#when we were raised on socially-conscious tv and after-school specials lmao

[purelypacino]

doesn’t change that she’s supposed to represent the middle class WASPS that looked down upon Italians and is xenophobic because gen zers who watch this movie have no idea Italians were extremely discriminated against and it goes hand in hand with the godfather

You're probably aware that we are not living in a utopia. I'm not going to assume that Gen Zers haven't been on the receiving end of some type of discrimination. To say that they're all ignorant of that particular experience (the Italian-American one) is ignorant in itself. The expectation of such knowledge is also rooted in Americentrism, but let me not stray from my point.

I'm confident that there are still immigrants who know, and whose children know, what it's like to be newly arrived and called names and told to go back to where they came from or admonished for their broken English. Immigration didn't end with the closure of Ellis Island.

If they haven't encountered it firsthand, they've been made aware of it through their family history. It's part of mine on all sides: Polish, Italian, even Scottish. My Italian great-grandparents settled in a city that was almost like Little Italy, there were so many of them. Still, they encountered discrimination. We've got stories for days.

Some old ten-gallon-hatted cowboy with an accent like microwaved grits told my dad in 1972 that his Scottish accent would be a problem. He wouldn't hire him. His dearth of Canadian experience stood in his way more than once. He didn't even have to go to the trouble of Anglicizing his first and last name the way the other sides of my family did theirs. So, I know about it! My stories are not unique.

I get that certain events and experiences don't always get the exposure that they deserve and that the further away from them we get, the more important it is to keep their lessons alive. But again, just because you've run across a handful of people who don't know something that you know, it doesn't mean that everyone born after 1997 is clueless. Nobody is born knowing everything.

If any of us ever want to bridge the gap between generations, we can't approach the other with an attitude of superiority and ultimate authority. If they don't know, they can learn, but not if we treat them like close-minded doofuses.

[kaito-is-baby]

Shoto Todoroki x Reader

A little bit of help part 2

Part 1 (you can actually read it without the first part and I'm pretty sure you will understand it anyways, it's just a fluffy scenario )

I wrote this late at night so it's probably... really bad lmao

You were dizzy... extremely dizzy

Your sight started to become filled with little black points until there was nothing but darkness

And you felt how your body was trembling

But you could still hear Todoroki's voice

"Come on Y/N! You can do this! We both know it!" His tone was still as relaxed and monotonous as always but his voice was louder than you have ever heard

He was cheering for you

And not only cheering for you, he was doing it in front of his father

If he allowed himself to call his atention even knowing he would no longer be able to avoid his father just to cheer for you you had to win

So you pushed yourself a bit more

"I don't want you to push yourself or feel pressure on this training" You remembered Todoroki's only rule during your training

You did not understand his words that day but as you grew closer you started to get it

You used to train after lunch and after your classes so you ended up eating together and walking home together too

Well, to be fair, he would walk you home

"Hey, todoroki, I got a question" you asked while the boy slurped his beloved soba once "you entered UA by recommendation, right?"

He nodded

"Who recommended you?" It was a genuine question, no gossip or meanness on it

What was a little crush because of his incredible fighting skills soon stepped to a bigger crush for his personality

That kind of polite but absolutely nonexisting socials skills

The way he was always so straight forward and funny without trying to, actually being the most serious guy to walk on earth

You had grown attached to all those little details details about him and you really wanted to know some more

"My stupid old father"

"Wow, he must be really important" It clicked you then, his fire powers and his left side was just like endeavour's "oh... I hadn't realized, the hero number 2 is your father?"

He did not answer, nothing at all, silent

"That must give you a lot of pressure" he grumbled this time "but at least he must have taught you a lot"

He stood up, angry "lets go training, I dont like this conversation"

This training session wasn't like anything before, he was taking it specially seriously and you barely managed to avoid his attacks, let alone attack or train yourself

The classes finally ended and you wiated for Todoroki on your usual training spot but he did not show up

So you decided to go and find him

Not many streets far away from your high school you found him, walking alone

He was probably heading towards his house

"Todoroki!" You called him from behind but his feet did not stop and he did not even turn to see you "What about our training?"

Finally the boy stopped and looked at you

"Sorry, I forgot about it" you knew very well he didn't "Can we leave it until tomorrow?"

"Yeah... yeah of course" He was angry, wasn't he? "Can I walk you home? You always do that for me!"

