#nalslastworkingbraincell

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you know that post that's like "dads will casually drop the most horrifying lore of their lives suddenly in the middle of a conversation and never bring it up again"? That should be AFO.

*random mundane conversation about animals*

AFO: ...Ah, raccoons. I've always found them awful tasting. Of course, that was probably because my younger brother and I were eating the roadkilled ones that were left in the sun for hours. Rotted meat has the worst texture.

Ujiko, Tomura, Kurogiri:

#everyday I remember that AFO and Yoichi were orphaned trash babies probably dumpster diving for survival #All For One #AFO #bnha #mha #heroaca #nalslastworkingbraincell

[nalmull]

This is the desperation of a drowning man looking for something, anything to hold onto. A raison d'être, a purpose; meaning. At his most passionate, shouting from his heart, Spinner reveals that it’s not quite Stain he wants to follow - it’s anything that will give him something to live for. Stain might be gone, but here was the League, here was Shigaraki. He’s begging Shigaraki to give him an answer. He’s willing to follow Shigaraki if Shigaraki proves himself - if Shigaraki inspires him, if Shigaraki can provide direction, Spinner will stay.

This was the wonderful question that hung over the entire arc, from beginning to end. Will Shigaraki prove himself? Is Shigaraki worth following? Spinner is sort of setting the standard here, asking what the audience is asking about the character of Shigaraki Tomura and his potential, providing the goal, the main thesis of the arc.

Spinner ends up serving as the audience surrogate - he’s ideal for it too: he’s sympathetic (victim of fantasy racism, an aimless young adult), he’s got ‘good’ reason to fight against society (where were the Heroes while the CRC were having their meeting?), and though we don’t know it yet, there’s already a sense that he’s the most average guy in the League, way in over his head. Relatable.

While the League being Plus Chaos is fun to watch (esp. Twice and Toga antics), we’re reading HeroAca for a story. We need that logical progression, we need a satisfying beginning, middle, end. same as Spinner, we’re looking for ‘purpose’ and meaning. MVA main thread is Shigaraki growing and maturing, and Spinner is the meta-framing for this.

BONES completely screwed up by cutting this. While the story was still told, it ended up being just an detour to see what the Villains are doing. Randomly, here’s Shigaraki fighting Gigantomachia. Randomly, here’s a Other Villain Group to serve as punching bags. Good, cool, now you’re caught up with our antagonist. the emotional depth got lost.

#villainaca #nalslastworkingbraincell #chapter 220 #spinner #shigaraki tomura

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#😭 #Nana Shimura #Shigaraki Tomura #spoilers #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #Chapter 397 spoilers #nalslastworkingbraincell #bnha #mha #heroaca

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Shigaraki Tomura: actually a nice and fair guy

#Shigaraki Tomura #bnha #mha #heroaca #nalslastworkingbraincell

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#shitpost #edit #All For One #Yoichi #nalslastworkingbraincell

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Toga wanted to ask for blood. She wanted to ask Saito for blood.

In fact, outside of battle and missions where anything goes, I think Toga usually does ask before she stabs. She asked Deku for blood in Chapter 348.

And though this is omake, and I forgot whether this is official or not, she asks here too:

I’ve seen some previous meta that pointed out that all Toga needed was to understand consent (and to eventually find a tolerant group of kinksters). That is indeed a solution, but I think the examples above does show that Toga has at least the basic understanding of consent.

It’s just that the act of asking for it would’ve ostracized her. If she asked, it wouldn’t just be someone random calling her a freak; it would be the person she loves calling her a freak. It’s the ostracism that scared her more than a simple ‘no’.

Her parents hammered it into her head that any manifestation of her desire for blood makes her not human. So she was afraid to ask, and afraid to talk about it, and afraid to seek help or support for it; and it was bottled up inside of her until it exploded.

Not that her stabbing Saitou was okay, obviously. Her logic of ‘well, if I can’t ask, I might as well go for it’ is wonky.

But there’s a reason she functioned so well in the League. She could ask for their blood, and they wouldn’t judge her for it. Maybe they gave it to her, maybe they didn’t. But they never saw her as less.

And that’s what Ochako finally did here. She let Toga explain herself, she listened, she didn’t judge. Ochako even offered her blood— but note that it wasn’t the blood that got Toga to finally stop.

