#dabi will never get flashbacks who am I kidding

[sarah-dipitous]

Hellsite Nostalgia Tour 2023 THE FINAL DAY

The Final Problem/Carry On/The Giggle

“The Final Problem”

Plot Description: A dark secret in the Holmes family rears its head with a vengeance, putting Sherlock and friends through a series of sick, manipulative psychological and potentially fatal games.

Here we are, the Sherlock episode SO BAD:

1) the fandom collectively decided there was a secret fourth episode that would fix it all, and

2) I’ve blocked most of it out of my memory in the past seven or so years

My apologies to Megumi who is being subjected to this at such a young age

For someone who hates socializing and in fact just people in general, Mycroft is having such a good time mouthing the dialogue of this movie……

Is this SENTIMENT, Mycroft?? Before it all goes to hell REALLY fast

Isn’t part of this a trick by Sherlock??

No because really, if you watched the first episode of this show and then this one you’d be so confused how we fucking got here. This used to be a fun if queerbaiting detective show!!

Did you really need to psychologically torture Mycroft to get this information??

Why would John know that about Mycroft more than Sherlock?

I seriously don’t understand why everyone hates Mycroft this season. He’s never been the warmest or most forthcoming person, so why are we all of a sudden bullying him for it?

One thing I do remember is that the Holmeses didn’t have a dog, and the dog we’re seeing in these flashbacks will eventually be revealed to be a neighborhood kid…and Sherlock is about to figure that out

They put her away for just a tinge of arson?? (And the murder, too, I suppose, and clearly wanting to kill her brother?? (Why is she Dabi?))

In another Eurus is Dabi, she started another fire that she “did not survive.”

What a convenient time for that drone with a grenade to show up at 221b

This would not have happened in 2010 Sherlock, but the degradation of this show is just………it’s sad, really

Rolling my eyes at “Sherlock Holmes the pirate”…pirates are so much cooler than you, dude

$20 says the guy in the…boat…person…outfit (shut up) is Sherlock. Well…you didn’t bet so I don’t have to give you anything. It was one of the Holmes boys

If this wasn’t the show it started as, this kind of plot could be good in a Dan Brown, easily digestible, psychological thriller kind of way. UNFORTUNATELY, it had promise in the beginning……….I don’t mean to make that sound like I’m shitting on Dan Brown. I can’t deny that I read Angels & Demons quicker than I had ever thought I would

It sucks that John will automatically respond to Vatican Cameos but Sherlock does not trust John the same way

I forgot they were watching a tape and not a live feed…on one hand, it’s good that John figured it out (a little too late but earlier than Mycroft) that they couldn’t trust this man who is in charge of this equivalent to [island prison from fandom redacted] but they probably should have been watching Sherlock too

Am I happy to SEE Jim? Yes. But I’ve always fucking HATED this defanging he got

Behold, the only good moment of this whole episode

I don’t want to actually READ Jim’s story of the nativity titled The Hungry Donkey, but I’d read the Wikipedia article synopsis

Isn’t the whole girl on a plane that’s going to crash fake?

Mycroft has never been so human and emotional, I hate it. Pull yourself together, man

She TOLD you she’d shoot that dude’s wife if Mycroft or John didn’t shoot him, and you didn’t believe her??

Turns out, what’s good for children’s hospitals is good for high security prisons. C’mon, lads, it’s BASIC COLOR THEORY

Get your ass to the table, Mycroft. HELP.

I forgot that she coerces Sherlock to manipulate Molly into telling him she loves him in three minutes or she’ll kill Molly. I was about to say “that’s just cruel,” but it’s no less cruel than the rest of the murders she’s done today, we just have more context and attachment to Molly

Mycroft, you do not get to sneer at Sherlock’s hesitation to kill John when you couldn’t even kill the governor of this prison to save his wife, and then you dry heaved in the corner (what was moftiss thinking with this writing??)

Oh……….oh, he’s TRYING to make Sherlock hate him enough to kill him instead of John, to make it easier for Sherlock. I’m sorry I said that about you, Mycroft……..but Sherlock did see through it

I can’t imagine trying to get this little girl to safely crash this plane (or save it) and keep John from drowning at the same time. I’d shut down

Remember when the fandom thought Tom Huddleston would come in and play Victor Trevor? And I think he was supposed to be the secret Holmes, too….

I THOUGHT I remembered Eurus being the girl on the plane this whole time, but like I said, I blocked a LOT of this out

John’s safe, Sherlock’s better than a great man, he’s a good one…and now Mycroft is being told off by their parents

WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHERLOCK WAS ALWAYS THE GROWNUP?? One, Mycroft was always more stable if also colder, but two, and more importantly, YOU ARE HIS MOTHER AND YOU’RE SAYING THIS??

So Sherlock gets to go play violin with/at her secretly whenever, but their parents never get to see their daughter ever again??

Guess I was wrong, they’re putting on a little concert in her extremely high security cell for their parents and Mycroft, I GUESS

This montage of cases and how we could have had those instead of whatever the hell this was that we got

“Carry On”

Plot Description: in the series finale, Sam and Dean investigate one last case, then confront where their respective roads are going to take them next

I’m calling absolute bullshit on that description as someone who HAS watched the series finale before

Would I Survive the First Five Minutes??: No one died. It was just the boys doing very ordinary things

One thing I didn’t remember was THEY KEPT THE DOG?? The dog that was potentially only alone because Chuck got rid of EVERYONE??

I want to be like “you were told it was hot” but Dean yelling “Hot bread!” when the toast (it’s called TOAST, Dean) popped out of the toaster is very special to me

AKRON?? I forgot that Dean dies in Ohio and like a 45 minute drive from me…

This is why we don’t answer the door if we’re not expecting someone…you could get stabbed in front of your kids

Ok, potentially he dies a little further from me, in Canton…but still Ohio

Omg I hate this. I know he’s gonna die for real in the DUMBEST WAY POSSIBLE

They’re mentally preparing like they’ve never fought four vampires before. Like they haven’t fought gods, like they haven’t fought GOD. It’s just a nest of vampires

Was she from season ONE? Sam’s hair from the flashback makes me think yes….aaaaand it doesn’t matter

Oh god. There it issssss. The rudest rusty nail in all existence

What the fuck made me think I could go through this again?? I can’t watch Dean die for good!!!!!!!! What I would give to have Cas here right now to heal him

The FIRST AID KIT, SAM??

IT DID NOT HAVE TO END LIKE THIS!!! I will tell future generations that season 15 only has 19 episodes.

He sounds like an OLD dying man, but he’s like just over 40

Y’all are not beating the allegations that homophobic little kid at the motel who asked “king or two queens” put on ya in this moment. Just sayin. That was also, like, season one or two.

I’m just MAD that that’s how Dean went out now…

That’s such a big bunker for one person, Sam

Literally, they could have stopped at 19 episodes. No one wants to watch Sam be depressed all over the bunker

It’s so wild to me how many times they kept bringing Bobby back. And at least now it’s originally recipe Bobby talking to Dean.

Aww Jack made necessary changes to heaven, and Cas is here SOMEWHERE but JUST DOESN’T SHOW UP IN THE EPISODE FOR WHATEVER REASON

Having now seen the penultimate episode, it’s incredibly frustrating that Dean’s first action in Heaven after sharing a beer with Bobby is to go for a drive…like that wasn’t the last thing the boys did at the end of that episode. None of this was necessary

I wonder if Baby is a little cursed like Good Omens Crowley’s Bentley, but instead of playing Queen all the time it’s JUST “Carry On, Wayward Son” by Kansas…because that’s what started playing as Dean started up Baby

I am glad Sam gets to give his kid (who he named Dean) the childhood he always wanted but never had

Now Sam’s wearing glasses to show that time has passed

Ah yes, the horrible party city wig. They didn’t even really age his face. They just slapped the wig and glasses on and said “good enough! This network has never been profitable and it’s going to be even less so after this episode airs and supernatural is over”

They really want it to be a meaningful moment that Sam’s last words to his brother were “it’s okay. You can go now” and his son’s last words to him were the same, but all it’s doing is making me mad again over how Dean died

I know time works differently in Heaven or whatever but was Dean driving for the rest of Sam’s whole LIFE???

I think it’s KIND OF FUNNY that they End of Titanic Sam. Dean looks like he’s the age he died at but Heaven de-aged Sam. I’m not nor will I ever be a Wincest shipper but the parallels ARE THERE. This episode really did THAT

I’m really much more upset than I ever thought I would be about this show ending (she says about a show she can just go back and watch whenever she wants)

“The Giggle”

Plot Description: the Doctor is powerless as the terrifying Toymaker holds the human race in his grasp

(Y’all…I’m getting a little choked up thinking about how this will be over in roughly an hour, maybe an hour and a half…maybe it’ll stretch to two hours depending on how sad I get)

I won’t lie, it’s really weird seeing Neil Patrick Harris in Doctor Who and in 2023

Well, that burning doll being the first image to ever be televised is not horrifying at all

UNIT really needs better ways of getting the Doctor’s attention

I’m…assuming another old companion. I like that we are actually continuing the former companions coming back trend

Oh lord, the amount of paranoia caused by…whatever this is. Honestly, it makes everyone the worst Karen you’ve ever seen. Kate saw two redheads in one room and thought there was a conspiracy going on there amongst other, more horrible things

I’m sorry. WHAT. The image and laugh of the first picture ever televised is somehow buried deep in EVERY tv screen (and possibly just every screen) EVER?? No

Not even Eurus got Moriarty on THIS MANY screens, but it’s giving “miss me?”

YES, Donna!!! Bargain for what your knowledge is worth to UNIT!!!! You went from a 60k offer to 120k and five weeks vacation! You deserve it

I know they WILL but I want the moments NOW of the Doctor finally being vulnerable emotionally about all of it to Donna

Ok but if…is the Toymaker like…another Time Lord?? No, just from another realm (that was the word used…does it mean plane of existence? Universe? Will we ever know?)…and by playing into superstition at the edge of OUR universe, the Doctor let him in, I GUESS

They better not kill Donna. Not after all this.

Noooooooooooo, I’m getting Doomsday ptsd flashbacks. We’re dealing with other planes of existence and now the Doctor and their companion have been tragically separated and are pounding at their respective sides of this door. They can’t even hear each other

The TV guy’s assistant has been turned into a puppet???

No. Wtf wtf wtf. I’m not normally scared of dolls but this is something else. Donna bashing that doll against the wall was exactly the way to go with that, though

You know….watching everything that’s happened to the Doctor since he last left Donna in highly abridged puppet show form….the fates of all their companions (save for 13’s) HAVE been rather terrible.

Wait…so…wait…the Master is in the Toymaker’s tooth???? Also, the Toymaker has TOO MANY TEETH

THAT IS NOT A NORMAL NUMBER OF TEETH

That NONE OF THEM recognized Spice Up Your Life by the Spice Girls is CRIMINAL

The fact that he can render UNIT completely useless

He’s really giving NPH the same kind of speech he gave both John Simm AND Michael Sheen??? Come with me to the stars! We can travel together forever!

I was not expecting him to shoot David with a laser

This is a departure from form, if they do it now. There are 22 min left and we’re getting the regeneration now?? Orrrrrrrrrr not. Far be it for me to criticize or act like an expert, but why are we getting two of them?? Sure?? Bigeneration is now a thing. Is he wearing pants?? Or did they just give him the shirt and tie??

The fate of the Doctor and probably all of humanity is coming down to a game of catch???

Bind it in salt? Is it a ghost?? Is this supernatural???

Who just picked up the tooth though?? The one that, for some reason, contains the Master

So, is the David Tennant Doctor going to stay with Donna’s family or is he gonna go away at some point??

I’m the past couple seasons we’ve gotten so many TARDISes, and this one that Ncuti Gatwa made is even wheelchair accessible!!

Ohhhh!! David Doctor IS going to live with Donna and her family it seems or at least he’ll always have a place with her.

HE CALLED ROSE NOBLE HIS NIECE!!!!! This is his FAMILYYYYY

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 229: The Real Me

Previously on BnHA: Dabi fought a dude who could control ice. For like three pages. Then we cut to my boy Twice, who had located an unconscious Toga (who as you recall had her blood blown up a couple chapters back, so yeah) and was understandably freaking out about how to get her some help. To make a long and somewhat confusing story short, you know that long-haired guy who hacked Giran’s phone? Turns out he has the power to create human puppets or some shit, and he created a bunch of Twice duplicates and sent them to capture the real Twice (who you might also recall has some traumatic history involving clones of himself). Seems they want to use Twice’s quirk to create a backup clone of Re-Destro, just in case history repeats himself and he ends up kicking the bucket like his great-great granddad. Wouldn’t that be sad. Re-Destro getting murdered. Wouldn’t that just be a darn shame. Anyways so let’s see where this leads.

Today on BnHA: The Villain Flashback Arc continues with today’s installment featuring, you guessed it, more villain flashbacks! We learn more about our little buddy Twice who was apparently orphaned as a young teen and subsequently found himself alone in a cold and uncaring world. Honestly you guys, after reading this I’m amazed that he’s still as nice of a guy as he is. Anyway, so he used his quirk to clone himself because he was lonely, and the clones and him engaged in a petty crime spree or two, and then somehow or other it all led to the whole murderfest that fucked up his head so badly. Back in the present, a struggling Jin tries to escape and help Toga, so Skeptic orders his puppets to break Jin’s arms. They do so, but this has a curious side-effect that Skeptic may not have been expecting. Namely, that having that much damage dealt to him makes Twice realize that he definitely is not one of his clones, and is in fact the real deal. This appears to at least temporarily cure his split personality woes, and the chapter ends with him creating about a dozen duplicates to go fuck up the Liberation Army’s day. Hell yes.

(All comments are my unspoiled reactions from my initial readthrough of the chapter. I did a quick edit for grammar and clarity immediately afterward, but aside from that there are no changes.)

hey guys, sorry I’ve been inactive all week; I’ve been sick and haven’t really had much energy. I still am sick, but I appear to have reached the stage of exhaustion where I’m all “eh, fuck it, yeah sure whatever” where it’s ironically easy to motivate myself to do stuff because I have no willpower to resist, lol

so anyway. we’re apparently not missing a beat, picking up right where we left off last week with Twice’s mask being pulled off by one of the gorilla puppets

wow and they’re just like. flinging him aside

DON’T FLING MY BOY NO!! AND GET AWAY FROM TOGA

AHHHH

shit, how creepy is that? are they cold because they’re just ~puppets~ and not actually real, living people? what a disturbing touch

now we’re cutting back to Skeptic, who’s giving the puppets orders and addressing them as various letters of the alphabet. how can he tell them the fuck apart

meanwhile Giran’s asking what they’re doing to his pal. ;_; Giran you continue to be the best

and Re-Destro’s forcibly directing his attention elsewhere, but he’s also answering his question, strangely enough

that’s a lot of detail to be giving the guy when you could have just smacked him and told him to shut up. these villains are so confusing

but I guess they’re just telling him all this to taunt him more, because now Skeptic is bragging that he learned about Jin’s psychological disorder from Giran’s client data

hey btw I don’t think I’ve said this yet, but fuck this guy so hard for taking advantage of Twice’s trauma and using it against him. what a shocker, the Meta Liberation Army of dickheads pulls another dickhead move. these guys are so classy

oh my fucking god you guys Giran is getting hotter with each fucking chapter though fffffffff

if you’d told me a month ago that this dude would be nipping at Aizawa and All Might’s heels for the title of BnHA’s most eligible bachelor I would have called you a liar and a thief, yet here we are. good lord

that said, I appreciate that he’s thinking about how hard it’ll be on poor Twice, but they also just said they’d kill Toga as well, so I imagine that part of it would be pretty hard on her too. just saying

SDLFKSDLFHK SPEAKING OF

FUCK ME YOU GUYS I ALMOST LEAPED TO MY FUCKING FEET, WHAT THE FUCK. DON’T TELL ME THEY’RE GOING TO SNAP HER NECK. HOLY SHIT

SOMEONE BETTER SAVE HER OR I’M GOING TO FLY OUT TO JAPAN AND GIVE HORIKOSHI MY STUPID COLD. THAT’LL SHOW THAT BASTARD. HAVE SOME BRONCHITIS YOU PIECE OF SHIT

AND TWICE IS WATCHING ALL PANICKED AND SCREAMING THAT HE’S GOING TO KILL HER

AT FIRST I WAS CONFUSED AND WAS LIKE, DOES HE BLAME HIMSELF FOR GETTING HER IN THIS SITUATION? BUT THEN I REMEMBERED THE CLONES AND THAT YEAH IT’S LITERALLY HIM KILLING HER THOUGH OMGGGGG

AHHH HE’S SO CONFUSED THIS IS SO CONFUSING

I’M TOO SICK TO DEAL WITH TWICE’S EXISTENTIAL CRISIS YOU GUYS, IT’S REALLY FREAKING ME OUT, HELP. THE FUCKING PANELS ARE ALL WOBBLY-LINED AND THEY KEEP ZOOMING IN ON HIS FACE AND SHOWING HIM ALL BUG-EYED SCREAMING “WHO AM I” OVER AND OVER AGAIN OH GOD

OH SHIT!?!?

