#destro didn't kill himself

[thr0wnawayy]

Rei-Demption: A problem and my solution (ft. Rei's trauma and Hori's bullshit)

Might as well give my shot at it.

My take on Rei's personality has always been based in suppression.

Rei's whole life has been a balancing act of doing enough to protect her family, while still staying within the lines to not get disposed of.

She's everything Enji isn't. An iron will, a golden heart and a strong sense of empathy.

So with that in mind, hopefully it she'd light on it thought process with this post

A theory I have is that Rei was aware of the hospital's corruption

These panels always felt off too me, it always made me wonder: "does she know?"

The wording is very specific.

"I told him I liked it, around the first time we met. But only once"

It always struck me as odd, We're talking about the man who looked at his eldest death and kept going, man who destroyed multiple lives for a redundant pipedream.

It's not even why would he remember such a small detail, but rather how?

Unless... the doctors are feeding him information.

Think about it, who pays for all this. Surely it's not Fuyumi, on account of this being a massive money sink.

You really expect her to pay for all that on a teachers salary?

It can't be Natsuo because Enji has likely cut him off from everything to his name.

And that's assuming Enji even bothered to save up a college fund for any of them. Plus Natsuo is a full time student of medicine.

If the doctors are watching her every move, looking for any sign of deviation from the narrative then it makes sense for her to disguise her words.

Of course there's still more

Having PTSD isn't something you can keep someone institutionalized for. Especially when Rei's is very proportionate, given what she's gone through. (No, Japan's stigma of mental health wouldn't justify this)

I mean what are Rei's triggers?: Enji and that's about it.

"But we still... haven't met face to face, I'm still too afraid"

That's a standard reaction to have to your abuser (especially when he raped you multiple times)

('Just stop' gets a whole lot darker when you consider it's context)

Not to mention she's no longer fearful of anything resembling Enji, just Enji himself. So there is no real reason to keep her there unless they are afraid she might speak out.

This whole thing makes me think she's trying to tell Natsuo and Fuyumi what's really going on, in a way.

Subtly and under the calm, complacent mask she's expected to wear, in case anyone else is listening. Anyone who could report back to him.

It might also be she doesn't trust them. Fuyumi or Natsuo could blab or say something within earshot that could set Rei back months.

And she can't have that, not with how close she is to finally breaking free. She loves her children, all of them but the trust just isn't there, how can it be when when they don't have all the pieces.

So here's my theory: The hospital staff are in Enji's pockets. Either taking bribes (as recent as Dabi's Dance) or they were given a large sum of hush money when Rei was first hospitalized, with the goal of keeping her there as long as possible and possibly molding her to either keep her mouth shut or (sickeningly) gaslight her into returning to Enji.

(Note how she was only released when they could no longer keep a lid on things, the moment Dabi frops the bomb. She's out, no struggle)

This paints a picture of grotesque corruption, sloth and apathy (the very same cocktail that created Shigaraki) even by Hori's narrative standards. Shedding light on just how deep MHA's despotic nature goes.

The anime makes this even more apparent. Rei's fake smiles make the whole thing that much more viable. She seems so dead, it's like she smothered her soul or something.

I've seen both the sub and dub of this scene. The sub is the correct translation, the same as the Manga panel above.

The Dub however, while severly off mark, adds it's own flavour of dread. Rei sound so hollow, it was jarring the first time I heard it.

It sounded like she was reading a script (in-universe). Like she'd rehearsed this in her mind a million times, staring at the same 3 white walls + the window and waiting for an opening to finally speak.

That was supposed to be Shoto, until the dorms ruined that. Suddenly Rei's lifeline is gone, reduced to letters that don't even tell half the story.

10 years, 10 fucking years reduced to lines on a page.

Can you imagine the despair, dear reader?

The frustration. The sheer vitriol coursing thorough her veins, far hotter than Touya could ever manage.

Having to do the same thing she's been doing even before she was locked away. As the the skeleton in the closet of a criminal with a license.

Wearing masks for so long you can hardly breath and in the brief moments you can take them off. You can hardly recognize yourself, how you once were.

It must be the truest form of hell.

The Rei-demption Arc

Rei's redemption arc takes the attention of our theoretical arc without overtaking it.

The arc would mostly focus on the more domestic aspects of our trio being: Midoriya, Shoto and Uraraka.

A few minor changes would occur. The dorms never happen, allowing the characters to exist outside of UA.

There is solid confirmation that Fujiya is corrupt and is keeping Rei institutionalized on illegal grounds (ie: not meeting the criteria set up to ensure her silence)

The dinner scene would still happen only it would bd framed for what it really was. A pathetic attempt at creating a moment that never existed.

There's no family with Enji.

Just a family held hostage and a tyrant. I have my own grievances with Fuyumi, but I'll leave that for the future.

The only difference besides Natsuo being properly portrayed as a victim acting well within his right, the reasons for our trio going would be for Shoto's emotional wellbeing, because he asked them to.

Uraraka could have a moment where she realizes that money is as much as good as it is bad. An actually decent shift into her change of goals.

Here Enji motivates her to "watch the watchmen". Her need for money is still a crucial part of her reasons for becoming a hero, but she also has a more front and center goal.

I'd imagine she has a moment parallel to Midoriya's during the Sports Festival.

Where (alone in front of the Dojo after the failed dinner) she rightfully calls out Enji for being a self pitying piece of shit and that "sorry" doesn't cut it.

"You've hurt them in ways you can't imagine." Would probably be the last thing she says before walking away.

She may not know the whole story but she knows it hurt them and that's enough.

Rei's ascent

Rei's biggest hurdle is accepting that she was also an abuse victim. She's furious but she's only furious on her children's behalf and what they lost.

Her unintentionally harmful actions weigh on her, be it her neglect or the night she scalded Shoto, these events have impacted her deeply.

She learns to reconcile with her past, improve her relationship with Shoto and even meets Shoto's friends at one point.

Eventually she finds closure but that's later on.

She also acts as an advisor at times, having given Shoto the idea of using Ice projectiles (as seen in the Licensing Exam)

The second half comes from the Hospitals corruption, as Rei learns that she is long overdue for release (by about 8 years) among other horrific practices. This would play out as the arc's B plot, building up to what I call "The Summit"

The Summit

Eventually Rei fights Hood.

After gathering the evidence, she escapes the hospital. Planning to go to Natsuo for protection. As she's walking across a crosswalk however, she hears what sounds like an explosion.

Eventually she hears screaming and is forced to use her quirk as a bus is suddenly sent hurdling in her general direction.

As of her body moved on its own, she envelops it in her ice. Stopping the bus and saving those behind her in the process.

Only to see Hood land on top. They lock eyes and Rei can't help but see Touya in Hoods ambition.

In response to Rei holding her ground, Hood dashes. Rei counters this by manipulating her ice to send him crashing into an empty building, impaling him on the glaciers end.

Hood is impressed by Rei's proficiency and chooses to fight her.

Rei having no experience, fights for her life. Where as Rei avoids Civilians, Hood has no care for them which forces Rei to play the role of hero.

Rei uses every weapon in her arsenal in order to stave off Hood, who only gets more relentless as the battle stretches on. The upside is Hood's regeneration struggles in the cold, which Rei is constantly producing.

Each side gets blows in, with Rei taking them surprisingly well but still being worse for wear. Hood notes this saying "as if y-you've done t-t-this before" (close, Hood very close)

Eventually Hood gets the upper hand, towering over Rei in a manner that triggers her PTSD and leaves her stunned.

One of the civilians (Horoshi Tameda) emboldened by Rei's efforts, picks up a loose chunk of pavement and chucks it at Hood's back. It hits, causing Hood to look back.

Civilians begin making loud noise, others begin picking up anything they can find and throw it at Hood. Further catching him off guard long enough for Rei to snap out of her episode and strike back.

From here the fight kicks into high gear, with Rescue heroes & paramedics arriving on the scene and a camera crew recording the fight from above. Overall I imagine the scene to be very uplifting, with the Orchestra swelling as Rei prepares a final attack.

The move rivals that of Shoto's, arguably even surpassing it. Hoof is incased in a prison of Ice, covering an entire city block worth of destroyed buildings. And the fight finishes with Rei collapsing to her knees.

From here on out things change. Rei's newfound fame leads to the hospital being forced to do their job. Because of this Rei gets out early (around the time the Internship arc would started had I not scrapped it)

As for what this could lead to I'll let you decide. I'd love to read some suggestions.

Bonuses:

Theories:

The reason they kicked Fuyumi from her job is because she covered an abuser's ass for years. While Fuyumi is a victim, it doesn't excuse her complacency in regards to Enji's treatment of Shoto before and after his "self pity" arc.

Natsuo didnt go to someone because he wouldn't likely be believed, being seen as bitter and untrustworthy (his time away from home wouldn't help with pinning evidence).

Extra:

Hood survived the fight, Rei opted to capture him as opposed to kill him. That doesn't mean he didn't get frost bite. Police found out it is very difficult to question a Nomu.

Out of all her trauma. Rei accepting she was never given a choice will be the hardest to accept.

Rei's family is not inbred, rather her parents ran away so her father wouldn't be forced into a marriage with his cousin. Only to ironically do the very same to their daughter.

Hiroshi still becomes a meme, his 'Can't you see speech' leads to him becoming a motivational speaker.

The reason Hood appeared is because Dabi lost track of him. He nearly had a heart attack when he discovered his mom was holding the Nomu off.

[thr0wnawayy]

The saddest part of MHA is that it proved Destro right.

He had every reason to fear the privatization of quirks through heroism (just look at how they excused Enji's atrocities).

I am convinced that if Destro were somehow revived into MHA's modern day, he would be horrified by a reality far worse than he could have ever conceived in his darkest imagination.

We also know that quirk marriages (and their consequences) were so rampant there had to be full on laws put in place to ban them.

Meaning that could have very well been a factor in Destro's crusade against quirk licensing being restricted to heroes only.

Also there's the fact that such a system would promote a Caste, leaving heroes (and benfactors) as the untouchable elite and everyone else scrambling to hold onto something.

Finding Fascism in My Hero Academia

Being a 4-part project to compare the Meta-Liberation Army, the Heroes, and the meta-narrative messaging of My Hero Academia to Umberto Eco's evergreen Ur-Fascism and its 14-point list of beliefs, ideologies, and cultural hang-ups that can serve as flashpoints for fascism.

This was inspired by ongoing aggravation with the crappy rhetoric used to talk about the MLA, especially in Twitter circles. I had already been thinking about writing this piece anyway, but some ragebait brought to my Tumblr inbox together with the massive letdown of the canon ending pushed me over the edge into what eventually ballooned into several months of work and thirty thousand words about how My Hero Academia makes some expressions of fascism really easy to spot while hiding others behind a double-thick wall of double-standards.

Read some excerpts below! Or read the first part on my Patreon, no membership required.

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Are the MLA fascist?  How fascist exactly, and in what ways?  More to the point, are they noticeably more fascist than the broader society in which they exist—the society Heroes fight to uphold!—with its indefinite torture prisons and its laws restricting bodily autonomy and its rampant discrimination against multiple different demographics of people?

To answer those questions, first we have to define our term: what is fascism, anyway?

The trick to that question is that “fascism” is infamously squirrely and difficult to pin down to a single, all-encompassing yet concise definition.  Wikipedia has a dedicated page solely for definitions of fascism, entirely separate from the page for fascism itself.  It contains a wide sampling of definitions offered by reference books, scholars, Marxists, Fascists themselves, and a number of others.  At the bottom of the page is a subsection labeled “Fascism as an insult,” in which can be found the following quote from a writing by George Orwell in 1944:

“The word ‘Fascism’ is almost entirely meaningless.  In conversation, of course, it is used even more wildly than in print.  I have heard it applied to farmers, shopkeepers, Social Credit, corporal punishment, fox-hunting, bull-fighting, the 1922 Committee, the 1941 Committee, Kipling, Gandhi, Chaiang Kai-Shek, homosexuality, Priestly's broadcasts, Youth Hostels, astrology, women, dogs and I do not know what else...  Except for the relatively small number of Fascist sympathizers, almost any English person would accept ‘bully’ as a synonym for ‘Fascist.’  That is about as near to a definition as this much-abused word has come.”

It would be entirely possible for me to find definitions of fascism that would let me say, “No, the MLA aren’t fascist at all.”  For example, over half of the definitions on the Wikipedia page mention some variation of nationalism explicitly: ultranationalism, militaristic nationalism, revolutionary nationalism, hypernationalism, or a more expansively worded version of “subordinating the individual to the State.”  If you exclude the definitions offered by Marxist sources, who have a pretty different paradigm around fascism, that count jumps up to three-quarters!  So if we’re operating under definitions used by people who have actually put in some thought and research, the MLA can’t even pass one of the most common, basic criteria: they are in no sense of the word nationalist.

Case closed!  People on the internet need to learn what words mean, The End.

…But let’s go back to Orwell for a second.  He also said that, while the definitions can be fuzzy, people generally know what they mean when they throw the label around.  So, what do people generally mean?

I think the definition that most gets at that is a 14-point list that I’ve seen circulating around Tumblr for years, and has recently started to come up more frequently on my radar given the state of politics in the U.S.  The list is part of an essay called Ur-Fascism written by one Umberto Eco in 1995.  Eco grew up in Fascist Italy and researched fascism as an ideology extensively as an adult; his tack was to approach the roots of the ideology, identifying a number of commonalities that one could view as symptoms of or warning signs for the rise of fascism in a group—hence the essay’s alternate title of Eternal Fascism.  Not every state or government described as fascist would possess all of these traits, but even a single one being present in a group could potentially serve as a point that fascism could coalesce around.

