#afo feels offended by this very much so

[super-paper]

Highlights Summary of the new event in MHUI

The LOV gets a fancy new hideout!

They immediately take out a load bearing wall and cost the PLF hundreds of thousands in property damage. :)

The chaos begins bc Twice made a bunch of clones for the league to beat up spar with-- Twice thinks they should be able to mop the floor with their clones because they all powered up during their fight with the MLA (with Compress futilely attempting to point out that Twice’s clones all have the same exact combat ability as the originals), and Spinner is a little mean and asks the clones to just go away (lmao). Clone!Dabi and Clone!Tomura’s feelings get hurt, Clone!Tomura retaliates by decaying part of the PLF villa and Clone!Dabi just starts setting stuff on fire. Completely healthy expressions of sadness as always, boys!

The league eventually defeats their wildin’ clones, but are left with a very-large-very-noticeable-very-on-brand hole in the side of the PLF villa. They decide to do the logical, forthcoming, and responsible thing and hide all evidence of their involvement.

The League: >talk about how good and experienced they are at hiding evidence

>They proceed to get caught immediately.

Rather than own up to anything, they all run away and hide in a dark room. These are the guys that destabilized all of Japan.

Side note: Tomura’s blasé reaction to whatever hijinks the LOV instigate is one of the best things about their group dynamic. Like yeah, Tomura, this might as well happen. they’re having fun so what the fuck ever right. no matter what insane bullshit they get up to, he just hopes it kills him first.

“Are you The League of Morons!?” D... Do you want a serious answer.

They encounter Skeptic, who was apparently just…. Sitting alone in that dark room, monitoring the league through hidden cameras this whole time?? Most of the league is understandably creeped out. Noticeably, Tomura doesn’t have any real reaction to his privacy being invaded by either the LOV (who barged into his room without knocking at the start of the event) or Skeptic (who again, basically admitted to monitoring him in his bedroom through surveillance cameras) at any point during this event— which fits with his lore about growing up under constant video surveillance by AFO. :’)  Let’s give the MHUI devs a round of applause for their canon compliant fridge horror!

Skeptic diverts attention away from his voyeurism by calling the league out for destroying PLF property. ReDestro and Trumpet also appear, much like ineffective chaperones on a middle school field trip, and scold the LOV for their wanton property damage (this is made funnier when you remember that Tomura absolutely cratered the base of their operations like a week ago-- ya’ll knew what he was about). Trumpet asks the LOV if any of them are able to use their quirks to fix the damaged wall.

Tomura’s suggestion for fixing the wall? Just destroy the entire villa and rebuild it from scratch (smart). He even offers to lend a hand returning the settings to zero (kind). He gently but firmly emphasizes that the LOV is a team and reminds Trumpet that there is no “I” in anarchy (patient)-- Destruction is OUR thing. :)

Trumpet knows a landmine when he sees one and immediately changes the subject from “fixing the wall” to just having the LOV clean up their own damn mess. 

The league spends a good few minutes talking about the best way to clean up the debris and lamenting that the pieces of rubble are too big for Mister C to compress… with all of them casually forgetting that Tomura can just decay the pieces of rubble, until he chimes in at the last minute while seeming kind of offended that they forgot (thanks, Boss!).

Tomura reminds them that he is an honors student in destroying things and that he can totally decay pieces of building with one hand and that if sensei had been here he would have TOTALLY given him a good grade in senseless property damage-- >:(

Ujiko appears at the end of the event and spoils the fun immediately with his usual ominous bullshit-- because we know it’s not a *real* LOV-centric event unless we’re reminded about the Constant Unspeakable Horrors surrounding Tomura’s whole existence somehow. The end! 

TL;DR: Everyone say thank you to MHUI for continuing to capitalize on the LOV’s potential for whimsical and mildly unhinged hijinks.

Bonus cute LOV found family + shipping crumb stuff under the readmore:

The event started with Tomura confined to bed in the PLF villa, recovering from the injuries he sustained fighting Machia and the MLA. He’s hurt pretty badly, but relieved that the MLA/PLF has loads of money bc it means he can recover his HP in peace, quiet, and comfort--

--Just Kidding ☆ The League decides that he can Sleep When He’s Dead and barges into his room without knocking. Tellingly, instead of getting angry or telling them to get out of his room, Tomura is just resigns himself to the fact that he’ll never have peace or quiet with the league in his life and immediately joins in on their hijinks. The amount of affection he has for the league is palpable.  Rest in chaos, Shigaraki Tomura.

Tomura broke his leg in the fight with ReDestro, and it’s become difficult for him to move around as a result. The league decides to strong arm ReDestro into making Tomura a wheelchair so he can play with them explore the PLF villa with them. The painkillers possessing Shigaraki Tomura think this is a great idea, so he tells ReDestro make him one. ReDestro folds like a lawn chair and agrees immediately while Skeptic shrieks about budget restrictions in the background. It’s all very fun.

There’s also something mildly amusing about Compress being the only one to call ReDestro by name, while the other members just call him “that guy” or “baldy” or “PIGGYBANK WHO BUYS ME NICE THINGS AND OINKS ON DEMAND That CEO.” Further evidence that the LOV is just a group of disaffected teenagers, part 5ive hundred sixty seven-- 

Tomura nearly collapses from his injuries, and Twice quickly clones himself and catches Tomura before he falls (this is somehow faster and more efficient than original!Twice just catching Tomura himself-- just admit that you wanted Tomura to praise you for cloning yourself again, Twice). Their relationship remains tooth rottingly adorable.

Spinner is also still riding the high of his gay awakening, for those who are into ShigSpin, and he spends most of the event fussing over Tomura’s injuries.

We also get a Dadpress moment when the LOV reflects on how they’ve gotten stronger, and he mentions that Toga’s fight-to-the-death with Curious “warmed his heart” (Compress?? Bro??? She almost died????). Toga immediately channels the spirit of a bratty teenage daughter and she tells him to stuff it.

#my hero academia #league of villains #Shigaraki Tomura #bubaigawara jin #toga himiko #long post #live bloggin #kinda #mhui blogging

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

It was mentioned several times that vestige AFO had some card up his sleeve that he hasn't used yet. And the fact that Shigaraki still could use AFO meant that the vestige was still there, too. Thinking he wouldn't appear again as a way for Tomura to confront his grooming by AFO and the fact that AFO is the one who created his villain persona and with AFOFA plotline and his relationship with Yoichi being unresolved is more stupid than him returning. Also, can people please start using their eyes and actually read because Horikoshi literally confirmed that Tomura is still inside and screaming in AFO's head 😭

Like I said previously, it's not that it doesn't make sense or that it is bad writing (putting that in bold just for you, anon), it's that I feel it's repetitive.

You need to differentiate between analysis of the story and personal opinions, meaning you need to use your eyes and read what people writes and not assume their intentions.

Every story is only what the writer wants that story to be. The way Horikoshi solves his story only follows the rule of what he wants to tell through it. It doesn't mean that the story had only one way of being told— that's what fanfiction and original fiction exist, to tell a story with the same or different characters in a new way.

Writers are just writers and people can like or dislike their art for multiple reasons. Even the big names through history were subjected to sooo much debated it's funny to remember. A shonen writer is not the exception sjdjjdndjdj

I don't like being rude if I can avoid it. It's just that asks like this made me angry. You could have told me that you don't agree with me and mention all you said in the asks. You could have said that you don't think I'm interpreting things correctly, but don't come at me with passive aggressive asks.

Or at least don't use the anon feature, coward.

Finally, it doesn't annoy me when people come to me in order to understand better the manga or to get my opinion on something. Even when they're wrong and I can point out why, I don't think the right way is to send asks crying about "guys don't you have eyes omg". Don't speak through my blog if you can't make your own posts.

It really didn't cost you anything to be polite.

Btw, for other people to understand what made me mad about this posts:

This anon (let's call them Anon #1) is calling a previous anon (Anon #2) stupid for not liking a bnha plot point.

The problem is that I asked for the personal opinions of the bnha fans. I never said

"I want a literary analysis to determine if that plot point fits the narrative of the story, if it had been addressed in previous instances through the foreshadow and what do you think about bnha fans who ignore those instances".

Personal opinions can be anything. You can decide you don't like something based on vibes alone and it's fine! I'm not asking you to be the most rational person alive, just to tell me how you feel about something.

Here's the posts I'm talking about.

I even mentioned that my opinion about this very subject is biased. It doesn't make sense to be passive aggressive to me to prove a point that I've already admitted too, you know?

Here's the ask of Anon #2.

Anon #2 was never rude to a real person, just called a plot point in a fictional story "bad". I'm the first to admit that AFO coming back makes sense for the story and that it is not bad, that I disagree with Anon #2 about it.

I clearly stated all those things at the end of my ask to Anon #2.

I don't like when people use their knowledge about something fictional to feel superior to others. I don't like when people have something to say and they know it's rude, so they say it hiding behind the anon feature, sending an ask to someone else's blog instead of making their own post about it.

Maybe Anon #1 never meant to offend me, but does it make it better if it was directed towards Anon #2 and not me?

Complaining about people not being able to comprehend what they read is ironic when Anon #1 didn't read correctly my answer to Anon #2 in the first place.

My answer to this asks is just about how every fan of an art piece is entitled to think whatever they want, be them right or not. If you're gonna disrespect them, be responsible and don't hide behind others like some sort of bully.

The worst part is that Anon #1 has great points that totally went to waste because they wanted to be an asshole soooo bad.

This is how it's done. I'm saying to Anon #1 what I think about them directly, I take all responsibility for my words and I'm not afraid to acknowledge what I've said.

Is the situation clear now?

#shan's asks #bnha manga spoilers #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers

[i-cant-handle-change]

Izuku to AFO i don't have a father and he ran to spike hug him

AFO, still: I feel very much offended by this-

#afo feels offended by this very much so #bnha #mha #my hero academia #boko no hero academia #my hero academy #all for one #afo #midoriya izuku #izuku midoriya #dad for one #dfo #all for one is midoriya hisashi #all for one is hisashi #cowboy bebop #spike

[gentrychild]

Hey. Hey Gentry. Wyvern!AfO getting hit with Eri's Rewind so he's tiny hatchling, but still has all his memories.

(The Muses wanted Deaged izuku instead... Sorry, @proclaimersofheroes)

All Might had tears in his eyes but he was starting to stay strong and not to succumb to unnecessary emotions… No, that was it, he was crying. Midoriya Izuku, proud wyvern, somewhat okay squire, watched the Symbol of Peace break all composure and cry.

“You’re so cute,” the eighth One for All holder sobbed.

Izuku, currently lying in the fireplace, the flames a warm blanket over his juvenile scales, flicked his tail, unamused.

That was apparently not the thing to do as all of 1-A, All Might, Shinsou and Eri cooed. Everyone except Kacchan, who had his back against the wall, as far as he could physically be from Izuku. His unease didn’t make sense, though, not when Izuku was far smaller than that time where Kacchan had damaged part of his hoard and Izuku had amicably tried to eat his face.

He deserved it. Hoardbreaker. Worse than a thief.

Ashido even started to reach out, remembering at the last second that Izuku had set residency inside the hearth. The best decision he had taken in the past hour as, when people had calmed down then calmed down Eri, everyone seemed to have mistaken him for a plushie.

He didn’t fail to notice how no one wanted to cuddle when he was his usual size. It was all “Midoriya, don’t sleep on me, you’re too heavy.” “Midoriya, don’t pounce on me, it’s scary to see a predator do that.” “Midoriya, don’t even think about –AAAAAAAAAH-“ or “Is it breakfast time yet… DRAGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON! – Oh, sorry Midoriya, my brain thought you were about to eat me.”

But as soon as he was the size of a young cat, no one seemed to be able to keep their hands to themselves!

“Traitors,” he muttered under his breath in Draconic, not because he didn’t want to be heard by his classmates but because his wyvern throat couldn’t speak Common.

Of course, All Might picked on it –the Supreme knight had to know all the basic languages- but curiously, that made him smile. Izuku wondered why, was distracted by some fireproof fingers that wanted to tickle him and which were about to be bitten off when Aizawa barged into the house they were borrowing, on the outskirts of the village.

