#I mean Enji feels like a character out of a show like Succession

[problemswithbooks]

ngl my only praise for bnha was kinda the endeavour arc, but uh,,, yeah wtf was that chapter. "endeavour was right all along, he shouldve kept pushing the child!!" blegh

Yeah, I agree.

I really don't like the added ice Quirk from any angle. Sure, you can argue it gives more of an explanation on how Touya will inevitably survive, but it's weak at best. Ice doesn't heal burns and no amount of cooling would fix someone whose been burned to the bone all over their body. Ice or not he should be dead--I would expect Shoto to die if he ever looked the same way, even though he has ice. If the solution is going to be so nonsensical and handwavey anyway, and it undermines the themes and characters so much, might as well just drop it.

Touya's ice adds nothing and only negatively effects the themes and characters.

It's framed in a way where it can be seen as rubbing salt in Enji's wounds and showing how bad a father he was because Touya was perfect the entire time, but that only implies that Enji should have kept training Touya despite the physical pain it caused him. It's just weird because the story is shitting on Enji for one of the few things he did right. The issue never should have been that he stopped training Touya--it should be that he didn't replace that one on one time with some other safe alternative. Enji should have spent quality time with Touya regardless of Quirk, but he didn't. Yet, now it implies that the training would have paid off if Enji had just stuck with it.

This chapter also sort of props up the Quirk marriage he had with Rei. Her family was apparently full of inbred racists who would have sold her off to anyone with a big enough paycheck. It also gives more support to the idea that Rei was 100% on board with the Quirk marriage because that was what her family had been practicing for years anyways. On top of that the marriage worked first try with Touya. Touya's existence is no longer showing that trying for a perfect Quirk had detrimental consequences all on it's own, but instead that Enji giving up on Touya was the only reason he didn't achieve perfectness.

It also guts any character development Touya could have. He's now right, he was always the son Enji wanted. His constant suicidal and self harming actions get him exactly what he always wanted. He's literally being rewarded for being suicidal--which is a huge problem. He no longer has to come to love himself outside of his Quirk, see that he should always have been cared for no matter how useful he was to his father's ambitions.

It really does leave a very bad taste in my mouth with all the implications and twisting of the themes. I doubt any of it was intentional, but the execution is very flawed and I highly doubt these issues can be fixed going forward. It's just makes me really sad because Enji's arc was the one I was most interested in because it was actually showed how hard change is and was about an adult character rather then a plucky teenager. Yet, it's getting to the point I kind of think Hori might have had a better story if he'd left Enji a one dimensional asshole and killed him off given how he's written this side-plot.

[linkspooky]

Why do you like these morally broken characters so much?

Broken characters are more interesting because they have something to fix -  by that I mean there’s an obvious reason why we might get invested in their story, and follow them, because we want to see them get better. Characters with more obvious flaws are usually better written, it’s as simple as that. Let’s go over two basic ideas of storytelling. 

 Character Arc - we choose to follow a certain character because there is something they’re wrong about, or something wrong about them, they have some conflcit that needs to be resolved by the end of the story, usually centering around a character flaw. Flaws are important because they give the character an impetus, a reason to change. Flaws are what get people invested in characters, because they want to see the character do better by the end. 

Show don’t tell - there’s a lot of debate of what this storytelling rule means exactly, so I’m going to simplify it. A story is essentially trying to make an argument. A story is trying to persuade you of an idea. An argument is more persuasive when there is evidence behind it. For example you can tell the audience a character is empathic, but going great lengths to show that character practicing empathy will always be more effective storytelling. If I can point to something that happened in story and say this is the character doing the thing then that character has strong characterization. 

Shigaraki is a better written character than Deku. He has a character arc, and everything about Shigaraki is shown instead of just told to us. Whereas the story continually tells us that Deku is special, that Deku is a good person, that Deku is empathic but his actions never really support what the story tells us. I’m going to go more into this under the cut. 

1. Character Flaw

What is Deku’s character flaw? What is the thing he needs to work on in order to become a better hero. The problem is Deku never has a clear and consistently written character flaw. We as the audience are never told what exactly is holding him back, and what he needs to improve upon in order to become a hero. 

Deku’s only real obstacle has been the fact that OFA is an unstable power. The only thing that’s held him back in sitautions is power incontinence, the fact that he has unstable control of his power and therefore will injure himself. 

Deku loses the tournament because he can’t control OFA. Deku can’t rescue bakugo in time because he can’t control OFA. Deku fails to defeat Bakugo in his rival battle because he can’t control OFA. 

Deku’s failures come from not being able to control his power, and Deku’s successes, when he defeated Chisaki, when he defeated muscle, always come from him using his power. 

Except that’s boring. Why? Because it has absolutely nothing to do with Deku himself as a person. Nothing about Deku changes as a character throughout all of this. The only thing that changes is his workout regimen. 

The only real thing that has changed about Deku is the number. Oh, he’s gotten the NUMBER to 45%. People cannot be summarized by numbers. People are usually a little more complex than that. 

The problem with this is, Deku is given countless oppurtunites to reflect and change something about himself internally. There are conflicts that Deku constantly interacts with. We just never see Deku even think about these problems. There are conflcits in the story. There are problems in society. Deku just isn’t affected by them. Everyone time Deku is asked to think about these things he goes NO THOUGHTS HEAD EMPTY. And that’s just not very interesting. Characters are interesting because they struggle and change as they learn new things about the world, whereas Deku is just perpetually ignorant. 

Deku’s characterization comes across as weak because the story just, tells us a lot of things about him, without providing good in text evidence. We are told Deku is empathic. Except he really isn’t?

It starts with Shinso. Deku hears Shinso say something that is something he could sympathize with. Deku was also told he couldn’t become a hero because he was born quirkless. Deku should sympathize with Shinso in this situation and recognize there is something wrong with quirk society. 

Deku just doesn’t say anything and doesn’t respond. Even though he has an obvious chance to empathize, he doesn’t. We see another character actually empathize with Shinso later in the story.

Monoma’s speech acknowledges that it’s harder for them to become heroes, because they weren’t born with the HERO SOCIETY APPROVED TM quirks. Monoma’s speech is sympathetic because it acknowledges the difficulty  that Shinso has struggled with all along. Deku isn’t ever allowed to see anything wrong with HERO SOCIETY, so he never really sympathizes with its victims. He never demonstrates any empathy where he has to understand somebody who’s circumstances might be different than his, he never has to understand somebody outside of his own feelings. 

Even in story, we’re told that Shinso has some kind of special relationship with Midoriya but why? Midoriya never said anything to him. Midoriya never sympathized with him in any special way. The story even goes out of the way to show us that Midoriya just... didn’t say anything even though he understood what Shinso’s feelings were. 