I have seen Ur-Fascism described as uselessly vague or overly broad, but the point is that it isn’t a definition of fascism itself, but a description of the kinds of mentality or circumstances that can give rise to fascist ideology.  Given that I know for a fact Eco’s checklist does the rounds on Tumblr and thus may inform the understanding of any number of fans who are using the fascist label more colloquially than with an eye to strict accuracy, and also given that the MLA succinctly fails to meet a primary criterion for fascism proper, I want to look at them instead through the Ur-Fascism lens.

…Not just them, though!  My whole spite-fueled goal with this project is to compare the MLA to the protagonist Heroes and the status quo they defend.  In the writing process, this has stabilized into three relatively distinct considerations: both the Meta Liberation Army and Team Hero as presented within the story and, further, the meta-narrative of My Hero Academia itself.

---(...)---

Point 1:  The cult of tradition.

Looking to the thinkers of the ancient past for wisdom, believing that there can be no (worthwhile) new knowledge/advancement because the “ancients” already knew everything of worth.  Look particularly for historically discrete belief systems being falsely syncretized, the internal contradictions of the resulting fusion being ignored or massaged away in service to the desired narrative.

MLA: No.  Their whole thing is looking towards the future of quirks and people “becoming who they were meant to be.”  The only thing they’ve got going on in terms of past-worship is their veneration of Destro and his bloodline, but that feels less like believing in the supremacy of the old than it does just the supremacy of one particular martyr.  They don’t worship him out of a sense of “older = superior”; they worship him because he had a view of the future that he was prevented from carrying out, and they’ve been taught to share that view of the future.  They aren’t trying to return to an idealized past, and certainly not a syncretistic one, though they do become a syncretized organization with the League merger.  This, however, is a practical matter of current alliances, rather than the more characteristic Ur-Fascist attempt to flatten the beliefs of discrete groups in the past to better play up their supposed superior wisdom.

---(...)---

Point 2: Rejection of modernism.

Rejection of the modern way of life, particularly the shifts that came of the Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, modern history revolutions (as in France and the U.S.), frequently capitalism, etc.  The modern age is viewed as one of moral collapse leading to depravity.  In the modern U.S. for example, we see the alt-right trying to roll back the social upheavals of the civil rights era; my readers may also consider, if they’re familiar with the phenomenon, Rome Bros on Twitter.  In Japan, this has tended to manifest as veneration of the Emperor as divine and a desire to purge Japan of Western influence.

Team Hero: Human advancement at large is explicitly described as grinding to a halt during the Advent of the Extraordinary.  All technological development, all culture, now seems to rotate solely around Heroes and how best to support them.  However dire that state of affairs is, however, it’s not a result of Heroes/the current regime specifically rejecting advancement or modern schools of thought.  I will come back to this, however; it very much fits the bill for a later point.

---(...)---

Point 3: Action for action’s sake.

“Action being beautiful in itself, it must be taken before, or without, any previous reflection. Thinking is a form of emasculation.”  Reflects in a disdain for intellectuals/academics.  Like the following point, this ethic exists at least in part because the cultural syncretism of Point 1 can’t withstand critical analysis.

Meta-Narrative: See all of the Hero analysis and kick it up a notch.   The “act without thinking” mentality as a marker for Heroism is never seriously critiqued, examined, or undermined.  It’s a plague in the Shonen Jump brand, I think, that “intellectual” characters can be good guys, sure, even in the main character’s nakama, but the protagonists are classically shounen hot-heads, with that hot-headedness being portrayed over and over again as more genuine, and therefore more admirable, than cool-headed intellect, which tends to get portrayed as compensating (unsuccessfully) for a lack of strength or faith at best, and evil manipulative cunning at worst.   While Heroes as a collective may not believe in action for action’s sake in-universe, the fact that the characters who do uphold it as a value are the main characters becomes much more reflective of the meta-narrative ethos.

Indeed, it’s quite glaring to me that, while the planning for the raids is a great counterexample to “action for action’s sake” within the story, none of the kids the audience views as the main characters and promised symbols of a better and brighter future are allowed to take part in those plans.  Rather, the kids merely act as they’re directed, without reflecting on whether the orders they’re given are good orders, much less whether those orders will actually lead to the aforementioned brighter future.  The kids who were once willing to directly disobey the orders of adults have long, long vanished from the story by its end.

Read the rest here!

[elfdragon12]

New issue, new impressions!

This arc continues to set-up and gives the Autobots a little breathing room (though we know it won't last).

"Abomination" has never been more accurate.

Everyone's an art critic, especially Starscream when the subject is himself.

"With the trigger tied to my heartbeat--and our little controller over there, if we stop ticking, so do you."

A smart move, but, let's be honest, this tactic never ends well.

"A being that shares my goals! How fortunate! My name is Starscream and surely I am the greatest Decepticon you could have captured. I myself have been looking for the right fleshling to partner with."

"Oh yeah?"

"Oh yeah."

*looks at the first few issues* ... Yeah, yeah, that's totally what Starscream in this universe has been looking for.

This whole scene... Definitely explains in a nutshell how Starscream went from stopping Ulchtar from squishing little critters to gleefully crushing humans.

This is never a good expression from Starscream.

YEEEAAAAAHHHH!!! THE BAND IS BACK TOGETHER! Poor, poor Brawl!

OOOOOOHHHHHH! So that piece of Cybertron neither burned up in the atmosphere nor sank into the ocean. Hopefully, Cliffjumper is hiding out there somewhere!

"But we must focus on things more important than my own greatness. There is an evil that has grown in our ranks. Soundwave has--"

"You need not say more, Starscream!"

"Onslaught and I heard him plotting against our own fallen Shockwave! He is a traitor!!!"

This is all getting super juicy! 👀👀👀 Remember when Thundercracker was talking to Soundwave about how Shockwave was treating their prisoners of war? (I think it was issue 10.) Onslaught and Brawl certainly do! 👀

And then things hit the fan with the human squad.

Man, the general was really the only one close to Starscream's level, wasn't he? (Also... We don't necessarily need to feel too bad for these humans beyond general sympathy. They worked for Destro, major arms developer and dealer who recently confirmed his alliance with Cobra Commander. Yeah, the underlings were likeable in a sort of incompetent way, but also part of an aggressive paramilitary organization with intent to overthrow governments.)

I think these bits with the flashback reveals a lot regarding Starscream and Megatron's relationship, at least from Starscream's perspective, in this continuity.

Starscream may have willingly joined the Decepticons after Ulchtar was killed in action, but Megatron seemed to have dragged him down over the course of the war and pressed Starscream to do things he didn't want to do. While the lines blurred over time, Starscream's resentment never wavered.

And he gains a cat!

Of course the one human he left alive was the artist!

Oh, a little tidbit from the letters section:

"In regards to Ratchet, I will say 'never say never'."

It's not a promise, so Ratchet fans shouldn't get their hopes up, but DWJ is more loosey-goosey with what the robots can survive. It is possible that Ratchet still has some spark left like Skyfire/Jetfire? Starscream and Skywarp have survived a lot of punishment.

I would say this was a pretty interesting issue! We see, without the pressures of the Autobots or Soundwave, how Starscream can be effective in getting what he wants. He also has so much anger and resentment. Resentment out the wazoo!

[20001541]

What do you think afo would have been like if he'd been raised under better circumstances

depends on what you mean by better circumstances; there's him being born in a stable home with all his needs provided and there's not being born in a time where everything went to hell while also having a stable home. I'll discuss both here.

for the first one if shigamom had gotten support and had somewhere to live safely with her babies I think there's a lot that would change but also some that stay the same. I don't think afo would feel this desperate need to have everyone's eyes on him because he has a mother who loves him and cares for him. she protects her children and makes sure they're safe so he doesn't feel ignored as his needs are being met. he isn't the main provider for him and his brother so he would have the chance to act more like a child rather than having to grow up fast in order to survive.

however.... I don't think shigamom is prepared to handle everything that comes with having a child with a powerful quirk. people with powers are new to the world and were thought by many to be diseased so she would most likely encourage afo to hide/suppress this part of himself out of fear for his safety. of course suppression can only lead to deep unhappiness and dissatisfaction in ones life so afo would feel miserable. it might also cause a rift between him and his mother as well.

I like to think that after years of trying to suppress it he decides to go out one day and secretly use his quirk to explore more of what it can do and get relief from not having to suppress this power he's had all his life. maybe then he'll start secretly dabbling with groups that advocate for quirk rights and try to position himself as leader as a way to have full control of what happens to people like him and not to be at anyone's mercy (still has his more control freak tendencies here). with how powerful his quirk is, it'll be hard for anyone to challenge him so he succeeds in doing this.

maybe he becomes a big player in making quirks more accepted in society. he's doing this far more out of self interest, but it does help a lot of people who are struggling with the changes in their own lives and in the world. idk anything could happen really, but whatever happens in the end he comes out on top and ensures him and his family are able to live comfortably. I do wonder how encounters between him and destro in this au would go....

for the second scenario where he isn't born in a time of chaos, lets say he's born in the same time period where the plot of bnha begins in, I still think he would struggle with that suppression aspect I spoke of earlier. we know how a lot of people viewed toga as a freak for her own desire for blood. so someone like afo who has the ability to give and take quirks would be deemed a deviant by most of society. I can picture baby afo sitting in quirk counselling and told he needs to wear gloves so he wont feel tempted to take someones quirk :( the only thing good here is that he isn't at the risk of being killed by anti quirk users for having this type of quirk.

buttttt you know I feel like with a quirk THAT powerful he is bound to capture the hero commissions attention. they might coerce shigamom into giving up custody of baby afo to them so they can groom him to do their bidding and this may inevitably lead afo to the path of villainy as he's sick of being used by people who could care less about him as a person. plus they never let him see his family and he misses them greatly.

now what would his attitude towards yoichi would be like then in both of these au's? well I don't think he would be extremely codependent as he is in canon. perhaps there would be some codependency as I think he would struggle connecting with people socially so he had no friends and he often depended on yoichi for company (he didn't start making friends until he learned how to present himself in a way that appeals to many), but his dependency wouldn't be to the level we're familiar seeing him with.

its not just him and yoichi alone in the world, he has his mother here too so he has more than one source of love available to him. a large part as to he became so dependent on yoichi in canon as yoichi was the only one he had the entire world. I do still think afo would get jealous of yoichi hanging out with people other than him, but it wouldn't result in him becoming murdery. unless there's someone who gets really close to yoichi then he'll start wishing death on them on the bright side yoichi wouldn't feel as suffocated by afo and afo wouldn't feel the need to be super controlling in his life.

yoichi is also very supportive of afo and tells him how his quirk isn't something to be feared and could do amazing things in the world. though afo doesn't care to use his quirk for the greater good, he still appreciates hearing yoichi accept him and his quirk. I think they would get along better generally, though they would fight in how yoichi thinks afo is too selfish at times while afo argues yoichi needs to worry more about himself and the family rather than strangers who don't care about him.

but if afo does become a villain after being taken in by the hero commission then it would change their whole relationship for sure. there's relief and tears at seeing his brother again, then worrying about how much he's changed since then to the point where he doesn't recognize him anymore then complete horror when discovering the truth on yoichi's end. cue yoichi getting angry at everything with how the hero commission hurt his brother and caused him to become who he is now and him desperately trying to save afo. not a great time for either of them. as to what happens with both of them in the end here? who knows, there's a lot of variables to consider and I'll leave the rest up to your imagination as I might end up typing out a whole fic if I keep going.

anyways that's just what I think on how it could go if afo were raised in better circumstances.

[that-spider-fan-over-there]

Why don't we talk more about how similar Tenko and Katsuki actually are?

It feels very odd, for me at least, to see Izuku's narrative foils being compared to him, but not to each other. It's so easy to draw their lines, parallels and foils.

Arrogant, childish and unapproachable, with destructive Quirks and a similar hatred of losing the battles they fight. Katsuki's starting line on the same chapter Tenko was introduced. And in a world of various characters with red eyes, they play straight the "Red Eyes, Take Warning" trope.

Look, for the most part, murderous, but one of them was convinced it was what he desired while the other just says that because he couldn't understand his feelings. Indoctrination and Trauma Rationalization vs. Inferiority and Emotional Supression.

The appearance and attitude of bloodthirsty children that covers up their intelligence and strategic leadership abilities.

The keys that brought the Kamino Incident. Making them intrinsically connected as the turning points of Hero Society's starting collapse whether they like it or not.

Neither wanted companionship, wanted to do things their way, alone. Yet both gained friends, and while their goals haven't changed, they don't need to do it alone. Bonus points for befriending a Todoroki when they've started off on the wrong foot.

Tenko, groomed by AFO as a Symbol of Fear. Katsuki, thought by Izuku the Symbol of Victory.

Died, in a physical and spiritual sense. Tenko, physically in 269, spiritually in 238. Katsuki, spiritually in 285, physically in 362. And still, were reborn in defiance of AFO's will.

Tenko unknowingly had expectations for his future from the moment the idea of conceiving him was planted, and was never taught he could be something other than destructive. Katsuki would have support for anything he wanted, yet pushed himself to be perfect. Because otherwise, what was the point?

Speaking of, AFO is their villain. Tenko, who destroyed the original vestige so he could fight Izuku himself, while Katsuki destroyed his physical body in an act of heroism because Izuku couldn't. And despite being taken out for the time being, their role isn't finished yet.

A villain confronts their convictions, their "roles in the story". Calls out their "childish, incomplete" desires. It causes in them a realization, destroys a mental block they didn't know they had, making them more powerful in the process. And for further points, their hands are broken in the process.

