#He’s going to kill her for implying he wants her there

[nellasbookplanet]

What with cr3 ending and me having semi-recently read dungeon meshi and currently replaying mass effect, I find myself pondering characters coming back from the dead and the nature of (happy) endings.

The thing is, I generally prefer a happy ending, and I don’t really agree with takes that they're boring. I do, however, want my happy endings to feel earned, and not in a 'the characters went through a lot of hardships and deserve it' way but in a 'this is narratively satisfying' kind of way. Dungeon meshi (which I'm about to massively spoil) ends in an incredibly happy way, with virtually no one dying, and a huge cast of characters coming together to resurrect the lead's dead loved one. However, the plot throughout also massively focuses on the inevitability of death and of how to handle mourning and moving on. It features a character who, like Keyleth, has a very long lifespan and is desperately seeking a way to save herself the suffering of seeing loved ones die, even as they repeatedly tell her they don’t want the 'solutions' she’s offering. In the end, she does come to terms with things, and before attempting the resurrection admits she’s no longer as scared of the possibility of it failing or losing people in general because now she knows how to move on and find new happiness. When the resurrections succeeds, it doesn’t feel like a cop out or her backsliding in her growth, but rather as immensly satisfying. The nature of the happy ending is also overall tempered by very real consequences from the adventure that will never go away, rather than everything being saccharine.

In mass effect (which I'm also about to massively spoil), the player character comes back from having spent 2 years dead in the second game, and has the chance to try to rekindle a romance from the first game (assuming you romanced that particular character to begin with). Except, she doesn’t take you back. She has spent 2 years mourning and building herself up as a new person, and she’s terrified of losing you again to a looming galactic war and having to do it all over again. She can’t just pick up where you left off. Of course, you can still convince her with the right choices, but it’s made clear it isn't easy, and she does have to come to terms with that it’s not only possible but likely that she’ll lose you again (and indeed, by the end of the trilogy she does). You know by the end of it that she has grown.

I'm not opposed to Vax coming back, especially not with the overhanging consequences both of him and Keyleth having inherently changed as people and therefore having to build something new rather than pick up where they left off, and of him still being beholden to his duty as a champion first. Having a character cursed to outlive everyone she loves find a partner who's kind of undead and won’t die is kind of neat actually. The problem is, Keyleth shows little sign that she has learned the lesson so beautifully portrayed in dungeon meshi and mass effect. She still can’t move on from losing a loved one, still can’t accept both the inevitability of loss and how she, as an incredibly long lived person, will have to experience it over and over again. She explicitly asks Vax if he would come back to her if the Raven Queen died/was killed, all but implying she’d support this end if he said yes (he didn’t). At no point does she accept that he is truly dead. And while I'm happy she has Vax back, I'm also saddened it didn’t happen in a way that conveyed true growth of character.

[bigscotman]

I don't know how exactly the Lazarus Pits work and it's really gonna show here but:

What if when Jason gets blown up some of him is lost, by which I mean now he's missing his right arm and that side of his face is fucked up in the same way Two-Face's is. When Talia first picks him up she's concerned Ra's will just have him killed or something like that but for some reason he doesn't? and Jason becomes the best bodyguard/assassin/babysitter she could ask for.

Then Ra's starts to imply he is going to have Jason killed even though it's been well over a year now so Talia dumps him in the pit and she isn't entirely sure what will happen since her father has never been injured like this before being put in the pit before, dead yes but not injured in this way.

Here's where the prompt diverges into 3(?) paths

1) Jason does his Red Hood shit just now he's only got one arm or maybe an older model LoA prosthetic that she managed to smuggle to him that is just the worst.

2) go down the biopunk/body horror route and give Jason some sort of Prototype esque shapeshifting monster arm and go from there

3) it heals Jason's face so while still highly scared it's now more rugged charm than it is pepperoni pizza left in the oven too long, and Jason now has a right shoulder but that's about it. He stays in the LoA and eventually when he officially becomes Damian's Shadow (Dark Angel? Whatever the actual term is) he is gifted with a ridiculously expensive and advanced cybernetic arm(think cyberpunk 2077) that's also loaded with god knows how many weapons. Also I don't know how but in this timeline I want Jason to box Clark with retractable literal kryptonite knuckles.

[clemelntine]

The Heart killers ep 11 stray thoughts

With accompanying screenshots, cuz I take to many and they can't just go to waste

Once again/still Keen just wants to be included. Now that he has seen Lilly will never see him as equel to his brothers, he is trying to get validation from Bison and Fadel.

Right, cuz you look like you're good at that. We will just pretend that we haven't seen your backbone turn into jelly when you're around Captain

Wait, so they didn't kill him. Where has he been this whole time, in between staging his murder and this scene? Was he just chilling with Nont in Fadel and Bisons kidnapping lair (which they apparently have).

He just knows a guy, casual .

He also just has a whole plan planned out. You'd think he was the one with the training in this shit, not Fadel

The look of concern in his eyes. Because of course, Style was able to spot the slight change in Fadels expression, indicating he was upset/weary/uncomfortable.

Doesn't he say younger brother (nong chai/shai [im not sure how it is written]) here, why would they translate it like that, this makes it seem like he doesnt see Fadel as his brother.

Finally somebody is giving that tattoo the love it deserves.

Facts

Also the first time (or one of the rare occasions) that we see Fadel with genuine, borderline crazy/psychotic anger in his eyes. He's usually the one to be more calm and

Oh, they're using their height, narrowing in on her, forcing her to look up, making her feel small. Stunning, just what she deserves.

-I love you so much; I'd give up my freedom for your safety

-I love you so much; I'd give up my life for your freedom.

Also, btw, 5 years of prison for the number of murders they committed, thats pretty nice. Of course, i wanted them to be free, but looking at it logistically, that is a solid deal

It does imply a timeskip, whomp whomp

Just give me a clear yes or no. Is Bison religious (christian, to be specific)? Cuz this is just a saying and stuff, but also putting it next to all the other christian Bison stuff we've seen, im starting to believe it

Ah, look at that. Fadel got his family (parent), and Bison got his little brother (Babe). These boyfriends are adding way more to their life then you would first assume.