ACTUAL TWICE FLASHBACKS OH SHIT?! I was not expecting this oh snap. I am so into this

anyway, so he’s thinking -- with surprising coherence -- that because of his rough appearance, people were always afraid of him growing up

but also, what was that part about him not having a family? so he was an orphan then?? Horikoshi you are aware that I already love Twice and am emotionally attached to him, yes? but like if you want to hit me with even more feels and fuck me up some more then be my guest I suppose?

anyway so whoever he’s talking to here says Jin, who is apparently sixteen here, evidently hit some dude with his motorcycle by accident. oh shit

and baby!Jin says the guy jumped out in front of him and he was obeying the speed limit and everything

and the man he’s talking to seems vaguely sympathetic but says that regardless, it’s usually the victim who ends up winning these cases, and that Jin may end up with a criminal record. “but don’t let it get to you.” oh, sure. yeah, let’s just look on the bright side here

he says that no matter how many times you stumble in life, you can always start over

well shit is it any wonder this kid ended up going the villain route and making a bunch of clones of himself to live his best life? I mean jeez, he had absolutely no one on his side and was slapped with a criminal record when he was only sixteen. that shit is rough

oh fuck me and it just keeps getting worse

well that’s nice. so make that homeless with a criminal record, then. jesus christ he was still just a kid

so apparently his parents died in a villain attack when he was in middle school, and he had no relatives. I guess the state didn’t give a fuck either, damn

I find it extraordinarily easy to empathize with, actually! that’s one of the things that makes you such a great character!

so I guess he originally ended up making a clone of himself just because he was lonely. okay wow. not only does Twice continue to be the most likable villain in the series, he’s working his way up there as one of the most likable and relatably human characters, period

look at this shit! he’s just a guy who had a run of bad luck and tried his best to cope with it in whatever ways he could. there’s nothing villainous about him, he was just someone whom nobody wanted. he had his entire future stolen out from under him in the blink of an eye and had nowhere else to turn. he just wanted some friends for fuck’s sake

and so then he and his merry band committed a bunch of petty crimes. but they just needed some cash so they could live! like, all he wanted to do was just chill out and be happy. I got your back Twice. it’s not your fault

and then the flashback just kind of cuts to him tied to the chair in the aftermath of the clone hunger games. so I guess that’s all the backstory we’re getting as far as that goes. ngl I would have really liked to see just a bit more of the lead-up to that specific event. he’s such a nice guy that it’s a bit hard to picture him just suddenly going “RAWR I’M GONNA MURDER ALL Y’ALL.” but what I’m thinking is that all of the tragedy in his past contributed to him forming his violent alter ego personality, and that one of the clones must have just snapped one day and the rest is history

anyway so now we’re cutting to his first meeting with my new boyfriend Giran

ah okay, so he’s scared because if he actually is one of the clones then just a tiny bit of damage would be enough to finally do him in

btw Giran, possibly the one good thing Re-Destro and his buds did was getting rid of that scarf and sunglasses though bud. if you decide to change up your look after all of this, I’m not going to complain. there’s a reason I thought you were just some douchebag this whole time. obviously I shouldn’t have been so quick to judge you, I realize that now of course

but seriously Giran who wears sunglasses at night indoors. I mean, idk, maybe you get migraines or something. but if not I’m just saying

regardless, questionable fashion choices aside, Giran is actually a super nice guy, a mensch if you will, and he is now casually changing Twice’s entire life in the span of a few sentences. awww

how the fuck were you planning on smoking that cigarette while wearing a paper bag over your face. ??

also, Giran on this page kinda reminds me of Sanji, if Sanji was, like, a beatnik about to throw down on open mic poetry night

anyway so that’s the end of our happy flashback, and now we’re back in the present with Twice resuming his freakout!

but in spite of his mental struggles, he’s shaking the puppet clones off and trying to dash toward Toga again omg!

up in his little tower Skeptic seems fairly surprised

in related news, fuck this guy so much. also he’s using one of his puppets as a chair, which is one of the creepiest touches Horikoshi has put in this manga to date. but also they mentioned last week that Skeptic makes the puppets out of any human-sized materials that happen to be lying around, so I kind of wonder if maybe this dude originally was a chair. the mysteries of BnHA

moving on though, yeah, Twice and Toga really do have a strong bond though, don’t they? their chemistry is as beautiful as it is strange

oh shit but they really did hit him though

FUCK YOU F AND G

FFFFF SON OF A BITCH

DLASFKJLKJ PLEASE DON’T YOU FUCKING PSYCHOPATH, I CAN’T WAIT FOR YOU TO FUCKING DIE YOU ASSHOLE!!!

motherfucker! and we just established that he’s afraid that a broken bone will be enough to kill him if it turns out he really is a clone!

-- holy shit, but. on the other hand, if it doesn’t kill him though, that just might be enough to cure him of that particular fear once and for all. oh shit, unexpected plot twist

though in this particular situation it probably won’t make much of a difference how sane he is if he’s still got two broken arms though fuuuuuuuck

anyway... gotta click to the next page... even though I really don’t want to, sob

aaaaaaaand they’ve broken them. well shit. at least it wasn’t graphic. he’s just hunching forward and screaming and his arms are facing the wrong way, fuck

and now Skeptic is all “your legs are next,” and uh, can Twice actually hear him, though?? like, what? did I miss something here? is he piping his voice in through the shed’s convenient sound system or something?

anyway he’s telling Twice not to struggle anymore, and Twice is muttering to himself all darkly about how much that hurt

and apparently Toga’s regained consciousness now!!

wow Skeptic, okay sure, go ahead and keep talking about how you’re about to kill Toga in front of his eyes. just keep on digging yourself deeper. it’s like he doesn’t realize there’s only one page left in the chapter and things are just about reaching a tipping point and our heroes (?! I mean they are, though, for this arc at any rate) have had just about enough of his bullshit

lol I can’t take the tension omg

please do something badass please do something badass please d --

oh snap

Twiiiiiiice ;_; so it’s like I thought. they unexpectedly cured you of your identity crisis angst

anyway I guess this chapter is a longer one than usual because it’s page 15 now and we’re still going! so I will now resume my “please do something badass” chant. c’mon Twice. kick some assssssss

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS

THIS TIME I REALLY DID LEAP OUT OF MY CHAIR OMG. BOIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

LMAO ARE ALL OF THEIR ARMS BROKEN TOO. FUCK IT, IT DOESN’T MATTER. DEKU HAS SPENT APPROXIMATELY HALF THE MANGA WITH BROKEN ARMS AND IT’S NEVER STOPPED HIM*

*forest angst aside. and anyways that all worked out in the end, so

“wounded heroes are the most dangerous.” well fuck. given that we’ve just seen an exhausted and delirious Shigaraki eradicate an entire wave of people, and a bloodied and wounded Toga straight up murder one of the Army’s leaders, I think it’s safe to say we can apply this statement to villains too. and I for one can’t wait how dangerous a wounded -- but now sane -- Twice can be. motherfucker how I am loving this glorious arc

[eri-cheri]

Now that we have reached the last chapter of the year. It is time to do a 2020 roll call of what I like to call, “State of the Shippers”:

1. IzuOcha. Status: Placated.

-IzuOcha’s could celebrate several cute tidbits throughout the year. Mini moments as they say.

Anime Highlights: The OVA’s came in clutch with moments for shippers all around and IzuOcha is no exception. We got a cute tidbit where Izuku and Ochako bumped into each other and were flustered.

Manga Highlights: Christmas kept on giving to this fandom as the AM doll Izuku gave Ochako made many appearances. A cute fist bump between the two was also exchanged and Mina was right there bouncing with y’all.

Heroes Rising: Izuku super man carried Ochako to safety. And was Angy she was injured. Fans could enjoy the small Lois Lane moment.

Troubling Signs?: Ochako said “I would like to be excluded from this narrative” when it comes to her feelings for Deku. She’s a hero damnit! So if they are in for something, probably won’t be while they are still in school.

II. DabiHawks. Status: Yikes.

- Dabi and Hawk’s very public breakup set this fandom in disarray but also kind of disayay?

Anime Highlights: None yet. This fandom was cruelly cock blocked by Bones. Sorry DabiHawks stans.

Manga Highlights: Where to begin, my goodness. With these fans, I guess the good and the bad is a plus in this homoerotic double agent relationship. We have the notion that Dabi may have known Hawks when they were kids, which may be a positive? Hori sure loves his childhood friends. Other than that. The GIRLS WERE FIGHTIN’. Hawks is now permanently scarred by Dabi and I don’t think it was kinky folks. Tokoyami inserted himself in the middle to White Knight Hawks, Dabi broke up with him via YT expose and overall, shippers could anguish in the absolute MESS that this ship endured this year. But I’m sure that’s part of the appeal. So...yay?

Heroes Rising: They were both in it.

Troubling Signs?: The entire relationship is a troubling sign which again, is part of the appeal. Maybe Hawks will cuddle up with Dabi’s father after the war. That’s troubling! Speaking of...

III. EndHawks. Status: Yearning and Burning.

-If there’s one thing Endeavor couldn’t stop worrying about, it was his hot (in more ways than one) new side piece who probably should have looked at the fine print when signing a contract to be a recurring guest star on “Keeping up with the Todoroki’s”.

Anime Highlights: A fateful meeting finally in high definition for all our eyes to see! Hawks’s unwavering support of his biggest hero was endearing to watch and their shenanigans together spurred the anime onlies to finally jump on the biggest May-December ship in the series.

Manga Highlights: Endeavor’s admiration and concern for Hawks seeped through the pages as we entered our most exciting arc in the manga yet. Fate split these two up yet entwined their downfall together. And that Fate’s name was Dabi...or should I say ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️ or should I just say Touya!

Heroes Rising: “Don’t bite my head off, Endeavor.” Geez, can you flirt a little less loud Hawks?

Troubling Signs?: They say never meet your heroes and Hawks is in for a rude awakening. We shall see just how deep his admiration runs or if Endeavor’s past will split our dynamic duo up for good.

IV: TodoDeku. Status: “Precious”

-Shoto’s “Midoriya is in Danger” radar was highlighted in both manga and anime. 4th User’s quirk, who?

Anime Highlights: “Midoriya hasn’t returned yet.” “Where’s Midoriya?” “Midoriya! Grab my hand!” “Have some of my Soba Midoriya.” Shoto gets it. His emotional support friend is a danger magnet. TodoDeku’s also enjoyed tiny tidbits in the OVA such as a hand grabbing scene. Gotta hold tight to those crumbs.

Manga Highlights: Two Words. “Precious Friend.” Deku comes in w/o arms or legs fighting for Shoto and Shoto’s honor. These two spent the entire year worried sick about each other, and going against all odds to save each other. Precious Friends indeed. TDDK fans ate.

Heroes Rising: Shoto kicks some dog ass and then faints thinking of Deku (and Bakugo but shh. Let the shippers rejoice.) On the bright side, we have a 3rd movie coming featuring “The Three Musketeers” so shippers of TdDk can HOLD TIGHT to what’s to come.

Troubling Signs?: Shoto still doesn’t know about OFA and he’s gonna have LOTS of questions after this arc. Will Deku finally tell him? If not, it could make or break the ship.

V. TodoBaku. Status: “Shining through the city with a little funk and soul.”

-Who knew the greatest comedy duo we needed was Shoto and his hot headed “friend” or not friend? It still remains unclear to Shoto. Regardless, these two had a fun year.

Anime Highlights: “I wanna see your cute face”, disco dancing, and more fun in the provisional license training. Plus the OVA added some cute moments between the two such as Bakugo staying behind to save Todoroki during a dangerous excercise and his adorable plan neatly animated for us. I’d say TodoBaku’s really were resurgent and energized this year!

Manga Highlights: Shoto, that is not how you properly Catch a Kacchan, I’m sorry. But at least you did it you mad lad. As with Deku, Shoto spent the year worried sick about Bakugo. While the anime let us have our fun, these two were suffering in the manga.

Heroes Rising: Again, Shoto put a dog down and then fainted with Bakugo on his mind (and Deku but we ignore that. Shush.) TodoBaku’s have the 3rd movie to look forward to which is bound to have some amazing content!

Troubling Signs?: They have a lot of trauma to deal with. And a lot of Deku to worry about. I also imagine Shoto will be hurt about being left out of the OFA secret. We shall see what 2021 has to offer.

VI. KiriMina. Status: Unbreakable.

-Changing your hairstyle to match the gal who inspired you in middle school? Sorry y’all but if Mina were a guy, I’d say that’s gay af.

Anime Highlights: We got that backstory Bois. Red Riot’s origin might as well make him be called Pink Riot. Again with Hori and the childhood friends though I wouldn’t exactly call them friends. They just went to the same middle school but Kirishima was highly influenced by Mina’s Chivalrous spirit! A ship is born!

Manga Highlights: The influence is mutual! Mina creates a move based on Kirishima’s unbreakable and we all let out a collective “awwww”. Also in the war arc, we got Kirishima making sure Mina’s chivalrous spirit shines through right into Gigantomachia’s mouth! KiriMina may just be the unsung MVP’s of this arc.

Heroes Rising: They were in it.

Troubling Signs?: I can’t think of a single one. KiriMina’s can enjoy a peaceful sailing.

VII: KiriBaku. Status: Crumb Collectors.

-2020 was an uneventful year for KiriBaku but Bones made sure there were crumbs aplenty! Thank God for OVA’s!

Anime Highlights: KiriBaku’s did thrive in one episode! Kirishima reflects on the sludge incident and evolves his quirk based on inspiring words from Bakugo! Hooray! KiriBaku’s can thrive in their blossoming friendship. The OVA also has Kirishima (and Kaminari but shh) once again following Bakugo’s lead when it comes to the training excercise. How can you not? He’s so manly!

Manga Highlights: Not gonna lie. There is nothing much here this year. I did find a teeny tiny flake in Aizawa’s flashback. Kirishima and Bakugo are sitting next to each other. Oh! And at the hot pot gathering, Bakugo sits next to Kirishima! Eat your crumbs KiriBaku’s! There’s always next year!

Heroes Rising: Kirishima hangs with a lazy Bakugo and delivers the most hilarious line in the whole movie. “Silly Bakugo, there won’t be villains here!” Hahah... Silly Bakugo. Oh you~ KiriBaku’s can inhale the fact that those two sure love to hover around each other!

Troubling Signs?: With great crumbs come little responsiblity. No trouble if there’s no content! 🤔

VIII: KamiJirou. Status: Singing their hearts out 🎶

-If there’s any ship that’s coming close to canonization, I think this is it, folks! “Think of the person most important to you!” Can’t argue with Midnight!

Anime Highlights: Kaminari does non stop encouraging of Jirou and her hobbies! He works super hard to learn guitar for her sake! We love a king who can encourage his queen!

Manga Highlights: Kaminari thinks of the most important person to him and surprise! It’s Jirou! All of the feels can commence.

Heroes Rising: They were in it!

Troubling Signs?: Kaminari does love his women. And men. Kaminari overall is a huge flirt. But Jirou appears to have his heart strings. ❤️

IX: BakuDeku. Status: Rising. 👑

-Alternative Statuses include Winning, Thriving, Soaring. It’s just been non stop content this year. 2020 is truly the year for BakuDeku. The shippers can rejoice.

Anime Highlights: Three words. Be. My. Cane. The OVA’s helped fan the flames of the BkDk hearts with a surprise! Deku tops! Not only that, we got a lovely shoulder tap of encouragement in the canon material. While in season 4, Deku’s primary focus was Eri. Bakugo and Deku still had their moments to be hella gay.

Manga Highlights: Where do I even begin? I guess we’ll just cut to the chase with Bakugo Katsuki: Rising. We finally saw Bakugo’s true feelings manifest for Deku and if getting stabbed for him isn’t the ultimate showing of love, then idk what is. BakuDeku’s rounded out the year with the Volume 29 cover AND the volume 29 cover drafts to eat at our heart strings. Overall, their relationship got the spotlight in the manga this year. And we’re bound to start 2021 with a dramatic confrontation. Hand holding seems to be the key with these two and it didn’t stop with Heroes Rising...speaking of.

Heroes Rising: The entire movie. Like....yeah. That’s it. [OP, your bias is showing. You have to be SPECIFIC.] {But random criticizer in my head, if I lay out the entire plot of the movie, my post will be too long} [OP....] UGHHHH Okay okay. The POPSICLE MELTING. THE HAND HOLDING. THE CHARACTER DESIGNS OF WHAT MIGHT AS WELL BE THEIR LOVE CHILDREN. Did I mention? “It’s fine if it’s you?” CAUSE YEAH. Oh and All Might randomly officiating their wedding in their heads like idk. Isn’t it just simpler if I say the whole movie??!

Troubling Signs?: Well these two’s relationship is extremely delicate and while it has non stop soared this year, Deku might not take too kindly to Bakugo almost dying for him. Will they stop pushing each other away? Time will tell.

That’s all for this year folks! Happy Shipping and good luck to everyone next year!

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

My opinion on bnha 329:

You can check in here my opinion about chapter 328, if you want the context.

I'm glad Horikoshi solved many of the things I pointed out last week. And I'm glad that I'm correctly reading into the manga, at least at some extent.

Let's see what we got this week: (long post)

After a long building up of relating Spinner to common citizens, mutants, people with weaker quirks and in general, the audience or the general public, we finally see this being explicitly acknowledged. He's on the end of his arc now, because the people picked him as their voice.

The last point is really important because Spinner now has great power. This is a direct parallel to the way Uraraka took control of the megaphone and spoke for the heroes. Now, it's Spinner's turn to speak for the villains, but because people wants him to do so.

On another note, we got an amazing graphic parallel of Stain and Spinner. While Stain is in shadows, Spinner is bright. And unlike Stain, Spinner has been chosen by the public. He was not there to be a leader, but people recognize him as one. This is very interesting because it shows how much Spinner has grown and how he is his own character, with his own achievements.

We saw Dabi back in a forest. This is a direct parallel to the way he stopped being Touya and got to be Dabi. It's a graphic reminder that we're getting the end of his arc with the Todorokis. What is his last step? We know he has his own plans and we know he wants to make Endeavor suffer, so could he be on a solo mission to achieve his vengeful desires? In which forest is Dabi? Are we're going to get more flashbacks? Are we going to see him back at Sekoto Peak?

Please note that when they mention Toga, it's exactly the way Curious wanted it. Toga is in front of a black background. She's being inserted on a narrative by force and not by choice, because someone else is putting her there. Alternatively, the white background tells us Toga's arc is still lacking definition and scenario for its end. Her fate is yet to be defined.

There's A LOT to say about AFO. Please look how the League of Villains is broken. AFO is using them as puppets. When referring to Spinner, he talks about him like he's a "bodyguard", not an equal or a friend like Tomura used to do. AFO clearly doesn't care about them and he won't stop to consider what they want, unlike Tomura. He has his own things to do and anything else must be forgotten and put aside.

AFO is still hiding behind Tomura. Please note how Tomura is treated like any other nomu. AFO took the throne of the king (Tomura) and made Tomura into a war dog.

Now, I've written some meta before about how Tomura never had an own identity until he met the League. Kotaro denied Tomura being himself, so much that the hand of Kotaro was still making Tomura faceless long after Kotaro's dead.

After Kotaro, AFO took away Tenko Shimura and imposed a new identity: Shigaraki Tomura. Please note that Shigaraki is AFO username, which means that even back then AFO was planning on using Tomura as an extention of AFO himself. And by naming him Tomura he pressured the kid to never forget his anger and sadness, caused by the tragedy of his family. It was AFO who repressed further the kid, all the hands being a physical reminder of such act. The hands were covering his entire face and because Tomura was unable to touch, he was only able to listen, just like the nomus. That's why Tomura scratches his neck so much. He itches for having an own voice, an own personality, an own identity.

