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Epic: The Underworld Saga

The Underworld Saga slaps. But I'm gonna drop another bucket of feels to The Underworld number.

Remember to get to the Underworld, you have to cross the River Styx. Odysseus is going by ship, but most of the time, it's just dead souls moving on to the afterlife, so they cross with Charon the Ferryman.

Thing is, though, you have to pay him.

Part of the burial rites in Ancient Greece was placing a coin in the mouth or near the body of the deceased so they could pay Charon to bring them across the river. No coin, no crossing.

Polites was killed by the Cyclops and left behind.

The 558 men drowned in the ocean after Poseidon's rampage.

His mother Anticlea drowned herself off the shores of Ithaka. (At least in versions of the story I remember. Somebody who's actually read The Odyssey will have more accurate information on her fate.)

None of them received a proper burial.

So all those souls they encounter in that number are trapped in limbo for eternity because they can't pay for the crossing.

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I love them both...but it stresses me out to no end that they were not animated with visible nostrils.

Like, how are they breathing? Are they okay? My mental claustrophobia is triggered by this so bad.

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I drew this panel for my AU comic where Shigaraki was raised by All Might instead of All For One.

And honestly....

I think my D. Gray Man nostalgia is shining through. Allen Walker levels of sweetie all the way.

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Horrifying Theory:

This wasn't an accident.

Manga spoilers below.

I say it wasn't an accident because we find out in a later chapter that All For One was lurking around on the mountain.  Since I don’t think he’s the type to be out for a casual stroll just because, this would imply heavily that someone, either himself or one of his underlings, was keeping tabs on the situation in the Todoroki house.  Given that he has his 'friends' everywhere, this is not beyond the realm of believability.

However...he just happened to show up on the very night Touya’s Quirk went out of control and nearly killed him?  Sure, we can be allowed a coincidence for plot convenience but…

Also recall that All For One did (and still does?) have a Quirk that forced other people to use their Quirks.  He used it on Kurogiri and Magne back in the Kamino Ward Arc so the LoV could make their escape.

He could have started Touya’s fire.  He had the means.

And he has a motive.

Because in Touya's flashback after waking up from the coma, AFO essentially tells him his body was destroyed and his Quirk is significantly weaker, but they may be able to restore him and asks if he's interested in 'joining their family.'

May be able to restore him?

Okay, we have seen AFO and Ujiko accomplish some pretty terrible but, scientifically speaking, impressive feats in biology and modifying Quirks. I'm calling bs on them not being able to put a physically broken teenager back together in the three years he was in a coma. That 'join the family' offer was a caveat and a manipulation of the ‘I will hurt you so I can help you,’ variety. It was supposed to foster a sense of gratitude and loyalty in Touya so as to make him a potential candidate for the whole vessel thing if Shigaraki didn't work out.

Except that plan went awry when AFO seriously underestimated Touya's obsession for his family/father's attention. Touya rejected the offer and ended up fleeing, and they let him go as a lost cause because they believed he'd be dead in a month anyway.

Touya didn't burn himself. All For One did.

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Some more Ambush Simulation AU content.  I like to think this was the group photo they took before they said,  “All right, let’s go scare the shit out of some kids.”

Also on Ao3: The Summer Camp Ambush Simulation

Chapter 2 coming very, very soon. Stay tuned.

...

Maybe you’ve seen these poses as a drawing base before.  If you don’t know where it’s from, it’s the opening sequence of Death Parade, a fantastic if soul-crushing anime with the most misleading opening ever, but well worth the watch.  12 episodes.

Here’s the original:

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It's been ten minutes and I can't stop laughing. Send help.

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You have a point. Although it's equally possible Fuyumi just joins her mother and brother by reason of, "This might as well happen," and this whole mess becomes Todoroki Family: Civil War.

Shouto: What is happening right now?!

My Hero Academia AU where Rei is part of the League of Villains:

Escaped Fujiya shortly after Touya's 'death.' (Or discharged herself and didn't go home.)

Laid low for years until recruited by Kurogiri.

Efficient assassin of the group yet unintentionally became the 'cold-hearted' Squad Mom (Meticulously making sure everyone else has enough food/water, wears their hats and mittens when the weather's cold, hyper-alert to when someone starts getting sick/injured, everyone is too afraid of her to argue.)

She recognizes Dabi, he recognizes her, they're playing a game of chicken in who directly calls out the other first.

She doesn't say much, so everyone else is debating what beef this middle-aged former housewife can possibly have with society.

Cannot be identified by heroes since ice-based Quirks are common.

Always keeps her face hidden when heroes are present.

Kinda just want to see her mop the floor with Geten and after a brutal defeat, just coldly whisper, "Amateur."

