#I might be wrong about canon infos but well

[rollthewhatever]

this is just a rant post

heavy spoiler of...whole OUAW and Prime I guess

I read about Remy Garou from the Avantris wiki.

I was worried a bit about Kremy's life but now that anxiety multiplied 100000times. Also everything makes perfect sense. why Kremy's so afraid of him? duh. calling 42 years old man "boy"?(it was an illusion, but yk) yeah like he is an enfant from Garou's point of view lol

Im not sure but Kremy said something about...what was it??? Garou might be not just a human? btw I'm on ep 29 for now but I'm just reading every spoilers as many as I can, don't care much. ANYWAY I think Kremy maybe know that Garou is not just a human but doesn't know the full truth of him. cus he went back to Agwé. technically it's Garou's "lair". And Kremy technically took something from dragon's hoard. or well...himself might be one of the dragon's hoard. idk

I need every detail. why did Kremy run away? ?? ? what happened????????? also what's gonna happen after the whole quest?????(assuming they survive....) Kremy Lecroux I knew your life is kinda fucked up but I didn't expect THIS MUCH

btw his form of dread. it blocks the fear condition (for a while). It's kinda cool. I wonder what Baron Samedi thinks of him. tiny gator man. doesn't know what he's dealing with. idiot.................

[pillowspace]

Could we get more audience of Vaugarde???

ISA: As for Stardust... Uh... // MIRA: Is-- is it just me or is there something super personal about the way Loop says Stardust? // ISA: Yeah, that felt uncomfortable coming out of my own mouth.

ODILE: I don't see any problem in just referring to him as "this Siffrin." // MIRA: I guess, but... isn't that a bit impersonal? // ODILE: Are we... supposed to be personal with a Siffrin we might not ever meet? It's more personal than how Loop refers to this world's versions of us, "Housemaiden." // MIRA: Okay. Well.

BON: Sometimes I call em Starfrin.

ISA: Starfrin... Heh, that's cute. // MIRA: Hehe, feels a bit wrong considering which one's the star out of the two! // ISA: I can't tell if it'd be more embarrassing to have Loop or Siffrin-two overhear me say Starsif. // MIRA: Honestly? I think Loop!

BON: I WISH they'd hear us for once. // ODILE: Mh... yes, that would be nice... // ISA: ... // MIRA: ...

I don't have strict thoughts on how the audience refers to Siffrin, I imagine they switch it up a lot (not "Stardust" though). My only thoughts on it are that if someone does just say "Siffrin," the others will know who they're talking about anyway, so it doesn't matter too much. Sometimes they do just say Siffrin. And if there even are two "Siffrin"s is uncertain throughout the loops because they can't ask Loop if they still want the name or not

( other posts in this AU: Audience of Vauguarde | Mira's ribbon | Loop's name | txt: extra info | classic mistake | Bonnie's wishes | *unshadows your hat* | long hair | isaloop comfort | not entirely canon but | txt: headband | universe: nah | "stardust" | a ghost! )

[the-s1lly-corner]

TADC cast crushing on the reader

+ gummigoo and princess loolilalu!! Hooray! i think i might have written something like this a long long long time ago buuuuuuuut with episode 2 out and more info on some characters, i decided to remake it... if i have written this before..!

Notes: reader is GN but post mainly focuses on the canon characters

CWs: none

CAINE

Very obvious, and he's not going to waste too much time flirting with you before he asks you out on a date. He gives you special attention compared to the other circus members and always checks in on you first. He's open to flirting, but he doesn't go overboard with it... he's got to keep it family friendly, you know! Boggles at you if you return the energy, before regaining himself and hitting right back with a line. Doesn't hold back any punches when trying to impress you, it hits its peak when he tries to ask you out. It can get... overwhelming...

POMNI

Poor girl. She's so awkward around you, she doesn't want you to think she's some loser. Even though she kind of is already/j. Tries to make conversation with you to get to know you better and to just spend time with you. She's... clumsy... in the sense that she stumbles over her own words and seems more on edge when you're around. You might even think you did something wrong to make her act so tense around you. Not at all confident when asking you out, actually you might be the one to ask her first just to get the tension done and over with. She tries her best not to seem rude or put off by you, she's just clamming up is all!

RAGATHA

Similar to Pomni she's a little awkward, but she keeps herself composed much easier. Yoinking the fact that she practices her words before talking to someone and using it here. She hypes herself up before knocking on your door to check in on you. Very attentive to you and your needs, she subconsciously puts your wants/needs above her own... call her out on that because there's going to come a point where it's going to come to her detriment. Makes you things every now and then, cannot accept anything in return but she will try. Asks you out when she feels the time is right, and even if you don't feel the same she tries to move on with the friendship as normal unless you want some space.

JAX

When he's crushing someone he's the type to tease them and lightly bully them. "But Admin, he already does that," You might say. And you wouldn't be wrong. I can see him leaning more into it, though. So if you notice him getting onto you more than he did before.. well you might just assume he's being a jerk. He thinks love is gross, as immature as it sounds. Cooties mentality, so he does what he can to try to smother those feelings. On top of that he hates the idea of being vulnerable, giving him all the more incentive to try to destroy those feelings. Oddly enough, he still tosses pickup lines your way if he notices it gets under your skin. Is it mean? Yes, but let's not forget that Jax IS mean...

KINGER

It's hard to tell when he's crushing on someone simply because he's so... Kinger. But some big signs to let you know that you're on his mind is him hovering around you more and more as time passes. He's already lost his wife and deeply scared that something is going to happen to you. Actually, that fear might push him to tell you how he feels fairly quickly. It's nearly suffocating, and he needs that peace of mind that he can at least tell you how he feels before anything hypothetically happens. Strikes up conversations whenever he can, a lot revolving around his own interests because that's what helps keep him grounded and in the present moment... but he wants to hear you talk to! A bit of a flirt, surprisingly, but he's very polite about it.

ZOOBLE

Its hard to read zooble sometimes, but they make it easy by being forward with you. They come forward when they realize they have feelings for you, and that said feelings aren't just a dud and won't pass easily. Very accepting on whatever you answer, but I can see them needing some space from you if you reject them. It doesn't mean the friendship is over, Zooble just needs time to get those feelings out. Similarly to Jax, they don't like being vulnerable like that. Unlike Jax, they want to get it done and over with sooner rather than later. Not a flirt, but they will become more... noticeably relaxed and open around you. At least by Zooble standards.

GANGLE

Shy.. and awkward... I know I keep saying the girls are awkward, but Gangle is going to give Pomni a run for her money with how much of a mess she becomes. Doodles you a lot, becomes more cagey about her sketchbooks and papers because of this. Follows along with whatever you suggest you two do for the day, and doesn't protest all that much because she wants to make you happy and perhaps even impress you. Definitely fantasizes about some fanfiction-esque scene that leads to the two of you ending up together... it's actually a little... pathetic... and it's unlikely to happen like that, and knowing a certain circus member.. cough cough Jax.. she's probably not going to get the chance to tell you herself on her terms...

LOO

Very straight forward and confident when asking you out, and she takes it with grace if you don't feel the same. Similar to Caine, she gives you special attention! She might even give you some special privileges in her kingdom... definitely gives you some pointers that she's developing some feelings for you. A great listener, wants to know just about everything about you and she's going to let you rant and ramble about anything you want. She responds too, by the way. She doesn't just listen, she keeps the conversation going. Leaves you gifts every now and then!

GUMMIGOO

If this is post... everything... and he was allowed to stay, having a crush on someone so soon actually distresses him a little bit. He's just learned that he's an NPC and everything he knew prior to... everything.. was fake.. it all feels too sudden. The stress translates into frustration, so you may fall under the impression that he's upset with you. He is.. but only a little, for making him feel like this. But a bulk of it is towards himself and his circumstances. If this were any other time or if he didn't have the knowledge he has now, he would be more open and even attempt to flirt and tease you. Sad stuff.

[fraux140]

König Headcanons

General, relationship, and NSFW. I hope you enjoy these! It's my first real post :)

General hcs

Had a cleft lip as a child and was part of the reason he was bullied. It was surgically repaired but there is still a scar

One of his parents is German and the other is Austrian which might explain why he has no Austrian dialect (lets pretend this is canon instead of activision just clumping all German speakers into one category lmao)

He has auburn hair but buzzes it so often that its hard to tell

LOVES Minecraft. He plays creative mode when he's trying to make masterpieces like city replicas or fantasy worlds, but loves the challenge of survival mode if he's playing with friends.

He was a total mama's boy as a kid. When his father tried to get him to 'man up' his mother was always there to protect him. Another reason he was bullied.

Chronic mansplainer but its unintentional. If you're discussing a topic he knows a lot about he will hijack the conversation and unload a bunch of info to you. He doesn't mean it maliciously.

Undiagnosed ADHD - explains why he has trouble staying still and was a bad candidate for being a sniper. But it isn't so bad that it is noticeable. He can mask it when he needs to.

Again with the ADHD thing. He hyperfixates on topics he finds interesting and even his job. Mission plan is memorised. Terrain? Memorised. Enemy info? Memorised. The ever-changing locations and nature of his job mean that he doesn't have to worry about succumbing to the boredom of monotony.

When he isn't deployed he is a beer drinker - particularly Stiegl Hell. A total beer snob as well. Any kind of American beer? Throw it away. Carling? Fosters? Sagres? Get that second rate crap away from him and prepare to be mansplained about how much better Austrian/German beer is than any other.

Has an apartment in the same neighbourhood as his parents' house so he can visit a lot when he's not deployed. His apartment is very basic and he stays there so his parents have their privacy. Their house is his home.

His mother is a seamstress and his father was a mechanic in the army. This man knows how to sew and how to keep his car healthy.

Unironically reposts alpha male quotes - not because he's a misogynist but because he genuinely believes he is the definition of an alpha male.

Teeny tiny bit of a superiority complex. Arrogant af. Stems from his size, strength, and skills. Finished Jagkdo selection second in his 'class'. It haunts him every day. Second place is the first to lose.

Is a genuinely unsettling guy. Not in a creepy way. He kind of just stands around and stares when he enters a place before deciding what to do. For example at the pub, he walks in and stares at the bar before deciding where to sit. Or if he sees somebody new, like somebody he thinks is particularly weird or someone attractive he will stare at them. It is a bit more intense than the typical 'German stare', and more off-putting because of his size.

Relationship hcs

If you're dating König, the first stages of your relationship will be spent trying to figure out how to be comfortable.

Like I said before, he is unsettling and might say something as such, coming across a bit too strong.

For example, if someone is annoying you at work he might offer to kill them. "I could hide the body no problem, schatz. Just ask." And he is very hard to read, so you can't tell if he's joking or not.

If his weirdness didn't scare you away and your relationship progresses, he unintentionally tries to manage you.

Packing a suitcase? You're doing it wrong. It's more efficient to fold the clothes like this to maximise space. Want to go for a walk? Not in those shoes. Function trumps fashion every time. Ordering at a foreign food restaurant? Let him do it for you, you're probably pronouncing it wrong. He's your passenger? You had time to pull out, liebling! Go for the overtake! Change lanes! Ffs schatzi, pull over and let him take the wheel.

Unintentionally condescending. You worked really hard on a new recipe? It's good, but he's had better at this restaurant. He recommends adding this and that...

You're complaining about how stressful your job is? Babe, you wouldn't know stress if it hit you in the face. Have YOU ever been shot at? Narrowly dodged an explosion? Being chased by enemies who are actively trying to kill you? Yeah, didn't think so...

Eventually it gets too much. You're on the verge of breaking up with him because he makes you feel like crap. He diminishes your achievements. Undermines your emotions. It's too much and being with him is making you hate yourself. And you don't deserve to feel this way.

After you tell him, he is mortified. He didn't think that his matter-of-fact way of speaking could be so mean and make you feel this way. He's so sorry, baby. Give him another chance? He'll show you how special you are to him!

After you forgive him and he agrees to change, life is much better. He gives more compliments, he listens more attentively and he tries to be more emotional instead of 'logical'. He comes to respect that you can feel a certain way about things happening in your life and doesn't have to compare it to himself.

He takes you hiking very often. So often that your legs are noticeably more toned. He buys you all of the expensive gear you need to hike in any terrain.

Sometimes sews little trinkets for you or embroiders something on your clothes - a skill he picked up from his seamstress mother.

When you tell him his alpha male quote sharing is cringe and makes him seem like an asshole, he begins to question how you see him. Don't you see how big and strong he is, baby?

When he finally gets it, he slowly starts to lose the façade. This front he puts up? It starts to come down. You want to be the big spoon? Go right ahead.

The new König loves to be doted on. Rub his belly. Run your hands through his hair/over his head if he's buzzed. Hug him. Cuddle with him on the couch. Tell him how big and strong he is - he eats it right up.

Loves working out with you. He likes showing you he's strong enough to protect you. Sit on his back while he doe push-ups. See? No problem. Look at how much weight is on this barbell! He can lift it no problem.

You told him that he can't live on ordering food from fancy restaurants every night. He needs to learn to cook. He's annoyed at first because he can afford it for both of you, but you make him learn how to cook. This time learning together in the kitchen brings you closer together. There is something beautiful about working so hard on a meal and enjoying the results together.

Sometimes he wants to surprise you when you come back from work with a new dish he'd invented. Wagyu steaks sautéed in lager and seasoned with rosemary and turmeric. It was disgusting. You couldn't find it within yourself to tell him.

NSFW hcs

When he was insecure and in his 'alpha male' stage, he was a total dom. Not that you didn't enjoy it.

Now that he's grown, he still loves fucking you in doggy or missionary or any position where he's in control. But now he'll let you ride him for as long as you want.

He LOVES laying back and watching you use his dick to get yourself off. Another reason he loves cowgirl is because he loves watching you struggle with the initial stretch of sinking onto his fat cock.

You tried to convince him to let you peg him once. He outright refused. Maybe he wasn't there yet.

Call him dirty all you want, he loves fucking you after you have worked out together. And you don't mind it either. Seeing him all hot and bothered and out of breath is a huge turn on for you.

Can be aggressive. He likes biting you but not to the point it draws blood.

Sends absolutely horrendous nudes when you're in public with no warning when he's deployed. You'll get a whatsapp notification and you open it to see a picture of his raging hard on while you're at work.

He gets creative with the angles. He tries different lighting. In a strange way you found it very romantic. His captions are atrocious though. 'He misses you', 'I wish I could shoot my sperms into you instead of bullets into my enemies', 'My cock is harder than my job'. They are honestly so fucking weird. But you have grown to love his weird little quips.

Likes roleplay. He likes to be a policeman while you're a petty thief. He's a burglar and he'll leave you alone if you give him something else.

Loves overpowering you. Sometimes when he's fresh home from deployment he will drive you two to the woods at night. He will give you a head start and then hunt you down like a predator. He was in the jagdkommando, darling, didn't you know that means 'Hunting commando'?

When he catches you, the adrenaline gets to the both of you and you fuck like wild animals. Biting, scratching, howling and begging. He always cums inside of you on nights like these, breeding you like a true animal

When you get home and after you've showered (he washes your back for you and kisses along the nape of your neck), he's showering you with kisses and cuddles while you settle into bed and watch something together on TV.

[angel-of-the-moons]

Small Surprises

Moon Knight System (Marc/Jake/Steven) x Single Mother!Reader

TW/CW: Some mentions of past childhood abuse, cheating partner, mostly fluff

A/N: Like the Symbrock one I did, this one will be one whole fic with a few times skips here and there! This fic will also explore a bit more into the autistic side of Steven as a character, based off my own experiences with my autism, tics, habits etc! Also, once again, featuring snippets of the hobby headcanons done by @my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction! (I love those headcanons so much they are canon as far as I'm concerned asdfghjkl)

Taglist: @chrishy973 @katitakenway @queerponcho

EDIT: Part 2 is out now!!! Read it here!

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Another droll day at the museum, the same disinterested customers and more nagging from Donna. Honestly, Steven was lucky he got his job back at the museum--though he only surmised it was due to the fact nobody else wanted to work for Donna--but he was grateful for the extra income.

And it definitely helped provide a distraction from Jake's night activities for Khonshu, as well as Marc's from time to time.

But of course, even though it provided a distraction, it wasn't much of one.

That is... until the day a poofy mop of curls bounced into the gift shop, eagerly looking at the wares within with big sparkling eyes. The child couldn't have been older than four--maybe five--as she happily looked at the myriad of items available.

Contrasting to most of the little girls he's seen come in (which, were admittedly few) she didn't immediately run over to the cheap horse figures with the chariots or even the cat plushies.

She went right for things like the plushie scarabs, the statues...

This of course had Donna proverbially chewing her nails as she watched the unaccompanied minor scamper about the gift shop.

"I'm going back to do inventory," She warned Steven. "If she breaks anything, it's coming out of your pay, Stevie."

Steven ground his teeth when she called him that, and waited for her to walk away before muttering. "What little you do pay me, you bloody old biddy."

Steven fixed his name tag and walked up to the little girl, crouching next to her as her chubby little face scrunched in what appeared to be distaste.

"Hey there, poppet. What's got you upset, eh?" He asked, his big brown eyes meeting hers as she crossed her arms with a huff.

"They don't look right!" She complained.

"Oh? What doesn't look right?" Steven asked patiently, a warm smile on his face.

The child pointed to the small canvases and posters of the various Egyptian gods. Namely the ones of Bastet and Anubis, and in particular of the two, one of the canvases depicting Anubis surrounded by shrieking souls and flames.

He himself had raised a complaint with that depiction, as after his own time in the Egyptian afterlife (alongside Marc, and unbeknownst to them at the time, Jake) he knew the afterlife was not like that. While they hadn't met Anubis himself, they were guided and weighed by Taweret.

But he wholeheartedly agreed that the artwork of Anubis was entirely wrong, and frankly, offensive.

"'Nubis isn't like that." She said, stomping her little foot. "He's nice!"

Steven raised his eyebrows at her, tilting his head as some stray curls fell over his face. "Oh?" He asked. "Then tell me little one, how is Anubis?"

"He's--!" She scoffed, rolling her eyes in the typical fashion a child does when they feel like they're explaining something painfully obvious to an oblivious adult.

"He's a good dog-man." She says to him. "He doesn't mess with skulls n' stuffs! He's nice, he helps people who might get lost when they die."

'That's a hefty subject for a kid.' Marc's voice spoke.

"No kidding." Jake remarked. "Where are her parents?"

Steven meanwhile, was positively thrilled that one so young understood that Anubis, while being the god of death, was not evil. And... naturally this sent him into info-dump mode.

"Why, yes! Anubis is good." He held up a finger as the little girl looked at him, awe on her face that he understood what she was saying and was willing to actually talk about it.

"He guided souls once they left their earthly bodies." He explained, grabbing a small replica of an Egyptian temple front. "Once their hearts were weighed, if they were good, he would help guide them to the afterlife. If they were bad..."

"They got ate by the crocko-lion!" The girl finished with a gasp.

Steven suppressed the urge to laugh at how she described Ammit. Jake and Marc meanwhile, held no such compunction and were laughing their asses off.

"I like this kid." Jake said as his laughter died down.

"Yes! They did. But did you know they also had to be judged? Not just with the scales?" Steven grinned at her as she bounced on her heels, the palms of her hands rubbing on her coveralls as she listened.

"Now that subject is very lengthy...." Steven leaned over on the flats of his shoes and plucked a small book about the Egyptian afterlife and mythos and showed it to the little girl. The cover was emblazoned with raised gold print; with images of sarcophagi, and motifs scattered on the front and back.

"But it's always worth a good read." Steven continued. "Now, if you want to know someone else who sometimes assists those who've passed on?"

The little girl plucked the book out of Steven's arms, nodding, her eyes tracking the way his mouth and hair moved. Not once did she make eye contact, instead settling for staring at other features instead.

Steven could understand, sometimes looking into people's eyes was... oof. It was difficult and frankly sometimes it made him uncomfortable, made his palms itch and the hair on the back of his neck tickle.

He stood up, and walked to another shelf, the little girl trailing behind him, the book looking three sizes too large for her tiny body as her little light up sneakers squeaked on the waxed linoleum.

Steven reached down, then, and grabbed a plaster statuette of a familiar feminine shape sporting a hippo head and kneeled back down, showing it to her.

"This is Taweret." He beamed proudly.

"She's the nice hippo lady." The child peeped, staring at the statue with rapt attention.

"Yes! Yes, she is! Very nice." Steven chuckled. "But she's also the goddess of motherhood and children, did you know? She protects women when they have their babies, and helps them."

The little girl nodded, "Yeah, I read a thingy 'bout her! She's--"

"Victoria! Oh my god." A breathless voice called from the front of the shop.

The moment Steven lifted his gaze, he could feel his heart catch on his throat when he saw you. Even Marc and Jake went quiet as you approached.

You were wearing some faded-out jeans and a t-shirt with a faded band logo that hugged your figure very nicely. You had a backpack slung over your shoulders and the keychains dangling from it tinkled and clacked as you moved, rushing to scoop up your child.

Steven could easily see that Victoria got her looks from you, those gorgeous inquisitive eyes, her nose, hair texture...

Jake had to give him the mental equivalent of a slap to stop his gawking as he stood up awkwardly, wiping the hand not holding the statue on his jeans as he gave you what he hoped was a charming smile, but judging by your wariness, you obviously weren't thrilled at the sight of your daughter talking to a strange man.

Steven was about to speak up, but Victoria did so instead for him, not reading the tenseness in the situation.

"Steven's my friend!" She beamed, holding the book in her pudgy little fingers, showing you. "He knows about 'Gyptian stuff, too!"

Steven blinked, feeling a blush creep up on his cheeks as you looked at him, raised eyebrows. It took him a moment of awkward glancing away to realize Victoria knew his name because she read his name tag. He hadn't once said it to her. Hell, he only knew her name because you said it when you ran in!

"Ah... Yes. I work here, in the gift shop. Egyptology is a major... um." He struggled to find a word.

"Hyperfixation?" You sigh, the tension easing from your shoulders as you smile tiredly.

"Oh! Yes. I s'pose!" He said, blinking his big doe eyes at you.

"Yeah, Victoria is... well." You chuckle, propping the young child on your hip with practiced ease. "She's obsessed with the stuff! I swear, the stuff she can shove into her noggin with how much she knows of ancient Egypt, it feels like she was born in the wrong era, I'm telling you!"

Victoria smiled happily and snuggled into you, rubbing her cheek on the soft fabric of your shirt with a content hum, almost like a happy little cat.

You didn't pay any mind to her as she rubbed her face on you, instead conversing with the man in front of you.

"Ah... A little scholar to be, eh?" Steven laughed awkwardly.

"Hah, more like she already is one. With everything she knows, I swear she outpaces me in the IQ department." You sigh fondly, brushing a stray curl from your daughter's face.

Steven's eyes anxiously tracked your movements, how your fingers curled, the way your eyelashes brushed your cheeks when you blinked, the way your foot tapped on the floor...

"I'm surprised she talked to you. She's normally very introverted." You hum softly, raising those drop dead gorgeous eyes to lock with his before he awkwardly dropped his eyes to your lips whilst you spoke.

"But then again, if you started talking about this stuff with her, it's no surprise. I'm the only person she talks to about it because nobody else understands."

You noticed his Steven was looking anywhere but your eyes, and how he nervously licked at his lips, his fingers wrapped around the statuette in his hands tapping idly.

"Oh! She's a lovely little conversationalist. Rather well-knowledged as well!" Steven replied, looking at Victoria again, who grinned as she once again rubbed her face on your shirt.

"Honestly, she's more learned than half the adults who try to talk to me about Egypt." He huffed out a chuckle.

His eyes dropped to the picture of Anubis that initially offended the child. "We got into a little debate about how inaccurate those pieces of Anubis are."

"Oh, don't get her started on those inaccurate artworks... She despises them!" You laugh softly.

"Oh, I fully understand why! It's so offensive!" Steven gasped. "Especially to a culture! Anubis is not an evil god by any means!"

"Oh yeah, believe me... we watched a movie the other day and she had a meltdown because they made Anubis the bad guy. She was so distraught it took thirty minutes to calm her down." You smile with infinite patience at your little girl.

"Oh, poor little dear! But I can totally understand that." Steven smiled, finally locking eyes with you as he reached some level of professional comfort with you.

"Mommy, can I get em?" Victoria peeped, interrupting you before you could get another word out.

"Hm?" You hummed at her, raising an eyebrow.

"The book and hippo lady!" She replied, holding up the book.

"Hippo Lady?"

"Yeah!" She said, sounding a little exasperated, pointing to the statue Steven clutched in his hands. "Her! Tawar!"

"Taweret." Steven chuckled softly at her mispronunciation.

"Tawww--" Victoria frowned as she tried to get the word out. "Tawweret."

"Close 'nough. I'm sure she wouldn't mind." Steven smiled warmly, holding up the statuette.

"All right, all right." You laughed, following Steven to the counter so you could check out, having another nice chat about what he and Victoria discussed. He even tossed in a little keychain that held a preserved scarab beetle in epoxy, much to Victoria's delight!

What you didn't know as you left the shop, was how positively smitten he was with you already.

That was your first meeting with Steven Grant.

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A few weeks crawled by, and every other day you were at the museum, letting Victoria lead you by the hand as she animatedly discussed what every object or picture meant, and you struggled to keep up, making mental (and a few digital) notes on what she was talking about. Of course, she insisted that after every tour, you stopped to say hi to her new "bestest friend" Steven.

You were thrilled that you found someone who operated on the same wavelength as your daughter, knowing that it was hard for her to make connections with other children, let alone adults. But Steven and Victoria took to each other like ducks to water.

And hey, he seemed harmless enough. Cute, too, beneath that mop of curls. You even started researching more just to be able to tag into the conversations between your daughter and her unlikely friend.

Today, you were at the local grocer and Victoria decided that she wanted to walk with you instead of riding in the trolley on her tablet like she normally did. You were happy, but ensured she kept her noise cancelling headphones over her tiny ears to make sure she stayed comfortable.

You had picked up a pack of steaks to examine the cuts when Victoria slipped your hand free of hers and darted off, squealing, "Steven!"

You almost dropped the steaks when Victoria darted down the aisle and wrapped her arms around the legs of the man she ran towards.

One minute Marc was looking at a box of matzahs, the next, he had a child clinging to his legs.

His whole body froze as he looked down, immediately going rigid as the little girl looked up at him, babbling something he didn't quite understand because of how quickly she was speaking.

He did make out the name "Steven".

"Uh--" He said awkwardly.

"I'm so sorry!" You say, hastily bringing the trolley up to the two. "She just got excited to see you, and..."

Your brows furrowed as you looked at him. He looked like Steven Grant, but he didn't feel like Steven Grant. His normally messy curls were combed back neatly, his flannel hanging open with the sleeves rolled up and T-shirt untucked from his pants. His big brown eyes were wide, looking at you with a face that simply pleaded "Help me".

"Uh..."

"I'm... Marc." He said in an unmistakably American accent.

"Oh. Oh!" You lean down and scoop up Victoria, hastily plopping her in the trolley, willing yourself to ignore her little wobbling lip as you messily search up her favorite video to watch on her tablet to prevent the simmering meltdown you could see just beneath her surface.

"I'm... I'm sorry. You just look like someone we know from the museum, and..." You sigh, rubbing your hands together as you cringed.

"Steven, yeah..." Marc said, giving a stiff smile in return as he dropped the box of what looked like crackers into his basket looped over his elbow.

"You..."

'Play it cool, Marc...' Jake's voice softly warned.

"We're, uh, brothers. Triplets. All identical." He spat out with haste.

"Oh! Well... That's... That explains the looks, huh." You smile, hoping to ease the awkward tension. His explanation didn't sit well with you for some reason, as to why he suddenly blurted it all out. But you chocked it up to him trying to explain to avoid upsetting Victoria.

"But, yeah. Um... Your brother, Steven? He and Victoria are like, best friends now. She looks forward to seeing him whenever we're at the museum." You chuckle softly.

Marc's eyes soften as he smiles, giving Victoria a gentle look. "Yeah, uh, Steven's told me about her. She's a smart kid, huh?"

"Oh, yeah. A real genius." You smile at her as she starts tapping away at her tablet, selecting one of her drawing apps and beginning to scribble.

"Sometimes I can't keep up with her."

"Hey, that's good. She'll go places." Marc replied.

Your smile falters a bit. "Yeah, if people will give her a chance..." You mutter.

Marc was about to ask what she meant, but he kept his mouth shut, watching as Victoria was engrossed with her tablet, her little feet wiggling and tapping on the sides of the trolley as she moved her mouth silently, mouthing words to herself.

"She's... Eh." You rub the back of your neck. "She normally doesn't come to the store with me. She says she can hear the lights buzzing and it upsets her, which is why she has to wear her headphones. I mean I can't hear the lights or anything, but all I need to know is that she can..."

"Yeah, Steven is the same way sometimes. It makes him twitch so he has to wear headphones when we go shopping..." Marc said, frowning.

"Yeah. That's something I'm kind of amazed about. Victoria doesn't really have any friends outside of well, me... and your brother? Steven and her are just... man, they're like two peas in a pod!"

Marc stays quiet as you smile fondly at your child, and he notes the relief in your expression as you recount that your child was able to finally connect with someone. It warmed his heart to know that Steven was able to socialize with someone who shared the same mannerisms, even if she was just a kid.

His eyes flicked down to your hands as you put your hands on your hips, and noted the lack of wedding ring and a ring tan line.

'Focus, cabrón.' Jake snickered.

"She's autistic. It was a pain to get her diagnosed, but we managed. I could tell she was different. Namely how she would act with fabrics." You sigh.

Now that grabbed both Marc and Jake's attention. If Steven were aware and co-fronting, he was sure he would be rapt as well. Steven explained the fabric thing to hime a few times, but being in the same body it was still hard at times to understand that Marc or Jake could feel one thing but Steven could feel another.

"Uh... Fabrics? You'll have to forgive me, but..."

"Oh! It's a sensory thing." You explain, rolling your hand. "With her, it's fleece, or satin-like textures. They irritate her and make her fussy. As a baby I never understood why she flipped out when I would put her little socks on her until the doctor explained it when she was older. But for some people it's cotton, or microfiber... The way Victoria describes it is that it's, uh..."

"Scratchy." Marc murmurs.

"Exactly!" You snap your fingers.

"Yeah, Steven is the same way. Though he's not like that with satin, he usually prefers cotton--the super soft kind? Or silk." Marc nods, shoving one hand in his pocket.

"Yeah... It's thankfully easy to shop for her, she prefers cotton and soft microfiber. It's why she rubs her cheek on my shirts or pants. Some people mistake it for being affectionate--and don't get me wrong sometimes it is--but usually it's a grounding thing." You sigh softly. "It helps her calm down."

"Ah... Sounds hard. What about her dad? He know how to handle it?" Marc asked curiously.

He immediately felt bad when he saw how your expression fell, and you glared at the ground.

"He skipped out on us while I was pregnant. I caught him in our bed with someone I thought was my best friend the day I found out she was a girl." You spit, angry and full of venom.

Marc cringed. "God, your best friend? In your bed? That's a whole extra level of degeneracy..."

"I know! Ugh! I swear, if he wasn't stronger than me I would have stabbed him that day!" You groan.

Marc rocks his head back in shock at the admission. "You were gonna stab him?"

"When you're five months pregnant, hormonal, tired, and sore and walk in on your fiancee doing the deed in your own bed? Yeah, emotions get high." You run a hand through your hair, smirking as you looked back at him.

"Grabbed the knife right outta the block and lunged at him. Chased em both half naked out of my flat."

'Shit, I'd be in love. That sounds sexy as hell.' Marc could just imagine the grin that would be spread across Jake's face at that.

Marc laughed, unable to contain himself, both at the retelling of your story and Jake's remark.

'You got problems, Jake.' Marc shot back mentally.

'Pot, meet kettle...'

'Touché...'

"So it's safe to say, he's out of the picture, huh?" Marc says, his laughter dying down into a soft chuckle.

"Oh yeah. Had his parental rights severed, and kicked his sorry.... well. I tossed him out and told him that my "best friend" could deal with him and his lazy antics, considering I pay for the flat."

"Yikes. Sounds like a real dirt bag."

"Oh yeah, he was. I have no idea what I saw in him, to be honest... And knowing that Victoria isn't "normal" like other kids, I feel like he would treat her badly, or... hurt her." You say, shaking your head.

"Hey, if he shows up and does that just call me." Marc grunted. "I hate it when people do that crap to kids. I'll knock his teeth down his throat."

The words slipped out before he could stop them, and the weight of them almost made them feel oppressive as glimpses of his abusive childhood shone through. The memories of his mother swinging her arm down, the crack of the leather belt, the red, bloody welts in his skin...

'Ay, hermano. Come back, don't think about that.' Jake's voice said gently, urging that door in his mind shut. 'That's not your life, anymore.'

Marc blinked and looked back up at you, his eyes locking with yours. And the concern on your face... he felt so undeserving of it. He wasn't sure why, but...

"Ah... I mean... Let's just say I have experience with that sort of thing. So I'm..." He struggled.

"No, no, I get it. My dad was a piece of shhh..." You cringed as the word almost slipped from you, casting a short glance to Victoria, making sure she couldn't hear you. "Er. He was bad. So yeah, I totally get you."

"Oh... Sorry, people get weirded out when I..." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Disassociate." You finish for him. "I used to do the same thing when it came to my dad. It gets easier once you're free of it, I promise."

The soft, sweet smile you give him was strong enough to make his heart jump into his throat.

'Wow...'

'Ask. Her. Out. Steven won't do it, so you do it!' Jake urged him.

Marc choked suddenly, coughing awkwardly to clear his throat at Jake's further commentary.

"You okay?" You ask him.

"Y-Yeah, I just... Uh..." He cringed again. "It's... allergies! I've been dealing with them since we dusted the flat, and... Yep. Allergies."

You chuckle softly at him as Victoria tugs on your sleeve and whispers in your ear.

"Oop, mama duty calls. It was nice meeting you, Marc." You grin, giving him a short handshake.

"Yeah... You too." Marc replied as you walked off, giving Victoria a wave as she peeked over your shoulder as you push the trolley away.

'Allergies? Smooth, Marc. Really smooth. How the hell did you ever bag Layla with romantic skills like that?' Jake sighed sarcastically.

'I swear Layla probably only married you for your dick, man. You're so BAD at romance.'

Marc knew Layla did love him, at one point but with all the drama of being Moon Knight, it quickly snuffed that relationship... They were still close of course, but they'd never open up to another intimate relationship again. Which was fine, none of them minded particularly.

Especially not now. Not now that there's a cute single mom with and adorably--scarily--smart little girl on her hip to occupy those thoughts.

And that... was your first time meeting Marc Spector.

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Now, meeting Jake was different. Completely different. You technically "met" Jake weeks after you met Marc and built a rapport with him.

One night, Jake was sitting in the window, munching on some saltines he'd spread with sunflower butter as he read some old knitting patterns in a book he'd picked up at a resale shop.

He thought he could knit something for both you and Victoria and have Steven give it to you, it would be a good way to start actually flirting, to hopefully open up that door for all of you.

But of course... well. He knew Steven was way too shy to ask you out on a date, and Marc was too chicken shit and awkward about the subject to bring it up himself.

And so, it fell upon Jake Lockley to find a way to get closer to you, two. He understood that many single mothers found it tricky to date, especially with a child like Victoria. It would require immense levels of trust to get past those walls you would have put up to protect both you and Victoria, especially after you'd told Marc about Victoria's biological father fucking your best friend the day of your ultrasound.

He could just imagine how your poor face fell when you closed your front door, hearing the ridiculously high-pitched, false moans and the squeaking of the mattress as that miserable excuse of a man was having his way with your supposed "best friend"...

All while your hands would have clutched the pictures of your unborn baby girl, tears bubbling up in your eyes as you screamed at them while they scrambled to cover their shame.

And then.... as you told Marc, you would have grabbed the knife and the rest was history; bidding goodbye to that cheating bastard and woman you once trusted.

You were strong, loving and oh so patient with your daughter and her needs. Jake found your whole being attractive, honestly. He hadn't seen you angry, but he just knew you were a badass if you wanted to be.

He chuckled as he picked up his knitting needles, and began to loop the soft, thick yarn through each line. He was sure to pick yarn that wouldn't upset Victoria and her sensory issues, so he picked the softest yarn he possibly could, selecting enough to make the both of you matching jumpers.

Victoria's would be a little big, to allow for comfort and her to grow into it as she wore it. He could just imagine how adorable she'd look with the sleeves hanging over her little hands, squirming and giggling as you two played together--

Jake's hands stopped knitting.

Shit. He had it down bad for you, too.

When he looked down, that's when he noticed the green laser pointed right at him...

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You were there, simply cleaning up the mess from dinner as Victoria happily colored on her dry erase board, drawing the shapes and hieroglyphs she saw in the book Steven selected for her.

She had been quiet and engrossed in her little art project for so long that you jumped and almost dropped a plate on the floor when she squealed loudly.

"Mommy, it's Steven! Or Mister Marc?"

"Huh? What?" You looked around your flat, for some reason your brain told you to look inside instead our our the window where her little finger tapped the glass excitedly.

"No, there!" She insisted. "Over there!"

You walk over to her and lean down, looking out the window.

And sure enough, across the street, in the building across from yours, an apartment had the curtains open with the lights on.

In one of the windows, at a desk, sat a man. The streets were close enough together that you could make out some details. The shadow of a mustache being the first thing you zeroed in on, and then the immaculately slicked-back hair.

He looked like he was... knitting? This man, who looked like Steven and Marc. Marc and Steven both mentioned on different occasions that they had a brother named Jake, maybe this was him?

And wow! So close by, too!

Victoria waved her arms, trying to get her attention, but the man was so absorbed in his task that he didn't notice her try to get his attention. When her little disappointed sniffles could be heard, you snap your fingers.

"I got an idea!" You say, dashing to the end table by the front door and rummaging through the various keychains you'd accumulated. It was a guilty habit of yours, you found.

But then you pluck up the laser toy and run back to the window. It takes shaking it once or twice for the green light to illuminate, but when it does, you shine it directly through the window and at the man's chest.

Then, he looked up.

You break out into a happy grin when he spots the two of you, and Victoria giggles with unabated glee as she waves some more, her whole tiny body moving with every shake of her overly excited hand.

You see the man smile back and he waves at the both of you.

"Hey, baby, why don't we use your board to say hi?" You suggest, rubbing her shoulders.

"Yeah!" She giggles, grabbing the board and erasing her painstakingly re-created drawings from the book, and messily scrawled the word:

Hi :)

The man laughed and looked around until he grabbed a notebook, scribbled something with a marker, and held it up for you two to see.

Hello

You chuckle as Victoria hands you the board, knowing that your writing is neater than hers is, and with how excited she is, she was bound to mess up.

You quickly and clearly write something down and turn the board to face the window.

Steven or Marc?

He smiled at you and scribbled back.

Jake

Marc n Steven told us about you. Hi!

They've told me a lot about you, too.

"That's Jake, honey. Remember what I said? How Steven and Mister Marc look alike? He's the same way." You explain to Victoria.

"Oh." She sighs. Poor little thing seemed dejected that once again, she misidentified someone as her "bestest friend".

You lift your eyes as Jake showed what he put on the notepad next. It was a badly drawn cat with a happy face on it.

You can't help but laugh and grin, nudging Victoria to look at what he drew for her.

"It's a kitty!" She gasps, snatching the board from your hands to draw pictures for him.

You spent much of the evening that night with Victoria and Jake drawing pictures back and forth, writing messages until he ran out of paper.

That's when you put down your phone number and told him to text, to make it easier on Victoria.

Victoria, upon realizing this, dropped her board and snatched your phone, starting a video call with Jake and chattering his ear off. He seemed to take it in stride, engaging with her. Not on the same level as Steven, but something about how he handled it gave you the impression he had experience with kids, or even worked with kids.

He didn't talk down or dumb anything down for her, he spoke to her calmly and clearly like he would anyone else, and the fact he was so sweet was endearing to you.

He was even teaching her little words in Spanish. For some reason, she liked to repeat the word "cat" because she liked how it sounded, and it was "funny".

That was how you met Jake Lockley.

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It was now half a year since you'd indirectly met all three "brothers" and quickly, the pressure was beginning to mount on them to reveal the truth to you as their crush developed more and more into full infatuation with you and your darling girl.

But they still hadn't asked you out, yet. They'd come close a few times, but it was never when Jake was in control so Marc and Steven backed down at the last possible moment. Every time Jake was in control it wasn't a "good moment" for them to propose a date with you. But now?

It was late in the year, the harvest festival being over with and the holidays around the corner with Christmas, as usual, dominating all others. Snow and ice encased everything. It came early this year, and Victoria couldn't be more thrilled. (She could build snowmen with her friends, Steven, Mister Marc and Mister Jake!)

You and Jake would text, and he gave in and told you that he, Marc, and Steven all actually lived together and he would "let" Steven or Marc use his phone so he could video chat with Victoria and you.

You didn't know the boys all shared the same phone regardless.

It was nice having a social life again, even if it was small. Outside work and ensuring a comfortable upbringing for your little girl, you'd forgotten how nice it was to have friends. Even if those friends consisted of three identical, quirky brothers who lived in the flat across the way.

The day was coming soon, for when they would have to confess to you about the true nature of their identities. And the three unanimously agreed that they would tell you about Moon Knight.

For your safety, and Victoria's. They didn't want you to agree to date them (if you ever would) only to find out they snuck out in the dead of night to do the bidding of some creepy ancient bird god who could frankly do with a wardrobe update...

They just didn't anticipate that day to be today. Of course, Steven would rather have broken the news to you over a nice dinner in the corner booth of a quiet restaurant. Or even on a nice walk through the park...

But no. No, it had to come out when you decided to pull out your phone and go through your texts or the day as Victoria sat in Steven's lap on the couch of your living room.

Jake had sent a meme earlier in the day, of a little cat wearing a sombrero and you chuckled. You sent a meme back in reply, of a snail holding some maracas on some drawn-on arms.

That's when Steven twitched when the phone in his back pocket vibrated and chimed with a silly little ringtone.

You blinked at him as he fished it out of his pocket, careful not to knock Victoria off balance as he checked it. He awkwardly cleared his throat and gave you a strained smile as he set it on the coffee table in front of you.

"You okay..." You say, eyeing the very familiar phone. They could just have the same model and case...

"Oh, yes, just an email alert, luv. Don't worry 'bout it!" Steven chirped, quickly shifting his attention back to Victoria as she practiced her reading from the book in her hands.

You squint at him suspiciously. Your finger hovered over the send button when you selected another silly little image...

But you decided to call instead.

That's when a song began to chime. One you recognized very well as Steven's favorite song...

♫"Lonely is a man,

Without looove~"♫

'God damn it, Steven! You forgot to put it on silent again!' Marc's panicked voice shouted inside their headspace.

'Ay, hermanito, not now!' Jake groaned.

Steven began to sweat profusely as Victoria handed the phone innocently to him, urging him to answer it, not making the correlation with the song, or your phone number...

Steven shakily held the phone to his ear and answered.

"H-Hello..."

"Steven." You deadpan, raising an eyebrow and tapping your finger on your arm.

'Shit shit shit shit.' Marc hissed.

'Busted.' Jake almost sang.

You look at Victoria, hesitant to interrupt her time with Steven, but you wanted answers. Why is it that none of the men ever agreed to all meet up in person to hang out? Why did you only ever see one at a time? Yes, work was a convenient excuse, but every single day?

And then there's the phone!

Yeah, you weren't letting Steven wiggle free from this talk, even as Victoria pouted and trudged back into her room to play with her toys.

You almost feel like a cop in a bad movie, the way you lean back with your arms crossed, almost like you were an interrogator in a police precinct.

Would this make you both the bad and good cop?

You felt so bad, knowing that this kind of behavior would only freak Steven out, so you relaxed your jaw and posture, leaning away from him and giving him breathing room as his sweaty hands began to pat nervously in the memorized tune of that specific song that was just playing.

"I'm not blind, and I'm not dumb... So start from the beginning." You sigh. "I don't want anything to come out and upset Victoria, but I have to know who I'm letting around my little girl."

Steven licked at his slightly chapped lips, taking his bottom lip between his teeth briefly.

"Okay..." He peeped.

'Just take it slow, Steven.' Marc urged him gently.

'I can take control, if you want.' Jake offered.

