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#idk i just think people expect too much from afo's character
haleigh-sloth · 2 years
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As someone who loves BNHA for everything that it is, good and bad, I gotta say that there are a lot of instances where the fans give the creator too much credit.
By that I mean, expecting him to subvert things that majority of manga in this genre adhere to.
The biggest example is Shigaraki and AFO.
I can appreciate the idea of setting Shigaraki up to be redeemed and be the victim in need of help, only to manage to free himself of his abuser and become the enraged final villain that still gets saved, though it's more gritty and difficult and more of a challenge to the protag (and would require a lot of retconning of Shigaraki's character and casting aside a lot of characterization of the rest of the League, which I don't see happening).
But I feel like people are giving Hori way too much credit, or have way too high expectations for his "subversion" tendencies. Honestly idk of anything that he's subverted, but there is close to, if not completely 0% chance that AFO and Shigaraki will be an example of that.
AFO's presence isn't just Shigaraki's obstacle. His existence in the story is to be the common enemy that both the hero and villain sides can unite to overcome. Relating him to Touya, Aoyama, and All Might on a personal level shows this. Call it what you will: easy, cheap, outdone, whatever, but it's clear that's what he is.
The clear lack of reflection on the heroes' side of things should be pretty much proof of this. There is no reflection on society and its systemic issues, the issues that exist outside of AFO's manipulation of people, just outside of everything AFO does in general. The only ones thinking of the villains as people are 3 of the kids, and nobody else. It's clear that it's not a wide scale dilemma being considered, and that in order for the villains to be seen differently by the majority of the other side they will have to show it through their individual choices and actions. It's a flaw in the manga, I will not deny. Because if the manga was going to present these issues as relevant, it should follow up on it. But it's very present this close to the end and probably not going to change or go away.
So no I don't think AFO is there to be a subversion. He's there to adhere to the easy pathway to redeeming villains and being the guy who does worse than the redeemable villains do. There's the bad guys, and then the even worse guy--which his him. The guy who not only has wronged the heroes, but also the villains, giving them a reason to team up with the heroes at the end and "switch sides". The common enemy that exists so everyone, no matter which side they are on, can relate to each other on some level.
I agree with the complaints that he's boring. What I don't agree with is that he's secretly meant to be more than he is, and we just "haven't seen it yet". I'm sorry but I do think he will remain the boring big bad that he's always been. I'm not necessarily complaining about that fact, because for the characters I DO care about everything is going the way I prefer, but I don't disagree with the criticism that he’s boring and could be handled or utilized much better.
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problemswithbooks · 2 years
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Ch. 363 and all I can say is, I do really want Dabi to die at this point. 
Part of it is because I’m not super fond of how Hori has written his character, but also because I don’t want anymore stupid ass pulls with his character anymore. 
I’m hoping the leaks are wrong because it is ridiculous if it’s true that he’s somehow copying Shoto’s last attack. First off he doesn’t even have the duel Quirk that Shoto has so how is what he’s doing anything similar in the first place. Second, it took Shoto a long time to learn that move and was the kind of the culmination of his character arc, so Dabi figuring it out in .02 seconds is both unbelievable and undercuts Shoto. Third it under cuts Dabi character if it suddenly says that he’s made his Quirk his own, sense his entire point was that he only used Enji’s moves because he could only focus on his revenge. 
I know people really expect him to have some sort of Phoenix Quirk but that’s just not a good thing to add to his arc. The point of Dabi is that he wasn’t the perfect heir Enji wanted and so he was tossed aside. If it turns out that he has some regeneration Quirk (which idk where he even would have inherited that from), it sort of implies that Enji shouldn’t have neglected, not because neglect is bad and wrong, but because Touya actually was prefect, and Enji really should have pushed him to his limits instead. It’s just a weird message to send, given all the build up we’ve had toward Touya needing to accept his limits and learn to see his value outside his Quirk, while Enji needs to show that he loves Touya for more then how much awesome his Quirk is. 
Meanwhile, giving Shoto the ability to heal him is also weird because it continues to paint him as perfect, and the savior of his family. It would also make Touya hate him even more because apparently there really wouldn’t be anything Shoto couldn’t do. It would fit in more with the themes Hori has built up then giving regeneration to Touya, but it still would feel forced and a Deus Ex Machina, given it wasn’t ever even hinted at.
And the issue is that unless he does get healed somehow, Dabi won’t have the time/power left for his big show of changing sides like many people think the core LoV will do (aka, helping take down AfO/protect civilians) so they can be “redeemed”. Not only that he seems to be calling on Skeptic, and giving him the signal to have AfO’s spies start killing civilians, while also burning people to death rather brutally, which means he’s really going to have to do something big to make up for that. Yet by the time Touya is convinced to change he’ll be completely burnt out (literally) so how will he even be able to help them?
 Touya’s character is just a mess at this point and I honestly think his death would make the most sense for the story at this point. I expect him to get some closure before he dies so Shoto still technically gets the win, but unless Hori pulls some crap out of his ass, I don’t see how Touya survives and gets to eat dinner which everyone. 
Which is sad for me because that means Enji’s most likely going to die too (it would be weird/shitty for the TodoFam plot if Touya died and Enji lived).   
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tonya-the-chicken · 2 years
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I ll give some. Some Japanese fans are confused why Endeavor overreacted to AFO. Otherwise majority posts are antis who have come out of the woodworks. These I won't coz it's depressing. Among nonantis, some critical are just salty. Wondering whats going on in a final arc and why Hori couldn't just chose between going for KusoDVman or atonement instead of swing towards former and needing to overdo punishment. Some are like it's best the twisted relationship between him and Hawks concludes
Hawks relation is one-sided and imaginary. He sees Endeavor as the hero and wants to support that hero Endeavor for the good of many people even if it means sacrifing himself for both. "I cannot replace Endeavor to you but I can support you" it's good tokoyami can be such a person for hawks instead of the doll who can answer who saves the hero. But seems hawks cannot be for Endeavor who cannot hear him anymore and their relationship is too twisted on a misunderstanding on hawks part. If he can
If hawks can easily turn his back to prioritise peace isn't that he can for Endeavor? Seeing only in win or loss for professional peace, hawks needs him to the hero who inspired him and share his ideal. But afo says ende longing for power twisted so it was selfish kuso all along. Ende is weak nd sensitive he isn't meaning to but he's disappointing both shoto nd hawks by not being wat they want even though hawks will never leave his side. He can't be hero now his hero origin cloudy for power
Depression hit me like a baseball bat. Anyway
I don't think that Enji overreacting to OFA is a bad idea but I think it was awfully delivered. He is characterised as a man who just losses it when his family is in danger. He couldn't move when Natsuo was hurt, the same happened during Dabi's reveal. It is his weakness but not a flaw. I don't feel like it's something that needs fixing or that it was ever presented as something that needs fixing so seeing him overreact is, well, expected. AFO abusing this weakness is classic, Enji overreacting is too but because we do not see any inner dialogue it all feels quick and confusing and worst of all it feels like a cheap trick to remove Enji and make way for a new generation. It would be in character for him to react like this. It also can make sense story-wise (idk what happens next) but the way it is, it was very dissatisfying because for some reason instead of Enji's inner dialogue we listened to Hawks's perspective the entire time
To be fair, Enji's lack of interest in Hawks does make it seem very one-sided. That could have been easily fixed if they shared a few moments as a big three (filler episode yay). And then it could have been displayed as Enji listening to Hawks but still losing it at some point but we wouldn't see it because the entire chapter is from Hawks's perspective for some reason (why????? At least split it)
It is also funny how everyone is like "oh no Enji's falling! Anyway Tokoyami and Jirou are here to save the day" like c'mon man!??
I don't think Enji is disappointing anyone. I understand what trope Horikoshi tried to play out but it was awful, it sucked so much ass. But I liked the idea.... Maybe if instead of focusing on Dabi vs Shouto first and on Enji+Hawks vs AFO second, maybe it would be better if the two fights happened more parallel and at the same time we would see AFO saying he took Touya's body we would see the reaction from Endeavor and at the very same moment a reaction from Shouto. But then it would be striking out how quickly Endeavor lost so I would prolong the fight and perhaps add something more, or maybe just show Enji losing before Shouto winning, so we first focus on Enji and then on Shouto
In short, shite
Like, c'mon if you show us someone being provoked you gotta show us what they are going through on the inside that is the juice
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makeste · 3 years
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BnHA Chapter 317: My Boy Was Just Like Me
Previously on BnHA: AFO randomly blew up Lady Nagant as a good reminder of why you should never make a deal with this fucking guy, smdh. Hawks was all “well if it isn’t my two best friends, Deku and Lady Nagant, both of whom I respect and love tremendously.” Everyone was all “??” and Horikoshi was all “shh... just pretend” because it was too embarrassing for him to admit that he forgot to write a couple of set-up flashbacks I guess. Anyway so Hawks got Lady to tell them where AFO was hiding out, and everyone said goodbye to her and Overhaul, who never did get to see his boss (sorry buddy, I’ll send you a vial of my tears in the mail), and headed out to a house in the woods. AFO was all “hello Deku :) :) it sure is fun making you suffer :) :) :) anyways this is a trap”, and blew up the house. Yeah, we all here are getting reaaaaaaaal tired of your shit, AFO.
Today on BnHA: The Hawksquad and Edgeplatoon meet in a warehouse and are all “what should we do about the fact that everything sucks?” Mt. Lady is all “here’s a thought, what if we tried battling AFO with more than six people.” Hawks and Endeavor are all “great initiative, but just a friendly reminder that our friends also suck and would probably betray Deku which would suck further still.” Shouto is all “ANSWER THE PHONE DAD” and Endeavor is all “[IRONICALLY DOESN’T ANSWER THE PHONE].” Meanwhile over in Sadtown, capital of Sadland Prefecture, Japan, Deku is all “All Might, as you can clearly see I am completely fine and good, never been better in fact, definitely not caught up in the throes of an epic mental breakdown which is shutting me down emotionally, anyway so on that note I would like to leave you now goodbye!!” All Might is all “[can’t actually form any words because he’s too distraught].” Fandom is all “o(╥﹏╥)o.” Horikoshi is all “(*^-’) 乃 [pew pew finger guns and barrel rolls into the darkness].”
sweet jesus lord
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this literally doesn’t even look like Deku anymore?? this looks like Dark!Deku who shows up to fight you in that one room in the Water Temple. he looks like he’s about to crawl out of my television set and murder me with his psychic powers good lord
holy shit lmao Horikoshi is really just shrugging his shoulders and resolving last week’s cliffhanger with a single line of dialogue
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fire is no one’s weakness. idk what other options you’ve got, AFO, but you’re gonna have to go back to the drawing board. maybe try bees or something. I’m just saying. we’re all expecting fire at this point but nobody is expecting bees
anyway so now they’re all sitting in some warehouse somewhere chatting about it I guess. shoutout to Horikoshi for finally giving my man Edgeshot some more dialogue at long last
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well, Edgeshot, to answer your question, she exploded. so naturally she’s fine
nah just kidding, Hawks says she won’t be able to help them out much because she’s recovering from being exploded. this is the part where we all ignore the fact that Hawks got set on fire for like a full ten minutes back during the War arc and was only in the hospital for a day. anyways enjoy your temporary plot hiatus Nagant
man there’s a lot of dialogue here and I’m trying to figure out where to insert commentary but it’s kinda difficult lol. basically, Edge and the others are saying that they should gather up the other remaining heroes and get them all caught up on the whole OFA situation. which, hmmmm
like on the one hand, these guys definitely aren’t going to cut it on their own, so it’s a reasonable suggestion on the face of it. but on the other hand, do we really want to entrust the OFA secret to a bunch of other people, most of whom shat the bed during the War arc to be quite frank? is it really worth the additional risk? especially given that any one of them might go spilling the beans to the public -- or worse, betray them to AFO??
also just a quick side note here, Mt. Lady’s character development never ceases to delight me. she’s become so committed to her responsibility as a hero these days, and it fucking suits her. I genuinely consider to be one of the elites now. I mean it doesn’t hurt that all the other elites are fucking dead lol but still
wait what? Death Arms retired??
