#fuyumi: there are better ways to handle this

[thyandrawrites]

Touya post canon trying to figure out how to live while following the law but failing because he spent all his teenage and adult life as a criminal so he has no ideia how to not brake the law every fifteen minutes.

Plus if there are also Natsuo and Fuyumi trying to help him but also can’t figure it out why it’s so hard for their older brother to just behave.

^ the fam @ touya

[saerins]

ᯓ ᝰ RIGHT HERE .ᐟ — touya todoroki

touya x female reader. content tags modern au, childhood sweetheart!touya, both are working adults, making out, mentions of infidelity/murder, he’s a tease. word count 1.7k

ᯓ notes .ᐟ haha can you tell i love touya too much rn ? just getting back into writing so have some of my touya :) thanks to any of you who read this <3

“touya, you’re gonna make me late for work tomorrow,” you whine, pouting as he wins you in yet another round of super smash bros. (and hence you’d have to stay up and continue playing at his behest.)

beside you, touya smirks, rows of pearly white visible while he clearly enjoys tormenting you. “weren’t you the one who said you needed a distraction?”

you grumble as you take the couch pillow and hold it over your face, groaning in frustration. touya’s right; you’d called him right after dinner, practically forced him to come after you figured out that you’re actually not as strong you thought and you’re actually still really upset that your ex cheated on you.

it’s only pathetic because it’s already been a couple of months and you’re still wallowing over it somehow.

“you know, i bet all that frustration will go away if you just let me kill that fucker,” touya tells you, flicking your forehead as leans forward, yanking the cushion off your face.

unamused, you deadpan at him. “yeah? then what am i gonna do when you’re in jail, huh?”

touya snickers, “aww, what? can’t handle being without me?”

in a strange way, your honest answer is definitely not. you’ve known touya forever. ever since you were five and your families connected at a preschool event. ever since your friend fuyumi introduced you to her brother. ever since touya confided in you how much he hated his father.

fast forward more than a decade later and you’re both sitting in your apartment, in a different state than either of your families, still as close as you were when you were kids.

you glare at touya, rolling your eyes before scrunching your nose and smirking at him. “actually, go ahead, i’ll go find myself a better guy while you rot in the cell.”

your best friend scoffs, cocking a brow and looking like he’s offended. “i off someone for you and you don’t marry me immediately? the fuck is wrong with you?”

the shit-eating grin that dawns on his face immediately after makes your heart skip a beat. yeah, you’ve always found him attractive, maybe even had a crush on him back in high school, but he’d always had girls after girls, and somewhere along the way you learned to stuff those flimsy emotions back down.

until you remember that he’s been single for a while now, and the fact that you’re both working adults with all the freedom in the world.

fuck, you really shouldn’t go back there.

“haha, funny,” you try to wave it off sarcastically. “says the one who told his ex that he just sees me as a little sister.”

he laughs, leaning back against the couch, a hand behind his head, abs sticking out from the edge of his shirt. it takes you a second to rein yourself in, not wanting to get teased relentlessly by him if you get caught staring.

“hey, she was getting jealous of me spending so much time with you! what was i supposed to say?”

yes, you’re aware. most of them were. most of the time you never told touya about any of that; of how his girlfriends were coming up to you, all insecure about your friendship and asking if you could back off. that was the most common thing among all his relationships: the girls’ pleas for you to keep a distance.

you did… the first few times.

and after his fifth relationship, you realised that touya would always pull you back close. would always end up breaking up with them if your friendship is causing them too much worry.

“you didn’t have to say anything, maybe you should’ve just kept your distance, you know? since most of them seemed to have a problem with it,” you comment, trying to act as nonchalant as possible, though even you don’t believe yourself.

a life without touya is unimaginable for you. even if you can’t really say the same for him.

touya sighs, shifting in his position before ultimately putting an arm around you, pulling you close. he smells like your soap and his hair against your face tickles.

he’s always like this; always touchy, always close. recently he’s been more than usual, coming over and sleeping the night (you never did anything physical!), chasing other guys away at the club because they’re not good enough for you.

and when he’s like that, you think maybe there’s no harm in letting those long-lost feelings flow back.

it’s dangerous.

he’s always like this. always way too much for you to handle. and yet you can’t live without him.

and then he does something he’s never done before.

you feel his lips on your temple, and you hear the chuckle reverberating from his throat. his left arm around you holds you tight, not that you’re running anywhere—you’re pretty sure you’re frozen stiff from the shock.

did that really happen?

“how can i do that when you’re the only one i want?”

you’re sure that’s his voice. it can’t be anyone else’s. but you’re not sure if you believe him. is he really saying what you think he’s saying?

slowly, you turn to face him, expecting him to wear that smug grin and tease you for being so gullible but it never comes. instead, you’re greeted with his half-lidded eyes, blue pupils staring at your lips like he’s hypnotised, his thumb caressing your lower lip from left to right like he’s trying to memorise all the grooves.

it’s so soft that you barely recognise your own voice when it comes, “touya, kiss me.”

and maybe he’s always wanted to, because he doesn’t miss a beat. the second you open your mouth, he’s giving you what you asked for, his tongue prying your lips open and he tastes just like the warm in winter mornings, like the comfort people always dream about.

mint. you can taste the sweet from when he ate it right before he beat you in the game. you can feel the cold on the tip of your nose from when you brush against the piercings on his nostrils. you can feel him carry you onto his lap, feel his hands wrapping around your waist. you can feel his heartbeat under his chest, under your palm, almost as erratic as your own.

were you really just upset over someone else?

every relationship you’d been sad over suddenly didn’t seem to make sense anymore. not when touya’s right here, lips locked with yours and telling you more with his kiss than you’ve ever heard from his words.

by the time you pull away, both of you are breathless, his hand on your cheek, lips softly brushing over your own like he can’t bear to be away even for just a second. you can’t bring yourself to open your eyes, half overwhelmed and half confused.

“fuck, did we really just—”

“shh,” you hush him, putting a finger on his lips, suddenly embarrassed. your foreheads are still pressed together, and you can’t see it but he’s admiring your face, holding himself back from just kissing you even more.

touya moves your finger away. he whispers your name in the most gentle tone you’ve ever heard, “does that mean you feel the same?”

you swallow the lump in your throat, tongue-tied and still straddling your best friend on the couch. you’re just a single impulsive action away from going all the way.

dangerous.

pulling back even further, you’re about to make a break for your bedroom when touya pulls you back, making sure you face him.

“no running this time,” he tells you, voice raspy and his eyes flicking from your eyes to your nose and your lips but mostly your lips. “i want you,” he whispers, and the minute you lock gazes, the answer has never been more clear to you.

“i want you too, touya,” you answer, both excited and afraid but he never lets you harp on things too much because he’s already kissing you silly, barely letting you breathe—you don’t have to guess with him; he wants you so desperately you can feel it in his actions.

“touya, we should stop,” you whine, knowing that this might be going way too quick yet you want it all the same.

touya shakes his head, big hands slipping under your shirt and squeezing your waist. “no, don’t wanna stop,” he whispers into your mouth.

he’s about to pull your shirt over your head when the loud shrill of his phone interrupts. he would’ve tossed it to the side if you hadn’t taken it and insisted he should take it. it’s from shoto, after all. (he doesn’t call often, it’s a complicated relationship.)

grumbling, touya leans back, keeping your thighs in place so you can’t move away. he’s smirking at you as he answers, “shoto, what is it?”

you can’t hear his brother over the phone. you can only guess snippets of the conversation from touya’s end.

“huh.”

“what for?”

“you’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.”

“yeah, yeah, whatever.”

when he finally puts it down, he pulls you close by the chin, a glint of mischief in his grin. “get ready, doll.”

“huh? for what?”

touya gives you a peck on the lips. “family’s visiting, a surprise or whatever. they’re already in the city.”

you blink, praying he’s not being serious and wishing it’s not what you’re thinking. “okay, have fun!”

“and where do you think you’re going?” touya laughs, pulling you back down after you barely got back up.

“go spend some time with them, it’ll be fun.”

“oh i’m sure it’ll be fun,” he smirks, typing something into his phone and sending the message before you can sneak a peek.

you’re almost too scared to ask. but you do. “and why’s that?”

touya chuckles, thinking you’re way too stubborn, playing dumb even if it’ll kill you. but he guesses it’s fine if he has to spell it out for you. “because i wanna re-introduce you.”

“wait, what do you mean?”

with a gentle smile and a poke on your forehead, he looks you in the eyes. “i’m gonna introduce them to my future wife.”

[andypantsx3]

fingerprints | 8 | todoroki x reader

pairing: Todoroki Shouto / Reader

length: 3.3k of est. 37k words | 8th of 9 chapters

summary: When you’re outed as pro hero Shouto’s soulmate on national television, there are really only two sensible things for you to do: blame someone else and run.  

tags/warnings: romance, soulmate au, fluff, pining, not actually unrequited love, aged up characters, eventual smut

Cooking with Shouto turned out to be a disaster.

Though armed with a coherent recipe and what were ostensibly all the correct ingredients, what you produced barely met the metric for edibility.

Shouto, for his part, chopped ingredients as though he had never once encountered terminology such as careful and uniform, producing an array of sliced vegetables whose size varied from microscopic to nearly fist-sized. He looked so handsomely put out when you set upon him to correct his work that you had to smother a laugh into the collar of your sweater for risk of offending him further.

You, however, did not actually fare much better. Ordinarily you were a passable cook, nowhere near gifted but not quite helpless either. But the sight of Todoroki Shouto in your kitchen, sleeves rolled to his elbows and a little pout on his mouth as he concentrated, was way too distracting for you.

