#mha249

[thequietmanno1]

Thelreads, MHA 249, Replies Part 2

1) “And now, let`s see what Shoto thinks about it, although we sort of already know where he stands.”-   He’s the balancing act, the emotional rock that the rest of his family revolves around, and seeing as he was arguably hurt the worst by Endeavour’s abuse, both physically and emotionally, it’s fitting that he’s getting the final word in what to do with his atonement act. Shoto is half-way between both viewpoints and can recognise the good and bad points in both, and just like the rest of the family, he’s currently undecided. Not accepting Endeavour and his past mistakes as forgiven, but neither fully rejecting him and cutting him out of their lives entirely. It’s like they’re all on a tipping point, and one choice or action could send them both one way or another, but they’ve not yet reached that moment, and for now, all they can do is live in uncertainty and take each day as it comes.

2) “JESUS CHRIST- SHE TRIED TO COOL HIS FACE DOWN AFTER POURING BOILING WATER ON HIS FACE? CHRIST, THAT MAKES IT EVEN WORSE, SHE WASN`T COMPLETELY GONE, SHE SNAPPED BACK TO REALITY IMMEDIATELY AFTER, BUT IT WAS TOO LATE”- Rei did love Shoto, so even in her mental breakdown she’s never go as far as to sadistically hold him down and pour water on his face. From the toppled-over kettle it seems more like she flung the container and the boiling water at Shoto in a brief moment of insanity and some of it splashed onto his face, which might explain why his eye was so undamaged if it was only a brief amount of boiling water rather than a steady stream of it applied to his left side. And as that ask pointed out, the majority of the damage was actually a freezer burn Rei accidently gave Shoto when trying to cool down his wound with her quirk in a moment of panic, showing how broken she’d become that even in her lowest moment and trying to fix her mistake she was only capable of harming her son. Getting locked up in that mental institution seems like to was done partly for Rei’s sake rather than to protect Endeavour’s image- she was just too damaged by that point to be anything more than a danger to her family despite her best intentions, and needed professional help. I’m not saying that it was right for Endeavour to put her in there on top of everything, but maybe some of it was that Rei agreed to go there to put distance between herself and her children out of fear that she’d snap again and hurt them before she was ready to start getting control over herself and start the healing process.

3) “Yeah, she was pushed to the limit. There`s only so much pressure one can endure before they blow, and poor little Shoto was the one to take the blast.”-

Based on her conversation to her mother just before she snapped, it seems Rei knew she was becoming dangerously unstable and feared for her children’s safety… from herself. She knew that she was getting close to the breaking point but she was so isolated by her situation that she had nobody to turn to for help but her immediate family, rather than a friend who could intervene and take some of the burden off her shoulders for a little while. It wasn’t just the mounting pressure, it was having no healthy way to release it that damaged her mainly in the end,

4) “Okay, see Shoto, she really is trying hard, but it`s not so she can forgive Endeavor, she`s trying hard so she can forgive herself for what she has done to you. Your mom is trying to learn how to stand on her own after so much abuse, I think it`s pretty clear what her stance on Endeavor is: She either despises him or wants nothing more to do with him.”-  To be honest, I don’t think it’s either of those options. When Rei discussed Endeavour beforehand, she pointed out how he remembered enough about their time together to recall a single instance she mentioned liking a specific flower and he made a point of bringing them every time he went to visit her, showing that there was at least some affection present in their situation before it got buried underneath their twisted family drama. 

And when she brought that up there was a hint of… not forgiveness, but understanding on her face. She doesn’t seem to have forgiven him either like Natsuo, nor does she want to brush the issue under the rug like Fuyumi to have a sense of normalcy around the house, but she does seem to want to accept Endeavour’s desire to atone for his past sins, without absolving him of them. Like Shoto, I think Rei is at the mid-point between both sides of the argument over Endeavour, but she seems to have been able to come to some kind of internal resolution over her issues with him- the only thing standing in the way is her lingering trauma from the past abuse keeping her in the hospital, but once she’s overcome that, I’m certain she’ll have a family meeting so she can announce her verdict and viewpoint on Endeavour and the way the family as a whole needs to deal with him.

