#rei todoroki (wants/desires)

[problemswithbooks]

According to the anime Endeavor was raping for a long time and Horikoshi retroactively asked them to make ot clear it wasn't an arranged marriage situation at all so those intrpretation of manga are now correct

So, a couple of things...

I'd sort of like some more proof to the claim Hori directly asked the Anime team to change things for the episode to better get across what he wanted to say in the Manga. I, personally, haven't watched the anime in a long while so I haven't seen the episode in question, but I have heard it changed some framing around and painted Endeavor in a worse light (though some people don't see much difference so it's hard to say whose right or if it's just a matter of interpretation). But either way I find it hard to believe Hori personally reached out the Anime Team so they would change things. Mostly because there have been huge deviations from the Manga that I doubt Hori would have approved of or asked for if he was this close to Anime creators. Namely how much of Spinner's stuff was cut during the MVA arc. Most of the time Manga Artists aren't really involved in the Anime process so it'd be weird if suddenly, just for this episode both sides got in contact and changed things up for the Anime based on Hori's wishes. So, I'd have to have a statement from Hori himself saying he went to the Team and they changed things up because of his own demands to believe this is what happened.

It doesn't matter if it was an arranged marriage or not, Enji could have been raping Rei anyway. An arranged marriage isn't special protection against rape.

From what I heard it is still an arranged marriage, it's just that more emphasis is put on that fact it's also a Quick marriage--but we already knew this. And to be honest a Quirk marriage can just be a type of arranged marriage. All an arranged marriage is, is a marriage that agreed on by the families or gaudiness of the couple rather than the couple itself. Enji's parents are seemingly dead so helped set it up, but because it still goes through Rei's parents it would count as an arranged marriage.

I think it's kind of dumb to have the question of rape be brought up again when it will inevitably go no where. It was always going to be a grey area where in the very least Natsuo and Shoto's conceptions were dubious consent, but I rather it not be confirmed as straight up rape because we already know it's not actually going to matter much. Enji is on some sort of atonement/redemption arc, yet the bulk of it is centered around his relationship to his kids (namely Shoto and Touya) not how he treated Rei. He is constantly punished for his choices with his kids, not his wife. Yes, the manga makes it clear he was a bad husband but little emphasis is put on him earning forgiveness from Rei. He might do considerate stuff for her like the flowers or the new house but they're treated as side things to bolster the idea he's changing. The narrative doesn't ask him to be a better husband it asks him repeatedly to be a better father. So, yeah, I rather it be left up to interpretation rather then be 100% confirmed rape when it's nothing but a background detail used to drive the point home Enji was a really bad guy. It's not needed--he was already bad enough without it and the things he did were better addressed by the plot. Him raping Rei isn't. It's not ever brought up again, not even by Rei. Which last time I checked, most people agreed adding Rape for shock value was in the very least in poor taste.

[doumadono]

i can just imagine enji taking his sweet girl’s virginity! her tears, his moans.

(please i want this written so baddd)

Warnings: deflowering, blood, Enji is divorced

SINFUL SUNDAY

Dating Enji Todoroki, the renowned Number One Hero, had been a whirlwind experience. Despite the significant age difference, his gruff demeanor, and the shadows of his past, you'd fallen hard for the man beneath the hero's façade. The days you spent together were a blend of passion, understanding, and warmth.

One evening, as you snuggled together on his plush living room couch, a cozy fire crackling in the background, you couldn't help but reflect on how far you'd come. The two of you were wrapped in each other's arms, Enji's muscular frame providing a comforting shield.

You leaned your head on his broad shoulder, looking up at him with a soft smile. "Enji, I never thought I'd find someone like you."

He turned to you, his sharp eyes softening as he met your gaze. "And I never expected to find someone who could see past the hero and see the man."

You traced a finger over his chiseled jawline. "I love the hero, but I love the man even more."

Enji's lips quirked into a small, genuine smile. "You've brought light back into my life. After the divorce with Rei, I thought I'd be alone forever."

You kissed his cheek and nestled deeper into his embrace. "You're not alone, Enji. You have me, and I'm not going anywhere."

He let out a deep sigh, his arms tightening around you. "I don't deserve you."

You shook your head. "It's not about deserving, it's about what feels right. And being with you feels right, Enji."

On that particular evening, your passionate make-out session had reached an intense level. Deep kisses and exploratory caresses had ignited the room. Enji's hands, once focused on your upper body, began to venture lower, his calloused fingers gently caressing your lower thighs.

Both of you were partially undressed - you from the waist up and Enji as well. As his touch grew more intimate, he attempted to explore further, trying to slip his fingers between your legs. However, when he made this move, you pulled back slightly, placing your hand on his to stop him. "We can't do this. I'm a virgin, and I'm not ready yet, Enji," you exclaimed.

Todoroki was taken aback by your confession. Throughout your previous dates, he had assumed that you were simply taking the relationship slow and easy. The realization that you were still a virgin and likely very inexperienced surprised him, and turned him on at the same time. Despite his initial frustration, Enji respected your wishes. With a sigh of understanding, he reluctantly ended your make-out session for the day, realizing that some things were worth waiting for.

With an air of confidence, the next time found you entangled in a passionate embrace, this time within the confines of your shared bedroom. As per tradition, both of you were already bared from the waist up, setting the stage for a night of unrestrained desire. Amidst the heated exchange of kisses, Enji proposed a new level of intimacy, suggesting that you both shed the remaining layers and continue in just your underwear for the sake of comfort. It was a proposition he half-expected you to challenge, but to his astonishment, you granted your consent without hesitation. Without missing a beat, the two of you promptly disrobed to nothing but your undergarments.

The fervent exchange of kisses continued, as Enji once more sought to explore the depths of your desires, his fingers tracing a tantalizing path toward your pussy. Although initial hesitance tinged your reactions, he remained determined, kissing you deeply and caressing your right breast, all the while allowing his right hand to venture closer to the haven of your womanhood. You squirmed ever so slightly, yet your unyielding commitment to the passionate exchange prevailed. Time passed, and his unwavering determination yielded its desired result. Overcome with arousal, your legs involuntarily began to part, a silent testament to the undeniable chemistry that ignited the fervor between you two. Soon yet, your undergarments went off as well.

In a display of unyielding confidence, Enji found himself nestled between your legs, taking control of the situation. The firm, throbbing tip of his cock hovered teasingly at the threshold of your cunny, tantalizing but not yet delving inside. You two were locked in a passionate embrace, mouths fused together, hands exploring, every sensation amplified except for that final, exquisite connection.

The anticipation was palpable. Enji's craving for you was evident as he let the tip of his dick glide sensually along the contours of your eager sex. It wasn't just him who was feeling it; you were equally consumed by desire, so much so that your legs involuntarily spread wider in anticipation.

With exquisite patience, he commenced his conquest. He inched his way into your eager cunt, each thrust bringing him deeper into your sweet cherry. As he kissed you with unrestrained passion and caressed your every curve, he felt the sweet resistance of your soft, quivering flesh gently welcoming him. Your silky, moist folds enclosed around him, bit by tantalizing bit, creating a symphony of sensations that heightened the intensity of the moment.

As you came to realize that you were about to be deflowered, a surge of uncertainty washed over you. In an attempt to regain control, you attempted to close your legs, but it was futile as his cock was already partially penetrating your pussy.

Soon, Enji was at your cherry and he could feel the barrier. As he distracted you with more kisses, he thrust his entire, huge cock into your pussy and poped your cherry.

You cried out a little and he held still to let you get used to the feeling. "It hurts, Enji! Oh my God!"

Enji leaned in closer, his eyes locked onto yours as he gently cupped your face with one hand, his fingers grazing your cheek, and he whispered, "You're incredibly brave."

As the flames of passion began to smolder and a sense of tranquility settled between you, you found solace in the comforting press of your lips against Enji's once more. The connection between you was undeniable, even as he remained rigid, buried deeply within you.

With a measured grace, he eased his pulsating length partway out of your cunt, its surface glistening with a mixture of your shared desire and the hint of blood. A bead of crimson oozed out of your cunt and Enji groaned deeply at the sight. He was oh so turned on.

While you continued your fervent exchange of kisses, he embarked on a deliberate rhythm. The pace was unhurried yet his thrusts were strong.

Your cunt was so tight and felt great. Soon, you started getting into the rhythm of the fucking and were enjoying yourself, moaning a little, yet some tears rolled down your cheeks as you were filled to the brim by Todoroki's dick.

"That's it, doll, take it. Relax for me," he instructed in that low voice of his. His cock was buried balls-deep in your cunt, his balls slapped against your pussy with each of his thrusts.

In that intense moment, Enji's passion reached its zenith, and he thrust into you with an unrestrained fervor, delving as deeply as he possibly could, growling. Within a matter of heartbeats, his primal desire led to an explosive release deep within your recently deflowered cunt, filling you with the warmth of his seed.

Your shared bed bore witness to the mingling of passion and vulnerability. The culmination of your encounter left a tapestry of intimacy etched upon your bodies, with a mixture of cum, blood, and the juices of your union exuding from your vagina. You reclined, breathless and satisfied, a hand instinctively moving to shield your modesty, your fingers grazing over your tender core; you were shivering all over your body.

But Enji wouldn't allow you to hide in that vulnerable moment. His voice, filled with sincerity, broke through the haze of post-passion, "Stop it, Y/N. You're incredibly beautiful. And I love you." He wrapped his strong arms around you, kissing your temple.

[aromanticannibal]

mha characters that are aro for CANON reasons (read: in which I reach increasingly further for canon evidence):

(Disclaimer: some of these can be evidence of characters being something else than aro (or ace) but this is my post and I can do whatever I want + /hj to /j to everything on there, when I say I start reaching I start REACHING. These are headcanons!)

Aizawa Shouta doesn't ever show romantic (or sexual) interest in anyone and is actively put off by Ms Joke hitting on him and the idea of getting married to her

All Might has NO experience with women according to Horikoshi (could also mean he has experience with men but y'know)

Ashido Mina really wants to be in a relationship but never fell in love (cupioromantic moment)

Both Bakugou Katsuki and Todoroki Shouto hide from girls crushing on them near the end, don't ever show romantic interest in anyone or get anxious or flustered near girls, Katsuki especially apparently never cared about girls (and vice versa) before and and Shouto specifically doesn't notice when he's hit on.

Iida Tenya is never interested in girls or men and is significantly more focused on both his studies and his friendships

My favorite headcanon: Uraraka Ochako's love for Izuku seems founded more on her admiration and people telling her she must like him (because boy and girl etc) than in actual romantic love, and she connects a lot with Toga (who also loves people in a non-conventional way)

Midnight doesn't have a romantic partner or anyone she regularly flirts with despite being a very beautiful and desired woman, and doesn't seem to have had any kind of romantic relationship with the three boys more or less her age she hung out with a lot (the rooftop trio) (she can also be seen as a cliché of aroallo person who only cares about sex so I'm claiming her).

Pixie Bob's obsession with finding a partner is giving "I've been told all my life that I HAVE to get married and I don't want to so I keep looking for the perfect match and not finding it because the man I'm looking for doesn't exist because I won't ever fall in love". Because by god you can't tell me the cute blonde catgirl isn't finding a boyfriend.

All For One only cares about his brother, I'd even argue he's aromantic asexual aplatonic etc. a-everything except familial and idk. quirkic. attracted to quirks.

Mount Lady is aro for the same reason as Midnight but because I think it's implied or canon that she's dating Kamui Woods, she's lower.

Midoriya Izuku is green so he's obviously aromantic and most of his flustered reactions to girls seem based more on shyness (and an obvious reaction to getting boobs shoved in his face) and sexual or aesthetic attraction than romantic attraction (he also has a very romcom view of what being boyfriend girlfriend is, ie. his reaction to Toga's confession)

Aoyama Yuuga's definition of love (according to his comment on Ochako being in love with Izuku because she was thinking "what would Deku-kun do?") is very weird and seems based more in things he was told or saw in fiction than feelings he would have felt himself.

Yoarashi Inasa is just so fucking weird with friendships and social cues he looks like he's trying to navigate the world while making absolutely sure NO ONE misinterprets him, which makes him both very aro and very autistic in my book

Kurogiri is literally a bunch of mist with little free will whose purpose in life is protecting this one boy, he's all the As.

Endeavor married for insane reasons and never even cheated on Rei after he sent her to the hospital (which a lot of men his caliber would do)

Ms Joke makes the idea of dating Shouta a joke and I think that's great. She's also green.

Miruko's chill and doesn't give a fuck, she's a fighting person, very Katsuki-coded in that regard I fear. She also works alone without an agency, which is giving aromantic for no reason other than I Said So.

Toga Himiko is a queer allegory that is generally interpreted as bisexual and biromantic but I think she can be interpreted as aroallo as well (way to love that’s seen as impure and unholy etc etc, notions of consent – taking people’s blood and hurting them without their consent which is for her a way to show her love, most of her attraction seeming physical or aesthetic rather than romantic, her parents telling her to repress repress repress instead of satisfying her desires in a safe way, the scene where she’s biting her wrist in her sleep???? etc etc) 

Twice never had a lot of friends and never had a lot of female friends and when he feels gratefulness and care for Toga it outwardly seems romantic because he doesn’t know what’s romantic and what’s not and hasn’t had a lot of female friends 

Dabi is giving aromantic aplatonic who only really loves his family but due to circumstances can’t love them healthily and ends up just hating them (the most intense feelings of love he shows are always towards Enji or Natsuo, and his apology to Shouto makes me think Shouto is also included in this – no evidence for Fuyumi and Rei but I can do what I want. He clearly cares for Twice and Toga too but it presents very differently, even after he’s revealed himself and doesn’t need to be as secretive). 

Shigaraki Tomura probably just doesn’t give a shit I’d say. He’s pretty apathetic when he isn’t fighting or angry or like doing his hatred thing, but he clearly cares about his teammates. 

Fatgum is foodpilled and studentpilled. He really loves food and he really loves his students he doesn't need no romantic relationship.

Jirou Kyoka takes a bit to warm up to Denki so I think she's demiromantic actually

Bruce (the third user of One For All). He just has such third wheel vibes.

Intelli Saiko because why would she bother with romance, it's so unpractical and illogical

Despite asking for boys' numbers all the time and being very aware of romance, Utsushimi Camie looks like she could NOT CARE LESS. aro

The fact that Hawks plays up the flirting with his fans is giving aromantic to me – obviously heartbreaker aroallo stereotype but I think he could also be ace, the aroallo part isn’t that important, it’s just that he’s always pretending. It’s giving still in the closet. Also I know he’s young and busy and Horikoshi doesn’t really put that much casual romance in MHA but it’s so funny that there isn’t even a sliver of a girlfriend implied in his timeskip. Hawks is Married To His Job. 