You missed entire steps in the recipe, only to have to circle back later, and the amount of time your eyes spent glued to Shouto’s firm biceps as he chopped meant you also missed huge swathes of time, leading to a slightly-burnt tasting sauce and overdone chicken.

Shouto made things even worse by consulting his phone, murmuring directions in his mind-numbingly low tone, so gentle and hypnotic that you forgot to listen to the actual steps.

In the end, though, it didn’t even matter. You were so pleased to just be with him, in the same space, doing something distracting together.

You loved the way he took up space in your peripheral, his broad shoulders making the kitchen seem smaller than it was. You loved the scrunch on his nose when he concentrated particularly hard, the way his elegant fingers curled around the handle of the knife, the way he’d lean in close to you to get something at your side.

He was such good, easy company, and it made you fall even more helplessly in love with him than you already were.

The two of you ate stuffed together at your coffee table, reaping the inedibility that you had sown, but you found yourself too satisfied to care. Shouto, too, did not look like he minded much that whatever you made probably in no way approximated the recipe Fuyumi had given him.

When it was finally time for him to go, Shouto leaned in and drew you into another hug, pressing you tightly against him once again.

It made your head swim with all of the questions that were beginning to crop up about this new phase of your relationship. About what it meant that you’d been exposed, and things were only going to get more public from here. About what it meant that Shouto was getting notably free with your person. About what it meant that he’d bought you a property for your animal rescue, and had roped his own mother into helping him fund it for you.

None of those things had seemed at all possible just twenty-four hours ago—and yet here you were, a publicly-recognizable, thoroughly-hugged future owner of an animal rescue.

Shouto left with a final press of his fingers to the skin of your hand, watching raptly as the color flooded your skin. He leveled a kneecap-shattering smile at you, and promised to see you soon.

And then he left you alone, feeling better, but with about a zillion more questions than you’d had to start with.

The ensuing weeks only made things more confusing.

You were mostly confined to your apartment as the Todoroki Agency did its level best to combat the rampant speculation on your identity and the nature of your relationship to Shouto. The tack they seemed to be taking so far was that Yoshizuki Ayumi’s speculations were intended specifically to hype up sales of her book, and were not grounded in any true knowledge of who Shouto had come into contact with that day.

Shouto’s terrifying manager was in the news daily, running circles around the press in her little pearl set and tight ponytail. You knew it was only a matter of time until the truth was fully revealed, and you’d have been more sorry to her if Shouto hadn’t sent you a litany of texts implying she was having the time of her life cooking and eating reporters for breakfast.

Shouto continued to text you updates from his patrols, pictures of things he’d seen, lunches he’d eaten, cats he’d rescued from trees. He called you after every shift, sometimes directly after, and you’d hear the unbuckling of his uniform in the background, the rustle of cloth as it slid off him.

Those phone calls gave heart palpitations of the worst sort, though not as bad as when Shouto himself turned up at your apartment, greeting the rotation of heroes who’d taken to guarding your neighborhood. You met an entire slew of heroes you’d only ever heard of—Mudman, Lizardy, and most excitingly, Cellophane, all of whom you learned had been Shouto’s classmates at UA.

You spent your free hours consolidating your rescue funding plan, and working with a contact Shouto had provided on the plans to remodel the building he’d purchased. You tried to keep costs down, already overwhelmed by the amount of debt you were in to him, but Shouto seemed to have stipulated to the contractor that no dollar amounts were to be provided to you.

You reamed him out over text once you’d figured it out, only to be immediately steamrolled into silence by a selfie of Shouto with Princess, her cream-and-orange face pressed contentedly up against his inhumanly handsome one. Your mind blanked once confronted with that kind of cuteness, and you couldn’t think of a single thing to text back that wouldn’t give away how horrifyingly whipped you were.

Shouto was notably smug the next time you saw him.

You also worked up the nerve to start cold-calling possible donors to the rescue, armed with an opening date and operational model. You registered for non-profit status, drowning in heaps of government paperwork. You posted job listings for volunteers and full-timers, and reached out to Mari to gauge her interest. Handed in my 2 weeks!!, she texted you immediately.

You set up an accounting system and budget, a mission statement, and got in touch with every kennel, shelter, and veterinary office within thirty kilometers, alerting them to the impending opening of your rescue, your policies, and your capacity.

It was unbelievable that you were finally getting to do the thing you had always wanted to do, and that Todoroki Shouto—your soulmate—had made it happen for you.

And that left you with the final, most dizzying question of your relationship to him.

Because Shouto was being confusing as hell.

It still needled you, weeks into these new developments, that everything Shouto was doing for you was too much. It was absolutely beyond what a normal friend would do for someone, even if that friend was as rich and well-known as Shouto was. Opening an animal rescue on someone’s behalf itself was huge, and possibly within the bounds of platonicness and professionalism if you squinted. Maybe.

But Shouto was in touch so constantly that you wondered how he had time for anyone else. The end-of-shift calls were long, sometimes taking you both hours into the evening as you chatted idly while you cooked, while you cleaned, while Shouto played with Princess. When he spoke, he mentioned time with his mother and sister and his friends, but nothing about time with Yaoyorozu Momo, and between all the time he spent on shift, sleeping, and speaking to you, you thought he had very little time left.

He was more forward than ever, too, sitting close whenever you were together, pressing his fingers to your skin in greeting or in parting. But he never made any particular move that might be construed as romantic—he never moved in to kiss you, even if sometimes (very privately) you thought he looked almost like he was waiting again.

You didn’t know what to make of it. All of it taken together–the gifts, the rescue, the time together, the personal space—it all seemed too unbelievable. You knew you were just an aggressively plain, average girl, and the daily tweets that were still flung your way confirmed that. But Shouto made you feel—made you feel—

He made you feel different. Special. Precious.

Confused as hell.

It was the impending release of Yoshizuki Ayumi’s book, however, that pushed things to a head. Though Shouto’s agency had been able to delay the book and cast doubt on Ayumi’s publicity efforts, there were no legal grounds on which the book might be stopped altogether. And you honestly didn’t think that would have been fair, even if there had been. Technically, she wasn’t wrong. And technically, you had thrown her under the bus first, all those months ago.

You didn’t like the thought of being publicly known.

But you had been able to avoid it long enough to get to know Shouto naturally, organically, peacefully, without any of the pressure of public opinion that might have otherwise altered the nature of your relationship, ambiguous as it was. And when you thought about it deeply enough, that’s all you really could have asked for.

It was roughly a week from the revised book release date when Shouto told you the agency would need to make a definitive statement once and for all. And then he shocked you.

“I will leave it up to you,” he told you, one evening in his living room, where he’d finally been able to smuggle you for a change of scenery.

Princess had seemed thrilled to see you when you’d arrived, surprisingly, almost twice the size of when you’d seen her last and looking more haughty and elegant than ever. She’d padded over to give you a greeting sniff, and had immediately seized the hem of your pants with her claws, a familiar routine. You’d sank onto Shouto’s couch and let her highness do her worst to the bottom of your jeans.

“You what?” you’d echoed, staring at him in the soft buttery light of his lamps.

Shouto watched you carefully, his handsome face solemn. “I have thought about it,” he said in his low, soft tone. It was gentler than ever, and yet strangely shuttered, as though he didn’t want to betray any of his own opinion in his voice.

“I will not pressure you to be my soulmate publicly,” he said. “There are options. If you wish it, I can tell the public we are not. I can tell them I am a donor to your rescue and our relationship is purely professional. I have discussed it with my manager. It would be feasible that we would have spoken in debriefs after the attack, and that I’d identified your rescue as a charitable cause for the agency to invest in.”

The idea of continued privacy was admittedly tempting, but you did not like the carefully blank look on Shouto’s face as he continued. “However, we would be watched after that. I…We would no longer be able to meet like this,” he said.

He paused a long time, before finally adding, “I would do it, if that was what you wanted. It will be…difficult for you, once you are known, you can never regain that privacy again. I do not want you to have to experience that.”

You sat there, shocked by the idea. You hated the idea of not getting to see Shouto like this anymore. Much as you’d resisted it at first, you loved the time spent with him–how easy, effortless, comfortable it was–yet heady, thrilling, exciting. He took up so much of your headspace every day, the person you wanted to run to with news, the person you wanted to turn to when things felt overwhelming. Even if he wasn’t in love with you the way you’d always wanted your soulmate to be, the thought of giving him up just like that was unbearable.

But you also couldn’t help but wonder, privately, if there was anything else that motivated Shouto’s saying so. You knew he cared for you—there could be no doubt, after everything these past few weeks—but if he really did have a girlfriend, if he really was committed to someone else, if you really could never fit into his life the way you had always wanted…

You didn’t know how to weigh it. Your privacy vs the uncertain balance of this soulmate relationship. Your disbelief that Shouto meant for you to feel as special as you sometimes did versus the unshakeable feeling that he did mean it.

You needed more time. More information. More perspective—

You wanted to choose Shouto. You knew you did. You just wanted to be sure that Shouto wanted you, more than anything, to choose him too.

There was one last thing you wanted to scope out, you thought, before you made the choice that would define your relationship forever. One last corner of his life that you hadn’t been directly privy to, to figure out how you would fit into it, and what his relationship was to everyone once and for all.

You summoned up the courage and turned to Shouto, as Princess victoriously tugged a thread free from your jeans, letting out an ugly yowl that nearly drowned out your next few words: “I think…Shouto, would it be okay if I met your friends?”

The former members of UA’s hero classes gathered biweekly at a dive bar downtown. Chargebolt and Red Riot had apparently picked it shortly after graduation for the central location and cheap drinks that paired well with a brand new pro hero’s meager starting wage.

