#the way he says each other like its the final catalyst the biggest final offense possible the roman empire

[shadystranger]

putting ur brother in a different category above family and friends right in ur mother's face is crazy

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: Sabotage

Holvo’s day had started out much like any other.  Woke up, left his family for work, entered the office early, waved hello to his fellow coworkers, and then made his way to the his team’s station.  He was walking just outside of his area when he passed the human janitor mopping the floors. The human looked up and smiled to him.  “Mornin Mr. Holvo, lovely day isn’t it?”  Holvo smiled in return and nodded as he walked past. “You say the same thing every day I see you Patrick. You do realize that we have weather control units around the city that always keep it a perfect day?”  Patrick shrugged. “Doesn’t make them any less beautiful now does it?”  “No, I guess it doesn’t.” Holvo chuckled as he reached into his pocket and searched for his access card. Patrick stepped over to him as he was searching and swiped his own card to grant access to the lab.  “Today the day you build your fancy reactor?” Normally non-scientific staff were not to know the details about high level projects, but Holvo saw no harm in sharing the odd detail with Patrick if not to show off a bit. “Today’s the day we change the universe my friend.”  Patrick chuckled and waved goodbye as the doors to his team’s lab opened.  Holvo entered and stepped passed other researchers already at work on projects. Some looked up to acknowledge his presence, while others were so focused on their work they didn’t even acknowledge his passing. He took no offense though as that was what he excepted from his team.  This research center was the most advanced on the entire planet. His team was working on a new energy source that would revolutionize the galaxy at large. As Holvo set down his belongings and dawned his lab coat he was already picturing the list of clients that had signed up already wishing to purchase their new technology. The profits would not only set up himself and the company for several lifetimes, it would also ensure his peoples eternal place in the history of the universe at large.  A knock at the door drew his attention away from visions of glory. An aide was standing in the doorway to his office with a digital readout pad. “We’re ready to begin the final test.”   Holvo took the digital readout and gave it a once over. “Everything looks in order. Come, let’s go make history.”  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The light emanating from the reactor flickered across the gathered group of researchers, their protective goggles giving the group the eerie appearance. They watched from an overhanging balcony as the massive reactor below spun ever onwards generating more and more power.  “Reactor power levels at 100%”  An automated voice chimed in as displayed data feeds continued to update with ever changing strings of information.    “Reactor power levels stable.”  “Computer, begin transferring facility power supply from outside sources to this internal generator.”  Holvo’s voice cut through the silence as every researcher waited with baited breath.  “Power transfer now commencing.”  The lights in the room flickered for a moment as the hum of the generator continued to ring in the ears of all those present.  “Power transfer now complete. No flags were issued during the handover.”  “Computer, how long will this facility now be able to function while hooked up to the generator?” Holvo queried his question calmly, but inwardly he was never more scared. Everything hinged on the reply.  “At current consumption, this facility will be able to function for 347 years, 256 days, 19 hours, 6 minutes, and 24 seconds.”  The computer rattled off its answer but by then the researchers had broken into a rousing cheer and began hugging each other widely.  The generator was a success!  Holvo took off his goggles and turned to his team and joined in the festivities.  “I take it congratulations are in order?”  Holvo turned from his team and saw Patrick entering the control room with his cleaning cart behind him as he began emptying the nearby waste baskets.  “Yes, YES! We’ve done it!” Holvo yelped as he grabbed hold of Patrick and gave him a bear hug of joy.  “Alright, alright; it’s your big day and all.” Patrick tapped Holvo on the back and he let him go.  It was only after that Holvo had let go of Patrick that he felt something strange; as if something was wrong but he couldn’t put his finger in it. But like a rain falling through a drain pipe the wrongness pushed its way forward from the back of his mind.  “Patrick, what are you doing here?”  Patrick looked at him oddly. “What do you mean? I’m emptying the waste baskets, its my job.”  “But how did you get in here?”  Patrick smiled and patted him on the shoulder as he emptied another basket into his kart and then replaced it. “All this excitement must’ve boggled your brain a bit. I’ve got access to every room in the facility.” Holvo shook his head. “The security lockout should be in place while we are testing the generator. Even with your key card you should not be able to enter this room.”  A shuttering idea then soon followed that the system had somehow been disabled during the power transfer and he made to leave the room immediately to check the security systems when Patrick forestalled him.   “Don’t worry, the security system is still in place, nothing got shut down.”  Holvo let out a sigh of relief. “Are you sure?”  Patrick nodded as he finished emptying the last waste bin.  “I made sure to turn it back on myself before coming in.”  The sense of wrongness now felt much like a tidal wave. His eyes widened as Patrick’s hand was slowly emerging from the kart’s trash bag holding a gun of some sort and calmly pointed it at him. He tore his gaze away from the gun just long enough to see Patrick smiling the same smile he had done for the last three years every morning before the first shot rung out.  Holvo collapsed to the floor clutching his gut, blood coming out in spurts. The rest of the research team turned at the sudden noise only for Patrick to train his gun on them can carefully begin picking them off one by one.  None of them were able to utter so much as a gasp of surprise before the bullet pierced their skulls. In mere moments Patrick had gunned down the entire research team of twelve, the silence of the room once again returning.  Dragging himself to the nearby wall Holvo was able to prop himself up, though not without difficulty. His hands were still desperately tightly covering his wound, feverishly trying to stop the blood loss.  He tore his gaze away from the wound to look up. Across the room Patrick was at the control panels humming some indistinguishable tune while inserting a series of data drives.  “Wha......what have you done?” Holvo gasped.  “I could say I was taking out the trash but honestly I’m above such humor.” Patrick didn’t even bother to turn around in his response, his focus solely on the control panels. “But since we’re friends I feel as if I can be straight with you.”  Pulling the drives one by one as they flashed green before turning around to face Holvo and leaned on the consoles. “You’re probably wondering why I shot you and murdered your entire team, or more likely wondering how you’ll fix that wound before you bleed out; honestly it’s a fifty fifty to me so you just tell me which one is more important.”  Holvo felt like this was all some nightmare. The Patrick he had known for several years had suddenly become a monster. He tried to speak but was stopped by a violent fit of coughing up blood.  Nodding as he put the drives into his pocket Patrick looked down at Holvo as if he understood something. “Why I went all shootie on you then, good choice.” He began walking over and calmly picking up the spent shell casings and tossing them into the karts trash bag. He saw the confused look on Holvo’s face and shrugged. “Best to leave as little evidence as possible I always say.”  As the final casing flew into the bag Patrick crouched down on his hind legs in front of Holvo. “I’ve been undercover here for the last three years to learn and eventually steal your latest generator technology. My employer wished to have said technology for themselves and paid a handsome fee to obtain it, even going so far to offer an additional payment should I eliminate the research team as well.”  He smirked. “I guess you could call me a spy, but I make James Bond look like a pansy.” “You won’t get away with this.” Halvo forced the words out with increasing effort.  “Oh I won’t need to worry.” Holvo said gesturing back to the control panels. “While I was copying all your files, schematics, logs, and personal databases; I set your fancy reactor to begin cranking the power output up by 100% every thirty minutes. By the time I’m off world this thing will have reached critical mass and detonate leveling half the city.” Holvo’s eyes went wide in horror. “Not only will the destruction eradicate any evidence, but it also ruins this company as their experimental reactor will be seen as the catalyst for the devastation. It’ll go bankrupt and be forced to sell off, which my employer will buy up for nickles and dimes before completing your work again several years down the road.”  Patrick’s eyes narrowed for a moment and he looked down at his gun. “Just realized if this place goes nuclear it won’t matter if there are shell casings or not. Oh well, old habits and what not.”  “How dare you...steal our dream...of...a paradise.” Holvo coughed.  “Me?” Patrick held his hand to his chest and looked surprised. “The fault is not mine, but yours my friend. You were so busy dreaming of the future that you failed to notice that there was a snake in your garden until it was too late.”  He stood back up and moved back to his kart. “I’d say it was nice knowing you, or that this is painful for me since you were like a friend, but honestly you were the biggest prick I’ve ever known.”  Holvo’s arms fell limply away from his wound as the strength sapped from his body. He watched Patrick leave and felt the rhythmic beating of the reactor growing steadily beneath his feet. His dream of the future had become his nightmare of the present. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The security guard made their routine stroll past the restricted lab just as the human janitor was exiting.  “Hey you,” he called out, “that’s a restricted area when they’re testing.”  The human janitor looked sheepish and hunched over a bit.  ‘I know, but Mr. Holvo asked me to come in and clean all the waste baskets before they start doing more tests. Something about it “distracting him”. Can you believe that guy?”  The guard smirked and nodded. “Never really liked the fellow myself either.”  “He even told me to tell you that no one is to disturb him for the next few hours while they run more tests. What do I look like, his errand boy?”  “You don’t need to convince me friend. Best get moving before he starts having you write his acceptance speech or brag about how he’s made his mark in history.”  The human janitor smiled at that last remark. “Right hoe, best get moving. I wouldn’t doubt it though, he’s probably think about his mark in history even as we speak.”  

