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stillness-in-green · 3 years

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When MVA/MLA Arc gets animated, what will you be looking forward to the most? What (canon-compliant) additions and/or changed do you want or think Bones should make, if any?

There’s--a lot. Does that surprise anyone? There’s a lot.

o I have been foaming at the mouth for voice actor announcements for almost a year now, particularly for Trumpet, Geten and RD. Trumpet’s superpower is literally his voice! I mean, nothing about that statement requires that voice be particularly entrancing, but it certainly seems like it should be, right?? Geten is a boku-type in the manga, but that was literally the only hint foreshadowing his pretty boy face through 21 solid chapters of Pure Feral Gremlin. Everyone was shocked by Geten’s face reveal! How do you maintain that surprise value with an actual voice actor in the mix? Do you not even try? Do you play up the disparity--in which direction? I can’t wait to see what they do. And Re-Destro! Re-Destro requires so much range! From his peppy, silly businessman persona, to the urbane commander, from the overeager yes-man to the raving zealot--who on earth do you get to believably cover all that ground? I can’t even begin to guess, but I am living in anticipation of that article going up on ANN or the official Twitter sources.

o I’m also much looking forward to getting official coloring on Trumpet and Geten. Skeptic seems pretty straightforward--black, black, more black--and RD and Curious, we have color art for, but I wonder if Trumpet will also be all black clothes, to go with that dignified politician image of his, or if he’ll get some color to pep him up a little. What color are those tinted shades of his? His eyes? The wicked-cool Sevens Loud? I assume Geten is all wintery shades, but it’ll be great to confirm which ones. I mean, we all assume he’s white-haired to better annoy Dabi with family parallels, but what if he turns out to be platinum blond? And are his eyes blue? Gray? White? What color is that awful parka? Also, Re-Destro’s stress powers. Having been writing them as black since at least August--Rorschach test blots are generally black, after all, and they’re the clear inspiration--I would much like it if the anime would have my back on this. They made Destro’s mask a dark cinnamon brown, though, so I’m prepared to be unpleasantly surprised in this matter.

o Predictable MLA adaptational choices aside, I’m also eager/anxious about how they’ll handle Spinner’s narration. What I really hope is that they actually straight-up hand him ALL the narration duties--not just the stuff he dictates directly in the manga, but also e.g. the name and quirk explanation material that Present Mic normally gets, or the previews that are always handled by Deku. The opening and closing sequences are another big structural thing, of course--based on the flashed snippets of Hawks and Endeavor in both our current and the previous OP, I’m expecting we’ll see at least a bit of something referencing the upcoming internship arc (which I expect to close out the season), but I hope the villains just walk away with the closing entirely. I want my slice of life villainy ED, dangit.

o Another thing I’m eager/anxious about would be Kotarou, and the Shimura flashback generally. There’s a brittle edge of to Kotarou that I really love, and I hope he manages to keep it in the anime, despite the anime being generally not so great at moments that I would describe as “delicate.” For example, I’d like it if he doesn’t get a super deep voice, and if they could manage to keep his pretty face, and capture how deeply bitter and tired he looks in the scene where he’s reading the letter Nana left him. Also, I hope they keep the little montage bits and, crucially, the changes of clothes the family goes through. We see Tenko in no less than five, possibly as many as seven, different T-shirts through the course of that flashback. It seems like a small thing, but it’s one of the factors that makes me skeptical that AFO gave Tenko Decay, when so many days clearly go by between the opening with the man at the door and the tragic end. It’d be nice not to see too much resurgence on that just because the anime can’t be bothered to come up with more than one outfit for the Shimuras.

I have enough issues with the anime’s usual adaptation choices that I’m trying not to get my hopes up too high on the actual content of the episodes. The staff is diverting too much of its major talent to the movies (BAH) these days for me to expect the whole season to look all that great, and it’s never been particularly creative or daring outside of its climactic sakuga-heavy fight scenes anyway. I’ve also long had a bone to pick with its scoring decisions, and am already eyeballing the climax of the RD/Shigaraki fight and imagining the minor-keyed terrifying dirge I fear the anime will play there, at the moment that Re-Destro (and, shortly afterward, Spinner) are supposed to be experiencing something akin to religious awakenings. There’s also the issue of the violence and gore--judging by how the anime handled the scene where Shigaraki and Compress maim Overhaul, I have some severe reservations about how much blood they’ll be allowed to get away with, particularly in the scene where the League brutally decimates that CRC group and, of course, Shigaraki’s backstory. I’m looking at MVA to serve as a preview for how all the same issues will be addressed in the War Arc.

