#toga tbh

[aromanticannibal]

original template here. be ready for ten thousand mha template memes of that type to pour out of my blog like blood out of a wound.

[clownmoontoon]

MAAAANN i havent cried this much for a bnha update since twice died mY HEART ;;;;;;;

toga trying so hard to be the scary monster everyone's called her since she was like FIVE to just crumble and start crying and IM CRYING bC SHE JUST WANTS TO BE ACCEPTED AND LOVED SO BADLY AND IN A WORLD OF CRAZY QUIRKS THATS SUCH A BARE MINIMUM IM AUAUHGHGLSDLKJKLD

AND SHES RIGHT!!!!!!

the way her smile softens,,, i cant,, im CRYING AAAAA

FORGIVE ME FOR UPLOADING LIKE HALF THE CHAPTER I JUST LOVE TOGA SO MUCH AND THIS IS SO SOOO GOOD AND I CANT STOP CRYING AAAAAAAA

I DIDNT EXPECT MY FAVE TO GET TO LET HER HEART OUT LIKE THIS AND IM BIG TIME IN MY FEELINGS ABOUT IT ASKDKJLKJLSD

TOGA DESERVES THE WORLD!!!!!!!! AND A HUG AND ALL THE BLOOD SHE WANTS BTW

[eggsdrawings]

nom nom

[mysicklove]

cutesy blonde girls have me in a chokehold

[super-paper]

I feel like Toga and All for One have many similarities, but I am unable to articulate as to why I feel this way.

I think it's safe to say that AFO is an intentional foil to Himiko, Tenko, and Touya at this point! I've discussed how he shares body motifs with all three of them before, but his backstory more or less cemented that he's supposed to be read as "the worst possible extreme and the worst possible conclusion" to each of the trio's respective origins and overall stories.

As for how Himiko and AFO foil each other, specifically:

Cannibalism as a metaphor for Not cannibalism

Let's get the obvious point outta the way first, lol.

AFO and Himiko are both established as children that society wasn't prepared or willing to care for-- AFO was born during the advent of quirks where "paranormal" children like him were treated as diseased and shunned (or worse) by the rest of society, while Himiko was born during an "era of peace" where civilians are expected to maintain said peace through endlessly conformity and complacency-- outside of pro-heroism, civilians are essentially expected to role-play as though they've returned to "normalcy" (i.e. pre-quirk society) and the fear of being labeled as "abnormal" (despite living in a post-paranormal society) drives them to shun those who can't easily conform.

Both AFO and Himiko's "first sin" involves the "consumption of their fellow humans," which they both commit when they are too young to fully understand what they're doing-- and both acts of consumption were initially tied to their attempts to fulfill a basic human "need" that wasn't being provided for. Himiko drank the blood of a friend whose smile she envied after years of having her own smile called "creepy," AFO was a starving newborn whose mother couldn't provide him milk or protection and whose cries were ultimately ignored by everyone else. When Himiko takes someone's blood and "becomes someone else", she finally feels good "about herself". When AFO takes his mom's quirk and uses it to drink her blood, he no longer feels hungry and no longer has any reason to cry out for help/attention. Thus, AFO & Himiko ultimately learn and internalize that in order to fulfill their own neglected needs, they need to take from others.

Something something re: "the catharsis that comes with finally """"embracing your true nature'"""" so you can finally become what your family always feared you'd be (POV: you are 14 years old and utterly doomed by the narrative) (and so is the main object of your ""affection"") (puberty is a bitch ain't it!)" something something

To Himiko, the consumption of others becomes a way to "become somebody else"-- someone the world will treat more kindly than they treat "Toga Himiko." She feels the urge to completely drain the blood of anyone who has the life and relationships that she desperately wants for herself. Before that, drinking blood was simply her way of expressing admiration/affection and fell under the banner of MHA's definition of "pure love" (i.e. love as imitation). Himiko showed no inclination towards completely draining the blood of those she loves until her psychotic break with Saito, and she is notably able to restrain her supposed "urges" around the LOV despite loving them deeply. The "urge to drain those she loves completely" isn't actually tied to her quirk, but to her desire to "become someone else."