This is what I mean by show don’t tell. Shinso and Midoriya’s relationship is something we are told about being special, but I can’t point to anything in text  to show that Midoriya did anything special to Shinso. In fact I can point to examples of Monoma being much more sympathetic and actually addressing what’s unfair about Shinso’s situation, and I can even point to characters like Denki being outright friendlier to him. We are told that Deku makes friends easily, and that he’s an empathic person, but we never see him reaching out that way in the story. 

And we’re not even told what Deku’s character flaw is. Why does Deku lose in each arc? Ummm....??? Why does Deku fail??? Ummm. The only reason is because he can’t control his quirk. 

2. A Flawed Character

I can just point to the text and show you these things about Shigaraki. The problem with Shigaraki in the first arc is he had no real plan, he had no real motive, and he didn’t care what happened to his allies. 

No Plan.

No Motive. 

No Allies. 

These three things are obviously things that are missing from Shigaraki at the start of the story, and his arc is a quest to gain these things. If you notice, every single character explicitly points out how much Shigaraki sucks, like all the time. 

Stain won’t work with Shigaraki because Shigaraki doesn’t have any ideals that can convince Shigaraki to work with him. The attempt for Shigaraki to recruit allies fails. This is a problem. Shigaraki fails twice, not only does he fail to get Stain on his side, but he also fails to make someone sympathize with his cause because he can’t reach out to others. 

This is something that Shigaraki learns by the camp raid arc. That he needs to gather allies with sympathetic ideals, and he needs to be about some kind of cause otherwise people won’t listen to him. 

Shigaraki’s first two fights are spectacular defeats that are very humbling for him, and the reason he fails has entirely to do with these flaws. It’s after this point he starts learning. The first thing is he learns to take advantage of Stain’s publicity to recruit people with similiar ideals to his cause. However, Shigaraki is still flawed going into the next arc. Camp Raid arc, Shigaraki uses the vanguard action squad essentially as disposable pawns. He manipulates them from a distance not taking any actiong himself. 

Shigaraki is not a good enough leader at this point. Not only do the flaws in his plan catch up with him (his inability to get Bakugo to sympathize with him, his helplessness when All Might shows up, his overreliance on AFO to bail him out) but he once again suffers a consequence, loses something, and needs to imrpove by the next arc. The Chisaki arc revolves around the camraderie that Shigaraki was lacking in, in the camp raid arc. 

It starts with a very specific and precise callout. You have no plan. You misuse the crimminals you have under your thumb, and let go of them too easily. Then, Shigaraki suffers another consequence. Because he is not a good enough leader at managing his people, Magne dies, and Shigaraki is put into a tight position. This all happens because of failings on Shigaraki’s part, the direct result of them, which challenges him to grow and improve. 

Shigaraki is a twisted cycle path. However, unlike Deku I can point to the first moment in story where he began to open up with other people and share his feelings. 

Why is Twice so loyal to Shigaraki? Because Shigaraki accepted him and his struggles in this movie. THIS IS EVIDENCE. If the author is making the argument that Shigaraki is an empathic character, he has moments where Shigaraki is SHOWN to be empathizing with others.

Shigaraki tells Twice he knows he’s asking him to do something difficult, and that he knows Twice is suffering, but that they’re in this together and he believes they can overcome it. Deku tells Shinso. Nothing. Literally nothing. Just doesn’t even open his mouth. In this case Shigaraki is written as the more empathic character, because Shigaraki actually empathizes with people. 

Deku’s writing is so weak because it’s wishy washy. He has no central beliefs his character is written around. He has no strong emotions. And he especially has no flaw. Deku is so wishy washy he’s not even allowed to hold a simple opinion like child abuse might be bad. He’s so malleable that he just tells Todoroki that Enji should be forgiven now, because the writer is TELLING YOU instead of showing you that Enji has improved in his character arc. 

Whereas, by the end of the Chisaki Arc we can see the difference in how Shigaraki has changed. He has opened up to the other people around him and now includes them as essential parts in his plan. He’s gone from “I’ll be the next one” to “We’ll be the next one.” He’s gone from hiding at the bar and plotting far away, to fighting on the front lines with his people and even using himself as a distraction so Dabi and Compress won’t be hurt. 

The story is constantly trying to tell me what is so special about Deku, but I don’t see it. Because the story doesn’t have any evidence to back up its argument. Wheras, the story doesn’t need to tell me about Shigaraki. The story never tells us Shigaraki is a special boy. It never tells us he’s a good person. It in fact, tells us how much Shigaraki sucks, and needs to get better. In that way, when Shigaraki makes progression it’s clearer because the story is always clear about what he’s missing, what his flaws are, and what he needs to work on. 

The Re-Destro arc once again, points out Shigaraki’s shortcomings. He has no real plan for what is coming next. He has no clear motive. He has no way of gathering resources. Because of that, the League has been failing. 

Shigaraki reevaluates his origin story. He wants to destroy the oppressive society, the same way he destroyed his father’s house. Once he does that he’s able to tear down the structures of Deika city, and defeat Re-Destro because he realizes what he wants to accomplish. 

Shigaraki listened to his allies that they had no resources, and then made his next priority to acquire those. Then, to skip ahead a little bit we have the latest fight Shigaraki is struggling in. Remember, Shigaraki was missing three things in the UA Raid. 1. No Plan, 2. No Motive, 3. No Allies

At the start of the manga, All Might said that Shigaraki couldn’t accomplish anything because he had hollow ideals. Endeavor repeats that accusation.

However, we know that’s not true now. We have seen Shigaraki gain all three things, an ideal to center himself around, allies, and a plan for what he wants to do and accomplish. 

This scene, parallels this scene. Except we know now why Shigaraki does the things that he does, that Shigaraki has motivations, that Shigaraki has learned from his experiences. 

Shigaraki’s speech has substance now, because we’ve seen the long journey for how he came to acquire these beliefs. Why does Deku want to be the number one hero? Why does Endeavor want to be the number one hero? Neither of those questions are things you can answer by pointing to events that happened in story. 

Shigaraki is the result of everything that has happened to him so far, and all of his struggles have taught him a lesson. When he repeats essentially what he said to All Might at the beginning of the arc, this time we know his words have meaning. Shigaraki believes society doesn’t save people, because he’s lived it. He believes that heroes are violent, and contribute to the system of violence, because he was violently abused all his life. Shigaraki believes that society rejects the victims who needs it’s help the most, because Shigaraki has been collecting people like that in the league all of whom dropped out of society  through no fault of their own. When Shigaraki makes his arguments, I can point to things that happened in the story that back up his arguments. There is evidence. I can’t do that for Deku, because everything about Deku we are told rather than shown even though he gets three times the amount of screentime. 

Deku may be a better person, but who cares about that? Deku and Shigaraki aren’t real people. I don’t have to interact with them. Deku is not my roommate who I have to talk to on a daily basis. This is a work of fiction that is WRITTEN. Shigaraki is better written. That’s why - Shigaraki is a better character. 