Somehow, both are connected to One For All, present in the vestige world. Both could even be considered a "Tenth OFA user", depending on your point of view. Izuku did sacrifice his dreams and gave the Quirk to them, after all.

A hero with the arrogance of a villain, minor antagonist growing to be the protagonist's confidant; vs. a villain with heroic lineage and instincts, a major antagonist who's the hero of his own story.

Tenko hates the role All Might perpetuated in society because of what it means, when no hero helped him. Katsuki, even with the flaws Toshinori shows, remains a fan of All Might to the point he actively decided to honor him with his hero alias.

Tenko was said by Re-Destro he was on the process of a Quirk Awakening, a liberation of sorts. Katsuki, post awakening and revival, was on the process of learning something new about his Quirk that was very similar to Izuku's.

And to top it off, both of them could easily kill a person with their touches, their Quirks. Their hands, seemingly, easily, made for destruction. And Izuku would still reach for them anyways.

This post was brought to you by: someone who would find very funny if post canon Tenko and Katsuki got along with Izuku but hated each other's guts (like someone who hates his younger sibling's boyfriend) + me being annoyed at the discourse surrounding the OP/ED lyrics and who "Izuku" is referring to + me wanting to see AFO's ass getting kicked by the three of them.

Thank you for reading!

[justatalkingface]

Oh I am EXCITED to hear your thoughts about the war arc and the post-war arc because that's when everything went from decent to shit.

From random ass characters getting introduced and killed off

To the HORRIBLE confrontation of 1-A vs Izuku where it feels like Middle School all over again where everyone gangs up on him.

The mistreatment of Izuku where he's treated to be in the wrong for leaving even though it was to protect everyone.

To everyone basically gaslighting him.

To the HORRIBLE apology Bakugou gave which was more justifying his actions and victim blaming.

And not to mention the rushed Aoyama Traitor reveal and Izuku refusing to connect or relate to him because as we know as soon as he got a quirk, his quirkless past was erased!

You know, between how big this ended up being, and all the things I had to do, this response came later than I would have like. Hopefully it lives up.

Ah, The War Arc.

Also known as 'The point where everything went to shit'. Oh, those were the days. It's even worse because, as it was building up, The War Arc seemed like it was going to be awesome. It was where a bunch of plot threads, from Shigaraki to Hawks to Dabi's 'surprise' were all lining up to collide, and oh I, and probably others, were so excited to see it all go down.

Such naivety. Honestly, I think I blocked out so much of this beyond pure scorn that I had to reread it just to do this justice. If I seem particularly biting or sarcastic... that's probably why. This is basiclly me rereading and commenting as I go along, so it'll probably be a bit all over the place, before I move onto the post-war arcs which are still fresh in my mind.

Where to start, where to start.... well, the beginning works, I guess.

The LOV, after absorbing the MLA in a... kind of shoehorned way (Re-Destro basically ceased being a person after Shigaraki beat him, but for all that it's shown as, 'Wow he's so cool let's follow him!', I wonder if he surrendered just so his movement and army wouldn't be annihilated more than anything, and how he feels about all this, since he has no legs and seems generally depressed even though his stress has 'disappeared'. And wow, isn't funny that, if you just give up on everything you ever stood for or care about and your will to live, your sheer crippling depression would probably get rid of your stress temporarily?) becomes the PLF (so many acronyms!) and an army large enough to need a serious intervention, and so an army is needed to oppose them.

Thankfully, they get information from Aizawa's friend from the spin off manga to help figure out where everything is! Thank god they gave us flashbacks as this was happening to explain to anyone who didn't read it what the fuck was going on!

Sigh. Introduce your shit better, Hori, especially when it's some illegal move beyond science you're trying to sell us.

Anyways, that, combined with Hawks's information (back in those days where his arc was great), lets them get a grasp on the PLF and launch a two pronged attack on them, while also dealing with moles. All of this? All of this was actually pretty great, Kurogiri as the exception. Like I said, that build up was great.

Also, can I just add that Present Mic losing his shit was actually pretty awesome and hilarious? 10/10, would watch Crazed Mic again.

Anyways, here's one of the first things that, and maybe it's just me, is just kind of off: the fact that Garaki can duplicate Quirks. Not with a Quirk, or even with multiple Quirks, but just with science, somehow? I know that he's in the best position to do it, with AFO and vast resources to support him, but still; the closest to 'manipulating' Quirks like this, beyond OFA and Garaki himself, that we've seen in this manga? Is fucking Endeavor with his Quirk marriage. Quirks, in this story, are some black box bullshit that no one understands, and attempts to control them are on the level of Mendel and his peas, and often prone to failure to even get a 'basic' change happen (like, Bakugou was another 'basic' pairing, but he easily could have gotten something useless for heroics if he wasn't born lucky), and yet this fucker is just... so far beyond them it's OOC for the setting.

Everyone else is mashing lego pieces they can't see together to see if they fit, but this guy has copied Quirks, hundreds of them, and they just sit in jars everywhere? How? How?! In retrospect (and I'm kind of afraid of how many times I may say that here), his existence is just set up for the massive escalation that's about to come at us like a truck. How are there multiple AFOs active? How is Shigaraki's new body so strong? Where does the retroactively impossible rare old age Quirk come from, that was never a big deal before now because AFO had decades to hunt one down?

All of it? All of it is this guy. He's actually kind of interesting as a character, and a mad scientist fits AFO's organization to a T, but his purpose in the story is to hand out deus ex machinas for the villains on demand, and I honestly kind of hate him for it.

Meanwhile, Mirko bursts into the lab with Tomura in it and, ah, Mirko. In retrospect (seriously, someone count this and get back to me) this is the start of Hori just... ripping off all her body parts off like she's a cheap toy that he wants to see how much it'll take to break. At the time, I didn't think much of it, at worst it was a cheap way to prove how Serious Shit Was(TM) without killing off anyone named, but once it started happening again, while it just continued to focus on her in fetishy ways as she fights, it started to be a disturbing trend.

I've got some mixed feeling about her in general, because she's.... basiclly Bakugou? But with better limits on her behavior? Like, she's what the fanfic versions of Bakugou tend to end up as, somewhat cruel and crude and definitely violent but channeling it towards acceptable targets rather than, like, everyone around her. I actually like Blood Knight characters, but in this setting, as a hero, it just doesn't fit right, you know?

Still, she's a cool character and definitely deserved better than than being turned into a human stick for whatever kicks Hori seems to be getting out of it.

While I'm at it, let me mention that it's hard to take 'Super Strength Quirks' as a whole seriously sometimes if 'Rabbit' is enough for her to tear through the Semi-High Ends with some early Full Cowl level feats, and Endeavor can be punted through buildings and shake it off. In retrospect (fucking sigh) Endeavour vs the High End and Mirko's big Nomu fight were warnings that, yup, we're going all in on the power levels now, and it's kind of frustrating when, early on, they were trying to take the 'physicality' of Quirks seriously, that they were just human bodies plus this one specific thing, and now Hori's taking the seriousness of his own setting so loosely, just to make BIGGER, more DRAMATIC fights that last a lot longer than they should.

But I digress.

On a different note, while it was nice to see 1A given a time to shine, the fact that they're in this fight, the fact that some of them were essential members of this attack, is just wow. This, making so many of the adult heroes seem so useless that the need to depend on literal high schoolers, is in retrospect a big warning sign of just how accelerated the timeline became. In a more 'normal' situation for something like this, these big, dramatic fights would have happened years later, giving 1A the chance to grow up and make it all less... child soldier-y. There's plenty of shonen settings that have this kind of thing happen, sure, but they're always generally dystopian hellholes in the first place. Naruto the sixteen year old being important is a lot less of a reach when they put ten year olds in life or death situations on the regular anyways. MHA, though, is a modern setting, and they're in an actual, semi-normal school, where they get, like diplomas and shit and learn normal school things, rather than some military academy focused on pumping out ninjas or sorcerers or whatever to fight and die and kill for the cause. Which, UA kinda actually does anyways, but UA and how it doesn't actually make sense as a whole is really getting off topic.

So. Anyways....

OK, fine, Re-Destro being, like, the 'This is Fine' meme as a person is both iconic and deeply understandable and I wish we had more focus on that, but I need to focus back up on this!

Midnight's actual combat tool is a non-combat fan that exists just to fan the air. It kind of makes sense with her power but it's just so... shallow seeming, just playing to her fetishy theme, and I honestly think her doing this, fanning the air dramatically, is one of her more impressive showings in canon? I already know Hori has never taken Midnight seriously but still.

I've already talked about how wonderfully horrible the whole Twice Hawks thing was, so we're just going to ignore that and try to save some space....

Now I think it's time, so let's talk about one of the biggest issues of this arc: Shigaraki.

I've said it before, but him powering up makes sense, especially when he starts taking on the mantle of AFO's replacement. The problem is how much he powers up, and we can lay that at the feet of Garaki, Doctor Power Up, you jerk. He was always going to be one of the top beings in the setting once he got one of the most broken Quirks in the setting, but the fact that he can walk around without a Quirk active, blatantly ignoring all the people actively trying to murder him, refusing to simply kill Endeavor because his character is too important to write off yet, still incomplete and still be so dangerous...; in other words, the fact he effectively has several Quirks even without having a Quick is way too far. The heroes nerfing his development was an elegant solution to this problem, something that was handled a lot better than AFO, both as a person and as the Quirk itself, was. Even with Shigaraki escaping at the end of this, and making the 'final confrontation' energy of this arc fall completely flat*, the fact that he was permanently damaged by this still makes it have more meaning... you know. Until they tossed that out to fix him up anyways, somehow.

*This, actually, is one of the things that made the war so bad for me, actually: the build up was so... This Is It. There was all this hype for this being the Ultimate Fight, because if they don't win here, they'll have no way to meaningfully counter Shigaraki, he'd just be too hard to fight. Maybe if it was later, if Izuku was stronger, them losing could work: there would be a somewhat reasonable way out if they lost, involving a (probably bullshit) power up/training arc with Izuku frantically trying to even begin to match Shigaraki somewhere on his level as a 'transcendent one beyond humanity' before it was Too Late.... but him reaching his full potential at this point was years away, far too late to stop Shigaraki. It didn't sit right, because it was too early, but the way it was set up this was the do or die moment. Then the heroes lost, and that was the moment the story just... went to shit because Hori decided to solve the problem of Shigaraki being too strong by just making everyone else stronger as well.

And sure, a lot of it (most of it) is just Izuku, just Deku getting power up after power up, mastering them all near instantly when before each level of strength he gained was hard fought, requiring time and practice to being able to use them well, even with the new, largely out of nowhere addition of Black Whip, but it's also all the super moves everyone starts breaking out left and right in the final arc. It's Endeavour somehow beating AFO. It's all the big, increasingly dramatic and flashy attacks, all of them being no-selled by SFO because they're not allowed to be a meaningful threat. It's the one scratch on SFO by Bakugou (of fucking course) being, not because he's that strong (thank fuck) but because of some weird PTSD flashback on AFO's end. It's Deku, The Main Character, finally showing up and being the only person able to anything. That moment, in retrospect, is the moment when the power levels became the most important thing for a character above anything else, beyond strategy and planning, beyond how a power even works; any of it, all of it, they all paled before how strong is this character, how hard can they hit, how much damage can they take. It takes the idea of everyone being a hero, of the lesson Izuku had started to reject from the very beginning of the story, that people aren't born equal, being proved right all along, despite how the story trying to tell us otherwise.

That Izuku was only ever special because All Might graced him with his Quirk, and nothing else.

Oh. I can't believe I didn't mention that one second later retcon of Shigaraki awakening 'because of his hatred' instead of the far more reasonable electricity zapping him. With the delicious irony of it only happening because a hero was doing the 'heroic' thing of not minding his own business, no less; that would have been the cherry on top of the sundae of him coming back, as the perfect symbolism of how the heroes keep creating the villains they fight.

Don't get me wrong, his awakening itself is epic, you can almost hear the epic dark chorus singing in the background as he destroys everything, but... it's flashiness for the sake of flashiness, the way he officially wakes up. Not for any logical reason, but because his hatred is so immense it breaks reality, just like Izuku magically defies Nighteye's prediction, even though MHA pretends it's 'grounded' and that all it's super powers are biologic instead of anything more metaphysical that would help explain that off. It's just empty hype just for the sake of hype, no matter how little sense it makes. In this situation, it's relatively harmless, sure, but it's easy for it to become less harmless, like, perhaps, power ups just to make Shigaraki, Izuku, Bakugou, or whoever else is in focus at the moment look better, even if it doesn't make sense for them to actually happen. Or dramatic, meaningless 'deaths' and equally dramatic and ridiculous 'resurrections' that couldn't possibly result in a drastic increase in a person's abilities.

*looks meaningfully at the final arc's bullshit*

But surely, surely, Hori wouldn't do that, right? Right?

But anyways, back to the War Arc and... 'booty incoming'. Really. Really? Must we? Must we do this? Can't we have a woman on screen for five minutes without something sexual being referenced?

And then Bakugou's back, still speaking to everyone he can like they're trash, and still with people surprised by this, somehow, like this isn't a long established character trait for him, or that he would actually have any respect for old people. And then everything's being Dusted, people are panicked, and the heroes are full in crisis mode and yet his comment on the situation is "I'll wreck him". Not something about teamwork, not something about saving people, not even that he'll stop him, which has connotations of protection, but wreck, which screams aggressiveness and destruction. And it's just... so completely ignoring the seriousness of the situation, where everyone else is concerned about the city vanishing into dust, and Bakugou just wants to crush the enemy just to crush them.