Star and Stripe is also absolutely married to her job. Also, lots of guys around her, lots of important and admired male figures in her life, and yet not a single crush from her. Points. Aromantic lesbian 

Nezu is a fuckass mouse I highly doubt he's attracted to humans in any way

Gran Torino is a single old man which is enough for me (though because I hate that fucker I think it'd be funny if women just hated him)

Where Is Shimura Nana’s Husband. 

Muscular only likes to kill, he doesn’t need romance nor sex, his only desire is Killing People and fighting. Same thing for Moonfish, he only wants to eat people (mood my guy) 

Geten is very hyper focused on making his quirk stronger, he doesn’t seem to really have any relationships.

Overhaul just fucking hates people

Again, Kendo Rappa only cares about fighting.

So so sad because I like his girlfriend but Natsuo is giving marrying to get away from his father

Koda Koji just had the vibes. He's so aroace to me. (aro Koda brain vs kodajirou brain fight)

Monoma Neito is such a fucking hater he just has to be aromantic

Wash is a washing machine

Honorable mentions:

List of characters whose only argument is they never show romantic attraction and don't talk much about romance or get flustered: Shouji Mezo, Sato Rikido, Tokoyami Fumikage, Shinsou Hitoshi, Yaoyorozu Momo, Sero Hanta, Hado Nejire, Togata Mirio, Shirakumo Oboro, Present Mic, Seiji Shishikura, Ryukyu, Gang Orca, Shishido, Centipeder, Ectoplasm, Hound Dog, Thirteen, Vlad King, Mandalay, Tiger, Lady Nagant, Mr. Compress, Tsukauchi Naomasa, Todoroki Rei and Fuyumi, Melissa Shield.

List of characters whose only argument is "they're green so they're obviously aromantic": Asui Tsuyu, Ibara Shiozaki, Tokage Setsuna, Kamakiri Togaru, Midoriya Inko, Ragdoll, Burnin, the Sludge Villain (I’m taking all I can get), Mustard, Ordinary Woman.

Bonus: characters that I can't make aromantic no matter how hard I try under the cut:

Gentle and La Brava, for obvious reasons. I feel like making them not love each other is like illegal.

Kudo and Yoichi. By god my brain will not accept it they're in love.

Amajiki Tamaki. I'm sure he could be aromantic but I can't let go of the Mirio and Nejire crushes (which are so real and true to me)

Yuyu (Nejire's friend), she also looks way too much like she has a giant crush on Nejire. Lesbian moment.

Best Jeanist and Edgeshot, they're giving high school sweethearts.

I put them in honorable mentions but I just have to mention Gang Orca and Shishido somewhere because the one baseball OVA made me think they're like the pseudo-enemies/rivals who argue all the time but somehow fight extremely synchronized when needed and ONLY fight each other because they're the only ones Worth It etc which is. Y'know. eye emoji etc etc

Sir Nighteye is literally in love with All Might

David Shield is literally in love with All Might

No really did you see David's wife? This man went and found a blonde blue eyed wife when he couldn't marry his blonde blue eyed best friend. His daughter looks like an All Might secret love child. I know whenever Dave hears Melissa call All Might uncle he dies a little inside because he wishes she could call him Dad too and he could call Toshinori his darling husband and

Rock Lock is happily married and I could never take that away from him

Spinner is green so I can kind of see him as aro but he’s giving madly in love with Shigaraki so much

Magne has a crush on Dabi in one of the Smash strips which is too funny to ignore I think she’s madly in love with him. And she’s right

I like kirimina so fucking much I genuinely struggle to come up with aro Kirishima headcanons. I think he could be quoiromantic but I also think he’s madly in love with Mina so I don’t know. 

Stain is literally in love with All Might

Ending (guy who attacked Natsuo) is literally in love with Endeavor

Garaki Kyudai is literally in love with All For One (“I miss your eyes” guy is so fucking devoted. The true doomed yaoi of MHA)

I know Rody is in love with Izuku he just has to be. 

To me Shindo Yo also has a crush on Izuku but also he's canonically dating Nakagame Tatami which is also cute.

[fanfic-gallery]

manager's random tots #7

todoroki shoto x gn! reader

|| headcanons, mentions of a toxic relationship, slight yandere (?), shoto n reader r married

» manager's note: i think most ppl have said these things 'bout him, but you know what, idc- enjoy <33

shoto is literally (dare i say) husband material; either it be the breadwinner or the 'workaholic' spouse, he handles his husband-ly duties to-a-tee~

you're sick? not to worry, he's gonna be there by your side, serving you like your royal highness should; from the littlest requests to biggest demands; he'll do whatever it takes to make you happy! have a new obsession? no problem, all you have to do is tell him what you need to make that dream a reality~

his behaviour mostly leads back to his trauma of endeavor and rei's relationship ever since he was a little boy; not wanting to be like his father, he had made himself (and rei) a promise to always cherish and love the person he would hold dear in his heart in the coming future

...and he would take this promise to his grave if he had to...

he never second-guesses your words in the slightest; anything and everything you say is absolute, and he will follow or do them, no questions asked. he's not paying enough attention to you? he'll cut off an entire week of work; either it be for a mini vacation or just staying at home; he'll give you that affection you so craved. he's being too much? he's not caring enough? don't worry, he'll change.. he'll change just for you... anything for you

this also causes him to spoil you alarmingly. it doesn't matter how much he needs to spend; if by handling your every request bring a smile to your face; you know, he'll cut off his own limbs to make ends meet.

he's never once physical, hell, he's never even yelled or raised his voice at you before — no matter what you did or say, doesn't budge. he's come close; but the image of his mother laying on the ground, balling her eyes out as his father kicked and screamed lapping in the back of his mind would snap him out of it. he just couldn't bare risking the chances of you hating him... even leaving him for that matter... he wants... he needs you... he doesn't want to be like his old man... not ever.

despite, the many warning from his father that his actions would lead him astray... he didn't care... he didn't want to be married off to someone with a compatible quirk to his just so the old man could be happy... no... his sights were on you and you alone... even if there were some complications with the marriage... he'll do anything in his power to set this relationship straight... endeavor's blood doesn't run through him... he'll show him.

"...my love, your deepest desires... your greatest wants and needs... i would make sure that there delivered to you on a silver plater... you have my word..."

[itgetzweird08]

Okay But Imagine If Endeavor had a secret love child

(TW: Mentions of cheating, hints towards abuse, hints towards pregnancy)

Okay so just imagine. Me personally, Enji Todoroki does not seem like a loyal man in the SLIGHTEST with his track record. Like I could definitely see him going to clubs and hooking up with people while on missions out of the country to let off steam because he has a wife who he doesn’t love, a son that is a danger to himself and doesn’t know what it means to quit, and two other children who are ‘failed experiments’

Enji is hella motivated to accomplish his mission to create the most powerful kid, HOWEVER, he’s still human. I think deep deep down he might want some form of true love and human connection. And that’s where /she/ comes in. The gorgeous woman that he meets in a diner one late night in America, while trying to get a decent meal after a hard mission. Any place that would even come close to having something that fits his meal plan is closed, but he knows he needs to eat. So this seemed like his best option.

He enters the diner, and it’s sorta dark and is cheap as all hell. He had half a mind to turn around and just starve, but the smell of something fried hit his nose and he gave up that thought quickly. He picked his own seat, a booth in the back next to a window that hadn’t been cleaned in a while. His hand touched something sticky on the table, and his lip curled in disgust. But that curl turned into a small ‘o’ as his jaw dropped, his eyes catching the waitress that was walking towards his booth. He was never a love at first sight kind of man, especially when he gave up such a silly concept long ago, but this was enough to make him get on his knees and praise Cupid. It felt like an arrow of warmth and desire had been shot through his chest. He had a fire quirk but nothing had made him feel so hot.

Rei and the kids were nothing but a distant thought all the way in the back of his brain stem when the woman approached his table. She seemed other worldly, tall and full and brave and soft. Something about her full curls and dark skin gave nothing less than goddess. There was so much to look at but there felt like so little time to take in everything she had to offer.

A soft clearing of her throat though brought him out of his stupor.

“Can I get you anything, sugar?”

The nickname made him blush, heat rushing to his face. It was a miracle his skin didn’t alight with his flame. “Yes- my apologies. Let me get, um,” here he was, sweating and stuttering like a school boy. Pathetic- he was pathetic. Before he could get truly angry at himself, she laughed, and the sound was like a drug.

“Here, you seem like you’ve been working hard. Let me get you a coffee and a proper menu, and I’ll come back for ya. Sound good?”

And all he could do is nod with a fry mouth, his face so hot he could’ve sworn his quirk was activated.

When she came back, she poured him a coffee, asking if he was from around while he browsed the menu. He said no, and told her of his hero work and his home in Japan. She listened with open ears and heart, finding herself sitting in the booth to listen to the scarlet haired man. She took the extra mug on the table, pouring herself a cup and loading it with mini creamers and sugar packets. It was a complete contrast to Enji’s own pitch black cup. But he didn’t mind. He honestly found it cute. He wondered if the sugar in the coffee was apart of what made the woman so sweet.

One cup of coffee turned to two. And that two turned to three with two waffle specials and a bowl of fruit to share. That ended up being a free meal for him and a ride home for her after her long shift. And the kiss at the door, well…you can guess where that led.

He left in the morning before she could wake, as he had a flight to catch by that noon. But he left her with a parting gift: his cell number and the large jacket he gave her when the night breeze got too cold.

Their affair continued for a while. It didn’t help Enji that Touya was putting himself in more danger, Rei seemed to be increasingly more difficult to deal with, and like her body got tired of the constant trying for his perfectly quirked child. And he knew it was wrong, of course he did, but when had that ever been enough to stop him? He began making up missions and lies, just to fly back across the sea to see his gorgeous waitress. And every time he left her a gift. A diamond charm bracelet, a new pair of shoes, a heart felt note with Godiva chocolates. And all she did in return was make him feel alive, like his life was worth more then it ever had been.

Six months.

It all lasted six months.

That was until he got the call from Rei, mid flight across the ocean, that she was pregnant. All thoughts of love and happiness and the small whisp of desire to leave his family behind and start a new one with his lover was erased. He had a feeling. This was it, his perfect child. He had the pilot turn the plane around, leaving his doll with one last parting gift.

The baby growing within her.

This time? He didn’t look back.

[newtscamandersbf]

hot take ? unpopular opinion ? idk but anyways i dont agree that endeavors redemption arc shouldnt have happened. that doesnt mean im an endeavor apologist, i hate that bitch; but i think it shows a contrast w other mha abusers. for example overhaul never did apologize to eri, never saw what he did as wrong, and basically stopped thinking about her. on the other hand endeavor finally realised that he was a horrible person and tried to change, apologizing to his family, and accepting all of his familys reactions. mha doesnt even portray a single one of the todorokis reactions as ‘wrong’. horikoshi isnt forcing anyone to forgive endeavor; we’re shown that shouto isnt forgiving nor forgetting but is willing to move forward and aknowledges that hes trying to change, rei aknowledges that hes making an effort to be better but still doesnt want to see him again, fuyumi forgives him and tries to move on due to her desire for a happy family, natsuo is unwilling to accept his apology or the fact that hes trying to change and wants to cut contact w him. but none of those reactions are portrayed as ‘the wrong one’ because ultimately you dont have to forgive your abuser, and its perfectly fine not to. endeavor himself accepts the fact that natsuo wants to cut contact with him, even if he realised he loved and cared about him. me personally ? ive never been abused, and i dont have a right to tell others whether or not they should forgive endeavor. i aknowledge his redemption and still hate him. aknowledging his redemption doesnt mean forgiving him.

[firey-passion]

I lowkey kinda hate Endeavor's repentance arc. Not because I don't want to see an abusive character get better, I actually think it's incredibly important to show that people like this are capable of change but that does not inherently mean that you have to forgive them, I hate it because this shouldn't have been the wake-up call.

The wake-up call to all the damage he'd done shouldn't have been when he got what he wanted and realized that it isn't as fulfilling as he thought it be, leading to him reflecting on everything he's done to get there. No, it should've been when his eldest son "died" due to his ambition. He should've figured out just how much damage he was doing when Touya burned himself alive just to become his "perfect progeny" so that he could be "loved" by Endeavor again (he thought Touya was what he was looking for until he actually devolved his quirk and the drawback was discovered). The accident wouldn't have even happened if Endeavor had bothered to properly teach him how to turn off the fire!

To add another layer of how much Endeavor not bothering to reflect on what he's done after Touya's "death", Touya would've likely come back. It's revealed that Touya visited the Todoroki house to see how things had changed after his death, and what made him decided to continue on the war path and become Dabi was that everything was still the same. The only difference is that there was now an altar to morn him, everything else remained the same. If Touya had seen that things had changed after his death, that Endeavor worked to become better because of the tragedy, then maybe he would've stayed. Maybe he would've revealed he was alive and they could've been a family again. Don't know if they could ever be a "happy" or "healthy" family, considering everything around Endeavor and Rei getting married and the nature of Shoto's birth, but they most certainly could've been a family. One that would've stayed together, one with their mother not in a mental hospital, one that could maybe one day become proud to say that Endeavor was their father instead of refusing to his fire out of a strong desire to never be like him. But nope! Endeavor only realized how destructive he was to his own family when his youngest was 16 and "2"/4 of his children were adults (1/4 is "dead" and 1/4 is still a minor), far too late to undo any of the damage he's done. Too little, too late.

[class1akids]

Did you watch the new live action of ATLA ? Recently I've seen the live action and animated version of ATLA and all i can see is that the parallels between Zuko and shoto are insane?!

No, I haven't watched it. I've spent a few years in the ATLA fandom, I love the show, but I have been pretty disappointed in LoK and the comics, so I have no desire to see any further spin-offs and re-thinking and just want to keep the original in my head in its near-perfection.

I think I've written also about Zuko and Shouto - this question comes up a lot. There are a some parallels between them, but I think they come from common literary and manga tropes:

Abusive family

Toxic father / daddy issues

Absent mother / mother issues

Facial scar as symbol of pain endured

Healing arc

Found family

Ruined sibling relationship with a sibling possessing blue fire due to shared abuse / toxic family

Fire powers that unlock with healing

Unconventional use of fire power that symbolizes healing (Zuko's lightning redirect and Shouto's Phosphor)

But if you look beyond these tropes, I think the psychology between them is very different:

Zuko is a "black sheep" / failure character, desperate for his father's approval. In his attempt to earn that approval, he does pretty bad things, betrays his uncle and needs to go on a redemption arc to learn to let go of the need for his blood father's approval and embrace the father who truly raised him - Iroh.