[azurewoods]

Spoilers 290‼️

I found interesting that Dabi told Endeavor he never forgot what he did to him. Correct me if I'm wrong, they haven't specified what Endeavor did to Touya but is theorized that he probably was put through something similar to Shoto, or even worse taking into account his burnt skin.

Moreover, we know Endeavor has changed or at least he desires to. He wants to fix the bond with his children by trying to be nice, for example when he let Shoto bring Deku and Bakugo to his agency or when he ate with his family. We could say he's atoning with his family... right?

I can't help but compare this panels with Deku and Bakugou's relationship.

It's so similar with the "I was a really sh!tty person in the past but now I've reflected how I used to be, why I did it and why it's wrong, so I'm trying to make up for it". First, we're talking about Bakugo, he tormented Deku through junior school and even told him to end his own life. This continued until UA, when he started showing more respect towards Deku after kacchan vs deku 2. In recent chapter we saw Bakugou is atoning for what he did and unexpectedly he saved Deku from AfO. (not unexpectedly he's literally training to save other people's life, but you know what I meant)

As for Endeavor, he also did horrible things to his kids. Basically he abused (physically and mentally) his older and younger kids in order to beat the number one hero he couldn't beat. But then, when he became the number one after All Might's retirement, he started reflecting. We saw him trying to reach Shoto (and being left on read lmao) and being nice to Natsu and Fuyumi, however he has a long path to get their forgiveness.

But then there's the 'tormented' ones in this situation, Deku and Dabi. For Deku, he had a really bad time being quirkless and getting bullied for it, plus getting told by All Might that he can't be a hero, because he was quirkless. That's simply depressing. However, he got OfA and is now living his dream of being a hero. He acknowledges what Bakugou put him through but he still admires him. He could never hate him or seek revenge for what he did, he probably already forgave him. We could say things turned out good for him.

For Dabi I can't say the same. He was mistreated by his father with (probably) the intention of making him someone very powerful with his fire. I can say it wasn't a pleasant experience considering that he went to Natsu asking why he had to exist. At some point Dabi couldn't go further so his father "throw him away", earning himself a revenge from his own son. He tried killing his father in the nomu accident when he was with Hawks and planned on killing Shoto in a future when he becomes successful as a pro hero. Now his wishes of revenge are about to become true.

Having said that, let's see this panels

"you reap what you sow" is used to say that good things happend when you do good things, or in this case it means "bad things happens when you do bad things". Basically it's karma.

Enji did wrong and he hopes to fix things, looking fowards a better future with better actions. I mean, he's kind of conscious of what he did, but if he doesn't completely acknowledge what he did, the past is going to come back to bite his ass. Like now. And Dabi wants to be the one who teaches him that.

In Bakugou's case, he acknowledges what he did to Deku. We even see flashbacks of his memories when he bullied Deku. Now, he's atoning through actions, helping him, showing him respect, things like that. He saved Deku, when having this "hero occurrence" of his body moving by itself.

My point is, even if they were trying to do good, are they still going to receive this "punishment" from the bad things they did in life? Does that mean Bakugou will go through a difficult time? Maybe he is already 'paying' because he's been through (or being part of) unfortunate events. he was targeted and kidnapped in the Training Camp arc, he feels responsable for All Might's retirement in Kamino arc, he doesn't receive the hero license right away (is not thaat bad, but that might hurt his pride), his mentor (Best Jeannist) being presumably dead and now getting struck by Shigaraki's dark tendrils. A series of unfortunate events, guys

Now, for this panel

I feel that Bakugou is going to think this words a lot, because the Todoroki's 'struggle' has in common two things with his relationship with Deku: hurt and forgiveness.

I can't help but think that if Deku had never received OfA, never entered to UA or if the last words he had with All Might, his inspiration, were that he couldn't become a hero because he was quirkless; he would've turned into a villain. Just like Dabi, he would create a plan of revenge against Bakugou in the future. The outcome would be so similar, because who would like to see his bully/abuser become successful knowing very well the terrible person he is? I know Deku is naturally heroic and forgiving person, but even the kindest person breaks when they're not shown back kindness. There's also Gentle Criminal who is supposed to be the kind of person Deku would've turned if he didn't make it to the hero world. But hey, you can't tell me Deku isn't villain material. He has the brains, the quirk analysis to defeat every hero out there or at least make them have a hard time fighting.

Bakugou surely will think the what if's of his relationship with Deku, to reevaluate with more detail the consequences that could have led Deku in the villain side with the hell he made him live through junior school.

I'm not sure I would call this parallels but they have, in a way, a very similar story. What was done is done, the character has to solve by his own what he did wrong.

(again, sorry if there are any typos!)

In other matter, this chapter was just AMAZING. The dance was just perfect and Dabi living his best life gave me clear skin. Let's enjoy this for a moment

[fritae]

The Missing Piece:

Chapter 2 - Frustration

Gang leader! AU / Corporate! AU

Characters: Dabi x F/OC

Status: Ongoing

a/n: hey guys! so I'm playing with this idea and I'm not sure if I'm conveying it properly, but I hope you enjoy regardless! this story's really fun to write and I'm excited for what's to come! I'd really appreciate any feedback 🖤 thanks!

---

"Call Mr. Tobiro, tell him we're airing a new program next month" Mr. Lane tells me as we hurry through the halls.

I get confused. Didn't we resolve all this new program talk last week? I know the ratings still bother Mr. Lane, but enough to go against the board?"

"Sir, is this-"

"No. I'm not replacing any of the current shows. It'll be during the special programming slot on Saturday," He scowls. "A 2 hour special documentary about the Todoroki corp's amazing work these past few years. You know how popular the company is."

Something about this makes me uneasy. Why would he decide this out of nowhere?

His commands jolt me back to reality. "Make sure he adjusts the schedule and starts airing commercials. I want huge ratings, Ms. Aiko. We don't spend all this money to have another company show us up."

An intern quickly hands me Mr. Lane's morning coffee. I mouth a thank you and follow him to his office.

I place the coffee on his desk as he shouts on. I spot another employee carrying files for Mr. Lane. Her hands shake, as if she's trying to decide whether or not to drop them off now. We lock eyes through the glass and I decide for her.

Not now, I shake my head from behind Mr. Lane. Her eyes widen and she nods before quickly hurrying off.

"Are you listening to me, Ms. Aoki?

"Yes sir. I'll call Mr. Tobiro right away."

I keep a straight face as he shouts for the delay. As soon as I find an opening, I go out to call our corporate lawyer.

---

During lunch break, I head down to the cafeteria. I smile when I spot Aliyah and the crew. We tried to sync our lunch breaks to ensure we had some time together during the day (though we at times have to work through our breaks). It makes work feel less lonely.

"Rina!" She exclaims when I grab the seat beside her.

"We finally have some time together," I laugh before hugging her.

"Those bastards work you like a dog," She grumbles.

"You too," I pick at my salad. "Your hours are worse than mine."

