#with tomura finally awakening at full power

[super-paper]

you don't have to respond to this if you don't want to, but--I saw you mentioning you felt stupid earlier and I'm going through the same feelings myself but I just wanted to say that your analysis of my hero academia was genuinely the best I'd ever seen after following the comic for almost an entire decade(I've been here since almost the beginning...). it's not your fault if the writing took a bizarre turn, you were correctly recognizing things about the story that was presented to you and I've really appreciated your presence ever since the first time I read one of your posts.

Thank you for your kind words, they really helped me feel better. I always enjoy reading your thoughts as well, so I hope you are able to feel better soon as well.

At any rate, I think I'm a bit calmer now-- At the risk of setting myself up for more heartbreak in two weeks, I really think there's no way for it not to be a fake out because Tenko dying sincerely is a failure on every level for so-so-so many characters and the story as a whole. Izuku wanted to redefine OFA as a power meant for saving not killing, yet OFA ends up killing Tenko anyway? We get a scene where the main villain literally mocks Tenko for having never been his own person and commands him to disappear, and he does?? Nana ultimately fails to save her family from AFO a third and final time??? The Yoichi expy is ultimately forced to die while tethered to his abuser and is never allowed to truly escape or live a life outside of AFO???? Spinner pushes himself to his absolute limit and Kurogiri sacrifices himself because they both want to save Tenko, and it ends up being all for nothing????? Toshinori never gets any resolution with his beloved mentor's sole remaining family and has to live with the pain of once again failing to save her legacy?????? Tenko wants to become a hero to the villains, to the LOV specifically, but dies while all of them are literally hanging on by a thread at this time???????? Gran Torino was right??????????? There's bittersweet endings and there's bleak endings, and this is absolutely bleak if true.

Like, I know death and rebirth are huge themes in MHA-- but this is a case where the overall build up and execution of the chapter has left much to be desired. Still, the fact that Tenko says the name "Shigaraki Tomura" in quotation marks in the raw text does lend to the idea that this is actually the death of his villain persona rather than the death of the individual-- my other big concern rn is how Tenko's rebirth will ultimately be executed, since he still asks Izuku to pass a message along to Spinner on his behalf. Like..... a resurrection that has him losing his memories of his life as Tomura, or reverting back to his young "untraumatized" self, obviously feels wrong for entirely different reasons-- but this is just speculation atp and I don't wanna get worked up over smthing that hasn't happened yet.

Tenko's ""death"" also shares explicit parallels to both Toshinori's and Katsuki's brushes with death, so I do think Hrkshi could make things come full circle in a satisfying way here-- if Tenko's death is the only one that actually sticks while the heroes are allowed to defy all odds and resurrect/be reborn as the best possible versions of themselves, then obviously there's no salvaging the story. But I wanna have faith.

(Side note: Tenko/Toshi/Katsuki's (and even Touya's) limbo scenes depict them as surrounded by light and "sharing" that infinite space with someone who sincerely wants them to live-- and these scenes are starkly contrasted with AFO's limbo scenes, where his moments before death all depict as him being surrounded by darkness while being mocked by the vestiges of his victims.)

Anyway!!! At my own peril, I'll be leaning hard into the "Tenko Shimura: Rising + quirk awakening + aura!might using his vestige and the remnants of OFA to fill in the gaps of the broken reconstruction quirk (thereby fulfilling Izuku's wish to turn OFA into a power that exists to save while also helping Tenko symbolically embrace that he has the power to do more than just destroy-- he can save the villains through creation, not destruction)" theories from this point forward.

[featherstorm2004]

All For One and Shigaraki, the unreliable narraters

Apparently I am not done with studying the mind of the number one villain as I feel that there's more to discus with how All For One views himself, as I feel it's quite clear he is the narrater of his backstory in chapter 407 which I believe is quite telling. However, if I am to discuss the legitimacy of All For One's narrative I believe it's crucially important that I also include Shigaraki in this discussion as he is the prime example in MHA of an unreliable narrater.

here's a link to my first analysis for context on my opinion of All For One's character and state of mind "All For One and the power of context"

First I would like to discuss the similarities and differences in how All For One and Shigaraki characterise themselves in their stories and why they chose those narratives. First I will start with Tomura's dialogue as I is the easiest to deconstruct; in the beginning of the flashback we focus on the abuse Tenko took when living with his family however, the tone of the manga changes along with Shigaraki's attitude towards his younger self and family as the conflict goes on.

At first it's clear that Shigaraki views himself as a victim so that's how Tenko is depicted in the early parts of the story however, as things go on we see slowly how things begin to warp as the elder Shigaraki's biases creep into the flashback and Tenko himself slowly starts to look more and more monstrous. With Shigaraki questioning that perhaps he had always hated his family and deep down wanted them to die, despite the fact that Tenko during his awakening is clearly horrified. There's a clear disconnect with how Shigaraki views the situation and how we the audience view things, leading to a form af narrative ambiguity.

However, by the end of Tenko's awakening and the death of his howl family Shigaraki has taken full control of the flashback and he shows himself as a horrid monster that enjoyed killing his family.

Now, that's not to say that I don't believe to some level that Tenko enjoyed fighting back against his abuser and getting back at him for all the pain he caused to him. But we have to remember that at this time Tenko is a five year old child who likely hasn't fully grasped the concept and finality of death. So, whilst I can't argue that Tenko may have found some joy and relief in his actions it most defiantly wasn't to the extent that Shigaraki believed it to be.

And it's obvious in the second half of his flashback that Tenko regretted his actions and dose not wished to repeat it. This can be seen when he holds back against the thugs who beat him and only gave in to his desire for revenge when coxed by All For One, who is an authority figure in Tenko's life and the one who "saved" him so of course Tenko would trust his word above all else.

It's also clear in that All For One fed into Tenko/Shigaraki's image of himself as a monster by characterising Tenko's itch as a innate desire to destroy and forcing him to wear the hands of his family so he can never forget the negative emotions surrounding the event.

Which brings me to All For One's backstory which is similar to Shigaraki's it has some notable differences. One key difference being that unlike Shigaraki, All For One has complete control in how his past is depicted and it is displayed more like a story that he is telling to the audience than an accurate depictions of events. Unlike Shigaraki's where we can see things such as his family standing up against the father which he would have no way of knowing, and All For Ones talk with the doctor after picking Tenko up.

However, one thing that they both have in common is that both All For One and Tomura are both convinced of their monsters nature. This can be seen in how All For One describes himself in he Narrative, calling his infant self as "born arrogant' and his cries for help as only a means of manipulation. Despite the fact he was you know a baby.

I also find it quite suspicious how the artwork chooses to depict the infant All For One in line with how he views himself, which leads me to suspect that these flashbacks we are being shown is not as accurate as All For One would like us to believe. It's clearly seeped with personal bias whereas Shigaraki's was a lot more straight forward and it's clear that whilst the dialog would like to paint Tenko as a monster the imagery conflicts with that.

There's also the fact that All For One denies his ability to feel love or empathy of any kind and only regards Yoichi as his possession. Which I also doubt to an extent, mainly due to the fact that whilst All For One is dressed in nothing but rags and clearly more malnourished than his brother, who has a full set of cloths and appears ironically far more healthy.

That's not to say that I don't believe on some level a young All For One felt some level of ownership over Yoichi, (hell his actions in later chapters definitely prove that) but in his younger years as a young child and toddler I doubt he would even understand the concept. What I think is far more likely is that All For One as conflated the feelings of love and ownership into a singular concept, and chooses to call it possession as it better aligns with his self image as a demon lord.

It also helps that he was surrounded by adults and all known authority figures that regarded him as less than human, with him and his brother being referred to as "paranormal orphans' and "diseased". Which most defiantly fed into All For One's perception of himself as being inherently inhuman however, as a young child he likely would have no idea what to do with these emotions.

Until, one day his brother stumbled upon a comic that just so happened to depict a villain, a so called Demon Lord and probably for the first time in his life All For One saw himself in another. And what is this? The Demon Lord is surrounded by hoards of followers that worship and adore him, yeah... it''s no wonder a homeless orphan who is regarded by society as a monster latched so hard onto the concept.

But yeah I wanted to point this out as I feel that whilst All For One's time as the main threat is coming to an end there is still so much to explore about his character in the aftermath. I also can't help but wonder if the reason All For One took such a personal role into moulding Shigaraki into what he is today was perhaps due to the fact he saw a young child with eyes just like his own, who also accidentally killed his family at a young age and was also rejected by society for something out of his control.

I don't know just some food for thought, I could go on but then this analysis would get out of control. So yeah those are my thoughts.

[quirkwizard]

So me catching covid and getting sick leave off work finally gave me enough time to watch the latest season. While watching it, it got me thinking. How much of the story would change if All Might still had OFA and actively fought War Arc? Would the outcome of the war change too?

For starters, I’m sorry that happened and I hope you feel better soon. As for your question, All Might keeping his powers could be a whole other discussion and radically change the story, but I'm focusing on how this specific string of events would happen to lead to this scenario. I think the why of this could be just as interesting as the how. 

If All Might still had some juice left in the tank after the All For One fight, you could argue that he would still retire and focus full time on being a mentor and teacher to the students. Given everything that happened with the fight with All For One, it's just too perfect a note for him to end on as a hero. He was at his lowest point and still beat the greatest villain around. I think he would want to take a step back and take the time to mentor Izuku and the rest of the students, especially after everything that happened with Bakugou. He would then have this reserve of energy, as in an "In Case of Emergency" kind of deal. Just in case All For One ever got out or there was some other major catastrophe about to happen. And with the threat Tomura and the MLA as a whole posed, it would certainly be a good reason for All Might to get back out there. Not only to raise the morale of the other heroes, but to put some faith back into the people by seeing the old pro out and about again to save the day.

Now, how this plays out depends on where All Might is stationed. Like before, I believe that he would lead the assault on the hospital, as that is a much higher-value target. With him leading the charge, it's going to be a lot easier to get through all the Nomu guarding the place, especially if he is working with Miriko. That means that Tomura's tank gets smashed sooner, but that wouldn't have the biggest impact, it just means that his body is going to start breaking apart much faster. After he wakes up, everything will still be decayed, but I actually don't think it will be as bad as before. Given how fast All Might is, he could either carry out or throw some of the heroes out of harm's way. Not all of them, but a fair amount, which could help in the fight against Awakened Tomura. As for that fight, I don't think All Might would be able to do much. Tomura was as strong as All Might in his prime. And with how much Tomura hates him, I could very easily see him dying with Tomura going in for a kill shot, specifically in front of Izuku. For the sake of this, I'll say he didn't and move on.

Then there is the matter of him finding out about Gigantomachia, which I believe he would overhear Tomura talking about over the phone when he wakes up. This is where some of you may disagree with me, but I believe that All Might would rather go fight Gigantomachia than stay with Tomura. As much as he would want to help Izuku, he knows the threat Gigantomachia would pose and likely realizes that they'd stand a better chance divided than together. Given his speed, he's going to be able to intercept Gigantomachia pretty fast, but not before he does some damage. Now this could lead to a whole other discussion about who would win, but if nothing else, I think All Might could do a great job of slowing him down. Not only would this prevent him from reaching Tomura, but give time for the sedative to set in. Which could mean that most of the League members are either scattered or captured by the other heroes and may even prevent the broadcasting of Dabi's message. Once Gigantomachia does go down, I think All For One is going to cut his losses and try to save Tomura's wounded body.

