#implied mha tokoyami

[ojiro-s-hellish-site]

Today was a free day so.. Here's an art dump:

Also, thank @mhafandomredesigns for the inspiration on Aoyama's appearance.

Link for said inspiration⤵

[catgirlkatsuki]

Not pictured: Mineta, trapped between Present Mic and Aizawa, Shinsou awkwardly sitting at the front, Sero and Sato in front of kirimina. Mineta is having the WORST time because Mic keeps flirting with Aizawa over his head.

For my Deku transfers to shiketsu au. On their way to the Licencing Exam!

bonus below the cut

[pansexualkiba]

"I'm gonna make it so you can't live without Midoriya Izuku..." Midoriya mumbled gleefully, "Because I know I can't live without you-"

The lights turned on, and Midoriya whirled to the bathroom door.

Tokoyami looked at Midoriya's mortified face, to the candles in front of the mirror. He blinked, then sat down on the ground.

"T-Tokoyami?" Midoriya stammered.

"Please," Tokoyami inclined his head, "Do not stop on my behalf, fellow demonologist."

Midoriya began sweating. "Yyyyyeah, that's what this is!! You're so smart, Tokoyami!"

"Aw, shucks," Tokoyami preened.

[call-me-copycat]

Got some photos of the MHA x reader Doujinshi! I'm may have to reblog this because there are 24 photos and I can only post oh so many photos -⁠ᄒ⁠ᴥ⁠ᄒ⁠-

(Update - finishing this on my computer because you can upload 30 photos on the computer but only 10 on mobile >.<)

This is the cover!

The inside with more info on the authors and their work + the chapters ^⁠_⁠^

Each chapter is made by a different author, this is a big collaboration! So there are many different art styles ʕ⁠ ⁠º⁠ ⁠ᴥ⁠ ⁠º⁠ʔ

Each character on the cover gets 2 chapters, but there is also an addition of Tokoyami and Dabi, who each get 1 chapter

As you can see it starts off with Deku looking at you (the reader) and the series is seen through "your" perspective

It's implied the reader is female, and some chapters even show a partial body (most keep it vague though, mainly showing just hands)

"You" never directly speak in the book, it's sort of what Dora does where she asks a question, waits while looking at you, then answers for you. Sort of like: (Character - What do you want to eat?) They look forward, directly at you, the reader (Character - That sounds good! I'll have that as well!)

This book reminds me of those anime dating Sims ⁠(⁠๑⁠¯⁠◡⁠¯⁠๑⁠)

Glimpse of Bakugo's chapter

Todoroki's chapter (he looked really off in this book, but in the second they seemed to get a good idea of how to draw him so he looks more like he does in canon)

Iida's chapter is where you see more of "you", and the few panels across the book that do (about less than 3 so not many) hide the head in the speech bubble

Kirishima was very interactive with the reader in this entire chapter, it was very cute ⁠(⁠￣⁠︶⁠￣⁠)

Glimpse of Denki's chapter

It's out of order but moving on from Iida's chapter earlier is Shinso! My favorite guy! (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠) (Ignore the Iida panel - it looks bad out of context but this book is extremely fluffy and cheesy)

Shinso's text states that he wears plain clothing to dates in order to make the girl stand out since he knows girls put lots of effort into their outfits - however he said that he does like to wear accessories like a watch or something every now and then (´▽｀)

You see a little more of "you" in here

I just thought these pages were funny, plus you get to see more of the reader in this one (very rarely shown, only in Iida and Shinso's chapters - otherwise it's just hands from your perspective that actually interact with the characters)

This was funny too ("you" want to walk home with him, he says no because he runs to and from school to train. He says a couple times it's because 'he's not strong enough', the last panel is him roughly saying "You've got a bicycle?!)

The image under it is an event the authors did - apparently when making the book they'd have the audience comment as to what they wanted the characters to be drawn wearing, and the top comment would win. Apparently to the audience, Shinso is the type to still wear clothes with the tags on lol

Tokoyami! A very short chapter since he wasn't one of the main characters shown on the cover O.O

The lovely Aizawa! This first chapter has him sick, "you" come by to drop off some papers he needs to grade, sees that he's sick, then "you" barge in and have him rest while you take care of him (he's only stubborn because he sees being taken care of as "irrational")

My personal favorite chapter (●'◡'●)

Still on the sick chapter, here's my favorite panel lol

(The hands holding the phone is "you")

This chapter was written by the only man in the group of talented authors that collaborated by the way (o���vﾟ)ノ

The next Aizawa chapter has a jarringly different art style! Probably the strongest contrast in collaborators in this book (minus Todoroki's)

Essentially in this chapter "you" and him go on a date, he arrives 10 minutes early, and "you" ask him why he has that big satchel - it's his capture scarf ("you" call him a workaholic)

The date in question was just helping him pick out a pair of glasses to wear that'd prevent his eyes from straining too hard since he's always using his computer to work on papers or grade assignments

It's cute though, because he says something to the effect that if he could do whatever he could to boost his efficiency, then he'd do it because he only wants to benefit his colleagues and students

That last panel was him complaining about his bangs, so "you" pin them back, then he jokes that if his coworkers saw him like that then they'd laugh at him

After that is a Present Mic cameo! Apparently the top comment wasn't even for Aizawa (ˉ▽ˉ；)...

The top comment was for Mic to be drawn with braided hair! Off topic but I love this artist's icon at the top (^.^)

Last chapters are for All Might! I really liked this perspective in particular, it's very immersive o(^▽^)o

Whoever made this chapter is number 1 out of all the authors when it comes to reader immersion, I'm not the biggest fan of AM x Reader but as someone who hopes to draw manga one day I really appreciate the effort they put into this one (❁´◡`❁)

That's all I have for a brief introduction! I'm going to share Dabi's entire chapter for someone, so if any of you would like me to add on to that and share+translate a chapter of any of the other characters then I'd be happy to do so!

I really like this book, it's so different from all the other Doujinshis out there （。＾▽＾）The artists put a lot of love into this I can tell, so when I get the second book then I'll share that as well!

[bibibbon]

Characters with wasted potential: takami kegio

Oh hawks and the debates I have seen circulating around his character. He could of been a well written and thoroughly interesting and complex character but we know where that went.

I have got my own problems with hawks in canon. This is gonna be more of a ramble than anything else so enjoy.

His interactions with characters. A lot of the interactions that hawks has with different characters could of been so complex and intriguing if done right sadly MHA fails at that. Hawks views Enji todoroki the number two hero as his saviour from his abusive father so obviously hawks is a huge Endeavour fan who puts him on a pedestal. So we expect him to face an internal conflict when he finds out that his own saviour is an abuser to his own family but NOPE WE GET NOTHING. Hawks is physically not allowed to change or think about this and stays as a static character. Hawks and lady nagant have a lot of parallels and I found it Hella confusing when I learnt that lady nagant WASN'T hawk's former mentor and if she was that would of added a lot more depth to them in the vigilante arc. Hawks and tokoyami, look I love their mentor and mentoee relationship and how hawks actively encourages tokoyami to do things also it's Hella implied that the two are close and end up doing silly things on internships which I think is really fun. However I think the bit in the vigilante arc when hawks isn't answering tokoyamis calls and tokoyami is worried about him was handled poorly. I also think tokoyamis reaction to hawks being a killer is handled poorly. Hawk's actions during the first war arc and him killing twice could of been complex to him if handled well but we are led to believe that he was in the right in killing twice when hawks had the power to easily knock out twice, transport him to a jail cell and destroy all the clones before anything bad happens considering that hawks is known for his fastness, strength and agility .

Wasted potential in introduced plot aspects about him. Hawks is introduced as the 3rd top hero and compared to those before him he is young. He has a very charismatic and two faced nature that he has sharpened and learnt to use with the training the HPSC gave him. Hawks is a spy assassin that is supposed to act as a charismatic hero celebrity. In a way after all mights retirement hawks and enji became the most popular faces in Japan. Hawks was bred for this position yet that isn't expanded on neither is it developed well on. Hawk's actions during MVA and the first war arc are complex as they're coming from both genuine truth and lie. Hawks feels trapped literally and metaphorically having to live a life that isn't his and entertain people, always being watched from a cage. That's the story he tells the league and some of it to tokoyami and this is the truth to him. Hawks also killed twice BECAUSE HE BELIEVED it was the only option he had when in fact IT WASNT THE ONLY OPTION and by hawks trying to escape the cage and differentiate himself from the HPSC he ends up following and obeying them all along.

Lack of agency. As a character hawks lacks agency to do things or act. There are things that hawks isn't allowed to do even though it fits his narrative clearly. Hawks isnt allowed to have any negative feelings towards enji todoroki and what he did, heck he isn't even allowed to INTROPSECT on such a thing. Hawks isn't allowed to fully be developed or have any source of introspection, it would of been great if we saw more of what hawks thought about what he did to twice and what toga is trying to do. Hawks also doesn't say much when it comes to the HPSC and how they treated him the closest thing we get to intropsection in that case is him telling lady nagant that he is an extremely optimistic guy.