"Yeah but I don't have the boss barking orders at me every second of the day. Rina's the real champ here, guys." She tells the table. The others clap at that, and we all share a laugh through mouths full of food.

As a couple executives make their way past our table, we stand up and smile at them in respect. But watching our smiles fall as soon as they walked away made me feel bitter.

"I hate how they treat us like trash and we still have to smile and kiss up to them." I whisper.

Al nods immediately. "But it's whatever. The more you kiss up, the better they'll pay you."

I don't respond to that.

Instead, I think back to the stranger I met last night.

Then what you want isn't money. You want more. He told me.

But the amount they pay us should be enough that we take whatever they throw at us.

Right? I mean, this is why everyone dreams of working here.

"Oh, by the way did you guys hear?" Aliyah suddenly whispers. "You know that multibillion dollar company uptown? Todoroki Inc.?"

"The one with all those charity projects?"

Todoroki Inc. was a big name in the industry. Their extreme success is known worldwide - but they're really known for their philanthropic branch: including building orphanages for the poor, handing out 6 figure donations, and the famous Boku no Hero Academia - where they train leaders in every industry to become tomorrow's changemakers, or as they call it "heroes."

Aliyah voice gets lower, a mischievous smile on her face.

"Except turns out Mr. Todoroki has been caught up in major lawsuits these past few months."

I frown. "For what?"

"Apparently there's been several child abuse cases at the orphanages he sponsors."

All around the table, our mouths drops. Usually lunchtime gossip involves the newest couples or breakups of the day. But this...

This has severe implications.

I'm not surprised that Al knows this. She interacts most directly with our guests and stars meaning she's in on a lot of industry gossip. But still...a major lawsuit like this?

"Is this real or is it one of your rumors?" Someone asks her suspiciously.

"It's as real as you or me! I saw videos . Trust me. There's plenty of people with beef against the company. Big boss Todoroki spent heavy money to keep it all hush-hush. But word travels quickly." She leans back in her seat with a smug look on her face. "We'll see how much power Enji really has by how quietly this unfolds."

"That's disgusting." I push my salad away, my appetite gone. "He can't get away with something like that. Where's the accountability?"

"There is no accountability, sweetheart. That's the way it works. You got money and power, you can get yourself out of anything. Besides, Enji has a reputation. He's got supporters everywhere, people see him as a hero because of all these charity projects."

"But they don't know what's happening in those projects!"

Suddenly, I remember something.

The special program!

I have to tell Mr. Lane. If this is really what's happening, we can't air something like this. It'll give people a false image of what the company stands for. Charity projects that have no proper supervision and that serve as places of abuse should never be celebrated.

"I- I have to go. I'll see you later Al, good luck with your schedule today!"

"But-"

"Sorry, I just remembered something I have to do."

I can't let her know about the program just yet. If I'm lucky, it hasn't been formalized into our official programming. I need to get to Mr. Lane before it does...

---

"Mr. Lane!" I barge into his office.

My boss looks up from his desk, slightly concerned at the look on my face. I slow down to catch my breath.

"Sir, about the Todoroki programming you want to set up. We need to cancel it sir, there's- there's a huge lawsuit going on. The orphanages - the kids are being mistreated sir, please-"

Mr. Lane leans back in his seat.

"Ms. Aoki, relax. That's not your concern. The deal is done."

"Sir...this will give a false image of Mr. Todoroki and his company."

"It's not a false image, it's an alternate image. That's what this whole industry is about. Mr. Todoroki is not responsible for what his managers do. And unless you're speaking with legal authority, I suggest you end this conversation now, Ms. Aoki."

"But sir! A program like this will give people cause to celebrate Todoroki Inc., rather than properly probe into these issues. What about the kids? The victims? Sir, please- this is about more than just-"

"This conversation is over, Ms. Aoki."

I try to think of another argument quickly. What else, what else. What could this nimrod possibly care about.

"But sir!" I say quickly. "If this blows up and becomes public knowledge, what will the people say about our company? It'll be bad for our name, we'll lose the respect we have in the industry, don't you think?"

Mr. Lane lets out a deep sigh. "Ms. Aoki, I know you're smarter than this. If the lawsuits go public..." I get worried by the excitement thrumming behind his eyes. "More people will tune in to watch the program. Everyone will be eager to see the other side. If we play our cards right the ratings will be-"

I scoff.

Mr. Lane stops speaking. The sudden ice in his eyes makes my bones go cold, but for once, I can't back down.

"The ratings?" I almost laugh. "Sir, I'm telling you there's kids being abused due to this man's lack of accountability, and you want to use that for profit? What about the truth? What about justice!"

"To hell with truth and to hell with justice!" He slams his fist. Mr. Lane gets up to tower over me. "I make the decisions here, Ms. Aoki. Your job isn't to advise me or to babble on about bullshit like the truth. This is a broadcasting company, and your job is to maximize profits - that's it! Got it?"

I feel my face grow hot.

"You've been running on thin ice for a while now, Ms. Aoki," His voice gets dangerously low.

I bite my tongue.

"I can assure you that no other company would give you the benefits package we've given you. It seems we've spoiled you, haven't we? That's why you're comfortable running your mouth like this."

"Sir, I-"

"I'll see to it that your salary is adjusted appropriately until you learn your lesson. And I warn you," He says through clenched teeth. "I see any of this behavior again, you'll be asking for much more than a salary reduction, Ms. Aoki. Got it?"

-----

Emotions I didn't know I could feel bubble within me. Hatred and rage boil deep in my core. But what can I do? What can I do.

I look from left to right. Trying to find something, anything to throw. Anything to take my anger out on. But when I find nothing, I hurry to the edge of Du Monde's roof. My chest heaves with the weight of my anger.

And as I overlook all of Midtown, and the entire city seems to be under me, I scream.

I scream and then I scream again.

I let out every trapped word that's been aching to escape.

All the swear words stuck to the back of my throat for years.

I release it all into the sky, knowing the wind will carry it for miles.

"Fuck you Mr. Lane!" I screech. "You no good fucking bald-headed, stout faced little piece of-"

"Woah!" I hear someone say.

Suddenly, a pair of arms pulls me back by the waist, as if to restrain me.

Of course, this does nothing but infuriate me more.

"Who the fuck- let me go! Let me go before I fucking rip every single finger off your hands and shove them-"

"Easy!" The voice says again, before releasing me on the ground. "Don't stand so close to the edge, idiot. You could fall."

"If I fucking fall, I want everyone to know it's Mr. Lane's fault! Fucking sue NNTV and put the Court verdict over my fucking grave so I know-"

"Hey! Look at me." The headless voice says. "No one's fucking fall-" He lets out an exasperated sigh. "Listen. I need you to calm down."

I scoff. Calm down? Is he telling me to calm down? With clenched teeth, I turn around. Ready to throw all my fury at this intruder. "Who the hell do you think you are? Don't you dare tell me to calm-"

My mouth drops when I lock eyes with the slightly concerned stranger.

