Alastor: Now it's time for some witty back-and-forth banter. You can go first, old pal.
Vox: *sobbing*
Alastor: Look, I'm not sure where to go with that.
was going to joke "wow only top five???" and then realised oh. how am i going to manage a top five. when there's so much and it's all so good.
anyways. all of these are based on personal appeal and interpretation. but also my personal appeal and interpretation rules above all ✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻
5. Chapter 373: FRIENDS :)
Yeah duh, did you see how crazy we went when this entire chapter dropped? The only reason it isn't higher is because I'm holding on for my most grand theory to pan out (or for like. anything lmao).
Especially special chapter to me because the two things in the ShigAFO fight that have triggered Tenko/Tomura were a) questioning whether he has friends and b) his anger and hurt seeing the heroes give everything they can to save Bakugou when no one has ever extended that kind of effort to him. And then Horikoshi followed that up with a chapter specifically titled "Friends" wherein someone who has consistently demonstrated that he cares about Shigaraki gives everything he has, how little it may be, in a desperate plea to save him. Might mean nothing :)
4. The Last Time Shigaraki Was Allowed To Talk to Anyone From the League LMAO
Literally the last time Shigaraki had any direct interaction with anyone in the League (besides being on panel with them for 240 and ShigAFO trying to warn Dabi not to charge into the final battle like an asshole) was with Spinner and Twice in Chapter 231. Which is crazy and drives me to a frothing fury on a regular basis. But it's also a moment I care about a lot because a) Twice :)
And b) there's this little discussion between Shigaraki and Spinner that's not really shippy, but still demonstrates this brief moment of - fairness, partnership? Where Shigaraki asks for Spinner's opinion, and Spinner gives an honest evaluation of the situation. A cynical read might say that Shigaraki is figuring out if Spinner is going to ditch at this point, but Shigaraki tends towards being straightforward and frank. So it's nice to read it as Shigaraki genuinely wanting Spinner's input on their situation. Plus the fact that Spinner has stuck with Shigaraki throughout all the chaos as they fight their way through Deika is so sweet - remember how many people thought that Spinner would ditch the League when MVA was ongoing? Remember how people STILL wondered when Spinner was going to ditch?
Also not exactly cheating, I just want to call back to this moment from 224 where Spinner is the one who first clicks into Shigaraki's plan. Because of their gamer bond :) Between these two moments, I think we see that potential for synchronicity between them, as well as those early examples of Spinner's faith in Shigaraki's ability to lead the League.
3. Spinner Trying to Comfort/Check In on Shigaraki Post-SnS
I don't really have a big in depth reason for this besides the fact that it fills me with so much potent emotion. However while getting a screenshot I realised AFO was monologuing about his philosophy on friendship throughout. I am incorporating this into my most grand theory.
2. I'd Never Seen Anything Prettier...
Legitimately an insane moment that Bones WILL regret fucking cutting. But so insane, one day you're yelling at your terrorist boss about the gang's aimlessness, desperate to know where we're going, and 19 chapters later you get your answer. The warped, crumbling horizon of Chapter 239 is one of the It moments for Spinaraki, just a gorgeous scene with gorgeous commentary from Spinner. This moment was crucial to informing a lot of my early interpretations, of Spinner potentially having to decide between that promise of the horizon and the destruction of a society that has hurt all of them, or Shigaraki's health and safety, in case Shigaraki's actions turn self-destructive.
EXCEPT.
What I actually love more and think really enriches that climax is what we see from Spinner before all this.
As Machia rampages through Deika, demonstrating greater ferocity than when he was fighting the League, Spinner screams out for Shigaraki while being knocked down while fighting - and when Trumpet (beloved) decides to back out of the fight in order to get to Redestro, Spinner latches right onto the van and holds on for dear life into A Lot Of Destruction zone.
