Meltdown

too much like their father

MVA Appreciation Post? MVA Appreciation Post.

Rereading MVA with the benefit of some hindsight really makes me appreciate just how well-crafted it is as a story arc. Like, pretty much every aspect of it was tailor-made for the sake of exploring Tomura (like....!! even the conflicts & themes explored thru other characters are still ultimately written to service Tomura's character in ways that only a completely insane person can appreciate, lol.)

Mostly just listing some observations and things I like abt MVA that I feel lay the groundwork for Tomura's entire character + arc:

There's a lot of significance to Tomura fighting quirk based cults back to back in the same arc that delves into his own upbringing under AFO, I feel! There's also significance to his indoctrination into villainy under AFO mirroring ReDestro's indoctrination by the Meta Liberation Army. Both Tomura and ReDestro are framed as believing that they made a personal "choice" to walk this path, when in reality they were both groomed into their respective roles by predatory adults.

Underrated and potentially devastating detail that I (a known sicko) enjoy : Tomura and ReDestro aren't even allowed to choose their own villain names after being baptized into villainy.

This part is especially glaring when you contrast it with the earlier chapters, where Class 1A is actively encouraged to *choose* their own names and really think about what sort of hero name best represents them. Even when the kids ultimately choose names that others gave them (Izuku), and even when they resolve to take up the mantle of their family names (Iida)-- the distinction is that they are still very much naming *themselves* and not being named by other people. They are all allowed to assign their own meaning to their chosen hero names. There is a choice.

In contrast, Tomura and ReDestro's villain names are not an expression of their identity, but a suppression of it.

The idea of inheriting a "will" or "name" that completely consumes your own is already in play, and it only gets worse from here!

Masks are also a big theme! MVA literally opens with the LOV wrecking a group of fantasy bigots who hide behind masks.

Spinner doesn't hide his own identity behind a mask, rather, he hides his lack of identity through cosplaying as someone else.

Jin and Himiko have their "masks" forcibly removed during their respective battles-- Jin is able to verify and assert his own identity, which allows him to discard his mask for the remainder of the battle. Himiko instead scrambles to put her "mask" back on in response to Curious claiming that she's secretly miserable.

Compress gets half of his mask shattered at the same time that his aloof "we're villains not a friendship club!!" façade begins crumble, and he becomes more and more vocally concerned for Tomura's safety. This bit of symbolism is repeated again during the PLW, where the whole mask comes off once he finally admits he loves the LOV and very nearly kills himself in an attempt to save them.

AFO's face is constantly obscured by shadows, but it otherwise remains completely uncovered-- indicating that the "kindly face" he shows to Tomura is, in fact, a mask in itself.

And here's where Hori's brilliant art direction comes into play! Tomura decays Kotaro's hand-- the very symbol of his own rejection and suppression that he has worn as a mask since his debut-- but he does not embrace his identity as Tenko. The blood from Tomura’s head injury now creates the visual of a mask as he instead embraces his identity as "Shigaraki Tomura", the symbol of fear who exists to beckon acts of mourning into the world. (and the blood mask also resembles the dark shading that constantly obscures AFO’s true face in the flashback chapters! ...as does the creepy permasmile Tomura has for the rest of the arc! :D )

Visually, it also resembles the way ReDestro's (stress-powered!) quirk starts spreading across his face like a mask whenever he starts vomiting up MLA propaganda and ranting about the """glorious""" burden he inherited from the original Destro. (😬)

The mask imagery is even more explicit in the anime, where the red really makes the whole thing pop:

lowkey it's hilarious that a good chunk of Tomura's story is told through a mix of visual story telling and symbolism, but he also happens to spend half his screen time shirtless and distracting ppl from said symbolism with his eight-pack.

Seriously tho', it's little stuff like this that really cements MHA as a story that's even more enjoyable when you reread it. Moving on!

Curious 🤝 AFO, Being creepily affectionate with the victim whose story you plan to rewrite and exploit for your own gain

Toga’s failed/rejected martyrdom at the hands of Miss Curious foreshadowing Tomura’s successful martyrdom at the hands of the PLF and AFO-- the inherent dehumanization that comes with martyrdom and turning others into a "symbol", the lack of actual care for the martyr/symbol as an individual, and the idea that Tomura has always been a sacrificial lamb that's lurking just below the surface of every aspect in this narrative. Curious wants Toga to die to fit the MLA’s narrative, AFO wants Tenko to die to fit his own personal narrative— neither Curious or AFO care about Toga or Tomura as individuals, nor do they care about saving them from their circumstances. Because to Curious and AFO, their only value lies in fulfilling a certain narrative-- and that narrative is only fulfilled through their deaths. Both AFO and Curious WANT these stories to be tragedies, and you only beat someone like that by refusing to follow their script.