With those electrifying blue orbs.

No.

This isn't a stranger.

Not a total stranger at least.

The man I bought coffee for last week at Du Monde stares back at me.

"...down."

A smile plays on his lips. "Hey. So you remember me."

"What..." I let out an annoyed breath, though it's not as angry as it was a moment ago. "...are you doing here?"

A toothpick sticks out of the corner of his mouth. He pulls it out as he ponders over my question. "Well, I was doing business. And then you decided to let all of New York know you were crazy."

I scoff. "You haven't seen crazy." I mumble.

"You got quite the mouth on ya," He smirks. "A little loud..." He tilts his head, as if considering again. "But you're honest."

I cross my arms and look toward the skyline, ignoring the people cautiously watching us from the other side of the glass. They can whisper to themselves about how crazy I am. This is New York. No one will remember this by tomorrow.

"Thanks. Now if you don't mind, I have other crazy things to do. And don't you have a business to run? People to be an ass to?"

The man tilts his head, as though slightly disappointed. But his lips remain curled. "Now come on. I've been hoping to run into you and you want to leave so soon?"

I frown. "Why would you want to run into me? You aren't a creep, are you?" I ask suspiciously.

"Creep?" He shoots me a pointed look. "There you go making a guy regret being nice," He tsks. "I was hoping to pay you back for the coffee."

He still remembers that?

"You know what," I sigh, running a hand through my hair. "Normally I'd say no need. But considering I'm probably gonna be jobless soon, I might just take you up on that."

"Well then," He stands up and offers me a hand. "I don't know how much crazy you still got left in ya so let's go somewhere a little closer to the ground."

[hamliet]

I think your blog is one of the best out there. Maybe becuase of this , maybe because of your awesome takes... I find it hard being in the fandom. And I wanted to share this very unpopular opinion. The more it goes on the more I wonder : how did Enji turned into this? Most of all in fandom tends to justify touya because he’s the result of Enji’s abuse. However Enji isn’t a natural born abuser. I’ve read and saw plenty: he has not manias of control. He accept easily his wife to leave him (he wanted to build an house for her and since Shoto’s accident he hadn’t forced himself on her). He wanted an heir, true and he was more neglecting (which is a form of abuse). But many time were found evidences in studies neglecting parents have issues of their own. Which can be found in their original family and / or society (if no mental illnesses are implied).

This made me wonder. I love Japanese culture , novels and society. And one of the most recurrent theme , especially some decades ago, is the high pressure people are exposed. It was and sometimes still is a nichilist model in which you die or fly and sometime you can’t hope to Rise once again when you fail. For example the concept of “you need to go at a go prek to get in a good university and find a good job” is often depict and put to extreme in many media. This inspire even books in which families are up for anything to push their children and they are under great pressure. Since Enji seems a not so bad man per se, has no mental illnesses , the only thing left is his immense obsession that must come from something. And the fact that in society a man must be successful... I think here it is.

The fact he can’t express his feeling correctly for the most of MHA , neither he can’t read them at the point of being perceived “with no compassion at all” comply the stereotype of the father with way too high standard , this can’t come from nothing. It’s not hard unreasonable thinking he was most likely pressured as much when younger , and that broke him at some point (which is a recursive theme in many others novels). This doesn’t justify him, but it might explain why he ended up like this.

But while everyone seems to be able to... forgive dabi , justifying his doings becuase of how he was raised while condamning 100% Enji. However the lingering theme of my hero’s villains is that they aren’t a monster , they’re turned into one; and society played a huge role. I don’t stand for Enji’s actions (who would) but ultimately? If all villains were broken by society at some point (being AFO the only exception for now) why can’t be him too? Broken by a society that demands from heroes to be perfect , to never be weak, even through total desperation? Society even made a joke of all might who gave his life entirely and part of his organs for Japan. Rather than only condemning Enji for his doings , much like is doing with Dabi, the spotlight should be society again.

He did wrong. Terribly wrong. and now everyone is ready to crucify him. But how society taught him better ? How society perceive heroes as humans , how far they can be weak and fails and not be blamed? Like father , like son. Touya is the result of his family , I think it should be considerated Enji was the product of a corrupted society. Which never correct itself , never tries to change... they just discard heroes and villains alike just for not being “perfect”.

Hi! Aw, thank you for your kind words <3

So, I’ll break this down a bit, because I think this discussion needs a lot of nuance. I agree society affected Enji, but I don’t quite think that a victim of society is remotely comparable to being a victim of parental abuse.

To start with, I fundamentally disagree with the notion that abusers are born, and hence don’t buy that Enji is somehow different (or better) because he wasn’t born that way.

To note, I talking specifically about physical/emotional/spiritual domestic abuse, not about sexual abuse (and I don’t wanna talk about that because it’s not relevant here, so no one send me asks about it, thanks).

Abuse is a description of an action and its affects. I’ll quote @linkspooky’s meta on Hawks last week: abuser is not a bad word, it’s not just something that bad people do. It’s an unhealthy relationship dynamic that even good people, even sympathetic people can participate in. It’d be great if we could just do a genetic test and determine if someone is an abuser (actually it wouldn’t be great; it’d be dystopian and terrifying), but that’s not how people work.

However, “abuser” is seen as a bad word, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing (nuance/abuse is horrific and takes such a toll on people that I’m glad it is given serious weight in some respects, although imo it’s overemphasized in fandom places and underemphasized in real life) and I’m not getting into good/bad/pluses/minuses of linguistic connotations here.

Hence, I would actually categorize what Rei did to Shouto as abuse, and I do think the story indicates she was neglectful towards her other children. However, I have never labeled her an “abuser” because of the negative connotation as is clear she is not a repeat offender and Shouto doesn’t even blame her--he blames Enji, and I don’t think that’s an incorrect assessment either. It’s complicated. Abuse victims can be abusers at the same time as they are victims (ask many a kid of an abusive dad what their mom was like; at best if they didn’t intervene it’s usually neglectful and often people go no contact with both parents). People we love and care for can participate in abuse.

Mental illness is also complex in its relationship to abuse. Mentally ill people are far more likely to be victims of abuse than perpetrators, and  mental illness doesn’t make someone predisposed to being a bad person. Mental illness does affect how I see Rei’s actions, because she was clearly out of her mind at the moment she burned Shouto’s face; at the same time, mental illness doesn’t erase harm done even if the person can’t be held super culpable. Enji on the other hand was not mentally ill in the same way; he was able to think logically and separate right from wrong even within society (because society clearly still views beating your kids as bad).

It’s actually not really accurate to say that Endeavor didn’t try to control Rei and just let her go--he put her in the institution to keep her away from Shouto, which may have been motivated of course by trying to protect Shouto, but was more likely “trying to protect his masterpiece.” Rei instantly regretted what she had done; Enji didn’t show regret until after Kamino. Also, Shouto himself views it as taking their mother away, not as protecting him. In fact, he sees it as removing his protector and leaving him with just the abusive dad. Plus, Rei’s doctors probably wouldn’t have let him see her. So I absolutely do think Enji is a control freak.

