Kokushibo:

They call it "enemies to lovers" when it's really "abuser x victim"

💠 here and I just realized something about mha’s narrative is that these kids have no down time whatsoever. Like the narrative gives them no time to breathe, it’s always something that fowards the narrative. They want to go to the mall? Boom! Shigaraki has to be there. Training camp to be better heroes? Let’s just have one of these kids get kidnapped and let 5 other kids rescue him at the downfall of a mentor. Not to mention THE ENTIRE WAR ARC BECAUSE THESE ARE STILL FIRST YEARS (iirc on the timeline that they were first years during war arc). While I get why the writing is like this, shonen jump could've cancelled it at any moment, it just kinda rushes everything and leaves most of the cast to be bland/forgettable (most of 1-A) if not outright have their writing thrown in the trash (I still will not forgive them for throwing the Tenya and Ochaco dynamic with Izuku away).

Like the most they get is the sports festival, some of the training camp arc before it gets thrown out, the cultural festival and maybe the internships but Tsuyu is the only one shown to get a reasonable break in the anime exclusive episodes.

Like let me see Momo trying “commoner’s food”/street food for the first time and seeing how hard people work on the streets, let them having a day to go back to the beach Izuku cleaned up (because I don’t think they ever mentioned it after the early series), or a day where they all talk about updating their hero costumes or Izuku mentioning things about their quirks (kinda like how you were sprinkling in for the rewrite). Just GIVE THEM AND THE STORY SOME DOWN TIME AND LET THE CHARACTERS DEVELOP AGH.

NAH BUT LIKE FOR REAL!?!?

People can say what they want about filler or the obligatory beach episodes, but they were great! Just seeing these characters having fun, seeing how they act outside of high-tension, high-stake scenarios.

Who organises hang-outs? Who comes thirty minutes early, who comes an hour late, (totally not me, sorry guys), who always brings painkillers or lip balm or plasters/bandages? Who brings out a deck of cards, who cheats, whose poker face is terrible, who loses every game?

It's great seeing characters, especially teenagers, act their age. Not only does it serve to make the bonds between them feel a bit more real, a bit more strong, but it also allowed the audience to get attached to them properly.

See, I don't have an issue with Tomura showing up at the mall episode. I would have just liked to see the kids actually have fun before the sprinkle of plot development.

Show me Momo or Tenya or Shouto buying that trinket Ochako kept staring at but couldn't afford. Show me Mina beating everyone on DDR, and Tooru trying to compete like a fool. Show me Izuku or Mezou nearly breaking the punching machine. Show me Denki or Hanta making Momo and Shouto try crappy fast food and them actually enjoying it.

The timeline of MHA is ridiculous. Like, pace yourself please?? At least, show me what the kids get up to in the spring, summer, and winter breaks.

Downtime and breaks are extremely important, even in plot-heavy works. It's not just the characters who need a break, but the readers too. It gets exhausting reading about all this tragic stuff, maybe a gag here or there.

I guess Horikoshi may have been afraid that the momentum would be killed, but curbing momentum is what makes final acts feel so grand!

To compare it to a song or a musical number, you never want the score to feel stagnant. If a songs starts slow, the end will be all-out, only going down at the very end. See: It's All Coming Back To Me Now. Starts slow, ends with a massive note, and Celine Dion is joined by other vocals.

If a song starts high and up-beat, what composers will do is drop the melody, either cutting out the vocals or the beat, then let it all go out. Like... Uptown Funk with the toned-down bridge, segwaying into a powerful ending.

Stories work in the same way.

If you continuously build that momentum, without a break, it's going to peak early and feel stagnant the longer it goes. Horikoshi refused to give characters more than a chapter to settle down, and it made it all feel so same-y.

That's part of the reason by the ending of the Final War doesn't feel impactful at all. You're not left thinking, 'wow'. You're thinking, 'finally'.

He just wants to be trained guys let him spar

the next strip for soryuu sensei hakuji! :)

i realized i neglected to mention that it'll loosely follow canon, just in modern times. i still havent decided if i want to save people, and if so idk who or how, but nezuko will probably be a demon next update lol.

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Midoriya's Delusion

This is post that builds upon my previous one, I've copied many of the points I made there to here. Albiet with some corrections and tweaks.

To summarize, I have a bit of a crack theory that chapter 430 isn't as real as we've been led to believe. (As for when this actually takes place, that's up to you but I like to imagine the start of his third year marks the beginning of his mental decline.)

