ariakm2202

[ariakm2202]

I have thoughts!

I doubt Izuku went eight years being Quirkless.

For one thing, after the Final War, he still had two years of high school left. I doubt all that time he used One For All continously when he have to focus on schoolwork and had more time to actually wind down since the major villains of the story have been dealt with. So there would be times he wouldn't have to use OFA like that.

Last chapter, we can see he still has OFA.

I would say it would be more recently that he lost OFA.

Note that here, Izuku says "recent times". This is just happening now that his class has reached their goals of what they wanted to accomplished. From Ochako and the others creating a program to help people to Mezo getting an award.

When this came...

I figure this can interpreted as Aizawa asking about his Quirk and being a Hero on the field or just his time in school when everything was happening.

Why some of the fandom took this as abandonment is beyond me. "We started working..."

Folks, Class A would be 24 - 25 years old... they would have just started to be Pro Heroes probably three years or later if you consider their "college years" would be the time they would be sidekicks and working to having their own agencies. Probably some of then even living together to save money and whatnot.

A teacher is fitting for Izuku as he is still encouraging others and it reflects even how All Might, his mentor, was one. He knows he'll be Quirkless again, a job as a teacher is ideal for him.

You need a bachelor's degree to be a teacher, which takes four years. So from probably age 18 to 22, Izuku worked for that degree to be a teacher. Meaning that time, he necessarily didn't have to use OFA, if he still had it. And he could have also been doing the sidekick thing on the side.

Present Mic is an example of a character who has multiple occupations, so I don't doubt that Izuku couldn't have done sidekick work and studies at the same time.

Therefore, he would have been a teacher for 3 years at the moment at this point.

Now, given that a school like UA exists, where they taught Heroics, business, engineering, etc. There could have been colleges like that. So class A could have went to the same college and still hung out, including Izuku.

Point is what I'm saying is, because of what Izuku's schedule may have looked like, I doubt he lost the embers of OFA that fast. Yes, he most definitely lost them, but like overnight? Yeah, no.

And him being abandoned? Some of you took a hold of the steering wheel and whipped it way too hard to the left. They definitely still talked. They just got busy with their jobs and hectic schedules.

"How dare they not tell Izuku about the project?!"

... IT WAS A PLEASANT SURPRISE, HELLO?! Have none of you gotten something nice as a surprise before???

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Standard shonen endings have rotted some people's brains. I've seen so many dudebros disappointed that Izuku didn't at the very least "bag his girl" as some sort of reparation for losing his quirk. And so much Ochako slander for "ghosting" Izuku for 8 years for being quirkless (not true btw, leak mistranlastion) because she wasn't explicitly Izuku's endgame love interest in typical shonen fashion. I even saw a tweet doing crazy numbers (70k+ likes) suggesting that Izuku should've gotten with Hatsume because at least she spent 8 years working on his suit....? Ask yourself why you feel like Izuku needed a canon love interest post-time skip to be happy. And then ask yourself why you hate women and view them as the MC's "much-deserved" reward for saving the day.

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I see people just complaining about the epilogue of BNHA. I sort of think that people are sort of missing the point of it. If anything based on each villains story the main issue was a lack of basic human decency.

Tomura wasn’t helped by the people on the street because he looked scary and they didn’t want to get involved. Ultimately ignoring a suffering child by telling themselves that someone else will handle it. If someone had helped that child at the time then maybe he wouldn’t have been such an easy target for manipulation.

Himiko was basically forced to live a lie and be ashamed of herself. Her parents basically labeled her a lost cause from the moment they realized she had a fascination with blood in connection to her quirk. The system basically said there was something wrong which led to her acting out because eventually people get tired of lying.

Spinner was basically a self fulfilling prophecy, people treated him poorly which fostered his hatred. He wanted to be part of society but eventually why keep trying to play a game when the rules are rigged against you?

So, when I see these characters lament that they never met sooner it’s them acknowledging that these people had a capacity to do good. To live lives other than the ultimately self destructive ones they took. At the end of the day I doubt any one of these people didn’t expect to die. The issue is that eventually they were so far into their goal that there was no turning back.

Just because Shigaraki helped kill All for One doesn’t make him any less of a villain. It’s the same with Himiko despite her save Ochaco. They are both selfish and damaged people who took out their resentment and frustration on a wider audience. Despite their crimes that one good thing they did makes them human.

So, when other characters say what if I met them sooner? It’s them saying that things didn’t have to end that way. It’s an acknowledgment of their humanity and their impact on their lives.