Over the years, most everyone from Classes A and B had rocketed their way up the ranks, but they had become so accustomed to and so unreasonably fond of the place, that it was still their go-to meeting spot almost a decade onwards. It certainly looked divey from the window, dark and dim, decorated mainly in neon beer brand signs and crammed with cheap stools and tables bearing decades of scratches.

Despite its shabby appearance, your spine still prickled with nerves as you approached, Shouto a long, lean shadow beside you.

“What is it, love?” he asked, leaning in.

Your heartbeat kicked into your throat. He’d been calling you that so much lately—love—and every time it sent your head spinning. You really didn’t think it was all that platonic of a nickname, and it was just another reason you had to make sure this evening that Shouto really meant for you to choose him.

The back of his hand pressed to yours, and you gratefully seized it, shuffling a little nearer to him like you could absorb his calm demeanor if you were just close enough. Your whole body prickled with awareness of his hand in yours, those long, pretty fingers gripping you carefully. You didn’t look down, but you knew the pads of your fingers were leaving smudges of color all along each other’s skin.

“I’m just a little nervous,” you admitted. “I want to make a good impression.”

Shouto’s heterochromatic gaze picked over you carefully, and he bent his head to look you in the face. “You already have.”

You looked at him curiously, and he took a step forward, gently tugging you with him, steering you into the bar’s interior. You could have sworn you saw the tip of Shouto’s right ear go a little pink against the white of his hair.

“You were all the Class A group chat would talk about, when it first happened,” he said, his tone carefully blank. “Some of them quite liked that you made me give chase.” You thought if his tone wasn’t so meticulously devoid of emotion, he might sound like he was pouting.

“Hell fucking yeah we did, that was the funniest shit I had ever seen!” a bright voice chirped, and suddenly a wide smile and electric yellow hair were filling up your vision. “I’m Kaminari Denki,” the man introduced himself, and you realized you were speaking to pro hero Chargebolt. He appeared to be attempting to blind you with a million watt smile. “I’m a huge fan of the running.”

You took his proffered hand and gave your own name, unable to help laughing. “I didn’t really mean to leave him there like that. I just panicked.”

Kaminari’s smile widened and he was joined by Mina Ashido—pro hero Pinky—who grinned brightly at you too. “I think it did him a little good,” she whispered conspiratorially. “He’s never had to chase a girl in his life.”

Your face heated at the implication, and Shouto’s fingers tightened in yours almost possessively. Mina just looked at him and laughed, blowing him an apologetic kiss, and then turned and beckoned you over to the corner that Class A had taken over. They’d pushed several tables together and dragged over some stools from the bar, and a dozen members were already present, sipping beers, chatting and laughing, some of them waving invitingly.

Mina found you a seat between her and pro hero Cellophane—Sero Hanta, who you’d already met a few times on duty at your apartment, who fist-bumped you in greeting, smiling his huge toothy grin. Then he turned and fist-bumped Shouto, who looked long used to this treatment.

“Shouto, man, good to see you. Even better to see you, Y/N,” he said. He introduced you to the rest of the people at the table—which included some truly dizzying names, like Midoriya Izuku, the number one hero Deku, who smiled sweetly at you from beneath wild green curls, waving a heavily scarred hand.

It wasn’t even a minute before Mina was plonking some aggressively pink drink in front of you—”My favorite, trust me you will love it!”—and you were immediately absorbed into the group’s conversation, like you’d always been there.

They were a friendly, rowdy, extremely tight-knit bunch, as anyone would be, after all they’d been through together as a class. You were fascinated by the dynamic—Shouto was alternately roasted within an inch of his life and indulged as the baby of the group—all it took was a little pout from him and he instantly got whatever he wanted. You appreciated that you weren’t the only one who was helpless against him.

When Shouto ordered his first drink—something fruity, served in a voluptuously curvy poco grande and garnished with a rainbow of fruits and a little umbrella—Kaminari seemed to start down the well-worn grooves of an old conversation. “So secure in his masculinity,” he sighed as Shouto sipped, his long fingers toying with the pink umbrella. You stifled a fond smile in the collar of your jacket.

Mina kept you in a steady rotation of luridly-colored, juice-heavy drinks, all of which Shouto seemed to want a sip from, and you slowly relaxed into the ease of everyone’s company. You thought maybe you did have a place in Shouto’s life, could fill the space at his side, and it would be as easy as breathing.

You just needed to confirm one more thing.

You were on your third drink, beginning to smile a little bit goofily, when the door blew open and in walked the final piece of your mission this evening. She was tall, elegant, and as dangerously curved as Shouto’s poco grande glass had been, her hair pulled up in her iconic dark ponytail, swinging daintily.

Yaoyorozu Momo: pro hero Creati.

[red-writes]

Enji Todoroki x Reader

Summary: With your marriage arriving so soon, you and shoto needed to gain the approval from his father but with his approval came the old todoroki tradition: the father must sleep with the child’s future partner

Warnings: dub-con/non-con, forced sex, fucked up family dynamics, step-cest (reader is enji’s soon-to-be daughter in law)

Red’s notes: I’ve had this in my drafts for uber long and it’s so fucked up yet so hot I couldn't not share 

You’ve heard little about your soon to be father in law from Shoto. Little hints about him were sprinkled throughout your conversations over the years—but nothing important or noteworthy was ever shared. Having no information about the man you were about to meet was, for the lack of a better word, scary. Enji Todoroki. His name was shroud in mystery. Shoto could go on and on about his mother, brothers and sister. But when it came to his dad, not much was said.

Shoto seemed restless on the drive over. His jaw clenched, thumbs tapping away at the steering wheel. It threw you off, knowing that your usually stoic and calm fiancé was so nervous. Even now as you sat on the couch waiting for your father in law’s arrival his leg was bouncing up and down anxiously. Anxiety was a virus, it spread so easily and infected anyone nearby. Fear that lie dormant in your gut before began to bubble, you could feel the bile rising in your throat as the only door in the room opens.

You heard several pairs of footsteps walk in and your head rose to look at who entered. It was all of the Todoroki siblings. A sigh of relief escaped you as fuyumi, touya and natsuo join you on the couch. 

“Nervous?” fuyumi asks, her face genuinely concerned and you let out a nervous chuckle, “Like you wouldn't believe, Sho doesn't tell me much about my almost father in law so..” 

Touya, who is seated next to Shoto shoves him playfully, “Jesus baby bro, you're scaring my sister in law” he jokes and Shoto says nothing, eyes still planted on the floor. Natsuo mumbles something under his breath before getting up and leaving the room. It seems as if no one else heard with the way fuyumi and touya carry on about how they wish mom could meet you. It seemed like you were the only one who heard Natsuo. 

you should be scared.

The topic of marriage arose and fuyumi casually mentioned how she tied the knot a few years back and touya did as well mere months ago. 

“Is marriage an important family value or something?” you ask fuyumi and she hums thoughtfully, “I wouldn't say that, our family is more traditional than most, before a certain age we must get married” her clarification only makes you more confused. 

“How come Natsuo isn't married then?” you wonder, the room is quiet, the air is stagnant somehow it feels as if gravity is pressing down on your very soul at that moment. 

“He doesn't want to follow tradition.” Shoto states simply. You're turning to face him, you're eager to know more. 

“What could possibly be so frightening about marriage?” You say, voice lighthearted and curious. 

“It’s not tradition he's afraid of, it’s dad” touya says, fuyumi  glares at touya from across the couch and at that very moment the door is opened rather harshly. The handle bangs against the wall and the jarring sound makes you jump. There he is. That monster of a man is standing in the doorway, arms folded in front of his chest as he walks over to where the two couches are settled.

He takes a seat in the one in front of you and the three todoroki siblings stand and bow, you fumble to follow behind them, your bow was late and sloppy while theirs was clearly organized and practiced. Enji Todoroki looks a lot different than you imagined. His hair was short and spiked upwards, blue eyes beady and cold, his frame muscular; outcome of having trained it up for years. 

“Shoto, I’m glad you decided to come, I’ve missed you my son” Enji says, his voice gruff and deep. It sends chills down your spine. 

“Father- there is much I want to say to you..” Shoto begins and Enji allows him to continue speaking, “I simply came here as a formality, I just wanted you to meet her, not for the ritual to take place” he says and you're confused, head turning to Shoto for some answers. 

formality? ritual? 

“If you think you intend to leave here without it taking place, you're mistaken.” Enji says, he stands and walks around the couch, his large hands rest on your shoulders.

“E-excuse me, Mr.Todoroki, what is the ritual?” you squeak out, you're sure if he was in front of you, you'd never have the courage to ask.

“Shoto, what the hell? You didn't even tell her about it before coming here?” Touya says, voice raising at his younger brother.

“I was trying to protect her..” Shoto whispers and that terrifying gut feeling you have is back, it gnaws away at your stomach until it twists into knots, you feel sick.

“The ritual, is one which takes place every todoroki wedding, to truly become a member of the Todoroki household you must become one with the name itself, to do that one must give themselves over completely to that names original owner” Enji says, his hold on your shoulders is released as your mind tries to desperately make sense of the words.

“What..I don't..”

“Put simpler, you must conjugate with me.” 

“Dad please...I love her..” Shoto begs and Enji huffs out an amused puff of air. 

“This is the only way, if you want to be married, then you’ll do as the tradition says”

Enji walks around the couch and stands in front of you, he holds out his hand and you place your smaller one in his, Shoto’s fingers run through his hair and pull on it anxiously. Enji slowly walks with you out the room. He takes you to a room that seems oddly placed compared to the others. You’re confused, you want to find shoto but his grip is so strong it silences any thought of rebellion instantly. He unlocks the door and inside is nothing, the room is completely empty except for a single bed.  