It has all the energy of someone slapping their edgy OC into a scene by saying a meaningless line that can be somewhat reasonably ignored by the actual characters because it's so out of place. And then next chapter he just screams about killing Izuku instead of the actual threat when Izuku wonders why he's even there. Look, I get that, for some god forsaken reason, that Hori wants to play Bakugou's violent, abusive tendencies as 'comedy', but even if it was comedy, actually comedy and not thinly painted over abuse, there is a time and place for comedy, and this situation is not that time.

And, oh look, Eraserhead is finally fulfilling his true purpose: not being a teacher, but desperately acting as a bandaid to try and salvage the plot after Shigaraki contracted Madara Syndrome! And yet we still get shit like, 'The worst case is losing the teacher who watched over us all this time!' You know, the person who 'watched over you' by systematically destroying your ability to trust that anything he says or does isn't just another lie 'logical ruse', instead of the already unstoppable villain being even more unstoppable, because that is the context of the worst case scenario here, just so we're all clear: losing Aizawa would be worse than Shigaraki getting OFA.

(I mean, you could make a case that losing Erasure, the Quirk, is worse than him getting OFA, because Erasure can counter OFA so in that respect, Shigaraki getting it wouldn't change Aizawa's utility, but that's not the argument that's happening here; it's not Eraserhead, the tactical asset, the would be a loss, it's Aizawa the asshole of a person, who would be a tragic loss worse than OFA, the only hope anyone in this story has.)

Hori, if you could just throttle down the overhype of your Kakashi proxy and the angry fan favorite for five minutes while the shit gets real that would be great, thanks.

"If we can't stop one person, what is the point of this hero-saturated society?" You know what... Burning(?), that's a great question; I'm just going to leave this quote here on it's own merits.

And then Midnight is merced off screen by a meaningless mook, basiclly never to be mentioned again. You know, I didn't like how hollow her characterization was, but the answer to that is not to just off her and move on.

Meanwhile, Gran Torino is torn into by Shigaraki, but still manages to shrug it off. And, while we're on this topic...

Momo: is a genius.

Also Momo: makes a drug that is administered by injection instead of in a gas form.

Still Momo: doesn't think to make anyone else some extra knock out vial... things.

Still Momo: the sleep drug she makes take so long to take effect that this entire exercise is almost pointless.

Ashido: has the toss.

Also Ashido: fumbles the toss at the last minute out of surprise so that a man can do it for her, in a reversal of a situation that she had handled better before than he did, as an excuse to show his growth at her expense.

Classic Hori. Why let a woman actually be helpful when they can just try and fail to meaningfully improve the situation for the better?

And, ah yes. After just going on, with all apparently seriousness, about how he'll fight Izuku if he dares question why he's following him around, 'Bakugou Rises', and 'has his body move on it's own'. You know, heroically. Even though by all accounts he did and still does think and act on his instinct to just attack other people. And his dramatic 'sacrifice' is just going to be shrugged off and he's still going to be able to fight in anther couple of minutes. And, despite how it's presented like he comes to a big realization, he still acts exactly the same after this.

Riiiight, I buy that. Oh, and the person to notice something off about All Might's notes? Who was that again? Was it Izuku, who started off the series by analyzing Quirks a lot, and took the notes seriously, or is it Bakugou, who instantly insulted everyone in the notes off a surface level impression of them?

...Well. Now that the Bakugou simping portion of the war is finally past us, let us continue with Hori writing off one of his most interesting villains, just to replace him with the one he's refused to develop, just so we can start undoing all his wonderful development.

Thankfully, we come to one of the few parts I like about this mess: Dabi's Dance. Fucking glorious it is; the man is just vibing about the mayhem he's causes, the wonderful little psychopath. And let me tell you, 'The Past Never Dies' hits a lot harder than anything AFO has ever said.

Say what you want about him being a crazed murderer, beyond all hope of redemption, or blindingly insane? I'm not going to argue with you (though the story might, the way things are going) but you can't disagree with me about this: for all of his many, many flaws, the man understands Megamind's lesson about Presentation.

Oh. And Lemillion's back, I guess. If I seem unenthusiastic about it, well, that's about as much enthusiasm as Hori seems to have about that, so don't blame me.

Wait, the Bakugou simping is back on, or should I say, the Great Explosion Murder God Dynamite simping is back on. Fuck, Hori, remember what I said about a time and a place for comedy? Remember that?

Sigh... And the perfect place to end this clusterfuck of an arc off: 'You look like you needed saving', in reference to one of the greatest villains in the series, a mass murder who has spent the last five minutes trying to kill you, Izuku, what the fuck. But, it's over, right? Now that the War Arc is over, it can only get better, right?! Ha, if only!

Welcome to Post War, suckers: AKA, the point where Hori just stops giving a shit.

You see, for all the many, many, many flaws of the War Arc, Hori at least spent time on them, fleshed out dramatic moments, character reactions, and the lead up to those moments. But after? Hori has a checklist, somewhere, of all the major points he wants to do before the manga ends and he's checking things off, sure, but that's all he's doing: checking off the major plot points, one after the other. We've reached speedrun manga hell, where no character gets time actually think about anything anymore, or hold a conversation with someone that doesn't involve violence, or even break down in a proper hysterical cry.

Oh, look, a new character! What's that, an interesting character with deep ties to previously untouched worldbuilding you've been curious about? You want to know more about the corruption of the heroic society, or a country that isn't Japan for once?

Well, too bad, because they're gone. Where we're going, we don't have time for the current characters, much less new ones. If you see someone you've never seen before, enjoy your handful of chapters before they're thrown away like trash.

What's this? Izuku is finally getting some new character development? He's doing something new, different, and exciting, with potential to make him think about his future and heroism? WRONG! Class 1A can't have that! They're going to hunt him down like a dog for daring to leave them, and beat the living shit out of him to prove their friendship.

Just like Bakugou does! Good thing he's leading them, just like the old days in Aldera! And wow, that's some top tier Karma Houdini bullshit there, isn't it?

Pop Quiz: according to Bakugou, what does Deku mean?

Useless, you got it!

Next question: what does Bakugou still call Izuku, the same way he has since they were young, young children up to the present?

Deku!

How about this? How long has All Might actually interacted with Izuku?

Oh, maybe two years or so, you say? That's right!

During this time, has he ever once called Izuku either useless or Deku, beyond as his hero name?

Not once, correct!

So, taking all of this into account, final question: if Izuku considers himself Dek- I'm sorry, useless, what one person is the most reponsible for that?

All Might!

Hmm. Hmmm. Something seems wrong with that last answer. Gee, I wonder what seems wrong about that last answer, I'm so confused.

So, yeah, after Izuku leaves, not runs away, mind you, leaves, because UA isn't a prison and he has every right to leave, Bakugou explains how Izuku's complete lack of self respect is All Might's fault, before whipping all his classmates into a frenzy to go hunt him down.

Then, after finding him, already exhausted from constantly fighting for his life, all of them gang up on him, attack, try to knock him out, and after he gives up on making his own choices against the sheer amount of peer pressure being thrown his way, Bakugou apologizes.

For what? Well, if we didn't read the manga, we sure wouldn't know, because Bakugou didn't want to talk about that! No, it's just how Izuku, weak, helpless Izuku who idolized him, and had no Quirk, somehow made him feel inferior, and that's why he was so angry all the time. How dare Izuku have hopes and dreams?! And then we end it up with the absolutely touching message that this won't change anything.

Wow, Great Explosion God Dynamite. I'm moved. You truly are beyond us mere mortals, to know how an apology can only be truly sincere when you explain how utterly worthless it is! Brilliant! Truly, this is that Post War quality we know and love!

Oh, and the Traitor arc. Think back, everyone, back to the days where this manga was about being in a school, and think about the traitor that ratted out the class to AFO. Remember that? Well, it's Aoyama. What, the last chapter made you think it was someone else? Psych!

Anyways, Aoyama was actually the traitor the whole time, and it just... never came up again; AFO never saw a use for someone inside UA since they attacked the summer camp, I guess, and there's no possible way he could have used that asset again, no sir. Well, now that we've all yelled at him a bit, I guess we're all fine with that now; let's use him to ambush AFO! With loopholes to get around his lie detector Quirk! Surely, after giving him one Quirk to help him infiltrate one of the most important places in Japan, there's no way AFO could have planted, say, a second Quirk in Aoyama, as a way to deal with possible treachery; no we've never seen him do that recently. Or just observe him, or really do anything to make sure he stays loyal.

Oh wait, he was Quirkless? A dark mirror to Izuku, you say, both of which got a Quirk from two of the most important characters in the series, in a way that drastically changed their lives and tied them together antagonistically?! What does Izuku think about that? Don't you know better than to ask that kind of question; we don't have time to reflect on things, much less Izuku's Quirkless past that has basiclly been retconned out of existence at this point.

Was any of that too fast for you? Maybe too confusing? Did you want me to maybe break up that last section a little more, spend some more time on each major plot twist as it happened, how people felt about it? Well, congratulations, that's exactly what it feels like to read MHA Post War.

*screams in fury forever*

Hori. Hori, why did you do this to me? This story started off so good. What the fuck is all this?

[thotsforvillainrights]

congrats on the pregnancy!!! 🥳💕 any ideas for baby names yet?

also, if your title is right and requests are open, could i request some protective redestro headcanons or a scenario/imagine? like his s/o or a teammate/other family member gets hurt during a mass fight or threatened by another group? (bonus if he gets all monstrous)

thats the good shit i cant stop thinking about 😩

(Thank you! Unfortunately 10 million names for a girl and about 5 for a boy. Luckily my husband has stepped in with his list so we can do a formal comparison eventually!)

(And thank you for the Des content request since he's been on my mind heavy lately!)

~A Different Person~

headcanon|scenario|imagine|match-up

"A different person" is the right way to describe the situation at hand. The man standing in front of you was not the man you thought he was...

It probably started about a month ago when you overheard his conversation on the phone with a rising rival group trying to usurp the Liberation army and bring a bad name to Destro's legacy. Of course you weren't worried about it. The stronghold of the MLA could withstand any little group. Trumpet's magnificent hold on the people of Deika, Chitose's bold ability to clear the path in front of her, Geten's sheer determination and will power, Skeptic's advanced technology and his calculated use of meta ability...no one would could come close to shaking them up. So you shrugged and went about your day as though nothing was wrong. However, as the days went on, you grew more and more concerned with the air around you. It always felt as through you were being followed and this time not by Skeptic's usual surveillance. No, there was something more sinister at play.

After weeks of feeling odd, the day you finally went to announce your concerns was the exact day this rival group decided to strike. While Everyone was else was busy making quick work of the members around them, you were unfortunately on your own. Although it only lasted long enough for you to get a small gash on your arm, it was still the most uncomfortable 5 minutes of your life. The minute the other group attacked, Rikiya had set out to find you on his own. Much to the other's dismay of him leaving Detnerat himself, he ventured out and didn't take long to find you.

Oh but we he found you and saw that gash, it was probably the first time you'd ever seen this man angry in all of the time you've spent together. Even more so, this was the first time you'd seen his meta ability in action and also the first time you'd seen blood on his hands as well. And it was that very same blood stained hand that lowered itself in front of you. You hesitate for a moment before stepping onto the palm and grabbing hold of his thumb. You didn't let go of the large appendage until he made it back to Detnerat. He carefully lowered his hand and waited for you step off before shrinking back down to size. It seemed impossible to make eye contact with you in the moment. It truly shocked him when you pulled him into a tight hug before uttering a shaky 'What the fuck?'

Out came a long winded explanation and solid apologies strung out for nearly 20 minutes it would feel like. "I hid myself from you because I'm well aware a meta ability like this isn't exactly the most desirable in a partner." You sighed and shook your head. "So you mean to tell me that you spent all this time hiding yourself from me because you were scared of running me away?" He stares flatly before raising his hand up and showing it to you you again. "Is this not something that terrifies you?" He asks, gesturing at the blood covered palm. "This meta ability has killed..."

"And it's that same meta ability that has protected me today and who knows how many other times without me even knowing! It's not like I'll cower away from you now, silly. I've fallen in too deep at this point and besides." You smile and close the space between you two as you pull him into another hug. "It's no more scarier than Tomoyasu's puppet ability. Scared the crap out of me 2 weeks ago when he turned one of the filing cabinets without me knowing." Rikiya chuckled lightly and reciprocated the hug. "Let's get you to a hospital. I'm absolutely unhappy with the size of that gash right now." His voice muffled in your hair. You laugh quietly.

"Can you turn really huge again? I kind of like riding in your hand. It's like a carnival without ticket costs."

"Hmmm, perhaps another time. Hopefully for now..." He pauses and lifts you into his arms. "maybe this will suffice?"

You smile and nod.

[brexiiton]

Jacob Graham: Left-wing anarchist jailed for 13 years over terror offences after declaring he wanted to kill at least 50 people

The security services uncovered Jacob Graham's activity as part of an investigation into the purchase of chemicals online, it can be disclosed.

By Duncan Gardham, Tuesday 19 March 2024 09:17 UK

A left-wing anarchist has been jailed for 13 years for preparing acts of terrorism by compiling and sharing a bomb-making manual, after declaring he wanted to kill at least 50 people.

Jacob Graham, 20, from Norris Green, Liverpool, dedicated his manual, called the "Freedom Encyclopaedia", to "misfits, social nobodies, anarchists, [and] terrorists past and future, who want to fight for freedom against the government".

The judge said the college student was a "dangerous young man", adding that Graham described himself "as the first UK home-grown terrorist".