[ariakm2202]

HEAVY MHA MANGA SPOILERS

People: Horikoshi loves subverting expectations! How could this be what he’s written!?

Me:…You wanted the 15 year old Shonen protagonist to achieve everything he ever wanted and for everyone to make it out okay. He did subvert expectations. They just weren’t yours.

People:I like how realistic children of Endeavor acted in the end because that what happens in abusive households. You don’t have to reconnect.

Also People:I can’t believe we didn’t save the villains, some citizens don’t care, and Deku failed.

Me:Man, it’s almost like it’s realistic that a teenager with strong conviction came up short despite trying everything he possibly could against someone who never once said he wanted to change; how could a growing boy possibly not achieve perfectly going against the weight of the world?

I don’t mean to be completely insensitive but a section of this fandom really just can’t seem to balance reality with extreme optimism. (delulu) Admittedly, I’m shocked about Toga but when it comes to everyone else there really is no reason to have expected them to get any semblance of a nice ending. Bare minimum they’d all go to prison because they destabilized a country and murdered so many people. No tragic backstory is getting you out of that.

Now I will say the most recent chapter feels a little rushed to me but the overall message the show has been preaching is still communicated. They never looked away from taking the hard path; to the very end, they tried to save everyone they and they will do it again despite the risk. We even get the panels of an old lady deciding to reach out this time instead of waiting for a hero to take care of it because “The essence of being a hero is meddling where you don’t have to.” People are starting to actually look at their fellow man! That was the original complaint from the league; hero society just letting people fall through cracks without a second thought!

Everyone has a right to be mad, but you can be mad and still see the point even if it’s not point you wanted to be made.

All and all I can’t say I’m particularly mad about how most things generally went, but that’s because anything that would’ve upset me would have to come from immense character favortism/bias that muddies narratives and character traits. For example, you can’t have Izuku save Tomura and he gets some kind of decent ending, but then have Overhaul rot in prison. Touya can’t have a happy life but Endeavor is condemned forever by everyone. Doing that doesn’t make with any sort of messaging and character ideals that want to be presented. None of that happened though so I’m chillin.

As for the shippers, I don’t know what to tell ya? Welcome to your Naruto initiation? Balance your preference with what text and scenes are actually saying to see the obvious boats that will probably make it to end so you can at least brace impact next time. You can ship proudly and be fully aware your boat is sinking, or in some cases, smile snuggly because you always knew you’d make it to the finish line.

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I just realized that Izuku's statement of "make it a comic" could just be meta humour ("we're in a comic") or it could (also) be a connection to AFO and Yoichi. They read comics to learn about the world. So he's saying, "Make it so even the children can understand and learn to empathize with their enemies." Because the message is for everyone, not just adults. It could also be kind of a hidden Horikoshi-sensei: origin. To tell a story and teach a lesson in a way that everyone, children and adults alike, can understand. Because it's important. I could be reaching a bit with the Horikoshi-sensei: origin thing, but it's definitely what Izuku is saying. It could also be an avenue for Horikoshi-sensei to wrap BNHA up as the comic Spinner wrote. I haven't been into anime and manga very long, so I don't know how common that is, but it's definitely been done in books. True, there's a lot in there that Spinner wasn't there to witness, but he could've gotten it through talking to Izuku and others. He'd have to do research for that book of his, anyway.

[ariakm2202]

Personally, I like Dabi's Dance!!! That's amazing, dance you funky little arsonist. And I think the bottle that yeah he probably was carrying in that pouch forever, since we see it in Prohero arc too, could also very well be bleach. It matches the appearance of bleach bottles in Japan. Also there's a chance his hair went of red to white to black to white again, like Tenko. Really tho, idk when that flashback is from. I thought his roots were showing.

a bunch of people have been saying this about the bottle!! tbh, the idea of Dabi going about his daily business carrying a bottle of undiluted bleach with him at all times, fully prepared to dump it all over his HEAD, FACE, AND MULTIPLE STAPLED-UP BURN WOUNDS/SCARS at any given moment, with no follow-up plan to immediately rinse it out afterwards (NOT EVEN A BACKUP HIP FLASK FILLED WITH WATER, SHEESH), is pretty much Peak Todoroki you guys. maximum theatrics!!

years this man planned this all out. years. smdh.

holy shit lmao.