If you pay attention to the panels in bnha 329, you can see how Tomura is wearing both a suit that resembles AFO's clothes and a cloak that resembles the one AFO was using on the world where Deku could see the vestiges. Tomura even has the white hair like AFO now. His pose and clothes are a direct parallel to Deku, but in a way AFO is a parallel to OFA.

Tomura has been stripped away of everything that made him himself. He doesn't have the hands, he doesn't have his clothes, people calls him AFO now, he doesn't even have his friends around. He's alone, a weapon and nothing more. I wrote another meta about how Tomura had no identity analyzing a panel from bnha 328. This is the direct consequence of that.

But this is not a separate case. It is pretty normal, in fact. When a system fails, when an entire country dives on a crisis, it's normal for everyone to question their place in that society and their identities.

Deku had an identity crisis and his friends for UA needed to rescue him and reminded him who he was. Toshinori had a crisis and Stain needed to helped him with it. Uraraka questioned too her identity as a hero and from there her speech above UA was born. Endeavor got a crisis, Shoto got a crisis, Toga needs to decide as much as Spinner does who do they want to be, Dabi is facing his old identity and his new identity conflicts...

This is actually pretty good. The narrative around heroes and villains are being questioned.

Who am I and why am I that person?

Do I need to be that person?

What is my role in society? Why?

What are my goals and why? Are they worth all the consequences?

Do I like the identity of my society? If not, can I change it? Can I change all the things before?

Bnha inner universe is walking towards a redefinition. What is a hero, what is a villain, who are they, why they are heroes or villains, etc. These characters were forced into certain roles or they assumed they needed to play those roles, according to what society told them. And now, they are free to decide. Time and time again, in every journey of any hero, the problems of the identity and the self vs the others is vital, and it shows through the decision making system.

On a final note, I'm a little sad that Horikoshi made a female version of All Might to fight Tomura, instead of giving her a more original character design in general. Women in the bnha universe tend to be seen as replacements of previous existent characters, or they are used quickly to further the plot and get forgotten. They deserve a better treatment, being honest.

The kids will get there rest time, because not all the cards are on the table yet. I love that it's the turn of the villains to play, because the final result of the next battles are going to be partially determined by what the members of the League of Villains decide to do.

Spinner will probably betray AFO, because he's not loyal to AFO's ideals but to his own ideas.

Dabi has his own thing going and he's also going to get rescued by the Todorokis. I really want to see Hawks, Endeavor, Shoto and Dabi all in a same fight, because parallels are going to fly around and I bet we're going to found out more about Dabi's heart.

I think Toga is still going to interact with the UA kids and help them somehow. I hope she gets to talk to Deku and make some good friends.

And for Tomura... He needs someone to reach for him. He has lost himself. His determination is gone, the sparks in his eyes, his fire. He needs a reason to fight, a reason to believe. He needs someone to believe in him, someone to call out his name and make him exists. He needs someone to see him. He's the same lost boy who walked on the streets asking for someone to rescue him. He's the same kid that asked for someone to believe he could be a hero. If Deku gives him that, if All Might helps him too, if the League is there to show them their loyalty, Tomura will be able to snap out of AFO's control and break free.

Nothing like a good villain chapter to make me excited about the future chapters. Let's wait and see.

[dekusdante]

The Todoroki sized elephant in the room

So, I have to write this somewhere so here it is. For starters this first part is aimed at nearly 90% of MHA writers/fans. I don’t care who I upset or who I annoy with this, it must be said. First off, I am annoyed at all the unnecessary Endeavor hate that goes on in the fandom. Like I understand not liking a character, but to hate them and then lie about some of their actions to make them look a certain way is freaking annoying. Now I bet everyone is already aware where this is going.

Look for a long time we all believed that Endeavor was a neglectful, wife beating piece of trash that hated his kids and doesn’t deserve to live. We also believed that he was the cause of the wounds on Dabi’s skin. It was only during a flashback that we discovered that a lot of this was just us jumping to conclusions and not really knowing the full story.

Luckily, we got most of that story later on down the line, yet sadly everyone seems to ignore it. For starters with the whole Dabi situation, we find out that Endeavor was actually a good parent to him who was trying to train him but stopped once he saw how much it was hurting him. For those of you who don’t know this but the damages to Dabi’s body is because he continued to use his quirk even though his father asked him not to and even pleaded with him to pursue a career that didn’t involve him using his quirk. So far Endeavor seems like a caring parent who worries about his kids. His only real crime towards Dabi is when he thought ignoring him when he brings up his quirk would help him give up on using it. We all know how that ended.

Endeavor crimes towards his other older kids, Natsuo and Fuyumi was the times he neglected them by focusing all his attention to those who can possibly surpass All Might. Other than that he made sure they was well taken care off and was able to live comfortably. No excuse for the neglect but they never took it personally. For example the only reason why Natsuo is angry at his father is because of what happened to Dabi. He blames him for it. This leads to another thing that leads to Shoto.

I am 95% positive he never beat his son. Now people have pulled up all these kinds of reasons on why this isn’t true but hear me out. For starters I don’t see what was wrong with him training his son. In a world dealing with heroes and villains, if I could train my child to be stronger, aka safe, then I would. The only problem with how Endeavor did it is he keep pushing Shoto to use his quirk to its limits causing him to vomit and have pain in his stomach. People saw this as him beating his child but really it was him being a dick and forcing his child to over use their quirk. Don’t believe me, well look at this. In battle all Shoto knows is how to use his quirk by basically waving his hand around. He has no combat skills. For example Bakugo is well known for his powerful quirk and his ability to add his combat skills with it. Shoto doesn’t, I mean its hinted at all the time with his teachers even saying he shouldn’t always rely on his quirk. Another thing is that Endeavor was never a 100% piece of crap, no he still loved his kids, he just allowed his obsession to neglect them and their needs. I don’t think he would ever hit his kids, the most he would have done is have them deflect weak versions of his attacks so they learn to either deflect them or dodge them. Once again if done right this isn’t a bad thing, and once again I don’t think he would lit it get to the point if can actually hurt his kids. If he did Shoto would have more burns on his body.

But okay enough on Endeavor and lets go to Dabi.

Look I understand thinking a bad guy is a hottie I really do. I mean my current bad guy crush is a character from Dorohedoro…..I don’t think I need to say more. What I hate about those that follow Dabi is that you both give this man excuses and lie about him all the time. One lie I hate that’s always being said about him is that he loved his little brother Shoto. No he didn’t, he basically tried to kill him when he was a baby. Another thing that I realized has to go towards how he views and effect he had on his mother. First off all his relationship with his mother was not the best. In this we see that the one that truly neglected him was his mother who didn’t view him as her own child. No she gave all her attention to Shoto and no one else. I am annoyed that everyone ignores this detail. Also no Endeavor had nothing to do with her behavior. It all really came down to her mental health that was left untreated which is a thing that happens a lot sadly. Also remember how she thrown boiling water on her son because she said he looks just like him. Yeah, she was talking about Dabi not Endeavor. If you read the chapter where he snaps, the look he gave her scared the crap out of her. This lead to her mental health getting worse.

Look you can hate Endeavor and live in a fantasy world were Dabi is the victim. I don’t care. Just don’t pretend that YOU were told the facts and ignored it.

[arkus-rhapsode]

Bnha chap 302 was crazy! So many stuff have been revealed! What did u think of it?

(So before I start, I just want to say, sorry it took me a few days to answer this. when discussion recent chapters of MHA, I’m trying now to wait for the official release before posting anything. I know I haven’t always been the best when using scans vs official releases, but I’m going to try and make this more a  thing. Given some flack I’ve received in the past, as well as recent crack downs by shueisha. So you can send me asks like this, please I’m not discouraging it. but you’re just going to have to wait till after the official releases.)

With the preamble out of the way OH MY GOD! This flashback chapters are amazing! Like this has been the kind of stuff I’ve been waiting for in MHA after the metric crap ton of build up by Horikoshi. And its not disappointed.

First, I do likeEndeavor’s gradual decline into is asshole self from Shoto’s memory. It’s vocally recognized that Endeavor is breaking societal taboos with his Quirk Marriage. Not only his selfish wishes to have an ultimate child to surpass All Might, but Toya is basically one of the worst combinations of this selective breeding. Being that he has stronger fire than Endeavor, but he has resistance to cold temperature so he’s just burning his body.

Yet Endeavor still is more focused on surpassing All Might. And when he comes to the realization that Toya will never surpass All Might, he decides to make a his real ultimate child. Now the reason I like this is because this isn’t Endeavor just being like “I need to surpass All Might with the perfect child”, its also, “I need to create my ideal child which will surpass All Might and act as a deterrent to Toya wanting to be a hero.”

Now, I love this scene, not just because no matter how Endeavor tries to justify his actions, he is still ultimately breaking societal conventions just to selfishly surpass his rival. But it also shows, Endeavor is aware of Toya’s feelings. He KNOWS Toya won’t stop trying to be a hero. He’s not some ignorant to his son wanting to live up to his dream of the ultimate hero. But his plan to stop Toya is not altruistic. It’s still selfish. His plan is literally to make an actually superior child, just to get his son to give e up. Its probably the worst thing you can do.

And most recently in 302, when that doesn’t work and Toya still burns himself and tries to attack Shoto. Endeavor finally just decides to no longer deal with this. personally. He is leaving Toya to Rei and is just going to focus on Shoto. He’s pushing a problem onto someone else and NOW he’s just ignoring it.

And then he just doubles down worse from there. Actually becoming more of the abuser that Shoto and Natsuo remember. All because Rei couldn’t keep Toya in line. Even though Toya was his son too.

It’s been awhile since we have seen Endeavor as the antagonistic figure. And I know the story of Endeavor will always be a tough one because its ultimately one trying to redeem an abuser. And I like that in this flashback, we are really reminded of why Endeavor wants atonement, because what he did to his family was wrong. And now we’re actually seeing it. Hell, some of it is more uncomfortable because we now see, its not like Endeavor was so pure evil psychopath, he gradually slipped from some wrong-headed jerk who was breaking taboos who is aware he’s doing bad things but pushing forward to ignoring his problems he’s caused to finally lashing out at his family as if it’s not also his responsibility. 

And we see a man who is regretful. But he still made mistakes. And I like that this hasn’t just been for the audience, this has been for Endeavor. Because he can no longer keep those skeletons in his closet nor is he in a position to throw himself a pity party. Again, we still have to wait a few chapters before we see like how this pays off. But Rei is reminding him that if he really wants to make things better and prove he’s a better person, then let’s start by getting his house in order.

Speaking of Rei, this has been a pretty interesting character study for her as well. We see Rei as pretty much a passive player both in the series up to this point being in a hospital, but also in this flashback. She agrees to be Enji’s wife and while she’ll speak up, she doesn’t stop Endeavor from having more kids. Nor does she stop him from really separating the kids. She also brings it up that like Endeavor, she didn’t really “see” what was really going on with Toya.

While Endeavor may have thought a deterrent of making him Toya give up would work, Rei try to just talk to Toya about looking beyond his father, but its not just wanting his father’s attention that is driving Toya mad. Its the fact that his birth was solely to make an ultimate Quirk users and if he’s not then his whole creation is pointless.

Because at he core, she is still complacent with this arrangement. From her family to the fact that when she can’t actually stand up to Enji, she then starts lashing out at the children who remind her of them. She has hurt her children too and its wrong. But unlike Endeavor who is really now just trying to come to grips with that, Rei has clearly stewed in that self loathing for a while. And now, she’s not being passive, she’s now taking a stand and being the one who needs to pull Endeavor out of his own self-pity.

Its very nice to see this character who, like Endeavor, has transformed over the course of this union.  

Now what does this mean for their marriage? As this seems to be the root cause of here passivity. I’m not sure. But Hori has given me no reason to think he’ll do something crazy with it. So I’m going to wait and see.

Now onto the man himself, Toya. Man finding out about Dabi has been a trip. Because at first it seems like he just wants his dad’s attention. To be proud of him. But its more than just that. Toya has a fire in him that won’t go out.

Toya’s “fire” isn’t this drive to be number 1 hero and get the glory. Its literally the validation of his existence. Because he was made to surpass All Might. If Toya can’t do that, then he failed at his existence. 

It really pulls back that Dabi doesn’t hate Endeavor because of abuse like Rei, Shoto and Natsuo. Dabi hates Endeavor because he was born solely to fulfill his mission, and when he was physically incapable of doing so, he replaced him with a child who could. It hurts to watch.

Because Dabi will never get over the fact of why he’s here in the first place, I think a lot of kids when they get older have that realization about why they’re here is because of their parents. And Toya can literally trace why his father made him. As he recalled with Snatch.

Just contemplating his family and why he’s here. He lost it.

We also get some cool details on Dabi’s powers. With his flames growing even stronger from red to blue, but also that the burns around his chest that we first saw in his video is intentionally so he could both hide the burns but also avoid hurting him.

There’s also the fact that his flames are tied to his emotions. Probably why whenever we see Dabi he’s mostly irate and disinterested. But when he finally had to get infront of Endeavor and the world, Dabi lets all his emotions come out. Letting him use flash fire and be wary more gleeful in his destruction. Yet we see that any times he cranks up his emotions, he always starts crying. Like he did with Snatch and Hawks. Which is such a subtle touch that I love.

There’s also his unique resentment towards the women in his family more than Natsuo. Now Endeavor we know he clearly hates, but when it came to Natsuo, he ignored him. But he knew Rei and Fuyumi the longest, and they did nothing for the longest time.

We also see the beginning of Dabi’s use of faux concern about society and using it as a way to turn people on Endeavor. 

Dabi has stated he doesn’t care about the League of Villains. Even in his big speech about how its Endeavor’s fire that let him kill people, he knows that’s a lie too. He would talk about confiding in his beloved brother, but if it meant making his dad suffer, he would’ve killed him.

Dabi’s hate is for one man, and if he can use anything to make Endeavor’s existence a living hell, he’ll use it. And we see that his hate is justified, but he will wrap that hate in a way to get others to feel like him. Its very effective.

Its just nice to see a villain who gets a bunch of build up LIVE up to all his hype. Its not like a let down, its just opening more doors to explore.

And now we get to the Todoroki family. Where do we go from here? Well Dabi isn’t just an Endeavor problem or a Rei problem, its a family problem. They all share the burden and Dabi will be their goal.

And I like this because, for the most part, Shoto completed his arc in the Sports Festival of hating his dad, but then accepting this is his power and looking beyond Enji. And while that wasn’t the end as he still has to make his choice on wether to accept his dad as a changed man or not, that’s more part of Endeavor’s goal. Shoto has been sorta like Deku and Bakugo with a focus on being number 1.

But now he has real and true personal motivation that no one but this family can really address and I am excited. I’m glad that the prominent characters of this series like Shoto has something to do. I get that all the kids in UA will never truly get this treatment. They have focus, but they are still mainly supporting cast. But having a main character really be able to justify why they’re up in front is great. I’m eager to see what awaits the Todoroki family in the future.

[hopelesshawks]

Official Accounts Part 33- Trust

Summary: (y/n) was perfectly happy remaining anonymous, even if her best friends were all pro heroes and she worked under THE Hawks. Handling the technical aspects of hero work from the background suited her just fine, thank you very much. That goes out the window when suddenly her twitter blows up thanks Denki and the famed no. 2 hero is asking her to run his own official twitter as a result

If you don’t want to see Official Accounts content blacklist #hopelessoa

Masterlist

Hawks is neither dumb nor oblivious. He knows that he is not okay after learning about Endeavor. He knows that it isn’t normal to feel nauseous at the thought of using his quirk. But he also knows that you’re excited for this stupid gala tonight. So even though the very thought of seeing members of the HPSC or Endeavor fills him with quiet, fervent anger, he is determined to take you and make sure you have a good night. Mina had arrived an hour ago with a garment bag and a backpack stocked with makeup and hair products and immediately dragged you into your room to start getting ready. Even from outside he can hear the two of you laughing. So no, he is not in denial about his emotional well-being. He is well aware that he needs to shake off the anger, disgust, and heartache that’s clung to his spine since that night on the balcony. But the sound of your laughter and the sight of your smile makes him forget everything else, even if only for a moment, so if enduring one of the least heroic parts of hero work is what it takes to keep you happy then he’ll do it.

It’s almost time to leave. Hawks wears a crisp black suit with a black shirt underneath. The designer had also given him a red tie to wear but the night would be suffocating enough without a fancy noose around his neck as well, so he’d decided to skip it and leave the top few buttons of his shirt undone instead. He followed Bakugo’s advice and had run out to get flowers while you changed. Now he stands nervously clutching them in one hand while he waits for you to finally emerge.

Mina slips out first, excitement evident in her black and yellow eyes. “You’re gonna flip when you see her,” she whispers to him conspiratorially before clearing her throat and standing up tall. “Now presenting, the breathtaking and stunningly gorgeous (y/n) (y/l/n), as styled by Mina Ashido and Momo Yaoyorozu,” Mina announces with a flourish before throwing open the doors to reveal you standing on the other side. He would like to say something witty and charming but all of Hawks’ smooth charisma seems to have abandoned him, leaving only Keigo staring at the person he loves in all her beauty in a red dress that perfectly matches his feathers. “Told you,” Mina sing songs with a laugh and you think you would pay admission to see Keigo blush the way he currently is again. “These are for you,” he finally says, offering up the beautiful blooms. “Thank you, they’re perfect,” you grin as you take them and Mina is quick to take them off your hands to put them in some water. “You kids have fun! I’ll lock things up here,” Mina assures you before shooing you and Hawks out your apartment.

“Shall we?” Hawks asks as he offers you his arm. You get a flashback to that first date and part of you wonders what would’ve happened had you not bared your soul to him that night. When you look in his eyes though, and see the genuine affection in his golden gaze, you find that you truly wouldn’t change a thing as long as you could still end up right back in this moment. “We shall,” you grin, as you take his arm and he leads you down the stairs and out the door.

You blink in surprise as you lay eyes on a long black limousine. “You got a limo?” you ask incredulously. “Of course, it’s too far to walk and you deserve to roll up to your first red carpet in style,” he winks as he opens the door and helps you in. “Honestly I thought you might fly us there,” you admit. You notice the way Hawks tenses up for just a moment but when he slides in next to you he’s all smiles. “And let the wind ruin all of Mina’s hard work? She’d kill me,” he replies smoothly. You decide to drop it, after all if your suspicions about why he’s so hesitant to use his quirk are correct, then the last thing he needs is to dredge up those feelings right before seeing the very people at the center of them.