The security services uncovered Graham's activity as part of an investigation into the purchase of chemicals online, it can be disclosed.

When they raided the home he shared with his mother and sister, they discovered he had filmed bomb-making experiments in his back garden and buried supplies in a secret woodland hide in Formby, Merseyside.

In a document called "My Plan", Graham wrote he wanted to kill at least 50 people by attacking government buildings and politicians' houses.

He also made 138 videos, to be released on the day of an attack, in which he demonstrated explosives and talked about "Judgement Day" and "standing up for working-class people".

On a wall in his bedroom, Graham had printed out a picture of a car bomb exploding with the words: "Make politicians afraid to start their cars again."

'Destro the Destroyer'

Graham, a computer science student, used the name "Destro the Destroyer" and communicated with like-minded extremists using a gaming platform called Discord.

On another platform called Telegram, he exchanged messages with others who shared his hatred of government in groups called Earth Militia, Total Earth Liberation and Neo Luddite Action.

Sentencing him to 13 years in a young offenders institution, with five years on extended licence, the judge, Mr Justice Goose, said those who knew Graham believed he was an "ordinary young man" with an interest in fireworks, the military and outdoor pursuits.

"In reality, however, you are a dangerous young man, you described yourself as the first UK home-grown terrorist," the judge added.

Graham was the administrator for a number of chatrooms on the encrypted Telegram app, including one called Total Earth Liberation Group, with 150 members, into which he shared his bomb-making manual.

Graham told police he was "left-wing" but "more like an anarchist", adding: "I don't like the idea of a central control and I don't really like the monarchy."

His ideal government would be the size of "Merseyside or Liverpool", he said, adding he supported the Green Party and was an "environmentalist" who did not like the way "corporations act and how they damage the Earth".

He was found guilty by a jury on 23 February of one count of the preparation of terrorist acts, four counts of possession of information for terrorist purposes and two of dissemination of a terrorist publication, between May 2022 and May 2023.

Graham was cleared of one count of preparation of terrorist acts, following the five-week trial.

"I think it is fair to say I was quite anti-government," he told his trial.

"I didn't agree with the idea of it - the way certain things were handled, the pandemic, the cost of living. I didn't agree with a group of small people being able to make decisions that affect a mass."

The court heard Graham came to idolise an American terrorist called Theodore Kaczynski - known as the Unabomber - after watching a Netflix series called Manhunt, and pledged to "finish what he started".

From a remote cabin in Montana, Kaczynski carried out a 17-year mail bombing campaign, in which he targeted technology academics at universities, killing three people and injuring 23.

In his document "My Plan", which Graham started in May 2022, he stated that he was planning a bombing campaign that would end in a shooting spree.

Graham's bedroom. Pic: Greater Manchester Police via PA

"I am going to attack government buildings, politicians [sic] houses, mass murder those who think it is ok to hide their wrong doings [sic] behind money and power but you cannot hide from me. I am aiming for at least 50 deceased and more injured. Any more is a blessing," he wrote.

"I have constant anger, I am a ticking timebomb. I am not sorry for nothing."

Graham made video diaries and said in one: "I've got everything I need to start my revolution."

'Most of us can't afford to heat our homes... there needs to be someone to fix this'

In a video on 21 June, Graham took out a machete with a red handle and tapped the blade, saying: "Can't end my life yet, I have so much carnage to commit."

In another video made in his bedroom on 9 August, he said: "If terrorism is standing up for what you think is right, standing up for the working class people of this country, most of us can't afford to heat our homes or afford food, there needs to be someone to fix this problem. It is my responsibility to do this."

He added: "I will be a homegrown terrorist because I was born on British soil. If they want to call me a justice warrior or a hero, call me that. If they want to call me scum, call me that because I won't be here to listen to all of it."

In another video he threatened to attack Hugh Baird College, which he attended, saying: "I'm f****** ready, f****** bring it, I don't care, I'll kill every single last one of them."

Graham had downloaded a compendium of terrorist publications including the Mujahideen Handbook and the White Resistance Manual, which he stored in a folder called "Alexandria" after the fabled ancient library.

He told his trial he felt like a character in a James Bond or Mission Impossible film or The Last Of Us, a post-apocalyptic TV show.

He said he was "doomsday prepping" for "some sort of possible invasion, civil war, martial law, natural disasters, solar flares, floods, things like that."

[knowlessman]

okay, if every episode is 20-odd minutes, then I should have about 2 hours and change left of this arc. …I'm gonna end up making it at least 4 aren't I. bnha s6e20-25

"My Villain Academia." "okay class, say hi to Mr Rotten, he'll be subbing in for this one" saxophones start up

I remember hearing about a song from this show called You Say Run. …Was that one of the other openings? …shit, looks like it was and I didn't even notice. plays song I… don't really recognize it? : / Like, it's good, just… generic. Maybe it's been playing throughout the show whenever stuff gets real and I just kind of didn't take notice of it cuz it seems to be an instrumental.

Merry-Go-Round does go pretty hard tho

don't you have hedgehogs to plot against?

Tomura: "I'll burn it all down. The most beautiful horizon you've ever seen!" Toga: "except for Deku, right?" Tomura, prolly already killing her in his mind: "of cooourse"

okay so that weird duck-dog thing controls the puke-teleport quirk ig

"his body gets bigger during combat. he attacks every three hours. he finds shigaraki no matter where he hides" okay so, you get a million dollars, but there's this giant snail…

"a voice changer?" I mean, the principal of UA is a capybara or whatnot, why couldn't Twice's contact be a chipmunk?

Tomura: "You're right, Meta Liberation Army, I can't beat you." pointing over his shoulder at All for One's number one fan "But he can."

ah, it's not the little red book of commulism. it's the little red book of libertarianism.

buh? oh right, I forgot about Captain A-Pose 'XD guess it makes sense that a guy who looks so much like Mr Incredible would be a libertarian. : /

"they won't release the nomus. you don't have any; the last ones you had were weak; and you tried to get the last one you released back." Mr Green here making lots of assumptions. eh, or maybe he's just saying stuff hoping the hostage will accidentally tell him something

(toga's villain origin) so, yeah, more or less what you'd expect

oh, yeah, I guess we have seen this Giran guy before. dint recognize him without his glasses and cigarette

"I've been trying not to get hurt because I was worried that I was a clone!" huh. twice dun oops'd himself into a breakthrough. good for him, I guess? -- "so as I pray… Unlimited Shadow Clone Works" -- "what about your trauma?" "love and courage fixed everything!" 'XD love, courage, and crucially, the opponent accidentally unlocking your power because he didn't fully understand why you weren't using it

oh yeah, and Spinner's here too. completely forgot about him. …and about whether he even has a quirk.

♪ they were looking kind of dumb with their fingers and their thumbs in the shape of an L on their foreheads… ♪ (been thinking this since the first time Mr Green did it)

"show the world that everyone is a hero, and no one is!" ohai syndrome, you got a very different gameplan this time around. heck, OG syndrome thought he was a commulist.

"I'm sure he will touch the tower. It's what I would do." …Twice's clones of other people can not only think, but know themselves well enough to predict what their originators will do. Twice makes smart zombies, like in Return of the Living Dead. Kinda hated that movie tbph; the zombies were OP. …Twice is OP, but in the cool way where you can still write a story around him. -- This also means that Twice is even more of a horror story than I thought; not only did he think he might be a clone, but the clones that he does make are entire people. It's like that one arc of Schlock Mercenary. … : / Or Mr Meeseeks I guess.

somebody skipped… uh, head day? okay, not so sure about that one tbh

-- yeah this… okay no I did forget his name completely. Mr Green, then, has been reminding me of Mosquito from Soul Eater with the suit and the limb embiggening -- and the nose, come to think of it

"that means you have big guts!"

"re-destro! it's coming your way!" 'XD I completely forgot about godzilla. on the one hand, it's starting to look like they won't need him, but on the other, they also might be able to handle him now, since the Liberation Army keep accidentally powering them up

full pants? and they're PINSTRIPED? dude, Bruce Banner and Ben Grimm are BOTH laughing at your fit

(tenko villain origin) …well I guess this is easier to understand than Stain's gibberish, at least. oh joy, and there's a part 2. part 1 had him killing his dog, let's see if this gets darker than that

aye, bystander effect.

the sheer… accidental appropriateness of that episode being followed up by the OP coming in with "whoa, whoa, it's alright, everything will be alright" 'XD

(pajama sam's the new president of liberty city) …yup. absolutes about freedom tend to just become the freedom to oppress. the strong/rich get more freedom than anyone else, which in practice means they're the only ones who get any at all. -- "these nine people are my lieutenants. other than that, we do what we want!" no rules, but there's a chain of command, but no rules. -- also hang on, I thought Tomura said he'd split up the League after that fight during his epiphany? he said "after this, the rest of the League can do what they want"?

"Feel Good Inc"? Feel Good Inc? "Now watch me as I navigate, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha"

I must be hella shallow, Laserguts can turn his lasers into a sword now and I'm like "okay, maybe I could get to like him" 'XD yeah tho, gawd this random feelgood stuff with the UA kids is needed after all that heavy shit

"I never thought I'd be able to talk… normally? With Kacchan" Have better goals Deku, jesus. …The whole entire rest of this mess, well okay most of it, is stuff that more or less makes sense. Why is Bakugo? WHY is he?

"Tsukauchi wants you to postpone your meeting with Stain" !!!??? I thought the fucker was dead! …Gawddammit, I didn't want another chance to attempt parsing whatevertf his whole deal was. 'XD

"We all have an expeditionary assignment on the same day?" is it another tournament arc

…exactly. four. hours. maybe like ten minutes short of it. …well, que sera or whatever.

[tenkos-heart]

LMAO some loser commented that I should look up "how horrid real fascism is" and how I was just "dissatisfied." Yes! I was dissatisfied and bc I don't let bootlickers touch my post, I'm gonna say this!

it's fascist bc it's setting up that you have to be a certain way to be in society to even coexist or be accepted, chuckle fuck.

wtf exactly changed? heroes are still being treated as celebrities instead of helping ppl, shoji is the model minority, hawks killed a mentally ill man who didn't fight back and said he could arrest him, but murdered him, and kept the hero rankings which is such problems like endeavor and toya's issues exist. also, no, the lov's ending isn't "you can't always have want you want." they killed mainly all of the people who said how society hurt them and rejected them.

if you are different in anyway, then you get a pat back on the back. no one is saying the lov are perfect victims. they try to go by society's rules and it spit them out. i'm not saying for horikoshi to be a hardcore progressive but he set up that the lov was gonna be SAVED, not fucking killed.

tenko was groomed since birth and he (on accident) got killed for it. what the fuck do you have him do? afo would have killed anyone who helped him. toga was 17 yrs old and everyone shunned her and no one properly helped her. toya was severely neglected and left to rot bc he didn't win genetics bingo and caused him to self destruct and burn himself.

tell me, how society has changed. they were going to erase what happened in the 2nd war, for some reason the cameras cut out and they remember the league and tenko as monsters. and no, spinner's book doesn't count bc we don't see wtf it is. and spinner is just the next destro. sit the fuck down.

many people have said this better than me but like.

getting rid all of the people who criticized your society and just have said society to go back how it was before minus ochako trying to pave way for mental health is not a good message to send!!! or the fact that a lot of you care more about wither or not your ship is canon then the fascist, bootlicking ending says a lot about you, too!!! -proship/compship dni-

[thr0wnawayy]

Incidents

Page 197 of 227 <- | ->

Below is the last known picture of Eri (aged 15)

Incident Report

Witnesses: 2A Student [asked to remain anonymous]

Reporter: Chiyo Shuzenji, ID: Recovery Girl

Reporter's note:

Student confessed to sneaking in the dorms on a dare after some prodding. Due to providing evidence, this was not added to their record and it will be kept as such. - R.G

_______________________________________

Description of Events

Former student, at the time intern: Izuku Midoriya (21) was seen following Eri Aizawa (12) from behind throughout the teacher dormitories, seeming to be arguing with her.

Eri maintained an aggressive, brisk walk while Midoriya paced slightly slower behind her. Witness only heard part of the conversation:

"How can you say that Midoriya!?, it's his fault they're dead!"

[note the usage of surname]- Hornet

"E-Eri Chan, look I know things are looking grim-"

"Looking grim!?." (She turns around, Eri is visibly crying) "Midorya, 27 people are dead!. You can't keep doing this. You can't keep covering for him!."

"Eri, I Know-" (dialougue lost as student found hiding spot)

"For fucks sake Midoriya, he blew up a school!. Somebody's kid is dead because of him and you-keep-doing-this-shit! (Her fist bangs against the nearby wall with each '-')"

(Midoriya looks shocked at her reaction, Eri continues to yell. student moves in pursuit, parts of the covo were lost as a result)

"I'm done, I'm fucking done!. You didn't say anything when _ died, you didn't move when Japan lost it's industry or when-"

(Student secures a new position)

[Midoriya replies with something but is temporarily obscured, muffling his response]

"Oh, but now that you can be of use to him, you think he'll suddenly think of you as something other than a "Deku"!?"

(There's a moment of silence as Eri's expression turns somber, she shakes her head and begins to turn. Midoriya wears a blank expression)

"I can't believe I ever believed in you." (Eri begins to walk away)

As Eri walks away, nearly out of the students view, Midoriya speaks. Though it was too quiet for the student to fully hear.

Student then claims that Midoriya then mumbled something about Kacchan and "always be a hero" [Likely alluding to Katsuki Bakugo], loud enough that Eri could hear it fully. [ coincides with camera footage ]

Eri froze in place for approximately 10 seconds, her posture getting even more rigid during this time. Her face twisting into a mixture of shock and rage as her entire frame rattles.