"No, that's too much right now." Steven muttered aloud, without thinking.

You tipped your head to the side. "What's too much?"

Steven jumped and covered his mouth, his big doe eyes wide as can be, like he's a little boy who was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out.

He despised awkward situations like this. He could never tell what to say to keep someone happy and to avoid them getting angry with him...

"Steven, I'm not mad. I'm honestly confused. Please... Just... Tell me everything, okay? I just wanna know some things." You say, leaning forward to put your hand on his knee, your ever so patient eyes sweet and understanding.

Yeah, those eyes were his undoing.

"Do you know what Dissociative Identity Disorder is?"

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Whatever you had originally expected to hear from Steven, finding out that he, Marc and Jake all shared the same body was a lot to absorb. Especially after Steven blurted out about their superhero alter ego that apparently did bidding for an Egyptian god?

Steven expected you to be mad, braced himself for it, but instead, he and his two headmates were knocked entirely off center when you made the remark that if Khonshu ever got to be too much for the boys, they should lock him in a room with Victoria and her never-ending questions.

That would shut him up for a little while, surely.

Another thing you weren't expecting was the date proposal from Steven (and of course Marc and Jake).

You hesitated, at first... But...

They were so kind and sweet. They already have shown so much care for you and your daughter... And you were honestly happy to realize that you weren't crushing on different guys, that your feelings were no longer awkward and conflicted.

Or wait, were you crushing on different men? Yes they were completely different identities, but they shared a body, and... oh, this was gonna take time to learn more about.

Your first date was for later that week. Steven informed you it would be Jake, taking you out, as he felt like a "bloody awkward fool" and was afraid of messing it up, and Marc was just as bad at those social situations.

But you agreed, and when the date rolled around, you and Victoria were bundled up, all ready to go to the charming little Italian restaurant somewhere in town where apparently Jake was friendly with the employees there.

Victoria skipped in the snow, struggling to match her pace with yours, making sure her footsteps were measured so her prints mirrored yours exactly as she walked on her little tippy toes.

As you approached where Jake had his car parked, he smiled, his mustache quirking up as he scooped Victoria in his large gloved hands, laughing when she dragged her fingers over his hairy upper lip, comparing the stache to a caterpillar.

You stifled a snort and covered your mouth as you watched Jake buckle Victoria into a booster seat in the back of his car.

"Where did you..." You blinked. You fully intended to run back to your flat and grab the booster seat you owned, but you were surprised to see Jake already had one. A rather expensive-looking one, at that.

"Ay, cariño, you didn't think I'd let the little chiquita ride unprotected, did you?" He smirked at you, his dark eyes glinting mischievously.

"But, I have one. You didn't have to..."

"Hey, if it makes it easier, I'll be happy to foot the bill." Jake hummed, leaning in to check Victoria's buckles as she played on her tablet, snow-caked shoes kicking lazily as she did.

Normally, Jake was insane about his car. He always made sure his fares cleaned their damn feet off before getting inside. But for you two he willingly made the exception.

"Now, c'mon mamacita." Jake grinned at you once more as he enabled the child lock and closed the door on Victoria's side. "We got lunch to get to, right?"

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You couldn't remember the last time you were on a date. Actually wait, you could. The night you got pregnant. One of the only times Victoria's sperm donor was ever romantic with you, and he proposed the next morning after.

Yeah, you knew how that story ended.

But now it looked like a whole new book was being written right in front of you, as cliché as it all sounded.

Jake had treated you both well, engaging happily and drawing with Victoria on the activity mat the restaurant provided as you sipped your glass of red wine, watching; your heart was fluttering in your chest as you watched how happy she was interacting with them.

After a while, he went back out to his car and returned with a sparkly red gift bag for the two of you and you immediately felt your heart lurch up from your chest and into your throat.

He knitted the two of you matching jumpers. A mama cat and her kitten, of course, he managed to do it in an Egyptian style, much to Victoria's glee as she ripped off her regular jumper in favor of the one Jake made, immediately rubbing her face on the sleeve with a happy giggle.

You couldn't help but smile warmly as Jake helped her pop her head through the top, and you decided to slip yours on, yourself.

God, it was almost surreal how Hallmark it all seemed. Not one, but three men interested in you, a lonely single mother. All three men who adored your daughter and treated you both with respect. All three men, who shared the same body and nighttime secret.

And you found yourself falling just as hard, and somewhere in the back of your mind wondered if--if--you had met them first... would they have been Victoria's father(s)? Would they have rejoiced in your pregnancy? Gone to your appointments, held your hand in the delivery room? Would they have helped the doctors weigh and print Victoria for the very first time?

Your mind was knocked out of the what-ifs when your phone jingled, catching Jake's attention.

"Oh, it's Victoria's pediatrician. I have to take this." You sigh sadly, not wanting to step away from the cozy atmosphere in your booth.

Jake smiled at you and winked, "Go ahead and take it. I got her handled."

You smiled back, hoping the flush to your face wasn't as obvious as you feared as you got up and answered the call.

Jake continued to play and draw with Victoria, letting her explain how some of her learning games worked, what apps were her favorite, and who her favorite cartoon characters were.

Honestly, if anyone thought Steven was great with Victoria thanks to their same autistic traits? Jake was good simply because he was a natural with kids. Marc was, too, but he was a bit stiff and nervous. He needed to be eased into it just a bit more.

"Hey.... Psst. Mister Jake." Victoria whispered to him, blinking her big, bright, gorgeous eyes up at him.

"Yeah? What is it, gatita?" Jake hummed at her, grinning.

She waved her hand, urging him closer as she whispered conspiratorially, cupping her hand over his ear, "Look where Mommy's standing."

Jake lifts his gaze to find you among the crowd of people, where you stood on your phone, talking to the doctor about Victoria's upcoming appointment. He tracked where Victoria was pointing, and that's when he saw it: the mistletoe.

He knew immediately what Victoria was hinting at.

"That means you gotta kiss my Mommy." She whispered to him again.

"Oh, I do, huh?" Jake teased, poking her in the side. "And what if I don't?"

"Then Imma make you!" She squeaked and giggled.

"Oh, dear, then in that case I definitely have to do it, eh?" He chuckled.

"C'mon." Jake said, scooping Victoria up and holding her on his hip. "Let's go give another present to your wonderful mamá."

As they got closer to you, he caught the tail-end of your conversation.

"...yeah. Next Wednesday at 3pm. See you, then, Doctor Wilson. ...Of course! Happy holidays." You say cheerily, ending the call.

When you turned around, you saw Jake holding Victoria against him as he walked closer to you.

The sight really shouldn't have taken your breath away the way that it did...

But if you thought your breath was taken before? It was entirely robbed from you as Jake leaned in, wrapping an arm around your waist as he tipped his head down to kiss you, his mustache tickling your nose and upper lip.

You were so taken aback that you didn't hear the whooping and laughing from the workers of the restaurant as the scene unfolded in front of them, congratulating Jake.

Victoria squirmed and squealed and laughed and laughed, rubbing her face on Jake's leather jacket as your lips finally parted and your jaw dropped.

"What's the matter, mamacita? Cat got your tongue?"

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God, dating those men was the best decision you ever made. Even with them being Moon Knight.

They were kind enough to always say goodnight to Victoria before they went about their business, giving you a soft kiss before whichever one was in control of the body departed.

You had only been dating a short while, it was now entering February and you were all spending more and more time together. Marc, Jake, and Steven had all spent the night once or twice in their own time.

Nothing sexual happened, but it was so nice to fall asleep with someone wrapping their arms around you. It was even better to wake up and see Victoria snuggled onto his chest, his arms caged around her protectively, flexing when she made any movements as his unconscious body ensured she wouldn't roll off of him and--god forbid--onto the floor.

It was a few days before Valentine's, and Marc had spent the day with you and Victoria. He had gotten much more comfortable around her, falling into a natural and gentle routine unique to them. Just like she had with Steven, and Jake. And above all, they handled her autism well.

Steven was exceptionally good at helping distract her during her meltdowns, whereas Jake could cradle her, singing little songs in Spanish as he rubbed her back. Marc would start by talking to her in a low, gentle tone, urging her to just breathe, and talk, explaining what was upsetting her and what would work best to help her calm down from it.

But right now, Victoria was in the midst of a battle against sleep.

"Don' wanna sleep." Victoria sniffled into Marc's jumper.

"I know, babydoll, but you'll feel loads better once you do, mkay?" He murmured quietly to her as he padded, barefoot into Victoria's almost obnoxiously canary-yellow bedroom.

"I can make some apple pancakes for you in the morning, hm? How's that sound?"

He dodged the minefield of toys scattered about and chuckled softly at the shelf where her little ancient Egypt memorabilia sat meticulously organized alongside her books and drawings on the subject. A half-finished paper sarcophagus lay on the desk in the corner, a project Steven had started with her two days ago that they intended to finish together.

Marc laid her down and she nodded, rubbing her eye. "Okay..." She mumbled in agreement.

Marc picked up the plushy scarab that Steven bought from the gift shop and handed it to her, tucking her in all nice and warm.

"There you go." He said softly to her, kneeling next to the bed. "Snug as a bug in... well. Blankets, right now, huh?"

He grinned when Victoria giggled groggily at his pun, squeezing the beetle plush she named "Digger" and snuggled under the blankets, her feather lashes brushed her cheeks as she began to drift off.

"See you in the morning, babydoll." Marc said softly, giving her a kiss to her forehead before standing.

His finger had just flipped the switch to turn off the lights in her room, so only the salt lamp dimly illuminated her bedside, when he heard her peep as she rolled over.

"G'night daddy."

He felt like his heart stopped beating as he shakily closed the door, dragging his suddenly very heavy feet through your flat as he made his way to your couch, the weight of that word landing on his shoulders.

He felt like Atlas, carrying the world on his back as he dropped down onto the chocolate brown cushions.

You walk over, having finished dishes from dinner, wiping your hands on a tea towel. Upon seeing his shell-shocked expression, you sit next to him in concern as he covered his face with his hands, his arms shaking and skin pale.

"Marc, sweetie, what's wrong?"

"I..." He said, his voice breaking.

You lean in, reaching out to brush a hand through his mop of curls, letting him take his time. Maybe Steven or Jake was trying to front? You've seen how taxing it could be on them when it happened so suddenly. One time Steven had seized control in the kitchen from Jake and he fell and cracked his head open on the counter! Poor Victoria cried when she saw how much he was bleeding, scared that he was dying.

It took a lot of hugs and kisses to convince her otherwise...

"She... God. Fuck." Marc swore softly, sniffing. "She--she called me daddy."

Your jaw dropped and you gawked at him. Was Victoria already so attached to him? To them? But then again, she's never had a father figure, before, either, and suddenly having not one, but technically three men in her life doing all the things a dad should do? You can understand why she would--hell, why you would...

He dropped his arms and you could see the beginnings of tears clump in his beautiful eyelashes, heavy weights of emotion settling deep in his chest.

He looked up at the ceiling, trying to blink the tears away. God, he didn't deserve all of this. He didn't deserve this... this domesticity. Guys like him just didn't get to have a life like that. Not with everything he's had to do as a soldier, a mercenary... in Khonshu's name.

He didn't deserve such a beautiful woman, or the idolized gaze of her sweet and innocent baby girl.

'You're too hard on yourself, Marc.' Steven said to him in their headspace.

'Yeah, hermano...' Jake murmured.

"Marc, honey..." You say, leaning in and adjusting your position, so your head lay on his chest. You spread your hand over his heart, feeling how it hammered in the muscle of his chest.

"I just... What the hell did I do to get this?" He asked softly, bringing his arms around you to bury his nose in your hair.

"Well, I think it all started the day a certain little girl wiggled free of me and ran into a gift shop..."

Marc chuckled, squeezing you tight.

"Would you want us to?" He whispered. "Would you want us to stay? Would you be okay with that? I know it's soon, and--and I'm not saying we move in or anything like that, but..."

"I think it would crush Victoria if I ever shoo'd you boys away, honey." You assured him, tipping your head up to give him a sweet kiss.

You feel the tension slowly bleed from his body and his expression softens into a heartbreakingly sweet smile, his dark eyes sparkling with a warmth that you haven't seen before as your lips parted.

"Then we'll stay. As long as you both will put up with us." He said to you, his voice so quiet you almost couldn't catch his words.

"How do Steven and Jake feel about her calling you daddy?" You smile slyly.

Marc grins and drops his head back with a laugh, listening to the bickering of his headmates as his anxiety ebbed away.

"Oh... They're arguing over who Vicky is gonna call daddy next."

"We need to think of nicknames for you guys so she doesn't confuse you." You laughed with him.

Your laughter was cut short when you heard Victoria's door click open, and out she waddled, blanket clutched in one arm, Digger firmly squeezed into the crook of her elbow and her thumb was in her mouth. She only sucked her thumb when she was frightened, or severely anxious.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Marc asked, shooting to his feet even before you could, at her side in a split second.

You joined him and put your hands on her shoulders, looking into her drowsy and not-entirely-awake eyes. "Did you have a bad dream?"

She shook her head, mumbling something around her thumb.

"What is it, kiddo?" Marc inquired next.

She pulled her thumb out of her mouth with a pop.

"There's a bird-man in my room."

[spindle-girl]

Alec predicted Piggot, but not Sophia

How the PRT treats Sophia is something that used to be debated a fair amount a few years back when I was on other forums. Both in the canon scenario and potential what ifs that Wildbow answered to an extent. I don't think it's too hard to piece together if you're going back and looking for any mention of Sophia/Shadow Stalker, but it is spaced out between a bunch of different arcs and some of what Wildbow said got misquoted so I wanted to compile it all into one go.

Lots of quotes with explanations below, so the short of it is:

Alec wanted Sophia to keep quiet about the extent he controlled her for and guessed how Piggot would react in order to scare Sophia from speaking up. She didn't, but Alec turned out to be right. Piggot dropped her, Shadow Stalker no longer being worth it to keep around, and to sell that, she ensured Sophia was sent to jail where before she would have stayed as a member of the Wards. The biggest change for that being that she was compromised by Regent.

We know from 9.1 that Director Piggot believes her role as Director is ensure parahumans are integrated with regular people:

“You likely know Director Armstrong in Boston, how he tends to prioritize research and understanding parahumans. I concern myself with more concrete affairs. Public relations, parahumans as a part of America.”

At the end of 10.x, Alec's interlude where he controls Sophia up to the very end, he nails this attitude Piggot has and uses it to put doubt in Sophia's mind to stop her from telling someone and getting help:

“Here’s the thousand dollar question,” he mused, as he began following the steps outlined in the video, putting the knot together, “Will your boss tell your mom what happened with me controlling you?  If she keeps her mouth shut, well, this paints a pretty ugly picture, doesn’t it?” A tear rolled down his cheek.  He scoffed a little, blinked the tears out of her eyes. “But if she does tell, if she lets mommy know, then shit hits the fan.  It looks pretty fucking bad for her, and if word gets out, it’s as bad as it gets for public relations.  Scary, dangerous parahumans.  Not just lives at risk, but you could be controlled.  Ooooh, scary.  Nobody would ever be able to trust their coworkers or neighbors.  It’s the kind of stuff they want to keep quiet.”

Then, he threatens Sophia to keep quiet about him controlling her up to this point, telling her to sell the lie he told the other Undersiders, that he was going to let her go after walking her across the city, in order to keep the heat off him and maybe so his teammates don't find out he lied:

“I can feel your emotions.  I know I’ve convinced you.  You leave town, and if you don’t want me paying a visit, wherever you wind up, you keep your mouth closed about tonight.  They don’t need to know this was all my doing.  Things get messy that way, yeah?”

However, in later talks with Piggot (14.4, 16.3) we find that Sophia did tell her about him controlling her to threaten her mother and later herself with the suicide fake-out. Alec got it wrong. She trusted Piggot with that info, presumably hoping Piggot would get her mother to believe her story about being body-jacked when Alec used her to threaten her and maybe so that they'd go after Alec more seriously:

“The power has range.  I suspect the creator can stay miles away and still manage some control, but ventures closer for voyeuristic purposes or because it offers more control and faster response times.” “Much like Regent, hmm?” Tattletale paused.  “So you know that.” From the tone of the conversation, I would have expected a ‘No, you just told me.‘, but Tattletale wouldn’t have done that.  More likely that her power confirmed her thoughts. “Shadow Stalker debriefed us. What do we know about this woman who controls-”

~14.4

“I don’t think so,” Director Piggot replied, turning to level a glare at him.  She looked almost feral, even as her voice was controlled.  “See, I know you might try to kill me if these others weren’t around.  But the others won’t let you.  There’s Regent too: little to no compunctions, as we saw with Shadow Stalker.” Her eye darted to Tattletale, then to Grue, and finally to me. “Do they know the full story?” the Director asked. “No,” Tattletale replied.  She sighed a little. “Tell us what?” I asked. “I’m interested, too,” Grue added. The Director only smiled.

~16.3

So Piggot knows, but Alec was right about her having to make a choice. Does Piggot tell Sophia's mother, letting her know that her child didn't really try and attack her, that her body was stolen and she couldn't do a thing but watch?

Nope!

“Because of what happened, because she was still reeling from the time she spent as your meat puppet, she attacked her mom, who called the authorities.  They caught up just in time to catch her in her room, electrical cord around her neck.  Cost Shadow Stalker her probation, meaning she got stuck in some parahuman detention center until she’s eighteen.  And word is her mom doesn’t want her back when she’s finished the three-year sentence.  Last straw and everything.  Her life, put on hold, her family shattered.  Maybe she was damaged like you said, but you took her captive and tormented her until she went off the deep end.”

~18.3

She takes the other route Alec laid out. She kept quiet and used the opportunity to get rid of a compromised, potentially PR-damaging tool. And I think that's the real reason why she got sent to juive, because we know from Weld in 10.3 that Piggot wanted to keep Sophia around before finding out she was compromised despite attacking Vista and that it was Weld pushing for something to be done:

“No. This is serious. You assaulted a team member. I’m not about to let that slide.” ... A few seconds passed before she finally asked, “What are you going to do?” “After these guys are securely in custody, we’re going to have words with the Director. She wants you on this team, for whatever reason, so I don’t expect your probation will be broken, but there’s going to be consequences.”

There is the matter of the text messages Alec sent to the school and the police that may have helped changed how Piggot reacted, but it's doubtful because why would either of those institutions care enough about a months-old bullying incident with the city in the state it was in to contact the PRT about it? Dragon didn't mention informing Piggot either when she found it in her interlude.

Also, Piggot already knows Sophia was bullying a fellow student at this point. Her "guardian" in 5.4 was sent by the PRT for the school meeting and Armsmaster talked about knowing the incident in 7.x, Miss Militia's interlude.

None of what Wildbow said out of text would counter this either:

It's hard to unseat a crook-turned-cape once they're on board, because then you run the risk that the public discovers you're bringing less than savory types on board. Besides, in the PRT's view, she was more or less playing ball. Getting therapy, using tranq darts, attending patrols (if alone), attending her track team, and going out to movies with her best friend. If something came up at school, it was generally seen as a bump in the road to recovery. This is why she was as pissed as she was over the meeting at the school where everything came up. It straight up overturned her act. In a calmer situation, if things hadn't gone shit-sideways, stuff would have gone through and things would have changed. Not enough, but they would have.​ If Taylor had pushed and pushed and pushed (or if Taylor had joined the team and made an issue of it), maybe something would have happened, but even then... what do you do? It goes back to the question of how problematic it is to get rid of troublesome recruits. Sophia stays on the team in an official capacity, makes appearances, but generally it's for show, and she isn't allowed to patrol anymore (at which point she gets restless and snaps, which the PRT may or may not anticipate, depending on what's on the table).​

Had Leviathan not shown up in Brockton Bay, the PRT would eventually address the bullying issue brought up in 5.4, but their efforts wouldn't amount to much. It's contrasted with the scenario of her getting benched, where that would only happen if Taylor kept making an issue of it for the PRT or if she joined the team, giving Piggot another Ward to use. So if the text messages were relevant enough to fall under "If Taylor had pushed and pushed and pushed", Sophia would either get benched, or accounting for Regent being able to control her, just get sent to another team in another city. It would not be her getting sent to jail.

What's more, Piggot didn't just keep it from Sophia's family. None of the heroes, Wards or Protectorate, know about it either (15.x, 18.3). They're under the impression that Sophia had a breakdown after being let go and went home and threatened her mother before trying to kill herself.

“I’m tired of losing people,” Vista said. “We lost Gallant. Aegis too, and Velocity, Dauntless, Battery…” “Yeah. And Shadow Stalker,” Triumph offered. “She left,” Clockblocker said. “I’d still consider her a casualty,” Triumph said. “We might not have liked her, but she was one of us, and the enemy basically took her from us.”

~15.x

“Our focus right now is you.  You, who drove Shadow Stalker into a corner, to the point where she flipped out on her mom and tried to hang herself with an electrical cord.”

~18.3

They also weren't aware of her using lethal ammunition, also shown in 18.3, so she wouldn't have been jailed for that either:

“She was a hero because the other choice was juvie,” I said.  “In the months leading up to our kidnapping her, she was using real crossbow bolts.  Shooting them at people, Grue included.  If I remember right, she wasn’t supposed to have or be using any lethal ammo, on penalty of jail time.” “Do you have evidence?” Miss Militia asked. “Would it matter?  Does it matter?  Judging by what I saw, in my limited interaction with her, she was pretty psychotic.  There’s no way you guys spent all that time with her without something crossing your radar.  The night we took her, I baited her out and she tried to cut my throat.” “I understand where you’re coming from,” Miss Militia said, “But again, I have to ask for evidence.  I can’t take you at your word, there’s procedures to be followed.”

Piggot knows it wasn't Sophia that attacked her mom, she is already aware of the bullying at school and a few more text messages wouldn't change that with the city in the state it's in, Weld is having to push Piggot to act on Sophia attacking Vista, and she doesn't know about the lethal ammo. She still sent her to jail.

None of the above mattered to Piggot in making that decision. What mattered was the bad PR. That word could get out if people thought Sophia had been hurt, rather than her doing the hurting. If word did get out, then civilians would see the PRT failing to capture Regent and it would hurt their authority. But by ensuring a parahuman who "snapped" was successfully sent to jail, it shows that the PRT is able to address any problems within it's purview. Becoming convict is another way to add doubt to Sophia's story and being stuck in jail would keep her from easily talking to others about it.

Sophia risked telling the truth about what happened to her, but she couldn't operate in Brockton Bay anymore. She was compromised. She was useless and potentially harmful to Piggot's goals, so Piggot got rid of her.

[sixosix]

THAWED | LYNEY X FEM!READER SERIES

THAWED (MASTERLIST) — the lyney childhood-enemies-to-frenemies-to-lovers-kinda series that no one asked for, ft. fluff, a whole lot of bickering, flirting, and everything in between

STATUS. complete.

OTHER INFO.

DISCLAIMER. will contain spoilers. this series will be as dark as genshin lore can be, and this won’t strictly follow genshin’s actual lore—i’ll be making up a lot of stuff for the sake of the fic so there will be inaccuracies, NOT CANON COMPLIANT!! the timeline of events will be vastly different. each chapter will have their own warnings as well, so keep an eye out for that!

NOTES. hello, everyone !!!!!!! welcome to my lyney series inspired by taylor’s reputation album. how it works is each chapter will be titled after each song off of the album as u can see below,,, hope u enjoy reading as excited i am for rep tv!! :D

tysm to naosaki and kruinka for helping me brainstorm w this fic (and also helping me when i was visibly all over the place because of this series)

CHAPTERS.

i — are you ready for it?

The House of the Hearth was perfect. This was where you thrived—where no one else could take this feeling away. But then Lynette became a part of the ‘family’, and with it, she dragged along Lyney.

ii — i don’t wanna hurt you (i just wanna be)

You look more like a soldier than an orphan, Lyney thinks. It’s beautiful in all the wrong ways.

iii — you gotta leave before you get left

Desperately, Lyney melts them away, but your footsteps have already gone out of earshot. It’s an answer in itself: Don’t bother. Take the hint, Lyney; you already messed it up.

iv — for you i would fall from grace

“What now? What do you want me to do? Strut back into their lives and demand all their Fatui secrets as if I never left?”

Aether nestles into his seat. “Prove to me that I can trust them just as much as you do. Who knows, you might get something out of this, too.”

v — you must like me for me

Lyney laughs. It sounds like music that has haunted you for years—and with a new one playing, it’ll torment you for years more. He loosens his grip but keeps you caged in, still. You’re twirled around to face him, and something about his expression has you swallowing thickly.

“You’re even more stunning than I remember, ma chérie.”

vi — look what you made me do

You frown at him, your face upside down in his view. “That was unfair.”

“I have to be if I want to beat you.”

vii — all eyes on you, my magician

He doesn’t take his eyes off you, even once when his fingers reached out to fish out a champagne flute. Lyney still has that stupid smile on his face, the rim of his glass against his lips. You’re hit with the startling realization that you want to kiss him.

Fuck, what?

viii — you’ve ruined my life, by not being mine

“You’re so warm,” you murmur to his skin.

Goosebumps blossom all over his body. Your face brushes against the side of his neck. “Do you hate it?”

“I like it. My hands are cold. Every part of you is warm.”

ix — us traitors never win

Lyney knew that this would happen. He knew well enough to predict what ‘Father’ would make them do, but still—

“We understand,” Lynette says, her eyes darting down to Lyney’s clenched fists.

The Knave stares at Lyney, and the strength of her stare has Lyney lowering his eyes to the floor. “Do you?” she asks. They wisely stay silent: Lynette’s hesitance and Lyney’s frustration. “Then I trust this won’t happen any longer.”

x — king of my heart, body and soul

You bit back the bite of ice and wondered how ironic it was that every time your Vision acted out, it was, more often than not, tied to Lyney.

“What, so you expect me to believe you’d just go against your ‘Father’ like that?”

xi — baby can we dance, through an avalanche?

Lyney supposes he can’t hate Aether that much for that. And selfishly, Lyney supposes he can’t truly hate Aether because he brought you back to him. In a vague sense of camaraderie, Lyney understands.

xii — there is an indentation in the shape of you

And so you two stand face to face with your old home, the House of the Hearth. It still had the same grand doors you remember, the same living room, and the same fireplace, but the emptiness was unfamiliar. It was unsettling, like a bad dream.

This used to be your home.

xiii — he built a fire just to keep me warm

“I think it’s special. We’re twins, Lyney and I, but I think if I were in his body for even a day, I wouldn’t be able to recreate what you two have. He treasures you deeply, more than you know.”

xiv — hold on to the memories, and i will hold onto you

fin.

END NOTE.

thawed related tags you might want to check out:

#thawed fanart <3

#thawed memes i want to hang in a museum

of course, if you want to check out akagi's series of mind boggling fanart:

#akagi0021 carrying the entirety of thawed

FANART COMPILATION

our favorite akagi0021 has been blessing me with THAWED fanart (!!!) and i decided that i need to compile all of them for me and to make YOU see the art as well... BECAUSE THEY'RE ALL SO GOOD (with permission of course)

CH 1 | reader's new outfit reveal

CH 2 | lyney doesn’t know how he looks at reader

lyney and MC height difference before/after IM ON MY KNEES theyre so cute

CH 4 | aether and paimon confronting reader

bonus fanart of lyney and reader after training :(( so cute

CH 5 | lyney seeing reader!!!!!! aahhh his eyes

lyney as a kid and then lyney now (grown up) THIS ONE IS INSANE. little lyney is so adorable but then look at the lyney now

CH 6 | LOOK AT THIS ONE!! scene of lyney saying “she’s hiding something” except akagi made him unnecessarily sexy wtf

CH 7 | drunk reader driving lyney crazy... (i went crazy)

CH 8 | "lyney's not my boyfriend" ; the ending scene with childe, aether, and reader!! they all look so good T__T

CH 10 | lyney's "i would. i would for you" OUGH YESS

++ ADDITIONAL!!!

and look at this so so so adorable collection of doodles of chapter six by sunny @emanami !!! her artstyle is to live for its SO cute (look at the siblings!!!)

more of sunny's cute drawings: thawed!mc biting lyney's cheek like what i want to do

look at @lacrimae-lotos's version of mc!!!! SO CUTE look at her piercings and her eyes aahhhh

akagi's art dump from different chapters | theyre all so cutue im sobbing i love akagis mc and lyney so much T__T (LYNEY BRAIDING MC'S HAIR)

lyney doing the stretch tactic ohh he is so slick modern au with akagi's thawed!mc and lyney at the beach i fainted

++ LOOK AT AKAGI'S VERSION OF MC! shes so lovely

design headcanons (theyre all so precious)

akagi's reader as a genshin char !!

reader's outfit for chapter seven SO PRETTY

thawed!mc's eyepatch lore... aether is so silly

akagi's au where mc never left the house and they're enemies to lovers yes yes yes yesyse

© SIXOSIX 2024. all rights reserved. do not repost or reproduce any part of this work.

[kamiana-ruzha]

so, because of what is happening on twitter with opbee currently, i think some things need to be said.

for context: there's a trend "we listen we don't judge" going around social media, which, well, most of the time you're not listened and judged and roasted instead. so someone posted an 'opbee edition', asking of people's opinions on the pairing. at first it's been...more or less okay. but i won't be wrong if i say shit hit the fan rather quickly.

there were words about how disgusting the ship is. how disgusting are the shippers. there were words that the shippers must be investigated. there was a death wish and i think kai agreed with it?

why there was so much hate?

because people see them as father and son. because Bumblebee is infantilised by the fandom. and that is the problem. not the shipping or shippers.

so... let's go over all the facts, okay? calmly. read all of this post please.

1) Father and son

the biggest argument why this is a 'trash ship' is because people *see* them as father and son. yes. *see them*. they're not father and son. there's no canon confirmation of Prime ever adopting Bumblebee, or Bee being blood-related to him. if you google it -- you'll get a wattpad AU! fanfic. they're not canonically related in any way.

why do people see them like that?

as far as i'm aware, it started in g1 and some tfone voice actors said that they see them like that too, but a) i don't have the interview, b) it all grew out of a meme.

and that argument crumbles after a couple questions. what a father would Prime be for sending his alleged son to war? even after his arch nemesis literally yanked his alleged son's throat out, taking his voice away (tfp)? yeah, that's a great father an son relationship, don't you think?

a less... scientific or journalistic or rational, call it what you want, answer, is...daddy issues.

people just see Prime as a father figure and because Bumblebee is infantilised he's seen as his child.

i have daddy issues too, i don't deny it. my father was emotionally unavailable until recently. but to people who say only fatherless ship opbee -- look into your own traumas. please. talk to a therapist and then think twice about telling others something like that.

2) Bumblebee is a child

no he is not. there's no canon info about how old he is. from what I was able to find - he's six millions old. SIX MILLIONS. Optimus is nine millions, and that COMBINING his existence as Orion Pax (4-4,5 mil) and as Optimus (the rest). so, do the math. Bumblebee might be just a little older than him, older than PRIME, but a bit younger than PAX.

the infantilisation of Bumblebee is a huge problem for transformers fandom and the canon itself. no-one takes him seriously. and yes, i agree, he might be in his very late teens or a young adult, but he's not a child, not a toddler, not a middleschooler, not a minor. look at Bayverse Bumblebee. look at War for Cybertron (especially Netflix) Bumblebee. look at Earthspark Bumblebee. even G1 is *not* a child.

think about it. would a child be able to kill Skyquake or any other Decepticon (tfp)? would a child be a mercenary, that avoided war up until it killed cybertron (netflix wfc)? wouldn't a child hesitate when sent through the city that is currently being destroyed and heavily bombarded to tell some guy named 'Optimus' that Zeta Prime is dead (wfc game)?

think about it twice. rewatch anything but animated while watching for "signs of adult personality".

think thrice before saying Bee is a child or child-coded. at most, he's neurodivergent-coded, or just someone who's not really in touch with his emotions (think the rage moments)

3) age gap

there's none. i said about it slightly higher. at most their age gap is three millions old. that is insignificant for beings that are essentially immortal, unless they get sick or killed.

now think of all the mech+human pairings. how come that kind of age gap is normalised?

i'm not saying that to shame the fans of Charlie/Bee or Mirage/Noah or Optimus/Michaela or any other, no. i like those ships. every ship is relevant.

the double standard and hypocrisy is not. it's not okay.

4) all, or anything of listed above makes people uncomfortable

it's okay. your feelings are relevant.

and i, a shoker, don't like opmeg too much. i didn't like that my whole twitter was only them after tfone. you know what i did? i added 'opmeg' and 'megop' into ignored words. and that's all. my soul is at peace.

is it so hard to do the same? let the shippers be. are they hurting you? no. are they hurting anyone else? no. so just use the feature twitter and tumblr have had for a long while and bluesky has too. use it. and ignore the ship if it makes your eyes hurt. spare yourself and spare the people that like the ship.

5) there's no dynamics

no there is. watch fall of cybertron trailer. rethink all "Optimus I'd die for you" and actual deaths.

6) the shippers are sick and other words people say

you know what i read? i read that someone thinks that blocking shippers isn't enough, they want them, they want me dead for shipping and creating content. that i'm weird for shipping opbee. that i'm sick. that i, and others, need to be investigated.

no, no we are not weird. i don't know about everyone, i only know about myself. i have issues. i have trauma, hell, who doesn't? i know it could have been worse, for example, if i stayed in Kyiv after the war began. opbee helps me cope. and it helps not only me.

have you.. actually mindfully, objectively read what is posted under opbee tag? yes there's a lot of valveplug, but have you seen the size difference? the kink is tickled.

but the content shippers make is wholesome, cute and comforting. hell, opbee helped me get over my self halm issues, slightly helped with my anger issues, that's what my first fics of them are about.

any ship might be someone's way to cope. respect it. respect people's feelings. it saddens me that empathy doesn't exist anymore. think what impact your words may have on someone before writing those words. think for a moment more. and think again, would it be worthy? would saying that someone's favourite ship is shit and they're sick for loving it be worthy of someone killing themselves? and i'm not exaggerating -- that happened many times.

if you think it's worth it...just block me, okay? like i blocked many people who asked to block them if you ship opbee.

respect other people. respect their feelings, their ships, their requests.

and don't be a dick.

[morallysuperiorlips]

Fanfiction Taught Me 90% of What I Know About Writing

That’s the gods honest truth. And I’m saying that as someone who has a literal college degree in writing.

I took SO MANY writing classes in college. All genres. Creative. Playwriting. Screenwriting. Editorial. Journalistic. Business. Technical. I’ve been writing since I could hold a pencil correctly, and really started to pursue it in 2nd grade when every teacher following gushed about my writing skills. I can confidently say I’ve been honing my craft for over two decades.

However, I didn’t really git gud at writing until I started really writing fanfiction. Like, joining a fandom and actively writing an ongoing fic for it.

Again, I’d taken years upon years of writing classes. I learned story structure, grammar, theming, POVs, tone, etc. all throughout school. I learned how to receive feedback and edit my work a little more down the road. I learned from professionals in the field. I worked with mentors.

However, none of that helped my skyrocket my skills like writing fanfiction did.

Fanfiction taught me how to actually write deep, nuanced, and compelling characters. I never once filled out a 200-question character sheet for any character I wrote on some silly school assignment. I never knew how to really know my characters until I was writing OCs for a fandom.

Fanfiction taught me the value of being concise. My schooling had drilled the concept of long, purple prose into me over time and in writing for a fandom for a children’s game, I unlearned that real quick.

Fanfiction really taught me the concept of “show, don’t tell.” I never really knew what a penchant I had for info dumping until somebody pointed out to me most of my headcanon’d lore drops happened in exposition and not in action.

Fanfiction taught me how to worldbuild. Eating the canon of my preferred fandom gave me a lot of time to strengthen my chops while I came up with my own answers to canon lore I hated.

Fanfiction taught me consistency. In school, I mostly wrote short stories. I hadn’t really bitten off a longer project until I started writing a longfic, and in doing so, I learned how to keep my characters, plot, and world consistent for a prolonged period of chapters.

Fanfiction gave me a close-knit community to consistently bounce my ideas off of, and give me feedback that actually served me in terms of bettering my skills and the story I was writing. Not just for the sake of meeting the measures of a grade or rubric given by a teacher.

I could go on and on, but tl;dr, I owe my current skillset and understanding of writing to writing fic. I wouldn’t be at the level I am without it. Honestly, I wouldn’t even be writing my current WIP without it.

So, to anyone who might have told you that fanfic is a waste of time, they are just objectively wrong. And if you’re reading this thinking for yourself that fanfic is a waste of time, well, you’re stupid and also objectively wrong :>

Fanfiction is valuable. Don’t underestimate it.

[very-d1pper]

inspired by a post from @jamandjazz

How Johnny Cade, Dallas Winston, and Steve Randle are affected by their parent issues.

ok so keep in mind i havent read the book since december (i dont have my own copy) so this might be a bit wrong. im using info from my mind, the movie, the musical, tiktok, and here.

Johnny Cade

so its canon that johnny wouldve ran away if it werent for the gang (starting off strong with dally-johnny parallels OUCH)

the abuse from his parents definitely gave him a fucked up sense on what it means to feel loved

which is why johnny gets along with dally so well, i'll get into that more in dally's part

he 100% thinks that the entire world hates him except for the gang

someone said that he is so sweet its sick, not true. the abuse definitely toughened him up enough that he will be mean to strangers

he canonically is somewhat responsible (going out to the store to buy supplies and giving ponyboy a note)

im saying that because im pretty sure pony says something like twobit and someone else in the gang would forget to buy something johnny remembered

johnny learned that from having to live out on the street sometimes when his parents fought or kicked him out for multiple days

he is the living definition of forgive but never forget

he just wants a home

i personally hc that the abuse started as johnny grew older, maybe when he was 6-8 years old

which is why johnny (especially in the musical) still cares about his parents

because he remembers that they WERE good people

and he hopes to bring them back eventually

Dallas Winston

oh this man...

ran away from his problems. thats canon

his mom died when she gave birth and thats why his dad is the alcoholic deadbeat abuser he is

the abuse from his parents gave him a fucked up sense on what it means to love

which is why he can talk to johnny so well because johnny is used to the type of love dally gives

he 100% hates the world except for the gang

the abuse toughened up both johnny and dally, the thing is dally grew up with it, johnny was raised with love at first

also dally's environment in ny, that place is rough in many areas

tulsa doesnt have that, at least not on the level of ny

he's rough with everyone because thats what he learned

Steve Randle

UGH THIS MAN BRO

screw u se hinton for giving us NOTHING abt him

anyways!!

the neglect sooo fucked him up

then his dad giving physical money for forgiveness?

hell nahhh

steve definitely felt like he cannot be loved without paying someone

like with real money

which made him feel unlovable because he's like broke as fuck

soda was the first person to show him what love actually is

his mom uhh eloped to wherever after steve's birth ig idfk

steve thinks everything in the world comes with a price, even an ounce of love

i literally cant think of shit for this man rn

All Three

accidentally trauma bonding

johnny mentioned something then both steve and dally said "same"

genuinely concerning from an outsider standpoint but really funny to them

if it was modern au darry or soda wouldve sent them to therapy

one time johnny got kicked out and went to the curtis house and found steve in the kitchen

j: "kicked out?"

s: "...yeah"

j: "same."

then dally walks in

d: "bottles got thrown at me in buck's place"

j: "ptsd?"

d: "no-" *remembers he's with two people who had it happen to them* "...yeah"

j and s- "its good."

johnny convinces them to do a cuddle blob thing (the gang's done them before)

darry wakes up and see them, doesnt comment but remembers for blackmail

[bnhaobservation]

THE TODOROKI FAMILY: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

So this is a giant wall of information I searched for my fics as well as answers to many questions I saw around the net about the Todoroki family. Answers are based on canon and Japanese culture; occasionally I’ve also added things that might seem the most realistically possible option. You are free to disagree. Also remember things are changing, Japanese people are not all the same, and I’m not Japanese so, even though I documented myself, I might be wrong. Consider all this food for thoughts, a crutch to help you to find info, and not the holy bible and make sure to document yourself.

I started with general data and then I placed the rest of the information chronologically following their history, discussing canon facts but also things like how divorce works in Japan and why Rei couldn't ask it, beliefs, child abuse and which is its punishment, stance on therapy, schools and so on, plus some info about other things which end up connecting with the Todoroki.

I hope people can find it of some use and yes, it’s really long but I preferred to put everything in a single post. If something relevant about the Todoroki will be revealed in the future I’ll probably update this.

XX WHAT DO THE TODOROKI’S NAMES MEAN?

The meaning of a Japanese name is generally given by the kanji that form that name. Different kanji forming the same name give that name a different meaning. Occasionally the reading of the name (which might even differ from the standard reading of the kanji) is also considered as an additional meaning.

Tokoroki (轟): “roar, thunder, boom resound”. In this case it likely refers to the sound of a roaring fire, in fact in the manga the chapter in which Enji fight the High-End called ‘Moeyo Todoroke! VS Nōmu: HIGH END’ (燃えよ轟け！VS脳無：ハイエンド “Flaming Roar! vs. Nōmu: High-End”), however ‘todoroku’ can also refer to “to be well-known; to be famous” which might be a nod to how Shōto is the son of the famous Number 2. It’s a relatively common surname, especially in the Saga Prefecture, Japan.

Enji (炎司): “flame” (炎 ‘en’) and “boss” (司 ‘ji’).

Tōya (燈矢): “lamp” (燈 ‘tō’) and “arrow” (矢 ‘ya’). Tōya is also an ‘alternate reading’ for 18 (‘tō’ と is the reading for 十 “ten” and ‘ya’ や is the reading for 八 “eight”) which is the day in which Tōya had birth. The story has another Tōya, Setsuno Tōya of the “Eight Bullets” (鉄砲玉 八斎衆 ‘Teppōdama Hassaishū’) but the name of this Tōya is written all in katakana, making impossible to guess which was meant to be its meaning.

Fuyumi (冬美): “winter” (冬 ‘fuyu’) and “beauty” (美 ‘mi’). Fuyumi is born short before the beginning of winter, so her name might also be a reference to that.

Natsuo (夏雄): “summer” (夏 ‘natsu’) and “excellent male” (雄 ‘o’). Natsuo is born in summer, so his name is likely a reference to that.

Shōto (焦凍): “burned” (焦 ‘shō’) and “frozen” (凍 ‘to’). His name is a clear reference to his Quirk.

Rei (冷): “cold” (冷 ‘rei’). It might be coincidental but one of the standard ways for how to stay “zero” in Japanese is to say ‘rei’ (written with a different kanji, 零) and is used in expressions like ‘rei do’ (零度 “zero degrees”). Japanese women discharge their maiden name once they marry so, currently, Rei is just Todoroki Rei.

Himura (氷叢): “ice” (氷 ‘hi’) and “gathering, collection” (叢 ‘mura’). I couldn’t find traces of people having the surname ‘Himura’ written with those kanji. It’s generally written as 日村 (“sun village”), 緋村 (“scarlet village”), 火村 (“fire village”), 木村 (“tree village”) or other variations. The surname is a reference to the Himura’s ice Quirk.

XX WHAT DOES THE TODOROKI HERO AND VILLAIN NAMES MEAN?

FLAME HERO ENDEAVOR (フレイム ヒーロー エンデヴァー): in English is pretty self explanatory. In Japanese ‘endeavor’ would be ‘doryoku’ (努力 “effort”). [Chap. 356] In Japan there is a stronger belief in effort as opposed to innate ability. Effort is seen as necessary to fulfill a social obligation to family, peers, and community. From childhood Japanese people are forced to focus on their effort, seeing it as the cause of success. According to society, if one does not succeed, they were not trying hard enough. This is unrelated to the child’s grades; children always need to put forth more effort. Enji’s choice for his Hero name stand in stark contrastto how All Might try to sell himself for a natural born Hero. Also it’s possible originally Enji’s Hero name wasn’t meant to be “Flame Hero Endeavor” as in Chap. 3 he’s called ‘Nenshō-kei HERO ENDEAVOR’ (燃焼系ヒーローエンデヴァー “Burning hero Endeavor”) and only later Horikoshi went for an English word instead.