Shouto by contrast is a "golden child" / "masterpiece" character (more like Azula in that sense), but he's never after his father's approval. His arc is about gaining autonomy and sense of self, healing, forgiving and reconnecting with his family. And his ultimate challenge is not to let go of his need for his family, but to learn to accept that in order to find himself, Shouto needs to learn to see and accept his father as a flawed human being as well.

Just think of their endgames. Zuko's endgame is to reject his father and walk away. Shouto's endgame is keep fighting for his family despite every let-down and rejection.

So I think despite the many similarities, both arcs deep down are quite different and unique. In ATLA Zuko and Azula both develop and change, Ozai stays as a static, one-dimensional evil character. In the Todoroki family, everyone is more dynamic. Shouto, Touya and Endeavor all change, but so does Rei, Fuyumi and Natsuo. While Zuko has Iroh’s unconditional love to counterbalance Ozai, Shouto has no “Iroh” character to guide him. Even if you could argue that All Might’s inspiration is the counterbalance to Endeavor’s abuse, All Might is quite a distant figure for Shouto. So his journey in that way is more about understanding and assimilating the human characteristics of both Endeavor and All Might into his own end goal of who he wants to be.

The ATLA Fire family is about Zuko's coming to terms that he'll never get the family he wanted. The Todoroki family is about coming together and reconnecting a fractured family.

[frickingnerd]

rei todoroki with an affectionate s/o

pairing: rei todoroki x gn!reader

tags: wholesome fluff, established romantic relationship, physical affection (holding hands), slowburn romance, divorced!rei

after that horrible family life rei had, she really needed someone who gives her the affection she deserves

her home life was always a mess and when she tried to escape it by marrying into the todoroki family, it didn't get any better

but once rei got divorced and met you, her life just got so much better! 

you gave her that affection that she always desired and it was what had initially drawn her to you

you always had a smile on your face and so did everyone around you

you just had a way of making people happy that naturally drew them to you – and it was no different for rei! 

she didn't get her hopes up though, figuring someone like you would have tons of people who'd want to date you

but as life would have it, you had fallen in love with her as well and even confessed to her, which pleasantly surprised her! 

as soon as the two of you started dating, you were almost always holding hands or being near each other

it had been so long for rei since she last got to be this close with someone, so she cherished having you near her and feeling your warmth

and it was so refreshing for her to finally date someone that loved her as much as she loved them and who showed their affection so openly…

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

Idk what to tell to the people who still don't get that although is okay to teach kids the rules to live in a society (like respect others or don't kill or whatever), Kotaro Shimura, Enji Todoroki and Toga's parents didn't care as much for society rules as they care for the rules that made them feel okay at home.

Which in the end caused the main villain trio to reject authority and society and turn into violence, since they did try to use words as kids and were royally ignored.

Tenko, Touya and Toga tried very hard to be good kids, but in their parents conception it was not enough 'cause they couldn't repress some of their needs: they wanted their dads and moms to accept them as they were, to accept who they wanted to be, to accept the way they expressed love and accept the way they interacted with their surroundings.

In Tenko's case, Kotaro was unable to accept his kid desire to become a hero. His could be the worst case in bnha, given the violence of his tragedy and how misfortune (maybe even something else) played on it ending so badly. Tomura himself said that house rejected his very identity, even tho Hana tried to support him in secret and Nao stood up for him, little too late. For what we saw of him as a child, his only defect as a son was wanting to be a pro-hero, dream that got him beaten up for, grounded in a rather cruelly manner. Kotaro's trauma turned him into an irrational man, his hatred for heroes was both the build up and the catalysis of the tragedy that ended the lives of the people he loved the most.

Tenko didn't become a villain because he was an evil kid. He became a villain because AFO wanting it so and because Kotaro inculcated in him such extreme hatred.

In Touya's case, it's a bit more complicated. I don't believe Enji's obsession was completely evil in nature, although his actions were truly selfish and it became later abusive, when his desperation blinded him to the point he was unable to understand how bad he has turned out to be. Like in Tenko's case, the mother is at fault only in yhe sense that their lack of intervention allowed the situation to escalate 'til they couldn't prevent it anymore. Touya's case differentiates itself in the fact that he was older than Tenko, his behavior declining over the years into extreme violence, unlike the way Tenko exploded in murder glee when Kotaro hit him one last time.

The lack of proper attention from both Enji and Rei allowed Touya's behavior to become a tragedy. Their negligence, Enji's focus on his work and Shouto (as a project not a son) and Rei's role of a caretaker yet not a mother, combined with the incapacity of Natsuo and Fuyumi to understand what Touya was going through (really, only Shouto could, but at that point Touya hated him too much and Shouto was way too young)... Well, it didn't end well for a kid that didn't want help anymore but attention on his own terms. He was tired of adapting, the same way Tenko rebelled in his insistence of acting the hero way.

The same house rule ( YOU CANNOT BE A HERO ) sent them both to AFO's hands, one way or another. They were kids who couldn't act the way their dads wanted, so fuck them I guess.

That part is compatible to Toga's case. Kinda.

Toga's parents are by far the most twisted of the bunch, which is a lot to say considering that Kotaro hit his kids and Enji even hit his wife. Yet, without having to touch a single hair of their little girl, they inflicted damage so deep she preferred to become a runaway criminal than to stay at home one more day.

At least Kotaro and Enji valued at some level Tenko and Touya's existence. Toga's parents didn't care about her at all. She was as good as a broken doll, an imperfect piece of their furniture, something they wish wasn't related to them at all. Enji was at least worry about his son and he loved him at some degree, the same way Kotaro worry over Tenko was born out of his fear of losing his family. Nothing of it excuses what they do and let it be said that Enji and Kotaro did saw Touya and Tenko as monsters at some point (when Touya tried to kill Shouto and on his Dabi era, when Tenko killed his family and turned to Kotaro). Yet it doesn't compare to the way Toga's parents immediately erased her from their lives, even denying any affiliation. They sent her to that therapy like a car needing to be repaired. She was a sign of status, she was an object that they failed to produce, she was an aberration and a freak, she deserved to be put down.

From the three od them, Toga was the one who struggled the most to fit in socially, not to society standards tho. To her parents.

If all these parents had cared for their kids more than they cared for his own stupid rules maybe things would have been different. But that's the core of their problems, they don't need the whole world to accept them, they need to treat the internalized traumas their parents left them with, the self-hatred and the feeling of inadequacy and the need for acceptance (of themselves) and recognition.

That's why Toga, Izuku and Shouto are the key for their recovery. Acting as mirrors, they are meant to provide the closure the villain trio desperately need. It's not just a sibling or a nemesis bond, but a recognition of the self through the other situation.

If they can accept themselves and correct their ways and get free from their parents absurd rules, if they can move past the child need for their parents validation, maybe they can finally exist in a less painful way.

[siflshonen]

Todoroki: The Mountain, the Hawk, and the Haunted House Part 2

Link to the Todoroki family presentation: Part 1 | Part 2

Link to the Bakugo presentation 2.0: Part 1 | Part 2 | 1.0: Part 1 | Part 2

Link to the Kirishima presentation 1.0 | 2.0

Link to the Shoto Todoroki presentation

Link to the Deku presentation

Link to the Uraraka-Bakugo-Toga presentation

Link to the Shigaraki-All for One presentation

Link to the Spinner-Shigaraki-Bakugo-Deku presentation

Link to the BNHA presentations masterpost

Welcome to the second half of a comically long post.

Beautiful Winter and the Daughter’s Role

Fuyumi’s name means beautiful winter. She takes after her mother and, like Rei, is expected to be a Yamato Nadeshiko and uphold the family into which she marries. While the academic paper I linked earlier doesn’t say or imply this, it’s likely that a primary reason the firstborn daughter in many of the researched families moved away from the family is because she moved into her husband’s household to support his parents and her and her husband’s kids!

But Fuyumi makes a sacrifice in the absence of their mother and the first son - she chooses to stay in her father’s house to take care of him and take on the role of the mother figure and the firstborn son’s wife. But why?

There are lots of reasons. Keeping up appearances; keeping the household together; because look where following the traditional model of marrying some dude and going to live with and support his family got her mom; because the family she craves is the broken one in front of her, not some random new one... Follow your heart and pick your favorite.

But while Shoto may be, as Rei puts it, the family’s hero, Fuyumi is Enji’s hero in terms of maintaining any semblance of a family. He even says so in his mind, though he would do better by actually telling her.

Fuyumi’s distinctly winter-like name indicates to us that Enji had no intention of making her his successor (though at the time of her birth, he also didn’t need to do so.) This is par for the course in traditional expected family roles for Japanese daughters. Fuyumi’s birth order may have been saved from one form of hell and locked her out of what is traditionally the “man’s world” within the household, but it consigned her to another hell of the “woman’s world”.

Anyway, Fuyumi is the young woman of the new generation caught between traditional expectations and the realities of the demands of the modern day. She also doesn’t have much power in the overall social or household dynamic. 

Masculine Summer and Second Son's Role

Natsuo’s name, which mean “summer” and “manly”, indicates even more obviously that Enji had hoped that Natsuo would have a fire quirk and take Toya’s place. Natsuo didn’t, though. It might be for the best.

Usually, second sons dodge the bullet of living for their parents, but they also lose out on many of the benefits and the attention that come with it. 

For a markedly dated and extreme example, this article points out that while firstborn sons were exempt from becoming kamikaze pilots because their family roles were considered too important, second sons were expendable.

Natsuo is the young man who wants nothing to do with the ugly history of the old ways but isn’t in a position to do anything about it. He, uh, also doesn’t have much power, but he also didn’t do much to wrest the power from the extant system.

What is Shoto Todoroki?

Shoto Todoroki is the “hero of his family” and poster child for balancing extremes. Examples include:

Ice and fire

Mind and body

Past and present

Hate and love

Old and new

Obligation and personal desires

Deku and Bakugo

Shoto’s balancing act is very, like, zen - and also follows the Buddhist model of pursuing a middle way. You can read an entire post about him and his middle way here!

For the purposes of this discussion, we could think of Shoto as the ideal new Japan that is at peace with its troubled history, if we like. He’s the one that’s going to lead the way for his family to a new future, though he won’t necessarily have all the power the way his father did.

Todoroki Hypocrisy

If you didn’t notice, nothing about the traditional family structure is helpful or sustainable for the Todoroki family, and so, despite appearing traditional in their publicly-presented values and background, the Todorokis don’t follow the model at all! By trying to maintain the appearances that they do, they make even bigger hypocrites of Enji, and of Rei’s extended family.

Public Scandal and Apologies

First, I think it’s important to establish that the Japanese public’s relationship with their media is vastly different than that of many western countries’ populations and their media organs. For something to make a big enough splash that people are openly mad about it, it needs to be a pretty big deal. While the Japanese constitution guarantees freedom of the press, the press often doesn’t dig too deeply into controversial topics because, as the first article details, they follow the social mores of “not rocking the boat” more closely than the press in other countries.

It’s always important to remember that public opinion and official policy do not always support the same things or work together in practice.

Enji Todoroki, or more precisely, Endeavor, is a personified stand-in for the entire Hero system after All Might’s retirement, but before that, he was still a representation of the dependable, old, native government (Enji is, you know, an emblem of the patriarchy.) So, because of that, his family situation and personal wrongdoing being made public is a big deal. Massive. Even separate from Enji’s and Rei’s involvement in Toya’s death and their screwed up family dynamics, Dabi’s conducts and murders bring shame to the whole family, context be damned. It’s bad enough that he is a member of the family that did all of those things, ‘cause, you know, one bad apple ruins the bunch, but to specifically be their first son? The one who is meant to honor the parents and follow them most closely? Christ on a cracker, did Dabi fuck the entire family over with that video! He painted them all as total shitstain fuckups who don’t follow tradition, are terrible humans to one another, can’t keep their shit together and out of the public eye (which is arguably worse than being a terrible human, socially speaking), can’t be trusted with anything, can’t possibly be allowed to keep existing for the good of society…

Well, the only thing left in Enji and the family’s social toolkit is to apologize, which is. Oof. Woof.

So, apologies on a small scale are common in Japan, and downright necessary. Here’s an article about the importance of them in business and, to some degree, in everyday life. To apologize, one always accepts fault no matter what the greater context is. One does not explain the situation, because that is seen as making excuses. (This is part of why Dabi framed his actions as something to gloat about in his video. He ain’t sorry in the way the public might want him to be, and in fact, he’s shunting the responsibility for his actions and for his very existence onto his father.) Some of the specifics of how apologies work in Japan are counterintuitive to folks from the US for a variety of reasons, but we won’t get into it now.

Of course, apologies are necessary in Japanese society when something goes wrong, but the higher the stakes are, whether social, governmental, financial, or whatever else, the more unacceptable the screw up is in the first place. While Japanese apologies usually need to deliver a single party as fully at fault (even if it is unrealistic or unjust), accepting the wrongdoing is still shameful and is, just like a US-raised, apology-averse intuition might tell you, accepting fault and putting that shame on your shoulders.

‘Course, if one has enough money, clout, and influence, there is a secret third option that allows one to dodge the shame of apologizing while not appearing weak or cowardly: lie and deny everything. Do that, and the status quo is maintained. The boat ain’t rocked and people can go about business as usual without having to bring it up again.

And Enji, with Keigo next to him as #2, represents the status quo. This is why so much of the MHA public expected them - and wanted them - to deny it all.

If Enji and Keigo had denied everything, the shock to the public would have still existed, but been vastly mitigated. In particular, if Enji had denied it, he would be turning his back on the truth and also denying any need for the public to thrust consequences besides ones meant for show onto him. If Enji denied Dabi’s story, he would be denying the wrongdoings of the entire Hero system and HSPC. When Enji chooses not to deny Dabi’s story, he takes a big step forward in dismantling the existing Hero system and its illusory perfection in the hearts and minds of the civilians.

Enji’s public statement is something meant to prod the civilians towards supporting change and tearing down the walls between Heroes, Villains, victims, and civilians. Keigo’s involvement and exposure further backs this up.

Wait. Did some of you not realize that, in this story, the public is also being brought to task for their negligence towards their fellow citizens in all of this? Ah. Well, they are. The destruction of their cities and the mass resignation of many Heroes was the first of many things to befall them, and the exposure of Enji’s deeds and family situation was the final prod in the ass to get them to re-evaluate their society and what they could do to help.

And, actually, Enji and Keigo’s super-duper downer press conference creates a nice contrast with the hopeful tone of Deku’s announcement to the civilians within UA because - oops! That’s a different section. We’ll get to that later.

Anyway. Press conference. Consequences for Enji for being the worst father ever. Right. So here’s the thing: holding the press conference does spell out a consequence for Enji specifically.