You’re completely unnerved. He let’s you go and shuts the door, he sits on the bed and pats the space next to him, encouraging you to sit. You do.

“Mr.Todoroki...I...I’m scared, what’s going on?” you ask, your eyes glued to your hands that stay perfectly folded in your lap.

“We’re going to have sex” he says straightforwardly and you lift your head slowly, waiting for him to say it’s a joke. But he doesn't.

“But- I’ve alway had plans on saving myself for Shoto...o-on our wedding night, I don’t want to disrespect your traditions but..I won’t have sex with my fiancé's father” you state, voice gaining a little bit of confidence at the end. 

He grips your chin in his hand, your eyes meet his and the look in them makes you want to run and hide, he isn’t a man. He’s a monster. 

“My dear, the moment you stepped foot in my house was the moment you lost your right to choose.” 

A knock on the door makes you jump as the Todoroki siblings file in one by one.  Shoto is last, his hair is messed up as if he’d been pulling on it relentlessly, his eyes are red and his cheeks are visibly wet. 

“Sorry..y/n I’m sorry, but this is the only way” Shoto whispers and he turns around, defacing you as his siblings approach where you're sitting and begin undressing you. Shoto flinches as he hears your screams of struggle and panic. He can feel his heart sinking into the depths of his gut and tears fill his eyes once more. You fight desperately to keep your clothes on but they tear them off of you, leaving you in nothing but underwear. Your eyes begin to water as you cover yourself up with your arms, trying to hide as much as your body as you can. 

“Now now, you should know who I am and what I’m capable of, surely you don’t think hiding yourself with those twigs you call arms will stop me” Enji gloats, narcissistically parading about his own strength. He tears your arms from in front of your chest and pins them above your head. The Todoroki siblings tie your hands with a dark red rope that feels itchy and rough against the skin on your wrists. 

Enji pries open your legs and leans down to be eye level with your pussy. The man’s serious face is enough to still your writing for a bit as he hums. One of his thumbs pulls at the lip of your cunt, exposing more of the sensitive flesh to the man’s beady cerulean eyes. His thumb presses down against your clit and you jump, a soft mewl escaping shamefully from your lips at the sudden touch. 

You hear a thud and see Shoto leaving the room and disgust for yourself fills your gut and all of sudden you could hardly breathe. You in took and exhaled shaky breaths and fuyumi takes a seat on the bed next to your head, she shushes you and pets your head softly. 

“It’ll be okay..shh don't worry” she says in a soft voice with a gentle smile and you look past her with tear filled eyes to see Touya standing against the wall with a hard-on pressing against his pants. 

“Please..help me I-fuyumi please” you beg and she presses a kiss to your forehead. Enji begins rubbing circles over your clit and your hips raise off the bed, against your own will. You shake your head back and forth with small pleas falling from your mouth as the coil of heat tightens in your tummy and just as you’re about to cum he pulls away and you whine. He chuckles, 

“Silly girl, don't you know you're only meant to cum for your husband?” 

You hardly get what he means but even so, the fact that you were going to cum just from having your clit played with a bit by the father of your soon to be husband was extremely humiliating and taboo, extremely taboo. And yet, here you were, cunt slick with your own arousal, pussy clenching anxiously around nothing as the desperation, the need, to be fucked was eating away at your morality.

Enji shuffled out of his pants and suddenly you felt a wave of anxiety pass through you. You peered down from between your legs and saw the monster that was his cock resting between your folds. It was huge. Thick, with veins lining the shaft. The head of his cock was cherry red and angry, it leaked a few drops of pre-cum from the slit and you could feel the bile once again rising in your throat. The previous haze of arousal you had simmered down into a deduction of pure horror. You squirmed. Fat globs of tears and snot running down your face as an attempt to stop what was happening. But your movements were meaningless as he pressed the head of his cock against your weeping cunt and pushed in. You yelled. You screwed your eyes shut as he pushed in until he was fully seated inside of you. It burned and it hurt, felt like being torn apart. You yelled out for Shoto. You screamed his name as his father began roughly fucking you, not minding the calls of his son. 

After a while however, you cried not because of the pain but because of the pleasure. His cock was so thick he had no need for precision because he seemed to hit every spot that managed to melt your mind into a puddle of goo. Shamefully, your cries turned into ones for “Enji! Oh gods! Enji fuck me harder!” and less for your beloved Shoto. 

It felt sinfully good, sex with your fiancé’s father, the thought alone had your cunt squeezing down on the girthy cock like a vice. Your vision was blurring from the tears that began form in your eyes, every thrust he made rocked the bed into the headboard. Slick drooled from your cunt and formed a pool under your ass, the head of his cock brushed against your g-spot with every thrust and you couldn't hold back the desperate plea to cum. Enji hissed as he announced the arrival of his own orgasm. You were teetering on the edge right as he came inside of you, leaving your cunt throbbing and unsatisfied as he pulled out. He stood up with and walked around the bed to untie you. 

He kissed your cheek, 

“Welcome to the family.”

[bibibbon]

I honestly hate that Dabi’s abuse has to be debated. Like, it’s pretty clear as day that he was neglected by Enji.

The sheer fact that Touya was literally harming himself to be even noticed by his father should’ve been a massive red flag!

“Oh but Enji did the best he could-“ No, he didn’t? Enji could’ve at least put Touya through some mental health care or you know, STOP LIVING THROUGH HIS FUCKING KIDS!

Also, another thing that grosses me out about the MHA fandom is how people “joke” about how Rei only stayed was because Endeavor had a big sholng and that’s just pretty disgusting in of itself

Hi @palesweetscherryblossom 👋

Absolutely I hate the fact that what the todoroki family all went through has to be debated if it's abuse or not. I have seen people say that shoto was never abused and that enji done nothing wrong by training shoto to the point he puked his guts out at the age of 5 or that enji wasn't in the wrong for purposefully neglecting touya and inserting very harmful ideologies in his head. No enji may have not of abused touya physically but he definitely did abuse touya by neglecting him (neglect is a form of abuse!!!!)

It's still surprising that people can't pick up on the fact that enji very much did neglect touya and shoved the hero ideology down touya's throat (Iam aware that touya's backstory came from enjis pov probably to make enji look better but even with that there are clear signs of neglect)

Chapter 301 to 302 literally had touya say multiple times that it was enji who "lit this fire beneath him to beat all might and become a great hero". The blame is on enji and should be put on him for trying to use a child to live his own foolish dream while also filling the child's mind with harmful ideologies and ideas (I know full well that the whole girl comment that touya made towards fuyumi was directly influenced from enjis thinking and what enji probably told touya when he would ask whenever fuyumi wouldn't train with them)

The thing that some people can't seem to fully grasp is that touya was approximately 7 when all of his training stopped and he was abandoned by enji. Touya had a good 3 years spent being around enji almost 24/7 learning from him and being built to be this powerful masterpiece that is his father's favourite and all of that got taken from him because his body couldn't handle it. Now for a child at that age it would be difficult to understand why his father doesn't talk or love him anymore because I bet full well that touya probably connected enji training him = father son bonding time and as a sign that enji loves and cares for him the most. This is the reason why touya continues to train and harm himself so he can get enji's attention. In the end it was more about enji's love and attention than it was about becoming a hero. For touya becoming a hero was the key to his father's love and attention and that key was robbed from him because his body wasn't compatible with his quirk.

You have Rei literally calling out enji's neglect and behaviour saying that touya is only doing this because he wants his father's attention but enji replies saying that the only attention he can give is showing the path of a hero which is something that touya cant do. This literally goes to prove touya's own thinking as right. The only way touya can get his father's attention and love is by being the best machine to let his father's dream live through him. Touya needed to be the perfect puppet so his father could love him.

Then there's the fact that touya was Ultimately around 8 or so when he found out about the himura family and their secrets and why his mother is having children. All of that is too complex for a child and honestly traumatising to learn about but touya knew it from an incredibly young age. @thr0wnawayy 's post goes into more detail about touya learning what Rei had to go through and his whole family situation.

Enji should of helped touya understand it's not his fault, he should of loved his children equally and should of definitely given him therapy (the guy is rich there's no excuse for him not to take his child to a therapist)

Oh and don't even get me started on the fandoms messed up jokes when it comes to enji and Rei. It's like they don't even read the manga and realise that Rei didn't have a choice in any of this. She didn't stay because she liked it or because she wanted to, the poor women didn't have a choice at all.

[urarakasdiary]

- THE ETERNAL FOUNTAIN OF LOVE

Plantonic Dabi with his little sister! that suddenly turns yandere? sorry, I can't write anything cute.

First of all, Im so sorry for this long ass hiatus I wanted to get back to writing but I was going through some shit for the past year and a half 🥲 Im gonna try my best to get back to writing from now onwards. Enjoy! <3

Dabi never really liked you ever since his parents brought you home that day. He didn't want to admit it, but he wanted all the attention his dad could give only to himself. The attention was already torn away from him because of Shoto, you coming into the picture would make him invisible in the eyes of his father, which enraged him.

Of course, you were adopted; Rei could not handle another pregnancy. The day you came home, everyone noticed it. Touya's even more unusual behavior. He was staring daggers into your soul, cursing under his breath. He had thought why was he like this to you? Was he jealous? no way. You were just annoying. At least to him.