For Enjii, there’s no indication of prior trauma besides just not getting what he wanted. But, as you say, I do think Enji was absolutely a product of society--culturally, though I’m not qualified to comment on that, and within the manga’s own framing of that culture. However, while Enji is a product of society, he is not framed with the child framing that is present around Touya; hence, why he’s not a victim in the same sense. He was an adult when he started doing bad things, capable of reason, as far as we know and there’s no indication this isn’t the case. He was ~20 when Dabi was born, so that means he was looking for a quirk marriage at the very latest by 19. That’s like starting your career as an administrative assistant and being pissed you’re not CEO like, a year after starting! That implies that he had a sense of entitlement at a very young age, entitled to the point of believing kids were not full people but instead extensions of himself to ignore, beat up, and cast aside as he pleased. Every aspect of Enji’s personality screams of toxic masculinity as well.

Also, almost every person who has ever done something wrong (and those who haven’t!) is a product of their environment as well as of their genetics, but I wouldn’t classify everyone as a victim--even though technically I suppose they would be, but the connotations are just not particularly fitting--and I wouldn’t call Enji one. Enji might be a product of society, but his kids are victims of a deliberate choice he had to be a terrible parent. Society sucks, but we don’t choose it and it doesn’t choose us in the same sense a parent chooses to treat their kids a particular way.  So, rather than saying Enji’s a victim of society, I think it’s more of society reaping what they’ve sown in terms of their #1 being revealed as a mass abuser; it’s karmic.

So to return to his character and Enji is also a representation of toxic masculinity--that is why for me personally, his crying this chapter  actually resonated. Like, I think it was well-framed in that his victims didn’t feel sorry for him and he cried before he knew they were coming, and while I get that people think he has no right to cry (as Rei and Natsuo said!). I see why people interpret that as manipulative, and while I absolutely think it was self-pitying, I also personally see it as human and realistic, and perhaps as a slight chipping away of the toxic masculinity that he embodies. We’ll see. I’m still no fan but that was the first moment in his redemption arc that struck me as sincere.

[quirkycombatants]

🔥

Alright. So... Let’s just jump right into this. 

I really don’t like how the fandom handles Endeavor and Shouto and the Todorokis. 

Bit of backstory. I grew up in an abusive household. I grew up in a household much like Shouto’s, where we were terrified of my father, where my father was single mindedly obsessed with success, where he basically went out of his way to pit us against each other and make us miserable. I grew up in a world where my father convinced me that what I loved I hated, and what I hated I loved, and I literally knew nothing but shame for anything I might show interest in. 

Nor was the whole Toya thing strange to my family either. My uncle died of HIV during the AIDS crisis in the late 1980′s before I was born, and my dad’s family basically made him disappear. You know that burnt mark on that family tree in Harry Potter where they erased Sirius? Yeah that was my uncle for my dad’s family. Supposedly this was to keep us from asking my grandmother and upsetting her, but this persists to this day. My father’s family were ashamed of his sexuality, and made him disappear essentially. Which transferred to him being super paranoid about my sexuality, and trying to force me to be manly. He’s a super a-type personality, very much someone who needs to be seen as the alpha male. I am not. But that conflict very much exists in my family. I was a lot like Shouto, in that I am a passive, rather intellectual sort, whereas my father is more like Endeavor, all about image and appearances. 

I say all this, because I hate the ‘never forgive endeavor’ chorus. 

Don’t get me wrong. There are people who have been abused who cannot forgive an abuser, nor should they be forced to. Everyone has different coping and healing paths. We all decide things on our own. There are people who have been abused, who will never forgive their abusers, and that’s okay. 

But. 

There are a lot of people, who have never been abused, who use Shouto as a way to virtue signal their dislike of abuse in the most absurd, out of character way. They don’t care about how abuse effects people, they don’t care about the complex feelings that an abuse victim feels towards their abuser, especially when they’re younger, all they care about is completely erasing Shouto and Enji’s characters in order to signal how much they dislike abuse.

These are the kind of people who are like ‘well if I was in that situation’ and acting like they’re morally in the right, and that any sympathy or understanding must naturally come from a place where you’re a bad person. It’s the ‘well I would say no to drugs and peer pressure so you’re a bad person for not doing so!’ crowd.

In that world, they strip away all emotional nuance and trauma and weight, and turn the relationship into a morality play where you have to show how much you hate something because any attempt to grasp the difficult emotions that come from trauma and abuse is seen as enabling or apologizing the behavior. 

One of the reasons I like BNHA is because the Todoroki family is so well written. It feels real. From a father who abused his kids coming to terms with the fact that what he did was wrong and accepting that he is not entitled to forgiveness, to Shouto struggling with his feelings towards his father and going from hatred to being able to forgive him so he can move on, to Fuyumi who just wants her family to get along because she feels and felt powerless... it feels real. It feels like how it actually is. And I know that, because I lived it. 

Which is why the virtue signaling and turning Shouto into another character to fit this narrative of what they feel he should act like is so infuriating. What you have is perhaps one of the best depictions of abuse and dealing with it in a family in a major publication, and people want to erase all of the detail and emotions so it can be a good vs. bad PSA. 

Like, it’s one thing if someone has been abused and says ‘I can’t forgive Enji for the same reason I can’t forgive the person who abused me.’ It’s also fine if they say ‘I can’t really relate to Shouto because I can’t forgive the person who hurt me.’ 

It’s another thing entirely to be like ‘well I wouldn’t be acting like Shouto if I was in that situation, and showing any kind of hesitation about the feelings towards one’s abuser is somehow being encouraging towards that behavior, so I’m going to entirely whitewash his entire character to make him a pure character in my eyes.’ 

It’s the same with people who take Enji and turn him into a complete villain with no good points, trying to make some weird moral argument that bad people can’t have likable parts or good parts to them. In fact, most shitty people are well liked. That’s what makes it so hard to deal with them, as anyone who has been abused knows, because so many people struggle to accept what you tell them. They don’t see person x as being a bad person, so how could what you’re saying be true? I’ve been there. I’ve dealt with that. 

One of the things that I really like about Shouto’s development that people who don’t understand abuse erase is the importance of when Midoriya says that it’s his quirk. If you’ve never been in the situation that Shouto is, where a person strips you of all your individuality and makes you think that you are an extension of them and not your own person, you can’t understand the weight of that statement. 

Shouto realizing that his quirk is his and not his father’s is the start of him becoming his own person, deciding what he wants to be and realizing that his destiny is not just to be a tool for his father’s satisfaction. Again, having been born and raised to exist for my own father’s satisfaction, I understand this journey, because I’ve walked it myself. 

