Wtf?

@mikeellee @kite2013

As you both notice, it's kind of funny how the interactions of Dr Garaki with both Nine and Shigaraki are such different in the way the scientist treats them (despite both are just lab rats in the end).

Because see how Garaki openly insults, disrespects and laughs of Shigaraki ideas in front of his supposed friends.

Garaki probably felt almost insulted for having to keep the game going just because AFO wants Shigaraki to have this illusion of free choice, when in reality he's just a kid which they still have in the palm of their hand.

Even after MVA when Garaki shows a bit more of tolerancy to Shigaraki for mantain the illusion, in the inside he still makes fun of him because obviously he's the only person to really know Shigaraki is just a vessel playing to be the super villain.

But then we have his interview with Nine...

Notice how the aptitude and demeanor of the doctor is completely the opposite of what we saw with Shigaraki.

Despite obviously he's offering Nine be part of a shady experiment, he acts strangely polite and even shows a bit of curiosity when Nine expose his motives to be part in the experiment.

But also, Garaki thinks Nine is a dangerous individual despite in theory he should be the one in control of the situation and unlike in Shigaraki's case, Nine is alone in front of the doctor.

The biggest difference on how Garaki view Nine and Shigaraki, is that in the first case he sees a real man with strong convictions and an indomitable will who could actually change the curse of the world if he's given the chance.

This is my headcanon, but I think Garaki saw in Nine's eyes the closet to AFO in spirit and convictions (and it's interesting how both of them have the same white/silver eyes, coincidende?).

But for Shigaraki?

He only sees a dumb kid who doesn't even understand the situation he's in. A more obvious puppet who can be used the way he likes.

Shigaraki never had any chance with Garaki.

Oh I forgot to mention, but it's also funny as hell how the doctor shows more respect to Dabi in their private conversations than he does with Shigaraki in the same situation.

This happens because just like Nine, Dabi was a dangerous person who can't be controled so easily by him. So at least it gives him a bit more of respect by the crazy doctor.

Katsuki Bakugo: A Semi-Comprehensive Character Analysis (and Why I Will Never Consider Him a Hero)

I’ve written on Bakugo before, hurriedly (within about 24 hours) and messily, but he’s a character that I feel so strongly about that I need to give this another go. Before we begin I have a few disclaimers that I’d like everyone to keep in mind:

1. You’re always allowed to like fictional characters, for any reason. Deconstructing why a character’s behavior is problematic is in no way a personal attack on those who like them in spite of (or even because of) those actions. Is Bakugo your fave? Awesome! I’m glad you’re enjoying him in the series. Feel free to read this if you’re interested in differing opinions, but to be honest this is probably more geared towards those who already don’t like him. “Don’t like, don’t read” remains a staple of fandom for a reason, so please stick to it. 

2. I’ll be writing this up through Chapter 190, hence “semi” comprehensive. Maybe I’ll do a part two once the series is finished. I’m not sure yet. Also, keep in mind that every translation is slightly different. The one I used can be found here. 

3. I’ve already decided that I won’t be responding to any comments on this post. Not because I don’t enjoy a good debate (boy do I ever), but I’ve got a lot of important Real Life writing to do and really can’t afford to get distracted. That is, any more distracted than I’ve already been with this meta and to be frank, charged conversations about this character is not what I’m looking for right now. I wanted to say my piece and now I have. But feel free to chat among yourselves—respectfully!

4. This meta is long. I mean it’s really long. You think you know how long it is? You’re wrong. It’s longer. This is my magnum opus of metas and honestly I have no regrets. Just keep length in mind if you think, “Oh, I’ll give this a quick read through!” You won’t. That’s not possible. And I’m so very sorry.  

Okay, that’s the boring stuff out of the way. Let’s dive in.