"Let's turn your death into a tragedy! You'll become a martyr whose tale serves as a parable for the ages!" "I'll shape him! Mold him! He will be a symbol of fear who lusts for destruction!" Toga and Tomura are both depicted as lacking agency in how their respective stories are told-- Toga manages to lash back against Curious' attempts to commandeer her narrative, but Tomura ultimately finds himself written into a corner by AFO.

The manipulation of media and the '"truth" being a reoccurring theme in MVA through both Curious/Skeptic, and this being foiled with the way Tomura’s own memories/perceptions of his past are called into question multiple times throughout the arc. In the same chapter where Skeptic discusses his plan to edit the footage captured in Deika to make the LOV look like they're the aggressors and the MLA look like brave heroes, we have Tomura lamenting how his memories are like a busted movie recording. He compares his memories to film snippets at the start of the arc, too.

Tomura's perception of his past being directly influenced by his traumatic upbringing under AFO is something that goes without saying at this point, so I won't beat that dead horse any further-- but it's legit fascinating how Hori lays out the groundwork for the readers so that we naturally reach the conclusion that Tomura's recollection is something that we are meant to doubt.

Yet another notch on the long list of Tomura wearing clothes that other people chose for him, reciting words written by others as if they were his own (.....l-literally reading from a cue card lmfaoooo it could not be any more on the nose if it tried 😭😭😭)

but seriously i could write a a ton on how Tomura's lack of agency with his own clothes is Very Much a Thing in The Story, and how him no longer bothering to self-style after MVA and just letting others dress him up however they want (or y'know... just not bothering with clothes at all!) is one of the best stealth indicators of where his mental state is actually at.

(tl;dr tomura asserting that he's "definitely his own person" and that he "controls himself" when he doesn't even have the agency or energy to dress himself the way he wants and is constantly getting treated like a life-sized dress-up doll by other villains is another one of those understated parts of the series/tomura's character design that makes me Big Depressy)

But!! When Tomura DOES actually add his own flair & individuality to his fashion, he generally accessorizes with things that tie him to the hero side and his identity as Tenko (red shoes as a connecting thread to Izuku, long flowing capes that connect him to heroism)

What "liberation" does to a mfer

As an aside: ReDestro feeling liberated from his stress as Tomura starts laying waste to the MLA/Deika (but still failing to break free from his grooming despite this!) serves as a dark parallel to Tomura “breaking free” from vestige!AFO during the final war, but still insisting that destruction is all he wants. Both Tomura and ReDestro have been prisoners their whole lives, and thus, have no frame of reference for what true freedom is. They both come so close to having a Realization About What They Truly Want™ only to immediately fall back into what they’re familiar with (ReDestro has always been a follower of cult forced to masquerade as its leader, Tomura still thinks that he wanted his family to die and takes the catharsis he felt from destroying his abusive home as evidence that he was always secretly bad). Hori is horrifyingly realistic in his depictions of the hold that grooming has on people.

Like. It's also the way that Tomura and ReDestro’s quirks are both powered by their misery, but they're surrounded by people who fail to see this as a bad thing and instead choose to romanticize their strength as something they can use to make their "dreams" into reality (and the unspoken question: is it really a "dream" if chasing after it makes you completely miserable? We have a different word for dreams that hurt you, boys!).

I'll stop here bc this is already too long, but man, every time I revisit this arc I notice something new (and horrifying) about Tomura's character. It's literally the gift that keeps on giving.

it’s so funny when people say that tomura had an actual plan how to tear down hero society after mva because THE PLAN WAS LITERALLY RE-DESTRO’S. tomura, my sweet child, bless him, didn’t have anything except for ‘oh cool, an army. let’s do whatever we want and destroy shit’ and almost immediately fucked off to be marinated in the nomufication juice for the next 4 months.

Pair O' Geten Asks

Congrats on your newly discovered Geten Appreciation, anon! I too like Geten a lot and feel that he, like the rest of the MLA, was Robbed.  He really would have made an interesting foil to Dabi and I have only conspiracy theories about Editor Meddling to explain why we didn’t get that.  The Rei-like appearance?  The opposed power set?  The father figure to whom he’s incredibly loyal?  The focus on a powerful quirk as more important than anything?  Come on; why write all that if it’s only going to matter for one (1) fight that doesn’t even come to a conclusive end and before we even have a bunch of concrete information on Dabi’s childhood relationship with his father?

Also, Geten and Dabi trying to run a regiment together would have been hilarious and it is but one of many things we were cheated out of seeing by that bedamned three-month timeskip on the villain side.

As well, Geten’s interesting to me for the same reason that Mustard is: they’re the only two young villains for whom we just don’t get much angle on student parallels, rescue arcs, and/or sympathetic portrayals.  Geten at least has far clearer motivations than Mustard, but it’s really frustrating to see the both of them basically written out of the story when they both seem far too young to be deemed Not Worth Saving.  (I mean, I obviously don’t think anyone should be declared off-limits for saving no matter how old or how far gone they are, but it’s particularly egregious when it comes to the younger villains.)