Pulling up to the red carpet is odd for a variety of reasons. For starters the idea of walking a red carpet with reporters who you can already hear clamoring outside is surreal in and of itself. But also it’s odd because for the past week or so since your kidnapping you’d been getting to see Keigo without filter. But as he turns to you and asks “You ready little techie?” you can almost physically see him rebuilding his walls. He gives your hand a quick squeeze and you think maybe, just maybe, he’s still left a door in the wall for you. So you take a deep breath to relieve your nerves, meet his eyes, and then you tell him “I’m ready.”

The flashing cameras are overwhelming at first but Hawks finds your hand and quickly squeezes it, immediately grounding you. He lets go just as quickly, after all he had promised you this was strictly platonic and the press would surely latch onto any sign of affection as proof of a relationship. He’s pleasantly surprised to feel you take back his hand and intertwine your fingers. He needs the grounding too. He turns to you and you both share a private smile before he slides back on the infectious grin that all of Japan knows him by. Reporters are shouting his name left and right as he leads you towards the entrance. “Hawks! Hawks! Who’s your date this evening?” “Hawks! Are the rumors true about your Twitter fling?” “Hawks! Over here! When will you be returning to hero work?”

Finally you enter into the building and both of you breathe out a sigh of relief as you finally put the reporters behind you. “You said there’s free booze here?” you ask slightly out of breath as your heart returns to its normal cadence. “That there is,” Hawks replies before smiling and pulling you to the elevators up to the banquet hall by your still intertwined hands.

Several tables are set up around the hall and there’s a stage where presumably there will be a few speakers once everyone gets more settled and has had some time to mingle. The two of you spot Mirko in a purple jumpsuit standing with a dark haired woman with wolf ears dressed in a black gown. “C’mon let me introduce you,” Hawks encourages as he leads you to their table. “You already know Mirko, this is her lovely girlfriend Olivia. Olivia meet (y/n),” he introduces. “So you’re the infamous (y/n). I see what all the hype is about,” she says as she gives you an appraising look. “Oh infamous, huh?” you ask already smirking. “Oh yea. Can’t tell you how many times this one has whined to me about Hawks pining over you,” Olivia laughs, revealing her sharp canines in the process as she pulls Mirko in tight to her. “I do not whine!” Mirko says with a roll of her eyes while Hawks protests “I wasn’t pining!” You laugh as both women give him a skeptical look. “Ok if I’m going to be attacked this way I’m going to need a drink,” Hawks sighs, “want one?” “Sure I’ll take-“ “White wine work?” he cuts you off. “You talked to Katsuki,” you laugh. “I have no idea what you’re talking about Dove,” he grins walking backwards away from you before finally turning to head to the bar.

“Two glasses of white wine,” Hawks asks of the bartender. “Put it on my tab,” a gruff voice says coming up behind him. Hawks feels his entire body stiffen. “It’s an open bar Endeavor, there are no tabs,” Hawks says without turning to look at his former hero. “Hawks we need to talk,” Endeavor insists. “I’ve got nothing to say to you.” “I am trying to do better.” “That’s great and all but it doesn’t untraumatize your kids. If you weren’t a high ranking hero you’d be rotting in a cell right now.” “You cannot tell anyone. The fate of hero society-“ “You think I don’t know that? I’m not an idiot.” “I never said you were.” “Then don’t lecture me old man.” “I have saved so many lives. And thanks to my training so has Shoto.”

Hawks whips around to stare at the man he once idolized and is shocked to see Endeavor genuinely believes what he says is true. As if his hero work somehow undoes his crimes. “First of all, Shoto is a great hero in spite of, not because of you. Second of all, if you really want to take credit for the lives he’s saved then you also have to bear the responsibility for the lives Dabi has taken. How many is he up to now? 30 something? Not counting the death toll from Kamino Ward,” Hawks bites out, his wings expanding instinctively to make himself larger in front of the other man. “You know my father never laid a hand on me. No he was neglectful and cruel in other ways but never physically abusive. I once wished you were my father instead. Now I know I would’ve just been trading one monster for another.” “Hawks I-“

“There you are! I was wondering what was taking so long,” you interject as you slide between Hawks and Endeavor, facing your date. “Ease up a little bird brain, it’s ok,” you whisper in as calming a voice as possible. Hawks hadn’t even realized how worked up he was getting until you intervened, but he’s grateful now that you’re here to ground him. You spin around to address the number one hero directly. You should probably be scared, or at the very least nervous, but instead you stand up tall, chin raised defiantly, and bring your quirk to the surface just enough for your eyes to glow as you make eye contact with the man in front of you. “I don’t care what the rankings say, Hawks is a better hero than you’ll ever be,” you declare unflinchingly. Endeavor opens his mouth to respond but you continue before he can, “I think it’s best you leave him alone now. We have an evening to enjoy.” With that you grab Hawks’ hand and spin on your heel before marching off.

As you’re walking back to the table where Olivia and Mirko are waiting, the lights dim and one of the members of the HPSC takes to the stage. It only takes one quick glance at Hawks’ face to confirm this is the last thing he needs to sit and listen to right now. So you bypass the table entirely and keep moving. “Where are we going?” he asks as you drag him to the first emergency stairwell you spot. “The roof. It can’t be that many more flights up and you look like you could use some fresh air,” you explain.

It takes four more flights of stairs for the two of you to reach the roof and you’d had to pick the door lock to get out, but it’s worth it for the view. Lights twinkle in all directions as the entire city stretches out before the two of you. “It’s beautiful,” you gasp as you take it all in. “It is,” Keigo confirms, although there’s a sadness in his voice. He sits down on the concrete and stares out across the view and so you take a seat beside him. “What’s up?” you ask gently. It breaks your heart to see the way he merely shakes his head with watery eyes. “It’s just me Kei. The roof isn’t even supposed to be accesible, no one is gonna bother us up here. What’s wrong?” you insist. “I’ve spent my whole life trying to outrun my father and be something better. Only to find out that something better was the same thing in prettier packaging,” he admits. “You are nothing like Endeavor. I meant what I said inside.” “I want to believe you but how can I when that’s the model I’ve been striving for since I was a kid?”

You stop and think for a moment as you try to figure out how exactly to word this. “Remind me who was it that called out Endeavor for being number one hero and yet ranking considerably lower than you in popularity polls? It was right after All Might retired,” you respond. Keigo rolls his eyes, “It was me but-“ “That doesn’t sound like something a dedicated disciple of Endeavor would do to me. You’ve always been able to acknowledge the flaws in the system. You don’t give yourself nearly enough credit and I’m sure if you asked any of the heroes here tonight they’d agree. I would trust you with my life Kei. I’m serious,” you insist. “Fine, fine. You’re so dramatic,” Keigo laughs but you know him well enough to know when he’s deflecting.

You rise up from your position and casually move towards the edge of the roof, keeping your eyes trained on the city. “You really are an incredible hero,” you say into the chilly night. “So you keep saying,” Keigo laughs ruefully behind you. “Hey Keigo?” you ask as you step onto the edge of the roof and turn back to face him. “What?”

“Think fast.”

You step backwards and then you’re falling.

Author’s Note: First before I forget, shoutout to @oliviasslut for letting me use her oc Olivia for Mirko’s girlfriend. I was low key stuck on that so letting me swipe your oc was a huge help. Anyway, THIS GOT SO FAR AWAY FROM ME WOW. I didn’t think this would be where I ended the chapter but it felt right and opens the next part up for more details which hopefully will be a good thing lmao. I will mostly likely be releasing a SFW and NSFW version of the next part, hopefully I don’t fall behind schedule and can continue the daily updates through to the end 😅 we’re in the home stretch guys.

Taglist [open]: @cathy8taffy @katzurras @grumpyfroggies @captaincyberqueen @itskindofafairything @420-uwu @someweirdshitman @oliviasslut @the-adzukibean @a-fucking-sero-kinnie @ladyzayismultifandom @pixelwisp

[pwnyta]

You know I haven’t read BNHA in years but… from what I gather through your ranting… I just have a feeling that Horikoshi is incapable of writing about serious problems in a mature way. OR he wants to do it, but bc of the fact that his core audience consists of teens he just. Can’t? Like, bro, you would think that an ADULT manga ka would know that to write a disgusting, abusive father and then give him an easy redemption is wrong. Like. Cmon? Get a grip? I understand that his reasoning to give Endeavor redemption probably have something to do with how popular this character is… but you know, I still can’t get over the fact how easy this whole thing is going for Shouto. As I said, I haven’t read manga in years, but the last time I remember Endeavor trying to win his son’s forgiveness was kind of played for laughs? I mean, listen, I wasn’t abused like Shoto, but I remember several times when my parents would threaten me with violence and those moments will forever be with me, and I am a full grown adult. The fact that Shoto so easily got over the fear of his abusive father and started to treat him more like a joke is… appalling? What I am trying to say is that for an ADULT Horikoshi sure feels like a teenage kid who doesn’t understand that physical/mental abuse can scar someone for life. Like, look at both Deku and Shoto. Sure, the level of abuse is very different, but still! The fact that the victims just “get over” their trauma for the sake of plot, while their abuser hardly get any punishment SUCK. Like, i believe no one have ever found out that B*kugo was bullying Deku for years? I mean, if I knew this information about my classmate I sure as hell would have thought worse of him. And the fact that part of Enji’s shitty actions are now blamed on his kids is just… BRUH. Sorry, my thoughts are all over the place, I’m just so angry. That’s exactly the reason why I’ve dropped BNHA years ago, I just feel that mangaka talks about a lot of hard/heavy/interesting themes, but he never elaborates on them and when he does, it usually goes to shit ://

Yeah its not great. It didnt get better at all.

There was a bit of a tonal dissonance to how Endeavors abuse was introduced as this horrific, intense moment that deeply effected Shoto and the rest of his family in a way he couldnt break until someone got through to him and helped him take the first step into moving on from it...

To Horikoshi bending over backwards to make Endeavor look better and even throwing Dabi under the bus... who in the previous flashback was shown to get on with his siblings just fine to him being deranged and trying to murder a literal baby out of jealousy. Effectively ruining both Dabi and Endeavors story because Horikoshi didnt know how to redeem Endeavor any other way.

I mean were shown him being abusive to his wife again in a later flashback sure but seeing good guy Endeavor so butthurt that All Might is better than him that he does a complete 180 and becomes this monster for 10 years is so fucking weird and just makes it obvious that that was never what Horikoshi planned...

And he really laid it on thick with Hawks and his literally out of nowhere flashback to show he'd been through something similar just so he could go 'Well I dont think Endeavors bad.' or to have Deku brush it off of all people...

And Shoto never having any real say or attachment to Endeavor during basically this whole situation?

I can understand how it could be insulting to people whove been through this (my dad and my moms next boyfriend were abusive to my mom but I was a baby at the time so I dont actually remember) but even beyond that... even just as a storyline its just badly written. Endeavor is such a poorly written shitbag character.

I suspect Horikoshi is trying to make him well liked so he can kill him in a blaze of glory with Dabi... the whole dance in hell thing... but who knows.

But yeah I get it. Its like he chickens out in the end and wants to please fans more than write something that has a strong point.

Ive always had a problem with Horikoshis treatment of characters like Bakugo and Endeavor and it has extended to villain characters like Overhaul as well who literally dont have anything going for them.

Maybe im too desensitized for a 'this shitty violent abusive guy is kinda sad now :'''C isnt that so sad???? Isnt this a good character moment?!?' storyline.... But especially from Horikoshi because hes so fucking bad at it.

I know he can write a good bad guy... Stain still holds up somehow.

[sarahjtv]

BNHA Chapter 309 Spoiler Thoughts: Izuku and Inko Midoriya, and Some More Things Along The Way

The chapter leaks are here again!  Thanks to all the people on Twitter and here on Tumblr for providing us with scans and translations.  This chapter helps explain some things that a lot of us were wondering about.  Sadly, there’s still no Bakugo, or Shoto, or any other UA kids really; they’re only in flashbacks.  But, we do get to see what All Might and the Top 3 Heroes (Endeavor, Hawks, and Best Jeanist) are up to, so that’s something.  Anyway, remember to take what I say with a grain of salt until the official translations come out on Sunday:

The chapter starts a few minutes after Deku beat Muscular.  He’s flying through the air taking an unconscious Muscular tied up in his Black Whip.  The other Ketsubusu Academy students from the Lisence Exam see him too.  Thankfully the stubborn civilians from 2 chapters ago are willing to help Yo Shindo recover in exchange for not listening moving to the school shelters.  Also, Shindo’s barely conscious, but he does actually remember Deku.  He’s just not the same Deku as before.  Not much for me to say here except that I wonder if Shindo’s going to help spread the word about Deku’s actions.  Not just to his classmates, but I wonder if the words’ going to get out to the news and UA.  Actually, word might not even get that far since Shindo was only one of the few people in that exam that really even interacted with Deku...

Deku hands Muscular over to the police for them to take care off.  He also makes sure to cover himself up in Smokescreen to hide his identity.  So, Deku really is working in the shadows here.  It is best that the public doesn’t know what Deku is doing so that the LoV don’t track him down.  My man’s really going down the Batman route.  Oh, I also have to admire Deku’s smartphone here kept in this steel case.  I was going to say it’s a burner phone, but burner phones break easily for a reason and this one clearly doesn’t.  Maybe it’s a special one that can’t be tracked down.    

And we finally get to see All Might again!  He is actively working with Deku instead of just not knowing where his protege is.  He’s wearing casual clothes (jacket, jeans, sunglasses, the works) when he meets up with Deku in an alleyway.  I’m honestly glad that All Might is still supervising Deku.  I mean, Deku on his own would’ve been badass, but when you’re going up against people like AFO and Shigaraki, you’re going to need some help.  Especially when laying low.  Even with supervision, I still think Deku counts as a vigilante b/c I don’t think his license works if he’s not at UA.  I will believe this unless proven otherwise.  

It’s explained that the “wrapping” on Deku’s arms are actually gauntlets called “Mid-Gauntlets”, which are what are helping hold Deku’s arms together.  And they are VERY similar to the gauntlets that Melissa Shield from Two Heroes gave Deku.  Deku even says that All Might ordered them from the USA before travel restrictions were put in place.  I know that it’s only implied, but there’s no doubt in my mind that Deku’s new gauntlets were made by Melissa.  Even if you want to doubt it, at this point, Two Heroes (and by extension Heroes Rising and probably the upcoming 3rd movie, World Heroes Mission) are canon.  Honestly, I’m cool with it.  I liked Melissa and I’m glad her presence is still around (she was even in a Team-Up Mission chapter with Hatsume).  I do wonder if we’re ever going to see her in the main story.  It would be nice to see Melissa again.

The gauntlets are test samples and are used to enhance endurance.  All Might says that they can’t withstand 100% of OFA yet.  Which means that Deku actually beat Muscular with less than 100% unlike their first fight where Deku had to use over 100% just to knock him out.  So, does this mean that, say, Deku’s current 45% is stronger than his 100+% back in the Forest Camp?  Or maybe it was just the combo of moves and strategy rather then Deku just punching his way through things.

Small detail, but All Might’s phone goes off with that “I AM HERE” ringtone we heard before and Deku comments that this particular one is from All Might’s Silver Age TV Special!  It’s such a small thing, but I love that Deku still has that All Might fanboy in him despite everything 💚!  Somethings truly never change.

And back to the Top 3: Endeavor, Hawks, and Best Jeanist!  Endeavor and Best Jeanist are teaming up to kick a villain’s ass while Hawks is talking to All Might on the phone.  It looks like Hawks got a few costume changes particularly his visor/glasses which look more boxy than they did before if that makes sense.  Oh, and they’re also helping All Might work with Deku.  Makes sense since all three vowed to help take down Dabi earlier and Shigaraki and AFO definitely extend from that.

Deku’s Danger Sense is going off, so he’s probably going to check out any danger he can find in case it’s the LoV.  I do wonder if that harms Deku still.  It was said that it felt like a stabbing in his head and it must’ve been bad enough for the 4th OFA Holder to live in the forest away from society.  Man, I really hope our boy is ok (I know he’s not really, let me have this).

But yeah, Hawks (still wingless, but with a nice little undercut btw😳) explains that Deku's afraid of dragging other people in his battles like All Might.  Hawks also goes on to say that it’s best to take the initiative in taking down AFO and Shigaraki rather than waiting for them to appear all powered up.  He also wants All Might to keep supporting him despite the difficult position he’s in (remember that All Might’s technically Qurikless again and can’t really fight on his own).  It makes sense for them to go after the Villains again while they can.  If Deku fought Shigaraki while Shigaraki was at full strength, Deku would lose easily.  Even at 75%, Shigaraki was able to kill and injure A LOT of people, and Deku was lucky to even make it out there alive.  They need to find Shigaraki SOON!  

Flashback to Central Hospital before Deku jumped UA ship!  Recover Girl and Central Hospital’s high-tech were responsible for many of the patience recovering quickly and being discarged.  Deku was just there a little longer than the others.  So, we can assume that all our UA kids and some notable heroes made it out alive after being treated.  Still don’t know what happened to some people like Tamaki and Fat Gum tho 😭.  

All Might and Deku’s mom, Inko (thank god she’s ok), are by Deku’s bedside as his casts are taken off.  Deku’s doctor (who looks like Super Mario/Luigi; the whole Super Mario crew must run this damn place.  Where’s Bowser and Princess Peach) explains that despite his former warnings about his ligaments, Deku’s limbs are still functioning because he’s not the same as he was before.  So, before, Deku’s injuries were like his limbs were exploding from the inside, but this time those “explosions” were able to escape his body.  Also his Black Whip cast helped keep Deku’s arm in tact so that he wouldn’t pulverize himself.  His ligimates are still degrading too, so Deku still has to be careful.  I think he might have a few more small scars too, but that could just be shadows or muscle lining from Horikoshi’s pen-work.  

Ok, honestly, I’m not sure how this logically works...  I’m no medical professional, but I assume this means that Deku’s built his body up so much that it’s naturally able to withstand more damage than before and that’s why he’s more durable.  But, I don’t know how Deku was able to let the “explosions” escape this time.  I get the reverse; I get how he got injured before, but I don’t get this.  Was it the Black Whip brace he made for himself?  I honestly don’t really understand this.  Maybe the official translations will clear this up.  Or Horikoshi will in a Tweet or Volume Extra.

And Inko is finally informed of OFA thank the gods!  She was in the top of my list of “People who should really, really know OFA and what’s going on with Deku because I swear...”.  She’s clearly shaken up as anyone would be, but I’m glad she at least knows what’s going on with her son.  Yes, she’s still worried, but at least she can stop guessing why all this is happening.  

