#nothing ending

[thekingofwinterblog]

To me the best sign of the fact that MHA kinda went down hill in the second half is that all the stupid, delusional, trolltheories not coming true... Is disapointing.

Because of course AFO being Deku's dad would be stupid and cliche and contrived - of course introducing time travel to make the "Bak U Go" theorie work would be parody levels of crazy, even Eri turning Shigaraki back into a child Tenko would be an obvious asspull to fix a difficult situation in the most deus ex machina way.

But in retrospect, compared to what we got, that all would be more satisfieng. Cause thats the problem - the real thing we got was just boring, so nothing, just a wimper that seemingly went out of its way to be as unfulfilling as possible.

And the final chapter is the culmination - ofcourse shipping all the charachters together just for the hell of it and giving them kids is self indulgent and formulaic - yet atleast that would give something, make people debate about wacky relationships that make no sense or whatever - but this "wow everyone just went on, vaguely continuing their one dimmensional arcs, solving racism etc" Hell, even just making quirks disapear would be cool, especially if heros lived on, showing that truely being a hero doesnt mean having a flashy power but doing the right thing, with the costumes being reframed from stupid consumer crap into a comitment to do whats right no mater how one looks

One of my buddies descrived the MHA ending as a "no risk one", and honestly, he is absolutely right.

The BIG problem with the final chapter, the reason i describe it time and again as a "Nothing ending" is that it is painfully afraid of committing to ANYTHING as far as how the heroes ended up.

Izuku endes up in a bad outcome ending, where ended up quirkless, and became a teacher at Yuei? Okay, that could work just fine, so long as you emphasise both his regrets but also how much he is fullfilled at his new school... Whatsthat? We never really get a sense that he truly does have regrets? Also we get only the briefest of glimpses into his life as a teacher?

Okay, so who did he end up with? Showing Izuku's partner and maybe q kid or two would go a long way to show that Izuku did not end up like All Might, a man who sacrificed any chance of a normal human companionship to a frankly unhealthy degree the manga critiqued. Also wheter or not he ultimately ended up eith her, Uraraka confessing her feelings is ctitical to her character arc ending on a high note, so jow did that end?

...okay so we get no suggestions that he ended up with anyone? That he seemingpy just resigned himself to be alone forever, just like all might?

All right then, but at least we're committing to an ending where Izuku no longer is a Hero, right?

No wait the twist at the end is that his friends swoop in to finance it all.

...okay? So... Why wasnt the chapter about this? If 1-A loved Izuku so much they were willing to save 5 years worth of Gathered funds to help Izuku, why did we get nothing else in this entire chapter to remind us that they actuqlly loved him still, and instead the entire chapter emphasized how distant Izuku had become?

These two things, Izuku slowly growing distant from his friends in a realistic manner, and them ultimately going all in on helping him out to let him live his dreams, are completely at odds with each other.

In the question, the idea of MHA ending on a "Realistic" is described as by default Boring, but it didnt have to be, so long as it focused on the right things, and actually committed to it to the hilt.

It was more than poasible to Have Izuku ending up as a teacher at Yuei withouth a quirk, teaching the new generation work as an ending, if you actually committed to telling that ending all the way. Realistic does not have to mean boring or unsatisfying.

Similarily, there was absolutely a good way to tell an ending where Izuku lost his quirk and ended up a Tech based Hero as well. So long as you committed to that, and didnt relegate it to the last three pages as a twist ending joke that still wants you to take it seriously.

Ultimately, the ending was a failure because it failed to commit to anything, or to put it another way, it was afraid to take any risks at the very end.

Any shipping resolution in any way? Well, that would absolutely go a long way to hammer in the feel of a realistic ending, because that is how Human beings' work... But that would have been a risk, as someone would have been pissed off by it.

Izuku and ochako getting together? Would have pissed off the bakudeku shippers, the uraraka x toga shippers, and Uraraka x Bakugo shippers.

Him getting together with anyone else? Would have pissed off the Izuku x uraraka shippers, and most certainly the Bakudeku shippers as well.

And on it goes.

Kirishima getting together with Mina? Eould have pissed of the Kirishima x bakugo shippers or the people who headcanon him as gay.

Him getting together with Bakugo? Would have pissed off the ones who shipped him with Ashido.

Aizawa finishing his character arc of growing to actually love teaching and his students by going back to miss joke and finally reconciling with her, and addmitting she was right all along, that he really did want a "household where the laughter never ended" as she put it?

Would have pissed off those who shipped him with Present Mic.

Now im not saying the lack of shipping was THE thing that ruined this ending(other than Izuku x ochako whose lack of resolution one way or another is a massive structural weakness), but it is absolutely a sympthom of how this ending was absolutely terrified of actually committing to any risks.

