#like Quirks are shown to be a big part of a person

[problemswithbooks]

I'm not really a fan of Hawks losing his Quirk to AfO. If it serves any purpose it will probably be used to help Izuku fight AfO in the vestige realm which is a fight I was never looking forward to in the first place. Otherwise I don't think it really serves much purpose for Hawks as a character because we're at the end of the story and we just won't get a big focus on how it effects him going forward.

I mean, I see people saying that him losing his Quirk has set him free from the HPSC but he was essentially free from them after the first War. They have been non-existent in the story since than besides passing mentions. From what the reports said last chapter it seems that all the Heroes fighting are doing so of their own pure desire to help, not because the HPSC is paying them or anything. Keigo isn't working for them and given the world ending stakes if he wanted to do anything but beat AfO it'd be a negative trait, not him finding his freedom.

I know people want Keigo to find himself outside of being a Hero and his Quirk but that doesn't really seem to be a theme in the story. If Hori wanted to tell that story he could have done so with Mirio or All Might but he didn't. Instead Mirio was given his Quirk back with little fan fair and All Might's inspiration and Hero heart was reinforced. The story is about people being Heroes not about themselves as just people.

Which is honestly how I see things going with Hawks. His Quirk will be a force for good that helps Izuku beat AfO from the inside proving that despite his saying his Quirk was dirty, he really did/does have the heart of a Hero.

Also, I do think it takes real Hawks out of the story most likely, which is a bit disappointing, though understandable. I never really understood where people got the idea he was going to have a full mental break down anyway and besides him flipping out because he can't help anymore I still don't really see it happening. I mean, Hori is going at light speed here, why would he take the time to focus on Hawks having a mental break when he hasn't even managed to do that for his main three villains yet, who actually need that for the story to end.

I could easily be proven wrong given that Hori's writing is unpredictable, but for the moment my guess is that Hori did this so he could take Hawks out of the fight so he wouldn't get involved with the Todoroki or Ochako/Toga stuff, while also leaving open the possibility to give Izuku a strong ally in Hawks Quirk if needed.

I know people wanted him in those fights, but Hori has a hard time juggling characters in fight scenes, something we've seen a lot in this arc and the one prior. And to be honest he doesn't serve much purpose in them either. I've seen theories of wanting him try and kill Dabi and being devastated because Enji saves his son, essentially picking Touya over him, but Hawks has been nothing but positive about Enji trying to change and help his family. He didn't try and attack Touya or even mention him when he came through the portal, so don't know why he'd suddenly decide to attack him Quirk or not.

When it comes to Toga/Ochako thing he only complicates it. Yes, he killed Twice, but as we've seen Toga's main problem isn't that Twice was killed, it's that Izuku and Ochako, kids around her age don't like her. She feels like no one cares about her because she has a bad Quirk. If getting revenge for Twice was her main objective than she wouldn't have been crying. She doesn't even think about Hawks or name dropped him to my knowledge. If anything she treats all Heroes as guilty. To add Hawks into this fight draws attention away from Ochako, Toga and her main issue of identity. Plus, again I don't see Hawks being upset if Ochako saves Toga in the way he couldn't save Twice. He liked Twice and did try to save him. At most I think we'd see him watching with a happy smile and some tears, not having a full existential crisis.

[bakugou-jpg]

⊹ Past never dies | Touya Todoroki/Dabi ⊹

Request: Ayee! Can i request a scenario for Dabi with a female s/o who is a hero. They were childhood friends, till they were like 16, until dabi left and became a villain. Dabi never clicked in, except for y/n who was his only and best friend. They used to have feelings for each other and Dabi still does since he always had watched over her? by anon.

⤷ -Genre: angst -Characters: touya todoroki/dabi -Tags: light angst, reunion, childhood friends, grief -Word count: 5.9k words -Warnings: violence, blood, vomit, death, abuse [mention] -Author: noelle part of the rewriting series

You were 5 years old when your parents decided to move away from the small town village you had known all your life. With your father's business having grown a whole lot larger over the years, it was only a matter of time before he took it to the bigger cities. A man who had taken his glass shaping abilities to the industrial world rather than the hero one.

From a very young age you had known what path you wished to take. Unlike your father, you had been granted the ability to harden and shape your very own skin with it. As fragile as glass could be, you were determined to proof the world the opposite. To proof the world that your quirk had as much potential as any other.

You were 5 years old when you hid behind the legs of your mother as your parents had taken you to meet your new neighbors. At the time you thought the house you and your parents moved into was big —especially compared to your old one that was. A thought immediately thrown out the window when you first laid eyes on the Todoroki residence. The fact that the head of the household, the number two hero as if he wasn't intimidating enough yet,  watched you like a hawk the minute you stepped foot into their house didn't make it all too better.

At the time they only had three children— Touya the eldest who was the same age as you, Fuyumi who was 4 and Natsuo who was still but a baby at the time. Shouto hadn't even been born yet, Touya still being Endeavour's greatest creation at that moment.

Your mother wanted to you to befriend more children so you'd feel more at home in your new town and what better way but to meet the children next door? Something which didn't take too long as you almost instantly bonded with their eldest son over your shared ambitions. Touya more than eagerly showed off his quirk to you, your eyes immediately widening in amazement upon feeling the warmth of his flames brushing against your cheeks.

He had laughed at you when you had shown him yours, immediately pointing out the fragility of glass. Upon hearing his words you, like any child at that age, did what anyone would do after getting called weak— which was immediately jump him to proof him wrong. Touya, like any child at that age, acted accordingly— gladly returning your sparring to proof himself right.

And just like that, each of you having received a good amount of minor burns and cuts topped off by a good scolding of both your mothers, you had found yourself a new friend. In truth you got along with all the Todoroki siblings at the end of the day, but Touya was the one who you clicked almost instantly with.

At the time you didn't know about what went on behind closed doors. About the both emotional and physical abuse, neglect and the pressure put on those he viewed as an extension of himself rather than their own person. Of course, Endeavour never played the part of a warm loving father and you were aware of the fact Touya had very limited time in which the two of you were allowed to play together, but you hadn't known of the seriousness of it all.

It wasn't around the time the youngest Todoroki sibling was born that you glimpsed into the family's real problems. Around the time that it came to light that Touya's body was made to withstand the dangerously low temperatures of ice like his mother but simply unable to handle the heat of his own quirk.

When Endeavour cast Touya aside to focus on his new successor— the one who would surpass All might. With Shouto possessing both his mother's and father's quirk, Endeavour became obsessed with training the boy into what he viewed to be the perfect hero. Unlike Touya, Shouto's body was able to withstand both ice and fire making him Endeavour's perfect creation.

It was around that time that Touya started his late night journeys to sneaking off to your house. With Endeavour not even granting him as much as a glance anymore, his siblings not seeming to understand and his mother at the edge of madness, Touya had no one. You had been the only one who would listen to him, the only one that seemed to understand the reason for feeling he way he did. After all, becoming a hero was the thing the two of you had bonded over since the very beginning.

It was a silly promise the two of you had made at the time, swearing to one another that you'd become heroes together. Hero agencies right next to each other so you could visit all the time, maybe even a shared one if given the chance. The plans you came up with were never ending— the very last source of hope for Touya who believed the entire world had given up on him. The one who believed he could find a way eventually.

He could always count on you to be there with your comforting words, listening ear and pretty smile to welcome him with open arms. Touya was your very first true friend. The type you genuinely believe you'll grow old with— two 40 year old somethings sitting on your couch with a drink having a laugh while reminiscing on old times. Someone you knew was always gonna be there.

Touya had also been your first heartbreak.

That unexpected Thursday morning in which frantic pounding on your front door woke you and your parents up— an inconsolable Fuyumi and Natsuo barely being able to form words through their sobs and hiccups standing in front of your doorstep to bring you news you hadn't expected to hear for another 60 years in the least.

After all, Touya would grow old with you right? You had so many things planned after all with attending UA together, the hero agencies right next to each other and both being in the top 10 together right? Touya knew that as much as you did, so how could he just go ahead and leave you?

You were only one year away from attending UA,  the very first step towards your dream. One that wouldn't feel complete without him there. For Touya to just go ahead and die right before that..

The image of the closed casket would forever be burned into your retina. His quirk apparently having gone out of control, burning his own body to ashes. There wasn't even anything left to bury, so why had they even bothered getting a casket in the first place? You couldn't help but wonder how scared Touya must've been in his very last moments. How alone.

At times you blamed Endeavour for what happened, believing that the pressure the man put on his family and the abuse he had caused having been the reason Touya was so determined to proof himself even to the point of his own demise.

There were times in which you blamed yourself. Had your naivety been the cause of it all? Had those times in which you spoke of the future together and told him you believed in him, given him false hope? Even though his body couldn't handle his quirk, had you made him believe that maybe if he went all out it could?

The weight of your grief was always present in your heart, every achievement that you had made leaving a bitter taste in your mouth at the thought he would never get that same chance as you. Nor was he there to celebrate it with you. Surely through the years you had come to a point of acceptance, after all death is part of all our lives. It is inevitable and as much as you could never fully let him go, you had found ways to go on with your life.

At the end of the day, you had graduated. Years of hard work having been paid off in fond memories and a hero license in your pocket. At the end of the day it all worked out. Now at 24 years old, you had your fair share of experiences in the hero world already.

You weren't one of the big name heroes, but you still had a handful of fans. Here and there your name had been mentioned on the local news and you had even teamed up with some of the bigger one such as Hawks and, unfortunately, Endeavour. Now having climbed your way into the top 30, you finally allowed yourself to feel some sort of pride for your hard work.

Something which was fast to fade away as you had managed to get yourself cornered by some unnamed criminals you caught causing a ruckus late at night after some drinking. 

Your body was failing you in every possible way. For your quirk to still be somewhat cooperative was a miracle on its own, but with your knees already having succumbed to whatever it had been the tailed man had injected you with, it could only be a matter of time before the rest of your body would follow.

Maybe this was your doomed fate— to die right at the very start of it all, just a few feet away from the starting blocks. Barely having made a name for yourself, the headlines probably wouldn't even give you the recognition you deserved and simply describe you as 'B-tier hero' as the announced your death. The least you could hope for was they'd at least mention you went all out until the very end.

At this point, you weren't even sure what you were fighting for anymore. Was it still the dream of a naive teenager who believed that the life of a hero was exactly as it appeared in the movies? Praised by millions, helping those in need, and never having to worry about expenses?

But all that was washed down the drain when you realized that life was only reserved for those with flashy quirks and big personalities. People like Endeavor, whose heart was as rotten as a corpse left to wither and decay in the open sun. Men like Hawks, who hadn't even gotten a choice but to accept the cruel fate set in stone for them by the Hero Public Safety Commission—a company that did as it pleased.

All Might had been one of the few genuine ones left, but with his fall came the collapse of hero society itself.

You blindly followed the path you had chosen—after all, what other choice was left? At the very least, you hoped to be one of the few good ones remaining, to show what the true meaning of a hero was. That very thought was what kept you going, what helped you get out of bed in the morning.

With that in mind, you groaned through gritted teeth and raised your arms in front of you. Your skin tingled before a thick layer of glass replaced its upper layer. The sharp material extended to the tips of your fingers, hardening and fusing into sharp spears.

Even with all odds against you, you were determined to prove yourself. Pushing yourself up using the spears you'd just created, you struggled to harden your knees to stabilize yourself. Though you were in no shape to take even a few steps forward, perhaps this way, you at least stood somewhat of a chance. The men could only laugh at your pathetic display of courage. Three of them— all still standing and suffering only minor injuries— against you, someone who could barely stand on her own. It was only a matter of time before the rest of your body succumbed to the venom slowly spreading through your veins before giving out.

Seeing you stand again made the bald-headed man raise his tail once more. He could only smirk when he saw you slightly wince at the sight of the stinger, it still dripping a mixture of your blood and poison from the last time it struck you. You couldn't help the hairs in your neck from rising.

"Haven't had enough yet, girly? Can't blame you—"

The stinger whipped back before lashing out your way, its tip shining with beads of poison. It was the last thing you saw before shutting your eyes, arms thrown up to shield your face. Fragile as glass maybe, your very existence was proof it could be much more than that.  

Before you knew it, a wave of screams erupted from the men, followed by an almost incinerating heat slamming into your face. For a moment, it was almost comforting— right until the moment you felt the tips of the spears heat up, to the point the melting heat spread through your entire arm and burned the skin beneath

Had it been Endeavour that came to your aid? 

As quickly as your skin had turned to glass before, as quick it was to turn back. With your arm shielding your face from the heat, you finally managed to peek through your eyelashes. Almost instantly you were blinded by the brightness of the flames before you, the blue sea of fire becoming almost unbearable to stand next to. It was a challenge to be able to make out whoever was the source of the heat— the searing wind almost drying your eyes out. You could only hope the heat hadn't burned your eyelashes and eyebrows off.