That bit of pessimism aside, as to what I’m hoping they’ll add or change? Well, off the top of my head.....

o I would love to get a full episode devoted to the time the League spends fighting Machia. Not that first tussle, but the six grueling weeks in the mountains. There’s so much you could add there for character building and atmosphere that Hori didn’t so much as montage through. Where was their food coming from? How’d they pick out places to pitch camp? How much access to news from outside did they have, and how frequently? What were the circumstances in which Gigantomachia “told them himself” about his great sense of smell?? Stuff like that! I don’t think we’re at all likely to get this--honestly, the series of late has had enough of a problem with trimming bits and pieces that I’m as worried about what they might cut as I am hyped about things they might add--but the one thing that gives me some hope is the training camp arc. Specifically, the moment 1-A first gets to the Pussycats’ forest, they get jumped by earth golems, a fight that the manga off-panels entirely, but the anime spends a modest amount of time on, giving the kids a little bit of time to show off their moves and such. I’d love to get something equivalent for the League.

o On a similar note, I wouldn’t turn it down if they fleshed out some of those running street fights a bit. One obvious thing comes to mind: there’s a weird jump in the manga between Skeptic and a horde of his golems being all but on top of Twice at the beginning of 233 and then that fight just--doesn’t happen. There’s no mention of it at all. I think the suggestion is that either Machia’s appearance or the tower going down interrupted it--Skeptic breaks off from his fight the same way Geten and Trumpet do theirs, shifting focus to protecting Re-Destro--but it’d be nice to see the anime touch on it.

o It’d be nice to get a bit of expansion on the nature of the bullying Spinner endured. We’re told he was, but was it limited to verbal? Did he get beaten up a lot? Was there an online element? Deku’s our only other reference point for “bullied kid,” and whatever one might think about the story’s development of Bakugou’s mentality, it’s been made clear in retrospect that there was a lot more too that than just the matter of Deku’s quirklessness. I’d love to know how Spinner’s bullying looked in comparison (not least because of some of the theories about Spinner and Deku needing to come to some kind of accord to free Shigaraki from AFO).

o Make the Villa (both here and during the War Arc) look more realistic. By which I mean, I know Horikoshi is capable of drawing interesting and lived-in interior spaces--he has an entire chapter dedicated to it in the 1-A dorm room contest, after all--but he normally doesn’t bother much with it. At UA, it’s not too distracting, because we know good and well that that whole building is probably maintained by Cementoss anyway. Ditto places like Tartarus (intentionally, dehumanizingly barren) or the League’s post-Kamino hideouts (abandoned homes and industrial spaces). But the Villa? For heaven’s sake, it’s called a mountain villa. It has a clear reception desk on the ground floor; it’s obviously some sort of high-end hotel, if not an outright resort or rentable retreat lodge. Speaking as someone who’s worked in one, places like that don’t look as fuckin’ bare as the rooms we see there always seem to. For fanfic purposes, I’m happy to go on telling myself that e.g. the pool and the bar and the restaurant(s) and the gym are in the building Cementoss doesn’t tear in half, but it’d be nice if the anime could class the whole place up a little, maybe put some real furniture and decor in the rooms that are in use. (Yes, I know this is a ridiculous nitpick.)

o This is less a change and more a correction, but for fuck’s sake, BONES, give us white-haired Shigaraki. The climax of Deika is a solid time for it, given that it’s obvious in the manga that Shigaraki’s hair gets paler in Deika--you can see it in the way Horikoshi inks it (which is to say, the way he stops inking it)! I think if we ever get white-haired Shigaraki in the anime, a somewhat better time as far as narrative justification goes would be when Shigaraki gets out of the tube in the War Arc; you could easily justify it as a side-effect of the surgery. Still, I’d rather see it here. I want white-haired Shigaraki, gleaming and brilliant through the scattering ash in that crater, a veritable angel of sacred destruction. Honestly, more than anything, the crater sequence is the one I hope I love. It’s probably my favorite single moment in the entire manga, as Shigaraki wins over Re-Destro, Spinner and Gigantomachia in the same moment, and finally comes into his own. If they can at least nail that, I’ll consider myself pretty satisfied.

#stillness-answers #my villain academia #meta liberation army #boku no hero academia #bnha #hopes and dreams

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autumn-foxfire · 3 years

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I always end up thinking it comes back to Shoto *needed* a abusive father who also abused and coerced his mom whom he bought to pop out kids, separated the family, practised eugenics, talked trash about the whole family year after year and turned his brother into a murdering villain. While being a selfish, power hungry No 2 hero who is greedy, uses money and abuses power and is known for his violent heroics and generally disliked. He is next in line to AFO for doing every unimaginable bad but in terms of family abuse.