It was Ochako reassuring Toga that she still views Toga as human. And that’s what Toga wanted all along.

#Toga Himiko #Uraraka Ochako #Togachako #nalslastworkingbraincell #bnha #mha #heroaca

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Toga-chan and Ochako-Chan PV

#Toga Himiko #Uraraka Ochako #Uraraka Ochaco #Togachako #official #mha #bnha #HeroAca #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #edit #gif #nalslastworkingbraincell

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i've said this more than a few times before, but it continues to be true. the more I think about Shigaraki letting Spinner join the League of Villains, the funnier it gets. Everything about it - here's a guy Shigaraki has to vet to let into his supervillain battle group, and he's

A hikkikomori country boy from the middle of nowhere with zero criminal experience just somehow finding his way into a big city Villain hideout

showing up in low-budget cosplay based on a serial killer who recently went viral

(because the serial killer went viral)

having to reveal that in the fight against professional superpowered mercenaries, his power... is to climb walls

then asking for a giant sword made out of dozens of knives duct taped together as his main weapon. (They'd have to pay money for this.)

And Shigaraki said 'sure' to all of it. Is it any surprise he's dedicating his destruction of Mt. Fuji to Spinner? We all talk about Spinner's giant crush on Shigaraki, but i think Shigaraki is actually the one got a crush first, moment he first saw the guy.

#nalslastworkingbraincell #spinaraki #Spinneraki #shigaraki tomura #Spinner #bnha #mha #heroaca #spinner stepped into the bar and shigaraki said 'that's my future wife'

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Best Friends

#Toga Himiko #Uraraka Ochako #Uraraka Ochaco #Togachako #official #bnha #mha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #HeroAcam #edit #gif #nalslastworkingbraincell

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Got the urge to draw something dumb. And so.

Based on this.

#Shigaraki Tomura #Spinner #Spinaraki #Spinneraki #nalslastworkingbraincell #bnha #mha #HeroAca #fanart #nalscrawl #haven’t drawn in so long! #sorry Shigaraki looks off #🥲

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Age 3, Toga had her hair put up in messy buns, and dressed in cute, frilly clothing.

Her outfit looks to be a two-piece - shirt and skirt - complete with a little bow-tie and additionally frilly socks.

I don't think 3-year-olds can coordinate and dress into an outfit such as this without adult help; and to get her hair buns, there definitely needed to be an adult to style her hair.

So this was Toga, age 3, having been fussed over by her parents, who took time and attention to dress her in pretty outfits and brush her hair for her.

All this changed after she demonstrated the tendencies of her quirk, after her parents found her drinking the dead bird's blood:

In the first pic, she looks only slightly older than when she was in that frilly outfit - age 4 or 5, perhaps. She's several years older in the second pic - 8 years old, I'd say?

Her hair is being down is the most obvious change - her parents didn't take the time to style her hair anymore. They no longer help her put it in a hairstyle that would take an even few minutes of time and effort.

But her clothing has also changed - her dresses are much more plain, and look to be simple things that can be easily slipped over the head.

Much like how Toga's old house showed that her parents stopped marking her height at around age 3, the way Toga is dressed as a child also possibly shows that after Toga manifested her quirk, her parents might have just since gave her minimum attention. Might have avoided touching her as much as possible.

Toga will continue to keep her hair down for years afterwards until age 15 (last year of middle school). By then, she'll be old enough to do her own hair, but she continued to keep her hair down and straight. It's associated with 'normal' for her, the 'normal' that she's told to follow. It's part of the mask she wore, it's how she suppressed herself.

Once she ran away, though, once she's free from her house, and the 'normalcy' she was performing, Toga has her hair out in messy buns again:

And even in her imagine spot after her heart is saved by Ochako, she pictures herself with the same hair style.

#Toga Himiko #bnha #mha #heroaca #nalslastworkingbraincell #straight hair down for Toga is what gloves are for Tenko/Shigaraki #to me

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Shigaraki's memories I want Deku to see:

Shigaraki having genuinely wanted to recruit Bakugou because he saw Bakugou get chained up and gagged during the Sports Festival and felt a sort of kinship with the boy

Shigaraki accepting a paper-bag-over-head-wearing, too-traumatized-to-use-his-quirk-properly, incoherent Twice into the League

Heck, just Shigaraki accepting everyone into the League. Took in a bitter middle schooler. Managed to get Muscular and Moonfish - two people true to their bloodthirsty desires - to restrain themselves enough to work in a team towards a specific goal.