[ariakm2202]

Dabi dramatically revealing his identity to his father and brother changing their lives:

Everyone else in the back

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[record scratch]

You might be wondering how I got in this mess

[ariakm2202]

I've seen people argue that Cinder choosing to become the empress of the Eastern Commonwealth when she explicitly states that she doesn't want to be royalty is out-of-character. I counter argue that that is a oversimplification of her personal insecurities and a misreading of her character arc.

Cinder's key reasons for not wanting to be royalty are 1. She doesn't want to fail people. 2. She desires anonymity, and 3. She doesn't believe that she will be accepted by others--"She had seen the prejudices of the people in the Commonwealth. Something told her that they wouldn't be as accepting of her as a ruler. She wasn't even sure she wanted to be empress. She was still getting used to the idea of being a princess."

Cinder is naturally afraid of the responsibility she would have to bear as a leader. However that does not translate to her being inactive. Cinder is keenly interested in social justice. She encourages Iko to petition the government to initiate change for androids in the very first chapters we meet her. She takes an active part in the revolution, not just for the preservation of her own life, but because she genuinely cares about the citizens of Luna. This is affirmed by how Cinder prefers to be called a revolutionary over a princess--her politics mean more to her than her lineage. Once crowned queen of Luna, she is tireless in enacting changes to the country. If she truly hated being in this position as queen, she would have taken a much more passive stance and allowed the thaumaturges to manage the kingdom. In Wires and Nerve she demonstrates how deeply she cares about the welfare of her people and fights against threats to her country personally even when she is strongly encouraged against it. And then, once she abdicates her throne, she becomes an ambassador to facilitate peaceful relations between Earth and Luna. Released from her birthright, she could have resumed life as a mechanic, still hassled by paparazzi, but no longer held accountable for political peace. But Cinder chooses to stay a politician because she has always genuinely cared about using her power to help others. She represents the powerless as having been that once herself.

Cinder desires a life without public scrutiny. But where does this originate? This desire is an extension of Adri's abuse. Because she was mocked for being cyborg, she wished to hide from people in general so they do not uncover her secret. But she sacrifices this luxury when she decides to go to the ball and tell Kai of Levana's plot. Later, she comes to accept that--born into fame--she would never enjoy a life of anonymity.

Connected with her insecurity as a cyborg, Cinder fears that she will not be accepted by others. She believes this as a byproduct of the discrimination she faced from fellow shopkeepers in New Beijing Market such as Chang Sacha. However Kai makes it clear that the people of the Commonwealth have come to appreciate her, even wanting to make a "statue [of her] where [her] booth used to be at the market" and "action figures" of her. Although she will always have critics, Cinder is generally liked by Earthens and praised by them for abdicating her throne, promising an end to Lunar tyranny.

Kai is right when he tells her that she "would make a great leader" even when she "never wanted to be queen." Why? Because her wants and her abilities are different. The 16-year-old Cinder we first meet opposes her birthright as queen because she has the weight of the universe placed on her shoulders with just one sentence. She's an unloved, inexperienced teenager--of course she's more than hesitant! However she grows to embrace this fundamental part of herself, even having "pride" to declare that she is "the rightful heir!" Cinder becomes loved and becomes experienced. For her to remain the same girl in the prison cell, terrified by the prospect of being a princess would be a stagnation of her character development. It may not be the life she chose, but it is all the same the life that she accepts.

When Kai asks her to consider becoming the empress in the future, Cinder agrees and takes "in the first full breath she'd taken in days." We don't see a girl paralyzed with fear or regret. Rather, she feels relief because she can envision this prospect and not be crushed by it. And finally, when Kai proposes, she excitedly looks forward to these things: "She would be Kai's wife. She would be the Commonwealth's empress. And she had every intention of being blissfully happy for ever, ever after." Cinder's vision for happiness welcomes being the empress despite the hardships attached to it, and she is the most motivated, willing and hard-working candidate for the position.

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Levana has two core tenets that drive her entire personal philosophy, both actively damaging and sustaining her: her need to be beautiful and her need to be loved. They are irrevocably intertwined and are ultimately her undoing.

Two people in her life dictate these notions--Channary and Evret. Channary implanted the desire to be loved and the necessity to be beautiful once Levana is disfigured. Without any willing participation from Evret, Levana carries over these insecurities, needing to be loved by him when Channary fails her and needing to keep up her glamour to feel beautiful. If Solstice is the only woman he can see as beautiful, that's what Levana must become. She sabotages her relationship with him after she shows him her true appearance; she refuses to be loved for her true self, and once he sees it, he must be disposed of. Evret lives on in Winter, who reinforces that Levana cannot ever control them as she wears her three uniform scars with pride.