SHŌTO (ショート) - AIR CON HERO SHŌTO (エア コン ヒーロー ショート Air Conditioner Hero Shōto): although it sounds like Shōto’s given name, his Hero name is written all in Katakana. Writing something in Katakana gives it a foreign look or is used to put emphasis on it. Shōto didn’t explain why he picked it up but he did so in a time in which he was trying to find his own identity, so his choice might have been due to him not knowing yet who he was going to become or him wanting to be acknowledged for himself, not as an extension of Endeavor. [Chap. 45] Eight years after the end of the war, we learn Shōto added to his Hero name ‘Air Conditioner Hero’, which might be a playful reference to his Quirk, but his choice could have been moved also by how he wanted to be a reassuring Hero. [Chap. 431]

Dabi (荼毘): it’s generally translated as “cremation” but the kanji in it actually means 荼 “suffering/harm” and 毘 “to help” so as to collectively mean “helping from suffering and harm”. The truth is the word ‘Dabi’ (荼毘), used in the sentences ‘Dabi-sō’ (荼毘葬 “cremation burial”) and ‘dabi ni fusu’ (荼毘に付す “performing cremation”), is actually used to transliterate a Buddhist term borrowed from Sanskrit (ध्यापयति / dhyāpayati that in Pāli becomes ‘jhāpeti’ that in Chinese Buddhism becomes ‘jabita’, abbreviated in ‘jabi’ that finally in Japanese becomes ‘dabi’). ‘Dabi’ is used only at Buddhist funerals and not in Shintō ones (in Japan Shintō and Buddhism are the two most practiced religions) and refers only to “cremating the deceased’s body”, so it generally does not include paying respects to the deceased during the funeral at the ceremonial hall (式場 ‘shikijō’) or removing the casket and transporting the body to the crematorium. Another popular word one could use to refer to cremation is ‘sōren’ (葬斂), which actually refers to a series of ceremonies in which a deceased person is buried, cremated, or placed in a grave but with another IMPORTANT difference compared to ‘dabi’, as ‘sōren’ includes placing the deceased in a coffin with tears and pain where ‘dabi’ merely refers to the act of cremating a body and doesn’t invoke sad and painful feelings. In fact it’s recommended that if you want to imply the sadness of saying goodbye to a loved one or a close one you’ll use ‘sōren’, not ‘dabi’. By choosing this Villain name Tōya subtly implies he doesn’t believe his family mourned him. In addition to this, another reason why Tōya might have chosen that alias is a Japanese proverb which says ‘Ryūtō Dabi’ (竜頭蛇尾 lit. “Dragon Head Snake Tail”), which means “promising beginning, disappointing end” and symbolically refers to the possibility of anticlimax in life, and especially in endeavors. For example, one focus so much on achieving a goal that it becomes all-consuming, larger-than-life in importance and value or, one might indeed achieve his great goal, but fail to plan for “what comes next”, creating a kind of anti-climax. Horikoshi was aware of this possible connection to Dabi’s Villain name as he drew Dabi as a snake in the character presentation for Vol. 30, which is the famous volume which contains “Dabi’s Dance”. The whole ‘Ryūtō Dabi’ reference might be referring to Endeavor’s efforts to get a masterpiece that would surpass All Might, destroying his family in the process and causing Dabi to return the favor by destroying Endeavor as a Hero, but it can be seen as a reference to Dabi himself, either because he started with a fire more powerful than his father (promising beginning) but then ended up discharged because he couldn’t handle it (disappointing end) or because he too has an all consuming goal and no plan for after he’ll reach it (as he plans to die).

Geten (外典): “outside/foreign/other” (外 ‘ge’) “rule/code/ceremony” (典 ‘ten’). You might be familiar with it being translated as “apocrypha” (外典 ‘Geten’), however that’s because it’s a word meant to refer to non-Buddhist writings (esp. Confucian writings) and therefore it can be used to translate also the word apocrypha (i.e. as opposed to the Biblical canon). Likely the name might be a reference to how Geten wants to follow Re-Destro’s rule and not the Hero society’s rules. "Ulta Analysis" defines this as his Villain name and states that his real name is unknown, likely because Horikoshi didn't want to reveal yet he is also an Himura. Of course, since Geten was recruited into the Meta Liberation Army from when he was a child and he didn’t even go to school in order for him to spend all his time training his Quirk (which means his existence was kept hidden as going to school for the first 9 years is mandatory in Japan) and he seems completely devoted to Re-Destro, it’s possible his real name and Villain name are the same and he had no need to have two identities and he only discharged his surname, as the Himura family was finished. We might never know. By the way, yes, Geten is not a Todoroki, I included him because he’s a Himura and therefore related to them.

XX WHICH ARE THE TODOROKIS’ BIRTHDAYS?

Enji: August 8 [Chap. 37]

Rei: currently unknown

Tōya: January 18 [Chap. 240]

Fuyumi: December 6 [Chap. 192]

Natsuo: July 1 [Chap. 189]

Shōto: January 11 [Chap. 11]

XX SINCE WE DON’T KNOW THE YEARS IN WHICH THE TODOROKI ARE BORN, WHICH ARE THE TODOROKIS’ AGES WHEN SHŌTO STARTS ATTENDING U.A. IN APRIL?

Enji: 45, but he’ll turn 46 in August [Chap. 37, which gives his age as 45, takes place in May, meaning that in August he’ll turn 46]

Rei: currently unknown

Tōya: 23 [Tōya and Shōto are born in the same month, Tōya on the 18th Shōto on the 11th. In Chap. 302 is said that in spring, when Shōto is 5, Tōya is 13. This means they’ve 8 years of difference so when Shōto is 15, Tōya is 23]

Fuyumi: 22 but she’ll turn 23 in December [Chap. 192, which gives her age as 22, takes place in November, meaning that in Deceber she’ll turn 23. This is confirmed also by chap. 302 in which in spring, when Shōto is 5 and Tōya 13, she’s still 12. By the way all this makes her born in the same year as Tōya but 11 months after him]

Natsuo: 18 but he’ll turn 19 in July [Chap. 189, which gives his age as 19, takes place in November, meaning that in April he wasn’t yet that age. This is confirmed also by how he’s at the first year of university, so he needs to be of this age. It also means that when his age is given in chap. 302 it isn’t July yet as when Shōto is 5, Tōya 13 and Fuyumi 12 he’s still 8]

Shōto: 15 [In order to attend U.A. high, Shōto needs to be 15. His profile in chap. 11, which takes place in the second week of April, confirms this.]

XX WHICH ARE THE TODOROKIS’ HEIGHT?

Enji: 195 cm [Chap. 37]

Rei: currently unknown. If we compare her height to Enji in the image in chap. 166 she should be taller than Fuyumi, however recent chapters seem to depict her as shorter than Fuyumi, so either Horikoshi retconned her height or he didn’t realize he draw her too tall in chap. 166.

Tōya: 176 cm [Chap. 240]

Fuyumi: 160 cm [Chap. 192]

Natsuo: 181 cm [Chap. 189]

Shōto: 176 cm [Chap. 11]

XX WHICH ARE THE TODOROKIS’ LIKES?

Enji: kuzumochi [Chap. 37]

Rei: gentiana [Chap. 187]

Tōya: soba [Chap. 426]

Fuyumi: soap opera [Chap. 192]

Natsuo: sashimi, the sea [Chap. 189]

Shōto: soba noodles (the kind that aren’t hot) [Chap. 11]

XX OTHER EXTRA INFO ABOUT THE TODOROKIS?

Enji: he can switch his beard and mustache flames on and off but he typically leaves them burning as a flashy show of power. Originally his beard was meant to be longer but, later in the story, it was reduced just to stubbles. [Chap. 37] Blood type: AB. [Ultra Archive] Fighting style: short distance combat. [Ultra Archive] He was the first to become number 2 at 20. He is ranked first on the "Heroes That Look Like Villains" ranking. [Q&A from Vol. World Heroes] When he became Number 1, if public support had been all that mattered to decide the ranking, he would have been actually Number 4 and, from this, we can guess he would have been Number 5 when All Might was Number 1. [Chap. 185]

Rei: unknown

Tōya: he hates fish [Chap. 240] Fighting style: vanguard attack. [Ultra Archive] He says “I get motion sick easily” (俺酔いやすいんだ ‘Ore yoi yasuinda’) when Spinner is driving them [Chap. 160]… however Spinner drove much worse in “Heroes rising” and he’s just fine and the same goes for when they ride Machia despite also watching a screen as Skeptic edited [Vol. 30] so either Horikoshi forgot or his stomach isn’t actually so weak. His tear duct got burned, making impossible for him to cry [Chap. 257] but, despite this, Horikoshi will show him crying tears of blood in chap. 301 and normal tears in chap. 390 and 426. Chap. 350 shows also he could cry when he was at the orphanage so if he lost his ability to cry it was after it. After surviving to the fire at Sekoto Peak his ability to perceive pain or other somatic sensations was dulled. [Chap. 350] He has some heat resistance but it’s nowhere near enough to handle the hotness of his own fire up close. [Chap. 351] It’s remarked more than once by Garaki how Tōya has “good eyes” (良い目 ‘Ii me’) [Chap. 221] and underlined in the story as he’s often the one who first catch sight of something and can reproduce final moves after just watching them a few times which is how he learnt all his father’s final moves but also Shōto’s final move “Phosphor” (燐 ‘Rin’). [Chap. 363] Tōya seems to be more prone to favor his left hand, although he has been shown capable to use his Quirk with his right hand as well or with both of them at the same time.

Fuyumi: She never got over to the fact she couldn’t help Shōto and became a teacher in answer to this. [Chap. 192, Ultra Archive] She encouraged Natsuo to go to university by volunteering to take care of things at home. [Chap. 187]

Natsuo: He decided to go to University due to Fuyumi volunteering to take care of things at home. He has a girlfriend he met when he started university and who seems to have animal ears (likely mouse) so she might qualify as a Heteromorph. At the end of the story he plans to move in her family register. [Chap. 187-189-259-426] He has a driving licence (in Japan the minimum driving age is 18 years old for a car and 16 years old for a motorcycle) [Chap. 426]

Shōto: If he uses his ice Quirk for too long he can give himself frostbites. [Chap. 31] Blood type 0. [Ultra Archive] Fighting style: long & middle distance combat. [Ultra Archive] During the first class buss drive he’s the only student who falls asleep. [Chap. 13] He became Number 2 at 24 in May. [Chap. 431] After turning Number 2 Shōto decided to go to a bowl and chopsticks-making class in Ishikawa to learn the Wajima-nuri and the Yamanaka-nuri lacquerware styles as he likes to eat and thinks food will taste better if he eats with stuffs he made himself, the idea coming to him as he was praying at Tōya's Butsudan. [Chap. 431]

Geten: He is from one of the Himura branch families, he was found by Re-Destro, likely when he was a kid. [Chap. 387] He didn’t go to school but spent his time perfectioning his ‘meta ability’ (aka his control of his Quirk). [Chap. 228]

XX WHAT EXACTLY ARE QUIRKS?

“Quirks” (〝個性〟 ‘kosei’, lit. “Individuality”), formerly known as a “Meta Abilities” (異能 ‘inō’, lit. “Extraordinary Ability”), are “paranormal abilities” (超常 ‘chōjō’) that people started possessing in the BNHA world around 140 years before the start of the story.

Currently Quirks are assumed to be the next stage of evolution in the human race and who has them also has only one joint instead than two in their pinky toe. People without a Quirk are called ‘mukosei’ (〝無個性〟 “Quirkless”). Currently around 80% of the world’s population has a Quirk.

The Quirk can manifest at birth, or at a late age. Generally, by the age of 4 people has manifested their Quirk though it’s not mandatory. Usually a person inherits his Quirk by one of his parents or manifest an amalgamation of his parents’ Quirks. Rarely, a child can manifest a Quirk that is not inherited by his parents and is considered something like a mutation.

The whole collective of physical and genetic traits that compose a person's Quirk (aka the primary Quirk power, as well as the specific body parts that allow said primary power to function properly) are called Quirk Factors (個性因子 ‘Kosei Inshi’).

Quirks are classified as emitter/operative-type (発動系 ‘Hatsudō-kei’ Lit. “operative/invoking/activation type”), transformation/composite-type (変形系 ‘Henkei-kei’ Lit “transformation/deformation/deformity/monster type”) and mutant/heteromorph-type (異形型 ‘igyō-gata’ Lit. “fantastic/grotesque/strange-looking/suspicious-looking/irregular shape”).

Some Quirks can steal or erase other people’s Quirks. Drugs like Trigger (トリガー) can give a boost to an individual's Quirk, simultaneously weakening their sense of reason. Taking advantage of Eri’s Quirk, Rewind, and using her body the Shie Hassaikai created Quirk-destroying bullets who could permanently destroy a person’s Quirk by damaging their Quirk factor.

In terms of Quirk Enji and Rei are likely 4th generation (same as All Might and Midoriya’s mother) which makes their children 5th generation.

XX WHAT QUALIFIES AS HETERMORPH?

Who has a Quirk classified as mutant/heteromorph-type (異形型 ‘igyō-gata’ Lit. “fantastic/grotesque/strange-looking/suspicious-looking/irregular shape”). There isn’t really a clear cut between who’s Heteromorph and who’s not.

The name implies it applies not just to who looks like an animal but to whoever who has a ‘strange’ look, which might imply that whoever doesn’t look perfectly human is an heteromorph, which would mean people like Cementos and Ectoplasm, but also kids like Ashido, Ojiro, Jirō, Sero can qualify, as they’ve not human physical characteristics.

It’s worth to mention though that people canonically considered Heteromorph, like Kōda and his mother (who suffered discrimination due to it) and Tokoyami, have Quirks like Anivoice, which Kōda inherited from his mother, and Dark Shadow which are more an emitter type Quirk. The key to this might be that they’re the result of mixing different Quirks and manifesting traits of both (same as Shōto), so they inherited an Hetermorph appearance that mixes with an emitter Quirk.

Eraser Head will claim he can’t erase heteromorph Quirks [Chap. 14] but later he’ll use a tail Quirk as an example of how he would be capable to stop the tail from moving. [Chap. 135] What he means is likely he can’t erase their heteromorphic appearance and if this appearance gives them bonus like a body covered in hard stones or horns, he can’t affect/erase them.

Long story short likely the term Heteromorph applies to whoever has a Quirk which also strongly alters his look so that he didn’t look like human anymore and whose not human characteristics are permanent hence Erasure can’t erase them. This Quirk though can manifest in combination with another Quirk of the emitter or transformation type.

This means Natsuo’s girlfriend can be defined a Heteromorph, though it’s possible since her only not-human characteristic seems to be her ears, people won’t mind them much.

XX WHICH ARE THE TODOROKI QUIRKS?

All the Todorokis have Quirks of the emitter/operative-type (発動系 ‘Hatsudō-kei’ Lit. “operative/invoking/activation type”).

Enji: HELLFLAME (ヘルフレイム “Hellflame”). A powerful fire Quirk. If he uses it too much though he overheat, which slows down his whole system. [Chap. 188]

Rei: Hyōketsu (氷結 “Frost”). An ice Quirk. This might not be her Quirk name but just her Quirk type. [Chap. 291]

Tōya: Sōen (蒼炎 “Blueflame”). A fire Quirk much more powerful than the one of his father, so powerful his flames are blue. Geten is the first to call his Quirk like that [Chap. 230] and later this became it’s official name. However Tōya’s flames weren’t blue at the start, so it’s possible his Quirk was originally registered with another name, likely HELLFLAME (ヘルフレイム “Hellflame”), same as his father, hence that’s why his Quirk’s name was kept hidden for so long. Tōya also has a minor ice Quirk, which he manifests when he’s close to death and decides to copy Shōto’s Phosphor. Ironically his body has low fire resistance and great ice resistance.

Fuyumi: an ice Quirk. Her Quirk never got an official name but if Hyōketsu (氷結 “Frost”) is Rei’s Quirk real name, it can be that Fuyumi’s Quirk also shares that name.

Natsuo: an ice Quirk. His Quirk never got an official name but if Hyōketsu (氷結 “Frost”) is Rei’s Quirk real name, it can be that Natsuo’s Quirk also shares that name.

Shōto: Hanrei Hannen (半冷半燃 “Half-Cold Half-Hot”). He has a fire Quirk on his left side and an ice Quirk on his right side. Thanks to them he can regulate his temperature much more easily than his father. [Chap. 11]

Geten: Hyōsō (氷操 “Ice Ply”). He manipulate ice, which includes controlling the ice’s temperature so he can shoot ice in the water and cool it down to create more ice. [Chap. 387]

XX ARE FIRE QUIRKS RARE?

They aren’t uncommon. In addition to Todoroki Enji and his two sons, Tōya and Shōto, other known characters displaying a fire Quirk are Midoriya’s father, Midoriya Hisashi (緑谷 久), who can breathe fire, Kamiji Moe (上路萌) aka Burnin (バーニン), one of Enji’s sidekicks, an unnamed guy shown at the beginning of the story, when it was explained guys with Quirk started appearing all around plus we’ve this bit from from the manga:

Todoroki Tōya ‘Ennetsu-kei no “kosei”  nanzo jimusho ni mo irushide ore ka nanimono ka nante kangaenakattaro.’ 轟燈矢「炎熱系の〝個性〟なんぞ事務所にもいるしで俺か何者かなんて考えなかったろ。」 Todoroki Tōya “There are also other people in your agency with a hot fire type of ‘quirk’ and similar, so you probably didn't think about who I was or something like that.” [Chap. 291]

In the anime instead Tōya says:

Todoroki Tōya ‘Honō-kei no “kosei” wa mezurashiku mo naikara gimon sura dakanakatta ka ~?’’ 轟燈矢「炎系の〝個性〟は珍しくもないから疑問すら抱かなかったか～？」 Todoroki Tōya “Fire-type quirks aren't that uncommon, so you never even questioned it, did you?” [Ep. 124]

Also, while we don’t know which is Onima’s Quirk, we know he can withstand the heat just fine, so it’s possible he has a fire or heat related Quirk.

All this to say that no, they aren’t rare.

XX ARE ICE QUIRKS RARE?

Hard to say. In addition to the unnamed woman shown at the beginning of the story, when it was explained Quirks started appearing all around the world, the only other people, which we know have an ice Quirk, are people from the Himura family or related to it.

The Himura family used to be large, but they didn’t want to mix their blood with people with other Quirks and, due to marrying between distant relatives, slowly reduced their numbers.

So while the story presents us with more characters with an ice Quirk (Todoroki Rei and all her 4 children, her parents, Geten), that’s because they’re all related to the same family (and Quirk are passed down genetically). For all we know the only ones having an ice Quirk in Japan might be the Himura and their relatives… or not. The story never commented about it. However, exactly because no one, seeing Shōto use his ice Quirk, commented on how rare it was to have an ice Quirk, likely ice Quirks aren’t that uncommon.

XX HOW DOES THE FIRE QUIRK AND THE ICE QUIRK WORK?

It’s not explained and very likely it’s a purely fictional thing.

If you want to play with science, in the ice case it’s possible they actually emit such a cold temperature that they freeze the water molecules in the air and therefore create ice.

In the fire case things are more complicate as fire doesn’t just need a heat source and oxygen, which it can find in air, but also some fuel to burn. Heat, oxygen and fuel form the fire triangle but, considering Enji and Shōto don’t burn themselves when they use their fire, it’s hard to say what they use as fuel.

Since Tōya’s tears took fire it’s possible they’ve the fuel in form of body fluids so, kind of like how Bakugō excretes nitroglycerin-like sweat, they might possibly excrete oil-like fluids, which take fire if they heat up.

In order for a fire to burn hotter you either pump in additional air or pure oxygen or use a fuel that burn hotter, so it’s possible the substance in Tōya’s fluids is slightly different from Enji and Shōto’s.

Now… ice is solid so if two ice users throw their ice one against the other, the one who produce more/stronger ice would manage to push the other’s ice back.

Fire is not solid. Two flamethrowers might manage to push the respective flames back because they work by tossing their liquid, burning fuel ahead. The two fuels would clash, and the one which sprays more/harder/faster could prevail.

When however we see two Flashfire fists slamming one against the other and then one being pushed back… well, it’s hard to think the two fire Quirk owners are either spraying burning liquid or burning gas that can clash in the middle and end up getting pushed back by the user who just sprays more.

Long story short, this is purely fiction, hence Horikoshi can have fires clash and one of them being pushed back.

XX WHAT ABOUT THE TODOROKIS’ HERO AND VILLAIN COSTUMES?

Enji and Shōto’s costume are made of special heat-resistant fibers. [Chap. 54/259]

We also know that Shōto’s jacket had a cooling/heating device in the collar which monitors Shōto’s temperature and help regulating it and that Shōto’s tactical vest is also capable to cool him off or heat him up. The very first one though was only meant to heat him up as he was refusing to use his fire side. [Chap. 54]

Enji’ gauntlets store up heat and compress it so as to help him to condense and release his power. It’s the latest compression tech made from an American support company with the help of also Melissa Shield. [Chap. 239] Shōto’s gauntlets too store up heat and can also store up cold and compress it so as to help him to condense and release his power but we don’t know if they’re made with the latest compression tech made from an American support company. [Chap. 259]

Shōto has an utility belt in which he stores first aid supplies (water, painkillers, disinfectant). [Chap. 54/259]

Shōto’s short boots are equipped with spikes to keep him from slipping on icy surfaces. [Chap. 54]

Tōya has an hyper pouch in which he stores his hyper hair-dye remover and, after the battle at Deika, has flame-retardant clothes made by Detnerat. [Chap. 240/344] Likely the clothes he had before were also flame-retardant ones, courtesy of Giran and paid by Shigaraki, as the Vanguard Action Squad was handed its equipment before attacking the summer camp. [Chap. 73] For the Final War his clothes are made to be super-duper heat resistant and pure white like traditional Japanese burial clothes. They made them using Detnerat technology, thanks to Skeptic hacking the production system of abandoned workshops. [Chap. 344]

We’re told nothing about Geten’s costume, but it’s easy to guess it comes from Detnerat too. It likely helps him heat up when he uses his Quirk.

In real life flame-retardant clothes are specially designed so that it's less likely to catch fire when exposed to combustion and high temperatures. These materials are made flame-resistant by the application of flame-retardant chemicals. A chemical additive in the fibers or treatment on the fabric is used to provide some level of flame retardancy. During a fire, chemically dependent fabrics rely on a chemical reaction to extinguish the flame. In cases where the fabric does ignite, it won't continue to burn once the heat source is removed. This gives the wearer valuable escape time and helps to minimize injuries. Fabrics that have been treated with a fire retardant are usually certified for one year. If the clothes are washed in a washing machine like any other article of clothing, the chemicals dissipate over time. On the other hand, something that is not washed will last significantly longer. They also have a really strong smell due to the chemicals used.

XX HOW DO THE TODOROKIS CALL EACH OTHER?

To sum it up as much as possible they usually use:

Todoroki Enji: Rei, Tōya, Fuyumi, Natsuo, Shōto

Todoroki Rei: anata (あなた “you” [polite but also the way you call your husband]) [for Enji], Tōya, Fuyumi, Natsu-kun (夏くん “young Natsu”), Shōto, okā-san (お母さん “mother”) [for her mother]

Todoroki Tōya: otō-san (お父さん “father”), okā-san (お母さん “mother”), Fuyumi-chan (冬美ちゃん “little Fuyumi”), Natsu-kun (夏くん “young Natsu”), Shōto, obā-chan (おばあちゃん “grandma”), kōri yarō/kōri YARŌ (氷野郎/氷ヤロ “ice-guy/ice-bastard”) [for Geten]

Todoroki Fuyumi: otō-san (お父さん “father”), okā-san (お母さん “mother”), Tōya Nī (燈矢兄 “big brother Tōya”), Natsu, Shōto

Todoroki Natsuo: anta (あんた “you” [rude]) [for his father], okā-san (お母さん “mother”), Tōya Nī (燈矢兄 “big brother Tōya”), nē-chan (姉ちゃん “big sister”), Shōto

Todoroki Shōto: oyaji (親父 “old man”), okā-san (お母さん “mother”), Tōya Nī (燈矢兄 “big brother Tōya”)/Dabi (荼毘), nē-san (姉さん “big sister”), Natsuo Nī (夏雄兄 “big brother Natsuo”)

Himura tōshu (氷叢当主 “Himura family Head”): ENDEAVOR-sama (エンデヴァー様), TOP HERO-Sama (トップヒーロー様)

Geten: Dabi (荼毘), sōen no tsukaite Dabi (蒼炎の使い手荼毘 “blue flame user Dabi”), sōen (蒼炎 “blue flame”)

Kurumada Untenmaru: ENDEAVOR, JARINKO (ジャリンコ “student who can’t keep up in school/brat”) [for Shōto]

That’s of course not all they use, according to circumstances they can switch to other terms but, for more details, I’ve a series of 4 posts about this which explains in details how do they call each other and in which circumstances. You can just check the final one, which is a summary of the other 3, or just dig into the three posts, part 1, part 2, part 3.

XX WHO OF THE TODOROKIS CALL FUYUMI ‘YUMI’ AND SHŌTO ‘SHŌ’?

No one. It’s just a fandom thing.

XX WHAT ABOUT TODOROKI ENJI’S BIRTH FAMILY?

HIS FATHER died when Enji was a middle school boy. He tried to save a girl from a scoundrel and, due to this, both he and the girl ended up dead instead, the area around them devastated. As the image shows three corpses, the scoundrel probably died as well. It’s unknown if Enji’s father was a Hero and it’s unknown if that guy was a Villain as, in order to be a Villain, one doesn’t have to just commit crime but TO USE THEIR QUIRK to commit crime. Considering the large devastation of the area and that Enji might have inherited his Quirk from his father, it’s possible the man had a fire Quirk, tried to use it and ended up causing an explosion instead. However that’s just speculation as we don’t even know from which parent Enji inherited his Quirk. [Chap. 356]

Since Enji’s father’s photo is in the Todoroki’s Butsuma’s room, this tells us ENJI WAS THE MALE FIRSTBORN (as traditionally the male firstborn would be the one taking care of the Butsudan in which his parents would be enshrined). There are no info about Enji having a younger brother or younger or older sisters so he likely was an only child. [Chap. 356]

There are no info on HIS MOTHER, but as she’s not shown at the Miai or living with the Todorokis, she’s likely dead (traditionally she would be expected to take part to the Miai and would be supposed to live with her male firstborn). [Chap. 301]

When Enji meets up with the Himura family head not a word is spent on his lineage, only on his accomplishments, meaning the Todorokis likely didn’t have an old and/or prestigious lineage. [Chap. 301]

Since Enji and Shōto are born in the Shizuoka prefecture, the family is likely from that area and resides there. [Ultra Archive]

XX WHEN WAS ENJI BORN?

On August 8th, around 10 years after All Might was born and around more than 90 years after All for One was born.

XX WHEN DID ENJI’S FATHER DIE?

In spring/summer of when Enji was in middle school, during a rainy day. Enji will consider that incident as his ‘origin’.

XX HOW OLD WAS ENJI WHEN ALL MIGHT CAME BACK TO JAPAN?

He should have been around 13 and in middle school. Likely his father’s death and All Might’s first action in which All Might saved so many people aren’t connected as that is probably taking place in autumn and it wasn’t raining. We don’t know if All Might came back to Japan before Enji’s father’s death or after it, though the two facts took place in a period close enough.

XX WHAT SCHOOL DID ENJI ATTEND TO?

We know he was a student at U.A. High School (雄英高校 ‘U.A. Kōkō’). [Chap. 3] It’s unknown if he managed to attend university. Probably not as at 20 he was already Number 2 in the Hero ranking, meaning he had already started working and might not have had time for studying.

XX WAS ENJI CHILDHOOD FRIEND/CLASSMATE WITH HIS DRIVER KURUMADA UNTENMARU OR WITH SAND HERO SNATCH/HIGAWARA SAJIN?

Kurumada is one year older than Enji so he couldn’t be in his same class when they were young (elementary and middle school). We’ve no info if Enji knew Kurumada before the latter became his driver, we just know they know each other by a long time and Kurumada currently has an exclusive contract with Endeavor. [Chap. 250] Snatch is one year younger than Enji so he couldn’t be in his same class when they were young. They’re both Heroes so they both went to a Hero school, but while we know Enji went to U.A. high, we’ve no info if Snatch attended U.A. and if he and Enji knew each other for other reasons that weren’t their Hero work. [Chap. 160]

XX DID ENJI WENT TO U.A. WITH SOMEONE WE KNOW?

All Might went to U.A. prior to Enji attending to it and the same goes for Gran Torino, who taught in U.A. prior to Enji attending to it. Best Jeanist and Edgeshot went to U.A. after Enji attended it and the same is even more true for Midnight, Eraser Head and Present Mic.

It’s however said that when Enji was in U.A. Recovery Girl was working there [Chap. 192] and it’s implied the same is true for Nezu. [Chap. 319]

XX WHAT DID ENJI DO AFTER FINISHING U.A. HIGH?

Enji finished high school in March, in the year in which he would turn 19. The norm would be working as a sidekick for some Hero for a few years, but it’s not mandatory and one can open his own Hero agency as soon as he has graduated. Considering how quickly Enji became Number 2 it’s possible he went independent and opened his own agency just after finishing U.A. high.

XX HOW OLD WAS ENJI WHEN HE BECAME NUMBER TWO?

20, becoming the first Hero to become Number 2 at such a young age. [Chap. 165] If you’re wondering about All Might, at 20 All Might wasn’t in Japan but in the USA as he left for the USA after he finished U.A. High, to attend to university there. We don’t know which ranking he had there, or if he had one. We however don’t know if Enji became Number 2 in the November Japanese Hero Billboard chart of the year in which he turned 20 or if he did so in the one in May of the following year, before turning 21. Before becoming Number 2 the earliest Enji might have entered in the top 10 is 19 as Hawks is the first who made it in the top ten at 18 [Chap. 185] and Enji would have had really a too short amount of time between the time he finished U.A. high (end of March) and the first Japanese Hero Billboard (May) to get in the top ten by then. By the time the next Japanese Hero Billboard would take place, he would be 19 already.

XX WHICH INFO WE HAVE ABOUT ENDEAVOR AGENCY?

“Endeavor Agency” (エンデヴァー事務所 ‘ENDEAVOR Jimusho’) is the Hero Office founded by the Flame Hero: Endeavor aka Todoroki Enji. We don’t know if it’s in Tokyo, like Īdaten (Īda’s brother’s agency) and All Might’s agency or if it’s in Shizuoka (where Enji lives). Burnin says it has over 30 sidekicks called “Flaming Sidekickers” (炎のサイドキッカーズ ‘Honō no SIDEKICKS’) though it probably didn’t start with so many. [Chap. 245] The place is very busy with sidekicks either on patrol or standby although they handle over 100 requests every day from emergencies to escort missions to special events. [Chap. 245] From the way Burnin talk it seems unless it was Enji who requested for a specific intern, students who would do the work study in Endeavor agency would be assigned to sidekicks. It might be just my impression though. [Chap. 245] Heroes are researched regularly for rescue, evacuation or battle so generally an agency decides to emphasize either rescue or battle but in Endeavor Agency they tackle all three. [Chap. 247]

The agency is also equipped with accommodations so that Enji and his sidekicks as well as eventual interns can sleep and eat there. [Chap. 249] In Ep. 105 it seems it also includes a training place.

We only know by name three of his sidekicks, Kidō (キドウ ‘KIDŌ’), whose quirk “traject” (軌道 ‘kidō’) allows him to change trajectory of things and who, by the time of the Final War, has been working for Endeavor by 10 years (so he started around the year after Tōya ‘died’, when Enji was 37) [Chap. 349] and Onimā (オニマー ‘ONIMĀ’), whose Quirk is unknown but gives him some fire resistance [Chap. 349] and who are defined as a cut above the other sidekicks. [Chap. 248] They start appearing in the manga from chap.55. The last sidekick we know is Burnin (バーニン ‘BURNIN’), real name Kamiji Moe (上路萌) who, according to Midoriya is a famous sidekick who had birth in the year Enji turned 21 on the same day as Tōya (January 18th) and who’s 169 cm tall and those favorite thing are festivals. Like many other sidekicks she joined Endeavor agency because she has strong ambitions and while she wasn’t an Endeavor fan she gained respect for him by watching him work. [Chap. 244] Her Quirk is “blazing hair” (燃髪 ‘Nenpatsu’). Despite Midoriya calling her a famous sidekick she appears in the story solely by chap. 245, likely because that’s when Horikoshi created her. As she however appears in “Vigilantes” as one of Endeavor’s sidekicks she likely should have joined him earlier. If she had joined Enji immediately after ending a Hero school she became one of his sidekicks 3 years after Tōya’s ‘death’ when Enji was 39.

Kurumada Untenmaru (車田運天丸) is Endeavor’s driver. He caters only Heroes and has an exclusive contract with Endeavor and they’ve known each other for a long time. He’s born on March 4th, he’s 180 cm and his favorite thing are flowers. He likes to make a “pahhh!!” (ケエ---!! ‘Kee----!!’) sound and calls Enji’s interns ‘JARINKO’ (ジャリンコ “student who can’t keep up in school/brat”). It’s unclear if he’s considered civilian personel working at Endeavor agency or if he’s just someone who works for Enji.

XX WHAT ABOUT TODOROKI REI’S BIRTH FAMILY?

We are told HER MOTHER is still alive when Shōto was five, as Rei phones to her to ask for help. [Chap. 39]

In the manga we aren’t given clear info about HER FATHER. An adult male was with Rei at the Miai she had with Enji. In the anime [Ep. 130] the voice actor voicing him is credited as ‘Rei no chichi’ (冷の父 “Rei’s father”) and Enji’s Anime only monologue tell us that said male is the ‘Himura-ke no tōshu’ (氷叢家の当主 “Himura family head”). While the anime isn’t always reliable, either they asked Horikoshi about this one or went for the simplest explanation possible so I think they’re reliable enough.

Since Rei’s marriage with Enji caused the end of the main house of her family, it means Rei has no male brother, as the family line would be normally continued by the male son. If a family were to have no male son they could have their daughter’s husband take their surname and become the next heir but when they married Rei off it was clear Enji has no interest to become a Himura and continue their family line (not mentioning he didn’t have the right Quirk). While it’s possible Rei had one or more sisters who also got married off to the best offering I see this chance as slim, so likely Rei was an only child. [Chap. 387]

Rei’s birth family is named Himura (氷叢).

The Himura are a distinguished family with a prestigious lineage who, by the time Todoroki Enji was 20, had became poor, though they were still capable to hide it.

The Himura used to be ‘Shōya’ (庄屋 “village heads”) which means during the Edo period (1603-1868), they were in charge of the village affairs under the direction of the magistrate and worked as the leader of the village. The term was used predominantly in the Kansai regions (other regions used other names), so we can assume the Himura were originally from that region. Successful Shōya despite being technically peasants, were often better off than samurai, or even top class Daimyo, lived in large mansions, owned large tracts of farmland, and were also intellectuals representing the village due to their work involved in document creation. The families that served as Shōya during the Edo period were often from prestigious families or previously were powerful vassals of warlords of the Sengoku period. Due to the ‘Nōchi kaikaku’ (農地改革), the reform of the agricultural land ownership system carried out by the Japanese government in 1947 under the direction of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers which intended to limit the amount of farm land one household could own to about the amount of land that one family could farm themselves, without outside labor many landlords were forced to sell all their land to the government.

In order to keep their land, which likely was much more than they should have been allowed to and therefore to maintain their wealth and pride the Himuras split their family in many branch families and share the land among them.

That’s because the ‘tōshu’ (当主 “family head”), which is basically the person who has inherited the headship of the family and have authority over all his family members (with the duty to protect them as well as the right to disown those who violate his wishes) and over the family’s customs and rituals as well as being responsible for the management of the family property, belongs to the ‘honke’ (本家 “main household” lit. “source house”) would also exercise his authority on the ‘bunke’ (分家 “branch households” lit. “part house”). Due to this, the control would still remain in their hands even if they would technically comply with the law as the land would be split to the various families. The marriages between distant cousins though caused the family to steadily shrink. With the end of the main family line the few remaining clans are scattered. Geten was from one of the branch families and got picked up by Re-Destro.

Geten, being also a Himura from a branch family is related to her, though it’s likely they’re only distantly related. He’s likely the son of one of her cousins or of a young uncle.

It’s worth to mention back in Edo era not everyone had a surname, surname were made mandatory for everyone only in 1875 and, before this date, only people of high rank such as nobles and samurai had a surname, however some Shōya were given the privilege to bear one as well as to wear a katana and were treated like members of the samurai class.

The common people used, in case of need, the name of their place of birth, for example, their village.

Now… Himura is written with the kanji for “ice” (氷 ‘hi’) and “gathering, collection” (叢 ‘mura’)… but the interesting part is that ‘mura’, written with this kanji 村 means “village” so it’s possible originally the Himura were originally the Shōya of an Hi village, and then they took the word Himura, changed the kanji so as to make it sound less common people and turned it into their surname… either by becoming important enough to gain the right to a surname or much later, in 1875 (I like to think they gained the right to their surname but that’s just me) or maybe even after this date, when they gained their Quirk.

XX WAIT, THE HIMURA WERE INCESTUOUS? ISN’T THAT A CRIME?

Currently, by Japanese law, in order to marry among them, relatives had to be at least second cousins or more distantly related (4th degree or higher). In the past laws were less strict. Anyway, as long as the Himura were sticking to this, they wouldn’t commit any crime.

XX DID REI HAVE A BOYFRIEND BEFORE GETTING MARRIED?

In the prototype for Shōto that Horikoshi wrote is said Shōto “was born from a disgusting practice called ‘crossbreeding’ used to further strengthen a Quirk. His mother was chosen by his father for this. His mother had a boyfriend. His mother lost her mind. She hated half of her son and hurts him. Shōto hates her and seeks affection from his father, who however is only interested in those who are strong. Overcoming his father, becoming more powerful than him: for this reason he aspires to become a hero stronger than his father...” [Ultra Archive]

The word used is ‘koibito’ (恋人 “boyfriend/lover/sweetheart”). It’s unclear if in this prototype Rei got herself a love interest prior to being forced to marry Enji or after it, but it’s clear things were changed a lot from the prototype version and in the story is never mentioned Rei had someone she loved before or after marrying Enji so it’s entirely possible this part got scrapped away.

XX WHICH IS THE FLOWER REI LIKES/LOVES?

In canon is never said but from the visual we can say it’s the Gentiana, in Japanese ‘Rindō’ (リンドウ/竜胆), a genus belonging to the Gentianaceae family. As it has over 300 species, it is considered a large genus. Gentians are notable for their mostly large trumpet-shaped flowers, which are often of an intense blue hue.

Gentians are pretty important in Japan. The emblem of the Minamoto clan, Minamoto being the noble surname bestowed by the emperor of Japan on those of the imperial family who were excluded by the rank of succession, has as on its emblem the Sasarindō (笹竜胆) three Rindō on five bamboo leaves (笹 ‘sasa’). By the way Rindō (リンドウ/竜胆) means “dragon innards” and, apparently, this name was given to it by the Chinese due to how its roots are intensely bitter, like bile. There’s a theory that says that the first kanji (竜) which means ‘dragon’, was chosen to indicate the potency of this bitterness while the second refers to how these bitter roots are commonly used in traditional herbal medicine to promote stomach health, ease inflammation, and induce calm.

Rindō’s meaning in flower language in Japan is usually the one of “victory” (勝利 ‘shori’) as it refers to its ability as a spiritual herb that can triumph over illness (so giving them to Rei also takes a ‘get well’ meaning… but also when Rei offers it to Enji it can be tied to her hope he’ll win). It seems its other meaning of “sense of justice” (正義感 ‘seigi-kan’) could also refer to how it blooms straight up, as if it’s confident in the eventual triumph over disease. Other meanings of Rindō in general are “faithfulness/sincerity” (誠実 ‘seijitsu’) as they bloom solely on sunny days, “lonely love” (寂しい愛情 ‘sabishī aijō’) and “I love you who are sad” (悲しむあなたを愛する ‘Kanashimu anata o aisuru’) as they don’t grow in clumps. Bluish purple Rindō also mean “filled with confidence” (満ちた自信 ‘Michita jishin’) as the flower is considered to represent nobility (either because purple is the color of nobility or due to it being on the Minamoto clan emblem).

Likely though, the Gentiana we see during the series belong to different species as Rei has them in different months of the year (November when Enji fights the high-end, march when the Paranormal Liberation War end).

The Gentians we see in November are likely the ‘gentiana scabra’, a species of gentian with a blue (青色 ‘Ao iro’)/purple color (紫色 ‘murasaki iro’), also called Japanese Gentian. In Japan they are The Gentian, in fact they’re called just Rindō (リンドウ/竜胆). They 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. The Gentians we see in March are likely 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 March to May… or it’s a ‘Gentiana thunbergii’ or Haru Rindō (ハルリンドウ) which is also typical of Asia and has the same flowering period. Of course since Enji bought them it’s entirely possible they’re still ‘gentiana scabra’ blooming out of season because they were grown in a greenhouse. Do your pick.

XX HOW OLD WAS ENJI WHEN HE MARRIED?

We don’t know the exact age but it was after he became Number 2, meaning after he turned 20 and prior to turning 22 as Tōya was conceived around April in the year in which he would turn 22.

XX DID REI MARRY AT 16? ISN’T THAT ILLEGAL?

As far as I know we don’t know Rei’s age so I can’t answer this one. Back when BNHA started women could, however, marry at 16 if her family gave permission (recently the law had been changed so she would need to be 18) and age of majority in Japan was 20 (again the law has changed and now it’s 18).

Enji is 20/21 when he gets married. Considering Horikoshi’s liking for married couples to be 4 years apart it’s possible she was 16/17 and, for her to marry at that age back then, was perfectly legal EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS A MINOR by Japan’s law as long as she had her parents’ permission. Currently Japanese law doesn’t allow a minor to marry so, if the story has started now, we wouldn’t have this discussion… unless one were to come from a country were age of majority is, let’s say, 25, and were to try to force its country’s view on what constitute age of majority on a Japanese character. Still, even if it’s possible Rei married as a minor… the truth is we don’t know. For all we know she could be the one 4 years older than Enji… or she could have his same age. Until Horikoshi releases her profile with her age we’ll never know.

I like to headcanon her as 4 years younger than Enji because it adds to the drama and fits with what looked like her social role in the family (sacrifice herself to either continue the Himura family or to economically save it) so I don’t think she would have waited a lot before getting married.

It’s worth to remember in Japan, women had traditionally been expected to marry at a young age, and those who were unmarried after the age of 25 were metaphorically referred to as “(unsold) Christmas cakes” (クリスマスケーキ) in reference to items which are still unsold after the 25th so really, I don’t expect Rei to be older than Enji. On the other side, since Rei’s age at the time of her marriage has zero relevance in the story, in the beginning Horikoshi might have planned to have her marry at 16/17 but, if he’ll ever release Rei’s profile he might retcon it to 18 so as to abide to the actual Japanese law and save himself from discussions and complains. We’ll see if we’ll ever get Rei’s profile.

XX WASN’T ENJI’S MARRIAGE WITH REI A CRIME SINCE HE BOUGHT HER?

Rei (and her parents in case she were a minor back then) gave consent and she was given other options as well as the option to refuse Enji and she chose to marry him. Her words, not mine. [Chap. 301/302]

Also in Japan is perfectly okay to have arranged marriages with no love between the parties involved, actually Japan has a long tradition of considering marriages done out of love as ‘wrong’ especially in high class families.

What we see in chap. 301 is a Miai (見合い), a meeting in which the parties were brought together expressly for the purpose of marriage usually on the initiative of the parents, a friend of the family, or a go-between.

The whole thing would start with both parties examining all eligible persons for marriage, checking their photographs and other information like their name, age, health, education, occupation and marital status of all members of the candidate’s family and can also include income, occupation, physical attractiveness, religion, social standing, hobbies, bloodline (as in checking in the family there were no cases of hereditary illness or mental illness), social status. Information aren’t just given by the family, it’s okay to get them through investigation as well.

If both parties find the other satisfactory a meeting is held. If the meeting goes well things can progress and end in marriage. Usually if one of the two parties doesn’t find the other satisfactory they should reply “NO” as soon as possible, say the next morning, preferably with some good reasons, because it would be impolite if the one who doesn’t like the other answers so after the other side says “yes”.

Even if both of them say “yes”, this doesn’t necessarily mean they have decided to marry soon and they can spend even more than half a year without even being engaged and with still the option to refuse the other. In Rei and Enji’s case though, considering the interests at play, they likely had things go quickly.