(As an update, I find it dubious whether 8 years have actually passed or if that's also a part of the fantasy. I can see Midoriya becoming so attached to the lie that his reference of time begins to warp)

This theory mostly comes from some inconsistencies in regards to the hero rankings and some other things I've found.

Corrections:

It's left ambiguous whether Best Jeanist and Endeavor are still active. However the fact that people view these two in a postive light (especially after Dabi and the war) still seems absurd.

2. Midoriya wasn't outright abandoned, rather their busy schedules make it hard for their days off to coincide. This falls apart when you look at this panel

"The rate of new villains keep decreasing and the number of heroes have stabilized"

Besides Ochaco who's funding a quirk counseling project, the rest of the class should be able to make time. Again it's stated that they aren't actually fighting.

There's no real threat to face. Besides PR and Community Service there's bot a whole lot else (besides the occasional natural disaster)

One could argue it's because the scope of what heroes do is increasing, thus keeping them busy. But again, we see heroes doing exactly what they did before, PR, Advertising and (implied) Showboating.

This leads me to believe that the lack of contact is based in reality, to some extent.

Whether it was by choice or forced by their (1A's) respective PR teams to preserve their images (can't be seen around the "freaks" for too long, now can we?).

The lie comes in the form of busy schedules.

Now whether that's what Midoriya tells himself or what he's been told, I cannot say for certain.

Disturbia:

For those of you who didn't read my last post, you may be wondering, so what's going on?.

Simply put:

Midoriya's having a breakdown fantasy to cope with the fact that he won't be becoming a hero due to the loss of his quirk.

Im aware it sounds crazy but consider the following:

1. Midoriya subconsciously knows the way he's been treated was wrong.

This manifests within the escapists fantasy in Bakugo's drop in the rankings + the attitude surrounding him (as well as his damaged hand never fully healing)

He meets a kid who just so happens to be in a near exact same position as he once* was (and still is to an extent). One could take this as his mind's way of trying to cope and heal itself, by having Midoriya do what he does best and help others, henceforth working though his trauma by using the kid as a stand in.

*Even the kid's "bully" seems to be a warped version of Bakugo (perhaps this is how Midoriya tries to fool himself into believing how it was)

2. We see Kota.

I believe that here, Kota serves as what Midoriya thinks he could have been had he not failed. Kota is the idealized version of Midoriya here, the unobtainable.

3. A lesson ignored

Apparently people forgot the connection between Endeavor and Shoto. You'd think this would be a good thing as Shoto would be able to become his own person.

This falls flat when you remember that also includes people forgetting the reason and happenings behind Shoto's existence, it feels like Midoriya is trying to have his cake and eat it too

To elaborate, this is a major copout, it allows Shouto to be unaffected by his family's past bith career wise and emotionally. While also feeding into Midoriya's rather toxic belief that forgiveness is required to be a good person.

(The fact that killing Tomura violated this only adds to my theory that this whole thing is an escapist coping mechanism.)

(You can also add the idea that Tomura didn't forgive society for what they did to him and his friends. That likely broke all the "rules" that Midoriya knew.)

4. The Mech Suit is a massive cope, it's the dying whimper of Midoriya's childish hope that All Might will save the day.

This time there's no magic quirk, no garrish mech suit, no plot twist.

No. There's only Midoriya and the consequences of his, his classmates and hero societies actions. It doesn't matter how shiny and seamless the illusion, how sweet the lie.

You can't hide the blood.

Concerning Aspects:

That was mostly the revised stuff, let me introduce you to some new points

1. A Frozen Lake

Something I noticed was certain characters seem to be almost frozen in time, as if someone tried to continue a story using scraps of the original text.

The curious case of Rei Himura:

This scene seems almost stagnant, what was most noticeable was Enji's bandages still being on and Rei still being there.

It's as if Midoriya hasn't seen them in years (or perhaps doesn't want to acknowledge what happened). So his mind uses what he last saw/heard of them, creating a sterile, static scenario. Little better than props.

Those surrounding her (with the exception of Hawks) also seem to be stuck in the past.

It's definitely strange.

2. See No Evil, Hear no Evil, Speak No Evil

Shigaraki is a representation of Midoriya's repressed guilt and his fears. I believe deep down Midoriya knows that, inevitably the cycle will repeat, so long as the system is allowed fester and wallow in it's complancy.

