#heteromorph discrimination plot

[stillness-in-green]

First of all, thank you for Bring It All Back. Gave me chills. Second, what do you think about the newest chapters? It seems like Izuku took Gran Torino's 'killing to save' ideology to heart. Personally, I gave up somewhere around the Nagant arc.

Belatedly, thank you very much, @kermitthekrog-blog!  I’m glad you enjoyed it, and I’m particularly always happy to hear people say it was chilling, upsetting, enraging, or other such disruptive adjectives.  It’s a rabble-rouser of an art project, to be sure, quite intentionally so.

As to the rest, I’ve made a few posts here and there since I got this ask which probably make my opinions pretty clear, and I’ve got a new ask in the queue which wants to know my thoughts on the epilogue material thus far, so I’ll have more to say there!  But in the meantime, yeah, it’s pretty appalling to think back to all Deku’s talk about “saving” Shigaraki and realize that all of it predates the Gran Torino scene?

Like, he thinks he wants to save Shigaraki when they part ways at the end of the first war arc, sure!  And he tells the vestiges he wants to save Shigaraki!  But does that specific word choice endure once he wakes up?  Well, @codenamesazanka did some hunting recently (you can find two posts about her rereads here and here) and, it turns out, no; it doesn't.

After Deku wakes up and talks to Gran Torino, the focus switches to Deku understanding Shigaraki, choosing not to ignore him, finding out the nature of the Crying Child, all that stuff.  That word completely stops coming out of Deku's mouth, and very shortly after stops coming from any of the OFA vestiges as well.

It really does read, in retrospect, like, yeah, he sincerely took Gran Torino’s words at face value and to heart. “Killing can be a way of saving, so I can save him by killing him.”

Heck, if anything, given how little he focuses after that on saving, it almost feels like that’s the moment he resolves to kill Shigaraki—rather conveniently, it allows him a way to make peace with extrajudicial murder and avenge himself for all the people Shigaraki’s hurt that Deku can’t forgive him for.

The only thing that’s different from just killing him outright is that Deku wants to understand him first, as if he has to verify for himself that Shigaraki is secretly unhappy and why so he can justify that save-by-killing—putting Shigaraki out of whatever misery Deku can make himself believe Shigaraki is in—with a clean conscience.  But he absolutely does not make any further promises about not killing him afterward.

Grim fucking stuff, but it lines up.  One wonders what he would have done if the Shigaraki in the mindscape had changed to Sweet Innocent Tenko and never reverted back to Shigaraki Tomura at any point.  Would Deku have tried not to punch him to death?  Tried to call for Eri or Recovery Girl after AFO’s vestige faded out?  Felt like more of a failure because the “person” VFO devoured would have been that cute kid, meaning Deku failed to save the “child”?

As it is, he mostly just seems vaguely discouraged and unhappy about Shigaraki staying “the leader of the League” until the end—would he have preferred that his hands were ashen and flaking with the powdered remains of the crying child instead?

As to me giving up, the Nagant fight is one of two places I'd put that pin.  I was discouraged by the first war arc, when so many of the advantages Shigaraki had gained over the course of MVA were stripped away from him again.  I was dissatisfied with the second encounter with Muscular, when Deku's "victory" was framed in such a heroic, triumphant light despite being a categorical failure based on the standard Deku seemed to have set for himself.  But Deku’s fight with Lady Nagant was so bad for so many reasons that it served as the first true hammer blow to my belief that Horikoshi would be willing or able to seriously grapple with the societal problems the manga had been building up to at that point.

My patience with the manga, and the enjoyment I derived from it, continued to deteriorate throughout the rest of that arc and the following war arc, but the hospital attack is the other place I would point to as the sequence that completely destroyed my engagement with the series.

Just—the naked contrivances of it, the excruciating treatment of Spinner, the howling tone-deafness, the monumental unfairness of the demands it laid at the feet of its oppressed minority. The series presents a backstory like Shouji’s alongside current story elements like heteromorphs being turned away from shelters in the supposedly accepting and quirk-blind big cities and still somehow comes out valorizing passive endurance so hard it starts to look like willful self-subjugation.

It is the most comprehensively noxious moral in the entire endgame, rivaled only by Deku’s murder of Shigaraki under the guise of “saving” him, and frankly? I would still put that one in second place. At least you can point to Shouto (and possibly Ochaco, though that remains to be seen) as an indication that save-by-killing is not a story-wide moral about villains who have “gone too far.”

Conversely, pretty much everything the hospital attack mini-arc winds up preaching can be read outward onto the rest of the story's antagonists as well, including Lady Nagant. What else to make of her exchange with Hawks The Optimist, after all, than that the conclusion is that she should have just kept murdering whoever the government told her to until some outside player solved her problem for her?

A Hero is someone who is willing to suffer in silence. A Villain, then, must be someone who refuses to.

Truly, the hospital attack is the poisoned well that wipes out the entire village.

[sapphic-agent]

Trios that would have been more compelling and less obnoxious than the "Wonder Trio":

Izuku, Tenya, Ochako: This needs no explanation

Izuku, Tenya, Shouto: Again, this really needs no champion vouching for it. The Stain arc and the subsequent character work that came with it will never be matched by any other arc in MHA.

Izuku, Denki, Yuga: These three all have self-harming quirks that can be really dangerous and inconvenient during a battle. It was truly a lost opportunity to see these three bond over their issues. Making Izuku and Yuga being close friends right off the bat would've have been really beneficial in sowing the traitor plot point early on and would've have also been far more devastating for Izuku during the reveal. And honestly, Yuga being formerly quirkless and having a self-harming quirk is a much better narrative parallel than the "Save to Win and Win to Save" bullshit that we got. Denki and Yuga just seem like they'd have really good chemistry.

Izuku, Tenya, Momo: These 3 intelligent specimens would've have been extremely overpowered if Hori actually cared enough to develop them. Also, Momo would get to shine because her quirk is powerful as hell (I actually head canon that she has the strongest/most versatile quirk in 1A and maybe enough the BNHA verse as a whole) and it's a crime that her intelligence and OP quirk went underutilized. Also, Momo and Izuku helping each other through their lack of self confidence would have been really touching and maybe have Izuku reflect on his life and how he was treated pre OFA. Momo and Tenya also seemed really no nonsense in the beginning when she ruthlessly criticized Bakugou, so this could help Izuku cut Bakugou off much earlier and allow him to grow.

Izuku, Tsuyu, Mineta: Yes I know, I know. Mineta sucks. But even so, these three were super compelling and interesting to watch during the USJ arc. The ways in which they used their quirks to escape death has way more charm and personality in their hair follicles than post season 3 ShoBakuDeku have in their entire bodies. Also, since Tsuyu was one of the first to call Bakugou out, I feel like her bluntness would be a really good reality check for Izuku to realize that the way Bakugou (and Aizawa) treat him is not okay. Also, Mineta already idolizes Izuku (which is actually sort of sweet) so this could have been used to develop his character rather than the awful and repetitive perv shtick that we're unfortunately stuck with.

Izuku, Shoji, Tokoyami: Like with the above trio, their forest camp sequence in trying to escape dark shadow has more personality and authenticity in their hair follicles than anything having to do with the stupid wonder trio. After all, the whole thing started because of Tokoyami witnessing Shoji being harmed by moonfish, which feels really raw and touching. Shoji also carrying Izuku on his back is super cute. These three also could've been used to address quirk-based discrimination, which is basically that backbone of BNHA's premise (even if it is always glossed over). Tokoyami and Shoji would've had to be victims of heteromorph discrimination (I think it was even confirmed in later chapters) which could drawn the three to each other. No offense to Shouto (and full offense of Bakugo) the two of them could never really relate to Izuku's trauma especially since Bakugou is responsible for 85% of it. They're both rich, they were both born with extremely powerful quirks. While Shouto is tragic because he was abused, he also benefits from the system of powerful quirks being favored which makes the two of them privileged. I also feel like Shoji and Tokoyami finding out about OFA and Izuku's previous quirklessness would just strengthen their bond and would motivate them to help and protect Izuku in any way they can unlike Bakugou who was a total nuisance the entire time.

Izuku, Mei, Ochako: Again, like with the last two, their admittedly limited time on screen together has more charm and personality than the stupid Wonder Trio.

These are the ones that I could think of from the top of my head. Feel free to add anymore.

These are all so cool! I especially liked Izuku, Denki, and Yuga. I always thought Izuku and Denki should have had more interactions anyway. And of course I love Izuku's scenes with Yuga. This is definitely a more unique one.