The dialogues say Enji approached the Himuras asking for a Miai, but, considering Rei’s family, it’s possible they were already at work to search a husband for Rei, likely inside the family or, if they really were desperate for money, had let known around they were interested in having Miai for her daughter.

Clearly, even if Enji likely didn’t come from the same prestigious lineage, nor was a Himura, he could bring on the table money and the personal prestige which the Himura wanted, making him suitable as a candidate.

Likely, when Rei said she had options, she means she had her pick of ‘suitors’ her family approved and that, among them, she chose Enji.

Her options were poor? She felt pressured to marry Enji so as to help her family? Undoubtedly but as she wasn’t forced to marry against her will it’s not illegal.

To quote another series in which a mother discusses the Miai and eventual marriage of her son with him:

“Of course, we have no desire to rush into an immediate engagement or marriage, right? It isn’t a problem if you deepen your friendship, and then when you settle down as you age, have her moved to our family register. Marriage isn’t something you do after you start liking someone. You fall in love after you do it, right? If you marry just based on emotions, you’ll definitely regret it. There’s definitely nothing wrong with choosing a person with a secure background for your partner in life, and then building up emotions of love. A wedding is instantaneous. But your life as a married could after that is very, very long. So you should search with prudence, and not leave it up to momentary emotions. Don’t you think that your mother and the rest of us would be better at that than a person immature in life experience such as yourself? I am proud of you, my only son. I want to make you grow so that you will never be embarrassed no matter where you go. ...And you are the only grandson to carry Father’s blood. ......We must prudently choose a fitting partner for you. Your partner definitely won’t be selected based on your parents’ profit and loss. ......I will let you meet a suitable and truly wonderful woman. Maybe there is some immature youth inside of you that’s alienating you from this. ......But at least listen to what your mother says on this point. Have I ever failed to think of your sake?” [“Umineko no naku koro ni” by Ryukishi07]

These are the kind of beliefs and the sort of pressure that exist in high class families. Nowadays in Japan it seems the 20% of newlyweds are married by an arrangement and the 80% are love marriages. This gives you an idea of how still common are marriages made by an arrangement.

XX WHY ENJI WANTS TO MARRY SOMEONE WITH AN ICE QUIRK?

Enji couldn’t surpass All Might. He thought it was due to his Quirk’s limitations. In fact if he uses his Quirk too much his body’s temperature rises and his physical functions decline. He thought by mixing his fire Quirk with an ice Quirk the ice Quirk would compensate by lowering the temperature so that the owner of the dual Quirk could use the fire at full potential for a longer time becoming effectively stronger than him and therefore capable to surpass All Might in Enji’s place. [Chap. 31, 93, 188…]

XX WHY REI (AND OTHER PEOPLE IN THE STORY) AREN’T GROSSED OUT BY ENJI’S WISH TO HAVE A CHILD THAT WILL CARRY ON HIS AMBITIONS?

Because, although things are changing, in Japan it was pretty common for parents to expect their male firstborn to carry on their ambitions and inherit their job and it was believed it was part of the duties of the firstborn to do so… actually it was offensive for the firstborn to be passed over for a younger sibling as it would imply he wasn’t capable to fulfill his duty and that, in short, he was a failure.

In fact although things are slowly changing, there’s still a hierarchy between siblings. The first male son was the one who would inherit everything and therefore the one on whom would fall most of the duties that came from filial piety, like taking over the family home, continuing the family job, fulfilling his parents’ wishes and aspirations, marrying who his parents wanted, provide his parents with grandchildren, taking care of his aging parents and, later on, of their funeral rites and maintaining the Butsudan in which they would be enshrined. For this purpose the family would put special care in the education of the first male son. Nowadays there’s less pressure to do all this but expectations remain ingrained in society and the firstborn’s siblings would be expected to show deference and respect towards the male firstborn and support and help him. At the same time fewer expectations would be pushed on them and they would be more free to pursue the career and love interest they would prefer.

XX WHAT ABOUT THE EUGENIC PART OF IT? ISN’T IT A CRIME?

Quirk marriage is never defined as a crime in the story.

Shōto calls it the result of an old-fashioned way of thinking that lacked in ethic, not a crime.

Todoroki Shōto ‘Kosei kon. Shitteru yo na. “Chōjō” ga okite kara dai ni~daisan sedai-kan de mondai ni natta yatsu… Jishin no “kosei” o yori kyōka shite tsuga seru tame dake ni haigūsha o erabi…… kekkon o shiiru. Rinri-kan no ketsuraku shita zenjidaiteki hassō. Jisseki to kane dake wa aru otoko da… Oyaji wa haha no shinzoku o marume komi haha no “kosei” o teni ireta. Ore o ALL MIGHT ijō no HERO ni sodate ageru koto de jishin no yokkyū o mitasōtte kotta.’ 轟焦凍「個性婚知ってるよな。〝超常〟が起きてから第二～第三世代間で問題になったやつ…自身の〝個性〟をより強化して継がせる為だけに配偶者を選び……結婚を強いる。倫理観の欠落した前時代的発想。実績と金だけはある男だ…親父は母の親族を丸め込み母の〝個性〟を手に入れた。俺をオールマイト以上のヒーローに育て上げることで自身の欲求を満たそうってこった。」 Todoroki Shōto “Quirk marriage. Do you know about it? After the ‘exceptional/supernatural’ happened, between the second and third generation they became a problem… In order to pass in inheritance a further strengthened version your “quirk” you choose a spouse… and get her married to you by force. Old-fashioned way of thinking which lacks in ethics. He’s a man with achievements and money… My father persuaded my mother’s relatives and obtained my mother’s “quirk”. Through raising me to be a Hero greater than All Might he wanted to fulfill his own desires.” [Chap. 31]

The doctor uses the word ‘kinki’ (禁忌) which can be translated as “taboo” but that when used for medical purpose has the meaning of “contraindications” (Enji wanted a kid with fire and ice and got a kid with a stronger fire and ice resistance).

Ishi ‘Mezurashī reidesu ne… Honō no kosei inshi wa yori irokoku hiki tsugarete iru nodesuga. Nikutai wa Okā-san no hō o tsuyoku hiki tsuide shimatterundesu. Tsumari… Honō e no taisei yori mo hyōketsu… Samusa ni tekisei no aru karada nandesu. MaA… DESIGN jimita koto wa ne… Kono “kosei” jidai kinki nande… Yameto ita hō ga.’ 医師「珍しい例ですね…炎の個性因子はより色濃く引き継がれているのですが。肉体はお母さんの方を強く引き継いでしまってるんです。つまり…炎への体制よりも氷結…寒さに適性のある身体なんです。まア…デザインじみたことはね…この”個性”時代禁忌なんで…やめといた方が…」 Doctor “That’s a rare case… The fire quirk factor is more prominently inherited, but his physical body is more strongly influenced by his mother’s. In other words… his body is more suited to freezing… to the cold than to fire. Well… anything resembling design… has contraindications/is taboo in this age of “Quirk”… so it’s better to avoid it…” [Chap. 301]

It’s likely they can’t legally forbid it as feelings can’t be proved and the other option would be to ban people with different Quirks from marrying. For example, although born from a marriage made out of love Bakugō is the successful result of mixing two different Quirks. How would his parents prove they married out of love and not in hope to produce a strong Quirk?

But what’s Japan stance on eugenic?

Just so you know Japan had a Eugenic Protection Law, in place from 1948 to 1996, which allowed authorities to forcibly sterilize people with disabilities, including those with mental disorders, hereditary diseases or physical deformities, and leprosy and forced abortions if either parent had those conditions. In 2024 the court has judged it unconstitutional and rejected the government’s claim that the 20-year statute of limitations should prevent it from paying restitution so that only NOW people who suffered forced sterilization are being paid compensation. In October 2023, the Supreme Court also ruled that a law requiring transgender people to undergo sterilization in order to change their gender on official documents was unconstitutional.

Also, apart from a short period in which Japan considered having Japanese blood mixed up with foreign blood to strengthen up the race, the predominant theory was to keep race purity so as to preserve the uniqueness of being Japanese. Again, things are changing.

I couldn’t really find info about which is the Japanese stance in regard to eugenic aimed at making babies smarter as I couldn’t find info about people attempting to do so. I would say Horikoshi criticizes it as no one pats Enji’s back in the story and tells him how smart he was at doing what he did, his experiment backfires and Shōto openly criticizes this.

XX DO THEY LIVE IN MUSUTAFU OR IT’S JUST U.A. IS IN MUSUTAFU?

So it seems the idea the story takes place in Musutafu (結田府) comes from how in Vol. 2 here was an image of Backdraft on the dust cover of volume two of the Japanese manga, which is a fire safety awareness ad for Musutafu Fire Department. The point is… not only they might have asked him to be the poster character for that advertisement just because he’s famous, but at June 2021 Drawing Smash exhibition they showed provisional hero licenses and the licenses had U.A.’s address on it which was “Shizuoka Prefecture, Koriri City, 1-2” (静岡県垢離里市1-2 ‘Shizuoka ken Koriri-shi 1–2’). Okay, there was no reading so another possible reading for 垢離里 can be ‘Korisato’ however I think this new fictional location is actually based on Corellia, a “Star Wars” planet with a strong culture of training pilots and which is therefore known for producing many excellent ones, such as Han Solo and Wedge Antilles. It would fit since Koriri, having U.A. high instead produces many excellent Heroes.

As Midoriya, Bakugō, Shōto, Tokoyami and Jirō are all born in Shizuoka prefecture, they’re all probably living relatively close to U.A. high.

What’s more, public schools in Japan are usually named after the location that the school is in they’re in so since Midoriya and Bakugō go to Aldera Middle School (折寺中学校 ‘Aldera Chūgakkō’), they’re probably in Aldera. Shōto goes to Corusan Middle School (凝山中学校 ‘Corusan Chūgakkō’) so, unless his middle school is a private one, the Todoroki residence (轟邸 ‘Todoroki Tei’) probably in Corusan, Tokoyami is in Entobira Middle School (円扉中学校 ‘Entobira Chūgakkō’) so he’s probably in Entobira, Jirō is in Besubin Middle School (辺須瓶中学校 ‘Besubin Chūgakkō’) so she’s probably in Besubin.

There is however someone who goes to a Musutafu Middle School (結田府中学校 ‘Musutafu Chūgakkō’), and those people are Kirishima and Ashido… who are however from the CHIBA PREFECTURE so Musutafu is likely there.

Long story short, U.A. high isn’t in Musutafu and Shōto probably lives in Corusan. There’s also to say though all this “Star Wars” related names were used as some sort of inside joke by Horikoshi so he might not even thought that hard at them. They’re Easter eggs, probably they’re not meant to mean more than that.

It’s unknown if Endeavor agency (エンデヴァー事務所 ‘ENDEAVOR Jimusho’) is in Shizuoka or in Tokyo like Īdaten (Īda’s brother’s agency) and All Might’s agency.

XX WHEN WAS TŌYA CONCEIVED?

Around April in the year in which Enji would turn 22.

XX WHEN WAS TŌYA BORN?

On January 18th, in the year in which Enji would turn 23.

XX WAS TŌYA BORN PREMATURE?

Nope, it’s a mistranslation. Tōya is, like Shōto, a ‘Hayaumare’ (早生まれ) which means “someone born between January 1st and April 1st (the school entrance date)”. The Hayaumare will start school on the year of their 6th birthday while everyone else will start school on the year of their 7th birthday as Japanese schools requires all their students to be ALREADY 6 at the beginning of school. This means the Hayaumare are the youngest kids in the class, hence Tōya might have been smaller and might have developed later compared to his classmates. [Chap. 302]

XX WHEN TŌYA’S QUIRK MANIFESTED?

Before Fuyumi was conceived, meaning pretty early as Tōya is born on January 18th and Fuyumi should have been conceived around March. [Chap. 291]

XX WAIT, DON’T QUIRKS MANIFEST AT 4 AND IF ONE IS PAST 4 AND HASN’T MANIFESTED HIS QUIRK THIS MEANS HE’S QUIRKLESS?

Nope to both. Remember the Luminescent Baby? He manifested his Quirk as a newborn. 4 is simply the age around which one should have manifested his Quirk. [Chap. 1] Remember Yoichi? He had a Quirk that allowed him to pass his Quirk and that he never manifested before meeting Kudō. [Chap. 59] It stands to reason that people with peculiar Quirk might not end up manifesting by the time they’re 4 or even never in their whole life (think to a person who, for example, has a Quirk that allows them to breathe in space… and never happen to discover it as life circumstances never lead them to do such thing or something equivalent). The only way to know if one is Quirkless is to check if they have an extra joint in the pinky toe or not. If one has it, he’s Quirkless. [Chap. 1] That’s why at 5 Tenko isn’t declared Quirkless even though he doesn’t manifest a Quirk, because he doesn’t have the extra joint in his pinky toe so he should have a Quirk. [Chap. 235] His parents couldn’t know All for One stole it. [Chap. 419]

XX IS FUYUMI TŌYA’S TWIN?

No, she’s born after him. As in, months after him.

XX WHEN WAS FUYUMI CONCEIVED?

In the same year in which Tōya had birth, around March, so when Tōya was around 2 months old and Enji hadn’t turned 23 yet.

XX WHEN WAS FUYUMI BORN?

On December 6th, in the same year as Tōya’s, so when Tōya was 11 months old and Enji has turned 23.

XX WHY ENJI AND REI HAD FUYUMI?

Because they believed Tōya only had a fire Quirk and Enji wanted a child with a dual Quirk and because Rei agreed with having more children as she believed they would support each other. [Chap. 291]

XX WHEN FUYUMI’S QUIRK MANIFESTED?

Likely pretty early as the visual tell us she was still an infant when her father was aware she only had an ice Quirk. [Chap. 291]

XX WHEN TŌYA STARTED TRAINING?

Likely around 3 as he started to burn himself before he turned 4 so it had to be prior to it and it’s hard to think Enji started training him when he was 2. [Chap. 291]

XX DID ENJI TRAIN TŌYA AS HARSHLY AS SHŌTO?

We don’t know but Tōya seems delighted to train with his father so he doesn’t live his training as something unpleasant or that he’s forced to do. [Chap. 291] He’s disappointed when his father stop training him and insists for him to resume his training. [Chap. 301] Of course Enji had just started training him and he’s VERY SMALL so it’s possible he didn’t go as hard with him yet and since he was forced to cut those training sessions he never got to get hard with him. On the other side Tōya is a kid who kept on training even if he burned himself so he might not have lived harsh training negatively but more like a challenge. There’s also to say that when he first wrote Chap. 301/302 Horikoshi meant for Shōto’s training to get really bad only AFTER Tōya’s death, and his behavior would end up on driving Rei insane… only to realize this would retcon what he previously said and correct this. Long story short, we don’t know how hard the training was, just that Tōya liked it.

XX DID TŌYA ALWAYS BURN HIMSELF WITH HIS FIRE?

Likely no, as his father managed to teach him how to raise the temperature of the fire and the day Tōya started to burn he expected him to start teaching him an ultimate move which isn’t exactly what you teach to your child at his first lesson. Apparently his body started changing as his hair started to turn white and with the body changing he lost his fire resistance. Likely, considering how lightly he and his father are dressed, he started to burn himself in late spring or summer. It gave him around 6 months of training. [Chap. 291]

XX DID ENJI KEEP ON TRAINING TŌYA WHEN HE STARTED BURNING HIMSELF?

Very likely no. While we don’t know if he attempted training Tōya some more before deciding to bring him to a doctor because he kept burning himself with his Quirk, we see that always in spring/summer Tōya was brought to a Quirk specialist in Central Hospital and Enji was told Tōya’s Quirk burned him and that he shouldn’t use it. Tōya is still in light clothes when he complains rather loudly about his father’s refusal to train him and Enji will complain with Rei on how he can’t persuade Tōya to stop using his Quirk and thinks having another baby would persuade Tōya to give up, in fact around October of that same year Natsuo is conceived. Long story short, Enji surely stopped after the doctor told him Tōya’s Quirk burned him. [Chap. 291/301]

XX WHY DIDN’T ENJI AND REI JUST GIVE TŌYA SUPPORT ITEMS?

Because there weren’t ones good enough to support him and Enji knows this intimately. Enji himself uses support items to lower his own temperature and 20 years after Tōya started burning they still aren’t effective enough, not even when he updates his costume with the last tech and he has also fire resistance.

By the way, many miss it because it’s written solely in his profile in the volume version but we know Tōya did get support items in form of flame-retardant clothes made for him by Detnerat, one of the top ten companies in support items and still burned himself (and his previous clothes were likely also flame-retardant clothes received from Giran once he joined the League). If Detnerat couldn’t give him something more effective, it’s because they didn’t have anything better to offer to help him deal with his Quirk. [Chap. 240/344]

XX WHEN DID TŌYA LEARN WHY ENJI HAD CHILDREN?

Prior to Natsuo being conceived so pretty young. As the doctor who visited him at Central Hospital knew about it, it’s possible it came up in the discussion they had with him while Tōya was present, hence Tōya overheard it. On the other side it’s possible Enji let it slip when he thought Tōya could fulfill his dream as it’s implied he told Tōya he could surpass All Might. We don’t really know. [Chap. 301]

XX WHEN WAS NATSUO CONCEIVED?

In the same year Tōya started to burn, around October, when Tōya was still 3, Fuyumi wasn’t yet 3 and Enji has turned 26.

XX WHY ENJI AND REI HAD NATSUO?

Enji believed that Tōya would give up on using his Quirk if he were to have a sibling that could surpass him due to having a perfect Quirk and he also wanted said perfect Quirk, hence he persuaded Rei to have a third child. He thought to kill two birds with one stone.

What got killed instead were the chances the Todoroki family had to be a happy, functional family. [Chap. 301]

XX WHEN WAS NATSUO BORN?

On July 1st, in the year in which Tōya is 4, Fuyumi would turn 4 and Enji would turn 27.

XX WHEN NATSUO MANIFESTED HIS QUIRK?

We don’t know. Shōto was conceived around April, when Natsuo was still 2 (but would turn 3 in July). It’s possible that Natsuo manifested his Quirk as early as his siblings but Enji waited before trying a 4th time or it’s possible Natsuo manifested it a little later.

XX WHEN WAS SHŌTO CONCEIVED?

Around April, in the year in which Tōya has turned 7, Fuyumi would turn 7, Natsuo would turn 3 and Enji would turn 30.

XX WHEN ENJI ARRESTED TAKAMI?

In autumn and it seems in an interview it was said he did so when Keigo was 6 so this happened when Tōya was 7, Fuyumi was 6, Natsuo was 3 and Enji 30. Take this with a grain of salt as I hadn’t seen said interview, just heard about it. When Enji arrested Takami, Ending saw Enji for the first time.

XX WHY ENJI AND REI HAD SHŌTO?

Same reason as why they had Natsuo. [Chap. 301]

XX WHEN WAS SHŌTO BORN?

On January 11th, in the year in which Tōya would turn 8, Fuyumi would turn 8, Natsuo would turn 4 and Enji would turn 31.

XX WHEN SHŌTO’S QUIRK MANIFESTED?

Pretty early as we see he could ice his snot while sleeping as a baby. [Chap. 302]

XX DID REI AGREE TO HAVE FIRST NATSUO AND THEN SHŌTO OR DID ENJI TAKE HER BY FORCE?

We don’t know. When Enji wanted to have a third son, Rei believed it would be cruel toward Tōya for them to have other babies. Enji then claimed this would help Tōya give up on using his fire. Rei doesn’t seem persuaded nor happy but she might have agreed not so much because she wanted to but because according to Confucianism 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. As she came from a prestigious family this teaching was surely imparted to her so she might have felt pressured to agree not so much due to Enji pushing but merely due to her education that would tell her she should do what he says.

In short she might not have said no and Enji might not have had to physically force her but, if we look at her expression, she clearly wasn’t happy with it when Enji decided to have Natsuo nor when he decided to have Shōto… even though she clearly loved all her children. [Chap. 301]

XX DO ALL THE KIDS REALLY WANT TO BECOME HEROES AS TŌYA SAID?

In Midoriya’s Middle school class they do, though it’s also possible some kids say so to conform to their classmates [Chap. 1]. We see that Kirishima’s classmates would like to go for U.A. but decides they’re not fit of it and chose another school [Chap. 144].

Long story short it’s very likely in Tōya’s elementary school class all the kids are saying they’ll become Heroes… but also equally likely by the time they’ll reach high school many will give up on that dream. Still, if Tōya wants to make friends in his class, he needs to conform to them and also wish to become a Hero. As he’s the firstborn of an Hero, society likely expects he’ll follow in his father’s footsteps. Remember what Tensei said?

Īda Tensei ‘Nn… Tashikani sofu - ryōshin HERO de… Seken ja ore ga HERO yatteru no mo tōzen mitai ni iwa rerukara na.’ 飯田天晴「んん…確かに祖父・両親ヒーローで…世間じゃ俺がヒーローやってるのも当然みたいに言われるからな。」 Īda Tensei “Hmm… because for sure my grandfather and parents are heroes… therefore society says it’s natural for me to be a hero.” [Chap. 54]

Tenya doesn’t suffer of the same expectations because he’s the second born. However after Tensei’s incident, people would have turned their expectation on him even if Tenya wasn’t in a Hero school, thinking it would be logical for him to inherit the mantle of Ingenium. Mind you, the expectations are a lot less now that in the past but they’re still there.

XX WAIT, WAS TŌYA ALSO BULLIED AS MIDORIYA?

We don’t know.

He likely didn’t fit in his class during Elementary and Middle school. Enji said he should make friends at school, meaning they’re aware he has none and Tōya tries to explain him they’re different from him (they can see they’ll become Hero and likely get their family support while he’s constantly told by his father he can’t).

Todoroki Enji ‘DAME da! Naze wakaran! Soko made no yakedo o otte naze wakaranainda!! Tōya…!! Omae wa soto o miro. Fuyumi ya Natsuo to asobe!! Gakkō de tomodachi o tsukure! HERO igai ni mo… Takusan no sekai ga aru… Wakaru darō! Sō shite iku uchi ni wasureru.’ 轟炎司「ダメだ！何故わからん！そこまでの火傷を負って何故わからないんだ‼燈矢…‼おまえは外を見ろ。冬美や夏雄と遊べ‼学校で友達をつくれ！ヒーロー以外にも…沢山の世界がある…わかるだろう！そうしていく内に忘れる。」 Todoroki Enji “No! Why don’t you understand? How can you not understand when you’ve been burned so badly!! Tōya…!! Look outside. Play with Fuyumi and Natsuo!! Make friends at school! There are so many worlds out there other than heroes… You’ll understand! As you do so, you’ll forget.”

Todoroki Tōya ‘Gakkō no ko wa mina HERO ni narutte sa…! ……Wakaru hazu nai daro…! Ore wa otō-san no kodomo nanda kara.’ 轟燈矢「学校の子は皆ヒーローになるってさ…！……わかるはずないだろ…！俺はお父さんの子どもなんだから。」 Todoroki Tōya “All the kids at school say they’ll become heroes…! There’s no way I’d understand…! After all I’m my dad’s child.” [Chap. 301]

Later Rei insists he should spend time with his classmates (implying they’re aware he doesn’t do it) and Tōya succinctly tells her he doesn’t need friends and that they live in different worlds, implying he has none.

Todoroki Rei ‘Matte! Mata oyama ni iku kidesho…! Tamani wa CLASSMATE to asonde mitari…’ 轟冷「待って！またお山に行く気でしょ…！ たまにはクラスメイトと遊んでみたり…」 Todoroki Rei “Wait! You’re going to the mountains again, aren’t you?! Sometimes you can hang out with your classmates.”

Todoroki Tōya ‘Tomodachi nanka iranai! Sekai ga chigau!’ 轟燈矢「友だちなんかいらない！世界が違う！」 Todoroki Tōya “I don’t need friends! We’re in different worlds!” [Chap. 302]

The fact he doesn’t have social relations in class makes him different which is often a cause of bullying… but not necessarily. Think also at Shōto, at how he initially kept apart from the class saying he wasn’t there to make friends and how the kids in Class A seem to be his first friends.

Bullying (いじめ ‘Ijime’) in Japan, especially as depicted in manga, tends to involve power dynamics, with a group of students or classmates targeting a single victim which is perceived weak. Now… here I’ll talk more of how it get depicted in manga/anime as in real life it’s a lot more complex.

Midoriya is represented as weak, he’s timid, polite, not strong and Quirkless so it fits with the trope of a perfect victim of physical and verbal bullying.

Tōya and Shōto have their strong/dangerous Quirks and were likely good at fighting back. They’re also not looking timid or polite. Very likely Tōya and Shōto refused social interaction and are children of someone important. This kind of characters are generally not used in manga to represent victims of physical bullying, if in a story someone tries to attack them, they defend and teach them it’s better not to.

The most they get is social ostracism (people would keep away from them, wouldn’t invite them to join in their activities, wouldn’t pick up them when they’ve to choose among classmates). Since they would be depicted as not wanting it in the first place though, stories generally don’t depict this as bullying but as the natural answer to their attitude.

People might gossip about them and criticize their behavior which will feel like a ‘I’m better than you’ attitude but they wouldn’t do it on their face or would look scared if overheard.

Something similar to the relationship between Shōto and Yoarashi, when, after seeing Shōto act like that with him at the exam, Yoarashi refuses to interact with Shōto and accuses him to be like his father. Yoarashi though tells all that to his face because he’s also represented as a strong character who can match Shōto. There’s a high chance that, in their classes, Tōya and Shōto were perceived as the strongest so they didn’t have anyone who would try to put them in their place and so they continued to live their school life in willing social isolation. Tōya and Shōto will also try to keep on doing the same thing outside of middle school, Tōya keeping away the league members and Shōto initially wanting to keep away his classmates at U.A. high.

The story later will show that all Shōto needed to open up was someone reaching out for him… which fits with the trope of this kind of character (though how much they open up after the main character reaches for them can vary).

Mind you, all this is speculation based on tropes popular in manga, which seem to fit Tōya and Shōto. We’ll never know if they were bullied because they refused to interact with the class.

XX IS TŌYA SHOWING SIGNS OF PSYCHOPATY FOR TRYING TO MURDER SHŌTO?

As sad and troublesome as it is, children normally have a lower ability, compared to adults, to control their emotions and a lower grasp to the consequences of their actions, so a child of 8 who loses it and tries to attack someone else, be it his infant sibling, in a fit of jealousy and desperation in order to get his father’s attention is not something that’s okay but it’s something that can happen, as not only his emotions can take over and overrule his brain, but a child desperate for attentions can resort to try to get negative attention (attention received by doing something wrong), and one of the easiest ways to do so is by hitting someone or something.

Normally children don’t have a fire Quirk (nor their sibling has fire resistance) so the attack might seem tamer (a kick or a punch or a slap) but this doesn’t mean they can’t be equally dangerous (especially if the target is a baby).

During the fact Tōya is depicted as highly distressed and years later Tōya is shown admitting he was in the wrong and still showing remorse (psychopaths lack the ability to feel remorse).

If Enji hadn’t decided to just keep the children forever parted and had instead handled things better, that would have been remained an isolated case and would have probably turned into a ‘funny family anecdote’ of the time in which Tōya tried to burn Shōto and failed.

Even better, if he hadn’t let his son get so distressed the whole incident wouldn’t have taken place.

I’ll toss in that for a child having attention both in regard to his whereabouts but also in regard to his emotions is a PRIMARY NEED that, if not fulfilled, can have serious, long lasting psychological consequences. We can all guess how dangerous it is not to pay attention to where a child is and what he’s doing but, to give you an idea of how bad emotional neglect in children can be, here there’s a list of the most common symptoms: depression, anxiety, apathy, failure to thrive, hyperactivity, aggression, developmental delays, low self-esteem, substance misuse, withdrawing from friends and activities, appearing uncaring or indifferent, shunning emotional closeness or intimacy. It doesn’t end here because who was emotionally neglected as a child will have to deal with the consequences as an adult as well. For start they might not know how to deal with their emotions when they occur. But other common effect of childhood emotional neglect in adulthood are: post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, emotional unavailability, increasing likelihood for an eating disorder, shunning intimacy, feeling deeply, personally flawed, feeling empty, poor self-discipline, guilt and shame, anger and aggressive behaviors, difficulty trusting others or relying upon anyone else and they might become parents who also emotionally neglect their own children in return (actually it seems the most common cause for emotionally neglecting a child is that the parent suffered of it as well).

So yes, Tōya had already gotten to a point in which his psychological health had deteriorated quite a bit and his parents should do something to support him. [Chap. 301/302]

XX WHY DIDN’T THE TODOROKIS SEND TŌYA TO THERAPY SINCE HE WAS CLEARLY COPYING POORLY WITH THE SITUATION?

Therapy exists in Japan and it’s a viable option but… it’s also strongly stigmatized and carries along a connotation of shame as it’s generally seen as something only ‘crazy people go’.

People are viewed as weak and blamed if they fall prey of a mental illness and, anyway, supporting them is viewed as their family’s duty not a therapist’s duty, with families more willing to read books about how to help or to ask guidance to elders than to turn to therapists (by the way, as said before, till 1996 people with mental disabilities suffered of forced sterilization in Japan due to the eugenic protection law, and mental illness in the family was one of the reasons why a person wouldn’t be considered acceptable for marriage so even if the law was abolished you don’t want to be judged as someone who has mental problems or to have one of your kids judged as one who has mental problems).

I would say Rei’s 10 years in hospital seem to hint Horikoshi didn't really believe in therapy. We also see it’s not just Tōya who doesn’t get therapy but little Eri, despite what she went through doesn’t get it either, nor does Kōta despite losing his parents.

What ‘heals’ Rei is Shōto going to visit her, what ‘heals’ Eri is going to the school festival, what ‘heals’ Kōta is being saved by Midoriya… and don’t take me wrong, they’re all things that can help but, normally, therapy would also do play a part in real life.

XX WHAT ABOUT QUIRK COUNSELING? DID TŌYA RECEIVE IT?

‘Issei ‘kosei’ COUNSELING’ (一斉〝個性〟カウンセリング “universal/mass/simultaneous ‘Quirk’ counseling”) is apparently mandatory in all the elementary schools... the manga doesn't explain it in details but seems to be a group activity all students take part at. This means all the Todoroki kids received it during Elementary school. The goal of it though seems to be to teach the students to form a personality that conform with the norm, with the result that it instead emphasize more the differences and tries to force students to suppress all that doesn't conform.

Assuming Quirk counseling works similarly to how counseling works in Japanese school, it's possible that, in tandem with 'group Quirk counseling' administered by the teacher, the students who have troubles can also receive private Quirk counseling administered by a specialist who visit their school. Private counseling in Japan has the same stigma as asking for psychological help so this might apply also to private Quirk counseling.

However we've no detailed canon info on how Quirk counseling works and it's never mentioned in relation to Tōya s, beyond the fact that he should have received the part of it that's common to all the elementary school children, the rest is up to speculation...

Clearly, the mandatory Quirk counseling didn't help him, we can't tell though if it made matters worse.

XX DID ENJI CALLED SHŌTO A ‘MASTERPIECE’ AND HIS OTHER CHILDREN ‘FAILURES’?

Enji called Shōto ‘saikō kessaku’ (最高傑作 “greatest masterpiece”) in Chap. 34. The dialogue seems to imply it’s not the first time he calls him as such.

Todoroki Enji ‘Ii kagen kodomo jimita hankō o yamero. Omae ni wa ALL MIGHT o koeru to iu gimu ga arunda zo. Wakatteru no ka? Nī-san-ra to wa chigau. Omae wa saikō kessaku nanda zo!’ 轟炎司「良い加減子どもじみた反抗をやめろ。おまえにはオールマイトを超えるという義務があるんだぞ。わかってるのか？兄さんらとは違う。お前は最高傑作なんだぞ！」 Todoroki Enji “You look like an irresponsible child, quit your rebellion. You have a duty that’s called ‘surpass All Might’. Do you understand? You’re different from your older brother and your other siblings. You are my greatest masterpiece!” [Chap. 34]

I couldn’t find a single instance in which he refers to his other kids as ‘shippaisaku’ (失敗作 “failed creative work”), who use that term to refer to himself and his siblings is Tōya because that’s how he felt Enji saw him and his siblings.

Todoroki Tōya ‘Boku wa chichi no riko-tekina yume no tame ni tsukura reta. Shikashi, dōyara boku wa shippaisaku datta yōde hodonakushite mikagirare suterare wasurerare mashita.’ 轟燈矢「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 was created for my father’s selfish dream. However, it seems I was a failure, and I was soon abandoned, cast aside, and forgotten.” [Chap. 290]

Todoroki Tōya ‘Soryā, ano toki wa ore ga warukatta yo…!! Shōto ni tsumi wa nakatta mono… demo Otō-san mo warukattanda yo! Ore-tachi wa shippaisaku dakara aite ni sa renai. Sugoi yona… iranai ko o tsukutte… kore ga gendai HERO nanda ze.’ 轟燈矢「そりゃあ、あの時は俺が悪かったよ…‼焦凍に罪はなかったもの…でもお父さんも悪かったんだよ！俺たちは失敗作だから相手にされない。すごいよな…要らない子をつくって…これが現代ヒーローなんだぜ。」 Todoroki Tōya “Well, I was wrong back then…!! Shōto was innocent... but Dad was wrong too! We are failures so no one pays attention to us. It’s amazing... raising unwanted children... this is what a modern hero is.”

Todoroki Tōya ‘Shōto, kaettanda yo ore. Mae yori jakutaika shiten noni sa, kitai shiteru MON nante aru HAZU nai no ni. (Mata mite moraeru yō ni… demo sa…) Kitto… kawatte ite hoshikattanda… Mitakatta nda… ore o unda imi o… (3-nen-buri no kawaranu kōkei ga…) aratamete oshiete kureta. Ore ga shippaisaku de imi wa naku. Kono kazoku wa mō ore o kako ni shita.’ 轟燈矢「焦凍、帰ったんだよ俺。前より弱体化してんのにさ、期待してるモンなんてあるハズないのに。（また見てもらえるように…でもさ…）きっと…変わっていてほしかったんだ…見たかったんだ俺を生んだ意味を…「（3年ぶりの変わらぬ光景が…）改めて教えてくれた。俺が失敗作で意味は無く。この家族はもう俺を過去にした。」 Todoroki Tōya “Shōto, I went home. I was weaker than before, so there’s no way I could have expected anything. (I wanted to be able to get him to look at me again...but...) I guess... I wished for things to have changed... I wanted to see… the meaning behind my birth… (the same scene after three years…) Once again I was taught/shown that I was a failure and there was meaning in me. This family had already made me a thing of the past.”

Special mention for Natsuo who say it and yet doesn’t… what does this mean? That the text says ‘shippaisaku’ (失敗作 “failed creative work”) but the reading given is ‘ore-tachi’ (おれたち “we”) so even though he’s talking with Enji, Enji can’t hear him saying “failures” just “we”.

Todoroki Natsuo ‘Iette… MeE awaseta koto mo nai kuse ni kyū ni yoku iu ne. Ore sa, Shōto ga soba suki nante hajimete shitta yo. Anta ga shippaisaku (read: ore-tachi) to kakawara senai yō ni shitetakara. Okā-san mo nē-chan mo naze ka yurusu nagare nanda kedo sa, ore no naka ja IKARE yarō zessan keizoku chū da yo! Kawatta yōde zenzen kawattenai! Shippaisaku (read: ore-tachi) wa hottarakashi, kikoete kuru okā-san no himei, Shōto no nakigoe! Tōya nī no koto mo sa… No.1 ni natte kyōteki taoshita tokoro de kokoro kara kieru HAZU nai. Katte ni kokoro gawari shite! Ippōteki ni yori modosoutte ka! Kimochi warui ze! Soo yuu toko wakatten no!?’ 轟夏雄「言えって…目エ合わせたこともないくせに急によく言うね。俺さ、焦凍がそば好きなんて初めて知ったよ。あんたが失敗作(おれたち）と関わらせないようにしてたから。お母さんも姉ちゃんも何故か許す流れなんだけどさ、俺の中じゃイカレヤロウ絶賛継続中だよ！変わったようで全然変わってない！失敗作(おれたち）は放ったらかし、聞こえてくるお母さんの悲鳴、焦凍の泣き声！燈矢兄のこともさ…No.1になって強敵倒したところで心から消えるハズない。勝手に心変わりして！一方的に縒り戻そうってか！気持ち悪いぜ！そーゆーとこわかってんの！？」 Todoroki Natsuo “Say it... even though you've never even looked at me in the eye, you're saying that all of a sudden. This is the first time I’ve heard that Shōto likes soba. It’s because you didn’t let him get involved with failures (read: us). Mom and big sister for some reason are in the process of forgiving you, but inside I’m still thinking of you as a crazy bastard! You may seem to have changed, but you haven’t changed at all! How you ignored the failures (read: us), hearing mom’s screams and Shōto’s cries! And the same goes for big brother Tōya... Even if you became No. 1 and defeated a strong enemy, there’s no way all this will disappear from my heart. You changed your mind on your own! And you’re trying to unilaterally get back together with us! That’s disgusting! Do you even understand that kind of thing!?”

As said before, carrying on a father’s ambition and inheriting his work was considered the male firstborn’s duty. If he gets passed over for a younger sibling it’s implied he failed in his duty hence he’s a failure so Enji doesn’t really need to say Tōya (and his other siblings) are failures because that’s implied when he pass them over for Shōto. Although this belief is slowly being abandoned in Tōya’s case he likely feels it’s even stronger as he knows his father had kids for that purpose.

Long story short, it’s possible Enji never used it to define his kids but they sure felt as such.

XX WHEN ALL FOR ONE GAVE TENKO THE DECAYING QUIRK, CAUSING HIM TO DESTROY HIS FAMILY SO THAT HE COULD THEN TAKE HIM HOW OLD WERE THE TODOROKI FAMILY MEMBERS?

Tenko was 5 and it was summer so it likely happened in the summer of the year in which Tōya would turn 8, Fuyumi would turn 8, Natsuo would turn 4, Shōto would be born and Enji would turn 31.

XX WHEN AKAGURO CHIZOME DROPS OUT OF SCHOOL AND STARTS MAKING SOAPBOX SPEECHES (OFTEN IN FRONT OF A STATION) ABOUT THE NEED FOR “HERO REVIVAL” HOW OLD WERE THE TODOROKI FAMILY MEMBERS AND DID TŌYA HEARD HIM?

It likely happened in the summer of the year in which Tōya would turn 8, Fuyumi would turn 8, Natsuo would turn 4, Shōto would be born and Enji would turn 31. We’ve no proof whatsoever Tōya ever heard of him before he became Stain.

XX WHEN BUBAIGAWARA JIN RUNS DOWN WITH A MOTORCYCLE A YOUNG MAN AND CONSEQUENTLY LOSES HIS JOB AND BECOMES HOMELESS HOW OLD WERE THE TODOROKI FAMILY MEMBERS?

It likely happened in the autumn or winter of the year in which Tōya would turn 8, Fuyumi would turn 8, Natsuo would turn 4, Shōto would be born and Enji would turn 31.

XX WHEN TOGA HIMIKO’S QUIRK MANIFESTED AND HOW OLD WERE THE TODOROKI FAMILY MEMBERS?

Likely after she turned 3 (her birthday is on August 7th) and prior turning 4 as her parents stopped signing her height to the wall after she turned 3. This means it happens when Tōya was 9-10, Fuyumi was 8-9, Natsuo was 5-6, Shōto was 1-2 and Enji was 32-33.

XX WHEN OBORO SHIRAKUMO DIED HOW OLD WERE THE TODOROKI FAMILY MEMBERS?

Shirakumo died when he was 17, in October, in the year in which Tōya would turn 9, Fuyumi would turn 9, Natsuo would turn 5, Shōto would turn 1 and Enji would turn 32.

His body was retrieved by Garaki Kyūdai who turned into the Nōmu Kurogiri and handed him to All for One who later used him as babysitter for Shigaraki Tomura. [BNHA Chap. 254]

XX DID ENJI ABUSED (AS IN ‘PHYSICALLY BEAT’) HIS CHILDREN AND WIFE? SHOULDN’T HE BE PUNISHED FOR THAT?

I’ll try to be as factually accurate as possible with this one. Sit down comfortably as this is gonna be long.

Through the manga we never see Enji raising a finger toward Tōya, Fuyumi or Natsuo, and all Natsuo and Tōya will complain about is how he completely ignored them, not that he hit them.

They also knew he believed Shōto to be a Masterpiece (Enji even said it out loud to Shōto in canon, remarking how he wasn’t like his siblings), which made them feel they were failures in his eyes (credits when it’s due, he never said they were failures, just that Shōto wasn’t like them).

We see Enji sending Rei on the ground twice [Chap. 39/302].

In Chap. 39, when she tries to protect Shōto, the sound effect implies he slapped her, and, even though the anime in episode 105 tried to ‘soften the scene’ by implying he did hit her because she grabbed him and he wanted to push her away, he still hit her. In Chap. 302 the way Rei is on the ground, crying and looking scared to death, implies she was hit, and the way he grabbed her shirt as he yells at her as well as the fact later she’ll panic when she’ll see Shōto as she exchanges him for Enji, seems to imply he did hit her again, or, at least, scared her enough to cause her to fear him to the point of paranoia. So we’ve at least two instances in which he beats his wife.

In the first instance he’s witnessed by Shōto. In the second instance he’s witnessed by Fuyumi, Natsuo and Shōto. Tōya wasn’t shown around so he might not have witnessed this.

Of course there could have been more instances, likely there were considering how Rei was scared, but I’ll stick to what was shown to us.

We don’t see him hit Shōto but, during training, we see Shōto being on the ground and throwing up as Enji yells at him to get up [Chap. 39-202] and on the ground with Enji having some sort of pole in his hands, others scattered around in Chap. 350.

The Japanese version on Chap. 39 is a lot more vague than the English version as in the English version they say ‘if you get knocked down by a hit like this’ but in the Japanese version it’s:

Todoroki Enji ‘Tate. Konna mono de taorete ite wa ALL MIGHT wa oroka zako teki (read: VILLAIN) ni sura…’ 轟炎司「立て。こんなもので倒れていてはオールマイトはおろか雑魚敵（ヴィラン）にすら…」 Todoroki Enji “Stand up. If you are to fall down due to something like this, forget (beating) All Might, (you won’t beat) not even a small fry enemy (read: Villain)…” [Chap. 39]

‘Konna mono’ means “like this thing”.

‘Taorete’ means “to break down (e.g. from overwork), to fall, to collapse, to drop, to fall senseless, to fall ill, to go down to the ground from an upright position, usually by accident”. It’s the verb you use if you suddenly faint or fall down because you are very ill or weak or if you collapsed following a vigorous exercise session at his home, not due to being hit.

This leaves open the possibility Shōto fell sick not after being hit but after being driven to exhaustion… and we know using fire can be taxing and Enji wanted him to use his fire… but the scene in Chap. 350 seems to imply also there was fighting, not just Quirk using in Shōto’s training.

Also, in Chap. 202, Enji holds a Shinai, a Japanese sword typically made of bamboo used for practice and competition in kendō… but that is also often used in Japan by coaches to punish/beat the athletes they’re training.

We never see Enji hit Shōto outside of training, not even when Shōto is rude to him and Enji hadn’t started yet his atonement path. In “School Briefs” Natsuo says Rei wanted to protect Shōto from Enji’s training, not by other forms of physical abuse. This seems to imply, outside of training, Enji didn’t hit Shōto.

Unless I’m missing something, this is all we have.

So, where does all this leads us?

Let’s start with Rei.

In Japan, from 2001 it was prohibited for a person to inflict physical harm or bodily injury upon another person, even between spouses [Act on the Prevention of Spousal Violence and the Protection of Victims].

What will then be done?

If the person receiving harm notify or report this to the police and can prove WITH EVIDENCE (her statements, doctor’s notes testifying the damage received) she received harm and that they are in a case in which they are highly likely to receive serious harm to the life or body from renewed spousal violence, a Protection Order will be issued to the abuser by a district court, subject to a written petition to the court.

The Protection Order will forbid the abuser to get close to the victim and, possibly, to the victim’s children and relatives for 6 months. They might also ordered to vacate the residence shared as the main home with the victim, and not to loiter in the vicinity of the victim’s residence for a period of 2 months.

