#sorry if I'm depressing

[codenamesazanka]

Since it's obvious that deku is going to save shigaraki and it's very unlikely that Shigaraki's going to die: what are your hopes for the ending? the main theories I have seen are imprisoned (which? Doesn't seem that likely) or being adopted by all might and becoming a pro hero (which seems more likely? But I'd rather have the hero system not survive the manga)

Well, that's sort of two separate things: my hopes for the ending vs what will probably happen. 

What I hope for is Shigaraki and the League pulling a karma houdini and running off into the sunset, never to get caught or serve time or pay for their crimes. That’s not to say they don't change - they stop being Villains out to destroy society, they're genuinely remorseful for the damage they've done, they make it up with self-assigned community service (vigilantism) for the rest of their lives. They run an orphanage that takes in the abandoned, the abused, the abnormal, and raise hundreds of children to be healthy, happy adults. Something like that. 

I hope for this, because the series has not convinced me that much of anything has changed or will change so that what the League went through won't happen again, that the various failures of Hero Society will be corrected, that Heroes are doing anything substantial to prevent new Villains. A few Heroes here and there have finally approached a Villain and acknowledged that they're human and they have been wronged in some way - but they have not addressed at all the root causes. 

The manga seems to believe that if only these Villains had been lucky enough to meet the one person who could've convinced them to endure the abuses, to not lash out, things would've been fine. If only Enji had gone to meet Touya and apologize - never mind the Hero ranking system that contributed to Enji’s toxic mindset, or the existence of the Himura clan who enabled a quirk marriage because they hated heteromorphs so much they would rather inbreed. If only Toga had met Ochako when she was younger - then she could've braved through quirk counseling and her parents emotionally abusing her. If only heteromorphs could've focused on good memories and be shining model minorities instead of being resentful - that’ll get those bigots who commit hate crimes against children to feel ashamed!

At the rate this is going, Deku vs Shigaraki will probably be something like this: If only there was a Deku-like person who was on the streets that day that Tenko was walking - then Tenko wouldn't have become justifiably resentful of the hundreds of other people who did ignore an injured five-year-old. If only he had a Deku-like friend who had magically appeared in the yard that night - then Tenko could've swallowed down his tears and smiled away the pain of his father’s abuse and family’s neglect.

If only a Deku-like Hero could’ve saved Tenko instead of All For One, then everything would’ve turned out okay - because it was AFO who entirely manufactured and introduced to Tenko the foreign, dangerous element of anger. It’s not as if being an orphan with a scary face (Jin), being known as the kid who killed his family/associated with having done something bad despite it being an accident (Gentle), having a strong quirk that people might fear (Toga), the possibility of being placed again in an dysfunctional/abusive home (Touya), the possibility of experiencing bullying because of all these things that make him stick out (Spinner, La Brava), and just having a lifelong tendency to empathize with and gravitate towards outcasts might just give him reasons to get frustrated and lash out at injustice still, even after his trauma was properly handled.

(Perhaps it’ll turn out that AFO gave Tenko the Decay quirk. How evil! We can thus blame everything on AFO and not have to examine the fact that, hey, regardless of how the quirk manifested, it exists and will affect the user’s life largely due to public perceptions of them and their quirk and whether they manage to behave in a way acceptable and in line with how people think someone with such a quirk should behave.) 

It's true that sometimes, all it takes is the influence of one person, of a single act of kindness to change things. A single Hero to reach out and save someone in need. But is that not already the status quo in the story? We've got hundreds of Heroes patrolling the streets, ready to save someone; hundreds more students about to join them. We got one super-superman who spent 40 years pushing himself to his limits trying to be everywhere. All these individuals, all these acts of rescues, and still people had fallen through the cracks - which was also where the kindness stops.

What the story suggests is that Heroes should also reach through the cracks and help the fallen. That's a good start! Know what would be better? Fixing the cracks. Especially when those cracks aren't things Heroes can actually do anything about because it’s domestic violence behind closed doors, it’s gradual dehumanization through public and cultural institutions, it’s bigots beating children with shovels using no quirks and the excuse of generations-long communal superstition, it’s a system officially labeling people as Villain/Enemy like they're cartoony evil comic book antagonists to defeat instead of real people. 

You might say, it’s obvious those things will be fixed! After the war. It’ll be dealt with! By a single panel in the epilogue. Yeah, fair enough. That’s also just bad writing. The conflict should be resolved within the story, the promise of change should be seen, not just vaguely told to us. I can't trust it. 