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Death Arms as in the guy who was too afraid of a little fire to try and save a terrified 14-year-old kid who was slowly suffocating right before his eyes?? that Death Arms???? color me surprised. shocked, I tell you
...okay but holy fuck
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Death Arms. bro. my expectations for you were low but holy shit. like I’m sorry, but I don’t even have it in me to try and pretend like I feel the slightest bit of sympathy for him or Old Man Samurai or any of those other guys today. thanks for a whole lot of nothing my dude. good riddance
(ETA: so I’m rereading this the next day and realize this comes off as kind of harsh, so let me just try to clarify. it’s not the fact that he’s quitting that bothers me, to be honest. it’s the fact that he’s quitting specifically because he feels like the public is being mean to him. that’s it.
seriously. it would be one thing if he was quitting because he was scared, because now that is human. nobody wants to die, and I doubt any amount of training can ever fully prepare someone to go up against that fear. but the thing is, he never once mentions that, or talks about the danger aspect. instead, I got the distinct vibe from this speech that Death Arms is one of those people who only became a hero because of the limelight. and I just don’t have any patience for that. if all you care about are likes and subscribes then go become a fucking youtuber or some shit. nothing wrong with that! but you didn’t; you signed up to be a hero and protect these people. they gave you their respect and admiration because they trusted you to protect them. and now that they’re no longer in the mood to worship and applaud your every move on account of them being scared shitless because they’re living in the literal end times, you decide to dip. so like okay, fine then. don’t let the door hit you on the way out. anyways lol sorry for the rant.)
anyway so yeah. perfect example of why I don’t exactly have a ton of faith in most of the remaining heroes out there lol. also let me just once again give a shoutout to my best girl Mt. Lady whom I suddenly find myself appreciating all the more
“please calm down makeste. drink some water and enjoy this fresh new jeans pun” listen Horikoshi don’t tell me what to do dammit
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fine. it is a nice pun, I guess
-- damn so now Endeavor’s saying that the media is already being fed info by the retired heroes. so for some of these guys it wasn’t enough for them to abandon all the people they swore to protect and to leave their fellow heroes out in the cold; they decided they might as well actively make things worse for them while they were at it, huh. like I get wanting to spill all the dirty secrets from your old job that you just quit, but this isn’t Jeff Bezos you’re screwing over, this is a sixteen-year-old kid
-- like, yes!! this, right here!!
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exactly!! let’s not forget that there are already two prior instances of this happening. Endeavor arguably deserved it, but Katsuki not so much
huh. Endeavor seems to have a more optimistic outlook regarding this than I do lol
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I mean, this is the same public that didn’t hesitant to blame a kidnapped child for his own kidnapping, and then later on for being the downfall of the Symbol of Peace. but okay then
anyway so blah blah blah, more talk about how they need to use Deku as bait, which basically puts them back at square one, and then they’re all just trailing off into silence and sitting around in the dark lmao this is getting very depressing
SKDJFLSDKJ:LFKJ
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SHOUTO?????
NOOOOOOOO ARE YOU KIDDING ME
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OH HOW THE TURNTABLES OMG. THE GHOSTER HAS BECOME THE GHOSTEE. Endeavor you petty son of a bitch. and what a brutal cut to that flashback too. “let’s stop Touya together” nah Shouto I’ve got a better idea why don’t I abandon you in U.A. and sally off with Hawks and Jeanist to found the “let’s pretend like we’re doing something to help Deku” club, which basically consists of us sitting around making terrible decisions all day long
Shouto, honey. you deserve better my little Coca Cola can. .........but if you really do have something important you need to tell your dad you could just text it to him. all the love and support, hugs and kisses, you’re doing amazing sweetie. but if you need to pass on any vital information you can just write it down and hit send honey that’s all I’m saying love
now he’s getting another call?? -- or, no, Hawks is getting a call from All Might
ARE YOU FOR REAL HAWKS OMFG
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so while you all were sitting around talking about how useless you are, the kid you’re supposed to be protecting was battling another hired gun. I see. please pardon me for one second, I have a phone call to make. the phone call is to RockLockRock and Manual. the reason for the call is to apologize for calling them the worst bodyguards ever back during the War arc. the reason for the apology is because it turns out I WAS SEVERELY MISTAKEN OMFG
JESUS CHRIST DEKU DID YOU JUST KILL THIS MAN LMAO
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shoutout to Horikoshi for offscreening this fight. we get it, lol. Deku strong and scary, villains ineffectual and feeble, and AFO... [checks notes] yep, still a dick. the angst arc continues
-- the angst arc continues, SIR
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jesus christ I may have to rethink all of my opinions about Deku being framed for murder in movie 3 lmao. never mind. he did it, your honor
holy fucking shit Deku. “he might blow up, so please be careful” fdlskjflk jlskdjflk lwkejflk anyway so I’ve decided the explosion running gag can stay, actually
DEKU WAIT YOU FORGOT YOUR LUNCH!!
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lol why do I get the feeling some serious shit is about to go down. ALL MIGHT NEVER MIND BACK OFF I THINK HE NEEDS HIS SPACE
OH MY FUCK I GASPED OUT LOUD
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NO NO NO. I KNEW THIS WAS COMING GODDAMMIT BUT NO. NEVER MIND, I CHANGED MY MIND ABOUT IT, I’M NOT READY TO CRY TODAY
shit. shit shit shit shit and OF COURSE all I can fucking think about is that stupid fucking prophecy and gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Deku please. please please please if you really are going to leave All Might here, please be so very careful in choosing your farewell words to him now because have this sudden horrible fear that this might be the last time you ever see him alive and oh god. oh god oh god
DEKU NO, YOU’RE REALLY NOT!?!?
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I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYONE LESS FINE IN MY LIFE, ACTUALLY????
holy shit. and the fucking callback to the prophecy now. just in case we forgot. WHICH FYI, WE DIDN’T. but that’s basically confirming that this is all still very much on the table and HORIKOSHI NEVER FORGETS oh my god someone please hold me
and the fact that Deku’s flashing back to it now too, though?? because he never forgot either, because of course he didn’t, and now all this stuff is happening, and AFO’s words are getting to him, and this is literally his worst fear come to life and so of course he’s distancing himself from everyone, and now it’s finally come to even this. even the person he admires most
-- OKAY NO, FUCKING COME ON ALREADY I CAN’T TAKE THIS
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I GET IT OH MY GOD, I ALREADY UNDERSTAND THE EMOTIONAL IMPACT OF THIS MOMENT WITHOUT ALL OF THE DEVASTATING FLASHBACKS THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!! YOU ACTUALLY DO WANT ME TO CRY, HUH, IS THAT IT. THIS MAN THAT HE THINKS OF AS A FATHER, THIS MAN WHO HAS BEEN EVERYTHING TO HIM SINCE HE WAS A VERY YOUNG CHILD. EVERYTHING THEY’VE BEEN THROUGH, JUXTAPOSED AGAINST EVERYTHING DEKU IS UP AGAINST, EVERYTHING THAT’S AT RISK. LET’S JUST PUT IT ALL SIDE BY SIDE. LET’S JUST PILE ON ALL OF THE FEELS
(ETA: just a quick note that even though some of the posts I’ve read have described these as All Might’s flashbacks, I’m pretty sure they are Deku’s. most of these are scenes that only he was there for, so yeah. even though All Might is the one thinking the thoughts on the next page, the flashbacks are what’s running through Deku’s mind right now, and so we’re getting that emotion from both of them, which makes it extra devastating lol.)
wait, what???
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WHAT??? do you really think that’s why he’s been so determined to protect you this entire time?? simply because you’re his successor?
-- oh no wait lol I think I got that mixed up, this is All Might saying that Deku feels the need to protect him. well that makes more sense lol
oh my god I cannot
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his last words. his last words to him. and we can’t even see if he is smiling, like All Might always encouraged him to do. but what are the odds he can’t actually bring himself to do it. what are the odds he’s actually crying. oh god this scene is going to rip my heart out and STOMP on it in the anime isn’t it. Deku’s VA is going to full on murder me with emotion. not that there’ll be much of me left to murder after the thorough job that Horikoshi has already done here
YOU’RE CRYING. DEKU IS LEAVING ALL MIGHT AND IGNORING HIS OUTSTRETCHED HAND AND YOU’RE CRYING. AND BY “YOU” I MEAN “ME”, FUCK
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nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope no words just feels just a big ol’ pile of feels. I do not have the strength. future me... [broadly gestures] good luck with all that
(ETA: LOL, WELL THEN.
what breaks my heart here is All Might. All Might, and everything he’s been through, and history repeating itself, and forcing him to live this moment from both sides because he wasn’t strong enough to fix things.
Toshinori had only just turned eighteen when Nana died. like, I feel like we don’t mention this enough. the All Might we know is a sixty-something-year-old man, and so everyone always talks about him like he’s basically been an adult forever. but he was a child when he met Nana. and he was still just a child when she died. barely a year older than Deku is now. younger than Mirio was when we first met him.
and we don’t talk about that. we don’t talk about how devastating that was for him. and we don’t talk about how the reason he grew up to become so reserved and withdrawn -- for all that he always tried so hard to outwardly project the image of a bold, confident, smiling hero -- was specifically because of what AFO did to him. because AFO targeted him in the exact way that he is now targeting Deku. because that’s what he does. he goes after every new user of OFA, and he finds out what’s most important to them, and then he destroys it. and for Toshinori, that was Nana. if you’ve read All Might Rising, you know that AFO basically killed her in front of him (and only killed her, while letting Toshinori and Gran get away). Toshinori (while crying) later says she was like a mother to him. and interestingly enough, during this same conversation, Gran tells Toshinori that he can see “that madness in [his] eyes” when Toshi talks about becoming strong enough to defeat AFO. madness in his eyes. sound familiar??
what’s happening to Deku now is the exact same thing that happened to Toshinori when he was a boy. AFO tried every bit as hard to break him as he’s trying with Deku now. “the path you’ve chosen is a thorny one. every battle grinds away at your soul with no end in sight.” we don’t talk about how Toshinori experienced this same thing for forty fucking years. and all the while isolating himself, exactly like Deku is doing now. pushing people away, exactly like Deku. because he never had anyone who was able to reach out and pull him back. and those words that he now finds himself frozen and unable to speak -- “don’t push yourself”; “you can rest” -- are the same words that no one ever said to him until decades later, when it was already far too late to make any difference.
everything that Deku is experiencing now is what Toshinori also went through. and it’s only now, as he watches it happen to his student, the boy he loves like a son, that he’s finally starting to realize the full extent of how wrong it was. you shouldn’t have to fight alone. you shouldn’t have to bear that kind of enormous burden alone. you shouldn’t have to push yourself, and you can rest. you can rest.
but it’s too late. just as he’s finally coming to understand it all, it’s all too fucking late. and he can’t say the words, he doesn’t know how to say the words, and then just like that, Deku is gone.
and he’s alone. again.)