[the-nysh]

Whats your opinon of kiri//baku and todo//deku?

!!!!! 👀 Oooh, *takes deep breath* so I’ve finally been askedthe big question. (Thank you for courteously using the /s to block the ship names out of the tags) Because I DO have opinionsabout them. I’ve mostly kept them to myself, but since I’ve been prompted, Iwill try to be as honest and thorough as I can. :’)

Disclaimer: If you high-key shipeither of the two, please proceed with caution! 

To preface:

If it wasn’t already obvious from the content I reblog (and rave about in thetags), my decisive fav character of the series is Kacchan, and similarly, my otp of the series is with him and Deku(as bakudeku, aka bkdk for short – which is how it’scommonly called on twitter). So going in, that’s my given stance already.

But it wasn’t always this way! :O When I first started theseries I went in pretty cautious, wary, and undecided; I actually never plannedto fall so hard for either the character or the ship (and I rarely ship things tobegin with). That is, until Hori repeatedly bludgeoned me in the face and heartwith all the reoccurring and carefully consistent character development, to thepoint ch120 became the final, decisive nail in the coffin - the point of noreturn for me. :’3 So now, I’m fully invested in seeing how their story pulls through to the end, nomatter what it might become (it doesn’t even need to be shippy). With them thematically established as two sidesof the same coin – on opposite ends of the same spectrum of heroism – the twohalves of All Might who both win and rescue:I want to see how they push each other towards greatness and mature into a pairof the best heroes. It’s a long-term investment of hope and a case of slowburn positive development, in direct (and on purpose!) contrast to its rockyand strained foundations (they ARE immature and emotionally constipated teensafter all), but it’s all been carefully laid out through a steady path ofnarrative foreshadowing. Where the prospects at the end of that path – of mutualsupport, understanding, reconciliation, cooperation, teamwork, trust – arebeautiful and rewarding things that make their ongoing journey of growth worthit. So…for Hori to smash any original expectations I might have had, and makeme fall hard for something I never intended to happen, are examples of whatI consider GOOD writing.

After I realized this, I went and did my research. Which inmy case, is reading up on countless character/relationship meta and fanfics togauge how the fandom sees their potential too. So I am very aware of the multiple sides of existing arguments and the dramathat’s already happened in the fandom (from across both tumblr and twitter). Iknow the western fandom considerably favors kr/bk and td/dk (at least for now), BUT in the eastern fandom,it’s actually bkdk that’s more popular. Hmm, curious why that is?

