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sapphic-agent · 21 days

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Let's Talk About Shigaraki

I've had some time to collect my thoughts, so I think I'm ready to finally talk about Tomura.

Fair warning, this is more of a rant. Mostly because there isn't much to say except that Horikoshi hates this motherfucker, almost as much as he hates Izuku.

Tomura is a character whose autonomy and agency has been stripped by the narrative repeatedly. And that's not really uncommon in MHA (Izuku, Hawks, Shoto, etc.), so why am I pointing it out? Because Horikoshi's assassination of his character didn't need to happen. In fact, it feels like he bent over backwards to make sure it happened.

Anyone who's been around my blog long enough knows that the MLA arc is one of my favorites, I even put it in my top five MHA arcs. It did a great job of having Shigaraki progress as not only a villain but a leader and come into his own power. My one issue with it and what kept it out of top three was that it seemed to immediately undo all the progress Tomura made by making him want AFO (the quirk). Him gaining this quirk didn't tie into his goals at all and it flipped him from wanting to use his destruction to make a world for the LOV to be free in (Eric Vale's delivery of this scene in dub was fire btw, go watch it) to him just wanting more power. It was an extremely weird decision.

The PLA War further perpetuates this and it causes some confusion as to where Horikoshi was going with his character. Instead of a newly established in-control and ambitious villain, he turned Tomura into a puppet for All For One to use for his own benefit.

(Off topic, but that also felt out of character for AFO. Prior to this, he seemed to want Tomura to succeed and carve his own path, even taking the time to gently correct his outbursts and give him actual advice and guidance. You could argue that this was manipulation on his part, but it didn't feel like it at the time. Why would he want Tomura to be level-headed and calm if the plan was to use him as a husk for his own control? It felt way more like Tomura was initially meant to be his successor, not his puppet. This reads more like another Horikoshi retcon)

For some reason, it feels like the intention was to turn him into a victim for Izuku to save. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing... Except he didn't develop Izuku enough for him to be able to do that.

Izuku doesn't understand Tomura, he even admits this himself. He sees Tomura as someone who causes destruction for the hell of it. And you know what? He wasn't wrong going off his few interactions with him. But that's where we hit our problem; Izuku has not interacted enough with Tomura.

And honestly? There's no excuse for this. They're supposed to be our protagonist and antagonist. They're supposed to be parallels with one another. So why in the world do they only really have one intimate scene together?

(I have mentioned this before, but Izuku should have been the one kidnapped, not Bakugou. Bakugou being in this position provides nothing to the plot, especially because All Might would have sacrificed his power for anyone. Bakugou isn't a dynamic or integral enough character for this to benefit the character progression of Tomura or the rest of the LOV, but Izuku is. Him learning why they're villains would have really done so much for their characters, as well as his own)

This leaves their interactions during the Final War completely stagnant and stale. Izuku doesn't understand Tomura, and Tomura knows that. He sees Izuku as a goody-two-shoes with no understanding of how dark the world can be. Except Izuku does understand because he experienced it. But how would Tomura know that? And how would Izuku know how Tomura became a villain? There's no understanding between them which is why Izuku is unable to connect with Tomura like he did Stain and Gentle Criminal. Which is why him trying to save Tomura goes nowhere.

It didn't have to be like this though. Even if it was rushed, Horikoshi could have squeezed it in. He could have made the effort. He chose not to. Partly because he can't be assed to give either of them good development, but also because he avoids the shit Izuku went through like the plague. He hates to acknowledge it and when he does it's sugarcoated (and used for Bakugou's gain, not Izuku's own). Because of he gets into the nitty gritty of it, his favorite blond rat's "development" goes right out the window.

Horikoshi wrote himself into a corner here, which is why the Izuku vs Tomura fight is so lackluster. Their interactions mean nothing, so their fight means nothing. What's his solution to this?

To fucking kill Tomura and retcon his entire backstory to force AFO back into the plot.

The last shreds of agency Tomura had as a villain were ripped away. He can't even have his own tragic backstory at this point. Hell, Kotaro can't even own his own shitty decisions, blame is pinned on Nana even though him abusing his kids was his choice and AFO somehow had a hand in him having kids?? Ok.

(Abusive man not being held accountable without someone else- a woman- taking the shit for it, what else is new in MHA)

Also, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN AFO GAVE HIM DECAY?

In all fairness, this has been a theory for a while. But again, the entire point of his character in the MLA arc was that he took charge of his "cursed" power and made it his own. So AFO giving him Decay erases another part of his development.

(And to add to this, what exactly was the point of having him take a quirk away from Tomura? Why not make him born quirkless so a parallel can be drawn to Izuku (and even Aoyama)? What is it with Horikoshi and quirkless aversion? There are four characters born quirkless in the narrative even though they're supposed to make up 20% of the population: Izuku, Aoyama, All Might, Melissa. Only Melissa stays quirkless)

AFO just happening upon Tomura- desperate, shunned, and vulnerable- who just happens to be Nana's grandson makes him so much eviler and more despicable. Him seeing an exposed child and deciding to use him to be cruel to Nana's memory and Toshinori drives home his callousness. Making it so that he orchestrated it just takes away from that. Tbh, it just makes him look like a loser. So, both Tomura and AFO just suffered character assassination.

Back to killing Tomura, do you know how awful this comes off? This character claimed his own power and goals, only for that to be stripped by making him a puppet, the attempt to save him is drawn out and goes nowhere, and then he just fucking dies. Like he never mattered at all. Like trying to save him was a complete waste of time and there's nothing about him worth saving.

And people saying he deserved to die for his crimes, THAT ISN'T THE POINT. It isn't about what he did or didn't do. I couldn't care less about that. It's about how Horikoshi stripped him of agency again and again and then discarded him when he didn't serve the shitty narrative he created.

Tomura and Izuku deserved so much better than this

#mha critical #bnha critical #horikoshi critical #tomura shigaraki #shigaraki deserves better #shigaraki tomura critical #izuku deserves better #izuku midoriya critical #anti all for one #anti afo #he was great in the beginning only for horikoshi to do this to him #for what #can't believe mha has come to this #it's actually making me feel gross inside #long post #i kinda went off on a tangent here #i have a lot of feelings #anti bakugou katsuki

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pocketramblr · 5 months

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For the five ask game, how about an alternative universe where Izuku is a clone of aizawa? like he was a failed attempt at gaining erasure after afo failed to nab it the first time

1- Ujiko is unable to nab Aizawa but does get a dna sample. Unfortunately, he can't get a quirk factor out of it, but he figures if he clones the sample into a full human, then they can wait for the clone to have a quirk and steal it. In his tube, Izuku quickly goes through pregnancy and being weaned- he's taken off at about the age of 'two', because to accelerate his growth at that point would likely lead to damage. Since no one in this organization knows how to handle kids, Izuku's dropped off with Tomura who's under strict orders to not decay him.

2- this lasts about three years, when izuku is 'five' and has still not shown a quirk activation. He has no quirk factor on testing, and a few other differences between himself and the man he's a partially complete clone of- type O blood being another. (I guess Aizawa only had one B allele. its weird but. technically not weirder than Shoto's blood type thing.) Now a failed investment, AfO must figure out what to do with Izuku- his cloned and quirkless body would not make a good nomu base, those do better when they have a quirk factor to begin with.

3- but Tomura is not happy- Izuku is.... his belonging, because lets just go all in on the AfO and Yoichi parallels. like he's punted Izuku like a football, but he Will attack anyone who tries to take him away. AfO realizes this could be a useful tool for grooming, and tells Tomura that if he's a good little murderous villain, he'll get to keep Izuku, but if he's bad and disobedient, he'll be grounded from him. Izuku's opinion on the matter is not asked. Since being grounded also means losing video games, whenever Izuku is taken away from Tomura, he's basically stuck in an empty room with a game cube and Kurogiri dropping off food. But turns out those video games are a great medium for Izuku to realize he sure wants to be like the cool protagonists who are heroes and help people, even if he's half convinced there are actually only like, five other people in the whole world.