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I can’t. this can’t be their goodbye. I’m not ready. for this to be how they finally part, and then they never see each other again except in OFA. how is that fair. how is that fair. how is that fair
fuck me. lol. how many pages are left in this thing. let’s just wrap this up lol. so now of all the times for this fucking guy to finally show up
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I can’t believe Stain has been here literally this entire time hiding behind this random wall and cutting onions. that was you who was cutting the onions, right. no need to answer that we’ll just say it was
HORIKOSHI JUST END THE CHAPTER PLEASE I’M OUT OF SPOONS. YOU HURT ME SO GOOD AND I LOVE YOU FOR IT BUT YOU NEED TO LET ME GO NOW SO I CAN BEGIN THE PROCESS OF TRYING TO PUT MY LIFE BACK IN ORDER HERE. SO WHERE ARE WE CUTTING TO NOW WHAT IS HAPPENING
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Stain did you also let AFO give you a new quirk. what’s with you guys. do you like blowing up
oh nvm lol because they were talking about THIS GUY ohhhhhh my fucking god
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THAT’S BECAUSE HE’S SAD, LINDA!! jesus
omfg. and so yes, good, the chapter is ending here now on page 15. for once I am FULLY on board with that lmao
anyway so tune in next week for more adventures of Werewolf Deku!! that is, assuming we don’t finally cut back to U.A. at long last, which is actually a strong possibility considering that this chapter will likely mark the end of volume 31. it sure wouldn’t kill Horikoshi to start giving us some hope after everything he’s just put us through lol. KACCHAN COME GET YA BOY
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fivekrystalpetals · 2 years
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In terms of writing, dabi > shigaraki atm. As a shiggy stan it does annoy me a bit. Shiggy was amazing back in 2020 but now you have people calling him mid tier villain and I can’t disagree with it. I blame it on deku’s arc and afo still being alive.
Yeah, sad as I am, I have to admit you are right. To be very honest, (and this is for me personally) I haven't had a memorable chapter the whole of 2021 save for maybe Touya's backstory. Ever since the War Arc got over, the manga feels as though the author has a checklist of items he got to finish and he is more focused in bringing the story to an end rather than writing coherent connecting arcs. The manga now reads like a different story altogether compared to the arcs written (and I especially loved) in 2019 and 2020. Even before that, the arcs were plenty interesting even for someone like me who isn't much invested in heroes. 
The manga these days seems to be going at a breakneck pace (at the cost of much needed heartfelt moments between the kids such as aftermath of war where??) yet if you look at the overall picture, the story hasn't moved anywhere at all. We are at a standstill both on the heroes and the villains side. (I have many complaints about how the much awaited traitor plot was handled but I don't want to get into all that discourse so I will leave it at that lol)
Coming to Shigaraki, I guess this is all we will get to see from his pov, anon. The MVA arc and the War Arc (ch. 270 and Ch. 281 stands out both in writing and art) were the highlights of his character arc. Now that he is fighting for control, if I have to say, going forward his body will be taken over completely by AFO (so that Hero Deku can jump into save him). Meaning, he will simply become a puppet at the hands of his master and if we get to see him, it will be from either Deku, Spinner (and rest of LoV) and AFO's pov. I doubt we will see his coherent thoughts again (or at the most, we might get to see more of baby Tenko like we saw in Ch. 334). Most of the villains' side of the story, we will get to see from Toga, Touya and Spinner ig. Of course, AFO will pop in to mess up everything from time to time. I am waiting for the LoV to split away from AFO and his useless inefficient decisions.
I really don't want to compare Shigaraki's and Dabi's writing tbh, but the one common problem with both is that the abusive father figures are dominating the plots. We get to see more of Dabi because Endeavor isn't with him. But the rest of the Todofam? Do we never get to see any of their povs? Even Shouto has been shoved to a side in favor of his Dad who does nothing but feel pity for himself and how things turned out because of his own faults he isn't ready to admit yet. I have been seeing him from forever; I don't need more panels dedicated to him to know that He Is Sad. I really wanted to know the reactions of the rest of the family members (esp. Rei) post Dabi Reveal. Give me Natsu, Give me Fuyumi; I want to know what they are thinking about their long lost brother and their little brother who are the ones suffering the most atm. Shouto's "He is me" line was a good one esp. as he thinks back to his encounter with Dabi in the woods. But that was about it. I wanted at least a panel or two of Shouto talking to his Mom and his siblings before they went in to confront Endeavor. Why was all of that done offscreen? idk.
Also, the latest chapter? I know everyone seems very happy with it but is it just me or the Dabi we see in here either has had a big leap of character development or he is very out of character? I expected at least a scene between him and the rest of the League wherein they demand where his loyalty lies and then he realizes he has got to choose a side/he can't keep whittling himself away in the name of revenge/he has got people who care about him in his found family (and he cares about them too in some ways, of course coz Dabi isn't all that huge at showing emotions. The way he burnt down Toga's old house of abuse was sweet tho.) You know The Realization MomentTM before he starts warming up to the League? If I have to bet, that has been done offscreen as well :(
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At this point in the story, nor Tomura, Toga or Dabi can be shown as more irredeemable than they already are.
So I don't think Miss Kathy is dead. I would like it though, she's annoying as hell
Why irredeemable? Give me some arguments to work with. I want to see what you see to try and understand why you think like you think.
Also I too think Cassie is not dead. I think it'll be more of a Lady Nagant situation. Nice parallel from Horikoshi of course, once more paralleling Deku and Tomura, but yeah, I think it was a total waste to only use Lady Nagant and Stars and Stripe like that.
Quickly with the irredeemable thing.
During her speech about how she wants to see people smiling, Ochako thought about Toga crying.
Shoto had never talked about killing Dabi, but saving him. And the narrative has put in his own mouth the fact that he's the only one capable of stopping his older brother.
Deku said very clearly that he wants to save Tenko. He even used the same words he used when saving Bakugou from the slime villain at the beginning of the manga.
On the other hand:
Toga, Dabi and Tomura has been presented to us as victims. Pay attention to which type of light Horikoshi casts on these characters and think why he would do something like that.
For Toga, we have the idea that the villains want to make a martyr out of her, but she refuses. After Twice died, notice how Toga just wanted to go and talk with Ochako, not hurt her. Yes, she was violent before that, killing pro-heroes, but she doesn't hurt her friends anymore, she protects them. Toga has change a lot in the course of the whole series, she's more mature, more in control of her quirk and she's definitely seeing things from a better perspective (wondering what makes the heroes heroes and the villains villains).
When it comes to Dabi, there's a whole narrative of abuse and being unable to forget, buddy. Idk why people is so settle in "people can't change" and very specifically in "characters can't change". Dabi has heavy trauma, a chronic condition and most important, he has always been denied or erased. Dabi is asking people to see him, he's still obsessed with Endeavor recognizing him and what he has done to him. And even if he says that he doesn't know how to exists after taking his revenge on Endeavor, he doesn't want to die. I don't know how to explain you that his anger comes from his hurt, that it can only get better if people decide to help him. I really think his family wants him alive, they want to give to him what they couldn't before. And I think Dabi still loves them, he still shows affection. He just can't stand the hero narrative or to be in Endeavor's presence. The same as Toga and Tomura, Dabi can't be saved if society doesn't change, because what they have been fighting is that there's no place in that world for the ones who doesn't fit the expectations, the differents from the norm, the ones who need a lot of help. Also the idea that people has to do certain stuff to it be worthy for them to be alive... That's fuck up, buddy. There's a whole reason we have human rights in real life.
And omg sorry anon but I have made so. many. posts. about this. I invite you to check my blog. Because I don't know how people can say that Tomura is irredeemable with the amount of details and dedication Horikoshi puts into the context. He shows you how he was abused, manipulated, groomed, isolated from society, how he was practically brainwashed, how AFO has messed up his head so much that he doesn't feel physical pain like he should anymore, how he is hurting so bad that he doesn't want a future, only a present, that he wants to start over, he repressed his own childhood memories thanks to the trauma... And before you tell me that the backstory of the character doesn't justify his actions, let me tell you that it is true— but it can't be brushed aside and forgotten because there's no justice without context. Tomura has been LOUD about his opinions. He has been looking for interactions. Buddy, dear buddy, he's being manipulated by AFO. 80% or 90% his decisions are not his decisions. Not when he has AFO in his head, messing with his sense of morals and values. It's like trying to blame a child raised by wolves from being aggressive. Of course he is aggressive! He's been neglected! He hasn't live in society for so many years! You all repeat every time that Tomura has killed thousands of people, but no one mentions the situations that took him to release his quirk in massive destruction. Almost every time he wasn't thinking clearly. Against the Meta Liberation Army? He was vomiting, very very sleep deprived, dehydrated, almost allucinating, and he remembered the childhood trauma he had blocked BECAUSE IT HURT SO MUCH. In the War arc? He was not only Tomura anymore. Friendly reminder he was freshly awakening for a very painful surgery and AFO was already partially in his head. Like for real. Tomura died for a second in that instant, and his awaken trigerred the massive destruction. I know this is long, sorry for that anon. But please understand making him the only responsible for his actions is not a very smart thing to do. There's a reason why the series compare him to a child, because children are not totally in control of themselves, but there's a higher rank controlling them. Normally a parental figure. Irredeemable? Mate, Tomura is young, he's screaming to take control back, he is desperate to be saved, he has reach for help so many times, but no one wanted to listen to him, no one wanted to help, because when people becomes aggressive due to their trauma, society prefers to throw them away than give them help, because society prefers passive suffering like depression and suicidal thoughts.
Last thing: look at the parallels. Horikoshi tends to repeat them for the better, go correct past mistakes, etc. In this case, Tomura is so many characters that had been saved. Dabi is a parallel to Shouto himself and it was Shouto who realized it, that's how he knows his brother can be helped. And Toga is a parallel to all the girls being like martyrs, for all that heroes and villains who has been sacrificed for a cause, when they deserved to live. Read between the lines. Ask the text, search for answer. That would help you see how they can be redeemed.
I hope I explained myself correctly. Thank you so much for your ask anon and I hope you're having a wonderful weekend!
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thyandrawrites · 3 years
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More of a Hawks ask here but empathy and understanding is also what separates Shoto from Endeavour and even Shoto from Hawks, the two people that Touya shares heavy parallels with along with Shoto himself. I will be honest here I don't really get Hawks role in the plot despite the parallels that he has with Touya and I have no idea where Horikoshi is going with his character. There's also the Twice sized elephant question as well.
I'm not sure what to say or what exactly to expect from Hawks for two reasons: one, I believe that his character is no longer following the set up Horikoshi originally planned for his arc, and two, I stopped reading the manga at chapter 309 so I have no idea what he's done after the hospital chapters and thus I cannot predict the direction he'll take from there. My main hope is that at least the story won't throw him under a bus as someone too far gone because that choice imho would make the story disjointed and lacking inner coherency.