I would add Izuku, Momo, and Shoto to the list because I love the thought of Izuku being super intimidated by them only to be like, "Oh, oh no they're just isolated rich kids who have never talked to another kid their age and they're mine now" and adopts them.

Also, Izuku, Fumikage, and Shoto. I feel like they're fun.

It's not an Izuku trio but I'd also love Ochako, Tsu, and Momo just because they're best girls

[dolche-tejada]

Since the latest episode of MHA brings this up again, I'd like to rant about how badly Hori took his audience for morons through the resolution of heteromorph racism in the epilogue.

When you introduce social issues in your story and that this same story sells itself on the idea that your heroes are there to solve them and make the world a better place, you can't cheat on what you promised to your readers. And that's what Horikoshi did. He cheated.

I guess everyone remembers the ""excellent"" treatment of the heteromorph racism during the fight between Shoji and Spinner ? Which can be summed up to “Even if you almost get beaten to death every time you leave your house, you should endure in silence until things get better !”

Well then watch out because Horikoshi actually proposed a real solution to this... Offscreen.

SO WHAT WAS THE FUCKING POINT ?! The whole purpose of a story is to learn from it right ? Then what am I supposed to learn when the only concrete thing onscreen is to shut angry victims up when they finally fight back after decades of discrimination ?

And I'm talking about this plot here but it works with others too ! Like Toga and Quirk Counseling, we're shown that Ochako has extended this across Japan, okay… And so ?

Because the real problem with this system isn't that some kids haven't benefited from it but that on the contrary it's just there to force atypical children to conform to biased standards of normalcy, which is literally what drove Toga to break apart in the first place !

But guess what, same shit here : No resolution to this problem, Hori just tells us everything's fine and we're supposed to take his word for it.

Now some might tell me that he had no choice but to rush these themes because of his frail health… BUT DON'T MAKE THESE THEMES MAJOR ISSUES OF YOUR LAST ARC THEN ! If he doesn't want to make the effort, he shouldn't try to make me believe he did when he forfeits on his own challenge ! Either he'll accept it or he admits he failed.

[class1akids]

Kaminari and Tsuyu’s underutilisation really grinds my gears because they had SUCH potential to be really interesting characters who would have fleshed out areas of the story that were otherwise lacking. Like just off the top of my head:

Kaminari has a pretty high social intelligence. He’s generally pretty good at diffusing stressful situations, handling difficult people, and connecting with others regardless of their origins. All of which are skills it would have been REALLY useful for Deku to develop if the end goal was for him to save villains. Additionally Kaminari’s struggle to control and utilise his very destructive quirk, which effectively damages him if he uses it too much, could have acted as a more open, smaller and closer to home comparison to Dabi’s situation, providing the main cast with a starting point for understanding some of what he went through.

Tsuyu is really the person who should have been given the mutant plot line. Unlike Shoji, she was a character we’d actually spent time with, and even if the plot line was last minute, Tsuyu had in text things that could be built off, like her difficulty making friends due to her appearance, and the fact she’s shown to be hesitant of using certain powers (like regurgitation) because she feels they’re gross. Additionally, Tsuyu internship seemed to be setting her up to be a sea based hero, an environment that people often (famously) need to be saved from, but also an environment where heroes will always be needed even if their jobs lack the glamour of villains to fight.

Yeah, I agree.

Tsuyu was an early favorite of mine, so I was really sad to see her fade into a really lame storyline where she could add nothing.

I think both Tsuyu and Shoji could have been used in the mutant plotline (and Tokoyami + Kouda), but it also should have been built much earlier - showing microaggressions, slowly weaving in the type of discrimination that heteromorphs face. And it should have been resolved better than telling heteromorphs to be "good victims" and solving it by giving Shoji an award.

And yes, Tsuyu absolutely should have been a sea-side water-based rescue hero and not continue to exist to be Ochako's emotional trashcan in a wildly imbalanced "friendship" well into her late 20s.

Kaminari to me actually had some nice highlights in that he was one of the only students ever showing emotions like fear in battle situations (like he did in the PLF War). What I really wanted is a pay-off for his friendship with Bakugou. I think it would have been awesome to see him defend Bakugou's body when the Twice clones swarmed Floating UA and restart his heart in the end, instead of the self-exploding sweat nonsense.

[yonkokraven]

If anyone asks where it all started to go wrong, it's certainly the Stain Arc

-Before that we had a minimum of seriousness to Bakugo's attacks on Midoriya, and then it becomes a recurring gag

-The League of Villains at this point isn't hypocritical enough, here they could give it an approach that actually resembles Stain's ideals instead of the seeds for "I WanT to DeStrOyYyy"

-No event from any movie had happened yet, so those plots could be used appropriately as individual arcs and better developed than the nonsense we've seen.

-Endeavor, there are many things here that I think Hori could have done if he really wanted to redeem Endeavor.

-Here Horikoshi could establish a genuine curiosity of Midoriya towards the meaning of being a hero Because its definition is only "save and help people" but it does not know how things move beyond the academy.

-Here they could easily let Izuku receive recognition from the public with mixed opinions, on the one hand he and his companions saved Native, but on the other they did not have a corresponding license (something perfectly excusable since Hosu had to be in a state of Emergency during the Nomu attack.)

-Give Toga a personality that argues that she needs help IN THE PRESENT and not a flashback so that we feel bad for her and her past when she literally enjoys killing.

-Dabi and Stain had a past as mentor-student, and that instead of killing selflessly he would only kill false heroes

- Spinner can explain more about why he agrees with Stain and that he truly follows that belief of worthy heroes, Whether because a pro-hero discriminated against him or he saw a pro-hero attack a heteromorph unjustifiably, anything helps.

-Compress uses his masks because in reality his face is recognizable, since the families of his ancestor's victims did not stop tormenting his family for generations and basically he cannot live a normal life having "the blood of a villain"

-That Mustard does not have such twisted morals to kill yet, but that his story comes hand in hand with the discrimination of weak or abnormal quirks

-That Moonfish is someone who really reached a point of no return by completely giving in to his quirk.

-Leave Muscular like that, it works that he's a jerk because we've already been shown villains who simply do things for their own benefit (Although the entire league agrees that at the first opportunity they tie him up in the trunk of a car and throw him into the sea)

-That most of the league agrees on the limits of not killing students or civilians, while Shigaraki and Muscular visibly detest this.

Then you can imagine that with all these points presented the story changes course and currently we would have a justification for the sudden "I want to save Tenko" or "I want to save Toga" or "I want to save the league"

[salvagesmha]

Altering the Final War's Battlefields

With the series done, one of the few things that took me until now to get to was basically a bit of a revamp of the Second War battlefields.

The problem with them in the long run for me is that, LOV members aside, there was just...no other major villain established in those fields to really give a shit about or really have a sense of dread about.

One of the major differences between the 1st and 2nd War is that, regardless of how you feel about the results of the 1st War, waltzing into it you understood that the Villains were very credible, established threats.

The League of Villains and their upgraded powers, the MLA top brass and knowing what havoc just one of them could do, the High End Nomus that lay in waitin production thanks to Ujiko, Gigantomachia being a living disaster, 100K soldiers who we know should be on par with regular Heroes from training and have put the LOV on the backfoot. YMMV on how the 1st War turned out, but walking in there was some solid anticaption and intrigue in how these elements would be used....

The Second War does not have that. Why? Because Horikoshi kinda just...gutted the PLF and didn't reaaaaaaallly bring suitable, built-up replacements for them?

High Ends that have personality and can think? Nope, back to just the dumbass Nomus who are just rampaging monsters...that's it.

The PLF soldiers? Literally just 100 people now and, even then, the jailbreakers they got to replace them are just...well, nothing, like I talked about here.

The top brass of the LOV/PLF? Most who could provide interesting fights or intrigue were taken away for just Skeptic...whose regulated back 'hackerman' only.

Replacing them are either AFO's Assassins or Advisors who are just ether not developed at all or just came in too late, beaten too quick and used too little to care about. Thus, it really makes them feel totally irrelevent to the other stuff going around during the war.

For all the talk of the Heroes being at a disadvantage, it certainly did not feel so with just...6 of the bad guys out of a hundred or so people would really care about.. As such, my list below is basically having major Villains take the spots of the Jailbreakers/Advisors as 'Bosses' of their fields so as to give each place a solid Villain to get invested in. In addition, also adding in more returning Villains to help make each place to feel 'alive' in a sense.