5) “OH MY GOD BAKUGO NO

I MEAN- IT`S NOT THAT YOU`RE WRONG ON SAYING THAT, BUT COULD YOU`VE BEEN A BIT MORE GENTLE WITH SAYING IT?”- Like a band aid, sometimes you just need to get the painful part over and done with quickly and with a maximum amount of screaming. 6) “And Midoriya, well, it looks like he wants to say something, but is holding himself back. He has some opinions about this, for sure, but considering  how Midoriya is too forgiven, I`d expect him to not butt in on this scenario.”- You expected wrong it would seem. Izuku twists himself into pretzels for the sake of other people, a like awkward drama is nothing to him at this point, especially since Bakugou already broke the ice. 7) “Not going to lie, I would prefer if Shoto didn`t forgive him, but I`m not even going to be extremely salty about it, it`s not like I wasn`t somewhat expecting it to happen… At least I need to say that I`m surprised that Horikoshi isn`t going the usual “I was bad but now I`m good” route and everybody immediately forgets everything that happened. He`s being quite nuanced on that aspect, he`s not making it easy for anyone involved, the situation is surprisingly realistic, what just makes this all the more painful to watch.”- If Endeavour was the focal point of a compass, then his four family members would be standing at each point, each one representing a different way to handle him and his prior actions. Natsuo and Fuyumi stand opposed to each other, Fuyumi wanting to move past it and put the bad memories in the past so they can live a happy life together as a family, Natsuo unable to let the memories of their past pain be buried and die, and constantly rejecting all of Endeavour’s sincere attempts to atone because of it, Shoto accepting the good with the bad and mentally gearing up to sincerely forgive, but not forget, his father’s actions and Rei… I don’t really know where she stands in all this. 

I get the sense that her decision regarding her husband is the thematic opposite of Shoto’s choice, but we’d need more input from her bare I could know for sure. I just get the impression that, for all that their past history should drive Rei away from him, some part of her understands Endeavour’s actions and isn’t dismissive of his sincere regret for his past mistakes. But yeah, different choices, none of them quite compatible, but all of them sharing common ground and uncertainty regarding which route is the ‘best’ one for the family as a whole- because ultimately, whilst the question might be about Endeavour, it’s really about the family as a whole that’s being interrogated about what to do next. 8) “Alright Midoriya, I`mma gonna stop you right there before you continue: Being kind doesn`t mean that he needs to forgive endeavor. Kindness does not mean that he needs to do it. Not forgiving Endeavor won`t make Shoto any less kind. Got that? Good.”-  I think Mirdoria more meant that, deep down, Shoto isn’t somebody who holds unrelenting hatred towards Endeavour, despite his actions justifying his dislike and cold attitude towards him. If Shoto was somebody who’d hold into his grudges and let them fester, eating away at him, then Izuku could understand him choosing never to forgive Endeavour’s past abuse, but Izuku’s point is that Shoto’s not like that. Deep down, he’s a kind person who doesn’t like hating his father and constantly letting the bad memories of what Endeavour used to be like getting in the way of his sincere and genuine attempts to atone, even if he knows that hating him for what he did is fully justified and an acceptable course of action to take. On the other hand, he feels guilty about wanting to move past it and deciding to forgive Endeavour, because that would mean acting like the pain the family- not just him- all faced didn’t matter much in the end, feeling that it’s wrong to overlook the suffering his siblings and mother had to put up with, even as he recognises and understand that Endeavour also accepts the burden of responsibility for causing such pain in the first place. He’s at a crossroads, because on the one hand his inherent desire is to heal the pain they all felt, and allow his family to move past that dark chapter of their lives, but on the other hand, he feels guilty about wanting to put such a warped part of their family history out of sight, out of mind, like it wasn’t meaningful in any way. He feels bad about hating him and he feels guilty about not hating him, and Izuku’s saying that it’s ok to want to forgive him and start mending the rift in their family, because that’s who Shoto is at heart- somebody who wants to help those in need, like a true hero. It’s just that this particular situation involving him so personally makes it hard for him to move forward with it, because he doesn’t know what the right thing to do is anymore. And yeah, Izuku’s drawing a parallel with his own past with Bakugou’s bullying- even though Shoto doesn’t know it- and implicitly letting his rival now that he forgives him for it, simply because that’s who Izuku is at heart too- a kind person who doesn’t hold onto grudges. Of course, this makes Bakugou feel even worse, because he’s heavily implied to regret his bullying if Izuku, but hasn’t yet gotten to the point where he can ask him to his face for forgiveness and apologise for his past actions… and now he’s getting said forgiveness without having done anything to earn it, rendering it as meaningless to him as his ‘victory’ in the sport’s festival, precisely because he knows Izuku’s 100% sincere on that. 9) “AND HERE I THOUGHT THAT THE HEAVIEST THING WE WOULD HANDLE WAS THE ENDEAVOR SITUATION BUT OH NO WE NEED TO KICK A HORNET NEST AND MAKE THE THEORIES START BUZZING AROUND MY HEAD AGAIN