As to his loyalty to Re-Destro, I'll fold some discussion of that into my answer to this other ask, answered below the jump:

(CW: discussions of child abuse and cult dynamics)

Ohhhhh my god, anon.  Thank you for coming to me with this so I can assure you that, yes, Re-Destro absolutely does have genuine affection for Geten and his intentions absolutely do not come from a place of malice.

The thing with the way people headcanon RD and Geten’s relationship is, I think, pretty straightforward: Toxic Blorbo Anxiety.  Modern fandom, especially on tumblr, has really co-opted a lot of social justice rhetoric to make what once would have been dead-ass basic character/ship flame wars sound more justified and meaningful; as a consequence, altogether too many people have this idea that one’s taste in fiction (characters, relationships, themes, whatever) is a direct measure of one’s moral character.  Ergo, it’s no longer okay to just like a character with significant flaws—you have to find some kind of reason why that character’s flaws aren’t actually their fault.

People who hate Geten have zero problems writing him off as a toxic ableist eugenicist.  People who like Geten—well, some people are perfectly capable of liking Geten while acknowledging that he’s a violent little shit who espouses quirk supremacist ideals that go considerably farther than the ideals professed by anyone else around him, even the people higher up the chain of command.  For the “my taste in characters mirrors my moral character” folks, however, liking Geten means an immediate need to find a likely character to offload all of Geten’s moral failings onto.

Re-Destro is the only character for whom Geten has any demonstrated feelings whatsoever; this makes him the only available scapegoat.

And it’s ridiculous!  It is pulled literally out of thin air.  As you said, the databook is explicit that Re-Destro gave Geten “lots of affection,” but you see echoes of it in the canon as well.  There’s the flashback Geten has to RD smiling and patting him on the shoulders and entrusting him with an Important Task, as well as the implication that Geten cares about RD so much that Re-Destro burning himself caused Geten’s quirk evolution.  Re-Destro himself gets this beat, indicating trust and high regard, just after Giran gets sassy with him about the MLA losing their number advantage to the Sad Man’s Parade:

Yes, absolutely, Geten is fucked up from being raised in a cult.  Re-Destro was raised in the very same cult, however, and with a lot more fuckery about his ancestors and identity loaded down on him to boot.  Geten at least can just be Geten, you know?  The very best version of Geten that he knows how to be!

Of course, an ideal version of Geten would, among other changes, probably be going to school.  Now, Geten’s schooling is not RD’s responsibility—so far as we know, he isn’t Geten’s actual legal guardian.  Nonetheless, I’m sure he could make Geten do it if he really wanted to press the issue, and it’s no credit to him that he hasn’t.

Still, before I condemn RD for that, I’d want to know what RD’s own schooling situation was, or what the MLA approach is to school in general.  One of the things that defines cults, after all, is limiting members’ access to outside information, which is why they’re all such proponents for homeschooling.  I would be shocked if Re-Destro himself wasn’t homeschooled for at least his younger years, and therefore lacks a full frame of reference for why that’s a problem.

Speaking of RD’s frame of reference for things, and getting back to your actual question about ReDadstro, while I don’t read RD and Geten’s relationship as explicitly having familial vibes, I do think they’re close enough that a lot of people in-universe probably look at them and wonder.  The main reason for that is that, well, look at Re-Destro’s whole scenario!  He’s the scion of Yotsubashi Chikara, a blood-descendant of the leader of the original Meta Liberation Army, and, oh, does the story never let him or us forget it.  His authority over the group is entirely rooted in that ancestry; he and they all believe that it must be Destro, no one else, who brings Liberation to Japan.

That all being the case, then, why on earth doesn’t Re-Destro have any kids?

Seriously, the guy’s got to be over 40, and if the lineage is that important—and it is; Skeptic says explicitly that he wants to recruit Twice so that the MLA never has to fear a repeat of Destro’s loss—why hasn’t RD secured the bloodline for the future yet?  Even if he’s fairly confident in his and his followers’ ability to ring the bells of liberation in his lifetime, you’d think some contingency plans would be in order!

I also think it’s fairly telling that a guy whose authority is so rooted in family doesn’t seem to have any of his own—not just kids, but siblings, a spouse, parents, grandparents, anybody.  While it could simply be a function of his limited screen time, we have at least some idea of what the family situation is for most of the other major villains.  AFO, Shigaraki and the rest of the League, Gentle Criminal, Overhaul—for all of them, we can point to at least one thing and say, “That’s the situation,” even if it’s as simple as e.g. the implication of Spinner becoming a hikikomori or Overhaul being an orphan.  It seems to me that if there was a family line in charge of the MLA, we would have seen at least one other member at some point.  That we never do[1] suggests pretty strongly that Re-Destro is the only Yotsubashi around at the current time.

My headcanon, then, is that Re-Destro, a man so psychologically burdened by the needs of being the Great Destro’s successor that he saw an omni-nihilist like Shigaraki as freedom delivered on divine wings, doesn’t have children because he doesn’t want them.  Or, more accurately, because whether or not he, Yotsubashi Rikiya, might want children, he’s unwilling to have them so long as there’s any chance his burden could become theirs.