If you wanna see how I'd use the Advisors, for the most part (there's a few changes here), look here.

Central Hospital:

This is the most blatant change I feel works for the story better is Trumpet being the ‘Boss’ (or well, one of the Bosses) of Central Hospital. One of the issues in the that battle came about from Disgustus being shoved into two contradictory roles. The first, up until the midway through the battle, is an advocate of mutants that seemed to be genuinely hurt and bitter from the discrimination he’s implied to have gotten (as evidence by his scar)...except then we get to the second half. Which has his internal thoughts filled with how the PLF were just using the mob they gathered as tools and makes him just cartoonishly corrupt. 

Instead of him being forced into both, I think a good idea would have been for Trumpet to take the reigns as the corrupt leader, acting as a false sympathizer for the Heteromorphs, and Disgustus to remain as a genuine, if disdainful extremist. It gives a mook of the PLF more depth since it reminds the audience that a lot of the Villains walked down the path due to rough lives, and allows for their still to be a scummy Villain still to stop. Heck, I feel using Trumpet as the Boss also just makes some of the plot feel more coherent, since he can use his Quirk to not only boost the mob, but make them too frenzied up to really listen or notice something being off (like Spinner clearly being out of it due to the additional Quirks) or notice him clearly covering his ass.

In this case, it’s Shoji and Koda beating Trumpet that could allow for the mob splinter to really begin and stall, with the pig guy’s group merely being the final blow to crack the facade for good. As for Disgustus and the rest of Spinner’s crew, they can be defeated right before they could enter the hospital. Something that hurts Shoji and the others badly enough that the mob genuinely could have killed them if not for pig guy. Heck, to help with this option, I also raise Chimera from movie 2 to return, acting as extra muscle for the crowd and, given his own experience being discriminated against, be another pillar of change get the crowd motivated. While Shoji loses the first encounter against Chimera, this second time, he barely manages to defeat him and is in danger of being killed when help arrives.

On a minor note, more of the USJ crew returns, mainly the Heteromorphic side as well, perhaps trying to spread the idea that, from the beginning, the League of Villains was just trying to raise awareness and change…even though that was very much not the case XD

Boss: Spinner, Trumpet

Jailbreaker: Chimera

Advisors: Spinner’s Advisors

Return: Steel Bulwark, Invisible Wall, Chomper, Greedy Gaping Jaw

Okuto Island

Given this is Toga’s battlefield, there’s not quite too many changes I’d make here. I think the most blatant that could be done is make Moonfish, whose acting as the ‘Jailbreaker’ for the Okuto Villains, more prominent. If Kunieda and Gashly are allowed to wipe out or fend off multiple Heroes, than a guy whose supposed to be on par with them should really be allowed to cut loose and be more of a massive thorn for their side. Plus, since I also think League members should at least get at least a significant send-off, I think Tsu being the one to take him down would be a good way of giving her something major to do. In this case, Tsu uses her wits and camouflage to bait Moon into being more careless with his attacks. Something that leads to him leaving himself open to being stunned by her poison mucus before being knocked out.

Another change I’d make is including Eleph from the High Ends on this battlefield. I think it’d hit the point home how much of a gamble splitting hte Villains up from each other was, as there was always a chance one Villain could have a real advantage wherever they got sent to. In this case, Eleph’s quirk allowed him to suck in water to make fierce hydro attacks at his foes. 

On a lesser note, I’m also for Hanzo Suiden/USJ water thug to add to his mayhem since it should have been high priority for that water fucker to at do something threatening given that battlefield was his advantage. Perhaps’s he’s teaming up with Eleph to help boost the Nomu’s attacks? 

Likewise, for the Advisors section, I’m all for Toga having her #1 Advisor at the scene to help add to the pressure of Okuto.

Boss: Toga

Jailbreaker: Moonfish

Return: Hanzo Suiden, Minotaurus

Nomu: Eleph

Advisors: Toga’s #1 Advisor 

Kamino Ward:

Given that the purpose of this place is that it doesn’t have any Major Jailbreakers, only real major tweak I would make for this is that Ribby replaces the NHE here. I think it’d be fitting if the High End assigned to Dabi was also an ax-crazy killer Nomu that wouldn’t give a shit to being set on fire and is just enjoying the chaos of the War. SImilar to the anime, Ida’s attacks with Ribby, alongside someone like Burnin, are what eventually gets him to go down.

Honestly, I’d probably include Starservant and Ending since both were Dabi’s grunts during the EA arc, and it’d be nice for them to assist their boss once more. Plus, both fit the theme of being crazed Villains unconcerned for their lives, like the other two above as well. Not that I think they’d be a major help, but it’d give some familiar faces the audience would recognize and help care more about the battlefields beyond just the final Boss taking up a major focus.

Boss: Dabi

Nomu: Ribby

Return: Starservant, Ending, Sharkyonara (RIP poor bastard), One-Eyed Green Dragon, Sickle Claw

Advisor: Dabi’s 1st ranker

Jaku Ruins:

To take the place of Skully of the Jaku Ruins battlefield, I raise you Geten. Honestly, I think this is the most natural choice as the Face of Jaku Ruins given how Skully shares Geten’s ‘Quirk Makes Right’ mindset and I think it’d hit more for Mina trying to reason with Geten about how both were fighting for their fallen mentors (in this case Re-Destro) than her trying to resonate with a character who hasn’t really been given his due at all. It’d especially hit harder given RD is basically Geten’s Dad too, so ice boy’s attempts at freeing Machia is coming from a placed of enraged love like Mina had.

As the Jailbreaker of Jaku, I raise Slice as being the sort, mostly to act as a villain against Mina, and would be in a similarm indset to geten about trying to avenge a loss loved one + getting payback on Mina while she was at it since it was her acid that cost her the first fight.

Likewise, in this case, all three of Geten’s Advisors + Dabi’s #2, will be at Jaku. Skully is there to work with Bindi Girl into creating gas that’ll keep their forces safe. Geten’s #3 can probably utter his mammonist line from overhearing about the Heroes plot, and be apart from the first wave of the Jaku villain forces to intercept the Heroes (before being taking out fairly easily - he’s No. 3 for a reason after all). As for Geten’s #1…well, he’’ likely just be there for Geten to bounce ideas off and defend the Commander against enemy attacks.

Now, on the returning Villain side, I’m surprised Giant Villain wasn’t brought back to rematch Mt. Lady. He’ll not be as strong as her, but he can keep her busy after she stomped through a good number of their guys. And, like in canon, Sludge Villain can stay and do his thing. Also, as apart of the first wave, Teruo’s here…to probably be one-shot immediately again, but he will be there XD

Boss: Geten

Jailbreaker: Slice

Return: Sludge Villain, Giant Villain, Teruo Hazakashi (Naked Guy), Axer, Stitched Giant

Advisors: Geten’s Advisors, Dabi’s #2 Advisor

Troy Parking Lot

Now this is one of the trickier locations since it’s pretty just one of the ‘spares’ of the battle. But, ultimately, I think it can work to be something even more meaningful than in canon. In this case, I want Mr. Compress to be left behind here. The support of the League faceing off against pretty much the spares of the Heroes trying to mop up the last of the resistance. Plus, it’s not like Compress doesn’t have a Hero of his own he has beef with. Aoyama was the reason his plan to capture both Bakugo and Tokoyami went screwy, and given Aoyama comes from a rich family that his ancestors would have likely stolen from, well…there’s a lot fun you can have between these two brawling out.

The way I see it, Kunieda makes his plants like in canon, and thanks to Compress’ mask, (alongside several other Villains still remaining that do wear masks of their own or maybe even just Kunieda has control over who he turns into plants) Compress is able to go back to his tree hopping shtick like in the training camp arc and show off his own stealth abilities again. Able to gradually whittle down the Heroes by taking advantage of the foliage to turn those who aren’t plant turned into marbles.

Since there are no Nomu here, the lesser Villains will be made of minor villain gangs, those like Cider House to Team Resvoir Dogs. Stragglers that are really only lasting as long due to Kunieda’s cover and will likely go down after Aoyama/Hagakure’s combo attack.

Boss: Mr. Compress

Jailbreaker: Kunieda

Return:Cider House, Blade Villain/Street Thieves, Reservoir Dogs, Gorilla, Spike

Advisors: Compress #3,

Takoba Stadium:

Honestly, this might sound weird, but Skeptic honestly could have taken Gashly’s place. Gashly’s whole thing is that he spawns minions to outlast others while he himself is in a safe location…

Kinda like Skeptic’s Quirk…or Twice’s…or Toga with Twice’s Quirk (Horikoshi didn’t spend much time on Gashly’s power, let’s be real…). If the main boss of Takoba is just a summoner, than just let Skeptic be badass and not only hack UA’s systems, but also fuck people up via his henchmen too? Heck, you don’t even have to do much to explain how he can do both without issue.

