for another day), robin doesn't have the full picture while franky has a very one-sided picture that nearly none of the others seem to be aware of, and luffy... well luffy tries to be a good captain since being a bad captain had led to this situation in the first place, so he tries to be nonchalant about this, and im pretty sure he is to some extent, truly believing that if usopp doesn't want to return to them, he can accept that, all while stressing over so much on the tje inside bc the way he breaks once usopp apologizes speaks for itself imo

i also kinda think zoro is actively trying to be the bad guy here, but that's also for another day lol

hubert is objectively the funniest character

evidence:

- just listen to any line of dialogue he has

- “von Vestra” is the absolute rawest surname I can think of. It sounds perfectly ominous and suitable for a character who looks Like That. but like . . . his first name is HUBERT

- Me: “Oh, maybe it’s pronounced the French way!” Edelgard: *very much not the French way* Hubert

- His entire deal is his obsessive and steadfast devotion to Edelgard. Edelgard is a character who can throw axes around like they’re nothing. Hubert, meanwhile, is made out of tissue paper and will die from a single hit.

- Threatens Byleth, a trained mercenary, in their C-support. Has to attend class the next day. 

- seriously listen to any Edelbert support

- Felix has hilariously edgy lines too but Hubert does it in a more theatrical way? Like to me Felix is Shadow the Edgehog and Hubert is Scar Lion King. or like, Felix is Simple Plan and Hubert is MCR (no shade to Felix btw, I laughed at all his lines too) 

- I forget who the op of the post was but someone said “Hubert is the Evil Advisor trope except the person he’s advising is 100% in on it”

- He killed his father. this is mentioned once and is never brought up again. nobody reacts to this

- I’m obsessed with El’s Hubert impersonation but on my second CF run I got to remember that Hubert impersonates his father and I am. OBSESSED with these dorks. 

- He acts like he’s too good for school events and then goes “Lady Edelgard I hope you save one dance for me 🥺”

- DO YOU NOT LIKE THE SCARLET PATH I HAVE PREPARED FOR YOU

- “Hey Hubert is this your NOXIOUS HANDKERCHIEF?” “Yes, that is mine. Thank you.” 

- He’s genuinely one of the more complex characters (if you look beyond the surface) and I am so so passionate about his character development but I mostly like him because every line he has sends me

- Hubert only blushes for two characters in the game: Byleth . . . and Ferdinand. 

- he likes board games

- when you feed him something he likes he’s like “i don’t particularly care for food, but i will admit weakness for this one dish” which i take to mean that hubert is so edgy he thinks he’s too cool for EATING 

- or alternatively, he is an actual vampire 

- the evil laugh

- my best friend conceptualized the Byleth/Hubert relationship as a dad trying hard to impress his angsty teenage son. she calls him Hugh and I demand that this catch on please can we make Hugh happen

- by giving him traditionally “scary” facial features he actually gets one of the most interesting and unique character designs. this means that a lot of fanfic writes him as “sexy, but in a rat way”

- WOULDN’T IT BE TERRIBLE IF THE ARCHBISHOP GOT MURDERED

- he’s afraid of heights

- that one existential horror advice box question where he’s like “I used to fear the goddess. Now I fear the living” or something

- he is a massive edgelord to everyone else but he deliberately stops laughing around Bernie bc it scares her 

- when Jeralt dies in Black Eagles Part I, Hubert gives you dry facts about the enemy’s position as his own odd way to comfort you. however, in any other route, he says “I’ve never been one for condolences” and leaves it at that 

- he is 2 years older than his classmates. that fact alone makes everything he does 100x funnier

- the Hubert Stanning Experience is just laughing at this emo man until he’s wormed his way into your heart and soul and now he’s stuck there as your weird murder son 

OK I seriously want to know why, even when fans want to defend characters like Tory, Robby still gets shafted. People talking about how "I love Robby but...." and bringing up something ridiculous or unfair. People talking about how what "Robby did to Miguel" and comparing it to Tory and Sam. Except Tory was literally trying to hurt Sam in 2x10 while Robby was just trying to defend himself from Miguel. Plus ppl bring up his past with running scams. Like, let's just remember this is a kid who has been effectively abandoned by both parents. His mother left him in the dark with no food for weeks. It's hardly surprising that he would resort to any means necessary. Besides which, we are literally shown that he wasn't enjoying it. And he stopped as soon as he got a job with Daniel-which from what it looks like still wasn't enough to pay the rent. Besides which, Robby has expressed remorse for what happened with Miguel. I don't know what people expected him to do in S4. He kept his distance from him and the only times they even interacted was when Miguel came to him first (the dojo, the drive-in even prom). Yes Robby's remark was below the belt and I'm not saying Robby was in the right for it but given just how many shitty remarks Miguel has made to him, I hardly think Robby's a terrible person for stooping to that once. Also, people talking about how they hope we can see Robby's innate goodness shine through in S5, where exactly have you been these past 4 seasons? That goodness has always been there. Stronger than anybody else's in fact. Even at his absolute worst in S4 he never attacked anybody first, any attack on Robby's part was done in retaliation. Now I'm not saying retaliation is right but what I am saying is I wish people would stop acting like its something he did out of spite. Also, why is it that whenever people are defending other characters like Tory or whoever else, they feel the need to mention Robby just to hold him up as an example of some one who is so much worse? Like is it not possible to just defend the character you're talking about without dragging Robby into it? I'm actually getting pissed off about this stuff now. Why? Because this goes beyond defending a character. Robby's arc speaks to me bc I have actually seen it occur with people I know. And so much of the stuff I see people saying is stuff I've heard people IRL say about the teens that actually go through what Robby goes through. I wish people would stop saying stuff like "I love Robby but" or "Sure Robby had some good moments but" bc I already know that whatever comes after that is going to be just plain unfair and quite frankly ill-nuanced. No this post isn't meant to shit on Tory-who I do really like. But to say that what Robby's done is worse when all Robby has ever tried to do is stop fights and keep being better is just messed up if you ask me. Besides, why is it that every other character gets to have the "just a teenager" defense but Robby doesn't? I'm not trying to attack anybody here but I have been seeing so many takes lately that are borderline toxic that its actually getting to me now. The worst part is I'm not even sure if the people who I feel really should see this are even going to or if it will even make a difference if they do. This is why I'm seriously considering doing a full essay style post where I actually delve into Robby and his trauma bc I see far too many people on here who still don't completely get what that means