#Monoma thinks of the world as a story with characters and roles

[monoma-neito]

Just thinking about the parallels between Shigaraki and Bakugo both thinking of the world as a game, specifically a video game, and being shown to play out scenarios in their head in like a Street Fighter-style.

[that-spider-fan-over-there]

BNHA 429: It's not really a win when the only comfort is that Izuku/Ochako didn't became canon during a breakdown.

Honestly I think this is the most confused I've been with this story, so this might be the most openly critical I've been. (I've rewritten this five times already, so if it looks all over the place, I apologize).

"Joki Joki" being Tenko was debunked, which. You know what. Fair. Creating a character that looks like him only for be someone else with a tragic backstory five chapters before the finale? That's kinda cruel.

Harsh backstory for a small-role guy, by the way. A mutant Quirk (that we'll probably know only from supplemental material, if at all) his family didn't have, mouth sewn shut, locked in a basement for years, family leaves him and (probably) a Decay Wave was his only escape? And they say the world of BNHA isn't a harsh one /hj

I'm glad they didn't pull a Teen Wolf (iykyk). Ochako thinks Himiko is dead, Izuku's a shoulder to cry on. For... *counting* 4 pages of holding it in, 2 of actually talking about it, all of the 8 being about Izuku being nice but hypocritical (emotional suppression my dear beloathed Ch. 430 I fear you-).

Izuku says she's "his hero"- it's true, he thinks all his friends are his heroes. But we're shown 2/4 times (Blackwhip and the mob, but not Tenko cornering him in the mall, or their first meeting?) which made me realize he's the only named character/hero she "saved". The "who saves the heroes" thing? Not like she helped other heroes, that plot went to- oh.

Also, the whole "putting others before yourself", the only example listed that comes close to this is her giving some of her Entrance Exam points to him. The others are just her being nice to him, repressing her feelings, Blackwhip was the only other moment that kinda counted. The only "other person" she put before herself? Himiko.

I'll believe Himiko's dead when I see it; blood transfusions don't kill the donator. They take a minimum of 4hrs max. They sent Spinner and Touya to a hospital, but not Himiko, who was unconsicous, winging a transfusion out? Yeah, that's bullshit, "hope for a sequel" is becoming more and more of a plea.

I wish I could say I liked the breakdown, but all I think is "Ochako's a character development tool, with redundant, pointless arcs, and all she got is doomed yuri, trauma and reassuring words from a LI".

I didn't see Izuku crying at first; removing "Joki Joki's" 2 pages, the "talk" took 8/15 pages, I kept wondering when did he ever relied on "her strength", it's not like he trusted her enough to talk about his feelings, secrets or anything.

Class A interrupting was funny, I'm with Katsuki: Does Izuku still have embers (he does). I'm sorry to Ochako, I just didn't care anymore. I knew he didn't tell anyone else, lol (<- I'm shaking him into opening up-). But if he wasn't willing to open up about that I wonder what else doesn't Class A know. Does Inko know her son's dreams are over again or…?

Uh. One For All, crystalization of power from everyone's hopes, LFtR vestige scene, remaining embers looking a bit stronger, "Control Your Heart" is still a thing, "holding someone's hand makes me feel at peace", we have that talk with Katsuki, rule of narrative means if he opens up there's a chance this story can end on a hopeful note, Izuku fans here's how we can still win- (I'm inhaling hopium, I know)

I'm confused Hawks isn't getting ditching the Hero Billboards, just expanding it for "ordinary people". Isn't that continuing part of the problem? Part of why Dabi was created, why many heroes don't care about being a hero? I get it's to inspire others to be everyday heroes, but this if backfires in-universe...

Aoyama's farewell party with Eri singing was as sidelined as the 3Baka (… actually no, 3Baka is still more sidelined sob) and it hurts, but hey. Monoma got a statue before Katsuki, I just know if he isn't traumatized about his corpse he will brag. (I'm trying to find positives in this chapter)

The last pages. I know it's symbolic. Society extending a hand, Izuku "inspired" them to move. It's what Izuku was talking about in Ch. 1, "saving people is the coolest thing a hero can do". It's even from his poem inspiration "Called useless by all/Neither praised/Nor a bother/Such is the person/I wish to be".

But it doesn't come just from Izuku fighting giving up OFA, but from him still failing Tenko, who was doomed from the start, the LoV never knew who he was before "Tomura" (so. Spinner how's the book working out-). And no one else wants to, look at Ch. 427.

If it was still an ambiguous "AFO searched for Tenko", fine Ig, but since Ch. 419, it's half "No one helped Tenko except AFO" and half "Tenko never had a chance to live". I'm not saying them hating Tenko isn't justified. Look at what they have to rebuild. But ditching the "Tenko's whole life was planned" part, they still don't know the LoV came to be because they thought a child looked scary. Jeez, no one knows they were victims of ostracism, abuse, manipulation. Why they turned out the way they did.

And it ends on Izuku and Ochako smiling with the "future where heroes can relax" line. It's adorable, but they're still dealing with the guilt of Tenko and Himiko being gone. But I guess it's fine because they're smiling now? Because people are now doing something? So the reward from almost dying is: Bystander syndrome is chipping away?

*sigh* I guess the TL;DR for my opinions are:

Joki Joki isn't Tenko but damn if he isn't a woobie,

If I don't see the corpse Himiko isn't dead, I refuse,

Somehow Ochako's breakdown was more about Izuku, and we still didn't get introspection, just because it's comforting words doesn't mean they don't feel hollow,

It sounds like I hate her: I don't hate Ochako, I just hate the way she's written in "Tell, Don't Show" for Izuku, even my opinions about the breakdown are more about "dude what are you talking about" rather than it being about her and her alone, so I can't take her as seriously,

I think I just became Katsuki ATP: yeah yeah she's crying but what about Izuku and OFA- oh it's mostly fine.

The fun bits were relegated to two pages and small panels but I like to think Monoma goes to Katsuki's room to brag about the statue, Eri deserved to have a full page to sing

Hawks, I fail to see the point of switching Hero Billboards to "Everyday Ladybug" Billboards,

Bystander Syndrome is one thing, how are they gonna prevent another instance of the LoV if they don't know it was discrimination that started it all or that Tenko was a walking Greek Tragedy?

Izuku and Ochako's smiles give "Aw, it's adorable. Oh it's traumatized" vibes.

Yeah no, I'm not buying it. If Edgeshot can still live, why can't Himiko or Tenko? Why does Izuku still have embers, if we have one chapter left? What is the reasoning for "twisting fate", "saving and winning", "perfect victory with zero casualties", "I wanna save that little boy" if it ends on standard shonen ending?

Hell, OFA had dead people communicating with our protagonist and antagonist, and is connected to the deuteragonist, and you're telling me it doesn't mean something good can happen to Tenko?

... God now I just hope the next one isn't a timeskip, just Izuku and Katsuki holding hands, talking and being honest to each other (especially Izuku because oh boi I have seen some Writing Critics and I can't say I disagree) (maybe we'll confirmation on what actually happened to Himiko and Tenko, what about OFA, but that only depends on the page count of the next one).

Once again, sorry if it's all over the place, this chapter just. It wasn't great, in my (overthinking) opinion. I'm still unconvinced Himiko and Tenko are dead dead, until the last page of BNHA, we now have BKDK talking left, so let's see what the next one will bring. And I'm not rewritting all of this, I'm tired XD

So, yeah, that's my thoughts! Thank you for reading!

[yourlunarspice]

Hiiii! Hope you're doing well! 💫

For the writing asks...

2. Go to your AO3 “Works” page, to the sidebar with all the filters, and click the drop-down arrow for “Additional Tags.” What are your top 3-5 most used tags? Do you think they accurately represent your writing habits?

4. What detail in [Heaven and Earth Between Us] are you really proud of?

17. What highly specific AU do you want to read or write even though you might be the only person to appreciate it?

I'm doing great, thanks for asking, Kiya! I just had my one-year anniversary with my boyfriend, so I've been super happy since then! I hope you're doing well too!

I got a little carried away with my answers, so I'm putting them under a Read More 😅

2. Go to your AO3 “Works” page, to the sidebar with all the filters, and click the drop-down arrow for “Additional Tags.” What are your top 3-5 most used tags? Do you think they accurately represent your writing habits?

Tags Contain Spoilers (69)

Not Beta Read (23)

Kidnapping (21)

Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot (17)

Angry Bakugou Katsuki (13)

Lol, I think they mostly are accurate. The 'Not Beta Read' tag isn't applicable anymore, since I share pretty much everything with my beta reader. I'm a big fan of kidnapping in whumpy stories, especially if unconsciousness (knocked out, fainted, drugged, etc.) plays a role. It just tickles all the right parts in my brain. And whenever I write Bakugou, I try to keep him as in-character as possible (my beta reader has told me that I swear more and get angry more easily whenever I write anything substantial in Bakugou's perspective). I just try to get into the mindset of whatever perspective I'm writing for, because I've found the writing comes easier that way.

4. What detail in [Heaven and Earth Between Us] are you really proud of?

Spoilers ahead!

I'm really proud of that entire fic, to be honest! I spent a lot of time brainstorming all the different minutiae in this world, from the celestial rules (about each god's powers, limitations, etc.) to the names and their meanings and even to the playlist I made for it.

But I think the detail I'm most proud of would be each god's divine form. Toshihiro’Máni's divine form was inspired by these gifs (although I can't for the life of me remember where they're from). I tried to stay true to the human character's design as well as incorporated aspects from the gifs. The end result was:

His eyes began to glow silvery white as his skin darkened to an indigo blue, reminiscent of the night sky. Wings extended from his shoulder blades, his feathers every shade of purple, blue, and black anyone could dream of.

His hair grew until it created a halo around his head, waving slowly despite the lack of wind.

Crystals grew from his skin, reflecting the moonlight in all its glory.

I didn't have anything to reference for Katsu-Misæ's divine form, but I tried to imagine how a sun god would look, especially if he was very angry. I ended up liking his design least out of all the gods, but I still like it:

His skin darkened to a fiery orange as his eyes glowed blood-red. His teeth sharpened into fine points while his hair began to burn with an ethereal flame.

I imagined Dabi's divine form as super menacing, but I had fun with it. Basically, he was just a huge skeleton with blood-red hair and eyes glowing black, which I think anyone would be terrified of, lol

They both were engulfed in blue fire that felt so cold it burned. The man’s skin, white and purple alike, blackened before shedding, revealing pearly-white bone. His hair turned blood-red and his eyes darkened until they seemed to glow black.

Finally, we come to Kageki'xəyal (I've been pronouncing his name as kag-ehkee-SHEY-all, but that's probably wrong). I wanted to incorporate aspects of Monoma's Quirk, and debated between him being the god of shadows or god of reflections before finally settling on the former. My beta reader sent me a picture I used as the basis for his divine form. I am low-key in love with his design

The whites had darkened into an inky black, a stark contrast to his gray irises. His skin had darkened as well, settling into a slate gray, while his hair was shockingly white. His UA uniform had been replaced with a long, flowing robe made of pure shadow, fringed with dark purple and indigo. Gripped in his hand was a dark cane, the top of which was a reflective ball shielded by two black spikes.

I had a lot of fun with his new name, too. 'Kageki' comes from the Japanese elements for 'shadow' and 'hope', while 'Xəyal' literally means 'phantom', making his name Phantom Shadow, as a sort of callback to his hero name. He only has a cane bc I thought it'd look cool (and it's totally in-character for Monoma to want to twirl it around while he's acting super extra).

17. What highly specific AU do you want to read or write even though you might be the only person to appreciate it?

This is such a broad questionnnn! For the AUs I write, either they're mostly canon compliant (example 1, example 2, example 3) or they're wildly deviating from canon (example 1, example 2, example 3) ((Heaven falls into both categories)). As for reading, I'm always a sucker for Soulmate AUs, but it's so overdone. Another really specific AU idea I love is switched minds or personalities, especially if the affected parties try to keep it a secret from everyone.

Thanks again for the asks, Kiya! Sorry about the metric ton of information I just dumped on you 😅

From this ask game

[bbq-hawks-wings]

Just wanted to point out that I really loved Nagant and how her character gave the reader a bit more insight into the darker side of the HPSC. Yes, she was probably created to be fridged and used as a plot point, but ever character you write shouldn't be treated as a main character. Side characters exist for a reason. To move and motivate the character the story is centered around. In this case Deku, which I believe was done well.

I agree with your sentiment that not every character deserves to get main character treatment, but I would disagree that Nagant even did anything for Deku, let alone that it was done well.

I feel the need just to clarify one more time that I don't hold anything against Nagant as a character concept. I actually really want to love her place in the story because she does have the potential to add so much to the universe, it's just that there's no good way for her to do that the way she was presented and she feels wasted.

Once again I get really wordy, so the rest of the answer is under the cut.

Horikoshi has given plenty of supporting cast members their own time to shine in ways that actually progressed the story and motivated Deku. The major problem with Nagant's arc is that with the way it was presented to us - we're supposed to care about Nagant, not Deku.

Normally, this technique is Horikoshi's bread and butter. He has a way of tying in seemingly completely random "NPC's" into the narrative and making them and their personal story relevant to the overall world, even if it doesn't necessarily or immediately offer anything to the plot. He lets the immediate story take a short break so we can step into the shoes of his supporting cast members and let them offer their contribution to the situation in the way that only they can.

This treatment happened with Kirishima, Shouto, Toga, Twice, Shinsou, Aoyama, Inasa, and more to varying degrees. Even if we don't get to see a detailed flashback, these supporting characters can still hold great significance to the story in some way or other by showcasing their individual personalities and/or struggles - Monoma, Spinner, Tokoyami, Camie, Can't-Ya-See-Kun, etc.