I don't even think that the problem is Hawks lacking the ability to empathize with villains altogether. I think he does have it, but in much the same fashion of Dabi becoming numb to his emotions in order to carry out an higher goal, Hawks too ended up numbing himself to his true, genuine feelings in order to keep doing his job as efficiently as possible. And if that loss of touch with feelings is something that warrants Dabi's "saving", the same should be true of Hawks. It should be a characterization trait that needs growth and eventual unlearning.
Imho not giving Hawks a chance to make up for his actions when even Endvr got one would be stupid. Hawks isn't even an abuser but just a victim of the system who got conditioned and brainwashed into perpetrating the dictatorship of said system. In so many ways he's not any different from Shigaraki, who thinks he's free of AFO's influence because he has a goal of his own that doesn't align with his abuser's, but at the same time subconsciously acts exactly in a way that enables the abuser to keep having sway over him. If Shigaraki (who is Hawks' foil) is being set up to be saved, and if Endvr, who Hawks subconsciously models himself after, is being set up as having a second chance, then so should Hawks.
Of course, I'm not caught up so I could be terribly wrong. Ngl, I haven't liked Hawks nearly as much as before ever since Hori made him a puppet to feed us Endvr's redemption. But I think that up to the point I was still reading the manga, there wasn't anything indicating that he wouldn't get his chance to atone, too. Idk if that changed tho
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sarahjtv · 3 years
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BNHA 296 Spoiler Thoughts
Ok, wow.  I was just sitting down enjoying my Sunday when the next chapter suddenly decides to drop onto our laps and bring us all to tears.  I did not expect it, but I welcome it with somber feels.  Of course, since this is the aftermath chapter, I have a lot thoughts.  Here we go:
•The chapter starts off with narration from Deku on what happened after the big battle.  This tells us that he’s still alive (presumedly) thank god.  There’s a panel later that shows him on a stretcher (I think) or a bed, but he’s unconscious.  Regardless, I don’t see Deku’s limbs going back to normal after all this unless something comes in to fix them.  Eri’s not an option here because she used all her energy on Mirio recently, so don’t go thinking that’ll work unless there’s a time-skip.
•So far, Pixie Bob, Wash, Present Mic, and Thirteen are still alive and fighting.  Thirteen, however, seems to have lost an arm when she was in the lab... We do see some of her face, so that’s a reveal if anything.  
•Deku says that their were at least 10 Near High-End Nomu in that battlefield.  3 of them were disposed and 7 escaped.  We did see one get captured by Best Jeanist in the last chapter so maybe they can get some intel from it.
•Mr. Compress is alive!  I’m honestly glad that he’s alive because I could’ve sworn he was going to die.  That reveal we had about him being the descendent of the Perilous Thief was just too big for him to be killed off right away.  I’m hoping we can learn more about him and the Thief later.
•Back at the resort: ReDestro, Getten, Trumpet, and more than 16,900 PLF soldiers were caught.  Edgeshot is still alive too, but he looks tired and his arm is messed up.  I do not see that Old Samurai hero from the top 10 around, so my best bet is that he’s alive.  I hope...
•Now, we REALLY get a look at all the death and destruction that this war has caused.  Adults, kids, and families are either injured or dead.  Everyone is traumatized.  Thankfully Froppy and Uraraka (I can’t spell her first name right to save me...) are working on rescuing (Uraraka in particular is good for this thanks to her Zero Gravity).  A lot of other heroes like Koda and Manga are helping out too, but the screams of people in pain and horror do not leave the pages and it’s honestly haunting to read.
•And poor Uraraka.  As she’s saving people, you can see her hair get messier and messier.  There’s one really well-drawn, but sad, panel of her with spots of blood on her and her hair isn’t “floaty” like it normally is.  It’s droopy and straight down like she’s been caught in rain or something.  I’m not used to her being like this.  This war is going to make her rethink things, I think.  
•There’s one hero, who in the mist of all this, says that this whole thing was a mistake.  He’s thinking about finding a new job.  I highly doubt he’s the only on thinking this.  War affects people badly.  They want to fight for the greater good, but the cost is their own mentality, physicality, and even their lives.  Sometimes other people’s lives.  So, in a world of heroes where things like this happen on a devastating scale, you have to wonder “Is being a hero really worth it?”  I’m sure more heroes, maybe even students, will be thinking about this in the future.  I won’t be surprised if some quit entirely.   
•And now the hero death toll.  Oh my god...  The first thing I saw when I saw the leaks was Midnight’s death.  I’m devastated.  Her horniness aside, I loved her character.  Midnight genuinely cared for her students and wanted them to grow into amazing heroes.  She supported her high school friends, Present Mic and Aizawa, the whole way through including Shirakumo’s death.  She adopted the cat the 4 of them took care of during high school and I believe it’s still alive today.  I can’t imagine what Mic and Aizawa are going to feel when they hear about this.  I honestly thought she was going to make it out alive.  I thought that she was safe and had some plot armor on her.  But no.  She’s dead.  Midnights’s not coming back.  The students are mourning her especially Mina, Kirishima, and Momo.  The three main players in the sedative plan.  Their plan worked, but had it worked sooner, a lot of lives could’ve been saved.  Ultimately, none of this is their fault, but it’s going to weigh on them heavily.  Please give these kids therapy.
•Adding onto Midnight, heroes like Crust, Majestic, X-Less, and Native are dead.  We know about Midnight, Crust, and X-Less now, but the rest were not known yet.  I doubled out Majectic and Native here for reasons.  Majestic was Momo’s 2nd intern mentor before the war.  We didn’t know much about him or his Quirk (it was some sort of levitation via ring platforms), but he did save the student’s lives when they were about to be run over by Gigantomachia.  Looks like that was a sacrifice.  Native, if you remember, was the hero Iida, Deku, and Shoto saved back in Hosu back when they fought Stain.  We didn’t know much about him, but it sucks to know that he was saved then only to be killed now.  This will probably hurt Iida, Deku, and Shoto real bad knowing that saving him became pretty null and void in the end.  
•Aside from that, the rest of them look like they were young, in their prime, or veterans in the world of Pro Heroes.  It just sucks in general to have to see all these lives cut short.  But, that’s how war goes, unfortunately.  
•Endeavor...  I’m one of the people who actually like Endeavor.  I will never forgive him for what he did to Shoto and his family pre-Sports Festival.  But, I wanted to see how he would redeem himself after Kosu.  So far, he was doing well.  He didn’t expect forgiveness and only wanted to atone.  Everything in the Todoroki family was finally going well.  And then Dabi/Touya showed up and screwed up everything.  Now, everyone knows about Endeavor’s past as an abuser and they will never see him in the same light again.  I don’t think he has a choice but to admit to his sins publicly and then retire.  I hate the idea because he is a good hero, but I don’t see any other way he’s going to get out of this.  Same with Hawks.  I don't see him going back to hero work either.  
•There’s one small panel with 2 kids from the short Remedial Course Arc we got with Shoto and Bakugo.  Rough translation, one of the kids asks if things will be okay and the other says that they’ll be fine because “That’s what Five Weenies told us after all!”  This broke me.  “Five Weenies” refers to Shoto Todoroki.  As funny as this should be, hearing that Shoto, the one who arguably got mentally scared the most in this whole battle, still gives those kids hope that everything will be okay... I just don’t know what to say.  I’m glad Shoto kept those kid’s spirits alive (Bakugo did too; neither are visibly in this chapter for some reason), but he is by no means “fine”.  #GiveShotoTodorokiTherapy2020
•And finally All For One.  Fuck this guy.  All that death and destruction and he wants more.  The translation’s still rough, but based on what he says in the end, I think we are going to get a Prison Break Arc.  He says “Go free my main body.” to the Nomus  AFO is still in Tartarus.  Guess who else is there?  Stain, Overhaul (the Ultra Analysis said that he got prosthetics or something for his arms and his Quirk adapted to that) , Moonfish, Kurogiri, I think Muscular, and plenty of other villains.  Horikoshi hinted that Moonfish might come back (he was apparently going to executed, but idk...) and the preview says “The worst is yet to come”...  Yeah, this war is over.  We’re really only just beginning. 
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Could I ask what your sexuality headcanons are? I love comparing mine with other peoples’!
Ok second half of this; this is just like. non-students who i Actually have thought about HJBAFV not at all a comprehensive list. Again disclaimer i write all these chars as bi in my fics, also i am bi myself so the vast majority are also bi, and also leaving a lot of these vague so u can imagine ur favorite ship or urself or w/ever
ok lets start this off with Aizawa. I think....... hes another one who's rlly unlabelled, doesnt super care to think it through and define it, but calls himself gay bc his interest in women is very, very rare and it's just way easier to say than explain all that. Definitely do buy into the idea that he had a crush on Oboro in hs but i do NOT buy into the easermic agenda sorry. Definitely not someone who goes looking for dates, but doesn't say no if someone asks him and hes interested (also im not gonna give her a whole section but i saw a hc a while back that the Ms. Joke stuff is literally that shes a lesbian and hes gay and shes fucking with him and i love that so much i just wanted to put it out there)
on the topic of the erasermic agenda: Hizashi's pan and knew it before HS, had a sudden & intense crush on Aizawa for the first month they knew each other and then immediately got over it in favor of a similar sudden, intense, and then immediately fading crush on Midnight. Hizashi and Aizawa r just rlly good friends imo; maybe they messed around for a bit in their twenties but it never went anywhere serious. He dates around a lot, not even necessarily to settle down just to have some fun
Midnight is aro/ace but does get in qprs & gravitates towards women wrt that. Most people dont read vigilantes but theres a woman in that, Kazuho, who i imagine she's been in a long-term qpr with; her relationship with aizawa and hizashi leans a little more towards a qpr than a normal friendship, too, but it's not rlly defined that way
All Might is married to justice queer but v much not interested in relationships. He and that one guy from the first movie are ABSOLUTELY exes and i won't hear otherwise; it's the only relationship he's ever had, and they broke up bc he had to go back to japan. He was heartbroken but did eventually get over him; his lack of romance afterwards is from genuine disinterest and not being hung up on his past. I can see him finding someone else in his later years, after he's retired. Definitely feels like he's not worthy of it tho
Hawks is bi but unfortunately didn't get to figure that out until like Now in the timeline...... if youll let my dabihawks history shine through i think dabi was the reason JHBASFGJHB he was basically brainwashed by the commission to become a hero so he didnt have time to Figure That Shit Out; he knew he was into women bc that was easy & what the commission expected from him but then he started this undercover assignment and met dabi and realized Oh...... Fuck. Hawks is hard tbh, bc i think between the control that the commission has over him and his own convictions as a hero he doesn't pursue any romance (tho he does get crushes or find people attractive) and most of his flings are done to keep up his prettyboy act, not out of genuine interest in being a fuckboy. Can't imagine him having a relationship until well after canon but I do see him being interested eventually
Onto the villains, Shigaraki is unlabelled but probably would call himself queer if asked. Definitely admires women more but isn't very interested in romance; AFO actively encourages him to pursue the things interested in so imo if he were he'd talk abt it more lmfao. I kinda see him as demi as well, not the type to fall immediately but requiring a friendship beforehand; tho unlike Bakugo as i said in my last post I dont think it happens suddenly but rather slowly. Y'all know im a big fan of shigaraki being absolutely whipped for his s/o so i do thing hes a big piner, tho he's also pretty bold and unashamed of his affections. I'm a big fan of him falling for a member of the league or a civilian; definitely can't see him falling for a hero unless the hero was already halfway to turning sides already. I think he's also attracted to intelligence and someone who pushes him to think more abt his ideology...... maybe im just projecting at this point JSHDFBVAJKSHD but my point is that the gender of his partner is definitely the least of what he considers/notices
Dabi is bi and, here's my bold take, demisexual; not interested in sex unless its with someone he loves. Absolutely doesn't even think abt romance for most of the years where he's on his own. He's got revenge to plan. By the time he joins the league that hasn't changed much, and he's demi so he's not interested in sleeping around, plus he rlly denies any attachment to people at all. As I said in that other ask tho I do rlly like the idea of him with Magne, so I think they have a fling for a bit before her death :( it's one of the things that leads him to isolate himself further, unfortunately, even from Jin and the other League members with whom his relationships aren't romantic. I can see him dating someone post-canon bc i think hes gonna be redeemed lol. It could be someone he knew before but they probably didnt date again bc he was v guarded; i think magne was rlly the only person he dated
Magne is pan and heres the kicker: I think shes t4t, which led to a little moment just before she and dabi got together where he was like "she wouldnt be into me :/" but she was into him anyway so all was good. She got around in her circles, mostly casual stuff tho she yearned for something more serious.