And thus we get to Geten.  If Rikiya might have wanted children in other circumstance, it’s not so surprising that he’d have a streak of paternal instinct that came out with Geten, especially when Geten was younger.  Here’s someone who’s powerful but never going to be in any danger of inheriting all of Rikiya’s burdens, someone whose loyalty is to Rikiya personally, rather than to Destro’s blood.[2]  Of course Rikiya’s fond of him!  He’s not entirely free when he’s around Geten, but at the very least, Geten transparently doesn’t care about the MLA’s glorious history.

I have to think that everyone around them Feels Some Sorta Way about this, especially those shadowy figures we saw telling young Rikiya all about his “inheritance,” but the downside of raising a six-year-old to be the supreme leader of your underground army is that there’s only so much open pushback you can offer once the six-year-old turns forty.  If RD wants to maintain a close relationship with Geten, there’s not really anyone who can put their foot down about it beyond a certain amount of pointed-but-respectful questioning.

As for what Geten thinks of this state of affairs, the way I conceive of them, Geten is painfully aware that Re-Destro is heavily burdened, and Geten wants to relieve as much of that burden as he can.  However, one of the reasons RD might find Geten comparatively relaxing is that Geten doesn’t occupy a specific place in the MLA’s organizational structure.  That might be because Geten lacks the temperament for leadership, but it might also be because RD likes that Geten is a bit sideways of the power structure that defines so much of the rest of Rikiya’s life.  Geten’s closeness to the Grand Commander might be enviable to others in the MLA, but it doesn’t seem to come with any particular authority; Geten probably wishes that RD would give him more to do![3]

Hence, I assume, his single-minded fervor about living up to Re-Destro’s trust and eliminating the people in Re-Destro’s way and so forth.  If it’s somewhat rare for Re-Destro to give Geten actual tasks to fulfill, all the more reason for Geten to pounce so vigorously on what opportunities do arise.

In summary, while Re-Destro and Geten’s relationship has some pretty huge red flags in it—the lack of schooling, the way RD being Geten’s patron rather than giving him a real position keeps Geten dependent on RD’s favor, the way Geten is singled out as having this relationship with RD, the disconnect between the values they extol— in the context they live in, I think it’s pretty wholesome!  That is, they’re both pretty fucked up by the cult upbringing, in ways neither of them is fully capable of even recognizing, but I think they both mean well by each other, and their lives are stabler and happier for each other's presences than if they were still both MLA but weren't aquainted.

Could it be better?  Sure!  But there’s a nigh-unbridgeable canyon between, “Based on what we know about the characters’ circumstances, this relationship has some concerning elements,” and, “Re-Destro is physically abusive, thinks Geten is only valuable as a weapon, and has groomed Geten himself to believe that.”

The far side of that canyon must be in Narnia, because stepping through a magic doorway to another world where BNHA is a completely different story is the only way anyone’s going to be able to produce canon evidence for the Re-Destro As Abusive Groomer claim.  As Shigaraki and All For One prove, however, there’s no villain in this story that can’t be rendered more cloyingly, simplistically sympathetic by cramming a bunch of physical abuse into fanfic where none exists canonically.

Thanks for the asks, anons! Please go forth and continue loving Geten freely. And Re-Destro also, because god knows he needs more love.

---

[1] The closest we get is the family portraits the League find in the obviously-intended-to-be-Re-Destro’s-summer-home they ransack in the live drama reading from that LOV stage event back in 2021.  No word on whether Horikoshi had any input whatsoever on that script, however.

[2] The tell here is the consistency of Geten’s motivations.  He never connects Re-Destro’s authority to Destro Classic like Skeptic and Trumpet do, nor does his loyalty change to Shigaraki post-Deika as you might expect if quirk supremacy were really the only thing Geten used to measure worth.

[3] It’s very telling that when we’re being introduced to the heads of the MLA, getting their real names and day jobs, Geten isn’t included in the lineup; he remains an unnamed parka troll with bad table manners.  He does get a proper rank in the PLF, of course, but by that point Re-Destro has ceded control to Shigaraki, so RD no longer has to worry so much about how he defines or doesn’t define the relationship or what people might think of it.

All cut content with Rikiya Yotsubashi from Season 5! Huge thanks to @nick-foo-draws!!!

~The Deadly Silent Treatment~

(Me earlier this year: I can’t stand this dude...Me now: I only want to write for you...)