It's by no means bad, and I honestly wish more media went this route because it doesn't pigeonhole the MC into the end-all-be-all of the story. The other characters matter, too, and sometimes the journey they may go through in relation to the main plot may initially come across as insignificant until that growth or quality of character spills over into it again which is a major payoff for what originally seemed like pure fluff. It also gives us the added bonus of opening up whole new storylines to ponder and explore that may have nothing to do with the MC.

Supporting characters who have drastically changed the course of the story by virtue of just being their own character in the background include Hawks, Ochako, Eraserhead, Dabi, Momo, etc. The story would not be the same without them making their own decisions and acting according to their own convictions.

The problem is that Lady Nagant just does not do this, or at least doesn't do so in nearly as a believable or compelling way as so many of the above examples. My mind wanders to Inasa and his role in the story.

Inasa doesn't really offer anything to directly support Deku at all. He serves as a support character predominantly for Shouto and eventually Bakugo. However, even just taking his first appearance in the license exam we get a more full and impactful arc than we did with Nagant because Inasa not only grows as a person but so does Todoroki in ways that continue to stick with both of them moving forward as well as the themes of the overall story, and that growth matters in the subsequent arcs they participate in later.

Deku never had much of a concrete goal in the solo arc besides not getting caught by AFO, honing OFA, and supposedly learning more about how villains think. That would be all well and good if we could see Deku learning more about how to save villains from Nagant. There's some problems, though.

Nagant lapses into a brief stint of villainy, but the way it's presented, she never "left her hero heart behind" (since the reason she's a "villain" to begin with is because she wanted to stop killing innocent people - very villainous, indeed) which is a far cry from the situation of someone like Shigaraki who we'd already established as our endgame villain to save. If she's a stepping stone for Deku to eventually save him, we really should see more examples of Deku learning from harder and harder to reach villains. We went from Muscular who just said, "I like violence." to Nagant whose answer is, "I'm really bitter because the government locked me up for being so fed up with killing innocent people I killed the HPSC President."

She's saved within the course of one high-speed fight. Gentle Criminal was, too; but even if nothing else he also experienced growth in that fight. Gentle's struggles with villainy also supposedly stuck with Deku to motivate him to learn about villains in the first place. Though we have yet to see if Deku will bring up Nagant again, he doesn't even so much as reflect on her situation after their fight as soon as he hears about AFO in the mansion.

When she is saved, all of what we learned about her and the HPSC and her concerns about making another one are all dropped at the mention of AFO hiding in a mansion. Any other significance she might have just beyond motivating Deku is completely moot, making her effectively useless for the rest of the story beyond being potential extra muscle for the final boss fight.

After this, we never hear about Deku's desire to save villains ever again before the end of the solo arc (Deku comes home to UA). I don't even think we've heard about it again, yet.

Remember, the whole point of this narrative technique is that by learning about Nagant and caring about her character Deku, as the audience's predominant POV character, takes what he learned about her to improve himself and move the story forward; but while the motions are there, the substance of it is not. We just don't see Deku truly struggle or grow past this bump in the road and it's never brought up again.

The mansion goes nowhere. The "learning about villains" thing doesn't go anywhere. The HPSC thing goes nowhere. Lady Nagant doesn't offer Deku anything; or at least she supposedly does, but the narrative pulls the carrot just out of reach again until we can finally get to the Deku Come Home arc which is when we finally start to see the story move again.

TL;DR, if Deku never met Nagant, would he be lacking a key piece of motivation or development that he otherwise wouldn't have? I find the answer to be no. If you cut out her arc completely and needed to skip from the end of the war arc to Deku Come Home, all you really need to add is just AFO teasing him any other way to mess with his head - which, I need to reiterate is the exact reason he sent Nagant in particular after Deku to begin with.

She just got fridged, and that's bad writing, period. I really wanted her character to matter, and Horikoshi has done that kind of thing before with his background characters like that Inasa, Shinsou, Fatgum, Gentle Criminal, and Aoyama just off the top of my head; but that doesn't happen in this instance. Heck, even Ojiro and Sero end up having so much more actual significance to Deku's development in the form of background training and helping bring him back to UA to rest.

So, I guess to wrap up, I do fully agree with you that not every character needs MC treatment to matter. I just think she didn't even get good background character treatment even by Horikoshi's typical standards and he's found ways to make them truly matter before, so even while I love the concept of her character and her story I'm put out by how poorly she was treated in the narrative when we have so many examples of "even less important background characters" being better utilized than she was.

[stillness-in-green]

I saw speculation on this going around & I’m curious to get your thoughts on it: where do you think Geten’s story might be going in the future, & do u think it’s possible Dabi will kill him? I saw ppl talking about Dabi’s noted distaste for him & how the PLF seems more of a temporary alliance in the LoV’s mind (Compress’ noted rejection of the name in his thoughts, Dabi’s use of Skeptic against his will, etc), & w/ AFO back in the picture they theorized Dabi may get his quirk & kill Geten.

Okay, so, it took me a while to grapple with this one, and in the end, I'm going to have to break my reply up into two parts. Because you asked a very simple question, anon, and my answer to the question you actually asked is pretty simple (if characteristically rambly)! But you also provided a bunch of contextualizing information about what prompted your ask, and I have a lot to say about that contextualizing information, stuff that is only tangentially related to your actual question.

Note that some of this is going to get pretty salty, but I assume you wouldn't have brought a Known MLA Stan a question like this if you didn't want at least a bit of that. Most of the salt will be in the second part, though! This first part is pretty safe!

So, to answer the actual question: I don't have a lot of solid thoughts on where Geten's story is going, because from the looks of the way the series as a whole is going, it may well be that the MLA’s story is already done. I have previously expressed concerns about the current status of the MLA mainly because of all the speculation that Horikoshi is trying to rush to get to the ending, and if Hori’s rushing the ending, I don’t know that I’d bet on Geten coming back at all. In fact, given what I can guess about the scenario, I’d kind of rather he not.

The thing is, the MLA have always been far more relevant to the League than they have been to anyone else in the cast. They’re Tomura's victory spoils; their plot beats were established to connect to the League, not the heroes, the students, or even All For One. There’s just no personal connection there, and lacking a personal connection, all they’d do is be fodder for background fights to fill page space and give the side characters something to do.

And there’s just no drama in that! Not even any tension! We've already seen the MLA characters beaten--first by the villains, and then by the heroes. Hell, we've seen Re-Destro beaten three times!(1) Based on how the raid went, there are maybe three people in the entire MLA that present a credible threat--Hose Face, whose name we don’t even know, Re-Destro, who has a repeatedly-illustrated weak point in the form of his new legs, and Geten.

While I definitely think Geten could give any of the students save Deku a run for their money,(2) what would be the point? Who would he be slotted in to have a dramatic fight with? Geten hurt Cementoss, but he didn't kill him, and none of the students are uniquely close to Cementoss anyway. Geten has never personally offended or harmed any of the kids directly. There was a time people theorized that Shouto's end game boss would be a combination of Geten and Dabi, but with the PLF scattered, that looks less likely.

From the other side of things, Geten himself has no particular beef with the kids. If he'd been on the front lines to witness the opening moments of the battle, maybe he'd have a bone to pick with Kaminari, Kinoko, Juzo, and particularly Tokoyami, but it took Geten a bit to get to the front; he has no particular way of knowing about those four, and at the moment, he certainly has more pressing matters on his mind.

Geten's primary interest, when it comes right down to it, is Re-Destro. He talks a big game about the MLA's goals, but when the pivotal moment comes in Deika, he bails on the battle that was assigned to him to try and help RD instead. He claims that pure strength is to be valued above all else, but his loyalties don’t change when Gigantomachia bats him aside like a fly or when Shigaraki proves himself to be An Strongest. Even up to Jakku, Geten is still concerned solely with Re-Destro. With no real reason to pit RD against the kids, there’s no reason to throw Geten against them, either.

The only person Geten has an established rivalry with is, of course, Dabi, but getting the two of them even in the same vicinity again is going to require breaking the MLA leaders out of jail, which clearly isn't a priority of AFO's, and he's the one running the show right now. Would Shigaraki bother? He might, particularly if RD, Trumpet and Geten all get shipped to whatever Tartarus Lite Mr. Compress and Machia are likewise bound for. But if the story is headed to its conclusion, is Shigaraki ever going to get that option?

Is AFO the final boss? If so, it doesn't seem to leave much of an opening for the MLA to become relevant again, because, again, the MLA are all about Tomura's victory, Tomura’s ascendant arc as a villain, his status as a hero to other villains (namely RD). If Deku "saving" Shigaraki from All For One is going to magically resolve all of Tomura's issues with society as a whole, because hey, at least this kid is a good person, so his society can't be so bad after all! (GAG), that doesn't seem to leave much room to get into the myriad issues with society that all of Tomura's followers have. Frankly, the only thing the MLA has to offer Deku right now that's remotely relevant to his current goals is Re-Destro's starry-eyed explanation about why he's fallen so hard for Shigaraki, and Spinner is better suited for that role on basically every level.

So that’s all been one big if. The other alternative is the ending I'm hoping we get, in which Deku and Shigaraki join forces to put an end to AFO, only for Shigaraki to thank Deku cordially and then get right back to destroying things because, surprise surprise, Midoriya Izuku being a good person doesn't absolve Hero Society of all of its many, many sins. Then I can see there being room for the MLA to return. At that point, not only is there RD’s devotion to Shigaraki on offer, but also the MLA’s ideology of Liberation, what it is, what it offers, along with, for example, more on whatever Harima Oji’s complaints were about heroes, more on what has to change systemically to satisfy Shigaraki’s grudge. That’s a story the MLA can meaningfully contribute to, and therefore a story in which Geten and his quirk supremacist beliefs are more likely to be addressed.

However, I’m not optimistic that we’re going to get that ending, and until we find out whether Shigaraki will be satisfied with being rescued from AFO (if, indeed, he survives the process at all), or whether he and his compatriots’ societal issues will be left by the wayside, I’m not yet prepared to spend a lot of time theorizing on how the MLA’s role in it would look.

As to the specific question of Dabi killing Geten--honestly? I think that moment is past. While I said earlier that Dabi is Geten’s only established rivalry, that is frankly being more generous than their relationship actually warrants. After all, we haven’t seen them interact since Deika, and literally the only time one of them has so much as thought of the other in that period was Dabi grumbling, “That icy punk sure knows how to let loose,” after Geten’s big wall of ice attack allows Tokoyami to get away with Hawks. If their continued animosity were going to be a plot point, and especially if Dabi were going to murder him in cold blood eventually, Horikoshi should have shown us the two of them antagonizing each other as co-lieutenants of the Violet Regiment.

At this point, Dabi has made his big play, revealed his identity to the world. I think he's pretty locked into the Todoroki Drama now; he has bigger concerns than going back and winning a grudge match against Geten. Also too, given the point he's trying to prove about the strength of his/Endeavor's flames, would he even want Geten's quirk? If he were to get it, would he get the "evolved" version or just the basic one?(3) Because given the precedent set by both the mechanics of Monoma's Copy and AFO's comments about Jeanist's Fiber Master, I'd be inclined to think the latter, and Geten's ice powers are way less badass without the temperature control, especially for a dude trying to wield them in concert with flames of the temperature Dabi uses.

From a narrative standpoint, Geten has already been punished for his hubris with a personal defeat, the humbling of his leader, a loss of pride in his organization, and then a second, much more damning defeat and subsequent capture at the hands of heroes. Dabi taking his quirk and killing him at this point would just be kicking--indeed, killing--him when he’s already down. It doesn’t feel like karma; it just feels malicious.

That said, in the rather dubiously scaffolded scenario that the MLA gets free and finds their way back to the League and AFO/Shigaraki takes Geten's quirk(4) and Dabi accepts it, would Dabi then kill Geten with it?

…I mean, maybe? Do people think that Dabi is that much of a sadist? Because it would be the act of a sadist, to murder a kid who's almost certainly younger than he is and might even still be a teenager, one who has just been violently stripped of any ability to defend himself, all out of a desire for petty revenge over a months-old slight--a slight consisting of Geten parroting rhetoric he learned from the weird cult he grew up in, and which Dabi has very possibly been working with Skeptic long enough to know is maybe not all that accurate a characterization of the cult's ideals anyway!

And that brings me to Part 2. ---------------------------------------

(1) Four, if you count the clone’s destruction.

(2) Even 1-A's two remaining powerhouses don't present any more of a threat to Geten's ice than Dabi did, and Shouto will only give him more of it to work with. Their advantage over Dabi is that they can both sort of fly, which might well tip the balance--one of Geten's major advantages is his ability to manipulate ice from a considerable distance away, farther away than Dabi's flames can reach, but flying opponents deprive him of that advantage. Now, Shouto's flying is fairly unstable, so I suspect Geten is more maneuverable in the air, but his maneuverability wouldn't save him from Bakugou, the human equivalent of the anger-powered jetpack.

(3) Set aside the Doylist explanations about anyone who stole Geten's quirk getting the version the audience already knows purely out of laziness, forgetfulness, or authorial fiat.

(4) And look me dead in the eye and tell me Geten would just let Shigaraki Tomura or anything currently inhabiting his body just casually stroll up and lay hands on him without protest. Not to say I think AFOmura couldn't do it, but doing it in a "cool," dramatic way would probably involve some lightning movements we have not seen him make thus far.

[vs-redemption]

who are your favorite top ten my hero academia characters & ships? talk about them! ~tat!