Only if they violate the Protection Order they are punishable by imprisonment with work for not more than one year or a fine of not more than one million yen.

So the most Rei could obtain had she reported the abuse with enough evidence to prove it happened and she had reasons to fear for her life, would have been to have Enji be forced to stay away from her for 6 months. If she had also filed a claim for damages caused by assault or mental abuse, in a separate civil process, she could hope to get economical compensation.

If she does nothing or doesn’t have enough evidence (very likely Rei didn’t go to a doctor so that he would write down the extent of the damage received and, by the time she snapped and attacked Shōto, bruises might have disappeared) nothing will be done, the most that might happen will be they will be offered counseling from a police officer or Spousal Violence Counseling and Support Centers.

Generally though, the police will consider it as a private family matter and let things be as the police are not obliged to investigate when ‘domestic disputes’ are reported (yeah, that’s how they’re called). Even if things are changing, if the matter becomes public, society will also tend to blame the wife even if she’s the victim and won’t be kind to the kids either.

As of today Japanese law does not explicitly provide for domestic violence in terms of prosecutorial considerations.

However… there’s an up side. In May 2023, the Japanese Diet passed a revised domestic violence prevention law which went into effect April 2024.

The revised law marks a departure from its original version, which limited protection orders to individuals who had already experienced physical violence and faced an imminent threat to their life or body. Now, it extends to those facing serious mental harm—a crucial expansion given that 60% of domestic violence consultations to the Cabinet Office’s support hotlines involve mental abuse. Moreover, the duration of protection orders has been extended from six months to one year, and stricter penalties have been imposed on those who violate protection orders. Originally punishable by imprisonment of up to one year and a fine of up to one million yen, violators now face up to two years in prison and fines of up to two million yen.

While Japanese law continues to not expressly provide criminal penalties for domestic violence the court may now impose the following penalties for crimes related to domestic violence (assault and injury) under the Penal Code.

Assault (暴行 ‘bōkō’) may entail imprisonment with work for not more than two years, a fine of not more than JPY 300,000, or misdemeanor imprisonment without work or a petty fine.

Injury (傷害 ‘shōgai’) may entail imprisonment with work for not more than 15 years or a fine of not more than JPY 500,000. Typically, imprisonment may be between six months and three years with two to five years of probation, depending on the severity of the crime. Police is also a bit more pressured into doing investigations.

While all this is well and good the high evidentiary standard placed on victims, complicated legal procedures and insufficient access to legal representation may deters victims from trying to pursue justice.

By the end of BNHA Rei doesn’t seem interested to seek justice but likely will not have enough evidence to offer beyond the fact that Enji is willing to confirm it… but… since this whole thing is so recent, it likely wasn’t incorporated into BNHA, Horikoshi might have even missed the changes in the law.

What about the abuse the kids received?

In Japan what Tōya, Fuyumi and Natsuo suffered is classified as Psychological Abuse and they check almost all the boxes of it.

In fact they were ignored and they were made feel as they were rejected, they were aware Shōto was ‘favored’ as in ‘viewed as a Masterpiece’, different from them (not that it did Shōto any good), and, in Fuyumi and Natsuo’s case, they witnessed him committing violence toward their other parent.

In Shōto’s case there’s Psychological Abuse as he witnessed Enji committing violence toward their other parent and, I guess, one could make a case for the yelling Shōto received during training to also count (verbal abuse is a part of psychological abuse) and, of course, there’s Physical Abuse occurring during the training.

The Child Abuse Prevention Act (2000) is the first piece of legislation to explicitly mention child abuse and say that Rei or people like welfare workers, individuals who work at schools, mental health professionals, physicians, nurses and lawyers are obliged to report child abuse if they witness it. There are however no repercussions if they decided not to report the fact they witnessed abuse.

After making a report, the Child Guidance Center will assess the report and the first responses to the report will usually be within the first 48 hours. Action from the CGC varies from visiting the home of the child, conducting family assessments, or gathering information from settings like schools or hospitals. The CGC can also provide emergency protection and custody for the family if necessary, as well as providing other methods to support the family. The children are generally taken away from parents only if their life is judged in serious danger.

Again, things need to be proved with evidence.

Psychological abuse is one of the hardest things to prove. Children are heard but they’re often considered unreliable… and yes, this applies to even when they grow up, because they might remember wrong facts that happened in their childhood. People working for the Todorokis isn’t on duty to report things and they might decide against it (the manga though, never showed them witnessing anything).

Rei could do the report but she clearly isn’t reporting anything that happens in the house.

As Rei comes from a traditional family she’s likely psychologically under the Confucianism belief that 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. In short, she probably thinks she deserves the beating as, in Shōto’s case, she opposes to Enji and in Tōya’s case, she failed to look after him which wasn’t just disobeying to what her husband asked her but that in Japan is seen as the exclusive duty of the mother. In fact, when she phones to her mother she doesn’t ask for help because she gets beaten but because she thinks she can’t stay with the kids because she fears she’ll hurt them.

What about the physical abuse Shōto received?

In 2019 Japan enacted a law banning parents and other guardians from physically punishing children following several fatal cases of abuse dealt out in the name of discipline. The most notable thing is that, despite parents being banned from physically punishing children… there are no penalties for offenders and, as said before, the biggest action that can be taken would be to move the children away from the abuser.

BNHA started in 2014 with chapter 39 and 202 being printed before the law was in action hence Enji’s behavior was even less reproachable by Japanese eyes.

What’s more Enji isn’t punishing Shōto but ‘training him’.

While abuse of children is prohibited in Japan, there are no laws that explicitly extend this prohibition to the world of sport.

Although the Japanese government and sports organizations have attempted, in recent years, to address physical abuse of children, child protection guidelines that apply to sports organizations, to date, have been non-binding suggestions, with no clear mechanisms for ensuring compliance.

The story draw strong parallelism between Hero training and sport training so Hero training likely falls under the same ‘laws’.

In fact when Enji trains (read: abuse) Shōto, Horikoshi likely meant for him to mirror a certain Japanese stereotype of abusive father/trainer that had been VERY present in old spokon manga and anime… but that’s actually older than them.

This is the plot of “Renjishi” (連獅子 “Two Lions”) a kabuki dance (which should be dated 1861), I’ll quote a description for it I found in the net but you can find others in a similar tone:

“A depiction of a lion’s strict training. The father lion pushes his cub over a ravine into a deep valley, maintaining a strict demeanor but in truth waiting anxiously to see if his son can climb back. Folklore has it that lion cubs are kicked off a ravine by their parent and must climb back up with intense effort. The brave attitude of the cub in the face of his father’s strict training is an emotional scene. A drama depicting the love between parent and child.”

Manga and anime took it in strides, depicting abuse be it in the form of insane training methods or physical beatings (体罰 ‘taibatsu’) as a perfect valid method to train someone, with expressions like ‘Tatakinaousu’ (叩き直す “Beat up someone until you fix them”) or ‘Karada de Oboeru’ (体で覚える “Remember with your body”) and considering fathers who would take upon themselves the task to train (read: abuse) their children, as model fathers.

The most famous case in manga and anime is Hoshi Ittetsu a character from the manga (and anime) “Kyojin no Hoshi” (1966 – 1971) who WAS CONSIDERED THE IDEAL FATHER FIGURE in the mid-Showa era for how his whole life ended up revolving around supporting his son’s dream to become a baseball player, no one caring he forced his own dream on his son (as, as said before, it was judged a completely normal behavior) or that he pushed his son through a way worse abusive training than Enji did. As Enji initially shared many similarities with him, Hoshi Ittetsu might have been a direct or indirect source of inspiration for Enji.

In real life in 1964 the Japanese Women’s Volleyball Team won the Olympics but the training regime they were forced to underwent was abusive… but it seems since they won no one cared and the players even thanked the coach (“He was tough, for sure. But just as much, there was kindness with coach Daimatsu. It’s why everyone respected him” said one of the players) and this inspired “Attack no. 1” another anime which shows the main character undergo abusive (and humanly impossible to bear) training to become the best volleyball player.

That’s just not really a thing of the past.

In Japan, there’s an unwritten rule that permits coaches and sporting mentors to slap, kick and punch players to get them to “toughen up” and older generations often still view physical abuse or contact for discipline as a necessary part of teaching or coaching.

In September, 2012, 15 female judo athletes filed a written complaint to the All Japan Judo Federation stating that their coach, Sonoda Ryuji, slapped, kicked, beat them with bamboo sticks, and forced them to compete injured in the run-up to the Summer Olympics in London. The federation refrained from launching a full investigation and retained Sonoda as head coach. When the athletes took their complaint to the Japanese Olympic Committee, which was busy with preparations for Japan’s bid for the 2020 Olympics, in December only a few women were interviewed about the abuse in January. It was only until their story had received media attention that Sonoda stepped down on February 1st, bringing worldwide attention to Japan’s problem of physical punishment in professional sports at a time when Tokyo is bidding to host the 2020 Olympics.

While Enji is no professional trainer, likely his abuse of Shōto would be handled with even more leniency as it would be viewed as ‘training’ (by the way in the manga we see other episodes made by other people of training made by other people that can be considered ‘over the top’ and the manga generally gives a pass at them, often with the excuse that the one undergoing it is okay with being trained in such way).

Long story short for everyone who wonders why in the manga Enji isn’t legally punished for the abuse he caused his family to suffer, this is because no OFFICIAL report was made (sorry, Tōya’s video doesn’t count), never mentioning they would need to provide VALID EVIDENCE, which would probably be hard to find by now. They are however in luck because Enji admitted what Tōya said in the video. Tōya didn’t mention Rei’s abuse so this wouldn’t help Rei’s cause, just the ones of his siblings but let’s pretend Enji even admitted Rei’s abuse.

For the whole thing to be put under trial they still need an official report from one of the victims or again the police can shrug it off as a private family matter.

So okay, let’s assume Rei reports it.

Enji’s punishment would be to be forced to stay away from her for 6 month. I doubt they’ll judge the children being still in danger of abuse and therefore needing to be moved away from the house but let’s assume they do. Having his family live away from him was exactly what Enji planned to do when he gifted his family a house.

At the end of the manga Horikoshi punished Enji by basically destroying his life. Trust me, he gave him much worse than keeping him away from Rei for 6 months and entrusting his children to someone else (Shōto is basically already living away from him since he stays in U.A. dorms as for Natsuo, he’s moving out of his house and getting married).

XX WHAT ABOUT THE FACT THE TODOROKIS DIDN’T LOOK AFTER TŌYA? ISN’T THAT A FORM OF ABUSE? AFTER ALL, DUE TO THIS, TŌYA ALMOST DIED…

In Japan it’s still okay to leave children unattended.

In 2023 in Japan’s Saitama it was proposed an anti-child abuse ordinance that would ban parents and others from leaving children of third-year elementary school age and below alone at home as they could be vulnerable to heatstroke, accidents, kidnappings, fires and falls. The ban has stirred controversy, with criticism nationwide it could place an undue burden on child-rearing households and, in the end, it had been withdrew. Another excuse given to justify leaving children alone and fight the ban was that being left alone promotes their independence.

Long story short, Enji insists for Rei to look after Tōya, but it’s not a crime to leave him alone unsupervised even when he was younger than 13, and plenty of Japanese people refuse to see it as a form of abuse.

I think Horikoshi, remarking Tōya’s parents should have looked after him, is subtly disagreeing with the idea it’s okay to leave children alone.

XX WHY ENJI TRIED TO PUSH ALL THE RESPONSIBILITY TO WATCH TŌYA ON REI, PRIORITIZING HIS HERO WORK? IT WAS CLEARLY A MISTAKE, AND WHY HE KEEPS ON MAKING THAT MISTAKE THROUGH ALL THE STORY COSTANTLY PRIORITIZING HIS WORK INSTEAD THAN HIS FAMILY?

We’ve two reasons for this, one is that, as Tōya said, Enji is a coward (Chap. 426), as Enji himself will admit he didn’t want to face responsibility and so he did his best to avoid facing it (Chap. 252). Placing all the responsibility on Rei and hiding behind his Hero work was just convenient, not necessary, for example, back then Shōto was just a baby he could have used the time he’ll later use to train Shōto to spend time with Tōya, Fuyumi and Natsuo. Instead he didn’t. Tōya said he wanted to go on Sekoto Peak with Enji on Enji’s free day but here Tōya was, waiting until late in the evening (the sky is dark) alone up on a mountain, and even though it should be Enji’s free day, he doesn’t show up. He doesn’t want to show up. And Tōya himself knows how Enji will excuse himself in fact, when he wakes up, he tells himself his father didn’t come because he should have had work to do (Chap. 350) but Enji will admit that the truth was he didn’t know what to say to him (Chap. 302) so he didn’t went there to face him.

The other reason is that… in Japan it’s believed is the mother’s work to watch over the children (to the point they’re expected to stop working when they’ve one and if they don’t they’re viewed as selfish) while the father should just focus on working.

Work is judged more important than family, that’s why Enji will keep on tackling things prioritizing his work, not his role as a father, so when Tōya will turn out to be alive he won’t dump everything to try and find his son and try to reason with him but will continue do his Hero work and his Hero friends won’t encourage him to take care of his family, as it should be more important, no, they’ll encourage him to go back to work, as to them that’s more important and it would be more important even if All for One wasn’t threatening the whole Japan.

In the long run it’ll eventually lead to AFO’s defeat but, in the process, it will condemn Tōya to a slow death, Rei and Fuyumi will get scars and Natsuo will decide to never meet up with Enji again. I don’t know if there will be another Todoroki family chapter but, if this is all we get, the Todoroki family is dismembered and won’t recompose and, even if future chapters were trying to put it back together it would be only a short time thing as Tōya is still meant to die.

Could Enji have saved his family if he had worried about it first?

We’ll never know but it’s made abundantly clear his focusing solely on his work didn’t help his family.

It’s noteworthy even if BNHA criticizes parents neglecting their family, it doesn’t try to say ‘parents should prioritize their family first’, it’s likely trying to advocate for a balance between both possibly because Enji (and Nana as well) ends up in a situation in which neglecting their work would mean All for One’s victory and therefore the end of their families just the same.

This might mirror the real life situation of Japanese workers, who have to work a lot of hours so they end up not having time for their family and working that many hours isn’t optional. If they don’t work their family won’t have food, so in a way it’s a matter of life and death, but at the same time if they end up neglecting the family too much the family will break just the same.

A meta can probably be written on this topic digging more on Japanese worklife and its comparison with Enji’s worklife but I don’t think that’s the place for a meta so I’ll just stop here.

XX COULDN’T REI GET A DIVORCE?

Let’s start with mentioning in Japan there’s a huge social stigma that falls on the whole family (parents and children) in case of divorce, but especially on the woman (in the past only males could ask for divorce and you’ve to keep in mind that a woman was expected to obey to the husband so this has developed the idea if a divorce takes place no matter the reason, the woman is at fault). Things are changing as women are fighting for this, but we aren’t yet at the point in which if a woman divorce people won’t think ill of her.

As a general rule, in Japan you cannot get divorced if either spouse is not agreeing.

There are three methods to get divorced.

If Rei and Enji agree they can get divorced through a “divorce by agreement” (協議離婚 ‘kyogi rikon’).

If Enji doesn’t agree, then Rei must next attempt to get divorced through conciliation administered by the family court (調停離婚 ‘chotei rikon’). Basically they talk their case to the conciliation committee which proposes alternatives to resolve the disagreement and have them both agree to the divorce.

If Enji still doesn’t agree, the next option is to get divorced through a court determination (審判離婚 ‘shinpan rikon’) or a trial (裁判離婚 ‘saiban rikon’).

If the court issues a judgment at the conclusion of the trial whereby it “accepts a party’s application for a divorce,” then even if Enji is not agreeing to the divorce, Rei will be able to get divorced.

Note that the last option can be used solely if:

(i) a spouse has committed an act of unchastity;

(ii) one were abandoned by a spouse in bad faith;

(iii) it is not clear whether a spouse is dead or alive for not less than three years;

(iv) a spouse is suffering from severe mental illness and there is no prospect of recovery;

(v) there is any other grave cause making it difficult to continue the marriage (for example one party has beaten the other, which however would require again for Rei to report her abuse and have enough evidence to prove it).

Also note that a court may dismiss a suit for divorce if it finds that continuing the marriage is reasonable taking into account all circumstances, even in the case where there is one of the causes listed above (yeah, even if said cause is one spouse was beating the other).

But why Enji and Rei shouldn’t reach an agreement in regard to the divorce since, thanks to it, Rei would escape abuse and Enji is clearly unhappy with Rei? Just due to the social stigma?

Rei might get money from Enji if they come to an agreement, so that her own needs and possibly even those of the Himuras would be covered but, as said before, the social stigma would be VERY bad for Rei, who also was married to Enji because his family hoped to get advantages from Enji’s status.

However there’s actually more at play, because if the parents divorce, custody of the children will be granted to a single parent.

One of the main causes of disagreement between Enji and Rei and which caused him to become abusive with Rei, is Shōto’s training. If Rei gets custody she will be able to refuse Enji permission to put Shōto through abusive training which is what Enji doesn’t want. If Enji gets custody he’ll do as he please with Shōto’s training which is what Rei doesn’t want.

If they could have gotten to an agreement, they probably wouldn’t have gotten to the point of abuse and divorce, so it’s unlikely they’ll find one now.

Long story short, if Enji doesn’t agree to a divorce is highly unlikely that Rei can get one, and if he agrees, it’s very likely Rei will lose custody over Shōto.

Maybe, when she was about to snap, she would have been willing to give up on Shōto since she said she couldn’t be with her children any longer, so she might have been even willing to go to that extreme… but then she snapped, hurt Shōto and lost that chance.

It’s worth to note Japan has in 2024 approved a law that by 2026 will allow divorced couples to share custody of their children but this wouldn’t really solve the problem as they would just continue to argue over Shōto… and, of course, Horikoshi couldn’t know about it by the time he made his manga.

XX DID TŌYA KNOW IS MOTHER GOT BEATEN BY HIS FATHER?

When Rei is hit by Enji Tōya is never around and he won’t mention it in his video denouncing Enji so he might not have known. We’ll probably never know.

XX DOES REI LOVE TŌYA?

Horikoshi wanted Rei to be the stereotype of a loving mother so yes, she does love all her children. Specifically Horikoshi even made scenes showing she cared for Tōya.

She’s shown worrying for Tōya, thinking having another child would be cruel toward him, though ultimately Enji will persuade her two have two more.

Todoroki Rei ‘Sore wa… Anmari da yo…! Zankoku ja nai! Anata ga kodomo ni nani o motome teru ka Tōya wa mō shitteru!’ 轟冷「それは…あんまりだよ…！残酷じゃない！あなたが子どもに何を求めてるか燈矢はもう知ってる！」 Todoroki Rei “That’s… too much…! That’s cruel! Tōya already knows what you want from your children!” [Chap. 301

Before Tōya snaps, seeing his distress she had tears in her eyes (like Fuyumi) and realizing he was overheating she insisted they had to cool him down.

Todoroki Rei ‘Hiyasanakya!’ 轟冷「冷やさなきゃ！」 Todoroki Rei “We have to cool him down!” [Chap. 301]

She insists that Tōya wants for Enji to look at him.

Todoroki Rei ‘……Ano ko wa anata ni mite hoshīnda yo.’ 轟冷「……あの子はあなたに見てほしいんだよ。」 Todoroki Rei “…That boy only wants you to see him.” [Chap. 302]

She even scolds Enji when he refuses to do so with an excuse.

Todoroki Rei ‘HERO? Nigeteru dake janai no…’ 轟冷「ヒーロー？　逃げてるだけじゃないの…」 Todoroki Rei “Heroes? Aren’t you just running away…?” [Chap. 302]

Later she tries to stop Tōya from going to train on Sekoto Peak and she showed she was worried because he seems to be suffering, when she learnt Tōya died while she was hospitalized she got psychologically worse, and in the end she’ll even apologize to him and will risk to die burned in an attempt to try to save him. Long story short Horikoshi showed Rei loved Tōya. It doesn’t mean she was a good mother as she made many mistakes and in “School Briefs” is said in order to protect Shōto she ended up neglecting her other children… but she loved him.

XX DOES THE TODOROKIS (AND ESPECIALLY ENJI) DRINK ALCOHOLICS?

In the manga we never see Enji drink alcoholics. In “School Briefs” we hear someone gifted him some top-shelf stuff, from which Fuyumi drink a little to celebrate the New Year Eve. We’re told Natsuo is still one year too younger to drink (the age in which you can drink is 20 in Japan) but that he’ll join her for the next year and that looks forward to when Shōto will be of age to drink with them as well. Fuyumi also say she looks forward to drink with her mother once she’ll be home so we can assume Rei drinks too. We’re also told Fuyumi gets tipsy after a few sips. Ironically though we don’t get info about Enji drinking sake or beer or wine or other alcoholic drinks but in the “My Hero Academia Party Time! Acrylic Stand” set he was depicted drinking a glass of wine though. My guess is he drinks like any other normal Japanese person so Horikoshi didn’t feel the need to depict the whole thing.

We never see Tōya drink either. If he does or not is up to speculation but likely, same as the rest of his family, he does. At 24, at the party to celebrate him turning Number 2, Shōto seems to be drinking beer with his ex-classmates.

On a different note always in “School Briefs” All Might claimed Enji said he liked coffee (he even made a commercial for it). Shōto as a child instead loved to drink a yogurt drink with a cartoon cow on the carton.

XX HOW HOT IS TŌYA’S BLUE FIRE?

Red flames reach temperatures ranging from 525°C to 1000°C. The hue indicates how chilly it is: the lighter the color, the colder it is. A brighter red, closer to orange, will be closer to the 1000°C threshold on the scale's upper end.

Orange flames range between 1100°C and 1200°C.

White flames are hotter, ranging from 1300°C to 1500°C. When the white is brighter, the temperature rises.

Blue flames climb even higher, reaching around 2500°C to 3000°C being the hottest flames.

If a flame is of a colour different from the above, this usually means the presence of certain chemicals or compounds that can alter the color of a flame.

Green flames are usually associated with the presence of copper and boron with methanol. They are typically the same temperature as orange and yellow flames, because the green color comes from chemical additives and isn't an indication of heat on its own.

Purple flames are usually associated with the presence of potassium. They are typically the same temperature as blue flames, because the purple color comes from chemical additives and isn't an indication of heat on its own.

It's worth to mention that the exact hue of flames is up to debate, especially in the case of blue flames. Some tend to say the hottest they get the closer to a violet hue they get, some instead stick on defining that color as still blue.

XX WE KNOW THE LAST TIME ALL MIGHT AND ENJI TALKED WAS 10 YEARS BEFORE THE SPORT FESTIVAL, THEREFORE IN THE YEAR IN WHICH REI WAS HOSPITALIZED AND TŌYA DIED. WAS THAT TALK CONNECTED TO ONE OF THOSE TWO EVENTS?

Nope. This is what was actually said:

ALL MIGHT ‘Chō hisashiburi! 10-Nen mae no taidan furi ka na! ? Mikaketakara aisatsu shi tokou to omotte ne.’ オールマイト「超久し振り！10年前の対談振りかな！？見かけたから挨拶しとこうと思ってね」 All Might “It’s been a long time! It’s from the talk/conversation show from 10 years ago, right! ? I saw you and thought I’d say hello.” [Chap. 31]

In the English version All Might says just ‘the last time they talked was ten years ago’, but it’s a slight mistranslation. Actually 10 years ago they had a ‘taidan furi’ (対談振り) where ‘taidan’ (対談) means “a discussion between two people which is usually set up as a special occasion and whose topic is set in advance”… while ‘furi’ (振り) is “show”. So basically, 10 years ago they didn’t have a casual chat or one due to work or something but merely ended up together in some sort of talk show / combined interview and were made to talk. The anime makes it even more obvious because in it the sentence is:

ALL MIGHT ‘10-Nen mae, media de taidan shite irai ka na! ?’ オールマイト「10年前、メディアで対談して以来かな！？」 All Might “I think it’s been since we had a conversation with the media 10 years ago!?” [Ep. 19]

Likely Enji went to that talk show PRIOR to his wife’s hospitalization and his son’s death as they both happened around the end of the year and, had it happened afterward, discussing of such topics would have been almost a taboo in Japan so it’s unlikely such things were discussed.

On a sidenote, later Natsuo will say Enji doesn’t appear on talk shows, which contrast with what’s said in this chapter… as well as how Enji was shown on a TV show in chap. 1.

Todoroki Natsuo ‘Okāsan, aitsu kinō seishiki ni NUMBER ONE ni natta yo. Seken wa okāsan ya kyōdai ni shite kita koto, kazoku o dō atsukatteta ka shiranai yo. Aitsu TALK bangumi toka denaishi.’ 轟夏雄「お母さん、あいつ昨日正式にNo.1になったよ。世間はお母さんや兄弟にしてきた事、家族をどう扱ってたか知らないよ。あいつトーク番組とか出ないし。」 Todoroki Natsuo “Mom, he officially became No. 1 yesterday. People don’t know what he did to mom and our siblings, or how he treated his family. He doesn’t even appear on talk shows.” [Chap. 187]

Very likely Horikoshi inadvertently changed Enji’s characterization (as he likely didn’t remember of his cameo appearance in chap. 1 and of this line in chap. 31), though if you want to compromise you might say that Enji STOPPED taking part to talk show after Tōya’s death and that when he appeared on the screen in chap. 1 it was either an old recording or it wasn’t a talk show but an interview regarding to a job.

XX WHAT HAPPENED FIRST, SHŌTO’S INCIDENT AND REI’S HOSPITALIZATION OR TŌYA’S DEATH?

Shōto’s incident and Rei’s hospitalization happened first as said in Chap. 250 and in the volume version of Chap. 302.

However in the magazine version of Chap. 302 it was said that Tōya’s death happened first and while the chapter was later retconned for the volume version (in a not really bright way) the idea Tōya’s death happened first remained.

XX WHY REI SINGLED OUT SPECIFICALLY SHŌTO WHEN SHE SAID SHE COULDN’T BE WITH HER CHILDREN AND THAT THEY REMINDED HER OF ENJI AND NOT TŌYA, THOSE GAZE SHE HAD CONNECTED TO ENJI?

What Rei said was:

Todoroki Rei ‘Okā-san… watashi HENna no… mō DAME kodomo-tachi ga… hinihini ano hito ni nite kuru… Shōto no… ano ko no hidarigawa ga tokiori totemo minikuku omoete shimau no. Watashi… mō sodaterarenai. Sodatecha DAME na no…’ 轟冷「お母さん…私へンなの…もうダメ子どもたちが…日に日にあの人に似てくる…焦凍の…あの子の左側が時折とても醜く思えてしまうの。私…もう育てられない。育てちゃダメなの…」 Todoroki Rei “Mom… I’m becoming strange/I’m going crazy… I’m not good anymore for the children… day by day they look more and more like that person… Shōto… that child’s left side, sometimes I can’t help but think it’s so ugly/unsightly. I… I can’t raise them anymore. I must not raise them…” [Chap. 39]

The Doylist answer is that when Chap. 39 was released Horikoshi hadn’t planned yet the whole Tōya’s plotline, actually he might have not yet planned for one of Shōto’s siblings to turn into a Villain and for the others to be more than mob characters (kind of like Asui’s siblings). The result is that the flashbacks we see care only about Shōto and focus only on him.

When however Horikoshi decided to give not just to solely Shōto and Enji a plotline but to add Tōya and then whole Todoroki family, he had to adjust things… which created any sort of retcon. It happens.

The Watsonian answer can be she was going to mention Tōya too… but then she saw Shōto and didn’t make in time to mention him. Do your pick. Since the problem at hand is the result of a retcon there’s no real right answer and fans are free to come up with the explanation they prefer.

XX WHY SHŌTO GET SCARRED BY BOILING WATER WHEN HE CAN HAVE FIRE DANCE ON HIS SKIN?

Likely for plot reasons. It’s likely either the Anthropic Principle (for any given story, there exist basic elements that, no matter how improbable or impossible their occurrence, are required for the story itself to happen, or there would be no story) or we’re expected to repeat the MST3K Mantra (some details in the story don’t need to make sense because they ultimately don’t matter).

If you really want to get a medical explanation, by stretching things you can blame it on Rei inadvertently making the burn worse by trying to cool it down with ice. Contrary to what many things cooling down a burn with ice actually makes the burn worse as it’ll cause further damage to the tissue. Ice or very cold water on a burn decreases blood flow to the burnt area, which can reverse the healing process. Ice can inadvertently make the skin too cold, leading to frostnip, a dangerous precursor to frostbite and increasing the risks of infections. Honestly though I doubt that Horikoshi had this in mind when he caused Shōto’s scarring.

The correct way to handle a (first degree) burn is to use cool (not cold) water for 5 to 20 minutes by running tap water over the burn, dipping the burned area in water or using a clean, wet towel, moisturize it with things like aloe vera, use a clean, dry cloth or nonstick bandage to protect the burn from pressure or rubbing against anything, keep it clean with mild soap as needed and use an antibiotic cream to prevent infection.

If the burn is more than around 7 cm wide or is on the face, neck, hand or foot one should also get medical attention. This means both in Shōto and Tōya’s case the kids should have been taken to a doctor or to a hospital for first aid assuming the burns were just first grade burns. If there were blisters they were second grade burns and one should seek medical care asap.

XX IF THERE’S SOCIAL STIGMA ON MENTAL HEALTH WHY REI GETS HOSPITALIZED?

The Doylist answer is it was a good way for Horikoshi to remove Rei from Shōto’s life.

The Watsonian answer is likely that Enji didn’t plan to personally take care of her and couldn’t entrust her to his children as she hurt one of them (because yeah, they’re still family and due to filial piety should do it so they could be considered a viable option even if they’re still children) and the Himura likely refused to take care of her.

Probably the whole family doesn’t tell around why she had been hospitalized.

However there’s another option and that is that she was diagnosed with ‘shinkei-suijaku’ (神経衰弱 “Nerve-weakness’), which in Japan is treated with Morita therapy involving mandatory rest and isolation, followed by progressively more difficult work, and a resumption of a previous social role. Unfortunately, no well-designed studies have been conducted to assess the effectiveness of such supportive approaches compared to psychological or pharmacologic approaches. The diagnosis is sometimes used as a disguise for serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and mood disorders. It might very well be what the manga have the doctors use on Rei since she’s basically kept mostly isolated. In English it should be the equivalent of neurasthenia, an old term to denote a condition with symptoms of fatigue, anxiety, headache, heart palpitations, high blood pressure, neuralgia, and depressed mood. Alternatively it can be called as nervous breakdown.

Being diagnosed with neurasthenia comes with a plus as in Asia it’s considered an acceptable medical diagnosis that conveys distress without the stigma of a psychiatric diagnosis so there wouldn’t be any stigma on Rei being hospitalized for it.

The fact ‘Ultra Archive’ defines her as ‘worn out by Enji’s actions’ and that Enji apologizes to her ‘for wearing her down’ [Chap. 390] seem to confirm this.

Long story short, there’s a huge chance the family is either not telling Rei is hospitalized or they’re being vague or telling she just has neurasthenia.

If it can be of additional help people who had experienced psychiatric hospitals in Japan said they cure people by giving them pills and they hardly talk at them, even during check up the doctors tend to avoid spending time talking and that the hospitalization tends to be long, at least 10 months. Rei with her 10 years goes well above this though.

On a general line in 2022 the United Nations Committee on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities harshly criticized as inadequate Japan’s measures for people with mental disabilities .

If you’re interested in all this I really recommend you to research for it.

XX AT WHICH HOSPITAL REI GET HOSPITALIZED?

At Fujitani Hospital (藤谷病院 ‘Fujitani Byōin’), her room is number 315. [Chap. 187]

Fujitani can be translated as “wisteria valley” and this hospital is apparently not a real place. There’s a Fujitani clinic (藤谷医院 ‘Fujitani iin’) in Osaka but it’s clearly not the same place. Japanese fans speculated the name comes from one of Horikoshi’s assistants, Fujiya (藤谷), whose surname is written the same, though the spelling is different. Honestly I couldn’t see any spelling notation for the hospital so it can be we’re just spelling it wrong… or I missed the spelling notation.

The hospital is likely not close to the Todoroki home.

In chap. 189 Fuyumi and Natsuo in order to return home after visiting their mother take a taxi.

Episode 25 instead shows Shōto had to walk quite a bit, then take a train then walk some more.

The hospital shares a vague resemblance with Shizuoka Municipal Shimizu Hospital (静岡市立清水病院 ‘Shizuoka shiritsu shimizu byōin’) but it’s likely coincidental. It might have been inspired by the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry or NCNP (国立精神・神経医療研究センター ‘Kokuritsu Seishin - Shinkei Iryō Kenkyū CENTER’) in Tokyo but again, it’s not the same hospital.

XX DID FUYUMI BLAME TŌYA FOR THEIR FAMILY PROBLEMS?

No, in canon she didn't do it not even once, it's just a fandom thing.

If we look at canon we've few interactions between Fuyumi and Tōya but none points out this.. In their first interaction, when they're small children (Tōya is 3, Fuyumi probably not yet 3) to a Tōya who insists he can take burns, Fuyumi only said she doesn't want him to get burned because she worries if he's hurt.

Todoroki Tōya ‘Fuyumi-chan. Chotto yakedo suru kurainanoni sa! Zenzen gaman dekiru no ni sa! Ore no karada no koto wa ore ga ichiban yoku wakatterunda.’ 轟燈矢「冬美ちゃん。ちょっと火傷するくらいなのにさ！全然がまんできるのにさ！俺の身体のことは俺が一番よくわかってるんだ。」 Todoroki Tōya “Fuyumi-chan, it’s just a little burn! I can totally bear it! I know my body better than anyone.”

Todoroki Fuyumi ‘Demo Fuyumi mo Tōya nī BOROBORO na no shinpai iyatsu.’ 轟冬美「でも冬美も燈矢兄ボロボロなの心配嫌っ。」 Todoroki Fuyumi “But Fuyumi too doesn’t want to worry about big brother Tōya getting hurt.”

Todoroki Tōya ‘Fuyumi-chan ni wa wakan ne ̄ yo! Onna no ko ni wa wakan neNda!’ 轟燈矢「冬美ちゃんにはわかんねーよ！女の子にはわかんねンだ！」 Todoroki Tōya “Fuyumi-chan doesn’t understand! Girls don’t understand!”

Todoroki Fuyumi ‘Shinpai chitennoni!!’’ 轟冬美「心配ちてんのに‼ 」 Todoroki Fuyumi “I’m worried!!” [Chap. 301]

She indeed doesn't understand why he's okay with burning himself but she's not blaming him or anything.

Later, after Shōto is born, when Tōya is crying and saying his grievances to his father, she also has tears in his eyes as she is older (7) and understands her brother is in pain.

The last time she's shown interacting with him is when she asks him to play with her and Natsuo.

After Tōya's reveal she'll blame herself for having been too scared to act and capable to only act in a way that saved appearances.

Todoroki Fuyumi ‘Koware teru no o shirinagara... Kowakute fumikomenakatta... Uwattsura de tsukurou koto shika... Shite konakatta.’ 轟冬美「壊れてるのを知りながら...怖くて踏み込めなかった...上っ面で繕うことしか...してこなかった。」 Todoroki Fuyumi “I knew it (our family) was broken... but I was too scared to step in... All I could do was patch it up... on the surface.” [Chap. 302]

We saw indeed that when her father was beating up her mother she was curled in a corner, crying and hugging Natsuo protectively, clearly scared.

Not even once she says their family broke due to Tōya or blamed him for their family situation. Actually no one did. The one that is always blamed is Enji.

Yes, she doesn't want to discuss their family situation, she's shown being afraid Shōto could do something without his father's permission and is willing to forgive Enji when he says he wants to change.

Comparatively, if Tōya only tried to win his father's love until he came to believe his family didn't care about him dying, Fuyumi instead never stopped.

Never once though she's shown blaming her siblings for their situation and once she admits she understands Natsuo's feelings toward their father.

Todoroki Fuyumi ‘Watashi datte Natsu mitaina kimochi ga nai wake janainda… demo… CHANCE ga otozure terunda yo…. Shōto wa otō-san no koto dō omotteru no?’ 轟冬美「私だって夏みたいな気持ちがないわけじゃないんだ…でも…チャンスが訪れてるんだよ…焦凍はお父さんの事どう思ってるの？」 Todoroki Fuyumi “It’s not that I don’t share Natsu’s feelings… but… an opportunity has presented itself… What do you think of father, Shōto?” [Chap. 249]

XX WHEN, WHERE AND HOW THE FIRE THAT ALMOST KILLED TŌYA TOOK PLACE?

It took place in winter, when Tōya was 13 but about to turn 14, Fuyumi was also 13, Natsuo was 9, Shōto was 5 about to turn 6 or 6 already and Enji was 36 on Sekoto Peak (瀬古杜岳 ‘Sekoto take’) a mountain area where Enji himself used to train in the past, likely not too far from the Todoroki residence.

The kanji which form the name mean “rapids, current”, “the past, ancient times, (archaic, obsolete) the deceased”, “careless, woods, grove”. Sekoto is written always in Katakana (セコト) so it might be a reference to an English word or a place (maybe one from “Star wars”?), though, if that’s the case, I couldn’t find which one. It sounds a bit like the word “second” which might be a jab at Enji but it’s still not the same.

Tōya said he wanted his father to come with him there on one of Enji’s holiday days, so it was likely a holiday day. We know it’s in winter and the visual tells us it’s night.

Due to the pain for his father not coming to see him Tōya’s emotions spiraled out of control, he overheated and ended up setting himself to fire, starting from his tears. This lead to the peak to also take fire. The fire was so hot Tōya’s jaw detached from him but he still managed to toss himself in a nearby river and was then found by All for One. The jaw bone instead was found either by the police, the firemen or Enji who also went on the peak searching for Tōya AFTER HE SAW THE FIRE and lead to the assumption Tōya died there. [Chap. 302/350]

XX WHY ENJI DIDN’T GO TO SEKOTO PEAK?

Canonically Enji went on Sekoto Peak… only he did so only when he saw the fire and therefore was too late to save his son. But I guess you mean why he didn’t go there earlier. Enji said he had no idea what to say to Tōya so he thought it would be simple if he just didn’t show up.

XX WHY TŌYA COULDN’T STOP HIS FIRE ON SEKOTO PEAK WHILE HE COULD DO IT JUST FINE AT 3, WHEN HE FIRST BURNED HIMSELF? WHY HIS TEARS TOOK FIRE WHEN THEY NORMALLY DIDN’T?

Same as why Shōto got burned, likely for plot reasons so blame the Anthropic Principle and repeat the MST3K Mantra.

The idea is he was overwhelmed by his own emotions of pain for his father not being there, hence the fire started from his tears. Symbolically it works like a charm. Practically… it stumbles in all the sort of contradictions and problem and we can answer it solely by saying ‘Quirk magic’.

If you really wanna push it we can speculate All for One managed to make him ingest some version of Trigger which caused him to lose control of his Quirk on that specific day but that’s likely just baseless speculation. After all, All for One could reach Tōya at any time thanks to Kurogiri’s warp Quirk, all he had to do was to wait for the mountain to take fire… though again, it could be wondered what if the mountain weren’t to take fire, what if Enji were to show up?

Either Horikoshi had a plan that got scrapped so we’ll never know.

XX WHICH ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF ALL THIS?

Tōya is declared dead but he actually ends up in one of Garaki’s orphanage and spends 3 years there in coma. [Chap. 350]

Rei learns of his death in hospital and get even worse. [Chap. 302]

Enji decides he’ll train Shōto even harder now, following perfectly the Sunk cost fallacy mentality. [Chap. 302]

By the way the sunk cost fallacy is a logical fallacy that entails sticking with a losing or failed venture because you’ve already invested a significant amount of time, money, or other resources that you can’t get back. It’s basically the tendency to follow through on an endeavor if we have already invested time, effort, or money into it, whether or not the current costs outweigh the benefits. Tōya was assumed death, meaning that insisting on training Shōto wouldn’t bring him back (remember how Enji said if he were to have a child with a dual Quirk this would stop Tōya from trying to become a Hero?) not make his death worth it, nor make Shōto like Enji or training, and ignoring his other two surviving children wouldn’t help either. Yet Enji perseverated in the same mistakes that led to everything that went wrong in his family because he felt since he sacrificed Tōya, caused Rei’s insanity and Shōto to hate him, giving up now would mean everything he sacrificed previously to be useless… without realizing if he perseveres in making mistakes, things are only going to go downhill.

XX IS THE ALTAR PLACED IN TŌYA’S ROOM?

The ‘altar’ is a Butsudan is a shrine commonly found in temples and homes which looks either a defined, often ornate platform or simply a wooden cabinet sometimes crafted with doors that enclose and protect a Gohonzon (御本尊) or religious icon, typically a statue or painting of a Buddha or Bodhisattva, or a calligraphic mandala scroll. Its primary use is for paying respects to the Buddha, as well as to family members who have died. The Butsudan is commonly seen as an essential part in the life of a traditional Japanese family as it is the centre of spiritual faith within the household, especially in dealing with the deaths of family members or reflecting on the lives of ancestors. The room whose principal or exclusive function is containing a Butsudan is called Butsuma (仏間).

All this to say that no, the Butsudan is not in Tōya’s room, not only the two rooms have different doors, Shōji (doors consisting of translucent or transparent sheets on a lattice frame) for the Butsuma and Fusuma (door which are vertical rectangular panels often painted) for Tōya’s room (which was also Natsuo’s room by the way) but the Butsudan always existed in the Todoroki house, way prior to Tōya’s birth, as, at first, in the Butsudan should have been enshrined Enji’s parents, never mentioning even if they weren’t the family would still have a Butsudan for religious purposes and likely, in a large traditional house like the one the Todoroki had, they gave the Butsudan a room with the SOLE function to host it. The Butsudan can be visited by guests that want to pay respect to the family’s deceased so, if possible, it’s usually not placed in the night area where the bedrooms are (by the way in two floors house the bedrooms are usually upstairs).

After Tōya died and was enshrined there however, for the Todoroki the Butsudan is the place in which Tōya resides and so the Butsuma is considered also ‘Tōya’s room’ to them as Tōya resides there, so this might have caused confusion with what is said in “School Briefs” about Natsuo spending plenty of time in ‘Tōya’s room’ after his brother’s death.

Objects Tōya might have enjoyed in life as well as offering in food and incense are brought there and the family can sit in front of the Butsudan and talk to Tōya.

The Butsuma is however clearly not Tōya’s old room, Tōya’s old room is either still Natsuo’s room or Natsuo has moved out of it (the house is big). Likely Natsuo moved out. In Japan there’s the belief that the spirit of the deceased can permeate in his possessions which need to be handled with respect so it’s possible Natsuo just preferred to get another room in their large house.

By the way the photo we see of Tōya is a ‘Iei’ (遺影 “memorial photograph”).

The Iei can be either a formal portrait or a snapshot of the deceased but normally the photo chosen is usually one in which the person is looking directly into the camera and if it’s part of a larger picture, it is cropped to show only the head and shoulders. The landscape behind the photo is removed and replaced with a grey background. The chosen picture may depict the deceased as they wanted to be remembered, but more often than not depicts that person in a manner that reflects how the living wish to remember them. Tōya is wearing a Gakuran (学ラン), which is the uniform for many middle-school and high-school boys in Japan. The colour is normally black, but some schools use navy blue. Tōya’s Gakuran is the one of his middle school. The choice though might not be because the Todoroki wanted to remember him as a student but because the Gakuran is considered also a formal wear you can wear at cerimonies. The Iei is the visual aid so that whose who will go talk to Tōya will see him looking back at them.

XX WHICH ARE THE PHYSICAL CONSEQUENCES TŌYA SUFFERS DUE TO HIS INCIDENT AND HOW GARAKI FIXED HIM?

Tōya lost his jaw, which needed to be replaced. His skin burned so he got skin graft made with regenerative tissue over the totality of his body.

For unknown reasons in the anime they made some of thos skin grafts of a darker colour, as if he’d burn them again.

As he was shown capable to cry he hadn’t burnt his tear ducts yet. We don’t know when he did burn them. His organs were damaged, his ability to sense pain or other somatic sensation was dulled. He spent three years in coma and, after waking up was supposed to die in a month without medical help. Apparently his grudge kept him alive. [Chap. 350]

His grudge keeping him alive works very well like a metaphor to ghosts being unable to leave the mortal realm due to it.