'Dabi's Dance' (Rei’s Dance?) would be interesting because realizing your dead child is back from the grave is a moment of shock and horror, but realizing you've been fighting the mother of your children this whole time is bonafide WTF moment.

Honestly, though, I picture it looking less like an unhinged speech and more like this:

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My Hero Academia AU where Rei is part of the League of Villains:

Escaped Fujiya shortly after Touya's 'death.' (Or discharged herself and didn't go home.)

Laid low for years until recruited by Kurogiri.

Efficient assassin of the group yet unintentionally became the 'cold-hearted' Squad Mom (Meticulously making sure everyone else has enough food/water, wears their hats and mittens when the weather's cold, hyper-alert to when someone starts getting sick/injured, everyone is too afraid of her to argue.)

She recognizes Dabi, he recognizes her, they're playing a game of chicken in who directly calls out the other first.

She doesn't say much, so everyone else is debating what beef this middle-aged former housewife can possibly have with society.

Cannot be identified by heroes since ice-based Quirks are common.

Always keeps her face hidden when heroes are present.

Kinda just want to see her mop the floor with Geten and after a brutal defeat, just coldly whisper, "Amateur."

'Dabi's Dance' (Rei’s Dance?) would be interesting because realizing your dead child is back from the grave is a moment of shock and horror, but realizing you've been fighting the mother of your children this whole time is bonafide WTF moment.

Honestly, though, I picture it looking less like an unhinged speech and more like this:

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Plot Twist: Cab Driver is a Japanese-American who speaks fluent Japanese regularly with their family.

Cab Driver, in Japanese: Hey, Google Translate, you wanna try again?

Denki, in Japanese: Quick, how do we tell the cab driver that we need to get out soon? I suck at English, guys.

Kirishima, in Japanese: Let me try!

Bakugo, in Japanese: No! I’ve seen both of you fail tests in English class. I’ll do it.

Bakugo, in English: Decrease me there. Delete me from the car. Leave me alone.

Cab Driver: ???

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“You’ve always been so good with children, Mai,”  Rei said.  “But you’ve never talked about having any of your own.”

This hadn’t been the first time someone had asked her about this.

As she searched for the words to a concise answer, Mai pulled her mom’s old house key from her neck and dangled it in front of the baby in her arms.  “What is that, Touya?  What’s that?”  It wasn’t as though she hadn’t thought about it.  Mai liked children, and many of the hundreds she’d rescued or helped rescue had taken a liking to her.  Ayako had often told her she would be a good mother.  And yet, “My Quirk is distressing, Rei.  It's not fire or ice. It's not a power I can just stop using. What it allows me to see and experience is so real and so intense that if I were to pass that along to any potential children, or some variation of it…if I were to wake up in the middle of the night because a son or daughter of mine was inconsolable over a nightmare, knowing I’m the cause, I don’t think I could live with myself.”

Rei put a hand on her back.  “You’ve never told me this.  I knew your abilities troubled you sometimes, but——”

“No, don’t worry about it,”  Mai said with a smile.  “The idea of not having kids doesn’t bother me, really it doesn't.  It just means I’ll have to be content with being an auntie to this little one.  Isn’t that right, you little firebug?”

By now, Touya had grabbed ahold of the key and was trying to tug it away from her.  Mai stuck her tongue out at him.

...

“Tomorrow’s Saturday,”  Aunt Mai said.  “I don’t want you to go to the mountain.”

“But——”

“We’re going to…”  He watched her face scrunch up in search of an idea.  Mom did the same thing sometimes.  She used to.  “The zoo.  We are going to the zoo.”

“What?”

“Yep.  You and your siblings.  We’ll head there tomorrow.”  At that, she pushed away from the table and rose to her full height.  She was a little taller than Mom, so he was barely higher than her elbow, and yet for some reason, he always felt so much smaller next to her.  Bringing her hands together in a light clap, Mai said with a wide smile,  “We’ll go see the animals, we’ll get ice cream, and we’ll all have a wonderful time.  Sound good, Firebug?”

Touya stared at her.  “I’m not five anymore.”

“Neither am I, what’s your point?”  She crossed her arms and tilted her head to one side so that her long braid dangled off her shoulder.  “Don’t go acting tough with me.  I know for a fact you still love polar bears.”

He supposed they hadn’t gone to the zoo, or anywhere fun, in a long time. Mom was never the same after Shouto was born, and Dad didn't have time for any of them aside from Shouto. And from the look in her eyes, Aunt Mai knew it, too.

...

(on phone) "This isn't a good time, Naru."

"This is important."

"Is it more important than teaching my niece and nephews how to make tea, preferably without it winding up in someone's face?"

"..."

"..."

"...carry on."

"That's what I thought. Talk later."

...