4- As the years go by, Tomura 'loses his Izuku privileges' less and less often, and also Izuku plots his escape. When AfO is turned into a mashed potato, he runs. Tomura demands where he is because its not like any of this is his fault to punish for, and AfO is like 'uhm. yeah hold on. kurogiri what do you mean you dont know where he is.' so now Tomura is really mad and goes on the hunt for him, ignoring everyone else. AfO bemoans not giving a quirk to izuku in order to track him, then remembers that actually he didn't want to waste any quirk and shrugs, telling the other two to deal with Tomura and get them both back.

5- Izuku runs until he passes out, and a concerned woman calls an ambulance. at the hospital he doesn't have much info to give the worried people when he wakes, just "oh, yeah, my name's Izuku because Tomura doesn't like to share his last name and I think it sucks anyway since it's sensei's. But i ran away because i don't want to kill people or be stuck in a vault alone again. Uh no i don't have any family, oh except pro hero Eraserhead. can i stay here?". The hospital takes a blood sample in their examination and call the police. However they can't do much more before them logging that tips of Ujiko, who tips off Tomura out of sheer annoyance, and the kid shows up at the hospital threatening to dust everyone if Izuku doesn't come back with him right now. Izuku apologizes for the trouble, and agrees. Eraserhead is called to the hospital to give his own dna sample and is deeply concerned by the fact that it's a match and also everything the boy said. but hey, now they can start looking for him!

#pocket talks to people #anon #ask game

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siflshonen · 1 year

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BNHA “Presentations” Meta Masterpost

Please review these before asking me specific questions about BNHA. This post will be updated as I feel it is relevant.

Sequencing My Hero Academia’s “Manga DNA”: A Breakdown of Katsuki Bakugo | 1.0 | 2.0 | AO3 (updated to ver. 4.0)

This “presentation” post is a primer on Katsuki Bakugo’s character, influences, character arc, and meta. This post covers topics including Kohei Horikoshi’s manga influences, basic character roles in literature, a brief history of shonen manga and the real-world conditions in which the genre as we know it came to be, Japanese social and cultural references such as honne and tatemae, and other miscellaneous anime tropes.

Sequencing My Hero Academia’s “Manga DNA” II: A Breakdown of Izuku Midoriya (formerly titled, “Izuku Midoriya is Katsuki Bakugo's Destiny And It Makes Me Nauseous”)

This “presentation” post discusses Izuku Midoriya’s character and values from a broadly “conventional” Japanese cultural perspective. It also compares and contrasts Izuku and Katsuki’s status as narrative foil leads in a shonen series to other narrative foil leads in other classic, influential shonen series.

This presentation includes an in-depth discussion on platonic and romantic BakuDeku(Baku?) as well as my candid opinion about Naruto.

Eijiro Kirishima: Positively Reclaiming National Identity and Making Masculinity More Inclusive (with surprise guest Mina Ashido!) | 1.0 | 2.0 | Ao3 (updated to ver. 3.0)

This “presentation” post discusses Eijiro Kirishima’s character and arc as well as the real-life references his character’s aesthetic and “manly” actions and credo are meant to communicate. This post includes a discussion of Japanese delinquents and bosozoku, a brief and simplified history of the relationship of Japanese hypermasculinity and military/naval power, a brief discussion of kouha and nanshoku, and a brief general analysis of how Kirishima's early-series insecurities reflect those of an “emasculated” and outdated Japan in relation to Mina’s “effeminate” Japan of today. It also compares Kirishima and Mina’s history and character growth to Katsuki and Izuku’s.

Shoto Todoroki and the Middle Way (Formerly titled, “Original Character Do Not Steal: Why Shoto Todoroki's Best Quality Is Being Lame As Hell And the Fact That It Drives Katsuki Bakugo Nuts”)

This “presentation” post gives a brief overview of Shoto Todoroki’s character and arc, particularly as it relates to Katsuki’s. It discusses eastern notions of balance in all things and how Shoto’s personal quest for balance within himself and his turbulent family reflects upon Katsuki and Izuku’s interpersonal situation.

Todoroki: The Mountain, the Hawk, and the Haunted House | Part 1 | Part 2 | Ao3 (updated to ver. 2.0)

These “presentation” posts take a detailed look at the Todoroki family members and their stories, and provides a significant chunk of meta about Keigo Takami (Hawks). It covers the basics of Japan’s postwar western envy, the modern Japanese patriarchy, and ie family system as well as how these things relate to the characters and their motivations. These posts also discuss the parallels of several sets of characters including Keigo and Toya, Keigo and Deku, Endeavor/Enji and All Might/Toshinori, and Enji and Deku.

A Practical Solution to Ochako Uraraka and Katsuki Bakugo’s Mutual Problem (with surprise guest Himiko Toga!)

This “presentation” is formulated like a joke complete with some rough ribbing towards Deku. This discusses the similarities and differences in Uraraka, Bakugo, and Toga’s plots and relationships with Izuku Midoriya.

Trauma Doesn’t Make You Wrong or Right But it Does Make You Easier to Manipulate: Tomura Shigaraki and All for One (with surprise guests Eri, Tenko Shimura’s family, and the League of Villains!) | Ao3

This “presentation” discusses the similarities and overlap between Heroes, Villains and victims. It also breaks down how All for One is a personification of fascism throughout time and how he targets individuals, as well as what social or individual qualities he considers when choosing his marks. Oh, and this one discusses the nature of trauma and PTSD, how abuse perpetuates a cycle of itself, and how Shigaraki’s destructive rampage is really a cry for help.

From Shuichi Iguchi to Tomura Shigaraki and Bakugo Katsuki to Izuku Midoriya: With Love From Your Shadow | Ao3

This “presentation” discusses Spinner and his role in the story as well as how he and his relationship with Shigaraki parallels (or doesn’t parallel) Bakugo’s relationship with Deku.

#bnha #my hero academia #mha meta #bnha meta #bakugo katsuki #izuku midoriya #kirishima eijiro #todoroki shoto #mina ashido #spinner #shuichi iguchi #shigaraki tomura #tenko shimura #all for one #bnha manga spoilers

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villainsandvictimsalliance · 11 months

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"Have Toga and Dabi breached the quirk singularity point?" Given the placement of AM's "mind and body are one" line, I think so. I think Dabi awakened his ice this fight opposed to the time on Sekoto is cuz Shoto broke thru to him enough to get Touya to emulate someone other than Enji, and Quirk awakenings have always been tied to some kind of psychological shift in the user. I don't think he's regenerating though, his ice is just containing some of the damage. imo what's holding Toga back is while she does love the LoV, her fatal flaw is miscommunication and projecting her perfect ideal of a person unto them (see Deku and Ochaco), which clashes with Twice's Quirk actually needing to replicate a person. As for Quirks becoming uncontrollable, I think that's a self-serving self-fulfilling prophecy from AFO and Garaki. Big part of the series and the League as characters is they never got the help they needed because of their positions in society and how that overlapped with their Quirks, which left them no real outlet for their impulses or emotions created by that rejection and trapped them in their worst impulses. AFO actively groomed Tomura for that reason, so he'd be consumed by the psychological burden of his trauma and Quirk(s), which AFO could exploit. I think Tomura's mutating body is an extension of AFO parasitic influence desiring ever more power, since it seems to have stopped once Tomura regained himself since he doesn't desire OFA or care about getting more powerful for its own sake. If people can be wholly consumed their Quirk, AFO is def patient zero. This is contrasts with characters like Eri or Deku, who have powers that seem like uncontrollable burdens but learn to master them for good once they have people willing to help them. Especially with Eri being such a direct parallel to Tomura. That's the fundamental difference imo. Deku had people. The League didn't. If Deku manages to get Tomura to begin letting go of his desire for destruction, the body changes might revert on their own. The Quirk Singularity might mean the end if society remained as it was before the new gen, but with it in the hands of Deku and the rest and with more acceptance and recognition of the problems that lead to villains like the League forming, as well as saving the villains themselves, I think the ultimate message of collectivism and empathy will be demonstrated by the Singularity still happening, but allowing everyone to reach their full potential and safely self-actualize. Some Quirk related tragedies might be unavoidable, but they can be prevented from snowballing/being exploited like Tomura's/Eri's were. Of all things, Movie 3 convinced me the Singularity won't be stopped, since you'd have to get rid of Quirks entirely and that would be weird after Deku refuted that movie's villain's thesis that Quirks would inevitably cause chaos.