It is the thing that defines this entire chapter, and honestly the final arc as a whole.

Just to give one example, the reason why Bakugo has NO thematic climax or satisfying ending at the end, is because it is painfully clear that His story was absolutely going to end back on the platform.

Before Hori's editor made him change it, and demand he got a bigger role, Bakugo's thematic ending was going to be that he was murdered while stalling Shigaraki.

He was not going to get to be the Hero who defeated AFO, or even come close to becoming number 1... But he WAS going to get to die a hero.

That was a bold, and very much not safe direction to end one of MHA's most popular characters.

It would also have been a great thematic ending where Bakugo actually did get to be a Hero like he always wanted... while at the same time NOT ultimately rewarding him for the horrible he treats Izuku through the Manga.

You know, like what happened to Endeavor.

There were no happy endings there, with one of his sons rejecting him once and for all, while leaving his firstborn's thoughts on him on a note where we ultimately didnt know how it went, while at the same time ending up crippled in a wheelchair.

Enji was a terrible man who ultimately did become a true hero... But he was not rewarded for it. And that's why it actually works so well.

And it certainly was not the safe way to end it either.

This is also why the villains in MHA ended up on amuch stronger thematic note than any of the heroes.

None of them got safe, nothing endings.

With all of them, Hori one way or another committed himself to have an actual ending that said soemthing, as opposed to the wishy washy final chapter that had no spine to go in either direction.

Dabi burnt himself out, and now has to deal with the consequences of trying to kill himself and everyone else, only to fail at it.

Spinner and compress gave everything for the cause, only for his side to lose, and him ending up in jail, and now has to deal with that.

Toga spent her entire life searching for someone who didnt reject her, and wanted to understand her, and ultimetely though she did not get a relationship with thay person, she went out on her own terms.

Shigaraki tried to destroy the world, having decided to commit himself all the way to becomign the greatest supervillain of all time... Only to in the end, be defeated and being killed, like he himself did to so many others.

None of these were safe options to end these characters on, and there are plenty who werent happy with it... But they are endings where Hori actually committed to going through with it all, wheter to succeed, or fail.

The Heroes by contrast get none of these.

Izuku does not get an ending where it actually commits to... ANYTHING because by doing so, he would piss off some part of his audience.

Bakugo couldnt die at the platform, because he's popular, no matter how much sense ending his story there might make.

Uraraka couldnt confess her feelings and either hook up with, or be rejected by Izuku because that would piss someone off.

Mina and Kirishima couldnt hook up because it too would piss someone off.

We could not get deep, important looks into the Heroes family lives 8 years later, because it would piss people off.

MHA's ending(as far as the heroes are concerned) would have been so much better if the manga was willing to end on an ending that actually take real risks that would have had the possibility to fall on their face.

Or as Wit from Stormlight Archive puts this kinda thinking oh so well:

“All great art is hated. It is obscenely difficult - if not impossible - to make something that nobody hates. Conversely, it is incredibly easy - if not expected - to make something that nobody loves.

This makes sense, if you think about it. Art is about emotion, examination, and going places prople have never gone before to discover and investigate new things. The only way to create something that nobody hates is to ensure that it can't be loved either. Remove enough spice from a soup, and you'll just end up with water.

Human taste is as varied as human fingerprints. Nobody will like everything, everybody dislikes something, someone loves that thing you hate - but at least being hated is better than nothing. To risk metaphor, a grand painting is often about contrast: brightest brights, darkest darks. Not grey mush. That a thing is hated is not proof that it's great art, but the lack of hatred is certainly proof that it is not."

[eddiegayass]

Greatest day on twitter since the billionaire sub

[orions-aether]

eastern european haunted emily axford pc, transfem daughter of libertarians ally beardsley pc, spot on pub representation grizzled old british lady siobhan thompson pc, nasty old gun guy zac oyama pc, posh boy brian murphy pc, famous explorer with a book series that really falls off lou wilson pc we're fucking eating this season my god

[resvarie]

inevitable anders dragon age qifrey wha cover redraw

[halyasgirl]

Daniel…

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

in desperate need of a superhero who has every conceivable superpower...but isn't "overpowered" bc they're mediocre at everything. flight? i mean yeah they can fly. with all the grace of a drunken butterfly, bumping into multiple surfaces in the process, but yeah technically they're flying. super strength? sure with super butterfingers built-in, but it counts. laser eyes but their aim's for shit. they've saved the world as many times as they've endangered it by making a bad situation worse. the "good guys" and "bad guys" are equally apprehensive of having this person on their team

[aru-and-leopard-cat]

I feel like this has to be said, since it’s becoming increasingly popular to be extremely rude to ppl and trash on their interests (especially on tumblr)