Have him hide somewhere during the chaos…or alternatively? Bring back the Shie Hassaikai guy, Tengai, Barrier and allow Skeptic to camp with in. As for how he can use his set-up at all, have AFO’s spies implant a virus that allows Skeptic access to UA’s systems so that he can safely work his magic in peace…at least up until La Brava stops him. As for how he can fight so well, perhaps have a chapter detailing Skeptic actually bothering to improve his Quirk so that he doesn’t need to use much to create puppets thats can do simple commands, and with access to Detnerat support items, he can effectively spawn more infinitely.

That’s how you can explain Skeptic outlasting the others for so long. At least, up until Tengai is knocked out by Tokage and Kamikiri via the Warp Gate. Thus, shutting down the barrier to allow Skeptic and any remaining Villains to be wiped out. 

Of course, there’s also the issue of the likes of Ketsubutsu’s deal with Skeptic being overturned, though I think a good way to handle that is to have them also at Takoba trying to take Skeptic’s forces down. In this case, a good midtier Villain that can give them a challenge is Deidoro Sakaki and Katsukame. Sakaki’s Sloshed and Katsukame’s energy drain are being a real nuisance in preventing the Heroes from getting to Skeptic, so it’s up to Ketsubetsu to stop them. In this case, Shindo and Nakagame take down Sakaki, while Ms. Joke and those other two guys beat Katsukame. Thus, freeing up more space to focus on the nerdy fuck who needs to get out of the barrier. 

As for any other side Villains to go along with Skeptic, I’m all for including the likes of the Carmine Advisors that made it out, beyond Toga’s 1st ranker. So Toga #3 and Skeptic’s #3. As for Gashly, he can still work as the main muscle, albeit with a revamped Quirk? Perhaps his Baby Tree quirk is more on the psychological side of things that make Skeptic’s puppets even more of a hassle to fight against? Nomu for Takoba will be Chubs to add to the whole theme of ‘this place is chalk full of tanky, long-distance, support fuckers who won’t fight directly’ which is just bound to get on the Takoba Heroes nervesXD

Main Boss: Skeptic

Jailbreaker: Gashly (with a revamped Quirk, probably something rhyme-based to help Skeptic’s puppets out)

Return: Tengai, Katsukame, Sakaki - Shie Hassaikai. Needle Hair, Martial Hair

PLF:  Skeptic #3/Toga’s #3

Nomu: Chubs

UA Shelters

Always thought this was more of a shame that there wasn’t really any proper fights here. Yeah, I know the idea is ‘oh, we can’t let the Villains in’ but c’moooon! It’s the final fight - let them be more of a threat by a few breaking in, causing the Heroes on the inside to try to stop them.

Let Mustard return to spray his gas to help weaken the Heroes defenses, which allows him to get a rematch with Kendo and Tetsu again! Let Mimic get smuggled into UA to take control of the damn thing after Skeptic failed! Have the remaining yakuza work with the saboteurs, acting as their guardsman while they try to bring UA down and it’s a race against time to really stop them. Hell, let Mummy return to use his powers to turn the machinery against the Heroes and have them work hard as Hell to stop him!!

How did they get in? IDK, let one of the saboteurs have a Quirk that let’s them be dollar tree version of Mr. Compress, or maybe they snuck in, if only barely. Heck, maybe after Kurogiri is freed, AFO placed the data for inside of UA and the team meant to rampage in it (thanks to the spies) inside of Shiggy’s mask and Kurogiri warped the taskforce in after the factl There are ways to go about it to make it work. Just allow people like Kaminari and Momo to get more to do than off-screen deal with Twice copies!!! 

But, with that in mind, every location needs a boss of some sort, right?...So why not have the one in charge of such operations be Giran? Have him sneak into UA via his muddle Quirk and make him the director of sabotage for the Villain forces, something he’d be proud to do since he’d want revenge for Twice's death. As for how he doesn’t get folded instantly when found out, if you don’t want to have him unguarded, you can have him use his/Detenerat’s support items to hold off Heroes long enough to make some play happen for his side. I just think it’d be a fitting way to end his story trying to payback the man who saved his life instead of just…not existing after a while.

Boss: Giran

League: Mustard

Jailbreaker: Mummy

Shie Hassaikai: Chronostasis, Mimic, Nemoto, Garbage Trio

PLF: Saboteurs (Tajima, Mihaera, and three people no one cares about)

Gunga Villa

Last, but not least, we got the Gunga battlefield…which is very much due for an uplift. Seriously, the battlefield against the Demon Lord should not have been so damn barren like in canon. Even the Nomus that got sent with him, who were giving everyone else so much trouble, went down likes chumps. So…how to correct it?

Simple! Make it the powerhouse buffet with all the heaviest of hitters being sent there. Woman and her analytical skills mixed with her bloodlust? She’s there to kick ass like the rampaging beast queen that she is, and ensure that the the Heroes really don’t get that much of a break while AFO is wrapped up fighting Team Endeavor in the skies.

Rappa of the Eight Bullets rampaging through the battlefield, knocking out people clean up until Kirishima arrives on Machia - then the rematch of a lifetime could occur!!! I will never stop harping on this, I truly believe we should have gotten a Kirishima and Rappa rematch in the Final War, and its a WASTE Rappa/none of the yakuza besides Overhaul returned!!!

Toxic Chainsaw, the name-dropped foe that All Might whooped back in the 1st chapter and could have probably been a neat callback? Add in Dreadlock Jailbreaker having a spike quirk and the threat from a living pincushion and toxic waste shoots the threat level way up. These guys I’ld probably leave as a deal opponents for the Shiketsu side of things, to give them some form of meaningful foe to clear out before taking on AFO.

Finally, the name-dropped Sanctum and the rest of the Twice Squad serving as, well not really AFO back-up, but general mook rallying nonetheless so the battlefield for this affair is a bit more of semi-organized affair for the Villains instead of a huge mosh pit where they got wiped out so easily.

Boss: AFO

Jailbreaker: Toxic Chainsaw, Dreadlock Jailbreaker

Nomu: Woman

Advisors: Sanctum & other Twice Advisors

Return: Rappa, Habit Headgear, Tesla, Victor

-

Ultimately, this was how I'd split them up! I tried to give each battlefield someone related to the League or who we have seen could be a credible match for the Heroes.

ALso saw fit to give an expalnation as to why some are here and others elsewhere...or not here at all.

Why isn't Re-Destro here?

Because I think the idea of Redestro going down fighting allow the PLF to escape is actually a good idea and could have lead to more development for his top brass, with the post-war showing how each of them are trying to carry on the organization's will. Geten's furious and preparing his Quirk more, Skeptic is actually training to defend himself and other better, Trumpet is channeling his inner Usopp and just lying to every straggler he finds to bolster their forces.

Why is the Shie Hassakai helping AFO?

Mutual benefit. The SH wants Overhaul back, AFO can free him if they win. Also, in Rappa's case, he just wants to brawl so he's imediately on board.

Why only Movie 2 villains on-board?

Because they're the only movie villains that are both in Japan, and not arrested internationally. I mean, I could have tried to incldue Wolfram and his dudes, if I wanted? But if I do ever make a pitch for a new Dark Deku Jailbreaker arc, I'd rather save him for that.

Aaaaaand, that's that?

Regardless, this is pretty much just a thought experiment on my part so hope you got some enjoyment from it!! Think I could have done any of these battlefields better?

[irontragedyreview]

People who are saying "you can't criticize Horikoshi, it's his story and he can do whatever he wants", etc. Yeah, it's his story but he's made it public so I can do whatever I want and if I want to be a bitch and I call hi, mediocre I’ll do it. Like I love Naruto with all my heart and I have defended Kishimoto over certain criticisms in relation to female characters, etc. I have also criticized him for the absolute shit that Boruto is, even considering that as a manga Boruto isn’t 100% his work considering that at the beginning he was involved in the movie but on the manga he was only a supervisor. What I'm trying to get It’s that if you believe that just because a mangaka creates a story it should be free from criticism then you aren’t ready to get involved with any type of media or sincerely the public believes that consuming a movie, book, etc. means being a passive subject without critical thinking.  

