Digging In My Trash

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Dead Poets Society (1989) dir. Peter Weir

It really leaves a sour taste in my mouth how 1A really does fuck all to be there for Izuku while does everything to be there for them.

They sit by and let Bakugou bully Izuku.

While watching Izuku (and ONLY Izuku btw) trying to make sure Eri had a good time at the School Festival, they call him disappearing to get candy apples troublesome and problematic.

Instead of examining WHY Izuku believed it was safer for everyone if he struck out on his own and pushed himself to his physical and emotional breaking point, they take Bakugou of all people at his word that it's All Might's fault, ambush him, and then quite literally beat him into submission.

While Izuku's grappling with the trauma of losing OFA and having killed Shigaraki, no one checks up on him or reassures him that he's not some horrible murderer. I understand that they all had their own traumas, but if they could rightfully be there for Ochako, there's no way in hell they couldn't have done the same for Izuku.

Once Izuku loses OFA and graduates, 1A falls out of contact with him while his supposed first ever actual friends make a hero team on their own. Technology exists. They could have at the very least texted him, especially considering how sad and lonely those 8 years were for him. To make matters worse, they only get back in contact with him once he has the means of being a hero again through Iron Izuku (for that matter, did Tokoyami wind up getting Dark Shadow back?). To make matters even more worse, it's implied that they're all still in contact with Bakugou, who has done absolutely nothing to change his behavior and is a-okay after being told he wouldn't be able to use his arms again.

Really, for such an amazing found family, they're a bunch of fake ass friends to him in canon. I've seen fanfics that are infinitely better than canon at making 1A and Izuku's bond a more mutual thing.

x

I love genuinely innocent “boys will be boys.” Just saw a guy come out of a frat house to poke a pair of jeans they’d left outside - they were frozen solid, and as soon as he confirmed that, like twenty more boys came rushing out of the house going “YOOOOOOOOOO”

“NO HE IS NOT DEAD AND HE IS COMING BACK AT THE WORST MOMENT..” WHAT WTF NOOOooooooooooo oh god please no. I thought I would fine with whether Jeanist is dead or not BUT NOW I just want him dead and to stay dead damn it!

Finally, I will not wait for the “official” translation or whatever because I need to speak about that but the thing is, this whole chapter is a symptom of the “cul entre deux chaises” effect that I was talking about (and yes, I will continue to use the French expression because I like very much the image and the rhythm of it, sorry not sorry). Of course, what I will talk about will be a lot of assumptions on how the author works but I think I’m not too far from the truth given that I saw it coming - the BJ thing when we learned he was alive. 

I think MHA’s main problem is that instead of having one nuanced guiding line for its narration, it has two of them. Because it’s not very clear like that, I will try to explain it further. While reading MHA, I have always had the impression that I was reading two different mangas in one. 

World 1: The Heroes with the kids

World 2: The Villains with the League

You are going to tell me that it is normal and that they can exist at the same time. And given how it is written, I don’t think so. Here is why:

What I call “World 1″ is extremely simplistic in its view of the world, the society. The Heroes are the good guys, the Villains are the bad guys. You have to stop the bad guys. It is easy as that. No question asked. It is a black and white world. There is an idealization of this world by the characters living in this “world”.

What I call “World 2″ is nuanced in how the world works. Most of the Villains in it know that what they are doing IS wrong. They do not pretend that their actions are morally right. But, they point out why they are doing this and how they came to do this. They are not blind to the society they live in. It is a grey world.

And the problem is: they can’t live together well because in general, when you have a black and white version of a fact, it can’t win against a grey version. Why? Because a black and white version is weak and fragile. It can't hold the questions when the grey version can because it accepts that the answers are not clear-cut. For example, Hawks’ actions invalidate “World 1″ because he is a Hero. Thus he should be Good. But it is not the case: it is not clear-cut evil (he can use the greater good justification) but not clear-cut good either (he killed someone for a crime he had not committed yet + it wasn’t his place to be judge and jury and executioner). How to deal with that when you divide the world into GOOD HEROES vs EVIL VILLAINS? You can’t. But it can live in the “Grey” world because his actions are neither entirely good, neither entirely bad. He is a Pro-Hero who had done at best questionable things. It is not possible to just close your eyes and put him in the Good Hero case (nor in the Evil Villain, btw).

So, in this situation, you would think that World 2 has to slowly bleed onto World 1 to paint a complex and not easy world to live in, leaving the whole thing as “the Bad Side is not necessarily utterly bad, pure evil and the Good Side is not necessarily utterly good”... which is normal. Characters with simple views of world have to evolve when said world is not simple. Especially when it is the main protagonists we are talking about.

But it is not the case in this manga: not only World 1 resists but, in the end, it seems to have the last word.