From Cindy: Hello again Tat! Sorry, I’m a little late with posting this. Thank you for being patient. Now I’m wondering about your top ten characters and ships from my hero and black clover now. 

Again, I’m not a huge shipper so I just wrote a few that stand out to me. If anyone wants to know my thoughts or feelings on a specific ship, feel free to ask. I’m pretty much cool with anything as long as it’s legal.

Top 10 BNHA Characters

Shoto Todoroki

Todoroki will always be my precious sweetness. I really don’t think there’s anything I dislike about him. He tried to be a grumpy bean in the beginning but that didn’t last long. I admire him for wanting to be a hero even despite his tragic/horrible upbringing. I mentioned this in a different post, but I’ve really enjoyed watching him develop a sense of self and come to the realization that it is okay to open up and rely on friends. He’s willing to learn and change and grow and that’s amazing. He’s come so far in his relationship with his classmates, and his relationship with his father. I’m very proud of him! Of course, I also love the way he takes everything too literally.

Katsuki Bakugo

Another character I could write an entire essay about. Basically though, I love Bakugo’s raw passion and determination. We all know his personality is a little rough around the edges, causing people to compare him to a villain or question his goal of becoming the best hero. And unlike Midoriya, Bakugo doesn’t have the overwhelming support of family, friends, and even All Might. Despite all that, he never wavers. He continues to run full speed ahead and I admire both his independence and confidence so much. His growth as a character has been incredible too. He’s become more aware of his own shortcomings and the reasons behind them and has tried to improve upon those shortcomings without any prompting from other characters. I also love that he follows the rules and is more responsible than most of the other kids in class 1A. Plus, he can cook!

Tokoyami Fumikage

Underrated badass bird boy. The story focuses heavily on Midoriya, Todoroki, and Bakugo, but I think people forget that Tokoyami got third place in the sports festival. Without him, Midoriya wouldn’t have even made it to the individual fights that day. I love his admiration of his classmates. It was so cute that he hyped up Denki, recalling the way they’d bonded during the culture festival. Even just the whole thing where he figured out Hawks was in danger and escaped Fat Gum’s fat to go rescue him shows how smart and strong he is. He’s best boy.

Hawks

I know Hawks is a very controversial character, but I’m on the side of supporting him (sorry). When you think of his position when he was first introduced, he was a young, attractive hero in the number two spot with the second highest popularity rating. When he accepts the mission to go undercover with the villains, he agrees to not only put his life in danger, but also give up his reputation and trust with the public. Plus, his dedication to keeping people safe and alive is probably stronger than any other hero. The Hero Commission straight up tells him he’ll have to sit back and do nothing while innocent people get hurt, but he still refuses to let that happen by saving all those people with his feathers during the High-End nomu fight. Plus, he was able to find a way around killing Best Jeanist, and tried everything he could to avoid killing Twice. If you hate him for the things he’s done… I’m pretty sure Hawks is going to hate himself more than anyone else ever could.

Present Mic

Sometimes I forget that Present Mic has a radio show on top of his other duties as a teacher and pro hero. Does this man sleep? His work ethic must be insane. I think I really started getting into Present Mic when Todoroki and Bakugo were doing the makeup license exam. He really could not sit there and watch without providing some commentary. It was cool to see him use his quirk in a real fight during the recent arc. I wouldn’t mind seeing him doing more hero stuff in the future.

Neito Monoma

His chaotic energy brings me mass amounts of joy. Not only that, how could I possibly dislike someone who is so proud and supportive of his own classmates? Does he do it in an obnoxious way? Absolutely. But I can’t fault him for bragging about and advocating for his classmates when he knows they deserve more recognition. Also, can we talk about how amazing it is that he got into a UA hero course at all with his particular quirk? Monoma is a badass and I wish more people agreed with me about that.

Best Jeanist

Best Jeanist is my favorite pro hero. This guy really saw how savage and out of control Bakugo was and said “I really do not want him at my agency but someone has to do something about this…” Also, even when he was face to face with someone like All For One, he didn’t let the fear overtake him and decided to leave himself completely open to the full force of the attack in order to save the lives of all the other heroes around him. I have mad respect for him for having that level of bravery and resolve. Even in the most recent chapters, he shows up after so many heroes struggled and single handedly restrained Machia and the entire league of villains. So cool.

Momo Yaoyorozu

I don’t hype Momo up enough but when I think about all the things she’s done up until now I get really excited about her. I know her confidence took a huge hit after losing to Tokoyami in the sports festival, but she’s come a long way since then. I liked seeing her get the acknowledgement of Todoroki during the final exam against Aizawa. She also had a lot of badass moments in the provisional license exam against that tea drinking girl. I also really liked how much her teammates relied on her during the joint training, and her whole little rivalry thing with Kendo. I felt so bad for her in the current arc too when Midnight put so much pressure on her with the decision to either fight Machia or flee.

Shota Aizawa

Aizawa is another character that I should seriously talk about more. It’s no wonder he looks so exhausted all the time because he spends every second of his life looking after and caring for everyone with every fiber of his being. He doesn’t show it on the outside really, but he makes it clear through his actions. I like that Aizawa is one of the only people to really understand Bakugo too. He was so fast to defend him during the Sports Festival and publically criticized anyone who questioned Bakugo’s resolve to become a hero after he got kidnapped by the villains. The more you learn about Aizawa, the more you realize how amazing he is. Even the tiniest things, like finding out he re-enrolled the students he expelled to teach them the meaning of “loss” so they wouldn’t hesitate or fear it when they encountered it in the real world. I mean, I could list a million examples of why he’s amazing, including Shinso, Eri, and the whole war arc in general. Gosh, he’s incredible!

Eijiro Kirishima

Kirishima is another precious boy. I have a little bit of a bias because he has the same birthday as me, but there are plenty of reasons to love him beyond that. I think I saw him described before as the one to bridge the gap between the other students in class 1A, and I think that’s pretty accurate. He gets along with everyone and has such a positive and encouraging personality. I was honestly kind of surprised to learn that he had so many insecurities and self-doubt. I remember losing my mind over his “unbreakable” form, and I loved that he got to ‘redeem’ himself in the current arc by jumping in and saving Mina when he’d failed to have the courage to do so in the past before he went to UA.

 Top 10 6 BNHA Ships/BroTPs

Todoroki x Midoriya

I totally understand why people ship this. Midoriya played a huge role in helping Todoroki move past some of his mental obstacles that kept him from being as powerful as he could be so of course it’s not too farfetched to think he could develop deeper feelings.

Todoroki x Bakugo (brotp)

I really did not understand why people shipped this for the longest time. But after the makeup provisional license exam and internship with Endeavor I can at least appreciate them as friends. Bakugo is still so aggressive and offensive and Todoroki is standing there like “look at my best friend, I love him.”

Todoroki x Momo

I know they don’t interact as much but I do like Momo’s admiration and respect for Todoroki, and I do like the way Todoroki become more aware of her and showed concern for her self-confidence during the joint training arc.

Midoriya x Uraraka

It doesn’t really seem to be going anywhere anymore, but I do think it’s cute that Uraraka gets inspired by Midoriya’s drive to be a better hero and that she uses him to inspire her to reach for her goals. They both had the cute “getting flustered around each other” thing going on and that’s fun.

Bakugo x Uraraka

I think this ship gets a lot of criticism, right? I don’t understand why though. Sure, it’s never going to be canon but I liked that Bakugo saw Uraraka as a worthy opponent during the sports festival. Uraraka is a (not so) secret badass. I love that she did her internship with gunhead and learned all sorts of martial arts. She’s bubbly and cute, which is a nice contrast to Bakugo. But she’s also strong and determined which I think he can respect.

Denki x Jiro

This is like… really adorable. Denki praising Jiro when she was all insecure about her music was so cute. And the way they were thinking of each other and rooting for each other during the war arc. I can definitely get onboard!

[autumn-foxfire]

Like i do understand why some people would stick by villains so much and see themselves in them. I really do. Like when you’ve been bullied and victimized by society you naturally lean towards relating to people who have also been there. And I understand that cuz I myself was bullied and ostracized horribly through my childhood so much that it left scars on my psyche from which I’m still recovering (1)

and from which I’ll probably keep recovering for the rest of my life because they occurred in such an important developmental stage for me. So I get what it’s like to be angry, I get what its like to want to burn down the world and hurt all the people that hurt you. I understand how it can feel to be completely alone. I can understand being that child who sees the world as its enemy and wanting to tear it all to shreds and rebuild it the way it would be more comfortable for you (2)

But at some point, you have to stop being that child. At some point you have to grow up. At some point you have to come to peace with what happened to you. And at some point you have to make a choice. Do I want to burn the world down or do I want to help it flourish? Do I want to use my anger and the injustice of what happened to me to hurt people? Or do I want to make sure I make a positive impact on the world so others don’t have to be in my position? (3)

The villains chose the first. They are angry and they are lashing out and they are hurting the world that hurt them. Plenty of heroes chose second. Izuku, Shinsou, Aizawa, Monoma, Hawks, they all looked at the world that hurt them, that made them feel like they don’t belong and they decided to work hard and make it better. And its so easy to lash out and hurt. It’s so hard to decide to work hard and fix what is broken. (4)

So I understand. I understand the anger and the outrage. But I will always favor the stories about someone who was hurt and who then grew to help people more than of someone who was hurt and decided that all must burn. That is simply to path of healing I personally chose and that is the story I like to hear. Destroying everything may be more cathartic but I think that choosing to help others is simply more rewarding and satisfying in the long term (5)

I’m sorry to hear you were bullied anon, it’s such a horrible thing to go through and it really does effect you growing up. I hope you’re in a better place now and have found people who genuinely love and respect you for who you are.

Characters that use there pain as inspiration to be good will probably always appeal to me more then characters who don’t. Probably because that’s what I’m doing right now, I’m studying law so no one has to go through what my family did when my brother died and we couldn’t hold the people who played a role in his death responsible.

Also, it’s a known fact that venting your anger with agression isn’t actually a healthy release of your anger, it’s been known to make you feel even worse. What the villains are currently doing in the manga, or well Shigaraki and Dabi at least, is ultimately going to end with them feeling lost and even more angry rather then satisfied because it’s really not a healthy way to deal with your emotions.

I think many people also think that letting go is forgetting your anger and forgiving the person who hurt you but it’s really not that at all, it’s moving on for the sake of your own health and wellbeing. I hope we’ll eventually see at least one villain get the chance to do so, so not all villains end up with a sad end.

[makeste]

why Kaminari Denki is not the U.A. traitor (and why the traitor is actually Hagakure)

thank you, anon! okay first off, my opinion of the Kaminari Traitor Theory is: nah, he ain’t. but as requested, I will break this down and refute the various arguments point by point.

this is a big compilation of various “Kaminari is the traitor” posts from 4chan (general warning btw for 4chan being 4chan), which I got from this reddit thread. some of these are clearly shitposts, but on the whole it seems fairly comprehensive, so I’m gonna use this as my primary source for theory arguments. if there are any major arguments for this theory that I missed please let me know.

also! a huge part of the reason why I don’t subscribe to this theory is that I am 1000% sure that Hagakure is the actual traitor. so the second half of this post will consist of a detailed explanation as to why I’m all-in on that theory to the point of dismissing any and all other theories. I feel like that’s worth clarifying a bit more.

so! here goes.

“his proto design is that of a villain”

lol I’m trying to think of how to put this diplomatically. this is something I see a lot, people using Horikoshi’s prototype sketches and notes as evidence for various theories. the thing is, this is shaky ground at best. there’s a reason why these are proto designs and not the final product. Deku’s proto design had emo kid hair, and proto!Katsuki was an obnoxious prep school kid lol. plans change, and thank fucking god for that tbh.

but that aside, “he looks like a villain” is not in any way a solid argument to begin with. Horikoshi has made a point in the actual story of showing that people’s preconceived notions of what heroes and villains “should” look and behave like doesn’t always line up with reality. and in this case we’re not even basing it on behavior, but solely on how he looks, which is really kind of discriminatory. by that logic, one could look at, say, Shouji, and be all, “well he’s clearly the traitor.” just because someone looks scary at first glance doesn’t mean they actually are. all in all, I don’t buy it.

“Kaminari is the only one who could have told the villains where the camping trip was being held since he’s pretty much a walking GPS”

I present to you a panel from chapter 83:

literally any one of the students could have used their phone’s GPS to pinpoint their location and send it to the villains. they weren’t on any kind of communications lockdown, and even if they were, there was no practical way to enforce it. so this argument doesn’t really hold water for me. even if Kami’s quirk did work that way, which we don’t really have evidence of aside from one weird line in the USJ arc that has never since been expanded on, that doesn’t really work as evidence of him being the traitor when there are 39 other kids who could have done the exact same thing without a quirk.

“his dumbness is fake”

this is honestly the one aspect of this theory that I least understand. the thing is, this isn’t a theory. this is a what-if. it’s as if it occurred to someone one day, “lol what if he was just faking” and then this entire elaborate conspiracy headcanon was built up around that and eventually evolved into what we have today. this just doesn’t make sense to me at all. is there any evidence of him actually faking it? I feel like people just went “omg that would be such a cool twist” and then started arguing why it could be canon.

anyways I personally think Kaminari is 100% certified organic dumbass, and frankly I love him for that. where is the respect for the dumbasses of the world. Kaminari is still a great character even if he’s not secretly a JUST AS PLANNED double agent. you don’t need to make him evil for him to be interesting.

“look at his sneering face here, though”

okay yeah but hear me out: he’s a little shithead, lol. I mean, do you also think Bakugou is the traitor or.