I find the fact that he's behind Midoriya to be ironic, as if to say: don't look back, don't think about what you've done.

A Symbol of Stagnation:

I should warn you that it does get lengthy from here, however I think it's important to get the full picture. Even if I tend to ramble here.

It's implied here that Lemillion's the top hero. This is awful for a variety of reasons. Mirio is a horrible symbol.

All Might was flawed for a variety of reasons, but a majority of these were byproducts rather than directly being his own doing.

Mirio on the other hand, has such a cancerous philosophy that it actively harms all who interact with it.

Mirio is a follower, he follows orders first and asks questions never.

Eri is the best example of this. Even after Nighteye's death, Mirio never truly reflects on the damage his actions could have caused ( only saved by the narrative, seriously it's a miracle Eri trusts anyone besides Midoriya after being abandoned like that)

You see, the difference between Toshinori and Mirio lies in their actions and principles.

Mirio left Eri to die, all for the sake of the "mission".

For all the heroes knew, Eri could have been a trafficking victim and either have been killed or relocated. But no, appearances and "gotta catch em all" take priority even after knowing Eri is in the Yakuza's clutches.

Lemillion made the worst decisions possible. He followed a known murder into a secluded, restricted area (with a hostage mind you) bringing his pupil with him.

Willingly ignored blatant signs of abuse (just look at the girl) and played hooky with thre leader of a criminal organization, who is known for his short fuse and willingness to kill.

He did all of that, when he could have easily detained Overhaul at any point (his quirk being a direct counter)

Toroshinori would fight tooth and nail in that situation. Consequences be damned if it meant saving Eri.

Part of the reason Toroshinori was so effective as a hero was 1. His sense of justice and 2. His compassion.

Mirio is a symbol that can be controlled, a weapon if you will.

The fact that Mirio is at the top shows that things haven't changed and are even beginning to decline. So this brings me to my next point

You may be asking, if Midoriya's losing it in his own mind, what's the outside world look really like?.

Allow me to set the stage.

4. Speculation

Within Midoriya's muddled mind, Lemillion represents both his toxic optimism and a subconscious understanding that nothing has changed. It represents denial and acceptance, a dysfunctional middle ground that's easy enough for Midoriya to stomach.

The truth of the matter is, delusion or not, the reality is soon to sink in.

Something that I don't see discussed is the lack of reactions from other nations or really any insight into how they were affected by everything that happend.

Here's the idea: Most likely they are foaming at the mouth.

Particularly it's the countries who suffered under Imperial Japan in the past (Korea, China, Singapore etc), however this also applies to every nation Nedzu brow beat into aiding with the rebuilding efforts, albiet their reaction would be latent.

Not not only is the attitude painfully reminiscent of how Japan handles it's past atrocities, Japan has had them clean up their messes. seen below:

(you cannot tell me Big Red Dot over here is having a good time)

From an outside pov. The Commission never told anyone about AFO, rather they suppressed any information, locked him up in Tartarus and then sat on the whole situation until it blew up in their (read: everyones) faces.

He then proceeded to: kill over 8000 people (+ those killed during the Blackout period), kill the top hero of one of the world's most powerful nations and incite mass panic. Destroyed massive amounts of infrastructure and transport nationwide, broke thousands of criminals out of prison, destroying those prisons in the process.

Meanwhile the heroes:

Abandoned civilians in mass by quitting in the middle of a war.

Left the public in the dark for months and allowing crime and paranoia to grow rampant, even (forcibly) bringing someone they knew was being targeted by AFO and his forces to the one place they could find shelter.

Mutilated a seven year old girl. Who has a history of being mutilated for the gain of others and patted themselves on the back. (Also having no holdup on how that may effect her physically via her quirk or mentally via her trauma)

Mic: tried to kill a docile prisoner who could be considered in comatose, based off of his emotional attachment to a dead man + viewing it as justified if it meant Spinner couldn't get to him.

Used hospital staff and patients as meatshields (Central Hospital) during a riot.

Most had no qualms supporting a child beating eugenicist and implied marital rapist, even with his one of his victims exposed him and citing it as his main reason for turning to villainy.

Held an illegal questioning* with said abuser while ignoring his main victim (Rei, who is probably the most reliable source of information there)

(*which effectively is like conducting an investigation on yourself and declaring you are not guilty)

And so much more! (But this post is getting too long)

My point is by the time everything was said and done, it seemed everyone but Japan was paying for it.