These are my main problems with hawks, Iam aware that there may be more.

I actually enjoyed hawk's introduction in the manga which was chapter 185 during the changing of the hero popularity polls. Hawks was presented as this complex character who isn't what he seems from the beginning. The first few panels we see him and he is comedically exaggerating his actions aka zipping his mouth and not talking or being overall very expressive however, when he does start to talk he is shown to cleary express his views and has stated that he hates the general bs thay heroes sprout about them wanting to uphold the law more than enjoying the luxuries that hero work gives them. He then takes the mic and proceeds to 'spice things up' by calling out enji on how disliked he is by the civilians. He claims this is something he did to help enji when in fact it didn't help him at all. To me this first interaction already establishes him as a walking contradiction.

His relationship with tokoyami. Their relationship first started in a way for hawks to gain information about 1A and he definitely wasn't being sneaky about it considering that tokoyami could see right through him. Tokoyami at the time only wanted to learn from hawks and was heavily upset and confused as to why hawks taught him nothing and was only using him. However, as time passed by they actually started to form a proper mentor and student relationship which I really enjoyed. When hawks was asked why he chose tokoyami he said that they are from the same feather, basically insinuating that he felt like it was somewhat his duty since he and tokoyami are both bird mutants to a certain extent. As a mentor hawks taught his student to have fun and chill out as tokoyami is a very grounded person (literally and metaphorically). Hawks inspired tokoyami to fly and majority of tokoyamis moves are some stuff that he either learnt or was inspired from with hawks. There's also the fact that it's heavily implied that a lot of the time hawks and tokoyami did goof out a bit considering that tokoyami has 'scandalous pictures' of hawks. However, I wish we actually got more of this relationship especially after tokoyami finds out that hawks killed twice. In the manga when tokoyami finds out of such a thing he automatically protects hawks and thinks he is in the right. I disagree with that and I think it would of been better to have it so that tokoyami protects hawks from Dabi not because he is a hero who done no wrong but because he is his mentor who he deeply cares for. I would also have it so that tokoyami starts to question who hawks really is?, is he a good person?, did tokoyami do the right thing helping hawks? Etc etc. in the vigilante arc, it's stated that tokoyami tried to contact hawks multiple times to no avail however this isn't expanded on. I would have it so that hawks is avoiding tokoyami on purpose because he is ashamed and scared of what his student will think of him. At the end they have a conversation and talk it out with tokoyami understanding that what hawks did was wrong but he deeply cares for him whereas hawks understands just how valuable his relationship with tokoyami really is. In the end, I ended up liking what happend with hawks and tokoyami both protecting eachother in the final arc and growing stronger as a mentor and student. Hawks learns to protect the youth and break the cycle that he was trapped in while learning what a hero means to others from tokoyamis perspective.

Hawks and twice . Hawks managed to build a good relationship with twice as the dumb and overly optimistic MVA member. Twice had potential to be saved but hawks ended up killing him. I have reread this part of the manga and I have my mixed opinions on this however, there are two ways I would change this 1) have hawks kill toga instead and have twice and toga switch places as it makes way more sense or 2) have hawks try to quickly take down twice by knocking him out and trying to transport him somewhere get before he can achieve that Dabi comes in and intervenes finally making hawks too slow to do anything and having him end up killing twice. Option 2 is what happend in the manga with hawks being too slow (ironic considering that hawks is praised on speed) to truly save twice and ends up taking his life so twice doesn't escape and doom them all. The problem is that hawks starts on the offensive (something I like), hawks thinks that killing twice is the only way to avoid everything or at least massively injuring him would stop it. Sadly, hawks could of easily convinced twice to back down considering how easily swayed twice is and that he only did the things he did because he thought there was no way out or wanted to help his friends. Before their fight begins however, hawks talks about not being swayed by nice words and connections he built with twice which makes me think that he didn't want to kill him but due to his mindset and pov he ended up killing him because HE THOUGHT IT WAS THE ONLY OPTION HE HAD (It wasn't)

His involvement in the MVA. Hawks first starts as a double spy for the HPSC. Through the MVA arc we see him do questionable things in the name of other people safety however, we see his actions backfire badly. Hawks tries to quickly and swiftly gain the leagues trust yet he isn't fast enough, he tries to quickly inform the heroes and the HPSC of how dangerous and out of hand this situation yet he fails and many things are caused by him (the fastest hero alive) not being quick enough to do anything. He 'kills' beat jeanist in the name of gaining the trust of the MVA yet that does nothing to get him up the system and just makes it that best jeanists help is out of the table for the majority of the arc. Hawks joining the MVA was useful for the league as they were going to parade him around so people can join him yet I still wonder how the mainstream media didnt catch a whiff of what hawks was up to or how he simply abandoned hero society (even though he was a double spy). Hawks also talks to the league why he joined the MVA and uses his own story (somewhat of the truth of his life) how he feels like a bird trapped in a cage one that can't fly freely this can be interpreted in many ways. 1) he doesn't have the right to freely use his quirk to any extent he wants which is something that MVA stands for or 2) he feels trapped by his own life choices, him becoming a hero especially the number 2 and has a lot of eyes on him watching him like a circus animal with every move he makes so he puts on an act and never drops the mask.

Hawks and toga himiko . Toga himiko should of either been killed by hawks in place of twice which would of made him get more backlash by the public and make tokoyami question him even more considering that hawks somewhat mercilessly killed a 16 year old (the same age as tokoyami) in cold blood for justice so he could also do it to him. Or we should of gotten a hawks Vs toga battle in the final arc instead of a afo Vs hawks one. It would of made way more sense. Considering that hawks killed twice who is very dear to toga she should of had her eyes set on hawks death the minute she chose to join the lov and the final war. We should of gotten an intense and emotional battle between them were hawks has to come to terms that he didn't need to kill twice but he thought that it was the only option he had and he watches as toga uses twices quirk knowing that twices death was meaningless as toga is using his quirk in the way he feared it would be used. Hawks would be almost killed until ochako intervenes and has her battle with toga while hawks goes and fights alongside tokoyami.

Hawk's views on lady nagant. Lady nagant should of been hawk's mentor and he should of been her replacement. In canon hawks is only her replacement and I think it would of added more nuance and overall better writing if she was his mentor. I absolutely loved the parallels that those two shared and how they came out on different side of things however, I do think that we should of seen more of hawks getting the backhand treatment from the public considering that him killing twice was on live television. Honestly it surprised me that hawks killing twice isn't what the public was most upset with him about but they were upset with him having an abusive and villain father which honestly says a lot. I also think that they should of had more screentime to talk, hawks helped save lady nagant and she ended up asking him how he still has hope while he says that he is "optimistic". Iam not a huge fan of this moment and I think it could of been written better. Hawks and lady nagant are two sides of the same coin but dam did I hate hawks holding her burnt body and telling her that he was her replacement, it could of been handled better with hawks and her actually having somewhat of a fight and then some of the conversation happening after the explosion.

Hawks and the todoroki family . Oh boy I can feel that this is gonna be a long one. I found it interesting that hawks actually looked up and admired endeavour and I loved the parallels it gave both hawks and Dabi. However, I hated that hawks wasn't allowed to think or have any intropsection after hearing about what enji did or that he didn't go through a bit of a crisis over it. The fact that hawk's character has simply been reduced to enji Todorokis biggest supporter is my biggest problem with hawks. Dabi and hawks were very interesting to me (no I don't ship them) they're simply two sides of the same coin especially in the ways they act. Dabi is consistent on revenge whereas hawks is the opposite, Dabi hates enji whereas hawks admires enji and so on and so on. I do think that it would of been way more interesting if touya and kegio had actual history behind everything going on so I have always liked the HC that they met in the HPSC training scheme and became friends. It's plausible and makes Dabi saying hawk's real name way more meaningful than Dabi finding it out by threatening hawk's mother. I also think that both of them sharing a form of history yet not trusting eachother is hella interesting. Dabi was probably one of the only characters (aside from Izuku and tokoyami) that could see through some of hawks actions. Dabi knew what hawks will do yet never tried to intervene until it benefited him of course in true icon fashion that is. I also find hawk's relationship with the youngest todoroki interesting but I think it was done horribly. I would of liked to see more scenes with hawks and shoto talking about enji and touya or just scene of them that draw the similarities they have.

I would also have hawks be semi involved in the whole mutant racism plot because we need that to be fleshed out. Does hawks help donate to charities that help mutants? Is he against such people? Or doe hawks himself face such discrimination? To be honest I doubt it considering that his mutation is on the "prettier side" of the mutations and wouldn't face discrimination like shoji did

Hawks also had potential to interact with other characters like todoroki which would of highlighted his thoughts and development on the families matter. There is also Izuku midoriya who in a way is in somewhat of a similar circumstance to hawks and they could of had that whole is there another way to save villains like twice and shigaraki without killing them or is death the only way or just general conversation between the two considering that tokoyami was stated to praise izuku so much that hawks considered taking him as an intern. In one of the side comics you also had Izuku be somewhat suspicious of hawks and his abilities and it's also somewhat hinted in the main manga so it's interesting to have them have a conversation about that.