To AFO, the consumption of others became yet another way to rob them of their autonomy-- by taking away "a part of them" and forcibly turning it into a part himself in the most base, unsettling, and crude way possible. Before that, his consumption of others was simply driven by his instinct to survive. AFO's "urge to take" is tied to the preconception that no one will provide for him or look at him UNLESS he is taking something from them-- like Himiko, his quirk merely makes it easier for him to act on urges that don't actually stem from the quirk itself. AFO's warped perception of other people balloons wildly out of control by the time he reaches his teens, and finally cumulates in him ""eating"" the glowing baby out of jealousy:

*Kills someone over their follower count* Man, AFO is nvr gonna beat the "was a tiktok e-girl in his previous life" allegations

AFO and Himiko both "consume" other people out of jealousy and a desire to make up for what they feel they lack as individuals-- but an important distinction between the two of them, I feel, is that Himiko's consumption of others is ultimately driven by her desire to connect with other people while AFO's consumption is instead based on fear + mistrust of others. It's the difference between "Consumption as wanting to become a part of someone and become a part of the world they live in (+ consumption as a way to become a part of the world by living vicariously through someone else)" and "consumption as forcibly making someone a part of you and forcibly taking away their connection to the world."

Speaking of "consuming someone who has traits you envy in an attempt to make those traits your own" *pointedly looks at AFO's dynamic with Tomura* ...........yearp.

It's only after Himiko's human needs are finally addressed by Ochako, that Himiko learns the desire to "give" rather than take. I feel that this is probably one of the core take aways of the series while more or less being the "end goal" of the OFAFO plot-- "endless giving without ever taking" (All Might becoming the number one hero at the steep price of himself and Izuku almost destroying himself in the process of trying to emulate All Might) and "endless taking without ever giving" (AFO full stop, as well as society itself towards both the heroes and villains) are both extremes that only cause more people to get hurt. There has to be reciprocity. It has to be "One for All -AND- All for One." Give -AND- Take.

Side note: Himiko's favorite food being pomegranates also strikes me as ironic when you remember that Hori is gigantic mythology nerd-- In both art and mythology, it's not uncommon for pomegranates to be used as a visual for "flesh" and for their consumption to be used as a stand in for cannibalism. In greek mythology, pomegranates are known as the "fruit of the dead", and are believed to have originated from the blood of Adonis. There is also the legend of Persephone, who was cursed to remain within the underworld for six months each year as the price for consuming six pomegranate seeds while in hell.

The Buddhist legend of Hairiti/Kishimojin also stands out for framing pomegranates as a "cure" for cannibalism, by offering them to man-eating demons in lieu of flesh:

As for AFO-- it's been pointed out by several different people that he shares several parallels with the greek titan, Cronus, who is most famous for having devoured his own children whole.

With that in mind, I feel like the act of consuming blood has an almost mythological edge to it for these two (outside the obvious reality-based social stigma of it lol)-- the act of "eating" others, regardless of intent, is what condemned both AFO and Himiko to hell. But Himiko is offered a way out of that hell and ultimately finds salvation in allowing herself to be "consumed" in turn, while AFO just doubles down on eating every rando beefcake he can get his hands on while giggling like a school girl (and yet, when the chance to eat Toshi finally presents itself, he totally fails to capitalize on it. mfer can't even "cannibalism as a metaphor freaky gay sex with your dramaturgical foil" right smh 😤).

As an aside, when I say "people generally read into MHA too literally and expect entirely too literal conclusions for what is largely a fantastical story about abuse/trauma/coping mechanisms," how MHA depicts ""cannibalism"" through Himiko is actually one of the examples that comes to mind lol. So many people think that death or jail is the only appropriate conclusion for Himiko's character because it's the "only realistic conclusion" like they aren't reading a story where people have tape dispensers for arms lmfao.