NO WAY THEY AREN`T BUILDING UP TO THIS, NO WAY

THEY THINK THAT HE`S DEAD AND CONSIDERING THAT HE WANTS TO KILL ENDEAVOR THEN THAT MEANS THEY THINK HE KILLED HIM

HOLY FUCK“-It’s heavily implied from Endeavour’s past comments that Toya managed to inherit a greater firepower ability from Endeavour’s lineage, but from his mother he inherited a frail body that wasn’t suited to withstanding the overheating side-effects that, for him, were actually exacerbated by his stronger flames. 

The thing about messing around with genetic breeding like Endeavour did is that something the resulting hybrid might actually get a crapshoot combo from their DNA, rather than the ‘perfect hybrid’ he was aiming for right from the start. Though unsaid, it’s heavily implied that him trying to keep up with Endeavour’s rigorous training eventually pushed his unstable flames and weaker body too much and he ended up suffering some kind of fatal self-inflicted accident that resulted in his passing, and that that’s the real reason Natsuo is so antagonistic towards Endeavour, since he’s implied to have been closer to his sibling than Fuyumi was. This is turn is also heavily implied to be the reason that Endeavour became so harsh and unforgiving towards Shoto’s training and his family as collateral- his thoughts throughout the series have indicated that he always carried a sense of guilt towards indirectly causing his son’s death, and this spiralled into his maniac obsession with perfecting Shoto as his ‘perfect heir’, so that Toya’s death wasn’t all for nothing. 

In a twisted way, Endeavour as we see him in the start of the series is a man driven slightly mad by grief, only able to process it by doubling down on what he’s already started, struggling to accept that his desire to surpass All Might caused such irreparable harm to his family and wanting to make it, if not ‘right’, then ‘worthwhile’, because the only thing worse than what he’s done already would be to have done it all for nothing… which is exactly what happened to him in the end. 

Endeavour is a man who was consumed by his mistakes, and now that he’s had all the effort he put in come to naught, he’s finally starting to make peace with the fact that forgiveness for him, isn’t really an option, but an eternal purgatory of atonement is the very least he deserves for harming his family so much. 

So yeah, Endeavour’s ultimately a tragic jerk, who didn’t learn about the Sunk Cost Fallacy until it was too late and he’d spent too much into a poor series of decisions to ever justify his reward.

@thelreads​

[thequietmanno1]

Thelreads, MHA 249, Replies Part 1

1) “Alright, now its Boku no Hero day, and oh boy it`s time for the Todoroki family`s drama, isn`t it? Oh I don`t know if I`m ready for it, putting those people on the same room for an extended period of time, it`s bound to end in disaster.”- Well, the house isn’t up in flames, but I’d say everybody’s conflicting and awkward feelings have collected enough kindling, and now, all it needs is a spark…

2) “Oh lord… Alright boyos, prepare yourselves, this one is going to be a really heavy one, if Endeavor`s sorrowful monologue here is to be believed… oh god please don`t tell me that Shoto`s brother is going to be present there.”-  In spirt perhaps, if not in body… oh wait, you meant the other brother that’s still in the land of the living.