Sorry for the long reply.

I LIVE for the long replies, so don't worry.

You have an interesting take / interpretation of what is happening, one that engages with the theme and the plot, making sense as a whole. Even if the story ends up taking a turn and not being exactly what you're explaining, this is all a very possible and valid alternative ending for the manga.

I mostly ask those things to make people ponder where the story is going and why. For example, the readers should ask themselves where are the quirks going from here on in terms of evolution, what does it means to the story, how does it reveals the intention of the underlying theme. How does the actions of the hero kids are shaping the future of the hero society and the story itself?

These are great questions that are there in the manga right now, if you know where to look. Quirkless Toshinori facing AFO is meant to force the readers to question if, in the bnha future, quirkless people would be able to become pro-heroes through technology, for example. If so, what would it mean? How would it answer back to the beginning of the manga? We have second quirk awakenings and the quirk singularity theory and quirk restrictions based on feelings and the physiological aspects of the user...

Beyond trying to predict what will happen in the manga, I think this makes a cool critical analysis exercise.

#shan's asks #bnha #mha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #league of villains #lov #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha 390 #mha 390

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faux-ee · 2 years

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dabihawks will save each other in the end

Ok this is mostly just wishful thinking also I’m ugly sobbing while writing this so don’t expect too much

We all know that a thing that bnha does is giving each major hero a villain counterpart that they will set out to save. i.e. izuku & tenko, ochako & toga. some might argue that since hawks and dabi are not exactly main characters, they will not follow this pattern. But both of them have recently proved to be actually crucial as characters and to the storyline; hawks is the no.2 hero that as a matter of fact out performed the no.1, and hori devoted three chapters to dabi’s fight with his brother which didn’t even come to a proper end. I would say that hori put very much care into these characters; he would possibly care about them enough to give them this “save/be saved” storyline respectively.

Since hawks said that he saw himself in twice, we were all driven to think that maybe the villain counterpart he ended up saving was twice. He said himself that he had wanted to save twice; but we all know that’s not how things ended. he didn’t save his supposed villain counterpart, but killed him. his “save/be saved” storyline with twice has failed.

We all thought shoto was going to be the one who saved dabi, but look. Dabi is back into the fight without showing any sign of remorse. I’m not saying that the todobros fight is entirely pointless, because it IS very important, but this also showed that shoto didn’t save dabi. Yes, he saved his brother’s life, but he didn’t save Touya from his villainy, his hatred, his anger, and his will to die. Touya wasn’t redeemed. Therefore, dabi’s “save/be saved” storyline with shoto has resulted in a temporary failure, too.

Dabihawks, on the other hand, had been set up as character foils since day 1. at this point it seems like all they do would be keep foiling each other without interacting ever again. Like lines that run parallel to each other but never intersect. But perhaps we could still have a little hope that it isn’t the case, that their foiling storylines would ultimately intertwine with each other once more. They r both the first to know each other’s real name, after all these years; in this sense, touya was the first in the world to know hawks as keigo, and keigo was the first in the world to know dabi as touya. the emphasis on “deku/izuku” and “tomura/tenko” let us know that names in bnha are directly related to one’s inner self, often the self that needs to be saved. hawks and dabi are inarguably the first to SEE each other’s true self, the self that needs to be saved. what I’m trying to say is that there is no way in hell to just overlook the significance of dabihawks revealing their true names at the same time, in the presence of each other, to see it as another loose end hori didn’t remember to tie.

Unintentionally or intentionally, dabihawks are now given the opportunity to be in the same range of battlefield again, with dabi seeking out endeavor, and hawks needing endeavor’s aid in defeating afo. Neither of their “save/be saved“ storyline has had a satisfying end, so it might just be possible that they, as perfectly written narrative foils, will enter each other’s story again; there might just be a chance that Dabi is the Shigaraki to Hawks’s Izuku, the Toga to his Uraraka. thx for coming to my ted talk.

#dabihawks #mha dabi #mha hawks #still crying #im not ok #they r so beautiful #hori plz

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kitsunefyuu · 2 years

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Starting off strong this chapter.

All for One tends to switch between hero name or using their full name. So this is AFO talking right now since last I checked Tomura tends to not use full names like that. Pretty sure it AFO weird intimidation factor to say I’ll use your full name regardless of what you want.

Now onto the part I’m most curious about All for One’s goal though I have to admit it likely STILL not accurate. Tomura is still there after all but it definitely a much more accurate version of the goal that Aoyama mentioned.

Then suddenly his text format changed.

We are seeing Tomura’s face so this part is a lot more Tomura then AFO funny enough. Also the text format changed which ends up casting doubt on the accuracy. After all he wants to destroy it all and also being sarcastic definitely more a Tomura trait.

BUT I can say that at the least this does confirm one thing even if shaky. That All for One wants a world without differences and for everyone to be equal.

Tomura wants to destroy society so everything can start over and can make everything easier for himself and friends without the heroes. So there is SOME alignment in their goals which is likely why they are fusing at all despite Tomura wanting him gone.

Both Bakugou. It’s both, that why it so very very hard to know what AFO and what Tomura as they switch between so easily.

............................................What is with heroes being so murdery? LOL! Not that I expected anything less AFOmura is a huge threat. It just kinda funny hearing him say he going to make Tomura Swiss cheese.

It also confirms that Izuku didn’t exactly tell Bakugou about his plans to save Tomura. Not that I can blame him since while Bakugou can understand Shoto trying to save his brother- Tomura legit tried to kill everyone, he destroyed a city and Bakugou isn’t so compassionate as to risk everything to save a bastard.

This isn’t a bad thing in itself. In most context I understand it just it kinda looking like how Endeavor fight went...

....The parallels of having a realization while trying to murder the biggest baddest villain. It really feels like it setting up to show Bakugou about to get really hurt or in danger. Because this step is small, Bakugou only slightly gets it but he is missing the save to win part.

He isn’t saving Tomura from AFO and it might go wrong.

#yoly's theories #[ Well more like a reading but um... Parallels ]#MHA 358 #BNHA 358

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demonandangeltwins · 1 year

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I started watching First Kill (it’s on Netflix) and it’s amazing like TVD had a baby with Spn and that baby grew into a canonical lesbian.

That being said I have hardcore BkDk brain rot so here y’all go

Katsuki as Calliope his family is hardcore they’re here to kill bad guys his mom is in charge and will kick your ass and his dad is a good hunter, one of the best, as well as an amazing father.

Izuku is Juliette he doesn’t want to hurt anyone, he definitely doesn’t want to kill anyone but his dad is AFO and insists he take up the family honor of being cutthroat like his older brother tomura. He’s very much a mommas boy(still) she and him have a great relationship and she tries her best to keep the peace.

When they meet it’s obvious there’s something there.

I’m putting Shinsou as Izu’s best friend and maybe Kiri and Kami in the role of Baku’s brothers, they’d all be the same age, with the exception of Tomura being older. I think Tomuras twin would be toga just cause no one else fits. Maybe Shoto and Shinsou are both Izu’s best friends.