Also, Styles dad immediately suggesting they get married as soon as he realizes they are genuinely dating it ao cute. He has/knows as lil casual-/subtlety as Style does. I guess it's genetic

Omg they are so sweet. Not hiding/secret but private cuz its their communication, their comfort.

I needed this scene to be like an hour long actually, just them cleaning each other with the garden hose, sweetly talking about whatever.

Right. I'm not surprised, I could tell Style was a bitter but like looking at his and Joongs laugh afterwards (and just the absurd inconvenience of it) I'm gonna guess this wasn't scripted, just Dunk. Which.. raises some questions, but we'll keep moving.

Dude was straight up beefing with a child

So he is either assuming hell die a natural death or he's killing himself. Cus i assumed he'd probably die on the job, get killed by someone, but that for sure requires there to be another person. I guess he could also be insinuating that when he dies, he'll be alone in the sense that he is leaving no one behind, no loved ones.

Idk what is sadder him thinking no one would love him when he died or him assuming he'll die by his own hand.

Are they at a graveyard? It doesn't look like it. Because, im not very educated on Thai law, but i can't think it would be legal to just bury someone wherever.

Style earlier the episode saying he'll die for Fadel(s safety) and Fadel saying he'll live for (/with) Style. God, i love them

Glad we are at least acknowledging the absurdity of it.

Are we talking (/joking) about Bison lactating? Cuz that would make that this shows second mpreg/omegaverse reference.

Forever watchfull Style

Forever considerate Style. Even with the garage to work at (and low key co-run) he is willing to give up time, just to keep Fadels dream/passion alive

Did Style fucking make a heart out of the sauce?! Why didn't we get a better shot of that, that is so cute.

So all the other boys his dad mentioned were just one night stands and situationships. Fadel was the first guy he actually wanted to settle down with. (Also, dont take this to mean anything, but it kinda mirrors Joong and Dunk. Joong having had an acting partner before Dunk, but splitting up under unfortunate circumstances, mostly out of their hands. Joong being Dunks' first actor partner, only having had a small unnamed guest role before working together with Joong)

Ive never seen to guys look so sad while eating burgers , like it was actually making me emotional. Cuz there was no big sad outburst or anything, just the everpresent underlying knowledge that this will be the last meal they'll get to share in a long time. Just the subtle sadness in their eyes and the little sniffles. I low key didnt expect them to be this good at conveying such subtle yet intense emotions.

The look in their eyes, i am actually so not okay

Not to be critical or anything but no way in shit that was done by an amateur. Like i get he'd have a pretty steady hand due to his training with guns. Bit not only does Bison usually hold his gun with both hands, it is an entirely different grip and requires such different muscles.

Yo wtf, I wasn't prepared for an emotional scene of just Kant and Style crying

This episode was just so full of cute scenes omg. I have so many notes that are just screenshots of a sweet scene or moment where the only comment I had was just saying aaahhw or some shit. And although I would love to share those with you, Tumblr has an image limit, so unfortunately, this is all I could stuff into one post.

I am a lil weary/concerned with how they are going to finish this all in one episode though. Like we have five years of prison to still cover and only an hour of screentime left.

Favorite scenes

Lillys confrontation was very satisfying

Style and Fadel cleaning eachother of after the paint fight ofc

Kant and Bison in the planetarium (specifically watching the stars)

Fadel and Style at the support group talking things out

Everything in Heart Burger, from the cute cooking together to eating through tears. Absolute perfection.

Kant and Bison tattooing eachother and just the sweetness of that all

And although their goodbye and Kant and Style crying in eachothers arms wasn't fun, it was a really good scene.

Also, there are no in-depth screenshot stats today (this post has already taken too long). Just know I took a total of 245 screenshots (funfact: that is actually more picture than I have of myself on my phone)

[ladybobofdoom]

Wow this is really uncanny. I‘ve went into this series with no expectations and I immediately shipped Li Rong and Su Ronghua from the go, not being much impressed for Pei Wenxuan; to an extend where I got the male chars confused right after the switch.

I was very sick while watching and read the subs a little dizzy. So, upon meeting them all in the past I got confused as to why she is unkind to her current lover at time of her death, when they all meet in the garden.

Here is what happend in my head: I assumed the narrative would focus on Su Ronghua and the protag finding back to eachother. I had to rewatch parts of EP2. I had to sit back and wrap my head around the fact that the main couple are the princess and her at that point as abusive portrait husband. Still, I made my peace with the main couple because the series is generally well written, with great female characters.

Also, like op sais, they string my boy Su Ronghua around like he is the secondary love interest with a genuine chance for whom I keep rooting. Dude got his balls cut off and his whole family killed and then dedicated his whole life to the protag. I mean how (on a narrative romantic hero level) could Pei Wenxuan even compete with such a compelling storry?? Having the impossible choice of rescuing his whole family or being with the women he loves and who loves him back? Chosing between power and love?? Li Rong (for me at that moment) wished with her last words to have a chance of spending her life with Su Ronghua; who obviously rememberes too.

I mean how can Pei Wenxuan even remotely compete with that, when his narrative is literally, gotta be nicer to me wife (which at EP9, where I‘m at, it‘s not really explained why he was’t nicer!!?). Plus, EP1 is even framed like he is the villain. There is never any indication of Su Ronghua and Li Rong having platonic love instead of romantic. Even if they don‘t clearify dude got his balls or whole cock‘n‘balls cut off. They still can have a meaningfull romantic and sexual relationship? Is it just implied because of his lack of genitals the relationship would be platonic?!? On an erotic level, giving them the chance to also have penetrative sex now, when they couldn’t before, holds such potential, too!