OMNOMNOM-- (On Mouths)

:D

Not much to elaborate on here, mouths (and smiles) are AFO and Himiko's shared body motif in MHA's narrative. AFO's mouth is his only distinguishable facial feature during Parts 1 & 2, Himiko's smile/mouth is her defining feature and how others perceive it is a source of trauma for her. Her villain outfit is notable in how it covers her mouth/hides her smile while also resembling AFO's act 1 mask:

*squish*

During the final war, Himiko puts her mask on and hides her mouth immediately after being rejected by Izuku. This is symbolic of a lot of different things, but mostly, it drives home how she is no longer interested in talking things out and has "fully embraced being a villain." Ochako understands what's at stake and spends the rest of the fight trying to "take the mask back off"-- she understands there is something behind Himiko's villain mask that she needs to save.

Meanwhile, Toshi smashes past AFO's mask during Kamino and finds there is simply nothing underneath it-- reinforcing the idea that AFO has made "being a villain" his entire identity and that there is nothing worth saving behind his mask. However, Toshi was also the one who "smashed" AFO's facial features away in the first place. AFO definitely deserved getting his head popped, but in the context of MHA as a whole, I feel like AFO and Toshi's dynamic only highlights the overall tragedy of the hero/villain system and why it's a good thing that the new generation is starting to challenge it.

It is worth mentioning that mouths are frequently used to mask and dehumanize within the context of MHA's narrative, but this isn't something exclusive to AFO and Himiko ('sup Toshi) (''sup Tomura).

(I don't actually have anything else to add here lol)

Demon Child, Demon Lord

AFO and Himiko also stand out in how they're both framed as having been "born bad"-- Himiko by her parents, AFO by himself and the narration. Discerning readers already know that this is a crock of shit.

Child for One sees the Demon Lord being surrounded by people who provide for him out of fear while he's stuck living in isolation and squalor with Yoichi, and decides the only appropriate reaction to this is to make a children's comic book his entire personality (he's just like me fr)-- He embraces the idea of becoming a demon and shedding off his humanity, and immediately starts self-styling himself off a generic biz-caz corporate shmuck (lmfao).

Unlike AFO, Himiko resists the label of "demon" as much as she can-- she styles herself as "a cute high school girl" despite being a middle school drop out because she realizes the world will treat her a little more kindly this way (but only a little). Himiko longs to be seen as human, but is made to feel like a monster instead.

What I find interesting is that AFO himself outright admits that he lacked the ego/awareness necessary to "consciously" take Yoichi's quirk when they were children-- yet, both he and the narration continuously frame the siphoning of his mother's life, quirk, and Yoichi's nutrients as though they were intentional, malicious acts. AFO leans into this framing and builds his whole identity around it until that framing is finally pulled away from him literal seconds before his death.

Being "human" to Himiko means going back to a time where she was loved and accepted unconditionally. Being "human" to AFO means going back to being that screaming infant who no one would look at.

Like it or not, everyone is human in the end little dude.

Other Miscellaneous Similarities:

This one doesn't require much explanation-- through prioritizing their own needs above all else, AFO and Himiko both dehumanize other people the same way other people dehumanize them. Himiko is still a child, however-- and she is ultimately saved by her desire to be accepted and form genuine connections with others. Her final fight with Ochako is as much about getting Himiko to see Ochako as "human" as it is Ochako acknowledging Himiko's humanity. Once again, it's all about reciprocity/give-and-take.

""join our family and let me raise you! :D *hard cut to a burning orphanage*" AFO being genuinely puzzled that ppl aren't jumping at the chance to raised by him is my favorite running gag in mha.

Both AFO and Himiko also have a habit of being.... inappropriately intimate with other people, often to the point where whatever "relationship" they have with others exists almost entirely in their own head. Himiko calls Tsuyu by her first name and gets told to cut it out because this is a privilege Tsuyu reserves for her friends, and Himiko immediately interprets this as Tsuyu offering to be friends. AFO calls his worshippers his "friends" and his cult "his family" and asks that his young victims call him "uncle" like he's a kindly family friend and not the dude who is blackmailing them into betraying all their friends.