I personally think that hawks should of received concequences for his actions and one of them being hindered quirk use aka his wings don't grow back properly or everytime he uses them he can't use them to their fullest potential due to how injured he was by Dabis fire. Also, I hate how hawks being used by the commission is almost brought as a second thought, like when the HPSC fell we really didn't get much of hawk's personal reaction or thoughts or anything on the matter it seems like a quite empty point even though it had its potential to Futher develop hawks

In conclusion, hawks character introduction was pretty solid and I really liked some of the aspects that the series gave him like making him a walking contradiction to a certain extent but I do think that horikoshi development of hawks character was horrible and the fact that hawks lacks agency to do many things or reflect on things irritates me very much.

[stillness-in-green]

Finding Fascism in My Hero Academia (3/4)

Part 3 is now publicly viewable to non-members, with Part 4 (the final and longest part) now available for paid members. Part 3 excerpts below the cut! This week they represent a particularly small part of the whole, which is close to 8000 words.

Points in this section: intellectually dishonest rhetoric about one's enemies and the effect this has on one's wartime efficacy, Peace Is Never An Option, contempt for the weak (read as: everyone beneath you in the hierarchy), and the cult of the death-seeking hero.

Point 8: Enemies are simultaneously strong and weak.

Primarily manifests as hyping up the ostentatious wealth, force and/or influence of the enemy while also convincing followers that the enemy is weak enough to be defeated.  Eco—who is a bit vague here, frankly, not providing any specific ways in which Ur-Fascism characterizes its enemies’ weakness—notes that the followers being made to feel humiliated is an important factor; I take this to imply a narrative that convinces followers that they are being perceived as less-than, that their enemies are looking down on them for their comparative (and/or alleged) simplicity, sobriety, or lesser reach.  The dichotomy, in any case, is a mindset that leads to difficulty in wars because of an inability to objectively assess the enemy’s strengths and weaknesses.

Meta-Narrative: (...) It’s hard to say what the meta-narrative being “bad at war” would look like.  The story falling flat?  Misidentifying its own core themes and thus failing to resolve them?  Losing popularity compared to its peers in Shonen Jump?  Being savaged by reviewers?  Wide swathes of its own fandom disagreeing with its messages?  If the story’s own Villains are the “enemy” the series is engaging in misleading rhetoric about, what does it mean for the story to be bad at fighting them?  What would it mean for the story to lose to them?

We might say that every reader who disliked the story—or quit reading it before the end—because they sided with the Villains over the Heroes is someone who judged that the Heroes lost, or at least that they didn’t deserve to win.  That seems a fair way to define the story losing to its own antagonists.  Did that happen?  Well, obviously the fact of me writing all this means I think it did, but MHA certainly had and retains an enormous fanbase who seem to have liked the ending just fine—I’m not unique, but neither am I in the majority.

We might also define the story losing to its own antagonists as the story failing to overcome the challenges those antagonists posed.  I’d argue—and much more vociferously—that that happened, too.  The story raised a bunch of systemic issues up to just past the halfway point, then abruptly refocused its attention on All For One and tried very hard to convince the readership that killing AFO plus implementing vaguely expressed intervention measures targeted mainly at children is a sufficient response to its driving conflicts—it very much is not.

—(…)—

Point 9: Pacifism is trafficking with the enemy./Life is permanent warfare.

Being built on fear of the enemy, fascism must always have an enemy.  This means, however, that there’s no vision for peace after ultimate victory.

Team Hero:  (...) While it’s clear that we’re meant to read the ending as progressing towards peace, and that this is something Heroes in general desire—most explicitly summed up in Tokoyami talking about Heroes working to make their own jobs obsolete, quite as if he's forgotten that Heroes also do disaster rescue work!—the ending is either too cowardly or too driven by the needs of pleasing its fanbase to truly show us a world that needs fewer Heroes, or a different sort of Hero.

If Deku truly believed that being a teacher is more meaningful to him than being a Hero, why not step down to focus on that rather than refining a power suit that can really only accelerate the production of quirk-emulating military hardware?  If Ochaco truly wants to make a difference via her counselling program, why not retire from Heroics and make the program her full-time job?  If Shouto really wants to explore who he is, rather than pursue the person he wants to become, why not take a sabbatical, trusting that the world will keep spinning and people will get the help they need even if he takes some time for himself?

Did the final volume need yet another two-page spread of Class 1-A leaping collectively into action?  Did it occur to Horikoshi at all that having twenty-one Heroes fly across town to jump one (1) desperate, panicked carjacker of normal human dimensions actually makes society look more saturated with Heroes than ever?  Particularly since that scene goes on to depict the triumphant Heroes standing around chit-chatting with each other, blithely unconcerned with the emotionally distraught criminal being hauled off by police, exactly the same as we always saw Heroes doing in the bad old days before the world-changing altruists of Class 1-A decided to try reaching out to Villains?

—(…)—

Point 10: Contempt for the weak./Popular elitism.

The group identity is built on pride in the group and the group’s strength/superiority, breeding contempt for those outside the group.  However, this goes all the way up, such that leaders of the group at all levels are contemptuous of not just the out-group but also the people beneath them in their own group’s hierarchy.  Particularly if the Leader gained their position by force, they’re predisposed to believing the people they thus conquered (their own) both need and “deserve” to be ruled by a strong Leader.

MLA: Half a point.  The MLA very obviously meet the bar for the first part based on their quirk supremacist ideology.  Even back in Deika, you had Re-Destro (who otherwise focuses exclusively on the high-minded ideals of Liberation rather than the ugly might-makes-right rhetoric found elsewhere in the group) scorning Twice for his sentimentality and Shigaraki for his lack of ideology.  They also show a good amount of in-group/out-group contempt—they’re dismissive of Villains, have a furious disdain towards Heroes, and, while this is more isolated to the second war, can also be pretty contemptuous of common civilians!  However, I don’t think you see the second point, popular elitism.

As much as some fans talk about e.g. Re-Destro and Trumpet lacking respect for their followers, I personally don’t see that in the story.  The MLA leadership is somewhat pragmatic about them, to be sure, but never contemptuous in the way they are towards people outside their group.  (...) Shigaraki accuses Re-Destro of hiding in his tower, removed from the hoi polloi, but we don’t have to take Shigaraki’s word on this.  Re-Destro was not out in the scrum for the same reason President Roosevelt wasn’t on the beach in Normandy on D-Day.  He still fought when he had to and still expressed his rage about his followers’ deaths when Shigaraki—who RD was planning on killing, and with no one else around to hear the answer!—asked about them directly.  In every other case besides Skeptic, the MLA leadership is right out there in the field alongside their people.  Compare this to someone who really is contemptuous of their followers, like Overhaul or All For One, and the difference is night and day.

—(…)—

Point 11: Everybody is educated to become a hero./Cult of death.

The Übermensch part of the deal.  The mythological hero is exceptional by definition; Ur-Fascism would have such a figure be the norm for everyone.  This is linked strictly to the glorification of death: everyone seeks to be the ideal hero, and for the ideal hero, the ideal endpoint to a heroic life is a heroic death, the ultimate reward.  See the pursuit of Valhalla in Mad Max: Fury Road for a prominent recent depiction.

Team Hero: Yes to the first part and some concerning undercurrents regarding the second.  Like, there are obviously lots and lots of people in Hero Society at large who don’t grow up to be Heroes, who aren’t seeking a valorous death, all that, but this category’s consideration is about specifically Heroes, and, obviously, yes, Heroes are educated to become heroes.  It’s literally called My Hero Academia.  The HPSC, of course, gets less of this, but they still encourage and cultivate it at every turn—even their own secret child soldiers still have to be Heroes by daylight!

As to the cult of death, you could make an argument—and by no means a weak one!—that Heroes qualify based solely on three points: All Might’s Pillar ideology, U.A.’s Plus Ultra mantra, and Mandalay’s comment that there’s “no better way for Heroes to meet their end” than the “honorable death” of dying in the line of duty.  But I don’t think that all of these quite add up to the remaining half-point.  All Might is the top Hero, but he’s only one Hero all the same; U.A. is the top Hero school, but still only one Hero school.  Mandalay delivers those lines in a solemn enough way that it would be child’s play to read them as a platitude she told herself until she believed it, far more than something that’s actually a matter of chapter-and-verse Hero dogma.

Indeed, lots and lots of Heroes quit as soon as things really start getting difficult!  So while there are elements there, I think people who really believe that Heroes ought to embody this are mostly the hardcore zealots like Stain; it’s less evident in the body of Professional Heroics at large. Tellingly, nowhere in any of the main characters’ classes do we see death being linked to the Heroism they’re learning!

—

Read the rest here!

[dw-flagler]

In this post, I will attempt to calmly, reasonably, and in-a-good-faith-manner argue all the points raised by tumblr user @library-bat-girl in the following posts. I am starting a new thread so as not to further destroy the original poster, @skitterenjoyer's, tumblr notifications. Worm (+MHA) spoilers ahead. This will be a long post.