One of the reasons is partly thanks to the widespread availabilityof fan mistranslations (FA group) that have greatly exaggerated certain characterizations(ie Kacchan), leading to fandom fearmongering and the perpetuation of stigmasagainst the canon development of certain relationships (ie bkdk), which in theoriginal text, were never nearly thatflanderized or as offensive in context to begin with. Include also, adifference in cultural expectations/values, and we get a prickly concoction ofmisunderstandings ready to brew. It’s a poor and unfortunate case of important subtleties/complexitiesgetting lost in translation, while the bad things are blown way out ofproportion, to the point the story’s original intent is sidelined, or worse, canonis deliberately obstructed by translators who already dislike seeing suchcontent (because it’s ‘not their ship’) – so they prevent and hurt othersfrom fully enjoying the progression of the series as the author intended. Peoplecan like what they like (that’s perfectly fine), but in all of my lurking, Ihave SEEN examples of these things (andworse) actively happen, and quite frankly, the spread of this blatant toxicityand compulsive collective ignorance sickens me. So, I choose not to getinvolved with it, and instead focus on the positive.

Because of my preference for meta and faithfulinterpretations of the text (making sure available translations are reliablefor analyzing, for instance), I’ve gathered enough information (andacknowledged enough counterarguments) to make an educated decision for myself onwhat I value most and want to see from the series. Unless Hori veers offotherwise, I’ll stick by that conclusion and enjoy following the series throughto fruition (regardless of what the rest of the opposing fandom might say).

For example, one of the first dedicated and respectful metawriters – back when only the FA scans were available, but who ALSO providedcorrections from the Japanese text where necessary, came to this conclusionabout Deku and Kacchan’s characterizations:  

From ryokure:

“Deku is such a super special case that if a fanfichas him and Kacchan in it - no matter the parings - and they don’t have somecase of mutual obsession, I actually consider that OOC.”

Which, after everything I’ve seen of the characters, I can fully concur withthat statement.

MEANING, if the fandom portrays them off alone, together, or involvedin relationships with other characters and they lack this intrinsic magnetism that binds them together (for betteror worse) – if they can somehowfunction completely normal without being influenced by the presence of anotherand magically not even care about each other anymore, then my suspension of disbeliefbreaks. They’re too OOC. (Unless it’s a fic au where they never met or grew uptogether.) These two are TOO canonically wrapped up in their mutual complexesto simply cut ties, wrap up all their unresolved issues with a band-aid,and essentially ignore a core issue of the series for the sake of ‘shipconvenience’ with others. Their canon relationship is too complex to make such simplifiedportrayals of them believable, or even such flimsy ‘solutions’ for their issuesfeasible. Thankfully, we have Hori actively doing all the hard work for us sowe don’t have to worry about such transgressions like that happening in canon. (InHori’s consistent characterizations we trust!)  

Now then, with all of THISestablished, I can finally answer your main question: my opinion on kiri/bakuand todo/deku.

Let’s start with todo/deku:

Because believe it or not, when I was still new to the fandom and in my earlyresearch stages, I actually lowkey shipped them and read plenty of fics aboutthem too! I was open to them as a pair, but still undecided and wary because I didn’t know who to ship withDeku: either Todoroki or Bakugou. I saw all the widespread (western) fandomcontent for td/dk, with the apparent foundations for the ship based on eventsfrom the Sports Festival, where Deku ‘saves’ Todoroki and acts as the catalystto allow him to defrost his issues with his father and realize his true power.I thought, ‘ooh there’s something interesting in there worth looking forwardto; I’ll keep an eye on how canon develops their relationship from here.’

Unfortunately…canon didn’t give me anything else substantial to build on. Andin my case, those are foundations I NEED to be fully on board and convinced fora ship. It was the equivalent of fandom hyping me up for something to lookforward to, with me sitting there with a huge smile and my arms raised inanticipation…only for the rest of the manga to leave me dry. It was a hugedisappointment. Because except for a few scattered incidents, like from theStain arc and maybe the recent ‘it’s ok for heroes to cry sometimes too’moment, canon progress for their relationship has been severely underwhelmingand virtually nonexistent. Todoroki has chilled into becoming a supportive (yetstill socially awkward) friend for Deku yes, but even Iida has had more canon incidents of concern for Deku’s wellbeing,and challenges Deku into becoming a better person/hero with their interactions.(And yet, fandom support for Deku and Iida is virtually nonexistent incomparison, because their friendship resembles the camaraderie between bros, Iguess??)    

So then I was like, ‘wait, am I missing something here? WHY does the fandomlove td/dk so much, when their canon interactions are so limited, and the onlybig thing that’s happened between them was all the way back in the SportsFestival??’ So, I went and investigated the potential of their relationshipfurther in fanfics (which are quite numerous and popular on a03 I might add).

After taking a look, I began to see trends. Most td/dk fics are heavily skewed in Todoroki’s favor, tothe point of being practically one-sided in character development. The mainconflict in almost all their ficnarratives revolves around solving Todoroki’s issues with his father and comingto terms with HIS powers, leaving Deku as a passive, supporting participant inhelping Todoroki out with his problems. Which, while the two of them could bondtogether over their missing/difficult father issues, after a while this same familyconflict gets old and stale. What else is there? What about Deku’s problems for equality’s sake?He’s the main protagonist! How abouthis difficulties in learning how to make One for All his own too? Ah nope, hecan’t canonically confide in Todorokiabout the secrets of his quirk, now can he. ;) Oh wait. What about his problems with Bakugou? Is the biggest elephant in the room going to be ignored for the sakeof typical couple melodrama, or is my fav character going to be demonized so that Todoroki, the ‘prince’on a white horse, can ‘save’ Deku, the ‘damsel’ in distress, from him?! No way. And THAT is another hugeproblem I have with the ship.