It was then that you saw the source of it all—a tall dark haired man standing only a few feet away from you. He had his arm stretched out in front of him, hand open and palm directly pointed towards where the men had been standing whilst his other one was snuggly tucked into his pocket. The power held in just the palm of his hand was enough to fill the entire alleyway with a sea of flames.

He didn't even seem slightly fazed by the fact the three men from before had completely burned to crisp— there ashes falling to the ground as their entire existence had just been wiped off the surface. Even their bones had been completely incinerated.

You couldn't dare move. Whether it had been fear which caused you to freeze up or the fact forming a single coherent thought seemed impossible after what just happened, you weren't sure. You could only watch the man's back— eyes shot wide like a deer caught in headlights. 

For a moment, you had completely forgotten about your knees— until they could no longer bear your own weight. Almost instantly you fell back into the wall, a soft groan rumbling in your throat at the impact before your hand instinctively reached out to the swelling sting mark on your hip. 

The place where the man had stung you started throbbing, the burning sensation in your muscles now spreading throughout your legs. Besides the feeling of your muscles on fire and throbbing, the wound itself had swollen to twice its size from before. You could only hope the infirmary had some sort of antidote lying around for a situation such as this.

Finally the man in front of you lowered his arms, the wave of fire immediately dying down leaving only a few small fires in its wake. Brick walls were covered in black soot, nearby trash containers melted to the ground and you couldn't even begin to describe the smell of burned trash and bodies. The three men from before had been reduced to nothing but a few piles of ash, blowing away in the wind.

"You should've ran."

His husk voice rang— back still turned to you. With the heat gone you could now take a much better look at him than before. He didn't seem like a hero, at least not one that you knew of. His coat was torn in several places, a bad stitching job holding the sleeves together and most of its edges having fire damage. Despite the poor state of his clothes, it was a miracle they managed to only have such minor burns to them.

It wasn't until the man glanced over his shoulder to look at you that you caught a slight peek at his face. Purple scars, presumably caused by his fire, littered his face all the way up to his ears and neck—a collection of messily placed staples holding it all together. You wondered if he still had sensation in those areas; the patches looked so rough and dark you could only assume the skin had died a long time ago.

When the man finally turned on his heel was when you finally got to take a good look at him. The scarred skin seemed to spread across his entire body. There seemed to be more scarred places rather than normal healthy skin. Could his body even withstand his own quirk or had it been someone else's that had caused such severe burns? 

As shocking as his scars had been, it was his piercing blue eyes that locked with your own that almost instantly caught your attention. The very same bright blue in which his flames burned. Almost mesmerizing if it weren't for the fact fear currently settled deep within your stomach.

For any hero, or even civilian, would've been able to figure out who the man was after taking a quick look at him. A face that had been on the news and headlines so many times even children heard of him—and feared him.

It should've been obvious from the very start with how high of a temperature and what color his flames burned. No hero would go so far as to wiping someone's entire existence off the earth within seconds. Despite this, there had been something in you that tried convincing you that perhaps the knight in shining armor that came to your aid was just another hero—maybe even a vigilante.

Not a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Was he here to mock you? Toy with you until the very end? It was embarrassing enough you couldn't help yourself against the other three but looking back you should've been thankful for such a quick end. 

After all, the villain known as Dabi, someone affiliated with the League of Villains, was known for his cruel methods. If it wasn't death by hours of torture, body littered in severe burn marks and clothes melted onto your own flesh— it was death after having been consumed in his sea of flames. In which case you could only hope he left your bones so that people still had something they could bury or identify you by. 

Maybe, just maybe, if you hadn't been in the condition you currently found yourself in you could've stood somewhat of a chance. Not even a chance at victory, that was completely out of the question, but just a mere chance to flee at the slightest opening given. Flee from the fire, flee from him. Even then you were in no shape or form a good match against him— glass had a melting point after all.

Heavy was the sound of boots echoing through the alley as he got closer to you. Not once had he broken eye contact with you ever since your eyes had locked for the first time. Dabi was a man that was hard to read, a villain known for the fact he genuinely did not seem to care about his actions. You couldn't tell if what just happened affected him in any way or whether it was just another day on the clock for him.

You weren't sure whether or not the unsettling heaviness in your stomach and the sweat beading on your forehead were caused by fear or side effects of the poison coursing through your system. Maybe if you were in luck the poison would take you out faster than he would. What seemed like a slow and painful death before, now looked like a merciful one.

"You are no Mirko or Mt lady. Know your limit."

His tone was a condescending one— voice awfully low as he got closer to you.

"W-what the fuck do you want from me..?!"

The words came out lacking every little bit of confidence you would've liked it to have, voice trembling in a way that betrayed the tough facade you had tried to maintain. It was painfully obvious that the act you tried putting on did in no way match the fear that had run your blood cold. You felt like a lamb cornered by a wolf, one who got their pleasure out of seeing the fear of its victims before ripping them to shreds,

Hearing you snap back at him caused him to pause for a moment, his eyes widening slightly in surprise. With the obvious power difference he probably hadn't expected you to still try and bite back at him. For just a moment there was a tiny flicker of hope in you that held onto the thought that maybe, just maybe, you had intimidated him for a moment. A tiny flicker that was immediately dimmed beneath the shit-eating grin that tugged at the corners of his lips.

"Is a man not allowed to perform a good deed once in awhile, miss he-ro?" The last word spoken a little dragged out, the R rolling over his tongue, tainted with mockery. To him you must've been no better than a kid dressed up as a hero for Halloween. A mere joke.

Dabi didn't even seem to consider you a threat as he continued to drag his feet forward, hand stuffed deep into the pockets of his slightly damaged coat. With the way his eyes bore into your own you didn't dare look away, scared he'd be at your throat the minute you would. You weren't even sure whether to be relieved he had yet to make his move or to be even more frightened of that.

A sharp scoff escaped your throat shortly after he finished his sentence. For him to even consider himself a man rather than the monster he had proven himself to be, was as much as a joke to you as your entire existence was to him.

"Working on your good karma now?" 

There was a nauseating feeling slowly spreading through your chest, your insides churning as the internal battle against the poison was starting to get the best of you. Cold sweat began to drip down your face, every fiber of your being screaming for relief as if your organs cried out for help.

You weren't sure whether to focus on him or the rising panic of trying to swallow down the inevitable, desperately trying to stall the moment in which the content of your stomach made its way into your mouth. It was only a matter of time before you'd succumb to the effect of the scorpion man's quirk.

A loud cackle echoed through the alley, the disturbing laughter bouncing off of the charred cement walls. The sound of his voice invaded your eardrums, adding only more discomfort to the already throbbing pain inside your skull.

His hand ran through his hair as he smiled down at you, a visible joy radiating off his face. The further his lips curled upward, the more the staples seemed to strain against the pull of his lips. You wondered what it felt like— whether or not they hurt. Could he feel them pulling at his skin constantly? Did the sharp edges hurt the inside of his mouth? Maybe they felt like piercings to him, no different from the ones in his ears and nose.

"You haven't lost your sense of humor— how wonderful." 

Dabi stopped in front of you, his piercing blue eyes peering down at you as he towered over you. Only then did you realize just how tall he actually was. As if his appearance on its own wasn't already intimidating enough, dead charred skin only being held together by low quality staples of which some were still covered in dried blood.

It was hard to put your full focus on his words as you tried your very best to keep your breath steady. With every second that past the strength to keep your own head up felt like a much bigger challenge than before.

"Such a marvelous hero you've become—"

The man kneeled down in front of you, a grin still very present on his face as his eyes scanned over your face. With a slight tilt of his head, Dabi pressed his lips together into a thin line. The way he was studying you felt almost violating with how close his face was to your own. 

A heavy, stale smell of smoke invaded your nostrils as he got closer. His clothes reeked as if they had marinated all night by campfire, a scent that made you feel strangely nostalgic to your youth. It was the very same smell which Endeavour carried around with him after a long day of work. Though Endeavour's was more subtle, it always lingered in his office.

"—and still as pretty as ever." his husky voice murmured, a small grin spreading onto his face.

Before you could even fully process his words, his fingers were on your face— gently moving the strands of hair that stuck to your sweaty forehead away from your face. His touch was strangely gentle, the skin of his fingers being nowhere as rough as the rest of his exterior. Soft even.

Death was kinder than any man ever would be. To be humiliated at the hands of the cruel, scarred pyromaniac in your final moments was not how you wished to spend your last moments. At this point, even if he planned of mutilating your body beyond recognition, the poison currently having spread through your entire body would take you out long before that.

With that final boost of motivation, you managed to use the last bit of strength your body could offer to activate your quirk at your fingertips. A tingling sensation spready through your skin as it transformed, a glassy layer forming at your finger tips. Tiny claws extended, and in one quick motion, you managed to slash the palm of his hand.

With the current pathetic state you were in you only managed to cut him once before he leaped back, causing you to fall forward. In your life had you never felt so incredibly betrayed by your own body— usually being able to fully transform yourself and now barely having managed to turn your fingers.

Your arms were the only thing currently supporting you, but with the way your muscles were currently twitching you barely even managed to do that. It was a fight against your own body at this point— vision starting to blur the longer you stared down at the ground and your heart hammered against your ribcage, each thump echoing the growing despair of your declining health.

Turquoise eyes widened as they stared at the blood seeping from the palm of his hand, forming a small puddle on the ground. If you had cut just a little deeper, you would have split open his staples, forcing him to endure the hassle of putting himself back together again. The thought made him smirk.

Even in the state you currently found yourself in, you still tried fighting him? Though your quirk might've not been one of the flashiest ones and especially not one that could match his own— yet here you were. Willpower that could rival those in the top 10.

He squeezed his hand, more blood seeping between his clenched fingers before dripping down his wrist onto the ground. In a swift motion, his tongue dragged across his skin licking up some of the blood that stained his skin.  It was then that you noticed a glistening, small metal ball resting on the tip of his tongue now tainted in crimson blood.

A deep chuckle rumbled in his throat, a twisted smirk once again tugging at the edges of his mouth. "My, my— that's no way to greet an old friend, (Y/n)-chan" He taunted, voice laced with mockery.

As hard as it was to focus on your surroundings with your current state, those words had not gone past you— eyes immediately narrowing in response.

It had been quite a few years since your debut as a hero, years in which you faced countless of villains. From street-level pick pocketers to more notorious criminals that had made a name for themselves, you had fought many. However, due the fact you had not been one of the top heroes, you never crossed paths with anyone affiliated with the League of villains— that was until now.

For an organization that hadn't been around long, the League had grown at an alarming rate in the last few months. The Hero Public Safety Commission had their hands full with them, especially after All might's fall. Missions regarding the League were reserved for the top heroes— people like Hawks and Mirko.

Especially someone like him—a man covered in scars from head to toe with flames that rivaled those of Endeavour, would surely be someone engraved on your memory. Even if you had encountered him, there was no way you could've gotten away unscathed.

A soft grunt rumbled in your throat as you pushed yourself backwards again, your back resting against the wall. You searched your mind for any possible solution, confusion clouding your mind as you tried to recall where you possibly could've seen him.

Black hair, piercings, scar littering half of his body, flames that burned hotter than anything you'd ever felt before, turquoise eyes—

"C'mon doll, i haven't changed that much have i?"

Your breath hitched in your throat , a gasp caught by disbelief as your eyes widened in realization. For a moment it seemed as if the world around you had gone completely still, the only thing you heard being your heartbeat echoing in your own ears. It felt as if your heart had turned to ice, the chill spreading quickly through the rest of your body— numbing your limbs and wiping your thoughts.

His piercing gaze felt even more unnerving than before, turquoise eye boring into your own staring straight into your soul. The intensity of his soul sent shivers down your spine, unsure whether or not to feel relieved or scared.

"Touy—"

Before you could even utter as much as a word, Dabi was right in front of you with the palm of his hand pressed against your mouth in an attempt to silence you. The rough skin of he bottom of his hand felt like sandpaper against your lips, the sharp edges of the staples grazing your skin as his other hand held the back of your hand.

He leaned down and once again, the heavy, stale stench of smoke that he carried with him invaded your nostrils. The very same suffocating smell of death and ash that hung in the alleyway. As his cheek lightly brushed against your own, his warm breath fanned onto your ear-shell causing a shiver to run down your spine.

"Sshh— wouldn't want anyone to hear now, would we? I've got a whole show planned for it and all, would hate to spoil the surprise.."

His voice dripped with amusement as he whispered into your ear. You didn't even have to see his face to know that he was smirking, this was all a game to Dabi after all— your confusion and fear were his entertainment.

"I did miss talking to you, you know? About time we catch up."

The man leaned back slightly and, just as you had suspected, that same shit-eating grin pulled at his lips. The rough texture of his hand was still firmly pressed against your lips, the suffocating pressure only adding more rising nausea in your throat. Even despite all this, you couldn't ignore the feeling of his other hand softly threading through your hair like a twisted display of affection.