Deku announces the reason why he won’t go back to UA and it’s basically that Shigaraki can sense where Deku is and he doesn’t want to see anyone else close to him get hurt and/or die.  So, basically what I thought would be the reason.  Absolutely no surprise there.  But, going after Shigaraki and AFO first was originally Deku’s idea, so that’s something new.  Kid’s bold.

And this broke my heart 💔!  Inko insists that Deku stay with her to stay safe, but Deku knows what he has to do.  So, he thanks his mom, thanks her for making him happy, and tells her that he’ll be ok and that he’ll come back home with a somber smile on his face.  We see a flashback to Little Deku and Inko too when they were happier.  Bro, I don’t even know what to say.  I am in tears just writing this 😭  I’ll just post these two panels so y’all can cry with me.  I will never recover from this.  I’m fucking devastated.  You better come home, Deku: 

*sniffs* All Might remembers what he said to Inko.  He remembers how he said that he will protect Deku with his life.  All Might encourages Deku to go and he says that he’ll go with him with tears in his eyes.  He asks the Top 3 to help with this mission (finding Dabi) as their own mission coincides with Deku’s (finding Shigaraki and AFO).  I’m so glad all these adults are staying by Deku’s side throughout this.  It’s good to know that Deku still has support, though I wish it were from some of his friends too.  Maybe one day.

Deku goes to see Grand Torino in his hospital room to talk to him about OFA.  He mentions his friend and 7th Holder Nana Shimura.  Torino thinks he was responsible for killing Shigaraki (he really wasn’t let's be real).  He also tells Deku that Deku shouldn’t be so persistent in saving Shigaraki as killing can sometimes lead to salvation. Ok, few things:

1. I am surprised Grand Tarino is still alive.  I mean, we don’t know what happened to him after this talk, but at least he got to hear from Deku again.  It’s kind of nice to know that Tarino willingly passed down his cape to Deku too instead of Deku just taking it after his death.  Also, I’ve been watching some of Jujutsu Kaisen like everyone else has and this give me some Yuji & his grandfather vibes to it.  Knowing what happens there and that JJK’s magaka is good friends with Horikoshi, I have a sinking feeling I know what happened after this talk...

2. Deku looks so much older here.  Like, it’s not that cute, innocent baby face we knew at the beginning.  I don’t even know what it is exactly (maybe the eyes), but he just looks more mature here.  Also, his uniform some buttons down looks really good on him, I’m sorry but I need to mention that too 💚.

3. “Killing is a means towards salvation”.  Oh, boy...  I mean, I get it.  Some people just can’t be saved or captured in hopes of rehabilitation/redemption.  Sometimes killing people is necessary to save others.  But, Deku is not a killer.  He will try to save Shigaraki no matter what.  That was established again last chapter.   He tried to save Muscular for god’s sake.  But, I am curious if Gran Tarino’s words are going to hold any weight in the final fight. Like, will Deku have to kill Shigaraki?  What will that do to Deku as a person?  I’m really curious if Horikoshi is going to make Deku do this.

And finally, there’s a page showing off the Top 3, Deku, and All Might team up with the resolve to beat the LoV.  I am really interested to see where this goes.  Deku is working with the big Pro Heroes instead of his classmates/friends.  This hasn’t really happened before.  I also wonder if Shoto and Bakugo know what Deku’s doing then.  Because Shoto’s going to help Endeavor and his family find Dabi.  Endeavor’s activley helping Deku.  Also, Endeavor and Best Jeanist are both Bakugo’s mentors.  All Might too actually.  Look, maybe I’m making excuses to see my Origin Trio together again, but I do have to wonder if Shoto and Bakugo are involved somehow.

Welp, that’s it.  This chapter was a rollercoaster!  I was excited, I was confused, I was worried, I cried my eyes out at one point because THOSE TWO PANELS I CANNOT 💔😭!  I’m honestly just waiting for Horokishi to drop some major time-skip on us at some point.  I don’t want him to, but I won’t be entirely surprised if he does.  The end of this chapter is a good place to end if Horikoshi wants to segway into something else like, oh IDK, THE UA KIDS LET ME SEE THEM AGAIN HORIKOSHI PLS I’M BEGGING 💸  

Me @ Horikoshi almost every week:

[stillness-in-green]

When MVA/MLA Arc gets animated, what will you be looking forward to the most? What (canon-compliant) additions and/or changed do you want or think Bones should make, if any?

There’s--a lot.  Does that surprise anyone?  There’s a lot.

o  I have been foaming at the mouth for voice actor announcements for almost a year now, particularly for Trumpet, Geten and RD.           Trumpet’s superpower is literally his voice!  I mean, nothing about that statement requires that voice be particularly entrancing, but it certainly seems like it should be, right??             Geten is a boku-type in the manga, but that was literally the only hint foreshadowing his pretty boy face through 21 solid chapters of Pure Feral Gremlin.  Everyone was shocked by Geten’s face reveal!  How do you maintain that surprise value with an actual voice actor in the mix?  Do you not even try?  Do you play up the disparity--in which direction?  I can’t wait to see what they do.           And Re-Destro!  Re-Destro requires so much range!  From his peppy, silly businessman persona, to the urbane commander, from the overeager yes-man to the raving zealot--who on earth do you get to believably cover all that ground?  I can’t even begin to guess, but I am living in anticipation of that article going up on ANN or the official Twitter sources.

o  I’m also much looking forward to getting official coloring on Trumpet and Geten.  Skeptic seems pretty straightforward--black, black, more black--and RD and Curious, we have color art for, but I wonder if Trumpet will also be all black clothes, to go with that dignified politician image of his, or if he’ll get some color to pep him up a little.  What color are those tinted shades of his?  His eyes?  The wicked-cool Sevens Loud?           I assume Geten is all wintery shades, but it’ll be great to confirm which ones.  I mean, we all assume he’s white-haired to better annoy Dabi with family parallels, but what if he turns out to be platinum blond?  And are his eyes blue?  Gray?  White?  What color is that awful parka?           Also, Re-Destro’s stress powers.  Having been writing them as black since at least August--Rorschach test blots are generally black, after all, and they’re the clear inspiration--I would much like it if the anime would have my back on this.  They made Destro’s mask a dark cinnamon brown, though, so I’m prepared to be unpleasantly surprised in this matter.

o  Predictable MLA adaptational choices aside, I’m also eager/anxious about how they’ll handle Spinner’s narration.  What I really hope is that they actually straight-up hand him ALL the narration duties--not just the stuff he dictates directly in the manga, but also e.g. the name and quirk explanation material that Present Mic normally gets, or the previews that are always handled by Deku.           The opening and closing sequences are another big structural thing, of course--based on the flashed snippets of Hawks and Endeavor in both our current and the previous OP, I’m expecting we’ll see at least a bit of something referencing the upcoming internship arc (which I expect to close out the season), but I hope the villains just walk away with the closing entirely.  I want my slice of life villainy ED, dangit.

o  Another thing I’m eager/anxious about would be Kotarou, and the Shimura flashback generally.  There’s a brittle edge of to Kotarou that I really love, and I hope he manages to keep it in the anime, despite the anime being generally not so great at moments that I would describe as “delicate.”  For example, I’d like it if he doesn’t get a super deep voice, and if they could manage to keep his pretty face, and capture how deeply bitter and tired he looks in the scene where he’s reading the letter Nana left him.           Also, I hope they keep the little montage bits and, crucially, the changes of clothes the family goes through.  We see Tenko in no less than five, possibly as many as seven, different T-shirts through the course of that flashback.  It seems like a small thing, but it’s one of the factors that makes me skeptical that AFO gave Tenko Decay, when so many days clearly go by between the opening with the man at the door and the tragic end.  It’d be nice not to see too much resurgence on that just because the anime can’t be bothered to come up with more than one outfit for the Shimuras.

I have enough issues with the anime’s usual adaptation choices that I’m trying not to get my hopes up too high on the actual content of the episodes.  The staff is diverting too much of its major talent to the movies (BAH) these days for me to expect the whole season to look all that great, and it’s never been particularly creative or daring outside of its climactic sakuga-heavy fight scenes anyway.  I’ve also long had a bone to pick with its scoring decisions, and am already eyeballing the climax of the RD/Shigaraki fight and imagining the minor-keyed terrifying dirge I fear the anime will play there, at the moment that Re-Destro (and, shortly afterward, Spinner) are supposed to be experiencing something akin to religious awakenings.           There’s also the issue of the violence and gore--judging by how the anime handled the scene where Shigaraki and Compress maim Overhaul, I have some severe reservations about how much blood they’ll be allowed to get away with, particularly in the scene where the League brutally decimates that CRC group and, of course, Shigaraki’s backstory.  I’m looking at MVA to serve as a preview for how all the same issues will be addressed in the War Arc.

That bit of pessimism aside, as to what I’m hoping they’ll add or change?  Well, off the top of my head.....

o  I would love to get a full episode devoted to the time the League spends fighting Machia.  Not that first tussle, but the six grueling weeks in the mountains.  There’s so much you could add there for character building and atmosphere that Hori didn’t so much as montage through.  Where was their food coming from?  How’d they pick out places to pitch camp?  How much access to news from outside did they have, and how frequently?  What were the circumstances in which Gigantomachia “told them himself” about his great sense of smell??  Stuff like that!             I don’t think we’re at all likely to get this--honestly, the series of late has had enough of a problem with trimming bits and pieces that I’m as worried about what they might cut as I am hyped about things they might add--but the one thing that gives me some hope is the training camp arc.  Specifically, the moment 1-A first gets to the Pussycats’ forest, they get jumped by earth golems, a fight that the manga off-panels entirely, but the anime spends a modest amount of time on, giving the kids a little bit of time to show off their moves and such.  I’d love to get something equivalent for the League.

o  On a similar note, I wouldn’t turn it down if they fleshed out some of those running street fights a bit.  One obvious thing comes to mind: there’s a weird jump in the manga between Skeptic and a horde of his golems being all but on top of Twice at the beginning of 233 and then that fight just--doesn’t happen.  There’s no mention of it at all.  I think the suggestion is that either Machia’s appearance or the tower going down interrupted it--Skeptic breaks off from his fight the same way Geten and Trumpet do theirs, shifting focus to protecting Re-Destro--but it’d be nice to see the anime touch on it.

o  It’d be nice to get a bit of expansion on the nature of the bullying Spinner endured.  We’re told he was, but was it limited to verbal?  Did he get beaten up a lot?  Was there an online element?  Deku’s our only other reference point for “bullied kid,” and whatever one might think about the story’s development of Bakugou’s mentality, it’s been made clear in retrospect that there was a lot more too that than just the matter of Deku’s quirklessness.  I’d love to know how Spinner’s bullying looked in comparison (not least because of some of the theories about Spinner and Deku needing to come to some kind of accord to free Shigaraki from AFO).

o  Make the Villa (both here and during the War Arc) look more realistic.  By which I mean, I know Horikoshi is capable of drawing interesting and lived-in interior spaces--he has an entire chapter dedicated to it in the 1-A dorm room contest, after all--but he normally doesn’t bother much with it.  At UA, it’s not too distracting, because we know good and well that that whole building is probably maintained by Cementoss anyway.  Ditto places like Tartarus (intentionally, dehumanizingly barren) or the League’s post-Kamino hideouts (abandoned homes and industrial spaces).  But the Villa?            For heaven’s sake, it’s called a mountain villa.  It has a clear reception desk on the ground floor; it’s obviously some sort of high-end hotel, if not an outright resort or rentable retreat lodge.  Speaking as someone who’s worked in one, places like that don’t look as fuckin’ bare as the rooms we see there always seem to.  For fanfic purposes, I’m happy to go on telling myself that e.g. the pool and the bar and the restaurant(s) and the gym are in the building Cementoss doesn’t tear in half, but it’d be nice if the anime could class the whole place up a little, maybe put some real furniture and decor in the rooms that are in use.  (Yes, I know this is a ridiculous nitpick.)

o  This is less a change and more a correction, but for fuck’s sake, BONES, give us white-haired Shigaraki.  The climax of Deika is a solid time for it, given that it’s obvious in the manga that Shigaraki’s hair gets paler in Deika--you can see it in the way Horikoshi inks it (which is to say, the way he stops inking it)!  I think if we ever get white-haired Shigaraki in the anime, a somewhat better time as far as narrative justification goes would be when Shigaraki gets out of the tube in the War Arc; you could easily justify it as a side-effect of the surgery.  Still, I’d rather see it here.  I want white-haired Shigaraki, gleaming and brilliant through the scattering ash in that crater, a veritable angel of sacred destruction.           Honestly, more than anything, the crater sequence is the one I hope I love.  It’s probably my favorite single moment in the entire manga, as Shigaraki wins over Re-Destro, Spinner and Gigantomachia in the same moment, and finally comes into his own.  If they can at least nail that, I’ll consider myself pretty satisfied.

[victory-red]

why tōya being the oldest todoroki sibling makes no (or very little) sense.

Warning: Manga spoilers. Long post ahead - big paragraphs, lots of reading, and at least one (1) rabbit trail.

So I know this is old news, but I’ve been meaning to make a post about it for a little while now. I know a lot of people already headcanoned that Tōya was the oldest Todoroki sibling even before it was officially confirmed, but it just never really made sense to me, particularly in regard to Enji’s timeline. And then, after Chapter 291 came out, it made even less sense.

(A couple of quick disclaimers, before I continue: I’m not trying to pass anything off as fact. My conclusions are simply opinions based on observations I’ve made. I’ll also note that there are definitely gaps in what information we do officially have, so there is still a chance that what seems to me like a fairly significant plothole will eventually be explained.)

I’ll start with Enji - more specifically, his current confirmed age in relation to Fuyumi’s, who is the oldest Todoroki sibling whose age we do officially know. As of the current manga arc, Enji is 46 years old, and Fuyumi is 23. Since Enji’s birthday is in early August and Fuyumi’s in early December, that means that Enji was a little over 23 years old when he and Rei had Fuyumi.

From what we know of Enji’s history and personality, that seems like a reasonable age for him to have started having kids. He said in Ch. 165 that he became Number Two at age 20, at which point he immediately realized that he wasn’t ever going to be able to surpass All Might on his own. He said that it was because of this realization that he passed the torch (no pun intended) to Shōto. But, Shōto wouldn’t be born until a decade later. So, it makes sense to me that this would be the point that Enji decided it would be best to instead try having a child that could surpass All Might. In other words, it makes sense that this would be the catalyst that led to Shōto’s birth.

The most recent information we got regarding Enji and Rei’s relationship in Ch. 291 seems to be just a bit conflicting with how Shōto had described things back in Ch. 31 - unlike Shōto’s account, Ch. 291 sort of implied that Enji did care for Rei to some capacity, at least early in their marriage. (How he’s been portrayed in flashbacks recently is actually very conflicting with flashbacks from earlier chapters, and even with his entire personality in earlier chapters. But I won’t get into that - we’ll just make the assumption that Shōto’s story was biased, because it probably was.)

Since he essentially bought Rei’s family off, it only makes sense that he would have to grow to care for her over a period of time - you know, maybe like a year or two. I’m not sure how long the entire Quirk Marriage process took, but factoring in the 9 or so months Rei had to carry Fuyumi before she was born, it makes sense that after Enji’s realization upon attaining the Number Two title, the entire process of creating the plan of having hyper-powerful children, finding a suitable partner, buying her family off, marrying her, and having their first child would take anywhere between two to three years. That would mean that he was 20 when the process started, 22 when Rei got pregnant, and 23 when Fuyumi was born. Boom.

(Frankly, even that timeframe seems a bit compressed to me, but since Enji’s and Fuyumi’s ages are both canonically set in stone, I have no choice but to work with it.)

Tōya canonically being older than Fuyumi begins to screw a lot with the timeline - especially taking into consideration what the implied age gap between them is. I unfortunately can’t find where (or if) this is explicitly stated in the manga, but the wiki says that most Quirks develop around the age of 4. Now, it’s entirely possible that Tōya was born with his Quirk, but given Rei’s constitution, I highly suspect that there would have been severe complications with both her pregnancy and Tōya’s birth. It also makes sense that if he had developed his Quirk at an exceptionally young age, there would have been some note made of it. But since neither of those things are mentioned to have happened, we’ll just assume he was between 3 and 4½ years old when his Quirk manifested.

I don’t know how long afterward it took for Enji and Rei to decide to have another baby, but I can’t imagine that the decision took any longer than several months. I’ll be conservative and say that they decided no longer than a few months after Tōya’s Quirk developed, because remember - Enji literally, canonically cannot be any older than 23 when Fuyumi was born. Jumping 9 months forward from that time, Tōya would most likely have been between 4 and 5 years old when Fuyumi was born.

Now I will note that in the top panel, Tōya looks to me to be between 4 and 6 years old, which was presented as being before Fuyumi’s birth. But in the lower one, where he’s crawling over to look at baby Fuyumi (or at least I think that’s what’s happening? It’s a bit dark to tell for certain), he looks a lot younger - in fact, he doesn’t even look to have the white streak in his hair yet. But given how it’s explained that Enji and Rei even came to the decision to have Fuyumi at all, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense contextually. But, I’ll let it be and just assume that the manga didn’t present those panels chronologically. It could also be the zoomed-out view that makes Tōya seem smaller. Either way, I’m overanalyzing, and that’s sort of off-topic, anyway.

Okay, I think that’s all the setup I need to finally get to the meat of my argument, which I will start with this: If Tōya is anywhere between 4 and 5 years older than Fuyumi, that means that Enji was anywhere between 18 and 19 years old when Tōya was born.

In any other situation, that might make sense, but here’s the thing: it’s already been established, or at least very heavily implied, that Enji didn’t even consider the possibility of having children to surpass All Might until he attained his Number Two status, which as I’ve already mentioned happened when he was 20. Even if Tōya was only 3 years older than Fuyumi, which doesn’t make much sense because he would then have had to develop his Quirk at age 2 or younger, that still would mean that he was conceived before Enji even became Number Two.

If that doesn’t make sense to you, think of it this way: If Enji was between 18 and 20 years old when Tōya was born, that would mean that Tōya would have been conceived when Enji was 17 at the youngest - still a student, unless he graduated early. Regardless, that also implies he would have had to create his elaborate plan to beat All Might, as well as find and marry Rei, before he even graduated secondary school. Given what information we have from canon, that just does not make any semblance of sense.