That being said, Horikoshi largely deserves as much criticism as he can get because these chapters were truly a shit show since this last arc began. Let's just start listing first, AFO vs Endeavor and every hero in existence was too long and repeated for a large number of chapters the formula "villain takes the advantage, heroes take the advantage, the villain takes the advantage again and finally wins and move on to something else", all of this perhaps understandable to give some prominence to characters who were forgotten for entire arcs.

Shouto and his arc plus his relationship with Dabi, Shouto had a very interesting arc and incredibly much material to exploit but his arc and his relationship with Dabi never managed to take off because he was so tied to Endeavor that the interactions between them felt empty. 

Ochako and Toga were honestly the only thing that was worth it, you could see the commitment to giving them both a great moment and the way she wanted to approach Toga and truly have a conversation. The only thing I can criticize about their ending is that obviously there is no completely satisfactory closure in giving Toga an answer to what happens next, apart from Ochako's offer of understanding, there is no easy way out of what the other heroes will do, therefore which I can’t criticize her for not giving an answer to a complicated situation in this way. 

Also Horikoshi added things to his story that in the end he didn’t finish closing or that surely even if he touched them again it would no longer make sense, what happened to Spinner? What happened to everything about heteromorphic discrimination? I have to believe that everything is fixed by the good heart of Shoji telling Spinner that his way of doing things only makes the "achievements" of equality go backwards by giving them a bad image. In other words, we know that quirk society is discriminatory, especially in less urbanized towns, that those heteromorphs who reach places of power are the least and no real change has been achieved, but of course the victims of discrimination have to keep quiet and be good. So, maybe in the future they will no longer be discriminated. I'm going to be fair here, touching on issues like discrimination is complex, but putting an idea like this in the manga and then going for a simplistic or rather completely ignored resolution, because while a person may not share Spinner's actions, it’s understandable why he does it and simply saying that you have to be better because then people will see that you are good and not discriminate against you is stupid, Horikoshi covered a topic that he honestly didn’t know how to deal with or wasn’t interested in doing so. 

Kurogiri/Shirakumo being just a plot device for Aizawa and being resolved in 5 panels, I'm going to be understanding and say that this arc had the least to explore, but in the end it was meh. Tbh I'm not going to criticize this because it is so empty of content that it is no longer worth criticizing it. 

About Tomura and Izuku, the truth is what can I say the most that I haven't said in previous posts? from all the fights or confrontations it’s the most ignored, neglected and rushed of all, we don't know anything about them other than loose panels for a whole year, they barely interact and now Tomura dies, Izuku is "well, I honestly don't give a damn and I want you dead", if no one who has followed these two characters realizes the damage that this chapter has done to their conclusions then I'm not going to explain it. If Horikoshi felt incapable or was tired of his story he could have ended it with something else, however perhaps this was always the plan, we are talking about a guy who said that the second movie was the end of his manga,that is Midoriya without quirk giving it to his childhood bully. It's obvious that he doesn't care about Izuku as a character and I think he did care about Tomura but he didn't know what to do with him, which is why we have this ending.

Final note for any comments I may surely receive for calling bk a childhood bully. Don't waste your time replying, commenting or trying to argue, Horikoshi took it upon himself to make bk a gary stu who never faces real consequences for his actions (dying is not a sign of karma) and his abuse is never treated seriously by the author, because his victim never reflects on himself, which is ironic considering how many BK fans recognize that Midoriya has self-esteem problems, contempt, and poor self-care but do not recognize BK's role in this or minimize it.

[bibibbon]

Quirks and MHA society

Throughout the manga there is this reoccurring theme of people not being able to use and control their quirks and the quirk system being broken but honestly this plot point never really goes anywhere in my opinion or if it is used it's not used properly and never reaches it's fullest potential.

Like we see people break the law a bunch of times by using their quirks illegally and we see people state that they cannot control their quirks but nothing is done about it. We never see people arrested for quirk use unless said quirk use harms people.

If it's illegal to use your quirk then how is it that you have middle schoolers freely using their quirks in school or how normal members of the public use their quirks? Also what does this mean for people born with a heteromorphic quirk? Is part of the reason they're discriminated because they can't turn if their quirks or is it because so heteromorphic quirks make the user look more alien and less human? The government in MHA doesn't seem to be very strict about quirk use laws but states that it is (hori failing in show don't tell again🤷‍♀️)

What about people whose quirks are dangerous if they don't release it? What do they do? Do they just have to suffer or does the MHA government have a facility where people can safely release their quirk? This doesn't seem likely considering that izuku, ochako, Katsuki and miriko ran into someone who they(miriko and bakugo)deemed a villain for not being able to control his quirk. This case is treated as a one off incident but it really isn't. If one person has a quirk like that then that means so many other civilians do and they could of been pushed into villainy due to it. Hori establishes that the MHA universe lacks establishments that help people discharge/release or deal with their quirk but he never outright does anything with this plot point (it's mainly used to justify characters actions or villainy)

Horikoshi also introduces the half baked idea that quirks can influence ones personality and desires. This idea is introduced mainly in the MVA arc to ig justify characters (like toga and tomuras) actions and behaviours. I think it could of been a good idea if characters end up acting similarly or develop similar traits that come from their quirk however as I mentioned before the idea is half baked. Toga having an interest/craving in blood because thats how her quirk works makes sense but it's not heavily established. When it comes to toga we get mentions of how broken the quirk counselling system is and how instead of helping her to deal with a quirk that makes her have such a strong fascination and affection to blood it only made her suppress the urges until she went off the rails into full insanity. When it comes to tomura this idea is only used as an excuse (almost) for his actions, his quirk is used to demonise him and make him more of this completely psycho villain who loves to destroy things because that's his nature?!? When it really isn't.

Quirk counselling is a plot point with so much wasted potential. Like how did quirk counselling work? Was it a legal requirement or was it recommended? Did it actually help some people by helping kids understand their quirks, help them with control, offer any support equipment if needed to deal with the quirk and teach children morals? It seems like people with ordinary common quirks benefit more from the system then people with unique quirks that have unique side effects. We are told that toga's quirk counselling was full of adults not understanding and telling her that she is a weird psycho who is obsessed with blood instead of actually helping her. We see curious herself admit that there are many problems with the quirk counselling system and how it only benefited people with certain types of quirks and how it was basically a place teaching and breeding children to learn "right" and "wrong".

We see the quirk counselling system fail but it's never addressed. MHA chapter 22 shows how people with powerful or uncontrollable quirks tend to be failed by the system just like how toga and tomuras were. Eri is a special case you can't even know if she is just being trained or if she attends general counselling because in all truth we aren't told. Eri also faces the same problem where she can't have too much build up for her quirk or it will hurt her so shouldn't MHA dive deeper into the idea of quirk counselling and people not being able to control their quirks. Heck you even have all might state that he has noticed a lot of people can't control their quirks which brings the question is quirk counselling only for young people in elementary school and not for older people because people like midoriya who had a quirk in his teenage years was never forced to do any quirk counselling by the government?!?!?!?

Overall, in my opinion quirks in MHA is a wasted potential of a plot point and topic. MHA fails to truly delve and dig deep into topics like how the government fails in providing help with quirk counselling or establishments that help people deal with their quirks, or how less people know how to control their quirks being a result for the quickly failing system or how badly the law is reinforced . These ideas intertwining with quirk inequality and how it affects peoples day to day life could of all been interesting points to explore.

[codenamesazanka]

as much as i want shigaraki back (PLEASE) it does serve the plot and his last words better if this Mystery Person is just a random guy - one mistreated by their family, missed by Heroes all this time, then left to die in the wreckage of the world.

Shigaraki wanted to destroy everything - and yes, that was partly because of how AFO manipulated his life and cultivated him into the Symbol of Terror - but by the end of MVA, it was truly his genuine conviction, and one reinforced by his bond with the League. They shared his goal (like how Toga still dreamed of the easier world even after Ochako saved her heart). Shigaraki wasn't entirely wrong, the League wasn't entirely wrong, and that was how he wanted to be Hero for the Villains - to destroy the sources of their pain. Quirk Counseling, Heteromorph Discrimination, Abuse, the Hero System, etc. His destruction has turned heroic by the end - it's the famous SMASH by another name and look.

In Chapter 423, Shigaraki reflects that he didn't manage to destroy anything, and his message to Spinner was that he tried, all to the end. Deku, because he's got a brick for a brain, doesn't understand what Shigaraki meant, and tries to tell Shigaraki that he already destroyed it. What does 'it' mean, for Deku? AFO? Hatred? Who knows; it doesn't matter what Deku thinks. What matters is the destruction Shigaraki was talking about - everything he has witnessed in this world. The rejection, the injustices, the sources of suffering. None of it was destroyed, though he and the League had shaken things up. Hence, "it depends on you guys tomorrow."