He could have been a quirkless top cop, he could have been a disabled ex-hero and had the same story. It was important he was what he was just an asshole corrupt top hero. Also to show he was running away from hurting his body and from responsibility by torturing his bought family to suffer in his place.

It was never about Endeavor. His story is like an afterthought to give substance to Shoto's story and bolster him and later, the rest of Todofam's stories. Pro Hero Arc's objective was to set Endeavor up as the symbol of downfall of hero society after All Might era. It was foreshadowed after Kamino Arc by Jin Bubaigawara's comments no less. And Twice being someone Hawks replaced for admiring as the ideal for the man's virtues unlike the sins of a man who was more fake than All Might's true inspiration on a TV. And this downfall was pinned on Endeavor as his personal failure as if to say he isn't the victim folks, move along. It is said as if to make it seem unfair but when it concerns Endeavor the plot always flips to show that wasn't the case it really was his fault. It kind of is. His arrogance, his delusional view of himself, his average competence in comparison to true heroes and his weak hero motivation(I'm No. 1 instead of altruism), etc were clearly depicted. And contrasted with All Might who did his best and was not the one in the wrong in the system. And the Commission who were evil ar dead.

Endeavor's character is frequently contradictory or inconsistent and modt of what he says or thinks is contradicted and depicted as his misunderstandings or sugarcoated delusions. In fact it won't be surprising if Endeavor commented on Toya having only a fire quirk and Rei nervously suggesting having another child to be the Ice sidekick to Toya but Endeavor only believed in one body to be the only hero and mistook Fuyumi's role as the cheerleader. To make every interaction or connection negative than it appears does seem the current purpose of plot.

But what never makes sense from a real person point of view is why marriage and child at 20. Very few people think I'll have a child and spend years grooming it to replace me while I'm being impatient right now. People can say 20 is adult enough all they want but thats two years after graduating from UA high school and its unusual unlike in the States. Didn't he have parents? They also practiced quirk marriage doesn't feel like a good enough answer.

He could have experimented on himself like Danzo from Naruto, he could have had a child with a woman he gets rid permanently- a clone with genetic modifications like in Star Wars or a child throgh a surrogate. Instead he needed the free nanny, cook, cleaner and housekeeper that came with a marriage to look after the child while he was away doing heroics. That is what is pointed out recently was Rei's sole role according to Endeavor.

AFO and his cronies could have been hidden in plain sight as miraculous doctors. Quirks can be updated once without suspicion(Deku never raised red flags?) AFO can give and take quirks. Endeavor was desperate enough to commit a legal seeming unethical practice so if Dr Kyudai Garaki ran a legal experimental scene where he lured in people who searched enough to find him, then why not Endeavor?

But I feel if that was the type of plot then it will be explained how Endeavor's body was not suited to holding cooling quirk or extra quirk would shorten his lifespan. Since Shoto is the real character who has to exist with his mother of a origin. And most likely is the scenario that Endeavor forced Rei to undergo dangerous treatment for pregnancy in one of Kyudai Garaki's machines. Its typical shonen plot btw torturing the mom to have a extra special child.

As told through Rei, Endeavor's character is one who runs away from responsibility and pushes it onto people instead of doing anything himself or troubling himself to suffer at all and shows no remorse afterwards or makes no noticeable effort to do sone action to sepict the same. His endeavoring is only that- a show of endeavour, no substance. In terms of plot having a child makes sense but think of him as a real consistent human character, it no longer is. Rei's assessment contradicts what she excused during the Pro Hero Arc. If he only runs away why would she be so deluded to think he is trying to face his past and not just giving her flowers because he got what he wanted completely at last. It doesn't explain anything about his character beyond being empty words to explain why he should be given a chance. And currently the family really doesn't need him they needed Dabi to be saved and it was said in the raws Shoto stated he did not feel "saved" by having to lend a hand to Endeavor.

I do agree that a major aspect of Enji's character is to provide greater context for both his sons, one who is a main character and one who is a main villain, as well as used to highlight the flaws present in hero society but I disagree with that being all he's supposed to be, at least not anymore.

Hori has gone through great lengths to try and flesh out his character beyond what he originally wrote though it was kind of awkward at the time when he started to do so because he had already dug Enji into such a horrible hole, slowly retconning aspects of the Todoroki family past (such as him "buying" Rei to be his brood mare) in a way that wasn't jarring (by making the family unreliable narrators which is something one would expect) but sadly he couldn't change the image he had already built for Enji for the most part.