If World 2 was not here being nuanced, it would be okay. But it is not. And because of that, it forces us to have a selective memory. We have to forget that Heroes sent minors to war (yes, it was to evacuate but I am not sure that you can defend that without being of very bad faith) without their parents’ consent (when it was a huge point that they were children and that they had parents, you know - in another manga, you would not care, but not here) because it does not fit in the “Good” case where it should be in World 1 vision. When it could have easily lived in World 2′s vision.

And you are going to tell me that I am negative. That the author is doing this to make a huge reveal and make the Heroes change their mind... It’s nice to be positive but I don’t believe it. Not after so many chapters. Not after so many occasions. Not after a pattern appeared. And chapter 291 is a big example of this pattern.

The author undermines the nuanced speech to sweeten the pill that yes, the Heroes are not Good without questions. Dabi is making a speech on how Hawks killed Twice and Best Jeanist? No, finally Best Jeanist is not dead so he is wrong. No matter that there was still a corpse in the bad. No matter that he killed Twice. There is something not right in his speech so, it is the proof needed to consider it wholly wrong in-universe and undermine its impact for the readers too. I am sorry but it is the case. Of course, it will cause a huge problem in society but still, it is not innocent. It is a conscious choice from the author and ignoring it is not a solution. 

The same technic is also used when it comes to Toya’s backstory. Of course, we have his point of view, but then we have Endeavor’s memory. Why, if not to undermine Toya’s speech? I am not at all against Endeavor’s redemption (or having his point of view btw). I dislike the character but it can be interesting to see. However, it seems to be done at the expense of Toya’s own traumatic experience. Again, just like for Best Jeanist, it is not to say that Toya’s story will not have an impact, but to have the abuser’s point of view just after who lessens significantly Toya’s bad experience (just look at how Dabi says that he was crying every day and how Endeavor’s memories are way nicer)? The place where it was put in the narrative is not innocent. It can’t be.

Is it because the author doesn’t want to destroy the Heroes’ image? But it is too late for that. It is already destroyed if you take attention to what the villains are saying or what some people in the Heroes’ society lived/are living. Is it because the author wants to reassure everyone on Endeavor’s redemption? But it is a redemption: the fact that he has done bad things IS the point. He can still be redeemed even if you don’t lessen the negative perception of what he had done to the readers (in this case, it mostly impacts the readers, not necessarily the characters in-universe, imo... at least for now). We know that Endeavor wants to do better. We do. I even believe it. But if the author really wanted to show the entire truth in its full terrible impact, he would not have done that. It is just done kind of deceitfully because Endeavor’s vision is not inconceivable given that he is responsible for his family situation (it is easy to conceive that he would lessen the problem, even inconsciously, to save himself some guilt). The problem is not that Endeavor sees the past like that. It is really where it is put in the narrative. The timing does a lot.

What Horikoshi is doing is safe in the way that he can still choose what he will do in the end. However, the more it progresses, the more it is dangerous in terms of writing quality. Because he will have to purposely ignore a lot of what had been told and even retcon some important (and morally grey) things. He will have to choose between World 1 and World 2 because they cannot live together. The Heroes Society can not be flawed and flawless at the same time. Of course, it could still change... but after 290 chapters and the tendency to put everything under the carpet... let me be negative.

(I hope what I said was clear. Not sure but here I go anyway. This platform is not meant to write pages and pages anyway.

And I will come back to talk about how this tendency I mentioned is here since the FIRST chapter. The premise of this writing flaw was here since day one. Just hoped it would be more complex than this.)

Me: "jesus christ the adult pro heroes fucking suck lol"

You: "um sweaty, this is a shounen manga of course the adults are useless-"

See, that's a perfectly valid meta answer. This genre is centered around the young male protagonist and his friends, of course they're going to be in the spotlight for the majority of the series.

But from an in-universe perspective, imagine watching a group of cops or soldiers stand around uselessly as a pair of teenagers fought a god. Whether he meant to or not, All Might's reign as Number 1 made every other hero complacent and useless in situations where their Quirks don't apply. None of them (except Aizawa) even carry any weapons to help in a fight.

I'm not dissing your fave pros because there's nothing they can do. I'm dissing the adult heroes because they knew full well they were going into a war, and none of them thought to bring a gun. I'm dissing them because they brought teenagers onto a battlefield and now have no choice but to hide behind them due to their own incompetence. They knew about the nomu and Gigantomachia and chose not to mobilise a military unit for this raid; this is entirely the fault of the HPSC, and every other pro who stood by and said nothing against the children getting involved.

This is a shounen manga. But there's a world within this manga, and the adults of this world fucked up big time.

russia blew up the dam

russians doesn't do any rescue operations on the left side of the river which they occupy, they don't allow to evacuate of those who survived

why?

Because russians filthy crazy orcs

caseoh and doey collab stream when

(also, picture this: doey holding a mini kissy the way that caseoh holds KITTYYYYYYY)

May your wish be partially granted.

unfortunately, someone still has to take care of Safe Haven, no?

— He's doing a swell job I promise.

Also extra thanks to @kroltheprotocol for the idea lol