For just a moment you had completely forgotten about the state your body found itself in, that was until the nauseating feeling creeping up your throat from before that you had tried to swallow down came crashing back down on you.

As if sensing your discomfort, Dabi quickly pulled his hand back, just in time for you to throw your body to the side. You heaved as you gagged, the bitter taste of vomit rising in your throat and burning in your stomach. Tears burned in your eyes, a combination of both the nausea and helplessness, and the overwhelming wave of emotions running wild in your head. 

A pair of hands grasped the back of your head, plucking away the damp strands of hair that clung to your face as you leaned forward while emptying the contents of your stomach on the pavement. Your hands desperately clawed at the ground beneath you, the sound of your retching echoing in the alleyway.

After a few seconds you could finally allow yourself to breathe again, coughing violently as the acidic burn from the vomit scratched at your throat. You couldn't help the tears that streamed down your face as you desperately gasped for air, your arms trembling beneath your weight as you tried to keep yourself from falling down.

"Y-you— i was there..I-i..i buried you, you..ha.. you died." Your voice trembling, each word weighed down by the grief and disbelief coursing through you.

With the last bit of strength your body could grant you, you managed to crawl a little to the side before your arms gave out causing you to fall to the ground. The lightness in your head was slowly consuming you, the faint noise from the nearby fire crackling and distant cars now fading into a muffled blur.

You couldn't even muster the strength to turn yourself over, holding your eyes open being enough of a challenge on its own. It was Dabi who's hand gripped your waist that rolled you onto your back with ease so he could look at you. It was hard to focus through your blurry vision, his face blurred— only his eyes vibrant enough to capture your attention.

A strangely affectionate smile tugged at his scarred lips, unsettling as it was you couldn't help but feel at ease for a moment— but the ominous gleam in his eyes was quick to take that comfort away. It was the cloth he used to wipe your mouth clean that made you— just for a moment — recognize his old self beneath the rotten exterior he had build around it.

His thumb ran softly over your cheek, brushing away the dirt smeared across your skin. You could barely even feel his touch at this point, the exhaustion weighing you down to the point it barely registered. As your eyelids grew heavier, you felt a sudden shift— a pair of hands sliding beneath your back and knees right as you were lifted from the cold ground with ease. Your head lolled to the side, resting against his solid chest where the faint, steady thrum of his heartbeat felt like a soothing lullaby dragging you further to the edge of passing out,

"—the past never dies." was the last thing you heard before you felt yourself slip away into unconsciousness.

A/N- I rewrote this entiiiire thing! The original was so corny and bad i couldn't stand it. Hope you guys enjoyed and please stick around for more rewrites :D Also big thank you to my lovely friend for proofreading <3

[kikokus]

Lucci and Kaku: An Analysis

I haven’t done long analysis/meta/essay-style posts in a while, but after seeing a comment that amounted to “every time Lucci’s shown an interest in something that doesn’t have to do with killing, Kaku’s involved” it made me think about whether or not that's true and, more specifically, whether or not there’s been sufficient build-up to justify what happens in Chapter 1111.

So let’s explore, shall we?

First of all, basic disclaimer that I’ve been heavily into One Piece since 2008 and Water 7 has been my favorite arc since the first time I read it that summer. Kaku, in turn, has always been one of my top characters in the entire series for various reasons…but this isn’t about him (at least, not entirely), so all of that is just to say that I’ve thought about these characters a lot over the years.

And I think what always struck me about them is that not only are they so fundamentally different, but that realistically Lucci should not tolerate Kaku at all. He’s pretty much everything Lucci’s not, and they’re more-or-less a perfect example of the ‘someone will die…of fun!’ meme in a lot of ways (and honestly it’s what I think of every time I see this card, but I digress):

At the same time, what happened in the latest chapter didn’t surprise me, because there’s been hints all along, and I’ve personally been waiting years for it to pay off…even though part of me thought it never would, or at least not in the way it did!

Still, how did we get here?

But First, A Bit About 相棒

So. Why is the fact that Lucci calls Kaku his “相棒” (aibou) so significant? Mostly because of the…individualistic meaning of the word. It literally translates to ‘partner’, but not in a romantic/life-partner way (not to say that it has never been used like that, but it’s not the inherent meaning of the word).

Unlike words such as 友人 (yuujin), 友達 (tomodachi), and of course, with Luffy, 仲間 (nakama), aibou generally only refers to one person. You can have many friends, teammates, crew members…but only one aibou. So by calling Kaku that, Lucci’s already placing him on a different level to anyone else in CP9 or CP0 and acknowledging openly that Kaku’s important enough to him to have earned that distinction.

Which is why a lot of us were very excited about it, since this is not a common occurrence where Lucci’s concerned.

That aside, let’s get to the actual canon content.

Water 7

Obviously at the beginning we find out they both work at the shipyard, but that in and of itself isn’t entirely significant…until you consider that, since Kalifa is pretty much with Iceburg all the time and Blueno’s running the bar, the two of them are working in much closer proximity to each other than to the other CP9 members in the city. 

The first real indication we get regarding their comfort level with each other comes in chapter 327 when Kaku gets back from examining the Merry and goes to sit down to explain what he’s discovered. Paulie’s the closest to him, but he actually ends up stepping past both him and Lucci in order to sit directly beside Lucci on the same level.

It’s quite a while before we see the two of them alone again, and it doesn’t happen until chapter 339 when they’re speaking with Robin. Of course at the time we’re not supposed to know it’s them, but there’s really nobody else it can be since this is happening at the exact same time that Blueno’s talking with Franky and Kokoro at the bar. So, as will become fairly common, the two of them are again acting as a unit of their own within the larger group.

And then, of course, we get the infiltration of the mansion prior to The Big Reveal (which I’ve spoken about before because for me it’s still the single greatest reveal in the entire manga because of how carefully crafted it is, right down to Kaku’s limited dialogue in this section being completely devoid of his usual speech quirks in the original Japanese text). Once again, Blueno and Kalifa are doing their own things while these two are working together.

This panel has always been interesting to me because immediately prior to this Lucci says he can’t let Paulie live, and then he decides to just restrain him instead. In Luffy’s case it makes sense because they gave their word to Robin not to harm the Strawhats, but he has absolutely no reason to spare Paulie, and the little lines of shock/surprise beside Kaku imply that he hadn’t expected Lucci to do that, either. The ‘why’ is still unclear, but it’s interesting nonetheless, and it’s also…noteworthy that it’s the only thing Lucci asks Kaku to do. All of the actual damage Paulie takes comes from Lucci and he never asks for or expects Kaku to harm him.

I never connected these two panels before but it’s obviously very deliberate to have Lucci telling Iceburg that feeling emotions is a sign of humanity followed immediately by Kaku…demonstrating exactly that and thanking Iceburg. It’s important to establish that part of Kaku’s character, but keep in mind Lucci’s lack of a reaction here because it’ll come back later.

Again, very tiny moment, but there’s a lot of examples of Lucci deferring to Kaku or letting him take the lead without any hesitation, and I like this because Kaku’s noticed something that Lucci hasn’t and Lucci just goes with it immediately.

I’d forgotten about this but Kaku’s also the one that decides to take Usopp with them, first by recognizing him as one of the Strawhats and then going through with it even after finding out he doesn’t consider himself a part of them anymore. And Lucci just…stands back and lets him give out orders to the others while doing so.

Okay so this is what I was referencing earlier. Kaku shows actual emotions with Iceburg and Lucci’s silent, but the moment Kalifa gets even slightly happy about completing the mission he’s berating her instantly. Kaku’s expression here is interesting too because he looks absolutely haunted and it’s very telling.

And also another visual representation of Lucci and Kaku being equal to/on the same level as each other.

I didn’t include the panel but Kaku was ‘sleeping’ when Corgi was giving them all of the information about Nero while Lucci was (seemingly) wide awake, and yet Lucci has no idea who he is and relies on Kaku to have all the information. Which he does.

Kaku being the one to take charge again and direct the others even though Lucci’s standing right there. They do this more than I’d realized at first, especially since Lucci always seems to be looked at as the unofficial ‘leader’ of CP9.

Enies Lobby

We’ve made it to Enies Lobby, which is the first glimpse we get of these two interacting with the full CP9 group outside of any sort of ‘mission’ environment.

Mostly it entails Lucci being more combative (especially with Jabra) and Kaku being more annoyed, but again I can’t really imagine anyone else taking this tone with Lucci and getting away with it while Kaku does it fairly often and Lucci never retorts or gets angry with him.

And while Kaku’s not immune to taking Jabra’s bait in the right circumstances, his typical tendency is to de-escalate situations if he can and here he’s refusing to engage despite being deliberately called out…and Lucci, without being asked, immediately takes his side and defends his choice.

This is practically the next panel and while both Lucci and Jabra are kind of equally at fault for this little display, Kaku only berates Jabra for it while Kalifa’s directing her comments at both of them.

Now that I’m actually looking for these sorts of things it’s becoming more obvious, but again we have Lucci and Kaku in an equal position to each other at the front of CP9.

This isn’t just to Kaku since Kalifa’s there as well, but Lucci’s still encouraging them to eat the fruits and I have to believe it’s coming from a place of good faith because he’d know whether or not being able to swim is that big an issue in their profession. I also want to note that Kaku echoes Lucci’s ‘it’ll be fun’ line when he actually does eat his fruit, so obviously that resonated with him.

I’ve put these two together because they both highlight the same thing, that being in both of these sequences we get almost all of CP9 giving out their individual thoughts/comments on what’s happening but Kaku’s statement both times is a direct reply to what Lucci says, so again the two of them are paired off in a way that doesn’t include anyone else there. 

The only other thing of note in this section is that while Robin’s talking about what happened during the Buster Call on Ohara, Kaku and Lucci are the only CP9 members to kind of…break formation and actually look at her while she’s speaking, which is interesting.

And for the rest of Enies Lobby they aren’t together so there’s not too much more to say here other than Kaku of course being the one to have the actual key to Robin’s cuffs, but it’s never made explicit who came up with that plan or handed out the keys so…if I ever actually do the thing and write a full analysis of Kaku’s character we can talk about it then Lark you’ve been saying you’ll do this for years IF I EVER--

Interlude - CP9’s Independent Report

Besides the fact that this is still one of my favorite cover stories, there’s a couple of noteworthy things here, the first of which is that Kaku again is taking the lead. Even though he’s the only other CP9 member other than Lucci to be injured badly enough that he can’t walk on his own, he’s still the one directing them where to go.

Other than that, I love seeing all of them just…interacting like friends and being very relaxed and casual, and pretty much every panel where Kaku and Lucci are together they’re directly beside each other so I’ve included a bunch of those here.

Dressrosa & Egghead

The next time we see Lucci and Kaku is at the end of Dressrosa, where they’ve been promoted to CP0 Oda can we please get some explanation of how this happened and let me tell you, I remember this vividly because the spoilers at the time just said that Lucci was talking to ‘someone’ and when the raws came out you can bet I went right to the dialogue to see if it was Kaku because his way of speaking is so telling.

But even in this little scene, we can see they’re having an equal conversation and there’s a major difference between how Lucci’s speaking with Kaku and how he addresses Spandam mere seconds later.

After this we have the Reverie/Levely/what-even-is-this-thing-called arc where they get all of a single panel together and while it’s the first time we actually ‘see’ Kaku after the time-skip, nothing really interesting regarding their relationship happens, so let’s move on to…

The end of the colored manga! And Egghead.

We start with a very familiar situation: Lucci asking Kaku what’s going on, and while Kaku this entire arc seems more outwardly annoyed with Lucci than he ever was in the past (which is never really explained but then again, Lucci spends a lot of the arc doing things he’s specifically been told not to do, so maybe it’s understandable…), he still has all the information and relays it.

Though Kaku’s also much more comfortable letting his real personality show despite them being on a mission while before he was always completely serious after the Water 7 reveal, especially around Lucci. It came through with Zoro and Jabra but during the cover story he’s smiling and laughing a lot with Lucci right there so it makes sense he’d be more willing to let his guard down even ‘on the job’ by now.

So here’s the first real instance of Lucci showing concern for Kaku, something which escalates pretty quickly throughout the arc. It’s subtle, and though he’s framing it as a suggestion to Stussy, if he didn’t care at all he wouldn’t have said anything. 

At this point it’s fairly obvious that Lucci and Kaku don’t really have any authority difference between them and Kaku spends a lot of time in this chapter especially telling Lucci to Not Do The Thing. Anyone that’s ever lived with a cat knows how well this works.

