You Ever Think That Whenever Endeavor Stubs His Toe, He Shakes His Fist At The Sky And Shouts Something

Varying representations of responder PTSD symptoms in MHA characters:

MHA does a really good job at realistically showing how people who work in response fields might manifest PTSD. It shows a variety of ways this can occur and hits on a lot of the less palatable symptoms or more nuanced symptoms that aren’t really shown in media often.

Enji:

Ok, I know he’s a controversial character but I’m starting with Enji/Endeavor bc I love this character and his arc. His character is shown having some of the less palatable symptoms of PTSD and it really reminded me of my experiences with it. I think it’s really cool to see that representation.

Intense Anger

Functions perfectly at work, but cannot function outside of work (if my brain cannot find the threat, it will make one- I.e. hypervigilance)

Lashing out at loved ones

Feelings of guilt and shame over the anger

Intense mistrust of others

Reliving negative experiences and ruminating on them constantly

Inability to rely on others

Inability to verbalize or identify negative feelings

Fear that you are a burden on loved ones

Fear that your loved ones will get hurt or die

Fear that loved ones will betray you or are lying to you

Obsession with having control over negative outcomes

Unreasonable standards/expectations for self and others

Fear that you cannot save everyone/are not good enough

Self-isolation

Deliberately sabotaging your relationships

The ‘death of self’

All Might:

Overwork

Lack of a personal life

Inability to rest

Working through injury

Inability to rely on others

Keeping experiences and feelings a secret because you believe them to be too burdensome to share

Unsupported belief that you will die young

Flippant about own safety and mortality

Deku:

Working through injury

Putting self in dangerous situations

Obsessiveness about work and replaying situations over and over

Flippancy about own safety and mortality

Inability to rest

Self-isolation

Keeping experiences and feelings a secret because you believe them to be too burdensome to share

Existential horror/dread about the state of humanity

Apathy

Losing parts of your personality/losing joy/losing idealism

Nightmares

Hawks:

I also really love this character and how Horikoshi explores him. I relate to a lot of his symptoms as well even though they are much more subtle.

Using sarcasm and dark humor to eschew real negative feelings

Refusing to process negative emotions or intellectualizing your trauma

Loss of affect

Belief that your sole value is in your usefulness to others/belief that you have no inherent value

Overwork

Fear that you cannot save everyone/are not good enough

Moral injury

Unrealistic expectations of self

Flippant about your own safety/mortality

Unfounded belief that you are secretly a bad person

Splitting: i.e. views on good and bad becoming overly simplistic

Anger and resentment about systemic failures/leadership failures

Feeling that your were not adequately trained or equipped to do your job

Mistrust of others

Trauma bonding to coworkers

Belief that other people cannot understand your experiences

Emotional distancing

Wanting to escape your present reality/focus on a ‘future’ where things are different and inability to be in the present moment.

Dissociative traits- I.e. disconnecting from the self to complete difficult tasks & acting out ‘performative’ emotions for the benefit of others

that’s her baby

Hwang Miae 🍏 After School Lessons for Unripe Apples

~plz like or reblog if u save/use~

Decided to sketch Enji in commemoration of the new bnha chapter. And his ass ofc

It's my 3 year anniversary on Tumblr 🥳

My life has gotten significantly worse ❤️

if you want my quirk you have to defeat my 8 insane successors

Endeavor having a Lucille Bluth moment

About that post where you were responding to a bad take made on Twitter about Endeavor. Honestly what could Hori possibly write to have Enji finally step up as a father? I find Enji really compelling as a character, but the dude has literally had so many opportunities to step up as a father and he just,, hasn't??? Even when Touya was trying to kill himself he barely made an attempt to stop him before deciding to just die alongside him (which I suppose made since for his character but the wrong choice nonetheless). It's to the point where when he FINALLY does step up, I genuinely feel like it won't mean a damn thing. Like he's pushed all the real work dealing with Touya onto his family, which is the ONE THING they asked of him. I honestly wouldn't mind any of the guy's *continuous* failures if they didn't fall back on Shoto somehow every single time 😮‍💨

To me that’s why it’s an essential story beat. Shouto’s whole “become who you want to be” and “you are not bound by his blood” cannot happen as long as he keeps shouldering the burden that rightly is Endeavor’s.

Now the rest of the family stepped in a little, but if Enji sincerily wishes for a future where Shoto can choose to be with his friends and where he keeps his eyes on Touya, he needs to understand that the way to do it, is not by beating villains.

He’s lack of taking responsibility is why Shouto is not with his friends. Him prioritising his hero role over talking to Touya is why Touya is burnt so badly now.

So if there is a call for back-up to Deku (which I think there will be with the Warp Gate still in play), I think Endeavor the hero would go (feeling like it’s his duty as No 1), but a father may choose to stay with his badly injured son and family and take care of them.

So basically, for me it’s two things: Enji chooses Touya over the logic of hero work. And he tells Shouto that it’s not his burden anymore and lets him join his friends (by stepping up he allows him a real choice instead of being stuck with picking up the pieces).

Miguel O’Hara icons

Know what really pisses me off? When people try to devolve Rei's character as a mouthpiece for Enji. Trying to say she's easily forgiving Enji when it's clear her feelings are (rightfully) conflicted.

In this scene, she makes it clear that she's still too afraid to face Enji yet has optimism. That flower signifies that Enji doesn't forget that he still has a family that he has a lifetime to make up to, even if he's never forgiven. And the idea that the narrative is trying to make Enji easily forgiven when one of his best moments is him dropping this iconic quote

Next, the scene in the hospital.

She doesn't let Enji drown in self-pity, reminding him that everyone in that family has suffered more than he is right now. But she still knows her husband is actively trying to change and doesn't take the chance to fucking put him down unnecessarily like so many people want her to. Enji needs to get back up and help not just his family but also those in need from the 1st war's aftermath.

People who think she's someone suffering from Stockholm Syndrome are full of shit. This is a strong woman, someone who can see a former hateful person wanting to change and gives them the words they need. Trying to use that chance to be full of vitriol and hate will not break the cycle that the Todorokis are trying to escape from. And finally, the Todoroki reunion. She showed up not just to save Toya but Enji as well. She knows he wants to atone and she makes it clear she's saving them both.

And btw, this shows how much Enji regrets what he did and despite the marriage being arranged, he still loves Rei. He doesn't want to lose her too. But Rei doesn't want him to die either. People think that having faith in your former abuser is akin to forgiveness is just...ignorant. She wants him to live to continue atoning and she still has faith that he has changed and wants to do what's right.

Rei Todoroki has my respect for all this.