Hence, Mystery Person. Treating them as a reborn!Tenko feels nice, but is essentially seeing only a Crying Child and caring only because of that. Because if they're not 2(?)-weeks-old Reborn!Tenko, then they're someone who's been suffering for a lot longer than that. They're someone who suffered under the way things were back from before the war started, before the League of Villains ever made a move. If my observations are any bit correct, they're someone who's been mistreated and abandoned, and was unsaved by Heroes all this time. Now the war has ended, things are going back to normal, and people are working for a Bright Future, and all these Heroes are out there, being there for the country... but still not for Mystery Person. No one is there for them, so their first act is to destroy - with trembling hands, they cut away their restraints.

They were (and still is) in the exact circumstances Shigaraki wanted to destroy. They're the exact type of person Shigaraki wanted to be a Hero for.

And it depends on Deku and the others to do something about this, and whether Shigaraki's 'do your best' to Deku meant anything at all.

[stillness-in-green]

At some point in answering asks, I managed to accidentally delete one. Luckily, I copy asks into a separate document for answer composition purposes, so I still had this one in the queue in the order it was sent. My apologies to the asker if they sent this under a screen name I can no longer remember for tagging purposes! I hope you see it anyway!

Now that the manga has met its end will you include the last bits of it in yours "On Heteromorphs and Heteromorphobia"? I know there's not much but I'm still curious to hear you out on the final bits.

Off the top of my head, I think the only thing I would be liable to talk about would be Shouji’s “peace prize” for “resolving incidents,” and the continued hypocrisy of praising the protesters for their strong feelings while ignoring the Villains who drummed those feelings up in the first place.

There would probably also be some vitriol about how, to my resounding lack of surprise, the only person shown doing anything to address heteromorphobia is a victimized heteromorph, while the best the broader society can manage is to give him an award named after Horikoshi's editor.(*) No word on whether that award comes with e.g. a monetary grant Shouji can invest in furthering his work, or what kind of assistance, if any, Shouji has been getting already. It's a marked contrast to Uraraka's updates and improvements to quirk counselling, in which matter we're explicitly told she's getting extensive support from her fellow Heroes, the HPSC, and the Ministry of Education!

(*The same editor, by the way, who we know from the last data book gave Horikoshi his "objective opinion" on the hospital material, which he praises for the care and thoughtfulness put into its writing. Maybe Horikoshi should have asked for an educated opinion rather than an "objective" one.)

As far as the peace prize and the alleged sensitivity of the writing of the hospital sequence, the barbs above notwithstanding, I don’t think there’s anything I can say that’s more vital and incisive than @codenamesazanka’s personal, eloquent testimony and critical analysis here. I did touch on the two-faced praise of the protesters in the essay itself, and at more length in my chapter thoughts post for Chapter 373. Therefore, I'm unlikely to dedicate a specific post to discussing the end of the series here, though if and when I ever get around to posting the essay to AO3, I may go ahead and do so there!

That said, heteromorphobia is a topic I’m keeping an eye on as I do my reread of Vigilantes, which I’ve been posting publicly over on my Patreon, no membership required.  I’m not being as methodical about it there as I was for the main series, but it’s come up several times in only two volumes, including observations about:

Who takes Trigger willingly versus who gets attacked with it.

How Knuckleduster’s targeting of anyone with an “evil-looking” face aligns with the rhetoric of people who attack heteromorphs. (Though by all means, Knuckleduster’s definition of “evil-looking” is pretty expansive!)

Rapt’s willingness to self-identify as a lizard and how it maps to his socio-economic position, as well as how that intersection is consistent with the same patterns we saw in the main series.

I’ve been away from the reread for a bit – working on asks here and a major project for Akane Banashi that I’ll be posting the first portion of here sometime tomorrow or Monday – but I’ll be getting back to it soon, after another round of inbox work here!

I appreciate your continued interest in my thoughts on the topic! And thank you for the ask as well!

[delawaredetroit]

Sorry for this ask but I read that the last bnha volume is going to add 60 additional pages, is this confirmed? Also do you think this could help something in the ending we had, one of the things that Horikoshi should fix would be the final confrontation between Tomura and Izuku, not so much in the plan of killing Tomura or not, but in that their confrontation was careless and rushed, but at the same time I don't see Horikoshi interested in them and he was already able to throw them in the trash, the only thing left is to expand the epilogue and the truth is that it doesn't seem interesting to me. Another plot that deserves to be expanded and taken seriously is Spinner and the discrimination but the whole plot was so sloppy and forgotten and it only ended with Shoji receiving an award, which is the easy way of saying "See something changed"

As far as I know, yes those extra pages are happening*, but I have no special knowledge other than what google searching could find you on that.

And I don't know. I don't think anything could "fix" the terrible execution of the final confrontation of Izuku and Shigaraki at this point. Further elaboration on what changes happened in the epilogue could improve the ending and tie loose ends or create even bigger plot holes depending on the direction taken.

In general, further detail on Uraraka's reformed quirk counseling program or what happened to overcome heteromorph discrimination could improve the themes, but in reality Horikoshi would fumble those because it doesn't seem like he thought them all the way through.

Lengthy Izuku and/or Hawks introspection on themselves and their roles in society would be ideal. Izuku thinking more about Shigaraki and what he represented and how Izuku approached villains after getting back into heroics would also be good choices.

*As an aside, anon be grateful I ventured into the cesspool that is reddit to confirm and find the link for this information. The functionally illiterate shounen bros are all still kvetching about the ending being the worst because Izuku didn't "get" Uraraka...

[kickbutts-singsongs]

Barely Even Human for the WIP game 😊

Oh whoa!! Hi!!! Ngl I didn’t think anyone would actually ask me anything 💀

Let’s see, this was one of the first fic ideas I had for bnha so I haven’t revisited it in a hot minute lmao but if memory serves, it’s a Vigilante!Deku fic in which Izuku investigates a really sinister conspiracy.

Background: the quirk singularity point passed much earlier than in canon, therefore when All Might meets Izuku and sees that he’s worthy of being a hero despite being quirkless, he wants to help him out, but can’t give him One For All because it’s too powerful to give anyone at this point. In this story tho, All Might also notices the analyses in Izuku’s journal, so he nudges him Nezu’s way. Izuku ends up attending another school but has private lessons with Nezu on the down-low. Meanwhile, with the quirk singularity having passed many years ago, it’s become more obvious that quirkless people are being ostracized from society, having less opportunities for jobs and such; just treated poorly altogether (there were also some ill-timed protests that led to further discrimination against them). Anyways eventually this comes to a head after Izuku graduates high school, so Nezu helps Izuku fudge his quirk status to a low-level intelligence quirk (which is really just his own intelligence ofc) so he has opportunities to do things in life. At first he thinks he wants to be a quirk advisor for heroes (helping them use them as optimally as possible) but then realizes he wants to be more action-oriented, so he becomes an agent for the Japanese equivalent of the FBI (I think it was called Naicho?) where he’s an analyst and sometimes goes out into the field. He’s sorta happy because he can stop bad guys (and villains) and can sometimes work alongside heroes, more like equals. He still wishes he could be a hero tho.

One fateful day, he stumbles across a small piece of information that mentions a years-old plot that specifically targets quirkless individuals. He brings this to Nezu and All Might, who in turn brings in Detective Tsukauchi, and all three confess that they’d never heard of such a plot, and that this was serious. They vowed to keep this between the four of them, and try to find out as much as they could. Unfortunately, nothing came up on All Might’s (the heroes), Tsukauchi’s (law enforcement), or Nezu’s (other intelligence) end, so Izuku suggested that if none of the official channels turned up anything, that he take this into his own hands. All three told him that partaking in vigilantism is illegal, however Izuku argues that it can’t be vigilantism if he doesn’t have a quirk. They can’t really argue with that lmao so they help him prepare by bringing in the fifth member of their crew, Aizawa. Izuku already has some basic self-defense under his belt, but Aizawa helps teach him the ways of the underground hero, and equips him with various support items that will aid with stealth and escapes.