Also, neva 4get.....

To think AFO could have also had fun yuri times if he had just stopped being a dickhead for five seconds. Tragic. 😔

(/j)

[hamliet]

Toga Should Be Fine

Ah yes, a teen girl sacrificing herself to save another teen girl (hero, but still a TEENAGE GIRL) and saying she's doing so because she'd prefer death over life in prison. Meanwhile all of society, including heroes, are just gonna watch like this is the Hunger Games: Tokyo Drift and totally not do anything.

Sounds good! Sounds like a society worth protecting! Sounds reasonable!

slash s. I'm being sarcastic.

Listen, Hori has his flaws as a writer. However, the reality is that one of these main flaws is that Hori writes for his detractors. He probably is a person who genuinely cares and so tries to address everyone's concerns. The problem is that this leads to thematic inconsistency and whiplash framing, which I've spoken about before.

Why am I going on a tangent about this? Because to me this reads like Hori trying to directly address the prison concern for endgame. Even if they survive they'll all end up in prison! Meanwhile Tartarus is Guantanamo Bay complete with torture and inhuman evil, but that wasn't enough to convince fans, so now he's addressing it directly.

The villains aren't ending up in prison.

Nor are they dying.

A redemption arc typically does require a sacrifice, hence the "sacrificial death" trope. However, oftentimes, when the villain is particularly sympathetic and it's more thematically or character-ly interesting to leave them alive, they survive said sacrifice.

Considering a large portion of Toga's hate for heroes was based in Twice's death and Toga is literally a child saving another child who saved her because the adult heroes were too busy not caring about kids so a child hero had to do their work for them (it's a theme), it only makes sense that an adult hero (probably Hawks) will swoop in and save her.

[yugiohz]

getting pierced at Claire's & furthering their education (NOT at the hero academy!!)

[fever-dreamer97]

So Unpopular Take…I don’t like Toga.

Okay, I feel bad that she had a rough childhood and she is a good villain character.

But it was not normal to drink blood as a child, I don’t know why I’m supposed to feel bad for her on that. I feel bad that she was misunderstood when she was trying to show love.

Also she kinda gets on my nerves on acting like she’s some victim all the time.

For example, when she was mad at Ochako for not listening her questions during the war. Girl, you just killed an innocent old woman for blood, like you did multiple times with people throughout the show.

I’m sorry but I just don’t like her. I feel bad for the child Toga but not this grown ass Toga who is killing people left and right.

EDIT: I think I accidentally misused the word Hot Take as in Unpopular Take so I fixed it. My bad, I’m in Gen Z but I’m a complete grandma when it comes to slang lol

[marcusagrippa]

who up doing freak things in the evil blood forest

tumblr massacred the quality but this is the full image. the silly

[not-normal-about-shigaraki]

The problem with MHA is that I'm very invested in this plot about superpowered highschool students just doing dumb shit and growing up, and I'm also very invested in the underground criminal found family group slowly growing in power... But basically no interest in those plots interacting aka the ever growing war plot.

[kacchanrawr]

I've long accepted that Deku would probably not end up with Bakugo, but idt I'll ever accept Ochako not ending up with Toga, especially with the most recent chapters. Like their relationship has the queerest undertones in the entire series, and that's not even considering the fact that one of them is confirmed canonically queer. Wdym Ochako's straight and she's gonna end up in a typical shounen ending cishet relationship? No fucking way

[ferretsarefurryappendagedsnakes]

I love crazy women. And gay women. Combo? Consider me her lawyer with how hard I’m defending her.