By the way damaging the tear ducts to the point they can’t produce tears anymore also means you don’t produce enough lubrication for your eyes which can lead to inflammation and damage of the eye's surface. Your eyes will feel uncomfortable and may sting or burn. Tōya though might not realize his eyes feel uncomfortable due to the dulling of his perceptions of his somatic system.

The tear ducts though can be damaged to the point they produce a too low production of tears to cry but will still partially lubricate the eye.

Haemolacria, a physical condition that causes a person to produce tears that are partially composed of blood, is most often provoked by local factors such as bacterial conjunctivitis, environmental damage or injuries.

The Doylist answer to why Tōya cries tears of blood though is that it’s likely just a stylist choice to better represent his pain.

XX WHEN AND WHAT HAPPENS WHEN TŌYA WAKES UP? DID HE REALLY BURN THE ORPHANAGE DOWN AND KILLED ALL THE CHILDREN?

Tōya wakes up 3 years after the Sekoto Peak fire. If it’s 3 exact years we’re in winter, when Tōya was 16 but about to turn 17, Fuyumi was also 16, Natsuo was 12, Shōto was 8 about to turn 9 or 9 already and Enji was 39.

He finds himself in one of the many orphanages owned by Garaki, he’d like to go back home, claiming to believe his father didn’t come to him due to work, that he wants to show him what he can do now and that he has to apologize to his family. However he’s told by All for One (through a computer) he can’t go home as he’s completely changed and that they failed to return his body to his previous strength. All for One would like for him to join his family but Tōya refuses and escapes.

According to Horikoshi Tōya didn’t burn the orphanage down, he couldn’t as his fire was too weak by then due to what he went through, and the fire he light was Quickly extinguished by Sun-Sun Haruaki and there were no casualties which allowed the orphanage to continue without the police investigating over the matter. The anime seems to differ as the fire depicted in it is way too huge to be easily extinguished by one person and go unnoticed. [Chap. 350]

XX WHO’S THE SUNFLOWER GUY WHO TRIED TO KEEP TŌYA AT THE ORPHANAGE? A TEACHER OR A DOCTOR?

From how he’s dressed and the fact they’re in an orphanage we can safely say he’s a teacher. The girl calls/talks about ‘sensee/sensei’ (せんせー/先生). ‘Sensei’ is an honorific which shows respect used for anyone who’s in a position to teach something (in this case it can be translated as “teacher”) or has mastered an art form or some other skill (in this case you can translate it as “master”) or to address other professionals or people of authority, such as clergy, accountants, lawyers, physicians and politicians. Horikoshi said his name is Sun-Sun Haruaki (スンスン 晴明). Garaki Kyudai, in order to hide the whole mess with Tōya escaping from the place, had him take the blame for accidentally start the fire so that no one investigated on who started it. [Chap. 350]

XX WHO’S THE GUY WHO TALKED WITH TŌYA AT THE PC? GARAKI OR ALL FOR ONE?

All for One.

In the manga we can recognize him from the personal pronoun he uses (‘boku’ [僕/ぼく] where Garaki uses ‘WASHI’ [ワシ]), the anime makes it even more obvious as we can hear All for One’s voice. [Chap. 350]

XX WHAT HAPPENED TO TŌYA AFTERWARD?

He went back home and saw that his father was still only focused in training Shōto. He came to think his death didn’t change anything and, after paying his respects to the Butsudan he left home, symbolically declaring dead his older self, Tōya, and becoming Dabi. Symbolically, since Tōya believed he was cremated but wasn’t mourned properly (remember what said before about how ‘Dabi’ merely refers to the act of cremating a body and doesn’t invoke sad and painful feelings but there’s another word for cremation, ‘sōren’, which includes placing the deceased in a coffin with tears and pain?) he metaphorically becomes a ‘yūrei’ (幽霊 “faint spirit”).

Yūrei are spirits of the dead who have not been able to move on to the afterlife due to unfinished business or unresolved emotions or a failing in properly performing the funeral rites. According to Buddhist belief, these spirits are trapped in a state of purgatory and unable to find peace until their issues are resolved. The yūrei then exists on Earth until it can be laid to rest, either by performing the missing rituals or resolving the emotional conflict that still ties it to the physical plane. If the rituals are not completed or the conflict left unresolved, the yūrei will persist in its haunting. Yūrei are frequently depicted as being accompanied by a pair of floating flames or ‘hitodama’ (人魂 “human soul”) in eerie colors such as blue, which is supposed to represent their sorrow… which can be viewed as a reference to Tōya’s flames.

Tōya represents more likely a ‘Onryō’ (怨霊 “vengeful spirit”). Onryō are believed to be capable of causing harm in the world of the living, injuring or killing enemies, or even causing natural disasters to exact vengeance to “redress” the wrongs it received while alive, then taking their spirits from their dying bodies. Onryō are often depicted as traumatized, bitter, or just furious by what happened during life and exact revenge in death. These kinds of ghosts appear extremely vengeful, ruthless, heartless, brutal, cruel, deranged, egotistical, selfish, bloodthirsty, and cold-hearted.

Back to the story, from that moment on Tōya trains his Quirk to return it to its original strength and watches videos of his father fighting so that by watching him he learns all his moves.

According to the anime he moved into an abandoned building/house and there he trained. As the flooring is different from the one of the orphanage I guess it’s not the orphanage even though it reminds me an old school… but there’s plenty of wood things that aren’t burned so again, it’s probably not the orphanage (besides in the manga it couldn’t be the orphanage as it never burned down and continued its activity). He also found himself a portable pc to use to watch Enji’s actions and learn his moves.

Now if this wasn’t what happened to him in the manga, then what could have happened to him?

In Japan, people aren’t concerned about homeless people and think they’re responsible for their situation which brings them shame and stigma and it’s almost illegal to beg or sleep on the streets. Many parks in Tokyo are being locked at night to keep homeless people from sleeping there or hiring security guards to take them out.

So other options where a homeless person could live in Japan is hidden under bridges (as we see Tenko and Jin doing). Young men who manages to get some money usually become Net café refugees (ネットカフェ難民 ‘NET CAFÉ nanmin’) as that’s the most economical place in which to sleep. Although such cafés originally provided only Internet services, some have expanded their services to include food, drink, and showers. As he’s young he could have tried mixing with the Toyoko Kids (トー横キッズ “KIDS next To(ho)” where Toho is a cinema in Kabuki-cho), kids that runaway from their house and stay all night in Shinjuku streets. Some of them for days some of them only one night. They suffer neglect, abuse or just they feel like they don’t fit with their families that’s why they have luggage some of them stay at manga cafe or love hotels too in groups. Most of the girls among them are forced to work in the sex industry, while the boys works as protectors. Part of them also partake in illegal activities. The people and the police pretend not to see them until they just chase them away en masse in some ‘cleaning of the streets’ operation. It might be argued Tōya as adopted a ‘Jirai Danshi’ (地雷男子 “Landmine Boy”) style, the male version of the ‘Jirai Kei’ (地雷系 “Landmine style”) which in theory should give off a feeling of a person who’s self destructive or even violent to others, which is often associated with Toyoko Kids… though I’m not really good at judging styles so I might be completely off track.

On the other side it’s possible he lived as a Jōhatsu (蒸発 “evaporation” as in “disappearing without leaving any trace”). It describes people cutting ties with their old lives, often vanishing from one day to another without letting a single person know. The reasons can range from failing an exam to losing a job and its subsequent compromised financial security, escaping from Japanese mafia or debt collectors, on cutting ties with their abusive families. Those people get into a vicious cycle of not having secure housing, which in turn excludes them from the labor market, so they are forced to take insecure and informal jobs becoming non-regular or temporary employees who often do lower-paid jobs not subject to the minimum wage or social security or even resorting to illegal jobs. They would often be eligible to receive social assistance but many are reluctant to get it because if they apply for it, they could be caught (as they live without an ID since they escaped) or because there’s also a stigma associated with accepting it. Japan, more specifically Tokyo but also other cities, have a history dating 1972 of outsourcing some works (example: cleaning and weeding on metropolitan government-owned land including parks, bay landfill sites and prefectural roads) to the private sector who would then hires day laborers usually among the homeless. Note that originally it was possible to get a day labor even if one didn’t have an address but by 2021 it became harder to do so (the 2020 summer Olympics in Tokyo pushed the government to try to hide the homeless problem). By the way it seems talking of Jōhatsu in Japan is as much of a taboo as talking about suicide. Other day labors are working on the docks and construction sites. If he had no place to stay and was forced to wander around like Jin did he was a Furōsha (浮浪者 “vagrant”), one who wanders from place to place without a permanent home or a means of livelihood like Jin.

Non-profit and religious organizations tend to open stalls of things like that to give out food rations for homeless people. As for shelters Japan has few because since being homeless is considered shameful, homeless people do their best not to be seen and Japanese people do their best not to see them (remember how everyone pretended not to notice 5 years old Tenko walking on the street) so, on papers, there’s not a big need for them. The shelters though provide medical service but are considered temporal facilities in which people is helped finding a job and with people expected to remain in them for, at the very most, half a year. They’re usually provided by welfare corporations. Likely Tōya would have troubles to use them as he is a minor and can’t give out his identity.

Long story short people comment being homeless in Japan is often harder than in any other country.

Likely we’ll never know what happened to Tōya in those years according to Horikoshi but what I said above should give you an idea of his options.

It’s also worth to remember the police had 0 info on Dabi prior to him joining the league and the same applies to the Hero commission. This means he likely kept a low profile and didn’t do anything illegal so as not to get found.

XX WHY DIDN’T ALL FOR ONE CHASE AFTER TŌYA?

According to Garaki because they thought he would survive only for a month.

Yes, it’s that stupid as, if Tōya had decided to stay at home, he would have tattled out to his father about the orphanage and the truth about Garaki’s orphanage would have come out.

XX WHERE WERE FUYUMI AND NATSUO WHEN TŌYA CAME BACK HOME?

In canon it’s not said.

XX SO HOW FAR TŌYA’S STUDIES GO? ACTUALLY, WHICH SCHOOLS ALL THE TODOROKI KIDS ATTENDED AT?

We’ve an image of Shōto with his parents at preschool entrance ceremony (入園式 ‘nyūen-shiki’). It means he attended it even if it’s not mandatory. It stands to reasons his siblings as well attended to preschool. In Japan most preschools, kindergartens, junior and senior high schools have mandatory uniforms so the clothes Shōto is wearing might be his uniform. In Japan the public kindergarten in Japan is a 2-year program and the private kindergarten is a 3-year program. Preschool starts around April 1st.

Elementary school is mandatory so all the siblings should have attended it. It lasts 6 years, it starts around the second week of April and kids need to be 6 already to start it.

Shōto went to Corusan Middle School (凝山中学校 ‘Corusan Chūgakkō’). Probably his siblings also attended it. We’ll likely never know. Tōya didn’t manage to finish the second year of middle school as he officially ‘died’ before the end of it. Public schools in Japan are usually named after the location they’re in, which would mean the school is in Corusan and that the elementary school they attended is likely named the same. Considering the family is well off though, it can be also an expensive, private middle school (私立 ‘Shiritsu’). If that’s the case it should be named either for the person who founded the institution, for whoever/whatever supported the institution, or for whatever is the ultimate goal of the institution. If the school was part of an institute that included the elementary school, again the elementary school might have been named the same.

Shōto went to U.A. High School (雄英高校 ‘U.A. Kōkō’). His siblings didn’t go to a Hero school but again, considering the family is well off, they probably attended expensive private high schools, though we don’t know which ones.

Natsuo attended Health and Welfare University (医療福祉大学 ‘Iryō fukushi Daigaku’). This sort of university aim to provide education related to co-medical fields such as pharmacy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech-language-hearing science, clinical engineering, health science, nursing, nutrition, clinical psychology, mental health and welfare, social welfare, care and welfare, and childcare. His choice might have been moved by seeing his mother end up in a hospital. The closest university of this kind to Natsuo’s house is the one in Kanagawa (by the way it seems the one in Tokyo closed down before BNHA started).

Fuyumi became an elementary teacher (小学校教員 ‘Shōgakkō kyōin’) and, according to ‘Ultra Archive’ she became one to compensate the fact she couldn’t protect Shōto. In order to become one the main requisite is to have an “elementary school teacher’s license” (小学校 の 教員 の 免許状 ‘Shōgakkō no kyōin no menkyo-jō’). In order to obtain it one has to go to a high school or university which has a “teacher training course” (教職課程 ‘Kyōshoku katei’) for elementary school teaching licenses so as to acquire the credits necessary to obtain the license. As a result we don’t know if she attended university or not. If she did, she should have attended it for 4 years.

XX WHEN DID ENJI ARREST ENDING?

7 years before Ending tried to take Natsuo hostage. If those are 7 exact years, he did it in January in the year in which Tōya would turn 17, Fuyumi would turn 17, Natsuo would turn 13, Shōto would turn 9 and Enji would turn 40.

XX WHEN ALL MIGHT FIGHT ALL FOR ONE HOW OLD WERE THE TODOROKI FAMILY MEMBERS?

It happened 5 years before the series started meaning it was in the year in which Tōya would turn 17, Fuyumi would turn 17, Natsuo would turn 13, Shōto would turn 9 and Enji would turn 40.

XX WHEN TAKAMI KEIGO/HAWKS OPENED HIS AGENCY AND ENTERED IN THE TOP TEN IN THE NOVEMBER JAPANESE HERO BILLBOARD CHART AND HOW OLD WERE THE TODOROKI FAMILY MEMBERS?

Hawks opened his agency at 18 but, since he’s born on December 28 and was the first to make it into the Top 10 in the second Hero Billboard chart of that year at 18, he likely opened his agency not on the year of his 18th birthday but in January of the next year. That year was the one in which Tōya would turn 18, Fuyumi would turn 19, Natsuo would turn 15, Shōto would turn 11 and Enji would turn 42.

XX WHEN IMASUJI GŌTO/MUSCULAR KILLS THE WATER HOSE TEAM HOW OLD WERE THE TODOROKI FAMILY MEMBERS?

It’s 2 years before Izumi Kōta meets Midoriya so in the year in which Tōya turns 21, Fuyumi turns 21, Natsuo turns 17, Shōto turns 13, Enji turns 44.

XX WHEN TOGA HIMIKO RUNS AWAY HOW OLD WERE THE TODOROKI FAMILY MEMBERS?

She runs away in March, after graduation, in the year in which Tōya turns 22, Fuyumi turns 22, Natsuo turns 18, Shōto turns 14, Enji turns 45.

XX WHY SHŌTO DIDN’T TAKE THE U.A. ENTRANCE EXAM?

Shōto did take it, only he took the one for recommended students, which is divided into written part, practical test (a three-kilometer footrace) and interview. In the practical test Shōto places second after Yoarashi Inasa. Due to his behavior though, he makes an enemy out of Yoarashi who decides not to go to U.A. High School.

XX WHAT DOES IT MEAN SHŌTO IS A RECOMMENDED STUDENT? DID ENJI RECOMMEND HIM?

Shōto is defined as a ‘Suisen nyūgaku-sha’ (推薦入学者 “recommended student”).

Admission by recommendation is a system in which Japanese universities and high schools select students who have been recommended by their previous school.

Corusan middle school recommended Shōto, in the same way as other middle schools recommended Yaoyorozu Momo, Honenuki Jūzō and Tokage Setsuna.

Selection criteria to get recommendations are based on grades in specific fields required by universities and high schools, such as sports, and school records and they seem to also involve an exam. Since the decision to give a recommendation is also based on whether or not the student has been diligent in school life, if the student has a history of problematic behavior while attending school, such as “becoming a bully” or “having delinquency”, the recommendation may not be approved which is likely why Bakugō, despite having good school results, couldn’t get a recommendation.

Recommended students can be admitted without having to take an academic ability test or can be submitted to a selection exam. In U.A. case there was still an exam as they were more than the 4 they ultimately accepted so no, Enji had no involvement in this.

Usually the selection is held before the entrance exam so Shōto likely took his exam prior to Midoriya and Co.

XX WHICH ARE SHŌTO’S SCHOOL RESULTS?

Here are the known school results as well as the extra activities.

Recommendation Entrance Exam (推薦入試ん ‘Suisen nyūshin’): Written part: ? - Practical test (a three-kilometer footrace): 2nd – interview: ? – Final result: passed [Chap. 112]

Quirk apprehension Test (個性把握テスト ‘Kosei haaku TEST’): 2nd [Chap. 7]

Battle Trial (戦闘訓練 ‘Sentō kunren’): Shōto’s team (he was with Shōji against Ojiro and Hagakure) win its match [Chap. 11]

U.A. Sports Festival (雄英体育祭 ‘U.A. Taiikumatsuri’): Obstacle course race (障害物競争 ‘Shōgaibutsukyōsō’): 2nd [Chap. 26] – Cavalry Battle (騎馬戦 ‘Gibasen’): 1st (Shōto’s team formed by Īda, Yaoyorozu, Kaminari) [Chap. 30] – One-on-one battles: 2nd [Chap. 43] after defeating Sero [Chap. 34], Midoriya [Chap. 40] and Īda [Chap. 41].

Class A draft pick totals: 1st with 4.123 requests [Chap. 45]

Work experience (職場体験 ‘Shokuba taiken’): with Endeavor Agency, though his experience is limited to 3 days due to the Hosu incident with Stain.

First midterm exam (中間テスト ‘Chūkan TEST’): 5th [Chap. 60]

Midterm exam (期末テスト ‘Kimatsu TEST’): Written part: ? Pratical part: Shōto’s team win (he was with Yaoyorozu against Eraser Head) [Chap. 60]

Pro Hero Provisional License Exam (プロヒーロー仮免試験 ‘PRO HERO karimen shiken’): 1st phase: passed [Chap. 106] – 2nd phase: failed [Chap. 114]

Internship (インターン ‘INTERN’): He couldn’t take part to the one taking place in September as he didn’t get his provisional license.

Joint combat training with Class B (B組との合同戦闘訓練 ‘B-gumi to no gōdō sentō kunren’): Drawn between Shōto’s team (he was with Īda, Ojiro, Shōji) and the adversary team (Tetsutetsu, Tsunotori, Honenuki, Kaibara). [Chap. 206]

Provisional license course (仮免講習 ‘Karimen kōshū’): He passes it [Chap. 219]

Internship (インターン ‘INTERN’): In the one taking place in January he interns at Endeavor Agency.

Final test: passed.

XX WHY DIDN’T FUYUMI AND NATSUO WATCH THE SPORT FESTIVAL?

We know that Fuyumi watched it on the TV, same as Midoriya’s mom. Probably Natsuo did the same too.

XX WHY DIDN’T SHŌTO GO TO VISIT HIS MOTHER?

We’re given two different answers.

One is according to Shōto:

Todoroki Shōto ‘(Jibun no sonzai ga Okā-san o oitsumete shimau kara awanakatta. Okā-san wa kitto, mada ore ni… oyaji ni toraware tsudzuke teru.)’ 轟焦凍「（自分の存在がお母さんを追いつめてしまうから会わなかった。お母さんはきっと、まだ俺に…親父に囚われ続けてる。）」 Todoroki Shōto “(I didn’t meet my mother because my presence would overwhelm/corner her/drive her to the wall. I’m sure my mother is still being held captive by me… by my old man.)” [Chap. 44]

This, along with the flashback shown before this about how she finds his left side something she hates to see as she connects it to Enji, implies Shōto CHOSE to keep away from her of his own will because he didn’t want to remind her of his father and cause her to snap again.

The other is according to Fuyumi:

Todoroki Fuyumi ‘Natsu wa Tōya nī to totemo nakayoshi de ne… yoku isshoni asondeta. Okā-san ga nyūin shite mamonaku no korodatta… Okā-san, sarani guai warukunatchatte Shōto ni mo awase rarenakute… Demo, nori koeta no. Shōto mo menkai ni kitekurete… Ie ga maemuki ni natte kite. Natsu dake ga… furi ageta kobushi o orosenaide iru. Otō-san ga koroshitatte, omotteru.’ 轟冬美「夏は燈矢兄ととても仲良しでね…よく一緒に遊んでた。お母さんが入院してまもなくの頃だった…お母さん、更に具合悪くなっちゃって焦凍にも会わせられなくて…でも、乗り越えたの。焦凍も面会に来てくれて…家が前向きになってきて──夏だけが…振り上げた拳を下ろせないでいる。お父さんが殺したって、思ってる。」 Todoroki Fuyumi “Natsu was very close to Tōya nī... they often played together. It was shortly after Mom was hospitalized... her condition worsened even more, and she couldn’t even meet Shōto... but she got over it. Shōto came to visit her...the house became more positive - only Natsu... he couldn’t put down his raised fist. He thinks Dad killed him.” [Chap. 250]

This seems to imply instead than Shōto could have met his mother prior Tōya’s death but, after it, her condition was so poor she couldn’t meet him anymore, taking away the idea that it was Shōto’s decision not to meet her and that he took such decision for something that regarded solely how he could remind her of his father.

From a Doylist perspective, very likely in Chap. 44 Horikoshi hadn’t planned yet the whole thing about Tōya yet, so he decided to make Shōto never going to visit his mother Shōto’s decision and made said decision moved by something that regarded Shōto only.

When however he decided the Tōya plotline he had to have Rei react in some way to the loss of her son and thought of this as her reaction basically retconning the whole thing.

From a Watsonian perspective you can make it work by claiming it might be that Fuyumi didn’t understand Shōto was keeping away from his mother PRIOR to his brother’s death, for fear she would snap again, and just assumed he did it due to Rei worsening. It’s not a great explanation as in chap. 39 it was made clear Rei connected ALL HER KIDS to Enji, not just Shōto (although she singled out Shōto specifically instead than Tōya who however she connected to Enji in Chap. 302), so she shouldn’t have been able to meet any of them but whatever, Fuyumi was young when all this happened and she might have mistaken the situation not as Shōto’s will but as something that happened due to Rei’s conditions.

Retcons are bound to cause troubles so each fan can come up with the explanation they prefer.

XX DID FUYUMI AND NATSUO VISIT REI AT THE HOSPITAL?

Yes, they do, Fuyumi is also the one who takes care of Rei’s laundry.

XX DID TŌYA WITNESS THE FIGHT BETWEEN STAIN, MIDORIYA, ĪDA AND SHŌTO?

He said he saw the battle in Hosu (Chap. 349) though it’s possible he’s referring to seeing Stain take down the Nōmu as that, along with the whole of Stain’s speech went online. The battle between Stain and the students wasn’t filmed and was kept hidden from the public. Yes, Tōya could have been around and see it by coincidence but it’s hard to say.

XX ISN’T IT UNFAIR ENDEAVOR TAKES ALL THE GLORY FOR BRINGING DOWN STAIN?

While non-Heroes can use their Quirk for self-defense, they can’t use it to hurt others [Chap. 77] and Stain was quite hurt by them (broken ribs and a punctured lung as well as burns). It means they broke the law and should be punished. The chief of the police though offered to hush the whole thing and pin the arrest on Endeavor so that the students still don’t get punished. Gran Torino, Manual and Endeavor though will get punished anyway so their salary will be reduced and, for six months, they can’t teach to students (which I take means they can’t take interns under them).

So yes, it’s unfair but the other option was to have Shōto and Co be punished for breaking the law which would likely lead to them getting kicked out of U.A. (as this is a common consequence) so I guess that’s better.

XX SHOULDN’T TŌYA’S CARTILAGE PIERCINGS AND TRIPLE NOSTRIL PIERCING AS WELL AS HIS STAPLES MELT WHEN HE USES HIS FIRE?

Some metals can handle high temperatures that range from 2500°C to 3000 °C.:

Tungsten has a silver-white coloration and its melting point is 3422°C

Tantalum is a rare blue-gray metal whose melting point is 3020°C.

My bet would be Tungsten since Tantalum is rare, though in manga illustration they seem to be in gold colour (gold melt at 1064°C so it’s a big no). I honestly don’t know if Horikoshi worried about such details or just assumed they were sprayed with some fire resistant substance.

XX WHY ENJI CALLS ALL MIGHT AN AMERICAN WHEN ALL MIGHT IS JAPANESE?

In case you don’t remember the scene because in the English translation it was translated differently here it is:

Todoroki Enji ‘Tsukauchii!! Naze ano MERICAN otoko ga totsunyū de ore ga hōi nanda!!’ 轟炎司「塚内ィ‼何故あのメリケン男が突入で俺が包囲なんだ‼」 Todoroki Enji “Tsukauchii!! Why is it that the American guy can charge in and I’m instead on siege duty?!!” [Chap. 87]

All Might is Japanese, true, and ‘MERICAN otoko’ (メリケン男) means both “American guy” and “fist guy” so it’s also a pun but another truth about All Might is he’s the adult version of a ‘Kikokushijo’ (帰国子女 “returnee child”), a general term for “children who have returned to their home country” after living for a period in a foreign country. Those who return from a foreign country often find themselves in the middle of two or more cultures, which of course lend the terms “bi-cultural” or “multicultural”. Because Japan projects a mono-cultural society, kikokushijo are simultaneously lauded and shunned. To put it simply, kikokushijo are viewed as resilient and cosmopolitan when it’s convenient for Japan’s image in the international community. But they’re often chastised for their cultural differences by many in Japanese society because they are expected to still “be Japanese”, as in to have a perfect grasp of Japanese culture. For example, their ability to “read the room” (空気を読む ‘Kuuki wo yomu’) is supposed to be innate, as ‘Nihonjiron’ (日本人論 “treatises on Japaneseness”) —the history, collective cultural identity and borderline stereotypical representations of Japan–suggests that Japanese culture is passed down through nature rather than nurture. In truth the ability to read the room is instead really hard to grasp for who doesn’t know such unspoken etiquette without being explicitly told. This lead this people to be at the same time discriminated and privileged. All Might is a returnee as he left for U.S.A. at 18 and studied abroad, coming back to Japan at 23 and Horikoshi remarks it by showing how he occasionally can’t read the room and uses western words. Actually in story the characters remark he’s even draw different (with the same style as Star and Stripes).

XX WHAT DOES ENJI MEAN WHEN HE SAYS HE’S GOING TO ATONE? HE HARDLY DOES SOMETHING! AND YET MORE THAN A HALF OF HIS FAMILY IS WILLING TO FORGIVE HIM, WHY?

Of course the easy answer would be Enji just has no idea of what he’s doing and his family is just that forgiving.

In truth more than the family, having forgiven him, they just want to. Their forgivance is conditional, they don't want to go back to how they were before but they're okay with giving him a chance since he wants to atone.

In regard to Fuyumi and Rei we’ve this bit, which takes place in November (Enji has apparently decided to atone in September, after talking with All Might) after Enji has defeated the High End.

Todoroki Natsuo ‘Okā-san mo nē-chan mo naze ka yurusu nagare nanda kedo sa, ore no naka ja IKARE yarō zessan keizoku chū da yo!’ 轟夏雄「お母さんも姉ちゃんも何故か許す流れなんだけどさ、俺の中じゃイカレヤロウ絶賛継続中だよ！」 Todoroki Natsuo “Mom and big sister for some reason are in the process of forgiving you, but inside I’m still thinking of you as a crazy bastard!” [Chap. 192]

They are in the process of forgiving him/ready to do so/wanting to do so (it depends on how you translate ‘yurusu nagare’ which literally is something like “flow of forgiveness”), so I would say they hadn’t quite forgiven him but they’re willing to work on it.

Shōto is a little behind them. He’s not saying he won’t forgive him, he’s saying he wants to see him do something first.

Todoroki Shōto ‘HERO to shite no ENDEAVOR tte yatsu wa sugokatta yo. Sugoi yatsuda. Kedo Natsu nī no itta tōrida to omoushi, omae ga okā-san ni shite kita koto, mada yurusete nē. Dakara, oyaji to shite korekara dō natte iku no ka mitai. Chottoshita kikkake ga hito o kaeru koto mo aru tte, ore wa shitterukara.’ 轟焦凍「ヒーローとしてのエンデヴァーって奴は凄かったよ。凄い奴だ。けど夏兄の言った通りだと思うし、おまえがお母さんにしてきたこと、まだ許せてねェ。だから、親父としてこれからどうなっていくのか見たい。ちょっとした切っ掛けが人を変えることもあるって、俺は知ってるから。」 Todoroki Shōto “As a hero, that Endeavor guy is amazing. He's a great guy. But I think it's just as big brother Natsu said, I still can't forgive what you did to my mother. So, I want to see how you will evolve from here on as a father. I know that sometimes even a small opportunity can change a person.” [Chap. 192]

This will be clarified further later, in January, with Fuyumi making clear that even if she wants to forgive Enji, she understands Natsuo’s feelings but think the chance her family might have to get together is worth a try. Shōto who always seems to resent Enji not for what he did to him but for what he did to his mother is torn because his mother instead wants to forgive Enji but he hadn’t seen anything that prove he’s worth being forgiven.

Todoroki Fuyumi ‘Watashi datte Natsu mitaina kimochi ga nai wake janainda… demo… CHANCE ga otozure terunda yo…. Shōto wa otō-san no koto dō omotteru no?’ 轟冬美「私だって夏みたいな気持ちがないわけじゃないんだ…でも…チャンスが訪れてるんだよ…焦凍はお父さんの事どう思ってるの？」 Todoroki Fuyumi “It's not that I don't share Natsu’s feelings... but... an opportunity has presented itself... What do you think of father, Shōto?”

Todoroki Shōto ‘Kono yakedo wa oyaji kara uketa monoda to omotteru. Okā-san wa taete… taete… afurete shimattanda. Okā-san o mushibanda aitsu… sō kantan ni yurusenai… Demo sa, okā-san jishin ga ima norikoeyou to shiterunda. Shōjiki… jibun de mo wakaranai… oyaji o dō omoeba ī no ka… mada… nani mo miecha inai’ 轟焦凍「この火傷は親父から受けたものだと思ってる。お母さんは堪えて…堪えて…あふれてしまったんだ。お母さんを蝕んだあいつ…そう簡単に許せない…でもさ、お母さん自身が今乗り越えようとしてるんだ。正直…自分でもわからない…親父をどう思えばいいのか…まだ…何も見えちゃいない。」 Todoroki Shōto “I think of this burns as if they were inflicted by my father. Mom endured it... endured it... until it overflowed. That man who corroded my mother...I can't forgive him so easily...But you see, she herself is trying to get over it now. To be honest...I don't even know myself...what I should think about him as a father...I still can't see anything.” [Chap. 249]

Shōto seems stuck in the same place as before however Midoriya and Bakugō will help him figure out his feelings better.

Midoriya Izuku ‘Todoroki-kun wa kitto, yuruseru yō ni junbi o shiterunja nai ka na.’ 緑谷出久「轟くんはきっと、許せるように準備をしてるんじゃないかな。」 Midoriya Izuku “Todoroki-kun, I think you are probably preparing yourself to forgive him.”

Todoroki Shōto ‘E?’ 焦凍「え？」 Todoroki Shōto “Eh?”

Bakugō Katsuki ‘Hontō ni daikirai nara “yurusenai”de ī to omou.’ 爆豪勝己「本当に大嫌いなら『許せない』でいいと思う。」 Bakugou Katsuki “If you really hate him, I think it's okay to say ‘I can't forgive him’.”

Midoriya Izuku ‘Demo, kimi wa totemo yasashī hito dakara. Matteru… yō ni mieru. Sōiu jikan nanja nai kana…’ 緑谷出久「でも、君はとても優しい人だから。待ってる…ように見える。そういう時間なんじゃないかな…」 Midoriya Izuku “But you're a very kind person. You seem to be waiting... I guess it's that sort of period...” [Chap. 249]

So Shōto is similar to his mother and sister. None of them is quite ready to forgive him but they’re all willing to make an effort for the sake of going back on being a family.

On the other hand I’ve been trying to research on what atoning means in Japan.

There are some actions that are done to atone, which are meant to show contrition and that range from cutting your hair (it used to be done by samurai but it carried on even to present era), to dropping your job/school (think at Aoyama), to cutting your pinkie (usually done by the Yakuza), to cutting your stomach (usually done by samurai but not only).

None of them is really helpful to the victim if not viewed as some form of revenge. However I couldn’t really find much else so I tried to check, since the Todoroki are Buddhists, if this can be tied to it. Take this with a full box of salt because not only I’m not an expert in Buddhism but Buddhism has more than one form and I’ve not the slightest idea which one the Todoroki practice. Plus, even if religion usually influences the behavior of a person/society I don’t know how much Japanese people are ruled by a strict adherence to it and how much Horikoshi wanted Enji to be influenced by it.

For start real concept of atonement with God but we weren’t really carrying about Enji saying sorry to God, were we? We wanted to see him atone to his family.

So it seems that Buddhism is also very big on forgiveness. You’re supposed to forgive someone who commits sin against you so atonement is initiated more by the offended party than by the offender. You are supposed to practice ‘mettā’ (loving kindness), ‘karuna’ (compassion), and ‘mudita’ (sympathetic joy) but, more important, the whole idea of forgiveness comes from the belief that it prevents both the offended and the offender from developing negative and harmful emotions from the karma that unfortunately binds them in sin and misery.

That’s likely why Shōto being angry with Enji is depicted as bad for Shōto, because he develops negative and harmful emotions that ultimately tie him to Enji (never mentioning Enji’s anger is one of the two emotions that ruin his life). Anger is seen by Buddhists as a kind of suffering, an impediment to both happiness and enlightenment, an impediment both to moral development and to the ability to correctly perceive the world.

That is not to say the story doesn’t understand Shōto, Natsuo and Tōya can be angry at Enji,

it’s just that if they are, there are generally negative consequences for them. Shōto can’t use his left side, Natsuo ends up leaving his own family (I’m not talking just of the ending, think at the times through the story in which he left the dinner table because he couldn’t bear eating with his father, therefore being unable to spend time with his sister and brother whom he loves and feeling at the same time guilty because he hurts his sister), Tōya destroyed himself (never mentioning anger was the root of all of Enji’s problems and misery).

But okay, that’s for his victims, what about Enji?

Well, it what you should do when you do something wrong is the following: confess the deed, recognize that what he did was wrong and make a firm resolve not to repeat it. Okay, and afterward?

In many forms of Buddhism atonement is simply not possible. Karma works impersonally and inexorably and there is nothing to be done. Actions have consequences, no matter what. For every action (karma), there will always be a reaction/consequence which can’t be avoided or stopped but will happen one way or the other.

So basically one should just accept his fate. Wrongdoings have consequences and one has to take such consequences, no matter their form or severity, and atonement will come once the consequences will be completed.

If one cannot accept this, then atonement has not been achieved, and he’ll remain bound to his mistakes.

So, long story short, one should admit his wrongdoings, apologize, not repeat what he did wrong, practice loving kindness, compassion and sympathetic joy, and accept consequences.

This… more or less, fits with what the manga shows.

Tōya’s ‘the past never dies’ is a call back to how Enji can’t escape consequences of his actions, which is something he had tried to do for a long time. But Enji’s stance seems to also be an attempt to mirror all this.

Remember when he comes home after fighting the high-end and he admits he did wrong and claims he’ll be better from now on and passively accepts Natsuo’s reaction like a consequence of his wrongdoing… and will continue in this vein. He’ll keep on saying he’s sorry and take what his victims throw at him as a consequence. He won’t fight it.

I could say more as, by the end of the series Enji will do many things on his path to atonement, but I’ll save them for later, when I’ll discuss the end of the Todoroki arc plotline.

For now I think this was his first plan on what to do for his path of atonement, “confess the deed, recognize that what he did was wrong and make a firm resolve not to repeat it”.

I’ll be honest, I don’t know if this is what Horikoshi is trying to represent by having him act in such way, I guess it’s too broad of a topic. I’m just letting it here as food for thoughts. People more well versed in Buddhism (especially the form practiced in Japan) can probably be much more helpful than me on this.

XX IF TŌYA DIDN’T KILL THE KIDS AT THE ORPHANAGE AND DIDN’T COMMIT CRIMES BEFORE JOINING THE LEAGUE WHO ARE THE OVER 30 INNOCENT PEOPLE TŌYA KILLED? DO WE KNOW?

Yes, and ironically they aren’t so innocent.

So, despite what Tōya says in Deika…

Dabi ‘LEADER ga yattennara ore mo ī yo na. Moto yori korosazu onzonnanza muite…’ 荼毘「リーダーがやってんなら俺もいいよな。元より殺さず温存なんざ向いて…」 Dabi “If the leader is doing it, then I might as well. In the first place, I’m not suitable for sparing and not killing...” [Chap. 227]

…he has actually a bad record at killing (there’s even a video on youtube kind of mocking him for that).

During the Summer training camp nor he or the Nōmu in his care managed to kill anyone. During the Hideout Raid arc, he’s immediately knocked out. He’s not present when Shigaraki meets Overhaul so he doesn’t get to attack his team. When his High End attack Endeavor and Hawks there are no casualties and when he attacks them he’s interrupted by Mirko and retreats so again there are zero casualities. In Deika, the moment he decides he might try killing people, he’s interrupted by Geten and will spend the rest of the time fighting him. The fight ends with Geten leaving and Tōya won’t get to kill anyone in Deika. When he sends Starservant and Ending against Endeavor they make no victims. During the Paranormal Liberation War arc he again won’t manage to kill anyone and the same goes for the final war arc.

So when those more than 30 deaths happened?

The near totality of them are Villains. They were potential recruits for the League of Villains but since Dabi judged them unworthy to join them he burned them to death. [Chap. 115-220] In the manga it seems the first time he burned at least 4 at once, in the anime it’s clearly 6. If he killed them in groups of 6 it took him 5 times meeting new recruits to reach 30. If he killed them in groups of 4 it took him 7 times. Considering he searched for recruits from Mid August to Mid December he had plenty of time to kill them even in smaller groups.

Far from me to say it’s okay to kill Villains but it’s hard to define them as ‘innocent’ or better ‘Tsumi naki hitobito’ (罪なき人々 “sinless/crimeless/faultless people”).

The last victim is actually innocent but Dabi kills him indirectly. The Hero Snatch was burned to dead by Dabi’s fire, but that was because Compress decided to compress him along with the fire thinking Snatch could turn his whole body into sand when he could turn only the upper part of his body into it. As a result of Compress compressing him along with Dabi’s flames, Snatch gets killed by said flames [Chap. 160].

Canonically there’s no one else.

Likely those 30 deaths served Tōya to pin the blame for them also on Endeavor. His confession video would have felt a lot less impactful if he had introduced himself as a Villain who never killed anyone. As only burnt corpses remained of those Villains, it’s unlikely the Heroes can figure out they’re Villains unless they had their DNA or dental records. When Snatch confronted him about burn corpses that kept on appearing around, he confirmed on being the killer and showed that he was happy those deaths were starting to be pinned on him.

The number is likely as accurate as it can be because it would have made no difference for him at that point to take the blame for 30 or 50 kills.

Can it be he also killed 30 innocent in an unknown time for unknown purposes? We’ve no info about it.

Does it change something if he killed Villains or innocent civilians?

Basically, it’s still murder so we might feel tempted to say no, but for the public watching the video it changes a lot. They likely won’t be very affected by Villains murdering each other, and when Dabi gives his speech about how his murderous flames are Endeavor’s flames this would come out a lot stronger than if the public were thinks Endeavor’s flames had been involved in murdering innocent civilians.

The fact that often it gets remarked in discussions that Dabi killed INNOCENT people confirms this, the crime seems much worse if we picture those people as innocent… when in truth murder is just murder.

XX ARE HEROES OBJECTIFIED? AREN’T THEY HELD TO UNREALISTIC STANDARDS AND UNFAIRINGLY TRASHED IF THEY FAIL?

Heroes are compared to idols and idols are very objectified so yeah, they are.

Just to give you an idea the typical Japanese worker, the salaryman, is expected to work long hours, work overtime, go drinking or singing karaoke or visit hostess bars with his or her colleagues and bosses after work instead than going back to his family, and overall prioritize work over everything else in his or her life. It’s also expected they could die from overwork (過労死 ‘karōshi’ which means “overwork death”).

As for idols, their main objective is to “sell dreams”, offering fans a form of escapism from the troubles of daily life. Idols often spend time isolated from family and friends while enduring busy work schedules, with some agencies withholding job assignments from their talents and notifying them of work on short notice to prevent them from taking time off. Because of their manufactured image, idols are generally not regarded as authentic artists. Idols are seen as role models to the public, and their personal lives and image can sometimes be tightly controlled by their talent agencies. Common restrictions include not being allowed to smoke or drink in public, or pursue romantic relationships.

And you wouldn’t want to be a idol if you fail to properly sell dreams and get involved in a scandal as your fans might trash you horribly. Plus you also get stalkers with various cases of them trying to hurt idols they like.

The idol system has been criticized for its strict rules, intense work schedules (they aren’t supposed to stop working if they’re sick), and offering idols little control over their personal lives. The system has been likened to salaryman in Japan who are unable to disobey their employers.

Tōya’s video and his attempt to create a scandal around Enji very much seem to match with the way an idol’s career will be ruined if they get involved in a scandal. Ending is very close to a stalker, the complain that it wouldn’t be in character for Enji to shake hands also fits with how idols should project a certain image. Hero gadgets of course parallel the fact people get gadgets of idols too.

So yeah, Heroes are objectified. The story though tries to fight the fact that people will depend to them way too much and trash them when they fail.

XX CAN HEROES KILL?

After Ending’s dialogue in Chap. 251 many had the impression a Hero couldn’t kill. But what exactly Ending said?

ENDING ‘HERO wa yohodo no koto demo koroshi wa sentakushi neE! Demo yo! Anta Nōmu o koroshitaro! ? Ore mo ano ningyō to onaji sa, ikiten no ka shinden no ka aimaina jinsei! Dakara anshinshite!’ エンディング「ヒーローは余程の事でも殺しは選択しねエ！でもよ！あんた脳無を殺したろ！？」 Ending “A Hero doesn’t choose to kill, even if it’s absolutely necessary! But! You killed a Nōmu, didn’t you?!” [Chap. 251]

In Japanese language Ending used ‘sentakushi’ (選択し) which means “choose”. Therefore what Ending might be saying isn’t that Heroes CAN’T KILL but that they WOULDN’T CHOOSE TO KILL… however Enji choose to kill a Nōmu so he can also choose to kill Ending.

The fact that Heroes shouldn’t choose to kill but aren’t forbidden to kill matches with how in Japan it’s exceedingly rare the police will use lethal force but… they can do it in the event that a person who is actually in the act of committing, or is suspected on sufficient grounds of having committed, a violent and dangerous crime which is subject to the death penalty or life imprisonment does so much as TRY TO ESCAPE (just so you know Japan had been asked to revise its domestic legislation on police use of firearms to ensure it complies with international law). Naturally the policeman using lethal force will still be investigated.

Back to the story we see the Heroes, specifically Mirko using lethal forces against Shigaraki when he’s unconscious inside a tube. Mirko breaks the tube thinking that Shigaraki couldn’t be let out, meaning she’s trying to kill him by destroying the equipment that’s keeping him alive.

MIRKO ‘(Shikai ni haitta shunkan ni karada ga rikai shi ya gatta! Usagi no seizon honnō! DAMEna yatsuda!! Dameda kore wa!! Kore wa dashicha ike nē!! Nani o sashioite mo!!) ミルコ「(視界に入った瞬間に身体が理解しやがった！兎の生存本能！ダメなやつだ！！ダメだこれは！！これは出しちゃいけねェ！！何を差し置いても！！)」 Mirko (The moment it came into view, my body understood! It’s my rabbit’s survival instinct! This is no good! This thing is no good!! This thing can’t be let out!! No matter what!!) [Chap. 268]

Later she insists they can’t let Shigaraki wake up. While she didn’t explicitly say ‘kill while he’s unconscious/asleep’ the implication is that.

MIRKO ‘Zettai ni Shigaraki o okosa seru na!!’ ミルコ「絶対に死柄木を起こさせるな！！」 Mirko “Don’t let Shigaraki wake up!!” [Chap. 269]

MIRKO ‘Shigaraki o okosu na! ! Are wa mō tada no ko akutō ja nē!’ ミルコ「死柄木を起こすな！！あれはもう只の小悪党じゃねェ！」 Mirko “Don’t let Shigaraki wake up! He’s no longer just a petty criminal!” [Chap. 269]

Present Mic also attack in attempt to destroy the capsule. When they find Shigaraki on the ground and he’s not breathing nor his heart is beating they don’t try to reanimate him. They’re fine with him being dead.