3) “You know, I appreciate the way Horikoshi`s been handling this character so far, not gonna lie. Another author would`ve just gone “I was bad but now I`m good” and have everybody ignore what the character did before, but Hori here, oh he`s twisting the knife every turn he can on how Endeavor is never going to fix things, and how regardless of it he should continue to do so.”-  It’s a neat way to showcase what proper remorse is. Endless effort and selflessly giving of yourself, without any expectation of reward or respite from your labours. Should you be given such respite, it is given not by your choice, but the decisions of others… and even if you are, the scars still remain.

4) “YES YES YES HE`S SO FUCKING ANGRY AT EVERYTHING AND SHE`S JUST ON FIRE EVEN THOUGH THE SUN IS BARELY ABOVE THE HORIZON. AND MORE THAN THAT, SHE`S POKING FUN RIGHT AT THAT SORE SPOT”-He’d totally try to blow her up if he didn’t have to conserve his energy to try and meet Endeavour’s challenge later on.

5) “But boy are those kids working hard. They are truly pushing to their limits, and they have a lot of marks and scars to show their dedication.”- Which makes me wonder how hard Endeavour pushed himself endlessly to reach the same levels trying to chase after the unattainable goal of surpassing All might. He’s easily able to keep pace with them despite their best effort to close the gap, so clearly, he’s still in a comfortable state of crime-fighting without yet hitting his limits, but given how driven he is to succeed once he sets his mind to something, he must not have been a pretty sight when he dragged himself back for rest during his training days.

6) “Yeah yeah we know it Endeavor, shut up, it`s too early in the morning to be this loud, ya know?”- Not if Burnin has anything to say about it!

7) “Boy do I feel bad for this girl, by what we saw of her. She knows the things that happened at that house, she doesn`t pretend that they didn`t happened, but even so she`s so desperate to have a normal, happy family that she`s willing to try to get her brothers and their father to get close again. I don`t think she doesn`t understand why they want nothing with him, I think she`s just grasping at any chance to erase what happened so she can have some peace and happiness.”-  Fuyumi doesn’t think the bad things should outweigh the good, so she tries to create a sense of normalcy around the house, fuelled in part by the fact that she likely became the female of the house once Shoto’s mom was locked up and thus had to be the caregiver for Natsuo and Shoto growing up, and accordingly she’s focused on making peace despite the bad memories, because she’s learned to put on a happy face for others and that if you mope about the bad feelings, things will never get better. 

Natsuo, though he understands this, is still an angry child dealing with the hurt that’s been dealt to his younger brother, mother and his deceased sibling whilst he was growing up. He knows what happened to them was unfair, but at the same time he kinda knows it’s unfair to keep blaming and harassing Endeavour when he’s equally regretful and genuinely repentant over his mistakes and the harm he caused and accepts his criticism regardless of the outcome, leaving him with no real outlet for his bottled anger, resulting in him having a short temper. And then there’s Shoto, who’s been tempered by his experiences with Midoria into becoming a balanced viewpoint between them, neither fully forgiving nor rejecting Endeavour all the same. It’s a volatile mix to be certain, and as Endeavour’s monologue at the start indicates, he knows it only becomes an untenable mixture when he enters the picture- otherwise the family gets along just fine without him.

8) “I mean, it`s not that she was thinking specifically of you Endeavor, she was just trying to give her and her brothers some happy family, but I do see how you also benefit from this.”- Endeavour may be shouldering the burden of his mistakes alone, but the moral support from his family does help keep him focused and bear it for their sakes and for the people he saves as a hero, otherwise he might get dragged down by his much-deserved angst at a crucial moment.

9) “Yeah, everyone is excited! That is, until it`s revealed that they are actually going to the dinner and then they all go “NO SIR ABSOLUTELY NOPE” and run away, leading Endeavor to have to chase them down through half the city.”-More like just Bakugou because Shoto and Izuku are Good BoysTm, and are more than happy to help out with a family dinner. And in Bakugou’s case, if he can’t catch up to the guy when chasing after him for a week solid, what chance does he have to outrun him?