A few months later, Izuku takes to the streets to find out more about this conspiracy. He learns a bunch. Apparently many important, powerful people are behind it (he doesn’t know who yet). He later comes across a few drugged individuals who seem to be on Trigger but with a few other enhancements, causing the individual to act monstrous (after this happens many times, he notices that it’s mostly heteromorphs who are given the drugs). About a year into his sleuthing, the famous Chisaki quirk-erasing bullet has somehow made it onto the streets again, and oftentimes, the authorities will find a quirkless individual to be the one firing the gun, causing many people to outrage against them yet again. Izuku senses that there has to be an explanation for this, and possibly a connection to the plot against the quirkless.

This is about the time where I begin the story, with Izuku infiltrating a place where the bullets are being manufactured. It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes there will be a hero on a surprise patrol nearby that finds him and nearly catches him, but he always gets away in the end. However, this time the hero really catches him off guard, considering that it’s none other than his childhood buddy Katsuki (who’s not even supposed to be in that prefecture). He barely gets away, but he at least has all the info he needs.

About a week later, Izuku’s contacted about assisting a pro hero with an investigation, which he accepts. It is to his surprise when pro hero Dynamight is the one that walks into his office (I’ve written this scene and I think it’s pretty darn funny) and it is to Katsuki’s surprise that Deku is an analyst?? And a special agent??? He hesitantly accepts it tho and agrees to work with Izuku. Anyways so Katsuki sits Izuku down and tells him that he’s going to try and nab this vigilante guy that’s been around these past few months, and he needs help to figure out his movements and motivations. And of course Izuku is dying inside cuz THATS HIM but he can’t just say no without a good reason, so he agrees, and from then on tries to find out ways to hint to Katsuki that maybe there’s something bigger afoot.

Eventually, Izuku, as the vigilante, ends up gaining Katsuki’s cooperation and trust as well, and they work together to uncover more of the plot (even tho Katsuji doesn’t have all the information yet).

This leads to shenanigans and almost-identity-reveals and it’s a lil gay (this was when I first got into bkdk as well) but ultimately, Izuku and Katsuki are reconnecting properly, and Katsuki is getting to see both sides of Izuku without realizing it.

It isn’t until like three-quarters of the way thru the story that Katsuki learns about who the vigilante really is and what exactly is fully at stake.

I don’t really know how to end it yet lol

Oh but the reason for the title is this: the components of the Trigger-like drug include strength-augmentation, adrenaline, smth that heightens the amygdala and lowers higher cognitive processing (impulse control and critical thinking; aka you’re kind of reduced to smth a bit more beast-like) and a quirk called Bloodhound (which allows you to differentiate and find any and all smells). The news had reported that those under the influence of the drug acted “barely even human.” A lot of people (mostly heteromorphs) were forcefully injected with this at first, but once quirk-erasing bullets hit the streets, and it was implied that quirkless people were taking out their rage on obviously quirked people like heteromorphs, eventually heteromorphs were looking for the Trigger drug as a defense measure. In one key scene, we see the big bads in a meeting, and we learn that they’re a bunch of quirkist assholes who believe that those with quirks are the next phase of evolution, and anything that isn’t like them is beneath them. They care very little for heteromorphs (following similar rhetoric to canon already) and consider them to be the perfect ‘victims’ of this scheme, where they paint targets on the backs of quirkless people by creating this false narrative of hatred and outrage. It is then revealed that they have yet to add the last ingredient to the drugs: a command to use Bloodhound to sniff out those without quirks, and tear them limb from limb. In the last snippet of their conversation, they all celebrate that the final stage is soon approaching, and they can finally rid the world of the last 10% of the ‘unevolved’ quirkless people because, after all, they’re “barely even human”.

Ta-da~

[problemswithbooks]

I think it’s funny that people are calling Shoji and the Heroes stupid because they put Kurogiri in the hospital. Was it dumb? Yes. It was a stupid choice, a choice we have no idea why they made. 

But the 15,00 random heteromorphs attacking the hospital are just as stupid.

Here’s the thing, Hori did not explain why so many people got behind Spinner. This isn’t like with Stain who had his speech recorded and put online. Spinner just exists and I assume there was some news footage of him escaping with the LoV at the end of the first war arc. 

Spinner has never made any public speeches about how he wants to help heteromorph people, nor have his actions ever hinted that that was part of his cause. His only claim to fame is that he is a part of the LoV/ PLF. The LoV certainly have never made their stance on heteromorph discrimination clear, and all there actions have only made things worse for literally everyone. The PLF/MLA want some sort of Quirk freedom, but it’s entirely based around better Quirk=better person philosophy. 

There’s also the whole AfO thing. He is literally pure evil and that’s not really a secret. Before his public fight with All Might and getting put in prison his existence was kept on the down low, but what reputation he had was as a shady guy who ran everything from the shadows. Once he was arrested I’m sure a lot more came out about his past crimes (plus he leveled a city block and the Nomu are publicly his doing so whatever they do is linked back to him). 

So, you’re telling me these 15,000 people just looked at a heteromorph, who is only known for working with AfO, the evilest villain of all time, and picked him to be their mascot for anti-mutant discrimination? These people watched and know about how the LoV/PLF leveled multiple city blocks killing and wounding thousands, upending everyone’s lives, without any show of fixing it and decide to join him? Why? He hasn't even shown that he cares about discrimination anyway--hell right now he can barely talk!

These people are obviously some of the dumbest people around, or they just legitimately want to kill everyone and this is their excuse. AfO has never been shown to be a supporter of heteromorphs--but even if he was, that’s not who they’re following. These people are only storming this hospital because they hard core Stan Spinner for no discernable reason, except he looks like them.  They don't care about Kurogiri--I don't even know if they understand why Spinner wants them to attack this place. 

Are the Heroes dumb and even reckless for keeping Kurogiri in a hospital with innocent people there? Yes, they are.

But these 15,000 people are also, not just stupid but apparently just violent assholes. They looked at a guy helping to mass murder random people for seemingly little reason and they just decided to hard core Stan him, and do whatever he said even if it means killing a lot of people. Spinner hasn't even told them if this will help their cause, mainly because he is now a giant and can barely talk anymore. But I guess their mascot can just foam at the mouth and yell and that’s a good enough reason for them to shank sick people to get back a guy they don't even know. 

No wonder Shoji is mad at them--they are absolutely idiotic and bloodthirsty.

[itsnothingofinterest]

Regarding your post about the lov and relationships, while they may not be what most would consider 'healthy', I still think that they're better or at least safer together than they are with the heroes, that is as long as AFO is gotten rid of, do you also think so?

I mean I know you said that they're better than the hero kids, definitely, but aside from when it becomes plot relevant, the kids bonds aren't really that complex or explored. A specific plot point about them that I thought was weird, that it was never brought up again, was that Iida's attempted murder of stain. There was a lot of reason and nuance in the simple revenge story (I think) and it seemed like it would bring so much more to the overall plot, with both the heroes and the villains and their reasons for why they are what they are. But that never happened, at least not yet...in the final arc. Because wouldn't that old thread have paired well with deku and ochako's plot with the villains? Do you think?

Back to the original point, whenever the core lov is present, there's always a feeling of their bonds, for better or worse, because they are close and care about each other. They're all each other have, and although the narrative seems to be pushing that the hero kids are needed too, it's sometimes hard to see how that would make the lov better, because what do the H. Kids really have to offer them? As long as they're still loyal to hero society? How hard would they try to defend them from the other heroes/government/civilians? Who are already unforgiving and vengeful, even to those who are barely villains (gentle c. And dehumanizing other villains, plus heteromorph discrimination).

If all they have to give the villains is a cell (and if shoji is any indication, they're not going to be doing much society changing), then why should the lov choose them? Do you think so or differently?

(in response to this post.)

Yeah I think you’re right on the money. If we have any logical reason to think the League would get more than a cell as you said, it’s because the story’s about them so the kids might offer them an exception. And while theoretically mental health is on the line; frankly, the League need to be saved from the heroes more than anything, especially ‘from themselves’.

I think people like to say otherwise, because the more self-destructive, bad for each other, and overall responsible for their own misery; It means the League (and just the League) are easier to save by just pointing that out and telling them to cut it out*. But like, while I’m not denying their self-destructive traits; Endeavor’s the one who hurt his & Dabi’s family, the heroes are the one who missed Tenko under their noses while All Might told the civs to leave it to them, and Toga’s whole motive is her constant fear that heroes will kill her for being an abomination.

And we are 18 away from 400 chapters into this series and nothing about any of that has changed. The next gen's already cool with brainwashing prisoners but not doing anything to the heteromorphic bigots, so I have been given no reason to assume history wouldn’t repeat itself under Deku if they win this one. Except the civs are gonna get off the heroes back so much; how revolutionary, that’ll stop people from getting disenfranchised with heroes.