Spinner's bi & trends towards women but does occasionally get things for men and they're almost always intense. He thought he was straight for a while even once he joined the league and then suddenly got a crush on Shigaraki (around the time of MVA) and realized otherwise LMFAO he's definitely a hopeless romantic type, the whole mutant prejudice thing makes it rlly hard for him and i can see him being rlly happy with another mutant-type; i feel like as he matures he starts to gravitate towards them
Toga is canonically pan to my understanding, iirc her interest in Uraraka and Deku is the same (and romantic) in canon tho i might be wrong. Poor girl just needs therapy. I like the idea of the two of them becoming her friends over her being involved with them but i totally can get behind her having a thing with Uraraka (and maybe Tsu) at some point post-canon (presuming she gets redeemed), tho I think a qpr between the two/three of them would be longer lasting. And again presuming she gets therapy i can see her settling down with someone, gender irrelevant
Jin is unlabelled bc he hasn't much thought abt it, definitely had a thing for dabi and for hawks which does make me sad on both counts. I think he likes women slightly more abstractly/aesthetically and gets crushes more on men,. The dabi thing fades as they get closer and start to view each other as brothers. In his later years he doesn't rlly care about romance, I think he enjoys the experience of crushing but doesnt like dating people; his found family in the League is far more important to him. But i can see him falling head-over-heels for someone quite suddenly and having a bit of a whirlwind romance. Also someone for whom gender isn't much of a factor
Mr Compress is also queer and also hasn't rlly thought abt it. Definitely leans more towards women; he's like 30 but i like to think he also goes for older partners, 10 or 15 years his senior KJBADSJFHB idk he just has that Vibe with the way he calls himself an old man etc. A lot of the league i cant see sleeping or dating around much, i feel like they prioritize each other, but I do think mr compress gets around more than the others. i can see him having a bit of a fuckbuddy who he catches feelings for
Kurogiri is fun; as Oboro I do think Aizawa's crush was reciprocated, tho he wasn't around long enough for them to act on it :( he's bi, tho kurogiri isn't supposed to have personal interests. I like to imagine the brainwashing isnt as good as AFO wants it to be tho so I like the idea of him falling for someone anyway. I also like the idea of the heroes managing to undo the nomufication and I 100% can see him, aizawa, and someone else (someone he was involved with as Kurogiri) ending up in a triad as a result of aizawa and the third partner helping him through the aftermath of all that shit
Lady Nagant is a manga-only minor character but im in love with her so imma talk abt it. Shes bi and leans VERY heavily towards women, probably spent years questioning whether she was rlly bi or a lesbian before finally having a fling with a guy that she genuinely enjoyed. Has only ever been in long-term relationships with women and I v much think she has a gf at home who stayed even when she was arrested 🥺
Finally imma talk abt Natsuo bc i love that boy. He's one of the few unmarried chars with a love interest and he canonically has a gf. I do see him as IDing straight in canon ngl, but the kind of straight where he might actually be bi but his preference leans so heavily towards women and he grew up in a bad home so he just doesnt rlly think abt it bc hes v happy with women anyway. In shiganatsu thoughts shigaraki is the first man he has a thing for; i rlly can see the two of them in a triad with a woman specifically, who helps the two of them find each other and is the one who initiates bc its definitely a weird situation for natsuo
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autumn-foxfire · 3 years
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ooh I'd really like the idea of Midoriya and Shigaraki's next confrontation (I assume there's going to be at least one more before the big fight) to end up mirroring Hawks vs Twice (and the potential of the opposite ending of him not bringing himself to do it, leading to someone important dying... oof. I wonder if Hori has the balls to do anything like that?). Though I'm still waiting for the resolution to the Hawks vs Twice drama in the narrative (will probably happen at the press conference)
it seems like the story isn’t going to condemn Hawks for his decision the way SOME fans want it to. If it were to actually justify it? Delicious. On another note though I seriously doubt with like every bone in my body that Deku and Shigaraki are going to team up at the end to take down AFO. Like, the way this chapter framed it makes it feel like a race against the clock for Deku to try and reach the part of Shigaraki that is still Tenko before he surpasses AFO as the greatest evil,
with an understanding that he’ll do whatever it takes to take Shigs down if he does. And I fully expect AFO to die at some point - probably close to the end of the story and probably by Shigaraki’s hand. Idk. I just don’t really think there’s going to be an automatic redemption for Shigaraki after all he’s done, or them joining forces or whatever. MHA just seems to take a more realistic route when it comes to consequences, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Shigs really died in the end.
I can’t wait for the Twice situation to be brought up again because I’m really curious about how the other characters will react to it. While I still firmly stand by the fact that a hero killing a villain isn’t illegal or wrong (heroes have been shown to go for the kill on multiple occassions after all), it’s still highly frowned upon because the image of a hero is that of saving.
Deku this chapter says how much he wants to try and save Shigaraki because he felt a crying boy deep down (...Yeah, I have a lot to say about that and none of it good but whatever) so I wonder how he’d feel about Hawks actions, especially when he learns that Hawks wanted the same thing for Twice that he wants for Shigaraki but had to face the reality that it’s not what Twice wanted anymore.
And that’s the crux of it isn’t it? Deku says he sees the boy deep down but that doesn’t mean that’s how Shigaraki feels anymore, the same as how Twice once wanted people to help him but he rejected it when he finally got it because he felt like he didn’t want or need it anymore. And then what is Deku going to do then? He can say he’ll stop or maybe even kill Shigaraki if he reaches that point but that’s easier said then done and it’s a lot for a 16 year old boy to handle.
Now whether Hori actually has the guts to make Deku face such a situation and make it so that Deku actually faces the loss of someone important (and making it even more personal for him) we’ll have to wait and see. I’ll admit I’m not holding my breath for it though considering it’s too good to be true.
I definitely don’t think, or well I hope not, that Deku and Shigaraki will “team up and defeat the ultimate evil AFO” in the end like some people will think. Most likely that Shigaraki will end up killing AFO and take over his legacy and make it even greater, or worse considering what he was planning to do. I still do hope that the “saving Shigaraki” angle will lead to Shigaraki ultimately taking over the role of the big bad of the series but that’s because I think it’ll be a really tragic but interesting route for Shigaraki to take.
Shigaraki dying but being content with returning to his family once and for all (a throw back to how he originally walked away from them and death for his anger) and signalling that he’s finally let his anger go would be a pretty good ending for him in my opinion.
...Though I guess many Shigaraki stans will disagree... 
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haleigh-sloth · 6 hours
Note
I know I asked this a while ago and I’m sorry to bring it up again but I’m still having trouble understanding AFO’s backstory literarily. I don’t know why Hori would give us a backstory that shows he is just as traumatized as the League if not more and then not do anything with it. Plus the way the fans interpreted it was that AFO was just born evil. I’m not sure why Hori felt the need to write this if he wasn’t going to treat AFO like a human being the same as the rest of the characters, and make it so he had zero knowledge of right and wrong same as Tenko, if he didn’t want there to be some sort of humanity there. Any guesses? I’m genuinely at a loss here.
This is a tough one, and it's understandable to feel conflicted over it.
I think the most important thing to remember is that the manga isn't over yet, AFO isn't really gone yet, and the vestiges aren't super mega confirmed gone for good yet, AND assuming they're not gone yet, they're all in the same place as AFO at this very moment.
I think Yoichi's words describe the complexity behind AFO perfectly:
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He kept Yoichi alive, however, he viewed Yoichi as his property, something he was entitled to. There is definitely nuanced feeling behind that, I mean they're brothers and the ONLY constant they had their whole lives was each other. That goes for AFO too, Yoichi was the only certain thing he had. So yeah, there is some form of twisted love there, but AFO's upbringing led to that somewhat understandable/normal feeling turning into something way beyond what we would consider acceptable lmao. And I think the thing with AFO that separates him from the other villains is the lack of compassion for others that Yoichi points out. Even though I wouldn’t call the LOV’s actions compassionate toward….anyone, even if the intent is buried deep in there, they still feel for other people and are incredibly sensitive to others. It influenced their behaviors. AFO is not phased by others.
My personal guess is that AFO will disappear by the end of the manga in the vestige, but in a more refined/dignified way than the way he did in the real world. His pathetic and dramatic death after facing Bakugo kinda made it obvious he will have another exit that will look much differently. There is no point in repeating what we already saw, so I wouldn't expect it to be anything like him having a break down. Also Bakugo won't be involved since he's not in the vestige realm, so it'll be different.
I'm thinking like....closer to Nana/Kotaro except not really any love/forgiveness/sorrow involved, more just like....idk how to describe it, but some sort of peace where he and Yoichi say good bye for good together.
I can't help but think that Bakugo kind of carried out what the 2nd user couldn't (hence the visual similarity and him reminding AFO of Kudou) and then Yoichi will carry out what he needs to by finishing him off for good and disappearing with him.
This also all hinges on my assumption that OFA is going bye-bye, which I'm in hope of so I'm biased lol.
I don't think AFO is there to thwart the themes of the story. I think he's a humanized villain whose actions and influence have far surpassed his lifespan and it's just time for him to get some form of clarity and then go.
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transhawks · 4 years
Text
edgelord theory dont look too hard
i have a bunch of stuff floating around in my brain, but this is like a very messy one - what if we just....underestimated what the HPSC did to Hawks? 
I’m very struck by the line “who takes care of the heroes” Uraraka spoke - especially when there’s discussions of heroes disappearing in vigilantes. Of course it makes it sound like there’s a witness protection, but then we see Keigo and Jeanist...
If Jeanist is dead, and it would be smart to kill him, Hawks...didn’t hesitate. I’m pretty sure the HSPC would have been fine with Jeanist dying; if it wasn’t for Hawks trying to fool the League, they would have ruled it a natural death to quiet down anxieties, but the League wasn’t supposed to know the HPSC is behind Hawks.
Hawks is ....very proficient at killing. He’s also trained in subterfuge and avoiding vitals, but also knowing what is fatal. The idea of ‘special heroes’ - he doesn’t act like a hero. Unlike Miruko who clearly doesn’t want to hold back, Hawks is... just trained to get the job. He wasn’t trained to only be a hero; there’s something more going on here.