And he was bringing a full rabbit!

Yaoyorozu took a step back when she saw it.

The best in teacher in the world, the man that Izuku loved very much, knelt by the fireplace, worry all over his face. Izuku immediately decided that this man deserved half of the rabbit. Or maybe a quarter. He was a growing reptile.

“Midoriya, do you feel warm enough?”

“Sensei, he is literally standing in fire.”

Aizawa turned towards Kaminari and whatever the Roc bird saw inside his bloodshot eyes made hm take a step back, his hands raised to show that he wasn’t a threat.

“Young draconics imperatively need to be kept warm,” the teacher explained, managing to make it sound both like an impromptu lesson and a threat at the same time. “If he was a dragon, he would need to be kept in a bigger dragon’s mouth. If he was a wyrm, he would need to be buried in a warm soil and also to be underground. But since he is a wyvern, I have no idea of how to take care of him!”

According to his dad, young wyverns had to be kept right under their father’s wing and to stay right there during the entire winter instead of hiding under piles of gold and playing with cursed objects. However, since Sensei seemed a little stressed, Izuku decided not to tell him that.

“And worse, if anything even slightly reptile shaped learn that we have a hatchling…”

“NOT A HATCHLING!” Izuku hissed.

“… here,” Aizawa continued. “They will bring chaos and destruction in their wake to rescue him. With a little luck, they might even eat me and stop putting me in situation where I have to set a student on fire.”

All Might patted his colleague’s back. “It won’t last. It’s a matter of days at most. We just have to get him to that Fallen in Tartarus who can age people and all will be back to normal.”

“I doubt it will be so simple,” Aizawa sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as if the perspective of things coming back to normal wasn’t as relaxing as one would have thought. “She is locked up for life. How are we supposed to convince her to help?”

“I was planning on biting her ankle until she used her blessing on me,” Izuku informed him.

Aizawa blinked.

And before he could say anything else, the sound of the bells. One ring, that echoed from the entire village, for the bells of the temple ere either used to celebrate or to warn everyone of a danger.

One ring for something roaming in the woods, that wouldn’t approach as long as you were with the rest of group, safe with the rest of your people, everyone with one hand or their pitchforks. Two for a Fallen, enough for a knight to intervene. Three for something worse. Four for when you had no other choice than to hide into your house and to pray that the law of hospitality and the sanctity of the threshold would be enough to keep back the force whatever was passing through.

And if you had offended it, curse on you and your blood for bringing back a calamity to your home.

Izuku, just everyone, counted. One. Two. Three… Four… Five?

In all his life, he had never heard of five rings.

All Might rose to his feet, the goofy teacher gone, replaced by a knight about to go on a hunt. His sword started to sing, a low hum that Izuku could only hear when he was wearing scales, and that made him want to hide far back in the fireplace and not to come out.

The sound of wings covered it and a shadow fell over the village, whatever was flying above them high enough to obscure the sun.

A roar followed. But of course, that word wasn’t enough to convey how that sound felt. Coming from such a massive beast, it was a force, something that could be felt to the inside of one’s bones, bringing memories of dark nights back when men were powerless and the predators knew it. It was mighty on its own but just a shadow of what had created it, a warning for what was to come.

Students whimpered. Aizawa grew pale, gulping down, afraid but refusing to show it. All Might’s hand clutched the sword at his side until his knuckles became white.

And Izuku left the warmth of the fireplace, barely paying attention to it as he had recognized the presence far above them.

“Oh, my dad is here!” he explained.

He flew out, snatching the rabbit Aizawa was still holding because it would be a shame to waste it, and he left by the opened door. The least he could do was to greet his dad. Maybe they could share the rabbit.

In any case, he didn’t want his dad to see his classmates and his teachers.

For now, he didn’t need to know Izuku was a squire.

#wyvern au

[class1akids]

While seeing 2nd holder being Almost!Bakugou is more exciting at least than the last couple of weeks, I just want to remind everyone that the fandom is intrigued by him only because he resembles our!Bakugou - a character we’ve spent a long time being invested in and learnt to root for. 

And whatever almost!Bakugou’s deal is (ancestor, or alternate universe Bakugou Ni. Katsuki or Same-Face cosplayer of on the nose parallel), the attention he gets is all earned by our!Bakugou. His story is relevant mostly in relation to our!Bakugou. 

Because this dude is dead and as a character, his development is for all purposes is done (while our!Bakugou is dealing with a ton of shit somewhere out there and I frankly want to see what he’s up to!!!) And this is why I’m really getting worn out by the 7-quirk OFA plot. 

Long rant under the cut. 

We are treading water in Vestige-World, with Deku’s new dead friends. They are not characters we are invested in, because in order to do that, we need to spend time with them and watch them struggle and change and learn and grow. But that’s not feasible within the span of the story - so we just get a short-hand explanation of their history - but they have no depth and only very surface personality. 

Banjo is the loud Good Guy. Nana is the hot thighs Good Guy who happens to be Shiggy’s granny. En is the quiet Good Guy. First is the original Good Guy who looks like Shiggy. 4th is the Good Guy with the scar. 2nd is the tsundere, almost!Bakugou Good Guy. 3rd is the BFF to second Good Guy. Like the seven fucking dwarves. 

In the end, they don’t really have distinct motivations. All these supposedly “randomly” chosen people are good and heroic and they do their best and now that AFO somehow pulled them out of the core of OFA, they sit around on their cushy chairs, breaking themselves to be helpful to their cute little kuhai. 

Because it is all so shallow, Deku gets no development from it either. We are visibly trying to speed through this thing so much that smokescreen is unlocked off-screen, Deku learns everything in a week (undermining everyone else’s quirk learning curves)- but there is no process, no learning, no struggle, no change. 

Sure, there is a change of design into Badass!Bunny (Mirko still wears it better), but how did the vestiges IMPACT Deku? What did he learn other than new skills? What perspective did he gain? 

It feels like Deku is the empty cup, they keep pouring their skills into, and he just stands there as always, with eyes wide, as our one-way mirror into vestige!world, which itself is just a bunch of asspull, make-it-up-as-we-go-along type of lore. 

Deku has very little agency in this OFA-business. Things happen because of external factors:  because of “singularity”, because AFO tried to take it, because the vestiges decide to “show up”, because First gives a pep talk to 2nd and 3rd. They give him live instructions on how to use the new toys, so he’s not even figuring anything out. Ironically, it feels less and less like Deku’s quirk and more like OFA Hivemind using Deku’s body. 

And because obviously the objective is just to give Deku more powers, well the powers themselves are also under-developed and uninteresting. 

In BNHA-universe, quirks are established as physical abilities with limits. They require a limited resource, or have a downside or they are on a timer. No power is limitless. 

Yet the OFA-extras don’t seem to have any of these things. 

Black Whip is the worst offender. We don’t know what resource it uses, it has no timer, it can sprout from any body part, its strength is not connected to the strength of the wielder, yet it is apparently strong enough to keep restraining a Muscular level guy - it doesn’t even disappear after manifestation even though it’s not corpoeral. Like, BW has absolutely no limits. 

It’s only known parameter is: whatever Horikoshi wants to draw. 

Float is another outrageous quirk. Everyone else’s flight requires a resource, an active effort, or a trade-off between flying and fighting. Float is just a limitless air-movement with no downside or timer that completely leaves Deku’s arms and legs free to fight. And is a mostly passive ability? I guess? We don’t know... But it sure doesn’t look complicated since Deku unlocked and used it instantenously with no problems.

Danger Sense - I had so much hope for Danger Sense because finally a quirk that could have been troublesome, stretching Deku’s mental limits and teaching him something about trying to do everything by himself.  While in the raid Deku blacked out from Danger Sense, within one week it developed into a power that can be used basically the same way as Sir’s prediction (which was on limited timer) to evade opponent’s move and also as a long-distance police emergency scanner to locate more danger. No downsides - no mental strain - no confusing input into the fight. 

Smoke Screen - ok, we know nothing about this one either, other than it’s like BW - makes something out of nothing. 

So here we are now. Deku spending time with his under-developed dead friends and using a bunch of extra quirks that he got as free candy. It’s all fight mechanics. Where are the emotional stakes???

7-quirk OFA undermined the uniqueness of characters like Sero, Froppy (BW), Uraraka (Float), Jirou, Shoji (Danger Sense), like we said it would. It shifted story-time from the characters we are invested in, and the bonds we care about, to have Deku interact with his under-developed and uniformly Good Guy dead friends. It gave him more powers, but none of it feels earned. He’s not challenged either by the power or the history.  

There is no sense of accomplishment like there was when Deku figured out Full Cowl, or when Bakugou got his new explosion, or when Todoroki finally pushed his limits to get flashfire. 

I’m not saying there was never potential in this plot. The vestiges could have challenged Deku more - some of them could have been a bit more grey (maybe 2nd will be just a bit), the powers could have been more challenging with more downsides, with bigger off-sets.  Having so many people in his head could have stretched Deku psychologically. 

But Vestige-land feels like a shiny, boring suburb where everyone is just so NICE and HELPFUL that it feels kind of fake. 

And what did we gain? Yes, Deku got more powers and a wardrobe change, but no character development. 

And what did we lose? Everything. We are losing out on seeing Deku’s friends, the meaningful bonds, their struggles, their resolve. 

I’m sorry, but I’m a 1000 times more invested in seeing Bakugou and Todoroki (especially Todoroki! OMG! what an untapped drama potential) and Momo, and Mina and hell Aizawa, Shinsou - they all came away with so much pain and unfinished business. And the League - Dabi, Tomura, Toga ... so much potential.

Instead, we are getting an - what feels like - obligatory  MC arc that tries very hard to pretend that Deku is the only hero left in the world (when we know that there is no way the others are not out there doing their best, and if they aren’t, that’s because some stupid plot asspull) who will fix everything by himself.

Because it’s blatantly untrue. We’ve spent years learning that there are other heroes who can and will step up when they need to, all the class, most of the pros, other students... I’m feeling such a whiplash and deep disappointment every time I open a new chapter with this peddling of the “new symbol! Deku stuff”. 

And no cutesy fucking lunch-boxes are going to mask the emptiness of this crap. 

And I’m baffled by the fandom reaction. There are so many people who say that oh, finally, because Deku deserves his own arc. Sure, but doesn’t it matter what kind of arc? Wouldn’t you want to see something more meaty than “omg our boy looks so badass!!!! squeeeeee!!!!”? 

I’m hoping still that it is a build-up to something more interesting and Deku’s current obsession of doing it all alone and frankly grating martyr-complex is not going to be framed as a good thing (even though it looks right now that this is totally being framed as a good thing and a Mighty Boy origin story) and will lead to some kind of failure instead that will teach Deku to learn to rely on his friends and empower them and not just try to fix everything for them, which after 300+ chapters feels pretty fucking insulting on behalf of the “side characters”. 

#bnha critical #bnha meta #bnha manga spoilers #ofa critical #bnha 310 #alt!bakugou #7-quirk ofa sucks so much #sorry for the rant #just felt like i needed to get it off my chest #this plot is so half-assed #even if you love deku #wouldn't you want something more compelling for him than this?

[itsnothingofinterest]

Well it seems once again that people are debating if BNHA as a franchise is entering it’s final strech. Now I understand why people would debate this; because in a lot of ways it really feels like the series is ending soon, but in a lot of other ways it really feels like it isn’t. That’s all been true for a while actually. So I wanna reiterate my stance on things: which is that while I acknowledge points from both arguments, I am firmly in the camp believing the series isn’t ending-ending, and we’re just entering into a new chapter of the series; possibly with a name change now that Deku’s left his Academia.

(Not gonna lie though, that’s mostly because it’s the side I want to take. There really is compelling evidence on both sides.)

I’ve gone over this before from a more neutral perspective (found here); I think I still ended up showing my bias in my work, but I tried my best to show all the points from both sides. But this time I’m deliberately picking a side and going over 2 points for why I don’t think the series is ending soon; 1 relating to All Might, and 1 relating to All for One.

Plotlines. So many plotlines.