“I edited this picture to make him look more evil, look”

okay??? lol, what. I think we can just move right along from this one.

“he didn’t bother with a costume, this must mean he doesn’t need help controlling his ability”

this I don’t get at all. a lot of the kids went into hero school not having a clear idea of what kind of costume features would best suit their quirks. that’s only natural; they’re still inexperienced. it is in no way any kind of indicator of any deception on their part. Kaminari is extremely powerful, but until recently he hasn’t had the guidance he needed to help him figure out how to harness that power better. and seeing as he has now made several modifications to his costume since starting at U.A., this argument is out of date.

“it’s scary how much traitor kaminari would make sense”

a lot of these really are just shitposts, huh? maybe I should have picked a better source. but just, like. what even is the logic here? “if he’s actually not stupid THEN HE MUST BE EVIL”? I really am trying to give this theory a fair shake you guys, even though it probably doesn’t seem that way. but this is just leap after leap. I keep thinking that I must have missed something crucial but as far as I can tell this is it.

“Monoma’s gonna copy his quirk and figure it out”

I do want to see Monoma copy his quirk, but only because seeing him go all “wheeeey” would be absolutely amazing tbh.

“reminder that kaminari thought stain was cool”

this one is actually a reasonable point. but listen, you have to keep in mind that Kaminari is a sixteen-year-old boy who gets easily swept up in the latest crazes and memes and fads. he’s naturally curious, and very open-minded and accepting, even when he perhaps shouldn’t be. but it’s as much a strength as it is a weakness, if not more so. those same traits make him the friendliest member of class 1-A (with the possible exception of Kirishima), allowing him to get along well even with a sentient cactus like Bakugou, and to stubbornly befriend Shinsou all of fifteen minutes after Shinsou announced that he wasn’t there to make friends lmao. he’s very unprejudiced, and when you put that together with how excitable he is, you can see how that might make him a bit more susceptible to getting caught up in stuff like the Stain hype train. it doesn’t make him evil. hell, even Deku had a kind of begrudging respect for Stain. I personally can’t stand Stain at all so I don’t get it myself lol, but it seems to be canon that he had a real charisma which many people were swayed by even if they didn’t agree with his ideals.

“>hanging wrist watches on the wall  - Who the hell does this”

you know what that’s a fair point too.

“his room is tacky and shows no personality”

okay in seriousness this is barely worth addressing because it’s so far of a reach, but fine. the thing is, Kaminari’s core personality is that of a typical teenage boy. that’s his role in the class. he’s just a normal guy, because you need to have some normal people around to balance out this cast of extravagant weirdos. and anyways, if we’re accusing people of being evil simply because their rooms lack personality, Ojiro and Shouji’s rooms are right. there. I’m just saying.

“he was in remedial too [on the school trip]. avoiding combat”

so were Sero, Kirishima, Mina, Satou, and Monoma. what’s more, they didn’t know that the remedial kids were going to be barred from participating in the test of courage. most of them were devastated to realize that lol. anyways so yeah this isn’t really proof of anything.

“[the night] before the attack Kaminari is clearly missing”

this is referring to this panel from chapter 75:

however, there’s actually a whole chapter in the second light novel about Iida going around in the middle of the night checking on his sleeping classmates (which is actually very sweet) while also trying to find his glasses, and said chapter establishes that Iida is in fact the one missing in this scene. because he’s wandering around tucking people in and shit. Kaminari is actually the one under the pile of pillows.

anyways, this is getting long and I haven’t even gotten into the real meat of this post yet, so I’ll just address a couple of the remaining arguments real quick.

but if he’s really that stupid how did he get into U.A.” - he studied!!! also he’s not really that stupid! he can be very bright, he’s just easily distracted.

L pose – as others have pointed out, this...

...is very likely just a variation of his finger gun pose, as seen here:

but even if it’s not, my rebuttal for the Stain argument applies here as well. my boy loves his memes. this would have been right in the midst of all the Deika City coverage, and the PLF probably took the opportunity to throw a few poses in there. it’s probably the trendy thing on Instagram right now. in any case, what it is not is proof that Kaminari is the person who broke into the U.A. offices and stole the staff schedule in order to facilitate the League’s planned invasion of USJ. nor is it proof of Kaminari being the one who gave away the training camp’s location. 

and segueing into the second part of this post now, this, IMO, is what so many of these traitor theories are missing. if you’re trying to identify who the U.A. traitor is, these are the two incidents you need to look at. I feel like a lot of people get swept up in what-if speculation, and forget what sparked this whole notion of there being a mole at U.A. in the first place. it’s specifically because of these two attacks, which could not have been planned without the assistance of an inside person providing information to the League from within UA. therefore, if we’re trying to identify who the traitor is, these are the only two questions we actually have to answer:

who, if anyone, had the opportunity to steal the staff schedule during Shigaraki’s break-in in chapter 12, and

who was it that gave away the training camp’s location and allowed Dabi and co. to invade and kidnap Bakugou?

that’s it. this, IMO, is what the focus should be on. and here’s the thing: while we still don’t have a definitive answer for the second question, we do have an answer for the first, and Horikoshi gave it to us all the way back in that same chapter.

but before I get to that, let’s back up and revisit that memorable incident. recall, if you will, the events that took place on the day of the break-in. class 1-A voted on a class president, and afterwards, during their lunch period, the security alarm went off as a result of Tomura doing this to the door and allowing the press to swarm the school:

initially, Rat Principal speculates as to whether a villain might have taken the opportunity to sneak in. but given the later incident at the training camp, as Present Mic rightly points out, it’s far more likely that there is a traitor in their midst instead. someone who had both the means and opportunity to take advantage of the chaos caused by the press, and somehow steal a copy of the staff schedule from right under U.A.’s nose.

given that this same person is almost certainly the one who later on gave the training camp info to the villains as well, this narrows down the field of potential suspects to either one of the teachers, or a student from class 1-A or 1-B. obviously if it’s a teacher then it could be any one of them, so there’s really no point in trying to narrow it down. the same goes for 1-B since we’re not even introduced to them until the following arc and we have no idea what they were doing during this incident. so for now, the question becomes: which, if any of the class 1-A kids had the opportunity to steal the schedule during chapter 12?

and for the answer, we need only revisit the class president voting records:

incidentally, this is something I can’t take credit for, because it was Viz’s translator Caleb Cook who originally pointed it out on his Twitter. but anyways. just in case this isn’t clear, the results are as following: 

3 votes - Deku (himself, Ochako, and Iida)

2 votes - Yaomomo (herself, and Shouto)

1 vote - Jirou, Tsuyu, Ojiro, Kaminari, Bakugou, Sero, Kirishima, Tokoyami, Mineta, Satou, Kouda, Mina, Shouji, and Aoyama

for anyone doing the math, that is... nineteen votes.

curious, for a class consisting of twenty kids. and downright suspicious given the events that take place less than an hour later. assuming that each student voted for him or herself as implied, what this means is that every kid in class 1-A is accounted for on the day of the break-in, except one. and it’s not Kaminari.

it’s Hagakure.

Hagakure is not featured in any of the panels before or after the vote, either. true, she’s invisible, but she should still be wearing her uniform at the very least. but she is very distinctively the sole 1-A student unaccounted for during this chapter. Hagakure, whose quirk is invisibility. Hagakure, who could have easily slipped into the teacher’s office during the press onslaught and taken a copy of the schedule unnoticed. Hagakure, who is also one of only two people (the other being Aoyama) whose whereabouts are also unverified during the subsequent attack:

now this is where it gets really interesting. why would Hagakure’s location be deliberately withheld? especially since later on she says that she was actually with Todoroki the whole time:

unlike Aoyama, whose whereabouts remain a mystery because He Is Just Like That, Hagakure freely discloses her own whereabouts. the thing is though, if it wasn’t actually a secret, then why did Horikoshi go out of his way to omit it in the first place? there are other characters whose locations we only know because Horikoshi put them on the map. specifically Tokoyami and Kouda, who are never actually shown battling once they get warped away (at least not in the manga). yet despite this, their whereabouts aren’t a secret. it’s a deliberate choice by Horikoshi to not confirm where Hagakure actually is, and coming on the heels of her also being conspicuously MIA in chapter 12, this IMO is a huge red flag.

anyway, so now let’s fast forward to the training camp arc. now here, we do know where Hagakure ends up. specifically, she gets KOed by the gas along with Jirou. this makes her one of only two U.A. students who are not actually involved in the fighting either at the forest, or back at the lodge with Vlad. at first glance, that might appear to make her less suspicious. and it’s true that unlike the USJ arc, there is no evidence here that directly ties Hagakure to this particular invasion (though the same is true for pretty much everyone else as well). however, there are two things I would like to point out. the first is Hagakure and Jirou’s position in the test of courage lineup:

directly behind Todoroki and Bakugou (a.k.a. the League’s target). this would have put her in a good position to signal to the League when to attack. note that the attack didn’t commence until Baku and Todo had reached the midpoint of the trail, which results in their decision to press forward through the forest rather than turning back toward the start.

this is suspiciously good timing on the League’s part. it’s not confirmed they knew exactly when to strike -- they could have just gotten lucky -- but it’s something worth taking note of. 

and the second thing is that being so close to the League’s target would have made it difficult for Hagakure to escape without having to fight the League. and since she wasn’t alone, she couldn’t just run off and hide like during USJ. so it may be that she made the deliberate choice to let the poison gas take the two of them out instead, especially if she knew in advance that it wouldn’t actually be lethal. this gives her an alibi for the attack without putting her in the awkward position of potentially having to fight her own allies. all in all it’s making the best of a tricky situation.

lastly, here’s the thing that really clinches the whole theory for me, and it takes place a couple of days later. now remember, the purpose of this whole attack was for the League to kidnap Bakugou. they go to all that trouble, even losing three of their own members in the process. and what happens afterwards, barely two days later? the heroes track down the villains using Momo’s homing device and Naomasa’s fortuitous tip, and are able to get Bakugou back, albeit at great cost. all of that meticulous planning, only for the League to end up on the run, and with Tomura’s mentor taken captive to boot.

this seems like a huge oversight on behalf of the U.A. traitor if they knew about the heroes’ attack and didn’t think to warn the League. and the thing is, we know for a fact that every single member of class 1-A did know in advance, thanks to Kirishima and Shouto. every member that is, except two.

hmmm.

so, to reiterate. Hagakure Tooru:

has no alibi for the incident in chapter 12 during which someone stole the staff schedule as confirmed by Kurogiri in chapter 13

has no confirmed alibi for the USJ invasion

had the means and opportunity to pass along the training camp location to the villains, assuming she had a phone with GPS

is one of only two 1-A students who did not know that the heroes had tracked the villains’ location, and thus would not have been able to pass along that vital bit of info. we know that the villains were caught unawares by the heroes’ raid, so this is huge

so that’s three incidents (not counting the training camp location which admittedly anyone could have done) in which Hagakure is singled out as one of only a handful of people with no alibi during a critical moment. now granted, there are a handful of other candidates who could possibly fall under suspicion for same reasons. Aoyama’s whereabouts are also unknown during the USJ invasion, and Jirou was also knocked out during the training camp attack. however, Hagakure is the only one who lacks an alibi for all three incidents. and, crucially, she is the sole 1-A student who did not vote in the class president election, something which is never explained or even brought up but which is hidden in plain sight.

for these reasons, I pretty much have to conclude that Hagakure is the U.A. traitor. it just lines up. and for me, the difference between the Hagakure theory and the Kaminari theory is that the evidence for the former is based on actual events in the canon, whereas the Kami theory seems to mostly just be speculation about whether or not he’s secretly evil. and look, I have no idea whether or not Hagakure is evil. I have no clue why she’d be doing this. she seems nice (although it’s worth pointing out that we have no idea what she actually looks like, who her family is, or even how old she really is for that matter. her quirk is awfully convenient for being a spy). motive is definitely a big question mark here. but the fact remains that all of the evidence we have thus far points to one candidate, and that’s her.

anyways! so that’s the end of my post about the Kaminari traitor theory, I guess! basically, he is not the traitor for many reasons, but the most compelling one is that the actual traitor has already been confirmed in my book. anyhoo, this plot has more or less been on hold since chapter 98, so it’s been quite a while since we’ve had much to speak of in terms of new evidence. but as of 242 it looks like things may finally be on the move again, so that’s exciting. regardless of my opinion on the Kami theory, I’m excited that people are talking about this again, and I really can’t wait to see how things develop from here.

[whoisglory]

Top 5 Favorite Female MHA characters

Number 5

Nejire Hadou

She is definitely one of my favorite female characters, all though she is quite new to me, i always adored her quirk. I loved her appearance in the manga and I’m looking forward to seeing her kick ass in the new season! I really like her design, especially her eyes. Her quirk is really cool and would definitely be in my top 5 if i could choose my own quirk. I have a small headcannon which is probably cannon actually but it’s not confirmed yet, I think that due to Nejire’s outgoing and bubbly personality as well as her good looks and strong quirk made her very popular among the boys and heroes alike! She was during her first and second year ahead of mirio and tamaki but they soon caught up with her making them the big three. I really hope to see more of her but let’s move on to

Number 4

Ibara Shiozaki

What can i say except i love her, when i was still an anime only i liked seeing her already, I thought she was pretty and her quirk looked really strong and useful! She appeared to be kind and gentle, unlike monoma she wasn’t vengeful towards 1A and had a true ideology a hero should have. No wonder kaminari would like to ask her out! But when she absolutely destroyed kaminari in their battle i knew that i found love.