Firstly, I would like to apologize on the worm fandom's behalf. We will not engage in ableism of any kind. I sincerely hope that this was a singular incident and @skittersdrippygirlcock will be better about this in the future.

"MHA has better characters,"

My Hero Academia's primary achievement, I think, is managing to make many decently well rounded characters in a fairly short time-span. It certainly has very good visual character design, with easily memorable character designs, like Mina Ashido or Tsuyu Asui. Most of Class 1A is shown to be more than single-note gimmick characters. For a story with such a tight schedule, and only so much page real-estate, that's impressive! For instance, a character decidedly outside of the main cast, Fumikage Tokoyami, is shown to have more to his personality than "is an edgelord," showing a humility and friendliness that is highly against-type. This is very different than a lot of its peers, especially in Shonen manga, where side characters (and sometimes even main characters) are never more than their tropes (see Fairy Tale, One Punch Man*, The Seven Deadly Sins, or Black Clover). My Hero Academia does clear that bar, by making side characters little more than their tropes. This is to say nothing of the primary cast, who, again, is largely defined by tropes and easily slotted into standardized interchangeable Shonen roles. Rival, Love Interest, Rival but Nice About It. Additionally, MHA has an uncomfortably sexualized main cast, for one composed primarily of minors.

This is compared to Worm, in which many characters are fully realized and could have been the protagonist (and often were in older drafts of the story, due to Worm's 10-year development hell). Every character that gets an interlude, and most that don't, all have fully realized interiority, traumas, and wants. In fact, this is one of the major themes of Worm. Every character, from the protagonist Taylor, to characters so minor they're seen only once (see Damsel of Distress, Dauntless), to major antagonists and monsters (see Jack Slash, Bonesaw) all have their own story, even if this is never shown on-screen. There are no "side characters" in the same manner as in My Hero Academia, because every character is a protagonist of their own story, and not in a trite "life is so beautiful" way.

Taylor isn't the center of the universe, there's an entire world outside of her 3-block bubble. The mechanism by which all characters get their superpowers means that the mere fact of having powers implies this about them. Even the seeming exceptions, aren't (see Alexandria, Garotte). Taylor is a good character. I don't even know how to elaborate on that. She just is. Worm does not have the character Minoru Mineta.

"a better plot,"

What... what is the plot of My Hero Academia? For the life of me, I can't seem to recall. I can tell you the general formula of most of the arcs for the first ~2/3rds of the story. Class 1A goes to do a hero high school thing, like do rescue training, or on-the-job training, or on-the-job-training, or on-the-job-training (they do it like 4 times for some reason), the League Of Villains shows up (even when it's seemingly not the league of villains it actually is the league of villains) they fight about it, the class beats all the villains, and Deku beats up strongest bad guy and also breaks his bones. Repeat step 1. But like. What's... the plot? The League of Villains is evil and wants to kill people and do bad stuff. They explicitly do not have greater motivations. There's generally themes of passing-on-to-the-new-generation, so there's Tomura Shigaraki as the arch nemesis to Izuku Midoriya, just as All Might's Nemesis is All For One. Eventually they fight a big fight about it and I stop reading because I find out about Worm. From what I understand (I have not read the conclusion) the series ends without addressing any long-running questions, wrapping up any character arcs, or concluding anything in a narratively satisfying manner. As if severely rushed.

Worm, there are maybe 15 main stories going on simultaneously, which are all tied into the final confrontation with Scion. The most obvious is Taylor's and the Undersiders' story, about taking over Brockton Bay and defeating Coil, which is a smaller part of Coil's story about taking over the bay, until their confrontation with him in arc 17, when it supersedes Coil's story, and then intersects with Cauldron's story, the Traveler's story, the Case 53s' stories, the Wards' story, all of it, in arcs 18-19. This is one example. A great deal of attention is spent making sure the reader knows that Taylor, the Undersiders, Coil, all of them, are bit players in a very large game. Despite this, it's never hard to follow, because Wildbow, while lacking some of the more flowery prose, manages extremely well at making his stories easy to understand.

"I feel like even people who like Worm can agree that Worm is not the most consistent piece of fiction ever written. The disjointed way it was written meant that emphasis was primarily put on 'What Wildbow thought was cool in the moment', [sic] and the story RADICALLY shifts gears every time a new arc starts."

What? Huh? Worm is extremely consistent. Like. 1.1 to E.x. It's, like. Not disjointed? Oh my god, are you talking about interludes? Is that what you mean? The interludes shift gears? Because that makes sense. It's one of the hardest things about worm, yeah. It's gripping! The interludes are a great idea to expand the world of worm, but the problem is that taylor's story is so intriguing that stepping away from it to focus on something else is hard, no matter how individually interesting. I want to read about taylor's escalation spiral, not the travelers! (As opposed to My Hero Academia having random escalation and de-escalation between arcs with no real explanation. We're reading about lives-on-the-line battles with child-slavers and then move to playing on a playground with little kids? Best I can think of is that this whiplash is intentional, but this is never communicated to the reader. Worm does not do this. Any de-escalation is met with the explicit understanding that this is merely a period of calm before things get even worse). Taylor's story wraps up in an extremely narratively satisfying fashion, following her story to its logical conclusion. There were so many ways it could have been avoided, but there was really only one way that it could have ended.

"better worldbuilding,"

This actually offends me. MHA could have had great world-building. It doesn't. Every potentially interesting bit of world-building is backpedaled out of or stopped before it could get anywhere. Or it's just never elaborated or expanded upon. Everyone having a superpower could have been cool, but the implications of this are nonexistent. The reasons for this having no real implications, that being the banning of quirks, also has implications that are also immediately backpedaled out of. It's been hundreds of years since our time, yet life is exactly the same. Nothing ever happens. Endeavor is a cool concept. I like Endeavor. his existence implies such interesting things about the world, how important hero ranking is to these people's lives, that he would create this horrific system of domestic abuse to try and get to the #1 spot. What does this say about this system of heroes that operates like a popularity contest? It could have said a lot. It says nothing. What does the League of Villains, a league of people who call themselves out-and-out villains, who base their ideology in opposing this system of heroes, say about society? Nothing. On purpose. Worm does something with this. One Punch Man does something with this. My Hero Academia puts it in the story, and lets it sit, unused, for a decade.

Worm has... unique world-building. Because it's both good and bad at the same time. Worm's #1 feature is its world. It's brilliant, full stop. Triggers, The Birdcage, the PRT, Exclusion Zones! Why does the status quo exist? what does it say about that society? What does it say about our society? Why hasn't society radically changed from how it is in our world? This is explained. This plays into the themes. The story wants to say something about this world, and so it does. There are characters whose stories explicitly delve into these themes that are set up in the worldbuilding, like Armsmaster, or Battery, or Bonesaw, or Coil, or Piggot or Alexandria or Taylor herself or Brian or Lisa or ANY OF THEM THEY ALL DO THIS. Sorry.

Anyway, the bad part is that the actual world is not well built (and is kind of racist). What's going on in Europe? There's a 3 blasphemies! a 3 what? never explained. What's going on in Asia, aside from Japan? China is a monarchy for some reason. Why? It's never elaborated on. India gets a little bit of elaboration, we're told its different but not how it's different. Wildbow uses machine translation wrong and names some guy caliph of dogs. This is like worm's #2 problem honestly (#1 is Amy). Wildbow tries to make the implication of a well thought out globe without actually making a well thought out globe.

"stronger themes,"

It really doesn't. As I said in the worldbuilding section, MHA makes a point out of not saying or doing anything. I don't know if editors made Horikoshi walk back the more ambitious story beats or what, but there are multiple points in the story where the author pretty much looks you directly in the eye and goes "This Story Isn't Saying Anything At All Even Though It Looked Like It Would. Lmao."

Worm has lots of themes. I think Armsmaster/Defiant's story is my favorite. His entire character arc (which is fully realized despite him being a background character for nearly the entire story) has a point to it. It says something. It's misanthropic and uplifting simultaneously, and manages to feel like it earns both. It's a shared theme with Bonesaw/Riley's story, explored in two different ways.

"Meanwhile MHA establishes an actual overall theme/message right from the start that expands and develops throughout the story. The worldbuilding is informed by the message, which informs the characters arcs and the people they become by the end of the story."

I notice that you never actually say what that message is. What is it? Like, for real. I'm not being confrontational or anything, like what is the message? Cuz' I can't think of one. My Hero Academia, at its very core, is a defense of the status quo. Much like its world-building, but much less forgivable, because it does do something new and unique with its world-building. MHA could have done some extremely interesting stuff with its early implicit critique of heroic society as shown with characters like Bakugo, or Shigaraki, or Endeavor, or Overhaul, or Midoriya himself! It just doesn't! It doesn't do stuff that Worm does do!

Worm does have a message. It has a lot of messages, actually, some that the author disagrees with somehow. Prison abolition, for one. We know Wildbow loves prison. Anyway, the big one is in the subtitle: doing the wrong things for the right reasons. Taylor's constant spiral of escalation, her dwindling attachments to her friends and greater focus on treating herself like a soldier is prevalent, and it is to be avoided. Taylor isn't a sin-eater. They don't exist. From what I remember, this is sort of explored in Deku's character arc for a short period of time, but much like everything else in MHA, it is backpedaled out of.