One big reason I think the series is gonna be a while still, which I have mentioned before in that post I linked, is that BNHA has a lot of plot lines that it’ll freely let sit for 100+ chapters without addressing. Really gives the impression that big H is writing like he has all the time in the world.

Like, people like to say Uraraka hasn’t been developed in a long time and attribute that to Horikoshi not being able to write women, but the honest truth is that she is not alone in that. Shinsou’s plotline got put on hold for roughly a dozen arcs until Joint Training, it took a while to touch on Kurogiri after he got captured, Tokoyami tends to come and go from importance, and how long did it take us to learn Dabi’s name after he said he was using an alias? And frankly, I could keep going and touch on literally every character who hasn’t had an origin chapter (except of course for the characters who haven’t had any plotlines at all yet). Oh, also Deku’s arms; that was a plotline too.

Ah, but the biggest offender has to be All Might; BNHA’s most main adult character, and that’s including Endeavor. We learned over half the series’ lifespan ago that he was predicted to die at the hands of a villain (probably Shigaraki or AFO); and that incident set up this tension about whether he’ll die as predicted or if he’ll defy his fate. And ever since, his personal plot line has been on pause; as his life has not been in danger once since. Everyone who once had reason to target him is now targeting either Endeavor, the system itself, or both.

It’s true that All Might has had a presence in a supportive role in various other character’s plotlines, and I’m not saying that’s not fitting for his character, but his own plot has been sidelined; and will likely continue to be sidelined until he has reason to reenter the societal stoplight for whatever reason. And considering It seems like the most likely thing to do that is either Endeavor dying (if just metaphorically, don’t panic too much) or society getting even worse than it already is (which would be a feat), that feels a bit far off.

And then there’s actually concluding that plotline, which I imagine will involve at least one fake out. And all the other plotlines, for which there are many. And that’s assuming we don’t get any more plots started up; which feels unlikely when Horikoshi keeps introducing new characters & reintroducing old ones. Mostly villains, the type of characters that drive plots (but there are those international heroes to consider too). And are you starting to see what I mean when I say Horikoshi writes like he has all the time in the world?

Who’s the big bad again?

One big reason I think people believe the end is just beyond the horizon is that AFO is taking center stage as the big bad again. And AFO is a pretty simple villain to deal with, actually; he’s just one guy and, unlike the League, all you have to do to deal with him fully is beat on him until he stops moving. He’s strong, yes, but he’s not even as strong as Shigaraki was in Jaku (even possessed Shigaraki lacks that Shimura spirit that landed AFO in Tartarus in the first place); reserve a handful of chapters for the fight and it’s over.

But the problem is...what would beating him actually accomplish? In the long term I mean; he is a very dangerous man with the moral compass renunciant of an aristocrats joke and a habit of making himself everyone’s problem & encouraging Tomura’s bad habits. But y’know, as far as we know he doesn’t exactly have anything to do with the quirk prejudice motivating Spinner & Toga, or the corrupt hero system motivating Dabi & Shigaraki’s long term goals.

Besides encouraging Tomura’s bad coping mechanisms, All For One just doesn’t have much to do with the villains’ main motivations so he doesn’t actually mean much to them. And to the heroes, he is just another villain; albeit a dangerous one. To both sides, he’s just a hurdle to overcome with an especially punchable shit eating grin, & beating him doesn’t accomplish anything besides getting him off everyone’s back. He has little, if anything, to do with the major themes of the series or conflicts between the main characters; and resolving those conflicts is a much more daunting task.

And that makes sense, because he’s not the real main villain of the series. He’s an important figure of evil, just like All Might is an important figure of good; but the main villain of this series has always been Shigaraki Tomura, and the true source of everyone’s problems has always been the ingrained faults of society that need to be addressed. Any resolution to this series would replate to those elements far more than it would old potato head.

In short, the easy resolution people seem to be looking to doesn’t seem like it would really resolve as much as they really need it too. (Maybe some stuff, depending on how that fight goes down, but not enough.) In fact, I could almost say him being around causing problems of purpose could actually lengthen the series; were it not for the fact that I think we knew all along that he was eventually gonna come back into the picture to cause problems on purpose.

So to summarize:

BNHA has just a stupid amount of stuff going on and a lot is has to do, with more still seeming to be added on to that to-do list. Most notably major characters whose personal storylines don’t really tie into the core conflicts of the series, but nonetheless demand the attention and time of all the other characters and the narrative itself. And all of that just really makes me think there’s a pretty considerable amount of this series left.

#bnha #all might #all for one #analysis #shigaraki tomura #league of villains #lov #endeavor #hero society #uraraka ochako #hitoshi shinsou #fumikage tokoyami #dabi #midoriya izuku #toga himiko #spinner #horikoshi

[traumatictouch]

tomura & stain

we all know stain was a major influence on tomura and his character development early in the series, so id like to take a closer look at why stain was so important to tomura (and why i sincerely believe tomura had an implicitly-canon crush on him.)

this is actually pretty glaring when you watch all of tomura's season 2 scenes all together. i think the reason it slipped by so many people (including me) is because the villains side of the story was so broken up by the sports festival and kids internships. (and, tomura was a relatively new character to the audience at the time - we didn't know yet that that is very much not how tomura behaves around most people.)

and before i get started, i just wanna say that this post isnt about shipping, i just think this is an overlooked part of tomuras character. i also need to establish this reading of their dynamic to further support another meta post i’m planning on writing in the future regarding tomura and afo.

I'll link a season 2 tomura compilation video in the notes so you can see what im talking about yourselves, but for now, here are my impressions. (all white subtitles in screenshots are tomura’s dialogue.)

we start with tomura admiring stain from pictures and videos. like… his eyes are literally sparkling. pretty sure he's never looked at anyone except afo with so much non-hostile intensity and interest.

ive talked a little bit about this before, but i get the feeling that tomura just genuinely doesnt expect to be understood by anyone at all. not civilains, not other villains, and certainly not heroes. since all tomura really knew about stain and his motivations at this point was that he was "the hero killer", he probably thought he'd finally found another person who shared his hatred for hero society with the same passion - someone who could understand him. no wonder he was so excited.

when face-to-face, tomura openly admits stain has more experience than him, and calls him “dai-senpai” (translated as “sir” below); this is used for people who have MUCH more experience than you in your field. starting strong with the flattery! (esp considering im pretty sure they both have roughly the same amount of experience, technically.)

(also, aren’t most crushes in these shows directed towards someones “senpai”?)

when he makes a truly terrible first impression and gets stabbed for his efforts, tomura just... laughs awkwardly. tomura has a general tendency to smile and laugh when hes in pain, but the sheer nervous awkwardness of it is what makes it significant here. i dont think he would have responded this way if it had been, say, dabi or toga who attacked him during recruiting instead.

when stain rejects his offer and monologues about why he doesnt like people like tomura, tomura responds in a clearly offended and hurt way. in other, similar encounters throughout the manga, tomura is much more level-headed than he is here. i dont think hes ever taken someones opinion of him so hard at any other point in the series, which is pretty notable considering the sheer amount of other times he gets insulted to his face.

...and yet, he remains civil during their conversation on the rooftops afterwards, even when stain makes another dig at him. (also, correct me if im wrong, but is the first line below not literally a romance trope...?)

after stain leaves (and only after,) tomura starts poking fun at him, despite having been the one to try to recruit him in the first place. makes sense that he's trying to point out all his 'flaws', sort of like hes trying to talk himself out of his previous admiration for him after being so thoroughly rejected. and, considering tomura had to later question how he and stain were different at all, these criticisms seem a little bit hollow in hindsight.

coping with heartbreak by seeking (indirect!) revenge. of course his idea of revenge involves making stain feel like everyone has forgotten about him. acting like you were never interested in someone is a pretty common trope for this kind of thing, isnt it? that they meant so little to you (or anyone else) that you dont even remember the rejection! and of course, tomuras trying to make stain feel as humiliated as he did.

also worth mentioning: i think this is the only time where tomura wanted to end up in the news for a reason unrelated to making people question justice and hero society. releasing the nomus didn't seem to be about making people doubt the heroes ability to protect, it was just to outshine stain.

tomura isn't really the kind of person who… gets that worked up over losses? So the fact that hes so agitated about it is significant. even at usj when he lashed out at kurogiri for letting iida escape, he pretty quickly bounced back and accepted that they had to retreat for the time being. still, it must hurt seeing the guy who so harshly rejected you get talked about nonstop, especially in a positive light.

(honey, you're the one hung up on stain.)

This leads to - as user palbabor-writes pointed out in her character analysis of tomura - tomura's worst outburst in the series. isnt it interesting that stain was responsible for that, in a character who is otherwise relatively calm and collected? that suggests some pretty strong feelings attached.

of course, losing his nomus and being insulted by some strangers certainly lended to that outburst, but those were both just salt in the wound that stain had already created.

then he literally dons his Sadness Hoodie (seriously, we only see him wear it while sulking at the mall and after afo is arrested) and goes off to wonder why he and stain were too different to work out. and he lingers on that for a long time. why were they too different? what went wrong? why didn't stain accept him?

this doesnt just seem to be about how society perceives the two of them, because the thoughts are "directed" at stain, rather than society as a whole. he wants to understand it from stain's perspective before anyone elses. (plus, everyone thought stain was a part of the LoV, so as far as society is concerned, he and stain are the same.)

...and hes so torn up about this that he goes as far as venting to and consulting a teenager on the matter.

i don't know. romantic feelings and tropes in media aren't my strong suit, but i hope you understand what im getting at!!

like i said at the beginning, i'll reblog this with a link to the season 2 tomura comp so you can kind of see it for yourselves. theres also some things from supplemental material for bnha that further supports this theory, but since thats only dubious canon, i'll put those in a follow-up post!

#tomura shigaraki #shigaraki tomura #tenko shimura #akaguro chizome #stain bnha #bnha #boku no hero academia #long post #ooc #meta #please be nice im kind of embarrassed to post this LMAO

[makeste]

more about bak-u-go (sorry!) the only other thing i heavily dislike is that if bakugou is the 2nd, then deku will be unlocking his explosion, except much stronger because OFA boots the quirks. and i really don't want to see bakugou facing deku with OFA, multiple quirks and his own but amplified. i'm not sure how it'd fit thematically but just thinking about it leaves bitter aftertaste in my mouth. he'd essentially be teaching deku to use what he has but more powerful.

honestly if the Second Vestige is Kacchan (or any version of him), I half expect them to get into a huge argument over whether or not Deku is allowed to use his quirk before they’ve said more than twenty words to each other sob.

truthfully, the idea of Deku getting Explosion as one of his SIXQUIRKS doesn’t bother me as much as I know it does some others. not to say I don’t understand the concerns, but imo it wouldn’t be the devastating blow to Bakugou’s dignity/relevance/projected character arc that some worry it might be.

first of all, Deku basically looks like this right now.

dude’s got no arms. he lost his arms in the war. everyone told him, “Deku, promise us you won’t use your quirk in your arms anymore, or else you will have no arms,” and he was all, “I promise,” and then he fucking used his arms anyway because DEKU IS A GREAT BIG LIAR. I lost track of how many times he used 100% OFA on both of his arms during the fight with Tomura. but I’m pretty sure it was multiple times. and so he has definitely undoubtedly fucked them up in some spectacular way, the full extent of which has yet to be revealed.

meanwhile, getting back to Explosion. just a normal, non-powered-up version of Kacchan’s quirk did this to Deku’s arm on a good day.

pretty sure that “pop” indicates he dislocated it just from firing one blast. and this was (1) while using Kacchan’s gauntlet (which is supposed to make it easier to use the quirk), (2) back in the good old days before Deku had fucked up his arms in any way, and (3) the regular version of Explosion and not a supercharged version that’s been powered up with eight generations of OFA Quirk Singularity.

what I’m saying is that even if Deku does have Explosion, I’m not at all convinced he’s even going to be able to use it. Kacchan has had years to train his body to handle the specific recoil. and his arms are fine, and he’s not using the Nuclear Version that Deku most likely would have. as far as I can see, there is no way Deku would be able to handle the quirk at all. it would wind up being a last resort kind of thing that he can maybe handle one time before it puts him totally out of commission.

so that’s the main reason I’m not too concerned. the rest can be summed up as bullet points (I was originally going to say “summed up more briefly”, but as it turns out that was a fucking lie, sob).