I’ve always found this bit of dialogue particularly interesting because Kaku’s very openly…praising Sentomaru for choosing his loyalty to Vegapunk over assisting the government, and there’s no way Lucci doesn’t hear him say this but he doesn’t say anything in return. There’s no real evidence that Lucci knows about Kaku willingly giving up the key to Zoro or how conflicted he was about Paulie and everyone else, but this seems to imply that at the very least, even if he doesn’t share those sentiments, he wouldn’t think less of Kaku because of it.

Putting these two together since they’re in the same scene but at this point it’s not even subtle concern anymore, Lucci’s genuinely worried for Kaku and you can tell this caught him off-guard.

Kaku’s the first one to suggest working together but Lucci immediately backs him up and goes with the idea. It’s logical in the sense that it’ll give them the biggest chance to survive, but willingly working with pirates isn’t exactly the sort of thing that Lucci, especially in the past, would have so easily done regardless of the situation.

So at this point it’s becoming clear that this whole 4-v-2 section is supposed to be the most…light-hearted thing going on right now and a lot of it is played to be comedic, including Lucci’s inability to lie, but yet again there’s almost nobody else that could get away with scolding him the way Kaku’s doing here.

…And then we skip ahead a day and things happen that I really hope get explained at some point because they seem important, but while Lucci’s never going to have impeccable bedside manner, he’s very concerned with getting Kaku to rest and while Kaku’s trying to justify what happened Lucci really doesn’t seem to care about that. It’s a big departure from him being willing to write off anyone he deems ‘too weak’ and it’s a nice character moment.

I’d mentioned on my liveblog that some of the things Lucci was doing after this point were confusing, but if you look at them through the lens of him wanting to protect Kaku, it makes a lot more sense. Yes, he’s deliberately keeping him out of the loop, but Lucci I think has decided that he’s going to throw caution to the wind and act alone since if Kaku can’t prove he knew about the plan, he’s probably safer being left with the Strawhats, and if the Marines show up he should be safe anyway or so Lucci thinks…

When this chapter came out, I’d said something about Lucci being a hypocrite considering what the rest of CP9 did for him when they could have easily just left him at Enies Lobby, but given what happens almost directly after and likely what he’s trying to do with this entire fight, these words feel even less genuine…

And that brings us to this. The moment that I’ve been thinking about for almost an entire week now. The moment that, looking back at…oh, wow…almost 3000 words of analysis maybe shouldn’t be as surprising as it was for most of us, but it does feel like the payoff for a long, long buildup that’s taken nearly twenty years to reach. Because really, there’s no other way to describe them other than ‘partners’, and probably hasn’t been for a long time…and I’m so glad that Lucci acknowledged it.

To summarize, I think what surprised me most about re-visiting all of this is how much the manga has framed them as equals since the beginning even though it was never explicitly stated between the characters themselves. Lucci’s always been far more lenient with Kaku than with anyone else, and Kaku in turn has never had any fear of Lucci even if he wasn’t really expressing his true self with him for a long time.

The cover story being the turning point makes perfect sense, and the progression throughout Egghead of Lucci being more outwardly willing to show his concern and Kaku not hiding his emotions at all seems like a natural progression of their relationship and their level of comfort around each other.

And the fact that Oda is never really…hitting us over the head with any of it until that final moment when Lucci says everything so plainly because Kaku’s life is the most important thing to him even when faced with a literal monster… It’s so effective. 

I don’t know where we go from here. To be honest, I’m kind of scared of where we go from here. But regardless of the outcome, I hope this little essay has been at the very least interesting and perhaps allowed you to look at these two in a different light.

Thanks for reading.

[jp---v]

Part of me wishes that Midoriya never received One For All. As a disabled person, it always seemed like Quirks and the lack of Quirks were (in some ways) a metaphor for disability. The whole "Can someone be a Hero without a Quirk" just read as "Can I be Someone if I am disabled". And the answer was no. The answer was "You're useless, but I can fix you". I know that it would make so many arcs and part of the story either way more difficult or probably just impossible, but I wish that Midoriya stayed quirkless. He was built up as being incredibly smart and I wish we got to actually see that instead of. Big Punch. Big Kick. Fight Win. I wish that instead we saw him be resourceful and intelligent, I wish he was a bit more like Eraserhead or Nighteye, where they have weapons to help them fight. I wish we saw him fall behind physically and get support from teachers in the areas he was failing, see him go from just barely scraping by to succeeding because he has support, anything other than just handing over the cheat code to being a "Good Hero". I wish Midoriya's story was actually about if it's possible to become a hero without a quirk, and I wish the answer was yes.

Sorry for the big chunk of text, I've been thinking of this for. A while.

Ok, first thing first. Minor notes.

Paragraph breaks are your friend

You probably could've made your own post and more fully fleshed out your thoughts without having to worry about the ask character limit.

Now onto answering.

Yes. The series would've been completely different if One for All wasn't in play. Several arcs would have been impossible for Midoriya to participate in the Big Final Fight, and an action series where your protagonist can't join the fight, isn't set up for success.

But there are different avenues that could've been taken. A bigger focus on Underground heroics. Behind the scenes info gathering, undercover work, stake-outs, and all the dirty side of heroics people don't get to see. Eraserhead is an Underground hero himself, there's no way he couldn't have done with a quirkless Midoriya what he did with Shinsou and more, because he's his homeroom teacher. Weapons, tactics, Underground contacts. Then there's Midoriya getting to use his brain to design support gear and strategize his way around his opponents. Why set him up as this super analytically-minded person if it rarely comes into play? He's just another 'hit 'em till they stop fighting back' hero in the end.

But him losing One for All sucks too because he never even actually got to master it. The thing he's been trying to do since he got it. The series set this huge, important goal with easily trackable benchmarks(the percentages) and tosses it to the wayside, only for him to still fail at saving Tenko(because Tenko's been gone for years. A memory isn't a person).

On a wider scale, the series could've explored the themes of discrimination against quirkless people instead of brushing them away almost entirely. The fact that by the end of the series everyone was acting like quirkless discrimination never existed, and were instead focused on heteromorph discrimination, may have partially come from the fact that Bakugo is a 'fan favorite' gag me and Horikoshi didn't want to acknowledge him being the bigot he was pretty clearly shown to be early on. So it all got swept under the rug and "never happened." Because that would also require recognizing Midoriya's trauma, and the series has never once acknowledged it or taken Midoriya's pain seriously. Like honestly, Midoriya being so starved for human contact that he let's Uraraka call him Deku, even after explaining that it's an insult with years worth of weight behind it(and her still calling him that after he explained it), then making it his hero name? This terrible insult you've been called for pretty much your entire life, that's what you want to be known as for the rest of your life and beyond? And after Bakugo's alleged "apology" he switches to the overly-familiar Izuku, as if they're actually close friends and he still isn't violently screaming and insulting him like he has for years.

And as far as "support from the teachers" goes... UA actually sucks, just, as a school. He couldn't get support when he had more power in his pinky than most teachers have combined, even when he kept breaking that pinky. Eraserhead doesn't want 'students' to make into 'heroes' he's making paranoid little child soldiers. Despite having high grades, a 'saving people' mindset instead of wanting to be a hero for fame or money, which should put him pretty high on favorability compared to most of his classmates, but no, he's the Problem Child because he can't control his quirk. But does he ever get any actual help? Extra training? Quirk counseling? Nope! He gets thrown to the fucking wolves until Gran Torino sees what's happening and comes out of retirement to help this poor child no one else is helping. Crazy how Midoriya spent a couple of months at UA and his control never got any better, but just a week with someone actually training him and he can finally use OfA without hurting himself.

I forgot where I was going with this tbh.

Anyway... the story could've been completely different if Horikoshi acknowledged Midoriya's trauma, showed the effects of quirkless discrimination, and actually let the teachers teach in a series with the word 'Academia' in the name.

If Midoriya had had any kind of suppprt from anyone in his life, and was less hyperfocused on quirks specifically so he could think about support gear, then yes. He could've been a hero. Not the bright, shining spotlight kind of hero, but still a hero.

[etradio]

I wish Tsuyu had a bigger role in the Uraraka VS Toga fight- kinda like how Iida had a role in Shouto VS Touya.

With Iida, not only is he one of Shouto’s closer friends- but he also contrasts and parallels Shouto and Touya’s relationship.

Tenya looks up to his brother, and Tensei is motivated to do better because of that- they have a very wholesome brother-relationship.

While with the Todorokis… Touya has literally tried to killed Shouto and even indirectly Natsuo. Shouto has literally done absolutely nothing wrong to Touya- he was a baby when most of Touya’s trauma was happening, and he wasn’t allowed near him growing up. But Shouto still loves him unconditionally.

Even though the relationship between the Iida brothers is so different from the Todorokis- Tenya can still understand how Shouto feels. Tenya couldn’t save Tensei- so that was why he had to do everything he could so Shouto could save Touya (and the rest of his family + the civilians)

Tsuyu’s backstory is explained in an extra manga chapter that was then animated in one of the OVAs. We get insight into her family and one of her friends- though we don’t really know the reason WHY she became a hero. We still don’t in way.

What we do know is that Tsuyu believed a hero is someone who follows the rules. She tells Toga this, and says that Uraraka doesn’t care about the rules- she just wants to help, so she asks Toga to listen to her.

In my opinion, Tsuyu isn’t really a developed character. I’d say Ashido and Jirou have more development than her. Tsuyu’s reasoning in what a hero is- contradicts what the audience is shown.

“Heroes should follow the rules”

But what about the unjust rules?

Lady Nagant and Hawks are basically child soldiers. When Nagant asked if what they’re doing is the right thing- the HPSC president responded by pULLING OUT A GUN- when Nagant killed him, that could’ve been argued to be self-defense. Instead, she’s thrown in jail for people she was groomed to kill, and the murder of the HPSC president was covered up.

Hero society is shown to be corrupt- so I think we should’ve been shown more insight on how a character like Tsuyu handles the reality that laws aren’t always right. I want to see how she would’ve been forced to reevaluate her way of thinking. How the world that society said it was- was a lot more complicated than she thought.

People should follow the rules- but when the rules are harming people who just want to live their normal lives- we need to make adjustments to the rules so more people don’t have to suffer trying to become something they are not.

Tenya was also shown to be a very rule-abiding person at the beginning of the series. Even so, we see what his breaking point is- so what’s Tsuyu’s breaking point? How does she connect to the Uraraka & Toga arc?

From how I interpreted the arc, Toga was someone who needed to be understood as a human being. The reporter, Curious, wanted to understand her- but she only wanted to understand her as a news headline, as a martyr for the Liberation Army.

Uraraka says in the fight, that she can’t ignore all the hurt Toga caused, she can’t accept every part of Toga, she can’t love her in the way that Toga wants her to- but she wants to understand who Himiko Toga is, why she smiles and why she cries.

Uraraka saw the ‘ugliness’ in Toga’s heart, and she acknowledged that- but she also saw the beauty and pain in her heart as well.

How does Tsuyu fit into this????

It’s mentioned that Tsuyu struggled in middle school to make friends, as people couldn’t read her expression since she has a poker face. Perhaps she understands the whole ‘wanting to be understood’ thing?

It could also be a case of quirk discrimination. As we’ve been shown, mutation quirks are looked down upon.

The thing with Tenya is that role was a small part, and yet a big part of the arc he was in. He told Shouto that he is able to be the hero he wants to be now thanks in part to him- and that Shouto can be the hero he wants to be as well; he didn’t say much, and yet that says so much more.

Idk…maybe the role Tsuyu could’ve had is something like ‘She is someone who was discriminated against for her quirk, and people failed to understand her or see her as a human being- but she had a loving family and friends to support her’

-so then the conversation could’ve been more like Tsuyu trying to empathize with Toga and let her know that Uraraka was there to support Tsuyu, so now she’s here to help her as well.

Or it could even have mentioned Tsuyu’s friend from middle school- who also struggled to make friends as well. They were both people who others couldn’t understand them (because of their unexpressive faces) and because of that they connected to each other.

I think it was even mentioned that Himiko is the ‘oldest’ child of her family, so…what about her siblings? How does she feel about them? Could Tsuyu and Toga being older siblings parallel somehow???

The more I talk about this- the more I wonder if Tsuyu should’ve saved Toga or have an equal role to Uraraka. There could be a lot of similarities when I really think about it…

I think the ‘rule’ thing could’ve worked, but I think Tsuyu should’ve had her own arc and perspective shown for it to have more impact.

Maybe this is just a me- thing, but I think Tsuyu should’ve been fleshed out more if she is the character supporting one of the Savior trio.

[satancopilotsmytardis]

Drabble-A-Thon Prompt #12

Pairing: Shigadabi

Rating: Explicit

Prompt: Freestyle!

Contents: Age play, cam boys, live stream, daddy kink, feminization, corruption kink, intoxication kink, Consensual Non-Consent, hand job, cum eating, implied blow job, implied anal sex.