I would say, but that’s not completely true. I liked her character but I appreciated her when i met @thatawkwardotaku. Now bare with me here, we did a roleplay. I like doing those because I practice my english and i get more in character with the characters i play, and i also get ideas for stories! I tried out ibara for the first time when i met her. I had a really fun time doing the roleplay and mailla even said i was good at Roleplaying her. So that day i was just “IM SOLD” and loved her, she did go down a few ranks but i hold her close in my heart

Number 3

Itsuka Kendo

Okay so, before you continue reading. Look at her, look at her eyes. Look at her ponytail. Are you finished looking at her? Good, so why has everyone been sleeping on kendo instead of sleeping on their bed? Look at the grace, the strength, the beauty, the tomboy. It is Itsuka Kendo! I really like her personality, I would say that her personality matches with mine a bit because well, all my friends are complete idiots and i am quick to take on a motherly role when I’m near them. I love those idiots. Kendo is the big sis of 1B and arguably has more idiots to deal with and i love her. She’s a friend everyone deserves to have

Back to her design! I love the tomboy aesthetic, she’s energetic and not a pretty girl. She’s beauty but also a tough tomboy, she actually has my favorite hero costume. I love the qipao and when I designed my own character i gave her a qipao as well. I’ll soon show her and the art people drew for my oc!

Number 2

Melissa Shield

This was a really close call, Itsuka kendo or Melissa Shield. I know that she was only in the movie and I’d be lucky if we would ever get to hear her name again but shut up i can dream. Melissa is a foreigner in the world of mha, usually when i talk to my friends I’m the foreigner, i also look quite a lot like her (i wish i was as pretty as her) but personality wise I really like her. Ever since i started watching mha i loved thinking about making characters their strongest possible self. Whether this be through support items or through gaining an extra quirk or quirk evolution. This is how i started getting into support items. I studied a lot of support items and I absolutely loved seeing the costume upgrades and i could only imagine what i would do! I like her kind and caring nature, all though a bit oblivious and maybe a bit overly kind i can relate to her nerdy and geeky side. But overall she’s another reason to show that anyone can be a hero

Headcannon time

bigger headcannon, during the My Hero Academia two heroes movie we never got to see Melissa’s mother. She only made one appearance on the pictures Melissa has in her work shop, when Melissa was born and on her wedding with dave. Not on anything else. We didn’t see her on the Halloween one with her father. It was constantly either all might or dave, so I think that after Melissa was born she died, usually mother’s stay to raise their child. And i think it’s safe to assume that dave is quite rich I don’t think she’d be working abroad. And i would expect to see at least one picture of her for her daughter to remember her by. Imagine her living a life with deku’s father, the i hate being there for the majority of my kids life so that the parental figure can be replaced by all might club. But countering my own theory, she wasn’t mentioned or used as a motivation. Melissa might have said something like “Dad what would mom think if she saw you now!” Aside from that Melissa appeared to be a happy and lucky child but maybe she was too young to grasp the concept of death.

Honorable Mentions

Kyoka Jirou

Fun fact, i love music. I love singing and trying out new instruments. So I really liked jirous character. Cool and music loving, funny and sarcastic and a bit of a prankster. Even though she was never a main main character she did play some crucial roles in character development of characters. Like saving kaminari during the USJ attack, helping Koda with his fear of bugs. She was one of the main reasons eri smiled again and she truly helped momo out of her shell! There more to her then just her cold persona and small chest.

Mei Hatsume

Back to my love for support, I really like this insane, crazy scientist. She’s amazing just amazing. I also relate to her crazy and weird side because i am a little weird. When I’m around my friends i can drop some weird ass shit in the conversation randomly, but if i do that you can expect that I really took a liking into you!

I love this noodle hair and you can expect seeing her in the future again becoming one of midoriya&co most important allies.

Number 1

Momo Yaoyorozu

Holy moly, an actual 1A character that’s important to the story and not some side character from 1B? Yes i know this may sound impossible but yes. I can actually like main characters that are important to the story!

Momo, my angel i came a long way with you. Ever since i started watching MHA i liked her character, she was so kind and caring on the inside. She appeared so cold and like many other cold rich know it all characters. Yet she wasn’t, she was a true friend that loves helping out others. A hero when she wasn’t in her costume and a hero in her costume.

She’s constantly worrying about others, as well as helping them succeed. With her on your team you almost have an assured win. Her intelligence and versatile quirk will always get you out of a tight spot. I really, really hope her character gets the justice it deserves

Thank you for listening to this stupid rant post thing!

[ua-monoma]

.04.22.

He’s starting to get the hang of it.

Though, it’s not hard. Once it all starts to blur together, once he’s started to get some distance, it’s all too simple a task to fall into rhythm, fall into line, reconstruct and reinvent himself into a new role, a new mask, a new performance for him to star in. Memorizing his new lines is easy, and he spends every session reciting them off.

“Now, how long have you felt suicidal for?” Therapist #4 dutifully asks him and he sighs, looks forlorn, makes the twisting in his gut form an obvious glimmer in his eyes. 

“As long as I can remember,” he answers, though it’s not quite true, which is why it’s so easy. The truth only peeks through the sheen of a lie, actual anguish bleeding into the tragedy of a character. The truth is that his life always felt like a weight on him, a force that his hollow body was too weak to withstand, and it’s less that he wants to die and more that he wants to live so desperately that need has a stranglehold on him, choking and smothering as he tries so hard to reach for some sort of reprieve.

But that isn’t an easy answer.

Therapist #6 asks him, “What was your relationship with your parents like?”

And it’s easy, far too easy to repeat the first lie he’s ever been told to tell. He spends the whole time prattling about his poor, destructive mother and her ruinous quirk, how they couldn’t even touch without some sort of disaster happening, sparking from her hands, (he remembers clinging, crying in her arms, begging never to be let go of and wailing when they had to part because the rest of the world was so loud, so chaotic, all these powerful quirks crushing and strangling through him), how her moods matched in tune, how much distance has been pushed between them since, and then the bitch has the nerve to ask if that is why he ran into their arms, into His, and,

Monoma pauses,

and he nods.

Easy. Meaningless.

And it’s not all quick and winding answers, oh no, he knows better than that. He’s still difficult, he still plays up every mood swing and symptom they point out. He spends one session berating a therapist, meeting every inquiry with backhanded comments and rolling eyes, another he spends shouting and inconsolable, flinging papers and office supplies around for the fuck of it and spending a good hour afterwards getting coddled through a lecture. A conversation with an officer (lovely to see how little he’s still trusted, to still be poked and prodded at after all this time) turns sour after too many vague smirks and snickers at his own expense, and he ends up with his face slammed to the table, arm twisted behind his back in a way that’s all too familiar, giving him something to cry over the next day, the next session, when he’s telling the story once again.

(And that’s easier than it looks, turns out. Faking tears. He’s gotten quite good at adopting them all, really, that terrified blanche and wide, watery eyes that got anyone to rush over, tissues in hand.)

“And I think,” he says, reciting again, saying something easy, something meaningless, “that’s why I value it so much,” he mumbles, watching Faceless Man #12 write, studying his hands as they move over a notepad. “Value the chance to talk about it as it actually happened, I mean. It’s not something I had growing up, and...”

#12′s eyes raise, meeting his, and Monoma smiles sheepishly, politely embarrassed, playing the part. 

“When did your penchant for dishonesty start?” he asks him slowly,

and Monoma pauses,

and smiles,

and tells him. 

[imitationpersonne]

BNHA Chapter 215 Review aka I’m So Fucking Tired

So after 24 hours of shitty-brain-chemicals mini-crisis and reading the full pages and translation of chapter 215, I return...to confirm that yep, I’m still fuckin’ pissed.

Warning: If you’re not prepared for chart-topping Reddit-‘fandom’ levels of salt, shade, and bitterness with a whole lot of fucks mixed in, I suggest you read no further.

Let’s just do this page-by-page, shall we.

Oh my god, FINALLY. It’s already been five minutes; we’ve waited so long for this whole ‘scary new power’ phase to be over. Five whole minutes, y’all! Wow.

I mean, ya not wrong, buddy! You pretty much can do anything if Mr. Author’s plot dictates it. Because who gives a fuck about feeling like there are any stakes in anything or making the world seem real; amirite, Hori?

Shinsou again with the super relatability. P sure a lot of us are goddamn incredulous about the overplayed ‘struggling with new quirk manifestation’ drama, now that Izuku is magically instantly proficient. Because that’s how quirks have worked up until this point.......

Oh no...! Back down to 8% with no air force attack for a hot second?? WHAT A NERF! Whatever will he do?? ...Oh. Still win everything. So who gives a fuck. Does anybody really believe these percentages don’t just mean whatever Hori wants them to at any given moment anyway?

Yo, I’m sorry. Apologizing for the author who hyped some fantastic MonoShin collaboration and then did everything he could to prevent that from happening. Bitch.

But then...they did? Sooooooooo...? What the fuck’s the point of Shinsou recovering his mask and going for another plan? Legit nothing came of this. Why does this panel--no, most of this chapter even exist?? Like I get that it’s supposed to look like a struggle between the teams, but it’s all just...super contrived the way it ends, my dudes. This is bullshit writing, k.

Okay, I frickin’ loved this scene. I can be mad as all hell and still admit this was enjoyable. The quirk meta, the mind games, and Monoma’s zero-grav hair.

Okay, but did he really need another fucking limit on his quirk??? Time limit, one-at-a-time limit, potentially type limit (not able to copy mutant quirks--but that’s just speculation/headcanon for now)...and now number limit? WHILE IZUKU IS GETTING SIX WHOLE FUCKING PERMA-QUIRKS FOR GODDAMN FREE??

YEAH OKAY, LET’S TALK ABOUT THAT. I saw a post I mostly disagreed with and disliked (and don’t care to identify or quote; I can’t even remember whose it was or anything) saying this six-new-abilities ability is going to erase the need for a ton of other already-existing characters. Sero, as an example, since Black Whip basically usurps his specialty and more. On principle, as the worldbuilding has stood up until this point, I disagreed that characters like Sero would become useless. The way society has been trending, teamwork has been increasingly essential and encouraged. That means two people with lasso/tape-like quirks would do just fine! There can be more than one person with a similar quirk! Hell, that’s all Monoma’s quirk is--a temporary second of one that already exists. OR TETSUTETSU AND KIRISHIMA MUCH? They’re both useful! Even together!

So as a general principle, people with similar quirks can and do exist just fine in the same universe and even same space and role. The danger exists only if the author is so irresponsible as to consciously edge out the other characters by letting his pet character take care of everything by himself. Which seems like exactly what Izuku’s new six-quirks is at risk of doing now. Sure, argue Uraraka was useful and that Izuku relied on her this time, mmkay, but wait until he gets his own antigrav quirk, lol. Like, at this point, I honestly don’t trust Hori not to fuck up the beautiful character synergies and contrasts he’s already built. Because he sure did fuck up a lot of things that had great potential this arc already. Often by stepping on the ‘little’ guys. Fuck you, Tokage didn’t deserve that, and Baku didn’t deserve to dominate that hard. Where is the goddamn sense of struggle and achievement? Aight, that’s a rant for another day...

Anyway, back on track, call me biased as hell, but usurping the specialty of the guy whose ONLY NICHE WAS BEING THE ONLY ONE WITH VERSATILE MULTI-QUIRK USAGE? AND GAINING MULTIPLE QUIRKS BUT WITHOUT SEVERAL OF MONOMA’S LIMITING FACTORS? Gooooooooooo fuck yourself, ‘blessed boy’.

But...HE DIDN’T, THOUGH? Monoma’s ace-in-the-hole surprise Twin Impact stunned Mr. Protagonist for an amazing two whole seconds! Because of course; the fuck were we all thinking hoping other people mattered in this story or stood a chance against plot-device-convenient auto-scaling levels of OP? Like why even try tbh???

Shinsou fucking gets it. We all get it; it was an amazing play. But protagonist privilege too strong; what the fuck can you do.

Oh yep, here’s a more accurate translation, given the goddamn results.

Hahahahaha, amazing, even literally everybody in-character gets it. Team 5-B had every right to win this shit. But then...!

Oh boy!!! Generic shonen anime protagonist inspiration spiel to the contrived-Hori-plot rescue! Now, with these magic thoughts, he will win! Amazing how that works!

Well yeah, no shit, it makes sense for you to have that kind of confidence, considering that’s legit how your protagonist life works. Congrats on the contrived win, dude; I know you’re not surprised. Y’all, I know this isn’t in-world Izuku’s fault; he’s doing his best which is what he should be doing. It’s the shitty writing, plain and simple. Don’t blame the kid that gets everything; blame the one who spoils them at the expense of others. So perhaps calling me petty would be deserved, but my bitterness can’t help but leak out towards the character as well; it’s just human nature. I don’t like Baku as much as I used to either, because all the interesting bits are gone now that he’s OP and comparably perfect. At least Hori kinda kicked Shouto to the OP-privilege curb a little; makes him more realistic, relatable, and likable.

Ohhhh god, generic shonen anime faux-inspirational epilogue to put the icing on the shit cake; brb gagging.

Alright, so let’s summarize all the implied morals to the story here!:

Things turned around at the very end for basically no other reason than Hori wanted Team Protag to win.

All the dipshits were actually right; class B is legit inferior to class A, as evidenced by the results of literally every time they’ve directly faced each other. 1 win to 3 this time, bitch, and don’t make me remind of the sports festival. Even though B class clearly has better teamwork and synergy. Screw that, A more powerful, A smash. A main character class; A win.