(Started implying some nasty near the end there so you know, minors DNI as usual)

headcanon|scenario|imagine|match-up

That’s it. That’s the last straw. You groaned again at the meal in front of you before blowing out the candle and wrapping everything up to put away. This was becoming a regular thing between the two of you and you didn’t like it one little bit. It’s been once a week you two agreed to have a date night between the two of you. Every time for the past month he’s been staying over at his office and working. Every time he’s come home far too late and fallen asleep doing whatever you two were supposed to be doing. He doesn’t make it through the first 10 minutes of the movie for movie night, he doesn’t come home on time for the romantic dinners, he’s too tired to go on evening walks. You try not to approach it directly considering the fact you can see the stress marks climbing along his face when you do. It’s not like he’s upset at you when you talk to him about it. You just don’t want to stress him out because you love him and how hard he works to support you two. However, there is only so much one person can take before they crack and this was your point. So instead of directly approaching the issue, (and maybe having one of your very rare arguments in the relationship) you took the petty route for the first time ever.

When he came home and called out to you before slipping his shoes and jacket off, you remained silent as you washed the dishes in the sink. He heard the water running so he knew you were home. That’s why it was rather confusing to him that you didn’t reply and you didn’t even bother looking up at him when he rounded the corner. He shrugged it off like maybe the water was too loud and you didn’t hear by chance. He knew something was wrong when he went to hug you from behind and you stiffened up before slowly looking over your shoulder at him and giving him the coldest glare he’d ever experienced...at least from you. He slowly backed away and just stared at your back for a minute as you finished up the dishes, washed your hands, and quickly went into the bathroom. Perhaps you weren’t feeling so well today? He was beginning to get worried. He eventually worked up the nerve to go to the bathroom door and gently knock. “My love, are you alright in there?” He was met with no reply except for he shower water starting up. He knocked again and waited. Finally you opened the door and glared at him again before slamming it shut. He heard it lock shortly afterwards. “That’s odd...” He pondered to himself. You two never locked the bathroom door when either of you showered or took a bath. Only when you went to the toilet was when it would be locked. Everything finally clicked into place when he looked at the half melted candle on the table and the food covered in plastic wrap. “Oh...” He frowned at his own actions lately when he remembered the extra hours he had pulled. He had been so absorbed in his work lately that he was neglecting the most important person to him. He sighed and knocked once more on the bathroom door. “Love, I’m so very sorry I came home late. Please let us discuss this like two adults?” The shower water turned off and shortly after that you emerged from the bathroom covered in steam with a plush towel wrapped around yourself. You gave him another glare and went straight to the bedroom. He frowned knowing it would be a very quiet night for him, but he didn’t know it would be so lonely too. No cuddles, not a drop of canoodling or shall he even think of it...sex. Nothing, not even a goodnight hug or kiss. The next morning you didn’t tell him to have a good day at work or to be safe. You didn’t bug him to come to his office with him. You didn’t give him his morning kiss like always. You didn’t even make him a full breakfast. No eggs and bacon with toast and coffee. You simply left him a half sandwich with NO condiments on it and a small cup of water. 

The entire day was terrible for him. He sulked on the car ride to work, and sulked on the elevator up to his office floor. He was greeted by his Liberation comrades and he simply sighed and flashed their hand symbol back as he sunk into his chair. Trumpet grimaced and turned to the others at the table. “Is grand leader okay? Is he not feeling well?” He whispered. “Hmmm, he doesn’t appear to be stressed currently as his quirk isn’t in action.” Skeptic stopped typing on his keyboard to answer. “Yes, well it’s more like sadness if you ask me. Or a type of discomfort honestly. He’s probably sick.” Geten added before Curious laughed quietly. “You’re all very dense today which is surprising coming from you. Can’t you tell when a couple is fighting with each other?” The others paused and slowly looked at Re Destro as he was distracted and staring sadly at the clouds passing by the window. “An argument? About what do you think?” Skeptic asked, not looking away from his work. “Who knows, who cares. It’s not about the argument, it’s about the apology.” Curious said nonchalantly. Trumpet slowly stood up and cleared his throat before turning to Re Destro. “Sir? A moment if you will?” Re Destro grunted, not looking away from the window. “We’re thinking of working on the first anniversary of the book and I was wondering for an event if I could use the old edition as giveaways for my campaign.” Trumpet waited for a long time knowing the answer SHOULD be a no. However Re Destro surprised him by mumbling “why not...” before sighing once again. Trumpet sat down with a rather shocked expression. “He’s uhh...he’s really affected by this huh?” 

“Well duh, of course he is. Hanabata, when you fall for someone and they get under your skin someday you’ll understand. Come on, let’s let him be.” She stood up first with the other’s following. “Yes well, it’s a good idea anyway. I’ve got some repairs to handle at Feel Good and it looks like we’re just not having a Liberation meeting today.” Skeptic spoke as he closed his laptop. “Guess I’ll go train then” said Geten. “Yeah and I need to gather some more things for my campaign to go well. I’m running for a higher position this year and can’t afford to fail.” Trumpet was the first to leave, unable to bear seeing his grand and mighty leader reduced to shambles over something so strange. Curious was the only one who stayed behind and let everyone else walk out. She locked the office door and Re Destro’s eyes followed her form, wondering what she was up to now. He sighed (for maybe the millionth time today) as she sat on a chair in front of his desk and smiled at him. “Chitose, what...”