As compelling that argument alone may or may not be, there are others to support it as well. Let’s consider what that implies for the age gaps between Tōya and the other Todoroki siblings. If he’s 3-5 years older than Fuyumi, that means he’s roughly 7-9 years older than Natsuo and 10-12 years older than Shōto. That would mean, if Shōto were between 5 and 6 years old in the following panels, Tōya would be anywhere between 15 and 18 years old. Fuyumi would be between 10 and 13, and Natsuo would be between 8 and 11.

While I understand that Tōya inherited Rei’s slight constitution, puberty usually begins for boys around 12 or 13 years old (although to my understanding it often starts later in Asian boys), so Tōya would likely have already begun to go through his growth spurt by this age. Even assuming that Natsuo had started going through his own growth spurt, Tōya still has 7-9 years on him - so the chances that Natsuo had this much height and mass on him are pretty slim. I might be able to buy Tōya being 15 years old in those panels, but I find even that a bit of a stretch.

And finally, let’s talk about how old Tōya was when he “died.”

Assuming that the second panel is the most recent (halfway decent) photo the Todorokis have of Tōya before his “death,” I’m inclined to agree with the people who have pointed out that his clothes resembled a junior high school uniform, similar to what Midoriya and Bakugō were seen wearing in the story’s earliest chapters and episodes. Junior high school in Japan is attended by students between the ages of 12 and 15, roughly - so it’s safe to assume that Tōya was no older than 15 years old when he “died.” However, I will note that given how Horikoshi draws most of the 15-year-old male characters in the story, he does look younger than that to me. I am keeping in mind that Tōya was mentioned to have had a slight build - even as Dabi, he still does - so there is the possibility that my conclusions there aren’t accurate.

If Tōya was 12 when he “died,” Shōto would probably not have any memories of him at all - at the time of his “death,” he would have been anywhere between 2 years old and a newborn. It’s implied in the manga and the anime that Tōya disappeared sometime after Rei burned Shōto’s face, which undoubtedly happened after Enji had begun to train him - so, likely well after he had turned 5. In the somewhat unlikely event that his face was burned while he was still 5 years old, Tōya would have been between 15 and 18 years old, as mentioned above. If it had happened when Shōto was 7, he would have been between 17 and 20, and so on. Going with the junior high school uniform theory, which honestly seems rather plausible, he essentially cannot have “died” after age 15 - so, more than likely, he would have been gone before Shōto even began his training. Obviously, this is disproven by the soccer panel in Ch. 39.

Honestly, I don’t know how else to say it - no matter how I angle it, it just does not make sense to me, canonically, that Tōya is the eldest Todoroki sibling. There’s a lot of information stacked up against it, and though I’ve mulled over it for a bit now, I can’t actually think of a scenario in which it actually is a logical conclusion.

TL;DR: Tōya being the oldest Todoroki doesn’t make sense in light of information we have regarding Enji’s timeline as well as previous images we’ve seen in the manga and anime.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 341: The Pale Princess of a Palace Cracked

Previously on BnHA: All Might was all, “time to take up literally half of this chapter by calling a strategy meeting but then never getting to the actual strategy because we have to keep the readers in suspense!” Aizawa was all, “listen up Aoyama, I know you’re really scared about having to face AFO again, and possibly dying, and also potentially letting down your classmates again, and just basically having all of the odds overwhelmingly stacked against you no matter what you do now. But I just wanted to let you know it’s all going to be okay because we’ve got your back and I will personally guarantee your safety, somehow,” only he said it so convincingly that everyone actually did buy in because his words were just that sincere and powerful! The chapter ended with Shinsou being all, “SURPRISE, IT’S SHINSOU TIME!” at long last, and oh dang.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all, “JUST KIDDING, IT IS NOT SHINSOU TIME AT ALL, IT IS IN FACT TOGA TIME,” and okay then. Toga visits her abandoned childhood home and is all “ah yes, this sure does remind me of those carefree days I spent dreaming about being eaten alive by birds.” Dabi is all, “hey Toga, I’m just gonna go ahead and set your depressing house on fire now. Also, don’t forget that you’ve got some of Twice’s blood and can use his quirk! Just thought I’d remind you about that, apropos of nothing.” Meanwhile in AFO’s creepy pirate cave lair, AFO is all, “wow, Tomura sure is recovering well, just look at how many tentacle fingers he can spawn from his left hand now!” Skeptic is all, “btw Spinner I need you to become the new face of the PLF so that we can pretend to have some sort of moral high ground while we proceed to destroy the world.” The chapter ends with a bunch of villains just kind of randomly gathering in some apocalyptic city ruins somewhere, including everyone’s favorite inaugural chapter villain, Slimeothy McBlob.

(1. as always, all comments not marked with “ETA” are my unspoiled reactions from my first blind readthrough of the chapter.

2. as of today, I am very much NOT caught up with the manga, but will keep you posted on my progress (currently only up to this chapter, 341, but ONE OF THESE DAYS MY ROR (rate of reading) WILL FINALLY GET AHEAD OF MY ROP (rate of posting), SOMEDAY, POSSIBLY, MAYBE).

3. as explained here, I HAVE been spoiled for one Major Thing happening later on in the series. however, there are no references to said Thing in this particular post, other than a countdown image posted at the very bottom. I’ve taken the liberty of marking that with a spoiler warning, and placing it a few inches down and away from the rest of the recap, meaning this post should effectively be spoiler-free.

anyway, on we go!)

oh my goodness

this seems like a lot of blood even by Toga’s standards. should I be worried

and Horikoshi is really starting to get cute with all these chapter titles lately huh. part minus one???? so wait, what does that even mean? are we going to have some sort of flashback dating back prior to chapter 338? or is this implying that this chapter will be kind of a one-step-forward-two-steps back sort of thing in terms of their hero journey? lol what the hell

(ETA: based on the actual content of this chapter, I’m guessing that the negative/minus is Horikoshi’s way of denoting the villain chapter(s), similar to MVA vs MHA.)

oh damn

soo, I’m guessing this is Toga’s old house from back in her pre-villain days? and that this graffiti is related to that whole “innocently murdering her middle school crush” incident

wow, these people were absolutely charming

gonna go out on a limb and guess that her parents don’t live here anymore

but, surprise surprise, guess who’s visiting now

okay, I was prepared for more Aoyama feels. I was prepared for Shinsou feels. I was prepared to finally learn the details of the heroes’ grand and exciting and outrageously risky villain battling plan. but I gotta tell you guys, I was not at ALL prepared to have Toga feels, out of all the possibilities, just straight up out of the blue like this

actually come to think of it, didn’t Horikoshi mention her in his 2021 year-end interview? damn it, now I have to go back and find that thing lol

okay yeah. here’s the link to @hanashimas​’ translation. so let’s see. blah blah, “if things go smoothly...” lol well I’m pretty sure the series isn’t actually wrapping up just yet, so yeah. looking forward to that 2023 Jump Festa message my guy

okay here we go. “regarding Ochako and Toga, I have a scene that I’m itching to draw. Frankly speaking, Toga is a character that was created specifically for Ochako. And I’ve developed Ochako to match Toga.” huh. this sounds a whole lot gayer than I remembered lol

and unrelated, but nonetheless also interesting, he also mentions Tomura and Deku and gets really philosophical about the two of them. “He’s the greatest obstacle in Deku’s goal of ‘saving’.” and then this one part that really has me intrigued, “Saving and Destroying are both born out of ego. Whose ego will win in the end? Is it even a matter of winning or losing?” just, huh. what an interesting thing to say

anyways! back to Sad Toga!

you are really bumming me out right now Sad Toga

that close up of the door frame with Baby Toga’s height measurements all crossed out is fucking brutal. who did that, I wonder. was it the vandals? or was it actually her own parents? I don’t know if I can take this right now you guys

“no one will ever accept you, the way you are” dammit dammit dammit

well, granted we’re only like 4 pages in, but thus far I’m just as conflicted over the whole Toga Redemption(??) Saga as ever, lol. on the one hand she was and is just a kid, and she never really meant to hurt anyone, and definitely didn’t seem to fully comprehend what she was doing. but on the other hand, there’s an obvious clear-cut difference between “giving kids the freedom to be themselves and express themselves”, and “giving kids the freedom to straight up murder other kids if that’s their preferred method of self-expression.” so yeah! this imo is arguably the most morally complex out of all the LoV origin stories, and I really appreciate it for that

man oh man

when you get right down to it Toga really just has a REAL fucked up quirk. is that taking the easy way out lol. well whatever, I don’t even care, Toga’s quirk is the real final villain you read it here first

OH MY GOD

“every night I dream about this cute little birdie dancing on my tummy and then eviscerating me <3 <3 <3 it’s just the cutest little thing”

OKAY BUT FOR REAL TOGA, YOU AND I REALLY DO NOT SEE EYE TO EYE IN TERMS OF OUR HAPPY PLACE

mm. yes. so pleasant. so sweet :’)

what an absolutely delightful and profoundly unsettling journey we’re all having here today

LMAO WHAT

SO THIS BITCH CAME ALONG FOR THE NOSTALGIA TOUR TOO HUH. lol okay then. don’t tell me we’re off to visit Todoriko Village next

dammit Dabi I can never tell if you actually give a fuck, or if you just like being a dick to people all the time

but seeing as you’re a character in a shounen manga who seems destined for a redemption arc WHETHER YOU DAMN WELL LIKE IT OR NOT!, I’m gonna go ahead and stick with the former. look at you, out here keeping an eye on Toga as she confronts the looming shadows of her past. and pretending be all aloof about it. classic big brother move. wonder if she reminds you of Fuyu

what an interesting response!

“you sure you’re ready for the grand finale where we destroy the world and everything in it?” “not like I can do anything about it now either way.” sooooo. can’t help but notice the part where that is by no means a “yes.” having some second thoughts about your chosen path there, Toga?

meanwhile this guy is launching into yet another of his patented monologues

man, y’all are way too damn nihilistic for me. absolutely no one in the League of Villains is actually happy are they. or even has any hope of ever being happy. they all just want to burn the world down and presumably go out with a bang right along with it. it’s going to be so damn satisfying when Ochako and Deku and Shouto and the rest finally hit them with those long-overdue inspiring shounen beatdowns and remind them that THERE’S STILL SOME GOOD IN THIS WORLD, MR. FRODO, AND IT’S WORTH FIGHTING FOR

wow, Dabi

still as dramatic as ever, I see

awww. she says he’s going to get them both caught, but that she’s grateful to him all the same

and she called him Touya! my heart! better watch yourself before she starts coming for your blood, Dabi

OH MY GOD DABI

“[LEAPS OF A WINDOW!!] WHATEVER, TOGA!! [DOES A FLIP IN MID AIR] I ONLY DID IT TO SPITE ENDEAVOR SO THERE!!” because if there’s anything Endeavor hates, it’s having empty abandoned buildings burn down miles away from where any living people actually are. good job Dabi. fucking gottem

?? what’s this now?

some freshly acquired blood? but whose?

ohhhhhhh hh shit. oh, SHIT

exactly how much damage could this potentially do. shit

okay I just looked it up and apparently the ratio is 1 cup of blood = 18 hours of transformation. which. is actually so much worse than I remembered sob

however this is a fairly small-looking test tube though! so assuming that this can hold maybe 5 ml of blood, which seems reasonable, that means she has enough of Twice’s blood to stay transformed for... twenty minutes or so? wait, really? is that all? am I just really bad at math?? lmao well I take it back then, that actually doesn’t sound too bad at all. surely the heroes can fend off an army of Twices for just twenty minutes or so. right. ...right?

oh dang now we’re cutting to... Spinner? AND AFO???

what the hell

lol wtf is happening. he was just sitting there, and then suddenly AFO was all WOOSH, and then Spinner looked over, and then he started wandering down some dark tunnel calling for Tomura??

WHAT THE FUCK

HAVE WE ACCIDENTALLY CROSSED OVER INTO THE THIRD ACT OF FMA OVER HERE OR WHAT

OKAY SO NOW THE CREEPY CAVE TENTACLES ARE SUDDENLY RECEDING, AND IN THEIR PLACE TOMURA IS LYING THERE??

ARE YOU DOING ALL RIGHT LITTLE BUDDY?? YOU’RE NOT LOOKING TOO HOT RN MY DUDE?

LSDJKAFLKASJLGKJ okay now that I’ve forced myself to scroll back up to look at the “tentacles” again a little more closely, an action which I highly, highly regret, I can see that they are actually just... fingers. literally just a bunch of fingers. endlessly spawning tentacle fingers with joints and fingerprints and fingernails and okay you know what, where the hell did Dabi run off to, I’ve got a panel here that needs to be incinerated ASAP

(ETA: so now that I’ve looked at this page yet again, which I regret EVEN MORE, it appears that this is Tomura’s left hand trying to regenerate itself or something. anyway so that I’ll just leave it at that and will ask no further questions and will basically just do my best to NEVER EVER THINK ABOUT THIS PANEL OR THIS ENTIRE PAGE EVER AGAIN.)

NOW AFO IS HERE AGAIN OUT OF NOWHERE TO BE ALL CREEPY AT SPINNER!!

WORRIED, YOU SAY??? WHY ON EARTH WOULD I BE WORRIED???? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WORRISOME ABOUT ANY OF THIS, NO SIR. that’s it, Spinner. just play it cool. then wait until AFO has his back turned and grab Tomura and make a run for it

so AFO says Tomura is “conquering” the quirk doomsday theory, which. ????????????? ?????

(ETA: so I’ve had a day or so to mull this over a little more now, but tbh I still don’t really understand what he’s trying to say here. in the RHA translation, AFO says that Tomura is “gradually overcoming the quirk singularity”, so my best guess is that it’s a needlessly complicated way of saying that he’s gradually gaining more control over his quirks? since the quirk singularity nonsense is basically just a sciencey way of saying, “heads up, eventually quirks are just gonna get SO FUCKING WILD that no one will even be able to control them, so then we’ll all just die I guess!”

but that still doesn’t make much sense to me, and also I really have very little clue about what’s been going on with TomurAFO in general ever since his fight with S&S, so! just gonna have to keep reading I suppose.)

“he’s still Shigaraki?” oh Spinner. my sweet loyal Spinner. if you have to ask, I think that deep down you already suspect the answer

why wouldn’t he be? :) you don’t think AFO would lie to you about that, do you, Spinner? don’t you trust him?? he’s such a notoriously nice and trustworthy guy!!

(ETA: I mean he obviously is, don’t get me wrong. but it seems pretty clear that things are all going according to Vestige!AFO’s plan for now, and that the “Tomura” currently running things in the ol’ TomurAFO body isn’t the same Tomura that Spinner once knew. at least not right now.)

so now Skeptic, who STILL EXISTS FOR SOME REASON IN SPITE OF MY BEST EFFORTS TO FORGET THAT HE DOES, is launching into some boring speech about villains with mutant quirks? and saying that a bunch of them hold grudges against heroes because of all the historical prejudice and stuff

oh snap lol

YOU’RE FAMOUS NOW, SPINNER!

oh my god they’re trying to recruit him to be the League’s new public face or something. bitch you’re just trying to distract him because he’s onto you and he’s like the one member of the LoV who would actually be able to reach out to Tomura and snatch him back from AFO’s grasp with The Power of Friendship!!

seriously though! Tomura finally makes ONE real, true, honest-to-god friend, and IMMEDIATELY AFO is all “welp, time to send this kid far, FAR away from here right now” ffff goddammit. don’t go along with it Spinner!!

(ETA: forgot to comment on it at the time because I was too busy trying and failing to make telepathic contact with Spinner, but what the hell is up with this flash drive thingy that Skeptic is handing over to him? don’t tell me it’s ANOTHER Dabi tell-all HBO miniseries. how many of these are they gonna churn out.)

NOOOO SPINNER

DAMN IT AFO. he was definitely wavering until he heard that, and then he immediately got all resigned

AND THAT’S THE END OMG

WHAT A DARK, DEPRESSING, AND FOREBODING CHAPTER IN WHICH ABSOLUTELY NOTHING GOOD OR POSITIVE HAPPENED FOR ANYONE, AND EVERYTHING JUST KEEPS GETTING EXPONENTIALLY WORSE SOB

and is that the OG sludge villain chilling out there in the bottom right?!? BACK FOR MORE, EH. well I seem to recall you got your ass kicked by a fucking backpack all the way back in CHAPTER ONE so it’s pretty fucking bold of you to show your face in these parts again after all this time! but more power to you I guess

so there we have it! not the most exciting of chapters, but I really like that about it, actually. like for once, we got a chapter that actually slowed down the pace and took time to breathe, and that was actually really refreshing. granted, I might not have felt the same way if I’d spent a whole week waiting for this, and then had to resign myself to waiting ANOTHER whole week to finally see what Shinsou & Pals are up to, lol

BUT SINCE I’M FROM THE FUTURE where I have the freedom to continue reading AS MUCH AS I WANT in order to get as much of that SWEET IMMEDIATE GRATIFICATION as I desire, I feel like I can appreciate this more than I might have otherwise! and in all seriousness, I think the pacing of this chapter bodes very well for the future. the last two arcs in particular had a LOT of plot developments that felt more than a little rushed. things like Nagant’s whole storyline, S&S and her history with All Might, and so forth. there were a lot of times when it was just like, “[SUDDEN PLOT TWIST OUT OF NOWHERE!]”, immediately followed by “[HASTY EXPOSITION-HEAVY FLASHBACK BELATEDLY EXPLAINING THE PLOT TWIST].”

and it’s not like most of the twists were actually bad, but you know what would have made all the difference? is if we’d had a couple of earlier chapters introducing us to Star, or establishing Nagant and her history with the HPSC. that would have served to get us invested in these characters beforehand, the same way that I’m now more invested in Toga’s story after spending a few pages with her revisiting her childhood home and confronting those old memories. that kind of thing really goes a long way, and it’s something Horikoshi used to do a lot more often (remember Twice’s introduction way back in the day?). so yeah, I was really happy to see him getting back to that kind of writing here, and hopefully that bodes well for the writing as we move into the final arc

anyway so yeah! AND WITH THAT SAID, I GUESS THIS MEANS IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN, by which I mean “time to post our updated ‘COUNTDOWN TO SPOILER THING’ meme”! so here is your friendly warning that ***if you are not fully caught up with the BnHA manga, please stop reading here!***

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you may have noticed that we appear to be counting in the wrong direction from the previous chapter! that is because, after a bit of discussion and some confused pondering and consideration, I have decided to go with 362 as the revised Chapter Of Destiny! so yeah. THE RECKONING STILL APPROACHETH, but it hopefully doth approach slightly more accurately than before lol. BUT IF NOT THEN OH WELL

[birdhouse-of-shadows]

   If I’m going to angst jail, I’m gonna go for a good reason. Buckle your seat belts and prepare for some real angst. Also half way through this I came up with a title for this so maybe I’ll put this on Ao3. Also I managed to use the word assfuck for the stupidest reason so I’m happy. 