I think Deku would probably hesitate to use the quirk even if he was capable, because it would feel like stealing from Kacchan, or something. Deku knows how much pride Kacchan takes in his quirk. and he values their friendship too much to risk making Kacchan upset over this. he might feel like it’s unfair, the same way a lot of fans do (because let’s not forget that Deku is one of the biggest Kacchan stans of all).

I also think Kacchan wouldn’t be as offended or emotionally distraught over his development as people might expect. once he gets over the shock, he might be a little indignant at first, but if Deku hinted that he wasn’t going to use the quirk out of respect for Kacchan’s feelings, I think Kacchan’s first reaction would be to get angry, lol. huh?! what do you mean you’re not going to use it?? what’s wrong with it?! you think you’re so high and mighty that you’re above my quirk?! and we also know he wants Deku to be as strong as possible. I honestly think he would be one of the biggest supporters of Deku using it. his ego isn’t as fragile these days as people think. plus, as far as he’s concerned, there’s nothing that can stop him from reaching his goal of number one. if Deku can use his quirk now, then Kacchan is simply going to have to use it even better.

I generally don’t interpret characters as being pointless or redundant just because someone else has a similar quirk as them. Shouto’s existence hasn’t made Endeavor redundant in any kind of way, or vice-versa. Kirishima and Tetsutetsu are so similar that it’s a running joke, and yet both of them have received plenty of screentime and development (which is especially impressive for poor Tetsu given that he’s not even in 1-A). and Kacchan in particular is one of the most richly developed characters in the entire series, with narrative importance that goes WAY beyond him happening to have a powerful quirk. which btw doesn’t suddenly get any less powerful or versatile just because someone else has it too. and even if Deku was somehow able to use Explosion without blowing his arms to kingdom come, I doubt he’d ever come halfway close to matching the natural, instinctive control that Kacchan has from having had the quirk his entire life. multiple characters have remarked on Kacchan having masterful, exceptional control of his quirk. I think you could make the argument that he’s similar to Best Jeanist in that his quirk, while powerful, wouldn’t be half as impressive in anyone else’s hands. he’s basically a prodigy, and I don’t think even Deku could ever beat him in that regard.

and last but not least, there’s a school of thought that the series will end with Deku losing his quirk, which I think is very possible. having the series end with both AFO and OFA being destroyed forever feels like a fitting end to the story for me, and of course would tie in with Deku being the last user of OFA, one way or the other. and if this does happen, it would obviously render moot the whole matter of him having Kacchan’s quirk.

so yeah, all in all I’m not worried about this at all. my best guess would be Deku using it in the final battle (which Kacchan will no doubt also play a pivotal role in, so that doesn’t bother me), but not really beyond that. as far as I can see, Horikoshi has already done an excellent job of nerfing this in advance. speaking of which, I really am curious about what the heck is going to happen to Deku’s poor arms. all of his doctors deserve a raise.

#midoriya izuku #bakugou katsuki #bak-u-go #bnha theory #bnha meta #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha #asks #anon asks #long post

[stillness-in-green]

I saw speculation on this going around & I’m curious to get your thoughts on it: where do you think Geten’s story might be going in the future, & do u think it’s possible Dabi will kill him? I saw ppl talking about Dabi’s noted distaste for him & how the PLF seems more of a temporary alliance in the LoV’s mind (Compress’ noted rejection of the name in his thoughts, Dabi’s use of Skeptic against his will, etc), & w/ AFO back in the picture they theorized Dabi may get his quirk & kill Geten.

Okay, so, it took me a while to grapple with this one, and in the end, I'm going to have to break my reply up into two parts. Because you asked a very simple question, anon, and my answer to the question you actually asked is pretty simple (if characteristically rambly)! But you also provided a bunch of contextualizing information about what prompted your ask, and I have a lot to say about that contextualizing information, stuff that is only tangentially related to your actual question.

Note that some of this is going to get pretty salty, but I assume you wouldn't have brought a Known MLA Stan a question like this if you didn't want at least a bit of that. Most of the salt will be in the second part, though! This first part is pretty safe!

So, to answer the actual question: I don't have a lot of solid thoughts on where Geten's story is going, because from the looks of the way the series as a whole is going, it may well be that the MLA’s story is already done. I have previously expressed concerns about the current status of the MLA mainly because of all the speculation that Horikoshi is trying to rush to get to the ending, and if Hori’s rushing the ending, I don’t know that I’d bet on Geten coming back at all. In fact, given what I can guess about the scenario, I’d kind of rather he not.

The thing is, the MLA have always been far more relevant to the League than they have been to anyone else in the cast. They’re Tomura's victory spoils; their plot beats were established to connect to the League, not the heroes, the students, or even All For One. There’s just no personal connection there, and lacking a personal connection, all they’d do is be fodder for background fights to fill page space and give the side characters something to do.

And there’s just no drama in that! Not even any tension! We've already seen the MLA characters beaten--first by the villains, and then by the heroes. Hell, we've seen Re-Destro beaten three times!(1) Based on how the raid went, there are maybe three people in the entire MLA that present a credible threat--Hose Face, whose name we don’t even know, Re-Destro, who has a repeatedly-illustrated weak point in the form of his new legs, and Geten.

While I definitely think Geten could give any of the students save Deku a run for their money,(2) what would be the point? Who would he be slotted in to have a dramatic fight with? Geten hurt Cementoss, but he didn't kill him, and none of the students are uniquely close to Cementoss anyway. Geten has never personally offended or harmed any of the kids directly. There was a time people theorized that Shouto's end game boss would be a combination of Geten and Dabi, but with the PLF scattered, that looks less likely.

From the other side of things, Geten himself has no particular beef with the kids. If he'd been on the front lines to witness the opening moments of the battle, maybe he'd have a bone to pick with Kaminari, Kinoko, Juzo, and particularly Tokoyami, but it took Geten a bit to get to the front; he has no particular way of knowing about those four, and at the moment, he certainly has more pressing matters on his mind.

Geten's primary interest, when it comes right down to it, is Re-Destro. He talks a big game about the MLA's goals, but when the pivotal moment comes in Deika, he bails on the battle that was assigned to him to try and help RD instead. He claims that pure strength is to be valued above all else, but his loyalties don’t change when Gigantomachia bats him aside like a fly or when Shigaraki proves himself to be An Strongest. Even up to Jakku, Geten is still concerned solely with Re-Destro. With no real reason to pit RD against the kids, there’s no reason to throw Geten against them, either.

The only person Geten has an established rivalry with is, of course, Dabi, but getting the two of them even in the same vicinity again is going to require breaking the MLA leaders out of jail, which clearly isn't a priority of AFO's, and he's the one running the show right now. Would Shigaraki bother? He might, particularly if RD, Trumpet and Geten all get shipped to whatever Tartarus Lite Mr. Compress and Machia are likewise bound for. But if the story is headed to its conclusion, is Shigaraki ever going to get that option?

Is AFO the final boss? If so, it doesn't seem to leave much of an opening for the MLA to become relevant again, because, again, the MLA are all about Tomura's victory, Tomura’s ascendant arc as a villain, his status as a hero to other villains (namely RD). If Deku "saving" Shigaraki from All For One is going to magically resolve all of Tomura's issues with society as a whole, because hey, at least this kid is a good person, so his society can't be so bad after all! (GAG), that doesn't seem to leave much room to get into the myriad issues with society that all of Tomura's followers have. Frankly, the only thing the MLA has to offer Deku right now that's remotely relevant to his current goals is Re-Destro's starry-eyed explanation about why he's fallen so hard for Shigaraki, and Spinner is better suited for that role on basically every level.

So that’s all been one big if. The other alternative is the ending I'm hoping we get, in which Deku and Shigaraki join forces to put an end to AFO, only for Shigaraki to thank Deku cordially and then get right back to destroying things because, surprise surprise, Midoriya Izuku being a good person doesn't absolve Hero Society of all of its many, many sins. Then I can see there being room for the MLA to return. At that point, not only is there RD’s devotion to Shigaraki on offer, but also the MLA’s ideology of Liberation, what it is, what it offers, along with, for example, more on whatever Harima Oji’s complaints were about heroes, more on what has to change systemically to satisfy Shigaraki’s grudge. That’s a story the MLA can meaningfully contribute to, and therefore a story in which Geten and his quirk supremacist beliefs are more likely to be addressed.

However, I’m not optimistic that we’re going to get that ending, and until we find out whether Shigaraki will be satisfied with being rescued from AFO (if, indeed, he survives the process at all), or whether he and his compatriots’ societal issues will be left by the wayside, I’m not yet prepared to spend a lot of time theorizing on how the MLA’s role in it would look.

As to the specific question of Dabi killing Geten--honestly? I think that moment is past. While I said earlier that Dabi is Geten’s only established rivalry, that is frankly being more generous than their relationship actually warrants. After all, we haven’t seen them interact since Deika, and literally the only time one of them has so much as thought of the other in that period was Dabi grumbling, “That icy punk sure knows how to let loose,” after Geten’s big wall of ice attack allows Tokoyami to get away with Hawks. If their continued animosity were going to be a plot point, and especially if Dabi were going to murder him in cold blood eventually, Horikoshi should have shown us the two of them antagonizing each other as co-lieutenants of the Violet Regiment.

At this point, Dabi has made his big play, revealed his identity to the world. I think he's pretty locked into the Todoroki Drama now; he has bigger concerns than going back and winning a grudge match against Geten. Also too, given the point he's trying to prove about the strength of his/Endeavor's flames, would he even want Geten's quirk? If he were to get it, would he get the "evolved" version or just the basic one?(3) Because given the precedent set by both the mechanics of Monoma's Copy and AFO's comments about Jeanist's Fiber Master, I'd be inclined to think the latter, and Geten's ice powers are way less badass without the temperature control, especially for a dude trying to wield them in concert with flames of the temperature Dabi uses.

From a narrative standpoint, Geten has already been punished for his hubris with a personal defeat, the humbling of his leader, a loss of pride in his organization, and then a second, much more damning defeat and subsequent capture at the hands of heroes. Dabi taking his quirk and killing him at this point would just be kicking--indeed, killing--him when he’s already down. It doesn’t feel like karma; it just feels malicious.

That said, in the rather dubiously scaffolded scenario that the MLA gets free and finds their way back to the League and AFO/Shigaraki takes Geten's quirk(4) and Dabi accepts it, would Dabi then kill Geten with it?

…I mean, maybe? Do people think that Dabi is that much of a sadist? Because it would be the act of a sadist, to murder a kid who's almost certainly younger than he is and might even still be a teenager, one who has just been violently stripped of any ability to defend himself, all out of a desire for petty revenge over a months-old slight--a slight consisting of Geten parroting rhetoric he learned from the weird cult he grew up in, and which Dabi has very possibly been working with Skeptic long enough to know is maybe not all that accurate a characterization of the cult's ideals anyway!

And that brings me to Part 2. ---------------------------------------

(1) Four, if you count the clone’s destruction.

(2) Even 1-A's two remaining powerhouses don't present any more of a threat to Geten's ice than Dabi did, and Shouto will only give him more of it to work with. Their advantage over Dabi is that they can both sort of fly, which might well tip the balance--one of Geten's major advantages is his ability to manipulate ice from a considerable distance away, farther away than Dabi's flames can reach, but flying opponents deprive him of that advantage. Now, Shouto's flying is fairly unstable, so I suspect Geten is more maneuverable in the air, but his maneuverability wouldn't save him from Bakugou, the human equivalent of the anger-powered jetpack.

(3) Set aside the Doylist explanations about anyone who stole Geten's quirk getting the version the audience already knows purely out of laziness, forgetfulness, or authorial fiat.

(4) And look me dead in the eye and tell me Geten would just let Shigaraki Tomura or anything currently inhabiting his body just casually stroll up and lay hands on him without protest. Not to say I think AFOmura couldn't do it, but doing it in a "cool," dramatic way would probably involve some lightning movements we have not seen him make thus far.