Overall, having All Might around would be quite a net positive. The biggest draw would be how many heroes would still be around after the fact. Either ones that have survived the attack from Tomura, the onslaught of Gigantomachia, would have been so terrified they retired. With the upcoming issues, there would be more heroes to deal with the aftermath and more heroes to fight against the waves of villains coming out of the prisons. The general faith in heroes would be comparatively high as well. Without Gigantomachia destroying as much, the lack of the Dabi video, and the return of All Might, it's going to be pretty well off when compared to how dower it was in cannon. A lot of the major League members and Skeptic may have been scattered or captured, which may or may not affect things depending on who or how the various members were affected. Tomura would still be at large and would try to gather any members of the League or the MLA he could, but he isn't in as good of a position as he was before. So I could see a lot of the same stuff playing out afterwards, just nowhere near as bad as it was in canon.

[alexthegamingboy]

Toonami Weekly Recap 03/25/2023

Food Wars: The Fifth Plate (The BLUE Arc) EP#75 (02) - The BLUE Preliminaries: While Erina has a special invitation for BLUE, only three students from Totsuki will be allowed to participate. In order to determine the three students who will participate, Erina organizes the BLUE Preliminaries, pitting Totsuki's most talented students against each other. With the theme being soup, all the gathered students begin making their dishes. Soma makes third place with his Golden Eggs filled with hamburg steak, yakiniku, omelet rice, and fried salmon soups. Takumi makes second place with his cheese fondue minestrone soup. Megumi earns first place with her seafood meatballs filled with various different types of miso soup. Meanwhile, in the United States, Joichiro is defeated in a cooking match against an unknown challenger. One week before BLUE is scheduled to start, Suzuki challenges Soma to an unofficial Shokugeki, explaining he needs a win against the First Seat to earn a spot in BLUE himself so he can achieve his dream of making Erina his bride. Soma accepts under the condition that Suzuki reveal the secret he is hiding if Soma wins.

My Hero Academia Season 6 After the PLW Arc EP#131 (18) - Izuku Midoriya and Tomura Shigaraki: Izuku awakens in the vestige world of One For All, where he encounters all eight predecessors of One For All (with the second and third users facing away from him). The first user reveals that between One For All's increased growth in power and All For One's intervention, they are now freely able to communicate with each other and Izuku. The fourth user and the user of Danger Sense, Hikage Shinomori, introduces himself to Izuku, as they discuss with him about the true nature of One For All. He reveals that he died at the age of 40 due to "old age", after holding One For All for 18 years. Aware that All Might held the power for 40 years, they determine that One For All greatly diminishes the lifespan of those who already possess a Quirk, and because All Might was Quirkless, he was saved from this burden. Due to this revelation, they surmise that due to the increased power in the Quirk and the decreasing Quirkless population, Izuku may be the last wielder of One For All. Nana then confronts Izuku, asking if he is resolved to kill Shigaraki, stating that All For One intends to use his intense rage to overwhelm and finally steal One For All, which he has failed to do in the past. They are aware that Izuku felt like he needed saving, but warn him that he could be beyond saving and turn into an unstoppable monster. Izuku stands firm that he saw a little boy crying within Shigaraki during their encounter, and that All Might showed him One For All is a power meant to save not kill, so while he is resolved to do so if he has to, he wants to try and save him first. The users accept his hand as Nana breaks down in tears, apologizing for testing him. Back outside, Hawks and Best Jeanist confront All Might about One For All and realizing he can't keep the secret anymore, reveals everything to them. Several days later, Endeavor, Hawks, and Best Jeanist put on a press conference to address the public of Dabi's accusations and their plan to turn U.A. into an evacuation facility to protect the civilians. At the same time, Izuku gives letters to all of his classmates, revealing the truth about One For All and All For One, and leaves the school.

My Hero Academia Season 6 Dark Hero Arc EP#132 (19) - Full Power!!: Ketsubutsu Academy third-years Yo and Tatami enter a nearly abandoned city in order to evacuate the remaining civilians, having received reports of a jailbreaker causing destruction nearby. Yo attempts to convince them, but they refuse as they no longer trusting in Heroes and believing they can fend off danger and protect themselves. Shortly after they encounter the aforementioned jailbreaker Muscular, who Yo attempts to fight off while Tatami goes to protect the civilians. Yo is pinned down, but even after using his Quirk at full power, Muscular has the upper hand and nearly kills him, until a hooded Deku, covered in purple smoke, appears to save him. Muscular recognizes him from their fight in the forest and excitingly prepares to fight him. Deku hands the unconscious Yo to Tatami and re-enters the fight. The sixth user En warns him to not overuse his Quirk Smokescreen as Deku uses his new arsenal of abilities and experience to get the upper hand on Muscular. He attempts to reason with him, asking him why he causes trouble and even referring to him by his real name, but Muscular declares all he cares for is wanton destruction. Taking advantage of his muscle fibres being damaged by Yo, Deku punches him with a Detroit Smash, knocking him unconscious. While Deku brings Muscular to prison, the civilians agree to evacuate with the Ketsubutsu students, not wanting anyone else to get hurt. Deku temporarily reunites with All Might before heading off to deal with the next threat. Several days prior at the hospital, Izuku awoke to learn the injuries on his body were not as fatal as they initially believed due to his increased in strength in his body. He and All Might then tell Inko the truth behind One For All, with Izuku saying he won't be returning to U.A. in order to protect everyone with Shigaraki targeting him. He comforts his tearful mother telling her he will return to her, with All Might saying he will stay by his side. They decide to team up with Endeavor, Hawks, and Best Jeanist, using Izuku as bait to lure the villains out of hiding. Before leaving the hospital, Izuku visits Gran Torino who tells him killing can be a way to save, and hands him his scarf to wear.

[mysterylover123]

BNHA Chapter 271: And now he’s gone again.

mysterylover123

I’m starting to think this arc has ADHD because it can’t seem to focus on any one of it’s approximately 7000 storylines for more than a single chapter. Or half a chapter.

When Kaminari is calling you out for being impulsive, you know you’re in trouble.

You keep using that phrase. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Wow even Dabi is calling out UA on it’s Child Soldier Drafting.

Ooh we’re finally dealing with this again, huh? I was wondering how Toko would react to learning that Hawks killed Twice. Let me reiterate: fucking murdered Twice.

Dabi is loving this. Interesting how he’s actually reasoning with Toko. Maybe it’s cause Compress told him about Dark Shadow’s rampage in  the forest? Maybe the League think they’ll have a shot with him.

Aw! Though Hawks is like six years older than Toko, so he’s more like a Big Brother than a Sage mentor figure.

I dunno Dabi, who are you trying to save here? What do you mean by that, exactly? Do you mean you and the league? Or the Young kids at UA who the League thinks are “brainwashed” into being pros? Or normal people? Nah, I don’t think you care about the normies. So I have no idea who he means by this. Maybe the comment section will clarify this.

Yeah shout out your weakness just in case Dabi didn’t watch the Sports Fest and doesn’t know light will hurt you. Great strategy.

a

The Cavalry Arrives Just in time! Except not really cause it’s just Geten trying to be Shoto.

  Meep. We’re all screwed.

So yeah we got Deku back for one chapter and then cut back to something else. Right when Tomura woke up and went full AFO. I swear this arc is like a neverending series of that meme where Hori is Lucy holding the football and we are Charlie Brown, and the football is All the Interesting Stuff (Dabi’s real identity, Tomura at full power, the Trio) and we never ever get to kick it. Like, this chapter did have interesting stuff in it, but WHERE. THE HELL. IS DEKU. I mean, I know where he is, evacuating the city and getting weird possessed looks on his face, but why has he been absent chapter after chapter? Ah well. I guess I’ll just wait for next week. 

[makeste]

this is just a post listing all of the scenes in BnHA which underline Bakugou’s narrative importance and the way that it’s intrinsically connected to Deku and his storyline, because I really want to emphasize that the MORE THAN 300 CHAPTERS OF BUILD-UP just slightly outweigh the literal seven chapters in which he hasn’t played a major role just lately. recency bias is a thing guys, and we should all try to remember that.

not Kacchan establishing his goal and ultimate endgame less than one page after his introduction.

not Kacchan being saved by Deku less than an hour after burning his notebook and telling him to jump off a roof, establishing the contradictory nature of their relationship right from the get-go, and changing Deku’s destiny forever as All Might witnesses this moment and realizes that Deku is more heroic than he ever could have imagined. “you looked like you needed saving.” that’s a line that’s already had at least one callback, and with Deku now struggling in the current manga the time could be ripe for an even more powerful one.

not “win and save” being established as the two cornerstones of the hero philosophy all the way back in chapter 5, with Deku and Kacchan each embodying one of these dual aspects, and being narratively primed to walk opposite paths in their respective hero journeys, only to meet at the middle when they reach the end.

not Deku and Kacchan having an iconic battle less than ten chapters into the series, during which their rivalry is further established and the complicated history of their childhood friendship is expanded on.

not Kacchan’s first childhood flashback revealing that the pivotal, character-defining event of his childhood was baby Deku reaching out his hand and asking if he was okay.

not Deku instinctively reaching out to Kacchan yet again all of two chapters later, making a fateful decision which will have massive ramifications down the line and which will eventually alter the course of Kacchan’s character development.

not Kacchan’s teachers thoughtfully praising his “overwhelming tenacity” and All Might noting his potential for greatness early on the series.

not Deku choosing a hero name originally given to him by Kacchan, but repurposing and reclaiming it, and possibly paving the way for another parallel that’s just waiting to be capitalized on. Kacchan feel free to tell us more about your own hero name’s meaning whenever you get a chance.

not Deku becoming stronger by learning from Kacchan (win to save).

not Deku and Kacchan deliberately being paired together for their final exam and Kacchan having a fucking meltdown until Deku literally knocks some sense into him, at which point he immediately gets his head back on straight because the two of them are capable of getting through to each other in a way that nobody else can.

not All Might being all “THIS FIGHT SURE IS SOME GREAT FORESHADOWING FOR THE TWO OF THEM TEAMING UP TOGETHER IN THE FUTURE AS FORETOLD BY DESTINY.”

not Kacchan becoming stronger by taking a page out of Deku’s book (save to win).

not Deku being the last person Kacchan sees before the LoV take him away, and the two of them locking eyes until the last possible second before Kacchan disappears and Deku literally falls to his knees screaming in the most dramatic breakdown of the entire series.

not the two of them being singled out in a crowd of hundreds and framed side by side desperately cheering on All Might in his darkest hour in the battle which will change the entire course of the series.

not Aizawa literally saying that class 1-A revolves around Bakugou and Deku.

not Deku and Kacchan having the most iconic battle of the entire series and being all “goddammit I can’t figure out why my entire life revolves around you and it’s driving me crazy” and being fully honest with each other for the first time in their lives, and then having All Might come over and tell them “you two need each other, and you need to learn from each other, because each of you intuitively understands part of what it means to be a great hero, and by working together you will both one day be able to rise to the top.”

not Kacchan, and only Kacchan, being inducted into Club OFA a full two hundred chapters before anybody else.

not Kacchan and Deku obsessing over showing off for each other in the Joint Training arc while All Might looks on like a proud dad.

not Kacchan’s phenomenal progress in the JT arc being traced directly back to the lessons he learned from All Might and Deku.

not Deku being triggered into activating a wholeass new fucking quirk because someone said something mean about Kacchan.

not Horikoshi answering the question of “so what’s next for Kacchan’s character development?” with “he’s going to begin the slow burn process of realizing that he needs to make amends to Deku.”

not Kacchan being focused on Deku during Tomura’s attack on Jakku, and realizing what he’s about to do, and immediately moving in step beside him without the slightest hesitation because he’s determined to stay with him and protect him.

not All Might literally saying “THEY WILL GET A CHANCE TO TALK YOU GUYS SO JUST BE PATIENT.”

not Kacchan unconsciously emulating Deku when he’s focused on saving, and mimicking everything from his exact style of strategizing down to his speech patterns, in the exact same way that Deku starts unconsciously imitating Kacchan’s own mannerisms and speech when he’s focused on winning.

not Kacchan’s milestone “Rising” chapter being explicitly centered around this transcendent moment when he reacts without thinking in order to save Deku’s life.

not Deku activating a wholeass new fucking quirk AGAIN because someone insulted Kacchan AGAIN.

not Kacchan being all “Deku’s not the only one whose quirk goes through Awakenings when he sees that his childhood rivalfriend is in danger.”

not Kacchan having an entire character arc devoted solely to the importance of him choosing a hero name, which he has yet to reveal to Deku.

last but not least, not a whole entire montage of Horikoshi interview quotes with him talking about the thematic importance of “win to save, save to win” (it’s literally what heroism means to him), and talking about Bakugou’s future, and how he’s determined to write an even better ending than the one in Heroes Rising, and how the story will have a conclusion where all of the characters come together in the end.

so yeah. just in case it isn’t clear from all of this,

Bakugou and Deku’s destinies are intertwined in a way that runs deeper than any other connection in the series

the two of them have spurred on each other’s growth throughout the entirety of the manga

their character development has revolved around each other literally from the start

their journeys mirror and complement each other in a way that enriches the narrative

they each represent one half of All Might’s legacy

and their bond is at the center of the series’s emotional resonance

and Horikoshi is not just going to all of a sudden forget all of that and ignore it entirely in the series’s final act. I literally can’t understand why anyone would think that. it’s all right there you guys. 300 chapters’ worth of history and development. this is how it is, and this is how it has always been. like it or not, these two idiots are both in this together, and their respective endgames are inextricably tied to one another. win and save, you guys.