I also agree that because Hori had began to flesh out Enji more, there has been more contradictions in his story when you start to pick it apart (such as how he's supposed to be the most stubborn character and yet gave up before he should have), but these issues are really only something a reader that likes to analyse the story will notice, not that of a casual reader (which I guess Hori should be thankful for). I'm not sure if Hori planned to make Enji into a more likable character from the beginning or if he changed plans midstory (...which to be honest, the way his story is written does appear to be the later), but because of the drastic change, it has left us feeling a bit of whiplash.

I do disagree with your last sentences though, Enji is important to the family and important to saving Dabi (kinda). Unlike Shouto, who is trying to break free from Enji and because of that he doesn't need his father, Dabi is desperate for his father's attention which has evolved into hatred and spite. It needs to be Enji that reaches out to him (and I wonder if this is why he decided to have Enji begin to reform as well, to be in a place where he'd actually try to save his son? Hmmm...).

Enji is an interesting character but a lot of his writing has a lot to be desired at times, is what I'm trying to say T-T

#bnha #bnha manga spoilers #bnha critical #thanks for the ask!!

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wyvernspirit · 4 years

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The Hero Billboard Chart and Gang Orca

Right you all know Kugo Sakamata aka Gang Orca?

In my opinion one of the coolest fucking heroes Hori has ever designed.

Yeah I need to rant about him for a bit. Bare with me here.

When we are introduced to him he is the number 10 hero. THE NUMBER 10 HERO. Keep this in mind.

He shows off his strength in the Provisional Hero License Exam, which he wouldn’t have most likely even been going full out on considering its still an exam, just a test, but it’s also shown he’s considered very trustworthy to shape the future generation as he was involved with those taking the remedial course like Shouto and Katsuki.

Overall he’s great and the fandom? Well we liked him! A lot! Hell I know some hardcore Gang Orca stans in this fandom.

He’s powerful, humorous, looks wicked cool and can also be serious when needed! All around a likable guy. No wonder lots of people in the fandom like him.

Unfortunately his popularity isn't exactly the same in canon. While he could likely have been relatively popular to have been ranked top 10 when we saw him, we also know from Hawks talking about Endeavor that your popularity rank does not have to match your actual ranking on the Hero Billboard Chart.

This along with the horrifying knowledge that he is ranked third among heroes who look like villains, which is a horrible ranking to even exist and shows how intolerant the MHA world is, could very well mean he wasn’t ranked very high on the popularity chart last time (and also this time around). Why you may ask, is this important? He still ranked number 10 didn’t he? That has to speak for itself?

Well yeah he was ranked number 10.

Was being the word there.

When we got to the Hero Billboard Chart arc ,or more commonly bunched all together and referred to as the Pro Hero Arc, it is revealed, Gang Orca went down 2 ranks. To number 12.

Why would Hori push down a relatively well established Pro Hero the fandom already liked? The answer could be simply that he wanted to introduce more new characters, yet why do that when the MHA cast is already so large? We’ve already seen he’s had very little time to flesh out and develop any of the new characters introduced in the “New top 10“ except for Hawks.

(Who’s almost a main character at this point so he really doesn't count here. Hawks also was hinted at before with Tokoyami’s internship so he was already established pre the Billboard chart. None of the other new heroes got this.)

Miruko, Wash, Crust and Yoroi Musha that’s four more characters to add to an already large cast. God I love Rumi don’t get me wrong but out of all of these 4 she's the only one who’s gotten any time to herself since then!

We don’t care about Crust or Yoroi and while some of the fandom finds Wash amusing or puzzling (seriously he’s a straight up washing machine?? what?) that’s all there is to it.

It was made even more obvious this arc when what happened to Crust and (presumably) Wash happened and no one in the fandom cared??? There was just not enough time to flesh these characters out even the bare minimum.

So even though Hori might have liked these characters and might have wanted to do more with them, it would have been a smarter decision and could narratively have made sense to keep Gang Orca in the top 10.

Another reason Gang Orca should have stayed in the top 10? Here’s a direct quote from a reporter during the Hero Billboard Chart. “This time, those heroes involved with the Kamino incident have all seen their approval rating’s go up.”

Why does this involve Gang Orca? Because it's shown throughout this episode/chapter that everyone involved with Kamino saw a boost in both popularity and ranking.

We even know Kamui Woods gained a huge boost along with Mt Lady.

Who else do we know who was involved with Kamino? Oh that’s right.

Gang Orca. Gang Orca should at least have been ranking higher then Yoroi Musha since the dude hasn’t been involved in any major take downs that we know of.