10) “OH MY GOD MIDORIYA`S FACE BACK THERE I CAN`T BELIEVE IT

AND BAKUGO TRYING TO DENY THEY ARE FRIENDS-“- Bakugou reacts to sociable situations the same way Sodium reacts with water, and honestly, I relate.

11) “Oh no, oh this is going to be bad… But even so, I can understand why he wanted to be here, he also wants to have a happy family, even if preferably Endeavor would be as far away as possible.

I can`t blame him for coming, and I can`t blame him for the things that are definitely going to happen. Neither can I blame their sister. They are not to blame for this, they just wanted to be closer to their little brother and meet his friends.”- It’s a shitty situation, but because they’re a family, they have to appear together as a unit for outsiders to interact with the whole group all at once, especially when Endeavour’s such a high-profile public figure. In private Natsuo may be able to tell him to get bent, but for the sake of having an excuse to meet his little brother’s reliable friends and placate Fuyumi, who constantly frets that their family’s falling apart if they don’t try and make efforts to patch the cracks somehow, he’ll at least make an effort to appear there. But that’s all he can really promise, and nobody really blames him.

12) “C`mon Bakugo, let Midoriya praise the woman`s work, she wanted to make sure y`all were well fed, you know? “-  Izuku’s analysis brain is going full throttle all the time, especially after a week of trying to figure out a way to overcome Endeavour. He’s probably done something similar with his mom’s cooking as well so it’s possibly an old habit, as well as wanting to make a positive impression on Fuyumi- as if he could make a better first impression that dragging Shoto out of his self-destructive angst spiral. Though honestly, if the hero thing doesn’t pan out, he’d be an excellent food critic. And it might be just because I’ve not had tea yet, but I’m getting really hungry reading Izuku’s description there.

13) “oh my god those two are completely silent, they are witnessing a fucking familial armaggedon going on around them and all they can do is watch and continue to eat their food, least they also be pulled into it.”-  As a reminder, Neither Natsuo nor Fuyumi is aware that Izuku and Bakugou know their family’s sordid history, and not even Izuku and Shoto are aware that Bakugou’s also ‘in on’ the truth, so there’s an extra layer of awkwardness to the dynamics at this table to consider when everybody’s constantly wondering if their reactions so far are going to necessitate them having to recount their painful and.. problematic family history to these strangers

14) “I am on Natsuo`s side here, but I understand why Fuyumi acts like this. It is the way she deals with her trauma, she`s the forgiven type, the one that tries to fix what`s broken, even if it is impossible to do so.”-  She doesn’t know any other way to deal with the pain. It’s a learned reaction from all those years she spent growing up, having to fill in the mother role for her family at too young an age and struggling to find a way to keep a positive upbeat outlook going for those around her, whereas Natsuo was never in a position of responsibility after the incident and was free to simmer in his anger over how messed-up their family has become, just like Shoto was from the role he was ‘born’ to play. 

As an older brother helpless to help his family, Natsuo’s long been frustrated by his own powerlessness and inability to help them, and that makes him irritable towards what he sees as the oppressive force that made him so ineffectual when his family needed help, so he rejects letting that force back into his life because that would mean again conceding his will to it, and he constantly antagonises him and undercuts his authority as the head of the household to assert that he’s not willing to lie down for him anymore. It’s two different reactions to the same issue, and for what it’s worth, it’s clear that Endeavour does agree with Natsuo that the problem lies with him, not his son’s attitude towards him. 15) “Oh- Oh okay, unexpectedly, Bakugo revealed that he also knew all along about what was going on here. Well, I mean, it`s not like he had reasons to hide it, and it would be a bit weird not having him knowing after what went down…”- Izuku’s aware of his rival’s intelligence, so he figures the only reason that he’s not acting like his usual self, confronting the family with a blunt question as to what’s going on, and also playing passive like him at the dinner table despite the very clear upset in the family was because he already had an idea of what was going on in private with them, and thus was also ‘playing nice’ for Shoto’s sake. He does care, even if he’d never admit it and likely try to blow you up if you said it.

@thelreads