I haven’t finished the show so I’ll update with more parallels I choose to see.

#this show got canceled and I’m still upset about that #drafts #go watch it even though it ended the actresses did a fantastic job #bkdk #bakudeku

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class1akids · 2 days

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Some thoughts about Ch 419 - character agency and origin

I'm way behind, but wanted to add my 2c on the debate relating to the AFO "twist" and what it means for Tenko to have AFO at the core of his existence. It made me think once again of the Shouto-Shigaraki parallels .

I didn't take it quite as bad as some of the fandom, because:

we kind of already knew AFO was behind it, we just didn't know the full extent

unlike a lot of people, I didn't think that Tenko being saved by vestige magic hugs, sidestepping Tomura's adult personality and going hand in hand with child!Izuku to fight the big bad would have been a good conclusion.

I also don't think that Tenko not having any agency is necessarily a bad thing. You see, my favourite character, Shouto is a lot like Tenko. His birth, his quirk, the loss of his family, every trauma that shaped him as a child leads back to Endeavor. He's born to be his weapon to use as he wishes.

His lack of agency doesn't make him a boring character. In fact, I find it fascinating how the story shows us Shouto clawing back his agency, identity inch by painful inch, until he's able to stand firm and say - so I can AFFIRM the reason for being born. So let's look at saving Shouto, because I do think it's kind of a blueprint not only for saving Tenko/Tomura, but to Tenko/Tomura rising to save others.

And if we remember Shouto's journey - yes, it starts with a moment of a hero reaching out to him, reconnecting him to his child self who was told that he can choose who he wants to be, he can be a hero.

Notice though how being reconnected to his child self, is not an insta-save. Baby!Shouto doesn't just take over UA!Shoto and erase his personality or past mistakes. Shouto himself has to do the work. He has to face his own shitty choices, like giving the cold shoulder to Inasa or not seeing his mom for a decade and try to reconcile who he is NOW after the abuse, grooming and being driven by negative feelings. Taking ownerships of his mistakes (even if the source is Endeavor) is one of the ways to emancipation.

But it's also not a straight path. Shouto experiences being faced with his childhood dream as a nerf (just like Tomura did now lose to AFO) because of the trauma and doubts he carries. He momentarily loses his will to fight.

For people who never had agency in their lives like Shoto or Tomura, the simple truth that you get to make choices is hard to internalize and the constant doubt whether it's a choice you make by yourself or are you just walking down the path your "creator" set out for you remains.

And how could it not? Shouto wants to be a hero and wants to be not like his father who is the No 1 hero now. It's a contradiction, no? And it takes Shouto 200+ chapters to come up with an answer to reconcile the tension - he wants to be a reassuring hero - something Endeavor never was. Having this goal in his mind, he's able to accept more and more of the tools his father gave him - his quirk, Endeavor's techniques, even gear that looks like his father's - because as long as he's rooted in his own will, his own goal, he gets to keep his own identity, he gets to affirm his reason.

This is why I want not some idealized child Tenko to vanquish AFO. I think it's much more powerful if the person who makes a return is Tomura (who is also Tenko, but I use Tomura as a shorthand for his adult self, the person who he has become).

And while it's undeniable that AFO is deeply at the core of Tenko's origin (just like Endeavor is for Shouto), I also think he's gaslighting Tomura when he says Tomura never made a choice. And I'm talking about the League here specifically.

The bonds Tomura created with Touya, Toga, Spinner, Compress, Twice, Magne, etc - are fully choices he made. AFO let it happen - but the League (a place for outcasts to be accepted) are Tomura's choices.

Just as for Shoto the friends he made are instrumental in him earning his agency, being able to affirm his existence and not crumble from tragedy, the LoV is the key for Tomura to start to claw back his own.

And that's why I think it's narratively desirable for them to be part of Tomura's endgame (also to mirror Deku who would be fully an OFA/All Might creation if not for the friends and allies he made for himself and who all come to his aid in the end).

The League is also the place where the Tenko/Tomura faultlines can be reconciled into a whole. Tenko's desire to be heroic (to play with the outcasts) and Tomura's desire to stand with his allies/friends (the villains). So it boils down into a moment of wanting to be the Hero of the Villains. That's Tomura affirming himself right there. This is not AFO's path for him, but it's him reintegrating everything he has become, his truths and understanding of the world, his bonds that shaped him into that childhood dream. (It's like Shouto's "reassuring hero" moment).

And I think Tomura losing himself to the trauma, PTSD, etc. momentarily is ok too. He lost the rage that drove him forward (like Shouto in the final of the Sport Festival) and is untethered right now. He will need to find a positive emotion to become his drive to take him forward.

But his power will surface with the right trigger, just like Shouto showing up at the Stain fight wielding his newly liberated fire to help Deku was the real pay-off for their Sport Festival fight. (But only after Shouto digged deep inside himself and went to face his mother, face the existence he was given and the hurt it caused to his family with the actual reality.).

I think Tomura will also need a "deep dive" to compare his perception of the world to the current reality. Is society as passive and worthless as his perception of it? The heroes all fighting together, the civilians pitching in feels like there is a change compared to the passive hero society he remembers. But I think the real trigger should be / will be the LoV coming in. Because is it true that AFO made him choose them?

The LoV despite their bonds being real and deep couldn't save each other because they were all spiralling deep in their own traumas. But now Toga and Touya also had their own moments of reconnecting with their child self and having that child's original desire fulfilled (for Tenko - a hero came, for Touya - his family watched him, for Toga - someone accepted her as normal) but of course it's not a magic solution.

Because that moment would have saved the child they were, but not enough for their current selves. They will also have to make their own choices going forward. I think all of them can find the reason to face AFO now - Toga still wants to protect the things she likes, Touya maybe able to move beyond his father's reasons and look for his own, but not from a revenge perspective, Spinner is loyal, Compress I think will also come.

How, you ask? Well, Kurogiri is still black with bits of white. He still has in him the conditioning to protect Tomura, but also infused with Shirakumo's genuine care. I think just like Oboro helped the heroes to round up everyone, Kurogiri will round up Tomura's allies.

And once they are there, Tomura will rise up to them and will be the hero of the villains, joining forces with Deku and everyone to finally finish off AFO (and maybe save his friends). Because even with the little agency he had over his life, those choices were his alone, and he will be able to root his identity in that.

#bnha meta #bnha 419 #tomura shigaraki #lov #todoroki shouto #afo #shouto shigaraki parallels #bnha parallels #shimura tenko #class1a reads bnha

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cynosra · 2 years

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Dabi really has jumped out of the frying pan into the fire, hasn’t he? He got separated from his family, where everything revolved around the golden child, with the children, that were failed experiments, getting ignored by their father, only to end up in a facility where, again, everything revolved around a golden child, with the children, that were failed experiments, this time (most likely) getting turned into Nomus.

Additionally, this creates an interesting parallel between Shoto and Tomura, of all people, with both of them being the golden child and Touya, in both cases, being one of the failed children getting thrown aside.

This might also explain at least part of Dabi’s distaste for Tomura. To him, Shoto, as well as Tomura, are both nothing more than their respective fathers’/father figures’ little dolls without a will of their own. (Of course, Dabi is wrong on this one and it’s on Shoto to prove him wrong.)

And so, this might be the reason Dabi didn’t lift a single finger to help Tomura writhing on the floor in pain in chapter 335 while showing sympathy and understanding towards Himiko only six chapters later. Personally, I think he somewhat saw himself in Himiko, while all he saw in Tomura was nothing more than a Shoto expy.

And now, I wonder, whether all of this is possibly hinting at Shoto not only saving his brother but also being directly involved in saving Tomura. I mean, it would make sense as Shoto is an origin character just like Midoriya, Bakugou, and Tomura.