While no big, dramatic, punitive, obvious, or immediate thing comes for Enji after his statement to the public, the mark against him in the public eye is permanent, much like the scar on his face (also left by Dabi, albeit indirectly. When he did that, he curse-marked him, you know?) Shame is a punishment, especially in eastern cultures, though the consequences aren’t as overt and obvious to many westerners. I’m not trying to say that the story shouldn’t offer other consequences to Enji, but I am saying that the story has already done something - and we’ll probably learn more about what long-term effects it has on Enji as the story goes on.

But perhaps more importantly, Enji and Keigo tarnished the image of the Hero system irreparably. They humanized - perhaps even villanized - Heroes by showing them as imperfect. That Enji and Keigo would not put the public at ease and apologize with standard decorum and platitudes as they were expected to do shows their commitment to being open with the public, even if the public doesn’t want to hear it.

They’re not hiding behind saving face anymore. The Hero system from the days of All Might is dead. It was a facade, and now it is gone. Enji and Keigo’s press conference is less about the two of them groveling to the public and more about the public realizing that they have to grow up and face reality, too.

What is Hawks?

What is Hawks? Or, rather, what is Keigo Takami?

Keigo Takami is Enji Todoroki’s final and hidden child - so hidden that Enji doesn’t know he has him! But of course, Keigo is Enji’s not by blood, but by inspiration and emotion - and plain ol’ attachment issues. While he isn’t the same kind of Frankenstein’s monster as Dabi, Keigo’s weakness is still fire, he is still haunted by the decisions he made in regards to his piece o’ shit family, and he is still very concerned with being near Enji Todoroki and disguising his legal name and identity.

And, whether intentionally or unintentionally, he’s an Icarus figure. Angel/Archangel also seems to be a source of inspiration for Hawks, though the similarities besides the big wings and some thematic details like the duality in the relative “good” and “evil”  faces of both characters, and perhaps Angel and Hawks’ seemingly carefree attitudes, are few. Instead, Keigo/Hawks and Toya/Dabi make up the two halves of Angel/Archangel, especially in relation to their “creator”, Enji. Horikoshi even created a homage to it. But, uh, separate from that, I personally think Black Widow is the more relevant comic book character to bring up when talking about Hawks by himself and not in relation to the Todoroki family plot.

Unlike Dabi, Keigo wishes good things upon the Todoroki family and doesn’t have the intent to leverage those good things into greater suffering later down the road. He’s Enji’s very own anti-curse. Talk about a hamaya! Okay, well, not really, though hawks are seen as harbingers of good fortune and generosity, particularly if dreamed about on the New Year. (And we all know how Enji sees his mountains…)

While Keigo is not an arrow of light like Toya was meant to be, Keigo is still a light flying high in the sky, in a sense. Keigo’s name is startlingly straightforward. 

Kei - teach

Go - enlightenment

Taka - hawk

Mi - watch

Someone watchful like a hawk who teaches the correct path to enlightenment. On paper, this is true. Hawks is a Hero for the commission and a begrudging mentor to Tokoyami. ‘Course, when he kills Twice (Jin! Twice’s given name was Jin, which means humanity! Keigo kills his humanity in killing Jin! Keigo’s murder of Jin is actually a BIG fuckin’ deal for this story. Others, particularly Hawks fans, have broken this down very, very thoroughly), Keigo does the opposite of what his name indicates. He teaches how NOT to be enlightened, and he is blindsided and (literally!) grounded by Dabi’s reappearance and knowledge of his name. Keigo suppressed, if not outright sacrificed, his individuality, name, and basically his soul in service to the Hero System and the HSPC.

In other words, he really did become a Hero like Endeavor - one who hurts his family (and friends) to help strangers as well as an individual who does whatever he must for his job while neglecting everything else in his life. Hawks put his duty and obligation before everything else. Sucks when people take advantage of someone for their quirk, huh. Keigo certainly was too fast for his own good.

On the other hand, Hawks is truly trying to create a better world and be better. Even while he was still under the HSPC’s thumb, I always found his lack of interest in raising up “the next generation” interesting. Why? Because he says he wants to create a world where Heroes are bored and don’t have much to do - in other words, he envisions a world where none of this Hero bullshit is necessary. His interest isn’t in lifting up “the next generation”, but also supporting the older and current ones, and just plain supporting each other.

And, slowly, with himself and his own life as a starting point, he’s learning to do it. The light of hope in Keigo’s heart is inextinguishable.

Keigo Takami VS the Todoroki Children

‘Course, Hawks’ upbringing couldn’t be more different than the Todoroki childrens’. For one, he was poor as shit and his family was not as educated or well-bred, notwithstanding the criminal element. They lived on the fringes of society rather than holding storied family ties or new fame and national pride. The last thing he wanted was for his parents to pass on the family business or even, in some senses, pay attention to him (because it usually meant they criticized or abused him), and the last thing they wanted to do was pay attention to him - or even have him around.

Also, unlike with Toya, the distance between Keigo and Enji is part of what facilitates their positive relationship - growing up, Keigo didn’t have to see the ugly reality of the man, only the idealized Hero. He could grapple with the ugly reality of the man later, when he was older and could project the misdeeds and mistreatment of his own biological father upon Enji, but with a completely different intent than Toya has for the man.

But this is important to consider in the context of other characters besides Dabi. It’s not completely false to say that, in many ways, Keigo’s relationships with his own father and how it relates to Endeavor mirrors Deku’s with Bakugo and how it relates to All Might for many of these same reasons.

Keigo’s Surrogate Fantasy

Enji’s change of priority and intent towards his own family - and even Rei’s newfound resolve to take a stand - is a surrogate fantasy for Keigo, who wanted to reconcile with his own family while acknowledging the terrible things they have done to one another. Oh, and how wonderful Keigo must think it is that Shoto is the Hero of his family despite being so young. How wild it is to realize that every time Shoto thought to himself that Keigo is so cool and so impressive, Keigo likely started thinking the same thing.

Too bad Dabi is Shoto’s brother instead and Keigo isn’t actually part of the family at all. And too bad that Keigo never realized that Dabi, Enji’s other son, was watching him very intently while Hawks, like everyone else, never did the same in return. Oh, well!

Keigo is still 20 pounds of family issues in a five-pound bag. To Hawks, the guilt he feels over abandoning his own family is a major motivating factor in his unspoken loyalty to Enji and the Todorokis. He’s not going to abandon them the same way he abandoned his own family.

Keigo apologizing to the public for Jin’s murder and explaining the details of his past alongside Enji is significant for several reasons. One, he is choosing to face his own past and, to some extent, his own desires in helping Enji and the Todorokis. Two, he is making his filial apology in what would, in other circumstances, be Dabi’s place. Keigo is a son figure who did horrible things and is owning up to them, and he’s doing it alongside a father apologizing for the awful shit he did that drove his son to murder and misdeeds in the first place.

And again on Jin: considering how spectacularly Jin denied Keigo’s offer to help if only he left the League of Villains, it’s not terribly surprising that Keigo would be hesitant to directly tell Enji and the Todoroki family about his feelings towards them. Jeanist probably knows, but I figure that dude’s collar is so high because it’s full of secrets.

Other Notes About Keigo’s Background

Keigo’ family is from Fukuoka, which is on Kyushu, the southernmost of the large Japanese islands. The people here are definitely not all “Yamato” Japanese, and these regions, like all the various regions of Japan, have their own regional identity and pride. Fatgum is from nearby Osaka, as @transhawks​ points out in this cute post about the potential of Fatgum x Hawks (also? PLEASE STAN FATGUM!) The most interesting and relevant part of that linked meta is the discussion about burakumin (I don’t recommend using this term outside of a western, english-speaking discussion), Japan’s caste system in the modern world, and how it may relate to Keigo or Fatgum. (By the way, this information is also relevant for any discussions of the mutant quirk cast members’ stories.)

A comparatively large population of folks associated with castes in these areas is one of the contributing factors for the notable yakuza presence there - ‘cause the yakuza’d hire and accept these folks when nobody else would.

Is Keigo meant to be burakumin? I dunno. I can’t say a lot about this in detail since it isn’t my place to do so nor my area of expertise. But the implication that Keigo’s self-labeling of his “dirty” wings may be a reference to his background through blood and ethnicity is worth pondering, especially in contrast to the prestigious family history present in the Todorokis.

Also, I’m not really sure if this is important, either, but hawks and falcons are associated with power in much of east Asia. In fact, falconry has an interesting history in Japan as an outdated status symbol, so Keigo’s presence around Enji could lend itself to some interesting interpretations…

So that’s the skinny on the Todoroki family and Keigo Takami. But there’s a rather formidable set of parallels I’d like to point out.

Parallel Narratives

Endeavor and All Might Revisited

First, I want to remind everyone of the very intentional comparisons constantly drawn between Enji and Toshi- er, All Might. Basically, both stories go something like this. 

A man preoccupied with how they might suffer the same fate as his predecessors (Enji’s rejection of his father’s fate versus Toshinori’s assumption that he will die like Nana Shimura) sacrificed everything for the sake of appearing a perfect Hero. First, he is marked - and doomed - by the one who hates and wants him most (Dabi scars Enji’s face before ultimately “killing” Endeavor after his reveal versus All for One ripping out many of Toshinori’s organs and eventually “killing” All Might by forcing him into retirement), but emerges victorious. Eventually, his deepest secret, which will ruin him if it becomes public, is broadcast on live television (Dabi’s broadcast versus All Might’s televised last stand in Kamino). He must apologize to the people and continue to live on despite this (Enji and Keigo’s press conference versus All Might’s address to the public and subsequent talks with Aizawa). He must apologize to those whom he failed to see and own up to his mistakes (Enji’s apology to Natsuo and the family and his eventual confrontation with Dabi - he’s working on it - versus Toshinori’s apology to Bakugo, then Deku, and eventually Shigaraki - or so I am assuming). 

Also, they are both old men who do stupid old man shit like use bad texting etiquette or need help using computers. But that doesn’t do much for us, narratively speaking. But Enji’s fight with One for All and how it resembles All Might’s in Kamino should bring their similarities to a very fine point.

Still, I’m not done pointing out parallels.

My Hero: Endeavor and Deku

We know All Might has compared Katsuki Bakugo and Enji in terms of their changes of heart. We also know that Bakugo and Enji are ambitious and, at least initially, selfish. Despite Bakugo’s heavily western (US) presentation and values and Enji’s obvious Japanese background, they are very similar.

Enji envied All Might as a superhero and as an “American”, and he was very nasty about it. As I’ve said, Bakugo’s expression of inadequacy more closely resembles Enji’s on the surface, but there’s always been something underneath it that Enji’s envy for All Might did not have. (It’s love and admiration for All Might and Deku, in case you have to ask. Meanwhile, Toya’s feelings for his father unfurled in the opposite direction. At first, he felt love and admiration for his father that soured into Dabi’s grudge. But that isn’t important right now.)

Enji and Bakugo are similar, sure, but Bakugo and Deku are also very similar, so the next natural step is to realize that Deku and Enji are also similar and have similar journeys.

Much like the “traditional Japanese” Enji envies the ��exceptional westerner” All Might, Deku also envies the “westernized winner” Bakugo, though Deku’s never been as openly nasty about it as Enji and instead directs his punishing inadequacy inwards. But Deku and Enji both create suffering from their envy and desires. 

@pikahlua​ recently pointed out to me that Deku and Enji’s stories are, in many cases, not just thematically similar, but frame-by-frame identical. They noticed the hospital parallel I’m about to draw first.

When Deku cries in the hospital after Bakugo’s kidnapping out of frustration at his own failure, key members of the class and Kirishima, with an outstretched hand, convince him to stop blubbering and go get Bakugo back together. Then, when Deku’s moment comes to take Bakugo’s hand, he decides against being the one to reach out.

While not evident in that moment, Bakugo has been wanting to take Deku’s hand for some time, and Deku VS Kacchan 2 makes this quietly obvious even as it causes Bakugo inner torment. Look at Bakugo’s blocking. I’m serious. Look at it. And if that wasn’t enough, Bakugo is still, in these at-current 362+ manga chapters, reaching for Deku and acting in his stead to the point that it’s destroying him.

When class 1-A brings Deku back to UA, the public is incensed over it. While Uraraka is the one to make an address to them from the rooftop (and Iida assesses that the class should watch in silent support as Deku and the folks inside UA reconcile), the civilians still turn to Deku and ask what he intends to do. His answer is to “bring it all back”. In other words, he’s resolved to keep fighting for everyone's sake - including the villains’, though he doesn’t say this directly.

When Enji cries in the hospital after Dabi’s reveal out of sadness, frustration, and shame at his own failure, his family and Shoto, with an outstretched hand, convince him to stop blubbering and go stop Toya - together. Later, when Enji’s moment to reach out to his son should have happened, Shoto is the one to catch him and try to soothe his heart instead.

Despite Dabi’s presentation and hostility, he has been wanting to see his father for some time. Everything about Dabi has been broadcasting this desire, sometimes literally, even if it is spiteful and twisted. And if that weren’t enough, Dabi is currently flying to his father in a ball of self-destructive flame to reach him even if it turns him into nothing but ashes.

When Enji must face the public to apologize, Keigo is there to support him. Enji must speak on his own behalf with primarily silent support, but when the press and people demand to know what he is going to do, his answer is, “Just watch me.” In other words, he’s resolved to keep fighting for everyone’s sake (his family included), just like Deku has done.

What, did you think Enji being an asshole, apologizing for it, and insisting the public “just watch [him]” was only a comparison to Bakugo’s apology and interior instruction during the Joint Training Arc that Deku “just watch [him]?” Or that Toya/Dabi’s pleading for his father to “Look at [him]”?

Deku needs encouragement to not “run away” from his heroic goal of saving Tenko when he finds Bakugo left as a “present” with a hole in his chest. Enji needs similar encouragement to not run away from the fight when he sees his charbroiled son keep destroying himself in his attempts to reach his father.

Deku may be all the good and noble things about an innocent, optimistic, and young “Hero of Japan” while Enji is tarnished from his misdeeds as an old “Hero of Japan”, but the biggest difference between them is context and lived experience. It’s the same stuff in different packaging.

In the Buddhist model, the ego - or sometimes I might use the words “consciousness” or “self” - is not something fixed, or at least, it shouldn’t be as it is not what should rule an individual, and it is determined just as much by the circumstances of one’s birth and surroundings. 

Put another way, “nurture” matters just as much as, and sometimes more than, “nature”. 

So, do you think you’re a “good” person? Let’s see what you do in a situation. Let’s see what you do when you are put in many, many situations that range from bad to worse, one after another. You think you are a “bad” person? Let’s put you in a better situation. Let’s keep putting you in better situations with emotional and physical support and see what happens.

And then, let’s ask someone else with a totally different background and point of view what they think of you.

All it takes for someone to become a villain in MHA’s Japan is, as the 24th volume title says, one bad day to serve as the capstone to a billion different little circumstances and choices that are not always within someone’s control. Likewise, all it takes for someone to fall from the public’s grace and have the world turn against them is the same thing.