That’s why Shouto considering forgiving his father is so powerful. It’s the moment where he decides that ‘i am my own person, and you, my abuser, do not get to decide whether or not I forgive you.’ Because Enji might seek forgiveness, but Shouto realizes that he is the one who ultimately has the power to grant it. And then he has to deal with the question of whether refusing to forgive means that he is still being controlled by who his father was. Because you can be a slave to your trauma as I was for years. And at some point you have to ask if who you were and what happened to you is what defines you, or if you can choose to define yourself. 

And thus Shouto struggles with these feelings, asking himself whether or not he should forgive his abuser and move forward, knowing that there is no right answer to that question. There is only what is best for him. 

Which is why people who remove all of this and make it simply fire man bad are so insulting to me, especially when they make it all about some moral argument. Because it erases his development. It erases the trauma and the struggle that he and other abuse victims go through. And most of all, it removes Shouto’s agency, his ability to decide for himself what he believes. 

And you can’t understand that unless you step out of a moral framework and actually internalize the often contradictory feelings that come with abuse and trauma. 

Which is why I hate so much of the fandom that seeks to erase both Shouto but also Endeavor’s development. 

Endeavor too, is someone who has real growth, but also is someone who understands that he doesn’t get to decide if he’s forgiven. One of the most important parts of this is him saying that he wants Rei to come back and live with his kids, but that he himself won’t live with them, understanding that the one who should decide that is Rei herself. 

Enji, a controlling, angry individual, is forcing himself to relinquish that control, and allow his family to make their own decisions. He’s accepting that what he did was wrong, that he is the one who must atone, but also that his atonement is not in his own hands. The ones who decide this are the people who he hurt. And his acceptance of this is what makes him grow as a person and as a character, and something I’ve seen with my own father. Again, having lived it, I would say so if I thought what was being written was wrong or offensive. 

But again, there are lots of other people who have been through abuse and have dealt with this sort of thing who may had different opinions. And that’s okay. Because they can bring the sort of emotional nuance forward that informs this sort of difficult topic.

But people who try to turn the Todoroki’s into this morality play infuriate me, especially when they try to tar and feather people who like what is being shown as being part of the problem. 

[just-homo-thingsxd]

Best Friend. (Endeavor x Male reader)

"Enji Todorki. Why're you always so mad? You always look so grumpy."

The red haired Male turned to face you. Unsurprisingly he looked less than happy.

"If I look grumpy that means I don't like you. So I'd suggest you leave me alone."

You shook your head side to side. Not like you expected this conversation to go any better.

"For a guy who uses flames. You're pretty cold. I'm not here to be your enemy or get in your way. You're very powerful and more smart than you let on. I wanted to be your ally. Maybe a friend?"

He gave you a very questioning look. Before he snickered and turned away. His back facing you now.

"When I'm number 1, I won't need friends or allies. Glad you realize my potential though. That means I'm making myself known. The man who will become the number 1 hero is me, Enji Todoroki. Don't you forget it."

"Yeah yeah. I don't need the monologue. Look an important part of being a hero is being able to work and communicate with other heroes. You'd have a much better chance if you knew any social skills at all. If you'd like I can show you sometime."

Flames reared up around his neck and face. He turned back to you with a bloodshot eye staring directly at you.

"Why are you still here. I told you to leave. Even after all I've said you still wish to befriend me?"

"Well yeah. Thought that was obvious. I don't think you're a bad guy. You just need some people skills. Luckily for you I got those. Whaddya say, partners?"

His flames died down and he turned away once more. Heading down the hall.

"Once we graduate from U.A I begin my mission to become the greatest. You can follow me until then. After that we're no longer 'friends' got it?"

"Hah. I'm sure in the meantime you'll grow to love me! You'll be begging me to join your agency."

"I already regret indulging you as much as I have."

"Well get used to it. Now then let's work on some social interaction. You can't just ignore and monologue to everyone forever...."

Your eyes opened. Another dream about him. Endeavor. The Number 2 hero. He was true to his word. After you both graduated U.A it was impossible to get in touch with him. Even though he was always so focused and angry. You knew deep down he was a good guy who got misguided somewhere along the way. You knew for certain when you'd first seem him. His aura was so calm and alluring. Sure his personality wasn't the same, but he didn't show any sign of malevolence.

Your quirk when activated was just that. To see the auras of people you make eye contact with. Their aura was the closest thing to a soul that anyone could see. It's that gut feeling you get whenever you lay eyes on them the first time. Your quirk definitely wasn't battle effective, and you've known that from a young age. That feeling of powerlessness was bestowed upon you from your parents. Constant abuse and neglect left you with an empty husk of a boy you once knew. When you were 18 they threw you out and U.A was the only hope you'd had all your life. Somewhere away from them, so you could begin to mend what was broken. After taking the entrance exam you made it to U.A and caught wind of some of the highest potential people one of them was an inspiring pro hero by the name of Endeavor, you tried to befriend Endeavor, he looked like he had a lot of anger and malice, and nobody seemed to hang around him or make any kind of contact with him.  

You wanted to show him that it's okay to open up and have friends to lean on.  Break down his shell so he could have an easier time in the future. Arguably a valuable asset to becoming a hero is making faux partnerships when the need arises. Whether that be a large scale villain group or a well planned heist.

Whether he payed you any mind or not is up for debate but regardless you did what you could.

There was one event in particular that let you see past his anger. This is what made letting go of him after graduating so difficult and confusing.

One day you were just leaving the building after class when some jockey looking students started calling out to you from behind.

"Hey, it's the know it all from general studies. Top of the class my ass, doesn't even have a good quirk. What was yours again? I cant even remember it it's so lame."

You turned to face them and gave a deadpan stare.

"Can I help you? I usually charge for tutoring lessons you know."

The 'leader' of the group took a few more steps closer.

"Hey, watch your tongue little man. You don't know what you're getting into."

"Oh please. I might not be combat oriented but I don't need a quirk to beat someone like you. You might as well quirkless."

This made him angry as he let out a growl and charged forward with a left hook.

In today's society heroes are always around to stop villains from hurting the innocent. You knew that wasn't true, but on the off chance they were you would gladly take their help.

On the other hand if they weren't you had to fend for yourself. Especially against your parents. You'd only gotten into one physical altercation with them, and that's why you were kicked out at 18. It was on your birthday. Dad was drunk and didn't like what you had to say about it. In his rage he lunged at you and hit you multiple times.

After that you took several self defense classes for a few months. While not being combat built you are combat effective, knowing how to control the ebb and flow of the battle to your advantage.

Dodging the hook you used your right hand to grab at his wrist and put all your weight into a shove into his torso. Using your left hand to support it as well. It wasn't enough to knock him over, but he did stumble. That opening was all you needed. In a swift movement you did a low sweep to his legs and knocked him over.

Taking a quick jump back you readied yourself once more.

"Tch, not bad but let me show you how outclassed you are."

The air around you began to chill until it solidified into a block of ice. Beginning to shiver you get low to ground unsure of how to get out of this ice cube.