Dabi is already nervous when Tomura has finished setting up the cameras. He knew what he was getting into when he started seeing someone who worked as a cam guy. He wanted him anyway, and if Duster had turned him down when he'd asked him out after seeing him at V time and time again, then he probably would have just been a pathetic simp spending money on his streams trying to get him to degrade him, or really get any attention he could. It was lucky for him that he thought it was cute when one of the bouncers had approached him hesitantly after his shift to ask for his number. He didn't expect Shigaraki to take one look at him, say he wouldn't need that until later, and then be pulled into the center of the room and told to get on his knees. He had bruises for a week from how hard he'd dropped to do exactly what he was told. That was the first time he'd ever done anything at the club, though plenty of his coworkers had been in similar positions during their off hours. He'd cum so hard just from the humiliation alone that Tomura had cooed at him for ages afterward and decided to keep him. 

His personality was just as measured when he was off the clock as when he's working, and he did keep working. Dabi doesn't have a problem with that, he's not the kind of selfish bastard who would want his partner to leave his job just because they started dating. Maybe some of that was because he still watches all of his streams, getting more and more worked up, and when the cameras cut, it means that Tomura gets to use Dabi's body to his heart's content. He'd gotten so hot during Tomura's Halloween stream when he'd been dressed as a demon that he'd accidentally started smoking up their apartment, which the stream thankfully bought as just being a fog machine to enhance the vibes. Tomura had teased him past the point of coherence for that one, but it was more than worth it. 

It was only after a year of dating that he'd asked if Dabi would want to be on stream with him. He's worked with other streamers before, properly fucking subs on camera and usually also cross posting those to a few different amateur porn sites. He just hasn't done that part since they got serious and he collared Dabi. He thinks he has every right to be nervous about this, especially because they're... playing in a way that Dabi hasn't ever shown anyone that he likes before. And of course his lover couldn't do anything halfway. He has his cameras all set up, and hired one of his friends who is a makeup artist to come over to make sure that Dabi was perfect for his debut, while he redecorated his entire filming room. If Dabi didn't know better, he would guess that this wasn't even their apartment anymore.

"Are you ready, firefly?" Tomura asks, ready to start the cameras. 

Dabi is already blushing so badly that the quirk-repression bands at his wrists are doing their best to keep his temperature down. "Yeah, green, Tomura." It had taken him months to go forward with this, and he wants to start to get it done. When they start, it will be okay, it's the anticipation that is killing him. 

He turns on the cameras, starts the stream, and then moves over to the bed. Dabi can see how they look from one of the screens in the corner of his eye. He's wearing a sweet lolita style dress, cupcake shaped, and covered in lace, all pale pink and white. The style is so counter to what he'd expected Tomura to want him in compared to their usual play, his legs completely covered in stockings, and his arms in long sleeves with big ruffled cuffs that leaves him more clothed than he is on a normal day. Tomura promised he would like it when they got into things though, and he lets himself take a breath and then pretend the cameras aren't there. 

"There you are, baby girl," Tomura shuts the door softly to give the cameras something to pick up on before he starts to move towards the bed. He's wearing one of his full suits in a delicious blood red that always makes Dabi hot. 

"You're home, Daddy." His voice trembles a little from his nerves. 

"And I get to stay with you all night, princess. Doesn't that sound nice" 

Dabi does his best not to squirm on the bed. "Yes, Daddy." Tomura comes and perches on the edge of the bed with him.

"What's wrong, baby? Aren't you excited? You always want to spend time together." Dabi never thought that so much of their scening felt like improv before, but now he’s struggling to come up with anything to say as he is left desperately trying to not look at the cameras. Tomura doesn't have that same nervousness though, and he stops undoing his tie so that he can reach a gloved hand out towards him. Dabi takes it gratefully and scoots closer to him on the bed. Tomura pulls him into his side, and presses a kiss to the top of his head. "Is my baby girl growing up so much he doesn't want to spend time with his daddy anymore?" 

Dabi shakes his head, tangling his fingers in his shirt. "I'll always want to spend time with you, Daddy." It earns him another hum and then a second kiss against his hair.

"But you are growing up. Maybe it's time I showed you something special that we can do together." 

Dabi thinks he knows what that means and tries not to look too over-eager. "Really?" 

"Yeah," He's not expecting Tomura to let go of him and reach over to the minifridge instead of starting to touch him. When he pulls out three bottles of soju. He normally doesn't drink with his quirk suppressed, and he normally goes for something harder than this because of that, but he doesn't know how alcohol is going to affect him when he's got it turned off. Besides, it wouldn't keep the illusion if Tomura came back with whiskey, because then he couldn't take off the bottle cap and bring it to Dabi's lips with the gentle encouragement of, "Here, princess. Why don't you try some of this grown-up juice." 

He lets the other tip it into his mouth, taking a little swallow first and pulling away as he swallows. "It's hot, Daddy." 

"It's sweet too, baby. Here, try a little more, I know that you're going to like it." 

Dabi doesn't know if this is working for other people, or if this is just an elaborate fantasy of Tomura's that he wanted to ask him for, but over the course of the next... however long. Dabi ends up sitting in his Daddy's lap, sipping at the soju. He feels floaty and hot, unable to pay attention to anything but how nice it is to be cozy in his lap, and have the little kisses and sweet words murmured against his skin as he keeps giving him bottle after bottle of the sweet drink. He is starting to get hot though as the alcohol makes up for his repressed quirk and he starts to squirm a little in the restrictive clothes. 

"What's wrong, baby girl?" 

"'m getting hot, Daddy." He doesn't think he's ever gotten drunk off of soju before, but he feels it hitting him hard and making his head spin. 

"Okay, baby, why don't I help you cool off?" Daddy shifts him, taking off his shoes and then slipping Dabi's stockings off of his legs. That helps a lot and Dabi settles back against his lap. Tomu also gives him a fresh bottle of the peach flavored drink, so cold against his palms that it feels really nice. "Is that better, sweetheart?" 

He manages a hazy little nod. Everything feels a little distant until Tomura starts to pet along his thighs, tracing his staples and teasing his fingers up the hem of his rumpled skirt. Daddy is barely touching him, but it feels good. "'s nice, Daddy." 

"Good. I want you to feel nice, princess." It earns him another kiss against his temple and Dabi likes that a lot too. "You're getting so much bigger, do you think you're ready to try other things that feel nice?" 

His brain is swimming, but he recognizes that tone, figures out what Tomura means, and is more than ready to get out of these clothes and have his lover's cock deep inside of him. "Okay, Daddy." 

"Don't spill your drink, precious." He warns, and then his hands are moving up Dabi's thighs, higher and higher until his skirt is pooled against his stomach and he's starting to pant as anticipation heats his whole body. Tomura is the only one who's ever seen him like this, but he thinks there must be people watching. They must be seeing him getting hard in the delicate pink panties that his Daddy got for him. "Look at that," Tomu puts his hand over his cock and squeezes him lightly. "Still my little girl everywhere it counts," he purrs. "Your little clit is getting so cute and hard." 

Dabi can't help but mewl with embarrassment. Daddy always likes to call his cock and hole other things when he's being his little girl, but it's so humiliating when he can't pretend not to like it. And he can't hide how much he likes it now because he's getting hard so fast. He doesn't know if he's ever felt this desperate after just a few light touches, but he is feeling dizzy from how badly he needs it, and his panties start to get wet far faster than normal. 

"Daddy--" 

"It's okay, baby girl, I promise I'm going to help you feel so good." Tomura brings his other hand to the bottom of the bottle and makes Dabi bring it back up to his lips. "Finish your juice, princess." He makes him drink the rest of the bottle and Dabi is sure that if he tried to stand he wouldn't be able to get his feet under him. It doesn't matter much to his aching arousal though. He drops the empty bottle on the bed as Tomura sneaks his hand into his underwear and starts to stroke him in all the ways that he knows bring him over the edge quickly. Dabi tries to pull at his wrist to make him slow down, not wanting to embarrass himself even more by cumming so fast on stream, but Tomura's mouth goes against his ear. "Don't fight it, princes. You're going to be a good girl for Daddy, aren't you?" 

Dabi doesn't think he has a choice with how quickly his body gives in to the pleasure that his Daddy is giving him. It only takes a few more strokes for him to forget to pretend. His head is just back against Daddy's shoulder, his hips moving up into his touch, chasing that pleasure again and again until he can't help it, and lets out a loud moan as he cums far too quickly and soaks Tomura's hand and his panties. He's still gasping and trembling when he slips his hand out from his soiled underwear and brings his fingers up to his lips. 

Dabi's face heats even more. "Don't, Daddy-- it's dirty!" 

Tomura licks his spend from his skin and hums softly. "You're sweet, princess, and I like making you so happy. I want to make you happy, sweetheart." He says. Dabi has a hard time focusing through the intoxication and the aftershocks of his orgasm, but he feels like he should have seen it coming when Tomura levels him with a calculating look. "You want to make me happy too, don't you, baby?" 

"Yes, Daddy." 

"That's good," he praises gently, stroking his hair with his clean hand. "Come here, I'll show you how to make me happy." Dabi is glad Tomura mostly moves his body for him because he would not have managed otherwise, but he moves to put him between his legs, palming the clear outline of his cock in his pants, before he opens them up and pulls himself out when Dabi is eye-level to his cock, his mouth already starting to water. "It makes you happy when Daddy gives you kisses, doesn't it?" 

"Uh-huh, like Daddy's kisses." He slurs immediately.

"It would make me very happy if you could give Daddy kisses here." Dabi hesitates because he's not sure how this is supposed to work in this kind of scene, but Tomura takes the lead, wrapping a hand around the back of his neck and drawing him in closer. "Give me a kiss, baby girl." 

Dabi lets himself be guided closer and timidly presses a kiss to the tip of his cock. 

"There, Daddy is going to show you how to be a good girl, okay, princess? If you do a good job, then Daddy's going to do one more thing tonight to show how much he loves you. Won't that be nice, sweetheart?" 

"...Okay, Daddy."

"Good girl. Now stick out your tongue, precious." 

Dabi doesn't know how this wasn't on the list of things he thought he would be doing when he asked an adult content creator to date him, but no matter how much he complains about having a hangover for the first time in his life the next morning, the truth is that he knows that he's never going to stop getting hard watching how completely Tomura took him apart throughout the rest of the session. 

Thanks so much for participating! If you're interested in joining in, consider checking out my Ko-fi here! Drabble-A-Thon ends 9/15!

[ideasarestuckinmyhead]

Hello, I hope your having a great day! If you can I was wondering if you can write about Lucien turning into a child for a day, and angel is gushing over him and trying to figure out what happened at the same time?

thank you! :3

Oh my big baby!

You must be wondering, Lucien....how the hell did you get turned into a kid? Well as most humans put it I 'Fucked around and found out.' Or that's what Angel said as they gushed over my child form....

"So, you got summoned by a witch and told her you wouldn't kill someone for her....Causing you to get cursed with only having a kid form?" Asking if they got it right, Angel looked Lucien over. He was currently on their lap, being pampered like a king and the, now small, demon nodded.

"That would be correct dove. I don't know why she was mad. Just summon someone else, I did promise you I wouldn't kill anyone." Huffing out, Lucien's child cheeks puffed and Angel cooed at him. Kissing the chubby cheeks and rocking him back and forth, causing the demon to grumble a bit.

Since turned into this form he got more love, but he also wasn't fully taken seriously. The red skinned demon wants this curse gone, because he's not even allowed to kiss Angel's lips anymore!

"I still can't think of why I can't kiss you...just one?" Pleading, Lucien gave big puppy eyes. Angel gave a blank face and kissed his forehead, right between his now frowned brows.

"Because, your a kid now. That's just wrong, I'd actually throw up." Explaining Angel then placed their...boyfriend? They don't know what to call him right now. On the couch to go get food for him since his stomach growled.

"Awwweee! Angeell this isn't faaaiirr! I demand a kiss!!" Shouting slightly, Lucien raised his arms and was about to hip off the couch. But two hands held him and placed him back down, like he weighed nothing.

Well, right now he weighed less than what he usually did. It still caught him off guard since he's use to not being pushed easily or held for a long time. Angel smiled at him as they reset him on the couch and patted his head.

"Don't be grumpy I'm going to get you food. Maybe the curse wears off? No way a witch curses a demon forever..." Mumbling the last part Angel walked in to the kitchen. On the couch Lucien tried scouring through his mind for what spell that witch used.

Being around for eons Lucien should have found which it was. But every spell has a different tweak to make it whoever casted it their's. So even if he did find what spell it was, he needed to know the variety it was. Grumbling again, Lucien crossed his arms and looked at he TV.

"Stupid witch....I should ask my siblings- WAIT! DUH?" Realizing he could just call up one of his siblings. The demon got off the couch and went to the bedroom, running fast.

Angel in the kitchen peaked down the hallway and quirked a brow. Wonder what he figured out? Drying their hands and grabbing the sandwich and chips they went to the bedroom. Opening the door they gasped seeing Lucien summoning something.