What the League went through - discrimination, abuse, quirk counseling, marginalization, lack of social support, etc. - was injustice. If the new system that arises after this war - the one that will be led by Deku and his generation - does nothing or barely anything about these things, I cannot trust that the League going into this new system will be given true justice that take into account the crimes committed by them, but also the crimes committed by the people around them towards them and the failures created by the very structure of society. 

I’m being very hard on the Heroes, I know, I’m expecting a lot out of them beyond just ‘saving hearts’. But canonically, Heroes are government-funded civil servants, and the Hero System is an important branch of the governance of this society. The responsibility - to all people - is theirs. If they cannot do this, then Heroes as they are should not exist; something different has to be implemented. 

Shigaraki started this war against the world because it rejected him and his friends, it denied them a future where they could flourish as themselves. If the world changes, then he has a place to be. If the world does not change, then having him take a place in it is just forcing him to conform and keep enduring the same old injustices. 

(But with a Hero friend this time. 🙂 Who shows him how cool Heroes are and teaches him to support the system again. 🙂 Who’s No. 1 in the rankings because competition and popularity has been kept… but it’s gentler or something now. 🙂 And who visits him in Tartarus 2.0, which is largely the same, complete with guns pointed at Shigaraki, just in case he ever uses his quirk because with that power he’s still too dangerous to take chances... but which is no longer staffed by wardens who call their charges ‘beasts in human skin’. 🙂) 

The current trajectory of the story does not inspire me that things will change much. Kids wanna graduate from UA - so we gotta keep those Hero Schools! Business class students are filming everything for post-war propaganda! Gotta show how amazing and necessary Heroes are and continue their celebrity status! Wasn’t All Might so cool when he got into a mecha suit to beat up AFO and the whole world prayed for him? Gotta cement Heroism and belief in their righteousness into the collective consciousness and the dreams of humanity!

So I really want Shigaraki and the League to get to just run off and sentence themselves to what they think is appropriate penance. And if that’s sipping piña coladas on a beach somewhere, that’s what it is.

I apologize if I sounded harsh, anon! It’s not directed at you. My rant is just some of my frustrations with how the story has been progressing, and how either of those theories you’ve seen - imprisonment (likely in Tartarus 2.0) or being assimilated into the (same flawed) system - are lacking, in my opinion. My hopes for the ending are neither of those.

But my hopes are different from what I think is likely to happen. I actually think the opposite of what you think, anon: Imprisonment is more likely. I cannot see people in-universe and out (readers) accepting Shigaraki Tomura being adopted by All Might and becoming a Pro-Hero - it feels unrealistic for the civilian masses of a world that’s canonically wary of Shouto for being related to Dabi, a system that blames Aoyama for being a scared kid and request him to take responsibility for the cowardice of his parents, a moral lesson that says how heteromorphs react to brutal discrimination determines whether they should be listened to or not (and whether their children will be reasonably targeted in revenge); and too at odds with the sensibilities of most readers who are generally much less sympathetic towards the Villains than you and I am (and probably do want to keep the flashy Hero System. But make it ‘nicer’). 

I’ve been browsing through Japanese message boards and the general theories I’ve seen actually include the possibility of death for Shigaraki - but it’ll be suicide, as penance for his crimes; or some convenient manner of dying that won’t dirty up Deku’s hands. Deku can offer him salvation for his heart and soul, but cannot forgive him and let him go unpunished. Shigaraki committed too much damage, too big a crime, and is too dangerous a person to be left alive. If he does survive, he should be imprisoned in Tartarus 2.0 for the rest of his life, and he can correctly show his remorse and rehabilitation by obediently following that sentence.

For a story that wants Shigaraki to be saved, to befriend Deku, to lose his anger and resentment and find hope in the future enough to assimilate back into a continuing Hero Society, I think the logical end result would be Shigaraki serving life sentence in Tartarus 2.0. maybe getting parole for good behavior when he’s 50 and not as sprightly enough to be as deadly a threat. 

Mostly, though, I try not to predict the ending, beyond a small vague hope of Ultimate Karma Houdini I keep at the very back of my mind. Save myself from any disappointment! I remain in the present and accept chapters as they come.

[rotting-bitch]

Guilt follows me like a stray dog

[saduboiss]

I’m okay.

it’s getting bad again

[motherofoompaloompas]

Please vote ❤️

[worthless-misery]

Dear diary...

The fact that I'm still "alive" in 2024 just feels like a huge mistake...