People are individuals, it’s true - but they are also more than individuals. They are everything around them that shapes them, and also none of those things at all. Every day, we get to choose how to navigate that paradox. So do the Todorokis.

Thanks for reading.

[bibibbon]

I feel like Fuyumi should've saved Natuso, instead of Endeavor and the trio. But, like, in the worst way possible.

Ending and Natuso are actually in a even fight. Endeavor, the trio, and Fuyumi arrived from the commotion. Natuso gets distracted, Ending lands a heavy hit, and Fuyumi panics. Fuyumi goes for a "full power, no control" move (basically Snowgrave) and Ending is frozen in a block of ice with lethal hypothermia-level temperatures.

The Todoroki children have minimal screentime so I wanted to establish a few things. First, their quirk capabilities, so it seems like less of an as**pull later. Second, the more unhealthy side of Fuyumi wanting to keep her family together and safe.

And third, if possible, more of an explanation regarding civilian quirk control. Like, more Endeavor going "we need to keep Ending alive because my daughter will be arrested for murder by a non-hero," less "we need to keep Ending alive because I'm such a good guy and it's technically ok if we fail."

Actually I really like this idea and rewrite.

The todoroki kids specifically natosu and fuyumi lack screentime therefore they lack development but they, unlike rei still feel like actual characters with real flaws and realistic reactions.

The series clearly establishes both natosu and fuyumi's feelings and dynamic to their dysfunctional family.

Natosu is the rightfully angry one who tries to continually distance himself from enji and rightfully both despise him and blames him for everything like touya's death (which happend due to his neglect)

Fuyumi is the one who wants to ignore all of it so she just tries to pretend that it's not true and that she does have a happy perfect family. Fuyumi tries to live up to the image that the public expects of a hero family but she also deeply cares for her family and a part of her deeply longs to make those thoughts a reality.

It is exactly that reason that we see fuyumi trying her best to connect everyone and keep a brilliant image when todoroki invites izuku and bakugo over.

However, reality hits fuyumi hard and there are a lot of things she feels when she isn't pretending to uphold the image of a perfect daughter of a perfect family. One of the feelings being an attachment and close relationship with natsou. heck if we are being realistic I think that their relationship could be explored in an unhealthy way for example the series could show us that fuyumi and natsou are so close that it may effect their relationship with other people and its something that they slowly learn to develop out of as they trust and meet more people.

Every time we see natsou on screen fuyumi will be mentioned or be present and the same applies for fuyumi. The narrative introduces them as an inspereable pair even from early on in childhood where we see fuyumi covering natsou's ears to both of then visiting their mother and more.

Having fuyumi be the one to save natsou establish and help emphasise a lot of thing within the narrative like:

Fuyumi's strong desire to keep her family together and uphold the image of a perfect family

The ice powers that the himura's have

More world building within quirk use and heroes wanting to keep their reputation spotless at all cost

This also helps shine the dangers of being a heroes child or family member and how it can put them in danger

Also if the aftermath of the fuyumi vs ending fight is dealt correctly it can show the more corruption side of heroes specifically enji

[bnhaobservation]

Ramblings about the Todoroki family - Part 3: The girl who's like ice, Himura Rei and how she became Todoroki Rei

So this is part 3 of my ramblings about the Todoroki family. If you hadn’t read yet part 1 and part 2, and expecially the premise in it, I recommend you to do it otherwise you might get lost and not manage to work out how this series of meta is organized.

THE GIRL WHO’S LIKE ICE, HIMURA REI, AND HOW SHE BECAME TODOROKI REI (Chap. 31, 187, 301, 302 and 387 plus Ep. 130)

Canon information:

There’s little info about Rei before she became Todoroki Rei. We got more about her family, but, although I’ll quote that bit from the manga, I’ve already written a meta about the Himura family so I do prefer people to check it for the commentary, meta and cultural context about her family, instead than rewrite everything I said in it, so here I’ll focus just on the little we know about Rei pre-marriage.

She has an ice Quirk, which is why she catches Enji’s eyes, she come from a once prestigious family who had ended up in deep distress and came to a de facto end when Rei was sold to Enji.

The first time we hear her story is from Shōto in Chap. 31.

Todoroki Shōto ‘Kosei kon. Shitteru yo na. “Chōjō” ga okite kara dai ni~daisan sedai-kan de mondai ni natta yatsu… Jishin no “kosei” o yori kyōka shite tsuga seru tame dake ni haigūsha o erabi…… kekkon o shiiru. Rinri-kan no ketsuraku shita zenjidaiteki hassō. Jisseki to kane dake wa aru otoko da… Oyaji wa haha no shinzoku o marume komi haha no “kosei” o teni ireta. Ore o ALL MIGHT ijō no HERO ni sodate ageru koto de jishin no yokkyū o mitasōtte kotta.’ 轟焦凍「個性婚知ってるよな。〝超常〟が起きてから第二～第三世代間で問題になったやつ…自身の〝個性〟をより強化して継がせる為だけに配偶者を選び……結婚を強いる。倫理観の欠落した前時代的発想。実績と金だけはある男だ…親父は母の親族を丸め込み母の〝個性〟を手に入れた。俺をオールマイト以上のヒーローに育て上げることで自身の欲求を満たそうってこった。」 Todoroki Shōto “Quirk marriage. Do you know about it? After the ‘exceptional/supernatural’ happened, between the second and third generation they became a problem… In order to pass in inheritance a further strengthened version your “quirk” you choose a spouse… and get her married to you by force. Old-fashioned way of thinking which lacks in ethics. He’s a man with achievements and money… My father persuaded my mother’s relatives and obtained my mother’s “quirk”. Through raising me to be a Hero greater than All Might he wanted to fulfill his own desires.” [Chap. 31]

Later Tōya will also toss in his two cents on the marriage (Chap. 290 and 302).

Todoroki Tōya ‘ENDEAVOR wa katsute chikara ni kogarete imashita, soshite ALL MIGHT o koe renai zetsubō kara yori tsuyoi “kosei” o motta ko o tsukuru tame muriyari tsuma o metorimashita.’ 轟燈矢「エンデヴァーはかつて力に焦がれていました、そしてオールマイトを超えれない絶望からより強い〝個性〟を持った子を作る為無理やり妻を娶りました。」 Todoroki Tōya “Endeavor was once thirsty for power and, out of despair of not being able to surpass All Might, in order to create a child with a stronger “Quirk” he took a wife by force.” [Chap. 290]

Todoroki Tōya ‘Obā-chan-tachi ga binbō shitetakara Okā-san o uttan daro. Okā-san wa sōsuru shikanakattan daro.’ 轟燈矢「おばあちゃん達が貧乏してたからお母さんを売ったんだろ。お母さんはそうするしかなかったんだろ。」 Todoroki Tōya “Grandmother and the others were poor so they sold mother, isn’t that it? Mother had no choice but to do it, isn’t that it?” [Chap. 302]

Then we’ll get a quick glimpse of the Miai between Enji and Rei in which we actually see how the family head didn’t really need to be persuaded but seemed more than willing to jump at the chance to have his daughter marry Enji.

Rei no chichi ‘Jiki No.1 no yobi goe takai ENDEAVOR-sama kara o koe kake itadakeru to wa yume ni mo omoi masendeshita! Gyōkō no kiwami ni gozaimasu!! Himura mo katsute wa meika to yobareta yuisho aru iegara ni gozaimasu yue-- TOP HERO-sama no hanryo to shimashite wa jūbun ni tsuri ai ga toreru mono to--…’ 冷の父「次期No.1の呼び声高いエンデヴァー様からお声掛けいただけるとは夢にも思いませんでした！僥倖の極みにございます‼氷叢もかつては名家と呼ばれた由緒ある家柄にございます故──トップヒーロー様の伴侶としましては充分に釣り合いがとれるものと──…」 Rei’s father “I never dreamed that I would be approached by Endeavor-sama, who has been hailed as the next No. 1! We are at the height of luck!! The Himuras also come from a distinguished family with a prestigious lineage, so I think she would be a perfect match as the Top Hero-sama’s companion…” [Chap. 301]

When Enji will meet her, he thinks she’s a woman of ice, a strong one for the matter, but later realizes that she can easily melt.

Todoroki Enji ‘Kōri no yōna onna datta. “Kosei kon” dearu koto mo shōchi no ue de…… Ie no tame ni ore no tsuma ni naru to iu. Tsuyoku─────… shikashi furereba tokete kiete shimai sō na─────…’ 轟炎司「（氷のような女だった。〝個性婚〟である事も承知の上で……家の為に俺の妻になると言う。強く─────…しかし触れれば溶けて消えてしまいそうな─────…）」 Todoroki Enji “(She was a woman of ice. She knew that it was a “Quirk marriage”… but she said she would become my wife for her family’s sake. She was strong… but if she were to be touched, she would melt and disappear…)” [Chap. 301]

The anime gives us more info about the Miai and Enji’s intentions.

Todoroki Enji ‘(Ichiō, miai to iu katachi o totte wa iruga, koreha “kosei kon”. Jishin no “kosei” o yori kyōka shite tsuga seru tame ni haigūsha o erabi, kodomo o uma seru tame no kekkon. Ore wa nozonda noda. Ore no honō no “kosei” to kōri himura-ke ichizoku no kōri no “kosei” ga majiwareba, ALL MIGHT o mo koeru HERO ga umidaseru to. Katsute wa meikadatta Himura-ke mo ima wa aoikitoiki… No.2 HERO no chii to meiyo, soshite jisankin meate ni Himura-ke no tōshu wa ore no teian o assari to ukeireta. Kotowaru koto mo dekita hazuda. Daga kanojo wa “kosei” kondearu koto mo shōchi no ue de, ie no tame ni ore no tsuma ni naru to iu.)’ 轟炎司「（一応、見合いという形をとってはいるが、これは〝個性〟婚。自身の〝個性〟をより強化して継がせるために配偶者を選び、子どもを産ませる為の結婚。俺は望んだのだ。俺の炎の〝個性〟と氷叢家一族の氷の〝個性〟が交われば、オールマイトをも超えるヒーローが生み出せると。かつては名家だった氷叢家も今は青息吐息…No.2ヒーローの地位と名誉、そして持参金目当てに氷叢家の当主は俺の提案をあっさりと受け入れた。断る事もできたハズだ。だが彼女は〝個性〟婚である事も承知の上で、家の為に俺の妻になると言う。）」 Todoroki Enji “(Just in case, although it was made to look like an arranged marriage meeting, this was a “Quirk marriage”. A marriage to have children in which the spouse is chosen in order to strengthen and pass on one’s “Quirk”. I wanted it. If my fire “Quirk” and the ice “Quirk” of the Himura family were combined, I could create a hero that would surpass All Might. The Himura family, which was once a prestigious family, was now in deep distress… The head of the Himura family easily accepted my proposal, aiming for the status and prestige of the No. 2 hero, as well as the dowry. She could have refused. However, even if she was aware that it was a “Quirk” marriage, she said that she would become my wife for her family’s sake.)” [Ep. 130]

As for Rei she’ll claim the choice to marry Enji was her own.

Todoroki Rei ‘(Sentakushi wa kagirarete ita keredo erande susunda no wa watashi no ashi de───── semete sono sakide wa waratte iyou to omotte ita no ni───…)’ 轟冷「（選択肢は限られていたけれど選んで進んだのは私の足で─────せめてその先では笑っていようと思っていたのに───…）」 Todoroki Rei “(Although my options were limited, I chose to move forward with my own feet─────At least from now on I’ll try to smile, that’s what I was thinking─────…)” [Chap. 302]

We see a bit of their first date in which all we learn is Rei likes flowers, or more specifically Gentians.

Todoroki Enji ‘……’ 轟炎司「……」 Todoroki Enji “…”

Todoroki Rei ‘……’ 轟冷「……」 Todoroki Rei “…”

Todoroki Enji ‘…… Hana ga suki ka.’ 轟炎司「……花が好きか。」 Todoroki Enji “Do you like (those) flowers?”

Todoroki Rei ‘Hai. Totemo kirei.’ 轟冷「はい。とても綺麗。 」 Todoroki Rei “Yes, they are very beautiful.” [Chap. 301]

We know it’s their first date and also their first meeting due to this previous bit.

Todoroki Rei ‘Kono ohana watashi ga sukitte itta no. Hajimete atta koro tatta ichido.’ 轟冷「このお花私が好きって言ったの。初めて会った頃たった一度。」 Todoroki Rei “I told him I like/love these flowers. Only once, when we first met.” [Chap. 187]

Then we have a huge wall of information about the Himura family, courtesy of Geten.

Geten ‘Himura wa chi ga koinda. Furuku kara no shōya datta Himura wa nōchi kaikaku go mo bunke o fuyasu koto de zai to PRIDE o nantoka tamotte kita. Demo chōjō ga okiru to tomoni kasokudoteki ni reiraku shite itta. Chi ga mazaru no o kirattanda.’ 外典「火叢は血が濃いんだ。古くからの庄屋だった火叢は農地改革後も分家を増やす事で財とプライドをなんとか保ってきた。でも超常が起きると共に加速度的に零落していった。血が混ざるのを嫌ったんだ。」 Geten “The Himura blood runs thick. The Himura, who were village heads from long ago, managed to maintain their wealth and pride even after the land reform by increasing the number of branch families. But as the exceptional/supernatural happened, things (for them) started falling down at an accelerating rate. They hated mixing their blood.”

Geten ‘Kekka bunke… tōen dōshi de no kekkon ga aitsuida.’ 外典「結果分家…遠縁同士での結婚が相次いだ。」 Geten “As a result, the branch families… had marriages among distant relatives which occurred one after another.”

Geten ‘Mizukara o heisoku kankyō ni oki Himura-ke wa shukushō no itto o tadori. Tōtō honke ga miuri o hajimeta koto de jijitsujō no shūen o mukaeta. Nokori no wazuka na shizoku mo risan shi sono naka no hitotsu datta boku wa saikōshidō-sha (read: RE-DESTRO) ni hirowa reta.’ 外典「自らを閉塞環境に置き火叢家は縮小の一途を辿り。とうとう本家が身売りを始めたことで事実上の終焉を迎えた。残りの僅かな氏族も離散しその中の一つだった僕は最高指導者(リ・デストロ)に拾われた。」 Geten “As a result of placing themselves in a closed environment, the Himura family steadily shrank. When finally the main family started selling themselves, it came to a de facto end. Even the few remaining clans are scattered, and I was among them and then picked up by the supreme leader (read: Re-Destro).” [Chap. 387]

Something else?