So, then I get to the wedding scene. When my boy is forced to hand the love of his life off to a man who in some form or another abused her in their last life. Baby gets shit faced to manage is how devastated he is. And I see this, and think. This is it. This is the single most cruel thing Pei Wenxuan could have done, even foreshadowing it with a ‚got a surpriiiise’. This has to be the tragic moment, where donno history repeats itself because this was a cruel thing to do on their wedding day; but he wanted to get rid of my boy for good that way. And protag MUST be so angry!! But then she is framed as happy and unbothered. And I think… wait a minute.

Which is when I wound this post. And I feel like what? (You may return to the beginning of the post. Just kidding. Nobody is reading this.)

I accidentally build a better narrative, what can I say? Not sure if I‘ll keep watching, honestly. They did my accidental head cannon baby dirty.

"But I have my reasons."

"So does every other sinner in the world."

It's been quite obvious from the drama for a while now that the Princess Royal screenwriter feels pity for Su Rongqing and considers him a tragic figure. I recall being asked early on if I thought the writers are trying to redeem him. And I said no, not exactly. And I still stand by that!

They didn't give him any out or excuse for his hand in the bloody end of their original timeline: the dirty secrets reveal scene does not soften his actions in any way or reduce Li Rong's disgust. Ronghua still rejects his grand-standing words and his refusal to see that the noble class can't continue like this. He gets his chance to tell his perception of past events but Pei Wenxuan also gets a chance to share competing observations. Li Rong and Su Rongqing still get their philosophical face-off in the throne room. No one is completely wrong or right. There were no heroes in the original timeline.

"Let's not deceive ourselves or others anymore. I understand your stubbornness. Your heart is with the light, yet you dwell in darkness. You refuse to acknowledge your identity, so you can only disort the truth."

We see Li Rong and his brother reach out a hand to him many times, telling him he can still turn back. Li Rong was never in love with him romantically but he accompanied her for years during a dark period for both of them; she's not a heartless person (that's the whole point!), so ofc she would take his hand and pull him back from the edge if he was just willing to grab it. She wants to reach him: that's what the whole throne room scene is about. But she cannot. His last moments in the drama have both Pei Wenxuan and Li Rong calling out to him.

He may be a poisonous snake, but he doesn't have to bite the frog when crossing the river.

He is given chances but he doesn't take him. That's why he's tragic: Because he is right about this ONE THING (Li Chuan isn't suited to be emperor), feeling desperately certain about it while it seems no one else understands the stakes and his heroic mission. But he's wrong about everything else.

This is a story about time travel and what if you could re-do your youth: better support a troubled sibling, stand up to toxic family, fix your marriage, widen your perspective... And Su Rongqing misses all his opportunities because he's not taking his chance to better connect with others, not using the wisdom of all those extra years to better understand the populace and the people around him, and handle his life & relationships with more grace. He just narrow-mindly focuses on the mission - he can't reset, can't let go of the past life and the current system.

So many other people in this tale have been shifted: Shangguan Ya, Su Ronghua, Li Chuan, Qin Zhen Zhen, even the fail emperor has a revelation about how crap he is.

His inflexibility and inability to seize the opportunity of a do-over in life and be a new Su Rongqing acts as a contrast to measure how much Li Rong and Pei Wenxuan have been growing & changing. And it shows us why they triumph and why they deserve their happy ending.

Tragic doesn't mean innocent. It doesn't mean he didn't have a hand in his own downfall.

I know not all readers found him compelling in the text, but I did think he was a neat character and tbh I think the novel would be diminished without him. I can see what the screenwriter was trying to do with him - all that dramatic music is his POV. We get glimpses of the good times & his good intentions that contrast with his failure to live up any of it. He's given narrative importance as their foil and the writers wanted him to be a full fledged 3rd time-traveler character that the audience is interested in (hoping, like Li Rong & his brother do, that he can be saved). The promise is there in the essential character, I can see it in the text. But in the drama they failed to create investment from the audience in the right way.

imo a big misstep is that the framing early on made viewers feel he was intended to be a valid love interest. In the drama, his romantic interest in her is overt while in the novel it was ambiguous for the first 60% of the story. Writers even added a couple moments that felt OOC where we are in his head and it seems like he is actually intending to win her back romantically (which is contradicted by his novel-compliant speech in ep 34 about how he knows they can't be together because as her betrayer he doesn't deserve it.)(now I'm curious to rewatch them, I am really wondering if it was intended to be a slight of hand where he is meaning her return/freedom/rise to power/the life he owes her and the audience is intended to misread as him saying he will become her bf again 🤔🤔) Regardless, in a romance narrative, this will make many viewers reflexively dislike him, protectively wanting him away from their otp. He is perceived as a real suitor who has a chance -- which hits different to a shipper.

The execution was flawed. I do think that casting a magnetic actor who can portray bottled up emotion & inner turmoil, such as Zhang Wanyi, would have made a big difference in mitigating the earlier mis-cues. But on the other hand, I'm fairly satisfied with his character handling from ep 30-40.

[sheikfangirl]

“You can stop looking, I’m right here.”

Glory to Puppet Zelda ✋

[citrusai]

taash said "they were doing it" and people ran with the interpretation of an npc that doesn't know solas or the history of the elvhenan even when bellara interjected and said, no, that's not right. that's not how it was for the elvhenan. they formed bonds before they had physical bodies. and people ran to doompost or create weird anti-solavellan shit even though mythal & solas refer to each other as old friends and when she releases him there is no tenderness or love in it. it is the act of unchaining a dog from his post, the stepping down of a general. but to each their own ig.