The funniest is "don't text and drive" though.

"Just on a basic level the way that the audience is meant to feel about Taylor oscillates wildly between being directed to think of her as a misunderstood victim of circumstance, or history's greatest monster."

That's kind of the point. Like. the audience isn't meant to look at Taylor the same way throughout the entire story. It's meant to change as she changes. Taylor's opinion of Taylor changes. The mistake here is saying it "oscillates wildly." it doesn't. It's a slow and steady change for the worse, as Taylor gets more violent and starts throwing away greater and greater parts of herself to become more like a robot and less like a person.

"But a bigger issue in general is tone. It's very focused on being dark and gritty and edgy, and it makes the mistake a lot of consciously edgy media does. IE: it thinks that all it has to do to be smart is be bleak and/or graphic. It doesn't really try to say anything, in fact it contradicts itself throughout the book as I mentioned before, it just throws in extremely graphic scenes and content periodically to remind the audience how fucked everything is."

Did you read the boys and think it was worm? What? It's not being smart when it's bleak or graphic? I actually personally like the endbringers or the slaughterhouse 9, and not because I like watching people suffer. These things exist for a reason. It's not being dark for the sake of being dark. The heroes could stop the slaughterhouse 9. We see that, when they almost stop the slaughterhouse 9 (it's explicitly shown that they are stopped from destroying the slaughterhouse 9). The question then becomes why don't they? It's a grim, brutal calculus, and one that wasn't worth it. That's the point. The Endbringers are different. It's not until arc 27 that they're really explained. You could either read them as a criticism of Eidolon or of ableism, honestly. I mean, it wasn't intentional, he didn't create them on purpose, he needed something to fight, because without that he's nothing. His powers are all he has.

"Worm spends so much time trying to be edgy that as with a lot of edgy media the edginess loses all impact quite quickly and becomes sort of cringe."

I don't really think so, but like. Okay. I don't think this is a reconcilable viewpoint (none of this is really but this especially), so like we're probably gonna have to agree to disagree. The only thing I can really think of as edgy for the sake of edginess is Amy's arc. But even that's not really true. It's meant to be an utterly avoidable tragedy that could never have been stopped because of the people involved. Much like Taylor, actually. Amy could have stepped back from the brink, but she didn't, because Amy could never have done that, and nobody else was willing/able to help. It's supposed to be a thing where you sit back and think of all the tiny ways this could have easily been avoided, but wasn't.

"When body horror happens it still has impact because it's not happening constantly."

I mean, I guess. But like. I never got desensitized to the body horror in Worm. It hit pretty consistently for me throughout. As opposed to MHA, where it was usually walked back by the end of every arc. I never felt much tension or suspense because it felt as if there weren't actual consequences. In Worm, when Brian was strung up on his nerves, it felt disgusting because I was fully aware Worm would explore the ripple effects of this. It felt entirely possible he would die there, or never recover, because Worm didn't pull its punches. MHA did. This is a matter of opinion. We'll just have to agree to disagree about it.

"But most importantly - you root for the heroes because the world actually seems like it's worth saving."

that's just, um. sorry. I'm really trying here. That's just. Uh. Dumb. Do you root for Batman cause Gotham is a nice city? Everything's worth saving, that's, like, at its most basic what the concept of a superhero is about.

"Not only that but MHA simply does villain protagonists objectively better than Worm."

um. No? There straight up aren't villain protagonists in MHA. The villains are the POV characters for, like, one arc? You know what, here's a good spot for it. It's stated throughout the story that Shigaraki and the League of Villains have a goal, beyond just death and destruction. They're here to stop the corrupt society of heroes (that MHA hints at the existence of before backpedaling away from), and bring about a fairer society. But then, and this part pissed me off, one of the characters, I think Bakugo, says: "you're just using that as cover! you just want to kill people, you have no noble goal!" and shigaraki's like "dang you caught me." and then it happens again with Deku! Because My Hero Academia is allergic to saying something. Nope! They're villains! No moral depth here! They're Villains, We're Heroes, Go Put Them In Jail.

This is opposed to Worm, where- "The characters of the villains and their origins are used to highlight the flaws in the Superhuman society"

"Most of the villains are only villains because society failed them in some way, and the specific ways in which that happened become big plot points that then play into the future arc of our heroic characters."

I had to walk away from my computer for this one. It's hard to be civil. It's really hard. Polite and reasonable.

So Worm is about this. To even say this without a shred of irony makes me thing you've never once read a single word of Worm and are doing this purely as bait. Or you've read all of Worm and are doing this purely as bait.

"They're actually extremely complex in a way that ends up being fundamentally important to the overall story - where in Worm the villains are either based heroes fighting a corrupt system or they're histories [sic] greatest monsters... until they're presented as heroes again."

I think I get it now. I really think I do. You're not supposed to agree with all the characters. Like. Worm is inconsistent, in that it follows the perspectives of inconsistent people. Of course Triumph and Armsmaster don't agree on what is right! They're different people, they have different perspectives!

"See. Worm fans keep saying "This is Bait." It's not Bait, you all are simply ridiculous and obsessed with this series to such a degree that you feel compelled to say "This is Bait" instead of just... ignoring it, because you have no actual counterargument."

Perhaps worm fans are inclined to believe you posted rage bait because you brazenly walked into another fandom's post and wholeheartedly proclaimed that the thing they liked was Stupid Idiot Bullshit For Fucking Morons, and refused to elaborate until prompted, at which point you said several things that are demonstrably false about Worm.

"Your only response to anything I've said is pedantry, bigotry, and deflection. If it was obviously just bait why are you engaging?"

Well, I'm engaging because I've been in a foul mood since I woke up this morning. Also because you, again, said some very rude and patently false statements about a story that I really enjoy and find narratively rich, even in its faults.

"MHA's characters do fall into archetypal shounen character roles - but they are all given a solid amount of focus explaining why they are like that and developing them into something bigger."

Again, as I said, it's a genuinely impressive feat to have an ensemble cast like what My Hero Academia has, and give so many of the characters a degree of depth, with such little manga to work with. I think worm does it better, but worm doesn't have to be economical about it. MHA does. The problem I have with this statement is that it becomes a question of scale. How much bigger? They're no longer defined by their tropes, instead defined by their opposition to their tropes. It's still a one-note character, you've merely changed the note from C to C sharp.

"so almost every member of the cast has an arc that either develops them past the person they initially seemed to be or explains why they're like that."

This is probably my favorite part about MHA. They do have arcs! I love ensemble casts! it does a much better job in this than all of its contemporaries, even One Piece. However, they are comparatively simplistic arcs that all follow a similar formula.

"I've heard people say MHA is neocon or pro-establishment but the story literally concludes by showing that society HAS TO FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE or the same problems that created the villains in the first place will keep happening. The entire time skip specifically focuses on the fact that for eight years the main characters have been forcing change in the world and addressing the issues the villains brought up."

Now, I'm going to be clear. I stopped reading My Hero Academia around chapter 275. I don't know the exact number, but it was the latest chapter in ~mid 2020. I would occasionally attempt to reread, in an attempt to catch up, but give up around chapter 200 out of boredom. I don't know exactly how the story ends, but I have read ~2/3rds of the story. I feel this gives me a pretty good understanding of the general tone of the story, unless it wildly changes tone at the 3/4ths mark, which you have explicitly said it does not, as it is extremely coherent and consistent. Therefore, I believe I can state with some degree of confidence that MHA does not do that.

I would certainly believe that it tries (and fails) to SFP it, but SFP does not promote a fundamental societal change. That's the problem. Strong Female Protagonist was willing to come up and say that Alison lived in a fundamentally unjust world, even if it was never willing or able to offer real change. And hey. You do what you can. I sincerely doubt My Hero Academia is even willing to call its world fundamentally unjust, from the 200+ chapters that I did read.

"In the case of the actual main characters, they have extremely comprehensive character arcs."

Adding this behind the last point just so that I don't have to reiterate I haven't finished the book. I am, however, very much not inclined to believe the actual main characters had extremely comprehensive character arcs.

Which plays back into the initial theory that ANYONE CAN BE A HERO.

man, spider-man did that better (not a real argument, but like, spider-man totally did that better). Not least because midoriya specifically could not become a hero were it not for all might giving him a power.

No, the Villains don't get happy endings,

Why not? Why do they go to jail, even the ones who changed and wanted to redeem themselves? Endeavor never goes to jail. He did some horrible stuff. He's redeemed himself in the eyes of the story, right? Anyone can be a hero, right? So why not them? Why haven't they redeemed themselves in the eyes of the story?

