#yeah I know tokoyami technically doesn’t have feathers but he does for this

[midnightmiko]

While Tokoyami does possess some qualities of bird behavior like his spring heat, soft chirps and pecks when he’s nuzzling against your head or in the crook of your neck; it’s really Dark Shadow that has more bird like behavior. Every date Tokoyami brings you some small gift, it’s impulse for him; limited edition books, flowers, chocolates, even small little antiques or trinkets he sees in the shop windows while he’s on patrol. Dark shadow also brings you small gifts, his though; are more along the lines of small crystals or shiny little rocks he’s found, seaglass from when they helped Tsu patrol the beach even feathers from the top of Tokoyami’s head and at first Tokoyami is so embarrassed. Until one night when he comes to pick you up for your date and you’re running a bit behind on getting ready so you invite him in. And then he sees them; two matching display cases, the ones with the lights built in, as he moves closer to get a better look he sees that each case is dedicated to the items that both him and Dark Shadow have given you. In Tokoyami’s you have the books he’s given you on one shelf, prints you’ve made of the flowers he’s given you and even some that are dried out, and then a small dish where you have the ribbons from the chocolate boxes he’s given you and the trinkets. The jewelry he had given you was locked away in an antique jewelry box you had refurbished yourself. In the other display had all the little items Dark shadow had given you, they sat organized and polished to a shimmering gleam. The feathers from Tokoyami’s head were turned into beautiful pens. As he stood there admiring the cases you walked into the living room putting in your earrings, as he turned around you noticed tears in his eyes. When you asked him what was wrong he just simply stated that he figured you would have thrown away most of the things that dark shadow had given you or wouldn’t go though the trouble of saving the flowers he had given you or the ribbons from the chocolates. You simply shrugged as you went up to wrap your arms around him, “I love you Fumi; I love the both of you and if Dark Shadow thinks something is important enough for me to have it of course I’m going to save it.” Safe to say Tokoyami started planning your proposal later that evening

[transhawks]

What do you think about Hawks being a mentor? I really like his relationship with Tokoyami. There are a lot of interesting parent/mentor relationships in BNHA imo (All Might, Aizawa, Gran Torino, Inko) and they're have clear differences but it still feels a lot different from Hawks? Hawks is a lot closer in age to the students and he also mentions he's not interested in "nurturing the younger generation" but it seems he is still making an effort? We don't see much from siblings besides Fuyumi...

Ahh, this is such a good question! First off, someone has written a bit on this already and it’s such a good take that I have to link it: (x)

Here’s my thoughts: Hawks and Tokoyami are different than our general mentorships in series because they have the actual possibility of rivalry given closeness in age and personality differences that don’t mimic the other student/hero mentorships. 

Anyway, let’s break this down a bit. First off, on the “Nurturing the younger generation” comment, you hit the nail on the head on something I’ve talked about before here: (x) 

Hawks is a man of contradictions and this extends to his personality.

Confusing, right? It’s why Endeavor didn’t know if Hawks is being sincere or not - it’s why he keeps everyone on their toes with the things he says. Personality-wise, I’d almost call him duplicitous, except I don’t think it’s even conscious on his part (mostly). What I’ve noticed with him is that he says one thing, does another, and wants something else completely. It’s stunning because you think he’d be straight-forward with the way he talks but he’s more a maze than a path.

That’s why you have to look beneath the surface when you look at that comment.

Hawks says that line to Tokoyami after treating him to a flight. Given how he sort of ignored Tokoyami (or at least that’s how Fumi felt), this is obviously a very nice gesture, and probably meant as reward because Tokoyami proved himself first. But, whereas Tokoyami always felt that Hawks was ignoring him, we had a surprising twist where Hawks admitted to having watched Tokoyami all along.

Hawks clearly looks for potential - this is important to note, as he stated it earlier:

Someone who could keep up with him because Hawks is the man who goes too fast. And then - someone with promise. He scouted Tokoyami. Perhaps like he’d been scouted?

