Of course you do. I suppose racism also affects everyone, even white people? Intersexism affects perisex people? Oh! The last one. That's a rather common explanation for why TME/TMA is bad isn't it? That it's an intersexist binary?
So! Some people think that the terms 'TMA' and 'TME' are intersexist. Why? Well the common explanation is that: "intersex people also face transmisogyny! These terms erase their experience! Intersex people can be mistaken for trans women!". Often this will come with a proposed hypothetical, intended to sound ridiculous, something like; "ah but you see human drawing back your fist, ready to assault me, I'm not a trans women, I'm just intersex!" and then would-be harasser in this hypothetical will say something like; "oh I see! good day my fellow person!" and walk off. (Slightly more mask off transmisogynists will replace every instance of the word people in the above text with "AFABs", despite this, they will often try to argue that cis intersex men are affected by transmisogyny too).
There are a few problems with this:
This hypothetical will compare all transmisogynist's, and instances of transmisogyny with the most blatantly bad transmisogynist/transmisogyny imaginable (none of the more subtle stuff that often even self proclaimed allies repeat, but that often ends up being MORE dangerous and common). The type of person who's knowledge on trans issues goes about as far as "those darn he-she transes making all them real queers look bad!". More subtle instances of transmisogyny exist though. Sure, some strangers absolutely can, and do, mistake intersex people or "AFABs", with trans women, but those are for short, often less-than-a-minute, encounters. Here's an example for you: Imane Kehlif. Imane Kehlif is intersex, and in case you aren't aware she was one of the -not so recent anymore- victims of a classic J.K.Rowling moment™. Rowling did the whole "not a real woman ,trans woman, evil pretender, invading our culture" spiel (you'll notice Imane is a woman of colour, I'm sure that has absolutely nothing to do with this 🙄).
What happened to Imane is awful, no-one should have to go through that. However. She had a LOT of defense, not just on social media, but in real life too. She also had clear legal recourse. Sue Rowling for defamation. Would she have won? Probably not. Rowling has enough money to legally battle a small planet and win. And the fact that cis women can even sue people for "defaming" them by saying that they're trans is, y'know, not great. Thing is, if Imane was trans, that legal option, wouldn't even be there for her, and she cerianly wouldn't have had such a strong defense from the general public. Inculding TERFs, by the way, "We've got the wrong woman, she's okay!"(If Imane really was TMA they would have gleefully ruined her life, made sure that she was never forgiven for the crime of being transmisogynized. In fact, this whole explanation about her is longer than it should be, if she was really TMA she wouldn't have been able to compete in the fucking Olympics, especially not in a combat sport, but I digress.) if Imane was a trans women, she would not have had such a defense. How do I know? Well there are several instances of trans women receiving the same "defamation" as Imane, the same harassment. But to give one example, Lia Thomas. She is a swimmer, one of the first trans female athletes to see such success in her sport (strange that, seeing as we have such an advantadge...). A rival of her's, Riley Gains, came behind her in one of their races, and decided that this was a good time to switch from being a swimmer to an... "Activist". 'Funnily' enough Lia and Riley were actually quite good friends before this, they tied once and their is a photo of them smiling next to each other (the fact that cis women are allowed to see their trans female friends as disposable objects, to be used when convenient and discarded, trashed, and something to start a hate campaign against, and are almost always rewarded for doing so is a topic in and of itself). Lia saw almost no defence from the public news outlets or the law, in contrast to Imane who had both legal reprucusions and social ones, with most news outlets calling it a "controversy" (even some virutulently transphobic ones) and a few calling her treatmen bad, even! Well done british tabloids! "Impartial reporting" my arse. Obviously the way they talked about what was done to Imane is bad, I'm not saying otherwise, but compared to what happened to Lia? I would be surprised if someone could find an instance of more than three cis people at the time (or even TME people honestly) defending Lia.
So who does transmisogyny affect? well... Transfems! Or TMA people, lots people who are TMA don't identify with the term transfem, which I understand. The term does sort of imply some kind of gender expression, so it's probably better to use other terms like transmysogynized or...TMA. The language IS inclusive, to the people who the language is for. But god forbid we have anything.
Two last things!