With the death of these two motivators, she feels free of the burden of needing them. But the demand to be beautiful and loved is indefatigable, so she replaces them with an unearthly, ethereal glamour in her quest for vanity, and the contrived love from her citizens to feel wanted. These are both fundamentally artificial and never satisfy her, so she must always strive for more. Her body, face, voice 'improve' countless times over decades, as she is never sure that they are perfect enough. Her armies become fiercer, her inventory larger, and she sets her sights on the largest territory to conquer--Earth--all in the name of supplying her people to buy their love. Levana could have at any point abandoned her course of tyranny and used her circumstances to reform herself and her country's systemic disparity. She chooses every day to reject these opportunities and each action deepens her need to maintain the façade of love and looks. She is to be pitied, but not to be pardoned.

In order for Levana to be defeated as a villain, she must not only die, but must have her philosophy completely overturned. Kai takes the place of Evret and she replays her manipulation in the same way on their wedding day. But when she marries Kai, glamouring as his lover as she did to Evret, he dismantles her beauty, stating that she will never be as beautiful as the glamourless Linh Cinder. This directly mirrors Evret's loyalty to Solstice and it hurts Levana--not because she loves Kai in any way like she loved Evret--but because the message lives on in him. She is always inadequate.

Her glamour and her loyalties fall in one fell swoop. Her people come to her door to kill her, and her true face is blown up in the sky, permanently tainting her image. With her vanity blighted, all that's left is the fundamental nucleus of her problems: her relationship with Channary. It is the chief relationship in her life, even posthumously, and is the very cause of her perverted worldview. Levana never killed Channary and that is her greatest regret.

When Cinder arrives--Channary's near reincarnation in appearance--Levana has her second chance. It is particularly imperative to her to eliminate Selene because Levana was never loved by Channary, while Selene was. Her existence is a mockery of Levana's pain because it clarifies that Channary was capable of love and actively withheld it from Levana. However when Levana burnt Cinder alive, she levelled the playing field. She assigned Cinder a life of enduring the same prejudice and inadequacy that she faced. Therefore in their final battle, Levana likens Cinder to herself and her need to be desired. By killing Selene, she will finally prove that she has killed her need to be loved by Channary.

To do this, she sets up the perfect replica for this prophetic revenge. Cinder's friend will betray her as Channary did Levana, and Cinder will retaliate as Levana herself wished to do. It is particularly powerful that it is not Kai in the room at this final battle. Romantic love is irrelevant now. Instead it is Thorne, whom Cinder loves as family. Their almost sibling-like dynamic is now reflective of Channary and Levana. Levana asserts that this kind of love is false. But Cinder and Thorne demonstrate their loyalty to one another--even when Thorne is manipulated to hurt her, Cinder attacks Levana, not him. He proves his love in his sobs and apologies as his body rebels. Levana's final desire, to prove that love is merely a conquest and a war, is dashed.

In the end, Levana stabs Cinder, but it doesn't matter. Her worldview is shattered, her tenuous beliefs severed. That is where Levana is defeated. The final shot that kills her is simply to finalise the matter. Her tenets die with her and can be replaced with the true forms of beauty and love. Cinder and Winter, disfigured and scarred and unashamed. Kai, who loves Cinder and loves her appearance because she gave him good reason to, and never through manipulation. Cinder, who attains loyalty from the citizens of Luna and Earth alike through her action and compassion.

Love is not conquered, love is not a war; it is earned.

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You know the line in Cress where it mentions the rumour that Cinder "seduced Emperor Kaito and was now pregnant with a Lunar-Earthen-cyborg thing"?

Imagine if Kai was just a little more unhinged. He doesn't want Cinder to get captured and killed, so at a press conference he practically pulls the Peeta Mellark 'If it weren't for the baby' line. A journalist asks, "what of the rumour that the fugitive is carrying your child?"

And Kai, with a solemn expression, says cryptically, "these are hard times for all, for a number of reasons. Even for myself."

The world explodes. The EC military are freaking out because they can't risk harming the future heir, so the worldwide hunt for Linh Cinder is thrown in for a loop. Alas, Kai doesn't know that Cinder is Selene, so by implying that she is pregnant, Levana is even more determined to kill the two heirs to the Lunar throne and hunts Cinder even more viciously.