“Shhhhh! Don’t talk just listen for a second. I’m assuming you and Y/N had an argument last night?” 

“...not exactly.”

“Oh? I was wrong then? Alright then. Y/N is upset about something or sick? Either way, she/he/they made you sleep on the couch OR is giving you the deadliest treatment...a cold shoulder.”

“Cold shoulder?”

“The silent treatment.” Chitose smirked at him and he frowned. “Yes. I’m getting this silent treatment for the very first time in my entire life. I’ve never dealt with this before. I think I would prefer the argument instead. Honestly I deserve it. Here lately I suppose I’ve been thoroughly wrapped up in business with Detnerat and my relationship suffered from it. This is the first time I’ve ever really been in a relationship. I’m used to coming back to an empty house after work and doing whatever. I sometimes have difficulties remembering things aren’t as lonely anymore. Now, thanks to my behavior, I may have to go back to that old life...”

“Nonsense!” Curious interrupted him. She smiled softly and shook her head. “Everything you’ve just told me, go home and tell it to Y/N. Really go apologize.” He nodded and let her words sink in. Even on the ride home he was thinking of those words. He was not an overly confident man by default. He wasn’t above apologizing if it meant being able to see you, hold you, and listen to you. “Pull over here for a moment. I need to retrieve something from the inside.”

~~~~

You’ve had possibly the worst day in a very long time. Last night was easier to ignore him considering you were under the influence of anger but the next morning was too tough. You wanted so badly to just apologize and take to your morning routine but you were still a little annoyed at him so you kept up the act. You made a shit breakfast for him and didn’t bother to see him out on his way to work. The hardest part was watching his sad expression as he left the house. Near the middle of the day it was increasingly difficult for you to not send him a check in text. You kept thinking of something bad happening to him and the both of you ending on bad terms. It was why you can’t stay mad at him for much longer. You made your resolve by the time the door unlocked. You quickly jumped up and made your way to the front entryway. However, when the door opened you were greeted first by a face full of heart shaped balloons and a somewhat comically oversized red rose bouquet. “Uhhhh...” You watched as he struggled to carry the other bags inside as well. Then for the next 20 minutes (while you consumed half your weight in the snacks he got you) you listened to his apology on the couch side by side. It was so heartfelt and authentic that he ended up shedding a tear or two while saying it. Finally he went quiet and stared at you with desperate eyes. “I’m glad you apologized first.” You laughed and he let out a long sigh of relief before squeezing you into a very tight hug. “Oh thank God! I never want to go so many hours without hearing you ever in my life. I think I would rather give up my company, organization, and the clothes off my back than to experience it again.” You laughed at his dramatics. “I’m sorry I did it to you. It was immature of me. I should’ve just talked it over with you like a regular adult instead of ignoring you. I was worried sick about you all day long.” You embraced each other for a long time until an idea popped into your head. You pulled back and smiled at him mischievously. He tilted his head in confusion. “Y/N?”

“Well I was thinking about how you got me all of this lovely stuff as an apology and I hadn’t gotten you anything. But don’t worry about that...” You grabbed his tie and kept hold on it as you stood up, forcing him slowly to stand with you. “I’ve got a special apology for you, Rikiya~” 

stan re destro

Hopefully these reach my niche audience

Part 3 - Chapter 28 - Abduction

Blank Canvas Part 3

AO3 - here

Fanfiction.net - here

Up top, sorry for the delay! Ao3 was down when I would have updated last week and for real life, it worked better for me to postpone to now. That's life for ya. :3 And for today specifically I had work and had to wait to post until I got home.

The kidnapping is officially on! Time see how Izuku will react to the members of the League. We've got a little bit of backtracking in the beginning of the chapter.

There are a few pov changes in this chapter just as a heads up.

Linktree to all the things!    

End notes for the chapter are under the line.  

Bum bum buuuuuum! Shiggy destroys all of Izuku's things and Katsuki is strapped to a chair. Not the best of circumstances surrounded by villains.

Got some mixed reactions from the League. Toga is just excited as always. More on her will be in a later chapter. ;) Dabi is Dabi which is going to be addressed next chapter. ;) ;) And Spinner gets a good talking to and I have future pov planned for him too. I'm not covering every League member just because there was no reason plot wise, but those ones will be getting a closer look.

I'm just going to say while crazy manic Shiggy is fun, I love me some soft Shiggy as well. He didn't chose this life and was raised in it because of All For One. Either way, we'll have to see if he actually gives Izuku time to think.

Chisaki is not at all happy with the League. Still figuring out how that is going to affect the plot but that's mostly for part 4. We also got MLA activities in the background. Now I know not all of the MLA thinks like ReDestro but this is my understanding of his character and his plans and ambitions for the future.