Originally she was planned to have a boyfriend before Enji were to approach her but we don’t know if Horikoshi kept this part from her prototype or axed it, as in canon it never comes up. Alter all, in the prototype, it seems it’s due to how she was forced to part from her boyfriend that she came to hate Shōto’s left side (in the prototype Shōto hated her back) and ended up going insane and scarring him.

Cultural corner:

Kekkon (結婚 “marriage”): for a long time in Japan marriages weren’t out of love but out of interest as the marriage had to be beneficial to the family of the future newly-weds. Actually it was believed if one were to choose a partner due to love… well, this would make for a poor marriage (a common way to say was “Those who come together in passion, stay together in tears”). Even nowadays only the 70% of marriages in Japan is a love marriage while the rest are the more traditional arranged marriages. The fact that Enji and Rei marry not out of love but solely because it would be beneficial to them/their families is therefore seen as a possible reason to marry in Japan as long as both Rei and Enji agree to it.

Miai (見合い “matchmaking”, lit. “look meet”): it’s a Japanese traditional custom in which a woman and a man are introduced to each other to consider the possibility of marriage. Taking information about the potential spouse and his/her family before the Miai not only is perfectly fine but it’s usually part of the whole custom as usually a ‘nakōdo’ (仲人 “go-between”) presents the family with photos of potential candidates and their personal history (as well as info on their family) for the family to select among them before deciding to organize the Miai. Usually the potential spouse checks them with his mother. The fact Enji’s mother is never shown can be seen as a hint she’s dead.

Yūseigaku (優生学 “eugenics” or “science of superior birth”): it’s a set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. While Japan tackled the problem mostly by forcing sterilization or abortion for criminal and people with mental illness or genetic transmissible diseases (or who were exposed to radiations) with a law that existed from 1948 to 1996, Japan also considered marriage between the right candidates as a way to produce better offspring. In fact after Japan was forced to drop its isolationist politic (1868) some promoted the idea that the Japanese race should produce superior descendants through ‘kokusai kekkon’ (国際結婚 “international marriages”), in short by basically having mixed marriages between Japanese and Westerners… however in between the two world wars Japanese people were instead encouraged to marry other pure-blooded Japanese so as to preserve the purity of the race. It’s worth to mention that in Miai the candidates and their families are judged on a large set of criteria aimed at determining the suitability and the balance of the marriage… and said criteria include also if the family has a history of genetically transmissible diseases or mental illness as well as the bloodline of the candidate. There’s also to wonder if Horikoshi took inspiration for his Quirk marriages by the international marriages… while the Himuras wanting to marry among themselves were inspired by the pure-blood culture… but that’s up to speculation.

Sanjū Shitoku (三従四徳 “The three obediences and four virtues”): a set of moral principles and social code of behavior for maidens and married women in East Asian Confucianism. In specific the three obediences instruct that a woman is obligated not to act on her own initiative and, at home, she must submissively obey or follow her father’s orders before getting married, her husband’s after getting married, and her sons’ after her husband’s death. In short, in addition to filial piety, women were also expected to follow those rules.

Giri no haha (義理の母 “mother-in-law”) and giri no musume (義理の娘 “daughter-in-law”): In traditional Japan, the daughter-in-law was supposed to provide care but also to obey to the mother-in-law. It wasn’t just the virtuous thing to do, in the past divorces were commonly initiated not by the husband but by the mother-in-law and so, if she failed to satisfy the mother-in law, the bride would be sent back home in disgrace. Nowadays things are better (previously the mother-in-law could see the daughter-in-law as little more than a servant if she so wished, as the mother-in-law had primary authority) but the mother-in-law is still seen one step above the daughter-in-law.

Rindō (リンドウ “Gentian”): The most common one in Japan is the ‘gentiana scabra’ or Japanese gentian or just Rindō (リンドウ) which, in Japan, blossom from September to November so it can be the one Rei received when the JP Hero Billboard Chart took place (November)… but during the date Rei seems a tad more overdressed for someone who should have a body that handles cold well if we are in that time of the year. We also have the ‘gentiana zollingeri’ or Fude Rindō (フデリンドウ) which blossom from April to May and the ‘gentiana thunbergii’ or Haru Rindō (ハルリンドウ) which blossom from March to May and therefore could be the type of Gentian Rei had during the Paranormal Liberation War arc, which takes place in March (as Enji likely bought it from a greenhouse and there they can blossom a little earlier it is possible for him to buy the ‘gentiana zollingeri’)… but again, this doesn’t seem the time during which the date takes place.

Yamato nadeshiko (やまとなでしこ or 大和撫子 lit: “Japanese carnation” or “Japanese caressable child/Japanese beloved child”): a Japanese term meaning the “personification of an idealized Japanese woman”. It’s supposed to possess grace and beauty but also inner strength. She exhibits delicacy and deference, as well as quiet determination. Both dignified and modest, she is believed to embody characteristics of delicacy and fragility, as well as elegance and sturdiness. Though outwardly submissive and obedient, she is internally strong. Her life revolves around acting for the benefit of her family, following instructions or acting in the best interests of the family head. Virtues include loyalty, domestic skills, wisdom, and humility as well as the ability to endure whatever life might ask of her. Noble Japanese women who were raised in wealthy/prestigious households learned proper etiquette and Confucian ideology so as to become Yamato nadeshiko. Although the Himura were poor, they were prestigious so very likely Rei was also raised in this way.

Yuki-onna (雪女 “snow woman”): is a spirit or yōkai (妖怪 “strange apparition”) of Japanese folklore that is often depicted in Japanese literature, films, or animation. She’s supposed to be beautiful, very pale and calm. It’s probably a coincidence but in one legend she’s supposed to say ‘Koori gose yu gose’ (氷ごせ湯ごせ “Give me ice, give me hot water”) and disappear when she’s splashed with hot water, which seems a reference to Rei’s Quirk and to how she burned Shōto with hot water and then was hospitalized, basically disappearing from the Todoroki house.

Otto (夫 “husband”) and tsuma (妻 “wife”): in Japan, although things are changing, the role of the husband is just to work hard and provide for the money. He’s hardly at home, spending his time working by day and, in the evening, drinking with his boss and colleagues. Sometimes he’s also expected to have other social interactions with them like going to play golf with them. The role of the wife is instead to take care of the house and the children as well as to administer the family money (the husband gets an allowance according to how she sees fit). She’s however supposed to obey to her husband in all the other things and not complain whatever he does. For example if she were to ask for a divorce because he cheats on her, it would be seen as shameful FOR HER (never mentioning in Japan is very difficult to obtain a divorce if your partner doesn’t agree to it). Mind you, things are changing so this isn’t anymore a perfect depiction of how husband and wife are, but it’s still prevalent enough.

As said before, for a cultural corner related to the info we have about the Himura family I’ll ask you to check my Himura family post.

Doylist commentary:

Horikoshi apparently doesn’t tell us much about Rei’s past, but in the little Enji says about her we might miss some details that might instead be more evident to Japanese readers due to their culture. In fact Enji’s description of her seems to imply he sees her as a Yamato Nadeshiko, an ideal of Japanese womanhood, which is at the same time delicate and strong and would sacrifice for the family (as well as follow the three obediences)…

Todoroki Enji ‘Kōri no yōna onna datta. “Kosei kon” dearu koto mo shōchi no ue de…… Ie no tame ni ore no tsuma ni naru to iu. Tsuyoku─────… shikashi furereba tokete kiete shimai sō na─────…’ 轟炎司「（氷のような女だった。〝個性婚〟である事も承知の上で……家の為に俺の妻になると言う。強く─────…しかし触れれば溶けて消えてしまいそうな─────…）」 Todoroki Enji “(She was a woman of ice. She knew that it was a “Quirk marriage”… but she said she would become my wife for her family’s sake. She was strong… but if she were to be touched, she would melt and disappear…)” [Chap. 301]

…but of course, if we’re not familiar with what a Yamato Nadeshiko is, we miss the implication.

The whole ‘woman of ice’ also might be a reference to how Rei seemed cold and impassible, her face expressionless when he first met her, but might also be a reference to a Yuki-onna.

There are however oddities in the whole thing that seem to imply to a retcon in Rei’s backstory.

The most important one is that both Shōto and Tōya portray Rei’s family as forced by Enji to sell her off.

Todoroki Shōto ‘Jisseki to kane dake wa aru otoko da… Oyaji wa haha no shinzoku o marume komi haha no “kosei” o teni ireta.’ 轟焦凍「実績と金だけはある男だ…親父は母の親族を丸め込み母の〝個性〟を手に入れた。」 Todoroki Shōto “He’s a man with achievements and money… My father persuaded my mother��s relatives and obtained my mother’s “quirk”.” [Chap. 31]

In Chap. 31 Shōto, to say Enji persuaded Rei’s family, uses ‘marume komi’ (丸め込み), which seems to have a not so positive implication, as it’s used to imply you managed to talk someone into doing what you want, as if the Himuras didn’t really want to let Rei marry him and needed to be persuaded.

Todoroki Tōya ‘ENDEAVOR wa katsute chikara ni kogarete imashita, soshite ALL MIGHT o koe renai zetsubō kara yori tsuyoi “kosei” o motta ko o tsukuru tame muriyari tsuma o metorimashita.’ 轟燈矢「エンデヴァーはかつて力に焦がれていました、そしてオールマイトを超えれない絶望からより強い〝個性〟を持った子を作る為無理やり妻を娶りました。」 Todoroki Tōya “Endeavor was once thirsty for power and, out of despair of not being able to surpass All Might, in order to create a child with a stronger “Quirk” he took a wife by force.” [Chap. 290]

In Chap. 290 Tōya instead uses ‘muriyari’ (無理やり), which means “forcibily, against one’s will” so he paints an even darker picture.

Then… with Chap. 301/302, this is kind of turned over.

In fact, in chap 301, we see how Rei’s father looks more delighted than forced/in need to be persuaded when he meets Enji, the anime even remarking this more by painting the family head grinning as he interacted with Enji, Enji doing hardly any work of persuasion, as he’s not even shown speaking as the Himura family head talks of how honored they are he approached them and how Rei will be an appropriate bride for him.

Also later, in chap 302, Tōya, despite claiming his mother had no choices (しかなかった ‘shikanakatta’), with Rei not correcting him, will now place the blame on his grandparents being poor (so Rei had to marry Enji to help them) and therefore deciding to sell Rei (売る ‘uru’), and not on his father persuading them (as Shōto said) or forcing her as he said before.

Todoroki Tōya ‘Obā-chan-tachi ga binbō shitetakara Okā-san o uttan daro. Okā-san wa sōsuru shikanakattan daro.’ 轟燈矢「おばあちゃん達が貧乏してたからお母さんを売ったんだろ。お母さんはそうするしかなかったんだろ。」 Todoroki Tōya “Grandmother and the others were poor so they sold mother, isn’t that it? Mother had no choice but to do it, isn’t that it?” [Chap. 302]

This greatly shift the blame of Rei being sold on her parents, as hadn’t Enji not shown up, they would have probably handed her off to someone else… never mentioning what will be revealed much later, in chap 387, when it’ll turn out Rei was never meant to marry for love, as the Himura were used to marry among them.

Geten ‘Himura wa chi ga koinda. Furuku kara no shōya datta Himura wa nōchi kaikaku go mo bunke o fuyasu koto de zai to PRIDE o nantoka tamotte kita. Demo chōjō ga okiru to tomoni kasokudoteki ni reiraku shite itta. Chi ga mazaru no o kirattanda. Kekka bunke… tōen dōshi de no kekkon ga aitsuida. Mizukara o heisoku kankyō ni oki Himura-ke wa shukushō no itto o tadori. Tōtō honke ga miuri o hajimeta koto de jijitsujō no shūen o mukaeta. Nokori no wazuka na shizoku mo risan shi sono naka no hitotsu datta boku wa saikōshidō-sha (read: RE-DESTRO) ni hirowa reta.’ 外典「火叢は血が濃いんだ。古くからの庄屋だった火叢は農地改革後も分家を増やす事で財とプライドをなんとか保ってきた。でも超常が起きると共に加速度的に零落していった。血が混ざるのを嫌ったんだ。結果分家…遠縁同士での結婚が相次いだ。自らを閉塞環境に置き火叢家は縮小の一途を辿り。とうとう本家が身売りを始めたことで事実上の終焉を迎えた。残りの僅かな氏族も離散しその中の一つだった僕は最高指導者(リ・デストロ)に拾われた。」 Geten “The Himura blood runs thick. The Himura, who were village heads from long ago, managed to maintain their wealth and pride even after the land reform by increasing the number of branch families. But as the exceptional/supernatural happened, things (for them) started falling down at an accelerating rate. They hated mixing their blood. As a result, the branch families… had marriages among distant relatives which occurred one after another. As a result of placing themselves in a closed environment, the Himura family steadily shrank. When finally the main family started selling themselves, it came to a de facto end. Even the few remaining clans are scattered, and I was among them and then picked up by the supreme leader (read: Re-Destro).” [Chap. 387]

While Geten calls Rei marrying an outsider ‘the main family starting to sell themselves’, the implication seems to be Rei’s parents would have always decided who was going to be Rei’s husband… but this seems denied by Rei herself.

In fact in chap 301 she claims it wasn’t like her opinion never mattered. Rei had the option to refuse but she accepted for her family’s sake.

Todoroki Enji “Kosei kon” dearu koto mo shōchi no ue de…… Ie no tame ni ore no tsuma ni naru to iu.’ 轟炎司「（〝個性婚〟である事も承知の上で……家の為に俺の妻になると言う。）」 Todoroki Enji “(She knew that it was a “Quirk marriage”… but she said she would become my wife for her family’s sake.)” [Chap. 301]

The anime too remarks how Enji’s proposal was easily accepted by her parents (so Enji didn’t need to talk her parents into it as Shōto instead said) and how Rei could have refused (so she wasn’t forced by him to accept as Tōya said).

Todoroki Enji ‘(No.2 HERO no chii to meiyo, soshite jisankin meate ni Himura-ke no tōshu wa ore no teian o assari to ukeireta. Kotowaru koto mo dekita hazuda. Daga kanojo wa “kosei” kondearu koto mo shōchi no ue de, ie no tame ni ore no tsuma ni naru to iu.)’ 轟炎司「（No.2ヒーローの地位と名誉、そして持参金目当てに氷叢家の当主は俺の提案をあっさりと受け入れた。断る事もできたハズだ。だが彼女は〝個性〟婚である事も承知の上で、家の為に俺の妻になると言う。）」Todoroki Enji “(The head of the Himura family easily accepted my proposal, aiming for the status and prestige of the No. 2 hero, as well as the dowry. She could have refused. However, even if she was aware that it was a “Quirk” marriage, she said that she would become my wife for her family’s sake.)” [Ep. 130]

And it’s not just Enji who says so; Rei herself will claim the choice to marry Enji was her own… which matches with Japanese laws (arranged marriages can’t be done if the candidates don’t both consent).