Meanwhile Cinder is furious and mortified. Thorne teases her endlessly about it ("I am NOT pregnant! We haven't even hugged!" "You were smooching him at the ball!" "That's different!!"). When Jacin says the line, "one more fling with your toy before he becomes Levana's property", she punches him twice.

Then when they kidnap Kai, she rips into him. "You made me out to be a teen mother! Do you know embarrassing that is?!" He rebuts, "I was trying to help you!"

One successful revolution later, the public are confused why there's no mention of this 'baby'. So in an interview, Kai is asked, "so, is Queen Selene pregnant with your child or not?"

Kai bursts out laughing. "Pregnant? Wherever did you get that idea?"

"...you confirmed it in a press conference."

"I never said she was pregnant."

He straight up gaslights them into believing he never said a thing. It's hilarious. And then when Cinder and Kai are eventually married and actually pregnant, the world is scared to believe it and be tricked again.

[ariakm2202]

Thinking about Kuroo and

And

AND HOW MUCH THIS MUST HAVE MEANT FOR HIM

It goes to show just how much thought Furadate put into their futures and who they would end up growing up to be because— of course he becomes a sports promoter?? After Highschool where he got two of THE MOST seemingly disinterested players into admitting they like volleyball and had fun because of HIS efforts,, mans turned that into his entire job. It is such a fitting end to his arc I’m gonna cry.

[ariakm2202]

if u feel like ur so behind in your career in comparison to your peers just remember oikawa who has been insanely talented eversince but never got to go to nationals your time will bloom too maybe not today or not tomorrow but one day i promise u life doesnt end in our 20s

[ariakm2202]

no i actually love that classism is made present and obvious in haikyuu so much, like it’s made to fit so well as an important theme

the difference between the public, private and state schools is so obvious and, imo, well done (e.g. shiratorizawa vs seijoh vs karasuno)

furudate also hits on the urban/rural divide in terms of resources, security, educational standards, etc, and how that affects the tokyo teams compared with the miyagi ones, as well as others

it gets a really good balance between “ppl from lower income backgrounds can and do succeed”, and “ppl from privileged backgrounds have a far higher chance of success” and i love that

some of my favourite examples under the cut, in no particular order

kageyama and ushijima in general, and in their relationships with everyone honestly, but especially hinata and oikawa

“what have you been doing the last three years”

ushijima’s metaphor with plants growing in the best soil (in which the best soil is an elite public school) vs “i am hinata shōyō, from the concrete”

that line is so. fucking good.

karasuno’s vb team struggling to get access to the gym and daichi competing with other teams for facilities

the whole “you should have come to shiratorizawa” thing, especially ushijima and oikawa’s conversation after aoba johsai loses to karasuno (it’s really well done in the stageplay, i can’t find the link rn)

actually i feel like a lot of the fandom’s memes and jokes with ushijima stem from lines that are some of the most poignant examples of class dynamics

hinata cycling over a mountain to get to school

karasuno’s coaching team compared with the other ones, and the patchiness in having reliable teaching supervisors in the past

the timeskip jobs. shiratorizawa, nekoma and karasuno come to mind for me as schools that illustrate this really well.

also the difference in types of schools (e.g. dateko being a technical college) is really interesting when it comes to timeskip. actually, i feel like this’ll end up a whole extra post

the parallels and differences between tanaka, kyōtani and yamamoto

team records of making it to nationals, e.g. shiratorizawa dominating the miyagi prefecture

the roles of parents and the notable absences in many instances

‘the lucky ones’, i think is the chapter title translation - the one focusing on ushijima and sakusa post-timeskip - it’s a really good chapter

nekoma’s motto being ‘connect’ - it’s a key team value, but also highlights the privilege of being well-connected and living in the capital city. it also affects their timeskips, facilities, ability to hold training camps, etc

the everyone-knows-everyone vibe of the town karasuno is in. really hits the nail on the head.

tokyo having an extra team in nationals as the event sponsor slot (i forget exactly what they call it)

it doesn’t diminish the impressive abilities of the players who went to public schools (like sakusa, reon, etc) but also acknowledges the ways class privilege helped them to get where they ended up and i just think that’s a really good balance

oh yeah i live in the uk so in case there’s confusion, us public school = uk state school. public schools here are an extra elite type of private school (eg. eton, harrow, etc)

[ariakm2202]

Look at Yaku and Noya! They’re so alike sometimes

And Mika tries. She really does

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Suga is really invested in this autograph business

[ariakm2202]

Ekkshebsb

Poor Asahi. He never gets a break