[sarahjtv]

BNHA 304 Spoilers Some Thoughts: Vestiges

This was a meaty chapter with a lot of One For All lore and theories, so I’m going to put in a some thoughts down because I’d be writing an entire essay if I did a deep-dive into this chapter otherwise.  Also, I’m using the ReadHeroAcademia Fan Translations, but I think they were kind of wonky this week for some reason, so apologies if I get some stuff wrong, especially when the official translations come out:

We now see all the OFA users in their real forms except for All Might of course.  The 2nd and 3rd users aren’t in the shadows anymore, but they’re facing the wall because of course they are.  One of them has been speculated by many fans to be Bakugo or one of Bakugo’s decedents mainly because of his hair.  I’m not entirely bought on that yet, but I can see it.  I don’t think it’s Bakugo himself, so I’m leaning more towards the ancestor thing.

The 4th user’s name is Hakage Shinomori.  He lived in the woods (it’s implied that he did it to stay away from society), had OFA for about 18 years, and trained it enough to pass it down to the next user being Banjo.  Oh, and he’s pretty 😳!  And he died of old age at only 40 yrs old 😰

Edit: The official translations say that his first name was Higake.  Also, he didn’t know exactly how he died until All Might dug up his medical records and autopsy from present day.  OFA did cause that crack on his face and Shinormori thought it was a disease that killed him initially, but that was not the case.

I actually did look back at Chapter 257(?) where All Might was talking to Deku and Bakugo about the previous OFA users to make sure Shinomori really did die of old age and looks like he did!  The panel that shows all the previous holder’s deaths shows the 4th user looking old and tired.  I didn’t see any blood or injuries on him.  Good consistency, Horikoshi!

It definitely looks like Banjo (the 5th user) likes messing around with Shinomori as he’s messing with Shinormori with his Black Whip and Shinomori is just avoiding him with his Danger Sense LOL!  I wonder if the two had this dynamic when they were alive since Sinomori would’ve probably trained Banjo at some point being the 4th and 5th users.  

Quick tangent, but I really want to know the 6th user’s deal (the black haired Tobio Kageyama look-alike with the Best Jeanist collar).  He’s been on full display since we’ve first saw the vestiges, but we don’t know his Quirk yet (Is it VOLLEYBALL??) or how he trained Nana Shimura.  I’m thinking his Quirk is next on Deku’s Awakening list.  I want answers, Horikoshi!

Also, Deku can talk in the Vestige World now, but it’s broken speech.  Thankfully, it’s enough for the Vestiges to understand, so they’re able to answer his questions and comments fine.

Now to the big topic at hand: One For All is best possessed by Quirkless people and Deku is most likely the LAST user of OFA.  

Shinomori says that OFA can no longer be held by “Normal People”.  This interested me when he said it because my initial thought was that he was talking about “Quirkless” people.  But, then I remember that it was established in the VERY BEGINNING OF THE SERIES that 80+% of people in the BNHA world have Quirks.  So they are considered “Normal People” in this universe.  

The explanation they gave for why this is is A LOT!  But basically, OFA is just too much for people with Quirks.  Their glasses are full when they get their Quirks.  Adding OFA to that overflows that cup and cracks it (Horikoshi gives us a nice visual, so it’s easier to explain).  Because of that, OFA actually chips off a Quirk user’s life-span by a lot.  IT AGES THEM SIGNIFICANTLY!!!  That’s why 40 was considered “old age” to Shinomori.  That’s why he died so quickly.

Edit: I was worried that the fan translation for this explanation would be wrong when the official translations came out, but thankfully it isn’t that far off.  It’s basically the same explanation just worded differently.  Again, I think the visualization with the cups helps a lot.

But, because All Might was Quirkless, his glass was empty.  It wasn’t until he was given OFA that his glass was full.  All Might, in a way, made OFA is very own Quirk as if he was born with it.  Also, All Might seemingly has the power to summon the Vestiges willingly though he doesn’t know it yet.

Edit: Ok, the part where All Might can summon the Vestiges willingly was not in the official translations, but based on how his hand on Deku’s cast is drawn, I don’t think the fan translations were too far off.  All Might can at least feel them inside Deku at this point.

AND, based on what’s said, All Might’s has had OFA for 40 YEARS!  So, doing the math, if All Might got OFA at 14-15 yrs old + 40 yrs = All Might is at least 54-55 years old at this point.  I thought he’d be around this age, but now it’s pretty much confirmed.

A lot of info is still unknown though such as how and why OFA adapts with the User’s original Quirks.  Though it is clarified that Quirkless people do have the most potential to hold OFA.

The 1st User says that having All Might and Deku inherit OFA was a miracle (or might be fate) and then Horikoshi shows us a panel of Sir Nighteye.  This kinda guts me...  Nighteye was so bent on making sure that Mirio was the perfect candidate for OFA before he accepted Deku’s role.  And Mirio would’ve been a great hero with OFA, but he would not have been a great candidate.  If Mirio inherited OFA, he would’ve died an early age.  I hate to say it, but I’m glad Nighteye was wrong and All Might made the right choice.

Also, thinking about it, Shinormoi died at age 40 with 4 quirks in him (including his own).  So, I’d imagine Mirio with 8 quirks in him would chop off his life span significantly.  I’d say Mirio here wouldn’t have lasted through his 20s at least.  Thank god he didn’t inherit OFA 😨

And finally on this topic, because Quirkless people are becoming more and more scarce, Deku is most likely going to be last holder of OFA.  A lot of people including myself thought this might be the case, but not for this reason.  Thankfully, this means that Deku will (hopefully) live a long life, but he’ll have no successor to pass the Quirk down to.  The only other Qurikless person we know in this world besides Deku and All Might is Melissa Shield, but she want to build support items for heroes instead.  Deku’s kids will most likely have Quirks, so they’re out of the picture.  There aren’t a lot of options left in the BNHA world.  OFA will most likely live and die with Deku.

LASTLY, Nana Shimura speaks up and asks Deku a crucial question: “Are you able to kill Tomura Shigaraki?”  First off, WHAT???  Second off, WHAT?????  Nana is asking Deku if he can KILL her own GRANDSON!!!  I know Shigaraki is evil and killed a shitton of people, but KILL HIM???  Good god, Horikoshi...  Where are you going with this, my dude.  I don’t think Deku can bring it in himself to kill someone even if it is Shigaraki.  I doubt he will.  So I wonder what his response to Nana will be in the next chapter.

There, I did it.  I said my piece.  THIS CHAPTER WAS A LOT THOUGH HOLY SHIT!  I knew we were getting Vestige stuff this week, but goddamn.  I hope I did this chapter enough justice though.  I do recommend reading the chapter for yourself when it comes out though, because I think it explains things better.  I expect a lot from the next chapter too.

In conclusion; Me @ Me this entire chapter:

[stillness-in-green]

If it's any consolation, I'm sure that the Advisors and the rest of the MLA (Re-Destro, Trumpet, Geten) will show back up sooner than the final arc, just because we're going into Year 2 and the students would find great 1 on 1 or team opponents with the Advisors. Re-Destro and Geten are heavy hitters (and Geten could be tied to Dabi, Shoto and all that somehow) and they were locked up with Mr. Compress and Machia, but who do you want to see first from the Advisors?

Thanks, anon; I certainly do hope we'll get to see more of them.  Admittedly, my main concern is that I so liked what was going on with the Paranormal Liberation Front that even if we do see all of the MLA types again, if it's only in the context of speedbump battles for the students, that's still going to be a letdown.  Better than nothing, to be sure, but I really do want them to join back up with the League, even a League that's confused and out of sorts under All For One's hand.  I love RD's big spiritual-awakening-flavored crush on Shigaraki, the cross-organization tensions and relationships, just as much as I love the depth the MLA brings to the world outside of just what's going on with the heroes.

I'm fairly frustrated with how the MLA fared during and after the raid, largely because it's awfully hard not to conclude that, if what we have right now is all the erstwhile-MLA are ever going to come to, Shigaraki would have been significantly better off if he'd just killed them all and shacked up with Ujiko for four months.  And that would be such a waste!  The end of My Villain Academia was such an enormous triumph for Shigaraki! I want his victory to amount to something more than what we've seen, something that shows that both his strength and his mercy will pay off for him in the long-term, will be a concrete benefit to him rather than, with the benefit of hindsight, the reason everything went so wrong.

Particularly with Re-Destro, since Horikoshi saw fit to have Dark Shadow all but one-shot the man, and Edgeshot defeat him off-panel, it's really not going to mean much to me for him to have a big fight with students unconnected to anything else.  The drama's rather gone out of it at this point.  That's particularly the case since, if he's no longer connected to Shigaraki's plot, it's that much easier for him to just be off-paneled and forgotten about.  But, if Rikiya gets looped back in with the League, if his gratitude and admiration of Shigaraki mean he still has a role to play in Shigaraki's arc, that makes it much easier to get invested in any fights that role will lead him to. Ditto the MLA more broadly; it's categorically ridiculous to present that organization with the kinds of numbers, breadth of influence and legitimate grievances they have, only to try to sweep them back under the rug exactly like Shigaraki accuses heroes of doing with everyone they can't save. 

To say the least, I'm pretty invested.  But I appreciate your consolations and am trying to hold out hope that we'll get some good stuff with them yet!

My anxieties aside, and to hit the other portion of your ask--who would I like to see first among the Advisors?--hit the jump:

(All nicknames and shorthand are taken from this post.) 

Well, it'd be nice if they could all get at least as much to do as the Eight Bullets back during the Hassaikai arc, seeing as they got a similar splash page spread introducing all their faces.  There are considerably more than eight of them, of course, but even if they never get more attention than e.g. Galvanize or the hose-faced guy who iced Midnight did, at least then we'd have some idea of their power sets and at least one angle on their personality.

Assuming we aren’t going to get full breakdowns on every single one of them, there are still four things I'd really like to see happen with the MLA/the Advisors: the student fights we're expecting, the jailbreaks we're being told about, the reunion with the League I'm praying for, and for literally anyone in the in-world media to try and get their side of the story.