That's all for this time. Thanks for your patience and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Next up is all Dabi. ;) To compensate for the down time and delay, I'm planning on posting next week as well to get us back on track update wise. That and I don't want to wait two weeks to post the next chapter. The misunderstanding between Dabi and Izuku has been burning a hole in my chapter buffer for awhile now. Gotta convince the human raisin he has no actual beef with the green bean. Alrighty, bye bye until next time!

Count down to Dad For One reveal: 5 chapters

Also an alternate extra:

FEBUWHUMP | "YOU LIED TO ME." | WC: 572

Several weeks after All for One’s arrest at Kamino Ward, Toshinori is extended an invitation to meet Yotsubashi Rikiya at a fancy upscale restaurant that, Rikiya’s secretary assures him, can cater its menu to suit whatever dietary needs Toshinori is subject to. Toshinori, peering down at the bowed white-furred head, decides not to be offended.

He also decides not to tell Gran Torino about the meeting, a decision he regrets when he is seated across from Rikiya’s coldly furious expression.

The waiters seem to sense the brewing hostility, because the one sacrificed to bring them a pitcher of iced water practically squeaks when Rikiya says, “We’ll need a few minutes to decide what to eat.”

“Okay!” the waiter says, and flees to safety in the kitchens.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Toshinori scolds. “He forgot to drop off the menus.”

Rikiya looks down his nose at Toshinori. “Then you decide his tip.”

“It’s going to be really generous.”

“Soft-hearted as ever, I see.” Rikiya folds his arms together. His twin has always been more angular in form (in part, Toshinori admitted to himself, because Toshinori loved sweets and All for One spoiled him with a new kind every chance he got), but they match now. It’s a strange mirror to have, after all these years. “... You lied to me.”

“Hello, pot, I’m kettle.”

“Detnerat’s secrets are nothing compared to what just happened with father. You told me--you swore to me that he died six years ago,” Rikiya hisses. He jerks his chin at Toshinori, giving him a vicious once-over of a glare. “And what’s with this? Did dad forget to feed you or something? This is my look. Get your own.”

“It didn’t happen all at once,” Toshinori protests. “And I was sure I killed him. His head was caved in, Rikiya. There was--there was so much blood.”

“Clearly not all of it was his.”

“... No. Not all.”

“Why didn’t you finish the job at Kamino Ward?” he pushes, and he ignores the incredulous look Toshinori feels crossing his face. “No one would have blamed you for it. Maybe a little shock, maybe a bit of distrust in the industry, but if you went to jail, I would’ve sprung you.”

“That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever told me,” Toshinori says, blinking.

“It would obviously have indebted you, stupid.”

“Oh.”

Rikiya rolls his eyes and kicks Toshinori’s leg under the table; if their dad was here, Toshinori thinks ruefully, then at least Toshinori could have used the old man’s cane to fight back. As it is, Toshinori kicks back. They have a scuffle hidden behind the white tablecloth, and an entire war waged with grimaces and furrowed brows.

Eventually, Toshinori admits, “You and dad think I should’ve killed him, but I couldn’t. Not… not in that situation. There are many children where I work now. If I had smashed his head open on camera, if I’d blown a hole through his stomach or lungs after he revealed my true state… Even you would have to admit that it would have been a mistake. Not just for publicity’s sake. For society’s.”

“It always comes back to that,” Rikiya says. “Oh, well, what do you know? Next time, just invite me to the fight, and I’ll do it. Third time’s the charm.”

“If you’re so insistent, go hire an assassin and murder All for One in his cell,” Toshinori snaps. 

“Like it’s that easy!”

New Collection Project 3 of 3: Boku no Hero Academia Ultra Impact - • Hero Killer: Stain (Akaguro Chizome) • Muscular (Imasuji Goto) • Re-Destro (Yotsubashi Rikiya)

UNAWAKENED ART ⟹ AWAKENED ART

SR:

enemies to lovers au where redestro is just a businessman, living in a nice quiet neighbourhood with his four adoptive kids. hes successful and well liked, and his kids are all aloof, popular teenagers who ace all their classes and make redestro proud. and maybe sometimes they use underhanded methods or get into fights, but they never get caught and thats the main thing. theyre just a good, respectable, happy family.

then they get new neighbours. redestro hears that its another single man with adoptive children, and hes thrilled! they’ll get along well!

except their new neighbours aren’t a respectable businessman with well-behaved kids. its giran and his pack of half-feral nutcases that he sets loose on the neighbourhood to wreak havoc.

Months later and still kinda salty about the Advisers treatment in S6 since its very clear they were not on the team's mind: not including Bindi with Amplivolt against Edgeshot, not including Hole guy's panel about to ambush Orca (so he just got beat out of nowhere), not including the panel of Cabbie Hat and Fox guy running off, Hose Face not speaking before he killed Midnight, heck even messing up who gets captured in the end. I know they aren't super relevant, but S6 didn't help them either.

Man, I completely fell off of watching the anime even for the purposes of criticism, so thank you for this update to clarify for me that only disappointment waits if and when I ever bother.  I did get curious and look up who gets captured in the end, and wow, they really did comprehensively fuck that up, didn’t they? I know you know because you wrote me this nice ask about it, but for everyone else, take a look at this nonsense:

(Note that, as ever when I'm replying to asks from my dear fellow advisor fan @shockersalvage, the PLF codenames below are pure headcanon.)

I am agog at how huge and accessible and openable those windows look. Why on earth would you use vehicles like that for prisoner transport?) Are they just packing dangerous terrorists back onto the same buses the Heroes used to get up here, or what?

Comparing that to the equivalent shot in the manga, they didn’t get any of these people right. (Excluding the Heroes, who get relatively faithful if slightly less detailed renditions.  Because of course they do.)

Look at the windows on these transports and laugh with me about how ridiculous the ones in the anime are in comparison. Also, I notice that while the anime got Tartarus Hat: The Capture Tape Hero's look right, they did fail to notice that the restraints dangling loose from his wrists are the same as those the PLF captives are bound with.

Not every person on the ground here is tentatively identifiable as a ranked advisor—only, you know, five out of seven of them, the entire middle group.  The two on the back right are really obviously Galvanize and Piercings Dude (Compress’s #1 and Dabi’s #3), and given the visual similarities and the grouping, I’m pretty confident the others are Fray (Toga’s #3), Red (Skeptic’s #1) and Band Jacket Guy (Compress’s #2).

Yet even given the anime’s sloppy, ugly coloring decisions for the advisors they did show, they didn’t even accidentally get any of these right.  Band Jacket Guy and Fray are both dark-haired in the anime, while Red’s honey blonde and Piercings Dude is silver-haired with a striped coat jacket.  I would almost venture to guess that the anime intended the dude they gave the handlebar mustache to above (Galvanize in the manga, as apparent by his forelock and forehead scar) to be Sanctum, save that they didn’t those colors right, either!  They have Sanctum in white in the opening attack scene and in blue in Twice’s imagine spot.

Just an impressively thorough failure to realize the manga’s intention.

One thing you didn’t mention that I wondered about was Scarecrow’s first scene of note, so I also looked that up—I wanted to see if he had a voice actor yet, given how important his voice would turn out to be! 

Lo and behind, I find that the anime—while at least including Scarecrow, absolutely not guaranteed, as the above dissection shows!—gave what I had always assumed to be his dialogue to Re-Destro instead.  Which, I guess, looking at the manga again, could be the intention?  But I don’t really read it that way.

It’s certainly flowery enough to be Re-Destro!  He definitely talks like that!  But, as we later find out, Scarecrow absolutely talks like that too.  And here, looking at the paneling and the way the talk bubbles fall within it, we can see that Re-Destro’s obvious dialogue (“What did you pesky Heroes do to our savior and liberator?!”) breaks out of the panel binding, overlapping into the scene change to Gigantomachia’s rampage.

That’s what I would expect to be the case if the next line (“After Gigantomachia, Liberation warriors!  Our revolution is at hand!”) was also meant to be his, ringing out so loudly over the battlefield that even out in the forest, it’s still audible above the sounds of pitched, widespread conflict.

Instead of being overlaid across the panel borders like the others, though, it’s fully contained within the panels, visually implying that the line is being delivered by someone within that same scene/panel, for which the most obvious candidate is the guy prominently foregrounded in it.  I suppose the counter-argument is that there aren’t any obvious tails to the talk bubble that would link it to him, as with the bubbles in final panel with Kamui Woods and Midnight, but then, Re-Destro’s shouting doesn’t have any tails, either!

Overall, I guess it’s a valid read, but I frankly just don’t like it as much as I do the dialogue serving as an early indicator of Scarecrow’s personality.  Also, while it surely pleases me to contemplate that Re-Destro loves Shigaraki so much that he’d order a sizeable chunk of his own army to abandon him in favor of going to his savior and liberator, I have to think that if he did give that order, considerably more than a piddling 132 out of 17,000 people at the Villa would have successfully prioritized escape!

Sorry for taking so long with this one, shockersalvage!  My plan was to respond to it when I got back to PLF Spotting posts, but I just don’t think I can be arsed with those at this point. I kind of unreasonably hate the stupid puce-colored arm the anime saddled Shigaraki with for some godforsaken reason, and I’ve not yet forgiven the show for giving Re-Destro an anime-original scene but fucking it up by having him identify Destro Classic as his literal father. Also, while the anime transparently doesn’t care about the PLF, it’s only emulating its source material in that regard, so it's hard to muster up too much righteous indignation on the manga's behalf.

Regardless, thank you as always for the ask and your patience! Please do feel free to report back in with any further PLF Erasure Crimes the anime commits; I'm not expecting to pay it much attention at this point save probably ducking in to watch Scarecrow's wonderful rooftop speech at the hospital riot.

(You know, assuming they let him keep it.)