Seriously, Mr. Hyunch and Stolas couldn't anymore the opposite of each other if they had to be. Stolas is a privileged asshole who always whines how hard life is for him, while Mr. Hyunch is a immigrant working class man who kept the sadness of his past to himself until he opened up to Arnold about it. They do have one similarity is they both have a daughter but how they handled being a father is different.
Stolas for most of her life was a good father, until he decided to wreck his home life by cheating on his wife which has caused all sorts of tension between him and Octavia. Despite the narrative trying to say how much of a loving father he is, after the affair begins he focuses more and more on Blitzo rather than her to the point it feels like empty words. It gets to the point that in the second to last episode of the season we see him say he can't live without Blitzo to the point he was willing to be executed for his sake which on paper looks selfless but he essentially broke his promise as a father he would always be there for his daughter and this just shows how much he's discarded Octavia in the forethought of his mind.
Despite Mai only getting prominence in the Christmas episode, this really demonstrated what type of father he was. The guy not only before he gave up Mai was raising her in Vietnam as a single working class father but during the Vietnam War. He even tried to get a plane out of their so they wouldn't be caught up in the fall of Saigon and when he couldn't get both of them out he decided to do the hardest thing a parent could do which is give her up so she can have a better life. Even though he knew this meant he wouldn't know how long they would be apart, he was just thinking of her safety. And again this man probably had endure the worst that Communist Vietnam had to offer during those 20 years of separation before finally getting out. But I can imagine the hope one day he could see his daughter in America would get him through.
Although both lose contact with their daughter due to circumstances, Stolas loses Octavia because of his own self-destructive actions that are never condemned by the narrative and ultimately he's a selfish person whose always putting his wants before her needs. This is in contrast with Mr. Huynh who did what he did because he loved his daughter so much and put her future in his mind. Although she was only seen two times in the city, we do see of her that she has grown up in a good environment because of the great sacrifice her father did. And that's why I don't see Stolas' thing as a big sacrifice because at the root of selfishness that has plagued his character and he only thought about Octavia once he was banished. He wasn't fully putting her as a priority until after he had to deal with the consequences of defending Blitzo. If he was executed then he really didn't need to think about anything, which again shows how much he didn't think of her in that instance. Ultimately, Mr. Hyunch shows what an example of a selfless father is in contrast with a selfish one like Stolas.
Bakhmut: before and after the arrival of the "liberators"
The main reason why some people refuse to see Dabi as once an abused child, and keep deeming him insane or evil since he was born, is undoubtedly because his abuser was Enji who is trying to change now.
Shigaraki and Toga are villains who were also once abused when they were children (in Shigaraki's case, he is still used by AFO till now). Fortunately, people generally aren't very keen on refusing to admit Shigaraki was groomed by AFO or was abused when he was a child. People usually have no hard time calling AFO or Kotaro an abuser and don't use excuses like AFO giving lil' Tenko a hug, Kotaro only slapping Tenko twice, or Kotaro not being harsh to his wife, to back them up. People also do not really deny Toga was neglected by her parents.
Matter-of-factly, neglect is one of the things Enji did to his children. The difference is Enji neglected Touya, Fuyumi, and Natsuo inside a luxurious house, provided them clothes and food. Other than that, quoting Natsuo's words, Enji was just like a complete stranger to his children.
How about physical abuse? Ironically, there are people who genuinely consider the things Enji had done to his family as not abuse. They think since Enji was hitting Shouto and Rei "rarely", then it wasn't abuse. Another common misunderstanding (or excuse) is since Enji was doing more of mental abuse to his family and "rarely" did physical abuse, then he wasn't abusive. In all honesty, what kind of conclusion is that?
Does Hori need to show us Enji hitting Rei 10 times for us to admit Rei was not only mentally but also physically abused by her husband? Does Hori need to draw a graphic image describing how Shouto could puke when Enji was "only training him" for us to include it as a physical abuse as well?
Ever consider if mental/psychological abuse is not part of abuse why it has word "abuse" in it? Mental abuse is included in the types of abuse too, though.
In addition, if child neglect is not part of child abuse then why WHO, APSAC, APA (American Psychological Association), and many others indicate it as a form of child abuse/maltreatment as well?
Someone who performs any type of abuse is called an abuser. Abuser is an example of a noun ending in -er. The ending -er is added to verbs to make nouns with the meaning ‘a person or thing that does something’, for example: builder, farmer, or sprinkler. Thus, since Enji was doing abuse so he was called an abuser, or in present settings, he is an ex-abuser. There is literally nothing wrong in calling Enji an ex-abuser or saying he was abusive. Getting mad or defensive when people calling Enji an ex-abuser or once abusive is overly ridiculous to me.