Student Fights: Seeing the guy who killed Midnight again is as sure a bet as any of these get.  Momo is an important enough character, with enough sustained arc, that she will have to get something else to do before the series is over.  Taking command of a group battle against real opponents--ones with more responsiveness and agency than Gigantomachia--would be in-line with what she's been moving towards so far.  I would, however, love it if that fight would be more challenging than a straightforward battle of tactics.

I headcanon Hose Face and Scarecrow as, respectively, an ex-con and a dude with physical disabilities--both people who have ample reason to want to change the series' status quo irt human rights abuses in prison and overly restrictive quirk use laws.  I'm not expecting the canon to validate me on what amount to wild guesses, of course, but I want those Advisors in particular to have motivations more nuanced than, "They're quirk supremacists; who cares why they're willing to put their lives on the line over this?"

A feel-good revenge match in which a bunch of teenagers lay the smack down on characters whose humanity the audience is asked neither to know nor care about would be lazy, and counterproductive to the series' current thematic concerns. Give Momo her victory, by all means, but don't give it to her easy.  A confrontation like this would be a good way for the less central Class A students to begin wrestling with the question of who, exactly, heroes "save" and what it is that people need to be saved from, exactly the way Deku and Uraraka and Shouto are now wrestling with these questions.

As far as other fights go, I'd also love to see Brand and The Question pop up again. They're probably the two I'm most curious about purely in terms of what their quirks are.  Why does The Question wear a mask, and what's he like that he wound up in Mr. Compress's chain of command?  And with Brand, what kind of quirk does he have that's powerful enough to land him a ranked position in the Guerilla Warfare Regiment but indirect enough that he fights with a sword?

Prison Breaks: I wouldn't expect this to be particularly involved, probably more of an aside than anything, but I want the Bindi Ladies to spring Hole Punch Face, thus getting us an angle on what's going on with that particular trio.  Aviator Teeth can come too because I want at least some hints about what his deal is.

I'd also love to watch Horikoshi even attempt to retroactively justify some of the logistics of the single-day capture and subsequent detention of 17,000 super-powered, combat-trained people.*  I mean, I don't think there are any feasible explanations for that, but I'd be curious to see what he'd come up with, especially if every possible answer just makes Hero Society look worse! We have only ever seen Tartarus as an example of the prison conditions in this country; I'd love to hear more, and an MLA-focused jailbreak would be a great way to show it.

PLF Reunion: Of course, my number one thing to see with a reunion is Re-Destro being just as dismayed as Spinner is over Tomura's possession.  I crave more serious attention being paid to Rikiya's profound awe over Shigaraki's freedom, and would love to see his reaction to Shigaraki apparently losing that freedom.

Aside from the obvious, though, if the PLF does start piecing itself back together, I expect to see Sanctum again, given the attention he's gotten so far, and the fact that he's now the highest-ranked member of the Tactics Regiment.  It'd be great to get some explanation for how he can possibly be "the longest-serving member of the Liberation Army," given that the Army was generations old already when Re-Destro was just a child.  (If we do get that information, I imagine my own explanation will be jossed hugely, so I would also be happy to take time with Sanctum that doesn't explain the discrepancy but also doesn't invalidate my headcanon.)  

In the context of the regiments reforming, I'd also like to see Nimble and Aster, both because this manga needs more women, and because I'd like to see more of how Spinner and Toga interact with the people they were nominally commanding.

Media Attention: Trumpet's my number one hope here--the lack of any look into the state of the government in HeroAca Japan has been a total let-down since his introduction**, but I was particularly annoyed that the last time we saw him he was smiling (albeit in a fairly haggard way), giving me hope that we might next see him doing his part to portray all of this in a light that would sway public opinion.  And then literally one chapter later, we get prison guards talking about how the Hearts & Minds Party, a perfectly legitimized political party with representation on the national level, has been perfunctorily dissolved less than twelve hours from when the raid started.  How is there even an argument that the system heroes were upholding desperately needs to change?

I'm very tired of the media in BNHA only ever showing up to beg for/demand that heroes tell them what’s going on, particularly those damn press conferences. Journalists do investigative work! Newspapers employ reporters to actively seek out news!  Reporters in free countries don't just sit around waiting for the government or heads of major industries to graciously hand them press releases!  For heaven's sake, Trumpet was the head of a major political party.  People should be foaming at the mouth trying to get a statement from him!  

Especially with public trust in heroes breaking down, there should absolutely be intrepid reporters out there looking to get to the bottom of any of the layered conspiracies the public's just been hit with and told to just write-off as a bump in the road on the return to normalcy.

Anyway, Trumpet's the obvious choice, but if I could be sure the manga would validate my headcanons about Nimble and Scarecrow's disabilities, I'd be happy to put them in this position, too.  Trucker Toad would be another good candidate, if there's any basis to my idea that he is or used to be a transport driver who's seen a lot of the country outside the areas e.g. the Top Ten Heroes are patrolling.  He's obviously a good candidate for getting back to that idea of anti-heteromorph bias, too.  But really, I'd take anyone who can give a cogent explanation of the MLA's position on self-determination and the various ways Hero Society has exacerbated quirk-based discrimination.

Anyway, that's about where my thoughts are on where I hope the MLA people are and what we might see of them.  Thanks for the ask!

--------------

*Or as many as 100,000 more than that, depending on how through the statement, "Their bases around the country were also attacked, and their supporters rounded up," was meant to be.  An influx of 116K people, incidentally, would triple Japan's current carceral population.

**Why! Why would you introduce a politician and then never even glance at your setting's political situation??

[highviewsmoved]

⁂ shigaraki tomura x reader. (old god shigaraki & female reader)  ❝ gods cannot love mortals. ❞

Similar to the seasons, death changes.

There are whispers of an ancient deity that descends when it is someone's time to go. Who appears when men fall in war, in sickness or in their own beds rattling their last breath.

The name of his is unspoken, for he has wandered the earth for years, collecting souls, leaving death and destruction in his wake. An omen of some kind, similar to the caw of a crow. He will exist.

He will be there and he will wait.

Death himself comes for her in early autumn, when the trees are bare, the branches similar to skeletal fingers pushing up from the earth; the leaves stuck wet to the ground after a morning of rain.

She is cleaning, yukata rolled to her legs and sleeves tied in tasuki to keep from getting wet from the splash of water. It was simple, an easy mistake. She suddenly missteps when she goes back to refill the bamboo tub, falling in head first into the freezing stream.

The locals, the people in her village warned her the water is vicious for its current. The current had stolen a child not too long ago, the mother’s wailing echoes could still be heard throughout the mountain. Water fills her lungs, suffocating her, as her head knocks against a rock.

She is now at the mercy of the beast, and she hopes the river deity will spare her. When she resurfaces much later she has blacked out, unknowing what or who had saved her.

She remembers the abyss; white and red.

And the face of a man who crumbles.

--

Her mother tells her she lived because he had spared her.

“Who, mother?”

“Death,” she says simply. “He can be merciful.”

She listens carefully while the porridge cooks, the smell delicious. She grips the rag between her fists tightly, and she thinks she has seen the face of death. He is very similar to a human.

Curiosity gets the best of her. “Is he always alone?”

Mother is quiet for sometime, she’s not sure she may have heard her. Until she finally responds. “Yes, always.”

--

She sees death when he takes the soul of an old man in her village, the grieving of the family being heard as others come out of their huts to see the mourning, and she sees him.

Death is there, and he comes with the snow in winter, so unlike when he comes in spring or in summer. The frost creeps into her lungs, as she watches him, holding firewood close to her chest.

The old man by his side as Death looks at her, his spider lily eyes holding hers, as if enchanted; and she feels the tickle of snow on her cheek.

She does not cry, but her heart feels heavy. How many more people will he leave with?

--

Death stumbles upon her; she is kneeling, gazing up at the old chestnut tree, and when he hears her calling he comes. She has believed in him.

“Do you take away my people?” She asks him, her hands on her thighs, talking to this deity who has been known for so long. The tale whispers about him being the one who appears when death and destruction are at bay. In the middle of battlefields, always by a sea of corpses he steps through. She is not afraid of him, perhaps she should be.

The branches shiver, light splaying through.

He is there and he does not speak.

Her voice shakes, her fists tightening. The feeling of pain gripping her throat. “Where do you take the dead?”

Tomura responds, in a tone crisp like winter. “Home.”

--

His voice is the hiss of a snake, coiled deep around her throat; a warning. “This is a small mercy.” He had been there when the cliff near her almost swept her away, he had come just in time as she thought of him. He had heard her heart.  

She cannot deny him, it is true that all the chances he has given her have been at best, luck. Or maybe it is him saving her. This she does not want to believe. He has saved her many times but has not spared her people. She should despise him.

Her voice is steel and iron, “you have given me many.”

He looks at her, taken aback as if she had slapped him. She exposes him like a wound, she realizes this much too late.

“The last time,” he reminds her, tone poisonous.

--

She has not seen him since the leaves have changed and at dawn he comes to her, underneath the large chestnuts. The wicker basket has fallen, she cannot bear to look.

“Who have you come for?” Her question is lost in the breeze, tears wet against her cheeks.

She is tired of fighting, of trying to fight off death himself (she has not fought him, she has welcomed him) who has come every time the season changes and for the people in her village. For the people she loves.

He has come anyway. Despite no one believing in him, praying to him; except for her and her mother. She hoped he would listen.

“Do not ask such things if you wish to not know the answer,” his tone is cold but his eyes burn against her back; skin prickling at the heat.

She exhales heavily, breath shuddering. She has cried for hours knowing her mother's time is soon. Deep in her heart she has known he will come anyway.

“Please,” she cries gently, then with much more pain, “please don’t take her away.”

Tomura cannot hold her to that. No more. It is time. “You know already.”

Her chin quivers, trying so hard to be strong. “Then answer me this, when will you take her?”

He thought it was obvious enough, but he will give her what she asks. Only this time; always this time.

“At dawn.” Then with much more promise, “I am coming for her at dawn.” If it is this morning or the next or the next. She does not know.

--

She remembers the first time she saw his face, covered in a mess of hair, bright and glowing like starlight. His eyes redder than the spider lilies that bloom across the meadows. They say the meaning behind those flowers is rebirth, to say goodbye. He is clad in all black, the fabric wrapping around him tattered from travel.

“What is your name?” Her knees are touching soft grass beneath her, dewy from the morning. Her heart pounds considerably louder when his footsteps have quieted.

“Tomura,” it is said like a breeze, so gentle that it carries.

She swallows, curious about his name, so she speaks it and the tree branches bend against the power it holds. Leaves fall changing to brown. The wind howls quietly, slipping by through her hair and face.

“Why have you come here, Tomura?” The wind swirls above.

He approaches, shadowed by the shade. “I come to know.”

“Know? Of what?” She turns her head in a peculiar way, eyes full of wonder. How odd for a deity to make themselves known to a human. So many times this god of death and destruction has done this. So many times he has hid in the shadows of mourning.

“Of things I seek and do not understand.”

Her heart trills like a songbird.

“Am I something you seek and do not understand?”

It is brave to ask such things, the temperature has dropped considerably and the birds have stopped singing. Everything has grown quiet, even the god near her.

“Yes,” and he is gone, she turns quickly to see and notices the patch of brown earth where he stood, the lush green that surrounded him, had paid the price.

--

She has prayed to Tomura, the god of death and destruction to protect her people, he has not forsaken them. He has saved them despite the bitter feeling of grief still anew. The loss of her mother, the old man, and so many more. All of it is painful. Living is painful.

Home, he had said. He takes them to a place where they can rest peacefully is what he promised, but she cannot help but wonder if he had created this, or if this was how life always is.

Death is a cycle.

--

She dreams of a large hand, of a wasteland surrounding her; she wanders the terrain filled with nothing, and she sees him. White hair and dark cloak billowing in a wind she cannot feel.