Todoroki Rei ‘(Sentakushi wa kagirarete ita keredo erande susunda no wa watashi no ashi de───── semete sono sakide wa waratte iyou to omotte ita no ni───…)’ 轟冷「（選択肢は限られていたけれど選んで進んだのは私の足で─────せめてその先では笑っていようと思っていたのに───…）」 Todoroki Rei “(Although my options were limited, I chose to move forward with my own feet─────At least from now on I’ll try to smile, that’s what I was thinking─────…)” [Chap. 302]

Now, credits when it’s due, the idea here might be that the family actually gave her the option to marry a Himura, Enji, or some other rich guy, hence her options were limited but she could make her pick, and Rei might have felt psychologically ‘forced’ to marry among the candidates chosen by her parents due to filial piety and duty of obedience, even if not physically forced to do so. We can’t really say if Enji was her parents’ favorite candidate (we don’t know if she had other suitors who were more or equally prestigious and rich), so they influenced her choice, or she thought he would be her best pick among the candidates presented to her.

Still, in order to be good to her poor parents, she chose to marry Enji… but still this paints a completely different picture than the one Shōto first and Tōya later painted, as Enji isn’t really working hard to persuade her parents or forcing Rei’s hand, he made a proposition and came clean to his intentions of having a Quirk marriage and the ones who’re really to blame are Rei’s parents.

Interesting enough in the prototype it seems more like Rei was forced into a marriage, as the prototype version says she had a boyfriend/lover (愛人 ‘koibito’), meaning she had to give up on that person to marry Enji, which would fit more with the idea of her being forced and her family needing to be persuaded, where the manga instead never mention her having a previous love interest.

So again, we get a feeling the story changed track in regard to how unfair it was the marriage toward Rei (as now she had some options), and on how much Enji was to blame for it (as now the Himuras needed zero persuasion to switch from selling her to a poor, distant relative to selling her to the rich and prestigious number two, Rei gave her consent and, anyway, if she hadn’t, she would have to marry a relative or, possibly, another rich candidate) and so it can be the whole thing was retconned again to paint a less negative picture of Enji.

Something else I found odd, but that might not mean anything, is that usually girls who come from prestigious families (even poor ones) become wives who dress in a traditional fashion, with kimono and all (think for example to the main character of ‘Ai Yori Aoshi’ (藍より青し “Bluer Than Indigo”)), while Rei is shown in jeans and t-shirt or skirt and t-shirt. It’s a stereotype, it’s not necessarily a truth of life, but it still makes me think that the plan for the Himura to be a prestigious, traditional family was something Horikoshi came up with later, and that likely he originally envisioned Rei as coming from a family of poor commoners and then he switched to a prestigious family.

Last but not least… Rei is shown as heavily dressed for her first walk with Enji (she has a jacket and a scarf) despite having a body better suited for the cold, which seems to imply it should be winter but… gentians are blossoming meaning it’s either spring or autumn. The anime seems to outright go for a warmer season as it leaves the window open (in the manga it was closed) so maybe it was a mistake to dress Rei so heavily (Enji is comparatively much less dressed as he’s only wearing a suit).

As for the Himura backstory, it sure is interesting but it’s clearly placed at that point more to explain why Tōya too ended up on having an ice Quirk (the Himura blood is just that thickthat whoever has it can’t help but have a ice Quirk) than to enrich Rei’s backstory (or Geten’s) with details. Yeah, they benefit from the addition too (the story becomes also explanation why Geten joined Re-Destro) but it doesn’t really seem about them or for them, but feels as a narrative expedient to explain/excuse a sudden and not foreshadowed surprise.

It’s not bad, however again, it feels poorly foreshadowed.

It was Shōto himself who introduced the Quirk marriages, but claimed they started becoming a problem during the second or third generation, stating those earlier generations were lacking in ethic (Shōto is probably a fifth generation as Midoriya). Well, it turns out the Himura always did Quirk marriages, albeit, differently from his father, as they didn’t want to mix their Quirk with other Quirks, but strengthening/preserving their own ice Quirk as well as their blood. Shōto though, blames only his father to do as those old generations, which seems to imply his mother’s side wasn’t doing the same.

The result is that the whole Himura family’s past seems more like a spur of the moment idea, more than something planned… or, at least, to me it feels like that.

Something else worth mentioning is through the story we’ll never learn about Enji’s mother, very likely because it spared Horikoshi from drawing her which is fair… but it’s still a pity.

Last but not least, in the anime only monologue there’s probably a mistake.

Todoroki Enji ‘(No.2 HERO no chii to meiyo, soshite jisankin meate ni Himura-ke no tōshu wa ore no teian o assari to ukeireta.)’ 轟炎司「（No.2ヒーローの地位と名誉、そして持参金目当てに氷叢家の当主は俺の提案をあっさりと受け入れた。）」 Todoroki Enji “(The head of the Himura family easily accepted my proposal, aiming for the status and prestige of the No. 2 hero, as well as the dowry.)” [Ep. 130]

‘Jisankin’ (持参金) means “dowry” but the dowry is an amount of property or money brought by the bride to her husband on their marriage (it can also be called ‘kashi’ (嫁資)).What the husband pays to the bride’s family instead is called ‘konshi’ (婚資) or ‘yuinōkin’ (結納金), both meaning “betrothal money”. In some cases the “betrothal money” can be an amount big enough to surpass the “dowry” (so basically the groom pays for the dowry and then some more), but it would have still made more sense for the dialogue to say the Himura wanted the “betrothal money”, not the “dowry”.

Watsonian commentary:

So, instead than trying to find a companion he could love and that would love him back, or waiting for when he’ll meet one, Enji decides to marry a woman who can give him an offspring that could help him fulfill his ambitions and erase his inferiority complex as well as his dark feelings all in one single blow.

Mind you, as I said in the cultural corner, in Japan people is okay with marriages not done out of love, but it’s no more AGAINST marriages done out of love. Enji doesn’t have a family pressuring him to marry Rei. It’s just he thinks he’ll feel better if he’ll have the kind of heir he wants, instead than if he’ll choose his companion according to what he feels for such person or, at least, personal compatibility.

It speaks of a man who doesn’t know the value of emotional relations, who’s completely obsessed with his own goal.

His father died when he was a middle-schooler… which means if his mother was alive he might have had memories of their relation. Either she died earlier than his father, or their relation wasn’t the sort one also wishes to have for himself. If his parents too married for convenience and not out of love, it might have made easier for Enji to follow that same path.

Now, as said in the Doylist commentary, likely Enji’s mother wasn’t included for practical reasons, but, in a Watsonian commentary, the most ergonomic explanation for her absence at the Miai (normally the mother of the potential groom would be very involved with it) as well as in Enji’s home (as said before, the firstborn take over the family house and then, due to filial piety, is supposed to take care of his aging parents and, since Enji’s mother is a widow and Enji’s house is big enough for it, it would have made even more sense for her to live with her son and educate Rei to the rules of the house), is that she’s dead.

What’s more, if his mother died early on, before his father did, this could have had unpleasant psychological consequences that lead to the character Enji has, in fact an early loss of his mother can cause in a child low self-worth, emotional dysregulation (as in difficulties in managing emotions which can lead to outbursts or withdrawal) and a general insecurity in relationships, which might have pushed him to prefer a relationship based on interest than one based on feelings.

Long story short, Enji’s ‘weakness’, unknown to him, could have had its psychological roots in his lack of mother figure, though he realized of his weakness only when his father died and he failed to act.

Of course all this doesn’t exactly make him a well balanced guy who can be considered an ideal husband.

Rei is in no better position.

There’s no freedom to marry who you love in her family, traditionally the Himura marry among relatives, and when the Himura ends up being poor they’re all to sell her to the best offering.

Legally the family head, which is also Rei’s father (according to the anime the guy with Enji and Rei at the Miai is the family head and Rei’s father... but just so you know, the fact that the two are one and the same isn’t mandatory) couldn’t have forced Rei to marry the potential husband he favored, and Rei claims she had options, albeit limited ones, but likely they were to chose among the candidates her family picked for her as filial piety and the duty to obey to her parents likely pressured her not to say ’no’ to the whole thing.

In the end Rei chose economical stability for her birth family over the continuation of the Himura family line and she tried to be happy with her choice.

Maybe it wasn’t she just chose economical stability, maybe she thought since Enji showed interest in what she liked, asking her if she liked flowers, this could mean he would be a good husband. Maybe the other candidates didn’t even ask her that much.

Still, in making this choice, she basically agrees with Enji’s plan to have children he can use to fulfill his ambitions, she ‘sacrifices’ them (as well as herself) to help her own previous family.

Honestly I don’t think she thought she would ‘sacrifice’ her children, she likely didn’t expect things to go that bad… but she probably also expected her own children to act like her, do what they must for the well being of their birth family (read: to satisfy their father).

She was clearly raised to obey and sacrifice herself for her own family, and she has likely assumed it was fair to expect her own children would do the same because that’s how she was taught the world works. Not only she likely didn’t expect Tōya would end up being incompatible with his Quirk, but also that, once Tōya was told by his parents he couldn’t train or become a Hero, Tōya would resist them and continue training. Obeying to her birth family, sacrificing herself for it, was probably so natural for her she didn’t even realize it until Tōya slams on her face she’s also responsible for his situation.

There’s to wonder how the Himuras see Enji. Despite all their flattering when he approached the Himura, there’s no hint whatsoever Enji is also from a prestigious family, the Himura family head praising solely the position he has reached as a Hero, not his family history.

Enji has a big house (although smaller than the Himuras… at least in the anime), yes, but he might have bought that later, it might not be his birth home.

So, despite Enji’s position and money which allows him to buy Rei and to have an impressively big house, the Himura might look down at him as just a commoner who got successful and rich but nothing more.

Anyway… if things had gone well… Enji and Rei would have probably been fine regardless of being two people who clearly didn’t have the best psychological background.

Rei would have played her part as perfect wife and mother, obeying Enji and taking care of the house and children and Enji would have played his part as perfect husband, working hard so as to provide money for his family and raising his own heir the way he wanted to.

Problems came though, and, with them, the balance the two of them had came crashing down… but we’ll see it in the next part.

That’s all for this part. Please stay tuned for the next!

[usagirln12003]

Touya Todoroki: Hogwarts AU

Touya Todoroki is a Pureblood wizard (Lycanthrope) that was born on the 18th of January 1961 and started attending Hogwarts on the 1st of September 1972, being sorted into Slytherin house.

He has a Blackthorn wand with a Dragon Heartstring Core.

His Patronus is a Hebridean Black.

His favorite subject was Defense Against the Dark Arts and his least favorite was Ancient Runes.

Touya was very energetic and boisterous as a child, and he wanted to learn as much as he could from his father. Because his father, Enji, had emphasized that he would be the one to surpass Toshinori Yagi since childhood, Touya became obsessed with fulfilling that dream, becoming just as stubborn as his father to become the Head of the Auror's Department. This drive to surpass Yagi was so great that, despite Enji telling him to abandon this goal and focus on something else, Touya refused and continued training, burning himself in the process. Touya described his goal as a fire that his father lit within him that would not go out and that he could not bring himself to ignore, highlighting how his childhood dream became an unhealthy obsession. Rei, however, construed that Touya simply yearned for his father's acknowledgment and proof that he wasn't a failure, something that became more apparent following the birth of Shoto, who had inherited the magic and strength that Touya lacked.

Touya's obsession would go on to make him further unstable, becoming indifferent to the damage his training was doing to his own body and also shrugged off concerns from his sister and mother, stating that his younger siblings lived in a different world than him. At one point, Touya even lashed out and attacked his mother and an infant Shoto with his accidental magic when his father refused to look at him. Being aware of the arranged marriage of his parents, Touya grew bitter towards his mother when she tried to dissuade him from training, claiming that she held just as much responsibility as Enji for why he was born, words that shook Rei to her core. Despite this, he wasn't completely callous towards his family as he had a reasonably good relationship with Fuyumi and Natsuo while growing up, and he also expressed regret for trying to attack Shoto while admitting that he was wrong.

After feeling abandoned by Enji, who became focused on Touya's youngest brother Shoto, Touya went through an existential crisis and would cry out of frustration every night. Nevertheless, he continued to train despite the harm he would suffer, hoping to surpass Shoto and gain his father's approval. Touya even cried out of pure happiness when he saw his magic evolve and become stronger. However, when his father didn't meet with him to see this discovery, Touya broke down emotionally and lost track of time, which led to him getting attacked by a werewolf and was nearly mauled to death. Even after surviving and escaping from the werewolf pack that kidnapped him 3 years later, however, Touya still went home and wanted to see his father again, yet also desired to make amends with his family for attacking Shoto and his mistreatment of them. After seeing that nothing had changed and that Enji was still obsessed with training Shoto to become his successor, Touya psychologically broke, taking this action that all he ever was to his father was a failed and discarded attempt at reaching his selfish ambitions. This mental breakdown caused Touya to completely abandon his old self and become Dabi, a murderous and pyromaniacal werewolf obsessed with ruining his father's reputation and paying him back for all the suffering he went through.

After renaming himself Dabi, he became a stoic, aloof, confident, and focused individual who rarely shows emotion. While rather crude and violent, he's cautious, choosing to retreat when Rumi Usagiyama arrived to aid Enji and made sure not to divulge too much information to Keigo Takami about missions because of the infancy of their relationship. Overall, Dabi is a highly enigmatic individual who trusts no one, preferring to do things alone and in his way. He also gives off the impression of knowing more about certain people than he lets on.

Despite his usual expressionless behavior, Dabi finds joy in establishing himself as a dark wizard fighting what he believes to be corrupted ministry workers, an ideology proposed by his apparent inspiration, Stain. Dabi is dedicated to Stain's mission and desires to destroy the society where Purebloods supreme, sharing his belief that one person with the necessary conviction can do so. He is shown to share Stain's sentiment that aurors are hypocritical and unworthy of their title, but unlike Stain, he does not seem to seek a society with better aurors, believing that true kindness don't exist. Despite his devotion to the Ministry Killer's creed, Dabi does many things that Stain would not, such as attacking innocent bystanders and helping the League get revenge against Kai Chisaki, while also being motivated by his vengeance against Enji. In the end, Dabi only uses Stain's ideals to cover his motives and justify his crimes against the wizarding society.

Dabi takes pleasure in taunting heroic figures, students, and aurors alike, sadistically enjoying the pain he inflicts on others, including those he murders. Sometimes, Dabi engages in psychological warfare to unnerve whoever his opposition is while also allowing himself to cool down from his magic's effects. Very pragmatic in battle, he is rather savvy about how aurors operate and will exploit their natural tendency to rescue others. He is not afraid of causing collateral destruction, rarely holding back, even if it puts his allies at risk.