@dykehawks and @comradetodoroki all kind of helped me bounce around idea, and dykehawks specifically mentioned the lots of falconry imagery in Hawks (which I absolutely agree with). The blindfold is common among training raptors (like hawks) to obey; and of course, they’re trained specifically to fetch prey. Raptors trained this way are kind of rewarded with food; Hawks’ fixation on food is kind of a very apparent part of his character since he’s very much outspoken on food in both the main and spin off manga, and as a neglected child, perhaps food was part of his training? Much like a raptor; a reward was food?
(It reminds me a lot of Crona in Soul Eater, and I’ve always gotten those vibes whenever the HPSC came up)
Anyway, this is a very edgy theory but the main part is this; the HSPC has...some pipeline. Maybe Hawks is the prototype. Maybe not. But there’s kids from disadvantaged backgrounds, or ill children, they use. Maybe not to the extent Hawks was, but they make use of the children. Maybe some go to hero schools to spy on others (theory in-coming!), and maybe some are trained in helping retired heroes in their retirement.
The worst thing for a hero society is to have old hasbeens who can sway conversations one way or another, who can be openly resentful of the system and not feed of it. We don’t see any *super* famous old heroes. Gran seemed to be lowkey, and for a reason, given his involvement with Nana. Yoroimusha is the oldest still active.  I’m a little too lazy to dig up pictures of how odd this is in Vigilantes, but it is odd how heroes disappear.
And... maybe the HPSC has cleaners. People they train to go after older heroes, or people causing trouble. People no one would really be wary of. Kids. Maybe it’s a way of training those cleaners for better things.
Idk??? this is me just throwing out ideas - I think it’s just likely that we’ve been so focused on Hawks being a failure in all terms as a hero that we never considered he was never one, technically. I maintain the only ‘mistake’ Dabi made with Hawks is not ‘not trusting him because heroes are all scum’ but assuming Hawks played by the rules heroes do; no one expected Hawks to kill Twice. Except, of course, Hawks.
this would move the HPSC to be the main villains; and I do think they might be -especially if AFO has fingers in that pie, somehow.
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edwardslostalchemy · 4 years
Note
the thing that kills me about bakugou is when the plf go "having a powerful quirk means i'm better than you"and basically advocate for eugenics, it's horrible and corrupt, but when bakugou does it, it's lol funny and 'oh that gremlin.' in a recent chapter he made fun of the past OFA holders for having 'weak' quirks and dying and he said these things in front of Toshi, who has himself given so much. just...what was the point of him knowing about OFA if he was just going to be a disrespectful ass?
I have no idea why it was necessary for him to know, tbh. I think it was a waste of an opportunity to give him growth by NOT telling him. And honestly, I agree that k*tsuki and the plf have similar ideals because they’re elitists. :/ They think they’re better than others. Unironically, the lov wanting k*tsuki on their side would have been like, them all sharing this same thought. Idk, I just don’t like him. The things he says and does are played off as comedic relief now and it’s honestly so annoying. He needs to be brought down from his pedestal. 
(I have multiple messages so I am putting them all in one post under a read more, I hope it works, but if somehow it doesn’t, I’m really sorry. My computer says it works, but mobile doesn’t show it. This will be a long post.)
Anonymous said:
You know... I wouldn’t mind Bakugou winning vs Ochako so much if his blast had simply redirected enough rubble for him to make it though the pelting, and the fight had ended with an actual visible inflicted injury on his part, like a cut on his face, that stuck around for the rest of the tournament. Make the close call have more concrete, visible consequences for him then his arms aching a bit.
I agree with this completely. That thing about his arms aching doesn’t show much of the consequences at all. And he gets over it rather quickly. I hate that he has so much plot armor.
Anonymous said:
Ngl i dont ship Todo/deku (dont really ship Izuku with anyone lol) but its such a nice ship like?? People can ship what they want but why ship Baku/deku when Tododeku is RIGHT THERE. I would rather have todo/deku be the twin stars like.. Todoroki having to overcome his fathers legacy and be a better hero then his father ever could be while Izuku perpetuates all mights legacy and carries the legacy of One For All?? Poetic cinema
+ I SENT AN ASK ABOUT PREFERRING TODO/DEKU TO BAKU/DEKU AND I WANTED TO ADD SOMETHING SKSKS. we could totally have an "its your power" moment. Izuku getting Todo to accept his left side and Todo getting Izuku to remember that OFA is his power now.
Todo/deku is really the poetic cinema we need and deserve. Idk why people like b*kud*ku, that’s what they prefer, but the ship itself is not healthy in the slightest and I find it pretty disturbing. I agree with you, nony. Everything you said is correct.
Anonymous said:
If I'm gonna be honest the whole "he was raised in a household of screaming and abuse" isn't a good enough reason as to why Bakugo has no chill. Like we've seen people like Todoroki raised in a household much worst but he didn't come out as a jerk or bully. I'd like to see more of Bakugo's interactions with his parents but for the most part the dad seems like a pushover and his mom is just loud at times. But no where close to Endeavor. So yeah Bakugo shut up challenge
Yeah, idk how their dynamic works, it’s just mitsuki screaming at k*tsuki while his dad tries to intervene, but doesn’t do a good job about it. I don’t like that she smacked his head. But I think people really stretch it to give him a tragic backstory when in reality, he doesn’t have one. He is a spoiled brat. Shouto has proven how to be a better person. He’s just a better character in general.
Anonymous said:
This might be long but I want to get something off my chest and I love your blog so I used to like bk//dk. If you asked me why. It's because I was enamored by the fanon ver of this pair with a better bkg and the whole appeal of childhood 'friends'/reconciliation trope it had going on and some fans have convinced me that their relationship wasn't as bad as it's portrayed before UA and that bkg was only like that because of society and thinking Izuku was "looking down" at him. 1/3
Thinking about it. it's really stupid and the verge of victim blaming but anyways. What stopped me from liking it and instead hating the pair is that after dk vs kc 2 I was expecting the improvement in their relationship, for a moment I thought we got it. But in reality it's just bc we haven't seen them interact much after the overhaul arc and before the joint training arc.Then the joint arc came and the 2nd internship arc came and whoo boy, I feel like I was cheated on. 2/3
Rather than making bkg's behavior improve towards Izuku, He's still as much of an asshole who belittles him, mocks him ,acts like he can't stand him but less threats of killing him combined with Izuku who just takes it because he's a nice person. But the narrative acts like their good friends now and I have been feeling so frustrated with this, I wanted a mutual relationship with mutual respect on both sides and bk//dk hasn't reached that part and it shouldn't take this long for it to be. 3/3
Thank you for sharing this with me, nony!! I appreciate it. It’s really sad that their relationship hasn’t improved at all. It’s so long overdue and now things are played as comedic relief like him hurting Izuku with his spike and also being extremely disrespectful during the ofa meetings. Their relationship isn’t healthy and it isn’t friendly, no matter how canon wants to paint it that way.
Anonymous said:
the only reason bkg gets to know OFA is because he guilted Izu into telling him a half truth in S1 then guilted AM and Izu with his tantrum in S3 He also had the privilege to know Izu since childhood and saw AFO so he had the advantage Izuku would have never told him otherwise. Same time Izuku's friends don't "deserve" to know about OFA, rather, Izuku deciding to tell them himself will make the revelation to them more special since its Izu deciding to tell a piece of himself than being forced to
HOT TAKE
@havocsss said:
i just wanted to say i appreciate your opinion on bnha about bakugo (bc someone finally said it 👀) and you put into words for me how i feel abt that character - and that's partly why i just can't watch it. he's the bully that everyone idolises and gets let away with murder and naaaah mate that's not how it works
Thank you, I’m glad to hear it. I don’t like that he, a literal bully who has suicide baited Izuku and has hurt him with his explosion quirk, is the fandom’s favorite and the most popular character. Literally any other character would have been better to stan than him. He’s everywhere and I can’t enjoy part of the series because of him always being there. It’s so annoying. I will continue to yell about why he is not a good character until horikoshi gives us the development he desperately needs AND an apology to Izuku for being so abusive to him. And yes, bullying is abuse.
Anonymous said:
I know that feeling. I also greatly dislike Bakugou. He almost ruins the manga for me at times. I can't even think of a plot with Izuku where Hori won't try to include him in some way. I tried reading metas abt him, tried to look at him in a different light but I realised that I really hate his personality, combined with his overhyped popularity just makes me can't stand him. I wish I could even just be neutral for him but that's being a challenge.
Yeah, he’s not a good character. Very infuriating and annoying. We do not stan him in this house.
Anonymous said:
I feel like if Aizawa actually knew that Bakugou used to bully Izuku he'd probably whoop Bakugou's ass
OOF I’d like to see him expel him.
Anonymous said:
I like how it's framed like I'm supposed to feel sorry for Bakugou because he feels manpain for not being the strongest in the class. Like the dude went from a regular school to the best of the best and he still expected to be the strongest person there is with no challenge?
Awww, is the spoiled brat sad? Good. He can die mad about it.
Anonymous said:
If Aizawa did the combat training instead of All Might he would've stopped Bakugou the first time he used his gauntlets and automatically failed him and I really wish that would've been the outcome
Tbh he should have been expelled for trying to kill a classmate.
Anonymous said:
Oh yeah I remember that character entrance when he just basically I insults his partner for training. Look I love the kid but if I was a teacher I would've flamed him so hard like there could've been a hostage, that weapon could have went off, his partner could've been captured. That's how you ended up failing the license exam
OOF. When will he learn.
Anonymous said:
Um excuse the ever living fuck out of me but I just saw a fic that was bakugou/consequences where Izuku attempted suicide and you know what the ship was?? My pure green son who deserves the world and his literal bully/abuser are you SHITTING ME???? I try very hard not to hate ships I do really try but I just CAN'T with this ship it disgusts me
It's not a healthy ship. I am disturbed by this fic and I don’t even know what it’s called and I don’t want to know. Eww.
Anonymous said:
I see myself as Izuku cause I relate to him a lot and I just read something where Bakugou does what my abuser did to me to Izuku and now I'm having a very hard time stomaching the thought of him and like I really loved kiri/baku too but now I can't even think about it cause someone who shipped my notp thought it would be a good idea to make Bakugou an abuser and give Izuku Stockholm syndrome ☹
Oh nony…I’m so sorry to hear about that. That really sounds rough and I hope you’re feeling better. That sounds awful. I’m just…I’m appalled. Also giving Izuku Stockholm syndrome with this ship is just. Wow.
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makeste · 3 years
Text
BnHA Chapter 311: Hand Gun
Previously on BnHA: Horikoshi was all “thinkin’ about dropping in some woke analogies of the very real and very presently relevant issue of racial profiling idk what do you guys think” and then shrugged and did it without waiting for an answer, and ngl it was a bit sudden, but I’m here for it. All Might was all “DEKU YOU NEED TO EAT” and Deku was all “OKAY” and took his hero bento and went to go stand dramatically on a tower in the rain whilst having some highly anticipated Vestige flashbacks. OFA II was all, “sup, I guess I’m not Kacchan... OR AM I,” and ngl I think he is?? Alternate universes anybody?? Hello??? But anyway, so OFA the First a.k.a. Yoichi was all “remember that time you guys rescued me from my evil brother and Two took my hand and we Had A Moment?”, and Two and Three were all “ahh yeah good times”, and it was very nice and very, very gay. The chapter ended with it being very unclear if Two and Three have actually lent their power to Deku yet or not lmao. Y’all need to get your shit together dudes.
Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all “what if I gave a random bad guy a fucking tommy gun that shoots nails” and jesus christ calm down son. The Hawksquad, a.k.a. SQUAWK as per @hotchocolatier​, are all “time to drive aimlessly around town acting like Deku has a restraining order on us because that’s literally the best plan to combat the League we could come up with,” and I have no further comment. Hawks is all “idk about you guys but I want to know more about AFO and Tomura’s whole deal” and I can’t remember the last time I identified so strongly with one of these characters. All Might is all, “[EXPLODES???]”, and the chapter ends with that mysterious hot girl from the Tartarus breakout being all “HELLO I CAN TURN INTO A GUN AND I LITERALLY DON’T GIVE A FUCK” and (1) WOW, and (2) IT’S TRUE, SHE CAN, AND SHE REALLY DOESN’T. GODDAMN.
(ETA: so this wholly escaped my notice on the first go, and also has nothing to do with the chapter itself, but I only just realized that this chapter was scanlated by a new group, TCB Scans. they actually did a very good job, and I’m curious if they’ve found a new RAW provider, because the quality this week is actually crazy good in comparison to what we’ve been dealing with for the past few months. I’m gonna have to get caught up on what exactly happened here lol.)
so what will it be this week? more Vestige antics? more of Sad Nomad Deku standing on buildings and pretending like he’s some cool aloof antihero, as if he could fool us when we all know his hero backpack is secretly stuffed full with his nerd diaries and the remnants of all the hero bentos that All Might keeps giving him?? or, just putting it out there, just a crazy thought, but you don’t suppose we might actually cut back to U.A.? mmm. side-eyes emoji
maaaaaan I’m starting to get tired of this trend of beginning chapters by dropping in on random power-tripping civilians and/or Shindou lol. just once can we get a chapter that opens with someone I actually give a fuck about
oh at least Endeavor is here
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A WHAT SUPPORT ITEM!??! HOLY SHIT DDLKJSLFKJL
lol somehow that’s more terrifying than bullets for me?? like I’m fully aware that bullets will fuck you up way worse and that in real life nail guns probably don’t work like this AT ALL and only have a range of like... hold up let me just google... up to 100 to 150 m/s and distances of up to 500m wait WHAT
okay wait. hold up. like I was expecting google to tell me nail guns only shoot a few feet at most, and instead the first search result is some CDC blog article that’s “dispelling” the “””myth””” -- please note my repeated sarcastic quotation marks -- that nail guns can fire 1400 feet per second, by explaining that actually they can fire anywhere from 315 ft/sec to 1,295 ft/sec, and that “it is in the pneumatic nail gun user’s best interest to handle these tools as if they were a firearm despite having a lower velocity” dlkjdslkjflkl
SO THAT SCENE IN IRON MAN 3 WHERE TONY RAIDS A HOME DEPOT AND BUYS A BUNCH OF RANDOM TOOLS AND SHIT AND GOES ON TO STAGE A ONE-MAN INVASION OF AN INTERNATIONAL TERRORIST’S FLORIDA MANSION HQ IS ACTUALLY TRUE. YOU’RE TELLING ME THAT THE FILM “HOME ALONE” IS ACTUALLY A DOCUMENTARY. “the Discovery Channel television program “Mythbusters” compared the penetration capacity of an airborne projectile shot from a pneumatic framing nail gun to that of a 9mm hand gun” HELLO YES AND A MERRY “WHAT THE FUCK” TO YOU AS WELL
anyway, so. there’s apparently a reason why the Number One hero, who can burn people with the intensity of a sun going supernova, is hiding here behind this concrete support column making frowny faces. nope. nuh uh. he ain’t about that. I don’t blame you buddy
so now he’s barrel rolling out of his hiding place and setting this dude THE FUCK ON FIRE because HELL NO. BAD ENOUGH I HAD TO WATCH THAT FUCKING MUSHROOM EPISODE LAST WEEK! YOU TAKE THAT SHIT SOMEWHERE ELSE
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LOL look at his face
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I know the context is actually him being all “I know I’m responsible for basically everything that happened and so that’s why I’m so grim and serious about this mission to set things right piece by piece,” but in my mind this pissed-off face is 100% all because this dude tried to shoot his eye out with a nail gun. look at that. you made him go full flame face again. beard and all. protecting his face so that it can hopefully melt any stray nails that get too close. nope nope nope
good lord. so what’s up next. let me guess the guy fighting Best Jeanist has like an atomic chainsaw or some shit
lol nope we’re just cutting back to Hawks and Jeanist chilling in the Jesla after they’ve wrapped things up
Jeanist has got some serious Groot energy you guys jesus christ he’s like 12 feet tall
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oh snap someone threw a pipe at him now
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today is just the chapter of Endeavor being assaulted by random DIY tools I guess
I mean, I get why they’re pissed at him obviously; I would be too lol. but tbh I also don’t really understand the “get out of here we don’t want your help” attitude that all of these people suddenly seem to have?? like it if were me, I would be fucking DEMANDING for him and the other heroes to be working round the clock to fix their stupid mess. I mean who else is gonna do it?? it’s their mess, I sure don’t want to be the one to clean it up instead. anyways but whatever lol
oh shit?
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so they haven’t dropped the whole “OFA secret potentially gets revealed to the world” thing yet after all. that makes sense I suppose, it did seem like that whole thing wound up playing out a bit too easily
anyway so yeah
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the locals are definitely none too happy. well at least Dabi’s got something to be cheerful about I guess
so now we’re cutting to the interior of the Jesla and they’re chitchatting about the current investigation
oh wow this actually makes a bit of sense now. so there was a reason they were keeping their distance from Deku
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please note that even in this abstract Endeavor’s-Mental-Image-Of-Him panel, Deku’s eyes still don’t have the light in them anymore :( my poor son
also ftr I still think using Deku as bait in this particular sense is the shittiest idea ever ngl. like sure, let’s let the sixteen-year-old run around battling miscellaneous escaped prison convicts while we stay several kilometers away ON PURPOSE despite the fact that you’re using him as bait to draw out the Big Bad, who just a reminder can destroy anything with a mere touch and who you were all basically helpless against. what exactly are you all planning to do if Tomura or one of the other League VIPs actually shows up to retrieve him?? are you even keeping tabs on him at all in real time?? jesus
(ETA: well that escalated quickly lol.)
Horikoshi is all of a sudden dropping whole pages of exposition here and I can’t be bothered to summarize this lol so just,
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a big fat YES to what Jeanist said, though. that’s why imo they would have been better off laying a trap at U.A. rather than just wandering around out in the open. I assume they’re trying to cut their potential losses because U.A. is full of students (and civilians), but those students also happen to be more capable than pretty much anyone else in the manga at this point. and tbh they’re already in life-threatening danger regardless of how things play out from here on, so they might as well at least try to use the few advantages they have right now. U.A. is almost certainly going to come under siege at some point anyway, so they might as well prepare for it
lol I don’t think I’m explaining this very well because I don’t have the patience right now to break it down point by point like it really ought to be, so for now I’ll just say that imo “U.A. siege” stands a good chance of being the eventual endgame even now, and so this whole “Deku runs around being bait” arc is really just killing time until then lol. like and subscribe for more rambling nonsensical takes such as this. maybe next time I’ll even put it all into one single sentence for maximum meandering senior citizen rant value
well it’s nice that they’re finally talking about all of this I guess
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we readers have known all of this for months now but this confirms the heroes are finally caught up. ALSO, Hawks is so fucking smart, as always. kinda wonder if things would have played out differently if All Might had let him in on the secret a bit earlier. probably that’s why Horikoshi made damn sure they didn’t find out until after the War arc lol
OH MY GOD YOOOOOO HAWKS OUT HERE ASKING THE REAL QUESTIONS
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“anyone else wondering why AFO bothered to raise Tomura as his fake heir for fifteen years when he was secretly planning on taking over his body the whole time” YES, [raises hand] lmao Hawks where the hell were you when I was debating this “AFO is the final villain and Tomura is just his pawn” thing on multiple occasions over the past several years lol
lmao seeing them debate the metaphysics of OFA and all of its mystical bullshit is seriously surreal you guys
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JEANIST HAVE YOU CHECKED OUT MY META TAG I HAVE WRITTEN SO MANY ESSAYS. I ACTUALLY WAS PLANNING ON WRITING ANOTHER ESSAY ABOUT THE THING THAT I’M PRETTY SURE HAWKS IS ABOUT TO BRING UP, BUT I NEVER GOT AROUND TO IT WHOOPS, BUT MAYBE I WILL NOW LOL LET’S SEE HOW IT GOES
yes!!
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WHICH AFO FUCKING ENSURED HE WOULD BE BY LITERALLY PLANNING OUT EVERY LAST DETAIL OF HIS FAMILY TRAGEDY, FROM SECRETLY GIVING TENKO THE QUIRK TO MAKING SURE NO CIVILIANS OR HEROES WOULD HELP HIM UNTIL AFO FINALLY STEPPED IN. I’M 1000% CONVINCED THIS IS THE CASE YOU GUYS. NOT JUST BECAUSE I’M NOT A FAN OF “THE WORLD IS A FUNDAMENTALLY SHITTY PLACE, ACTUALLY” TAKES BECAUSE MISTER ROGERS TOLD ME TO ALWAYS LOOK FOR THE HELPERS, BUT ALSO BECAUSE IT LITERALLY JUST DOESN’T MAKE A LICK OF SENSE OTHERWISE. THEIR ENTIRE HOUSE CAVED IN FFS, YOU’RE TELLING ME NONE OF THE NEIGHBORS FUCKING OVERHEARD THAT SHIT AND WENT “UMMMMMMMMM” AND WENT TO SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON?? “DIDN’T THERE USED TO BE A HOUSE HERE, AND LIKE A WHOLE FAMILY, AND SHIT?”
LIKE I’M SORRY, BUT IT’S ONE THING TO SAY IT’S REALISTIC THAT NOT A SINGLE PERSON WOULD ATTEMPT TO HELP THE WANDERING TRAUMATIZED CHILD AFTERWARDS (WHICH I DISAGREE WITH AS WELL BUT AT LEAST THAT’S MORE SUBJECTIVE), AND IT’S A WHOLE OTHER THING TO ARGUE THAT IT’S REALISTIC THAT NO ONE WOULD BE FUCKING NOSY. LIKE THAT’S A WHOLE DIFFERENT LEVEL OF “THAT’S NOT HOW ANY OF THIS WORKS” ENTIRELY LOL. anyway tl;dr AFO is a piece of shit and Tomura’s entire worldview is based on a magnificently intricate and savagely cruel lie more at 11
anyway so after all that ranting it looks like that wasn’t even what Hawks was talking about after all lol. I just went off for absolutely no reason lol oh well. instead it seems that Hawks is suggesting that Tomura’s carefully cultivated hatred might not yet have actually reached “can defeat OFA” levels even after all of that trauma. interesting!
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don’t mind me, I’m just sitting here while my brain furiously scrambles to put together all the parallels between Hawks and Tomura that it never noticed before until exactly this second. like I’m not even sure that was the intent here at all (I need to check out another translation or two lol), but regardless my mind decided that now would be the perfect time to make the connection between these two twenty-somethings who both had horrific childhoods and spent years being molded by their respective manipulative guardians, and developed eerily similar “laugh at everything because what else can you do” coping mechanisms to deal with it all hmmmmm
anyway so they were talking more about their strategy, but now all of a sudden Jeanist’s phone is beeping??