Monoma, your backstory classmates were right, turns out! You are apparently an ineffective hero student who just keeps losing! You’ll never be more than a side character to be used, abused, and discarded. Fuck your aspirations, fan-fucking-tastic.

Shinsou, don’t kid yourself; you haven’t fucking changed. You got beaten by the same dude in nearly the exact same fashion. Your entire arc was fucking pointless; have fun in general studies! (In honesty, if Hori has any remaining shred of sensibility, I think he might let Shinsou into hero course anyway? Did they ever say Shinsou technically had to win both of his matches? Or just show progress? Who fucking knows at this point.)

Everybody who didn’t need to be reminded they’re great won. Are you not inspired?

Beautiful. Beautiful goddamn arc, Horikoshi; you taught us the important things in this world. Applause. I will honestly punch myself in the face in ecstatic shock if Hori manages to pull some way out of his ass to make this a satisfying conclusion.

My final thoughts:

Fuck this shit, I’m out.

[kannra21]

Monoma loving hours and I'm actually very tired by now

*I know many of you have already discussed similar things so I decided to add my own opinion as well. Hope you enjoy!*

Still announcing my general disappointed with ch215. Whatever, I'm glad to know Monoma's Quirk better and that the clocks he's working with are more than just some accessories on his belt.

I think they're really cool and help him overcome his small disadvantages a whole lots *well, not in the circumstances he was currently in but I'd like to see him more in action and actually using them*.

So basically he snaches them from his belt. Destroys them and-

Voilà, the Quirk is out.🎊

5min limit doesn't mean anything to him if he can use 4 different Quirks in 20min. However, he needs to use them very wisely because every Quirk doesn't work the same way and they also have to be suitable for the problem he's facing at that moment. That's where his ability to adapt and manage new situations comes in.

I don't want to exaggerate or anything but I think in terms of intelligence, he comes right after Yaoyoroz because damn, you need to have a top-notch brain for such tricky things.

Too sad that strength plays the leading role in their hero world. If you have power, it doesn't matter how or why you're doing the things you do. As long as you can destroy everything that comes in your way, there's nothing that can stop you from getting what you want which sounds... kinda villainous in a way, don't you think?

Shigaraki is right. The main difference between a hero and a villain is that heroes are fighting for the good and villains for the evil. But the main question remains- are the heroes really good and are the villains really evil? First of all, heroes and villains both came from the same type of society- people, normal civilians.

Becoming a hero or a villain is a choice, not a lifestyle. Heroes are there to protect people and villains are there to harm them. Why? Heroes want to make them feel happy and safe while villains want the opposite. What's the matter with the villains? This-

People are constantly judging and not thinking about the consequences they're causing to others. They always ended up comparing themselves to those who are much more superior and successful, making them building a sense of insecurity and fear.

They were forced to push themselves beyond their limits in order to prove themselves and show how far they can possibly go. They had to let them know that their criticism didn't reach them as they were facing their challenges with anticipation.

They could easily turn villainous but no, they choose to protect those same judging idiots who repeatedly let them down/hurt them/accused them/ignored their efforts, all for the sake of becoming their better selves. By choosing the right path, they already confirmed how strong and capable they are and they'll make exceptional heroes one day. In conclusion, there is no way Monoma will become a villain because he already reached this far and gained other's trust. He made friends who are looking after him. He's already a part of something big which he can't abandon this easily.

BTW

This is the ultimate proof that Monoma isn't entirely obsessed with class a as many think he is. He's simply mad at anyone who's trying to show off class b by stealing their spotlight. His class is the best, try to prove him wrong and he won't give you any piece of mind.

He's so dedicated to his rambling that he doesn't mind Kirishima's friendly exchange with Tetsutetsu in the background. It's clear that the hatred he feels is directed towards Bakugou for obvious reasons. While Monoma is the group's person, Bakugou does everything on his own and hates when someone interfers with his business to the point where he becomes arrogant and rude. I can't recall Monoma being any of it because he only uses people's failures as an example to make them feel bad about themselves and we all know that the truth hurts the most.

I'm not defending him or anything, what he does is certainly not nice, but I want to say that his way of expressing bitterness is much more effective than Bakugou's because he makes sense at some point. Bakugou just acts like a thug.

And while he certainly does behave like an absolute madman, I'll still love Bakugou and Monoma equally because there's that one thing Monoma doesn't really understand about Bakugou's personality and that's his undying wish of becoming no.1 world's greatest hero. It's his ambition from an young age which pushed him further into accomplishing his goals. Yes it sounds selfish and yes it seems like he doesn't give a damn about others, but that's his lifelong dream which he can't give up to a friend just for the sake of being nice to each other.

From the flashbacks of the kindergarten we could see how many expectations and how much pressure people were putting on him because of his talent. His mom accused him of being weak and causing trouble for the entire U. A. when in fact, the school was guilty of his kidnapping and took responsibility for it's mistakes. He was raised to solve his problems through violence, he doesn't know for any other way. So it's not arrogance, he's just ambitious but shows it in a rearher inappropriate manner.

Monoma doesn't like that and I can understand why. Unlike Bakugou, Monoma is an underdog. No one ever cheered for him or supported his goals. When he saw Bakugou and his indifference or rather ignorance towards his audience, he thought he was acting ungrateful and that pissed him off. Especially because Monoma is the most grateful out of all the characters.

He wants to be recognized among the crowd and accepted by his peers by means of finding a place where he truly belongs, something he couldn't achieve when he was little. Bakugou doesn't yearn for fame or money. He wants to prove himself and push his limits because winning is what heroes do. Their life goals are different but their ways of dealing with things are surprisingly similar. They're throwing shade wherever they go and they're incredibly noisy, with Bakugou spreading insults and Monoma mocking every living soul but that's the way they are and people grew accustomed to it.

I mean look at this-

Similarities:

blond

smart

rude

sad

sarcastic

uncomfortable

embarrassed

In conclusion:

They share the same level of bitterness + their friends(Tetsu and Kiri) are also very good friends which indicates their similar tastes in people they appreciate.

Also something from Noragami:

"YOU HATE THOSE THE MOST LIKE YOURSELF"

Tbh if bnha was all about class 1b, Monoma would be, in fact, favorable because everyone would have a bad impression of class 1a for being rude and arrogant thanks to Bakugo since we'd only see 1b's side of the story. And although everyone made friends with each other and now are staying on good terms, they're still having this sort of rivalry between them which is completely normal considering the fact that 1a still precedes in particular aspects.

Despite this friendship, Monoma does not believe them in a slightest. He looks at their relationship in a way that class 1a uses their friendship to distract them from trying to be better than them. If you are in good relations with someone, it is natural that you will go easy on them because of the empathy we feel towards others. He thinks they're playing them in order to get what they want. It affects their reputation as a hero and class 1a represents their concurrency so it isn't all about some friendship between kids, it's their future and their careers that get affected as well.

But then again, Monoma isn't fighting for his own selfish purposes, he's doing it for his class. He loves his class from the bottom of his heart and he wants them to succeed, that's why he's so annoying. Class 1a represents their concurrency, they're taking away their spotlight. They're limiting their chances of becoming pro heroes while class 1b is so much better than them and that's what actually bugs Monoma.

They’ve worked just as hard as class 1a, they’ve overcome all the same scholastic obstacles and yet it’s always 1a on the news, 1a in the papers, 1a surviving yet another dramatic and utterly glamorous supervillain encounter. See, 1a gets all the luck.

If he was selfish, narcissistic and egoistic, he'd constantly complain about deserving his place among the best in class 1a but no, he's proud to be with his friends because b class is all about solidarity and teamwork. His class loves him and he's getting along with everyone just fine. His cooperation stats are 4/5, he's a very friendly person.

His intelligence and tactics stats are 5/5, he's a smart person and he obviously doesn't do shit without a reason. His power and speed stats are 1/5, he's weak and very insecure in himself. Naturally he would develop a inferiority complex to protect himself but at the same time trash talks himself to talk up his class which I find very funny and kinda sympathetic in a way.

I bet everyone's just seeing this annoying side of him but there's so much more to his character and Kendou understands that all too well. That's why they're never arguing or fighting for their own beliefs because she knows how much he's hurting. And it's not just him, most of his classmates are also having a sort of rivalry with class 1a but they're being less obvious about it.

Seing this side of him made me start to really like him. He's a sad character with a great desire to belong somewhere and that's probably the reason why I can't possibly hate him. That's just my opinion but I hope others can relate as well. ❤️❤️❤️

[unsuccesscr]

I suppose this could be considered a part 2 or redux of my original bias list which was posted more than six months ago. The blog has changed a lot since then and I appreciate all of you sticking around for this long; through every revamp and rewrite, periods of inactivity, and general nonsense.

Of course, it’s not possible for everyone to be listed. If you’re not mentioned please don’t take it personally, it likely means that we simply haven’t interacted much; which can always change! 

1. The Deku Squad (i.e. portrayals that have been absolutely crucial to the development of Izuku as a muse, and the AU as a whole)

@amplifyingtrace

Kit! One of the very first people I interacted with on here, back when I was still building my timeline and even had a different url. I don’t think it would have been possible for me to predict that that random ‘first meeting’ thread would snowball to where we are today. I know I tell you this a lot, but I absolutely adore Leia as a character. To the point where she’s so ingrained in my portrayal of Izuku that I honestly can’t imagine what he’d be like without their dynamic. The wonder trio is a central theme to the AU as a whole and Izuku truly is a stronger character with Leia’s presence. All the scenarios, both written and plotted out, are absolutely integral to my timeline. I am so grateful that you’ve allowed Leia to become part of this world, and the amount of time and effort you’ve spent building it with me, thank you.

@invisiquirk / @rrenao

Cinder; you are a truly creative and wonderful person. I am, of course, incredibly attached to your Tooru, but each and every single one of your muses is always such a unique take on the character in question that I am always blown away without exception. I can make a thousand jokes about Stanning Cinder but it’s important that you know that i’m truly grateful that I’ve met you through this RPC. Sometimes it feels like we share a brain we’re so in sync. Tooru is a realistic and dynamic character, and sometimes (frequently) I forget that your portrayal isn’t canon to the point where watching the anime gives me whiplash at times. Izuku wouldn’t be the same character without their dynamic, and even when you’re breaking my heart I adore your writing. In particular, they bring their own unique brand of recklessness to the table which has tested Izuku’s ability to handle situations well beyond his control (such as Tooru’s past) and continues to hold a mirror to his own terrible habits. Not to mention that he just? loves Tooru with his whole heart.

@steelhardpecs / @defrostiing / @sweatbombhands / @dcrkpassenger

Soda; You are kind, patient, and brilliant. I will always admire the way you speak your mind, and your amazing insights into your muses. Each new blog and each new character are completely different, but equally wonderful.Not all of your blogs are tagged here, though I love them all, I stuck with tagging the muses that have been the most central to building the Quirkless AU and Izuku as a character. Tetsutetsu, who has played a crucial role in helping Izuku recognize that he isn’t as unaffected by his past as he pretends; and continues to be a pivotal emotional support. Todoroki, who has helped flesh out large scenes within the story, such as the sports festival, and has forced Izuku to confront that not everyone with a quirk has it easy. Bakugo, who also has a major role in a lot of scenes in the AU (such as their confrontation in the elevator) and who’s growth is parallel to Izuku’s own. And poor, long suffering, Colby who’s a father figure and trying desperately to help Izuku form healthy coping mechanisms. There is a lot more, but i’m getting a bit long winded, so let me just end with this; I can’t wait to hear your next idea

@sappines

Kona! Your writing and art are both phenomenal, and drawing your own icons is such an indescribable power move. Just, the time and effort that takes in and of itself! is amazing! And beyond that, Kazue is a well rounded and well written character. She’s kind and strong, but not invincible and not infallible. And you, yourself, are delightful to talk to. I love plotting with you or just discussing your characters. Our interactions both out of character and in character have really played a huge role in how Izuku interacts with other muses; not just Kazue. In particular, when it comes to physical affection. It’s something that she’s helped him become more comfortable and open with. She’s also one of the few people who’s openly gotten him to admit that he was shaken by his encounter with Shigaraki. (she’s just got a way of getting under people’s skin I guess, in a good way) I can’t imagine writing here without you, and without Kazue as a character. As far as i’m concerned, her being in 1-A is canon.

@aemulo

Ish; Our actual in depth interactions have started just recently but I’m already incredibly attached to your take on Monoma as a character. You’ve stayed true to the source material for the most part while also building upon it and making a completely new and complex character in the process. Your edits are outstanding, and it’s difficult not to appreciate the amount of effort and time you’ve put into them in order to provide visual context to your portrayal. I absolutely mean it when I say you’re doing a better job than canon, and I know you’ll only continue to improve even more over time. Monoma himself in such a short time has had a profound impact on how I approach Izuku as a character, as well as his dynamic with other characters; particularly those from class B. Even interactions in AUs (which, side note, every single AU you come up with is incredible) help build their dynamic.

@yuugxn

Cereal; There are a lot of unexplored dynamics in canon that RP gives us a chance to see and write where they will go, but I don’t think any friendship was as unexpected (yet incredible) as Jirou and Izuku. I absolutely love the way they interact, their similarities and their differences. I love that it started with a joke about Jirou stealing Izuku’s phone so he won’t continue to destroy his eardrums and I adore that I can tag you in videos of people doing the macarena to Every Time We Touch and have it somehow be a perfect depiction of their dynamic. Your writing and portrayal are fantastic and you’ve made me cry more than once not only in our threads but in your interactions with other people. Jirou has forced Izuku to confront not only how his actions affect himself, but how they affect those around him via imitation, and also via just plain worrying about him. And the whole Blue Rose imagery? I’ll never be over it. I love flower language and I love the idea of ‘unattainable’ for Izuku, because of how he views himself; and also how Jirou views him as well.