Dabi was once an abused child. Touya was neglected just like Fuyumi and Natsuo. Among the main trio villains or the Todoroki children, it seems like Dabi/Touya is the one denied the most (if not the only one) of his status as once an abused and innocent child. Tragically, encountering people deeming Touya was insane since he was born or calling him an evil manipulative child is not rare nowadays. Yet, almost no one calls Tenko an insane and evil child, considering both Touya and Tenko ended up as villains today. Tenko and Touya both were hurt and traumatized children. It is weird when people are able to symphatize with Tenko but not with Touya, forgetting Touya was engulfed brutally in broad-scale wildfire and his body was horrifically consumed by scorching fire; a 13-years-old boy almost died.
Why do people react to Tenko's story and Touya's so differently? Well, Touya/Dabi's abuser is trying to change now, isn't he? Now, let's think. If, for example, AFO wins the fight with Deku in the future, then he suddenly has a change of heart and wants to try to be a better person, would you say Shigaraki was never groomed by him before? Or, if Hawks's father some time later is released from the prison and wants to try to change to be a good father to Hawks then, would you say Keigo was never abused in the first place?
No matter happens to an abuser now, whether he's trying to change or not, it will not change the facts that the past still exists, the abuse still happened, and his victims will still be the victims. It is ironic to watch people doing it easier to label Rei as an abuser than Enji. Shifting the blame to someone else who was also one of Enji's abuse victims is not making his character any better. Refusing to admit Shouto, Touya, Fuyumi, and Natsuo were once children abused by Enji is not making his character any better either.
Truthfully, because of the past can't be erased, that's why Enji is trying to make amend to that in the present. Enji is in the process of trying to atone for his abusive self. If we are to erase and downplay his abuse, shift the blame to someone else, and refuse to acknowledge whom his victims were, then what is character development that he's going through all this time for?
Ok so when are we getting Dabi's proper backstory Horikoshi? Preferably NOT from his abuser's pov? Thanks.
For those who say that russia attacking Ukraine is a “white people war” and that it doesn’t concern people of color
Seriously, looking back at these episodes it really hammers how both are as fathers. Even in the face that their wealthy, powerful proprietor is facing assassination, he chooses his daughter's health over being a white knight to this pompous, entitled bird who then is ungrateful that his employees were the ones to save him. On the other hand, when Via needs him the most he will neglect her to focus on his petty squabbles and flirting with his booty call which caused the current strife in the family. She might say he loves her but his actions really contradicts how self-centered he really is towards her regards. He will do the bare minimum after spending the previous time pushing her away. This is in contrast who will put all his focus on Loona when he feels like it is important. What's even more ironic this is from a guy who only had her since she was 17 while Stolas was always with Octavia but as time has gone by he has done less to focus and prioritize her needs over his own. Again why is Stolas called best father when that title should go to Blitzo.
I genuinely hate how Hawks in this latest chapter has now completely hijacked all discussion this fandom. Why aren’t more ppl focusing on the fact that Hori once again chose to shaft Rei and avoided showing us any meaningful interactions between her and her children? If you had any doubts that Hori is a misogynist and is not interested in writing about abuse respectfully, this chapter should dispel them. I cannot believe Hori chose to write this, over what should have been a beautiful moment of a mother comforting her youngest son and other children. We should have finally gotten a chapter focusing on Rei.
Instead, what we got was a chapter focusing Hawks and HIS relationship with Endeavor. How Endeavor was important to HIM. How Endeavor inspired HIM. How much Endeavor the hero meant to HIM as a child. How he wants to help Endeavor now, like Endeavor did for him.
This is intentional. The framing of this chapter is designed to put us in Endeavor’s corner, so now we don’t want to see the downfall of Endeavor’s hero career because “Oh, look how he inspired kids like Hawks!”
Forget about showing us how Endeavor’s VICTIMS are now processing their feelings about Touya being alive and a villain. Don’t force the readers to remember that Endeavor abused his family, all while he continued to present himself as a ‘hero.’ Don’t remind readers about how Endeavor’s abuse has negatively impacted all of THEIR lives.
This chapter is designed to make us sympathize with Hawks and Endeavor as much as possible. So don’t question it when we are never shown Rei interacting with her children. The victims of abuse aren’t as important as prioritizing the feelings of an abuser after all. This has been continuously shown in both the manga and the fandom.
How can ppl be bothered to care about Rei, when Horikoshi doesn’t even care about her himself?
I'm not sorry...