His father was a busy man, he would not visit the home often. Rei was sent away after the incident, Natsuo would go to school, and so would Fuyumi. That would leave him and you alone. He didn't think he would like spending any time with you alone, but you were actually kind of cute...and sweet? maybe even a breath of fresh air from his wild family? maybe it was because you were adopted, all his siblings tried their best to be kind and gentle with him, often keeping opinions about him to themselves and not pointing out his mistakes in fear of pissing him off. But you? god you ran your mouth so much with no hesitation.

You would be the first person to point out something wrong or mean he did or said. And you did it with no fear of him whatsoever. Growing up, he realized he loved you. You were the only partially sane person in this household.

"I will burn you so bad that even hell's fire will feel better than my flames"

"Touya-nii don't say that! that's mean. You should start taking classes on how to speak to people without making them piss their pants."

You were also the reason why he stayed home that cursed day. (The day he 'died'). You needed help with homework and asked him for help. He had not gone to school, ever. But since it was you who was asking, he learned it from YouTube just to teach you.

When you were in middle school some bullies learned you were adopted, and from then on they started picking and cursing at you. Some days the bullying was mild, somedays they would flush your face in the toilet bowl. You stayed quiet hoping they would change one day or another. But you could only handle so much.

Mental breakdowns were a familiar thing to you now, maybe even a friend who would visit often. Touya had picked up on your odd behavior, he shook it off for some days thinking it was a bad day or shit. But when the 'bad days' seemed more frequent, his worry grew.

He had you explain everything that was going on in detail. How could he have just shaken off your odd behavior? He didn't deserve to be your brother.

Maybe he was obsessive over his sister, but he was just looking after her.

Bullseye. He found them.

"Heard you girls love calling my sister names?"

"3 girls found dead at local playground, burned to death. Investigation launched on the 8th of April, no evidence or traces left behind, police suspect..."

He didn't expect the reaction you were giving from the news. He thought you would be happy, instead, you were crying yourself a river.

"Don't cry [name], come here"

You embraced yourself in the warmth of your brother, unsuspecting of anything.

"I'll always be there for you."

[sapphicwritergal]

Hi Sapphic

Who are your 10 favourite MHA characters?

OKAYY SOOO HERE

Ochako (she's my princess, I adore her, she has so much potential and could have been honed better, but all in all I adore her, she's a cutie.)

Momo (Momo used to be my number one but I guess that since I actually have to put character for her to be my number one)

Jirou (She's in my top, I loved her back in 2020 but she kinda got overrated but that never stopped me from liking her, I like ber musical aligned backstory I'm sad about the missing jack though, I love hero too)

Shoto (Cutie, I love him throughout his journey I have Todoroki rewritten in my thoughts so I love him even more, I think he deserves better, he never really stood out to me then but he's come around.)

Tsu, I like her now, I mean she's cool, her abilities are cool and her episodes are just as interesting, she tries to be responsible and sweet at the same time and I adore that, but I never really cared for her until This year.

Hagakure, I didn't like her at all, I always thought she was the traitor or at least the traitor in charge because I wouldn't put it past anyone to do it or accuse her but she's beautiful and an absolute sweetheart, I relate to her more now I just didn't like her that much.

Mina, It came with the 2020 thing, I didn't like the bakusquad or anything and I iust didn't care much for Mina as I do sort of now, I don't hate her, she never stood out to me, which is weird because she's adorable but I think it's her design that I don't like and that'd make sense since I like to look at an appearance and be interested.

Nejire, another princess except she was done dirty and I think her story ending should be in hell, why give Nejire a story later on only to give her a beauty pageant where as her male Bestfriends, counterparts, EQUALS got back stories and how they trust in each other so much and one looks up to the other.

Ibara Shiozaki, I love her I think the fact she's only a comedic character who has a cool ass ability, cool vibe, is only used for being a side character to get handled by other characters, I think it's fucking stupid, she's AMAZING and could have been done amazing, but noooo

Fuyumi, I don't like how she has to be the only one wanting to accept her father and be a family with him along with their mom who was abused and her baby brother who was physically abused and her brothers who were neglected and one was dead by being neglected and I think it's annoying because why is Fuyumi the only one who wants to play savior in the family only for this part of her to be given to Shoto instead, it's stupid, absolutely stupid, stop making Fuyumi have to be so I wanna help my family only to not be the hero of said family, give actual motivation, actual reason aside from wanting to be a normal family, it makes her look annoying to those who hate Endeavor and think she's trying to advocate for him instead of her just wanting to be around a normal family, why not show an episode, we are told how she feels but just because she feels this way we're never given actual insight.

[anti-katsuki-lounge]

Which MHA characters do you think had the most wasted/lost development? Mine has to be Present Mic, dude is one of the only UA teacher with braincells and the story does almost nothing with him, even though he was also friends with Oboro like Aizawa was. It genuinelly makes me upset how much the story wasted him.

For this, I’m not going to include characters that Hori made only to be in the background even if I feel that if Hori wanted to, he could’ve made compelling stories out of them (like Tooru, Yui, etc.). I 100% agree about Present Mic.

Mezou- sure he had his one moment but imo he should’ve had far more moments. He’s the perfect character to explore the discrimination mutants face. Him being a parallel with Spinner should’ve been played with way more than what we’ve got.

Minoru- hot choice, I know, but as a character who’s meant to be a underdog who starts off as a selfish coward and turns into a hero in his own right, we should’ve gotten more development out of him.

Neito- Someone mentioned how he could’ve been another rival to Izuku and I wholeheartedly agree. Hori had Neito go from having what was one of the coolest introductions to a character in the series to a running gag and it’s seriously disappointing.

Hitoshi- As much as I rag on him, he had immense potential as shown by his recent performance in the war arc. Problem is Hori cut so many corners around him and it weakens both him as a character and the message his character tells.

Ochako and Tenya- both deserved more screen time than what they’ve gotten.

Himiko- Hori treats Himiko as a fetish than an actual character sometimes. One of the posts in my pinned mentions how Himiko’s character could’ve been better handled.

Natsuo and Fuyumi- I would honestly like to see what it was like for Natsuo and Fuyumi, the “rejects” of the family, to have to live with Endeavor.

[aimportantdragoncollector]

If ask game still open:

AU where Inko is the personal Mary Poppins for Todoroki family

1. This is a Dad for One AU where All for One got in a fight with All Might earlier in canon AND his organization was even more devastated. While he was unconscious, the safeguards he set up to send money to his family failed. Inko had to get a job.

2. Because of AFO's early arrest, he never kidnapped Touya after he burned himself. Touya manifested a phoenix ability and regenerated after burning to ashes, surviving and returning to his family. However nothing got better as Enji was even more desperate to stop his oldest son from training and Touya even more convinced he could become a hero and also pull off the phoenix power again if his father would just give him a chance.

3. After Rei burned Shouto and got sent to the hospital, Enji sought out a nanny. However, the Todoroki children drove off everyone he hired. Touya's just a total brat. Fuyumi has a notion in her head that her mother will come back if she can get rid of all the nannies, and on some level resents them for stealing her perceived job. Natsuo got discriminated against by several caretakers for being quirkless, so he joined in. Shouto is the only good kid.

4. Inko got hired because her husband is listed as having a fire quirk and her son is quirkless, so Enji hoped she'd be able to handle his children's unique needs. He also thinks he can use her economic vulnerability to keep her quiet about anything that happens in his house, but he underestimates her. This Inko is a former villain fully aware of his husband's business. Despite her outwardly sweet demeanor, she used to be an assassin with a kill count in the triple digits. She easily sidesteps every prank the children try to pull on her and destroys every trap they send against her with a smile. Touya is convinced she might be a supernatural creature.

5. Shouto is happy because he just wanted a mom who wouldn’t pour boiling water on his face. This boy’s standards are so low that it’s pathetic his family couldn’t meet them.

6. Izuku moves into the house along with Inko and quickly befriends Shouto. Natsuo bonds with Izuku over them both being quirkless. Izuku hates how hard Endeavor trains Shouto and goes to his mom for help.

7. Inko absolutely verbally eviscerates Endeavor for his lousy training plan that is likely to cripple Shouto or burn him out, then presents a much better training plan. She also scolds Endeavor for giving up on his other two children. She presents a list of creative ways to use Fuyumi's ice quirk to kill, including blood-bending and freezing people's blood in their veins. According to her, why can't Natsuo become a hero even if he's quirkless? Finally, she has a plan for Touya to slowly train his body to adapt to his quirk. By this point Touya has been converted to an Inko fan.

8. But Inko isn't done yet. She also chews Endeavor out for giving up too easily on defeating All Might, then presents him with a detailed list of All Might's weaknesses that she obtained from her husband. (Izuku is appalled at this All Might slander, but Inko is not the biggest fan of the hero who maimed her beloved husband.) Endeavor is convinced and decides to re-devote himself to becoming number one. He allows Inko to train his children instead while he focuses on his own career.

9. Inko takes over training all the Todoroki children into unstoppable badasses. They might or might not become heroes, but no one will ever mess with them. She includes Izuku, training him to become a future quirkless hero. In this AU, Inko is more willing to teach Izuku to fight because they no longer have All for One's protection so she believes he needs to defend himself. Plus her husband failed to look out for them so he doesn't get a say. With Endeavor's backing, Izuku has a real chance at becoming a quirkless hero.

10. Izuku's totally going to get One for All, though. Natsuo can become the first quirkless hero.

[sapphic-agent]

Y'know it sucks that Horikoshi focusing more on Izuku, Bakugo, and Shoto could have actually worked as like a interpersonal, relationship development thing. Like, let's say Izuku, Bakugo, and Shoto have, as said been spending more with each other because of villain attacks. Iida and Ochako notice this, and they try to hang out with him, train with him, or just talk to him, but Izuku turns them down. Which can give a hint as to Izuku kind of adopting All Might's unhealthy mindset of ignoring his feelings and going beyond his limit. (Make no mistake, I love All Might! But he isn't the best mentor, but he tries!) which then they feel.... extremely left out and hurt, and even worried. This can even have some bonding with Ochako and Iida, as they can talk about the situation.