If you saw my other post notes on this crossover and read the snippet I wrote with Mai and Hawks, you probably already saw that I have the Ghost Hunt cast aged up quite a bit compared to the usual fandom stuff I do.  To clarify, in the current timeline of My Hero’s canon, Mai is forty-six years old.  (She’s actually a month older than Endeavor. There’s nothing significant about that; it’s just petty ‘I’m marginally older than you,’ fodder and I think that’s funny.)

In this crossover, Mai chose to never have children.  Since Quirks are hereditary, she feared passing her Retrocognition and the Death Dreams that come with it along to potential descendants and what it might mutate into over the generations.  She decided her power was one of pain and anguish and she refused to willingly inflict that on someone else.  That said, she did grow up with Rei, so she is very close with Rei’s children and inevitably got herself entangled in the family’s toxic dynamics.  But here is the conundrum I’m having with exploring avenues for this crossover because there are three ways to look at Mai’s presence and how it affects My Hero’s canon, particularly the events revolving around Touya’s ‘death’ and how Mai’s dreams work:

Scenario 1:  The fire and feeling every second of that experience firsthand through one of her dreams was traumatic enough that she was deceived into believing he died.  Canon events continue as normal.

Scenario 2:  Since Touya wasn’t actually killed by the fire, the incident wouldn’t trigger one of her dreams, and therefore she would know he didn’t die, which firmly lands him in missing person territory.  Investigation ensues.

Scenario 3:  The fire never happened.

The reason for this last one is based on this previous post, but the main part of it is Mai definitely is a character who has the mental fortitude and determination to stand up to someone like Endeavor, and the absence of that character-type is a huge part of how and why the situation in the Todoroki family got so out of hand.  Rei would not stand up to the threat to herself or her children, and the kids were too young to do so for themselves even if they were able to understand their family dynamic was not normal/healthy.  No one was checking Endeavor’s behavior.  Enter the very angry sister-in-law and her, “Fuck around and find out, I dare you,” mentality.

That said, I do have the headcanon that adult Mai is also super wary around kids due to her many, many close encounters with weird kids/ghost kids in canon.  So I think her method of dealing with Touya’s increasingly erratic behavior is probably a mixture of resignation, turning to the other three and saying, “Promise me your teenage years won’t be like this,” and then having to go talk the little pyromaniac down from whatever frenzy he’s worked himself into because apparently neither parent was going to do it.

Bringing us to the million dollar question: Can Mai deal with Touya?

Well…between how quickly she interceded with what the creepy Yoshimi kids were up to and her lifelong career of dealing with arrogant, little shits…yes, yes she can.  If she can handle Naru’s arrogance, Ayako and Takigawa’s bickering, and Yasuhara’s bullshit all in the same day, she can handle a thirteen year old having a crisis.

Plus, I think if she knew he was on Sekoto Peak, waiting for his dad in the dark and the cold, it would probably bring up some uncomfortable memories of what happened to Kenji, so she definitely would’ve gone looking for him.

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Endeavor holding his hand out to stop Touya from poking Fuyumi and waking her up is conclusive proof that Touya has always been a menace.

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Since Mr. Compress was a thief before he joined LoV, I feel like we have a missed opportunity of his villain name being Phantom Thief and that being the alias he's gone by for years.

And then Monoma chooses that for his hero name and they have a catty copyright argument over it.

Or at the very least, he gets a personal dig in by saying, "You know, I almost chose Phantom Thief for my villain name, but I thought it was too cliché. Well done, you unoriginal child."

Gauntlet thrown, people.

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I saw this movie in theaters, and the nervous laughter that filtered from the audience when this brief bit happened still gives me life.

You could tell people wanted to go, 'Aww' but were remembering the family bs at the same time, so it just manifested in the most uncomfortable collective, "Uhh-he...whaaa?" you ever heard.˜

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I feel like between Twice dying, Compress getting arrested, Shigaraki being taken over by AFO, Toga having her own crisis over what happened with Uraraka, and Dabi going off the rails, Spinner probably felt he was the only sane one left in the party for a bit there.

"...I'm the responsible one now?"

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I really hope Spinner walked in on this and was all,  “Hey, just wanted to let you know we’ve got food and…you’ve got your own thing going on here.”

“It’s not what it looks like.”

“Dude, you've been weird since Jaku City. At this point, I have no idea what this looks like.”

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Based on the problematic 'everything is fine' attitude she persists in having in regards to her family dynamic, I have a sinking suspicion that Fuyumi was the sort of kid/teenager who did not actively bully classmates...but was also part of the bully's friend group. You know, the character who feels uncomfortable with the way their toxic friends act but won't speak up or call them out either for fear of isolation or getting the same treatment, so they ignore the problem and hope it goes away.

That seems on brand.

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Literally anyone having to deal with Toya during the final battle, goddamn.