He nodded reluctantly and you joined his walk, silently

"I... I'm sorry" you finally broke the awkward silent that had remained between you for the past five minutes of your shared walk "I don't know what it is but I know I have done something to bother you, can you please tell me what it is so I can apologise properly?"

"You did nothing, it's fine" It clearly wasn't

"Is it because I asked about your father? I wasn't trying to be mean or nosy I just... I want to know you better, to be friends"

"I'm not really trying to make friends but okay, I have no trouble explaining it to you" your hands started to sweat and you were honestly awkward

"I just want to become the number 1 hero without using my left side, the one with fire" you nodded, encouraging him to continue

"My father... you know what a quirk arranged marriage is?" You did but you thought no one would really do it

"Well, my mother had an ice quirk and my father thought that having both their quirks I would be the strongest hero ever but..." you tried to smile to him, searching to give him some reassurance but you noticed then he hadn't been looking at you this whole time, he wasn't really looking at anything "he was abusive and neglected me and my sibling for his thirst of power, he forced me to train and drove my mother absolutely insane. I want to show him that I can be equally strong without using his quirk and that way show him that I am no longer his son, I reject him"

"I... understand, I'm so sorry for bringing up your father, I shouldn't have, if you had never spoke about him you sure had a reason too, I'm so sorry"

"It's okay, you didn't know it anyways"

"If it cheers you up I'm sure you will be able to proof to him that you are better than him, because... you are, you know?"

No answer was given to that

And you two shared anothers 5 minutes in absolute silent

"Oh I get it, you did not want to train me so you couldn't be like your father" You broke it, again.

He nodded, his eyes glued to his feet and clearly avoiding your look

"Its okay, you are not him, I'm the one who wants this, remember?"

You could swear you saw a very very tiny smile show in his face after that

And now, on the sports festival he was cheering for you, you wantes to see that tiny smile again so you, against his very own words, pushed yourself further than your body allowed you too

You did not see any longer and your body was not able to keep on its feets

But you managed to grab the plants your opponent had created

And from there, even without knowing where she was, you found her

You crawled your way to her, following the plants to where you believed they started

And there you found her, your opponent

She did not expect you to follow her own weapon to find her and with that surprise as your advantage you finally touched her

Then, it was decided, you won

Once your hand touched her skin she fell on a tight dream

With that, she was out of combat and you got your victory

But you found yourself falling to the ground with your opponent

Before touching the ground you heard "Ibara Shiozaki is out of combat! Y/N wins!"

The moment you heard those words you finally gave in

And your body collapsed, you were no longer conscious

When your eyes shot open you saw the nursery around you and you understood it, you had pass out fighting and now you were resting as you should

"Midoriya is using everything he has!" The TV was loud, so loud it bothered you. You would have switched it off if it wasn't for who was Midoriya's opponent

Todoroki

You followed his steps and attacks, your eyes could not get out of the boy even when some of your friends came to see you

Eventually, you saw him use his left side

And something inside you broke

He was so sure of his goal and now he would nit be able to accomplish it right?

You turned off the TV finally and wrapped yourself in the nursery blanket

But no more than 10 minutes after the fight Todoroki was at your door

"Can I... come in?" You nodded at his question

When the boy was besides your nursery bed you two stood in front of each other in absolute silent

Until you raised you hand and reached to his left cheek, the perfect spot to touch his healthy skin while caressing his scar with your thumb

"Why did you use your left hand?" It was your genuine concern who asked him and not you really

"I don't know" again, Todoroki was looking at the ground, you hated how someone so strong and admired by everyone could be so unsure around his father topic

You truly hated Endeavor, altought you didn't knew the details about what he had done you knew how much it has hurted todoroki, it was more than enough to hate him

"Midoriya said it was my power and I felt... confident about it for a second but I dont know what to do with it now... I'm not sure if I want to use it or not"

"Midoriya is right, it's your power afterall, if you decide to use it it has nothing to do with Endeavor but if you don't feel ready to do so no one can force you to use it either" you took his hand in yours, the free one and todoroki felt unfamiliarly warm at it's touch "If you choose to use it or not won't change the fact that you reject him and you can show him that in soany other ways, and I will help you with it whenever you need me to"

You probably weren't going to be strong enought to win the next combat but at least you saw that tiny smile appear again in his face thanks to your words and later, you cheered for him on his fight against bakugo just like he did with you