We all know Midoriya will have to do the lion’s share in accomplishing this goal. And since Bakugou doesn’t really have any ties to any other major villain minus All For One (plus him and Midoriya being pretty much joined at the hip these days), it’s really unlikely for him to not be involved in saving Tomura. And if origin characters number 1, 2, and 4 are major players of the most important storyline of the manga, it would be kinda weird to leave out origin character number 3 completely.

#bnha #bnha spoilers #bnha 350 #dabi #todoroki shoto #shigaraki tomura

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mysterylover123 · 4 years

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BNHA Chapter 285: I’m Not Ready to Say Goodbye

mysterylover123

Yesterday: “I’ll go on Tumblr for just a minute. Surely no spoilers have leaked yet”. Instantly learns: “HEADLINE: INTERNET HAS GONE CRAZY DUE TO BAKUGOU PRETTY MUCH DYING”.

never go on tumblr on thursdays

Honey I was wondering about this. So unless Deku manifests a healing/regeneration quirk right the Ff now we’re gonna have to start looking into some robot arms.

Don’t you dare get my hopes up Shiggy. I saw those leaks I know how this ends.

sobs

You’re making your boyfriend worry so much Deku.

Quick, time for some TD/BK to distract me from my emminent feels!!

YAS I KNEW YOU WOULDN’T LEAVE TDDK OUT OF THIS! THE OT3 IS COMPLETE. (and apparently about to become an OT2 sobbbbbbssssss)

HE SAID THAT CAUSE HE WAS WORRIED ABOUT DEKU OH. MY. GOD. Litereally everything Bakugou has ever done is now legitimately interpretable through a “cares about Deku” lens.

MORE BB BKDK SOB HORI WHAT’RE YOU DOING TO ME

Guess who just rewatched season 1 guess who’s drowning in BKDK feels you got it me

I’m sure this’ll work. Hey Endeav remember the last time you used this attack on a regenerating League of Villains baddie? Remember what he did to you IMMEDIATELY AFTER that looks remarkably similar to those leak images?!

is Tomura actually getting possessed by the Ghost of AFO or something?

Shoto’s gon lose his dad and his boyfriends in one day dammit our 1/2 and 1/2 boy doesn’t deserve this mus protecc shoto he deserves the world

IKR? That’s what we’re all thinking!

shit shit crap here it comes

SAD BKDK MONTAGE TO MAKE THE MOMENT HURT AS MUCH AS FUCKING POSSIBLE BECAUSE OF COURSE KACCHAN’S LAST THOUGHTS WILL BE OF DEKU AND MY OTP NEEDS THEIR SWANSONG DAMMIT IS THIS THE LAST RIDE?!

I think this image has burrowed its way into my psyche and will never leave until I either reach the series’ final chapter and see Katsuki getting a happy ending or know for sure if this is the last time we’ll ever see him next week. please oh please oh please oh please don’t be dead

I know a lot of people are being like “chill, he’s not dead, he’s a shonen character”. But I also know that this series is known for subverting shonen tropes. Hori doesn’t do things by the books and doesn’t like to be predictable. If he wants to kill Kacchan then Kacchan’s dead, that’s all there is to it. I don’t want this to be the end. But until next week...well, even beyond that, there’s no way to know for sure. If this is where Bakugou (And BK/DK)’s story ends...well, I can’t say it isn’t poetic and moving. To have Bakugou decide to sacrifice his life for Izuku, it’s pretty much the ultimate expression of both love and character development. It would hurt like hell but if it is, I’ll just have to deal with it. If it is, Deku is about to lose his shit so badly there won’t be enough of Shigaraki left to scoop up with a teaspoon.

If it’s not, then this moment marks an unbelievable growth for our hero. I haven’t failed to notice that the title is “Rising”, which is likely an allusion to both Movie #2 and Yaoyorozu Rising, volume 8. The latter is really interesting to me, since that was Momo’s biggest moment of character journey in the early part of the series, and Baku is channelling her a bit here, taking over as the commander (makes those TDMM/BKDK parallells even stronger too). If Baku does live, with his quirk gone maybe, this will change things for the Wonder duo. Baku has decided to do saving, and saving Deku. I worry that him losing his quirk would drive Deku pretty far over the edge as well. And maybe have him offer to share OFA with him like in HR. And I’m not sure how this new dynamic would play going forward, though it would also be pretty poetic.

Either way I’m drowning in feels and I can’t write anymore and I need to go pretend my heart’s not broken into pieces and wait in agony for next friday. Never go on tumblr on thursdays, people. Just don’t do it.

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yanderenightmare · 4 years

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HEADCANNONS

KINKS & FETISHES part two

goodiebage WARNINGS: yandere, abuse, noncon/dubcon, arson, threats, Stockholm Syndrome, mind control, narcissism, sadism, slavery, torture

PART ONE

YANDERE ! KATSUKI BAKUGO - KACHAN POWERPLAY

It’s been said before and it will continue to be preached until the end of time: Katsuki is a full-blown narcissist, and he loves making his dominance excruciatingly clear. He rarely uses any form of bondage, enjoying being the sole reason his darling stays in her place. Hand around her throat, squeezing that weak windpipe, forcing those precious sweet squeaks from her throat, feeling them simmer against his palm. Capturing her tiny delicate wrists between his fingers, squishing until bones pop and she swears in spluttering whines that he’s snapped and broken something. His knee digging into the doughy flesh of her thigh, causing sharp tickling pain to shoot straight through her flesh, all in an exaggerated effort at keeping her beneath him.

He’ll be degrading, especially in a suggestive way. His entire bone-crushing weight pressing down into her, constricting and controlling what air gets to pass down to her lungs, while he knowingly asks her how good it feels when she begins to clamp down around the girth of his cock, feeling her warm wet walls convulse and spasm each time he pumps his sopping swollen tip into the spongey feel of her cervix. Teasing, taunting and mocking words flying along with spit through his grit teeth onto her face, as the tab of his thumb rubs tight circles onto the bead of her clit. Anything resembling self-control can be written off as a cruel joke, when they both know her entire composure is at his mercy. Reduced to simply stimuli and response at his fingers, her reactions on his beck and call.

YANDERE ! DABI - TODOROKI TOUYA BEGGING KINK

He wants to see her kneel, he wants to see her crawl, he wants to hold that perfect little face between his palms and make her shiver and quake at the feel of his warming hands, threatening to mar her soft and supple skin up until it’s nothing but tough purple leather like him, with no hope of healing. He wants to see her cry, he wants it loud as though her sobs could shatter glass, he wants it ugly as though no one could look at her and call her beautiful except for him. He wants all of it as his studded cockhead pokes at her inside, all the while where he pounds into her ruthlessly and savagely, hearing her feeble broken pleas tremor beneath the palm he’s placed wrapped deadly around her throat, fingers bending and plunging into her delicate neck.

Then he wants to show mercy, he wants to glide his lanky boney fingers through her soft hair, hush and coo at her to quit her sniveling and shaking. He’ll have her on his chest, listening to her mumble out sweet forms of gratitude and other soft-tinted apologies. Her lips admiring his piercings, laying worship on them as though praying at an altar. Finding utter unlocking blissful satisfaction, as though some war has been won, at the fact that she’ll never be able to leave him, because he’s made the idea of leaving him seem like death in her brittle mind, not because he would hunt her down, but because she cannot hope to live without him.

YANDERE ! SHIGARAKI TOMURA FOOT FETISH

Just look at them. So dainty and petite compared to his, so small compared to anything, fitting so perfectly in his hand, soft skin in contrast to his dry toughened and calloused hands. And so very sensitive and ticklish, both beneath the touch of his fingers and teeth and tongue and cock. Pink wriggling toes, curling and crinkling until they cramp as he bottoms-out inside her, just begging for him to bite them while he fucks her harder, unable to go anywhere with her ankles shackled together, the chain pulled over his head and resting at his neck with her precious feet made to hang off his shoulders, only able to pull him closer.