[puppppppppy]

you are umasou

[bnhaobservation]

@biggibbins said:

What is ment by 'Touya assuming Enji forced himself on Rei' in Dabi's speech thing where he exposes Endeavor's past and that thier related(you can't be 99% related to one of your parents, did Touya not pass biology class in middle school) he states that Endeavor forced Rei to have children, which i was saying it wouldn't be possible for Touya to know that, even if he was told why he was created it's an assumption for him to say she was forced(when it's revealed that she in fact wanted more children after Touya and Fuyumi) and the what is seen in the dark quote would be the closest he could get to having known anything, cuz it is a possibility he walked in on his parents having sex and misunderstood the situation (a trama we have all gone through 😔) [Again, idk if I explained well I'm bad at articulating my thoughts] And with the flowers my lil theory is that after she was hospitalized Enji had a greenhouse built to acomidate the flowers, cuz we see her with a fully bloomed flower out of season as well as both times we see them they are in full bloom and not even slightly wilted, flowers wilt fast once cut(which both flowers are) which means not only did Enji have to have visited her before going into battle, he had also recently visited before Fuyumi and Natsuo visited that time. This implies he visits her often(which I'm pretty sure she herself says). I love ur takes btw, I'm learning alot about the todofam and I love it!♡

First of all thank you for loving my takes! It really makes me happy.

Now, for your points...

What is ment by 'Touya assuming Enji forced himself on Rei' in Dabi's speech thing where he exposes Endeavor's past and that thier related(you can't be 99% related to one of your parents, did Touya not pass biology class in middle school) he states that Endeavor forced Rei to have children, which i was saying it wouldn't be possible for Touya to know that, even if he was told why he was created it's an assumption for him to say she was forced(when it's revealed that she in fact wanted more children after Touya and Fuyumi) and the what is seen in the dark quote would be the closest he could get to having known anything, cuz it is a possibility he walked in on his parents having sex and misunderstood the situation (a trama we have all gone through 😔

It means that you either read a bad translation or you're remembering wrong... and that the paternity test in your country is done differently than in Japan and in other countries.

Let's tackle Touya's speech first, which was pre-recordered. We can recognize it as it has baloons with exagonal shape and double borders.

Here we have the first part which is in chap 290

Todoroki Tōya ‘Boku, Todoroki Tōya wa ENDEAVOR no Todoroki-ke no chōnan to shite umaremashita. Ima made 30-nin ijō no tsumi naki hitobito o koroshimashita. Boku ga naze kono yōna shūwai na shogyō ni itatta ka minna ni shitte moraitai. ENDEAVOR wa katsute chikara ni kogarete imashita. Soshite, ALL MIGHT o koe rarenai zetsubō kara yori tsuyoi "kosei" o motta ko o tsukuru tame, muriyari tsuma o metorimashita. Boku wa chichi no riko-tekina yume no tame ni tsukurareta. Shikashi, dōyara boku wa shippaisaku datta yōde hodonaku shite mikagirare suterare wasurerare mashita.’ 轟燈矢「僕、轟はエンデヴァーの轟家の長男として生まれました。今まで30人以上の罪なき人々を殺しました。僕が何故このような醜穢な所業に至ったか皆に知ってもらいたい。エンデヴァーはかつて力に焦がれていました。そして、オールマイトを超えられない絶望からより強い〝個性〟を持った子を作る為、無理矢理妻を娶りました。僕は父の利己的な夢の為につくられた。しかし、どうやら僕は失敗作だったようで程なくして見限られ捨てられ忘れられました。」 Todoroki Tōya “I, Todoroki Tōya, was born as the eldest son of Endeavor's Todoroki family. I have killed over 30 innocent people so far. I want everyone to know what led me to commit such a filthy deed. Endeavor once yearned for power. Then, in despair of not being able to surpass All Might, in order to create a child with a stronger “Quirk” he took a wife by force. I was created for my father's selfish dream. However, it seems I was a failure, and I was soon given up on, cast away, and forgotten.” [Chap. 290]

So let's focus on this first part.

As said in the previous post Touya here uses ‘muriyari’ (無理やり) to talk about his parents' marriage. ‘Muriyari’ means “forcibily, against one’s will”. Here though, he's not talking about Enji raping Rei, he's just talking about Enji forcing Rei to marry him.

How this works culturally?

The implication is he asked the Himura to marry Rei, bringing on the table his status, money and prestige, aware the Himura needed money.

The Himura decided this would be good for them, great actually. It's unclear if Horikoshi had already established the Himura backstory and how they marry among them but, if the Himura had other plans for Rei, they discharged it quickly enough.

Rei likely wasn't dragged to the altar kicking and screaming but, if she wanted to be a good daughter (and since she was the daughter of an once prestigious family she likely was educated into being one) she would have to obey to her father and accept the marriage so that she could help her family.

Basically, by not courting Rei first but by going straight to her family bringing money and prestige, he had forced Rei to say 'yes'.

We see that the marriage is an extremely fast one. Enji became Number 2 after he turned 20, which means in the November Hero Billboard of that year or in the May billboard of the following year, he has his Miai with Rei after he is Number 2 and Touya is conceived around April in the year in which Enji would turn 22.

Assuming that Enji became Number 2 at the November billboard it would give him at the very best 1 year and 6 months before Touya's birth.

Considering he first had to discover Himura Rei would be a suitable spouse, that organizing a Miai takes time, that there are steps to follow, that while signing the marriage papers can be done quickly and easily enouth a ceremony is generally organized 6 months after and it probably would have looked bad if Endeavor married without a good ceremony (signing the paper alone IS the marriage, you don't need the ceremony) things went rather fast.

Enji knows Rei agreed to marry him not because she had fallen for him but because she wanted to help her family.

Rei insists it was her decision and while she likely didn't marry Enji for love, she apparently thought she could still be happy with him.

It's possible, since this is the scene the image reference, that when Enji asked her if she liked those flowers, she decided to believe he could grow to care for her for more than just her Quirk.

We don't know.

And now we continue with the rest of Touya's speech which is in the following chapter.