It's outright stated that the US president risked national security by sending every hero they had to help Japan. (Impeachment worthy if you ask me)

Endeavor's little plan to kill himself and Dabi in a blaze of death ended up disrupting the weather. Very likely it'll end up resembling an El Niño phenomenon, only vastly off schedule and even more destructive than normal.

For Reference [https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/ninonina.html]

Very likely it'll lead to an agricultural drought in the northern America's and mass flooding in southern America's, likely starting at the west coast and bleeding inland. Leading to a domino effect where cost of living surges due to the sudden displacement of people and the rapid loss of products.

Worse still, because the US had no heroes (likely for months on end), crime has likely surged in the America's, which will further impact the rest of the world.

The rebuilding efforts likely emptied the wallets of most participating countries, leaving them unable to help anyone, including themselves.

Also keep in mind that Japan incriminated themselves with the Business Course footage. I don't think the general public (outside of Japan) is going to take too kindly to a known murder and abuse apologist being in charge of a system already known for it's corruption.

The end result is likely be a world that detests Japan, either from a moral perspective (Rei's treatment + the treatment of those society abandoned), a financial perspective (we can't afford shit and you contributed to that) or historical perspective (you do this everytime and ignore the consequences).

A world divided by struggle and united by an immense loathing for the Commission's Japan and the culture surrounding it.

Oh, don't forget there's no finding left for quirk research. Meaning that it's very likely no one will be prepared for quirk singularity to start manifesting in the upcoming generations (Thanks Nedzu).

_______________________________________

Update: Can I just say that Aizawa's lack of ownership infuriates me even though this is likely a fantasy and not grounded in reality.

Like what the fuck do you mean "with the way he talks, it was pointless" Fantasy Aizawa.

Because "Hey Asshole", You deliberately ignored his attitude and offenses!. And what? Now your just gonna shrug it off like it wasn't your fault. To hell with that you had two years, most teacher are said to only get one. As you so graciously mentioned at the start of this shit show of an epilouge.

Heres the moment I'm referring to btw:

While we're at it. Are you telling me it was too hard to get Momo some proper attire all three fucking years she was at UA for.

Not to mention Toru is still naked, how the fuck hasn't she died yet, she is literally exposed to the elements (and lord help her of she gets a cut)

Kirishima's costume is still his biggest liability considering it exposes his chest and back (also seeing as even when hardened he can't repell bullets)

Does Denki still fry himself with his quirk?

Before we move on Aizawa. How's that daughter you neglected, her horn still broken?.

Speaking of which let's look at the rescue team:

What the hell is this!?

Let's see, we got a guy who can only do damage (and his sweat detonates on contact, destroying whatever it touches.)

A brainwasher who only got into the hero course via nepotism and who can only brainwash people who directly respond to him!. A person trapped underneath rubble either frantic or groaning in pain isn't going to be able to respond or even just give consent.

(On a side note what are the laws regarding mind control quirks, does some sort of waiver have to be signed, can a person sue for being controlled against their consent?)

Oh, but wait there's more.

Midoriya running headlong with experimental tech that has, very likely never seen the light of day. Let alone preform in an actual high stakes situation before.

You're trying to carry someone and oops! Something malfunctioned or was miscalculated, now there's an even bigger mess (hooray!)

Who could forget Mezo "they'll come for your kids" Soji. Who climbed the ladder and pulled it all the way up.

Yeah forget that Heteromorph's were getting hate crimed long before the war, ignore the fact that you yourself were maimed by an angry mob after doing one of the most heroic things a person can do. Dismiss Spinner's comment about being sprayed with Pesticide for walking in public.

Nah screw it, let's all sing Kumbaya while the Creation Rejection Clan runs wild outside the reach of the cities, then ignore that the discrimination still is prevalent in the countryside and it's only a matter of time before somone gets fed up and takes matters into their own hands. (talons, claws, you get the picture)

But your a hero now Soji, you got your's. So fuck the rest of 'em

And don't even get me started on Hawks. Congratulations you ignorant bastard, way to kill time and by that I mean for everyone but the heroes.

"Yeah life is great!, everyone hates us, we're rapidly falling into debt from all that rebuilding 8 years back."

"Speaking of which some of those buildings are staring to fall apart due to being rushed to meet deadlines set within the month they were started."

"Social darwinism is on the rise and people are becoming more complacent that ever before due to heroes applying bandaid solutions on decade long, deeply ingrained problems."