Tomura learned quickly when playing with his darling that a woman’s feet are a woman’s weakness, because as she begs him not to touch her, begs him to stay away, once he wraps his hand around her ankle and drags her back to where he wants her, thigh-high sock slowly being pulled off to reveal her legs and coming off at her pedicured toes, foot enclosed in his strong hands, making her bones pop in a much needed message, she’ll moan in a way parallel with how lude she’ll croak with his fat cock drilling into her.

YANDERE ! SHINSO HITOSHI BONDAGE KINK

Who would not find it cute? A little pussycat all knotted up in a ball of yarn, with no hope of escaping, all trapped and vulnerable and begging for Master’s help. Her fingers dancing in the air, wrists tightly locked together, under full understanding that they’re completely useless under the circumstances, having no purpose except for stroking his cock in those moments he’s come close enough, yet not having the courage to sink her claws into the tender squishy flesh of his length because he has her other delicate bits on full display, all for him to destroy if she is to give him the right motivation, if she gives him an excuse to punish her.

He can play nice if she plays along, if she expresses her gratitude on cue like he’s taught her, if she asks for permission, if she begs enough. Either way, she’s not getting out of his trap. Either way, he’ll have his way, which is all that’s important to him. He knows she’ll enjoy herself whether she wants to or not, he’ll see to it up close and personally. Whispering small commands in her ear when she decides to be difficult, telling her to focus, telling her to forget everything except for him and those hands of his and that tongue of his and those teeth of his and that fat veiny cock of his, playing with her, forcing her to see stars.

YANDERE ! TAKAMI KEIGO - HAWKS MARKING KINK

It’s a need, it’s a necessity, it’s an instinct more than a desire. He’ll be rigid and manic and swivel-eyed, unable to feel at all at ease or at peace with her skin being unadorned and healed and ridden of his teeth-marks and claw-marks and love-bites. They belong on her just as much as that angel-coated set of wings on her back. His name belongs carved into her chest with the handy use of one of his crimson feathers just as much as that feather belongs in the flock on his own back. They need to be ever present on her body or else he’s risking her forgetting who it is that she belongs too.

She doesn’t really need clothes. Keigo likes her ready for the taking at all times. Expensive clothing articles just go to waste if they fall prey to him having to rip them to shreds when removing them unceremoniously from her body, especially when she’s so adamant on resisting him. Besides, if she’s all covered up in silks and whatnot, how is his need to see himself on her skin expected to be satiated? And, she looks so cute trying and struggling to cover herself up, with only her hands and feathers to use in hiding herself from Keigo’s prying eyes.

YANDERE ! MIDORIYA IZUKU - DEKU DADDY-KINK

Whether it’s sparked by his need to help and protect his little darling from harm and the dangers of the world, or because his own father abandoned him as a child, he does not give it too much thought, despite his darling often times asking for an explanation when he has her bent over his knee, sharp slaps printed on the dome of her ass while she’s made to beg Daddy for forgiveness, her otherwise perfect milky skin now bruised with ugly purple and blues, further indicating Izuku’s ownership of her. Come to think of it, maybe it’s because the title inspires authority, something of which he demands all responsibility of.

She’s his little girl, his little baby, his little Bunny, in desperate dangerous need of Daddy’s firm hand to teach her right from wrong, to teach her proper manners and proper posture and how to properly bounce up and down the length of his cock. Manners including begging Daddy to let her cum, whereas posture is learned and achieved through lesson after lesson where they train in keeping her ass arched up when her head is buried face-down in the pillow, with Daddy’s cock skewering her from behind, her little ass earning a bright-red slap each time her posture fails, her little ditzy brain unable to take simple directions with all the blood pooling in her brain.

YANDERE ! CHISAKI KAI - OVERHAUL LINGERIE KINK

She looks so perfect clad in expensive customized lace-roses and patterned mesh. Straps connecting her garner-belt to her thigh-high socks, all decorated with rosery swirls and diamonds and pearls, the golden clasps acting as a thing to admire and a puzzle to solve before he can slide her out of her underwear. Bralette granting minimum support as he wants to see her mounds in their natural perfection, the invisibility of the mesh-fabric leaving little to the imagination with her nipples on full display. Teddies too are such a delicate and exquisite playful attire for him to dress her up in. Intricate and ornate patterns adorning the fabrics both of silk and satin and velvet and cotton and lace, two small buttons positioned at her entrance for easy access.

Way too short skirts to even come close to fulfilling their purpose of hiding her privates. With their fluffy taffeta and tulle propping the skirt up into a wet-dream fairy-tutu costume. Kimonos too are such a sweet soft form of unwrapping a present. Tendrils of ribbon tying into big splendid flamboyant bows all for him to tug and make fall apart to open what glory found inside the packaging. Ruffles adorning the sleeves and every other edge in cutesy doll-like fashion. Colors of pastel pinks and creams in stark contrast to his black suit-pants when he makes her take a seat on his knee.

YANDERE ! TODOROKI SHOTO AFTERCARE KINK

It’s more than a duty, it’s a pleasure as well, something to look forward to, something to cherish. To have her broken bruised sweat-slicked radiant body, shivering from the cold or feverish and delirious from the heat, all fallen into a feeble mess of tired aching limbs, and her so very preciously dumb blissed-out state of mind, with words incoherently mumbled and blubbered and hiccupped out into the air with no true goal inside her fried little head. Her eyes heavy-lidded and pupils opium-wide, unable to focus on anything with the rapturous frenzied-high that has shaken her body ablaze and rendered her all but a febrile mess.

She’s so cute with all her humanity having been broken, leaving her as a wild cotton-eyed bleating little lamb as he places her in the hot-tub, careful to join her so she not drown in her absentminded euphoria. It takes time to come down from the fever, her body involuntarily fallen prey to spasms and convulsions wreaking through to her toes as they crinkle under the pressure, with her voice outing small whimpering sighs and moans. Shoto’s right hand ghosting over those fresh red and blue and purple galaxies adorning her body, cooling the swelling skin down, calming the blood gushing out from popped veins as he whispers sweet soft-spoken comforting nothings into her ear, cooing and hushing at her to let him kiss everything better.

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ignitification · 3 years

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It’s me the Shigaraki survivalist again lol

It’s cool you don’t agree I guess I just want to get my thoughts out

You said it’s unrealistic for Deku to save Shigaraki and them to work together—but the way I see it is that’s exactly what the story has been building up to. In a world where nothing is really “unrealistic” I really truly think it’s very in the realm of where the story is going. Shigaraki does look tired, because he has never been given a break. The thing is, BNHA isn’t a tragedy! (I think Hawks’s arc will be a tragedy but that’s a whole different discussion)

I just cannot see how Deku will be crowned “the greatest hero who ever lived” meanwhile the one person who needed him most is lying there dead. It just doesn’t feel convincing, especially in a shonen story. As far as the story is concerned, Shigaraki is still a child and never had a chance to grow up (it’s a coming of age story for Deku and Shigaraki). And you can’t celebrate being the greatest hero who ever lived while a “child” is dead. And I 100% expect Shigaraki and Touya to be very difficult to save (kinda like Kota from the training camp arc, but Deku saved him didn’t he?)—they’re gonna decline the help at first obviously. They have no reason to trust heroes, which is why I think Deku and Shoto are going to have to prove that they mean it—and they will, because they do.

I just feel like Shigaraki dying completely cancels out Deku’s main goal of “saving everybody”—which has been his thing since the beginning. Shigaraki was, in the eyes of the narrative, All Might’s responsibility to save, and he failed. Not only is Deku going to have to clean up the OFA/AFO mess, he’s gonna have to clean up the mess that All Might could have prevented (I’m not blaming All Might completely but as far as the story is concerned, and All Might is concerned—he definitely bares some responsibility for Tenko’s fate).