I'll skip the bit regarding to Hawks as that is of no interest to us

Todoroki Tōya ‘Kyūshū no tatakai de nokosareta ENDEAVOR no chi to 99.99% icchi shitemasu. Soredemo netsuzō o utagawa reru deshou. Boku wa shinjite moraeru yō hanasu shika arimasen. ENDEAVOR wa sonogo mo haha ni ko o umase, 4-nin me ni shite mina-san gozonji no kata mo irudeshou. Seikōsaku no Shōto ga umaremashita. Soshite taibō no kessaku ni sae te o agete imasu. Boku wa nando mo mitekimashita. ENDEAVOR wa tasya o omoiyaru kokoro nante mochi awase tenai. Jiko kenji ni oboreta waishōde hitoriyogari no seishin. Sonna ningen ga HERO o nanotte ī to omoimasu ka?’ 轟燈矢「九州の戦いで残されたエンデヴァーの血と99.99%一致してます。それでも捏造を疑われるでしょう。僕は信じてもらえるよう話すしかありません。エンデヴァーはその後も母に子を産ませ、4人目にして皆さんご存知の方もいるでしょう。成功作の焦凍が産まれました 。そして待望の傑作にさえ手を上げています。僕は何度も見てきました。エンデヴァーは他者を思いやる心なんて持ち合わせてない。自己顕示に溺れた矮小で独りよがりの精神。そんな人間がヒーローを名乗っていいと思いますか？」 Todoroki Tōya “It's a 99.99% match with Endeavor's blood that was left behind during the battle in Kyushu. But even so, you will still suspect that it's fabricated. I have no choice but to tell the story in a way that will make you believe me. Endeavor continued to have children with my mother, and as some of you know, their fourth child was born, the successful Shoto. And he has even put his hand on the long-awaited masterpiece. I've seen it so many times. Endeavor has no compassion for others. He has a petty, self-centered spirit obsessed with self-exhibitionism. Do you think such a person should be allowed to call himself a hero?” [Chap. 291]

So the paternity test as you seem to have doubts on it. We don't know how far Touya got in bilogy in middle school as he 'died' in the middle of it (in my country we have that part in the last year of middle school so he would have completely skipped it if he were born in my country) but that's unimportant because Garaki and Horikoshi did end middle school and went even further in their study and knows how a paternity test work and that if there's a perfect match you say it's a 99.9999% probability that the paternity test is positive.

Honestly I didn't check all the countries but, so far, allt he ones I checked use this exact same system and a quick search on the net, be it through wikipedia or medical centers should confirm it to you as well.

Now, regarding the other children Enji have Touya's speech doesn't say Enji raped his mother, he just says he continued to have her give birth to his children... which can be obtained easily enough by having unprotected sex, Touya doesn't need to speculate if it was consensual or not.

Japan has a low natality (so low currently in percentage a couple should have 0,99 children.... ^_^;;).

When BNHA started things were a little better and this was alread A SERIOUS CONCERN.

The fact that Enji has not 1, not 2, not 3 but 4 children and conveniently stopped having children after he got a child with the Quirk he wanted is telling enough of how hard Enji tried having kids and how he did it for a purpose. The people don't really need to know if Rei was consenting or not, they probably expected her to give consent because that's what a good wife does. In fact, according to Confucianism beliefs, which are still popular in Japan even if much less than in the past, a woman is obligated not to act on her own initiatives and, at home, she must submissively obey or follow her father before getting married, her husband after getting married, and her sons after her husband’s death.

So no, Touya doesn't need to tell people that Enji forced himself on Rei for his point to be true and might not have known if Enji did it or not... but, in order to suspect Rei was abused, he didn't necessarily need to jump on his parents having sex.

I'll use this to correct a common misunderstanding that I see often reported in fanfic.

Rei and Enji get married, Rei knows it's a Quirk marriage and that therefore she's expected to give Enji babies. Touya gets born in January but he only has, as far as they know, a fire Quirk. Likely Touya was like Shouto (who could ice his snot bubble) and the glowing baby as he manifested his Quirk at birth, not when he went to preschool.

Canon let us aware of Enji's thoughts and tell us that Enji still wanted a baby with a dual Quirk. Rei was also okay with having more babies thinking they would support each other and so they conceive Fuyumi around March and she's born in December of the same year in which Touya is born (we can see that while she's a baby Touya isn't capable yet to walk, which means he's around 1 year old).

Enji is satisfied because Touya's fire is strongest than his own and begins to train Touya. We know he started because Touya said all his father taught him was how to raise his temperature... then lessons got stopped when Touya was 3, in what was likely summer, as Touya's fire started to burn him. Touya doesn't accept it and continues to train.

Enji claims he didn't know how to stop him and decides that if they have another baby Touya will be forced to give up.

Rei DOESN'T AGREE as she claims this would be cruel toward Touya, who knows why they are having babies.

At this point she doesn't want babies anymore. It's solely Enji who wants them. Look at her expression when Enji insists, she's not happy at all.

She's a good wife though and likely she had done as Enji said, especially since he had painted it as being done for Touya... even though she clearly doesn't believe it'll work. It doesn't, it's just cruel.

Natsuo is conceived on that same year, around October, and is born when Touya is 4, in July.

Touya is hurt but doesn't stop training.

Around April, in the year in which Tōya has turned 7, Shouto is conceived and has birth in January, when Touya is about to turn 8.

We aren't told what Rei was thinking in regard to have a 4th child but she likely has seen having Natsuo not only didn't stop Touya, as he continued training, but gave her even less time to devote to Touya and Fuyumi. Likely again she has just submitted to Enji's will because this was what was expected of her, meaning he didn't have to drag her to bed and force himself on her, she was aware he married her to have babies and society expected her to give him free access so she likely didn't even think she could try to put up a fight.

She's still no more a person who wants to have more kids, though legally it wouldn't be acknowledged as rape.

Could Touya have known of his mother's unhappiness at having more babies?

Yeah, sure he could.

He didn't need to waltz on them having non-consensual sex, he might have overheard them talking without them realizing since they talked about it, he might overheard his mother complaining with his grandmother about it at the phone, or he might just have figured out by how their relation has deteriorated that Rei isn't thrilled to spend the nights with his father and give him more children.