Dabi is intolerant of most people and can be very derisive, rude, and condescending to everyone with whom he interacts. He insulted Tomura Shigaraki immediately after meeting him and constantly does the same to his allies and enemies but doesn't always do it with the intention of being rude. While the League would go on to develop a strong sense of camaraderie, Dabi has remained distant from them for the most part. He has admitted that he doesn't care for Tomura or the rest of the League and that the value he puts on them comes mostly from their ability to bring his ambitions into reality. This selfish way of thinking establishes Dabi as an extreme sociopath.

However, Dabi appears to at least be capable of feeling some remorse. While he had no problem killing a respected auror, the latter's words appeared to have resonated with him, implying that Dabi has sympathy for those that have lost family due to dark wizards, as well as the loved ones of those who he has killed. Yet, this remorse does not extend to his family, as Dabi has frequently contemplated their deaths for revenge against Enji. He also appears to have specific standards, as upon seeing Fumikage Tokoyami arrive to save Keigo, he was surprised and disgusted by how the ministry were more than willing to bring Hogwarts students into battle, although he could've just been looking down on them for having to rely on wizards in training.

Dabi even displayed some semblance of kindness when he burned down Himiko Toga's family home while she was feeling distraught over it, though he claims he only did it to twist the knife for the ministry. Despite admitting that he held no care for the other League members, he did encourage Jin Bubaigawara to do his best for the League during the war, even hi-fiving him as he ran out to join the battle and took the time to encourage Himiko that they should continue fighting for their cause. This personality aspect shows that Dabi cares enough about his allies to support their morale when needed, even if only for pragmatic and self-serving purposes.

Following the reveal of his identity and his article in the Daily Prophet revealing his childhood, Dabi unveils his far more sadistic and unhinged side, expressing a maddened and gleeful expression upon confronting his father and youngest brother. With his sadism and vengeance fully renewed, Dabi thoroughly relishes any pain he can cause Enji, shown when he attacked Nejire with his long nails and gloated that Enji's flames had burned another child's future. The article in the Daily Prophet has also shown his steadfast belief about the people working for the ministry: they use their good actions to hide and justify all their sins and use the public's admiration of them to keep it that way. He ridicules his father for believing that he could atone for his past abuse of his family and his attempts to change into a better person and does the same when revealing Keigo's father to be a serial criminal who his father had sent to Azkaban. Although he had previously discarded his birth name, he resumes using it after his duel with his father.

Dabi is also aware of his madness and doesn't seem to be against the idea of suicide if it can kill his father or hurt him more, as shown when Dabi attempts to immolate both himself and Shoto in the War. He also expresses how he can't feel anything anymore, not even towards his family, further cementing Dabi's apathy and showing how far he has fallen. He later confirms to Shoto that he's fully intending to go down while taking out Enji, knowing that his vengeance would lead him to death from the start and that killing his father while destroying everything he holds dear will be how he leaves his mark on the world. Upon confronting his father again in the final battle of the Fourth Wizarding War, Dabi intends to use his magic to self-destruct and destroy everything around him. As a result of this, Dabi's loss of sanity causes him to regress back to his childhood thoughts before he starts to explode, as seen by him telling his father to look at him like he did as a child, having completely lost himself to his desire for vengeance.

[aheckinmess]

Precious Protectors [Shoto] (Fluff)

(One-shot 18/? in a collection of My Hero Academia one-shots posted regularly on Saturdays - and sometimes Sundays.)

Read on AO3.

Tags: Todoroki x OC, Shoto x OC, Shoto Todoroki, Shouto Todoroki, Pro Hero Shoto, Pro Hero Original Female Character(s), Ichijiku Aoki, Tigress, Shoto is a Ray of Sunshine, Pregnant OC, Enji Todoroki, Rei Todoroki, Mention of Natsuo Todoroki, OC and Shoto Have Children Already, Expecting Their Next, Featuring Protective Shoto, And His Dazzling Smile, Also There's Bunnies Involved, And Cute Child Interaction, Also OC Goes Into Labor, Panic Ensues

Word Count: 1,826 words

Summary: During her 32nd week of pregnancy, Ichijiku gets restless and tired. Shoto, being the good husband he is, takes the utmost care of her...as well as helps her deal with two twin girls who can be a bit of a handful.

Ichijiku (Tigress)

“What color do you think we should paint the nursery?” I hum, looking through the different color swatches in the store. Three colors draw my eyes to their soft, comforting tones: mint green, dusty blue, and a lilac purple.

“You seem to be eying the purple. Do you want that one?” Shoto brushes his hand against my back. “It looks nice.”

“I’m leaning towards the lilac, but what do you think?”

He picks up the three shades and spends a minute looking between them. I can’t help the smile tickling my cheeks at his focused expression.

“Let’s take these three paint swatches home so we can get an idea of what it’ll look like on the walls.”

“Good idea.”

. . . . .

We make it home and sleep calls my name. One long shopping trip has always been enough to tucker me out anyway, but with a full child growing inside me? My bottom finds the couch instantly and I puff out a heavy sigh as I flop into the cushions.

“Do you need me to get you anything, love?” Shoto takes a seat beside me.

“I’m just tired, Frosted Flames.” I coo, stretching one hand to squeeze his as my eyelids flutter dangerously. “But I could use a peppermint tea if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind. I’ll get it started while I put away the groceries.” He gets up again and kisses my forehead. “Don’t try to get up and do anything. Let me take care of you.”

Of course, when I hear the bags shuffling even my desire to sleep can’t fight against my stubborn streak. Just the thought of Shoto having to put away everything and still have to make my tea makes me grunt and struggle to my feet. 

I reach down for a bag, thinking he’s got all the heavy items, and wince when I wobble at the unexpected heaviness of the bag.

“Stop, you’re going to hurt yourself!” Shoto exclaims, catching me before I topple over into the table. After a breath, he cups my face. “I didn’t mean to get loud. You scared me.”

“Sorry. I hate seeing you have to do all the work.” I frown.

“I know, Tiger, but you have to be careful. If you overextend yourself, you don’t just hurt yourself now. You have others to look after.” He kisses my cheek and squeezes my hands. “Now, go rest and I’ll make your tea. Homura and Himari should be coming back from Mom and Dad’s within the hour.”

“Are you sure I can’t help a little?” I pout, letting my kitten eyes glow up at him.

“If you’re insistent upon helping, you can do the dishes. There’s only a few in the sink. Will that satiate you, troublemaker?” He chuckles, pinching my cheek.

“I think so.” I giggle, and head to the sink.

As I finish up the final few dishes, a flurry of white flashes outside the window showing the outside. I lift my head up and gasp, drying my hands and tapping Shoto’s side.

“Shoto-kun, look!”

He comes up behind me and his head thunks on my shoulder as he looks with me, his hands coming up around my waist and resting on the sides of my belly. At first, I think he’s missed it, but then I hear his breathing stop.

“Is that a rabbit family in our backyard?”

“There’s been one that I’ve seen off and on in the garden, but I didn’t realize she had a whole family!” I coo happily as the furry critters scamper under the rosebush.

“Looks like we’re not the only growing family here.” Shoto smiles and nudges me. “Now, come on. I’ve got your tea ready. You go rest while I finish the groceries and take a nap if you want to.”

I’m halfway through my mug of tea before I’m passed out on the couch.

. . . . .

“Daddy! Daddy! Look what–”

“Shh, Mommy’s asleep, Homura.”

“Oops.”

“How has Ichijiku been doing with the pregnancy, Shoto? No complications?” Mom's voice pulls me towards consciousness, though I keep my eyes closed and my breathing steady.

“No complications, just restless like she was last time.” Shoto explains.

“Daddy, we played Rescue with Grandpa and Grandma let us help her make dinner, like Mommy.” Himari’s voice chirps softly. “Can we visit them tomorrow, too?”

“Well, we’ll see.” Shoto chuckles.

“You know we’re more than willing to watch over them as often as you need.” Dad’s voice, always deep and stern, is surprisingly soft. I have a feeling he appreciates us giving him time with his grandkids. Natsuo’s been pretty adamant about distancing himself. “Especially since she’s in the 32nd week.”

“I know. We appreciate it, Father.” Shoto assures him. “Though the girls like helping Ichan around with things she still has trouble with. Don’t you, girls?”

“Yes, sir!” They chime in unison.

A smile forces itself on my face, so I open my eyes and yawn. I stroke my belly absently as two little girls with their father’s blue eyes barrel in my direction.

“Mommy! You’re awake!” Homura is quick to crawl into the little hole on the couch behind my back, and Himari squeezes herself in there too. Both of them rest their head on my arm and look at me. “Grandma let us help her cook like you do!”

“Is that so?” I grin, reaching up to boop each of their noses. “What did you make, little loves?”

They turn to Mom, who laughs.

“Vegetable tempura.”

“She helped me cut the kabocha!” Himari beams.

“And I got to mix the sauce!” Homura puffs out her chest. “And then before that, Grandpa let us play Rescue!”

“Really? Who did you rescue?”

“Grandpa!”

“He needed help being saved from a fire!” 

“Yeah.” Himari tries to whisper, but there’s no doubt the whole house hears her. “It was make-believe, Mommy. Grandpa don’t get hurt by fire.”

“Oh, okay.” I whisper in much the same manner. “I gotcha. You were very brave for helping him, anyway.”

“You really think so?” 

“I don’t think, I know!”

A little more conversation and I do my typical workout of heaving myself off the couch. Of course, Himari and Homura help push and pull to make the effort easier. Then I waddle over to give the in-laws a hug before stealing a kiss from Shoto.

“We appreciate everything you both do to help.” I reiterate, yawning once more for good measure as I head into the kitchen. Although I’m aching to feed my sweet tooth with M&Ms or chocolate-covered pretzels, my body craves fruit in this third trimester. 

I pull out a few bananas and start slicing them as Shoto waves Mom and Dad out the door.

“You make your fruit, I’ll get the girls’ ready for bed.” Shoto suggests, nodding towards the girls. “C’mon, girls. Let’s go brush our teeth and put on our pj’s.”

“Aww!” Himari huffs.

“Can’t we stay up a little longer?” Homura begs.

“Not tonight. You have school tomorrow.” He picks them both up and hugs them against his chest. “But I’ll tell you what. If you do well with your bedtime for the rest of the week, maybe I’ll talk with Grandma and Grandpa about spending the night this weekend.”

“Okay!” 

When he sets them down this time, two sets of footsteps tear down the hall towards the bathroom. I pop a few slices of banana in my mouth as I shake my head with amusement. I love them so much.

The girls head towards me for bedtime hugs and kisses when I feel it. I wince after I pull back and hold my stomach as Shoto leads them to bed. Shoto’s voice carries down the hall as he reads to the girls while I finish my snack. About ten minutes later, I’m walking down the hall to join him when another sharp, cramping pain crackles through my back and abdomen.

“Ichan?” Shoto’s at my side in a moment. “Are you okay?”

“I should be fine for a bit longer.” I assure him, breathing deep and steady. “But you might want to call the parents to come back and watch the girls for tonight. I have a feeling…”

“Is it already that time?” Shoto’s eyes widen.

“I think so.”

Car lights signal Mom and Dad’s return when my water breaks. Talk about timing. I grip the kitchen counter and swallow thickly. Time flickers by in a blur as my sole focus suddenly becomes the steady ebb and flow of pain as three little boys plan to make their debut.

“It’s gonna be okay, Ichan. We’re almost there.” Shoto reassures me as he helps me through the hospital doors.

One moment I’m in a wheelchair and the next I’m squeezing Shoto’s hand so hard I swear I feel his bones creaking. It’s 7 hours of remembering to breathe and Shoto’s whispered encouragement and doctors and nurses and pushing until a cry cuts through the room.

For all that work through 7 hours, his brother comes three minutes later, and their youngest brother makes his debut in another four. The symphony of three wailing babies graces my ears and prompts me to relax. My eyes lock in on three little bodies with limbs flailing before I search for Shoto.

“They’re here, they’re here.” Shoto whispers, wiping the hair out of my face and caressing my cheek before kissing me. “You did wonderful, love. They’re going to clean them off so we can hold them.” He promises.

Three bundled blankets with three heads of red peach fuzz return to us and tears glitter in my eyes as Shoto and I go to each boy in turn, giving them their fair share of love.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us.” Shoto smiles at me.

“For sure. But the first task is to pick names.”

“I know you had a few in mind.”

“I do.” I agree, thinking over the list I’ve been filing through in my mind. I look at the three little faces looking back up at me and it suddenly seems so clear. “Eiji, Enji, and Emiko.” 

It doesn’t surprise me that Shoto snaps his head to me.

“Enji?”

“I know you’re still working on your relationship with him, but they’re my three little boys. My three little protectors. It seems only fitting.” I explain, eyes fluttering as my body winds down from the effort and adrenaline. “Eiji is a name meant for protection through peace and prosperity. Enji, of course, your father has shown he’s capable of protecting the masses. And Emiko is meant for protection through smiles and joy.” 

“You’ve put a lot of thought into this, haven’t you?”

“I learned from Himari and Homura that so long as I have a collection of names to pick from…their names will usually come to me after they’re born.”

Shoto looks at our three boys for a moment, then looks back at me, much softer.

“Our three little protectors…I like that.”

Want More Shoto? Try: What It Means to Be the Best

[dabis-things]

dabi i hate my dad he’s ruining my life. im sobbing. i know i can’t forgive but neither can he. he says he’s sorry but he’s not capable, but i’m not either, but the thought of him eating alone at night makes me sick to my stomach, thinking about how he was a little boy with a favourite toy and dreams and how his father ruined him too, how no matter where i go there is always an angry man in my house, how i’ll always be my fathers daughter, how i ruined his life and he ruined mine, i can’t. i never had a dad. always had a father but never a dad. and no matter where i go i’m always his daughter and i want to rip my skin off.

yeah im gonna keep venting here

Yeah I know how that feels, I used to be Toya Todoroki, the eldest son of Endeavor, the current Number One Hero, and Rei Todoroki. My father was obsessed with surpassing All Might and thought he could do it through me. Born with a fire-based Quirk even more intense than his, I was pushed into rigorous training from a young age. My flames were powerful, but my body, inheriting my mother's weak constitution, couldn't handle them. Each time I used my Quirk, it caused me immense pain and damage.

Despite the agony, I kept pushing myself, desperate to prove myself to my father. But the pain and his relentless pressure drove me over the edge. Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore and faked my own death, leaving behind Toya Todoroki and becoming Dabi. I joined the League of Villains, driven by a burning desire for revenge against my father and the hero society that idolized him.

So yeah I feel you, I’m not that heartless so come here I’ll help you feel better I’ll help you feel free.