"Lucien! Is that black paint on my fucking floor?!?! THAT DOESN'T COME OUT?!?!" Frustrated Angel yelled at their boyfriend. Who looked at them and gave a guilty smile, but before trying to explain the summoning circle lot up.

"WHO DARES CALL- Oh by fucking dad...Lulu?" A siluete of a woman was shown. A tall maroon demon stepped forward with a confused look. Then turning blinking at the mortal that was giving her younger brother an angry look.

"Hey, Pandora...So, uh, remember in 1692 I helped you hide one of the moral women you liked? From those trials? Yeah I need to cash in that favor." Explaining quickly the small demon turned to his lover. Giving them a 'I'm sorry' look and was about to speak again but Angel beat him to it.

"That paint better come out. But, hi....um I'm (Y/N) you can call me Angel though." Greeting the woman who towered over them. The maroon colored woman was 6'3" a bit shorter than Lucien at his normal height. Her sharp eyes looked over Angel's person and even soul.

"Oh...That's where you've been? Good to know." Giggling out, Pandora then looked over Lucien. Snorting again then touched his head messing with his hair. "The spell wears off in a few hours. So I'll take it you dont want to cash in that favor. I'll leave now."

Lucien then smacked his head, of course Pandora could see when the spell ended. That lover she had taught the she demon how to figure it out. Waving at his older sister, Pandora smiled and then looked at Angel.

"I approve of you." Stating, Pandora then cackle as the fire covered her again. Teleporting her back to hell, where she was going to gossip about her brothers mortal lover. Took him a while to get with one, but they all end up like that.

Turning to Lucien, Angel glared at him. The red skinned demon then started summoning cleaning products.

"That floor better look better then when I first got here." Scowling at the small demon. Getting a nod, Angel sighed rubbing their head as they think of Lucien's sister. She approved of them so quickly? Wonder why....

[itsnothingofinterest]

just watched my villain academia recently and wow does twice’s ep make everything so much fucking worse.

he was orphaned in *middle school* which would make him anywhere from 12-14 ish, and then because of a motorcycle accident that *wasn’t his fault* he got a criminal record, got fired from his job, became homeless, and spiraled from there.

all of the lov (except compress who's just an unapologetic evil bastard and i love him so much for it) is the result of hero societies failings. yet hori turns them into saturday morning cartoon mustache twirling villains, as if they aren’t extremely complex characters.

god i just can’t stand watching him throw away character after character with so much potential out the fucking window so that he can suck bakugo’s dick.

anyway im just so sick of this fucking series

I know right? It’s really frustrating because for MVA and even some big parts of the 1st war arc were so interesting partially because the villains were really shown to be right for so much of their positions. Almost naturally so since, while these were rarely new elements to the world, the League were the first to care about any bigger picture regarding them. And the bigger picture tended to say their existence was society's/the heroes' fault, their justice system is obviously flawed if Twice got thrown to the street with a criminal record through no wrong of his own among other examples, and so it was up to the next generation of heroes to make up for it all and do better.

It was a cool set-up.

But then some sleight of hand happened to take the coolness away, the societal issues that created the League get dropped in favour of more personal issues like Toga’s need for love, Dabi’s need for attention, you could count Spinner’s need for affirmation, and of course Shigaraki’s sudden self-loathing over his quirk. Also a lot of their plans are suddenly a lot more self-destructive and/or cartoonishly evil in ways that don’t obviously benefit them. And so now they don’t need to be saved from the flaws in the system that created them, which therefore go unaddressed, but instead from themselves/their hurt feelings/another, more evil villain who's far more 1-dimensional and can just get punched out or blasted down by the cool heroes relatively easily.

As you said, It's such wasted potential.

[kitkats-and-kittens]

One of my favourite things in MHA is the way society is structured to uphold powerful quirks affects the main 3 in such different ways.

Izuku is the most obvious. Being quirkless meant he was seen as inherently less capable. His own mother didn’t believe in him and of course he faced loads of bullying as consequence of his place in society.

I wouldn’t say quirk discrimination is a direct parallel to disability, because he is still able bodied, and a lot of the things he is unable to do are more because of the way society views him rather than his inherent capabilities.

I do see it as maybe a stand in for classism or something of the sort as we see how his lack of a quirk directly hinders opportunities and clearly affects his worldview in a big way throughout the series, especially how he views quirks after growing up in a world that teaches you to revere them.

Then you have the complete opposite in Shoto and the Todoroki family, who show how Society tying a persons merit/worth in direct relation to their quirk also affects those at the top. In the same way toxic masculinity means men under the patriarchy still suffer abuse under their own system as they have to conform to standards that mean sacrificing mental and physical health.

Shoto was of course born to surpass All Might, pushed and abused into a role he never wanted all because he has a strong quirk. Which then also relates to how those with flashy superpowers are upheld and pushed into hero work from birth. Which while also pushing people like Izuku further down, simultaneously traps people like Shoto in a cycle they were given no choice but to take part in.

Then of course you have Katsuki. Who is similar to Shoto in having a powerful quick but is also different because rather than being physically forced to conform under the system he represents not only how quirk society as a whole seems to manipulate and groom kids like him onto a certain path but also how someone can overcome that.

Katsuki bullied Deku for being quirkless. That much is a fact and while it isn’t shown much in the anime there’s so much subtext surrounding the shows themes as a whole that show why it happened, but in a world that actively propels children like Bakugo forward while shoving less powerful kids like Izuku downwards it was practically impossible for them to stay friends.

You can see the propaganda even if it’s just in the way hero’s are placed on pedestals as something all children should want to be, while the access to the very thing society deems important is cut off and streamlined to children with a certain type of quirk.

I mean it’s stated in the first episode that until recently quirkless kids weren’t even allowed to apply to hero schools, which just shows another way they are cut off from the resources other kids are provided.

And that’s not even touching on the variety of other factors. How aesthetics and beauty play into how people with mutant quirks are received (Miriko and Shoji) while you also have the heroic/flashy quirks Vs villainous and subtler types of power. (Izuku and Shinso)

I just love how the themes of this show are so imbedded in the world building and a lot of the show don’t tell aspects reveal a lot more about the world they live in.

[justatalkingface]

Making Izuku Worse, But BETTER

*walks in* *drops post* *explains nothing* *leaves*

So, a while ago, I made a post talking about how, among (many, many) other things wrong with how Izuku was developed over the story, that his fundamental character was just... slowly and systematically chipped away by Hori, until his unique personality was gone, and all that was left is a shell of a shonen protagonist.

Well. I'm here today to tell you that... fuck. I can do that shit better than Hori did.

Here's my revolutionary idea: lean into it. See, while he's growing in a bad direction, while as a person he's getting worse in a lot of ways, that isn't bad, as, like, character development, or as part of a story.

So. The thing is, while Izuku changes, it's never really... acknowledged in the story. (This is, of course, a different part of his problem, that while he changes throughout the story, by and by large his improvement, how far he's come, and what he's done, is never acknowledged; in fact, he's actively criticized for not doing everything perfectly, because of course.) Because Izuku is, over all, improving, that means he never gets validation for his work... but, flipping it, with this? He never gets it pointed out that he's doing worse.

And it doesn't even need to be a person, is the thing; you can have it never directly told to Izuku, but shown to us, the viewers, in story, and that's fine, as long as it's acknowledged.

So, the first thing I'd do, to make this whole idea work right is... actually spend more time on Izuku's quirks as a character. He's smart, curious, enthusiastic, mildly obsessed with Quirks, and look! Here he has a Quirk. There's no possible way to work with that, right?

Start there. Show, at the very least, one panel scenes of Izuku... geeking out. Experimenting. Being Izuku, basiclly, and scatter them every once and awhile in the story. Maybe have him suggest something to someone else, show that person's improvement under his guidance (and, you know, have Izuku interact with other human beings... as a human being. Yet another problem Hori has with Izuku; as far as we can tell from what we are shown, he is strangers with his entire damn class, even though the story has tried to push the vibe that he is, in fact, friends with all of them. And don't get me started on his mother, who barely even exists...).

It doesn't have to be big, is the thing, or elaborate, it just has to be there, to help firmly establish these characteristics in our minds as readers. And that's important, because that means it'll be noticeable when it stops.

Ideally, I'd think it'd be best to do this post-Kamino, because it's such a big thing that Izuku having a radical change in response makes sense. All Might's gone, the mantle is his now... no pressure, right? And, in the same way the foundational aspects were set up, it can start small: those few scattered panels? They're gone.

*ratchet sound effect*

It's not something pointed out or anything, they're just... gone. Maybe replace them with more training, maybe not, but we don't see Izuku spending his free time being Izuku anymore, and that's it. It stays at that new normal for awhile.

Then the stress kicks up a gear; conveniently, after Kamino we have... *sigh*. I can't believe I'm saying this, but conveniently, we have Sir Nighteye. And the thing is? Sir Nighteye is an asshole; he's perfect for just.... bringing the stress up just an extra notch. And here's where more work has to be put in to sell this idea, not just showing less happy Izuku, but showing more upset Izuku, showing how things are getting to him, not just in the moment, but consistently, even when nothing is actually happening to him at that exact point in time. A scene of Izuku... head in his hands, maybe. Training, and pushing farther than he should, and maybe there's something bleeding. Not a lot, not yet, but the cracks should be showing at this point.

*ratchet sound effect*

For the purposes of this, we'll assume that by and by large the story is happening as usual, so Mirio loses his Quirk, and there's that guilt, hitting Izuku like a truck.

*ratchet sound effect*

Show those stress scenes just a little more now, work in some conversations with Mirio where he acts happy, but the second he walks away everything crashes down on him; you don't even need to have anyone saying anything, just the visual of his smile vanishing in an instant will carry it.

Because if I'm writing this I'd want her to be a character, show Izuku's mom slowly growing worried as they meet (with her actually being more of a character at all before hand; show her growing happier and less burdened as Izuku improves before all of this, only now they see each other less and less, and every time he seems less happy than he was before, grimmer).

After that, just let things bake for awhile; nothing really changes, Izuku is just more miserable, and people are slowly starting to notice that he's acting different now, even if they don't really understand why...

And then Joint Training. Fun fact: canonly, the Vestiges, as introduced to us? Are assholes; which, honestly, isn't that surprising, because just about everyone is an asshole to Izuku! Stress Factor 5975 that is never really acknowledged in story: some asshole yelling at Izuku for instantly failing at his Quirk because he had no idea how to even use it, much less that it was even there, much less that it would happen in the middle of a fucking training exercise.

*ratchet noise*

And then, important moment here, have someone.... All Might, Ochako, whoever, notice that Izuku is getting a new Quirk (...or developing a new facet of his Quirk, or however that was explained to everyone), but he isn't enthusiastic about it. There's no brainstorming, no experimenting... this thing that should have been a source of joy is just.... there. At worst, it is actively causing him stress. And it this obvious difference that is ringing some warning bells in people's minds.

*ratchet noise*

So, all this time, along with all the story points that are supposed to be happening, from Kamino on I've been slowly weaving together a new one: Izuku increasingly barely holding his shit together in the face of his clusterfuck of a life. Then the War Arc kicks in, and that's where the pay off for all this slow build, because here's where everything goes to shit.

War Arc hits Izuku like a train, and leaves him wrecked in the aftermath, absolutely destroyed... which, organically, leads into the Dark Deku arc, only here, we actually do it better.

Here, him going 'rogue', is an organic evolution of various things that have been going on for probably years now, Izuku slowly depriving himself of all things that gave him joy, in favor of training for his Mission, TM, this Grand Purpose that was thrust upon him.

Here, his classmates going to save him makes more sense because we've seen them interact, we've seen their growing concern over how he's been changing.

All of these things happen, and come together for this moment where the story finally admits what it's been dancing around all this time: Izuku is not OK. And at last, finally, starts to actually resolve it.

[donutwatches]

MHA 2.14 - Bizarre! Gran Torino Appears - part 3

This is my first time watching this show so no spoilers.

The thought process of a high school boy. Go jumpy jump = be cool. He is such a doofus here. I love him. 

Deku’s parkour game still need a lot of work. Something that I love about shonen anime in general is the time the story gives to training. The hero’s are always shown putting in the hard work to earn their strength.

Me as f*ck. Every morning of my life as I drag myself out of bed feeling busted. However, Deku’s exhaustion is more valid since he has been hardcore parkour-ing all night long. Who knew that being like a bouncy ball would be the key to being the next #1 hero. 

This had me snickering. I know it is not Gran Tostito’s intention, but my dirty mind cannot help it. I mean, All Might’s big buff body sure is a redeeming feature. And Deku’s face is too funny, like he can’t process All Might having flaws.