"See? Quirks are quite the equalizer aren't they? I can freeze the moisture in the air around me or someone else. You're quick on your feet, but when you can't move you're not that good are you?"

Go figure. You had the upper hand, but here you were eating your words.

It was easy to miss, but in a bright flash of red the jock who used his quirk to freeze you erupted into an explosion and was knocked on his ass.

The two other goons quickly scurried off.

Enji walked past the one on the ground and came to the block of ice.

"I was going to let you handle it, but it seems like you couldn't."

Salt to the wound was all it felt like.

"Yeah.. I guess not."

The look on his face changed with that response. It was out of character. Normally you'd have something quippy to say, but right now that wasn't possible.

Placing his hand on the ice he melted it and you quickly ran from the steam.

"Thanks, Enji."

He studied you without saying a word. Then turned back to the kid on the ground.

"Leave, now."

Without hesitation he did so.

"You had good moves, I didn't expect to see that from you. You always seemed feeble."

"I might as well be. I've always been this way, and I was stupid for thinking I could change."

He went silent again. Just staring at you.

"Follow me."

You followed him off school grounds and went into an alley way. Had you not been able to see he wasn't a malicious person you would definitely be suspicious.

"Why am I following you exactly?"

"I wanted to talk. It's not like you to be so hard on yourself. Why is that?"

Instantly the memories of your childhood came rushing back to you and instinctively you tensed up.

"I'm hard on myself because of my past. I've never been strong enough, and I never will be. To protect myself of the ones I care about. I've never been able to."

If you knew him it would take a moment for him to resp-

"You can be strong enough. You took on that guy without a quirk. You have the potential to be strong. So don't let one bump in the road bring you down. Besides. When I'm a pro hero you wont need to worry, there wont be anyone brave enough to commit a crime anyway."

You stood there for a moment. Baffled by what just came out of his mouth. The sharp tongued, angry Enji Todoroki just gave you advice and positive reinforcement.

"You've opened my eyes to a lot, (Y/N), I suppose I owe you at least this much."

"You don't owe me anything. I don't want you to think I've been your friend for all this time because I want you to repay me for it. It's because I-"

You paused for a moment and looked down at the ground.

"You seemed lonely when I first saw you, and I know how that feels."

He turned to face you and scoffed.

"I told you before, I don't need friends where I'm going. When I'm a pro they'll only get in my way and want some of my success. People are greedy, so I suggest you do the same. Stay solo for your best interest. I still stand by what I said when you first approached me. That will never change, but you're not a bad guy. So take my advice."

There was a tight knot in your chest as he spoke. Is that what he thought of you? That you just wanted to get close to him and mooch off him? Graduation wasn't that far away, and now you knew he was serious with what he said the first time you spoke to him. He doesn't want a friend, and most of all he didn't want to be involved with you.

"Is.. Is that what you think of me? That I'm going to use you? You should know better by now that I'm not that kind of person, but you know what? It doesn't matter Todoroki. If you think that lowly of me you're no better than anyone else on this damn planet, because it seems everyone does!"

In a fit of rage you quickly ran off and kept going until you were in a park surrounded by trees. Alone with nothing but yourself and the trees. All this time you thought you could have opened his eyes at least a little bit, yet here you were. Alone again, and your only 'friend' turning out to not care for you and still remaining adamant he doesn't need anyone. Whatever. Deep down you knew you were fighting a losing battle, and there wasn't anything you could you do about it. You sat below a tree and brought your legs to your chin and wrapped your arms around yourself.

"Why can't I just feel accepted, am I really that much of a burden on everyone? All I wanted was someone I could turn to when I fall and someone who felt they could do the same.. a best friend."

[akamarulover]

Endeavor’s Redemption

So I have some thoughts I want to throw out about the whole Endeavor arc going on. Ima start and say I very much dislike Enji. He’s my least fav ok. However I’ve seen SO MANY really poorly done “redemption” arcs, especially in the shonen genre, and I really respect and admire the way Horikoshi has been handling this so far. For a character who’s main ability is Big Punch On Fire™ this, so far has been handled very delicately, very emotionally, very sensitively to the feelings of his family. Like we are, and have been eased into it, its not just LOOK HE DID ONE (1) GOOD THING HES A GOOD PERSON NOW SEE

I really think Horikoshi is trying to emphasize to us that he is not a one dimensional character at all. And so he is using the Todoroki family, and especially Rei who has known him the longest, as the way to talk to us readers and tell us he’s not just a powerhouse angry man. And by using their account, and reminding us of how he hurt them, we as readers are able to decide for ourselves if we think he should be given that chance. I don’t think we will ever be forced to accept Endeavor as a fully good person, however we DO have to look at all the facts and all perspectives of his story. Which is not a thing we really have been provided yet, we’ve only seen 1 side of it, what Shouto knows.

We don’t know what the relationship between Enji and Rei was before they had any kids. And maybe there was a certain something she admired him before he went WAY overboard and became shortsighted in his goals. I think its important to note too that from an outside perspective, people do see that passion. He may not be particularly charming in person, but we’ve seen that he inspires strength and determination in others. We see it in that random fanboy kid. In Hawks. And in Inasa. But he’s still so closed off and volatile, which is what turned Inasa away initially. But he HAS changed, and has begun to grow and soften, which is why Inasa was able to accept him and try to reevaluate him. And sure, he’s an outside perspective so it was easier. So if Enji DOES want to mend those other relationships, he really has to prove in every way that he wants tomake a change for the better.

Enji had his own dreams, he had his own version of what success means. And along the way, (and now literally) he was blinded by his lust for power. The story is showing us that with every feeling and emotion, even if they are good in the first place, if you take it too far it can harm those around you and yourself. He’s passionate, so much that he forced other people into his cause to use as personal stepping stones. He’s strong, so strong that he strikes fear in people, including those he should be protecting. He looks toward the future and he’s stubborn, but so much that he burns every bridge around him and doesn’t look around him and see how it affects others. He wont even listen to those around him or challenge toxic behavior. And only now is he maybe looking back and seeing all the damage he has done. Now that he’s on top, he finally can stop facing forward and can look around at the destruction around him that he caused to get there. Its very much like Bakugou’s character arc, but to an extreme. Someone who never learned better and was free to do as he pleased well into adulthood to the point he has done permanent damage.

He can’t undo the sins of his past. Those are permanent and will affect his family forever. And the Todoroki family bring that up and remind us of that. His actions are not being swept under the rug or overlooked. However he can do better in the future. And thats maybe what the Todoroki’s, and Rei, are counting on him to do now. Only now that he’s shows signs of redemption. This arc and his redemption are needed, because the alternatives are stagnation which helps nobody, and death which would cause massive upheaval and chaos. Because the world cannot go on without him as is. We saw it erupt into chaos when he was down for like 1 minute. So he needs to step up his game. Its now or never for Endeavor.