Maybe Izuku is unintentionally hurting his friends, this way. Like, show how the stress of being a hero is getting to him and the attacks are getting to him. I think Horikoshi forgets sometimes these are 15-16-years-old, they don't handle this kind of thing well. And then they just talk about what's going on with him. Like focusing on Izuku, Bakugo, and Shoto as this like team dealing with recent attacks this random shift CAN work, and even help develop Iida, Ochako, and Izuku. But let's be honest. Horikoshi liked Iida and Ochako at first, but decided he liked Bakugo and Shoto better than just... kind of ditched Iida and Ochako.

Omg Anon I'm so sorry I started to answer this and forgot it was in my drafts!

Eh, I'd argue he doesn't even really like Shoto. Outside of the deal with his family, Shoto isn't really a character Hori puts a lot of stock in. I would even say he took away a lot of his initial complexity.

If there's one thing Hori undoubtedly sucks at, it's character interaction and I feel like no one really acknowledges that. So many of the problems with his characters could be easily fixed if he treated them as people with feelings and not scenery props. Shoto is a major example of this. Have you noticed he blankly stands in the background during almost every interaction with him, Izuku, and Bakugou? He's supposed to be Izuku's best friend and they barely talk to one another.

(I want everyone to know, the three of them are a boring ass dynamic. It's just Bakugou yelling at Izuku while Shoto stands there with a non-reaction. Izuku, Shoto, and Iida had a way more compelling dynamic and they weren't even together for a full arc)

Even in his family, he isn't really focused on. During the Endeavor Agency Arc, more focus was put on Natsu and Fuyumi and their differing feelings on Endeavor. Shoto didn't get to express his own feelings, Hori had Izuku explain how he should be feeling to us.

I think Iida and Uraraka should have shown concern for Izuku suddenly being around Bakugou more. Remember, this is the kid who attacked and threatened their friend on multiple occasions. Them just accepting Bakugou's behavior never sat right with me at all. Uraraka will sometimes call him out, but it's light scolding if anything. Though, having Iida go off on Bakugou probably wouldn't have looked good for Hori's golden boy

[bnhaobservation]

Why do you think Endeavor's solution to every problem that raises is to remove himself entirely? Like aside from his obvious inferiority complex (do u think he has an inferiority complex? 🤔)

Well...

let's start in reverse.

Enji himself admitted he had a 'weakness' within, that he'll believe he'll never be a true superhuman (like All Might), that he felt envy for him and had an inferiority complex and tried to hide his weakness by putting up a front.

So it's canon he has an inferiority complex and most of his behaviour stems from his attempts at hiding it by putting up a mask, a front, acting the opposite of how he felt.

So yeah, he has an inferiority complex toward All Might.

Now... is Endeavor's solution to every problem that he raises to remove himself entirely?

I think the question needs some clarifications.

For start, if we're talking of Endeavor as the HERO, Endeavor, no, he generally doesn't remove himself, he tackles problems personally the harder he can.

The only moment in which he felt tempted to remove himself from a problem was when Dabi turned out to be Touya and, in the end, he decided to tackle it, showed up to the press conference, took upon himself the entire responsibility, went to help Deku refusing Shouto's help, accepted to take part to the war, told Shouto he wanted to be the one to face Touya, accepted for the grand plan it was better if he were to face All for One and did face him, even though he didn't feel up fighting Touya he lead him away so that his son at least wouldn't hurt the other Heroes and this despite how worn out and wounded he was.

But I think you aren't talking about Endeavor the Hero, but about Enji the man, the father and husband.

And here canon confirms he tried escaping facing responsibilities by pushing them on others (he told Rei he wouldn't look at Touya so she had to do it, he let Fuyumi face the responsibility of keeping together the family, he tried to push first on Touya and then on Shouto the duty to surpass All might for him, he removed himself completely from Natsuo's life).

That's why he is trying to atone now, because he realized his negligence caused his family's destruction.

He never really explained WHY he decided to act in such a way.

We can just speculate so my answer is as good as the one of anyone else.

Of course we can connect some things to his envy for All Might and to his inferiority complex toward him.

There's a bit in one of the "School Briefs" I find rather interesting. The story is about Parents' Day, a day in which the parents of the students are invited to go to school.

Shouto says nothing about it to Enji (as he doesn't want his father to go there) but Enji finds the invitation (too late) and rushes at U.A. as he really wishes to take part to it but... once Recovery Girl opens the gates up for him he can't bring himself to admit he's there for parents' day because he doesn't want to be exchanged for a doting father as, according to him, a Hero as to project strength and nothing more, absolutely not the image of a sensitive family man. He must look ambitious and prideful, nothing else.

So, if we take "School Briefs" as canon, part of why Enji avoids his family is also due to this, he believes he has an image to project and protect, an image that's tied to his inferiority complex with All Might because it's tied to how he wants to be perceived AS A HERO.

Shouto is in a Hero school and, in the story, Enji ultimately convinces himself him watching Shouto performing in a Hero school wouldn't make him look soft... but think at his other kids.

They aren't in a Hero school, which means Enji might very likely have avoided going to school on parents' day meaning, after Rei's hospitalization, they had no one who would go to school for them.

But there's more to consider.

First of all, remove yourself from a situation, isn't necessarily a wrong strategy. Sometimes we must know when to back off and leave people more competent than us handle the problem... or just give up on seeing it being solved because it can't be solved otherwise we'll only do further harm. Knowing when one has to back off or when one has to continue tackling the problem is supposed to be one of the things that mark the passage to adulthood.

As an adult you're expected to know when something is worth trying being fixed or not and since it's generally not so simple and clean cut people still make plenty of mistakes despite being adults...

For example, while Rei was recovering it was important for her psychological health not to meet Enji. Enji staying away from her instead than, for example, pressure the hospital to let him meet her, was a good thing.

In Japan divorce isn't as smooth as in other countries (it carries a social stigma for both parties as well as for the kids involved) so if it'd gone for a divorce it wouldn't have been equally good... but it could have been a good solution in other countries.

Why this is relevant?

Because Enji has to judge each time if the option of removing himself from something is a good idea or not, it's not a given it's always wrong.

When he decides, for example, that he'll build another house for Fuyumi and Natsuo so they can welcome Rei there, he persuades himself it's a good idea FOR THEM.

Rei can't meet him, Natsuo feels bad when he sees him, Shouto told him not to put up a father's act in front of his friends, making him feel rejected as a father... so if they don't see him everyone's happy, right? Wrong because it doesn't take into consideration his family's wishes.

But the fact it seems right it's part of why Enji feels it's okay to choose such an option.

I particularly like how the anime represents this choice.

Neither Natsuo nor Fuyumi are happy with Enji's choice and the visual seems to imply he's leaving them, abandoning them...

...with Enji who instead continues to think "What I can do for my family after all this time...? I think about this every time I go to sleep."

The fact he dreams his family being happy while he's not with them, to him comes to seem the answer to the question.

He thinks that's what he has to do if he really cares about them.

But there's also, of course a dark side to all this.

Removing himself from his family... is the easy choice. Forcing Rei to look after Touya, leaving on Fuyumi the responsibility of the house, pushing first on Touya and then on Shouto the duty to surpass All Might, not caring about Natsuo... are also all easier choices than actually getting involved.

Let's pick this scene because it's easier.

Enji doesn't know what to say to Touya. Saying the wrong thing has the potential, of course, to make matter worse and Enji excuses his inaction also by telling to himsef 'if I go there I'll end up encouraging him'... so he chooses to do nothing... which requires him zero efforts... and ultimately leads to terrible consequences.

Touya needed him to step up to his duty as a father, to risk doing mistakes but putting up all his efforts into reaching his son, into keeping him safe.

Because although all this seems to steem from how Touya wants to become a Hero, the real core of the problem is he doesn't feel himself being seen by his father.

It's not so much about Enji telling him something, is about Enji making him feel seen. Enji doesn't, he kind of understands Touya needs to be seen but pushes that duty on Rei. He runs away hiding behind his Hero role. He has job to do, he can only show him the world of Heroes.

He runs away. He pushes forward excuses and runs away.

He did it with Touya but it's basically what he had done with the rest of his family, the story simply digs it more on how he did it with Touya because the consequences were terrible and came to bite him back.

And yes, we can blame for it his weakness, his inferiority complex, he wants to look like a strong Hero and he can't even help his child. He's afraid to fail because trying would be hard and failing wouldn't fit the image of a Hero and so he doesn't.

He's insecure, not in battle, not on duty but with how he presents himself.

Which might be tied to how he lost his father.

We don't really know the answer (and, of course, even if we were to know, this wouldn't make right what Enji did to his family), and throwing in his loss makes things really complex because Horikoshi developed extremely little that part.

Basically for 355 chapters he let us think that Enji's sole weakness was he was self centered, selfish, then with basically zero build up, threw in that he had lost a parent same way as Kotarou and this gave him trauma but... well, Kotarou's loss and reaction were better developed.

I really wish Horikoshi were to go back at that because that needed more space and... got nothing. But I doubt there will be time for it.

So hum... I fear I've ended up rambling a bit. Sorry if I can't offer you some definitive answer on why Enji does what he does, just my guesses about it and thank you for your ask!

I do love to talk about the Todoroki family!

[satancopilotsmytardis]

Moth God Shigaraki! Yes!