Side note: HCDISHBKFJ I KEPT FORGETTING THIS WAS HERE BUT ITS FINALLY DONE SO- 

“The Ghost and the Moon God” 

TW: panic attack, mentions of abuse 

It was only two weeks after the war had ended. Many pros were still recovering from their injuries, and Hawks was no exception. His back was healed, but he suffered some severe nerve damage. It was going to take months of therapy to relearn how to fully use the left side of his body. However, the ex pro hardly cared about rehabilitation. Since he had been in the hospital he had not been allowed to see his intern, or rather, his intern was not allowed to see him. 

Tokoyami had to endure questioning about what had happened to Hawks, and whatever else he knew about the villain, Dabi. It took a long time for the teen to say anything at all. He had internalized so much, and would only give broad descriptions of the event. He was so conflicted about what he had done, was it really right to save a murderer? It was his job as a hero to save his mentor, right? Aizawa was busy recovering, so he couldn’t help in coaxing the answers from his student until a week into the investigation. The teacher knew well that Tokoyami would need comfort before he could answer any questions. They were only together for 5 minutes before Tokoyami was crying and spilling his heart out to his teacher. 

Once the Commission got wind of what Tokoyami had seen, they knew that had to do something about him. They decided it would be a waste of potential to simply get rid of him. The HPSC decided instead to invite him to join their program. They thought that the young boy would be absolutely honored to have the opportunity to receive the same training as his mentor. Unfortunately, they were completely right. 

Tokoyami received the invitation personally. He had finally gotten to talk to Hawks and catch up. They 3 hours just talking to each other, venting, crying, apologizing, making jokes, laughing, with just each other. They would always be bros, even if one of them had lost their feathers and couldn’t be considered much of a bird. After he finally departed Tokoyami was met outside of the hospital by the president of the HPSC and principal Nezu. The meeting was a total coincidence, the two were originally going to speak to Hawks. It was quite the stroke of luck because they’d be able to get two birds with one stone. 

“Tokoyami Fumikage, am I correct?” The president was the first to greet Tokoyami. Principal Nezu was next to speak.

“My dear student, I’d like to introduce you to somebody! This is the president of the Hero Public Safety Commission! I assume you’ve spoken to Hawks, yes? We came here to speak to him, but it’s good that we ran into you. We’ve got a proposition for you!” Tokoyami wasn’t surprised when he wasn’t able to get much of a word in, the principal was known for his ramblings after all. Principal Nezu explained that the Commission was grateful for Tokoyami’s involvement in saving Hawks and they wanted to offer him private hero training. It would be the same training that Hawks was given, the training that helped him rise to the top so quickly. 

The young hero was absolutely astonished and humbled at the offer. However he was still hesitant. What about UA? Would he be able to get the same quality education? He would also have to speak to his family about this. The president assured him that the education would be an even higher quality than UA. Nezu agreed, albeit losing a little pride in the process. Tokoyami happily agreed to inform his parent and get a meeting setup. With that, the three went their separate ways. ‘

Hawks was tense when he saw the president entering, but confused when he saw the small mouse creature. No, wait, that’s Tokoyami’s principal. Why would these two be together. Hawks’ mind immediately began racing with thoughts and theories. He was stopped mid-thought when the his intern’s principal climbed onto his hospital bed. Nezu seemed to have a reassuring smile on his face, which brought down Hawks’ anxiety a bit. He opened his mouth to greet the pair, but was interrupted by the small principal. 

“Hello there Hawks! My name is Nezu, though I’m sure you already know that from Tokoyami! We actually ran into him on the way in. I have come here with the HPSC president to propose an offer! I’ll let her take from here.” The cheery little animal swung his feet over the side of the bed, and looked over to the president. She cleared her throat and began to speak.

“Hawks, as I’m sure you know, your injuries are going to prevent you from returning to your hero work. While you could return to your office and simply do paperwork, we believe that would be a waste of your talent and knowledge. We would believe that it would be in the best interest of the future that you pass your knowledge onto the next generation.” She paused and looked back over to the principal. 

“So I am offering you a position as a teacher at my school!” Hawks was a bit shocked at the proposition. A teacher at UA? He could be around Tokoyami and watch him grow. He couldn’t help but feel a twinge of excitement. He could create more bonds, similar to the one he has with Tokoyami. The ability to help children see their true potential. As soon as Hawks came to this conclusion, he accepted the position. The joyful tone was not meant to last. 

“Principal Nezu, would you mind letting me have a word with Hawks on my own?” The president joyfully agreed let the president have her moment alone and exchanged his farewells with his new employee. The President watched the small creature leave before approaching the side of the bed. 

“Hawks, I am sure that you already picked up on the fact that I am not here just to tell you about a new job position.”

“Yes ma’am. I’m almost excited to hear the news.” Hawks tried to let out a small laugh to cover his fear. He already knew what this would be about. The boy who had saved his life, but in the process got far too close. 

“Its about your former inter, Tokoyami Fumikage. We both know that he knows far too much about you and your position with the league. He will need to be taken care of. It would be a waste to prevent him from being a hero, so we’ve decided to be merciful. We have invited him to join our training program to become a top hero just like you, just like his mentor.” Hawks could only listen as she spoke, he knew that he had no opinion on the matter. His heart sank as she continued, he wanted so badly to protest, to cry, to scream, but he couldn’t. With or without him, with consent or not, Tokoyami would be going through that training program. She finally began to conclude her lecture. 

“Hawks, do you understand?”

“Yes ma’am”

“Oh, I have one last thing to inform you of. Since you are no longer a hero, you are no longer Hawks. Keigo Takami, I am looking forward to seeing your work as a teacher. Have a good day.” With that, she was gone. Takami let out the breath he wasn’t aware he had been holding in. After that sigh, he could hardly breathe. His kid was going to go through that same hell that he went through as a child. Takami began getting flashbacks to the training. He remembered the blood, the injuries, the abuse, the punishments. He spent hours just crying in that hospital room by himself. 

- 3 weeks later - 

It was finally time for them to go their separate ways. UA was holding a large scale party celebrating those who fought in the war. Here it was announced that Takami would be joining the staff, here it would be the last time he saw Tokoyami Fumikage. They sat outside together, away from everyone else, simply watching the sun go down. That was until Takami broke the silence

“Tokoyami, I’m proud of you. I am looking forward to the hero you’ll become”

“Thank you, but why say this so suddenly?”

Takami looked over to the confused face of his friend. He was hoping the next thing he said would be the last time he would have to lie to Tokoyami. 

“I just wanted to...” He didn't just want to, he needed to.

“...I might not see you for a while. With you going off to that private training and all. It was pretty tough when I was there, and I’m proud of you for stepping up to the challenge.” He knew he wouldn’t be seeing Tokoyami again. It wasn’t just tough, it was hell, no child should endure it. Takami realized that maybe that last part wasn’t a lie. He was proud of his little bro, but he was also terrified. There was a slim chance that maybe, just maybe since Tokoyami already had some hero training, the commission would go easy on him. There was also a possibility that since Tokoyami only had a year and a half left of school, that the Commission would be harsh, in order to make Tokoyami a top hero in a matter of months. 

“Well again I thank you Ha-, I mean Takami Sensei” 

“Don’t call me that, kid.  Its way to damn formal. Remember, we’re still bros.” Takami smiles, he hadn’t done so genuinely in such a long time. Maybe it was all of the memories that he had with the bird headed kid, maybe it was the fact that he was happy to be near somebody he cared for. He didn’t care about the reason, he was just happy to be happy. 

“Are you two done?” Takami almost fell off of the bench he and Tokoyami were currently sitting on. Aizawa has come out of the very depths of assfuck nowhere and scared him. Tokoyami, as one of Aizawa’s previous students, was used to these sneak attacks. The ninja teacher spoke again, 

“Ah, sorry, you’re gonna have to get used to that. Tokoyami, the Commission is here to pick you up.  Hurry and say bye to everyone before you leave” Aizawa jumped in his sleeping bag and disappeared again.

 “D-does he always do that?”

“Yes, Aizawa-Sensei is known for it. You are never quite alone here at UA. That fact could be good or bad depending on the type of individual you are”

“Great, that’s great.” Takami couldn’t help but feel nervous about working with somebody like that. He didn’t have long to feel nervous about that though, he remembered why his fellow teacher had come in the first place. It was finally time. He had to say goodbye.

Takami looked up to his friend, who had already stood to leave. He wasn’t sure what to say. This goodbye is only hard for him, he’s the only one who really knows what is happening. He could stop this now, couldn’t he? Why not stop it before it starts? That’s right, he’s not allowed to, if he does things could be worse off. He let out a soft sigh as he stood, hoping that maybe it would cause some kind of butterfly effect, and save Tokoyami. 

“So, I guess that’s that. My time at UA is over. It was fun while it lasted, and I met many great souls.”

“Are you sad to be leaving?”

“Dark Shadow more so than I, he says he’s going to miss all of the affection he gets here. I believe I will miss people, but I am not sad. I will see them again, even if it’s not within UA’s walls.” The soft sigh that followed seemed both sad and reminiscent. Tokoyami began to speak again, but was interrupted by something warm. It was a hug. Takami was holding him tightly, and didn’t seem to want to let go. The teen hugged back in a moment of understanding. They knew that wouldn’t be seeing each other again for a very long time. The two stood there for a long time before finally letting go. 

“So I guess this is goodbye for now, little moon god”

“Moon god? That’s a new one.” Tokoyami chuckled “But I don’t consider this goodbye. It’s not like the Commission is going to kill me. I mean, you’re not dead. Unless you are a ghost and I didn’t know that. Are you a ghost Takami?”

Takami couldn’t help but laugh. He knew that Tokoyami had been trying to lighten the mood. 

“As far as I know, I am not a ghost. I might just die if you leave me for too long Mr. Moon God.”

“Oh goodness, you seem adamant about this new nickname. Fine then, ghosty. 

“Ghosty?”

“I am convinced that you are a ghost and I’ll be joining you in the afterlife once I am done with my training” The word training snapped Takami back to the reality of the situation. Tokoyami also seemed to come back to reality. There was a small silence before the older of the two spoke up. 

“Seriously Tokoyami, I am going to miss you. I’m not the only one whose gonna miss you though. Your classmates are waiting for you.”

“Right then. I’ll be seeing you then, ghosty.” With that Tokoyami finally turned around and opened the door to go back inside. With one last parting look, he went inside. There was a small black feather that was sitting on the ground next to the door. Takami could only watch as the wind caught it and floated it away. 

- 3 Years Later - 

“All right everyone, that's all I’ve got for you today. You’ve got English with Mikey next. Bye now”. Takami began to leave his class when the sliding door slammed open. 

“TAKAMI! I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT!” Present Mic managed to sound cheery and angry at the same time. “I’VE HAD TO TELL YOU THAT SINCE YOU STARTED WORKING HERE!” 

“Okay, okay sorry” Takami seemed to be genuinely apologetic until he finally made it safely out the door “Mikey” 

“TAKAMI I SWEAR TO G-” Takami had already shut the classroom door in Mic’s face. He let out a slight chuckle before turning around to head to the faculty lounge. A voice came from behind him. 

“Takami.” 

“CHRIST! AIZAWA STOP DOING THAT. You know I hate that”

“Well, I recall that somebody told you to get used to that years ago. That person is also here to see you.”

Takami turned to face Aizawa with a confused look on his face. “Who? There have been far too many people who have warned me about you.” 

“I would assume he was the first person to have told you” 

Takami seemed to be even more confused. Who was the first person to tell him? How was he supposed to remember who told him something over three years ago? Three years ago was when he had become a teacher for the old class 2-A, Tokoyami’s class. They had all graduated a year ago. Wait, wait a minute, Tokoyami’s class. 

“TOKOYAMI? IS HE HERE?”

Aizawa simply spressed himself against the wall and prepared for Hawks to bolt down the hallway. 

“Meeting room 2-A, please don’t run anybody over on the way there.” Aizawa’s plea went completely ignored seeing as Takami had already bolted down the hallway. He was on the fourth floor, and on the wrong side of the building. He quickly calculated the quickest route to Tokoyami. Left, right, down the south hall, another left, avoid All Might, remember to apologize later, down the stairs. His mind ran on simple instructions. There it was, 3-A! One of the few things Hawks had retained was his ability to move quickly without running out of breath. He stood straight and composed himself, tears nearly slipping out. He took a deep breath and slid the door open. 

The sight that awaited him was something he hadn’t been prepared for. Tokoyami sat looking at him, his eyes dead. There was a large scar across the bridge of his beak. The typical black shirt of his hero costume was replaced with one with the Commission’s emblem. It was the same branding that he had to wear when he had been a hero. Upon seeing the young hero, Takami knew that was no longer the kid he used to know. 

The President sat next to him, as serious as ever. There was a glint of curiosity in her eyes. It was obvious that she wanted to know what Takami’s reaction would be to this new version of Tokoyami. The sick curiosity made Takami’s heart sink. He knew what had happened to Tokoyami, he knew that the teen would never be the same. 

“Hey there, you two. Its been a while, hasn’t it?” Takami moved to sit down. 

“Yes it has, and in this long while Tsukuyomi here has become a wonderful young hero.” 

Tokoyami said absolutely nothing. 

“We’ve come to visit you because next week Tsukuyomi will be having his debut as a hero. We would have done it sooner, when the rest of his class had graduated, but creating a hero is like making a fine wine. More time results in higher quality, wouldn’t you say?” 

“Of course” Takami knew that she didn’t mean that. He assumed that the Comission had issues with getting rid of Tokoyami’s emotions and previous training education. There may have also been issues with how complex Dark Shadow was. Usually the shadow was around whenever Tokoyami was greeting somebody familiar. There was no sign of him, meaning that there was a high possibility that Dark Shadow was only allowed out for combat reasons.

“I have nothing else to talk to you about. I am going to leave you two to catch up, alright?” The president just left without saying anything else. At this point Takami could hardly think. After his peaceful 3 years of teaching, he would have to face Tokoyami and his 3 years of hell. 

“Tokoya-”

“Don’t call me that. You and I both know that is no longer my name.” Tsukuyomi’s voice was dry and harsh. It was obvious that the training had destroyed his personality. He spoke up again, 

“I don’t have much to talk to you about. You already know what the training was like. While I am quite please to be seeing you alive and well, I can’t help but feel betrayed when I look at you. You knew exactly what I would be put through, and you did nothing to warn me. I remember the last interaction we had. You had so many chances to say something, and yet you didn’t. I remember how we joked about how the Commission's training had killed you, and maybe you were a ghost. I almost wish that you were dead, then I never would have met you. However, you did help me with some things, so your life has some value. I hope that my training does not become a waste. That’s all I have to say. Goodbye, Takami.” 

Takami couldn’t get a single word in before Tsukuyomi left. There were absolutely no words to say. Tokoyami Fumikage had been killed by the Comission’s training. The only thing that was left was the vengeful moon god, Tsukuyomi. 

[shigarakis-fifth-hand]

BakuDeku Fanfic; A Confession

Warning: Confession, kiss, death, wounds, fighting, crying ( at least I cried ), very gay

Bakugo was sitting in a hospital waiting room, sleeping against the wall from exhaustion, surrounded by his fellow classmates. Looking around, he saw all the UA faculty, every 1-A student, and then Deku’s mom on the verge of tears. What... had happened?

Then it all came back to him like one great flashback...

The League of Villains had infuriated the USJ, and Deku happened to be in the middle of it all. Everyone had been so busy trying to save their own lives, nobody saw Izuku fighting Dabi, covered in scorching burns and bruises from his fighting. 

Izuku’s leg had been so burned it felt like Jello, so he couldn’t run and barely even move. Izuku was good, but no match for flames and heat unlike anything else he had ever felt before. 

“Deku! Get away from him!” All Might yelled, as all of 1-A turned to see Izuku fighting Dabi while on the ground. Then... Bakugo started running. Even though he could hear yells, he kept running. He was going to attack Dabi from behind and then save Izuku. 

But then... Deku looked at him. “Bakugo! Behind you!” Bakugo didn’t even have time to turn around before Izuku used all this power to launch Bakugo away to safety. Turns out Izuku had just saved Bakugo from a Nomu running towards him. Instead of the Nomu attacking Katsuki, it turned towards Izuku. 

Immediately, it began punching the sense out of Izuku, knocking out the wind so he couldn’t breathe. As Bakugo watched, Izuku was becoming pale, and was near passing out. 

“Aizawa-Sensei! We have to do something! We can’t let him die!” Ochako yelled, but it was no use. 

Aizawa had been beaten senseless, and everyone knew that they were beyond repair. “Fuck this!” Todoroki used his last bit of energy to make an ice wall between Izuku and Nomu, desperately trying to separate the two and pushing Izuku into the water for safety.

That’s when the pro heroes arrived, knocking their way through the glass and running after the League and to help the kids. 

“No, get Deku!” Bakugo yelled as a rescue hero walked towards him. But as Bakugo turned to see Deku, Deku wasn’t there anymore. Did they kidnap him?! Where was Deku?!

 “Quick! He’s in the water! He’s drowning!” Ochako yelled from afar, pointing to where Todoroki had pushing him into the water. Bakugo, being the closest to the water, immediately jumped in, swimming down to reach the small-framed boy. Bringing him above the water, and onto the land, Bakugo slowly did CPR. “Deku! Deku! Don’t die on me!” Bakugo didn’t even notice when tears wept their way down his face. 

“Please Deku!” Bakugo was now screaming as the pro heroes had to pry Izuku’s body out of Bakugo’s hands and into the ambulance. “P-please, let me go with him! Don’t take him away from me! Don’t let him die!” Bakugo yelled, being held down by a random hero and a few students while he kicked and screamed.

In the distance, many voices could be heard. “He’s losing blood!”, “There’s so much water in his lungs!”, “These burns are 3rd degree!”, and lastly... “His pulse is barely detectable!”

 The students sadly watched the ambulance drive away before being forced to go back to the school. Present Mic was made to sub for Aizawa, who was sitting with Izuku. Hizashi tried to make them smile, but they couldn’t. 

Deku would probably die.