@needlxd

Deedee; I don’t care what you say you can pull Kitiara Itou from my cold dead hands she’s a babey who needs to be protected at all costs. Villain babey, evil babey. Ok, in all seriousness; Deedee, I love Kit so much as a character, she’s a wonderfully complex and believable villain to the point where I can’t help but root for her a little bit. Even out side of her redemption verse. I also, already love Trina, but we haven’t interacted too much in character yet (emphasis on yet). Writing in a language that’s not your first is incredibly difficult, especially one as unnecessarily complicated as English. And it is, frankly, impossible to tell based on your writing that it’s actually been translated. Your writing is fantastic in and of itself, and that’s already impressive in and of itself but you literally put twice as much effort into a single reply than just about anyone else and the kind of dedication that takes is just as impressive if not more so. Kit forces Izuku to confront his morals and his views of villains as a whole, and that’s as important as it is painful. Plus, autistic solidarity.

2. Team Plus Ultra (aka blogs that I love and admire even though we haven’t interacted much in character)

@obliterus // @quirkgifter // @oneshockyboi // @bcdtouch // @ksri // @explsnmrdr // @iinko // @ukubi // @aidonneus // @katsubi // @eighthilles // @floatsaver // @gxlitxr // @hcwks // @empyrrrean // @negatiiv // @dimensionalprinter // @inneall // @shintsohi // @b-nnyhero // @inventii // @icyht // @round--face // @hero-hopeful // @amazetm // @pyrrhe

3. The Greatest Hero (aka duplicates that I absolutely adore)

I don’t want to tag any duplicates, as I know that can make people uncomfortable. However, I absolutely adore these portrayals and so I highly recommend that you give them a follow!

tikkvn // noquirk // herosname // quirkdysfunction 

[proiida]

“plus ultra, go beyond.” it’s one of the core themes of bnha, and it’s a common theme in a lot of stories. after all, trying your hardest is typically a good thing. with the way that bnha writes it, though, often trying your hardest means pushing yourself past a reasonable limit. while there are certainly situations where this is necessary to ensure the survival of others, such as the number of times when all might pushes past the limit of one for all in order to ensure the safety of others, there are some situations where it’s just ridiculous to apply the mantra of “plus ultra”. doing so means sacrificing your physical or mental health in order to succeed in something that shouldn’t matter as much as life or death.

one of the best situations in which characters’ application of “plus ultra” is excessive is during the sports festival, a school event that pushes students to extreme actions to win, despite the relatively little harm that failing would cause. sure, failing would mean they lose a chance to show their skills to pro hero agencies, but it is no life or death situation. no two characters juxtapose each other quite so neatly in their approach to the sports festival as monoma neito and bakugou katsuki. the contrast between the two provides a great way to understand how bnha’s narrative promotes the idea of “plus ultra”.

now, why am i mentioning monoma, a character who is, in the grand scheme of the story, a pretty minor character? well, his introduction in the sports festival arc was likely very intentional and for greater purposes increasing class tension and comedic value. he plays a pretty important, yet subtle role in it. yes, he is mostly just seen starting shit with class 1-a and getting wrecked by bakugou’s intense ambition, but he gives us a way to compare the attitudes of the main characters with an “inappropriate” attitude. he is, to put it simply, the anti-“plus ultra”.

now, i am not saying that monoma’s approach to the sports festival was incorrect. hell, were the primary purpose of the sports festival not to put yourself out there for pro heroes to see, then the plan to make other classes underestimate class 1-b would have its merits. the primary purpose of the sports festival is what it is for the sake of advancing the narrative, though, and the narrative intends to portray monoma’s approach to the sports festiva as incorrect. he is in a story where one of the core messages is “plus ultra, go beyond,” meaning that he was doomed to fail from the beginning. that’s the point. we’re supposed to look at monoma and go, “well that didn’t work, which further proves that plus ultra is the way to go.”

but what exactly is monoma’s approach? well, let’s see a few of the actions he takes in the sports festival. i am going to include what monoma says was class 1-b’s approach to the sports festival, because it was likely driven by monoma, and monoma strongly identifies with class 1-b. first, class 1-b decides to throw the race and hang back so that they can scout class 1-a’s quirks. then, when monoma’s team in the cavalry battle goes from 2nd place to 4th place, he’s resigned to taking 4th place (only for bakugou to refuse to let monoma slide by without trying). in short, he lacks the “plus ultra” spirit that bnha so frequently refers to.

i believe the moment that most portrays monoma’s approach as incorrect is in the cavalry battle, with his team’s various clashes with team bakugou. now, you won’t hear me saying that bakugou’s character does something better than another character in bnha very often, but within the scope of the sports festival, he acts as the best example for “plus ultra”. midoriya, you say? jesus christ, no. i loathe to imagine how terrifying it would be to see a kid break that many bones on live television. unless “plus ultra” means “let’s all get seriously injured, thank god we have recovery girl here to allow us to do that!”, then. yeah. bakugou is the one we want to talk about here. (although, as i will discuss later, even bakugou’s practice of “plus ultra” ends up causing harm to him.)

so how does monoma foil bakugou, and by extension, the school’s motto of “plus ultra”? well, obviously, we’ve got to talk about bakugou’s actions during the sports festival to understand that. for starters, bakugou very clearly tries during the obstacle race, landing an impressive 3rd place. is he satisfied? no. in the obstacle race, bakugou, unlike monoma, refuses to settle for a place that will only get him to the next round. no, he wants an undisputable 1st, and he’s damn ready to take the million point headband from todoroki, even when his team has enough points to secure 2nd place. then, in the tournament, bakugou treats each of his opponents with a necessary respect by battling the best he can, expecting the same out of them. it’s his chance to prove that he’s the best on a level playing field, where he’s surrounded by peers who could actually give him a run for his money for the first time in his life. with the way he grew to see the world around him, he does not see any option outside of “plus ultra”. he would never even consider the strategy class 1-b took, because in his mind, to win, you just win. you don’t lose to win.

this idea of not losing to win. “plus ultra”, or if you’re really fancy, “ne plus ultra,” which quite so literally means “no further beyond”. the top is the top, and you just keep on going until you can’t possibly go any further. what all might says when rewarding bakugou with the first place medal (a scene i have a number of issues with, but that’s besides the point) really highlights the mindset bakugou takes. “in this world where people are constantly being compared publicly, there are not many who can keep aiming for the top of an unchanging scale.” unchanging is the keyword, this idea that personal achievement is not defined relative to others or to yourself, but rather defined by a position on an absolute scale. sure, there’s first place, which bakugou does end up getting in the sports festival, but then there’s “ne plus ultra”, the point where he isn’t just winning in comparison to others, but reaching the highest point of possible achievement.

being the absolute best that you can possible be sounds good and all, but when you consider the scope of human capability, it plays out pretty unhealthily. bakugou is basically that kid who sets the curve on a test, but breaks down in class because he didn’t get every question right. and as annoying as those kids may seem, especially when you aren’t considering what’s going on inside their minds, it is genuinely sad to think about the kind of perspective you have to have of the world to believe that first place isn’t good enough. you can’t relish the small victories, because for you, winning is the expectation. “plus ultra” becomes driving yourself to a standard that is simply unrealistic to reach every single time. by taking out the sense of relativity, it becomes less about doing the best you can do, and more about doing the best anyone can do, which are two very different concepts with two very different impacts on a person.

now, to bring things back to what i really wanted to talk about, one of the frequently repeated phrases in bnha. is “plus ultra” really the best way to go? i mean, at the end of the day, it is just a sports festival. it’s one thing for all might to push himself past the limit in a situation where failing to means putting his students in grave danger. it’s another thing to consider the physical and mental strain put on midoriya and bakugou because of a school event. and yes, i include midoriya, because this is the arc when he starts feeling the pressure to becoming the next symbol of peace (and again, the arc where he breaks way too many bones on live television). these are kids almost fresh out of middle school, being told, “yep, this event pretty much determines your future, and you’ve only got three chances at it.” i mean, from a purely narrative point of view, it does up the stakes of things, but jesus christ, the things it does to some of these kids is sad. it shouldn’t have to be something you get that torn up over, whether physically or mentally.

while i understand that bnha is a shounen manga and that it’s difficult to just scrap the high-pressure stakes of the sports festival, i do believe more could have been done to address the consequences of these extreme “plus ultra” attitudes. you can’t present the idea that “plus ultra is the way to go”, while simultaneously showing that there are serious effects to this attitude. so far, we’ve seen so many instances within bnha of how trying too hard causes more harm than good, and yet there has been no direct commentary made on the motto’s negative impacts on the characters. “plus ultra” is still a motto that is portrayed as inspirational, which sends some pretty conflicting messages. i can understand that it’s probably hard to tackle the issue. “try your hardest!” seems like an innocent enough message, and you don’t want to necessarily say you shouldn’t try. there has to be a way to go about promoting trying your hardest without saying, “work yourself to the point of breaking”, though.

[zscyber]

Triggered Awakening World Notes, etc.

This was the 'final' version of the world map (sorry my handwriting is so messy here; and yes, this is a really ugly 'map', I know - I just needed a simple version to visualize where stuff was, etc.) although there were still changes to who was where. But the locations were set. This was completely based off of the typical 'Zelda' map/ domains (though, that's probably really obvious).

Additional Notes/ changes (major spoilers for the main fic):

.All the locations are (as can be seen on the map) the romaji versions of Japanese words, descriptions, and verbs. Because I have no imagination when it comes to naming places.

. Best Jeanist was supposed to be the 2nd Champion (in Shuurai/ snowy mountains) but was switched with Ryuku. He was also supposed to have a minor 'mentor' role with Bakugou here (to match the manga) but Denki's character ended up being the focus.

. I'm pretty sure originally I had the group meeting FatGum before he died; that changed

.There was a brief time when Ochako was going to get her quirk

. It might be hard to believe, but there was a lot more minor/side character death planned (Tokoyami, Toru, Amajiki - for example). Yeah, I was in a not-bright place when I started the outline. The beginning of the fic kind of shows that I think (with Shoji in particular).

.Eri! Eri was originally at U.A. and the source of the time-freezing barrier. And it was 70-30 if she faded away after the barrier fell or lived and stayed with the group. I also thought about bringing Chisaki as an opponent near All Might's sword but once Eri was scrapped there was no need for him. So the pro-hero Guardian was created (a bit last minute, actually) and Iida was the main enemy.

. All Might and Toshinori were separate characters.

.The battle at Housou was supposed to be a high point for the group, showing how they could work together.

. Bakugou being stabbed by Himiko - I knew I wanted Bk to get hurt protecting Deku somehow and lead to U.A. (both as a parallel to Link taking a hit for Zelda in BotW (when she activated her powers for the first time - this was also back when Deku did have a quick and it would have been activated then) and to the war in the manga with Shigaraki stabbing BK) but where, when, and how just kinda... happened

.Shigaraki wasn't planned to be taken over by AfO. He was also never planned to have the slight heel-face turn at the end.

.Trigger Jewels were originally going to shatter upon use, not 'melt'/ merge into the person

.The Trigger Jewels were always based on the manga's Trigger drug. And the 'Old World' was always planned to be the 'modern' BNHA universe, but the timeline and how the original All Might + Champions vs. AfO, how many trigger jewels, etc. - basically how the background came together as one thing was a mess.

.So much with Momo. She was always a main character, but lots of her scenes weren't outlined in detail.

.One or two flashbacks to the strain between Izuku and his mother were taken out. Those might end up in SoC.

.Mei was just going to be a researcher at Kakure and not mentioned more than that.

.Kendo and Monoma - not planned at all. When I realized I needed some researchers... basically I just picked two characters who hadn't been used yet and ta-da.

.Another unexpected character was Magne. She was only supposed to be a generic member of the League (like in the manga) that was one of multiple members who kidnapped people for the experiments - really, she was picked because I'd used up the other members (Compress was the one who pretended to be a guard and almost stole the Musutafu's trigger jewel eight yrs before the rest of the story). Every scene past that one mention of her being the one to kidnap Tokoyami wasn't planned, never mind her 'mentor' relationship with Ochako and Himiko. But she ended up becoming a proxy? (that's probably not the right word) for how people in the league weren't ' pure evil'. Spinner, on the other hand, was planned to have a bigger role.

.Nomu - all were either based off manga ones (the winged one in Ippin) or were other characters (Kamui Woods, Death Arms, Setsuna (1B), vine girl from 1B, Power Loader, Mineta... more that I can't remember off the top of my head) so I could use their quirks. If a character (especially class 1B) didn't come up in the story, there's a high chance they were one of the 'failure' experiments. I'm annoyed I forgot about Edgeshot. There was one exception that was just a generic, but that's it (the female one in the castle attack).

.Nejire's fight with the Death Arms Nomu (and the resulting team-up with Shouto). Unplanned.

.Fuyumi wasn't going to have such a big role. Instead, she became... not a main character exactly, but she definitely got her own unplanned arc

.Hawks was supposed to do more. But I guess moving in the background actually suits him.

.Jiro was going to have her Quirk.

.There were two 'endings' regarding quirks after the final battle. One was that the main characters all permanently lost their quirks (and the remaining shards in the world would have broken so no more quirks for anyone after a while). The second was that everyone in the world was exposed to Trigger from the impact of the fight, so quirks would then be mostly universal in the future. I ended up going with the main characters still having their quirks, but much, much weaker versions, and... how that affected the rest of the population is still undecided (leaning more towards option 2).