There’s something to be said for the argument that the most important part of a story is its beginning. The start of a tale either grabs us or leaves us cold. It sets up all our expectations and, whether the author is consciously aware of it or not, has a strong impact on the ending. Stories don’t exist without their beginnings (for obvious reasons) and it’s worth giving them some extra attention. Boku No Hero Academia starts with this:

We don’t know these people yet, but it’s easy enough to figure out their role in this tale; who’s the hero and who’s the villain. We learn a lot in just five panels. Bakugo has been beating up on another, weaker kid and he’s “already made him cry.” This is significant because it sets up Bakugo’s empathy—or lack thereof. His first victim is not Izuku, the “friend” who we later learn infuriates and at times even intimidates Bakugo. As horrible as it is, we can explain some of his violence towards Izuku, though we certainly can’t justify it. But this is different. Bakugo appears to be beating on a random kid simply because he can. Because he enjoys it. Though we’re only in the first panel, the crux of Bakugo’s characterization is laid out for us to see. It emphasizes my primary argument and the reason why I don’t think he can ever be a hero, no matter how much Horikoshi wants us to root for him.

Bakugo lacks empathy for other people. 

Keep reading

X (2022) dir. Ti West

Jiro and his wife 💎

This is Kaori, she’s the Hidden Wood (Kobayashi clan) village doctor and the first wife to the clan leader Jiro Kobayashi. Her personality is quite timid but she is very stubborn when she wants to. Her work with medicine and herbs is unmatched to anyone, her passione to help people comes off as healing to the point the marking on her forehead appeared after her patients are properly nursed back to health.

But due to her patients being healed from even the most life threatening condition she was seen as a witch in her old village and was treated so poorly that she was banished from the village. When she stumbled upon the Hidden Wood village she healed an injured bear and it guided her into the village. The elders saw that she was no threat and had them tended to an injured Jiro. Once nursed back to health they fell in love and got married. He gifted her that hair pin she wears.

Jiro also has two other wives, after marrying Kaori he marries Tenshi who was a fellow hashira that he met through his sister Akira and lastly the women he was formerly engaged to named Ares. Who unfortunately got married by Tengen after Jiro called it off due to a family crisis.

I adore Kosmonauttihai’s comics. And the thought wouldn’t leave my head especially after the new trailer so.

AU where Blue and Indy (I call him Indy because I don’t want to type out indoraptor every time 😂) escape together and have a baby.

This was mostly a piece I did as a personal creativity break from my poster work.

The crazy thing is when I first first learned about pro or anti shipping it was on an AO3 blog and I was like “whatever it’s not like anyone is actually shipping literal pedophilia”

Until someone was actively writing PEDOPHILIA in my own fandom and I said something about it (on my own blog, never called anyone out, just expressed my discomfort with a specific ship to my own followers)

And got harassed for like two days by people defending fictional pedophilia on the grounds that it’s fictional

As if art doesn’t imitate life and these people aren’t having pedophilic fantasies that they’re writing about??? That shit is not fucking normal or okay

Ironically, Aizawa's expulsions would make sense if UA wasn't a Japanese school. While dropouts, transfers, and kicking students out of the Hero course for not meeting standards would legitimately be a thing, in fact, some schools would probably want to have a student who made into the Hero Course but have other issues at hand. The problem is that since UA is in Japan and is a Japanese school, the cultural context about expulsions and the black mark is fundamentally a serious liability and business in Japan compared to the west. Having a black mark in Japan is enough to prevent someone from getting a normal job and MHA Japan would not have enough time to develop away from this mentality, thus causing more problems down the line.

The manner in which Aizawa gives his students black marks instead of basic transfers to the General Course, since full expulsion from UA would be too extreme given that a 2-A does exist in canon, would mean that the moment that these black marked students graduate, they would not get basic jobs even if they graduated from the top school in Japan. There is a difference between changing courses of student and being given a black mark and while both could happen, getting a black mark is a gunshot wound to the person being kicked down the steps. Aizawa ironically is creating more villains and vigilantes on the streets by his actions and those students are very likely to die due to societal pressures and being forced into poverty. It would be an extremely minority that could have back-up plans and money to survive a black mark in Japan.