“Tomura?” She calls, and he does not turn, he stands there. When she reaches him he has slowly become dust, withering in the wind, sweeping past her.

She is suffocating from the particles as it wraps around her. She awakens, the fire put out in her home, smoke rising, the fabric of her bedding stuck to her sweaty body. She knows what her dream is about.

He will soon be gone.

--

“Will you die?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“I fade away.”

“When?”

“Soon.”

She runs to him, closing the distance, her embrace is tight against him, he can feel her heartbeat. Her time ticking slowly away.

She will die of old age. He will die because he loved.

She breathes close; warm breath near his ear, and he sighs. He has dreamed of this. Tomura’s mind goes elsewhere during nights away. He has always dreamed of her.

Her soul he has spared, slowly collecting the surrounding ones. She knew this, yet here she is, with him.

He is feared and known. She is a human.

Gods cannot love mortals.

“Live for me,” she gasps against him. “Fight and live,” she begs, her body shaking with guilt. She has unknowingly brought his end.

“I cannot.”

“What can I give you in exchange? My soul?” He exhales, sounding close to a laugh, a smile cracking his lips.

“I will not allow that exchange.”

She pulls away, eyes filled with bitter tears, and she has never looked more brilliant than ever. She is alive.

He longs to touch her like he has often wished of doing.

So he does. Fingers, crumbling slowly; he touches her cheek, and she is so surprised to find it warm; soothing like the summer sun.

She leans into it, wishing she could have this moment forever.

“Your name—“ she stops, then touches his face, his hair, his lips. Caressing all of him.

“Tomura means to mourn,” he says, eyes glittering.

“I will mourn you, yes,” she promises, his arms wrap around her waist, hands moving towards her shoulder blades. How long has he lived without this? Centuries. Her lips brush close to his temples, “but I will love you always.”

Tomura leans in close, foreheads pressed together, lips breadths apart.

“And I you.”

--

She awakens in the forest holding nothing but black fabric.

--

When it is her time to go from this earth, she is old and weary. She had grandchildren, marrying a kind farmer who passed before her. In her seat she stares out where the chestnut trees stand tall, woven in branches.

The blossoms from nearby waft in the wind. It is her time to go, she grips the piece of black fabric she has held onto.

She closes her eyes, and she rests peacefully, her heart stuttering to a halt.

The way it is painless, as it wraps around her; darkness is not as the stories say; it is not unforgiving. The tunnel of light she moves through as she is back in the wasteland from a dream she had years ago.

Tomura stands tall, cape billowing in a windless desert. She gasps, tears streaming down her face as he is turned to her. Not like the dream of where he seemed so far, but now he is so close.

She goes to him, embracing him once more.

“Welcome back,” she says against his chest, he holds her tightly, no longer crumbling.

“I have been here and I have waited,” his voice is still rough like wood being scraped.

He wraps her close, his hands still warm like sunlight, hair bright and eyes similar to spider lilies.

“You are human?” She asks, pulling away to look at him, eyes searching his features, he still looks the same since the last time she saw him all those years ago.

“Deities are born from humans,” he states, “we are one and the same.”

Her tears are wiped gently with his thumb, fingers gliding across her neck and collarbone. This closeness he has missed.

She grabs his hand and presses her lips to each finger. Tomura no longer takes, he has given and given until her soul found his. They were born for this moment, she no longer hears the sorrowful noise of cicadas in the summer sun, silence has never felt more welcoming.

It is not harsh or lonesome, they have one another.

“I kept a part of you with me,” she confesses against his cheek, and his hands glide down her back, the feeling of her he has craved for years since he left.

He keeps her so close that they could become one. “And you can continue to do so, as long as you stay with me,” he murmurs.

Her breath fans his hair as she brushes her fingers through the locks. “Always and forever.” She is finally home with him.

The promise between god and human has been made, and they stay like this for eternity.

[old-castlegachi]

AFO MANIPULATED TENKO INTO BECOMING THE BROTHER HE NEVER HAD

or why AFO really took Tenko in.

so I saw this post by @jae-the-hyung​ and, well, I started to think:

The first OFA holder looks a lot like Tenko; there is the mole (which Nana shares), and his hair looks a lot like Tenko's. To me, the most telling is OFA's pose. It's a very…Tenko gesture, the half-grab hand-reach. So, hear me out while I expand on this; and what this could potentially mean for the ending of AFO and Tenko's redemption:

I've also thought AFO's hatred for Nana Shimura is a lot harsher than his hatred for other OFA holders (and I'll get to Toshinori in a moment). I mean why did he literally villainize her last descendent? I'm supposed to believe that he made Tenko into Tomura so it'd be ironic punishment against Toshinori, that he did it only to hurt Toshinori. He took in a thoroughly traumatized 5-year-old, continued to abusively manipulate him for about 15 years because…it would really hurt an already guilty prone All Might…?

The claim he chose Tenko as a successor is also moot because he took Tenko before All Might crippled him, and AFO is effectively immortal. He didn't (and I doubt he even now does) need a successor. So, all in all, it sounds like a lot of work for not a lot back, unless –

AFO got something else out of it.

I think my theory makes more sense if we bring in this theory (I can't find the post so link me if u know it), where AFO believes he killed Nana Shimura before she managed to pass on OFA; and, as such, AFO didn't know about All Might before he debuted. His brother's quirk, OFA, was back in the family line; and Nana Shimura hadn't the time to pass on OFA yet. So, AFO had finally liberated himself and won the battle of OFA and AFO.

I think AFO found the rest of the Shimura family (curiosity or maybe he had plans) but he saw an opportunity in Tenko. If Tenko Shimura is a direct descendant of OFA, and AFO believed he'd killed the last of OFA's power lineage; then AFO is without a remnant of his brother for the first time.

If AFO wants a sick attempt at closure, then Tenko is the perfect host for it. Tenko is delicate-hearted (is my fav term to use for him), he dreamed about being a hero and was abused for it, and is already prone to self-harm (scratching). He is a little brother, and Tenko is still very young and, I personally headcanon, quirkless.

Even if you don't believe AFO gave Tenko his quirk in full knowledge that it'd awaken destructively; it still resulted in the death of the rest of the Shimura family. AFO took Tenko's memories, but left the crippling emotions, so Tenko had no way to heal from the trauma. He kept Tenko isolated and retraumatized him by having him kill people who attacked him, and he praised him and gave him gifts (look at the number of belongings in his room over time) whenever Tenko acted like AFO wanted him to act.

sidenote: from the start AFO cast himself as Tenko's Sensei, claimed Tenko would be his successor; except Tenko doesn't even know how to take care of himself, let alone an empire. And evidence that AFO is aware of this? He appointed Kurogiri as Tenko's babysitter. (@thyandrawrites​ has more meta on this).

The entire relationship AFO built between himself and Tenko was how AFO determined OFA should have acted. His brother should've been wholly dependent on AFO, he should've realized AFO was their savior, should've begged to help AFO do his work, should have clung to his every word! I would not be surprised if the first OFA holder's name was revealed to be Tomura.

AFO manipulated Tenko into becoming Tomura Shigaraki. Not just to hurt All Might, but because it was cathartic for him. He derived a sick pleasure at having 'his brother' finally follow his beck and call, after decades of his 'rebellion' ruining his plans for the world. I'm not surprised he talks to Tenko 'affectionately' (condescendingly) he has masterfully manipulated himself as the center of Tomura's world, (exactly as it should have been).

So, what does this mean for Tenko's redemption? In the panel below, he tells his family "Don't reject who I am":

Tenko thinks being a villain, a being of pure destruction, is who he truly is; and his family, in their attempt to save/stop him are denying him that. If my theory holds true, then Tenko was not destined to be a villain. The destruction inherent in 'Tomura Shigaraki' is not his true self. Tomura Shigaraki is actually AFO's wish of another person entirely!

Once Tenko finds out that AFO's brother was called Tomura, or that AFO molded Tenko into his ideal for Tomura, or that he is a direct descendent of OFA – then the inherent belief that Tenko was destined for destruction has shattered. AFO put himself in the role of mentor and a benevolent savior but when Tenko finds out the truth, AFO would've betrayed one of the few things Tenko believed in.

I might be gaming but I know I'm not the only one who hopes that Tenko (and the LoV) will end up killing AFO, and maybe this is the catalyst.

tl:dr Tenko is a direct descendent of OFA. AFO raised Tenko to become his idealized version of his brother OFA. Tenko will find out that AFO does not see him as his own person. Tenko (and the LoV) will finally rebel against AFO.

[alyasalias]

One For All Users Theory

My theories on the mystery users of One for All. Major spoilers for the manga...so make sure you're caught up. You have been warned.

For those still curious, the somewhat spoiler free TLDR of what I have written here: The naming system of One For All users appears to follow the trend of having each user's name have something to do with their number. We only know four of their names so far and have been led to believe that their name-number thing is tied to the number of user they are/were. While reading that tidbit I realized that "Katsuki" is homonyms with "victory", which lead me to thinking "first place"...so..."first user...that One For All was passed onto...so technically the second user"...and that "Eijiro" when written with the right kanji means "Second son"...so...second person the Quirk was passed onto? So...maybe this lends some weight to the theory that Bakugo Katsuki and Kirishima Eijiro are our mystery previous users? Building on that theory, I suggest a potential explanation for All Might's Muscle form.

A while back I found a few theories online floating around  that Bakugo Katsuki and Kirishima Eijiro are the second and third users of One For All, respectively. The silhouette for the spiky-haired dude definitely seems like a dead ringer for Katsuki.

I thought this theory was kind of ridiculous because a true time-travel Quirk has yet to be established in HeroAca. The theories that I found insisting that it was so all linked it to Eri--that Eri's Rewind somehow sent Katsuki back in time all the way to the point of the first user. Personally, I think that claiming Rewind can do that is a stretch. The only victim of Eri's Quirk that we know of that was rewound out of their present existence was her father, and we have no idea what actually became of him. Some claim that she basically rewound his body to the point where he deaged into inexistence. Eri's Quirk is still largely unexplored, but based on the way it was used in the battle against Overhaul I don't think there's enough evidence to claim that Eri's Quirk could send someone back in time. At present, it appears to only have an effect on a single individual's cells and/or molecular structure. She appears to be able to make damage to living cells reverse themselves. De-aging would fall under that, 'cuz some people would consider aging basically gradual cell death...so it's possible that is what happened to her father. Potentially, he had no injuries and was far too intrigued or shocked to get out of range--he was an adult, he should have had time to get out of range before vanishing into nothingness. Unless, of course, Eri's Quirk awakening happened like Tenko's and she goes through a similar subconscious suppression of her Quirk due to trauma. It's possible she could de-age a person out of existence in an instant, but after doing it to her dad the trauma caused her to keep a lid on it...hence why Izuku had time to think and realize what was going on with his body and that he'd have to damage his body fast enough to keep up with Eri's Quirk. I don't see any hints that Eri's Rewind has elements of time travel though. If she's capable of it, then our best bet would be to question what actually happened to her father--were his cells simply rewound to the point that he no longer existed (rapid de-aging), or was he maybe transported to a different era? It's possible, but it's currently unexplored in canon.

Ultimately, I think that until we get some more facts it's too soon to claim that Eri will send Bakugo and Eijiro to the past. How they get to the past isn't what I want to theorize on tonight...but on *why* it's probable they could become the mystery users.

We all know that Horikoshi loves meaningful names and that each One For All user appears to follow a naming rule where their names have some connection to which number of user they are with the Quirk. Izuku's "ku" is homophones with nine, Yagi's got an eight in his surname, Nana is homophones with seven, etc. That would imply that the unknown users should have "two" and "three" in their names somewhere, since they are the second and third users of One For All. It's another stretch, but what if the first user was "Zero" and the mystery users became "One" and "Two"...being the first and second users to have One For All passed on to them (after all, in the original user would it be called One For All if it's just the power-stocking quirk coupled with the ability to pass on quirks?) It gains the "one for all" moniker because it's passed on. Also, if we're screwing with time, having the numerical naming order be disrupted seems a bit poetic--it shows in the names that something messed up as far back as the 2nd user if his name bears allusions to "one" or "first".