Because in all the fics I’ve read of them, I never once was convinced ofDeku’s feelings for Todoroki. I can understand Todoroki gaining a passing crushon Deku thanks to their fight in the Sports Festival. But Deku? How does heeven fall for him? Just becauseTodoroki is nice and considerate and listens to him? Like a friend? (Deku has Uraraka and Iida forthat too, what makes Todoroki any more special than them in Deku’s life?) Thisties in to my previously mentioned suspension of disbelief and ooc territorynow. Because Deku is not some haplessdamsel in distress ready to be swept off his feet and easily charmed by somepotential suitor; he’s a BAMF with a heroic spirt that’s even feared byBakugou. And these traits are so rarely utilized to their full potential intd/dk fics - Todoroki’s influence rarely even challenges or inspires Deku toBECOME the best he can be to draw out his latent potential. (Iida’s canonicallydone more in that regard thanTodoroki’s ever done.) Again, it feels too one-sided in Todoroki’s favor toimprove as a better person/hero.

Oh yeah, and since Deku became one of Todoroki’s first ‘true friends,’ forTodoroki to fall for him feels like putting too many eggs in one basket,without giving Todoroki the chance tobranch out and make normal/healthy relationships with OTHERS first beforesettling down. He’s a socially awkward kid emotionally repressed by domesticabuse; for him to latch onto Deku, the ‘first’ person he’s finally (andliterally) warmed up to, feels like the budding symptoms of unhealthy copingmechanisms and compensating for Todoroki’s deeper emotional issues. Where it thenbecomes Deku’s ‘responsibility’ to care for the turnout of his wellbeing, whenNO - Deku’s got plenty of his OWN issues to become burdened with someone else’s on top of those. Plus in canon,Todoroki’s doing just fine and is perfectly capable of handling his personal problems onhis own without having to depend on Deku.

Again, it’s all touchy territory that feels like it sidelines the mainintent of the series itself – by branching off into the deep end of Todoroki’sangst at the expense of Deku’s, or worse: simply wrapping everything up with afluffy bow called ‘the power of love.’ Nuh-uh, not only is that immenselyidealistic and unrealistic, but it’s totally not the kind of content I signedup for when I started the series. I’m frankly not interested in delving into thoseoff-tangent topics in opposition to canon, where Deku’s problems are oftensidelined, his characterization compromised, and my fav character (Kacchan) eitherbecomes an exaggerated, antagonizing impediment to their ship or is simplytreated like he doesn’t even exist. (My patience and willing suspension of disbeliefonly go so far.)

In the end, Todoroki’s a supportingcharacter. In a tertiary tier after the protagonist (Deku) and the deuteragonist(Bakugou). Yet in td/dk fics he’s almost always turned into a main protagonistsomehow. I can understand his appeal and why he’s so popular in the fandom, yes(and I like him too!), but there’s a point where this exposure becomes TOO much,the limit to his available canon issues becomes saturated and repetitive, and itultimately becomes so tiring to keepcoming back and addressing the same topics in fanon when canon has alreadymarched on to focus on more pressing issues. I’m more interested in exploring those other things.

So nowadays, whenever I see td/dk content, I go ‘ayy that’s nice (or cute),’and keep on scrolling. It doesn’t bother me, but it doesn’t interest meanymore either. I probably won’t touch anymore fics of them together either;I’ve seen and had enough. I’m actually more receptive to seeing Todorokiinteract and develop friendships with other characters, like Inasa (the wind guy from the rival school)or even Momo for instance. Either of those ships I see around, I’m cool withtoo.

The final line: I don’t ship them (anymore), because canon swayed me over with the more pressing and compelling developments of bkdk.   

NOW, it’s time to talk about kiri/baku:      

To start, I actually LOVE Kirishima as a character. And I’ve alreadyestablished upfront that my fav character in the series is Kacchan. So whatgives? It turns out their ship has neverbeen on my radar.

Kirishima is a great character, but I’ve only ever seen him as a supportive bro. To EVERYONE in their class. Whichis precisely how Hori designed him: to be a compassionate/empathetic nice guywho bridges the gaps between the class with his vigorous enthusiasm and support(same role that Denki shares, by the way). And he fulfils this role splendidly.But he ALSO has his own insecurities and developing friendships with manyothers in the class – Denki, Mina, and Deku included. All of those people areimportant to him (and I’m cool with all their ships with him too). Kirishimadoes not solely revolve aroundBakugou.  

It’s true that near the beginning of the series, Bakugou was an angry loner,Kirishima trailed after him on his own accord, and after seeing his version of‘manliness’, decided to stick by him and support him, because Kiri saw thepositives of his character that ‘no one’ else bothered to see. (NOT true; Dekuhas always seen and admired Kacchan’spositive traits since they were children.)And so what’s canonically established is a budding friendship where Kirishimafulfils his given role to bridge gaps (whenever Bakugou strays away from theclass), essentially working as a rubber band plot device, and as a secondperspective – aka a fresh lens, for the audience to view Bakugou’s positivequalities.

All of this I’m cool with. I actually enjoyseeing their canon interactions and the kind of fun, slapstick way they bounceoff each other. (I even like the concept of Dragon!Kiri too!) BUT, it’s whenfanon starts twisting their canon relationship into shippy territory, that’swhere things start getting…ugly, at least for me.  

Remember, I’ve always only seen Kirishima as a supportive bro, and I MEAN that. They have the samered eyes. The same style of spikey hair. The same pumped up mannerisms whenthey get going. Too many similarities that rub me the wrong way when put in aromantic context. (The only difference is that one of them is the soft-hearted ‘niceguy,’ and the other is the outwardly prickly ‘asshole.’) To me, to ship them feels like the equivalentof taking the parallel ends of two polarized magnets: you can manually forcethem close together, but in the end, they cannot touch because the same ends ofmagnets naturally repel. Now, flip one of those magnets around (aka turn it intoDeku), and boom, the opposite ends attract with explosive force. And THAT ishow bkdk feels to me in comparison.

However, the kr/bk fandom doesn’t stop there. I know there exists plenty of fics about them, but I’ve never read any, and frankly, I never will, not even for curiosity’ssake. Because from the overabundance of otherfandom content, I already know what their ship dynamic is about. And it doesnot appeal to me at all.