#bnha #stillness answers #geten #meta liberation army #dabi

[hamliet]

About the villains having a point and Hori struggling to deal with it, I notice that a lot of media struggle with this issue as well. The villains often correctly point out/represent the flaws of the society that the hero serves to protect but rather than grapple with this, the author will usually just double down and make the villain deliberately more cruel (over-the-top cruel with no built up) so any point they may have had is 'canceled out' by their crimes. I hope Hori doesn't take that path.

Yeah, it’s not exactly unique to MHA. It’s a lack of nuance that kind of kills it, because there is plenty of space to explore the intersection of intentions and ideals with methods and experience. But in all fairness, not all stories are aiming for that sort of exploration, and that’s not bad either. For example, Marvel movies, Star Wars, BNHA don’t do gray morality very much. The heroes will win (well, here I think they’ll stalemate) in the end. And that’s okay. 

Yet is that inherently going to fix the problem? Especially if you’re intending for the problems to emotionally resonate with us and affect the heroes as well as the villains (Shouto and Touya). Which is why I do like BNHA’s main message of “save” being the definition of a hero, as opposed to “win.” 

That said--and this is just my opinion so I am 100% fine with people disagreeing with me, and keep in mind that the story is not finished and I really hope Horikoshi surprises me, so take this with a shaker of salt--Horikoshi seems to have written the villains’ point is a little too well for what it seems like BNHA is aiming for? Meaning, even despite their evil murderous ways, their underlying philosophy and accusations against hero society are largely, in fact, true. So it’s hard to define where you’re supposed to fall despite the “but really they’re the good guys” framing around the heroes: with something that feels fake, or something that is honest but aims to just make things worse? The villains frankly have a better philosophy on what hero society should be, but obviously undermine this with methods like murder and destruction. (This isn’t helped by the fact that for over the past hundred chapters, closer to 120 actually which is almost half the manga, the villains or negative heroes (Endeavor, Hawks) are the ones with main internal conflict--which is usually reserved for protagonists.) 

Sooooo... the unrelenting positive framing of heroes contrasted with the legitimacy and rawness of the villains’ trauma creates a dilemma that only valiant empathy from the kids can solve, if they then use that empathy to make hero society better. I believe this is where the story will go; I’m truly not worried about that. I don’t see any signs of Horikoshi making the villains over the top evil (well, AFO maybe, but f*ck him) or of the kids repeating the adults’ mistakes. I just do have my anxieties about how satisfying this empathetic breakthrough/hero society revisions will be written, anxieties stemming from the almost unwavering positive framing of heroes. For me, I’ve always said that for BNHA I’m mostly interested in Touya’s and Shigaraki’s redemptions, so as long as they survive (and I think they should/will) so even if it does in the end brush a lot of the concerns under the rug, I’ll be more or less okay with it. I just would rather it be satisfactorily addressed. 

Also, I don’t want to get toooo into this, but stories don’t occur in vacuums, either. I personally would not compare the reflection of real-world struggles against authority to BNHA’s story, but I can see why some see it in there. I understand that some might be really offended by the upholding/redemption of hero society; for me it isn’t that deep, but the key words there are “for me.” Unique experiences and tastes shape what we like in fiction and what upsets us in fiction, and competing needs are a thing, yada yada yada. So that’s also something to keep in mind. 

#ask hamliet #don't kill me #not tagging this #opinions #hamliet opines #or dumps her fears and worries #and hopes her worries are unfounded #Anonymous

[owlf45]

Nico back at it again with only the stupidest Imaginary asks- how would each of the holders react to someone giving them a hug? (This has nothing to do with my desire to give Sixth a hug and you can't prove anything)

Thank you for indulging me Nico I’m so happy you asked BC NOW I GET TO TALK ABOUT THEM 

once again im ranting about my characters no im not sorry i love them okay 

First: hugs is the equivalent of recharging his batteries lol. He’s very shy about getting them but when it’s from people he trusts he absolutely loves it. all hugs are appreciated. It makes him feel loved. Very soft reactions. Bundle of joy. Will always reciprocate. he is touch starved from The OG Vaulting, he just wants healthy attention. however he can only do hugs in short bursts bc otherwise he gets fidgety. afo had a bad habit of having prolonged hugs and first doesn’t like to be reminded of him. 

Second: He’s a bit more finicky about hugs because he’s super averse to touch. even with ppl he really cares about, it’s tough for him to accept hugs or any prolonged physical contact. (his physical signs of affections are usually limited to high fives, ruffling hair, and his horrible habit of tucking someone’s hair behind their ear look im not saying its bc of first but im totally saying its bc of first, he has such long hair that always gets into his eyes what do you EXPECT OKAY). if a hug is absolutely necessary and it comes from either First or his four five kids (Third, Crimson Riot, Sixth, Izuku Dabi) then he’ll put up with it. usually he’ll just give awkward head pats in return, unless he’s been scared out of his mind that those particular people couldve been in danger, in which case he might reciprocate hugs. if a hug is not necessary he’ll usually throw the hug-offender off of him (First and Izuku are the only exceptions. He’ll shimmy his way out of their grip) 

Third: surprise. he likes hugs but he doesn’t know what to do with his arms because hugs?? physical contact?? how does one human?? but give him a bit and he’ll figure it out. he doesn’t crave hugs nearly as much as First but he still appreciates them. a lot. he tries not to get outwardly emotional with hugs to the best of his ability (hugs remind him of his brother), so he tends to internalize it. still, hugs are very soothing for him. he’s the type to thank someone after being given a hug. 

Fourth: cold glares. he will not give a single warning before he grabs the hug offender by the back of their shirt and shoves them away. there are two people he will tolerate hugs from, and one of them is Third and its a fifty-fifty chance. usually Third has to piss him off before he can sneak a hug in—and the hug is in no shape or form a measure of affection. 

Fifth: hugs?? hugs! HUGS!! Fifth will take hugs from anyone anytime anywhere. he will not hesitate to get/reciprocate hugs from anyone. suffer under the weight of his love and affections and far too much strength, he has so much and he’ll always take more. also be wary that he might twirl a hug offender in the air. he has no little to no self restraint. 

Sixth: BABY. child. baby. he doesn’t like surprise hugs (i mean. not like he can be that surprised due to his quirk, unless he’s in the middle of really deep thought or panicking and not focused). he also doesnt like hugs from people he doesnt know well. hes a “class clown” but, tbh, he’s not actually that,,, sociable?? ig?? with people he doesnt know well/who have questionable trustworthiness. like Second he’s a bit averse to hugs, though that’s more due to his wariness than anything else. BUT if he gets a hug from someone who he trusts and it isnt a surprise—!!! soft. baby. child. touch starved. he will stay in a hug for as long as the other person is in it, meaning that yes it might be uncomfortably long but can you blame him??? (unless he’s in A Thing and then otherwise if a hug is too long he’ll get anxious, but that’s not the norm.) if its an emotional hug He Will Cry But In An Unnoticeable Way. he isn’t sure if he deserves hugs but he Wants Them. he will Take Them. please give this child hugs. 

Seventh: nana!!! lovely mentor!! her opinion on the matter is very much, “what’s a hug going to do me wrong?” it’s not her go-to source of comfort and affection but when it comes down to it she will accept them gleefully. 

Eighth: toshi!! i mean. he’s awkward and socially isolated so it’ll be a while before he warms up to hugs. 

Ninth: izuku, obviously. he deserves hugs. he knows he deserves hugs. he’s aware he’ll get hugs at least twice a day from different holders. he will always take hugs. hand your arms over, he needs to fill his daily requirement in. 

#owls hyperfocus topic of the day #my asks #imaginary #imaginary reference #i love this damn holders far too much for my own good #first one for all holder #second one for all holder #third one for all holder #fourth one for all holder #fifth one for all holder #sixth one for all user

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

Dabi and all for one are similar, why are some of you "offended" by that? like, they arent  two peas in a pod but the similarities are there

Younger brother issues™, plotted the #1 downfall for years, selfishness,they track people and use their families as weaknesses. Even the way they are scarred are similar, I mean, one has no face and the other is two seconds away from losing it

Hmmm, sure they share some common tropes like the Cain instinct and the vengeful tendencies, but I personally think that at least for now they're walking in very different directions. Let me explain:

I can't speak much about AFO and Yoichi in their childhoods, but it doesn't look like their relationship started with hatred. Instead, it sounds like it started with AFO getting obsessed with creating a certain world, and forcing Yoichi to join him. Their fight was created the minute Yoichi rejected him and his goals, and even now AFO is trying to force him, obsessed with him.

Meanwhile, Touya and Shouto lived in two different spheres from the moment Shouto was born. Touya was kept away from Shouto, just like Fuyumi and Natsuo were kept away from Touya in the beginning. That generated a rage that was not a product of Touya's selfishness, but he's need to be loved and recognized by his father. His request was simple: "look at me". But Enji had already replaced Touya with Shouto, and that's how Touya came to hate his littlest sibling.

AFO is obsessed with his brother because he wants to force him into joining his side, while Touya is obsessed with Enji because he was excluded and isolated from his love and affection. Shouto just happens to be a reminder of how Touya was not enough, but Touya has nothing directly against Shouto. He's just using him to hurt his father, but without Enji's pressure, there wouldn't be a fight between Touya and Shouto.

The vengeful spirit of Dabi has also a different nature than AFO's, even if they both have it. For once, AFO wants to rule the world. Dabi wants to destroy the hero society. And yet sure, they both wanted the 1# pro-hero down, but it had nothing to do with the title itself. AFO was after OFA, and All Might happened to be OFA's new user while also being the pro-hero 1#. In Dabi's case, he wants to hurt his father, who happens to be Endeavor, the 1# pro-hero after All Might.

And I mean? Dabi has just general evil traits, so of course you're going to find a bunch of parallels. Using people's loved ones against them is pretty common among villains. And so far almost every villain in bnha has tracked their targets. And when it comes to the scars, I differ. Dabi's burns have more resemblance with the fire pattern of Endeavor. And that's the whole deal. Because Touya learned to fight like his father, the day he got burned he was practicing with those same techniques. Even now Touya and Shouto mimic Endeavor's attacks in their own fight styles.

It's not that I'm offended by the implications of making a comparison between Dabi and AFO, but more that I just don't see more resemblance. At least not once you understand both their contexts. In the new chapters, AFO compares himself to Dabi saying he does have friends, when Dabi doesn't. However, it was more a dismiss from AFO for me than anything else. AFO loves to be the biggest villains around, so he loves making people feel less by pitying them.

Also, I think it was a direct parallel to how lonely is AFO, no friends, no family, just allies that would not think twice about letting him and people who rejects him. Compared to him, the members of the League have friends and people wanting to help them, and Deku has a bunch of people that love him and would fight with him not for money or power, but for that affection they feel.

Sorry anon, but I can't agree with you this time.

#Shan's asks #Mha spoilers #Bnha spoilers #bnha #mha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #lov #league of villains #dabi #Touya Todoroki #Toya Todoroki #AFO #All for one

[hotforhandman]

Gran Torino and the Legacy of Dehumanisation

Oh boy. Time to make another sect of bnha fans hate me. These are always fun- and always seem to come after I browse the bnha spoilers tag. 

So after the 281 spoilers hit, once again, the fandom seems to have been divided into two very vocal camps - those who are celebrating GT’s death, and those who are offended that anyone would dare do such a thing. The former hated GT (and in some cases Miruko, too) for being openly degrading towards Shigaraki, labelling him an ‘it’, a ‘thing’ or a ‘monster’, and the latter say... well of course he did. Shigaraki is a monster. He’s violent, destructive, aggressive, he’s purposefully modified his body in order to destroy, he’s the villain. And we can’t hate on a beloved mentor character for being mean to a villain. 

Now, my own opinions on the situation are... very meh. I wasn’t particularly invested in GT’s character, I held no particular affection for him, but neither did I virulently hate him. That being said, I do think there are some very interesting things to think about in regards to the whole debacle and people’s reactions to it. 