You may wish to turn this back on me and ask why doesn't Armsmaster go to prison? Because he's similar in some respects. But worm never calls prison justice. (for some reason, even though wildbow totally loves prison). Prison is punitive, a tool for those in charge to control those it manages to capture. Maybe some deserve life in the birdcage. Many don't. It doesn't matter. Because the birdcage isn't a tool of justice. It's not meant to be. it's a box to put the uncontrollable capes in, until they can be used as meat shields. So Armsmaster doesn't go to prison because the story says explicitly there is no point to it. But MHA? MHA says there is a point to it. Endeavor needs to go to prison if he wants to atone. He's escaping justice every second he's outside.

I have actually read Worm, and for the first half to two thirds I loved it.

Weird. That's exactly how long I really enjoyed MHA. Not, like relevant, to anything. Just odd. I mean, I don't actually dislike MHA. I think it's fine, actually. It feels like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade to me. Funny (when Mineta isn't around), bombastic, and a good time, even if I don't think it's super thematically rich.

I'm not coming at this from the perspective of someone who has never seen any of the merits of Worm, I'm coming at it from the perspective of someone who really liked it, gave it a fair shot, and was eventually disappointed when it ended up not tying together right.

See, this makes me more inclined to think it's bait, actually. since you said "Oh yeah. MHA is published. MHA's been an ongoing publication with a large following for ten years, in a notoriously competitive industry. Now this might seem kind of unimpressive, it's a very low bar to clear I know. But it's one Worm hasn't, so. I dunno, I'd say that's fairly objective. Now you may think "Yeah, but Trash fiction gets published all the time." And that's true but again - Worm hasn't. The worst piece of fiction you can think of got published and Worm didn't. You wanna be an asshole about this? The thing you love is so mid that it was self published in 2013, couldn't get picked up for professional publishing until 2019 and as far as I can see has stayed in development hell since then." in your previous post. Sure, perhaps we can say you were pissed at the time, but "the thing you love is worse than trash fiction, an altogether nothing piece of literature that isn't even worth the paper it would hypothetically be printed on" does not strike me as the words of someone who "really liked it, gave it a fair shot, and was eventually disappointed when it ended up not tying together right." In fact, going back through your other statements on the story, you seem to have genuinely disliked it from the very beginning, on grounds of being too edgy (which I can fully understand the logic of): "IE: it thinks that all it has to do to be smart is be bleak and/or graphic," thematically incoherent: "It doesn't really try to say anything, in fact it contradicts itself throughout the book as I mentioned before, it just throws in extremely graphic scenes and content periodically to remind the audience how fucked everything is," and utterly devoid of purpose or meaning. "When it does introduce new lore that new lore is almost always overly convoluted and acts as a catalyst for things happening, but not really things happening that play into a wider theme or message. It's just "Oh and here's this team of god-level serial killers who are gonna string a dude up by his nervous system." Like yeah, cool visual, but what is any of this actually saying?" This does not sound like a ringing endorsement of the first half of Worm to me. In fact, this sounds like you hated every second of it.

"And frankly given the number of comments that are just people saying "Bait" - I don't think any of y'all have engaged with this in a fair or honest way"

I'm going to reiterate on my previous statement. I like my hero academia. Capeshit is my favorite genre, it probably always will be. They're my favorite genre of story. While I find the themes—or lack thereof—extremely frustrating, I still think of it as fun. I gave it a fair shake. I would probably really enjoy the ending if I didn't have a reading list that was 300 books long.

[criminalmutantsins]

Every Mentor/Mentee Relationship Ranked (Most to Least Fav)

1. All Might & Deku: They are one of the main relationships in MHA. I love that their dynamic is also a father-son one. My favorite moment is when All Might made Izuku a bento for him.

2. Hawks & Tokoyami: Their relationship was so interesting because their attitudes are different but mesh so well. I really liked that Tokoyami’s power grew when mentored by Hawks. Also, Tokoyami cried the first time when Hawks was grievously hurt and his spy status was revealed.

3. Gran Torino & Deku: I like their dynamic and Gran Torino helped Izuku level up his power. Deku incorporating Torino’s scarf was sweet but would’ve been better if the latter died (still shocked he didn’t die from Shigaraki’s attack).

4. Fat Gum, Kirishima, & Amajiki: Fat Gum’s jovial personality matches well with Kirishima while his supportive trait helped Amajiki grow. Fat Gum is also a fun character and he’s one of my favorite pro heroes.

5. Aizawa & Shinso: I was so happy that Shinso got a chance to try out the Hero Course. Aizawa giving Shinso a replica of his signature scarf and teaching him to be stealthy was great and upgraded Shinso’s hero potential. I wish they had more moments together.

6. Best Jeanist & Bakugo: I didn’t really care about this mentor/mentee relationship until it was implied that Bakugo wanted to wait and tell Jeanist his hero name first. Afterwards, I grew to really like it.

7. Sir Nighteye & Mirio: I liked how much they cared about each other. I teared up when Mirio cried after Nighteye’s goodbye and death. I think it would’ve been higher on the list if Nighteye didn’t die so soon.

8. Endeavor, Deku, Bakugo, & Shoto: I think I would’ve liked this group if more time was dedicated to the training. Shoto got better, but I don’t think Deku and Bakugo progressed that much compared to Todoroki.

9. Selkie & Tsuyu: Selkie’s a fun character and was a good mentor to Tsuyu. His louder personality and Tsuyu’s calmer one worked well. I liked the episodes he was in.

10. Ryuku, Uraraka, Tsuyu & Nejire: I like all these characters and their personalities meshed well. Ryuku seemed like a good mentor and hero but her character wasn’t that interesting.

11. Uraraka & Gunhead: Gunhead’s martial arts helped Uraraka throughout the series, but there is only one moment where their dynamic was shown. Gunhead seems like a nice guy though.

12. Midnight & Mina: I had no idea Midnight was Mina’s mentor until her death. I never really cared for Midnight so I was more angry with how her death was written than her actual death. I’m glad it led to Mina being a bit more prominent at least.

13. Uwabami, Momo, & Kendo: I was disappointed that Momo’s mentorship was this. I really wanted to see her potential grow, but all she did was the commercial. I didn’t care for the pro-hero and had to search up her name. The only good thing from this sequence is Momo and Kendo’s friendship. I understand that it wasn’t meant to show Stain’s point, but I’m disappointed that Momo didn’t progress like the other characters.

14. Manual & Iida: Manual was a nice guy and got along well with Iida.

[aashi-heartfilia]

MHA Headcanons#03:

Ochako will be the most popular pro hero out there?

I have seen a lot of people predict and write fan fictions where Uraraka is often depicted as an underdog and not as popular as her other fellow hero classmates. If Deku is no #01, she is #20 or something and she's usually very insecure about her weight, chubby figure, and personality and has low self esteem in general, which is kinda weird if you look at all the canon material we have...

From the get go, it is implied that Uraraka is strong, not just physically but mentally.

She is supposed to be the Ultimate Hero that will surpass All Might in terms of both power and influence she has on the mass of people.

She made it to the top 3 in the practical exams of UA entrance test and secured a position in the top 16 in the sports fest.

She might not be a prodigy like Bakugo or Todoroki, and she might not have All Might's legacy either but she is a strong hero in her own right.

In fact, from her internship with Gunheads to joining Team Ryukyu, she did it all on her own merit.

She managed to go toe to toe against Bakugo, who was the winner of the entire sports fest!

Plus, the strength and mental fortitude she showcased in the sports fest, helped her gain offers from various agencies, something that even Momo wasn't able to secure, because she hardly did anything against Tokoyami in their match.

I'm not saying that Momo's quirk is not powerful. In fact it's quite the opposite but it more or less depends upon how a person uses it.

Just like how Toga used Ochako's Quirk to kill numerous villains in one go, while Ochako resolved to not let a single person drop to their deaths and led her to her quirk Awakening.

And this takes me to my next point. Why wouldn't the golden girl Uravity be popular?

SHE CAN LITERALLY LIFT THE ENTIRE CITY!!

AND IT WAS ON LIVE TV!!!

She would be getting offers from various agencies in the entire world because who wouldn't want a hero that can lift an entire mountain?

She is not some low paid rescue hero, called over during the aftermath just to pick up the rubble.

She's THE HERO THAT SAVES EVERYONE.

Her words inspire people to take action!

Her actions inspire people to take action!

How could she not be one of the most popular heroes of JAPAN?

Plus in one of the recent TUM chapters, a guy was specifically charmed by Ochako's presence after seeing her in a commercial and the entire chapter was about that.

Plus, she's really pretty. Have I already mentioned in one of my blogs that Ochako is canonically one of the prettiest girls of class 1a? Her name literally means 'a beautiful day' and 'green tea girl'. Horikoshi himself leaves no opportunity to beautify her and he even considered himself a genius when he came up with her name!

So, she's not just strong but also beautiful.

So with all that being said, I don't know what people writing these fanfics are thinking?