If he figured out or not though is not relevant with his speech because in it he didn't say Enji forced himself on Rei, he just say Enji forced her to marry him and that he continued to have her give birth to his children until he got Shouto.

For a more step by step retake of the whole story of the Todoroki family I recommend this post: THE TODOROKI FAMILY: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

I hope this helps to clear up things and thanks for your ask!

BNHA Observations, speculations and assorted info: Pre-marriage Todoroki Enji (Part 2)

So, in order to write my fic, I spend much time observing canon scenes, comparing the manga and the anime version, take note of details, translations and info in them as well as finding out how are some things called.

Since what I noticed/speculated/found out can be of use for other fic authors I thought to share as well.

Resources:

Chap. 301 "The Wrong Way to Put Out a Fire, Part 1" (火の不始末前編Hi no Fushimatsu Zenpen) Chap. 31 "The Boy Born with Everything" (全てを持って生まれた男の子 Subete o Motte Umareta Otoko no Ko) Chap. 302 "The Wrong Way to Put Out a Fire, Part 2" (火の不始末後編 Hi no Fushimatsu Kōhen) Chap. 187 "Flaming Roar! vs. Nomu: High-End" (燃えよ轟け！VS 脳無：ハイエンド Moeyo Todoroke! vs. Nōmu: High-End) Chap. 387 "Congealing" (煮凝り 'Nikogori')

Ep. 130 "The Wrong Way to Put Out a Fire" (火の不始末 Hi no Fushimatsu) Ep. 19 "The Boy Born with Everything" (全てを持って生まれた男の子 Subete o Motte Umareta Otoko no Ko) Ep. 88 "His Start" (始まりの Hajimarino)

School Briefs I "Notice from School"

OBSERVATIONS, SPECULATIONS AND ASSORTED INFO:

As of now we only have two more scenes which depict Enji pre marriage, the first being his 'Miai' with Rei and the second being their first 'date'.

The scene are flashbacks placed while Enji is at the hospital so first let's look at...

THE FULL SEQUENCE AS IT IS IN THE MANGA

So now let's focus solely on the scene in question and, since it has been transposed in anime version (and the anime added scenes) let's have a...

COMPARISON BETWEEN THE MANGA AND THE ANIME

The anime starts by adding more scenery, we see what could be the Himura house, which is also a traditional Japanese house... though with all the green it has around it seems its garden is a lot bigger than the one of the Todoroki mansion.

Actually it might also not be the Himura mansion but some place they have chosen for the meeting but it seems more a traditional Japanese house than anything else and the Himura used to be wealthy so they might still have their old residence and anyway... who knows?

The anime gives us also a close up of the Shishiodoshi (鹿威し literally, "deer-frightening" or "boar-frightening") device or Sōzu (添水 "Adding water") fountain, a bamboo water funtain originally derived by a devices to frighten away animals that pose a threat to agriculture and who's currently part of the visual and aural design of gardens, and are used primarily for their aesthetic value.

We also see the Soribashi (反り橋 "Arched bridge"), a red arched bridge, over a pond (probably a Koike (鯉池 "koi pond") filled with Koi (鯉) carps, or, more specifically, Nishikigoi (錦鯉 “brocaded carp”) carps.

'Jiki No.1 no yobigoe takai Endeavor-sama kara o koe kake itadakeru to wa yume ni mo omoi masendeshita! Gyōkō no kiwami ni gozaimasu!!' 「次期No.1の呼び声高いエンデヴァー様からお声掛けいただけるとは夢にも思いませんでした！僥倖の極みにございます！！」 "I never dreamed that I would be approached by Endeavor, who has been hailed as the next No. 1! We are at the height of luck!!"

The anime shows Rei's father bowing to Enji while the dialogue has him calling Endeavor-sama. He uses his Hero name and the -sama (様) suffix which is highly respectful.

Interesting enough, even if Enji is marrying Rei because he doesn't think he can surpass All Might, according to Rei's father there's many people who think he'll do it.

All Might and Endeavor have around 10 years of difference as, during the final fight with All for One All Might says he's more than halfway through 50 while Enji should be 46.

In chap 165 Enji has said at 20 he figured out he couldn't surpass All Might, and we know Touya was born when he was 22 so, considering Touya should have been conceived when he was 21, either he's still 20 or he's just turned 21 and he and Rei will have a fast marriage.

On another side, Rei's father never mention Enji also coming from a prestigious family, just that he's the Number 2 Hero and, possibly, will become the Number 1, which might hint to how Enji didn't come from an equally prestigious family and make a name for himself after he became a Hero.

The anime partially shows us Rei's father's face. In teh manga he's just a black shadow but he gives me the feeling Horikoshi planned him to look different than in the anime.

The anime changes the background a little, in the manga there's a scroll on the wall, in the anime we see white Fusuma (襖) doors, vertical rectangular panels which can slide from side to side (they're often painted with scenery but not in this case).

Also the glass window in the manga is close while in the anime is open.

They are in a Washitsu (和室) room, a Japanese-style room with a Tatami (畳) mat flooring and they're sitting on Zaisu (座椅子) chairs, Japanese chairs with a back and no legs.

In the garden there's also a Ishi-dōrō (石灯籠 "stone lantern"') lantern, a lantern made of stone in its Yukimi doro (織部灯籠 "Snow-viewing Lantern") variant. The customary placement is at the edge of land and water and the original Japanese character describing this lantern may have meant ”floating light”.

The anime adds Rei's father turning toward her but doesn't show Rei looking at the side. She's just staring down. As for Enji he seems to frown a little.

The group is drinking tea. In the manga they're probably using normal Chawan (茶碗 "tea bowl") bowls, traditional Japanese bowls used for preparing and drinking tea.