Remember how I said Kacchan is my favorite. I do not appreciate when thefandom warps him into either a demonized or castrated caricature of himself –aka when they turn him into someone he most definitely is NOT, all for the sakeof a ship. Or worse: when they use Kiri’s relationship as a means of changingBakugou into a character they findmore appealing. NO. Even more worse: when they treat Kiri’s whole character as awalking plot device for ALL of Bakugou’s positive character development. Fuckno! Kirishima doesn’t deserve this dehumanizing treatment by the fans, andneither does my fav, getting subjected to this…betrayal to his whole character.

What am I talking about? When fans insist that Kiri is the ONLY personBakugou can be ‘nice’ to, outright forsaking or ignoring the canon developmentseither of them have with other characters – what about Denki, the rest of the‘Bakusquad’? Or Deku? Remember my dislike for ignoring the elephant in the room back in my spiel about td/dk?Well here, it’s infinitely times worse.

Because Kiri does not become aconvenient narrative replacement to ‘solve’ all of Bakugou’s problems or themeans to correct his bad behavior. It’s not even Kiri’s business orresponsibility to do so! (Same deal if Uraraka is shipped in Kiri’s place.) Hispresence doesn’t challenge Bakugou’s current conduct or world views to improvehimself as a better person, OR actively affect his drive to become the best hero.At most, Kiri endures the brunt of Bakugou’s outbursts when they happen(because he can harden with his quirk, he can ‘take’ it, and their banterbecomes ‘humorous’ and ‘harmless’…no, it absolutely does not) and amicably slides off any further implications with a ‘heyman, that’s not cool’, or excuses/accepts it with a ‘it’s fine because he’s justbeing himself.’ Now we have a situation where Kiri becomes a passive ‘butt-monkey’to Bakugou’s whims and actually enableshis unacceptable behavior to persist. And Bakugou somehow becomes fully invested in a single confidant who babies andpicks up after him (how the heck? no way would he allow himself to get ropedinto a relationship like that, if any at all. He’s strong and independent enoughto handle himself fine.). Even when it’s portrayed where Kiri is the ‘only’ oneBakugou’s nice to, they’d exist in a vacuum tunnel, sealed off from the influenceof others, and become a spiraling fester-hole of static development. None ofthese prospects are the ‘healthy’ long-term results that fandom seems to claimthey are. Tell me, if Bakugou was reallyan abusive character, would his behavior magically ‘fix’ itself simply thanksto Kiri’s passive influence or ‘the power of his understanding kindness and love’?The answer is a resounding and definite NO. The only person who can canonically stand up to Bakugou’s behavior (andnot brush it off), fundamentally challengehis world views and complexes, match him in equal and opposite intensity with themutual drive to be the best, and receivethe full extent of his turbulent feelings, is Deku.

This is what I’m referring to when I say fandom often ‘ignores the elephantin the room,’ because THIS (Deku and Kacchan’s relationship) is an established,ongoing and important core issue of the series itself, that many shippers wouldrather sideline for the priority, current gratification, and fluffy convenienceof an opposing ship. Aka, simply slap them together with the first nice friend theymeet (in both Todo and Baku’s cases, it’s the ‘too many eggs in one basket’problem again…), who will solve all their problems and work to ‘change’ theminto better people…somehow? No, that’s the case of unrealistic, wishful thinking bad writing andtaking the easy way out when something -the elephant in the room- is too challengingand complex to tackle head on. Thankfully, Hori IS tackling their story head onas purposely intended, so I don’t have to worry about canon jumping the sharkon the progress of their relationship.  

So, instead of Kiri being shipped with Bakugou, I much prefer him as a supportingcharacter (a supportive bro!!) who helps ease Bakugou into social/emotionalsituations that he’d normally avoid (which is how Hori originally designedhim??? to bridge those gaps -aka Bakugou’s loner distance - in the class) I’veread plenty of bkdk fics where Kiri becomes the mvp BECAUSE of his natural abilityto do this! With him as a much-needed wingman, voice of empathetic reason, and trustedsecond opinion who Bakugou can confide in to help confront his chronicemotional constipation over Deku. Shipperscan claim that Kiri helps Baku come to terms and become receptive to ‘softer,’ affectionatefeelings when they’re together, when it’s actually the opposite: Kiri becomes astepping stone for Bakugou to learn how to ‘make friends’ with other people whenthey’re apart. ‘Other people’ meaning: Denki, the ‘squad’, Todoroki, the restof the class…and most importantly, Deku.Let my son -Kacchan- learn how to form healthy, genuine relationships withpeople again, so he can gain the necessary experience and maturity to reproach hislifelong treatment of Deku and decide to patch up their relationship on his own terms. This, I feel, is a much more satisfyingoutcome and effective use of Kiri’s character, both in his involvement withBakugou and for the long-run benefit of the series itself.

But instead of seeing it this way, much of the (western) fandom overexaggerates the importance of Kiri and Baku’s relationship, to the point it notonly overshadows the content of other ships, but obfuscates the actual translated GEN contentof canon itself. (WHY!?!) I’m not even going to touch the propensity, hypocrisy, and irony of their shippers to harassand bully others for their opposing shipping preferences (that’s a whole other can of worms). Overall,it’s gotten so bad and obnoxiously rampant that I’ve been forced to block the ship tag for my own sanity and enjoyment of theseries. The ONLY time it’s ever beenrequired for me to use the blacklist function here, and that’s saying something.

Therefore: I support their friendship as supportive bros, but kr/bk as a ship was never on myradar. I’ve never shipped it, and I will notbecome interested in their potential as a pair. I used to be ok with seeing fan content of them around…until thefandom essentially and unfortunately soured it into a notp for me. Welp!   

And there we have it, my full opinion on both ships. I hope that satiatesanyone’s curiosity on the matter, as so far I’ve had plenty of personal reasonsto stay in my own lane and only show my avid support for bkdk. This I’ve confidently decided and I will continue todo so, for as long as I’m invested in the series.  