.BK and Dk's misunderstandings... by arceus, those two could be a pain in the ass to write and figure out. I was always worried that their conflicts would seem too scripted or silly.

.Himiko and Jin surviving

.Ocahko was originally going to be part of the group again before the final fight (or maybe have not left in the first place), but by then she was in Houseki, and DK and the others wouldn't have trusted her anyway.

.How dark the first half of the final battle ended up. That was... yeah. I almost changed the rating to M for violence with that chapter (though, given some of the current shit in the manga it wasn't that much worse)

.The final battle was going to just be Deku vs. Shigaraki but after seeing Dk & BK team up in Heroes Rising, I changed stuff so they were fighting together.

. The length. This came up in the chapter notes all the damn time because IT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO BE 40 FUCKING CHAPTERS AND 309K WORDS

Technically, I'm keeping the series open because 1 - I have a very tiny number of possible ideas for a sequel, and 2 - Snippets of Consciousness is still ongoing. The latter though is going to be very, very slow on updates. It's a combination of being a bit burned out with the AU, having other projects that I'm more excited about, and (I know this sounds bad) a lack of interest from outside. But I do have a list of chapters for SoC.... someday.

End thoughts? I'd never written something this long or complicated before. Never did this much work on outlining a story. And there were lots of times I was tempted to just say 'fuck it!' and give up. But I'm glad that I finished it and overall... I think I'm pretty happy with how the work turned out.

A few more horrible 'drawings' for the world.

[history-rover]

Fic Writers Week (Day One): Words of Validation

Day 1: Words Of Validation - Fic Readers, take some time to leave new comments / Fic Writers, share some of the comments that stuck with you the most.

First and foremost, every single comment that has ever been left behind on any one of my fics means a great deal to me, and I can’t even describe how happy they all make me! Seriously, you all make my day! I’d like to put every single one of them into this post, but I don’t want to clog up peoples’ dashes, so even if you don’t see your comment here, just know that it is in this post in spirit.

One Available Copy

aaaaaaAAAAAAAA this is amazing??? i love this so so much asdfghjkl. Your characterization was on point and I literally laughed out loud a bunch of times. Thank you so much for sharing with us!! 

This was so lovely, sweet, funny and i can't really cope right now :D Your characterisation was spot on and this au in general was so good! And the thought of Kirishima and Bakugou sharing their assigned reading is doing funny things to my heart! 

This is so so so so cute!! I just love the progression of their relationship from emailed library notifications to post its to face to face talking and texts.... it's just so so adorable. Plus the idea itself is genius! And I've never seen a college AY that talks about library stuff like this and it's just a really cool concept and a really good idea...!Also, all the tiny details you wove into this really made it as good as it was: the inclusion of so many characters, Tsuyu's livestreams, Endeavor and Monoma's humiliation, the humour, the tododeku making out between the shelves and literally not giving a single fuck.... everything was funny and cute and the ENDING!! The ending was super well executed and wonderful and cute and I absolutely loved it. All of it. Thank you so much for writing this because it's seriously hecking amazing <3 Oh my gosh this is my favorite college AU fic! I really love everything about it. Your characterization of Bakugou especially was on point, very good, A+ LOVED IT 

Oh my goodness this was so freaking cute? Bakugou's attempts at flirting going right over kirishima's head is so in line with these two boys I'm yellinggggg thank u sm for writing this fic!!! u really made their college feel like a real living breathing place especially with the addition of all the meme pages!! 

I wrote One Available Copy (OAC) with the goal of making people laugh and smile, and to hear that I had done that made more happy than I could have imagined! I’m always second-guessing myself on characterisation as well, so these comments meant a lot to me, and I can’t thank people enough for them! Also, to hear that I had made the world feel alive and real...thank you all so much!

Wedlock

WHAT. A. FIRST. CHAPTER!!!

I am so excited for this AU omg?? I love that they're in an established relationship already and omg the playfulness? Flirting?? YES, MY BOYS, GO OFF AND START A SCANDAL. I AM ROOTING FOR YOU!

And magic!! Oh my gosh I love the incorporation of magic in this era and the fighting--the fighting. It's amazing. Intense. I love it.

Thank you as well for the superb attention to detail. I can tell a lot of research went into representing the era accurately and it makes your world all the more vivid and fascinating! (the sweets, i am remembering the sweets hahahaha)

I'm definitely looking forward to more of this AU! Great job!!!

Special shoutout first of all to @todorokishouts for this giant comment, after having to deal with my sobbing of research woes for this fic, and cheering me on through it, and consistently being the first person to comment on every new update along with @dystopiansushi! And yes, never forget #sweetgate2k17

I really loved how many cool elements of the time you included, it shows such an amazing deal of research!

Holy shit I'm loving this fic already!! Their established relationship is so playful and sweet, I'm really looking forward to seeing what comes next in their schemes!Also, your attention to detail in the setting while still managing to seamlessly infuse magical elements is really impressive! You've got me wanting to learn more about this world :DI hope to see more soon!! Thank you so much for this great fic :DD

Wow this is great so far! :D. I thinks it's really cool how much research you've done too, the accuracy of everything is awesome :0. Can't wait for the next chapter

I already love this and I can't wait to read more! I love how much research and knowledge you put into this au because it just shows how much you care about writing and the characters. A truly incredible first chapter with all the romance, humour and action any good story has. I loved it!

Did I mention that Wedlock is the most research-intensive fic that I’ve ever done? I swear I did the same amount of research (and still am doing research) for this story, as I did for my thesis, and to know that it wasn’t for nothing, and that people appreciated it, made me weep with joy. 

So this is fantastic. Like, excellent start. Established Tododeku? Awesome magical period romance? Actual Magic Frog Tsuyu? Appearances from numerous lovable minor characters? You are on a roll, my good sir. So I've noticed this trend in most fantasy and royalty AUs that feature Tododeku, and that is the trend of Commoner/Servant!Izuku being shipped with Royalty!Shouto. In light of that, can i just say that it is SO refreshing to see a story where they don't have to get around a weird societal imbalance of power in order to properly fall in love? It's beautiful and wonderfully uncomplicated, while still having the court politics that make stories like these so delightfully intriguing.But yeah, you've started really strong and I went back through your stuff to realize that I also read and loved your college AU, so needless to say, I'm super excited for this fic! Izuku and Shouto's dynamic is so wonderful in this, and I can't wait to see where it goes!

THIS IS BEAUTIFUL OML THIS IS ONLY CHAPTER 1 AND I CAN'T STOP SCREAMING ALREADY!!! THIS IS SO REFRESHING IN SO MANY WAYS LIKE: TODODEKU (all of it) FANTASY AU (it is always refreshing in a way) DAD MIGHT (ADOPTED IZUKU) CLASS 1-A & EVERYONES COMMENTS (they are easily the best) URARAKA AND TSU FIGHTS!!!AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST: THE WAY YOU WRITE EVERYTHING FROM THE CHARACTERS TO THE ENVIRONMENT IS BEAUTIFUL. I'M HYPED!!!

PitViperofDoom messaged me yesterday with a link and one word- "READ"And boy howdy am I glad I did! This was fantastic! I love the historical aspect of it mixed with magic and quirks and the romance was just. So good. I died with the cord thing very nice 11/10, perfection! I think you really stayed true to characters while giving them interesting influence from the setting and your writing skills are just amazing. I could really see every moment playing out. And the plot! Scheming boys and scandals, oh my! Great job. I can't wait to read more!

These three comment made me collectively die of happiness on the spot, to the point where my mother actually ran into my room asking me what I was screaming about. I think that pretty much sums up why these comment stood out to me.

Path of the Wind

I love this. I'm so happy I got to be the first to read through it; I love the premise, I love your Izuku, I love your Inko and your cryptid All Might, I think the whole thing is a fantastic and original idea and I absolutely can't wait to see how you continue it <3

None of this would have been possible without my beta reader @dystopiansushi, so thank you so much!

All aboard the hype train - whoop whoop! I'm an absolute sucker for fantasy/mystery/supernatural-esque AU content, with a side serving of Tododeku, so here I am! I'm excited to see how this plays out!

I’ve never written anything in the realm of the supernatural/fantast type before PotW, so to hear this was a big boost in confidence for me!

Whoah, I love your attention to detail here. The potholes especially caught my attention. It's something people think about, but most wouldn't think to describe distance like that. I'm excited for this!

I’ve always been a sucker for big detailed scenes, and I was so happy to find out that people enjoyed them as well, and that they didn’t take away from the story like I had been worried about.

Todo sure left an impression, poor boy Also I'm SO ON for how supportative and cute momma Inko is? Fuck, I love everything about your writring and I don't know how to describe what I like more and susbsusbsjs You're amazing

holy shit i cannot get enough of this story. it’s so well written, and extremely intriguing.i love how amazing the characters are?? just their mannerisms, midoriya’s mumbling, kirishima’s touchiness, and todoroki’s bluntness are so on-spot. also your Iida is perfect i love him!!im hardcore relating to midoriya right now, just itching to know the town’s secrets haha (as well as todoroki’s cause damn that kid is mysterious)

This is such a good update! You have such a soft way to write, I like it so, so much 

*crying emoji* thank you so much for complimenting my writing, and my writing style, and for validating me!

My Neighbour Totoro? I think you mean My Neighbour Todoroki (I'll walk myself out). Hums loudly at the mention of glinting eyes watching Midoriya enter Yuuei Academy. Who could that have been? All Might isn't really size appropriate to be slinking around there after all. And just what is Todoroki up to? Midoriya has a lot of interesting questions, thats for sure. I hope he gets the answers to all of them, because they're making me wonder too. Having the Todoroki's as the fire department will certainly link Shouto to finding the necessary evidence Midoriya's searching for in regards to the old Yuuei fires where All might was spotted, and I bet Endeavour has a huge role to play in that too. I wouldn't be surprised if the fire was instigated in an attempt to successfully lure All might out, although I may be stretching the theory bar a little on that one. I just hope Endeavour hasn't forced Todoroki the impossible task for trying to track All Might down once and for all. But, he seems genuinely scared of Midoriya's "haunted" place, or maybe he's just scared of Midoriya? What's going on Todoroki, communicate with us here. I hope Midoriya doesn't get lost trying to track shouto home. Good luck boys! Until next time!

'Somewhere in the distance, there's the sharp trill of birdsong, followed closely by the frantic flapping of wings, the sounds a concert accompanied by the occasional whisper of a breeze rattling the leaves and branches of the forest, and his own discrete pants for air.' Okay just gotta say that line is absolutely gorgeous and I can picture it perfectly in my head. There are so many descriptions throughout this chapter that are just SO PRETTY!!! FIRST CONTACT WITH THE CRYPTID AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!! This was adorable?!?! All Might is a sweetheart through and through! And Izuku fanboying? Oh my dear boy. (Izuku concerned for Shouto? oh my aching heart. BUT IZUKU THINKING ABOUT HOW PRETTY SHOUTO IS IS THE BEST THING EVER OKAY) Inko! Please take care;;;;;; don't worry your mother too much Izuku!Now, onto Aizawa. He cares a lot about his students, yeah........ but is that all? Hmmm? Do you know more than you let on, Aizawa? *eyes emoji* Could there be more teachers behind the scenes, helping All Might out? The plot thickens.

That would require finding said clearing, Shouto, and all things considered that sounds like quite the challenge. People often don’t remember directions well when rushing around.I wonder why Shouto wants to meet All Might so badly. Is his home life anywhere near as bad as it is in canon? Perhaps hopes All Might will help rescue his mom from wherever Enji stashed her.

AND TOTORO MAKES HIS APPEARANCE - i mean All Might. He's like the local friendly bigfoot. Bless him and his accident-selfie. Midoriya had such a rough tumble - it sounded both super painful and really dangerous - I'm glad he got saved in time. Todoroki ironically lead Midoriya to the clearing by running away from him to begin with - I see you trying to benefit yourself and your goals in this invitation. I worry Midoriya won't be able to find the clearing since he woke up there and was carried away from there - without a definitive route. Todoroki might not be as patient when he realises Midoriya can't find it for him. Aizawa's behaviour concerns me. Is he in contact/affiliation with All might? I feel like he knows. Until next time!

I honestly did not expect to get this initial comment, much less speculation about PotW, so I was absolutely floored, when the speculation began to come in with later chapters, and I must say that it gave me so so much motivation to keep on writing!

Man so much of this is so Ghibli; Izuku leaning out of the window, the tiny house on the edge of a giant forest, Shouto appearing in the dusk to give an ominous message, only to retreat to his mansion home across the moor (okay the moor is Gothic lit but STILL WHAT A MOOD). He has the biggest combo of San & Haku going on and I dig it so hard.

You write EXACTLY as a Ghibli movie is animated and just Wow It’s gorgeous

This is absolutely gorgeous. You capture the atmosphere so well. I’ve always wanted a regular high school au for these kids and while it isn’t the main focus, I really enjoy that aspect of the story. The plot so far is amazing, just the right combination of Ghibli and BNHA that it creates a new story entirely its own. I love every moment of this and am excited to see how Todoroki and Midoriya’s relationship evolves.

Studio Ghibli is one of the biggest influences in my life in terms of media, and I desperately wanted to do justice to it through PotW, so these comments literally made me cry from happiness.

Wow, this got really really long, and I wholeheartedly apologise to anyone reading this on mobile, and I just wanted to say once again, to everyone who has ever read my fics, to everyone who has ever read my fics and commented, thank you so so much! Your comments, reblogs, and supports give me so much motivation, and sometimes they’re the only things that get me through a tough time!