In the anime though they seem to be using the Chinese Gaiwan (盖碗) bowls, Chinese lidded bowls without a handle, used for the infusion of tea leaves and the consumption of tea, which consists of a bowl, a lid, and a saucer and they are still used by tea connoisseurs all around the world, as a simple piece of teaware that gives the brewer a lot of control over the tea.

I might be wrong though, maybe they're just Chawan bowls or maybe the Himura are using their best tea set, which happens to be a Chinese one.

The anime then adds exposition from Enji's point of view.

'Ichiō, miai to iu katachi o totte wa iruga, koreha "kosei" kon' 一応、見合いという形をとってはいるが、これは"個性"婚 "Just in case, although it was made to look like an arranged marriage meeting, this was a "Quirk" marriage."

'Jishin no "kosei" o yori kyōka shite tsuga seru tame ni haigūsha o erabi, kodomo o uma seru tame no kekkon' 自身の"個性"をより強化して継がせるために配偶者を選び、子どもを産ませる為の結婚 "A marriage to have children in which the spouse is chosen in order to strengthen and pass on one's "Quirk""

'Ore wa nozonda noda. Ore no honō no "kosei" to kōri himura-ke ichizoku no kōri no "kosei" ga majiwareba, All Might o mo koeru Hero ga umidaseru to' 俺は望んだのだ。俺の炎の"個性"と氷叢家一族の氷の"個性"が交われば、オールマイトをも超えるヒーローが生み出せると I wanted it. If my fire "Quirk" and the ice "Quirk" of the Himura family were combined, I could create a hero that would surpass All Might.

'Katsute wa meikadatta Himura-ke mo ima wa aoikitoiki…' かつては名家だった氷叢家も今は青息吐息… "The Himura family, which was once a prestigious family, was now in deep distress…"

'No.2 Hero no chii to meiyo, soshite djisankin meate ni Himura-ke no tōshu wa ore no teian o assari to ukeireta' No.2ヒーローの地位と名誉、そして持参金目当てに氷叢家の当主は俺の提案をあっさりと受け入れた "The head of the Himura family easily accepted my proposal, aiming for the status and prestige of the No. 2 hero, as well as the dowry."

'Kotowaru koto mo dekita hazuda' 断る事もできたハズだ "She could have refused."

'Daga kanojo wa "kosei" kondearu koto mo shōchi no ue de, ie no tame ni ore no tsuma ni naru to iu' だが彼女は"個性"婚である事も承知の上で、家の為に俺の妻になると言う "However, even if she was aware that it was a "Quirk" marriage, and said that she will become my wife for the sake of her family."

So... this exposition remarks it's a Quirk Marriage but they don't quite want to admit it so they make it pass for an arranged marriage. Because if your family sells you off but it's not for the purpose to strenghten your husband's Quirk, it's so much better. -_-

Anyway at the meeting there's just Enji, Rei and the "family head" (当主 'tōshu'), which is generally assumed to be Rei's father (but it could have been her grandfather if he was still alive... or her brother if her father died prematurely).

Generally in arranged marriages, or better in the 'Miai' (見合い, "matchmaking"), the marmatching meetings made to organize arranged marriages there's either a mediator or the parents of the two who're meant to marry. Enji though is alone. We can speculate that Rei's mother (whom we know is alive) is absent because she's preparing more tea or retrieving sweets... but Enji went there alone and we'll never, through the whole story, hear about his mother.

Maybe she died too.

While in the manga the family head only sounds honoured to receive Enji's proposition in the anime he looks at Rei greedily, as if instead than Rei she's saying a stack of bills. I feel bad for Rei.

On a sidenote this clashes a bit with how Shouto presented the whole thing back in the past. Shouto made it look as if they were pressured into agreeing to him marrying Rei...

...while in the manga they just seem glad he asked to marry her and in the anime they seem delighted to sell her to him.

Also the anime in this scene and the manga in another scene implied Rei could still have refused. She was likely pressured but could still say no, while Shouto paints it as if she and her family had no choice but to sell her off... though it can be a matter of translation.

'Jisseki to kin dake wa aru otokoda… Oyaji wa haha no shinzoku o marumekomi' 「実績と金だけはある男だ... 親父は母の親族を丸め込み」 "He is a man with accomplishments and money. . . My old man won over/seduced/persuaded my mother's relatives"

'Marumekomi' (丸め込み) seems to have a not so positive implication as it's used to imply you manage to talk someone into doing what you want, as if the Himura didn't really want to sell Rei and needed to be persuaded.

Tōya too also seem to imply the Himura were forced into selling Rei...

'Endeavor wa katsute chikara ni kogarete imashita. 「エンデヴァーはかつて力に焦がれていました」 "Endeavor was once thirsty for power."

'Soshite All Might o koe renai zetsubō kara yori tsuyoi "kosei" o motta ko o tsukuru tame' 「そしてオールマイトを超えれない絶望からより強い"個性"を持った子を作る為」 "And out of despair of not being able to surpass All Might, in order to create a child with a stronger "Quirk"

'Muriyari tsuma o metorimashita' 「無理やり妻を娶りました」 "He took a wife by force"

Tōya uses 'muriyari' (無理やり), which means "Forcibily, against one's will".

In the manga he'll also say (without Rei correcting him)...

'Obāchan-tachi ga binbō shi tetakara okāsan o uttandaro' 「おばあちゃん達が貧乏してたからお母さんを売ったんだろ」 "Grandmother and the others were poor so they sold mother, isn't that it?"

'Okāsan wa sō suru shika nakattandaro' 「お母さんはそうするしかなかったんだろ」 "Mother had no choice but to do that, isn't that it?"

Here it doesn't say his father forced them to sell his mother, but that his grandparents did it because they were poor and insists on how Rei "had no choices" (しかなかった 'shikanakatta')... which Rei doesn't deny with him but will later deny in an inner monologue.

'Sentakushi wa kagira rete itakeredo' 選択肢は限られていたけれど "Although my options were limited"

'Erande susunda no wa watashi no ashi de' 選んで進んだのは私の足でーーー "I chose to move forward with my feet."