[lotus-pear]

"dazai would princess carry chuuya" "dazai would hold chuuya bridal style" no shutup dazai would pick chuuya up like he's a sopping wet kitten or a sack of potatoes

[whokilledsev]

it's such a lonely existence wanting love but being so abused and traumatized that it feels like a fucking death sentence

[boopicide]

i don't wanna die, i just wanna never have existed in the first place.

[destroyedbitxh]

I wanna destroy myself completely

[d3athanddecay1]

I should just stop existing

[okartichoke]

ace avian. that’s what we’re calling this 🗣️🗣️🗣️

please let me know if you have any thoughts or suggestions or input or anything! i’m happy to bounce ideas around (i'll post DL-6 someday soon i swear)

link to masterpost || explations below cut

shoutout to the anon who sent in that ask bc i seriously fell in love with blue jay phoenix. SHOUTOUT TO TAKAHE PHOENIX TOO THO takahe phoenix, you will forever be in my heart and im glad you existed <3333,, (maybe in this au he’s got some loving adoptive takahe parents :3) (YKNOW WHAT YEAH that’s canon now)

but yeah, flight-avoidant jay phoenix still lends itself well to the common-man hardworking underdog vibe i want from him. speaking of flight-avoidant...

Phoenix's relationship with flying:

It's a bit complicated. Basically, Phoenix can fly, but he historically chooses not to. From the lack of any practice, he's an INCREDIBLY weak flier. (That hovering is really all he can manage)

For one, he's still afraid of heights. Can't help that. This fear means he was less inclined to practice flying, which made him a weaker flier. And being a weaker flier, in turn, made his fear of heights worse. And so on, in a loop. With flightless parents too (it's canon now it's canon), there's even less of a reason to learn to fly. At some point, not flying might've even become something he stuck with out of stubbornness lol, knowing Phoenix.

(I will soon be making a couple small world building posts, but) flying isn't necessary to get around in their society. Convenient, sure, but Phoenix realized he could make do without, and so he did. Phoenix, you icon. Slay. 💅💅

i know this probably isn't the popular take with wing AUs??, but Phoenix being flightless (or at least semi-flightless) sounded like a really fun take on the idea to me. His name is irony at its peak. I also look forward to exploring how other characters react to him not flying. The prosecutors are going to have so many cheap insult opportunities.

As I mentioned though, he still uses his wings a LOT, though. He's much more emotive with them than most people. His sarcastic inner-dialogue remarks are also betrayed by his wings lmao

I also imagine bird-folk never really invented bikes (riding would just be annoying with their wings, plus bikes aren't fast/efficient enough to outweigh just flying), so instead, Phoenix gets around on a little wing-powered scooter device (like scootaloo lol) (they're usually made for children who can't fly yet, but Phoenix still uses one)

finally, wow, stellar jay’s are quite literally just phoenix wright as a bird lmao? color scheme, hair, it’s uncanny. give it a pink tie and it just is Phoenix Wright, i used a blue jay since they’ve got a bit more striking wings but wow.

(ty again for the support and for reading my essay ! :3)

one more thing, but @kora-kat YES YES YES this. ^^^^ omg THIS. this is still true even though he's a jay now.

[rotting-bitch]

try to be gentle while tearing me apart

[saduboiss]

it’s unfair that I have to try so hard to control the symptoms of my mental illness…

why can’t I be normal?

[necroticghost]

not now please I'm busy rotting in bed

[worthless-misery]

I hate myself.

I hate my face.

I hate my eyes.

I hate my ears.

I hate my nose.

I hate my mouth.

I hate my lips.

I hate my hair.

I hate my neck.

I hate my shoulders.

I hate my chest.

I hate my back.

I hate my belly.

I hate my hips.

I hate my arms.

I hate my hands.

I hate my fingers.

I hate my skin.

I hate my crotch.

I hate my thighs.

I hate my knees.

I hate my legs.

I hate my feet.

I hate my ankles.

I hate my toes.

I hate my smile.

I hate my laugh.

I hate my scars.

I hate my stretch marks.

I hate my bones.

I hate my body hair.

I hate my voice.

I hate my mind.

I hate my thoughts.

I hate my dysphoria.

I hate my depression.

I hate my anxiety.

I hate my eating disorders.

I hate my trauma.

I hate my nightmares.

I hate my past.

I hate my memories.

I hate my childhood.

I hate my adolescence.

I hate my adulthood.

I hate my existence.

I hate my life.

I just hate every single thing about myself so fucking much...

[horreurscopes]

thirty & flirty & thriving / shower drains HATE them