So here they were, in their PJ’s at 4 am, waiting for the doctors to give them any updates. Nobody had wanted to go back to the dorms, so everyone squished into the waiting room, eating donuts and coffee brought by Present Mic. Even Aizawa was awake, slowly rocking back and fourth, shaking as Present Mic tried to comfort him. “If I could have been the hero he needed...” Aizawa murmured as Present Mic kiss his cheek, trying to make him feel better.

The room was silent, as you could hear a pin drop. That’s when the doctor walked in. 

“He’s awake. We aren’t sure for long, but only one visitor at a time.” Immediately Aizawa stood up. “I’m his teacher!” while Deku’s mother stood up. “I’m his mom!” The doctor sighed, wiping a tear from his eye. “We are not sure if he is going to survive the night, so we are taking his first request. Is there a... Kacchan here?”

 The doctor asked, Katsuki crying to hear the nickname only Deku was allowed to call him as the room went silent. Immediately Bakugo stood, holding back tears as he followed the doctor into the hospital room.

 It smelled like bleach, and was very taunting with blank white everywhere. Bakugo honestly was scared, even terrified.

“D-Deku.” Katsuki ran to Deku’s side, gripping his hand. “Kacchan, you tried to save me.” Deku smiled, lightly squeezing Katsuki’s hand. “You did save me Deku.” Bakugo started crying. 

“Now don’t you go dying on me, okay?! You’re a fucking hero. I’ll die without you.” Izuku’s eyes widened at Bakugo’s words. “Oh my god De- Izuku. I am so sorry for everything. I guess it takes a near-death experience for me to realize that I love you Deku.” Deku started crying. “I’ll die without you Izuku.” 

Deku smiled, touching Katsuki’s face. “Don’t say that Kacchan. Dammit, why do you have to do this now? I love you to Kacchan. I always have.” Katsuki started sobbing, and he didn’t hold back. He was going to lose Deku.

 “I’m so sorry Deku. I’ll never forgive myself.” Deku just smiled innocently, as if he weren’t hooked up to a million cables and monitors.

“Oh Kacchan, don’t be silly. I’ve already lived a good life. I got a quirk, I got into UA, I got to feel what it’s like to save a life, I’ve felt what love is like, I’ve made friends. I’ve done more than most adults. If it’s my time it’s my-” Deku got quiet as the machine next to him started beeping juristically.

 Immediately the room was filled with nurses and doctors, pushing Katsuki away. “No.” Bakugo felt Aizawa grab him from behind. “Bakugo, we all need to leave.” Aizawa commanded as Bakugo fought against him. It was like everything went silent as Aizawa covered Bakugo’s eyes and forced him into the hallways. 

“No. No.” Bakugo couldn’t scream, it was as if his voice box had been stolen from him. His heart felt like it was broken, he felt as if he couldn’t breathe.

As Bakugo entered the room, everyone read the look on his face and started crying, hugging together in one big group. 

 “I think it’s all best if you guys go to your own homes for a few days. Go home, go see your parents, go hug your families.” Aizawa told the kids as they nodded, still crying as they left. “K-Katsuki.” Bakugo turned to see Ms. Midoryia, her face stained from all the tears.

 “He told you didn’t he?” She was smiling sadly, tears streaming down her face without her making a peep. “Y-yea.” Bakugo squeaked, trying not to cry. “You’re a good kid. I hope you know... that without you he never would have done any of this. Never UA, never meeting All Might, never wanting to become a hero. My Izuku wouldn’t be... Izuku if it weren’t for you. So... thank you.” It took everything in Bakugo’s power not to cry in front of Deku’s poor mom.

Bakugo nodded, hugging Deku’s mom tightly before running out of the hospital to join the rest of his class. 

Before Bakugo knew it, the class was back in session. It had been an entire week since the incident at the hospital, and everyone was still more than depressed. Even Aizawa was half an hour late, which never happened.

“M-maybe he didn’t want to come.” Ochako suggested as Tsu piped in. “I hope Mic doesn’t sub. I hate the corny dad jokes. They get old really fast.” A few of the students nodded in agreement as All Might walked in, but not in his superior form. 

“Students, sorry to keep you waiting. I am happy to announce that-”

Izuku walked through the door, smiling weakly. He was bandaged, bruised all over, cut on his face, and his hair was extra fuzzy. But... he was alive! 

The entire class erupted they leapt out of their seat to hug Izuku, jumping up and down in overwhelming happiness.

“Deku.” Katsuki stood there, looking Izuku up and down. He felt as if he were dreaming. “Kacchan.” Izuku whispered as Katsuki ran up to him and kissed him passionately. His Deku was alive. His Deku was in his arms. His Deku was kissing him. 

Bakugo was never letting go of his Deku ever again.

[autumn-foxfire]

Ahhh just saw the rei flower scene. Still creeps me out. In the anime it feels so “no look he’s apologised. The flowers” cause reis smiling. She’s wasn’t smiling in the manga, that felt better and more “he’s not trying to leave us behind and pretend we don’t exist” eeeee hated the smile feel gross now.

In the high-end fight, Endeavour was thinking about how his body overheats and was saying "that's why" as flashback of the todo fam were shown. Why was that a thing?? Am I missing smth? Like yeah your body can overheat, that's why you forced a woman with an ice quirk into marriage to have kids I????? Why was that brought up????

Ah fuck Maybe I seeing it all wrong but this Endev v HE bit feels so weird "You know he never gave up, he's stubborn" (summary) Like yeah that's not a good thing when you just had flashbacks and were talking about his abuse. LIke I get It, in this context they're saying he's so stubborn etc so he wouldn't back down in the fight but you can't but that as a good thing after that's also what caused the abuse of his Family???? I'm so uncomfy aha

OH THAT'S WHY LOL NVM

Okay I get why all of that was brought up lol my brain is so slow. but idk the "My body can't handle high temperatures so that's why" when talking about the family feels so off but maybe I'm seeing it wrong. IDK I just feel kinda weird about the whole thing, it clearly shows E has changed as a person and I respect that, and I felt the familys reactions to the fight but I just feel so off, maybe i'm looking at it too much like "okay, and?" but, hes changed now, now what? IDKKK

Hawks' "you were the only one seriously trying to surpass him" BOTHERS ME, obvi hawks doesnt know, but we do and were made to think about the todo fam cause flashbacks. HE being a reflection of what Endev was is good and cool and the "burn up and be put to rest" as him destroying his former self once and for all nice good, why do I still feel weird lmafo, I dont like E but I dont hate him and I respect and accept his change, maybe cause felt more 'this is it' rather than "theres still more"?????

Sorry about using your inbox to scream about the last couple eps but I'm just so conflicted, the framing on the flashbacks with the "that's why" really threw me the fuck off and felt really weird. ANYWAYS ty again

I’m so glad you were too distracted by watching the episode to see the screwup I made of your earlier ask XD

Many people were upset about her smiling and I can understand why, for me personally, I just think they added the smile because she was talking to her kids and not that she actually thought fondly of Endeavor or what he did. I just interpret as her smiling at Natsuo because I can’t think of any other reason she would smile in that scene T-T (someone I spoke to once gave a good reason why she was smiling but I can’t remember what they said... damn goldfish memory).

I think it’s important to remember that this is only the start of Endeavor’s redemption and so while he is changing as a person (which is something we can see) he’s still not at the point of fully accepting his crimes and what he did. Right now he’s still trying to excuse them, almost, by rationalizing why he committed them in the first place. I think you felt uncomfortable with the “burn up and be put to rest” part because it does feel like his past is going to be brushed off because he defeated the monster he saw in himself in Hood, however that isn’t the case. I think that line was more to symbolize that the person Endeavor used to be won’t be making a return and all he can do now is move forward (whatever that future holds for him). It’s him saying he won’t fall into the patterns of the past again.

As for Hawks, yeah he has no clue. In fact Hawks is a really good way of Horikoshi showing us that no one has a clue what happened with the Todoroki family (even Hawks who turns out to be a fan that has looked up to Endeavor for a long time). I think it was a smart way of setting up Hawks later connection to Dabi while also showing us the audience that the Todoroki abuse is very much a family secret.

Overall, I think the Hood fight was a pretty good start to Endeavor’s redemption but I can understand why it would make you feel uncomfortable at times. It doesn’t really help that it is only one episode and it’s a lot to process as well. The more you watch the fight, the more you can analyze what actually went down and enjoy it for what it is (in my opinion).

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed seeing Hawks in action! I know Endeavor had the most screentime but Hawks was the true MVP in that battle and we all know that :p

I’m actually looking forward to the Endeavor agency arc being animated because it really does show us how much Endeavor has grown from this moment (and we get to see more of that delicious Todoroki drama) but we’ll have to wait awhile T-T

(Also I didn’t mind you rambling in my ask box, it was pretty fun to read!)

[wolf-nir]

I am writing this in full quarantine since there is not much to do besides overanalyzing each little thing too much. Thank you anxiety.

I will analyze everything from the beginning, but I will focus mainly on Hawks, Twice and Dabi.

So, first of all, a minute of silence for all the shit Re-Destro had to go through in the last few months since he decided it was a good idea to fight the LOV. The guy really went through a lot and in the end, he's seeing his father's legacy and himself being destroyed, in addition to having lost the few people, he considered important.

(I declare that the defendant is in serious need of a vacation.)

Second. MY BABY, KAMINARI I KNEW I LOVED YOU FOR A REASON. I really want to do a character analysis on him, but I'm controlling myself because half of what I write will be me hyping my little Pikachu. I AM A PROUD MOM AND DON’T DENY IT.

(Now, please, that all his theories of being a traitor are gone because I'm tired of having my heart broken.)

Also, please appreciate the magnificence of Midnight because I love this woman too much to be health.

Now, to the real shit hole.

We barely started and we are already shown that Hawks are not there for jokes. So far we've only seen him lose all his feathers once and it was during his rescue actions during the High-End.

Basically, this chicken knows what Twice is capable of and is ready to go with everything.

The scariest thing is not knowing that the Hawks already know that they will need to fight Jin, but the almost relaxed way he seems to use to explain how he managed to accomplish his mission.

(Now, a useless little lecture on scenario structures and scenes for free to you.)

See this? From the moment that Hawks starts his dialogue, he is completely in the shadows or hiding his facial expressions.

In some situations, this shadow cast on a character's face means that

a) he may be emotionally out of control (think in Gon from hxh)

b) ready to commit some violent/criminal action or 

c) that he is revealing something forbidden to someone who shouldn't know about this.

At first, I thought it would be the second case. Hawks is clearly prepared to attack Twice at any wrong move on the part of the villain, the predatory eyes, with unusual pupils and enlarged in a way that makes you feel fear are clear signs of this.

The thing is. Hawks' speech and even his stance (not counting the feathers) tell a totally different story.

Keigo slowly approaches Jin, the two feathers he uses as a sword in a relaxed, downward grip, as if clearly saying that Hawks has no intention of attacking. Of course, maybe it's because Hawks is confident enough in his ability to control his already sharp feathers and surrounding Twice and even with all this clear threat, Hawks still asks Jin not to resist.

Many may think that maybe it’s because Hawks is wary of Twice’s ability, but Hawks- no, Keigo, created a kind of connection with Jin in earlier chapters, one that seemed to go beyond a simple infiltration attempt and perhaps “use the weakest link” kind of thing. So Keigo asking Twice to surrender almost willingly is more of a sincere request than a veiled threat.

So we can say that this situation is heading towards the third option, in which Hawks genuinely says what he thinks (finally dude).

Please, a minute of silence for my baby's suffering. Twice finally realizing that Hawks is a traitor is the most painful thing I have seen since the last All Might fight. Worst of all is seeing him blaming himself and remembering the last time he trusted someone outside the family he found at LOV.

Returning. It's super interesting to see the use of contrast of light and shadow here.

The entire appearance of Hawks is in the shadows, he looks more like a villain than Twice himself. It's like this scene is showing us through images of the Hawks' double agent role, showing him completely in the dark, with only his eyes distinct enough, showing that he's always been there to spy. Unlike Twice, which is completely in the light, and even covered by the mask, its expressions are completely exposed.

This is all very cool and ironic, since Hawks is, technically, the good guy, but he finds himself in a position that only villains find themselves when they are drawn in the moments when he intends to attack one of the good guys or protagonist. But Twice is completely engulfed by the light, portraying him in the ordinary role of the hero and, at the same time, transforming him into someone vulnerable, leaving no loopholes for him to hide his feelings of anguish.

(Ouch, these flashbacks from Jin are killing me.)

“How sad is it if nobody trusts you?”

That, right there, is the golden question. Or we can call it the key to the pandora box.

It's just a sentence, but it makes us reflect on how, because of all that the Hawks have gone through to become who he is now, Keigo has never really shown himself to be a character with great connections or someone trustworthy.

And it is noticeable when we see him interact with other Pro-Heros or the Commission. Dude, in the first meeting with the Commission, he shows exactly this scepticism when he reveals that he knows information that the organization itself was trying to keep completely confidential.

He doesn't let anything be a secret and he has said that he always prefers the truth, even if for that truth to be revealed he has to “get his hands dirty”.

Hawks doesn't trust anyone, maybe, but himself. Sure, he trusts that heroes will do their job and that they are reliable in that, but he is still the type to investigate everything he can in any situation, even when he shouldn't know anything.

(Clear paranoia and trust issues, but with such a shitty childhood, who would never?)

As a morally grey character, this desire to always know everything and to have control over things around him is quite predictable, but it also shows that Hawks doesn’t necessarily create a connection with people without seeing some kind of benefit behind it.

Hawks works with Endeavor and tells him his own truth (and perhaps ideology) because he knows that, even if Enji doesn't understand his point of view or doesn't like how he does his job, Endeavor is still Hero # 1 and he needs that strength. Honestly, for me, none of the Hawks' interactions with Enji suggests that the Hawks really are some kind of Endeavor fan anymore like when he was a kid, he just sees the merits of maintaining a friendly relationship with Endeavor since he is Hero # 1 and for to believe that Enji can bring a new image to heroism that differs from all the fanaticism around the image of All Might being the "Symbol of Peace".

NOW. Enough of my improvised character analysis on Hawks and let's skip to what matters because I'm already like Izuku, murmuring incomprehensibly at this point.

THE SHADOWS ARE FADING!

It starts very slowly as if Horikoshi is creating a climax to reveal exactly what Hawks really thinks, or rather what Takami Keigo really thinks and believes. So far we've only seen Hawks, the Hero, but never Keigo, the only time we had a concrete glimpse of the person behind the hero was in the dialogue between him and Twice.

At that moment Keigo really let himself be vulnerable because he found himself mirrored (perhaps in the worst ways) in Jin. Two men with life experiences and opposing paths, but who are still connected by how mentally fucked up they came out of everything they went through.

(What a beautiful friendship *sobs*)

AND NOT ONLY THAT! It's not just Hawks being as true as possible at that moment that makes the shadows disappear, but also the fact that he, a hero, believes in the recovery of a villain, to believe and declare that Twice is a good person, that he deserves a second chance.

And you know what? At first, I thought it was just that. Hawks recognizing that a villain deserved a second chance. But honestly? It’s much more.

Remember this?

We have already stated that Hawks is not the type of person who likes to lie (he can and has done it before, but he prefers to speak the truth in most cases), so when he tells Twice how he feels caged because of the current system, I don't think he's lying. Especially because his entire life Hawks has always been in a beautiful golden cage.

So when he tells Twice that he is a good person, that he can get a second chance, Hawks is implicitly saying that Jin can get rid of his own cage, that is, the role of villain that he ended up playing in search of acceptance.

Hawks believes that, unlike him, Twice still has a chance to have the freedom of choice that the two never really had.

Note that I use the word “believe”, simply because Twice's reaction and what he says clearly shows that Hawks is being naive in his own way.

And Keigo knows that. 

He knows that his words are empty promises. The Hero Commission would never lend itself to the role of creating a rehabilitation program for a Class S villain, especially one who is part of the antagonist group that almost managed to destroy the reputation of the Heroes and the UA, which has a great reputation for the Hero Course. Besides that Hawks himself made it clear that Twice, because of his quirk, was one of the most dangerous villains among the League.

Notice how Hawks tries to stop Twice from talking. And I understand don't wanting to be called out in his own bullshit. Hawks acknowledge that Twice is a good person goes against everything that he was trained to believe from a young age, and then, having to see Jin also breaking his expectations when telling the reality of the situation certainly messes with him.

Hawks' expression is quite revealing at the moment, he seems sad to face reality, even reaching the point of acting in denial. He seems ready to attack, but in the sense that he wants Twice to stop telling the truth of the situation.

(Now look at that, my baby is crying and is your fault Hawks.)

Keigo doesn't want to fight Twice, but that doesn't change the fact that he has to. Keigo betrayed the League, the family that Jin finally found, and worst of all, used Twice to achieve this.

If Hawks really thought that Jin wouldn't fight him after doing so then he certainly doesn't remember what happened to Chisaki. The League takes care of each other. Especially Twice who is the most open to declaring how important other members are to him.

Now a minute of silence to admire the work of art that is this picture. Twice using Sad Man’s Parade always makes me excited and sad at the same time.

(You go, boy! This is what I call loyalty. You can say what you want about the League, but you can never say that they don't care about each other.)

Okay, a lot is going on one a single page, omg.

Hawks' resigned expression made me want to curl up in a corner and cry. But then we have Dabi's magnificent manic smile at his side and it is difficult to feel sad.

I saw a lot of people debating whether the sentence on this page was said by Hawks or Dabi, but after searching almost all the sites to read the chapter, it's very clear that the sentence is from Dabi.

Besides, it would be kind of out of character for Hawks to think that heroes are trash when he knows and agrees that heroes are needed in today's society, even if the ideal future he wants is the opposite.

So yes, that phrase is from Dabi, and you know? It’s the only good thing in the entire chapter. Hawks and Dabi indirectly agreeing that Twice is a good person is my jam.

Looking further and throwing some theories here, this statement by Dabi can go far beyond Dabi by not blaming Twice for the heroes' attack. It could have something to do with his own secret past *insert Touya's theory here* and it could mean that in the next chapters we will either have a bloody fight or we will have more clues to Dabi's past and a bloody fight.

Anyway, my friends, Dabi will burn a chicken in the next chapter.

(Ok, so this is the end and Jesus fucking Christ, I don't even know if it makes sense, but yeah.)

(if anyone wants to know about my analysis on Hawks and Dabi character, let me know that it might motivate me to finally finishing write this shit that’s been sitting on my google docs for a long time to be healthy)