To an extent, I do think that a certain amount of it is played up for kicks, or happened as a result of a subset of the community playing hype-man for each other until a tiny gripe became a massive point of contention, but more than that I think a lot of it boils down to what the villains (specifically the LOV) represent to the reader. The LOV seem to have separated the hero stans and the villain stans more than any other bit of media I’ve been a part of the fandom for, and seem to be the source of a lot of these conflicts (see: Hawks v Twice, Dabi v Endeavour). And I think that is largely because Horikoshi has put so much effort into humanising them. I’ve mentioned before in an offhand way about how of course the LOV resonate with people, they’re a bunch of young adults who are considered to be some form of ‘degenerate’ by the general populace, who are dissatisfied with a corrupt system and want to see the perpetrators held accountable for the suffering they’ve experienced. They’re a perfect microcosm of all us LGBT+ kids, us poor kids, us disabled kids, us POC, all the young adults who feel like society would rather see us locked up or dead than simply existing as we are. Of course, they’re also wilfully violent, and fictional violence is a contentious point these days. Some find it unforgivable, some find it justified, some might be living out a power fantasy about hurting their own oppressors through it, and some simply don’t care, because a fictional murderer never actually killed anyone. So now you’ve got groups of people who dislike the villains because they’re violent and aggressive, groups of people who sympathise with the villains but can’t justify their actions, and groups of people who both sympathise with the villains and consider their actions a reasonable response to the abuse they’ve gone through.

And now we come back to Gran Torino. The beloved mentor of All Might, the man who taught Deku to use his power without breaking himself, the living proof of a legacy of heroism. The thing is that I think he represents something very interesting. Where Endeavour is the epitome of the corrupt system, where All Might is the accidental arbiter of complacency, where Izuku is the hope for a better, more compassionate future, Gran Torino is the visual representation of tradition. He’s a classically successful hero, he was fairly well-known back in his day, he took down a fair few villains in his time, and he lived to train not just his own successor, but his successor’s successor. He’s been kicking villain butt since his early years. I’ve seen people getting angry that GT seems to blame Shigaraki for villainous doings that are not his fault (see also: Mic/Eraser blaming Shigaraki for what happened to Shirakumo), and I think that’s because he didn’t view Shigaraki as an individual with the capacity for right or wrong, he viewed him as a symptom. A symptom of that disease called villainy, the one to blame for the suffering of the people he cared about - Toshinori and Nana. Nana didn’t give up her son because she was a heartless mother, or because she didn’t love him. She was forced to because of a villain. To the heroes, ‘villains’ are an angry, violent monolith that needs to be dealt with, and individual villains are symptoms of that intangible evil. 

To him, Shigaraki isn’t a hurt child, an abuse victim, a person to sympathise with. He’s an immediate threat, and a synthetic monster put together by AfO and Ujiko to act on that villainy. He’s a boss fight. And no one feels bad when they’re kicking a boss’s ass, because that’s just what you’re meant to do. 

And so to circle back, I think that’s where the divide comes from. On one side, you’ve got people seeing Shigaraki the villain, Shigaraki the threat, the aggressor, the boss fight. And on the other you’ve got people seeing Shigaraki the victim. 

And the thing is? He’s both. And for as long as the characters in universe fail to see the root causes of villainy rather than seeing villainy as the root cause itself, they’re going to keep creating new villains themselves. Because how many of us, given superpowers and the ability to change the world around us, would become villains in the name of bettering society for ourselves? Violence for the sake of violence isn’t acceptable, but dehumanising the violent and stripping away the environment that cultivated them won’t do anything except perpetuate the cycle. 

So was Gran Torino a bad person for attacking Shigaraki? No. Was he wrong to dehumanise him, and doing harm by doing so? Yes. Once again, as most of these things I write seem to come to the conclusion of, the answer is somewhere in the middle. 

#gran torino #shigaraki tomura #bnha spoilers #ch281 #long post

[decayandfanfics]

The great book of sayings

PAIRINGS: Tomura Shigaraki x FemReader

SUMMARY: He looks at you, his scarlet eyes fixed on yours, burning a hole through your head, every bit the predator he is, but you are as tough as it gets, so, against your better judgment and any well-founded logic, you answer his silent threat, the animalistic look he gives you with nothing less than a fearless smirk, irises burrowing into his pupils.A clever girl. He thinks, finally labeling you inside his head, cursing himself in the very moment he allows his brain to think of you as more than an asset. He is sure (he knows himself enough to know) he’ll think of this moment many times from now on.A clever pretty girl.

Reader is a typical college student until she gets herself tangled with the league of villains.

WARNINGS: Unhealthy/complicated relationships, violence, Tomura being Tomura, mentions of murder, heroes’ abuse of power, smut later.

A/N: I’m trying so hard to write crusty boy here really in character. At least after AfO is taken. Any misspelled words, english is not my native language so i’m trying Helen.

____________________________________________________________

Chapter 2 / Chapter 3

Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile.

“I need your laptop.” Shigaraki states like it’s the most natural thing to say after some moments of him watching you clean some dishes.

The apartment is full of take-out packaging over the counter and the tables. The smell of food still lingering in the living room where Toga, Magne and Twice watch some Netflix, while Mr. Compress uses the shower. Spinner and Dabi smoke outside in the balcony.

You shake your hands trying to get rid of the water on them, before turning yourself to him.

“are you going to dust it?” you ask hoping he doesn’t do it, because you can’t afford buying another one.

“It is call decaying, and no. I need to make some research.”

It was definitely the hands you think looking at his face. He’s young, maybe a year or two younger than you, maybe older. You cannot truly tell. Now that the disgusting hand lies hidden in his pocket, you feel more at ease in his company, yet you cannot stop your brain from analyzing the dry patches in his face with clinical curiosity.

You dry your hands before heading to your room, taking the laptop with you, a pencil, and a little notebook, before presenting the items to him.

“I didn’t ask you for a pencil or a notebook.” He shots you a suspicious glare.

“No, but…i assumed you could need one.” You sound unsure, but every bit trying not to cross him “I mean…I thought maybe you’ll need to write down something or…if you are doing…some research…of the sorts.” You voice dies slowly on your throat not sure if you offended him in some way. He just looks at you before inspecting the little pages, just to find some old grocery shopping list scattered inside.

“hmm…I guess you are smart.”

You take a look to your now invaded home.

This is weird in so many levels. What would you do If some hero or the police caught a bunch of villains living in your house? Would you be labeled as an accomplice?

“Are you okay?” Jin asks you to get your attention. “You look sick.”

“I’m…I…I’m just a little…surprised. That’s all.”

“She just let a bunch of murderers into her home, Twice. It’s not that difficult.” Dabi answers entering the kitchen.

“You shouldn’t be scared of us, big sister! This is going to be fun!” Toga claims from the couch.

You shrug with a sigh, trying no to read too deep on it, but you need to speak about this. Grasping all the courage you have left; you direct your attention to the leader of the merry band.

“Shigaraki-san.”

“San? Well, that’s new.” he doesn’t look at you, focus on something in the screen with a smirk plastered on his face.

You ignore his comment and try again.

"Shigaraki-san"

“hmm?”

“I-i have no problem with all of you staying. I assume this is something neither of you had planned, and I really, really don’t want to get in trouble with any of you, but…If you are going to stay, I need to stablish some…rules.”

That’s it. You are going to die now. At least you died standing your ground.

Dabi lest out a mocking sound and Spinner winces ready to see you become a pile of dust.

Shigaraki looks at you like you just said something utterly fascinating, not sure if he should laugh at your bravado, just kill you or to respect you for it, his hand already scratching softly over his neck as an amused smile curve his dry lips upward.

There was a time when he would had just lashed out at you, but since his master and Kurogiri went gone, something in him just went…calmer. It was difficult to explain, and he was barely aware of his own change, but he knew he needed to be smarter now. For his sake and everyone’s sake…

Besides, you were cooperating. Maybe you could be useful in more than one way. A valuable asset.

“…okay. Let’s say I want to hear these rules of yours.” He speaks and you can hear the danger in his tone. He’s allowing you to speak at the same time he’s threatening you indirectly. “C´mon…I’m not getting any younger.”

But you are still alive somehow, so you better spit it out soon.

“My home is clean” you begin swallowing hard “it should stay that way, that includes no smoking inside the house. I’m not asking you to clean, but to keep it like it is.”

He looks unimpressed arching a brow “that’s it? Sounds fair.”

“Second” You continue “I’ve worked hard for everything I own. Who breaks pays and I don’t want anyone taking anything from this house without my permission or prying into my stuff.”

“So, no stealing nor breaking.”

“Exactly. Third, no fights nor insults. Fourth, I’m by no means rich, so the eating must be kept in check.”

“well…aren’t you a demanding little thing?”

He stands and circles around you like a predator watching a little bunny, measuring you like you are some rarity, waiting for you to wince or retreat, but you are none the wiser. You won’t give him, any of them, the satisfaction. So, you stay put, weirdly proud in your stand, your eyes fixed in the wall in front of you.

“Tsk. Lucky you I’m not interested in taking hostages, so i guess we have a deal.”

“You seriously are going to take what she says like she’s calling the shots?” Dabi snorts.

“No. I will agree on her terms in exchange of food, bed and bathroom. Besides, her knowledge in medicine will be useful. We are trading something and she’s not asking for anything extraordinary.”

“and she’s my friend.” Twice adds merrily.

“yeah…that too.” Shigaraki states rolling his eyes, siting again in front of the laptop.

“Well. I just want you to know I don’t give a flaying fuck about your rules.”  Dabi spits boringly, before storming out, a cigarette in his lips.

“Excuse Dabi, dear. He’s kinda…rough around the edges” Compress admits leaving the bathroom, freshly showered, wearing some old t-shirt and some joggers.

“Why do you have clothes that big again?” Spinner asks suspicious.

“My dad died two years ago. I still have his clothes.”

“ow…I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. You didn’t know.”

“My turn! I’m dying for a bath.”

“Hey, Toga-chan…here...” you revolt one drawer in the bathroom looking for something. “I always have some spare toothbrushes. You can have one too, Compress.”

“My dear…aren’t you sweet. Thank you very much.” He winks at you.

“it’s nothing. Make yourselves comfortable, I guess… I’ll leave you the big bedroom, you’ll have to share, there are more blankets in the closet. I’m calling it for the night.”

“Leave your door open.” Shigaraki ordered.

“Shigaraki that’s inapro-“

“she could try to scape through the window.” Shigaraki cuts Toga midsentence.

Your eyes met his gaze. It made sense, really and you couldn’t blame him. Neither of you could actually trust the other, so you just nodded and retire to the spare room, thinking that if they tried to kill you, you were too tired to care. After all, is not like you would know it once you were dead.

Chapter 4

[iamdunn]

FoxFire Re-ignited Day 1 Fushimi Inari Shrine

Tomoe Meets Nekotsune

A Kamisama Kiss Fan-Fic

Written by

AJ Dunn

Tomoe mused himself as he relaxed in the palanquin Onikiri & Kotetsu prepared specially for this human convention. One of the few times he could present himself in his fox demon form without scaring the sensitive humans. He smirked as he sipped sake from his eternal cup. He never would have considered such festivals had that wretched human girl not tamed the fire within him dragging him to such horrendous things. Nanami was gone now and Tomoe was free to be feral once again. 

Humans scampering about in costumes depicting the ancient demons and spirits now thought to be a mere myth if only they knew that many among them were in fact real demons, oh how they would scream. The thought boiled in his veins. Many came by his palanquin for photo ops and he managed to ruin every picture with a ball of foxfire, unbeknownst to them of course. 

“Master Tomoe, you should walk around.” Onikiri prodded him. He waved an annoyed at her as if to swat the will of the wisp away from him. 

“Master you are missing all of the fun.” Kotetsu chirped. 

“It hasn’t been fun since she was robbed from me.” Tomoe snapped. “Nanami would have enjoyed this, but I will spend the rest of eternity alone now.” He sipped his sake feeling less satiated by it as time drew on. He stood up as another group of fans came to get selfies with the less than obliged fox demon. He leaped with grace from the palanquin over the heads of the group forming in front of him. 