After reading the bit about the users names again recently, something began to bug me--especially with the silhouette of one of the users being a dead ringer for a Katsuki look-alike. Katsuki can mean victory--which made me think of 'first place'. Eijiro, with the right kanji, can sometimes mean "second son" as a name--"second person to inherit the quirk (technically third user)"? This would definitely create an odd naming system for sure and a number would end up being missing from the names. However, it could be possible. In Asian cultures 8 is seen as a lucky number and fours are considered unlucky. It's possible that "four" could be skipped entirely, having All For One's brother be "zero", Katsuki being "First/one", Eijiro being "second/two", and the unknown fourth user being named with "third/three", skipping four entirely and we get Banjo Daigoro (Black Whip) as our confirmed fifth user ("go" in his name is homonyms with five), the dark-haired dude as our sixth user, Nana at seventh, All Might at eight, and finally our nineth as Izuku/Deku. Fours are already taken anyway--All For One claims that "Shigaraki" was his own name...and that he gave it to Tenko/Tomura for that reason. "Shi" is homonyms with "death" as well as one way to say "four" in Japanese (the other being "yon"). Maybe the One For All users won't invoke four because it's the name of their fated enemy.

It's definitely a stretch dependent on whether or not Horikoshi is superstitious about fours or whether or not it'll be a factor in the naming system at all or whatever. Also, this names theory only means anything if we're willing to accept the possibility that Katsuki and Eijiro are the mystery users.

Another thing I wonder as part of this theory has to do with Eijiro's Hardening Quirk being within One For All.

All Might claims that he was Quirkless, and now that the embers of One For All have left him, he should be completely Quirkless...but he's still shown the ability to turn into his muscle-form...and it's acknowledged by the characters as his muscle form, so that makes me think that it's actually happening in the world of the story and that it's not just a gag for the readers. Muscle-form looks like a Quirk to me...so...if Toshinori was Quirkless and One For All has left him...then where did muscle-form come from and why does he still have the ability to change into it--no matter how briefly?

My theory on muscle-form is that it's Kirishima Eijiro's Hardening Quirk (assuming we accept the fact that Eijiro is one of the past users of One For All)--that Toshinori drew on the stored Quirk without knowing it...and that even if the embers of One For All are truly gone from him...somehow that last bit of it stayed with him. After all, it's different from all of the other Quirks we know of within One For All. Hardening is a transformation type Quirk--the results are temporary. Black Whip, Float, and whatever happens when Izuku taps into One For all, Full Cowling and any SMASH! moves--all of those appear to be emission-type Quirks. Perhaps Transformation-type Quirks linger or merge with the very cells of the user...and thus don't entirely leave even when the embers are gone? My theory on why Hardening looks different on All Might than it looks on Eijiro can be explained by Monoma's explanation of his copy ability and "blanks".

Monoma could copy Fatgum's Quirk, but it wouldn't function the same way. It appears that FatGum's Quirk gives him the ability to convert calories into fat at a more efficient rate than normal, and that his bodyfat has some extraordinary qualities--behaving like quicksand or rubber or whatever. His stored fat gives him the ability to trap people, stockpile force/blows, and the ability to basically lie on a dentonation device and absorb the force of the explosion--letting it out (ike the stockpile of force/blows) in a safer manner than if the device were to simply dentonate (see Vigilantes). FatGum's Quirk wouldn't work on Monoma because it relies on the stockpile. He'd have the quirk but wouldn't be able to do the same things with it--especially given the time limits. Potentially, Monoma would be able to convert calories into fat and get rounded out in the time he copies FatGum's Quirk...but he wouldn't be able to absorb people or blows in the same way until he had enough stockpiled fat. Basically, he could copy FatGum's Quirk, but he wouldn't balloon out to look like a copy of Fatgum.

I'm suggesting here that All Might's Muscle-Form is Kirishima Eijiro's Hardening Quirk (assuming that we accept that Eijiro is a previous user). Maybe "Hardening" manifested differently on All Might's frame than it does on Eijiro. It's a transformation type while the others currently known to be a part of One For All are emission-types. All Might's Muscle-form certainly looks like a transformation-type to me--maybe he's just not as rocky as Eijiro because the rocky part of it is something to do with Kirishima's own cells...cells All Might doesn't have. The way the Quirk manifests on All Might is different from how it manifests for Eijiro.

It's a stretch 'cuz we don't have enough facts from canon--and a lot of what I've written here relies on a heck of a lot of speculation. But hey, this is all just a theory (jkjk...love that channel...system of channels btw. Thank you MatPat for the amazingly done edutainment).

[thequietmanno1]

Thelreads, MHA 238, Replies Part 1

1) “Nothing more to say here. Just that I’m starting to think that Bad touch Man probably wears all this hands on his clothes because all he wants is a hug from someone.”- Just found this on a re-read and…. Well, it looks like Shigaraki’s finally grown up enough. He was described as a child before, even whilst in a teenager’s body, and like a child, he only really wanted a hug from someone to help comfort him in his time of need. Those hands may have brought him pain, but they also provided a semblance of what his subconcious mind truly desired from those around him, hence why he clung to them to tightly and with such ferocity. But… well, you can’t be a child forever, and you will eventually mature and move past the stuffed toys you used to sleep with as a kid in bed, growing up and leaving them behind. Tomura’s finally grown up enough that he doesn’t need to derive comfort from the semblance of his past that the hands represent.

2) “Right where we left last time it seems, Shigaraki destroying the last lock holding him back. It’s time to part ways with his past, and he did in the only way he knows how: By destroying it.”- Prior to the full reveal of his past, there were many who thought that Tomura learning the full truth of his past would turn him against AFO or at least begin him on the path to redemption through recognising his master’s hand in his tragic past. Which is where the genius of AFO’s planning comes in- because he has no visible hand in Tomura’s tragedy, and only appeared after Tomura had suffered everything and was at his lowest point, Tomura ends up doubling down on his current path and embracing the role of the destructive monster he forces himself to believe that he is deep down. After all, only a monster could have done the things he has, so that’s what he must be, right? And a monster’s only role in life is to destroy, so he’ll embrace that purpose and all it entails, because he had nothing else to live for, save perhaps the league.

3) “Everything that he hates must be destroyed, and right now, both past and future are on his hit list. Re-Destro kicked the hornet nest, set him on his path, now its time for him to deal with the consequences.”- ‘You Done Goofed’- Tomura, probably, right before dusting everything in a 10-mile radius

4) “Oh, a clash of powers is about to happen. Alright Re-Destro, ready to learn what’s stronger, your stress or his decay? Max power against Max power… One of you will meet their end once this hit connects, and Shigaraki seems to not be afraid of the outcome.”- It’s not so much power vs power as power vs nothingness. This isn’t a standard beam-o-war like you’d see in dragon ball- there’s no opposing force pushing back against ReDestro’s stress blasts and eventually overwhelming it. Rather, Shigaraki’s decays basically nullifies the attack, breaking it apart before it can fully impact him and the surrounding area, cancelling out his forceful attacks with the overwhelming erasure properties of his decay. 

Head-on there’s literally no way to fight against decay, because the act of combating it merely ensures that it will erase you once it connects.  At his true, unlocked power level, decay simply can’t be fought on any even scale, because it’s not even a fight- no power can stand up to the embodiment of absolute destruction that Shigaraki’s ‘awakened’ decay has become, now he’s able to control and utilise it to its fullest potential.

5) “Welp, there’s our man, walking from the dust cloud that he raised, like a damn badass. Holy shit that power is really getting out of hand, because he was really able to survive that hit by decaying the shockwave as it came towards him, if what I got from last page is correct..”- Kids have pulled off the ‘everything-proof’ shields in playground pretend fights beforehand. Tomura just basically upgraded decay to the absolute opposite of that concept- the ‘destroys everything sword’- somewhat fitting, given how he needed to confront and accept his childhood to reach this point, and is now using said childhood trauma as fuel to lash out with decay against everything.

6) “Actually, he doesn’t even seen to be that hurt, he’s looking pretty much how he was before the clash.

That hit did nothing more than throw him back. Holy fuck Shigaraki”- Yeah, shigaraki Might have blunted the attacking force of the stress attack by decaying most of it, but there was still some residential shockwaves that forced him back somewhat- he wasn’t able to erase it 100% before it blew up, more like 80%- but decay is just so powerful and fast now that it literally decayed any serious damage he’d take before the attack could fully connect. And, fittingly for his current power level, shigaraki’s tattered attire now somewhat resembles the black cloak of the grim reaper, capable of killing you with just a touch upon your mortal body.

7) “Oh, it seems he has an ace upon his sleeve, but I doubt it will do something, since right now he’s losing his edge in power. Whatever it is that he pulls, Shigaraki will destroy it, and then he’ll laugh at it

And there’s nothing he can do about it.”- The entire fight between them is arguably symbolic of that. Before and during their match, Tomura has suffered and been enduring gradual losses- he’s lost his reserves of energy through Giganto’s training, and fighting against the MLA mooks, he’s lost his grip on reality from the mental and physical strain of pushing his body far beyond his limits, and he lost both his fingers and his family’s hands fighting against Re-Destro. Yet for all he’s lost, his core, the person who Tomura truly is inside of himself, once you strip him down to nothing, has remained unchanged. For all he loses, Tomura keeps fighting back because that core focus and passion to destroy things around him remain, even as his body and mind shatter. Once he loses the mental shackles keeping him from remembering his past, he’s finally become capable of wielding his power to its utmost limits, through having come to terms with himself and his role in the story. 

Re-Destro keeps piling on more elaborate and complicated methods of attacking shigaraki and amping up his power levels, but nothing works against Tomura’s simple but effective usage of decay. Re-Destro stripped Tomura down to nothing and found a leader unbroken, whereas his own hidden insecurities and issues with the role of leading the MLA since birth ultimately prevented him from winning, Despite his outward appearances seeming to show him dominating the fight on a casual look, because he simply doesn’t have the same core values that Drive Shigaraki, since the role of Re-Destro was forced on him by those around him, and he himself doesn’t fully believe in himself the way that Shigaraki does. Ironically, in trying to make a leader, the MLA made a flawed individual take up the mantle, whereas Tomura’s more gradual process made him a more natural fit for the role.

@thelreads

[quirkwizard]

Top ten most destructive quirks (both inherently destructive and potentially destructive depending on use)?

So for this list, I will be talking about not only the scale of destruction, but how destroyed something is. How much control the user has over the Quirk is another factor, but not the most notable one. Finally, I will given honorable mention to "Explosion". ​While this is an inherently destructive Quirk, how much it can destroy and how much it is destroy is quite low compared to a lot of other Quirks.

Vibrate: So this one is on the list for some pretty obvious reasons, basically being an on demand earthquake. However, it’s so low because it’s basically a one shot. Yo can only do so much damage at once and I think the others would be more consistently destructive.

Muscle Augmentation: This one is mostly here by comparison. Since Muscular was able to match a 100% Izuku, which is pretty strong, I have to imagine that he can do some serous damage. Plus he managed to tear off the top of a building, that’s pretty destructive.

Dragon: Again, this one is more comparative. Mostly due to how big Ryukyu is, her size alone would make her rather destructive, and her interactions with other strong characters. Namely how destructive Nejire and Rikyia were, and how much stronger Ryukyu seems then both.