Frankly I have no idea why the League would ever go along with anything the kids might offer offer right now; no idea that doesn't feel like a combination of contrived writing and the League going "duck you, got mine" anyway (you know, that thing Twice didn't do so I can't much see any of the others doing either) in accepting that exception I talked about, uncaring for the villains the story's not about (and before you go thinking that's in character, ask if MHA's story is about Spinner for example). They really have no reason to trust the heroes more than their pipe dream of conquering the country and that is changing frustratingly slowly.

There’s a reason (well several at this point) I keep rooting for the villains to kick AFO to the curb and then stay villains. Any route to long-term societal improvement seems to depend on them, weather it be doing it (violently) themselves or convincing the hero kids on where they're right, seems to depend on them. Maybe it's true the kids are the only ones who can save the villains (in theory, practice isn't exactly matching the ideal), but it seems only the League can actually save the country from making more villains after.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*I gotta tell ya, as someone who’s long since taken for granted that the League is getting redeemed and saved, I don’t understand this attitude at all. It's happening anyway; that's our one and only guarantee. Low end, that could include getting shoved in cells as you said but with moderately improved mental health. So I don't get why people are rooting for anything close to that low end when they could instead hold out for the possibility of Deku & Class 1A actually addressing some of what brought us here.

Like, why have Uraraka just talk Toga down and walk her to jail or whatever when she could instead look into how to keep girls like her from worrying about heroes murdering them from a young age, so Toga can trust in heroes themselves? She lives either way, you know.

[irontragedyreview]

Thoughts about mha new chapter

I'm going to be honest, I forgot that there was a new chapter and when I remembered I looked for the 425 leaks and I got confused, apart from this I don't have much to say.

I think in previous posts I said that the chapter was going to be about the todoroki and a closure for their plot. Liking or disliking this chapter will depend on each person, but the truth is that it was an ending and honestly there are 4 chapters left to close everything. The next chapters will surely be about Spinner, Toga and with some luck Horikoshi's mediocrity will allow Izuku to have a minimum reflection on Tomura but who knows.

However, speaking of the leaks of this chapter in general, for me the most important thing would be:

1. Touya is possibly going to die at some point.

2. Natsu is going to cut off contact with Endeavor permanently. Here I’m going to clarify something, the truth is that I liked the dynamics of Todoroki children, many praised Natsu for maintaining resentment and hatred towards Endeavor while Fuyumi received a lot of hate because she wanted a united family, Shoto was an intermediate point, he resents his father but still maintains some type of relationship without cutting off contact completely. I think that the reactions of the three children regarding their family story are a representation of reality, there are people like Natsu who will cut off all contact with the abuser regardless of whether they seek redemption, Fuyumi wanted to keep the family together (we saw it with the scenes of them trying to eat together). Although we don’t know if this attitude changed, Fuyumi possibly still maintains contact with Endeavor at the end, Shoto is more difficult to say, he may follows Natsu's path or  consider maintaining contact like Fuyumi but more distant and limited way. The positive thing is that Shoto has emotional support in his UA classmates.

3. Tied to point 1, Endeavor seems determined not only to assume all responsibilities but to give Touya all his attention while he’s still alive, from the few posts I saw I know that there is some criticism that Endeavor still plays such a leading role here, and how Shoto and Touya should have more argumentative importance for their relationship. However, Endeavor is the unifying factor between them, beyond Shoto's desires to save Touya because they’re family, much of Touya's attention to Shoto It focuses on how Shoto was the perfect child that Endeavor always looked for, the one who was born to replace him because he was damaged merchandise, without Endeavor their relationship wouldn’t have the weight it has because Touya wouldn’t have been interested in Shoto as he was.

4. Nagant is fine, my heart takes a little happiness at this and although her being in prison is not my particular taste, I like that it’s of her own will and because she still doesn’t trust about them becoming her into a weapon again, I like that she is well.

5. Gentle and La Brava are good too.

6. Hawks and his new position (I'm not very interested in his character)

7. Spinner appears and possibly the next chapter will focus on him. Here we will see what will happen to him, so far Horikoshi seems to be getting rid of the villains in one way or another, Tomura dead (for now if nothing changes), Touya on his way to death, Spinner could have serious neurological damage from the quirks given by AFO. If I'm honest, the one who is in the best condition is Toga, although she gave her blood to Ochako, she didn’t have deep wounds and with some luck beyond the blood loss given to Ochako, she’s the one who has the best chance of recovering.

But back to Spinner, someone enters to his hospital room, the question would be who the person is? We have options and they are all possible, Toga, Izuku (who has a message) or Shoji. I’m more inclined to these last two than Toga because Midoriya still has to talk about Tomura and Shoji would be the closure of the heteromorphic discrimination plot. On this point I'm going to say that the plot was very sloppy, the confrontation between Spinner and Shoji will be seen in retrospect and I'm sorry but Shoji's words to Spinner at that moment were shit, I hope at least if Shoji and Spinner talk again the advice isn’t to be good because then they will stop discriminating against you.

Well, it seems that I actually had quite a bit to say, but I think I touched on all the points that I consider important, I don't consider the chapter to be either bad or good, it’s just a closing of the plot.

[bibibbon]

What MHA lacks: proper world building

In a series like MHA world building is something that is very important. Sadly, a lot of the world building we have is inconsistent and all over the place.

In my opinion, the world building aspect of MHA was definitely introduced a bit too late and the stuff that we did have in earlier seasons is inconsistent and never really followed through properly. This is stuff like:

Quirkless discrimination - honestly, this one is SO INCONSISTENT that you can argue that it doesn't exist and that Izuku just suffered for the sake of suffering. We have little to no knowledge when it comes to the whole idea of quirklesness and how a quirkless person is treated. Also, Izuku is the only one who has really faced this type of behaviour since we don't see it with characters who were quirkless like mirio, shigaraki, all might and even yuuga.

heteromorphs discrimination - we definitely know this exists but it was only ever introduced and heavily focused on in the final arc. To be honest the plot point itself doesn't make sense as there are many heteromorphs heros and people in society who seem just fine. I think it could work but it definitely needs to be established and built on a whole lot more.

Quirk marriages - I honestly feel like this plot point was just introduced for the sake of the todoroki family and nothing else. I think it was stated that this is an old outdated practice and that it's been made illegal but shouldn't we see other victims of quirk marriages and not just the todoroki family.

Child hero's - this is mainly a focus on both hawks and lady nagant and while I think this is an interesting plot point it definitely should of been built and expanded on a whole lot more. You can argue that it doesn't truly make any sense considering that it was originally stated that Japan was oversaturated by heroes.

The hero safety commission - all we get when it comes to them is that they are bad people who end up getting destroyed at the end and exploit children with powerful quirks. We don't know many things like what's their job? How do they help hero's? What's their relations with the government? What are their motives? Etc etc

The laws and legislations in MHA - see in any other show this wouldn't be needed but considering that this is MHA where heros work for the government as glorified soldiers with costumes then we kind of need a link in laws and legislations in MHA. The most prominent law is the vigilantism one but thats it.

Other stuff like the foster care system or child protective services - honestly, this is one of my major problems with MHA because you're telling me with all of the situations that there are we never see eri have a social worker or something similar like it doesn't make sense. We know orphanages exist but that just about it really.

Crime and the underworld in MHA - this is pretty vague but what I mean by it is the exploration of what really goes on in the underworld which can show things like drug trafficking, quirk trafficking, mafias or gangs ( just like overhauls)

Quirk experimentation - This could of been so much more especially with the stuff that the doctor and overhaul both gave us. How overhaul was right about the origin of quirks and how the doctor has made it possible to pass on quirks and so many other things

Misogyny and sexism - I really don't know if this came by accident but there is a lot of misogyny in MHA literally can be seen in the sports festival and that could of been a great plot point of how unfairly woman are treated in day to day life and the hero industry horikoshi does almost NOTHING about it and just sexualises the characters even more

People and their quirks - it's acknowledged there are people who struggle to control their quirks and it's a problem that hori never explored in his society. Also why is it that only heros get to use their quirks what if you have a quirk suited for your job you should be able to get a permit to use your quirk right?

These are all missed opportunities when it comes to the world building of MHA and it's own society. I must admit that some points are explored but there really isn't much depth to it as it should have and it doesn't help at all that MHA is a series that NEEDS world building for it to work.