AND NOW WE’RE CUTTING AWAY TO ALL MIGHT AND HIS MIGHTMOBILE DAMMIT so that means the call to Jeanist was actually something important then!! WAS IT BAKUGOU OMG. DOES YOUR INTERN WANT A WORD FFFKLFSJK please it’s been so long I just need a little crumb or two to tide me over lmao have mercy
anyway so All Might’s following the GPS tracking device he’s apparently got planted on Deku (which in my conspiracy headcanons he’s actually had for a long time now, like since before DvK2 lol because HOW ELSE WOULD HAVE HAVE KNOWN THAT THEY WERE FIGHTING EACH OTHER IN GROUND BETA, PEOPLE) and thinking angsty thoughts about Deku’s sucky life
AND NOW ALL MIGHT’S PHONE IS RINGING TOO?? BAKUGOU HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE YOU CALLING. “WHERE ARE YOU HIDING THE NERD GODDAMMIT”
OMG
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lol is he under attack or is he just finally giving All Might the slip like we all know he SECRETLY PLANNED TO ALL ALONG oh my poor dumb angstmuffin
OMG AHHHHHHH WHAT
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DID ALL MIGHT JUST FUCKING DIE LMAO NO OF COURSE NOT, BUT WHAT
WHAT IS HAPPENING OMG
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THE FUCK IS THAT. AT LEAST IT’S NOT A NAIL
OH IT’S A SPEAKER!! OMG DID THEY TAKE ALL MIGHT HOSTAGE
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“THEY’RE HERE” WELP, TIME TO SEE JUST HOW SHITTY THIS SHITTY PLAN REALLY IS LOL
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
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SHE!!!!
omg. AND OVERHAUL JUST CHILLING THERE IN THE BACKGROUND ALL “WHAT DO YOU EVEN WANT ME TO DO I’VE GOT NO FUCKING ARMS” YEAH GOOD RIDDANCE LOL
DOES THIS GIRL HAVE ONE GIANT LEG OR WHAT, LIKE WHAT’S THE DEAL HERE
-- HOLD UP WAIT, THE GUN IS HER ARM, HOLY SHIT SHE CAN TURN INTO A GUN -- OKAY HOLD UP BECAUSE I NEED TO SAY THAT IN BIGGER TEXT BECAUSE !!!!
YOU GUYS, THE COOL TARTARUS GIRL IS BACK AND HER QUIRK IS “CAN TURN INTO A FUCKING GUN.” THIS IS NOT A DRILL!! MY BEST GIRL MT. GUN IS FINALLY BACK ON THE SCENE WITH HER QUIRK “CAN DO ANYTHING A GUN CAN DO.” “I HEARD Y’ALL WENT AND NAMED ONE OF YOUR HEROES ‘GUNHEAD’ EVEN THOUGH HIS HEAD ISN’T EVEN A GUN, LIKE WTF IS UP WITH THAT LET ME SHOW YOU HOW IT’S DONE” DANG OKAY
lmao only fifteen pages this week, and STILL NO KACCHAN (THEN WHO WAS PHONE!!!), but man I don’t even care because finally we’ve got a cliffhanger that’s actually deserving of being a cliffhanger! hot dog. okay then
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lumilasi · 4 years
Text
A writer’s musings about personal biases as a reader
Now that my more emotional reaction to the latest chapter is out of the way, I kind of went back to look at the situation more, idk, objectively maybe? At least, I’m trying to look at it more from a writer’s perspective so to say. I dunno if any of this makes sense so please bear with me.
I’ve seen people here and there question why Torino is getting so much ire, and I think I can at least personally acknowledge what might cause this from me. I’m not saying it is the same story for everybody, but I figured maybe this could give some food for thought? IDK, I just felt like sharing my musings. Take things I say with a grain of salt as it is naturally mainly discussed from my perspective, and people are individuals and see things differently.
There is a bit of a ”hero” and ”villain” bias going on, perhaps (ironically, like in the story itself)
The reason why many of us mad at Torino don’t talk about the fact that Tomura has done bad things (or why I don’t, personally speaking) is maybe because, well....it’s bit of a ”water is wet” statement when you think about it. He’s a villain, villain’s purpose in a story is to do bad things, that’s why he’s called a villain. At least I, personally, don’t feel the need to constantly mention this point because it’s obvious, and, it’s irrelevant to the issues I have with the hero side specifically.
One’s wrong doesn’t make other’s wrong right, or something along those lines. The society within the story is already punishing villains for their bad actions. What many readers want is the heroes to be held accountable of their own wrongdoings. It’s probably what the narrative is (hopefully) building towards.
(Side note, because I probably need to say this; I don’t condone any of the villains’ bad actions obviously, let alone similar things in real life. I’m talking about this more from I suppose writing/writer’s perspective, how narratives can shape our understanding and reactions to a story - and mainly from my own experience, these thoughts may naturally not apply to everyone)
(And in case someone wonders why I can like the villains despite the bad things they do, it’s because they’re well written, interesting characters with fun personalities and engaging story and designs I like. Literally the exact same story as to why I like some heroes, such as Aizawa or All Might. The alignment of a character in fiction is irrelevant to whenever I enjoy following the character’s story.)
Now, when it comes to Heroes, due to how the good guys are portrayed in many stories, there might also be bit of a bias towards heroes; we might naturally hold the good guys to a higher moral standard, and when they don’t live up to it, it feels like a betrayal of trust, and may result in harsher critizism because the excpectations were higher to begin with. At least, I can recognize personally that I have this bias, not saying everyone has or thinks this way.
As I’ve seen some people mention, Gran Torino of course doesn’t know the circumstances behind Tomura’s current situation. There might even be a seed of truth in the idea I saw that he might be projecting his hate of AFO onto Tomura.(Which, again, isn’t very heroic behavior, but it is admittedly very human, which is probably the point from narration perspective; these heroes are portrayed more like flawed humans than paragons of virtue overall)
The same way, people’s reaction to Torino’s words and getting frustrated/angry over it is also pretty human; nobody likes their favorite character being accused of that one thing they’re actually not really responsible for, it’s just kinda how we seem to work.
”If you’re gonna call him out, call him out of something he’s actually responsible for dammit!” - in other words.
(Also, again, this is just from my perspective. Of all things Torino could call Tomura out on, he blurts out that one thing Tomura’s not really directly responsible for. That’s all AfO in my eyes)
At least I don’t really bat an eyelid at people pointing out the bad stuff Tomura and his gang has done, because.....well, its just true. They’re villains in a story. They’re supposed to do bad things to drive the narrative forward and play their role.
That is perhaps also why I (and maybe others) am more critical of heroes when they do bad things because I have higher expectations of them as the supposed good guys due to my past reading experiences about stories like this, and what the term ”hero” means to me.
(And well...people are naturally more likely to sympathize with their favorite more, over other characters regardless of circumstances I suppose. It’s just how things work, probably gotta throw this out here too heh)
So...TL;DR
I, personally am probably harsh at Torino in this situation, because I subconsciously had higher expectations for him as a reader, morally speaking. I don’t constantly critisize the villain side because their badness is obvious (its in the job description for story villains!) and my issues with heroes are a separate issue from the villain’s obvious bad actions. If the heroes and the society would be held more accountable, the amount of villains being created could also lessen (which again, I feel might be the point of the story narrative here)
Also, humans are emotional messes and can react strongly even to fictional situations when its about characters they enjoy. I try not to take things too seriously given it’s fiction, but understand it’s sometimes difficult because emotions are fun.
More neutrally speaking, both sides in bnha’s narrative are bad in their own way, even as a fan of the villain characters, I can easily acknowledge that and know my favorites do bad things I obviously don’t condone. I don’t like them because of the bad things they do, but because (as stated before) their story/personalities are interesting to me. It’s just that the other side is not being held accountable for their wrongdoings, which is frustrating as a reader and thus I feel the need to be more critical of them than those who are already getting punished in-world anyway.
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90s-belladonna · 4 years
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Do you think there was ever a traitor at UA? Or that it's just a forgotten plot ploy that got discarded?
oh it’s for sure a one off thing that wasn’t going to be huge but hori just brought it back up on the manga again after being reminded of the traitor thing so I think that perhaps he’ll do something with it.
the clues all point to a student and honestly I’m hoping it’s uraraka just to give her something to do that doesn’t have to do with her crush. clearly she wouldn’t have done it for money since the lov was v broke at the beginning of the series so maybe to protect her family? idk.
but I do know that it being a staff memeber would make no sense especially since only the staff memebers who went to the training camp knew about it’s location and the lov didn’t attack sooner, but their attack seemed calculated meaning someone sent them the location as soon as they got there giving the lov (who didn’t attack until like the third night) enough time to come up with a half decent game plan that would take out everyone despite their quirks (mustard’s gas being my main reasons and dabi’s fire keeping everyone secluded)
my top suspects are denki since he’s got the most “evidence” against him right now. hopefully not I really want him to be a great hero and not just a “dumb” character who turns out to be evil.
toru for how many times we’ve been told she’s stealthy, we’ve never really ‘seen’ her be stealthy before but we do know she had to be stealthy in the entrance exam to push the shut down buttons for the robots but again we’ve never seen her be stealthy it’s just exposition that is dumped on the reader so maybe she’s being extra stealthy as the traitor trying to keep her cover?
my last one is shoji, I just don’t trust the fact that he’s such a minimalist. It definitely seems like the set up for someone planning to run as soon as something big goes down. even minimalist set down some sort of “roots” whether it be some small decoration, or hanging their clothes on a rack something small that still gives their space their own tiny flare... shoji never did that to his room which to me says he’s disconnected from ua despite being one of the best 1A students. also despite being a powerhouse he does his best not to be noticed too much which is crazy for someone in the hero course + someone who’s a whole unit. I really hope they don’t make him the traitor though he seems like the perfect gentleman and I think he’s a great role model example for boys/menz
there’s also the aoyama traitor theory that I don’t want to believe since he’s my little prince but it has some footing, although it’s a bit complicated. the gist of it is apparently he was quirkless and his parents tried everything to make him a “normal” kid so he wouldn’t be picked on and traded a favor or paid afo to give their son a quirk and once afo found out aoyama was going to ua... the same school his rival was teaching at hw ordered him to spy in order to repay his parent’s debt to him. the thing is the theory says that’s why his laser isn’t right for his body but I don’t want to take that into account since we know of tons of people who’s quirk isn’t right for their body. (the best example being touya/dabi) so yeah... I don’t think hori will go this route but it’s a good theory.
if the traitor does end up being a student I think hori will go the “unwilling / regretful” traitor route since we’ve fallen in love with all the 1A kids (expect mineta.. duh. but he’s just gross and doesn’t have enough depth to be the traitor + hori really likes him so I sadly doubt he’d ever get rid of him, much to our dismay) and making one of them super evil with no regrets would be weird since we have a good feel for all the character’s personalities at this point and no way a kid is that good an actor.
that being said considering the usj attack was well planned one could say there may also be a faculty traitor as well as a student traitor but most of those claims come from people forgetting the lov broke into ua the day before and stole a schedule to find out where all might would be so yeah I can’t get behind the faculty traitor theory.
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