“I suppose I shall amuse myself with their feeble attempts to copy my likeness,” Tomoe said as he strode into the thicket of humans in yokai costumes. This cosplay convention had begun as a feeble attempt to draw American tourists to Japan. Kyoto was the perfect setting for this as the Sojobo on Mount Kurama would have approved. Kurama himself dawned his “Fallen Angel” ensemble to perform for the masses, while he loved all of the attention he got from the girls, he never forgave Tomoe for failing to protect Nanami. The stupid mortal girl was a danger to herself from the beginning he wouldn’t have to be held responsible for her weakness. The crowd was thick with variations of the demon costumes from Tengu, to Inugami, but what haunted Tomoe most was the many interpretations of Kitsune, the fox demon. The nine-tailed fox spirit had been popular for many years but has constantly changed into this meek cowardly loyal dog. He scoffed. If they want a mutt then they should dress as the inugami instead. Sea Dragons, are they serious. The thought. 

“What a purrfect foxfire kimono you have on.” Tomoe heard the voice swirl behind him as he spun to see dared speak to him let alone touch his garment. “Mmmm It looks paw sitively amazing on you… it’s a shame.” Tomoe drew back unable to speak. The audacity of this wannabe prancing about with nine fake white tails adored to her back, her red and orange flamed kimono, and metallic claws. However, what irked him more was the feline ears adorning the short spiky white hair and the feline half mask covering her mouth. Though the craftsmanship and the realistic fangs impressed him, what sort of demon costume was this?”

“How dare you address me.” Tomeo lept back as the girl reached a clawed hand toward his face. 

“It is such a shame. That kimono would look so much better on my bedroom floor.” She spun away from him and slipped through the crowd before he could respond. Heat welled up in him as her words fell upon him weighted with such inclination.  Had her words invoked such a temper in his skin, having not felt the embrace of a woman since dear Nanami fell victim to that hateful creature.

His feet moved forward propelled by some unknown force to follow this creature who had enticed him so. Finding her wasn’t hard as the flaming Kimono was the most unique garment in the entire hall. Her feline presence drove his sensibilities into flames he had to know more. He reached a hand out laying it on her shoulder. Her head turned ever so slight gazing upon the clawed hand. Her eyes shifted up to meet his without fully turning to face him.

“Yours is the most inaccurate of all the costumes here.” He said harshly. “You look more like a feline than a fox demon.” 

“But of course I do,” She smirked at him. “I didn’t come here to be a copy CAT,” her smirked became a grin as she turned to face him. She threw her right arm into the air before offering a bow before him. “I am Nekotsune. The Flaming Feline Cat Spirit, at your service.” Her gleeful tone threw him back again as he watched her elaborate introduction. He smirked at her as her eyes met his again. Suddenly, as if looking into a mirror he saw it. There was something behind her mask, something her eyes spoke that belied the joy in her voice. His heart throttled in his chest as she gazed into her hazel green eyes. Despair that mimicked his own. How can she smile with her eyes while carrying a pain that made tears well up in his eyes? 

Suddenly loud rock music began to play and Tomoe recognized the hateful voice as Kurama began to sing. The girl reached up to her ears in pain her head cowering below her shoulders as she turned and ran through the crowd. Tomoe tried to catch up to her, but she was gone. He felt an emptiness he hadn’t felt since the day Nanami had been murdered. Torn from her as if a piece of his own soul had been sheared from his very being. Tomoe forced his way through the crowd until he was left standing alone in the darkest parts of the hall. He looked back and forth unsure as to where she had gone. He heard the click of a door closing on its own. He turned to his right and followed the sound. 

“Master Tomoe, Master Tomoe?” Onikiri and Kotetsu flew through the sky nearly crashing into him. 

“Out of my way,” Tomoe yelled as he ran past them. He ran through the double doors into an empty hallway. There was no sign of her. 

“Master Tomoe.” Kotetsu finally caught up with him again. He was carrying a piece of paper. “She dropped this.” 

“Who did?” Tomoe collected himself and stole himself back to his palanquin as if nothing had happened. His heart fluttering as his mind washed over her face again in his mind. 

“The woman you were talking to,” Onikiri said handing him the paper.

“YOU WERE SPYING ON ME?” Tomoe fumed as foxfire welled up around him as he sat in his palanquin. He was about to stand up before Onikiri dropped the paper. He starred at it as it lay on the floor of the palanquin. It appeared to be a map of Fushimi Inara Taisha, the Shinto Shrine. There was a handwritten note in the top right corner. DAY 1. It was dated for tomorrow. He snubbed his nose into the air then took another sip of his sake before tossing a ball of foxfire at the note. Onikiro snatched it before the fire caught it, stuffing it into her shirt so Tomoe wouldn’t know it had been rescued. 

Despite the pain in her legs and feet, AJ rose from the bed and hobbled to the bathroom to wash up. She had only been in Japan for two nights now, the first day she pretty much slept off the fatigue that came with traveling from her home in Oregon to Tokyo Japan then taking the jet train to Kyoto. An itinerary that took her 7 years to instigate. Her condition worsened day by day and she knew that if she didn’t fulfill her own death wish, she’d never rest easy in the afterlife. Seeing the shrines of Kyoto had been her dream, her mount Everest of goals knowing that she had been losing her ability to walk since she was 9. Charcot Marie Tooth disease wasn’t a forgiving neuromuscular condition, and it wasn’t alone. Her body, 40 years old, is now plagued with numerous conditions that robbed her of her ability to even breathe without choking, walking without stumbling, even laughing. Her muscles weakened day by down, now the migraines were a plague she couldn’t shake even with prescriptions medications. Last night’s adventure to the cosplay convention was a tempting distraction from her itinerary. Being able to dress up in yokai cosplay was fascinating and she didn’t want to offend the people of Japan by misrepresenting their folklores, so she invented something entirely her own. She would be documenting her anonymously for her online support group. She hadn’t expected to meet such an attractive fox demon fan. Everything about him attracted her. His eyes, his blue foxfire kimono, even his voice. He was the most authentic-looking creature she had ever seen. He even haunted her dreams. 

She slapped her face as her mind wandered again to the statement she had made about his kimono looking better on her bedroom floor. She wasn’t quite herself when she was behind the mask, or maybe that was more her than she had ever been. It was freeing to be able to talk so openly. She had never been able to talk to a stranger with such disregard for embarrassment or rejection. She finished bathing then pulled on her AFO’s. The hard plastic braces supported her feet and ankles but heated her calves. She had to wear knee-high socks underneath to prevent rashes and irritations. They were the most uncomfortable piece to her ensemble. She slipped on her kimono and tied the OBI, which wasn’t as easy anymore as it had been when she first made it. Then once her hair was spiked to perfection she clipped her feline ears into place then pulled the half-mask over her mouth. She inspected herself in the mirror. Luckily her Kimono was long enough to hide the braces on her legs, she didn’t want anyone to notice. Unsure of how she would be received. Since she was a teenager anyone who found out about her condition either treated her like a contagion to be avoided or as a liability to be denied participation. 

She opened her notebook to the second page. DAY 2 was written in the upper corner. Shock fell on her as she realized her DAY 1 map was gone. She flipped to the first page, it had the full map of Kyoto shrines on it outlining the shrines in order from the Fushimi Shrine to the Kifune shrine. Each day she would visit and explore a new shrine, indulge in the cultural festivities, all the while video blogging it. Today she was meant to tour the Fushimi shrine but the map of it was gone. No matter, she would buy one at the visitor booth when she got there. 

She had barely entered the shrine when she began to feel chills rising up in her spine. Chills like last night when he came up behind her. His scent was sweet and alluring like honey cakes & sake. She shuddered, forcing away the image of his eyes peering into her, the thoughts of him haunting and distracted her from her mission. She turned on her camera, a tiny thing mounted invisibly on the bell collar she wore around her neck. 

The thousand Torii gates led up the mountain. This tour would take all day, for her. 2-3 hours just to hike up and back at a regular pace, for someone without restrictions, however, she planned to lunch at one of the many restaurants there. Kitsune Udon was her choice for lunch and maybe some tea. 

The wind blew as she began the hike. She had been studying the map as she held it tight with both hands. This was never a good idea and she soon realized as the toe of her shoe caught something heaving her forward face first into… nothing. Did she stop falling buy why? It took her a minute to realize that there was an arm around her waist coming from someone standing directly behind her. She was pulled back so suddenly, her back landing firmly against a tall pillar, a person. Glancing over her shoulder she could see the man who held her. His short dark hair was tousled as if windblown. His face was stern with a bit of stubble. His eyes looked familiar to her, as did the smell of sake, but nothing else about him seemed familiar. 

“Watch where you are going.” He said firmly before releasing her. She nearly stumbled forward at the sudden separation from him. She felt cold and distant in his departure as he walked past her entering the trail leading up the mountain. She stuffed the map into her notebook then tucked it into her belt and began walking up the trail. His pace was quite a bit faster than hers and she soon lost sight of him. It didn’t take her long before the fatigue in her legs began to burn through her whole body. She forced a few more steps before she simply couldn’t take another. She found a bench slightly off the trail and sat down. Looking out over the path she had just come. She lasted longer than she expected. The burning in her legs became a tingling sensation as if the burning was stripping the sensation from her legs leaving them numb from the hips down. She groaned as the feeling slowly began to return to her legs. 

“You’re not even halfway there, are you giving up so soon?” a voice came gruffly from behind her. “How weak.” Anger fumed up in her as she could hear the unspoken words, the words her mother would have said if she were still alive. ‘You can’t do it so give up now.”

“MMM, rushing such an adventure would be Catastrophic.” She quipped, she loved her cat puns. She heard him scoff behind her but he didn’t leave. 

“Why are you here?” He stepped closer to the bench staying behind her. “Dressed like that.” 

“Do you find it offensive?” She asked smirking under her mask. 

“What? NO.” He nearly shouted. “It’s just, unusual for someone especially a foreigner to be dressed like that.” 

“How do you know I am a foreigner, is my Japanese not purrfect?” she stood up. She turned but he was gone. She made her way back to the path and continued the climb. It wasn’t long before the fatigue came back to her legs. She could smell the savory scents filling the air, she must be getting closer to the restaurants. She could almost taste the Udon. She found the line quite long and stood there. As desperate as her legs pleaded for her to sit she didn’t want to lose her place in line and willed herself to stand her ground. Her knees began to wobble and lip as she fought hard to remain standing. The burning was now giving way to the familiar sensation of tingles and soon numbness would take over. She sighed, she knew it was too late, she wouldn’t be able to move her legs to walk to a bench. Her knees were gone now as she felt her body slip to the ground. She threw her hands out in front of her trying to catch herself but she stopped. Once again, an arm and a familiar scent surrounded her. 

“Pathetic.” the voice once again from behind her. This time as he pulled her against his body he held her firmly as the feeling began to return to her legs. It was only a few minutes, but it felt like a lifetime as her heart pounded heavily in her chest. ‘Had she forgotten to take her heart medication again?’ Soon she could feel her legs again and attempted to step forward letting him know she was okay. 

“Thank you.” She whispered

“Shut up.” his voice was quiet with a feigned harshness. She glanced over her shoulder and saw him looking away. “Keep moving your holding up the line.” She giggled then stepped forward. 

“Kitsune Udon and Oolong tea please.” She asked once she reached the head of the line. She lifted the side of her kimono slightly to reach the thigh pocket of her leggings. She thought it was the safest place to put her wallet. 

“Make that two.” the voice from behind her came as a hand reached over her shoulder to offer the money to the cashier. They handed him a plastic paddle with a number on it. She looked up in surprise but before she could object, his arm was around her shoulders pulling her to the closest empty table. He sat in front of her but didn’t look at her. 

“Why are you doing this?” He asked without looking at her.

“Doing what?”

“Stop.”

“Stop talking your voice is annoying.” he gruffed tossing a glance at her without turning his head towards her. 

“If it’s so annoying, why do you keep asking me dumb questions?”

“They’re not dumb questions, your just dumb.” he shot her an angry look his hand flat on the table. “It’s clear you can barely stand let alone walk and here you are hiking a trail.” She laughed at him. His angry expression softened. 