A. "Well intersex people need language to describe their oppresion!" <- thats true! I've seen the term 'Intermisogyny' before, although I think there are quite a few terms.
and more importantly B. Intersex transfems exist (In fact I might be one...?*) . They face the intersection of transmisogyny and intersexism/interphobia, whichever you prefer. by trying to say that intersex people, or god forbid, intersex "AFABs" experience transmisogyny you are actively erasing their experiences (you are also erasing perisex transfems as well, but this discussion isn't about them/us so that's less importantant. Also it will hurt intersex transfems more, since it will result in them either being cast out of their community, or staying but losing language that could be used to talk about their experinces).
*I am inter-questioning(I think that's the term?), altogh am currently leaning towards 'no', since I'm already a medical abnormality. I will probably never found out for sure, fuck doctors. I also might have an intersex alter, although alter's do not exist within the social class that they are in unless the host/body is already within that social class(I think that makes sense? not sure how else to word it). Not even sure if it's okay to have alters who exist in a class that you do not. I can't think about that rn, I'm slow type who's not used to putting her thoughts into word like this.
König x fairy!reader
A/N: i’ve been working this weekend and have done nothing but think about some fics i wanna write and who i wanna write for. i hope you enjoy✨
credits: @cafekitsune for their wonderful dividers. please go check them out.
warnings: mild violence, blood, angst...
Before I can make out who is intruding on my meadow I'm shot down in a net, the wire and rope stinging my skin as it makes contact. König is watching as I fly up to check our surroundings, noticing the shift in in the air. He hears branches snap and the sound of the net being launched in my direction and he takes off after the unknown people lurking at the edge of the meadow. The soldier in him going into overdrive at a potential threat.
König is sprinting to the edge of the meadow and as he gets closer he can hear a man shouting orders at his team members to "Gather the fairy! We'll be getting paid tonight boys!" Fairy bodies, hair, everything on a fairy is valuable, and to the highest bidder? Nothing is off the table. A live fairy? worth millions. König knows this and it tears an angry and primal growl from his chest as he reaches the men.
He unleashes on the group of men. König comes into view of the men and twirls the knife expertly in his hands. "Tell me who is paying you, maybe I will let you live." His accent heavy and chest heaving. He takes a small step towards them and they all reach for their weapons, but König is faster. He takes 2 of the men down with knives, slicing ones jugular and twisting his neck like an owl. He grabs the other of the two and slams him on the ground, slicing his femoral artery. Leaving him screaming and slowly loosing consciousness.
Furious that they could harm something so delicate and beautiful when all you do is take care of things. His blood pumps and boils as he plunges his knife into the leader of the groups ribcage and twists, his body falls to the ground like a rag doll. The other man can only watch, as König turns to him his body radiates anger. "Now, abschaum, who has paid you to capture my fairy?"
What I wasn't prepared for was the shear weight of the rope and wire against my tiny body. I feel as thought I weigh a thousand pounds at 4 inches tall. I struggle against the net as it singes and burns my skin every time I do. I try to move once more to try and free myself, no use. I am laying on my side trying not to move, everything hurts.
König is panting heavily as he slices the mans throat after he gives him the information he asked for. He is instantly pulled from his almost blackout rage, "Y/n." he whispers and turns away from the bodies and looks for you in the meadow. "Y/n!" He yells. No response. "Nein bitte, Y/n!?" König shouts.
I hear König ever so faintly, the buzzing of the electricity in the wires and the burning of my own skin drowning his calls for me out. "König!" I manage to scream. "I'm here! Please!" I use all the strength I can and shout for him, hoping he hears me. König runs over to where he hears me, close to where he had been sitting before. He bends down to me and as he cups his hands around my entangled body he's shocked from the wires. He winces softly and cuts them free from my body. "Oh meine süße Fee, are you alright?" He gently rests his thumb on my back and sits me up as thoughtfully as he can, not wanting to risk injuring you further.
His eyes scan my small form and they land on my wings, his face etched with concern. "Your wings..." König helps me to sit up further and inspect my wings. I look over my shoulder at the almost translucent and burned wings, or what's left of them, from the electric wires. I look down at his palm and shut my eyes tight, a tear rolling down my face and onto his palm. "A fairy is nothing without their wings." I say softly, remembering the words of the fae king. If you are to ever loose your wings, don't come back.