Oooh, the hinted backstory is nice so far! I like magic AUs :)

A bit different from your usual writing style, probably because it's a God AU. God AUs are always a bit different. But I like it a lot! It still has your characteristics, but the general vibe is a bit more fairytale like? Dark fairytale, but still. More mythical than your usual fics.

I like the nicknames Shigaraki gives Dabi. The little spark that starts the fire. The kindling that sets the forest ablaze.

I want to wrap Dabi up in blankets and keep him safe. I think Shigaraki might agree with that idea.

Dabi, you are such a simp. Not that Shigaraki is any better.

"Will you feed me to the roses?" "Would you like to be roses?" I love the conversations in this one.

Shigaraki has such a sad existence. I mean, yeah, he wants to kill everyone who lives on his land and destroy their homes, but they locked him up for so long. I feel like his story might be a selffulfilling prophecy. They anger him, so he wants to take revenge, so the keep him locked up. A, to Shigaraki, neverending cycle.

And even still Dabi manages to find a way to cook. Nice.

For once Shigaraki can handle the cold better than Dabi.

They are both lonely and desperate for good connections :(

Oh Dabi. Shigaraki doesn't want him to die. I think the other sacrifices made their choice quicker. I don't think he interacted with another person for as long as he did Dabi in all the time he was trapped. He doesn't want Dabi to die, so he gives him the chance to save who he wants to protect.

"I can't just let you kill everyone." "Yeah, but what if we were boyfriends, would that change things?"

Ugh, this whole fic is a tragedy. They are both so, so desperate to protect who they love. Shigaraki would become a monster a hundred times over to help Dabi. Dabi would give up his life, his choice, to the ambition of others if he believes that to help his siblings. He is still so caught up in "his purpose".

Oh, stabbed by his own father. Ouch.

And Shigaraki gave up his destruction for the person he loves. That's a theme in your fics, him willing to give that up for the League, even when they would never ask that of him. Just like it's always Shigaraki accepting Dabi's plan, trying to give him options that allow him to survive but ultimately accepting his choice.

Honestly, it's impressive how this stays the same even in an AU so different from what you usually write.

They are so in loveeeee. And now they can spend eternity together ;-;

"I will give up my weapon to save you. I will give up revenge as long as I can have you." "Then let me be your weapon, let me destroy what harms you."

The last time Fuyumi sees her brother is next to her mother's bed, with golden blood on his face and hiding in the shadows after he was supposed to be gone forever. Then she's away and her mother wakes up and her father is dead and her brother is gone (and who knows what happened to her village). How is she supposed to explain that to her brothers? (What happens when mortals spot Dabi, one of the two monsterous Gods of the forest? Will his siblings look at him and realize what happened?)

(the comment is so long because that was my prompt request and I love fantasy AUs. Amazing work! I love this one.)

Thank you so so much! I'm so glad that so much of this story resonated with you!

I'm glad that the change of tone came across! I definitely wanted this one to read like a poem/fairytale, so I'm glad that the writing achieved that!

Shigaraki's situation was absolutely supposed to showcase that self-fulfilling prophecy, and it was inspired by the imprisonment of Morpheus in Neil Gaiman's The Sandman!

Dabi was definitely the sacrifice Shigaraki spent the most time around, but not the only one who took the full week to make their decision. But Dabi is among a very small handful who ever entered his prison and stayed with him during that time.

I like to play on the theme of love and sacrifice in my works, I think it's romantic for a character so devoted to a specific goal, to choose the person (or people) they love over that goal when it comes down to it. It often shows most with Shigaraki because I usually really want to avoid any final confrontation with Endeavor, but in my writing, Dabi would do the exact same thing for Shigaraki and the League. In fact, in this fic, the final thought he has before killing Endeavor is not about him getting his revenge, it's about protecting Shigaraki and all of the innocent people who would have been used as kindling to fuel the stone in his father's plan. He was killing to save people, not for his own revenge, they just happened to coincide in this instance!

Poor Fuyumi had a NIGHT. While Rei was being seen to by healers, and reeling herself from the fact her young daughter is now a full-grown woman, Fuyumi would be sending arcane messages back to the house through a magic mirror. Of course these would get no replies, she would try the guard station next and be informed that the house had burned down and that her father was dead. She would jump to the right conclusion that Dabi killed him and burned down the house, but she would have no idea why because, like Dabi guessed, she was not told he was sent to be the sacrifice that year. She would try to reach out to him, but of course he's not home either. From there she would call Natsuo and Shoto to get them to come see their mom and the three of them would try and figure out what to do next from there. Ultimately, I don't think they could be stopped from going back to their village when Rei is well enough to travel, but it wouldn't probably be until the following spring!

[hvwks]

and listen i get it i understand a hefty sizable chunk (honestly, the vast majority) of the fandom wants endeavor dead, rendered useless, written off, etc, for his actions and thats fair and completely valid bc like. its a fictional dude. actions were reprehensible, you may have those opinions.

but... i just... the potential for those kids to finally heal and move forward. and begin a life for themselves free of the shackles that their family's fucked up dynamics created... so much of that can come from seeing what brought you pain and misery and choosing to move forward, anyway. i'm not saying you need to forgive your abuser or anything of that nature. absolutely not. but i can tell you. if... my mother, who spent so much of my childhood and adolescence telling me how useless i was, how i can't do anything right, won't achieve anything with my life, and fostered these severely debilitating neurodivergencies that i know have to be in full-time therapy for the forseeable future with no real "cure" for it (woohoo lets go bpd!) .... so much as apologized to me even once. for the things that i went through. i think i could heal so much of my inner. i wouldn't be fixed compeltely. hell, i will still need to do my dbt worksheets and my grounding techniques. but at least i won't have to spend the rest of my life dealing with a "would she ever say sorry? would she ever recognize what she did to me?"

and the thing is, at least for shoto, fuyumi, even natsuo to some extent.... they are choosing to be there, choosing to listen to the man that made their life a living hell in his apologies. enji didn't force any of his kids to listen to his apologies. much less accept them. and that's said time and time again. shown multiple times, too. the way those kids choose to step up and move forward is completely of their own volition--and whether YOU, the viewer, an outsider's perspective, decide hes worthy of "redemption" (which!! he explicitly said he didn't want! he specifically said he wants to atone for his actions!! not be seen as a completely different person, but the same man who recognizes his evils and is actively making the choice to see where he can make things better, even by a small fraction if he can!!) doesn't change the fact that there are people out there who would give up their pinky toe to have a parent that hurt them so badly acknowledge their actions and apologize for them.

not because it makes them a btter person all of a sudden. but because it gives the people affected by them the chance to find closure and move forward to grow into something new and transformed.

and THAT is why endeavor's survival, ESPECIALLY after the climax of the todorokis vs dabi, would be important to the narrative as well as the overall growth of the todoroki family. dabi felt what it was like, for the first time, to be seen. he's a boy that never got to grow or learn how to handle his very big emotions. he was a victim in all things. whether that was with endeavor or with afo. but the potential for him to see what could be, see where things can, maybe, just maybe, one day become what the little touya that died at sekoto peak always wanted is too good for me to ignore.

[that-spider-fan-over-there]

I said I wasn't gonna post about the chapters until the official ones were out (and because I didn't want to go "spur of the moment reaction" for the last five) and in the process I FORGOT TO POST MY THOUGHTS ON CHAPTER 426 SO HERE IT IS:

I'll admit I'm not that engaged in the Todofam plotline despite being a fan of that trainwreck, but I think it was a pretty solid chapter, wish Touya and Shoto talked more but after the soba I don't think I would've handled it without crying "THEY'RE THE CHARACTERS EVER DAMN IT ;-;" lol (<- I say but I genuinely sobbed). Plus. 15 pages, can't complain with the amount of content we got.

Cheered when Natsuo cut him off and holy shit what do you mean that caused discourse, he has the right and was pretty much badass considering Asia's. *ahem* Values with filial piety so to speak. I don't think Rei's gonna take care of Enji, he might get himself a caretaker while Rei lives with Fuyumi or something. Maybe in that separate house he idealized (because basically if they divorce Rei wouldn't get anything out of it to keep herself up according to japanese laws).

And despite this being about the family getting closure, I don't think Touya's gonna die so soon, he and Shoto have to talk more and eat soba together after all. Plus he lived out of spite and rage, if he dies because he's guilty for what he did to Shoto that'd be. Fucked up. In my opinion.

Shoto saying he's gonna be okay because Class A is by his side. Have I ever told you guys I love him? No? Okay so: I love him and he deserves the world and his found family ;-;

I read Hawks as being the PSC president as a good thing for four reasons and they're all angst-related:

He wants to atone for killing Twice and therefore starting Himiko's breakdown/rampage.

He thinks he can try and do good considering he knows the system well enough. And it's also a way to take back control of his life in a way.

He doesn't think he can be free from his responsibilities because of the guilt he feels, so a little bit of a punishment for him. Can't call himself a hero anymore and being president will not change he has blood on his hands now. But he can try to make things better for others and avoid his mistake(s).

He can't go back from his Hawks identity. Touya exposed he's the child of a criminal and that's what the public sees Takami Keigo as. But fittingly with the themes of names, masks and self-identity, people would still see "former" Hero Hawks in a better light. And so does he, because he sees it as someone who can help and his real identity as something to leave behind.

(I am, of course, assuming he's doing it as his choice, if not, then I Do Have Negative Opinions)

Lady Nagant did stump me with the "Midoriya Izuku demonstrated something to the world". I let it slide with Toshinori because it can be read as him breaking his "hide but never lie" statement from Ch. 2 to comfort him, but unless somehow the vestige world was broadcast like the Steven Universe episode "Cry For Help", Izuku just reinforced he's Toshinori's successor, alright: punched a villain to defeat him with OFA on borrowed time and ended the fight Quirkless again.