Shigaraki watching over a recovering Compress who just had his arm torn off by Overhaul

the League giving Magne a proper burial and keeping her magnet

Shigaraki revealing his face to Toga and Twice and saying he believes in them

Shigaraki telling Toga and Twice to grab "the girl in the middle of the Shie Hassaikai operation"

The League being buddies who stuck together even after losing comrades and resources, even when they're on the run with no money and no food and no clear purpose. Even when they have to fight a giant naked man nearly 24/7 on a mountain in the middle of winter.

The League rushing into great danger to save a kidnapped friend

Shigaraki not dusting ReDestro immediately when the man was bleeding out on the ground, despite having every reason to do so - ReDestro had condescending challenged him, harmed his friends, insulted him, maimed him, and destroyed The Hands. Shigaraki had every reason to just finish off his opponent while ReDestro was down, but he didn't; and especially not after ReDestro apologized and kowtowed.

Shigaraki ordering sushi for Mr. Compress and the League

#nalslastworkingbraincell #shigaraki tomura

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The park flashback/scene where Tenko plays with Mikkun and Tomo-chan in Chapter 418 first takes place in early afternoon, as evidenced by the clock reading almost 2:00 PM.

The art in the scene confirms this: clear bright skies, and the shadows under the children are short.

However, the time in the scene changes after Mikkun and Tomo-chan tells Tenko he should be All Might (the moment Tenko decides he wants to be a Hero, as he tells his mom in Chapter 235). Suddenly it's evening: the clock shows 6:13 PM, and the sky darkening because it's nearing sunset.

When Shigaraki/Tenko thinks of the League, he and the League (and Deku) all have long shadows, the kind you see when the sun is low in the sky.

＊

The context:

Sunset is the time to go home. Children who have been playing outside, in playgrounds, at the park, are supposed to go home, to get back in time for dinner, back to their families.

In Japan, many cities and towns have a bell/chime/song that plays from public loudspeakers at around 5:00 PM. It's a daily test of an emergency broadcast system, but it has also come to be seen as the evening bell, a 'go home' signal, especially for children, telling them to go home before it gets dark.

In manga and anime, all these elements have become common imagery and symbolism, associated with each other: red-orangey colors, sunset, long shadows, the chime, children saying goodbye to their playmates for the day, the idea of home and return.

(from Mushishi)

＊

Putting it all together:

When the park scene first shows up, it's Tenko memory of playing with Mikkun and Tomo-chan, likely exactly how it had occurred in real life: it's early afternoon, the sun is shining bright, their shadows are short, they're at the park, they're playing Heroes, and when the kids tell Tenko that he should be All Might, Tenko is overjoyed.

But this isn't the scene 15-16 years ago; this is a memory. Tenko is also Shigaraki here. He has just had his core pried open by Deku, and given relief. The Crying Child has been symbolically saved, but the past, the massacre, the Walk still all happened.

So it's suddenly 6:13 PM, it's sunset now, because it's way past proper time (5:00 PM) to go home - because Shigaraki/Tenko can't go home to the Shimura house. It's too late. It's been long over.

Shigaraki/Tenko then looks away from Mikkun and Tomo-chan, to the side, and say, 'Nah' to their suggestion, because besides it being late, he also no longer wants to be All Might. He's deciding he's a Villain, he still holds malice and he still destroys.

So, the scene changes again to contains the League now, all six of them (plus Deku). They exist in this sunset time, hence their long shadows. They exist with current Shigaraki/Tenko, they exist in the now - and arguably, they would be the home he would return to at sunset.

-

Up to interpretation, of course, but the sunset/going home context is real.

Japanese tweets about it (translated):

[When Tenko got the words he wanted, his eyes lit up, but it was past time to go home so I'm guessing that means "it's too late."]

[It is just heartening that the League members are the place where Tomura would return to when it was "time to go home." I'm sobbing]

[In the scene where Tenko is at the park, the clock is already past 6:00 PM, the time when good kids go home, so if he had met Deku a little earlier, Deku might have been able to stop him, but this seems to show that they're past that stage now, which is good.]