Later Gran Torino will insist he should have been the one killing Shigaraki and that killing can be another way to save someone.

GRAN TORINO ‘Ore ga korosanakya ikenakatta… warui na…… amari koshitsu suru na yo… Koroshi ga sukui ni naru koto mo aru. Sore o wasureru na dō suru ni seyo--- VILLAIN rengō ni otoshi maetsukete koi.’ グラントリノ「俺が殺さなきゃいけなかった…悪いな……あまり固執するなよ。殺しが救いになる事もある。それを忘れるなどうするにせよ───敵（ヴィラン）連合に落とし前つけて来い。」 Gran Torino “I should have killed him... sorry... but don’t dwell on it too much. Sometimes killing can be a way to save. Don’t forget that whatever you do. Go and settle things with the League of Villains.” [Chap. 309]

Gran Torino is clearly saying he went there planning to kill Shigaraki, and he’s basically encouraging Midoriya to be the one who’ll do it. Midoriya doesn’t counter killing is illegal for a Hero. That’s also why Hawks doesn’t get punished for killing Twice. That’s why Enji claims Endeavor dies because he can’t kill a mass murder since said mass murder is his son. That’s why the reporter was about to ask Enji to kill all the Villains then trailed off when she realized she was asking him to kill his son. That’s why Midoriya won’t be punished for killing Shigaraki.

Heroes can kill. It’s just that they generally choose not to.

But surely people was shocked when they saw Twice’s death and surely this causes Himiko to think because Heroes are marketed as people who save others and wouldn’t CHOOSE to kill. Instead they can do it if someone is dangerous enough or due to the Hero commission ordering them to do so. It’s the clash between the image the Hero commission wanted them to project and the hard reality of Hero society.

XX WHY DID TŌYA’S DYE GOT WASHED AWAY WITH SOME WATER?

According to Horikoshi that was hyper hair-dye remover which was in a hyper bottle which Dabi keeps in his hyper pouch. [Chap. 290]

XX WHY AREN’T HEROES/PEOPLE MORE SYMPATHETIC TO TŌYA SINCE HE WAS A VICTIM?

It’s implied a huge part of the problem is Tōya is a Villain. Villains do not get sympathy. People isn’t interested in why they do what they do, all they care is that they violated the law, even if the crime were way smaller than the one Tōya did.

There might be more at play though.

Parents gives life to a child when they are born and since life is the most precious thing we have in Japan a child is believed to always have an impossible debt called ‘gimu’ (義務 “obligation/duty”) to their parents. ‘Gimu’ refers to something that a person is required or expected to do. It can be a legal or moral responsibility must fulfill.

In short it didn’t matter how bad Enji handled his kids, since they own to him the fact they’re alive, they’re indebted to him and people can see Tōya’s complains as him just being ungrateful.

We find an interesting example of this mentality in the anime “Code Geass” (BEWARE OF SPOILERS).

The main character’s father is, to simply put, horrible. Emperor of Britannia, he strongly holds views of social Darwinism, believing that only the strongest were worthy to rise in society (he uses the same sentence as Midoriya ‘Men’s are not born equal’ to excuse how he takes advantage of people), and invades countries left and right. He doesn’t hesitate to send his kids Lelouch and Nunnally to Japan, where they will be political hostages and then he’ll attack Japan while they’re there, uncaring they might be killed. He’ll use, manipulate, sacrifice and kill various people including his own brother (who was likewise minded), he’ll brainwash his son and ordered for his men to kill him, he even tried personally to strangle him. His son Lelouch will organize a rebellion and wage a war against Britannia, which will lead him as well to use, manipulate and kill people in an attempt to get rid of all the evil people so as to create the kind world his sister wishes. At the end of the anime, Lelouch will accidentally trigger his father’s death, then, later he’ll deliberately get himself killed in a ploy so as to create a kind world.

In the official book of the series the authors commented Lelouch had to die for the grave crime of ‘killing his father’. Whatever else Lelouch did, didn’t matter to the authors, his grave crime was ‘killing his father’.

When the translation was released it caused chaos in the west, even Lelouch’s haters would have pinned on him many crimes but… not that. His father was a monster who planned to control the whole world and Lelouch didn’t directly kill him, we aren’t even sure if he knew what he did would cause the ‘god’ of the universe they were in to erase his father, but if he hadn’t done it the world would have ended up all controlled by his father.

Again, things are changing, people are different but still this gives you an idea of why people might not feel overly sympathetic toward someone who’s not happy with how his father raised him.

Also… when Tōya broadcasted his whole video you might be interested in knowing he committed an act of defamation toward Endeavor, Hawks and, possibly, about the whole Hero world. You might wonder why ‘defamation’ since what he said was true (except for the bit about Best Jeanist’s death but here he was tricked and had no idea the latter was alive)

Under Article 230-1 of the Criminal Code of Japan: “A person who defames another by alleging facts in public shall, regardless of whether such facts are true or false, be punished by imprisonment with or without work for not more than three years or a fine of not more than 500,000 yen.”

So yeah, it doesn’t matter if what he’s saying is true or not, it put to shame Endeavor, Hawks and the Hero world and so is defamation in Japan. His only hope would be to prove that the act relates to matters of public interest and has been conducted solely for the benefit of the public.

In this case the truth or falsity of the alleged facts shall be examined, and punishment shall not be imposed if they are proven to be true. However while Tōya basically said he did it for the good of society, society crashes also due to it so I don’t think a judge would care.

Now, his father won’t sue him and Hawks likely won’t sue him either… but he’s lucky the Hero Commission had his hands full at the time or they would demand his head for this too.

XX WHY SHŌTO IS CALLED THE FAMILY’S HERO? JUST BECAUSE HE’S IN A HERO SCHOOL?

Rei says this:

Todoroki Rei ‘Watashi-tachi yori yoppodo tsurai HAZU no ko ga urande tōzen no watashi o futatabi okā-san to yonde kureta. U.A. kōkō de o tomodachi o tsukutte, watashi-tachi o tsunami tomete kureta. Shōto ga Todoroki-ke (read: uchi) no HERO ni natte kureta no yo.’ 轟冷「私たちよりよっぽど辛いハズの子が恨んで当然の私を再びお母さんと呼んでくれた。雄英高校でお友だちをつくって、私たちをつなぎとめてくれた。焦凍が轟家（ウチ）のヒーローになってくれたのよ。」 Todoroki Rei “A child who should have suffered much more than us called me “mom” again, even though it was only natural that he would resent me. He made friends at U.A. High School and kept us together. Shōto became the hero of the Todoroki family (read: our family).” [Chap. 302]

Basically according to Rei, Shōto is the family Hero because he doesn’t resent her and kept them together. The kept them together part is related to how, due to Shōto resuming to visit her, Rei recovered and was able to go back to her own family and stand next to her husband (as this is what a Japanese wife is expected to do).

Of course this doesn’t keep into consideration that Shōto NEVER resented Rei as he ALWAYS blamed Enji for his scar and not his mother, which the story repeated over and other. But let’s let this slide for now and focus on what Rei believed happened. How this makes Shōto the family Hero?

‘Gaman’ (我慢) is a Japanese term of Zen Buddhist origin which means “enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity”. The term is generally translated as “perseverance”, “patience”, or “tolerance”. A related term, ‘gaman-tsuyoi’ (我慢強い), a compound with ‘tsuyoi’ (強い “strong”), means “suffering the unbearable” or having a high capacity for a kind of stoic endurance.

Gaman is variously described as a “virtue”, an “ethos”, a “trait”, etc. It means to do one’s best in distressed times and to maintain self-control and discipline.

Gaman tends to be misperceived by the non-Japanese as introverted behavior or as a lack of assertiveness or initiative, but for Japanese people is a demonstration of strength in the face of difficulty or suffering. Gaman is, in Japanese society, closely related to complying with conformity and silent heroism, which seems to be hidden pride for compensation for sacrifice and being satisfied to pay reciprocal service in advance or to being seen themselves as victims by folks. Showing ‘gaman’ is seen as a sign of maturity and strength. Keeping private affairs, problems and complaints silent demonstrates strength and politeness as others have seemingly larger problems as well. If a person with ‘gaman’ received help from someone else, they would be compliant, not ask for any additional help, and voice no concerns.

If a person fails to have/show ‘gaman’, the result could be a sudden manifestation of aggression.

If we keep this in consideration, both Rei and Tōya failed to endure their situation, which was what was expected of them as they should have shown ‘gaman’, and ended up attacking someone.

Shōto (like other characters in the story) instead managed to endure without asking for help and without showing aggression even though he went close to it and was ‘saved’ by Midoriya, another character famous for enduring.

It’s noteworthy how all the League members in the story became Villains because they couldn’t endure any longer.

In old times shōjo manga there was a tendency to put the main character under any sort of misfortune, showing how she would keep on maintain self control, optimism and endure so that at the end she would be rewarded.

Shōnen manga though, had never been much for showing endurance in the past. With the battle cry of ‘yurusanai’ (許さない  Lit. “not to permit/not to approve”) which is often translated as “unforgivable” but can also mean “inacceptable”, “it can’t absolutely be allowed” and therefore that “it can’t be endured”, the main character would charge against his opponent and fight until he would destroy him.

A famous ‘yurusanai’ moment in BNHA is in the fight between Midoriya and Tomura in the Paranormal Liberation War arc.

Midoriya Izuku ‘Omae dake wa yurusanai!’ 緑谷出久「おまえだけはゆるさない！」 Midoriya Izuku “I will never forgive you!”

Tomura Shigaraki ‘Ore wa dare mo yurusanai.’ 死柄木弔「俺わ誰も許さない。」 Tomura Shigaraki “I too will never forgive anyone.” [Chap. 281]

Basically, in shōnen manga, it’s the premise for a fight to death as neither is willing to endure and reach a compromise as they can’t absolutely permit what the other is doing. Tomura too will maintain this stance, fighting till the end. In this case, even if neither is showing ‘gaman’ their determination not to give up on their ‘yurusanai’ makes them praiseworthy because the story pushes you to accept that they had reached something that MUST NOT BE PERMITTED.

A less famous but equally discussed ‘yurusanai’ moment can be found later, when Uraraka and Midoriya talk watching the ruined city.

Uraraka Ochaco ‘Ano toki, U.A. no kōsha no ue de shabetteru to sa, futosa, TOGA HIMIKO ga atama o yogitta. GIGANTOMACHIA no shinkō-chū ni ichitai ichi ni natte watashi wa jibun ga “atari mae” da to omou koto o kotoba ni shite kaeshitanda. Totemo kanashi sōna kao o shi teta. Machi o konnani shite takusan no inochi to shiawase o ubatta “teki” (read: VILLAN) da yo. Mō yurusu yurusanai no jigen ja nai. Wakatteru… keredo watashi wa ano “hito” no “atari mae” o shiranai. TOGA HIMIKO no koto nani mo shiranaitte kangaete shimau. Dakara machi o miteta. Ozomashī kōkei o wasurenai yō ni, yokeina koto wa kangaenai yō ni.’ 麗日お茶子「あの時、雄英の校舎の上で喋ってるとさ、ふとさ、トガヒミコが頭をよぎった。ギガントマキアの進行中に一対一になって私は自分が〝当たり前〟だと思う事を言葉にして返したんだ。とても悲しそうな顔をしてた。街をこんなにして沢山の命と幸せを奪った〝敵〟（ヴィラン）だよ。もう許す許さないの次元じゃない。わかってる…けれど私はあの〝人〟の〝当たり前〟を知らない。トガヒミコのこと何も知らないって考えてしまう。だから街を見てた。悍ましい光景を忘れないように、余計な事は考えないように。」 Uraraka Ochaco “That time, as I was talking on top of the U.A. school building, Toga Himiko suddenly came into my mind. We fought one-on-one during the rampage of Gigantomachia, and I responded to her by saying what I thought was ‘normal’. She looked very sad. She was an ‘enemy’ (read: villain) who had done this to the city, taking away so many lives and happiness. It’s no longer a matter of whether I should forgive her or not forgive her. I know that... but I don’t know what that ‘person’s’ ‘normal’ was. I can’t help but think that I don’t know anything about Toga Himiko. That’s why I was looking at the city. So I wouldn’t forget the horrible sight, so I wouldn’t think about anything else.”

Here too, Uraraka didn’t give up, even if her ‘yurusanai’ isn’t used as a battle cry.

On another interesting note, we’ve a chapter (and an episode) titled ‘Yurusarezaru-mono’ (許されざる者 “The unforgivable person”), with said unforgivable person being Enji, which Natsuo can’t forgive. Anyway, back to the original question, Shōto was likely viewed as a hero for his ability to exercise ‘gaman’, something which Rei failed to make as she broke down.

The story discusses how sometimes people just can’t exercise ‘gaman’, how they’ll end up breaking down if they keep on enduring because sometimes things are just too much and without help they will crumble. Despite this ‘Gaman’ still remains a value BNHA society values and praises.

XX WHY IS THE TODOROKI FAMILY REACTING IN SUCH WAY TO THE REVEAL TOUYA IS ALIVE? WHY ARE THEY CALLING HIM DABI AND TELLING ENJI HE HAS TO STOP HIM? WHY REI BOWS AND APOLOGIZE TO HAWKS IN SUCH A WAY?

After such a video many people in the west would react with a ‘my God, what have I done to my child that pushed him to such lenght? I’ve to find him and apologize to him, soothe his pain and make him stop attacking unrelated people’. The Todoroki instead have more a ‘my God, what did I trigger my son into making? I’ve to stop him and apologize to society for my failure in raising him as a functional member of society as soon as possible!’

I’ve discussed it many times already in this FAQ but in Japan you must not trouble others. Calling what Tōya did to society as ‘troubling it’ is, of course, clearly an understatement so the Todoroki’s first instinct is to worry about this. They join forces because they’ve to stop Tōya from attacking society. It’s the priority because they’re taught to prioritize society. Tōya needs to be stopped. They need to apologize to society for what he’s doing.

So we immediately see a prime example of this.

What Rei does is called ‘dogeza’ (土下座) and is an element of traditional Japanese etiquette which involves kneeling directly on the ground and bowing to prostrate oneself while touching one’s head to the floor. It is used to show a deep apology, an uncommon deference only used when one is deviating greatly from daily behavior. It is seen filled with the feeling of being sorry about troubling the other person. By performing dogeza and apologizing to someone, usually the other person would have a tendency to forgive.

Todoroki Rei ‘Todoroki-ke (read: uchi) no musuko ga… mōshi wake arimasen deshita.’ 轟冷「轟家（ウチ）の息子が…申し訳ありませんでした。」 Todoroki Rei “About (what was done by) the son of the Todoroki family (read: our family)… I am so very sorry.” [Chap. 303]

Even Rei’s words are a very formal way to express apology that, more literally, means “I have no excuses”.

Later Enji will also apologize to the press.

Todoroki Enji ‘Shinjitsu desu. Owabi no mōshi ageyō mo gosaimasen.’ 轟炎司「真実です。お詫びの申し上げようもごさいません。」 Todoroki Enji “It’s the truth. There is no way for me to apologize enough/I have no excuses for it.” [Chap. 306]

This is what he says to the press and the apology is as formal as you can get it. It’s a sentence used to apologize to customers or superiors about really big mistakes. It’s fitting the context since he’s apologizing to the press and to society itself not so much for doing what he did to his family (society doesn’t really care about that) but again, for what Tōya did. Enji is related to him and triggered his actions and so he apologizes.

It’s only later the Todorokis will realize they should have apologized to Tōya too and not just to society.

Todoroki Enji ‘Zenbu ore no sekinin da. Zenbu seotte tsugunai ni ikineba to omotte ita demo omae wa zutto ore o mi tsudzuketetanda monna… omae o mite yare nakatta…… omae ni mo tsugunawanakya ikenakattanda.’ 轟炎司「全部俺の責任だ。全部背負って償いに生きねばと思っていたでもおまえはずっと俺を見続けてたんだもんな…おまえを見てやれなかった……おまえにも償わなきゃいけなかったんだ。」 Todoroki Enji “It’s all my fault. I thought I had to shoulder it all and live to make amends, but you were always looking at me... I couldn’t look at you... I had to make amends to you too.” [Chap. 387]

And

Todoroki Rei ‘Tōya ……‼ Gomen ne…!’ 轟冷「燈矢……‼ごめんね…！」 Todoroki Rei “Tōya…!! I’m sorry…!” [Chap. 388]

It’s worth to mention that in cases in which a family member commit a crime in Japan, the norm is for the family to distance itself as much as possible from said family member as society will give them hell for it. We see it in the manga too with Himiko and Tobita’s family. Although the Todorokis worried first about society and after about Tōya, that’s more due to how they were raised than lack of love.

In the story we have Tobita’s family kicking Tobita out of the house for what is really just a mistake in judgment, we’ve Himiko’s family calling her a demon child (with Himiko being forced to escape) for something she couldn’t control, despite neither of them causing someone to die in that circumstance and then… we’ve the Todoroki family being still willing to be with Tōya despite what he had done.

For many of us, what the Todorokis do would be normal… but the Tobitas and the Togas show instead what’s supposed to be the norm in the BNHA world (and in Japan). If you commit a crime even your family will turn against you and kick you out. The Todoroki instead still want to be with Tōya, talk with him, Enji and Rei apologizing to him instead than doing like Himiko’s parents, claiming they did all they could but Himiko was just a demon child.

Horikoshi wanted to make us sure the family loved him and didn’t mean to leave him despite what he did. So don’t take the fact they worried about society as a proof of a lack of love, it’s just tied to how they were raised.

XX WAIT, WHAT HAPPENS TO FAMILY OF CRIMINALS?

A seinen manga “Theseus no fune” (テセウスの船) digs into what happens to a family of 5 after the father, Sano Bungo, was accused of murder.

The mother, who was at the time pregnant, was denied hospitalization to give birth to her child.

They had to hide their identity because each time it was discovered they were forced to move. People would also refuse to hire them if they were to know who they were. The main character, the youngest child of the man, the one that was born AFTER his father was accused of murder, and who should have been named Seigi (justice) is named instead Shin (heart) because “there’s no justice for the son of a murderer”, he has to take his mother’s surname (along with the rest of the family), have to wear a mask to hide his face to work, so that he won’t be recognized, had to give up on becoming a teacher and, although he managed to marry, his wife’s relatives refused to accept the marriage. When his wife dies during childbirth, her parents attended to the funeral but claimed they couldn’t tell anyone about it because otherwise people would know she married the son of a criminal. They also demanded their grandchild to be handed to them because she can’t grow up with the son of a murderer.

Note that said son of a murderer, never had any contact with his father as the man had been arrested before his birth, and therefore Shin clearly couldn’t be responsible for his father’s crime or be educated by him.

We see something similar happening in BNHA for people who’re involved in minor crimes.

Tobita tried to help someone but failed and was accused of preventing a Hero from saving him.

He was expelled from school and his family was implied to be targeted with bullying (see the graffiti with insults on the gate?)

Jin goes through something similar. Due to being involved in an incident he’s fired and no one wants to hire him ever again so he ends up homeless.

It’s implied the same happened with Himiko, though we don’t know if she ended up on the run just after attacking Saito, knowing her parents wouldn’t want her back, or after trying to go back home and being rejected by her parents.

While Himiko’s house might have been further devastated AFTER she joined the league, we can see that the gate was already damaged when her parents still lived there just after she had attacked Saito.

Note that none of the three over mentioned characters had yet committed murder. Tobita wanted to help, and the man who he had been unable to save will recover in 6 months, Jin ended up running over a guy who ran in the street without warning but only broke his arm and, as far as we know, Saito didn’t die due to Himiko’s attack.

Yet, they’re shunned by society and with them their families who turn their back to them.

Now picture how much worse this would be for someone who committed murder.

Tōya himself touches upon how bad they should have it now when talking with Shouto.

Todoroki Tōya ‘Hitotsu kikitēnda ga Shōto… omae ittai donna tsura shite? Obieru shimin to issho ni U.A. ni komotte iraretanda? ENDEAVOR no musuko Dabi no kyōdai yakusai no nikogori mitee nate meE ga!!’ 轟燈矢「一つ聞きてえんだが焦凍…おまえ一体どんな面して──怯える市民と一緒に雄英に籠っていられたんだ？エンデヴァーの息子荼毘の兄弟厄災の煮凝りみてぇなてめェが！！」 Todoroki Tōya “I have to ask you one thing, Shōto… What kind of face were you wearing? Were you able to stay holed up in U.A. with the frightened citizens? Endeavor’s son, Dabi’s brother, it’s like a broth of calamity/disaster/misfortune!!”

Okay, technically Tōya says ‘yakusai no nikogori’ (厄災の煮凝り) which literally is a “jellied broth of disaster/calamity”, but the fact he chose the nikogori is also due to how the kanji used to write it are ‘ni’ (煮 “boil, cook”) and ‘gori’ (凝 “freeze”).

The citizens in U.A. should have wanted Shōto in it as much as they wanted Midoriya when he first showed up there, not even a bit, even though Midoriya did nothing wrong… and in fact we see that when Midoriya comes back to U.A.  Shouto remains behind along with his father, knowing if he were to show up he would make matters worse for Midoriya. Shouto will admit it himself.

This is the dialogue of the  manga but I’ve added between brackets a bit from the anime as it made Shōto’s reply more clear.

Satō Rikidō ‘ENDEAVOR-tachi wa U.A. hairanai no kana.’ 砂藤力道「エンデヴァー達は雄英入らないのかな。」 Satō Rikidō “I wonder if Endeavor and the others will join U.A.”

Todoroki Shōto ‘Itazura ni hitomae ni dere nē yo. (Oyaji o miru to) Dabi no kage ga CHIRAtsukukarana. Konkai no kun de hinan shiteru hito-tachi zenin ga zenin ichiyō ni mikata ga kawatta WAKE demo neE daroushi.’ 轟焦凍「徒に人前に出れねぇよ。(親父を見ると)荼毘の影がチラつくからな。今回の件で避難してる人たち全員が全員一様に見方が変わったワケでもねぇだろうし。」 Todoroki Shōto “He can’t just go out in public for no reason. (When they see my father,) they can see in him the flickering of Dabi’s shadow. It’s not like all the people who evacuated have changed their views because of this incident.”

Yaoyorozu Momo ‘Yōyaku sukoshi wa ki ga yasumatta mitaidesu ne.’ 八百万百「漸く少しは気が休まったみたいですね。」 Yaoyorozu Momo “It seems like he has finally relaxed a little.”

Todoroki Shōto ‘Dabi no kyōdai, ENDEAVOR no musuko, naishinde wa kitto ore no sonzai mo imada fuandarou.’ 轟焦凍「荼毘の兄弟、エンデヴァーの息子、内心ではきっと俺の存在も未だ不安だろう。」 Todoroki Shōto “Dabi’s brother, Endeavor’s son, deep down they’re probably still unsettled/uneasy/uncomfortable also about my presence.”

Kirishima Eijirō ‘Katei jijō de---- kuyashī yo nā… Todoroki ga nani ka shita wake janee noninā.’ 切島鋭児郎「家庭事情で────悔しいよなぁ…轟が何かしたわけじゃねぇのになぁ。」 Kirishima Eijirō “It’s because of family circumstances ──── It’s frustrating... It’s not like Todoroki did anything.”

Todoroki Shōto ‘Shita yo---Chi ni torawarete genten o miushinatta. Demo ima wa china kara. Chigau tte koto o shōmei suru. Minna ni anshin shite moraeru yō ni.’ 轟焦凍「したよ───血に囚われて原点を見失った。でも今は違うから。違うって事を証明する。皆に安心してもらえるように。」 Todoroki Shōto “I did something─── I was obsessed with my blood and lost sight of my origins. But now I’m different. I’ll prove that I’m different. So that everyone can feel at ease.”

Kirishima Eijirō ‘…Otoko da yo omee wa…! Ore nanda ka namida ga dete kuru yo…!’ 切島鋭児郎「…漢だよおめぇは…！俺何だか涙が出てくるよ…！」 Kirishima Eijirō “…You’re a real man…! I’m getting teary-eyed…!” [Chap. 327]

Basically it’s not that Enji doesn’t want to be around other people because he’s worried of Dabi’s threat, it’s the other people who don’t want Enji around because they see in him his son… and they’re uncomfortable with Shōto too.

Horikoshi doesn’t show it much, even if he gives small hints like this dialogue here and there, the situation seems mostly under control. All the kids at U.A. are on Shōto’s side and the same goes for the students, no one is shown bothering his family which is also at U.A. and while we see civilians being against Enji, they’re also shown being against other Heroes like Wash and even later, even Fuyumi is forced to leave her job, it almost seems as if she had done it on her own and anyway a person helps her to find another and Natsuo’s girlfriend is still willing to marry him so western readers might entirely miss it… but the Todoroki, after the Dabi reveal should be social outcasts.

People wouldn’t want them close, they should lose their job, friends would turn their back on them for fear of being associated to them.

Again, it’s not the same for everyone but that’s what would normally happen, which is why at the end of the story Enji insists he’ll try his best to protect his kid from the fallout. Because they should still be social rejects and the fact they refuse to cut strings with Tōya and plan to keep on visiting him would make this worse.

XX WHY ENJI DOESN’T SEARCH FOR DABI DURING THE DARK HERO ARC?

While again, Enji is doing this as an atonement to society and as his duty as Endeavor, there’s to say Midoriya’s group to which Enji belong is actually searching for Shigaraki’s location, and therefore for the rest of the League’s location. [Chap. 309] Also in “Ultra Impact” event “Schemes and Scoffing Blueflames”, as soon as he hears blue flames were spotted Enji rushed on the place to investigate even if he was told it could be a trap. So he’s technically also searching for Tōya… it’s just the story doesn’t care to focus on this.

XX IS IT POSSIBLE TŌYA LEARNT ALL OF ENDEAVOR'S MOVES JUST BY WATCHING?

Let me start with a bit from "Jujutsu Kaisen".

? ‘“'Me' yori saki ni 'te' ga koeru koto wanai.” Yoshiashi o minuku 'me' o yashinawaneba sakuhin o umidasu 'te' no seichō wa nozomenai hyōgen-sha no ma de yoku tsukawa reru monku kore wa arayuru senmon (janru) ni kyōtsū shi 'me' no yoi mono no jōtatsu sokudo wa sōdenai mono no sore o haruka ni ryōga suru.’ ? 「『“目”より先に“手”が肥えることはない。』　良し悪しを見抜く“目”を養わねば 作品を生み出す“手”の成長は望めない　表現者の間でよく使われる文句　これはあらゆる専門(ジャンル)に共通し “目”の良い者の上達速度はそうでない者のそれを遥かに凌駕する。」 ? “'The "hand" never develops before the "eye".' If you don't develop the "eye" to discern good and bad, you can't hope to develop the "hand" that produces works. This is a phrase often used among artists. This is common to all specialties (genres), and the speed at which those with good "eyes" improve far exceeds that of those without.” [Chap. 37]

Now... when I searched for this sentence it never turned out it was a common way to say, however when the manga/anime came out many workers in the Japanese community said it resonated within them so it's possible while that specific phrase isn't a way to say, something similar is often said.

Regarding Tōya is remarked more than once by Garaki how Tōya has “good eyes” (良い目 ‘Ii me’) [Chap. 221] and we see he's usually the first in the league to notice things. In short Horikoshi made him VERY observant. This also likely translated into giving him an innate talent for learning techniques just by observation. As Quirk and Quirk techniques are fictional, it can entirely be they are easy to learn if you've only a high observation ability, without needing explanations or attempts at trying them out.

XX WHEN TŌYA DEVELOPED AN ICE QUIRK, DID HE HAVE A QUIRK AWAKENING OR NOT?

For start what is a Quirk awakening (個性覚醒 ‘Kosei kakusei’)?

Basically when a Quirk ‘evolves’, developing new abilities or expanding its ray of actions.

Canonically, among the people who got a Quirk awakening we’ve Toga Himiko (she gained the power to use the Quirk of those she transform into provided she loves them) [Chap. 226], Shigaraki Tomura (his decay can spread to things he didn’t touch provided said things are connected… and he can use it even when not touching things with his five fingers) [Chap. 227], Geten (can manipulate the temperature of ice… though we’ll learn this was an acquired power only when Re-Destro will explain it) [Chap. 234], Bakugō Katsuki (his explosions become stronger and more condensed) [Chap. 285] and Uraraka Ochako (she can make people she hadn’t touched float) [Chap. 394].

The first time we had a Quirk awakening was when Himiko discovered she could use Ochako’s power.

CURIOUS ‘Nande… kanojo no kosei-todokede wa tashika ni gaiken dake to… masaka… ima… nobashita to demo! ? Shi e no kyōfu ga──inō o!!' キュリオス「何で…彼女の個性届では確かに外見だけと…まさか…今…伸ばしたとでも！？死への恐怖が──異能を！！」 Curious “Why... Her quirk report only mentions (it affects) her appearance... Don't tell me... She just... strenghtened/developed it!? The fear of death... increased her Meta abilities!!" [Chap. 226]

Curious blames Himiko’s fear of death for how her Meta ability. Improved (the MLA members call Quirks ‘meta abilities’). It will turn out later though that Himiko was actually on the brink of death and it was only thanks to Jin she survived.

Later, in chap. 394, Himiko will connect what happened to her with what will happens to Uraraka when her Quirk will also evolve, giving her the ability to make people float without touching them… and Himiko will also confirm she was dying when it first happened to her, she wasn’t just scared of doing so.

TOGA HIMIKO ‘(Onaji da…! ano toki no watashi to onaji…! watashi ga shi ni kakete okita koto to!!)’ トガヒミコ「(同じだ…！あの時の私と同じ…！私が死にかけて起きた事と‼)」 Toga Himiko “(It’s the same…!It’s the same as it was with me back then…! The same as what happened when I was dying!!)”

Uraraka too had been stabbed, she’s losing a lot of blood and she’s basically dying.

It’s worth to note Curious doesn’t call it a Quirk awakening. We get the word awakening later, when Shigaraki is fighting Re-Destro.

RE-DESTRO ‘(Futoshita KIKKAKE de inō ga hiyaku suru koto wa, aru. Geten ga kōri no ondo ni kanshō dekiru yō ni natta no mo, tamatama watashi ga yakedo o otte shimatta toki datta. Kono wakamono wa ima, kakusei no sanaka ni…)’ リ・デストロ「(ふとしたキッカケで異能が飛躍することは、ある。外典が氷の温度に干渉できるようになったのも、たまたま私が火傷を負ってしまった時だった。この若者は今、覚醒の最中に…)」 Re-Destro “(Sometimes Meta abilities can suddenly take off. It was just like when I was burned and Geten became able to manipulate the temperature of ice. This young man is in the middle of awakening (his Quirk) now...)” [Chap. 234]

Re-Destro explains in order to use his Meta ability like that Shigaraki should have trained in a harsh environment.

RE-DESTRO ‘(Hayai! Yobi dōsa mo saishōgen, marude neko no yōna shinayakasa! Kore hodo no shintai nōryoku deareba Kanno (read: KAMINO) de HERO no hitori ya futari sawareta rō ni……! Inō no kudan to ī… kitaeta to demo? Shikamo, kono ugoki… Mainichi inochi no yari tori o iki nuku yōna kakokuna kankyō de nakereba mi ni tsukanu HAZU.)’ リ・デストロ「(速い！予備動作も最小限、まるで猫のようなしなやかさ！これ程の身体能力であれば神野(カミノ)でヒーローの一人や二人触れたろうに……！異能の件といい…鍛えたとでも？しかも、この動き…毎日命のやり取りを生き抜くような過酷な環境でなければ身につかぬハズ。)」 Re-Destro “(He's fast! His preparatory movements are minimal, and he's as agile as a cat! If he had this kind of physical ability, he could have touched one or two of the heroes in Kamino...! And what about his supernatural powers... did he train? Moreover, these movements... it's something that can only be acquired in a harsh environment where life and death are at stake every day.)” [Chap. 234]

This matches with what Garaki (at the time under the alias of Ujiko Daruma) wanted for Shigaraki. He put him through hell forcing him to fight Machia and, when Compress asked, he refused to give him assistance because Shigaraki needed to be driven into a corner.

Mr. COMPRESS ‘ANTA, Shigaraki ga shinde mo ī no ka? AFO (read: All for One) no kōkeina ndaro!?'」 Mr.コンプレス「アンタ、死柄木が死んでもいいのか？AFO（オールフォーワン）の後継なんだろ！？」 Mr. Compress “Are you sure you want Shigaraki to die? He's the successor to AFO (read: All For One), right?!”

Ujiko Daruma ‘Dakara koso oikomu hitsuyō ga aru.’ 氏子達磨「だからこそ追い込む必要がある。」 Ushiko Daruma “That's why we need to push him.” [Chap. 238]

Garaki basically forced a Quirk awakening out of Shigaraki.

All this teaches us that in order for a Quirk to evolve the owner of said Quirk needs to be under intense pressure, believing to be in a near death situation or actually being in a near death situation or worried sick for someone else (Bakugō’s Quirk, like Geten’s, evolved when he saw Midoriya about to being stabbed by Shigaraki. In order to protect him his Quirk evolved, granting him the speed to be there fast enough to move Midoriya away and get hit in his place).

Now, in regard to Tōya’s Quirk, Enji explains what’s going on as such…

ENDEAVOR ‘(Shichi de no kikikan, rinshi no keiken ga “kosei” o kakusei saseru koto ga aru. Sono ippō de hito ni wa “kajiba no bakadikara” to iu mono ga ari… sore wa kakusei to wa chigai, shi ni hin shita toki nomi kengen suru chikara.)’ エンデヴァー「(死地での危機感、臨死の経験が〝個性〟を覚醒させる事がある。その一方で人には「火事場の馬鹿力」というものがあり…それは覚醒とは違い、死に瀕した時のみ顕現する力)」 Endeavor “(Sometimes, the sense of danger in a deadly situation and near-death experiences can awaken a ‘quirk’. On the other hand, humans also have something called “superhuman strength in an emergency situation”... this is not an awakening, but a power that only manifests when facing death.)” [Chap. 387]

…so it might feel like what Tōya is having is not an awakening… but actually when Enji says ‘this is not an awakening’ he’s not referring to Tōya, but to when superhuman strength manifests in normal people in an emergency situation. In that case it’s not an awakening, people won’t be able to keep that superhuman strength… while when a Quirk awakens, said power then remains available for it owner.

So yeah, under strong pressure and in a near death situation Tōya had a Quirk awakening that allowed him to also develop an ice Quirk, which cools him down, allowing him to resist to his own heat better than Enji despite his lack of heat resistance.

The second part of Enji’s sentence is there merely to better explain the whole thing as likely Quirk awakening is, from a Watsonian perspective, an evolution of the “superhuman strength in an emergency situation”… while from a Doylist perspective the Quirk awakening is merely inspired by it.

XX WHY ENJI WANTS TO DIE WITH TŌYA? WHY TŌYA ALSO INSIST HE AND HIS FAMILY SHOULD DIE?

Two reasons. The first, Enji has no idea how to stop him from exploding beyond killing him first, which chap. 300 established as something he doesn’t want to do.

The second is that what they’re doing becomes ‘shinjū’ (心中 Lit. “Mind/heart center/inside” but more likely means “oneness of hearts”, probably reflecting a psychological link between the participants) and it’s a word used in common parlance to refer to any group suicide of two or more individuals bound by love, typically lovers, parents and children, and even whole families. A double suicide without consent is called ‘muri-shinjū’ (無理心中 “unreasonable mind/heart center/inside’) and it is considered as a sort of murder–suicide.

People who commit shinjū believe that they would be united again in heaven, a view supported by feudal teaching in Edo period Japan, which taught that the bond between loved ones would continue into the next world, and by the teaching of Pure Land Buddhism wherein it is believed that through shinjū, one can approach rebirth in the Pure Land.

By volunteering to die with him, Enji is basically agreeing to remain with him in their next reincarnation. By insisting on wanting him and his family to die, even though he paints it as an angry reaction, Tōya just wants his family, who finally had looked at him, to remain with him so they could all be reborn together.

By the way “Pure Land Buddhism” (浄土仏教 ’Jōdo bukkyō’ also known as Amidism) is a broad branch of Mahayana Buddhism focused on achieving rebirth in a Pure Land. It is one of the most widely practiced traditions of Buddhism in East Asia. The “pure land” or buddha-field, is, generally speaking, a Buddha’s field of influence. Some Buddha-fields are considered to be superior places to spiritually train for full Buddhahood, since a Buddha has compassionately “purified” it for this purpose and since in these realms, one can meet a Buddha face to face and study under them. Since it is much easier to attain enlightenment in one of these buddha-fields (due to the corrupt nature of the current age), many Mahayana Buddhists strive to be reborn in such a place.

Again, I don’t know if this is the branch of Buddhism the Todoroki profess, but shinjū is such a popular idea in Japan that it’s unlikely Japanese readers would miss the connection and what it means.

So yes, even if by accepting to die with Tōya Enji doesn’t seem to be doing anything of value, he’s actually promising his son he’ll stay with him, and while Tōya claiming he and his family should all die seems to be moved mainly by anger, it hints just at how Tōya instead wanted to continue to be with them and have them continuing to look at him as he had believed they were doing when they tried to stop him.

XX WHICH WOULD BE TŌYA’S PUNISHMENT WEREN’T HE SLOWLY DYING?

Likely all the league would be sentenced to death by long drop hanging.

Japan has capital punishment, and you get capital punishment in case of aggravated murder, which in Tōya’s case happens because he killed more than 30 people and due to his fire Quirk as arson count as an aggravation in real life… so Tōya’s Quirk kind of work against him.

Still the number of victims killed is the most important criterion for imposition of a death sentence. A death sentence handed down for a single murder (previous convictions included) is considered “extraordinary”.

In the past there was a sole exception to this rule and it was when the victim was the father’s murderer, as this was considered enough to deserve capital punishment… however, the law was abolished after the Tochigi patricide case in 1968 (if you want to check on it I’ll warn you the father did pretty terrible things to his daughter).

If they manage to pin on them insurrection (the whole thing at Central Hospital), their situation gets even worse. In Shigaraki’s case the devastation he caused would likely also considered an aggravation (in real life you can’t really decay things but I guess it can be compared to other aggravating causes).

Would Himiko be sentenced to death too?

You need to be 18 to get the capital punishment and Himiko turns 18 in August of the Final war arc. As the final war arc takes place prior to August, she’s not yet 18 and therefore she would get just life imprisonement.

Yes, they can make an insanity pleas and if they were found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity, they would be committed to legally mandated hospitalization.

Normally though Japanese citizens largely opposed the provision of an insanity defense as, as said before, there's a huge stigma on the idea of someone being insane or having an insane family member so, in addition to the family being socially ostracized for being related to a criminal, they would get the extra label of being related to a mentally ill person which would make matters for the family even worse so you might figure how this isn’t a defence many would implement.

Things are changing so more insanity pleas are being made but this isn’t really helping as it seems the courts are more often than not deciding that, despite recognizing the defendants has things like psychiatric disorders, namely delusional disorder, schizophrenia, substance-induced psychosis, with auditory hallucinations and persecutory delusions evident at the time the offences were committed, whose didn’t affect the defendant free will at all and therefore were irrelevant, so the insanity plea gets rejected.

Just to give you an idea in 2009, the International Federation for Human Rights and the Center for Prisoners' Rights wrote to the Japanese government, expressing strong concerns about executions in Japan, particularly of people with mental illness. It didn’t really help as almost 10 years later, Japan ordered a series of death sentences for offenders with mental illness.

Long story short, it’s unlikely the league would go for an insanity plea but if they were it’s likely it would be rejected.

I couldn’t find info about Japan having house arrest (軟禁 ‘nankin’) for people judged guilty. Since it’s not even a legal term I have the feeling they don’t have it but I might be wrong.

Support for capital punishment has consistently been high among the Japanese public. In a poll conducted in November 2019 of 3,000 Japanese adults by the Cabinet Office, 80.8% of respondents stated they support the continued usage of the death penalty in Japan, while 9% stated it should be abolished in all cases. Just this tells us Horikoshi doesn’t really have the need to abolish something that’s highly supported in his country.

The story confirms in chap. 78 they have capital punishment by saying Moonfish is a ‘shikeishū (datsugoku-chū)’ (死刑囚 (脱獄中) “Death row inmate (on the run)”).

Chap. 94 also refers to how the story have capital punishment but being put in Tartarus is actually worse than that.

Kanshu ‘Damatte iro! ! Mireba wakarudarou! ! Shikei sura namanurui hodo no zainin ga ikitsuku basho da!’ 看守「黙っていろ！！見ればわかるだろう！！死刑すら生温い程の罪人が行き着く場所だ！！」 Jailer “Stay quiet!! If you look you can see!! This is the place where criminals for whom even the death penalty is too lenient end up!!” [Chap. 94]

We’re also told that All for One is tossed there without even wanting for the sentence to be finalized. It’s not because they aren’t sure of the other imprisonment systems, it’s just that they decided that the crime committed was so great they tossed him in the day after he was captured. No need to wait for a trial… and far from me to say AFO isn’t guilty but there’s Lady Nagant in that same prison and I fear she too didn’t get a fair trial, so if Tartarus hadn’t been basically destroyed (along with other detention centers) they wouldn’t have hesitated to toss the league in it.

Midoriya Izuku ‘Yokujitsuu … kare wa koto no ōkisa kara tokureichū no tokurei toshite kei no kakutei o matazu tokushu kōchijo e ire rareta.’ 緑谷出久『翌日ー…彼は事の大きさから特例中の特例として刑の確定を待たず特殊拘置所へ入れられた。』 Midoriya Izuku “The next day... Because of the seriousness of the crime, that person was put in a special detention center without waiting for the sentence to be finalized as an exceptional case.” [Chap. 94]

Just so you know Tartarus is not a nice place. Here it’s how the manga describes it.

Midoriya Izuku ‘Tai “kosei” saikō keibi tokushu kōchijo. Tsūshō  ‘tarutarosu’. Hondo kara yaku 5 km hanareta oki ni kenzō sa reta shūyō shisetsu. Bengijō kōchijo to sa rete iruga, jittai wa kokumin no anzen o ichijirushiku odokasu, matawa odokashita jinbutsu o, genjū ni kinko shi kanshi-ka ni oku monodeari,-kei no kakutei mi kakutei o towazu samazamana “kosei” no mochinushi ga shūkan sa rete iru. I bō wa muttsu ni kubun sa rete ori, “kosei” no kiken-sei ya jiken no jūdai-sei ni yotte furiwake rarete iru. Kiken-sei no takai jinbutsu hodo, chika fukaku ni shūkan sa reru. Ichido ireba ikite deru koto wa kanawanai to iwa rete ori, “kosei” shakai no yami-tomo yoba rete iru.’ 緑谷出久『対〝個性〟最高警備特殊拘置所。通称「タルタロス」。本土から約5km離れた沖に建造された収容施設。便宜上拘置所とされているが、実態は国民の安全を著しく脅かす、又は脅かした人物を、厳重に禁錮し監視下に置くものであり、刑の確定・未確定を問わず様々な〝個性〟の持ち主が収監されている。居房は6つに区分されており、〝個性〟の危険性や事件の重大性によって振り分けられている。危険性の高い人物程、地下深くに収監される。一度入れば生きて出ることは叶わないと言われており、〝個性〟社会の闇とも呼ばれている。』 Midoriya Izuku “A maximum security special detention center for quirks. Commonly known as Tartarus. A detention facility built about 5km offshore from the mainland. Though it is called a detention center for convenience, in reality it is a place to strictly imprison and monitor individuals who are or have been a significant threat to the safety of the nation’s citizens, and it incarcerates people with a variety of quirks, whether their sentences have been finalized or not. The cells are divided into six categories, and are assigned according to the danger of their quirks and the seriousness of the crime. The more dangerous a person is, the deeper underground they are imprisoned. It is said that once one enters, it is impossible to get out alive, and it is also known as the dark side of quirk society.” [Chap. 297]

Tartarus is not a place for rehabilitation, it’s a place to stuck inside people and forget them there, that’s why Lady Nagant was placed there, so that information on what the Commission had done could never leak.

We also have this bit from two guards from Tartarus.