[ao3feed-kiribaku]

A/B/O Sex-Ed

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/bGTKtcl by Unidentified_Dragon “We will start with Pack Bonds and what is appropriate socially and make our way through Intercourse, Mating Cycles, and Alpha/Beta/Omega tendencies since it seems you need the reminder.” Aizawa finished…this was going to be a long class period. Actions have consequences and because of [The Incident], UA has moved up the university’s sex-ed seminar, which Aizawa must now teach to the chaotic shits that are Class 1A. Or...Aizawa silently reconsiders his choice of profession while his students die from humiliation. AN: While you don’t have to read The Incident first you should. Words: 3579, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Series: Part 2 of ~The Way You Felt~ MHA (A/B/O) Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: Multi Characters: Class 1-A (My Hero Academia), Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Bakugou Katsuki/Kirishima Eijirou, Other Implied Pairings Additional Tags: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Humor, Sexual Humor, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, info dump, info dumping as a form of crack, Sex Education, intersex omega verse, we respect betas in this house, Class 1-A Shenanigans (My Hero Academia), POV Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Aged-Up Character(s), I'm working off and old headcanon spreadsheet so forgive me, Trigger warning - emojis, Alpha Hagakure Tooru, Alpha Satou Rikidou, Alpha Midoriya Izuku, Alpha Iida Tenya, Alpha Kirishima Eijirou, Alpha Uraraka Ochako, Alpha Asui Tsuyu, Alpha Shouji Mezou, Beta Ojiro Mashirao, Beta Kaminari Denki, Beta Sero Hanta, Beta Ashido Mina, Beta Jirou Kyouka, Beta Todoroki Shouto, Omega Bakugou Katsuki, Omega Aoyama Yuuga, Omega Yaoyorozu Momo, Omega Mineta Minoru, Omega Tokoyami Fumikage, Omega Koda Koji, Omega Shinsou Hitoshi, Omega Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/bGTKtcl

[ao3feed-todoroki]

The Intricacies of Dating a Dead Guy

The Intricacies of Dating a Dead Guy by kitnjinx

Keigo knew there would be complications when it came to dating Dabi, especially after Dabi confessed his true identity to him. He just didn't expect for so many people to assume he was dating a Todoroki, or that he'd have to figure out how to convince them he wasn't.

Alternatively: Five times someone tried to figure out what was up with Pro Hero Hawks and the Todoroki Family, and one time they learned the truth.

Words: 3729, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 31 of MHA/BNHA One-Shots, Part 4 of Year of the OTP: DabiHawks

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen, M/M

Characters: Takami Keigo | Hawks, Dabi | Todoroki Touya, Usagiyama Rumi | Miruko, Todoroki Shouto, Todoroki Fuyumi, Todoroki Natsuo, Todoroki Enji | Endeavor, Tokoyami Fumikage

Relationships: Dabi | Todoroki Touya/Takami Keigo | Hawks, Takami Keigo | Hawks & Usagiyama Rumi | Miruko, Takami Keigo | Hawks & Todoroki Shouto, Takami Keigo | Hawks & Todoroki Fuyumi, Takami Keigo | Hawks & Todoroki Natsuo, Takami Keigo | Hawks & Todoroki Rei, Dabi | Todoroki Touya & Todoroki Shouto, Dabi | Todoroki Touya & Todoroki Enji | Endeavor, Takami Keigo | Hawks & Todoroki Enji | Endeavor, Takami Keigo | Hawks & Tokoyami Fumikage

Additional Tags: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Do I even know canon? I don't think so..., Takami Keigo | Hawks-centric, Soft Takami Keigo | Hawks, Established Dabi | Todoroki Touya/Takami Keigo | Hawks, Secret Identity, Secret Relationship, Dabi is a Todoroki, Dabi | Todoroki Touya Identity Reveal, League of Villains Redemption, implied at least, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Fake Character Death, Light-Hearted, Humor, Happy Ending, This upholds the Kit-Phoy Pledge, no beta reader we die like Endeavor's hero career

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46230568

[ao3feed-hawks]

The Intricacies of Dating a Dead Guy

The Intricacies of Dating a Dead Guy by kitnjinx

Keigo knew there would be complications when it came to dating Dabi, especially after Dabi confessed his true identity to him. He just didn't expect for so many people to assume he was dating a Todoroki, or that he'd have to figure out how to convince them he wasn't.

Alternatively: Five times someone tried to figure out what was up with Pro Hero Hawks and the Todoroki Family, and one time they learned the truth.

Words: 3729, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 31 of MHA/BNHA One-Shots, Part 4 of Year of the OTP: DabiHawks

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen, M/M

Characters: Takami Keigo | Hawks, Dabi | Todoroki Touya, Usagiyama Rumi | Miruko, Todoroki Shouto, Todoroki Fuyumi, Todoroki Natsuo, Todoroki Enji | Endeavor, Tokoyami Fumikage

Relationships: Dabi | Todoroki Touya/Takami Keigo | Hawks, Takami Keigo | Hawks & Usagiyama Rumi | Miruko, Takami Keigo | Hawks & Todoroki Shouto, Takami Keigo | Hawks & Todoroki Fuyumi, Takami Keigo | Hawks & Todoroki Natsuo, Takami Keigo | Hawks & Todoroki Rei, Dabi | Todoroki Touya & Todoroki Shouto, Dabi | Todoroki Touya & Todoroki Enji | Endeavor, Takami Keigo | Hawks & Todoroki Enji | Endeavor, Takami Keigo | Hawks & Tokoyami Fumikage

Additional Tags: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Do I even know canon? I don't think so..., Takami Keigo | Hawks-centric, Soft Takami Keigo | Hawks, Established Dabi | Todoroki Touya/Takami Keigo | Hawks, Secret Identity, Secret Relationship, Dabi is a Todoroki, Dabi | Todoroki Touya Identity Reveal, League of Villains Redemption, implied at least, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Fake Character Death, Light-Hearted, Humor, Happy Ending, This upholds the Kit-Phoy Pledge, no beta reader we die like Endeavor's hero career

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46230568

[thequietmanno1]

Thelreads, MHA 267, Replies Part 2

1) “Oh look at that Endeavor doll. Oh boy, I don`t remember if we already saw something about Hawks truly being a fan of him from such a young age, but boy I don`t think Endeavor would approve of this, even though he also was with his own program to groom a kid into becoming a “very special hero” and all that.”-It’s complex, but Endeavour, even at his worst, wouldn’t exactly have been ok with a young talented kid getting turned into a government wetwork man. That said, it’s also implied that he genuinely has no idea that Hawks was ever his fan, even when they met as pro heroes, making the parallels to his own ‘training’ with Shoto darkly ironic. If it was his kid, then he had more of a say in the matter, but if it was somebody else’s child, then he’d have objected to it swiftly. 2) “Yeah, that much I`m definitely sure we haven`t seen anything about. I don`t remember Hawks saying that he was inspired by endeavor on becoming a hero, he only gave that bullshit about heroes not having to work.”- That was his stated goal, but personally, he always held a quiet admiration for the ‘hero’ Endeavour, without actually knowing the man underneath. Clearly, that was also part of the reason why he proposed they work together, so he could learn more about his childhood idol. 3) “Oh you poor thing, you had no idea of the darkness that light was obfuscating. Holy hell, if only you knew the monster you unknowingly admired…”- Ironically, Hawks, who is a master at obfuscating his true intentions and personality, likewise admired a man who had some hidden secrets in his private life, and both men were completely oblivious to the parallels. 4) “don`t bother Hawks, Horikoshi wouldn`t reveal if the theories are right or wrong that easily. He`s gonna give some cryptic clue and fuck off, like he usually has done so far.”- Or he will reveal something, but still leave the readers in the actual dark about what it is. Certainly put a lot of fuel on the theorising about Dabi on initial release, I can tell you that. 5) “…

now hold the fuck on there

is this for real? Is horikoshi really doing this?

Now that`s just dishonest with us. Not cool Hori.”- You got your answers, not his fault if you can’t hear them. 6) “Oh, right, didn`t the doctor said it would take around 15 minutes for them to be 100% up and running? I don`t remember the exact time, but even so, the fight is giving them the chance to warm up, and dear god, are they closer than ever to getting to full power.”- They’ve shaken off the lethargy, and with that, Mirko’s own time limit- that she can still keep fighting despite the blood loss from her crushed limb – has more or less run out. Her slim advantage just went up in smoke. 7) “What is it girl? Getting ready to get serious? Gonna really obliterate them before you bleed to death? What`s your plan? What does an one-winged angel form of a rabbit even look like?”- If she can’t kill them, she’ll at least accomplish her objective before they kill her. 8) “But yeah, the doc. I don`t even remember where he went after Mirko almost snapped him in half with a kick. Was he trying to wake Shigaraki? I think he was. Also, when is Shiggy gonna wake from his nap-nap?”- If Mirko has her way, never. 9) “MIRKO PLEASE

DON`T

I KNOW WHAT YOU`RE PLANNING

YOU ALREADY LOST AN ARM

DON`T PULL THAT THING FROM YOUR LEG WITH A KICK OR I SWEAR TO GOD-“- If he had succeeded in pulling Mirko’s leg off, she’d have tried again with the other one. Lost that? She’d have tried again with the stumps. 10) “OH SHIT, IS THAT A FLAME BEHIND THE NOMU? DID ENDEAVOR GOT HERE?