And let's not get onto Stain as he's just crazy. He would support Aizawa's expulsion of students on the basis of weeding out the weak heroes early. He just forgot that having a black mark is a death sentence in Japan.

See this is why I just don’t get the black mark thing. Like unless Aizawa is meant to be a big bad villain it makes no sense. Him temporarily expelling students to shove them into Gen Ed for a bit is much more reasonable if they need a reality check and fits his personality more. Still a bastard but not some jackass villain. And then he softens as he learns he made the wrong assumptions becoming a better teacher! See?! Way better. Instead we get this.

Also he can scare them with the idea of a black mark but not actually give them one. Fits more to with his logical ruse shit.

There’s a reason I drop canon Aizawa and it’s cause his shit makes no sense.

Stain would approve. Hes a bitch. I really do not like him.

The Greatest Boy In The World: Izuku Midoirya

This was originally part of a discussion I was having with @mikeellee but it got huge so this became its own thing. When I call Izuku privileged, I meant from multiple levels.

We've got our viewpoint, where we see beyond what the narrative shows us: a bunch of fake friends, an abusive rival, shoddy mentors, a school that failed him constantly.

Then there's what the narrative tells us: 1-A as a family, Bakugo as his best friend, him liking Aizawa, Nighteye, All Might and so on, and apparently Izuku's issues being something he himself needed to work on and not something that an educational facility should have been able to help him fix.

But here's why I say it.

What does Izuku actually lose across the story? Every single situation meant to bring tension and danger turns out to not come to pass, or gets walked back right away.

His teacher is a hard ass who seems to have it out for him? Well, no, Aizawa cools off entirely and is just there to be a grumpy toothless dragon. His bark is far worse than his bite. He'll make constant threats but never act on any of them.

Izuku is fresh to using his quirk and his classmates are all ahead of him? No, Izuku actually does way better than the majority of these loser kids and only actually lost to Shoto because, 1, he decided to sacrifice his win to taunt Shoto into using fire, and 2, bad luck.

Izuku's arms are in serious danger and breaking them could ruin their use for good? Nothing ever becomes of this. He breaks both arms against Muscular, uses a primarily kick based fighting style, then goes ham against Shigaraki during the first war arc. They reveal that, no, actually, OFA adapted to his body and prevents him from getting hurt so badly anymore and it prevents permanent damage.

He then loses his arms in the most nonsensical way possible, via a dream sequence? Only to have Eri mutilate herself (how did she know she could do that, how did they know it would work, why was she allowed and helped by Ectoplasm to do this?) and walk it back right away. His arms are restored so he can punch Shigaraki apart with the embers of OFA.

Losing his arms was completely meaningless and was done entirely for shock value.

Izuku's habit of going plus ultra is dangerous and people warn him it'll end poorly? Actually, no. Every single time he's gone plus ultra, he's saved a life or it worked out for him in the end. He scarred up his arms fighting Shoto, just for this to lead to Shoto coming to his and Iida's rescue in Hosu. He fought Gentle and La Brava and got criticism for it, but that turned out to be one of the best decisions he ever made, because they came back to save EVERYONE in the final war arc. He risks his life to save Bakugo and gets yelled at by the pro heroes, and then All Might decides he's his new successor and tells him he's worthy. He kept poking at Kota who just wanted to be left alone? He's in a prime location to save this little boy's life.

The only negative outcome of his reckless habit of going plus ultra was him losing to Dictator, who is then near instantly defeated by his classmates who happened to show up just in time to save him.

When you compare this guy to other shonen mcs and just look at the end results, what did Izuku lose?

He lost his quirk, but according to Izuku, he never really was all that serious about being a hero and always wanted to be a teacher. Regardless of if he lost his quirk or not.

Oh, but then his friends gave him an ironman suit anyways so he can do hero work when he's not being a teacher.

He gets a pity shonen hetero relationship, as one does in this genre.

He's known as the greatest hero who inspired the entire world to be more kind.

He didn't lose a single friend. None of his mentors died, besides Nighteye who was killed in the same arc he was introduced in. And I guess Midnight?