Kanshu 1 ‘Ashita asa, rei no DEKABUTSU ga todoku sōda.’ 看守1「明日朝、例のデカブツが届くそうだ。」 Jailer 1 “That giant thing is supposed to arrive tomorrow morning.”

Kanshu 2 ‘GIGANTOMACHIA… ano umeboshi atama no buka darou? Korosenakatta no ka?’ 看守2「ギガントマキア…あの梅干し頭の部下だろう？殺せなかったのか？」 Jailer 2 “Gigantomachia… isn’t that one of plum-head's subordinates? Couldn’t they have just killed him?”

Kanshu 1 ‘Ā mo kyodai da to kenjū jā muridarou. Hito dearu ijō MISSILE o BUCHI komu wake ni mo ikan.’ 看守1「ああも巨大だと拳銃じゃあ無理だろう。人である以上ミサイルをブチ込むわけにもいかん。」 Jailer 1 “If he’s that big, you can’t use a gun on him. He’s human, so you can’t fire a missile at him.”

Kanshu 2 ‘Ā iu no o hito to wa yoban. Saigai… moshiku wa kedamono to iu. Koko ni shūkan sa rete iru chikushō-domo dōyō nina.’ 看守2「ああいうのを人とは呼ばん。災害…もしくは獣と言う。ここに収監されている畜生共同様にな。」 Jailer 2 “I wouldn’t call that a human. Disaster… or beast that’s what he is. Just like the scums that are imprisoned here.”

Kanshu 1 ‘Yame toke kiroku ni nokoru. Shinkyūtō wa kaitai sa rerudarou ga, bunpa-moto ga kono ki o misugosu hazu ga nai. Tadade sae jinken shingai da nanda to tsutsu ka rete maitterunda saikin wa doko kara moreru ka wakaran zo. ‘ 看守1「やめとけ記録に残る。心求党は解体されるだろうが、分派元がこの機を見過ごすはずがない。ただでさえ人権侵害だなんだと突かれて参ってるんだ最近はどこから漏れるか分からんぞ。」 Jailer 1 “Don’t do it, it’ll go on the record. The Heart and Mind Party will be disbanded, but there’s no way their branch factions won’t let this opportunity pass. We are already being criticized for violating human rights, and you never know where information might leak from these days.”

Kanshu 2 ‘Daga jijitsu da. Yatsu-ra wa tada hito no katachi o shite iru dakeda. “Kosei” ni yotte kikaku o ushinatta jinrui ni magirete shimatta, ozomashī NANIKA da.’ 看守2「だが事実だ。奴らはただ人の形をしているだけだ。〝個性〟によって規格を失った人類に紛れてしまった、悍ましいナニカだ」 Jailer 2 “But it’s true. They just have a human form. They have blended in with humans who have lost their sense of normalcy due to their “quirks” but they are actually hideous things.” [Chap. 297]

We also see how inmates can be held completely immobilized.

We’ve, of course, All for One, Stain (who later is shown free of restrains probably because he’s meant to escape on his own), Muscolar, Moonfish, Kurogiri. Chisaki isn’t kept bound but he’s not given prosthetic arms so I’ve no idea how the guy can eat.

Moonfish and Chisaki’s jails have a bed so that’s probably a standard dotation.

Geten and Compress, who’re held in another prison are comparatively better as only their hands are tied, with Compress being allowed to keep his prosthetic arm and, since he’s still in need of medical care he’s given a mattress along with a machinery that keeps him alive. Garaki, likely due to his Quirk being harmless and his old age, is left with his arms free. Neither Geten or Garaki are given furniture, they’ve to sit on the floor.

This is apparently based on real life Japanese prisons as Human Rights Watch found numerous violations of the international human rights law in Japanese prisons. Japan routinely violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), as well as the basic provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. If you want to know more you might want to read their report.

Now, probably to avoid a never ending mass execution, likely not all the Villains who took part to the Paranormal Liberation War would be executed, I guess they would just focus on those who were in high positions of command or who had a high record of killing. The others will probably be all sentenced to life imprisonment though this is just me speculating. The story is not going to dig on their fate so we’ll likely never know.

As for how fast the one who will be sentenced with Capital Punishment will be executed the answer is... not fast at all.

In Japan the law says an execution must take place within six months of the sentence being finalised by the courts, but in practice typical stay on death row is between five and seven years; a quarter of the prisoners have been on death row for over ten years. For several, the stay has been over 30 years (Sadamichi Hirasawa died of natural causes at the age of 95, after awaiting execution for 32 years). The justice minister decides the timing. Convicted inmates can seek a retrial even after a Supreme Court ruling, but this does not guarantee a stay of execution. That’s why even though Moonfish gets recaptured in August, he’s still alive in Tartarus in March and All for One, who also got captured in the same period, is equally alive (also I hope they would consider processing him before sentencing him but this might be just me).

Something else you might be interested in knowing is inmates in Japan are notified on the morning of their execution, usually about an hour before. The U.N. Committee against Torture has criticized Japan for “the psychological strain” on inmates and their families.

Only prison officials and a priest are present. Hangings are announced afterwards they had taken place. Since 2007 the justice ministry has released the names and crimes of those executed.

XX ONCE THE FINAL WAR ENDED WHERE TŌYA WAS DETAINED?

At the moment is left unsaid. It’s not Central Hospital, it seems something akin to a Villain hospital since the person in it is dressed in a way similar (but not identical) to Tartarus guards and considering what Tōya is in is, hopefully, a medical contraption of some sort and not some sort of restraining Quirk contraption.

In chap. 159 it was said they wanted to bring Chisaki Kai to Takodana Villain Hospital (胝棚の敵病院 ‘Takodana no VILLAIN Byōin’), Takodana being another fictional name for a location, which means “blister/callus shelf” but which is actually inspired to the Takodana Planet in “Star Wars” which became a haven for fugitives, smugglers, explorers, spies and dubious travelers alike.

XX IS TŌYA IN PAIN? IS HE REALLY DYING?

Yes, he's really dying and chap 431 confirms that, after 8 years, Tōya is dead, through it doesn't say by exactly how long he had been dead. It's also not said in details if he was suffering when he was detained in that horrible state but we know Tōya's perception of pain is dulled and there's also this bit:

Kanshu ‘Yuruyaka ni shi e to mukatte iru… sore ga ima no todoroki Tōya desu.’ 看守「緩やかに死へと向かっている…それが今の轟燈矢です」 Jailer “Slowly heading towards death... that is Todoroki Tōya now.” [Chap. 426]

'Yuruyaka' (緩やか) can be translated as “slowly” but also as “gently/easily/gradually/leniently” so my impression is this is telling us he's not in physical pain. How well one can feel strapped to that machine, unable to move and kept in a dark room until his family visits that's up to eveyone's speculation though.

XX WHY WASN’T TŌYA (AND THE REST OF THE LEAGUE) SAVED?

If you mean why Tomura and Himiko died and Tōya wil also slowly die, the Doylist answer is because Horikoshi didn’t want to let them live and I’m not even going to try to address this here as this would require a Meta on his own, and whatever Watsonian answer one were to make up is subordinate to Horikoshi deciding he wasn’t going to create a situation that would allow them to survive, which he could have TOTALLY done in a world like the one of BNHA.

The point was likely he was never going to save their lives, all he meant to save where their souls, which yes, to us westerns feel lame.

In Japan, when someone dies in a violent way including murder or suicide or dies leaving behind unfinished business or do not receive appropriate funeral rites upon their death, they believe his spirit remains trapped in the world of living and can’t move on and this is torture for said soul.

So the idea that their soul was soothed, that was put to rest, is really important and equates to salvation in a Japanese mind-setting… but, to us, it’s only a last smile before death.

In Tōya’s specific case there’s more than just this.

@class1akids reported how a Japanese fan commented that ‘Touya crawled out of the Buddhist altar only to be forced back into it.’

This is a very fitting description of the situation at hands.

Tōya is declared dead on Sekoto Peak but then, due to Garaki, he comes back like the Frankenstain Monster… or like a soul whose death wasn’t properly mourned. In fact he’s persuaded this is what happened. No one cared him died. He’s Dabi because he was cremated… without his family burying him with pain and suffering (see back the bit about his Villain name). Officially his family should have been on duty to mourn him so that his soul could slowly leave this mortal plane… which is done by talking to his soul that they should believe is enshrined in the Butsudan and bringing him offering. But he’s sure no one cared. If Tōya had really been dead, his soul would have crawled out of the Butsudan and turned into an angry, vengeful ghost… and in a way he does as Dabi is angry and vengeful and claims that Tōya is dead. So now… they’ve practically pushed him back in the Butsudan and are ‘mourning him properly’ by talking to him so that he could move on… aka die for good and then rest for good in the Butsudan and then, after more talking to him through the Butsudan, move on.

Sure, we’re giving the idea that this is what Tōya wanted because he wanted to be seen and wanted to talk more with his family but the framing is not of his family taking care of him, of his family talking to him as, apart from Shōto, no one makes questions and no one gets answer. Yes, Enji in a way talk to him as he and Tōya exchange some words but that’s more a summary of the situation at hands. Mind you, it’s supposed to be damn important because indirectly they’re telling him they were/are/will mourn him, but it’s not important in the way we would think a family conversation should be. The act is again a saving of the soul more than anything else. Since Tōya cries and apologizes to Shōto we can assume his rage (which is also what had been keeping him alive) is gone and that his soul is saved.

Sadly giving Tōya a reason to keep on living that wasn’t rage was never the point of all this, the idea is that the family is just trying to let him gently die… which mind you is not meant to be seen as cruelty from their part. They just accepted he has to die and are trying to make this painless.

It's not the sort of thing that works for a western like me but I guess the Japanese audience might apprecciate it more.

On the other side… it can be that Horikoshi is trying to represent the family merely attempting to help Tōya passing away.

Buddhist tradition suggests that death should occur in a calm and peaceful environment, with close friends and family in attendance. Together they should reflect on the good deeds the dying person has done throughout their life, in the hopes it will help them in their next reincarnation. Additionally, family and friends can perform good deeds on behalf of them, which they believe will be of merit to the deceased. So it can be that the Todoroki are keeping calm and will talk with Tōya SOLELY of the nice things he did in life, to help him pass peacefully, so that he’ll have a better reincarnation in his next life. In short there will be no confrontation at all about what Tōya did, which is also why Horikoshi might have felt it wasn’t of interest to show the conversation as it won’t be about the family getting closure but about the family helping Tōya to die in peace.

XX IS NATSUO REALLY GETTING MARRIED WITH HIS GIRLFRIEND?

What Natsuo says is:

Todoroki Natsuo ‘Kanojo to seki iretai, shiki wa agenai shōkai mo shinai.’ 轟夏雄「彼女と籍入れたい、式は挙げない紹介もしない」 Todoroki Natsuo “I want to enter in the family register with my girlfriend, but we won’t have a ceremony or introduce each other (families).” [Chap. 426]

What does it means to enter in a family register? And what exactly is one?

A koseki (戸籍) is a Japanese family registry. Japanese law requires all Japanese households (basically defined as married couples and their unmarried children) to make notifications of their vital records (such as births, adoptions, deaths, marriages and divorces) to their local authority, which compiles such records encompassing all Japanese citizens within their jurisdiction. Marriages, divorces by mutual consent, acknowledgements of paternity of non-marital children and adoptions (among others) become legally effective only when such events are recorded in the koseki. Births and deaths become legally effective as they happen, but such events must be filed by family members or other persons as allowed by law. Loss of Japanese or foreign nationalities have to be recorded in the koseki, too.

You can’t be on two Koseki at the same time.

So what Natsuo basically means is he leaves the Todoroki family and forms another family with his girlfriend. He might even chose to take her surname and leave the Todoroki surname back as the family name and given name of the “head of the koseki”, meaning the first person shown on the koseki is the family name that will be shared by all the members of the koseki. Japanese people can’t carry two surnames so if Natsuo’s girlfriend is chosen as the head of the koseki Natsuo will take her surname and leave the Todoroki surname. By the way, yes, Natsuo and his girlfriend being in the same Koseki also means they’re legally married and there’s no need for a ceremony to officialize this so yes, Natsuo is getting married. If you’re wondering about his age he’ll turn 20 in July so he’s marrying at around the same age as his father.

XX DID NATSUO REALLY NEVER MET ENJI AGAIN?

We don’t know. He said he didn’t want to meet him ever again, but he also for the first time in the manga called him father, implying he was being a cool dad so maybe Natsuo also start a parth of forgiveness like the rest of his family did… or not.

Todoroki Natsuo ‘…Hajimeteda yo otō-san no koto kakkoī tte omoeta no.’ 轟夏雄「…初めてだよお父さんの事かっこいいって思えたの。」 Todoroki Natsuo “...It was the first time I thought my dad was cool.” [Chap. 426]

Horikoshi left us free to decide.

XX SO OKAY, WE ARE AT THE END, WHAT IS TODOROKI ENJI’S ATONEMENT ARC?

I’ll start with his atonement arc to Tōya but first I’ll make a premise. There are things that Enji does that in Japan are a BIG DEAL. This doesn’t mean the same is true here in the west. For example, as far as my country goes, some are the bare minimum or don’t even count as atoning. I guess for each country is different. So let's go through it.

First, there’s the fact that he doesn't want to kill Tōya even though he's a criminal

Todoroki Enji ‘Ore wa ikinobite mo... ENDEAVOR wa shinda. Tairyō satsujinsha (read: musuko) to tatakaenai.’ 轟炎司「俺は生き延びても...エンデヴァーは死んだ。大量殺人者（むすこ）と戦えない。」 Todoroki Enji “Even if I survived... Endeavor is dead. I can't fight against a mass murderer (read: my son).” [Chap. 300]

“Death Note” as a similar situation in which Yagami Soichiro, chief of the police, has to deal with the idea his son, Light, might be a serial murderer. Although there’s no proof and he protests his son’s innocence as hard as he can, his thoughts are that his responsibility as a father and chief of the police are to murder his son and then himself. Quite a difference from Enji who says he can’t kill his son even though he’s a murderer, right? And the story established Enji didn’t hesitate at all killing the Nōmu and tried to off with all he could Shigaraki. In regard to Tōya though, he won’t even try to slap his wrist.

That's why Hawks doesn't want to send Enji, who's on an atonement path, to face Dabi, because Enji might end up in a situation in which he would have to kill his son and he would refuse... which is more or less what happens.

Second, Enji acknowledges that what Tōya said in his video is true, Tōya is his son and Enji did what he did. In such a situation many would lie. Dabi's video proves nothing. He is a Villain, they had a doctor in the team who could create Nomu, the paternity test could be fake, even if Dabi were to provide a sample of his blood or skin they could insist that's fake.

Society didn't want the truth, they don't want Enji to confess, they wanted him to reassure them, they even commented he should have lied because yes, that's what's done often.

Basically Enji put his honor on the chopping block. A public apology like the one he makes in front of the press is a BIG DEAL in Japan. It's much more serious than in western countries and he does it when he could have spared himself and say Dabi lied, but that would have meant to deny his son.

Third, it connects to the first in a way and I’ve already mentioned in this post. While Enji is unwilling to kill Tōya, he's willing to die with him. Remember, it's ‘shinjū’ (心中 “oneness of hearts”), a word used in common parlance to refer to any group suicide of two or more individuals bound by love who believe that they would be united again in heaven, or better, in the Buddhist Pure Land. By volunteering to die with him, Enji is basically agreeing to remain with him in their next reincarnation. For us it's crazy, it's Enji giving up on saving him. In Japan it can sounds like “I love you and I want to be with you”.

Forth, he'll apologize to Tōya. As said before apologizing is a BIG DEAL, especially since Enji is the family head and, although for us most of what he did is wrong, not only a family head normally doesn’t apologize to his family members (again, things are changing but you get the drift), but in Japan most of what he did is well within what he can do. Marrying a woman you don't love in a combined marriage to expect the child who'll be born from it will fulfill your ambitions and not really bothering to raise it because that's a mother job, well, things are changing in Japan but none of the above is a crime. In a not so distant past it was actually the norm. Yet Enji apologizes.

Fifth it's a bit in the first point and in the second but it'll drag on through all the story, Enji won't reject Tōya. He's the only one (except Fuyumi who however doesn't get to say much) who never calls him Dabi after the reveal, and he won't strike him out of the family register but will keep on considering him his son. Think at the Tobitas instead and at how they kick their son out. Don't think Hawks is cutting strings with his parents solely because they were abusive, the Tobitas show us how you should just cut strings with a criminal. Same as the Togas. You might see better examples in “Theseus no Fune”. Anyway families don't want to keep contact with a criminal. It's scary because they'll be mistreated if they are discovered to be related to him. And, in this vein, the fact Enji wants to go see him, that he'll keep on seeing him till the end instead than turning his back on him, is seen as important. It's seen as him being his father. He’s not forcing his presence on his son like some think, from a Japanese perspective he's instead not abandoning him like many others would. And since Tōya is dying, following Buddhist ideas he’ll help him passing away by making sure he’s in a calm and peaceful environment, with close friends and family in attendance reflecting together on the good deeds Tōya has done throughout his life, in the hopes it will help them in their next reincarnation, possibly also performing good deeds on his behalf.

So, in Japan all Enji does is important. Enji is doing something for Tōya as a father, something important many Japanese fathers wouln't do for their sons.

So now, what about the other family members?

For start they all get to see what he does for Tōya, who they all love. This matters, especially to Shōto who wanted to see him act as a father. It’s not with him, yes, but it could have been with him and it’s Enji acting as a father. It should matter.

There’s more.

Enji is willing to compromise. It’s something Fuyumi immediately point out. Normally the family head has all the power so he doesn’t have to compromise (again, things are changing). Enji, who previously refused to do so, now is willing to do it. From this starts a series of small and not so small acts he didn’t have to do but tries to do anyway to compromise and please his family. We’ll also learn each night he falls asleep thinking what he can do for his family.

While to us it seems of little importance, I guess the fact that Enji remembered about Rei’s favorite flowers, something she told him only once so long ago, and sent them to her and visited often but didn’t push for her to see him, mattered a lot to Rei. Maybe it was because she had basically sold herself to him so she didn’t expect kindness, she didn’t expect him to care for something so small she had told him once, remember and do something about it, maybe because she felt so guilty for what she had done to Shōto she’s willing to overlook what he had done to her and feels like this is forgivance for what she had done to her son, maybe there had been love between them at the start but then it was washed away, maybe due to what she was taught was the role of the wife she felt she had to but it mattered to her.

Enji goes to see one of the lessons of the training course for the provisional Hero license, and, at the end of it, Enji tries to approach Shōto in a manner that, I guess, is different from before. He reaches out, respects Shōto’s refusal for it, tells him he's proud even if Shōto mainly used his ice and not his fire and his start wasn’t stellar and Shōto is there because he failed his licence exam. There's no complaining but also no pressure on how he should have done this or that or that once Shōto gets his licence he should join his agency. This is likely him showing compromise, as Fuyumi said. Then Enji tells Shōto he wants to make Shōto’s proud, which, from my understanding, is not generally something Japanese fathers say. It's kids who've to make fathers proud and be grateful because the fathers gave them life, not the other way around.

Enji then tries to approach Shōto again because he wants to teach him flashfire fist as a father.

Enji not only invites Shōto to intern under him (which was a given as this has always been what Enji wanted) but also accepts to have as interns Midoriya and Bakugō because Shōto asked him to (Enji is the owner of his own agency, if he takes them he has to teach them and take responsibility for them, it’s not minor).

Shōto makes clear he will interns under Enji but not because he's his father but because he's the Number 1 so doesn't want to be handled like a son. Enji accepts.

Fuyumi asks him to bring Shōto, Midoriya and Bakugō at home to have a family dinner. He does so to please Fuyumi.

He apologizes to Natsuo and admits his mistakes. As said before this is big. Even though Natsuo keeps on rejecting him and saying he’ll never forgive him, he assures him Natsuo is caring too. He accepts Natsuo can’t forgive him and doesn’t pressure him to do so.

He buys a house for Rei, Fuyumi, Natsuo and Shōto to live him while he’ll remain in his old house. This is big, not so much for the house, but because basically he let them go when his wife and children should be tasked with taking care of him. While Fuyumi wanted all of them to live together, Rei wasn’t up yet to live with Enji but if she doesn’t have to, this would speed up her release from hospital and give her the chance to live with her children as she wanted. The same goes for Natsuo who feels he can’t stay at home when Enji is around but now would be able to do it. This would also allow Shōto to stay with his mother and siblings. What’s more, in front of Fuyumi, Enji doesn’t put the blame of this on Natsuo or Rei so it’s not any of them who’s denying Fuyumi’s wish. He presents it as his decision so the blame falls on him. Yes, Fuyumi might figure out the truth anyway but it’s the thought that matters, sometimes.

After Tōya’s reveal he admits in fornt of them how he feels heartbroken. While this might feel just self pity, through all his life he did his best to show strength and hide his weakness. In “Shool Briefs” he expressed his fear to look like a doting dad, something that he believed didn’t fit his Endeavor image. Now he’s openly showing his feelings to them. He’s letting them in and, at the same time, humbling himself admitting his weakness.

During the family discussion he admits again his wrongdoings and weaknesses and takes responsibility for the mess. Again, big deal.

Then we have the whole thing with Tōya and, after apologizing to Tōya, he apologizes again to all his family. Should I repeat big deal?

At the end of chap. 426 he accepts Natsuo will marry his girlfriend without introducing her to him (traditionally children should introduce their future spouse and ask for the parents’ approvation… though by now they can marry without it… but from what I get it’s kind of a BIG DEAL to marry without your parents’ approbation) and move out of the family register and won’t see him again… confirming he’ll respect Natsuo’s wish to not be around him.

Then, at the end of it all, even though Natsuo says it’s enough, Enji promises he’ll continue to atone for the rest of his life and also that he’ll do his darnest to protect his children from the consequences of what had happened. As he did in the past Natsuo reminds him this will be hell but Enji insists in his purpose. At this Natsuo admits that’s the first time he thought his father was cool.

Todoroki Natsuo ‘…………… Shōjiki sekinin wa hatashita to omou… batsu mo uketa to omou… mō ī nja ne ̄ no?'.’ 轟夏雄「……………正直責任は果たしたと思う…罰も受けたと思う…もういいんじゃねーの？」 Todoroki Natsuo “...Honestly, I think responsibilities have been fulfilled... I think punishment has also been received... Isn't it enough now?”

Todoroki Enji ‘Okashita tsumi no baishō to shazai o isshō o kakete tsudzukete iku. Mite inakute ī. Kodomo-tachi (read: omae-tachi) ni furikakaru hi no ko o dekiru kagiri ore ga uke tomeru. Iki nobita imi ga aru to sureba sore dake nanda.’ 轟炎司「犯した罪の賠償と謝罪を一生をかけて続けていく。見ていなくていい。子どもたち（おまえたち）に降りかかる火の粉をできる限り俺が受け止める。生き延びた意味があるとすればそれだけなんだ。」 Todoroki Enji “I will spend the rest of my life apologizing and making amends for the sins I've committed. You don't have to watch me. I'll take as much of the pain that falls on my children (read: you) as I can. If there's any meaning to my survival, that's that.”

Todoroki Natsuo ‘……… Jigoku da zo.’ 轟夏雄「………地獄だぞ。」 Todoroki Natsuo “...It'll be hell.”

Todoroki Enji ‘Ā, DANCE no sasoi o uketande na.’」 轟炎司「ああ、ダンスの誘いを受けたんでな。」 Todoroki Enji “Yeah, I was invited to dance.”

Todoroki Natsuo ‘…Hajimete dayo otō-san no koto kakkoī tte omoeta no.’ 轟夏雄「…初めてだよお父さんの事かっこいいって思えたの。」 Todoroki Natsuo “...It was the first time I thought my dad was cool.” [Chap. 426]

Enji’s atonement to his family is a work in progress from the moment he decides to do it until he’ll die. He makes mistakes through it, but he’s trying. Many things might seem small to us, but they aren’t to him and his family.

Are they enough? Since Natsuo, who insisted he would never forgive him, is impressed, I would say the story tells us that they mattered to his family.

The hell Enji will have to face is very concrete, he’s the father of a criminal, it wouldn’t be easy to protect his family from such association and have the blames converge solely on him. Maybe it wouldn’t even be possible. He’s willing to spend his life trying. It’s his family who gets to decide if it’s enough and Natsuo was willing to give him a break even before he were to say so.

Long story short… there is an atonement arc. Sure, it might not be the atonement arc that can fit for everyone. Enji himself admits he makes mistakes during it, he’s fumbling, at the starts he has no idea how to fix things especially because some things can’t be fixed.

I think the whole point is that in this too he puts and will keep on putting all his efforts. And while Natsuo’s words tell us he’s being cool, Natsuo doesn’t say he forgives him or that he changed his mind and wants to see him regularly now. The open ending leaves us free to decide if he did enough or not. We can give him the ‘you tried’ golden star or think he has done enough.

Personally I would have preferred it, if Horikoshi had fleshed it out more, I’m not saying he did too few or too much, just that I wanted to see more of what he did after that moment, especially since the whole hell that will be to try to protect his family was mostly glossed over by the manga in favor of showing how much support he (but also his family) will get instead by other people (his sidekicks, Kurumada, Hawks, Fuyumi’s ex student’s mother, Natsuo’s girlfriend, the whole U.A. high), so that people miss how bad they would have it. But we can’t always have what we want.

XX HOW OLD ARE THE TODOROKIS AT THE END OF THE MANGA?

The manga ends in the year in which Tōya, had he survived, would have turned 32, Fuyumi turns 32, Natsuo turns 28, Shōto turns 24, Enji turns 55. Since we should be in May though, only Shōto and Tōya would have had their birthday and be 24 and 32, Fuyumi instead is still 31, Natsuo 27 and Enji 54.

XX WHICH IS THE TODOROKI TIMELINE?

For a full timeline of the whole series I already have a post here which also deals with how I got those info.

[crescentdoesstuff]

Random doodle dump for an AU I made called "Bestial and Hominid toons", objectified and the four moons initiative inspired thing

(all of them are drawn by memory btw sorry if I got anything wrong)

Blood tw (but it's ichor??? Ichor blood???)

(idk how to draw a beartrap)

Some info cause I REALLY need to get it out of my head uahgshahahh,n,n

There are two basic groups of Toons: hominid Toons and bestial Toons (also known as "monster Toons"). Hominid Toons have more human-like features than animal-like ones, while bestial Toons have more animal-like features than hominid Toons. Hominid Toons have a lower chance of surviving outside of gardenview (in the wild, that is) without a supervisor than bestial Toons. Bestial Toons are associated with an animal; this shows how they will look in some features and behave like the associated animal in some way or another.

A bestial Toon can have two or more associated animals at once (a hybrid between the animals), they are called "hybrid bestial Toons." This phenomenon is more common than you think, as it often happens with crossbreeding.

Sometimes, their animal-like features are not visible after birth and will appear later in their lives, mostly when reaching young adulthood or later. Though this only happens in physical appearance, as mental features and some physical features like being warm-blooded or cold-blooded are already visible after birth, it doesn't need to wait for those features to show later in life. They are called "late-bestial Toons." Late-bestial Toons are hard to identify as bestial Toons before the animal-like features appear, which makes most late-bestial Toons confused about themselves and will most likely freak out once their animal-like features start showing.

In some rare cases, late-bestial Toons will have a mutation when growing their animal-like features, causing them to become half-hominid and half-bestial. Or a Toon is naturally born half-bestial, half-hominid. They are called "half-bestial toons."

(more of a headcanon but whatever) Toons' anatomy is too abnormal to be natural; they don't have organs but seem to function like they do; the only thing they have is bones, but not in the head. If the Toon's head is an object and they die, their head wouldn't rot away (well, their facial features will rot off their head) and stay as a husk, now functioning like a regular object.

Family trees exists *vine boom* Goob and scraps have more siblings, Finn has a lot of animals in his bloodline (Finn's a bestial toon btw), and most canon toons have parents.

Might make a family tree for Finn after this,,,, or ref sheets for the AU,,, what, what,,, huh

REBLOGS ARE APPRECIATED 🔥🔥

[fanganfessions]

i really like looking at the little detail sometimes and i noticed something from Monteago's FTE that sparked my interests.

in them it's revealed that the reason one of his dislikes is apologizing because of drama induced misinfo. this gives us two interesting bits of info- one; the likes/dislikes info is diegetic, and two; it can be wrong

in the canon games it's safe to say a large portion of the info on the reportcards are non diegetic- really only there for the player to get a better grasp on the character- as the cast never actually draw any direct attention to them. p;eg breaks this by having Damon actively use the info to help him navigate the FTE interactions, which is pretty neat but it gets interesting with Monteago's claims of the info being false.

we can't take the reportcards at face value here anymore like we could with the canon games; it's diegetic info that was dug up by Tozu, Mara, and anyone else who may be working behind the scenes, and as Monteago's unintentionally revelaed- they might not have been as thorough about fact checking it as we initally would assume. if they got so easily misinformed by drama on someone as open and well known as Monteago, it makes me wonder how accurate the others are- especially the ones who don't have the popularity for their info to just be laying around to find on a wiki

‎

[katyspersonal]

Hi there, I hope you don’t mind the random question but in your mind which fanbase would you say is worse, Elden Ring or Bloodborne in terms of annoying fans. I used to think Bloodborne fans could be bad but holy shit ER fans are something else when it comes to lore discussions. As someone who is pretty active in lore talk with both games do you find one side to be more exhausting to deal with than the other? Obviously feel free not to answer this if you think it might start drama

Honestly? I can't hate Bloodborne fandom enough.

Bloodborne was my first Fromsoft game and one keeping me hostage in terms of fixation for over three years, like I said! And yes, it has incredibly bad, toxic people in it - Maria fans who kept slandering Gehrman despite all the info against their takes, honestly believed there is anything problematic with Gehrmaria, had mental breakdown if anyone dared to see Maria as bi or straight despite her not having canon sexuality, believed that the whole story is either about man bad woman good OR was incredibly misogynist, no between. Close minded, toxic people who would deliberately bait anger and pain with placing their hate in the tags and then play victims when those hurt fans snapped back. Oh, I hate them, and revealing that Gehrman's "creepiness" and "misogyny" was completely and fully translation mistake, as well as pointing out how comes why nothing is wrong with how Doll is dressed with facts, is forever my most valid contribution to the fandom. More so than my ugly childlike fanart or convoluted theories could ever be. But, not THIS is why Bloodborne fandom is worse in my opinion.

Elden Ring fandom introduced not one but SEVERAL annoying and exhausting topics to deal with! I "affectionately" titled especially rabid Malenia and Miquella fans 'Twin Cultists' because this is exactly what their behavior is and have always been! Funny enough, a person who got mad at me for this one was someone who got alienated on Discord server for Miquella fans because owners started to insist that only their headcanons are valid AND admitted to me on feeling unsafe for not shipping Finlenia. I am dead serious! Malenia fans are strikingly similar to Maria pseudofeminist fans in toxicity, Miquella fans are like if you removed all likeable traits of Leda and replaced them with even MORE of undying vitriol for anyone who dares to interpret him as anything but perfect pure radiant sunshine. Mohg triggered a pretty awful discourse between those who insisted he was rapist molester whatever and if you interpret it differently you are insensitive and media-illiterate victimblamer and people who defended him "becoming the very thing they sworn to destroy" as well as also exhibiting cult-like thought control in their circles (they know who they are -_-).

But the DLC has changed things a bit, right? Some Twin Cultists are still spilling vitriol, except now they also claim that writers are bad, not only fans that disagree with them! Still, blessed, deserved vindication finally arrived! But what about others, whose situation never changed? Vitriol towards Godrick is ABSURD. You know how common fandoms L is that they judge and hate female character for something, but when male character did the exact same thing it is humored or justified? Godrick is this, minus the gender difference, yet everyone who points out his actual characteristics and the hypocrisy of his haters gets ridiculed. You thought that his fans would flock together to support each others? No, turns out that pocket are loosers who think people who don't headcanon him as trans are childish and ridiculous and loathe cishet Elden Ring fans in general. Fia and D are caught in the weird discourse loop where one is always simplified and idealized and another is demonized to Hell and beyond, when they both are strongly caught in religious brainwashing of sorts but also are sympathetic in their own right. Ranni's fans and haters both do not know the term of Machiavellian (aka "Ends justify the means" philosophy). She is the worst most evil character in the setting over what crimes she committed in order to protect the world from the problem of potentially anyone being able to grab the laws of nature itself and shape them according to their bigotries and preferences, OR she is a perfect innocent fighter against oppression and people who dislike her Just Hate Women TM. And of course we cannot forget the one above them all! The radiant, omnipresent, eternal!...

Marika truly brings out the worst of discussions! She has been before SOTE, but you YEARN for pre-SOTE times if you hate OR love her! Not because things changed, but because now discussion can't be avoided. She is THE Elden Ring character who is only ever demonized and idealized. Before SOTE, she was only ever just a tyrant who loves genocide OR simply a puppet of Greater Will (or rather Two Fingers claiming to speak for it as it turned out) who never meant to do that shit and finally heroically rebelled. After SOTE... hahaha, oh boy... we started to deal with the issue of excusing genocide. Her fans will claim into essays and more essays why Hornsent are all fundamentally dangerous race and Marika is merely trying to rid the world of filth that ruins it by sending Messmer. However, demonization didn't quite go away either, and her haters are so angry at writers humanizing her a bit more that they say WRITERS are pro-fascist!

So, why? I've described such horrid discourse, when Bloodborne fandom sounds like it simply has a few bad apples in comparison! What can be worse than Elden Ring fandom, after a description like this? Yeah, you see... Elden Ring fandom is thorn by awful arguments and discourse, it is hostile and dangerous for your mental health if you are invested into fandom beyond just "consuming content" and advertising your art for sale. Yet, it lives. It lives in the same sense as a land torn by earthquakes lives. It lives in the same sense a volcano that won't stop smoking lives. It lives in the same sense sea lives during the storm. But it LIVES.

Bloodborne fandom is a fucking Caelid.

If you question whether I'd be scared of "drama", I assume you are new here and don't know my epic lore. I am not afraid of anything because society made itself clear on what I am for it. In the most condenced way possible, one OF those toxic Maria fans didn't like me thinking for myself too much so they went out of their way to slander me for various -ists and -phobias. Their ableist friend that doesn't take racism seriously joined in. I was a victim of stalking, harassment, slander, witch-hunting and cult-like shunning for over a year, and so was every kind fool who treated me like a human - friend or mutual. I can NOT speak of Bloodborne fandom experience from personal standpoint because obviously it is not an objective experience (though someone who also got unfairly slandered by Maria fans too contacted me, so I question whether it IS a trend..?). Still, it isn't about me or my friends, we are an oddity. Bloodborne fandom for me was just a bunch of gullible, weak sheep who are okay with witch-hunt because letting just a few people get harassed is not worth souring their fandom experience. And I do not wish to turn back or even try to mend anything. I caught my stalker and exposed their crimes, I made everyone who believed they were innocent feel stupid and ashamed, it was all I wanted. I don't wish to "befriend" the fandom afterwards.

YEAH YEAH "THINGS ONCE BROKEN" WHATEVER

But I was still posting and drawing and playing and talking and writing, right? I was still present. So, I was at least observing what was going on. And what truly soured Bloodborne fandom was actually happening afterwards, what was not involving me or any friend or enemy I knew. The worst thing happened, worse for fandom than any amount of discourse. I call it "centralization", for lack of better term.

Bloodborne is a niche fandom, yet it had a sudden zoomers burst. And that led to dynamics of "fandom leaders", and stupid fucking Discord community that are akin to elite club in which if you are not invited you might as well not exist. It ALL became about stupid "web of mutuals" nonsense. It ALL became about some cool kids deciding what will be the ship or the take of the week/month, and soon you'd see NOTHING but this thing posted. Always through the exact same lense, too. Only to then be forgotten, because it was just a trend. Rom x Caryll comes to mind as a FAD of similar vibe. Micolaurence too.

I just hate this. The fandom stopped LIVING. I saw genuinely absurd things happen! Like someone drawing Mariadeline, one of the most popular ships in the fandom, yet they get completely ignored because they've failed to grab a beer at the bar with "leaders" of this ship who "hold" the distribution of that approval and love. Even worse; over a year ago, a very talented, fun, energetic and creative fan of Mensis Trio and Byrgenwerth squad showed up! They were SPAMMING art and writing, and all of that was good! So good that..... all of that barely got over 20 notes, maybe 30. Why? Because, again, you can't just post about blorbos and expect to be liked and approached. You have to get on the "good side" of "holders" of love for characters like Micolash, Laurence and Rom, or else they'll just side-eye you! But imagine this with literally everything else. I have been watching it happen all the time, to people that were not even targets for cult-like shunning by Alfred, Eugene or Anna for associating with me. You keep to yourself, you are shy, you are not on Discord with them, your headcanons are a bit different? Too bad, you may rot, because it is not about you! People look up to a few popular artists with shallow takes and so much creative liberties they might as well make OCs to know whether this or that person should be liked and reblogged, instead of JUST liking and reblogging them!

THIS is why Bloodborne fandom is Caelid. Not for toxicity, but because it is rotten. It used to be far less "organized" when I joined in. There were no trends to define fandomry for next few weeks decided on a party where ignored creators were not invited to. There was not hegemony of certain ships, designs and headcanons. There was no "web of mutuals" and pressure to either assert yourself by the good side or vanish. Everyone were doing their things and coexisting, nobody could determine who flourishes and who rots, diversity of headcanons and interpretations were celebrated. Oh, what's a matter? You really dislike that popular artist who infantilizes Marika and stripes her out of any agency over her actions? Well, so do like 500000 other people! Every popular take is ALSO popular to hate on in Elden Ring fandom! But if you dislike a popular take in Bloodborne then sucks to be you, because diversity of interpretations, opinions, preferences and takes just doesn't exist in it. Not anymore. Unless you "asserted" your novel idea to the "court" on some stupid Discord server and was "approved", of course.

Look. Elden Ring discourse annoys me to no end. I always get my headcanons and interpretations "corrected" in the worst condescending fashion. My friend posted a very well made lore post and got harped on because his take contradicted someone's idol's headcanons (with that idol approving of that harping) and I am still mad. I don't want to post my GEQ takes to be reminded that "aktualy" she is Melina. I dislike seeing claims of Miquella's nonexistent character assassination or Radahn hated just because some sexist Redditors were using him as a mascot. Nonetheless, deep down, I am THANKFUL. Because even really annoying debates end up being entertaining. Because people here TALK about things, REVISIT things, ARGUE about things, CARE about things, HAVE OPINIONS on things. They will annoy you in the comments or reblogs, but they SPEAK to you. No take is so popular that it defines all art and fanfics because every popular take is also popular to hate on. Things are disorganized. No fandom leaders, no elite club ignored blog wasn't invited to, no "web of mutuals" that should get sucked into a vacuum cleaner and never be seen again. Elden Ring fandom is a battlefield, but also free market minus the money.

To be honest, Bloodborne fandom was done for me when based people started to vanish. Fishbowlcarnage deactivated everywhere, Cuddlefish mysteriously disappeared and I worry whether they are even alive to this day, user Molluscock got bullied away... It felt like a bad omen, it happened before my drama, and I've never seen users like this before. Except I have been, but they all are now ignored because of this stupid high school dynamic taking over. Had Elden Ring hyperfixation not happened, I'd probably just end up blocking many Bloodborne accounts and never care for trying to make connections again, just post art and vanish to draw the next one. I did end up blocking some Bloodborne mutuals, after all. After it hit me, what was bothering me so much. Appreciate Elden Ring fandom and it's earthquakes, because shaking earth can't be bigger evil than stagnation. Bloodborne fandom no longer breathes, they are champions of not feeding the sparkles that were meant to become fire hoping they die down, and I hate every looser that benefits from that "system". In Elden Ring, ALL things flourish, whether graceful or malign.

[phighterss]

sorry if im flooding ur box 😓

but how would the cataclysm cast react if their partner was pregnant/if they had a kid togeather?

and how would their wedding be?

pregnancy isn’t canon in the phighting universe and i kind of have my own headcanon that like.. keeps the spawning elements but also adds more… understandable aspects

so like as background info: phighters are still genderless *can change their sex to whatever they want at will* and one of the parents will have to sacrifice their gear in order to have a child (sexual reproduction follows suite) and instead of one of them getting pregnant the kid develops in the spawn area b4 getting shipped to their doorstep like fuckign STORKS lmao (might change later idk take this with grain of salt)

anyway onto the actual ask:

scythe as a mom is kind of scary but funny at the same time like she has no idea how to interact with children nor has she ever considered having one with someone but now that she has she’s a lot more excitable and definitely loves it and WILL admit to it. she looks menacing to everyone else but is a huge softie with her kid she will spoil that brat beyond ur comprehension it’s cray-z she cannot for the life of her properly scold her kid you’ll have to be the one to do thst sorry

medkit is. somewhat suited for the job. he doesn’t want to do anything that harms the kid in. any way so he just kind of freaks out whenever the kid talks to him for some reason??? he just doesn’t want to say the wrong things and influence the kids life forever (he’s anxious about it since it’s so new to him and come on. the kids a little life biologically related to HIM and his beloved partner. it makes him overjoyed yet so terrified at the same time) after a while he gets way more used to being around his kid but is still very thoughtful before speaking to them. hess also to sweet for his own good. while he can scold his kid he will literally always fold during punishments like they usually like 1-2 days MAX. he can’t take seeing his kid upset. dishes out advice insanely well wants his kid to be 1. successful 2. happy 3. educated

broker… ruh oh he is NOT suited for this shit my brotha you gon have to do ALL the work it ain’t even funny. he’s kind of a deadbeat who’s always busy but he DOES make money so he definitely supports you guys lmao. while he isn’t too present in his kids life that doesn’t mean he doesn’t ADORE his kid like he will do anything for them. all the kid has to do is whip out the “puppy dog eyes” card and he’s folding like a lawn chair he like medkit in that sense… don’t let him give advice to ur kid he is a TERRIBLE influence be careful vro

[yukidragon]

Okay so I'm trying really hard to get into SWWSDJ but there's so much lore not e en in the games I feel very much in over my head lol. Can you like...give a rundown? Or at least point me in the direction of where to start? I wanna write fic about the clown man damn it lol

I understand what you mean. When you fist enter into a fandom it can be pretty daunting, especially if you don't get a lot of the references and information that the bulk of the fandom takes as common knowledge.

A lot of the information we have about the lore for SWWSDJ comes from the various demos and teasers. However, the lore is being updated as the game is in development, as evidenced by the differences in each of the demos. Things have changed since its initial demo release, and will likely continue to change until the full game is released. SWWSDJ is very much a work in progress.

The most obvious place to start of course is the latest demo. You can check out a public release of it on the SnaccPop Studios Patreon over here.

There's a release that came after this one with a bit more content, but you'll have to become a member if you want to see it for yourself. Personally I think it's worth it for all the goodies that are regularly released on the patreon. If you've signed up, I highly recommend checking it out.

After that, I think it's good to look at the official webpages for SWWSDJ, including the official tumblr over on @sunny-day-jack-official. The tumblr page answers quite a number of questions from the fans, as well as some teasers. They've even made a listing of most of the other official webpages in this post here.

Another page that teases some juicy lore is the official profiles over on Toyhouse. Want to know the canon heights of the love interests and their birthdays? This is the place to get that info.

The official twitter page has been a place to pick up bits of lore since the beginning. There's plenty of teasers, profiles, and it gives a good sense of how things have evolved during development.

There are some teasers that are floating around posted by the original creator and others working on the project, but the rule of thumb is to take these with a pinch of salt. They're very good to inspire ideas and lore crafting, but if it's not on an official page like the twitter, tumblr, patreon, etc. then it's technically not canon.

Speaking of technically not canon, if you're interested in seeing my deep dives into my theories about the lore, AU crafting, and just gushing about the series in general, feel free to check out my rambles. I've done a lot of thinking about this series, and my opinions keep evolving as new developments release. I've also done quite a lot of writing as well.

I hope this can be helpful to get you started, and that you enjoy your time in this fandom. If you have more specific questions, feel free to toss them into my inbox. I might take a while to answer, but I appreciate every ask sent my way. I look forward to seeing your stories, as well as the stories of everyone else in this lovely fandom.💖

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars @cheriihoney @illary-kore @okamiliqueur @kurokrisps