#nalslastworkingbraincell #shigaraki tomura #Chapter 418 #bnha 418 #some cultural context #bnha #mha #heroaca

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assorted 408 thoughts

When I first saw this sequence of panes, I thought, wildly and hopefully, that’s Shigaraki Tomura. That could be Shigaraki Tomura, someone who holds the quirk All For One and who, despite everything, is kind.

＊

It reminds to be seen if Shigaraki Tomura can be stopped. As Deku says himself in Chapter 406, he still haven't come up an answer yet.

Since his first appearances, Shigaraki Tomura is infamous for being childish, talking about fights and battles as if he was playing video games. He's matured since then and his game metaphors have lessen in quantity, but his enjoyment of video games is still significant to his character.

But Shigaraki Tomura is also the one who created the League of Villains, a haven for outcasts and misfits. Twice considers the League the only place he belongs. Toga found life easier to live while with Shigaraki and others. The League is home to it's members, because Shigaraki made it that way.

Part of that is because Shigaraki Tomura is considerate of his teammates feelings and desire. This is core to Shigaraki - even as a child, he went out of his way to befriend those left behind, to include the children no one else wanted to play with. Underneath the layers of bitterness and rage caused by society's rejection, Shigaraki is still someone who cares a lot:

＊

One thing I really like about the new chapter is that All For One kept Yoichi's severed hand.

Why? Who knows. All For One isn't allowed any real human emotions by the story. But still - All For One kept a severed hand, a memento of a lost one and whatever significance is embedded in that; it's evidence of what he's done - killed his brother - and a symbol of his new purpose - to hunt down the other remnant of Yoichi.

Years later, he would do the same for Shimura Tenko, when he gives the boy the hands of the slaughtered Shimura family. And he intends for them to have the same meanings and purposes - for Shimura Tenko to remember the massacre, and for that memory to spur him onward.

That AFO repeats this gruesome gesture with Tenko, essentially reproducing the same horror he experienced onto the boy who he intends to be his heir. This recontextualizes The Hands a bit - instead of just what seemed to be a sort of unique psychological torment imposed out of revenge against Shimura Nana's descendant, it's also AFO just raising Tomura after himself. It's still a incredibly fucked up cruelty, don't get me wrong, but now it feels less because specifically Shimura, and more because AFO wanted an successor that mirrors himself, down to the same traumatic trappings.

＊

But of course, Shigaraki Tomura still greatly resembles Yoichi.

Overall, this panel of Yoichi does closely resembles the panel of Shigaraki from Chapter 221. Just— everything from the angle of the face and the direction of their gaze, to the position of the hand.

But based on Yoichi’s expression - the eyes, the slight smile, the whole demeanor - my first thought went to Shigaraki in Chapter 148, when he was telling Toga and Twice that he believes in them.

This is Shigaraki, revealing his face to Toga and Twice, when in the previous panels, it had seemed like he was insensitively ordering them around, without consideration for their feelings, telling them to work with Overhaul who had just murdered their friend Magne. But once the hand comes off - voluntarily, for the first time, facing them straightforwardly - we see a look that convey a lot of things - Shigaraki's resolve in taking down Overhaul, his trust in Twice and Toga, his sincerity in what he's saying. It's Shigaraki with probably his kindest expression in the entire manga.

It parallels the context somewhat too - in Yoichi panels, it had look at first like he was despondent, sad and weak, lamenting that he dependent and was unable to do anything against the evil that was his brother. But instead, with the face reveal, we're seeing Yoichi's own indomitable will and kindness, so much that he still sees the hopeful possibilities of All For One's power.

Both are victims of All For One, but both have always kept their strong sense of self and core sense and desire for kindness and justice.

＊

If you ask me what AFO and OFA combined would look like, I have to say: Shigaraki Tomura.

#Shigaraki Tomura #Shigaraki Yoichi #Yoichi #All For One #One For All #bnha #mha #heroaca #nalslastworkingbraincell #don't mind me #i'm just back on my 'Shigaraki Tomura as best character ever' bullshit

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#Spinner #Iguchi Shuuichi #All For One #AFO #Spinaraki #bnha #mha #heroaca #edit #dumb #nalslastworkingbraincell

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x

#edit #Spinner #Shigaraki Tomura #bnha #mha #heroaca #nalslastworkingbraincell #spinaraki #think about spinner