For some further reading and similar informed opinions:  

http://explodo-smash.tumblr.com/post/165154054112/not-to-pit-ships-against-one-another-but-i

http://explodo-smash.tumblr.com/post/163895267877/why-do-you-ship-bakugou-and-deku-if-its-abusive

http://tinyshinysylveon.tumblr.com/post/168731953134

https://punkbakugo.tumblr.com/post/170514358890/do-you-think-that-the-fandom-over-exaggerates

Also related: my opinions about Kac/chako. And Izu/Ocha.

Edit: now cross-posted on a03

[junker-town]

The Spurs have finally joined the modern NBA, all thanks to one player

LaMarcus Aldridge is finally shooting 3s, and the Spurs are thriving. So why’d it take so long?

As San Antonio Spurs fans prepared to watch their resurgent team take the opening tip against the Boston Celtics on Wednesday, a FOX Sports graphic flashed onto the screen. “You see this note?” chirped longtime play-by-play man Bill Land. “Thirty-plus three-point attempts in five straight games. Longest streak in franchise history. The other night, they were 19 of 35!”

When Land finished his sentence, Sean Elliott, his passionate-yet-cantankerous partner for 17 years of Spurs games, chuckled. “We’ve officially joined,” he began before pausing for dramatic effect, “the rest of the NBA.”

Maybe it’s come while kicking and screaming, but it’s also long overdue. Over their last eight games, the Spurs are 5-3 while scoring nearly 121 points per 100 possessions, the best in the league over that stretch. A month ago, it seemed like their incredible 22-year playoff streak was ending. Now, the Spurs are the West’s No. 8 seed.

The catalyst for that change is obvious. Up until Dec. 23, the Spurs attempted just 26 threes a contest, the fewest in the league, while making only 35 percent of said attempts. Since Dec. 23, they’re taking nearly 31 threes a game while making 43.5 percent of their shots from downtown. That difference has been made up almost entirely by one guy who appeared to have an epiphany sometime just before Dec. 23.

Prior to that date, LaMarcus Aldridge was one of the last of a dying breed of automatic mid-range shooters that wouldn’t take a step back to get an extra point. His reasons never made much rational sense, but it’s hard to teach an old dog with Aldridge’s historical pedigree new tricks. Even the Spurs seemed to accept that he’d never change.

Until all of a sudden, he did. Who is this guy?

Seriously, did a previously reformed Stretch 5 like Brook Lopez or Marc Gasol inhabit Aldridge’s body? Should we call him LaMarc Gasoldridge now? (Shoutout @BallFromGrace for that one).

Since Dec. 23, Aldridge is firing up 4.2 threes a game while hitting a whopping 60 percent from out there. To put that in perspective, Aldridge never shot more than 1.5 threes a game in any of his previous 13 seasons and was only taking 1.7 a game before Dec. 23. He’s still picking and popping for jumpers, except now he’s actually standing behind that spherical line painted on the court.

Aldridge won’t keep making 60 percent of his threes, but the religion he’s discovered to finally start taking them has a significant cascading effect on the rest of the Spurs. His willingness to stand beyond the line has opened the rest of the floor for San Antonio’s other retrograde star, DeMar DeRozan. As Pounding the Rock’s Bruno Passos noted, DeRozan is suddenly sizzling inside the arc, shooting 64 percent from the field since Dec. 23 despite taking only five total threes in eight games.

That hot shooting probably won’t last, but DeRozan’s game is significantly enhanced when he has all that space to make his moves. Say what you want about DeRozan, but he is still one of the league’s toughest covers when he doesn’t have to worry about opponents shrinking the floor on him. His downhill power becomes far more dangerous when Aldridge is pulling the opponents’ biggest help defender away from the basket.

Aldridge’s willingness to pop all the way to the three-point line also creates more mismatches for DeRozan to exploit. Because Aldridge can fire away from 27 feet away, opponents will often switch DeRozan-Aldridge pick-and-pops so their bigger defender doesn’t have to leave the basket area. That’s barbecue chicken for him, especially with players like Derrick White, Bryn Forbes, Trey Lyles, and Rudy Gay also spacing the floor.

Indeed, Aldridge’s floor spacing is contagious. Even less proficient shooters like DeJounte Murray have internalized the importance of only having one player standing inside the arc at a given time. If Aldridge is willing to step away to open the paint for DeRozan, so can anyone else. That’s given the Spurs’ other guards more room to drive themselves.

It may seem wild that a small sacrifice like Aldridge standing a few feet further from the hoop can do this much to change San Antonio’s fortunes, but it’s solved a fundamental problem with the Spurs’ roster. Up until this recent eight-game stretch, the Spurs’ two best players simply did not make the team better when they shared the court. The reason is simple: Aldridge and DeRozan kept bumping into each other because both wanted to go to work in the same space inside the arc. Spurs lineups with both out there played about even last year and were getting outscored significantly this season prior to Dec. 23. That’s necessitated some creative rotation choices to keep them apart as much as possible, which worked last year but not this year, for reasons I wrote about earlier in the season.

But all that changes now that Aldridge is standing somewhere else on the court. Now, the Spurs are a juggernaut when their two best players play together, outscoring opponents by 85 points in 229 minutes over the past eight games. Their ability to actually complement each other clarifies the rest of the rotation. Murray can now rediscover his game slowly, Walker can get chances to experiment with an open floor, and reserve big man Jakob Poeltl can be funneled into spacier lineups where his lack of offensive skill isn’t as glaring. Snap the main pieces into place, and the rest of the puzzle becomes much easier to solve.

The obvious question is why it took so long for Aldridge to make this transformation. (Assuming he’s made it for good, of course. Even now, he’s downplaying its significance publicly). As Elliott’s bemused comment at the top of the Celtics broadcast suggests, pleas for Aldridge and San Antonio to embrace the “modern NBA” and shoot more threes are nothing new. So why now? Why was this simple change so hard to make?