All Might’s predecessor? I NEED TO KNOW MORE RIGHT NOW! MHA loves to tease with little hints and then it makes you wait to find out. People have told me that I have to wait multiple seasons to learn certain things and I am DYING. I better not have to wait too long to get info on the predecessor.

This is it. His brain finally broke from the pressure. It was only a matter of time. RIP to Deku’s brain. F in the chat for Deku’s broken lil’ noggin. This is what lack of sleep and too much parkour gets you. 

Ha! I have no comments this is just funny as hell. This show has pretty great humor in general. When this show was recommended to me initially I was told that it has fun characters and action, but no one told me that the comedy beats are pure fire.

Baby is having a breakthrough moment. He has been using OFA like a battering ram, just brute force, which works well for All Might, but it does not suit Deku’s abilities as much. 

I am EXCITE! Deku has so much creative intelligence and I feel like him using OFA more strategically will have amazing results. I cannot wait to see how he develops his quirk if he internalizes the power as his own and develops his personal style. Not just copying All Might.

Click here for episode 15  

Click here for the master list

[donkeys-waffles]

(WARNING SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 425.)

Just casually thinking about how "Creep" from Radiohead is so AFO and Izuku coded. Just separately, both characters emulate the feelings behind this song. "Creep" is a very self-deprecating song, with deep devotion to another person, referring to this other person as an angel, as something that is 'perfect' in comparison to how they refer to themselves as a 'creep'.

This part I'll be talking about Izuku, next I'll talk about AFO.

We've seen the discrimination Izuku has experienced from being quirkless, the isolation, neglect, verbal and physical abuse.

He mentions that this was the moment he realized that not all people are created equal. It speaks volumes of his character and how he views himself, like he's the main problem of this equation. As if in some way it's his fault for being born without a quirk so it's natural for others to treat him with discrimination. There's not enough righteous fury in this recap.

Everyone, every important figure in his life has told him to be realistic, his mother apologized for him being quirkless as if it was a disease, (I love both her and All Might don't get me wrong here, I can understand their reasonings, but that doesn't take away the impact of what was said.) and both his childhood friend and idol crushed his dreams.

It reminds me of these lyrics from "Creep"

"I wish I was special You're so fuckin' special

But I'm a creep I'm a weirdo What the hell am I doin' here? I don't belong here"

I also wanna add this fun little tidbit for the "But I'm a creep," section,

So many times has his mumbling been a source of discomfort for people, so much so that Bakugou felt the need to have an outburst each time he did it in the beginning of the manga. Makes it even funnier knowing it's about quirks.

The last two lines remind me a lot of Izuku's mentality in the early chapters, during the sports festival and the first appearance of the League of Villains we see a lot of Izuku feeling completely useless. We also see Izuku degrading his own accomplishments, giving the credit to All Might, Gran Torino, or his other classmates. Despite, him earning OFA because of his heroic spirit he views himself as a burden.

I feel like the line "I don't belong here" is emulated in so many ways, you can easily argue that his vigilante arch could emulate this, but I really think that his resolve for being quirkless again is what takes the cake for me.

Of course, he's not too heartbroken by it if he never felt he deserved it anyway. He always viewed it as a gift (not something he earned the right to), we see this with Shigaraki and even Aoyama. That's his line of empathy with them, he views himself as fortunate to be given the opportunity he has, while they suffered a worse fate by hands that wanted to use them. Here are some other honorable mentions when it comes to this idea. (Even though Izuku isn't very lucky either, he's also been used as a weapon in two wars at 16 but that's beside the point.)

And many, many others really, let's be honest. It's one of the first things I noticed about Izuku's character that I feel never truly got resolved.

"I don't care if it hurts I wanna have control I want a perfect body I want a perfect soul I want you to notice When I'm not around"

The first two lines emulate a lot of Izuku's lack of self-preservation.

The first picture illustrates the sacrifices he's made saving others despite it shattering his bones. The second is him grabbing Tomura's hands despite decay and losing his arms.

Lines 3 and 4, as well as

"You're just like an angel Your skin makes me cry You float like a feather In a beautiful world"

Emulates how he views All Might and Bakugou throughout the manga,

All Might is always shown as this unstoppable force for a big chunk of the manga, we can see it in the season 1 anime opening when All Might is standing with his back to Izuku, a light silhouetting him with Izuku reaching his hand out to him. As if he's this unattainable picture of heroism, furthering the lyrics of "I don't belong here," "You're just like an angel" and "You're so fucking special."

Now for Bakugou, which my main examples come from early in the manga of course.

"As you've said, I had nothing going for me."

"I could admire All Might from a distance, but you were right there. This amazing person in my life."

I think this just illustrates my point. He considered them both pillars of strength. (I wouldn't say that has changed with All Might despite him being retired, even though All Might is admired, and cherished, now he's viewed as more human. Which is so sweet.)

"I want you to notice me when I'm not around"

Is also, very Izuku coded, considering his history with being bullied. Looking back to the beginning of my spiel, we see a lot of bullying taking place in the classroom with teachers that could've reported Bakugou's aggressive behavior. A lot of adults failed Izuku, they turned a blind eye to the obvious abuse happening right in front of them. And that's made even worse if you consider whether Inko knew of the abuse herself. There was negligence in the system on Izuku's behalf, that's made clear. Also considering his first friends (in a decade,), and his extreme anxiety surrounding Ochako and Iida when he first met them. But it also makes me think of this recent panel

It really hurts looking at these panels, because he's clearing wanting to talk with them and they're brushing him off. He wants to be noticed here, he wants to reach out to them and have friends to confide in. And Ochako just talks about his hair and brushes him off, while Todoroki does the same thing.

It just makes me sad considering his history, he probably thinks it's because he's going to be quirkless again. And the saddest thing is Izuku wouldn't blame them, he wouldn't feel the anger he's entitled to, because again I don't believe he feels deserving of living the dream he had. With it all disappearing with his quirk feels natural to him when it shouldn't. Bringing us back the beginning of this self-deprecating song and cycle in Izuku's life.

[chaifootsteps]

Okay, so jumping here. I've been thinking and imo the 'Lilith' is Eve in disguise and Rosie is Lilith theory still holds true. This is brought to you by me going "We know Viv is a shitty writer, so from the writing already available, where would she lead the plot NOW?" and by my tinfoil hat.

We know Lilith is somewhere in Heaven (maybe even in Eden itself). Unless she pulls the weirdest explanation out of her hat for why she took a small vacay for 7 YEARS abandoning her daughter (with whom we know she had a good relationship with, IF that part of the pilot is still true. She never stopped to explain what parts of the pilot are still true, ffs.), Lilith would never. I don't even think she:

1) Would be allowed in Heaven, even by making a deal with Adam.

2) Adam's pride is too big for him to simply accept such a deal and Lilith's pride would be equally big imo. This interaction would never work.

So that has to be Eve. And Adam *has* to know that that's Eve. Or he doesn't, idc. Point is, it's far more likely by normal logic for that to be Eve. By Viv logic...? Not so much.

Which brings me to my second point! Rosie and her character. I did kind of feel the Mary Poppins vibes a bit, ngl. Horrible redesign, but oh well... The way she reacted to Charlie, her going "yeah, singing totes works here, in the *cannibal* colony!" and her giving that love advice + "we all did things we aren't proud of" + the fact that she's a "hellborn"? She has to be Lilith, sorry. Also also I feel like cannibalism isn't even such a big deal??? In the show I mean. It's literally so cartoonish it simply becomes a hellish quirk for some inhabitants. Sure Alastor, you're a cannibal, boo-hoo. I don't feel threatened by any of them, is what I mean. And even irl, I feel like yeah, it's gross and most likely getting yourself sick, but what makes cannibalism truly bad is the act of *killing* that person, ye know? In Viv's Hell that can't even happen, they'll just respawn, no problem.

And my final reason issss: Viv just ran so fast past 4 seasons worth of plot that imo she backed herself info a corner. The only things keeping the plot going are...Alastor's deal and who he made it with. It's probably Roo or Eve (or Lilith if Rosie is just Rosie), but I have a feeling like it can't be so simple with her, she has to pull a super complicated sayan explanation to make it seem like she just had us all guessing the wrong things, she's suuuuch a literary genius. And she loves musicals a bit too much (Adam is literally just Beetlejuice minus everything interesting about him), so pulling a Sweeney Todd sounds very in-character for her.

Now, speaking of Alastor....I haaaate how she destroyed his character with all the swearing and the petty edgelord-ness. She's not smart enough to write a smart chaotic presence/maybe potential villain. There, I said it. She should open a psychology book or some shit (she should've hired psychologists to coach her about writing about topics such as SA, addiction, sadistic/criminal personalities and so on, but we know she never put such thought into her work). Or at least a sensibility reader for her plot, smh. The overall tone of the show is jumping around faster than a bunny on electrolytes.

And as always, Alastor and Rosie have more chemistry than Charlie and Vaggie literally the "main" couple. They seem like a 30s married couple, tbh.

Also also super confused about Alastor's microphone and how she can hand it over to Charlie??? Why would he do that??? Are we supposed to understand he now cares about her? Handling his (presumably from the Adam fight) source of power to her just like that?? TWICE?!?

I understand his final lyrics are supposed to be "holy shit, I almost died for these people, what is wrong with me???" in a nutshell (+ that part about the contract), but we were never SHOWN how he became more attached to them??? We just have to believe him based on the talks with Rosie and Niffty respectively. What a joke. (Niffty got partially restored in my brain, at least).

-idk, Broadcast🎭 anon- (I know I DMed u, but yea)

Honestly? Even if this leak never comes true the way Viv planned it back then, I for one am having a great time speculating.

[sprinklenoodles]

I giveth a question for the fantasy au! In regards to the royals, what's the architecture of the castle like? What coloration too? One thing, no matter the au, that I always get stumped by is what colorations and quirks the living quarters of the Togami's would be like. It's not like it's ever explained anyway! Or that it's shown to the viewer. So, that's why I ask! Moreover, a bonus question in case there isn't much to say about the architecture and colors of the place. Plus, it's not like you're a big castle connoisseur to my knowledge hehe! But, anyway, what special characteristics does the castle have? Some examples are a moat, drawbridge, dungeon. Maybe even hedge maze. Also other details like what materials the place is made of and how many stories it has! Maybe even secret rooms with ghosts and ghouls! Hope I organized these thoughts right!! This idea is really cool after all and I wish you good luck on expanding this au! Makes me think of the idea of the THH cast playing DND together. Making lore and just hanging out. Wonder who'd the dungeon master would be. Part of me wants to say Hifumi but also, I have no clue hehe! Maybe Taka since he'd be good at enforcing the rules? He might not be too fun at some flexible stuff though! Happy this thought of mine is making some semblance of sense btw cus I am once again up at 11pm like a dork. I'm ending my thoughts here though! Yay!

Ooohh, that's a fun one! The castle isn't a place I've thought about a lot- let's just say it won't really appear for most of the main story, but that doesn't mean I haven't fully thought about it!

The colours that are mostly seen would be purple and blue. Purple cuz it's just the royal colour and blue because the Togami's currently specialize in ice magic!

As for the castle itself, it's just a really big castle. Probably like the one in Tangled: The Series cuz for some reason, my mind just goes straight to that. Though, also the castle from the Thor movies.

And speaking of those- the dungeons would very much be like those in the movies, though a bit different. The cells would be magic, but would also prevent the person inside from using magic, due to a special kind of stone it was made with (so not copying that part from Ninjago or anything)

There is also just a very large and beautiful garden. It won't really get mentioned much, but it exists!

[fennelockley]

An analysis of the Toymaker and The Giggle

I'm completely unhinged for this character so this is going to be LONG long. But there's a brief character analysis at the top.

Character portrayal - Perfection. Has exactly all the points and quirks of the OG character while NPH builds upon it in his own way - and everything he does is perfect and in character.

Mannerisms - This feels so bizzare to say, but we barely have any footage of the Toymaker before this episode. So this is essentially all we have to go on in terms of body language, facial expressions, etc. This is all new, but it feels like it's been a part of this character all along.

A character that's portrayed as being full of energy, shifting emotions and tones like masks - he doesn't sit still for a moment, he's constantly shifting even if its just the minutest of facial expressions. And we finally get to see it!!

The explanation - The Doctor always has an understanding of what he's up against, even if it takes him time to learn. But the Toymaker was essentially the very first enemy the Doctor ever meets (ty Divided Loyalties), and he still doesn't have an explanation as to who or what he is, or how he does things.

This was the bit that had me worried about the episode, and I know people like an explanation - but I'm of the firm belief that the Toymaker should always defy explanation and any known logic. The moment you understand him - he fundamentally changes and you've lost all understanding. You can't use the same trick twice.

New canon points:

- Being brought into this realm through a superstition at the edge of the universe. Such a brilliant and poetic way to summon such a character.