You can enjoy any media you like despite what losers on tumblr tell you that you should and shouldn’t enjoy, be it music, books, or shows and movies. If you’re having fun and enjoying yourself that’s all that matters, lame ass ppl on this site will try and make u feel guilty about what you enjoy and I think that’s stupid as fuck

Listen to pop, watch that popular show, read that book that everyone claims is bad. Who cares, ppl are way too obsessed with being different and unique that they’ll try and squash your interests and enjoyment to make themselves seem interesting

Bottom line, just treat people with kindness and don’t diminish their interests, it’s such a shitty thing to do

[britneyshakespeare]

I'm curious about people's levels of familiarity; I intend no judgment or elitism and it's absolutely fine not to be a completionist, btw. I didn't think I would've intended to have read them all at age 25; it just sort of happened that after I passed the halfway point in the middle of 2023, I came out of a reading slump and was motivated to finish. Fwiw I consider myself a hobbyist (I am not involved in academia or professional theater) but I realize that that label is usually attributed to people with less experience.

I also have always loved seeing other bloggers' Shakespeare polls where they put certain plays or characters up against each other, but I'm often left wondering if it's really a 'fair' fight all the time if you're putting up something like Hamlet or Twelfth Night against one of the more obscure works, like the Winter's Tale. It's not a grave affront to vote in those polls if you don't know every play, but I am curious about it.

Please reblog for exposure if you vote; I would appreciate it a lot. Also feel free to elaborate on your own Shakespeare journey in tags, comments, reblogs, because I love to hear about other people's personal relationships to literature.

[mioakem]

give bro his girl back im so serious this is destroying me

[kafka-dawn]

wow i sure do love the ending of arcane season 2 i love that this is how arcane ended and nothing else happened! nothing bad! no one died everyones just a big happy family

[fairsweetlonging]

svsss body swap au where shen qingqiu and liu qingge swap bodies, and while shen qingqiu (either yuan or jiu could work!) is having the time of his life with the full power of the bai zhan war god, liu qingge is having a very rude awakening on how much chronic illnesses suck and how much pain and discomfort sqq is in every single day.

liu qingge finds out how awful without-a-cure is, it's blocking his cultivation and leaving him helpless, and it hurts, too, a constant ache that lingers in the back of his mind. it takes mu qingfang calling him out on his behavior to realize that he's been lashing out at others out of his own discomfort and frustration. the only relief he gets is the cleansing of his meridians, but to take all those brews every day and be dependant on his martial siblings for his base health is really frustrating, because he can't do so many things he used to be able to do without second thought.

meanwhile, shen qingqiu arm-wrestled every peak lord and won, cleaved a mountain in half, ran a marathon for fun, and approached every dangerous animal he could find to study them because his strength and reflexes get him out of tricky situations every time.

shen qingqiu: i just ran eighty miles and im not even sweating !!

liu qingge: i tried to circulate my qi and now i have a horrible migraine

eventually they switch back; liu qingge is very relieved, glad to be himself again. shen qingqiu is keeping up a brave face, but the constant discomfort feels a little worse now he knows what it's like to live without it.

[yujateaandpi]

*gestures incoherently* Stan unhappy. Fiddle unhappy. Maybe they happy… together?

[sleepypatho]

big fan of whatever was wrong with him 🔌

[egophiliac]

So.... what are your thoughts on Ace's UM, if you haven't been asked this already?

sneaky magic for the sneakiest boy

no but really, I think it fits him really well! I had thought his UM would probably involve something kinda sleight-of-handy or pickpockety! and I looooved that it made such a nice loop-around back to episode 1. ❤️ I was. kind of half-expecting him to just run out and punch Riddle in the nose again. but instead this time 'twas he who offed the queen's head! it was great! and he did it while stone-cold terrified out of his mind! because Ace is the only remotely normal or well-adjusted person at NRC and therefore the only one who is like "we're going to literally die, this is super effed up". but he did it anyway!!!! I AM SO PROUD

[zarla-s]

Do I still have too many feelings about Spamton? Apparently. :/ Anyway I had the Dealmakers and the Shadow Mantle on Susie for this fight (and the Devilsknife because I just could not beat Jevil peacefully on that save) and it got me wondering about what Spamton would be thinking about facing off with the person who'd enslaved and warped him into a puppet, haha. It had to be cathartic! Well, up until everyone got one-shotted but

Spamton isn't actually on her head or talking, he's in the glasses, but the little ghost form there is so you can see how he's reacting. I had to figure out how a pair of glasses could defend someone which was a bit tricky. He can't protect you from all damage but he can soak quite a bit! I picture the Shadow Mantle being made of shadows myself.

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[heph]

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