It’s hard to say, but I have a couple theories. One is a psychological concept I referenced last year when discussing Brook Lopez’s transformation from brutish post player to long-range floor spacer: the paradox of expertise. As I wrote then:

Psychologists refer to this as the Paradox of Expertise: the more immersed one is in a particular subject, the harder it is to spot new solutions that would seem clear to outsiders. This explains why industries get disrupted, and why expert forecasters are often no better at predicting the future in their respective fields than novices. The more one learns about a subject, the more they develop mental shortcuts that process new information through the prism of what they already know.

Gregg Popovich is arguably the most successful coach in NBA history. He’s also been famously grumpy about the proliferation of the three-point shot. Even now, he’s framing Aldridge’s transformation as one he had to make due to the rules and norms of today’s game. As brilliant as Popovich is — and kudos to him for at least recognizing his own bias against threes — he wouldn’t be human if the same core beliefs that helped him become so successful didn’t also sometimes make it difficult for him to adapt quickly.

I also suspect Aldridge’s natural disinclination to shoot threes in the past may have to do more with status than strategy. As Seth Partnow of The Athletic (and formerly the Milwaukee Bucks) has repeatedly noted, the “lost art” of the mid-range shot is really the lost art of the assisted mid-range shot. Those attempts have been converted into threes, but the mid-range shot that stars tend to take — off the dribble in a situation where they are the designed playmaker — is still alive and well.

It’s not that the mid-range itself is dead in today’s NBA. It’s more that it’s become the exclusive domain of a certain level of scorer. By contrast, anyone not in that special club helps their team more by standing behind the line, giving those lucky enough to have mid-range privileges more room to operate while getting an extra point for their trouble.

When framed that way, calls for Aldridge to embrace three-pointers can come off as asking him to sacrifice his place in the star club. That’s not always easy for a player of Aldridge’s pedigree to accept, even if it seems obvious that doing so helps his team improve. Sometimes, it takes time for that message to sink in. (For another case study, see Simmons, Ben).

Remember when Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle vehemently argued against TNT broadcasters’ calls for Kristaps Porzingis to post up more? Carlisle is obviously right that posting Porzingis up more makes the Mavericks worse, both because Porzingis isn’t good at it and because the Mavericks as a whole have benefited tremendously from Porzingis drawing his defender away from the basket. But he also understood that the undercurrent of those comments wasn’t about the efficacy of Porzingis post-ups, but rather that he belongs in the select club of stars that should be bestowed the right to take those shots in today’s game. Carlisle needed to fight back against the subtext of the post-up complaints to maintain the harmonic, Luka Doncic-centric environment that’s caused Dallas’ incredible offensive success.

The Mavericks’ opponent on that TNT night? That’s right: LaMarcus Aldridge and the San Antonio Spurs. Six games later, the Spurs “officially joined the rest of the NBA,” to use Elliott’s words. The timing’s a hell of a coincidence.

[bartroberts]

New Post has been published on Black Barth News

New Post has been published on http://blackbarth.com/welcome-next-awakening-author-steve-bannons-worldview-explains-path-ahead/

"Welcome To The Next Awakening" - Author Of Steve Bannon's Worldview Explains The Path Ahead

Where did Steve Bannon get his worldview? From my book…”

* * * by Neil Howe via WaPo,

Neil Howe is the author, along with William Strauss, of “Generations,” “The Fourth Turning” and “Millennials Rising.”

The headlines this month have been alarming. “Steve Bannon’s obsession with a dark theory of history should be worrisome” (Business Insider). “Steve Bannon Believes The Apocalypse Is Coming And War Is Inevitable” (the Huffington Post). “Steve Bannon Wants To Start World War III” (the Nation). A common thread in these media reports is that President Trump’s chief strategist is an avid reader and that the book that most inspires his worldview is “The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy.”

I wrote that book with William Strauss back in 1997. It is true that Bannon is enthralled by it. In 2010, he released a documentary, “Generation Zero,” that is structured around our theory that history in America (and by extension, most other modern societies) unfolds in a recurring cycle of four-generation-long eras. While this cycle does include a time of civic and political crisis — a Fourth Turning, in our parlance — the reporting on the book has been absurdly apocalyptic.

I don’t know Bannon well. I have worked with him on several film projects, including “Generation Zero,” over the years. I’ve been impressed by his cultural savvy. His politics, while unusual, never struck me as offensive. I was surprised when he took over the leadership of Breitbart and promoted the views espoused on that site. Like many people, I first learned about the alt-right (a far-right movement with links to Breitbart and a loosely defined white-nationalist agenda) from the mainstream media. Strauss, who died in 2007, and I never told Bannon what to say or think. But we did perhaps provide him with an insight — that populism, nationalism and state-run authoritarianism would soon be on the rise, not just in America but around the world.

Because we never attempted to write a political manifesto, we were surprised by the book’s popularity among certain crusaders on both the left and the right. When “The Fourth Turning” came out, our biggest partisan fans were Democrats, who saw in our description of an emerging “Millennial generation” (a term we coined) the sort of community-minded optimists who would pull America toward progressive ideals. Yet we’ve also had conservative fans, who were drawn to another lesson: that the new era would probably see the successful joining of left-wing economics with right-wing social values.

Beyond ideology, I think there’s another reason for the rising interest in our book. We reject the deep premise of modern Western historians that social time is either linear (continuous progress or decline) or chaotic (too complex to reveal any direction). Instead we adopt the insight of nearly all traditional societies: that social time is a recurring cycle in which events become meaningful only to the extent that they are what philosopher Mircea Eliade calls “reenactments.” In cyclical space, once you strip away the extraneous accidents and technology, you are left with only a limited number of social moods, which tend to recur in a fixed order.

Along this cycle, we can identify four “turnings” that each last about 20 years — the length of a generation. Think of these as recurring seasons, starting with spring and ending with winter. In every turning, a new generation is born and each older generation ages into its next phase of life.