The argument of whether Ryukyu or Gang Orca should be higher can be made, due to the former being involved in the Shie Hassaikai raid/incident, however only specifically Kamino is pointed out by those in this episode/chapter so I would have put him in with a fair chance.

Now why do I think the Hero Billboard Chart is bullshit? Because I’m pretty fucking positive the Hero Commission fucks with the rankings. I also know I’m very much not the only one who thinks that.

Hawks sweetie for all I love you I find it a tad suspicious how quickly you rose in the ranks. Only a year and breaching the top 10?? Even if the HC’s marketing for him was on point (which that’s also them fucking with the rankings and showing high bias if that’s the case) I really doubt he should have broke top 10 that quickly.

Mt Lady was involved with Kamino, we can presume was a sidekick for a few years and is really well liked and she only became part of the top 20 at age 22/23.

Everyone in the top ten is over 25

Hawks would have been 18 when he breached it. Yeah I ain’t buying that shit.

Why would they have stepped in for Gang Orca? Well even if it wasn’t specifically them (though I doubt it), Gang Orca dropping out of the top 10 is pretty big to suggest more on the discrimination mutant quirked individuals face in the MHA society

In “MHA Heros Rising” one of the villains also blatantly states he became a monster because people already treated him like one.

We also know Spinner hates being referred to as Lizard and took great offense when Dabi did so. That with all the other hints sprinkled in..

From what we know the HC has not stepped in to stop this at all.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the HC did in fact bring Gang Orca down out of the top 10 and used the end of All Might’s Era as a convenient excuse.

Again if anything due to being involved in Kamino the guy should have jumped up a rank not gone down 2.

Gang Orca I will say very happily is one of my favourite heroes. I’m quite biased to him. Yet looking this over again and again. I still do not understand why he would have dropped ranks like that in a way that makes sense in cannon except for having the ranks be fucked with.

Gang Orca deserved better than what Hori gave him. He is more liked than any of the new characters introduced except Miruko because of that we are very attached to him. He deserved to be top 10 and I will forever be salty about it. Hopefully I got my point somewhat across? I admit I’m not very good at compiling my thoughts in a concise manner, hence the “Rambles” part of my name.

#mha #Gang Orca #kugo sakamata #the hero billboard chart #the hero commission #wyv rambles #(i finally get to use that tag)#wyv rants #bnha #hero public safety commission

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severeblizzardlady · 4 years

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Isekai in the Time of Quarantine (Part 1)

[Twice/Jin Bubaigawara -- because certain happenings in the manga are making me feel things and I have to write something to feel better]

Warnings for: Spoilers, cursing, inappropriate amounts of author fawning over fictional character (but, really, someone has to), crack-ish content (but it’s Twice, so...)

“What the fuck.”

You stared at the page open on your phone. Then you went back a page. Then you went back to the page you were previously on. Unfortunately, the same words were there, the same images. Images of a man with a torn mask, his face bloody and sweaty and tear-stained running for a door. For a light. For his friends.

Only to be cut off by a shadowed figure--Hawks, Keigo Takami--bringing down a feather large enough to be a sword and just as deadly.

You couldn’t believe it. Jin Bubaigawara, AKA the villain Twice from the series Boku no Hero Academia just....

“No way.” For a second you debated closing out the page. But you kept reading. Maybe you were hoping for a miracle. That you’d jumped the gun. That Twice would Falcon Punch Hawks and make that beeline for his buds like he was planning.

He didn’t.

“God damn, Hori.” You sniffled when you finished the chapter. God, you were even crying. How were you that attached to a character? Of course, even as you wondered that, you knew it was because Twice, Jin, had been such a well fleshed-out character. A character with dimension.

Oh yeah, he was evil. You knew that without a doubt. But he’d been alone, cast out by the world and forced to resort to crime because nobody that was “good” or “upstanding” trusted him. It almost made you wish he’d taken up Hawks on the whole, turn over a new leaf thing. Not that he would have. The League of Villains were his friends, not his coworkers. He’d said it himself--their happiness was his reason for living. He wouldn’t have been able to function without them.

It would have ripped him apart.

Well, at least Jin had died happy with how his life had turned out. And his clone had gotten to see Toga one last time and protect his buds. It was a bittersweet ending to the chapter, and to Jin’s character, but you were content with how Horikoshi had gone about it.

Your phone’s alarm dinged then, a single note like a wind chime. You sighed, flipping onto your side in bed. The chapter had almost made you forget that you were stuck in your apartment. Because of the sickness going around, a stay-at-home order had been enforced. Everyone was sequestered in their homes--or they were supposed to be anyway--to decrease the numbers of the sick.