And I'm saying this as a "Tenko gave reset OFA back to Izuku and/or Katsuki will help Izuku reignite the embers" truther. Tenko died on broadcast TV looking like Izuku killed him, and on purpose to boot, instead of being a horrible side effect of the transfer. Izuku is pretty much a tired repressed little sad sack close to losing it. (Dare I say Shoto, Ochako and Katsuki showed more to the world than him? That's the vibe I'm getting.)

So I'm assuming she meant Izuku's heart connected everyone to a singular goal of a hopeful future, something she didn't get? Since no one knows what happened in the vestige realm and even if they did, Izuku didn't get to talk to Tenko. But unless it's about these connections he made that helped him in the long run and "win" the battle, what did society see from Midoriya Izuku's actions? Good question that makes me more hopeful (or delusional depending on your point of view) about a potential sequel.

But apparently they barely learned anything because Trauma, from reading Chapter 427, but I'm still writing and processing my thoughts on that. An old lady should've been punched, tho.

[bibibbon]

What fails in MHA: gags/jokes

As well all know gags and jokes are everywhere in shonen but they are rarely done well in my opinion especially in MHA. There isn't a problem with having a bit of comedy in your manga but when the gag or joke either harms the characters development or just is offensive it tends to just fall flat at best and ruin the story at worst.

There are many common and multiple gags hori uses which I HATE:

Izuku/the midoriya family are crybabies. This is one that was VERY PRESENT during the earlier seasons which in my opinion ruined the show and many peoples view of izuku as a character. It makes sense why izuku would cry more then a regular shonen type of MC considering that he is supposed to be a "normal" teenager and he shows some very clear signs of anxiety. I understand when people get annoyed at how much he cries especially because it's very over exaggerated a lot of the time and just depicts him crying a waterfall when you could of just shown him tearing up. It's a bit more excusable for inko but it really doesn't shine a good look on her especially knowing that she is quite emotionally dependent on her son .

Katsuki being mean towards literally anyone and anything. We know that bakugo is a character who is going through a redemption arc to change and become a better person so we shouldn't see him be so aggressive and angry if he is trying to change especially if it's a joke. A gag like that really ruins his development and to me its the reason why I don't think he really changed his attitude or way of thinking towards izuku as much as people like to believe he has ( CANON BAKUGO AND FANON BAKUGO AREN'T THE SAME )

Perverted characters like mineta or sir nighteye .Yes, this is definitely targeted towards mineta and night eye because Iam still very disgusted by the scene of bubble girl and night eye and mineta just gives me the absolute CREEPS. honestly, idk what it is with hori and giving us these type of stuff it's honestly disturbing and disgusting I don't think I would mind if it were done to criticise or lambast something about hero societies pedophilic undertones and the way it loves to sexualise female characters but it's just there as a horrible gag.

Dumbing down denki and making him seem stupid. This is more of making UA look bad because Denki could of been seriously hurt in the usj because of the whole dumbing him down gag and while it isn't the worst gag in the show it kinda falls flat in my opinion and just makes ua look bad. It's also double standards in my opinion because he would be useless in battle if he were to overuse his quirk just like izuku.

The interview scene with mount lady. I don't understand why izuku was ridiculed for his lack of control when it came to blackwhip and it doesn't help that some of the characters where DEFINITELY ACTING OUT OF CHARACTER when they all had the same reaction.

There are some 50/50 gags that still failed due to horikoshi not letting them go or not handling them well.

Izuku's everlasting fanboyism of heroes especially all might. Look this one isn't that bad but like I just don't like the fact that he never grew out of it. I personally like to think that izuku was a big all might fanboy is because he saw all might as the only person who actually believed in him and gave him words of encouragement even if it was through a screen and even if those words where directed towards anyone not only him. As the story progresses izuku should grow to realise that all might is a flawed individual who has cared for him but harmed him at the same time.

Horikoshis perception of izuku being "too intense". This could of easily been incorporated into Izuku's character as an actual character trait that could be used as a gag from time to time. For example we see izuku over think everything or hyper analyse so many small things like fuyumi's cooking. There are moments where izuku seems to come off as weird to other characters and I feel like that shouldn't happen or it should be handled in a better way. I mean how is it that someone doing something so simple as looking at a video intensely will freak/weird you out compared to someone who has a weird quirk or a passerby doing something weird

There are definitely A LOT MORE THAT IAM PROBABLY FORGETTING.

However, hori does have some good gags/ jokes in my opinion, yes they are rare but they do indeed exist like:

Kirishima's manliness. A lot of the time this actually promotes positive masculinity which is something that is definitely needed and it also helps develop kiris character a whole lot more

This one interaction between jiro and tokoyami. I really liked it, it didn't come out as sexual which is something I really enjoyed and you can clearly tell it's just two classmates vibing and trying not to die

Tokoyami and his whole darkness persona. Idk I guess this is me but I like it, it adds a lot to tokoyami while also not being overused .

This one Iam 50/50 with and it's yuuga and his whole I like cheese and I can't stop twinkling persona. I think it adds more depth to his character and foreshadows his role as the traitor to a certain extent but I also find it a bit stereotypical considering the fact that he is french and yuuga will just end up speaking in basic french words and then Japanese

Hawks favourite food ironically being chicken wings. It's simple but it also makes us closer to hawks and can make him a bit more relatable to people

Izuku, iida and shotos hand crusher joke. That has to be my favourite joke in the series it literally didn't end up mocking anyone and cemented one of the best MHA trios

Overall, hori sucks at making truly enjoyable gags and has a lot that harm characters developments especially surrounding his MC Izuku but he can sometimes actually provide enjoyable ones.

[spectralscathath]

number 22 for the salt thing

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

idk if the whole fandom sleeps on this but like, the bits of the fandom I'VE seen have, and no fandom was specified for this so I’m gonna come out and say it: I like Endeavor’s arc in MHA. I like that he is a toxic, abusive father, a terrible husband, and just kinda the worst, and, key point here, I like that he figures out that he’s a bastard and realises ‘oh shit I need to do better’ and then has No Fucking Clue how to do it. Do I think it’s handled perfectly? God no, there’s problems in the writing, always will be. But I think it’s interesting, it’s intriguing, and that while I do understand people hating Enji for his actions and stuff, I think that flattening him down to just a one-note abuser actively robs the storyline of a complex and fascinating character.

I think my favourite thing about it as well is that Enji fucks it up constantly. He has no idea how to be a father, he has no idea how to be a civil human being, he knows how to be a hero in terms of doing the work side of the job (such as having the most solved cases on record or his agency focusing on all areas of heroism instead of specialising), but he can’t for the life of him be an inspiration or a leader. He’s self-centred, he’s hard-headed, he’s mean, he’s hot-tempered, he’s proud and ambitious, he can’t handle a single conversation without resorting to gruffness and intimidation, and these are flaws that he has baked into himself for decades, of course they’re not gonna just go away. I want to study him under a microscope, honestly. Here is a character who has so completely defined themselves by two things: being perfect at their job on paper, and being second best. And then, all of a sudden, for the first time in his life. He comes first. But not by any of his own merits, his hard work. Nope. He comes first by default. And he hates it.

But, then that lil finicky bit of his perfectionism comes into play, and now that he’s been handed the title that he’s spent so long trying to take, even if it isn’t how he wanted it, he’s still that stubborn fuck who’s gonna do his goddamn job, so he starts actually trying to figure out how to be what All Might was, and isn’t that so interesting, the duality of flaws? How his need to be the best made him a monster, and then, when circumstances changed, it set him on the road to try and atone. And I do mean ‘atone’. I’m definitely in the ‘this is an atonement, not a redemption’ camp. It's mostly semantics, and I’m definitely not up to date on the manga so god knows if it’s gonna get pulled off, but man, if this landing is stuck, I’d love it.

Following on from that: I’m absolutely on team ‘none of the Todorokis die at the end’. I think the best ending for the Todoroki family is that they all live, and they all keep getting to have interesting and different interactions with each other. Because the reactions to Enji from his family are the other best part of his arc. Stories thrive on drama and conflict, and this man is a walking fusion generator of the two. Rei wants nothing to do with him for good reason until she needs to work with him to help their son, she has her own demons to deal with as well. Fuyumi is forgiving to her father, but that doesn’t mean she’s not still angry at him, she has her own reasoning for doing so. Natsuo would be happy if he got to live the rest of his life never having to talk to his dad again but doesn’t want him dead. Dabi is just swinging wildly between every emotion known to man with the dial turned all the way up, his issues are all standing on top of each other in one emo trench coat that’s currently setting everything on fire before anyone can realise there’s a person behind the nightmare. And Shouto is also in this complicated space of sorta wanting stop being angry, not for Enji’s sake but for his own.

If Enji was just a one-note character, the abuser using his hero status to get away with his crimes, then that would lose all the interesting interplay between the family. It takes all the teeth out of the Todoroki plotline. And Enji or Dabi dying at the end? Well, where’s the story supposed to go from there, it doesn’t fit, it’s a cop out for Enji’s plotline, which is all about ‘you are not allowed to escape the consequences of your actions, you must live to see the damage you have done and work to fix it’. Enji is a man defined by his need to work, and so work he must.

What a fun way to take a character. (Again reiterating that I’m not saying you have to like him but like. I think he’s very polarising for good reason and that often leads to people flattening him down into Pure Evil Abuser, and I feel like from what I’ve seen of the fandom, the interesting stuff about him gets lost in that.)