Dark Shadow: While normally "Dark Shadow" wouldn’t be that destructive, I'm referring to the full darkness mode with this one. The size and power mixed with the lack of control that Tokoyami has makes this an easy candidate for the most destructive Quirk given its showings.

Gigantification: Like "Dark Shadow", it comes down to how big Mount Lady is. She can demolish crush by accident and take out entire buildings with a single kick. Imagine she could do if she was trying to cause some damage.

Hellflame/Cremation: I'm cheating a bit by having two Quirks here, but the destructive power of both is fairly similar. They can do a lot of damage with their immense range and they destroy targets to a serious degree by melting them with extreme heat.

Half Hot Half Cold: It basically has the same kind of destructive potential of "Hellflame", but you add in the colossal ice sculptures that Shoto can make. So not only can melt whatever is in your path, you could just bulldoze and entire block with a glaicer like it was nothing.

Overhaul: Now we're getting to the some of the more seriously destructive Quirks, starting with "Overhaul". This one not only covers a long range, but just totally demolishes anything it touches, bypassing durability entirely to reduce objects to tiny little pieces.

Black Hole: Unlike a lot of other Quirks we've talked about, this just leaves absolutely nothing behind and has little limits in how much it can be used. You can't get much more destroyed then being taken apart at the atomic level, made even worse by the lack of control the user has over it.

Decay: I didn't consider the Awakening of these Quirks, but that doesn't change my opinion that this is the most destructive Quirk. Just how much it is capable of destroying, how much it can destroy at a time, how it reduces it to dust, and how little Tomura actually has control over it.

[italicwatches]

My Hero Academia, season 2 - Episode 31

Yesterday turned into a shitshow. Let’s see if my day today goes better. It’s My Hero Academia, episode 31! Here we GO!

-We begin with the news choppers coming in to report on the chaos in the city. And the reporter and her cameraman manage to catch a single shot of Tomura and Kurogiri, before they step back into one of Kurogiri’s shadow portals…With plans ready to be made.

-Opening!

-Episode 31: The Aftermath of Hero Killer: Stain

-In the hospital the next day, all three guys are in the same room, and they all barely slept. They’ve got various amounts of bandages and casts on them, and they’re all realizing how really, absurdly close they came to dying last night…

-Which is when Manual and Gran Torino come in…And not just them, either. Because they’re joined by, and I swear I am not making this up, a dog-headed man. The chief of police, Tsuragamae Kenji. He takes a bite out of crime, I’m guessing.

-But why is the chief of police here, woof? In short, they crossed a lot of lines in their fight, a whole lot of legal lines about the use of power without strict authorization…

-Shoto’s the first one to call bullshit. They were up against a villain. A murderous villain. A pro hero would have died had none of them intervened, and Tenya here would himself have gone down had they not gotten in there to back him up! The rest of the city was in chaos, the heroes were miles away!

-So the rules are fine to be broken, if it turns out all right?

-The rules were meant to keep people safe! A hero’s job is to save people! What the hell good is a system that lays down punishment for saving lives?!

-And it’s got to be Gran who keeps Shoto from straight-up tackling the dog man chief of police and beating the shit out of him. (DO IT SHOTO)

-Because, Kenji is making a decision to put all this under wraps. As far as the public will know, Stain was caught by the hero Endeavor. No public acknowledgment of your actions means no need for public acknowledgment of how the rules were broken, and thus no punishment. IF, everyone in this room agrees to let it die.

-And so all of that ferocity slowly dies down, as Kenji gives them a private thanks for their hard work. You did good, all of you. Please forgive the way this world has to work, and don’t let it keep you from doing the right thing.

-There is some meat we could explore there on the rather different relationship this implies to regulations and systems, compared to your more typical Big Two superhero approach. Lots of meat. Me, I’m still trying to figure out how the hell to write a superhero story from an American perspective, in a vaguely recognizable world without feeling like my characters are upholding a disgraceful status quo.

-Anyways, that’s that, on paper. The huge day fizzled into nothing…Even as the aftermath of it slowly but surely ate at all of our heroes. The news was soon reporting on the public version of the story, to say nothing of the rumors of the Nomus being connected to the League of Villains thanks to that shot the reporter managed to catch…

-As we start to see some characters who will clearly be relevant. On the streets, a man who looks like his lower jaw was stitched on off of another goddamned human. Deep in the woods, watching on an old-timey portable TV that I’m legitimately shocked even still gets a signal, a hulking figure. And down an empty corridor, listening on earbuds, a blonde schoolgirl…

-Until, finally, to the bar, where Tomura is seeing how the Stain story is all anyone cares about. All of his efforts with the Nomus, the entire chaos he threw the city into, and it turned into nothing more than a side story to the great big Stain tale! Oh, he’s pissed. So very pissed.

-Then it’s to Best Jeanist’s agency, where he gives everyone a solid speech about how they need to keep calm and work extra diligently, since times right after a villain is caught and publicized can lead to attempted copycats. Also, Katsuki is straining against his modified outfit and new hairstyle, and he’s not liking it.

-Over at Fourth Kind’s place, Kirishima is reading the latest when Tetsutetsu gets all mad because they’re gonna get punched again if they don’t buckle down and work hard, and that’s how they both get punched.

-Uwabami has roped the girls into a new commercial. Momo has finally realized this is a fucking sham, and Itsuka is too busy enjoying the idea of actually being on TV. But then they get an actual patrol to go on YES!

-Ochaco gets the update from Deku about how things were bananas but everyone’s okay…And then Gunhead with his gentle voice has to pull her away from chatting with her ‘boyfriend’ to come train. So she’s freaking out…

-And back at the hospital, so is Deku, because he’s never just straight up talked with a girl on the phone before…!

-Of course, when he gets back to his room, things get serious. Because Tenya’s left hand took some serious, long-term damage from Stain’s attacks…

-Nerve damage. Lowered flexibility and some numbness…It could potentially be fixed with surgery…But in all of it, Tenya feels like this is nobody’s fault but his own. He fucked up. He fucked up big time. …He’s going to leave his hand like this. This is what he lost for failing to be a hero.

-And that’s when Deku shows him his own right hand. The scars he earned for failing to respect his own limits. All they can do now, is push forward. Let their failures show them what they must do to become greater than they were.

-Which leaves Shoto feeling a terrible guilt, since he was kind of involved in both events. But it’s so absurd that they can’t help but start laughing.

-Back at UA, No Might’s phone is going off. And he recorded, the best, ringtone. “A phone call…IS HEERE!” And it’s Gran on the phone! Who is mad because he still got some punishment. A cut to his stipend and revoking his teaching license for six months. All because of your damn successor! And so No Might is all full of apologies and panicking at his mentor having eaten punishment for things…

-But also, Gran has serious stuff to talk. That guy, Stain. He’s got a…Weight to him. An ideological power. A dark charisma. And the media is going to be chock full of discussing his actions and ideology. And with the League of Villains around, already looking to stir up chaos…You need to be ready. Everyone needs to be ready. This will turn from a few insects, into a unified swarm. The kind of swarm that only one man could be behind.

-The rumors, the hints, the little bits of information, they all lead to one point. The same man who put that hole in All Might’s stomach. The man who killed his predecessor. The one foe that not even the Symbol of Peace could stop…

-…All For One, is on the move.

-No Might wants to believe that man is dead, that he fell to the injuries from their last encounter…But it’s never that easy, is it. …You need to tell that boy everything. He needs to know what he’s signed up for.

-Cut to two days later. News about Stain is starting to spread. In a shitty little bar, an illegal equipment maker is grumbling and frustrated. Things were so much easier before All Might was around, but now, almost all of his customers are drying up…And the ones that aren’t, are getting pro gear off the black market. The kind of guys who want to buy some rough and tumble gear on the cheap, they just don’t exist anymore.

-But an old acquaintance of his, has something that might have his business going up…A viral video about Stain. The former hero turned murderer, who spent ten years learning and becoming a killer of flawed ‘heroes’…It keeps getting deleted, and just put back up by someone else, on another network…Something’s awakening in the underbelly of society…

-As we see that that blonde schoolgirl totally killed a guy, amongst other such villains starting to gather…Things are changing. This time of peace that All Might brought on, of calm, is coming to an end…!

-Credits!

Shiiiiiiit.

[myanime2go]

Does Tomura Shigaraki have All For One?

Does Tomura Shigaraki have the quirk All for One? Hey everyone and thank you for stopping by, this is a thought I had one day while rewatching Boku no Hero Academia the fight between All Might and All For One. I mean All For One as named Tomura Shigaraki his protégé and would explain to me why it seemed All For One really was not fighting to win but just to delay or have a go at it again with All Might. He seemed like a man who had his affairs in order. Before we start, thank you everyone who sent me messages while I was off, really appreciate them and everyone who reads my ramblings. And "No" am not quiting it's just been a busy couple of weeks. So before we get into all my theories or theory of if he has the power or not. Let's take a quick look at;

Who is Tomura Shigaraki?

We first see him in the U.S.J. Arc as one of the main antagonist. Shigaraki is a villian I just fell in love with the first time I saw him. He reminds me of the Joker and Madara Uchiha combined, who when we first meet him can be childish, taking everything as a game and having a tantrum when things are not going his way. But as the story progresses we see a more calculating villian with long term plans for achieving his goals. A real manipulative madman, he wants to kill All Might, "the symbol of peace", destroying the society he represents and creating one in his own image, with his own form of justice. He most time doesn't seem to care for his or almost anyone else's life, having no problem about evil deeds like killing. He is fuelled by hate, hating everything and everyone. We do get to understand the reason why he is the way he is. When we learn more about his past.

Feeling great love and remorse for his deceased family who he accidentally kills when he loses control of his quirk. The hands he wears all over himself are the remains of his loved ones. He states wearing them make him feel sick and yet calm at the same time. He's a very real and believable villian.

Theories about Tomura Shigaraki acquiring All For One?

Shigaraki has not inherited All For One Because; He Needs More Time All For One is a quirk that allows it's user to steal others quirks making them their own and even combining the stolen quirks. Also allowing the user to give stolen quirks to other people. All For One has acquire a lot of quirks over the many many many years he's been alive. That definitely a lot of power to put into anyone if they are not prepared for it. Shigaraki needs time to develop like Izuku Midoriya needed time, to get his mind and body ready for One For All. His quirk is more complex than it seems The delay in giving him All For One are due to another theory I have. That Tomura Shigaraki decay quirk is a mutation like Eri, whose quirk gives her the ability to physically rewind something she comes in contact with. What if Shigaraki quirk is not actually decay but physically forwarding something he comes in contact with. That would explain All For One's experimentation on Nomus, to figure out how to get Shigaraki ready for his quirk All For One.

Eri and Shigaraki do share striking similarities both having white hair and red eyes, which could be the physical appearance of mutated quirk users. That would explain why All For One has not passed it to him. So there will be a need for a prison break Arc so that Shigaraki can inherit All For One. Tomura Shigaraki already have All For One Shigaraki does let us know more about his past while he was confiding in Himiko and Twice, about how hard it is siding with those that wounded him. He seems to have vague memories of what happened the day he awakens and losses control of his quirk killing his family and meeting All For One.

So what if this was all All For One's doing, Shigaraki's partial memory lose and everything that happen that day. And All For One has already passed on his quirk to him. Shigaraki doesn't just remember or he was just pretending and he's hiding the quirk for now. That would explain why recovery for All For One is hard and why he's been hiding in the shadows. And the fight with All Might was also just an ember of what remained of his quirk. So it was two of the greatest quirk users making their final solo stand.