Fortunately, your job allowed you to work from home. Unfortunately, your parents and your siblings were pretty spread out. Sure, you’d messaged them and video chatted. Hell, you’d just talked to your parents before reading up on the last chapter of BNHA. But your apartment felt too big, too quiet, too empty.

You missed being in the same room with people. Both the intimate stuff and the simple things. Like talking. Or cooking. At the rate you were going, you’d end up making friends with all your stuff. You were already calling your fridge Frida.

I’ll talk to Mom and Dad tomorrow. You decided, eyes starting to feel heavy. See if they’ll let me stay with them until this all passes.

***

“Are we renting out the base now?” You groaned at the man’s voice and flipped onto your side. Without looking at your alarm clock or phone, there was no way of telling the time. But you were pretty sure it was too early to be awake. The way your eyelids seemed to be glued shut was all the indication you need.

“Man, those Liberation guys sure like making money.”

You groaned a little louder, eyes still shut as you felt for your phone. Seriously, who was talking so much, so early in the morning? Didn’t they realize some people needed to work the next day? In the next few hours even?

“This what you’re looking for?” Someone put your phone in your hand. Which would have been all fine and dandy if anyone actually lived with you. Shrieking, you threw yourself out of bed, getting tangled in your sheets and landing butt first on the ground as a result.

There was a man in your room.

There was a man dressed up as Twice in your room.

There was a freaking Twice cosplayer in your room at four AM.

The floor felt cold. Your butt was killing you. It felt like your leg was gonna pop out of the socket from how it was tangled up in your bedding. You weren’t dreaming. Dammit, you weren’t dreaming, and there was a whackadoodle in your apartment.

This was not the company you were looking for!

He took a step towards you, hands raised, and you screamed again. You flung your phone at him, kicking your tangled leg until you were free so you could run for your life. “Help!” You felt the man try to grab at you, but adrenaline propelled you into the living area. Something fell off your table when you slammed into it.

Still, you didn’t stop running, even when you were out in the hallway. “Someone call the cops! Fire! Fire!”

***

“Look, even if there was someone in her apartment, he’s gone now.”

Your landlady, clad in a blue, fluffy night gown with her hair in a bun, rolled her eyes at the police officer. “So that’s it? You’re not going to look for him. Is it too hard for police nowadays to find some costume-wearing nutjob who’s terrorizing one of my tenants?”

The police had come. Luckily, the nice lady at the end of the hall had heard your screams and called the police after ushering you into her apartment. Your landlady showed up not long after. She looked about ready to raise hell when she’d stomped down the stairs, woken up by the chaos and the police’s sudden arrival.

“Ma’am, he somehow avoided your security cameras, there’s not much else we can do. We’ll increase patrols in the area, but without a description of what the guy actually looks like, without the mask, that’s it.”

The police figured the man, whoever he was, had turned down the opposite end of the hallway while you cried for help and went down the stairs. One of the windows in the third floor hallway, a window facing the alley, was wide open. The security camera there hadn’t caught anything. The wires had been shorted out God only knew when.

You tapped your fingers against your mug. It was pretty with little pastel flowers all over it. The landlady had given it to you at some point, there was a rich, red tea in it, but you couldn’t remember what the flavor was.

“Pah, they expect us to do all the heavy-lifting, don’t they?” The landlady huffed once it was just the two of you. “’Course, you’d expect a little more decency, but with everything going to hell nowadays, I guess it’s no surprise,” she looked at you then, concern clear in her usually steely eyes. “Do you have anyone you can stay with tonight?”

You shook your head, eyes starting to burn. Every time you so much as blinked, you could see that man standing over you.

Your landlady patted the table, a few inches away from your fingers. It was the closest thing you’d had to physical contact in the last week. You almost wished she’d touch you. “The sofa’s a fold-out,” she said, getting to her feet. “We’ll see about your place in the morning.”

***

The only thing missing was your phone. There was no indication of forced entry at either of your windows or at the door (or the vents; you knew the guy wouldn’t have fit in the air vent--but it was an older building, and you’d read enough stories about people skulking through vents not to check).

Your water bottle had fallen off the table. It had broken into pieces on the floor. But you’d finished the water off, so there weren’t any spills.

“Come home,” Your dad had said when you video-called that afternoon. You could hear your mom crying in the background after you’d told them what’d happened. “We’ll get your phone shut down, and I’ll help you move everything.”

You sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose over your medical mask. That was two days ago. You’d been staring at what remained of the frozen food section at the local grocery store for a good five minutes. It felt like all your nerves were on end. That guy was out there somewhere. Or he was in the store with you. Unless he was in a hospital bed because he’d jumped out of a third floor window.

He could’ve been anyone. Almost anyone. And he knew where you lived and he had access to your phone--if he’d figured out how to unlock it anyways. And, again, wasn’t in the hospital.

It’s fine, You assured yourself, grabbing some chicken. Dad’s coming to get me in a few days, the boss is fine with me relocating as long as I keep working. It’s fine. I’m fine.

“You dropped this.”

Nope, nope, you weren’t fine. Were. Not. Fine. At all. Because you remembered that low voice from that night. But you still turned around. Because you were in a public place, even if the crowds were thinner than usual. And it wasn’t like he could hurt you as long as--

The man behind you was a little scruffy and had blond hair. He smelled faintly of cigarette smoke, but you could only tell because he was so close to you, breaching your personal space with blue eyes the size of pinpricks that gauged your every move. He was sweating, even though it was still cold out. It made your palms sweat around the basket’s handles.

Unhinged, that was the look in his eyes, in his face.

There was a brief moment where you feared he might pounce and try to bash your skull in. A really brief moment, which passed the second your eyes actually focused in on the scar on his forehead. As though he’d been stabbed with a knife.

And then you opened your mouth. Like a freaking dumbass.

“You went way too hard on that Jin cosplay.”

#jin bubaigawara #SevereBlizzardLady indulgences #isekai in the time of quarantine #reader insert #jin bubaigawara x reader #twice bnha

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arkus-rhapsode · 5 years

Text

My Hero Academia Chapter 217 Review

So, it’s been a while since I did a review of this, eh? Yah, sorry. And next week is a hiatus so, lets dive in

We open up on Bakugou and Deku fighting, well more training. As Bakugou is trying to force the Black Whip to activate. All Might has to tell Bakugou that this is about testing Deku and making sure he doesn’t release the Black Whip unintentionally.

We get a flashback revealing that now that Bakugou is in on the One for All secret, he now gets to be meeting with Deku and All Might. I can’t help but imagine Bakugou being at least a little giddy on the inside considering he now gets to hang out with his favorite hero. Though he’s spending it with Deku so maybe it balances out.

Anyway, we get confirmation here that All Might did not know of these multiple quirks and likely Nana didn’t either. So this makes Deku the first of all the users to complete one for all.

Also, we see Bakugou’s addition this duo’s dynamic, he is master of cutting straight to the point. Already, asking questions to move the conversation forward. And when Deku suggests that this was possibly was caused through external means, Bakugou is the one who suggests that this was thanks to All for One.

Bakugou compares the quirks of All for One and One for All, as well as being the one who puts forward the fact that the quirk of One for All originated from All for One.

We cut back to the present where Bakugou’s trying to force out the black whip, but All Might needs to reel him back a little. Deku says that the quirk will only activate when with his feelings. My guess is from what the Hell Boy looking guy said, the feeling Deku needs to have to awaken Black Whip isn’t danger, but rather, feeling of grabbing or catching something or something. So maybe we should get Iida and start a chase or something?

Okay, make up your mind already Hori! Look I appreciate that Horikoshi had seemed to make it out as Deku needed to master the percentage portion of All for One to withstand the physical taxation of quirks like Black Whip. But now it seems like its implying that Deku should start figuring out how to unlock it instead of waiting till the fiiture like he had said 2 weeks ago.

I guess what this could be implying is that Deku should learn what “feeling” activates his other quirk, but he shouldn’t use it until he’s mastered the strength portion of the quirk. Now that would be fine if that were the case. Its also a possibility that this is a transnational issue and I might just be misinterpreting it.

Also, Deku is a little hung up on the comparison to All for One. And likely the fact if this was caused by him, its very likely All for One might be able to do other things to his body.

We cut away to the best part of the chapter.

All of class 1-a and class 1-b hanging out and enjoying dinner together.

We see Kirishima and Tetsutetsu discussing quirks, and it highlights what I said about them during the team Todoroki vs team Honenuki fight. That Tetsutetsu and Kirishima, while almost a joke on how similar they are, are fundamentally different people. As Kirishima suffers from a lack of confidence while Tetsutetsu suffers from overconfidence. I know its pretty much a foot note in the grand scheme of things, but I do appreciate that Hori does go the extra mile with these characters when he could’ve just made it the simple joke of, “their the same person basically.”