He then landed them on a safe, but isolated place to talk, where he proceeded to dispense some wisdom.

Hawks here first states he doesn’t really care for ‘nurturing’ Tokoyami. We know he says he primarily scouted him because he wanted a voice about what’s going on UA and with the LoV (strangely enough far earlier than he was supposed to care given that he was only given his mission post-Kamino). I’m sure the nurturing comment came from Hawks’s own issues with heroism, and the choices (children) can make.

And yet, he thought Fumikage had potential, potential he wasn’t using. Hawks is most definitely, until you prove yourself, a fly or fall kind of mentor. He didn’t offer Tokoyami anything at first - until he showed he could try to keep up. Even if Fumikage couldn’t breach that gap between them, the fact he attempted endeared him to Hawks. How do we know this? This is the exact reason he admires Endeavor, admitted through his own narration. Attempting to cross gaps that seem impossible despite all others not even trying is something Hawks finds admirable. 

So, he then gives Tokoyami a short run down of what he’s doing wrong - yeah, covering weak points is important and Fumikage must have realized that after the Sports Festival, but he’s also not using his quirk to its fullest potential. Tokoyami has trouble with Dark Shadow, obviously, control is his biggest issue. 

As far as we know, Hawks doesn’t struggle with control over his quirk because control is his greatest asset. He has a telekinetic quirk, after all, one with sensory and transformation capabilities that also requires incredible focus due to the sheer number of feathers able to be deployed. The fact he can do that also means he has the freedom to be creative with his quirk. Tokoyami, who is still mastering Dark Shadow, is yet to achieve this. It makes a great deal of sense that Tokoyami is partnered with a mentor who is as flexible and creative as Hawks.

Hawks flying Tokoyami gave him an idea, and a desire to fly. He’d upgraded his Black Ankh move to allow him to fly, essentially copying the way Hawks had flown him. Edgelord name aside, Black Fallen Angel is really Hawks’s move and it’s so useful and game-changing that it’s no surprise he refers to Hawks as ‘Master’ later on. Or sees himself as his representation.

But what makes this a different relationship to any of the other mentor/student relationships?

Tokoyami is clearly paying lots of homage to Hawks in this arc. He names a move Hawks technically created for him after Hawks himself (in what might be a morbid piece of foreshadowing), defends Hawks’s ‘creed of speed’ in battle, acknowledges that the man is indeed a master to him - even if his original perception of Hawks had been extremely disappointing.

But he also challenges Hawks by trying to keep up, by trying to match his speed. Hawks’s interest and respect were piqued, and Hawks even gave him sound advice (and let that falsely cheerful facade of his slip around him). The age gap of six-seven years is also an experience gap of around five years.

That’s why this relationship feels a bit different. At once Tokoyami is displaying levels of admiration that seem normal to our hero/student relationships, but unlike everyone else the process, Tokoyami has a clear understanding of his own worth and doesn’t seem to believe the gap between Hawks and him is too big to fly over. 

Look at that face! Tokoyami is mad here - and look what the reaction is. Hawks’s sidekicks are in awe of someone practically managing to keep up when they don’t bother, Hawks is impressed, and importantly, Tokoyami has room to grow.

Does Hawks?

That’s a big question, how high can he go before he can’t? His whole arc is someone too fast for their own good, someone who rose too quickly. Does he ever plateau? 

And, I don’t mean to be drawing in the other theories surrounding Hawks, but as curious as it is that one of the main 1-A kids who have been shown to struggle with their quirk was paired with a hero with excellent control over his, it’s also equally curious that Tokoyami is consistently struggling with what must be the representation of his innate darkness, as Dark Shadow feeds off negative emotions. Tokoyami utilizes and embraces his shadows to fight, while Hawks has to learn to embrace his own or he can’t infiltrate the league. 

Oh - and didn’t the League see Tokoyami and see villainous potential?