He's also never lost a real fight. Besides school games and the fight with Bakugo, what Ls has this guy ever taken? He either beats his enemy, an ally comes to his rescue and wins, or the enemy flees.

Even the abysmal 8 year timeskip was another of the author's fakeouts. He makes you believe that Izuku gave up on his dream and is no longer a hero, that he's super sad he doesn't get to see them as often, then his friends arrive to give him a handout just as All Might did all those years ago. What was originally meant to be the final chapter ends with Midoriya leaping into action with all his friends.

The author uses negative events and dumps on this guy to make you feel sorry for him and to make him seem like an underdog. Even his backstory is just that: a Cinderella story to get you to like him.

The author just walked the ending back because of fan backlash.

So rather than being a guy who doesn't try and needed his friends to even be a hero again without a quirk, he's a guy who only wants to play hero on the weekends.

Compare this to other Shonen MCs. Naruto at least lost his mentor and had his friend Neji die. Luffy lost his brother and has also lost multiple people across his journey who helped him, Pedro being one of them. There's also Jujutsu Kaisen which is absolutely excessive with how much it torments Yuji, but boy does that guy suffer for his victories.

Does Izuku even actually have any personality flaws? His flaw is that he's too heroic and he's too self sacrificing. But that's like saying he's too awesome.

People just act like the muttering is creepy and he's a loser for being a hero nerd, but what actual impact does that have on anything in his life? He still gets the friends, the fame, and the girl.

At no point is he ever socially isolated once he gets to UA nor is he seen as one of the weird or lame kids or anything like that. He's the heart of the class. The only person who ever dislikes him are people the narrative specifically frames as antagonists or mentors whose respect he has to earn, and Bakugo.

Even his dark hero arc where he left his friends to go out and become a hero…completely fucks up the moral because many characters would be DEAD if he hadn't left school to go save people.

The giant lady? Dead via a hate crime. Yo Shindo, his girlfriend, and the civilians they were protecting? Dead at Muscular's hands. All of All For One's assassins he sent after Izuku? Would still be at large and in AFO's pocket for the final war arc.

The numerous villains Deku beat down in defense of citizens? Still rampaging. Still killing people.

His friends left the ivory tower of UA to bitch at Izuku for saving lives and isolating himself while the narrative ignores this very real fact.

Hell, Lady Nagant wouldn't have been redeemed if he didn't do that. A world where he stayed at UA is an objectively worse off universe.

You see what I mean? Even when he does wrong, it ends up right.

Has Izuku ever actually make a mistake or choice in this story that wasn't rewarded or shown later to be the right one?

No.

He's a paragon of morality and good who the narrative warps reality around to ensure his actions have no lasting consequences for anyone.

Think about it. Let's take a look at how he said he'd save Shigaraki and didn't. What consequences came of that? Nothing. Spinner got mad at him for a few seconds and then Izuku talks him down and the guy decides to write a book.

Did heroes take Izuku's example of killing being a way to save people and use that to justify killing villains who don't surrender? No.

Was Izuku's triumph used by bad actors who wanted to push an agenda that would oppress more people and eventually create more people like the League? No.

Is there some threat out there that could have been handled by the power of One For All but couldn't be because the quirk is gone? No.

The world is actually more peaceful than it's ever been! Meaning even if Izuku kept his power, he'd probably be out of a job soon. Allegedly.

Did the death of Shigaraki, leader of the PLF, trigger second and third waves of terrorism from his followers who escaped capture? Did society have to face the backlash of this and it complicated the efforts to rebuild? No, the MLA might as well not have even existed.

Nothing happens. Deku just sometimes thinks back to Shigaraki while he enjoys what he claims is his dream job.

So that's my reasoning. He's simultaneously privileged but also gets shit on. His life sucks, but it's also awesome. His actions are dangerous and reckless, but they save lives and always result in a positive outcome.

I'd actually argue that the author dumping on Izuku is meant to portray him as a false underdog so you don't notice his other qualities. And of course, because he doesn't like the guy, but we already know that.

Werewolf boyfriend