It’s as you said we don’t know what Horikoshi is going to do, but a girl can hope lol

I just don’t feel like the story is going to end with the message of “not everybody can be saved”. I just feel that there is so much more hope in this story than people give it credit for! Shonen typically reeks of hope and optimism, and even now BNHA still has that hopeful, optimistic energy, not grimdark realism. I think Horikoshi will pull this off and it’s gonna be awesome. And if you are right and Shigaraki does die, I honestly will consider it a huge waste of a character who could have and should have been saved, just like Touya, who I also think is 100% going to make it out alive.

Hey, Shigaraki Survivalist!

Glad you’re putting you opinion out here.

Getting onto matters, I would like to maybe clarify my statement: I do not think it is unrealistic for Shigaraki and Deku to work together (I think rather that it would be absolutely fair, and maybe cathartic) and I do agree that is what is likely to happen, sooner or later.

As for BNHA not being a tragedy, I think that it already is. Look at how Touya, Shigaraki and the same Izuku grew up: discriminated against, bullied, neglected and abused. If this is not a tragedy, I do not know what is. But if by that you meant that the general mood of the story is supposed to be one of instilling hope and instead letting people know that there is always a way one, and that there is still some possibility of saving if there is a will. I fully agree on that. The themes in BNHA are the real tragedy, but you are absolutely right when you say that the message is ‘People make mistakes. But that’s not the end. They can change and correct those mistakes, apologise, amend. Things can change.’ and not ‘Not everyone can be saved’ (even if, here, I would like to argue that Twice’s death message is exactly that but I don’t want to digress).

Also, not going to lie, I really like the positivity I feel from your message. It puts a smile on my face thinking that there is someone out there fully believing that salvation will come because there is someone who wants it to come. It’s a good thing. It’s a thing I, for one, do not have so thank you for doing that, this really brightened my evening.

Now, onto a more heavy part of the post. I wanted to talk about All Might, and how he did fail, even if not entirely by himself, to save Shigaraki. First of all, I would like to notice the particular panel which tells us that ‘You can save only those you can reach’.

This panel is telling in more ways than one. All Might specifically addresses Izuku in saying this, while not literally meaning it (or at least not expecting Izuku to understand it so literally). All Might ( and I talked about it here) is a character which sets up the bar high for Hero standards (and is seen as an idol so far gone, that no one could ever possibly reach him) - and that is exactly why Izuku bears this 'lesson' stoically and tries to save everyone ever more than before. Because if All Might could do it, Izuku feels like he should be able as well (while not considering the disproportion in between them, and I mean in experience and just relatively emotionally).

I mean Izuku feels a high burden with OfA, and to deal with AfO, and sometimes he can get very much extreme - but exactly for that, as you said, he would never feel as if he succeeded if he does not manage to save Shigaraki. Because if All Might is capable of brushing this aside, justifying himself by saying that he couldn't have done anything to prevent it and that it is impossible after all to save everyone, Izuku is not. Izuku feel so deeply that he cries for others, he rages for others, he longs for others with a great smile on his face because that is what it's expected of him.

And he likes to fulfil those expectation, whether that kills him, injuries him or anything else (as we saw him being all bandaged up in 299 and with no sign to recover any soon).

However, this what I mean when I say that Tomura looks tired:

He fails to understand how him not being saved is not actually a fault of someone (heroes/society, you name it - even if he does realise much later), but his first instinct as a kid is to blame himself and to tell that this, is is his punishment. He deserved it. And he does deserve to a degree what has happened to him since, because he is guilty of something he will never be able to forgive himself for and that is why he is they he is now.

I do think, that Touya, even being more self-destructive than Shigaraki, is an easier subject to save. I am not saying this because I think Dabi’s trauma or problems are easier to solve, but because Shouto understood him (to some extent) and with the sentence ‘I am him? referring to Touya and his intentions he is unwillingly showing us that Touya’s path to redemption (summed with Endeavour’s arc) are all pointing at Touya being saved, no matter how bad the situation gets. He, still scarred and lonely, does have a family out there caring for him. Or at least wanting to get to the bottom of things and not leave him to burn to death, alone. Again.

Shigaraki, on the other hand, does not have such a thing. Kurogiri has been captured, AfO is using him and the only guy who thought of Tomura as a human being, other than a bad villain, is Deku. I do not want say that this is not enough, but with all the burden that Izuku is already carrying at the moment, can he also bear on himself the weight of saving Shigaraki? I really hope he does, but as anyway as it will be, I think that Deku will try. He will try to get that hand reaching out to Tomura and even if skeptical about it, I hope Shigaraki takes the chance and takes it. He does deserve a break. He deserves a blanket, a cup of steaming tea and a hot long nap in a warm bed. A hug is optional.

One of the themes I never touched upon is also, the found family of the League and Hawks. I really am waiting for more insight into the League’s members feeling for Twice, and maybe holding a funeral. I am also waiting for them to discuss Hawks.

On which, my last point for this post: Hawks’ story, serves as a parallel to Dabi’s. We see how the abuse can bring to two extremes: one becoming a villain and focusing on hate, and the other focusing on idolising and becoming a hero (and in the meantime trying to forget everything else). I want Hawks to face consequences for his actions, and I want him to understand that he, too, is a victim and that atoning for his father’s crimes is not the way to go. He also needs to break free of the past and let go. I really hope that instead of clinging into past ideals and Endeavour, he realises that there is something highly wrong with the society he is fundamental part of and that he break free. If he doesn’t, as has been already put out there by some amazing posts I read, it will after all end in tragedy. Once a friend told me how Hawks was a tragic hero, and I might disagree but I do think that the name is fitting. But it’s not like that will change things. Only we can - and I hope everyone realises that.

p.s. Look at this panel, during the last moments of fight between Shigaraki and Deku.

And after that the realization of Izuku, that Shigaraki, who he does want to save is not only suffering internally, but as well externally, because of AfO and whatever is going on. Exhausted beyong recognition.

Look at Shigaraki's form. He looks like he is right about to collapse. There is a hand stretched out, in help, in resignation, in sadness, in pain. But his other hand is almost clenching, hard, noy wanting to let go. Tomura is after all trying to fight the entity within him, while also trying not to lose himself and look out for everything that might come in its way outside.

And finally, there is someone who looks through the hand on his hand, through the cracks of his identity, through every wall Tomura has put in between himself and others in order to protect them, and himself, from the absolute monster he thinks he is.

And it's, at the same time both ironic and daunting how these same words are also the works Deku speaks to Kacchan while saving him from the Sludge Villains. There is a direct parallel between Katsuki, who had hated Deku while being afraid of being inferior to him and that did not want his helo because he would feel too weak, and Shigaraki, who has no will of getting himself saved by anyone, but especially by the kid that denied him the objective of gaining OfA and defeating everything and the same kid who seems to feel something other than disgust for him. Both Katsuki and Shigaraki are opposites to Izuku.

So, if Izuku saved Kacchan, who in return saved Deku after accepting the fact that he and Izuku, are, after all, hero AND friends who care about each other, it would be nice to see where this is going to go with Tomura. And see if, maybe, just maybe, it is possible for Shigaraki to stop being Shigaraki and be Shimura Tenko instead.

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ghostlycreatoruniverse · 3 years

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This is not Dabi’s end yet: Touya and Anakin Skywalker

In last days I read that Dabi is basically over: he’s narrative purpose is fulfilled and now he could even go out with a bang in a blaze of glory.

I partially agree with this: we finally got to see part of his backstory and who he really is and now that Dabi considers himself satisfied he hasn’t much left to do. So he might as well... die here.