[sternutaries]

Why is it actually called "league of villains" and not "Toga, Magne-onee-san and the boys"

[savnofilter]

We've seen out of the guys but who of the girls would call the reader mommy?

   toga | midnight | burnin | mina | jiro x [afab]reader

warning(s): sexual content, mommy kink, implied sex.

i/b: one, two.

a/n: GAHHHHH how did i not even consider this before?? im READY. we're gonna go most expected to least expected. please keep in mind that these are written in mind that the couples have done more talking than listed; these are drabbles. nothing here is forced. thank you anon!

TOGA—1

ofc. you knew she was finna be on this list. toga has no qualms about calling you almost any name you want. she probably calls you mommy first. doesnt matter who tops, when she says it you fold so hard. if you guys do it for awhile or she notices that you actually like it a lot, that word will never leave her vocabulary. a term that easily be used for dominance has now switched on its axis. but this doesnt mean she totally wont act as the person who calls you mommy for submission, she just has so much rizz it's hard to handle.

         ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

MIDNIGHT—2

doesnt matter who says it, but leans towards hearing it usually. if she says it to tease you then realizes that you actually like it, you better start praying. she'll say it when you're least expecting it (ie; in public, text, in bed) but not overtly in the public examples. like whispering it in your ear when brushing past you or smt. but when she's receiving, her favorite is you trying through all your might to get the words out as you ride her strap on, or if she fingering you to an orgasm or she continues to play with you through your orgasm. it gives her a high. and you dont mind if youre completely spent, she gives the best aftercare afterwards too. ;)

         ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

BURNIN—3

def prefers to call you mommy. she probably asks you to do it once, just to feel it... but she def not feelin with it being used for herself. 😭 she'll gladly call you it tho 🫶🏽 and sort of like Toga, it's more light-hearted and teasing. she likes to see the way your eyes either light up or darken upon being called the title. shes such a giver and doesnt mind doing what it takes for you to feel the upmost pleasure.

         ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

MINA—4

Mina is this far down the list bc she so goofy and unserious LOL. she'll be like "youre joking, right?" and then when you get embarrassed she's like WAITTT no we can make it work- she kinda likes using it more than she would admit. still she doesnt force it, just let it slip out when she is really in the heat of the moment. she'll even call you it in public just to fuck with you. the amount of side-eyes youll get from your friends... ☠️

         ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

JIRO—5

my girl Jiro is last just bc she's shy about it. tbh i see her suggesting it. she's all shy ab it and is reassuring you that it's fine if you dont want to. you remind her that you dont mind and you are willing to try at least once to see how it goes. so the usage is pretty tame. you dont hate it and it's not your favorite kink but you do it anyways bc yk she enjoys it. plus, you love seeing her get more excited (though she thinks you cant tell, but you can).

    all rights reserved © do NOT steal, alter or copy this work.

[beybuniki]

Interesting, I never really thought of that vision as being a completely different person and a rejection of current Touya, but saw it more of "current Touya but minus all the trauma," like it wasn't a weird unrealistic alternative universe but rather how how things would have naturally turned out if it wasn't for his father's obsession, even that specific wide grin he was drawn with looked identical to the wide grin his 5 year old self was drawn with in that one flashback (when he had red hair and training with his dad, I think it was around Dabi's Dance)

Oh yeah I mean the fact that he has that boyish grin further emphasizes that endeavor is so stuck in time and cannot face toya for who he currently is, the todoroki subplot constantly emphasizes that dabi/toya wants to be SEEN, his attacks and fights are always spectacles that ought to be witnessed and endeavor continuously fails to meet dabi where he actually is (?)!

And I understand what you mean by “not unrealistic alternative but just what could’ve have been” but that scenario that endeavor desires IS so far removed from reality ie. it leaves out the insane abuse that - to me - it is pretty much a very detached what if scenario I hope this makes senseee

[super-spicy-soy-sauce]

coming to you with another shitpost, but is it really?? i think they would totally bond over not being able to control their instincts/the way they were born and instead just embracing it. i just love them both. ik this meme is old but i had a stroke of inspiration which is rare. they would be the most chaotic pair and i am here for it.