“I’m doing it for a fundraiser.” She smiled. The waiter brought out a tray with two large bowls, two teacups, and a kettle of tea, they set the bowls and cups down then poured tea into each cup. His face relaxed as he sat back. His face appeared disinterested but his eyes remained on her. He couldn’t stop looking at her, watching her, wondering what would possess a person to put their bodies through so much pain and agony. 

“What fundraiser?” he folded his arms over his chest as she poured sugar into her teacup. “Aren’t you going to take off that ridiculous mask?” She reached up to her ears and released the mask lowering it to her lap then she began to sip the broth of her Udon. His heart thudded for a moment as he stared at her lips. Her face was unmasked by makeup. Her cherry pink lips were bare of any lipstick or gloss but something remarkable, something… he shook it out of his head. 

“Each day, I will visit one of the many shrines of Kyoto, documenting my adventure.” She tapped the bell on her collar. “And each day I post the said video on my vlog, and my viewers pledge money to the CMTA Research Center.” Anger filled up his demeanor and he hunched forward his hands back on the table.

“You’re filming me? NOW?” 

“Don’t worry, I’ll edit out all of these encounters with you, as I block out the faces of the strangers that I pass.” She said slurping up the noodles with a fork. He watched her hands and she fumbled with the fork. It was clear she wouldn’t be able to use chopsticks as her hands could barely hold the fork. He settled back into his seat shifting his face to look away from her. He reached out to his cup to sip from it not moving on his bowl of Udon. 

“What is CMTA.” He asked quietly?”

“I thought you wanted me to stop talking because my voice is annoying?” She watched him fume again.

“Just answer the question.” he huffed then began to spoon Udon broth into his mouth.

“Charcot Marie Tooth Association, it’s an organization devoted to helping people with CMT strive for a better life and a hope for a cure.” She said before eating more of her Udon. He glanced up at her not impressed with her short answer. 

“What is CMT?” 

“A condition of the peripheral nervous system and results in the deterioration of the nerve and muscle tissue throughout the body.” 

“Is that why you are so weak?” his blunt question was met with a laugh. 

“You could say it was the first stone on my grave.” she laughed again.

“So, you’re dying?” He felt a sharp pang in his chest, she laughed again. 

“We all are.” 

“Speak for yourself,” he announced. 

“Right, because your a fox demon?” she teased. 

“Yes, Wait, what makes you think that?” He said sharply. She pointed to her hair.

“You still have a bit of white from last night just there.” He hadn’t realized the color of his hair had begun changing back. It was too late to fix it, now if had she’d notice and realize he actually was a demon. “What’s your name?”

“Shut up and eat.” he picked up his chopsticks and began slurping up the noodles.  “Do you intend to keep going?”

“All the way to the end.” She said then returned to her food. 

#Tomoe #kamisama kiss #fox demon #japanese yokai #anime fanfic #Kyoto shrines #kyoto japan

[hey-hamlet]

BNHA AU Ideas: Genetics Prodigy

Also on AO3!

TL;DR:  

Quirks might be the coolest thing ever, but they aren't magic, they're genetic. So what's to stop one very stubborn quirkless prodigy from working out how to give himself some?

Ok so! Tech Genius!Izuku AUs are a thing, right? I love them to bits but my problem is I know nothing about tech so I can't write them, but what I do know is biology!

Biology/Genetics prodigy Izuku giving himself quirks!

Stays friends with Katsuki (They have a rough patch but they work through it), not sure if I want Izuku to fiddle with Katsuki's quirk or not - not sure if I'll make the quirk limit 1 or 2, but I've always headcanoned you can give more quirks to someone born quirkless, so Izuku will end up with a few

So, after the dawn of quirks, a lot of, if not all, genetic research stopped. Sure, tech marched onwards, but genetics became an even bigger taboo than it was before. Izuku is a little genius, and this his massive interest in quirks when he's told he’s quirkless? It's more of a “how do I change this” than a “can I change this”

Izuku has always been the smartest person Katsuki knows. They have a rough patch at the beginning where Katsuki is trying to claw this one thing he's better at Izuku than over his head, to make himself ‘better’ than izuku

People have always called the quirkless worthless. If he’s less than a quirkless kid, what does that make him? Izuku eventually manages to drag it out of him and tells him about all the things people did before the dawn of quirks. Katsuki changes his mind to instead believing that everyone else is stupid for thinking quirks are everything and is now very vocal about that. (He still loves his quirk though, as does Izuku.)

His first real trial is a bit of a silly one: he cures Katsuki’s lactose intolerance. They were both salty they couldn’t share their icecream.

Collection of quirks:

Bakugo:

Explosion

Fire Manipulation

Midoriya:

Telekinesis

Heal

Forcefield

Jump

I want Izuku to give himself a quirk aged like, 8, with bakugo there for the ride as a lab hand, and I want them to realise with mounting horror what they've managed to do

bakugo turning to izuku and whispering "how many quirks would it take to beat - be as strong as - all might?" and izuku just shrugs because he hadn't thought about that but what he's done could start a new breed of bioweapons

he knows enough about the brain to see that more than 2 quirks in a quirked persons body, or more than 4 in someone born quirkless would be seriously damaging, but he's really scared about what could happen if he did go over that limit.

he won't, but he's curious, and he feels a little sick because of it

Nezu catches wind of this baby bio genius, one of the red flags is the only recent research done into quirks was actually from the lab nezu was kept in, so when he sees someone digging into that research he's ready to rain hell down upon them

then he sees an 8-year old that gave himself a quirk and he's like "oh. son."

oh he also totally has a little collection of lab rats that he spoils to bits - he's careful not to give them any quirks that would hurt them / cause an ethical issue. mostly they just have colour changing and glowing quirks, one of them can photosynthesize

he's a very good boy and his little rat children love him

So, when one is as hopelessly heroic as Izuku, it tends to be hard to avoid ‘accidentally’ using your quirk in public. When you have a heal quirk? It’s basically impossible.

Healing quirks actually have a special provision under the vigilantism act, along with exemptions due to age, but when Izuku gets caught, the police don’t tell him that. They honestly just want to try and scare the kid straight because it was a ‘miracle’ (forcefield) that he didn’t get hit by the falling rubble.

So Naomasa is brought in, as usual for the Mustutafu area, and asks the basic questions: name, age, quirk. Izuku, being a genius but still like 8 and scared he's going to jail lies for the first two questions, and he doesn’t lie very well because the poor kid is chronically honest.

‘Um, my name is – Tsubasa! Yeah!.” “I’m 10!”

But the last question throws Naomasa for a loop. “What’s your quirk?” “I was born quirkless, I’ve got the x-ray to prove it.”

That wasn’t a lie. But he visibly used a quirk, they saw it happen. And Naomasa suddenly gets a terrible feeling, because there is only one person he knows that can take someone from quirkless to quirked.

“So you don’t have any quirk?” “No sir.” A lie. Fuck. He lets Izuku go because, despite the horror of a child caught in AFO’s clutches, he might be the most valuable lead they’ve ever had. So they keep an eye on him.

It doesn’t take long to see him using more than one quirk. The kid is creative and isn’t bad at disguising them as the same quirk, but using a forcefield to shield you and your friend from rain is visibly different from telekinetically doing the same, if you know what you’re looking for. And boy do Naomasa and All Might know what they’re looking for.

Their second heart attack comes from an absent “So have you been practising with flame manipulation?” “Of course, dipshit, I’m not lazy. We’ve gotta practise to become heroes, don’t we?” “I know, Kacchan! I’m just excited!”

They keep freaking out about it until they bring in Nezu. It takes him a week or so, but he quickly finds out whats going on. “So, I’m not sure if this is what you wanted to hear but: It’s not All for One,” general sighs of relief “But the child has worked out how to synthesize quirks.” PANICKED NOISES

I feel like izuku is def. the first to make a quirk suppressant chemical, which really interests overhaul. Unfortunately, so i assume he can counter than with something that could just speed up the metabolism to flush another chemical out and because aizawa's quirk binds to the quirk factor, he could just give himself a quirk that has a different biological mechanism - confusing the fuck out of everyone involved

Timeline of Izuku’s shenanigans

Katsuki: lactose intolerance cured, proof of concept – age 6

A very nice rat: Attraction of small objects, yes the rat used it and yes it was amazing because other rats counted as small objects – age 7

Izuku: Attraction of small objects – age 8 (Inko’s quirk)

Katsuki: Flame control, a portion of Hisashi’s quirk from Izuku’s genes – age 8

Izuku: Jump, from a detailed study about a quirked rabbit – age 8 (late)

Another very nice rat: given the ability to live to 10 years old. His name is Hermes – age 9

Izuku: Starts a medical degree – age 10

Izuku: Forcefield, partly from a study of a weak forcefield quirk from the beginning of quirks when genetic studies were less taboo, combined with some promoter sequences from Katsuki’s quirk – age 10

Izuku: Heal, something he’d been working on since the beginning, created without reference for a similar quirk, his masterpiece – age 13 (This quirk is not tied to the quirk factor and therefore can not be stopped by erasure or the quirk erasing bullets.)

Izuku: Finishes the medical degree – age 14

Katsuki tries to get him to write Dr. Midoriya on his application to UA but he refuses, sadly. Not that it matters, Nezu recognises the last name from some of the only quirk research since the lab he was kept in was shut down. He’s very interested about one of the boy’s earliest papers; a case study about a quirkless boy born to 2 4th generation quirked parents, and the conclusion he drew: it wasn’t possible. It doesn’t take a genius to work out the quirkless kid was Izuku himself.

Izuku and Katsuki walk to UA together, Uraraka still saves him from tripping, Katsuki was just laughing at his suffering. Izuku’s a little less awkward in this AU and actually manages to thank her. They all enter the hall together.

Izuku never exactly kicked him mumbling habit, Iida still tells him off. Katsuki is trying to fight the urge to fly down there and kick his ass. Not that they can see, but Uraraka is also glaring at Iida for being rude to the nice boy.

Iida tries to stop Izuku from saying hi to Uraraka but she blows straight past him, loudly thanking Izuku for stopping to say hi. She’s glaring at Iida, Izuku is blissfully ignorant of that. Iida feels like he's offended the wrong person.

The exam starts, Izuku jumps straight into the middle of the exam. His legs hurt but he's totally clear of the other test takers. He starts kicking butt. He yanks wires from ports, tears screws from joints, punches robots with forcefield protected fists, etc. He gets maybe 30 points like this.

All around him he can see people in danger, he throws up countless forcefields to protect his fellow test takers. The judges are impressed with the versatility of the quirk, All Might, even though he knows Izuku isn’t connected to AFO, is having a slight breakdown. Nezu is incredibly impressed. Izuku is flagging though, his forcefield quirk takes some serious energy when he doesn’t have much to spare.

The zero pointer is released. Uraraka is pinned, and, unlike canon, she isn’t unscathed. Her ankle is snapped under the rubble, her ribs are badly bruised. Izuku sees this happen and he just moves. He doesn’t trust his forcefield to hold enough weight, so he goes the other direction: brute force. Using his jump quirk, he rockets into the air, landing a solid, quirk enhanced kick to the face of the robot. As it teeters, he uses attraction of small objects on as many individual points as he can, flying over the back of the robots head. He lands with an impact that jars his teeth, just as the robot starts to tip backwards. He makes it to safety with seconds to spare.

He’s exhausted, so far into quirk exhaustion it isn’t funny, but he’s not done yet. He stumbles to Uraraka helps her lift the bolder off her broken ankle, and heals it. He collapses just as the test finishes, Uraraka catching him and keeping him safe from the last few bits of falling rubble. She’s so thrown by her healed ankle.

Recovery girl comes over, checking on Uraraka. She saw the injury on the cameras and felt bad for the poor girl, but when she gets over there’s nothing. Sure, there’s some blood, but under it all there isn’t even a single cut. Uraraka begs her to help the boy in her arms and she thinks she might know why. The boy looks half dead, likely quirk exhaustion. Still, she didn’t know anyone with a healing quirk was applying, normally Nezu would have told her.

#biology prodigy au #BNHA au #bnha #midoriya izuku #bakugou katsuki #uraraka ochako #All Might #Iida Tenya