Eri is then described as having "moved in a flash" and proceeded to begin strangling Midoriya, bringing him to his knees. her pupils dilated and teeth bared in rage.

Midoriya is noted to not have fought back, not even once during the entire incident.

Student found me first and the alarm was sounded, 3 teachers arrived in the scene (being Aizawa, Snipe and Cementoss).

End of Description-

_______________________________________

Eri was still strangling Midoriya when we arrived, both were unresponsive to any outside stimulus. Although upon being pried off Eri made no effort to fight back, rather she intensly glared at Midoriya with an icy stare.

Midoriya was unresponsive even when put on a stretcher and as of time of writing [1 hour after the incident] he still appears disassocitive.

Personal Notes:

Honestly Nedzu, I don't think this episode of Midoriya's is from Eri alone, though it definitely played a factor.

This has been a long time coming and the recent incident at Somei was the cherry on top and for the love of God, please keep Ectoplasm away from Eri, she's impossible to work with when she's so on guard.

I understand Aizawa's having a hard time since Mic's Broadcast (X67) but if he keeps neglecting her like this, I'm going to take her in myself. It's becoming a hazard for us and UA and you know it.

That's all for now. - R.G

I can't even make a RH joke about this- Hornet

_______________________________________

Yo Peeps, managed to get a cleared version of the photo through an associate of mine, have fun. -Widow-Maker.

[pocketramblr]

white hair, hm? How about DFO Geten?

AfO disowns his son when he learns what a dumb cult he joined and that out of literally anyone, he picked ReDestro to be his sugar daddy

[angstyclowns]

What about yandere alpha Shigaraki where the reader meant to send him a text telling him she was going out but the text never sent so he thinks she ran away when she literally just went to like a park or something but he's all angry when she returns back to the hideout

God what tf do I even write on here- Are ya'll even still there?

Anywhore theres a wordcount limit now wtf

TW: Yandere behavior, unhealthy power dynamics and relationships, nothing OP recommends or condones,

Yandere! Alpha! Tomura Shigaraki X Omega! Reader

Okie dokie-- first off, this man is so goddamn fine. Like what you doing out here with all that ass

*Lip bite*

Sorry, as you can see, my sense of humor has not gotten better. Now you all have to suffer with it. :) also, my old writing was cringe as hell, but here we are yet again.

See, Tomura to me, he demands obedience in every aspect of his life.

His underlings know better than to cross him, the original members of the LOV know better, everyone knows that his word is law, only a back seat to AFO himself .

When he goes about choosing an omega, I assume their someone whose already a meek and malleable little thing. Beaten down by the world over and over again.

Maybe your weeks away from eviction after your dog died and your mother is trying to get you to pay for your pregnant sister's prenatal care. I don't know. But your tired.

And your probably one harsh shove away from breaking down in the middle of the street.

Well, Shigaraki likes shoving so he's prolly the one who does it. It's a simple tap, you barely stagger, as right now he's just aiming to be a menace to society, not an actual threat.

But the way you freeze, and with how quickly your scent plummets, one would think he killed your pup.

He pauses, watching as your head bows and tears drip down your pretty round cheeks.

And- oh no.

He's got to have you.

the curve of your nose and the arch of your brows meld your facial features oh so nicely. The curve of your neck and shoulders make him ache to know how it would feel to drag his canines along the silk of your skin, to feel the assortment of scars, moles, goosebumps, anything that might appear.

He wants it all. And Tomura Shigaraki gets what he wants.

So, after a minor surprise date that only he knew about and a slight adjustment period where he might've had to teach you the ropes, all was good!

Nowhere to live? Look at Re-Destro's kind gesture of gifting Shigaraki a house for him and his omega!

Your dog died? Well, you don't need them for companionship, you have him now!

You mother is making you pay for your pregnant sister's prenatal? You don't have a sister anymore why keep in contact with them when it brings you nothing but stress? You have him. You don't need anything or anyone else. Don't you get that?

Eventually, you find solace in the insanity life you've cultivated with Tomura. He begins to trust you, which is such a heavy thing in his line of work. You don't want to break that trust, do you?

Wanna sit in on a meeting like the pretty little mindless arm candy you are? His lap is always a nice seat.

Although he prefers you on his face- but that's another story-

Want to go sit in the yard and do whichever craft has your attention lately? Don't mind the cameras Send him a text and he's sure it's fine.

Wanna go on a walk to the park? Text him and let him know-- which is exactly what you did. But, as you'll soon learn the hard way, you should always double check to make sure your message sent.

Bc it hadn't :)

And Shigaraki was none the wiser of where you were! Lucky you!

Now, when Tomura came home he was fully expecting to have his arms full of needy omega, whining and chirping for his attention while he acted like he didn't like it.

It was a game, a balancing act, to give you the smallest inch and take the mile for himself.

Its how he kept you leashed nice and tight.

But he didn't have that.

He had an empty house, echoing his chirps back to him. At first, he was reasonable. Maybe you fell asleep in your nest. You had done that before.

But your nest was bare.

Now he was beginning to grow angry. He checked his phone, maybe he missed a text?

Nope. Now he was pissed.

Where was his omega? Did you think you could actually get anywhere without him?

Where would you go? You had nothing without him. NOTHING.

He swore you knew where you belonged but evidently not.

Not that he cared. He fancied himself quite the teacher.

when you stepped through the door, you barely had the chance to plead your case.

Shigaraki demanded obedience in every aspect of his life, and you would understand that.

[bnhaobservation]

Sorry for intruding, I just think I can help with some questions, which Horikoshi might not have addressed because he might have thought Japanese readers would know the answer already.

Where exactly is Spinner? We know he wrote and published a book, but is he in jail and if so, how did they allow him to publish this book?

Destro also wrote a book of his memories in jail so in canon is possible to do so. I didn't hear of Japanese convicts recently writing books while in jail but in the past someone did.

Kaneko Fumiko (1903-1926) wrote this memoir while in prison after being convicted of plotting to assassinate the Japanese emperor then she hanged herself in prison. As she wrote her memoir as an indictment of the society that oppressed her, the family that abused and neglected her, and the imperial system that drove her to her death it can be she had been an inpiration for how in the story Destro also wrote his memories in prison and after he killed himself, his book getting published and then reprinted. Hopefully Spinner didn't have to kill himself or die to get his book published... though it was said who got multiple Quirks would die of old age sooner... not become a Nomu. So Horikoshi might remember about this and have him die. Honestly I don't like how he wasn't shown at all.

Anyway even if the MLA was mostly arrested and Trumpet's party dissolved chap 297 said some factions survived so they could have helped printing the book.

On the other side since in real life real life killer Sakakibara could print his own book and it got sold quite a bit before someone decided to ban it... well, Spinner's book can't be as bad as Sakakibara's tale of how he murdered elementary school kids.

Is Compress in jail forever? Is he still in a cell with Geten? He read Spinner's book, but how did he get hold of it? Was the prison kind enough to give him a copy?

By Japanese law Compress should be sentenced to capital punishment along with Spinner as they committed multiple murders. When said capital punishment will be executed is something only God would know as Japan isn't particularly fast on this. There are cases of people dying of old age before being executed.

Alternatively they can be sentenced to life imprisonement... but since they were high in the ranks of the PLF I doubt it.

Convicts on the death row are allowed to have 3 books so yes, Compress could have Spinner's book. The books are controlled, but since that book talks about things Compress should already know I guess they might not have thought of it as dangerous for him to read.

Compress and Geten weren't in the same cell but those, like the one in which Garaki was, are temporary cells. Prisoners sentenced to capital punishment are mostly kept in isolation so they are likely not even seeing each others. Conditions of prisoners sentenced to capital punishment are no good.

What about Touya? Assuming he's dead, how much longer did he have? Did his family care when he died? How is the family coping? Are they getting along? Why did Horikoshi not show us Natsuo and Touya talk after spending so much time saying they used to be so close?

I wish I also knew how much Touya had to live. The whole gathering of the family to visit him instead than dumping him there as fast as they could like many Japanese families would, imply they cared. Horikoshi might not have thought the conversation to be of interest because when a person is about to die in Buddhism you've to gather around him and calmly remind him of the good deeds he did and things like that and keep everything calm so as to help them in passing.

Which yeah, I would have been interested in hearing anyway, but it's likely not the confrontation many fans wanted to see the family have.

I also mourn a lack of resolution for Natsuo. His grief was for not having heard his brother out, when he went to stop Touya he thought if he had heard him when they were kids things would have gone differently so it bugs me that he didn't get a confrontation with him.

I think the Doylistic answer is that Horikoshi wanted to close the Todoroki family in that chapter so he placed too many things together.

That chapter stuck together the announcement Touya is going to die, Enji's talk with Touya, Shouto's question to Touya, Touya's apology, Natsuo's declaration, a summary of what the rest of the family will do, proof that people will keep to support them.

It's too much and most of it comes in inappropriate moments.

For example we're told Touya is about to die, but we don't see the family's reaction because they should have known already so that information given for the readers feels out of place. Why the guard feels the need to announce it when the family already know and in a way that's clearly not how you announce such things to a family? For the readers' sake, okay, but in the story it just feels weird and seeing the reaction of the family to it would have been nice but there was no time.

Enji gets to say his piece... then Shouto is given a chance to make his question to which Touya's answer and then Touya apologizes but we don't even know if the family heard him.

Then the following discussion is in an inappropriate time.

First because if Touya can only spend few times with visitors and Enji is going to visit him everyday, Natsuo not seeing Enji again means he'll never see his brother again, so it's a discussion that would have worked much better if done post Touya's death, second because the family should be in hell because that's what happens to relatives of criminals but... no, Shouto is at U.A. were everyone is nice and he even still has fans (and in the final chapter people apparently completely forgot he was Dabi's brother even if this would be an accuse normally moved against him in Japan and only worry about him being Endeavor's son and I don't even know if this is a negative or positive thing), Natsuo's girlfriend is willing to marry him, Fuyumi lost her job but immediately found another, Enji's sidekicks and driver aren't afraid to be seen associating with him and they can even count on Hawks.

This causes Enji's words about protecting them from the scandal, which Horikoshi deems so important, to feel void of any value for a western, who doesn't know how hard things are for relatives of convicts, see no real problem in it, but I think also for Japanese readers as really, this time he went out of the way to depict zero hardship. By how he showed the kid proudly walking around with an Endeavor's gadget I even assumed the family had been somehow but instead they talk again of hell... with Horikoshi not showing the slight glimpse of it because we've to be positive.

What was the point of Shigaraki appearing as a ghost to Deku? Why wouldn't he at least appear in front of his friends? Why wouldn't we see him show up in front of Spinner, approving his book or something?

That's not an answer, I fear, more like me venting. The story ended up focusing solely on the Hero's side, if you go to the previous chapter we've again Uraraka's question about who's there for the Heroes when they're sad/suffer and the answer is the same as it would be for everyone. Their friends are there for them.

Midoriya and class A are Uraraka's friends and go there to support her. Because that's what friends are for.

A more interesting question would have been 'who's there for people who suffer and have no one? No CARING family, no REAL friends... '

People like Himiko in short, whose family only yelled at her and whose classmates turned her backs on her once she attacked Saito.

People like Jin, who's an orphan and whose boss fires him once he accidentally gets in a situation that makes troubles for him.

People like Tomura, who was left wandering for the city for quite a lot before a Villain took him.

People like Touya, who no one wanted to hear out because they didn't know what to tell him and so no one did anything.

People like Iguchi who're discriminated for their Quirk to the point they toss pesticide on him (which is a crime even in real life in Japan because apparently some idiot did it even in real life) so he becomes a shut in and no one cares?

It was fine to worry about Heroes if they had no one, if no one knew of their identity, if they had to keep up a mask, lead a double life, keep secret whatever could bug them, be it physical or emotional.

Okay, normally in Japan people, even friends, are hesitant to mingle with other people's troubles, but then again, it's not a Hero problem, it's everyone's problem and anyway Class A wasn't one to stay quiet, so this worrying for them which get answered with the most obvious answer 'their friends' feel out of place... especially since the story also proof Uraraka can count on her parents' support too. If they aren't there to check on her is just because Horikoshi made this be about Class A because people who dumped everything to check on her after the sport festival of course would have ran there after she got stabbed.

The result is that the final chapter is about Midoriya's point of view on his life and his class and Midoriya doesn't even mention if Natsuo's marriage is going well or if Touya is still alive or not, because the Todoroki's plot finished 2 chapters ago and all we get about Shouto is he's working hard and rising in ranks and no one thinks at him anymore as Endeavor's son, which should have been an impressive feat but since we weren't shown Shouto's hardship it just feels meeh, and the chapter remarks again they became the greatest Heroes by beating All for One/Shigaraki and this is the story of how they continued to reach out which is cool and well but it kind of clash with how they became the greatest Heroes not for reaching out but for beating a Villain.

Sorry, I just wanted to share info and instead I ended up venting.

There are things of this ending that are clearly making sense for Japanese readers and their culture and I get Horikoshi is writing for them but I'm not Japanese and the way some things were handled still irks me a lot. Sorry again.