ALSO, LOOK AT THAT, DABI IS BACKING DOWN, SEEMS LIKE TOKOYAMI MANAGED TO GET THERE ON TIME”-Sometime, a lone hero just isn’t skilled enough to save the day on their own. It’s for times like that, they have allies who can help support them when they need it most.  (MHA ch 257) 11) “see, even Tokoyami realized you fucked up the future by saying that out-loud. Now he`ll just move a bit away from you on the couch, in hope that this tempting of fate won`t befall him as well. “- Alas, it seems that he was too close and caught a bit of that ‘doom magnet’ luck there, because he’s now facing a decisively insane killer alone with zero backup and moreover, one whose quirk has an elemental advantage over his own…  (MHA ch 259) 12) “Alright, now its time to get things started. Last time we had the Heroes returning from their rapture, and getting ready for the showtime, which, of course, won`t be pretty. Yeah, I`m already counting on a few of them not coming back- looking at you Tokoyami.”- You even somehow picked up on the potential ‘Roast Chicken’ jokes to go with Tokoyami’s situation, as he prepares to join his mentor in the deep fryer….  (MHA ch 265) 13) “Oh, let`s just say…. a little bird told them about it… wink wink.

A bird that is about to become a rotisserie chicken I`m afraid, but we`ll burn that bridge when we get to it.”-  So, when you said a ‘little bird’, did you mean Hawks or Tokoyami? Together, they do make one whole bird after all…

14) “Stain would be so fucking pissed at all this. Villains killing heroes and other innocent people not because they want to fix a broken system, but because they want to be the ones on top of it all. If he ever escapes he`s gonna have a lot of new names on his kill list before he goes back to murdering heroes.”-

“Look upon your work, ye mighty, and despair…”

The price of setting out to change things is that the changes you create are most likely not the ones you envisioned. @thelreads

[ao3feed-erasermic]

The games we play.

Use the related link post to read The games we play. on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/62346988 by Sweetlevi In a world where survival isn't determined by quirks but by sheer will and desperation, 456 players find themselves thrust into a deadly competition for a chance to erase their crushing debts. Among them are individuals with fractured pasts and broken dreams—former friends, rivals, and strangers, now bound together by a shared need for salvation. Izuku Midoriya, once a hopeful dreamer, is now a man burdened by his family’s misfortunes. Katsuki Bakugo, a self-reliant loner, hides his struggles behind a wall of pride. As familiar faces resurface and alliances form in the most unexpected places, each round of the twisted games pushes them closer to their breaking points. The players must navigate harrowing challenges, ruthless betrayals, and the haunting weight of their choices. In this high-stakes modern AU, bonds will be tested, and humanity’s darker sides revealed. How far would you go to survive when the only thing standing between life and death is trust—and sometimes, the lack of it? The ultimate question looms: In a game where only one can win, who will pay the price? Or, If MHA was in squidgames. Words: 15775, Chapters: 4/?, Language: English Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga), Squid Game (TV 2021) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Categories: Multi Characters: Shinsou Hitoshi, Kirishima Eijirou, Kaminari Denki, Ojiro Mashirao, Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki, Toga Himiko, Bubaigawara Jin | Twice, Shigaraki Tomura | Shimura Tenko, Dabi | Todoroki Touya, Todoroki Shouto, Ashido Mina, Uraraka Ochako, Hagakure Tooru, Iguchi Shuuichi | Spinner, Shirakumo Oboro, Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Sako Atsuhiro | Mr. Compress, Hikiishi Kenji | Magne, Class 1-A (My Hero Academia), Mineta Minoru, Asui Tsuyu, Tokoyami Fumikage, Yaoyorozu Momo, Sero Hanta, Jirou Kyouka Relationships: Monoma Neito/Shinsou Hitoshi, Kaminari Denki/Ojiro Mashirao, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead/Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead & Shirakumo Oboro, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead/Shirakumo Oboro/Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Shirakumo Oboro & Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Bakugou Katsuki/Kirishima Eijirou, Dabi | Todoroki Touya/Shigaraki Tomura | Shimura Tenko, Ashido Mina/Hagakure Tooru, Toga Himiko/Uraraka Ochako Additional Tags: Inspired by Squid Game (TV 2021), Midoriya Izuku Needs A Hug, Midoriya Izuku is a Ray of Sunshine, Supportive Class 1-A (My Hero Academia), Shirakumo Oboro Lives, Kurogiri is Not Shirakumo Oboro, Shirakumo Oboro is a Little Shit, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tags May Change, Tags Are Hard, Other Fandoms Not Mentioned in Tags, Angst, Angst and Tragedy, What Have I Done, Alternate Timelines, Character Death, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Mentioned Monoma Neito, Mentioned Class 1-B (My Hero Academia) Use the related link post to read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/62346988

[an0m0lyy]

Cinders fics:

Cinders ao3 page

Posted: 1/17/25

Last updated: 2/10/25

All fics are NOT beta read but most have been reviewed by me

“Take a chance take a swing, and by god don’t miss”

Fandom: My Hero Academia (MHA)

Warnings: No Archive warnings apply

Status: complete, 4/4

Words: 21,638

Main tags:

- Dadzawa

- Fumikage Tokoyami and Dark Shadow

- Hurt/Comfort

- Blood and Injury

- Tokoyami centric

- Yamada/Aizawa

- Hawks

Summary:

‘This has got to be the biggest gamble of my life,’ Tokoyami thought bitterly. His hand clenched around his wound, blood slipping between his fingers.

Tokoyami REALLY should have thought this through.

OR

During a school assignment, Tokoyami finds himself overwhelmed with the day. His fatigue and ignorance leads him into one too many problems.

(PS: please read the notes before reading!! Chapter 1 can be read as a stand-alone)

“Trouble magnets”

Fandom: School Bus Graveyard (SBG)

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Status: Complete, 6/6

Words: 6,016

Main tags:

- 5+1 things

- No romantic relationships (could be read as such)

- Hurt/Comfort

- Sick character

- Canon typical violence

- Implied/Referenced disassociation and panic attacks

Summary:

In a group full of danger magnets, Logan feels as if he’s the only one who doesn’t actively attract trouble. But that doesn’t mean it never happens.

OR

5 times Logan saved a friend and the one time they saved him

(Alternatively: Logan proves he can do a lot more than shoot a gun)

“Do I wanna know?”

Fandom: School Bus Graveyard (SBG)

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Status: Complete, 1/1

Words: 3,140

Main tags:

- Aiden Clark/Logan Fields

- Boys in love

- Kissing

- Aiden centric

- Misunderstandings but it’s not very detrimental or dramatic

- Light angst, like, it’s SO light it’s not even there. You have to squint

Summary:

By the time Aiden had realized that the endearment he felt towards Logan hadn’t been platonic, it had been far too late. There was no going back.

By the time he realized it was romantic, Logan looked as if he already had his eyes on someone else: Ben.

“Oh black spotted bones, deep in the ground(who am I?)”

Fandom: School Bus Graveyard (SBG)

Warnings: Graphic Descriptions of Violence

Status: Complete, 1/1

Words: 1,974

Main tags:

- Aiden Clark/Logan fields (could be read as platonic)

- Hurt/Comfort

- Logan Centric

- Slightly ooc

- Blood and Injury

- Violence

Summary:

Four phantoms lie dead with bullet holes embedded in them. Two more phantoms lie dead with blunt force trauma.

And in the middle of it all, lies Logan. Not dead, but it almost feels like it.

“When your universe hates you just take over another one”

Fandom: School Bus Graveyard (SBG) and DCU/Batman (all media types)

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Status: Incomplete, 8/?

Words: 40,618

Main tags:

- Batfamily members

- Aiden Clark, Aiden Clark centric

- Implied/referenced suicide

- Other tags to be added, not beta read, tags may change

- Self Indulgent

- Aiden Clark’s parents aren’t the best

- BAFM Aiden Clark

- I said fuck you to the time line, same with canon

Summary:

Before he can even start moving, the sound of concrete mixed with the screams of what’s got to be a fatass phantom pierce Aiden’s ears.

A particularly loud crack pulls Aiden’s attention upwards. The adrenaline in his body soars and a vague, bittersweet smile crosses his lips.

‘This is such a shit way to die.’

//

Title and tags may be changed

Please read the notes

“Rib inhabiting green and Jason’s unfortunate luck”

Fandom: DCU/Batman

Warnings: Graphic Descriptions of Violnce

Status: Incomplete, 5/6

Words: 7,806

Main tags:

• 5+1 Things

• Jason Todd and the Lazarus spit, Pit madness, Lazarus pit side effects

• Jason Todd’s kinda sentient pit

• Blood and Injury

• Cuddle Pollen

• Feral Dick Grayson + Jason Todd

• Hurt/Comfort, Whump

• Damian Wayne, Jason Todd, Stephanie Brown, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake

• Jason Todd centric

Summary:

The Lazarus pit didn’t just affect Jason’s emotions and anger. It doesn’t just bring out his rage. No, Jason feels as if it had brought something else out. Something animalistic.

OR

5 times Jason’s somewhat but also not sentient pit adopts someone and the one time he’s adopted (again)