On the other hand this would reduce consistently Todorokis drama. In fact the role of an hero is to save and to win; as things are now, Dabi is ready to kill and thus Shoto hasn’t much choice in the matter.

Instead if Dabi were to survive Shoto will have to face the brutal dilemma with his own family. Dabi is a villain and has to be put down somehow, but they are brothers after all; can he really kill his own brother despite it all? Or maybe it’s worthy trying to incapacitate and save him?

Because this is the very core of being an hero. Doing the right choice. Being an icon. As matter of fact this ideology is brought up by Stain into the extreme: many heroes during this arc went for a kill, while All Might despite how he felt hadn’t even tried to kill All for One nor he demanded it. he even felt guilty towards Shigaraki and was desperate about him.

Having Dabi dying now would mean that Shoto has no choice in the process (Dabi has the upper hand, if he wants to kill he can as he likes; and he will) and the only reasonable outcome would be for him to go all along. That would mean legitimate defence and the Todorokis will end their purpose. Instead having him sticking around would mean for Shoto to go and face his family in the try of choose what to do when he will meet up with Dabi again.

This is something that was already seen in a very known franchise: Star Wars.

It’s common knowledge that Horikoshi loves Star Wars and in general and My hero academia contains lots of reference to it.

Even Touya’s old jumpsuit had a logo that resemble Rebel Alliance’s one. So I started to think about it, being a huge nerd of Star Wars myself.

All for One’s helmet greatly remind of Darth Vader’s; however his role is much closer to Senator Palpatin aka the Emperor. In fact Palestine sired many heirs like Darth Maul (The Phantom’s Menace), count Dooku/ Darth Tyranus (Attack of the clones) and the most known Anakin Skywalker, later known as Darth Vader.

I don’t think a precise parallel can be done, but it was specified that Darth Maul was kind of adopted and groomed by Darth Sidious/ Palpatine from a very young age. And we can even see that Palpatine baptise someone with their Sith name. So we can expect that Shigaraki Tomura’s birth wasn’t that different than Darth Maul’s.

Back to Dabi instead, his Star Wars parallel is tied to one of the most iconic identity revelation in the cinema history: Dart Vader telling Luke he is his father.

As I mentioned, you can see the Rebel alliance’s symbol on Touya jumpsuit; and in fact the Rebel Alliance was founded by three senators, Padmè being one of them. From day one, Skywalker’s family was a disaster, with a father who tried to killed the mother feeling betrayed by her and the two twins being separated for many years, until they grew up. Much like Todorokis family, Skywalkers are really messed up .

However maybe many of you might not know that Darth Vader’s identity wasn’t defined as Anakin from day one. In fact after the huge success of Star Wars (later renamed “A new Hope”)Lucas decided to write a sequel. For this purpose he hired a novelist, Brackett, and thus the second movie , The empire strikes back back, was written. Brackett chose ti described Anakin as a good father and a phantom who could aid and teach his son Luke. However she died before speaking to Lucas about this and he, without a script , had to do it all alone. This is the firsttime the concept of Darth Vader and Anakin being the same person was introduced.

This means that in the first movie, Darth Vader and Anakin were two totally different characters. Then suddenly they merged into one in the second movie.

This was a smart choice but it was brought by fate and thus created a great plot hole on how Anakin turned into Darth Vader, while he had already been described as a just and honourable Jedi.

Star Wars fans finally had an answer with the third movie , the Return of the Jedi, thanks to Obi Wan Kenobi’s ghost.

Later on, a complete story was given on-screen with the three following movies (The Phantom’s menace, Attack of the clones and The revenge of the Sith) in which the all story of Anakin was told from A to Z.

The point is.... Star Wars fandom was fine with being told Darth Vader was Luke’s father all along without any further explanation and totally out of the blue.

And this went on for many years until the Regenge of the Sith (2005).

Dabi’s revelation is similar to Darth Vader’s. Both the villains were towering above the hero, while the other were weakened. Both reveals were welcomed with total shock and denial by the hero. And in both cases Endeavor and Luke went numb and weren’t able to react anymore. Even Dabi’s clothing resembles Vader’s dark clothes, and beware Dabi and Tomura are the only villains who dress mainly in black (Toga and Spinner have colourful outfits, Magne was very casual, Compress is still very colourful and his black is rather an elegantblack and not a I’m-so-evil-black, while Twice has an half black half grey costume).

Another similarity both Touya and Anakin shared is how they died and how they alias were born: in fact while Touya’s death is still surrounded by mystery but overall is linked to Endeavor; Anakin was defeated and horribly mutilated by Obi Wan. More specifically Obi Wan cut off Anakin’s legs and one arm but more interesting, they were near a magma river in a vulcanic planet called Mustafar, the same name Horikoshi used for My Hero Academia’s main city. Being near such a burning river, Anakin’s body took fire and he basically burnt alive.

The last dialogue between Obi Wan and Anakin is very important too.

Obi Wan is almost crying, yelling that Anaking was supposed to be the chosen one, the one who would heave ended siths, not joining them, and who would have put balance in the Force. While fighting Obi Wan even said Anakin he was “his greatest failure”.

Obi Wan is a much beloved Jedi, but it’s obvious that, like Endeavor, he poured onto Anakin all of his hope for a legacy he couldnt conquer. Much like Enji, Obi Wan was a father figure for Anakin and a great mentor he respect a lot. It was Palpatine the one who put distance between Obi Wan and Skywalker with the intent of conquering the boy and never make him fulfill the prophecy.

In the same comparison, Touya is clearly Anakin. In the same dialogue he tells Obi Wan he will die and that to him Sith aren’t pure evil... Jedis are. Finally when Obi Wan beart him he yells murderous scream; “I hate you!”. With a murderous light in his eyes, much like Touya was totally crazy about the idea of killing Endeavor.

Many other traits of Sith and villain could be compared randomly, especially because Darth Vader was one of the main villain and most iconic character in Star Wars whole Dabi is and will be important but not as Tomura will be.

However if this comparison stand strong then few things might be speculated about Dabi.

The first is that we miss an important part of his background and we might have all of it much later then we could expect, quite like it happened with Darth Vader. And Star Wars fans got his full backstory after he died, so wether Dabi survive or not , this might be completely irrelevant. His story can go on.

The second one, Darth Vader was corrupted by the Emperor. He has a darkness inside of him, but Palpatine definitely broke him for good. Similarly, he was the one who cured Vader. I aspect someone at least cured Touya creating Dabi at the very least.

The third one is... that Darth Vader redeemed himself. At the very last, when the emperor is torturing Luke, finally Anakin makes his come back and kills the Sith to protect his son. While doing this, his armour is compromise and he will soon die. Later on we have the certainty of his redemption because Anakin take part to the feast for the fall of the empire as a ghost in Obi Wan’s and Yoda’s company. If Dabi will follow a similar path the only way out/ redemption for him probably will be similar and maybe he could save Shoto in one last change of heart before his own death.

Before anyone would comment about Dabi being a psychopath who never will do this, I’ll remind you that Darth Vader was a solid tyrant for approximately 20 years, he systematically killed all his fellow Jedis and Padawans, he cut Luke’s hand off, capture his own daughter Leia, killed his own beloved mentor and friend Obi Wan, he was about to smothering his beloved wife Padmé, he annihilated a planet or two and was building a massive weapon of destruction called “Black Death”. Twice. I’m confident Vader killed much more people than what Dabi could possibly had and eventually will do. And he was way more messed than Dabi was, still he got his redemption.

If he could make it, even Dabi eventually can.

#bnha dabi #Dabi #my hero acadamy #boku no hero #chapter 290 #chapter 291 #chapter 292 #spoiler #spoiler 292 #dabi character study #character comparison #Star Wars #sorry for the format I don’t know why it’s so weird #ask me if you wanna discuss more about it #boku no hero academia #bnha chapter 292

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