Honestly it’s a depressing ending for the villains. We get hardly any follow up for the remaining ones, Toga was the last one I expected to die and I was hoping it was a ruse at first. But since it’s official it’s heartbreaking. It’s lacklustre just throwing in a character to portray Tomura and what would happen if a civilian did reach a hand out, and throwing in another character for Deku to interact with. Honestly even the heroes were pointless, nothing has really changed in the system. Hawks never got a consequence for his actions, hell it could have been explored of a hero murdering a villain questioning the like of what makes a villain or hero. But he rises in ranks and has done nothing. I just feel it’s such a rushed ending, and I would have been ok with the same ending if it didn’t feel so messy and compiled together. There are so many loose ends and follow ups from characters, Shoto especially. It’s unfortunate, but honestly I’m glad it’s over. I lost passion after a while, but I appreciate the joy it’s gave me when I first started following the manga and getting into the anime, and experiencing the highs and lows of manga leaks. Dabi was my main one, and it’s one positive I gain from this ending for how open it is to his fate. It’s just sad that it ended this way.

Hori's biggest strength is for sure coming up with interesting ideas - like you said, exploring certain parts could've made for an incredibly interesting story. However, his biggest weakness is not following through with what he's starting, doing a 180 right at the end every time.

The cast has always been too big, yet he chooses to show us minor villains like Gentle and La Brava - who receive a happy ending - while the main antagonists endings aren't even being shown.

As much as the villains dying sucks (subjectively but also objectively since the story spent so much time telling us it's about reaching out and helping everyone no matter what), if they had been at least given a proper conclusion it could've been acceptable, yet after 400+ chapters, the author couldn't even bother to show all the main antagonists and their endings.

Where exactly is Spinner? We know he wrote and published a book, but is he in jail and if so, how did they allow him to publish this book?

Is Compress in jail forever? Is he still in a cell with Geten? He read Spinner's book, but how did he get hold of it? Was the prison kind enough to give him a copy?

What about Touya? Assuming he's dead, how much longer did he have? Did his family care when he died? How is the family coping? Are they getting along? Why did Horikoshi not show us Natsuo and Touya talk after spending so much time saying they used to be so close? Natsuo not saying anything and having mixed emotions after all of this was actually an interesting idea, but not when you don't do anything more with it - now people just think Natsuo is an asshole when in reality, he has every right to feel conflicted, but it sucks as a conclusion when we've all been looking forward to seeing him and Touya finally get to reunite and be happy.

What was the point of Shigaraki appearing as a ghost to Deku? Why wouldn't he at least appear in front of his friends? Why wouldn't we see him show up in front of Spinner, approving his book or something?

And yes, Shouto, too. Why is the main info we get in regards to his father? What about his hero costume, which we aren't even being shown? Did he ever change his hero name or is it going to be Shouto forever?

I wouldn't even say it's rushed as much as it's an unbalanced focus. The last few chapters could've been focusing on these subplots, but instead Hori tried to mimick the tone of the first season by showing the kids returning to school and whatnot, something that could've been shown in less time to also make space for elaborating on a bigger variety of characters and plot points.

I'm also glad it's over, I just wish these characters could've been in a better story.

[sugarakis-p2]

Security: Shigaraki ch 4

You are carrying millions in your quirk, the only catch is you have to trust someone in the League of villains to get to it. What better way to become fast friends than committing crime together?

Security <origin story

Security ch 3 < previous

This is humiliating and frightening. The cock warming on stage was horrid enough, but the words they are saying makes your blood freeze in your veins. You are an ex-hero and you know just how the heroes will handle this. Too ugly for your mom and your friend Tetsuo, your getting them out of here but not before Shigaraki completely dominates your soul with mind blowing sex.

Warning: Possessive Shigaraki, public cock warming, mild violence, death threats, chase, brainwashing

Chapter 4

The crowd cheered as Re-Destro gave his speech.

RE -Destro. This is mortifying, feeling full and stuffed with hot cock but trying desperately not to move or have anyone pay attention to you.

"I don't want to do this," you whimpered in his ear.

"You promised, and I needed a way to hide the stain of us on the front," he replied. It took you a long while to remember, but you recall learning about Destro in school. You flinched as Shigaraki shifted and ran his fake fingers up your fake knee. He found it more fascinating than the speech. But you wanted to understand what the hell he was saying, who would have guessed being stuffed is distracting.

You are trying to make yourself smaller and disappear. The movement made Shigaraki groan. You didn't bother to point it out earlier, but the mask does not give you anonymity since everyone can recognize you from your legs alone. More shame, your body heating at how good it does feel being stretched and the embarrassment of being used on stage.

The horror of your reality was surreal. Mr. Yotabushi is Re-Destro, and the little bullshit club is not so bullshit as you sit there wondering why this was kept from you. Thousands of eyes on you, and each one in the Meta-Liberation Army. It's really a fucking army.

"This is harder than I thought. You feel amazing, and it's," Shigaraki was whispering, cutting himself short when Re-Destro started darting in front of the two of you. The fervor of Re-Destro's words increased. Introducing Shigaraki as the new leader. He looks at a card to introduce the new merger of the League of villains to the paranormal some bullshit.

Shigaraki jerked his hip up, sending a jolt of pleasure through your core, and you squealed, burying your face deeper in his neck. This is why it was kept from you. Theft and fighting those that start shit with you is one thing. But an army always means civilian casualties. A thing you know Shigaraki doesn't believe in. To him, there is no such thing as an innocent by standard. You don't want to be here. You don't want your mom to be here.    

You are growing wetter in his lap. Your entire body heated up in shame, panting short breaths over Shigaraki's sensitive neck. He trembled underneath you. He gripped your waist roughly. You can feel Shigaraki getting more excited by your embarrassment and fear. Made worse when you dared to peak and meet Dabi's eyes. He stares at you curiously at first. A slight sly grin grows on his face when he realizes what is happening.

He starts guffawing, not that anyone can hear his laughter over the crowds raised cheering. Shigaraki says, "We're gonna do whatever we want," and bucks his hips lightly again in front of everyone. You muffle your yelp into his soft fur-lined jacket.

The crowd screams in excitement. These idiots don't know they will get killed, nothing but cannon fodder, while children and innocent get caught up in the middle of the blender. They are excited at the idea they will make a difference. But they won't. Not unless there is a lot of death to the people that matter. Do these morons know that? Do they really not know how far the hero commission will go to keep the status quo?

Shigaraki tosses his card aside, grabbing you and forcing you down on his lap harder. Tingles of pleasure, goosebumps over your skin. The is curtain coming down, you wave three times goodbye to the crowd. You remove your mask and cover your face with both your hands, wanting to flee like a child. You can't get up with everyone still on the stage, congratulating each other.  

Shigaraki rotating his hips to grind his cock against your cervix. Yanking 'father' off, setting him aside, pulling your hands from your face so his dry lips can be locked on yours. Shoving his tongue deep in your mouth past your protesting lips. A throaty moan vibrates in you as he doesn't hide what he is doing.

You try to push away to tell him to knock it off. You can do this in private, not that you feel like it after all the shit he dumped on you and humiliated you in front of everyone. Re-Destro was their heaping praise on Shigaraki and you, oblivious to what was happening, when Shigaraki pulled away to growl at him to, "Get lost!"

You gasp for air, Re-Destro's eyes widen slightly, and he smiles.

"Let us, "get lost," Trumpet! Happily!" Re-Destro said. That was hard to see. How the hell did a goliath of a powerhouse like that end up bootlicking Shigaraki. They had left out a lot. When you arrived, it was an implication that they were absorbed in the League. That does not seem to be the case any longer. Before you could think or say anything, Shigaraki adjusted you making your body ignite.

Bucking up lightly, pulling your back flush to his chest, he tangles his fingers in your hair, jerking your face to him as he clamped his mouth back over yours. Not letting you protest or wriggle away from him. The others were still watching as you angrily screamed in his mouth.

Mr. Compress was pulling a blushing Toga and Spinner away. Twice was bugging Dabi, who watched with lust hooded eyes, not bothering to go. He smiled at you when your eyes met. You scream harder and push at Shigaraki's chest.

He growled, angry that he had to work harder to fuck you on a stage. Dabi leaned against the stage wall and unzipped himself. When Twice noticed and then looked over at you, he bounded away, screaming "gross" repeatedly. Jerking your head with a pull of your hair, Shigaraki made you look at him.

"You look at me. Look in my eyes when you cum," Shigaraki hissed. Spreading your legs over his knees, pressing your swollen clit with his two real fingers. You gripped the arms of the throne, accidentally touching father, jerking your hand back from the cold dead flesh. He moved father to the side and let you grab onto the arm. When his gaze caught yours, the rapture in his eyes kept you pinned to him.

"Good girl," he purred. Your blood pounded like liquid fire. Your heart fluttered at his adoration. You mentally scolded yourself at how you had just discovered you had a praise kink because you found yourself unable to tear your eyes from those scarlet jewels blown out in dark inky bliss. You felt yourself getting lost in those eyes, his cock hot and hard as he thrusts up harder.

"You just got wetter and tighter for me. Stay looking at me. It's just you and me. No one else matters," Shigaraki moaned. He let go of your hair to work his hand into your dress. Cupping your breast and breaking the strap. You yelped in fear and squirmed, forgetting that he could control his quirk.

"Don't close your eyes," he ordered with teeth clenched and silted eyes filled with lust. Gripping your tit harder to press you more to his chest. Your nipple hardening under his touch and cool air. You opened your eyes after he pinched your clit between his pinky and ring finger.

"There we go. Good girl," he said with a smug smile. Spine-tingling pleasure as his cock expertly unraveled from the inside out. You pant but try to muffle your cries because you are not alone. You can hear Dabi pumping himself over the wet slapping of your flesh. He lightly rolled your nipple between his thumb and index.

He felt so good your body responded back, heat rippling through you as you helped bounce up and down his length. Shigaraki is cruel. Stealing you from your boring life, giving you a taste of excitement, then coiling around your heart like a venomous snake, distracting you with ecstasy making you forget he's dangerous. Nails digging in the throne, moaning, bliss pooling in your center.

Shigaraki's tone abs trembling underneath. His fingers circled your clit. Pumping in and out of you at a feverish pace. His lips part slightly as a groan escapes, and you detonate. Exploding as his hips stuttering, cock twitching with each hot shot of cum in you. Arching, you scream and writhe. Shigaraki's eyes widen, burning in your soul, his forehead touching yours as he growls, puffing with gritted teeth. Your pussy clutching at him, milking him, begging for every drop of cum. Heating pooling in your center, shuddering in bliss, as shockwaves rumble through you.  

You feel dazed and limp in his lap. The sex was mind blowing and you think you love him. It would be too tacky to say that now. He's kissing you. Moaning, you look past him to where Dabi was. His coat fluttered as he disappeared, a puddle of jizz where he was. Shigaraki softly stroked over your nipple when he looked over at what you were looking at. He shrugged and went back to paying attention to you.

You remember feeling mad but not quite remembering what about. Leaning down and pulling you to his mouth, he kisses then sucks your nipple. Cock softening, you feel a gush of fluids soaking between your legs. You clap your hand over it, officially destroying this dress. Shigaraki chuckled around your nipple.

Then you heard it. The loud chatter of people on the other side of the curtain. You felt your cheeks heating, remembering all the shit you are mad about.

"You fucking fuck face," you growled at the top of his head. You popped your tit out and pussy off him. But he stole you back down with a boyish grin and hard eyes still bliss blown. Pushing himself back in since you could not get him out all the way.

"Hey, I was using that. Tsk, that's the second time you did that. Don't be mad about this. You promised," he said in his new smoldering voice. No! Nope! No! Do not get sucked into that.

"There is a party going on, and everyone heard us fucking," you hiss. He grinned wider and shrugged.

"Good," he said, moving to kiss you.

"Did you mean that psycho shit the both of you said?" you asked. That made him still. Suddenly serious, he watched you.

"That won't have to be anything you have to worry about. I made sure you will be safe," Shigaraki said carefully. Your lower lip trembles.

"Ok," you say. He looks at you doubtfully. Kissing you, you kiss back, caressing his cheek. He drags himself away, still eyeing you suspiciously.

"Ok? Good. Let's talk more about it tomorrow, ok. We'll talk more about it, and I will meet your mom?" he asks. You nod quietly, standing. This time, he lets you go. You feel stretched and sore. Lifting the strap to cover your bare breast, "Wait. Here baby." He handed you the fur-lined coat.

"I'll see you at the party after I clean up," you tell him. He nodded. He beams, watching you limp away, sore from what he just did to you. It quickly dropped when you were out of sight. He pulled the earpiece out and talked to the doctor while putting away his dick.

You ran like your ass was on fire to the villa. Yun chased after you, which made you wonder if he had heard everything too. You wanted the earth to open and swallow you up.

"Ms. Void!" He shouted after you. When you reach the villa's door, you spin around.

"I need a shower and some privacy. Thank you," you shout vehemently at Yun, slamming the door in his face. Mom wasn't here, so you hope Tetsuo got her out since all the security seemed focused on you tonight. Running to your bedroom, you wedge the door open, the door with the lock on the outside. Shit seemed ominous now.

You texted Tet asking him where he was at. Ripping the soiled dress off, tossing it to the floor, kicking off your heels as you jump in the shower to scrub quickly between your legs, not waiting for the hot water. What you need is a plan b pill. Fuck, you were not planning on this much screwing when Compress picked you up.

Still wet and not caring, you quickly put on whatever you can find. Black cargo pants and a Minnie mouse shirt. You sigh. Mom was a terrible packer, but you don't care. You just need to get out of here. Your phone pings, looking at it and cursing aloud at what you are reading.

At the party. Come meet me.

"Why the fuck are you at the party, Tet?" you snarl to no one. You reach into your pants and feel for the panel that turns off your artificial nerve response in your legs. You hate doing this because it feels like you're walking on numb stilts, but it's useful when you need to go around without shoes or kick somebody.