"All so the average person doesn't have to think about what's festering beneath society's floorboards, so thank you Safety Commission. Here's your star of positivity ⭐️." - Some random anti-hero civilian

So much for greatest heroes, huh.

_______________________________________

UPDATE 2:

A dark thought I just had, is that the main reason Izuku killed Tomura was because Tomura broke the rule of "Forgiving Your Abusers makes you Good".

When Tomura refused to relinquish his hatred, when he stood his ground, that is when Midoriya decided he had to die. If not to "stop" him, then to preserve Midoriya's perception of the world .

Shigaraki + The LOV by their very ideals went against everything Midoriya has had beat into him by Bakugo and Aldera over the years.

Makes me wonder how'd he react to a person refusing to forgive their abuser. If he interacted with Natsuo or Rei, I could see that delving into a complete mess.

Now that I think about it, The Midoriya we know now, he would have never tried to hold onto Eri back when they first met.

Ironically, he became what he named himself after, a Deku. A puppet attached to thorns of liquid gold, glistening and burning hot.

A slave to his own biases and belief system, now trapped in a stage of his minds own making.

First bound by his past, then by legacy and finally, now by his own hand.

木偶.

Hey, wanna know something kinda sad I realized? Every relationship Endeavor has is based around utility.

I mean of course there’s his family: He only married his wife for her to give him his perfect heir, and up until the present he only ever showed affection to the one most capable of being that heir; emotionally neglecting the rest completely, as we can tell from Touya’s treatment and Natsuo’s recounting of his own childhood. And even now, with his “redemption arc”, it feels like with his realizing his rank won’t satisfy him and the things he did to get it not worth it, that he’s only trying to make up for things for a new purpose; convincing himself he’s a good person who loves his family. (Especially given how much he mopes about his family not liking him.) Not once has it felt, to me anyway, like he’s done something for any of them that wasn’t self-motivated; with his kindest actions being the ones that were only partially self-motivated.

And now, he’s on the opposite side of that with the rest of the family; where it seems they only really interact with him for what he can do for them or their other family members. From the start, Shoto’s only ever professionally worked with him for what such a high ranking hero could do for his own career, and seemed to only really be open to giving him a chance because Rei and Fuyumi seemed open. But they were only really open for his and each other’s sake; which is also why Natsuo humours the idea at all, he was just more open about that fact. And now with recent events; they have put genuine trust in him, but only for Touya’s sake. To his family, who have each only every (at best) been a means to an end for him, he is only ever (at best) a means to an end for them.

And of course this is true for his professional life too, the core of his being for so many years of his life. Of course he has no friends in that professional life; just employees and coworkers who work for/with him out of mutual convenience. And of course, even his long obsessed-over rank is based more on how useful he is to the public than anything else (numerous sources have shown he hardly owns much of it to plain popularity, though even what popularity he does have serves a purpose now). Heck a lot of fans, many of his own defenders even, have theorized that he owes his utility to not being in jail after Dabi revealed all his crimes. The No. 1 hero is too useful in these trying times for the other heroes to arrest him; justice be damned.

And meanwhile everyone who doesn’t have use for him, be they villains actively fighting him or civilians deciding they just don’t need heroes, well they all seem to hate him. In fact I find it interesting that Dabi, the only other Todoroki more concerned with his own feelings and well being than any of his family members, is the only character in the series intentionally trying to hold him accountable for all the things he did.

The man has no one he genuinely unconditionally loves or that unconditionally loves him. Everyone he interacts with, their relationship is directly proportional to how useful they are to him and/or how useful he is to them.

What a sad existence, if one very fitting for his character.

I rarely post in these tags but tell me why those orange green heart broccoli explosion emoji combo whiners are trying to infiltrate the bnha critical tags just because their mid ship wasn’t confirmed official.

What actually made you believe bakugo and midoriya was ever going to get together? Like I need you to be serious for a second. Did it seriously take you this long, 8 entire damn years for you to finally get your wakeup call???

Like gtfo out of the tags with your delusional ao3 “”queerbaiting”” ass. I’m trying to see well informed written analysis and learn from Horikoshis mistakes on how not to fail as a writing enthusiast.

Go create your own tags or something like anyone gives a damn about your inherent power imbalance ship.

MHA Wild AF for calling this man a villain when really he was just activating for basic human rights

Lookalikes…