Also, Tetsutetsu brings up that while he can become iron, its only so hard. But Kirishima, he can keep hardening. I bet in his unbreakable mode, Kirishima is so much harder than Tetsutetsu that he could potentially crack his iron. But as iron, Tetsutetsu doesn’t have to worry about fire or other extreme weather cause his skin is metal. Kirishima will have to worry though, as while he is hard, he’s still made of flesh which can burn or freeze.

Also we have Momo and Kendou catching up with eachother. Then, my personal favorite, Tokoyami getting asked by Komori if he has photos of Hawks from off duty.

And yes, Mineta is locked in a clockwork orange chair. Actually that’s kinda brilliant.

I wish we could do more, but we gotta get to plot.

Wow... Now that Todoroki mentions how when they fought during the sports fest, Deku told him to come at him with everything he had and yet Deku wasn’t truly giving everything he had. Now to be fair, as Deku tries to say, this power just started to manifest, so its not like that was intentional. But you get what I mean here, that really awesome moment has been a bit cheapened in hindsight.

Well, I’m still glad someone is trying to press Deku about the two quirk thing cause last week everyon kinda dropped it. Though Todoroki now is dropping it so...

Well that all aside, Todoroki has actually texted back endeavor. Though its mainly to learn about the flashfire, but hey, baby steps.

Oh you just know Endeavor has been checking his phone every other goddamn minute.

We cut to the UA teachers meeting and they pretty much are done discussing where Shindou will be going.

We see Mic finally say what the fandom has kinda been saying for a while now, Aizawa sees some of himself in Shinsou. Which... Yeah, a super powerful quirk that could be totally used for evil, but you still have something on the inside that makes want to do good. Also, you’re really both pretty surly.

But Mic also asks if SHinsou reminds him of Shirakumo, likely the flame haired guy in Aizawa’s flashback last chapter. And can I take a minute to say I love how Hori likes to foreshadow new character? Because he often doesn’t just drop them in as an individual, but he tends to show them with characters that have already established. Like when Gentle was going through famous villains he mention All for One and Stain, but then mentioned two other guys who will potentially be related to other obstacles. Or like with Overhaul’s gang who first appear during a Twice focused chapter.

Anyway, we cut to Eri who is naturally a little scared of Monoma.

So Monoma was brought here to copy Eri’s quirk, but considering his... everything (I love that line) It might be best that Mirio and Deku be here to.

Monoma explains that he can’t use quirks that accumulates power through converting it, then its basically a dud. Same with Eri here.

Mirio asks why then was Monoma even brought here.

Aizawa says that having Monoma copy it would’ve helped Eri with control and here we go again. Adorable Eri moments.

I wanna take this moment to say Eri’s however, don’t feel like a cheap gimmick to pull at the audience’s heartstrings like other daughteru characters. She actually lived a life of physical and psychological torment and is still haunted it by it. Its not like we have one arc, boom, your cured from depression and can now exist just to do cute shit. So while Eri let go of Overhaul’s psychological grasps, she is still likely holding a lot of self loathing for her powers and what its done to people. So I wanna say that Eri is a great example of the cute young child character with a tragic backstory to make the audience care about protecting her, because she actually really needs it.

I know, kinda a wierd tangent, but with some recent shit in other series, some child characters just seem to exist to be cute after their “tragic” backstory and it bugs me.

And our chapter ends, with Deku giving a vote of confidence that she will one day control her powers and he to vows he’ll do the same.

Post Chapter Follow Up: This chapter was great. Last week I had some issues, mainly because this recent arc kinda has the same problem as the Overhaul arc. Namely, it starts off really strong, has a contender for one of the greatest moments in the series, then a twist out of left field happens and the entire few chapters become a total cluster fuck. Which while last week, we were all happy for Shinsou and Uraraka, but how that arc concluded was still a bit of a disappointment when you saw how it was going before.

This chapter however, was a perfect little epilogue.

Positives are all of the character work from Todoroki and Endeavor, to Deku and All Might’s dynamic shift with the introduction of Bakugou, to Eri and Deku etc. I also wanna say this chapter is full of content, yet it is paced wonderfully.

Nothing feels too long, nothing feels too short. It also manages to start setting some stuff for the future. But nothing so obvious that its like, “This is what the next arc will be about!” no this was a self contained little chapter and I really enjoyed that.

I have no negatives for this chapter. Any that I could think of, I might blame that on more just what came before this chapter, but its nothing that it could fix or change right now.

Final Verdict: 10/10

While I have issues with the last third of the joint exercise arc, this chapter on its own is still a great epilogue to it

Great bits of character

Great bits of development

Hints of foreshadowing

Just all around good

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