This showdown was epic...... All For One is just playing another game

All For One is tricking everyone I would not put it pass All For One to just be manipulating Shigaraki and not having any intention of passing his quirk on to him or maybe we are the ones misunderstanding what he means by making Shigaraki, his protégé. He does seem genuine about making him the next underworld ruler. But this is All For One we are talking about I don't think a person who has lived for so long might be willing to just give that up. All For One and Tomura Shigaraki are the same He could be using Shigaraki to return to his prime self. Maybe it's an Orochimaru-Sasuke situation, And All For One has some mind tranfer quirk. Or maybe Shigaraki has not been Shigaraki for a long time now or some sort of shared conciseness thing.

All For One is Shigaraki..... Well either way we will just have to wait and see what the author of My Hero Academia, Kohei Horikoshi has in store for us. So that’s all I have for you, any theory you have or thoughts you have please let me know in the comments section. Thank you for sticking around to the end. For my old readers thanks for all your support and my new readers "welcome!!!", hope you enjoyed reading this and you stick around. Till next time keeping trying to smile, watch anime, read manga, play games and just be happy. Read the full article

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 297: We’re Bustin’ Outta This Joint

Previously on BnHA: Horikoshi did his best to undo all of the good vibes from the Girl Power arc by killing off Midnight. It sucks and I still don’t like it, but it is what it is. Unfortunately, Not Killing Off Your One Female Teacher Character With Any Character Development was worth 30% of his grade for the semester, so it brought his average down all the way to a C-, and so he and his report card will just have to live with that. Meanwhile Ochako did some rescuing, and the other U.A. kids lay around unconscious and/or traumatized. The chapter ended with an abrupt cut to Tartarus, where AFO is apparently just chilling and waiting for the Nearly High Ends to come bust him free. What kind of a cliffhanger is that to leave your fans hanging on for three whole weeks. Who’s suffering more here, the characters or the readers.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all “okay I know you all want to know what happens to Deku and Shouto and the rest, but have you considered finding out what happens to Overhaul and Muscular and Moonfish and New Girl Character instead?” Fandom is all, “you had us at New Girl Character.” Seiji’s dad is all, “I’m just going to say a bunch of stuff to help make sure none of the readers feel conflicted about cheering on a bunch of mass murderers escaping from prison.” Tomura is all, “dammit AFO why are you still here.” AFO is all, “shhh, Tomura, go back to sleep.” Tomura is all, “wtf but you’re literally hijacking my body and continuing to shred it to bits while we break into BnHA Alcatraz to recruit your own personal Suicide Squad.” AFO is all, “:).” Real!AFO is all, “HERE I AM, EVERYONE, SORRY TO KEEP YOU WAITING.” And then the chapter ends. Geez.

oh shit lol it’s a whole big fucking page all about Tartarus

my very first thought was “that’s a long-ass fucking bridge”, and then I went to go google “longest bridges”, and Wikipedia was all “son there are literally a hundred and fifty bridges in the real world longer than 5km, and the longest one is actually 165km”, and I was all “oh shit I really don’t know jack shit about bridges.” then I looked at the list for a few more minutes and realized that the super-long bridges were all built over land, and that the longest bridge over water is only 38km. which is way more reasonable, but also still really fucking long though?? ngl I would freak the fuck out on that bridge. what does any of this have to do with Tartarus you ask?? absolutely nothing, I literally forgot I was reading a chapter for a sec lol uh

anyway, my parting thought on the bridge is that it kind of defeats the whole purpose of having a giant island fortress prison, but whatever. moving on

and the six levels thing is straight out of One Piece lol. something tells me BnHA’s prison break arc isn’t going to be quite as fun. hmm

so now we’re cutting to “the Bronze Gate”, which is the main entrance off of the bridge, and some goat-looking motherfucker is out here trying to become my new favorite character. bro

SON OF A BITCH WHAT’S WITH THE BULLETS FLYING IN THE BACKGROUND. DON’T TELL ME THEY’RE SHOOTING AT GYGES. THEY CAN’T KILL OFF MY FRESHEST HOMIE GYGES. SURELY THEY WOULDN’T

ooh and now, giant robots!

giant robots with machine guns. “I’m very sorry I killed off Midnight, makeste” you know what, fuck you Horikoshi. thinking you can buy my affections back so easily

does Gyges have six arms??? look how fucking calm he is announcing the code red security lockdown, holy shit. GYGES

NOOOO

NO NOT BRIAREUS. THIS DAY EXACTS A HEAVY TOLL

YO, WHAT

he came there himself?? so much for making the Noumus do his dirty work. and based on the speech bubble shape and font, this is still AFO talking

uh oh what’s happening

is he using Decay or is his arm just sort of crumbling to pieces because he hasn’t had time to heal up yet? if it’s the former this prison break is going to set a record for shortest arc yet isn’t it

now we’re cutting to B10 which is apparently the lowest level. but do they mean lowest as in the least security, or lowest as in the deepest underground, a.k.a. the most security? idk it’s confusing and I think they should be more specific. is it B like in basement?? are there six levels or ten?? stupid Tartarus

anyway so the guards are talking about how Gigantomachia is scheduled to arrive tomorrow morning. heh. will there even be a Tartarus tomorrow morning

(ETA: WELL, UH.)

wow they’re talking about just killing him outright. damn

I kinda feel like “prison guard” is one of those jobs that just sort of naturally attracts shitty people. anyways yeah, Seiji your dad is a real piece of work

and he’s even doubling down on it after the other guy repeatedly keeps trying to hush him up. dude we get it, you’re an asshole

ooh and now we’re getting an interesting look at the various prisoners, some of whom look suspiciously familiar!

for starters, that’s definitely Moonfish in the upper left corner, I’m like 99% sure. not quite clear who that is across from him in the upper right, but it’s been a hot minute since we saw Muscular, so maybe?

and could that be Overhaul in the panel beneath him?? they’re not showing his face so I assume it’s someone we’d recognize, and he’s the only currently-incarcerated villain with that haircut as far as I can recall. though it seems weird that he’s not restrained more given his quirk. I thought Horikoshi mentioned in Ultra Analysis that he’d gotten it back somehow. eh well we will wait for answers

I don’t recognize the person to his left either (though she has an oddly familiar look to her?). but the person on the bottom right, next to Kurogiri... is it Stain?? the hair and body language are sure giving off Stain vibes. if someone had told the me from two years ago that I’d actually be excited to see Stain again I would have said you were full of shit. and yet here we are. these sure are interesting times

anyway so now the Code Red intruder alarm is blaring. and I gotta say, that one scene sure was effective at killing any sympathy I might have been inclined to feel for these guards lol. bring on the imminent massacre

“what horrible timing” lol yes. it’s almost as if they planned it that way

uh oh

is he omae wa shindeiruing. watch your six, Mr. Prison Guard

oh shit

WHAT DID I SAY. WHAT DID I FUCKING SAY. but nooo, you all were all, “but a bridge is more convenient!” VERY WELL THEN, LIE IN THE BED THAT YOU HAVE MADE

anyway so it’s the High Ends lol. I mean we already knew it was them. let’s just get on with it

omfg Tomura ARE YOU RIDING ONE

WHAT ARE YOU, A NAZGUL. WHY IS THIS MY FAVORITE THING

and it looks like it actually is Tomura again, too (as opposed to AFOmura)

-- is he using Decay on himself?? is that what it is?? or no wait, is this just more of the weird side effect shit that’s been happening since he Awakened. actually yeah never mind that’s clearly what it is

y’all this man is out here having a full blown argument with himself

so this is equal parts compelling and hilarious to me right now lol. like I feel so bad for Tomura, but I also lowkey want to see how far this escalates. like do you think he’d go as far as to punch himself in the face. where will this journey lead us

fucking look at this shit

other people have already mentioned this, but with this scene especially it makes me really curious how they’re going to show this in the anime. will it be AFO’s voice coming out of Tomura’s mouth? or Tomura’s voice using AFO’s speech patterns? more importantly, will it be cool and dramatic, or will it actually wind up being hilarious? or both?? never count out both

also he’s looking pretty good there in that bottom panel with his one eye just barely visible. that doesn’t have anything to do with anything, but here I am, pointing it out

also also, lol at Tomura being all, “the fuck do you mean, ‘rest’, you’re the one that dragged my body out here to raid a fucking prison,” and AFO being all, “oh yeah, lol, true true, but I meant rest after that.” yes, this man clearly has nothing but the purest intentions, Tomura. trustworthy af

this fucking guy. Tomura is your bullshit radar finally operational yet?? can you see yet that it was always his intention to use you right from the very start?? oh man I am starting to get fidgety now listening to this

so Tomura’s saying he doesn’t just want to be used as a chess piece. and AFO is all, “well okay but what if it’s a VERY NICE AND IMPORTANT chess piece.” bro DID HE STUTTER

-- AHH BUT NEVER MIND THAT, HERE IT IS, THIS IS WHERE THE FUN STARTS OMG

GO ON AND ACQUIRE THEM THEN! omg. why am I so fucking excited. it seriously makes no sense. like seriously, ‘hooray, our old buddies, Overhaul and Stain!!’ -- come again now?? who is this person that I have become

meanwhile AFO is making all this fuss and I really don’t understand it though

why would you need to plow directly through the building. why can’t you just use doors like a normal person. it’s not like they can lock you out, like hello, you can literally turn anything you touch into dust, what’s with all the melodrama

anyway so he’s apparently hitting the prison with some sort of EMP attack now and shutting down all their systems

omg the suspense is killing me. this is going to be so badass once it’s animated, but right now all I keep thinking is “YES, GREAT, CAN WE PLEASE JUST MOVE IT ALONG”

the doors are opening ahhhhhhh come on come on come on let’s go let’s get to the excitement already

now the guards are running over to try and regain control. but, like

yeah that’s pretty much how I’m expecting the rest of this to go basically

so now they’re shooting at the dust cloud lol. well if there’s one thing movies have taught me, it’s that bad guys who wait inside clouds of dust while panicked cops blindly rain bullets at them until they run out of ammo are basically invincible lol. soooooo

OHHHHH SHIT

AHAHAHAHAHAHA. THEY ARE SO FUCKED LOL, SHIT

YEP, AND HERE’S ANOTHER ONE

is this the first time we’ve seen Moonfish’s face? I feel like we might have caught a glimpse of it before on an omake page or something. either way, it wasn’t anything I actually needed to see again. thanks...?? I guess??

okay but seriously, are we supposed to actually know who this badass lady is?? like I don’t know her but I feel like I know her, you feel?

(ETA: lol there are already like 60 different theories about how she’s related to every single character in the series. will be interesting to see if anything comes of this. although we did just get three “this villain was secretly related to [insert character(s) here] all along” reveals just in the last arc, so idk, it might be better if we pass on it this time lol.)

girl who are you. please stick around. for the love of god don’t let this man kill you off too

????

wait so is this Overhaul? boy sure has seen better days huh. but the floppy sleeves... yeah, it’s gotta be him

anyway so then the only ones missing are Stain and Kurogiri, yes?? omg. and one page left to go

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH

NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO CONVINCE ME HE COULDN’T HAVE DONE THIS SHIT RIGHT FROM THE VERY BEGINNING. FUCKING TIME-BIDING DRAMA QUEEN

AND HE’S JUST FLOATING HIS LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM ALONG BEHIND HIM SOB. THIS FUCKING GUY

AND IS HE JUST ABSENTMINDEDLY DRAGGING SOME POOR SCHLUB’S CORPSE ALONG BESIDE HIM LIKE A SLEEPY TODDLER CARRYING THEIR TEDDY BEAR. I FUCKING CAN’T. REST IN PEACE, FRIEND. GIVE MY REGARDS TO GOOD OLD BRIAREUS

so that’s it! and we still don’t have any idea what AFO is actually planning to do now, after all of that. are they going to merge bodies?? or is he going to try to switch with him?? either way Tomura’s body has to be part of the plan somehow since he keeps making so much of a fuss over it. flkhglkhlk. dammit I need answers lol