- Not having a choice but to accept a challenge. Normally, the Toymaker would accept anything tbh. But he wasn't bound by nature to accept. This episode has made it a fundamental flaw of his character. That does, unfortuantly, make it easier to beat him. But I like it, it fits the character, it makes sense. And, no matter how much I love him being this untouchable godly powerful person, he does need flaws.

This also goes hand in hand with the OG canon about how he can't accept failure. His down fall in Solitaire.

And I'll also point out the tibit about him being incapable of cheating. The Toymakers biggest pet peeve, numero uno way to piss him off.

What I wish was different/could have been added:

- The Toymaker is infamous for his tantrums. We got his show-off personality to the 10s, but we didn't see him register his loss properly. Should have let him had his toddler moment.

- I wouldn't change how it was, but I know what feels so... wrong? With this episode. I think the reason it's not hitting about how powerful he is is because he's not in his own universe, that sheer fear that he controls everything adds an extra dimension to the story. But we got to see a snipit of it when they were lost in the toy shop - so that works for me.

_______ The lengthy episode analysis _______

Opening scene

Firstly, I was ridiculously happy that he appereaed straight away. I've waited so long 🖤

But first up is the Toy Room. Which is about as close as we get to his realm in this episode (and judging by it collapsing later on, I'm assuming it is a smaller form of his realm).

This is what the the original episode would have shown if they had the budget. Classic, old, and creepy toys filling a room to the brim. It looks so childlike and nostalgic until you look closer at the items.

Big Finish have described a very similar setting before, in Solitaire, but to see it visually is amazing.

And he fits right in to his habitat.

Very classic Toymaker in this scene. Reminded me alot of Solitaire when Charley walks into his toy shop, and he's talking talking talking - never ending commentary about his crafts, the theatrical speech mannerisms and near child-like excitement when he's speaking about his dolls.

His almost pouty way of speaking when Stooky Bill is being chosen but not his family, one again a very classic mannerism. This is a character that switches emotions, accents, and tones of voice quicker than light - and NPH does it well. He even drops to mimicking the other guys accent, not even trying to hide his mockery.

And I loved the tibit about taking the hair from a victim - "she will not miss it" - the whole idea that a victim succumbs to his play if they lose (but we will touch on that later).

The street view

Then we move onto the insanity. The Toymaker is already there, practically following the Doctor about. He's there in the background when the Doctor tries to calm that man down, and he purposely bumps into the Doctor a moment later.

"Ooh La La"

Next mockery he makes of an accent. This is purposeful nod back to unfortunate racist element in the 60s. He mocks and copy's, because its funny to him. Humans are just pawns for amusment to him, and messing around with their characteristics like that is a small part of it.

Purely in his element in this scene, he's got that blissful and happy look to his face - a creature of chaos, in the chaos that he caused.

Back in time

First face off between the Doctor and the Toymaker. Loved the little peek-a-boo dance they did through the windows.

In the Doctor goes and the Toymaker doesn't give him time to breathe. His speech is brilliant, and I'd like to think the whole "killing a man with a rock" was a Torvic mention.

Endless sense of humour and quips at the characters expense, that falls flat as they're too tied up trying to figure him out.

The endless juggling balls was a brilliant touch; such a small way to show the Toymakers powers but it gets the point across immediately that something isn't right.

The sheer fear radiating off of the Doctor that you can see leak onto Donna as she steps back and quietens down. Very few characters make the Doctor feel that way, and it's of course aimed at the one that's caused the most trauma in his life. And one that's barely survivable.

The shift in accent once the Doctor has clocked him, his little bow - and of course, the flash back to Michael Gough and the first episode, with NPH nailing his smirk. For someone that didn't know what Doctor Who was until he was cast as the Toymaker, NPH is the spitting image of the original character. Everything up to this point has been how others have portrayed the character, and NPH carries all of that forward in his performance.

Hide and Seek

If its one thing I like about this character, is that he can't stay in one state for longer than a moment. He's constantly moving, shifting states. The moment the Doctor gets steady feet the Toymaker rips the floor from under him.

This is a character where you're barely keeping your head above water with, one that just doing your all to survive against that you don't have time to think about defeating him just yet.

I could be here forever in this scene, but ill cut to my favourite bits:

- The backrooms. Because of course the Toymaker would have an never ending maze of corridors and doors as one of his tricks. The Doctor is immediately fed up and unsure of how to deal with this.

- Telling Donna he might not be able to save her this time :( as I will always say, the Toymaker is a character you survive, not defeat (and this is still true for the ending of this episode).

- "when I was young, I made a terrible mistake" you can pry Divided Loyalties from my dead hands this was a nod to that I don't care what anyone else says.

- The living puppet of his earlier victim. Another classic Toymaker move - death is a nice way to lose to him, because he usually keeps you for eternity to do as he pleases with.

- The God like hovering above the Doctor with the marionette strings. Perfect way to show the power imbalance.

The Showroom

"WELL THATS ALRIGHT THEN"

Puppet master with dolls of the Doctors companions, the whole set, the critique of the Doctors handling of his companions (hello, Divided Loyalties again)

The immediate shift in demeanour the moment the Doctor challenges him. Little creature of his games, the only thing he takes seriously.

And that beautiful surreal shuffling? That was all NPH, whos said to have a natural talent for such a thing.

The casual boasting of what he considers normal activities for himself. Doing such impossibly powerful things and hes just... and? So what about it? Very on brand. The Supernova mention was a nod at Nightmare Fair.

Trapping the Master. Hysterical. That's 3 people from the Deca that have lost to him now. Did Koschei learn NOTHING from Divided Loyalties?!?! Also trapping the Master within his body, similar to Rallon 👀

"The one who waits" and him supposedly being scared of it? What the ever loving hell could make the Toymaker run? In terms of Who lore, he's the most powerful thing out there. I'm intrigued.

The whole unraveling of the plot with the human race. Making everyone think they're right. Toymaker, that's low hanging fruit, but I respect the lesson.

And his little switch from calm to excitable the moment he wins. He's a big kid.

"He'll cheat" favourite bit of canon of all, and it's stood through all of the characters stories. The Toymaker hates cheating. He'll find loopholes that look like cheating, of course, but cheating itself? Big no no and an automatic failure (how the Doctor lost in Divided Loyalties).

"I'm already running" pretty much all stories end with his realm collapsing, interesting that it's his choice this time.

~ Spice Girls ~

This is where it stops becoming a homage to the OG character, and NPH makes it his own variation.

The only way I can describe the Spice Up Your life scene is that - it was in character, but its a side we haven't seen from him before.

That's such an interesting thing to happen, it's completely and uniquely NPH but it adds and makes sense to the character.

An all-powerful entity that taunts his power by dancing circles around his victims, both sinister and bizzare. An antagonistic move to make people uncomfortable and flaunt that he's untouchable. Extremely him, I'm upset that we haven't had this until this moment. But NPH killed it 🖤

The Doctor just before it happens looking all grave and at a loss "oh, I think he's here". Such beautiful juxtaposition.

Trapping peoples souls in bouncy balls - yes.

The rose petals - A mockery and I love it.

Dancing with people - me next please.

He turned up, was unnecessarily camp, and left again. No reason for him to have done except that he wanted to *chefs kiss*

His heart hands as he leaves, I did it right back.

Also his best outfit in my opinion!

The Laser

"I think they're still falling" that was sinister, my good god man. I shouldn't have laughed but I did.

"All that exists is to win, or to lose" his mentality and existance boiled down into that once sentence.

The whole part where the Doctor proposes to him, lmao. Actually a nod back to the OG episode...

The Toymaker doesn't like being told no, so he's probably remembering this moment.

His speech about humanity, and all the games they play within their existance.... 🗣🗣 SOLITAIRE 🗣🗣 such a brilliant and sinister speech in that audio, and this is very similar and uniquely different. Love it love it love it. "You make me dizzy"

Catch

The Bigeneration possibly being his doing, brilliant. Although I have my own seperate feelings on that topic.

Loosing to a simple game of catch. Others would say that's over whelming, but when it comes to powerful complex characters - simple is the way to go, they're too in their own heads to foresee the simple defeats.

The Toymaker is bound by winning and failure, that's always been the same. But he wasn't in his own realm this time, so him being booted from existance instead works out.

This wasn't a defeat. This was a singular win. He's had his soul scattered, he's been collapsed into a singularity, he's had his realm collapse around him multiple times. But you can't touch him. He's like a boomerang, you can throw it as hard as you want but it's never truely gone. You can't kill him, and you can't defeat him completely.

100/10 brilliant portrayal, excellently brought back to modern audiences. Beautiful beautiful episode I have it on repeat.

If you've made it this far, you're probably as unhinged as I am - so hi, welcome to the madness, and thank you for reading.

[tmntkiseki]

Actually, going back to yesterday's topic of TMNT 2003 and it's lack of romantic subplots with the turtles themselves, I think this is the part where I mention that TMNT 2003 actually came into my life at just the perfect time?

So a little over a year ago, I ended my first serious relationship as an adult. I don't like talking about my ex too much even now, but we were together for over five years and after the break up, the next several months were spent stewing in a boiling pot of rage, sadness, and regret. I wanna say all my negative feelings towards my ex and our relationship peaked during May - July 2023 and didn't simmer down until around autumn, which coincidentally was about when I started watching TMNT 2003. (I'm also convinced that a lot of the stress from the breakup led to some of the minor-yet-concerning health problems I've been dealing with over the last several months, but I have no way of proving that.)

One of the big problems is that, at the time I broke up with my ex, I tended to watch/play a lot of romance-focused media. Under normal circumstances, I'd still be able to regularly engage with a lot of the shows and video games I normally do without being becoming a bitter ball of anguish. Unfortunately, within a couple of months of breaking up with ex, games I used to love like Rune Factory 4 Special or shows like Snow White with the Red Hair became absolutely unbearable play/watch because of all the negative feelings I had towards my ex. If a love interest wasn't reminding me of my ex with certain...behaviors, I was looking at a relationship onscreen and thinking to myself "Why couldn't we be like that?" It was a nightmare.

Fast forward (lmao) to... god, when did I start watching TMNT 2003? I wanna say I started watching it either late August or early September? The pipeline of how I ended up watching TMNT 2003 is a weird one, but there were a couple of things that stuck out to me when I first started watching it. For starters, even though it was a Western cartoon, there were certain quirks about it that reminded me of the anime I usually watch (namely the fight choreography and being so heavily plot-focused rather than episodic in its storytelling) and I found myself gravitating towards it because of that alone. And I just love the characters. The turtles themselves are incredibly well-rounded with their own strengths and flaws, and the supporting cast and antagonists make the world feel very alive and lived-in. (I personally can't get over how half the time the turtles aren't even attempting to get into trouble; they usually just end up walking into the plot of the week purely by accident.)

But besides that, as I mentioned in my other post, even though there are a couple of romantic subplots in the show, most notably the April/Casey one that spans pretty much the entire series, the turtles themselves never end up entering a serious relationship with anyone. The closest we ever get to romance with one of the turtles is Don's one-sided crush on April, which was never going to go anywhere on account of her being an adult and ending up with Casey, and I wanna say the crush is almost entirely dropped by midway through Season 3. Beyond that, the turtles are never shown becoming physically attracted to anyone and all their important relationships--Splinter, April, Casey, Klunk, Leatherhead, Honeycutt, Sydney, Angel, the Professor, the Justice Force, Traximus, the Daimyo, Usagi, Gen, Renet, the Ancient One, the Acolytes, Cody, Serling, and Starlee--are all strictly platonic. And you know what? That's okay by my book.

It is a fact that society regularly insists that the key to happiness is finding your One True Love and places more emphasis on romantic relationships than platonic ones. I personally don't want to die alone, but at this point in my life, I don't need a romantic relationship to be happy--in fact, I think being in a relationship would just complicate things when I'm still getting my shit together as is. When you look at Leo, Raph, Don, and Mikey within the context 2003, I cannot recall a single moment where one of them complains about how their status as a one-of-a-kind mutant turtle means they'll probably never land a partner and as far as I can tell, they seem perfectly happy as is. They have each other, they have Splinter, April and Casey are there too, Klunk, all their other friends--really, what would giving one of the boys a love interest do for them? The answer; not all that much, honestly. In fact, I feel like the risk of giving any of the 2003 turtles a love interest far outweighs the reward.

Now, mind you, I don't think it's impossible to give one of the 2003 turtles a serious love interest--in fact, I have a lot of thoughts about how it could be done right--and that it actually would be something worth exploring in a reboot/sequel series that'll likely never happen, but again, I don't think that TMNT 2003 suffers for the lack of turtle romances and is perfectly fine as is. 2003!Leo, Raph, Don, and Mikey are very lovable characters and are able to have fulfilling relationships without any of them being romantic in nature and I think that's a good message to send to people, whether you're a young kid or a grown adult. Romance is great, but so is a crushing bear hug from your three brothers, your rat dad, and the two humans you adopted.