When the horror of the MVA adaptation was dawning on all of us, I had a bitch fit explaining the importance of Spinner's perspective and role as narrator, pointing out how it is that Spinner's changing feelings about Shigaraki as a leader and a person are the wraparound for Shigaraki's development this arc. I also referenced @stillness-in-green who pointed out how this arc was about how Shigaraki coming into his own as a leader and the Symbol of Fear looked to other people - Machi and Redestro are also there, awed by Shigaraki and pledging themselves to them.
Where Spinner differs is that this moment isn't the light switch for him on his Shigaraki opinions - it's a culmination of the past months. Shigaraki in the crater as Spinner waxes poetic is beautiful, but it wouldn't hit the way it does if Spinner wasn't already ride or die (literally). He care about Shigaraki before this, before he latched onto the van, before he ranted at Trumpet, before he saw Shigaraki barf after disintegrating a bunch of people - it was before the MLA ever got into contact with them that he was musing on Shigaraki's boyish smile while combatting Machia. It's good.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS BECAUSE I AM A RELENTLESS CHEAT
I already talked about brief moment when Shigaraki manages to order Machia and Spinner smiles.
Doki-doki
The VENERABLE Chapter 295 Hand Crowning Scene (plus Compress leaving Shigaraki to Spinner, and Spinner's realization that something is wrong with Shigaraki in the following chapters). It's beautiful and haunting and tender and sooooo ripe for angst. Only in the honourables though despite being a big deal because the AFO takeover means I've had to wait even longer for Shigaraki to interact with the League again :/
Not strictly Spinaraki but the energy of it. The flashback of AFO caressing Spinner's cheek when giving him more quirks. My dears has your father-in-law ever tried his shot on ya.
Also as @codenamesazanka once noted it's SO different from AFO's normal quirk giving/taking like. Cmon.
And now the moment you've all been waiting for. My Number One Spinaraki Moment (for now).
THEE Declaration Bonus Dynamic with Toga
It was obvious before this moment that Spinner had changed his tune on Shigaraki and was willing to keep following him, and this scene in Chapter 233 was the Official Declaration As Such. One might not know that, based on how he would still keep getting comments wondering when he'd ditch the League that have only recently waned.
But what always sticks out to me is the reference to Toga - I've got nothing I love, like Toga does. Nothing I really wanna do.
In Chapter 223, Spinner asks his Machia-battling buddy, Toga, why she's still with the League despite loving Stain and there being so little of his influence left in the League. Her answer is just: love. Being a part of the League allows her to pursue her vision of love without judgement (and there's a lot to say about the harm of Toga's love, both externally and internally, how it's impacted by her abusive family life and ostracization by society, but it's still love that's real for her and means everything to her, and that harm could have been mitigated if someone bothered to understand her and accept her).
(As a side note UGH there's so much you can do with Toga & Spinner. I've had a WIP for like two years now centering on them and it's driving me crazy.)
Spinaraki would never go like, makeout point-canon. It'll be a hell of a baller move on Horikoshi's part! Imagine how funny it would be! But the Shonen Jump ain't gonna go there. But in the hypothetical situation that it DID and we got a lot of people going, "Where the hell did this come from, I thought they were just friends why is it gay now", then this moment while fighting Trumpet would be what I point to.
Spinner says here that there's nothing that he loves like Toga, nothing that he really wants to do. But by 373, there is something he wants to do - he wants to follow Shigaraki, he wants to reach Shigaraki's side, he wants to see Shigaraki stand tall. It may not seem like much to someone else, but for Spinner who spent his life until now feeling empty and purposeless, it's everything. So now, who's to say he doesn't have something that he loves?
Apollo, in a high voice, holding barbie: hey ken! I was thinking about going back to school and starting a career!
Artemis, in a deep voice, holding ken: nonsense, barbie. you’re staying home and having my kids
Hermes: what the fuck are you guys doing?
Artemis: playing systemic oppression
baratheonpilled
2087
tangentwithtanner
origamiaround
dededos
jacobvanloon
kaledo-art
yousharknotpass