'Semete sono-sakide wa waratte iyou to' せめてその先では笑っていようと "At least I'll try to smile there"

'Omotte ita no ni...' 思っていたのにーーー… "That's what I was thinking…"

She claims she had limited options but, confirming Enji's words, she still could choose.

I should probably say that the impression I get from Tōya first saying it was Enji who forced Rei to marry against her will (same as Shouto), and then him instead choosing to blame his grandparents for Rei's marriage, with Enji and, more important, Rei, feels like a retcon (and since this chapter already contained a retcon in its magazine version I wouldn't be surprised if this was the case here as well).

Of course we can excuse it with an 'at the time Tōya was still longing for Enji's love and didn't want to blame him too much...' only to remember he was blaming him in that same chapter in his chat with Natsuo so... whatever.

And, in addition to this, there's also the narrator in "School Briefs I: Notice from School" which says Enji "singled out his would-be wife and forced her into a Quirk marriage".

Really, this doesn't make it look like Rei even had the option to refuse... only for chap 301/302 to change the situation having Enji say she could refuse, Rei saying she chose that path for her family's sake and Tōya not blaming anymore his father but his grandparents for that marriage.

So, skipping the old bits as retconned out of the story, honestly the impression I got of the Himura from the scene was they saw this as their golden chance as soon as they were asked out so Enji didn't really have to work on being persuasive. Maybe it's just me, though we'll later learn the Himura were already into organized Quirk marriages... however their own were to strenghten their own Quirk as they tended to marry among distant relatives.

In Japan is considered incest only if you marry someone who's a second or a third degree relative so I guess they could safely marry among forth degree relatives.

Rei also will claim she

Anyway really, I doubt Enji had to do much work to persuade the Himura and, if he hadn't shown up, her family would have still likely try to organize her marriage so...

The anime cuts Enji's pouting face as he and Rei walks around the place.

The flowers Rei is watching are Gentians.

In the series we see Enji gifting them to Rei in November as she has them during the Second Hero Billboard chart which takes place in November but she also has them during the Paranormal Liberation War which takes place in March.

Now, we can assume the first kind of Gentians Rei has are likely the ‘gentiana scabra’, a specie of gentian with a blue (青色)/purple color (紫色), also called Japanese Gentian. In Japan their name is Rindō (リンドウ/竜胆) and well, they're basically The Gentian in Japan as when you mean to say just gentian in Japan you say 'Rindō'.

However this comes with a problem. In Japan the ‘gentiana scabra’ blossoms in Autumn, from September to November... so it's fine for Enji to gift them to Rei in November for the Hero Billboard chart... but it would be difficult to do the same in March, before/after the Paranormal Liberation War,

The alternative is that the second gentian we see, the one she's holding in March is actually a 'gentiana zollingeri' or Fude Rindō (フデリンドウ), another gentian typical of Asia which is either white or blue and whose flowering period is Spring, usually from April to May... but the problem is I've heard this gentian is usually quite small so... no idea. For now I'll let the guessing to who knows more about gentians than me.

Now let's focus a moment on what Rei says...

'Kono ohana watashi ga suki tte itta no' 「このお花私が好きって言ったの」 "I told him I like/love these flowers"

'？' 「？」 "？"

'Hajimete atta koro tatta ichido' 「初めて会った頃たった一度」 "Only once when we first met"

Actually, the Japanese text in this scene matches more with how we saw it being played out. In the flashback Rei never said they were her favourite flowers and here she confirms she only told him she liked/loved them.

Anyway, according to this scene, this mean they have that walk in which they saw the gentians on their first meeting.

And that's all we know about Enji pre marriage form the manga.

[aalghul]

"claiming any writer ever intended to write that jason was sexually assaulted as a child is stealing from mia" is still one of the most ridiculous takes i have ever seen. by the way

[bumblingbabooshka]

In 'vis a vis' Janeway doesn't mention B'Elanna in the list of people who're worried about Tom which implies that B'Elanna didn't report the fact that "Tom" grabbed her arm, called her a disappointment and broke up with her (as Janeway definitely would have mentioned it as evidence of him acting strange if she knew about it) which makes sense on several different fronts but also makes me scream and cry loud enough to break glass.

[maliciousalice]

Hear me out (or don't... it's fine I'm just venting and mean) yeah um I don't believe Chakotay was saved in Prod*gy s2.

[ayalysart]

"I'm sorry my sweet baby, i wish i've been there''

- Its been so long (the living tombstones)

[chainsawl]

[ ID: A tumblr post by @/fox-guardian reading "he's a sweetheart he's a bitch he's just a little guy he's so very powerful he's the kindest of souls he's SO rude he means everything to me". Below it there is a transparent png of bmo adventure time with multiple red arrows pointing at them. End ID ]

[brsb4hls]

Ok here's a good omens/Loki paralel from me, not the way you might expect though.

So Crowley calls heaven and hell 'toxic' and wants to leave the opressive system alltogether, while Aziraphale believes he can change it from within.

And (ok almost) everyone in fandom gets both side's reasoning and is very reflected and empathetic about it.

Now Sylvie calls the tva, which is an opressive, fascist institution, that flat out murders people, 'rotten' and wants to see it burned to the ground, while Loki believes he can use it as a valuable asset to beat Kang.

And still this scenario gets a completely different reaction.

Weird how that works.

[mapsofnonexistentplaces]

if i think about the dd2 rewrite backstory for sarmenti too much i will get mad and start throwing up and crying

[briar--rising]

My mom stopped doing therapy a few years ago and I wish that she hadn’t. I mean, a therapist isn’t going to help the fundamental issues, esp not at this point. Heck she was in therapy throughout my entire childhood and it’s not like that made her not abuse me. But her dad just died and she’s having lots of feelings about it and if she took those feelings to a therapist instead of me that would be great. But she flat out refuses every time my dad or I bring it up.