The cycle begins with the First Turning, a ��High” which comes after a crisis era. In a High, institutions are strong and individualism is weak. Society is confident about where it wants to go collectively, even if many feel stifled by the prevailing conformity. Many Americans alive today can recall the post-World War II American High (historian William O’Neill’s term), coinciding with the Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy presidencies. Earlier examples are the post-Civil War Victorian High of industrial growth and stable families, and the post-Constitution High of Democratic Republicanism and Era of Good Feelings.

  The Second Turning is an “Awakening,” when institutions are attacked in the name of higher principles and deeper values. Just when society is hitting its high tide of public progress, people suddenly tire of all the social discipline and want to recapture a sense of personal authenticity. Salvation by faith, not works, is the youth rallying cry. One such era was the Consciousness Revolution of the late 1960s and 1970s. Some historians call this America’s Fourth or Fifth Great Awakening, depending on whether they start the count in the 17th century with John Winthrop or the 18th century with Jonathan Edwards.

  The Third Turning is an “Unraveling,” in many ways the opposite of the High. Institutions are weak and distrusted, while individualism is strong and flourishing. Third Turning decades such as the 1990s, the 1920s and the 1850s are notorious for their cynicism, bad manners and weak civic authority. Government typically shrinks, and speculative manias, when they occur, are delirious.

  Finally, the Fourth Turning is a “Crisis” period. This is when our institutional life is reconstructed from the ground up, always in response to a perceived threat to the nation’s very survival. If history does not produce such an urgent threat, Fourth Turning leaders will invariably find one — and may even fabricate one — to mobilize collective action. Civic authority revives, and people and groups begin to pitch in as participants in a larger community. As these Promethean bursts of civic effort reach their resolution, Fourth Turnings refresh and redefine our national identity. The years 1945, 1865 and 1794 all capped eras constituting new “founding moments” in American history.

Just as a Second Turning reshapes our inner world (of values, culture and religion), a Fourth Turning reshapes our outer world (of politics, economy and empire).

In our paradigm, one can look ahead and suggest that a coming time period — say, a certain decade — will resemble, in its essential human dynamic, a time period in the past. In “The Fourth Turning,” we predicted that, starting around 2005, America would probably experience a “Great Devaluation” in financial markets, a catalyst that would mark America’s entry into an era whose first decade would likely parallel the 1930s.

Reflecting on the decade we’ve just lived through, we can probably agree that the 1930s parallel works well. In the economy, both decades played out in the shadow of a global financial crash, and were characterized by slow and disappointing economic growth and chronic underemployment of labor and capital. Both saw tepid investment, deflation fears, growing inequality and the inability of central bankers to rekindle consumption.

In geopolitics, we’ve witnessed the rise of isolationism, nationalism and right-wing populism across the globe. Geostrategist Ian Bremmer says we now live in a “G-Zero” world, where it’s every nation for itself. This story echoes the 1930s, which witnessed the waning authority of great-power alliances and a new willingness by authoritarian regimes to act with terrifying impunity.

In social trends, the two decades also show parallels: falling rates of fertility and homeownership, the rise of multi-generational households, the spread of localism and community identification, a dramatic decline in youth violence (a fact that apparently has eluded the president), and a blanding of pop youth culture. Above all, we sense a growing desire among voters around the world for leaders to assert greater authority and deliver deeds rather than process, results rather than abstractions.

We live in an increasingly volatile and primal era, in which history is speeding up and liberal democracy is weakening. As Vladimir Lenin wrote, “In some decades, nothing happens; in some weeks, decades happen.” Get ready for the creative destruction of public institutions, something every society periodically requires to clear out what is obsolete, ossified and dysfunctional — and to tilt the playing field of wealth and power away from the old and back to the young. Forests need periodic fires; rivers need periodic floods. Societies, too. That’s the price we must pay for a new golden age.

If we look at the broader rhythms of history, we have reason to be heartened, not discouraged, by these trends. Anglo-American history over the past several centuries has experienced civic crises in a fairly regular cycle, about every 80 or 90 years, or roughly the length of a long human life. This pattern reveals itself in the intervals separating the colonial Glorious Revolution, the American Revolution, the Civil War, and the Great Depression and World War II. Fast-forward the length of a long human life from the 1930s, and we end up where we are today.

America entered a new Fourth Turning in 2008. It is likely to last until around 2030. Our paradigm suggests that current trends will deepen as we move toward the halfway point.

Further adverse events, possibly another financial crisis or a major armed conflict, will galvanize public opinion and mobilize leaders to take more decisive action. Rising regionalism and nationalism around the world could lead to the fragmentation of major political entities (perhaps the European Union) and the outbreak of hostilities (perhaps in the South China Sea, the Korean Peninsula, the Baltic states or the Persian Gulf).

Despite a new tilt toward isolationism, the United States could find itself at war. I certainly do not hope for war. I simply make a sobering observation: Every total war in U.S. history has occurred during a Fourth Turning, and no Fourth Turning has yet unfolded without one. America’s objectives in such a war are likely to be defined very broadly.

At the end of the 2020s, the Fourth Turning crisis era will climax and draw to a close. Settlements will be negotiated, treaties will be signed, new borders will be drawn, and perhaps (as in the late 1940s) a new durable world order will be created. Perhaps as well, by the early 2030s, we will enter a new First Turning: Young families will rejoice, fertility will rebound, economic equality will rise, a new middle class will emerge, public investment will grow into a new 21st-century infrastructure, and ordered prosperity will recommence.

During the next First Turning, potentially the next “American High,” millennials will move into national leadership and showcase their optimism, smarts, credentials and confidence. Sometime in the late 2030s, the first millennial will be voted into the White House, prompting talk of a new Camelot moment. Let a few more years pass, and those organization-minded millennials may face a passionate and utterly unexpected onslaught from a new crop of youth.

Welcome to the next Awakening. The cycle of history keeps turning, inexorably.

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