Tits bouncing in your braless shirt, you make your way to the damn party. You need to know if he got your mom out and to where. Yun is following closely behind. You're looking around for him when you hear a voice behind you. You're texting Tet like crazy, panic rising when you don't see him in the sea of people.

"Aren't you the Void?" a sensual voice asked. You turn around to see Hawks. Hawks, the number two hero of all people, drinking a can of energy drink coffee.  

"You drink that shit?" you ask back. He smiles and shrugs.

"Ms. Void, you shouldn't be talking to anyone that is not in the original League, remember?" Yun reminds softly, staring at Hawks. Hawks looked him up and down, then turned back to you, ignoring Yun.

"What is the Void doing in a place like this?" He asks like a cheesy pickup line.

"Leaving as fast as I can because these people are fucking nuts," You say, frantically texting Tet. Hawk's eyebrows shoot up when you finally get a response. 

Turn around, it says. 

You whirl to come face to face with Dabi. He texts something and looks up at you. Your phone pings, sighing you read the text out loud.

"So, did I hear you right? You are leaving Shigaraki?" You shake your head at him, "Where's tet?" You demand. Ignoring Hawks and stepping forward to close the difference. He smirks at this, clearly not finding you a threat.

"Oh, we caught him trying to abduct your mom. Since I answered your question, why don't you answer mine?" he asks, putting Tet's phone in his pocket. He's beaming at you, and you flinch. His smile is more disturbing than Shigaraki's.

"You didn't answer it. I asked where he's at. Where are Tet and my mom?" You ask again, more in his face.

"Answer my question first, and I'll tell ya," he says, reaching out to twirl his finger around a strand of your loose hair. A strangely intimate gesture that makes you take a step back from him only to have him follow. You grab his hand and rub your cheek on it. Felt a scrap of his staples on the palm. His hand falls away with a blush.

"No. You misheard me, just like there must have been a misunderstanding. Tet would never do that. Although I do think you are all completely nuts," you challenge. He runs his tongue over his teeth. He uses his thumb to bush your lower lip.

"That's a shame. Because if you try to leave, that's like breaking up with the wrathful leader. By the way, you make the cutest little moans when you're getting fucked," he confesses in a whisper. You snap your teeth at him, wanting to bite off his thumb. He jerked his hand away in time, laughing, "No idea where Tetsuo is, but Mr. Compress is comforting your mom out in the garden."      

You spin, heading straight for the garden. Dabi sidles up to Hawks.

"Want to earn some extra brownie points?" He asks, never taking his eyes off your ass.

The air is getting brisk. Your flesh breaks out in goosebumps as you rub your arms for warmth. When you Mr. compress with his arm wrapped around your mom's shoulders. You've had it. You will get mom out of here and then save Tet.

"Hey, Compress!" When he turns to look around, you open your quirk at the end of your fist and punch him. You punch him so hard, he slumps over, and your mom screams. You grip her wrist and start heading to the main street where you can find a taxicab.

"What are you doing?" She screams hysterically.

"You are going home. We are getting out of here," you huff in the cold air. She pulls her hand away.  

"I can't. I'm a key part of the fight coming up. I'm under Twice's command, and Mr. Compress and I will get married after we change everything," She says. Your mouth drops open at her words. You snap it shut, laugh, and shake your head.

"Do you know where Tet is?" you ask. She looks surprised, but she points and tells you, "What are you going to do?" Mom asks with an expression of worry. Tears start running down your face. She winches as if you slapped her. You tried so hard leading up til now to save her.

"You know sis always said you can't save those that don't want to be saved," you walk away. You can't save mom, but you can save Tet. Mom is calling after you. He only got caught up in this because of you. She's not stupid. Mom must know that implies people getting hurt. You don't want to find out whether she knows people will die because you feel you know the answer. You sob because it's your fault mom is here, but she sounds so brainwashed; your heartbreaks. Maybe once you get Tet away, you can try again. It's all your fault.

Yun runs up, panting, and you slam your fist in his face, knocking him out. It was a mercy. They are going to blame someone for this. You don't want it to be Yun. So let's hope they don't catch you or kill you for this. At least Yun shouldn't get blamed. You make your way to the room your mom told you they are keeping Tet. Two guards are outside. You walk up to them.

"Ms. Void, what are you do..," You open your quirk at the end of your hands and knock them both out. When Shigaraki tried to reach in your chest so long ago on that dirty mattress, it occurred to you that the numbing sensation could knock people out if you learned to control it. When you were in your wheelchair, all you had was free time to practice. You yank the keys off one guard, unlocking the door you want to cry again. Tet is tied to a chair, bloody, the whole right side of his face swollen with a molten bruise.

"What happened?" You asked, unlocking his cuffs.

"Your mom used her quirk. I was standing between her hand and something she called," He mumbled, stumbling.

"I'm going to get you the fuck outta here, Tet," you grunt, helping support him.

"No! No! I must stay. Take all the blame, or they will do something terrible to you for this," he gasps. You look at him and giggle.

"Jeez, Tet. You used to say you could never be a hero. Now listen to you. You are too good for a girl like me," you tell him, kissing him on his good cheek. It makes him smile and almost cry. Walking through the woods to the road where you know he can get a cab that has nothing to with the Metalib nuts.

"VVVVOOOOIIIIDDD!" You hear Dabi sing-song. Damn, it is very unlikely he is alone. Other voices of the League ring out following that thought. You curse again. Your luck is not holding out.

"Tet, you have to think of diamonds," you tell him. He gets confused, then he shakes his head when he understands what you want to do.

"No! You have to come with me," he begs. You take advantage of his confused state. 

"Tet! They will chase after me. They might let you go if you disappear. Don't worry. I have no intention of getting caught. This is just in case. I will meet you up with you," you lie. They must have hit his head hard because he is not normally this easy to fool. You know you will get caught. He nods and pulls diamonds out. You watch him run. Time to see if Tet really did make these for running. You pick an angle and run. You feel like a gazelle when you pick up speed; Tet is a god with mechanics. He only went into prosthetics for you. 

Jumping over trees, screaming at the top of your lungs. They can't even get close to you. You dodge weave and knock the hell out of them. When you see Mr. Compress, you go out of your way to inflict pain on him.

"Come here to your future daddy," he says. You still, your mouth drops open.

"How did you know I always wanted to fuck my step-daddy?" you ask. That makes him freeze.

"Wait. What? Really?" he asks. You punch him for sounding a little too excited at the idea. He grunts 'fair enough,' this time not knocking him out.

"That was for using my mom!" You shout when you are tackled by Yun. You struggle to open your quirk on your back. There's a sharp sting of a needle in your ass.

"Got her. Good team effort," Hawks said. Your head starts to go fuzzy as Compress reaches out with his quirk. Dabi is there talking to Hawks,

"Nice. Now, fast hero. Go catch the guy and kill him. Bring back proof," Dabi instructs. Hawks nods. Your world goes black because you are so sleepy. There is warmth under your head, and you snuggle on the boney lap. Fingers stroking through your hair with care. There are voices above you.

"She let him go and then played a long game of tag. Void was ditching you. She was dancing a tantrum after the shit you pulled last night. That guy running could be a real problem," Dabi says.

"Tsk. The book I read said it will create a bond to maintain eye contact during release. We'll keep her here and let her explain. Poor sweetness is probably thinking all sorts of horrible things. Leave her to me, and I will correct her," Shigaraki says, caressing your cheek and stroking his thumb along your jaw.

Dabi snorts as you pretend to be asleep. The low sound of Mario brothers fills the air as you really fall asleep.

[shadowed-dancer]

My rant about volume 34 (and Star and Stripe)

OK BUCKLE UP because I’m annoyed. I usually try to find SOMETHING positive to say, but no. Volume 34 has got me so pissed it’s not even funny at this point.

If you like Star and Stripe and love this new volume, more power to you. I'm glad Horikoshi released something you enjoyed. This is just my opinion, and you are in no way required to agree. I just needed to get this off my chest.

Tangent incoming:

When the Star fight happened in the manga, the most I could compliment it was that the fight was cool to look at. But Star as a character DEEPLY bothered me for the following reasons:

She was introduced with basically no set up (because a single silhouette isn’t enough this late in the game. At this point, we should know every character unless they are a random background dude)

She existed as a plot device to solve a problem that could have been solved a million different ways (if you want to nerf Shigaraki, just say that being woken up early caused him to lose some quirks! Also, if you need an excuse for why pros around the world aren’t helping, JUST MAKE SOMETHING UP)

She did not exist outside of her purpose as a plot device (Re-Destro was also a very obvious plot device to give Shigaraki power, but at least he existed beyond that. He had his own thing going on and tied into larger story aspects, like his ties to Destro)

Her whole arc felt like grinding the story to a halt only to give us information that doesn’t matter now (at least with Nagant, the more we learned about her past the more we implicitly learned about the HPSC, Hawks, and hero society as a whole. Star’s backstory only told us about her and now it doesn’t matter)

The whole arc also felt pointless because we KNEW she (a random side character) wouldn't be the one to kill Shigaraki (the main villain). It's one thing to have these build-up fights throughout the series (Deku vs. Overhaul, Shigaraki vs. Re-Destro) even if we know the main characters are safe, but Star's fight came so close to the end that we shouldn't have had any new characters introduced at that point, AND it felt like a waste of time to pretend there was even a chance she would win

The only positive thing I will say about her fight (besides the fact that it looked cool) is that, for the situation Hori put himself in, he wrote the best way to get out of it. Having her die with her quirk would have felt even more pointless, and having Shigaraki get her quirk would have felt too contrived and made him way too op, so yeah. For where he put the story, Horikoshi found a clever way out of it. (But, like I said before, he could have nerfed Shigaraki in a variety of other ways).

Ok onto my issues with the volume

I 100% understand why she is on the cover this volume, but I don’t understand why she’s the ONLY person on the cover. Like yes, as a major player in this arc she should definitely feature, but make it a sort of “good vs evil” thing. Put AFO or Shigaraki on there. I saw someone say it should have mirrored Nagant’s cover which YES! Star and Nagant were already parallels, give them similar covers!

Instead, Star gets a solo cover. You want to know the other characters who have received solo covers? Shoto (5), Bakugo (7), All Might (11), Deku (15), Mirio (17), Shigaraki (25), and Dabi (30). All very important, and all justified (I mean, I think volume 15's cover sucks, but that's just me. Deku's the main character though, so his presence is justified). You know who hasn't received a solo cover yet? ANY OF THE GIRLS. That's right: Star and Stripe, the character who died 6 chapters after her introduction, is the first female character to get a solo cover

But no, Star didn't only get the cover, she also got the spine. I can hear you asking "why does that matter?" and I'll tell you!

In the early days of MHA volumes, the spines tried to feature as many 1A kids as possible. Usually they tried to put kids on volumes where they did something (like Aoyama being on volume 10 because he saved Tokoyami), but sometimes that didn't work (like most of the Overhaul volumes having students who weren't even present). Still, when they could, they tried to put people on volumes where they were important. The only non-1A characters they put on spines prior to running out were All Might, Aizawa, and Mirio.

After they ran out of 1A kids, they began putting villains, Pro Heroes, and Nejire (so, like Mirio, they're putting other UA students). Everyone they chose was also a main character or, at least, a major enough character that we know them (Nezu, Mt. Lady, Nejire).

Here's the main thing though: they never put a character on the spine twice. Look at something like volume 27; Twice and Hawks are both equally important, but Twice was on the spine in volume 24, so the obvious choice was to go for Hawks. You can also look at something like volume 30. The obvious choice would have been Dabi, but Horikoshi went with Nejire because he is likely saving Dabi for a future volume.

So now let's look at Star and Stripe. She's definitely featured prominently in volume 34 and she hasn't been on a spine before, but she's not a main character. The worst part? She never will be because she'd dead. She can't gain more importance after the fact because she's gone! She has contributed everything she could to the story.

I actually excused this choice when I first saw it because I assumed the volume would end of 337 (the "you can still be a hero" panel) and I reasoned that "yeah, there was no one else that could have been on the spine. Shigaraki and Aoyama already featured, AFO is probably being saved for later, I get why they did this."

But now we know the volume ends at 339 and you know who features PROMINENTLY in 339 (and at the end of 338)? HATSUME. We've known her from the beginning and she's had plenty of plot relevant moments, so she would have been a great character to have on the spine.

Now, you could argue that Hatsume will be on a future volume spine since she is helping during the final fight, and you'd be right, but there are so many characters who have yet to be featured on spines that you could always have found a replacement for Hatsume if she had been used here. You could also just pull what volume 31 did and put a random character on the spine despite them not being in the volume.

Less important, but it also annoys me that the volume is called "America" (the English version will likely be named "United States of America"). I personally think "parting gift" would have been an amazing volume title since it's a little more "in touch" with the spirit of the volume, but whatever. Nothing we can do at this point. I just felt like "America", when combined with the cover and spine, was just icing on the cake.

It's just so weird that this much attention is being given to Star because she's not a main character and never will be. We may be told the aftereffects she had on Shigaraki, but Star herself won't do anything else.

Star's whole arc felt like something from a different series, and now her volume feels like that too. Like she's a side-story that takes place separate from the main events of MHA. Points for consistency, I guess.

Thanks for letting me vent

Update: The back cover is Aoyama. I get why, he's IMPORTANT. This is very much his volume too, and I actually wrote about why this picture has a secret meaning but like... Congrats to Shigaraki and AFO for not being represented ONCE in this entire volume. It's honestly impressive at this point. I hope they're on the inner jacket, but at this point my hopes are so low I wouldn't be surprised if it were Hagakure