König looks down at me softly. "Oh Schatz, please do not cry." He gently lifts my chin with his finger. "You are still meine süße Fee, Ja?" He looks at me through his sniper hood and tilts his head awaiting my answer. "Yes, but a fairies power is held in their wings, I have no wings." I cry softly as I look up at him. I hold onto his finger and sob softly. I feel like a huge hole has been pierced through my chest.
I lean against his finger and hug it tight and cry. König sits by the tree he had earlier and gets comfortable, letting me go through the emotions of loosing my wings. His chest puffs ever so slightly, his protective instincts kicking in. "What if... I kept you?" König says this hesitantly knowing fairies are very wary of humans, especially being asked to be kept by one. I slowly look up at him, my body going slightly rigid and heart rate increasing. He notices this and continues. "Not like a pet or a prize to show off, to help you, take care of you, things of that nature." he says softly. I relax as he explains himself, a relief washes over me and I slump against his finger contentedly.
I smile and nod up at him. "Yes König. I would appreciate that very much." The corners of his eyes wrinkle underneath his sniper hood and he stands from his spot up against the tree and slowly heads back to the KorTac base. Fairy in hand, and a newfound protectiveness blooming in his chest.
All right, I am here. There are some errands to run today, but I also plan to do some serious writing today. But first I guess it's time for my second coffee and some breakfast.
Thinking about how the talk between Lars and Sadie went when he got back to earth...
Lars: Hey... can we talk?
Sadie: Yeah...
*They go somewhere private*
Lars: It looks like you've been having fun, since I've been gone.
*Sadie looking at the floor*
Sadie: ...
Lars: I'm not mad, I just miss-
Sadie: Well I am!
Lars: What?
Sadie: I'm mad. You were gone: poof! Out of my life! Do you know how hard that was for me? You were off having some magical adventure and I was so worried.
*Sadie meets eyes with Lars*
Sadie: I didn't know when you were coming back. IF you were coming back!
Lars: Well, it wasn't exactly a fun time for me either. In case you haven't noticed: I'm PINK. This is not some fashion statement, it's because I DIED. I've been on the run while on an alien planet so far from here that I couldn't comprehend it if I didn't fly back to earth from it myself.
*Sadie's eyes turn glossy as she stares at Lars*
Sadie: You-You died?
*Lars looks away*
Lars: Yeah, I guess. One moment I'm protecting some gems from laser-shooting drones and the next I'm waking up with Steven crying over my face.
Sadie: He... brought you back to life?
Lars: Yeah. I think so.
Sadie: What does this mean? Are you okay now?
Lars: My heart still beats, just very, very slowly. Which means I am aging... just very, very slowly.
Sadie: You won't have a normal lifespan?
Lars: I don't think so, no.
*Lars looks back to Sadie*
Sadie: You won't grow older? You'll stay a teenager as I become an adult? You-!
*Sadie starts getting worked up*
Sadie: You'll leave.
*Sadie's eyes widen and her breath calms*
Lars: Yeah, probably.
What a some of Mimizuku’s adventures we didn’t see in the fic?
Here are a couple! c:
Shouta's placed Mimizuku in time out before, on top of the fridge. And if Mimizuku is annoyed enough (because he really was enjoying pulling apart the tassels on the couch pillows), he'll screech from there and no one gets peace. (Hizashi gave him that pillow eventually and just bought a new one to replace it)
Shouta > Time out. Top of the fridge. Go
Mimizuku > *annoyed owls sounds as he goes*
--
Mimizuku has also gotten tangled in Shouta's capture weapon many times and so far, he has never gotten out of it without any outside help! (Mostly cause he's never used his talons for this since he knows that a knife can cut through it and what are his talons but knives on his feet?)
Mimizuku > uhoo
Shouta > You're lucky I know how to get you out of that.
Mimizuku > uhoo :(
--
And this one is much sillier, but sometimes Hizashi props his glasses up on his head and then he forgets they're there. Mimizuku was a witness to one of these many times, and well, let's just say Hizashi thought he was going to lose his moustache to that beak xD
✨ send MORTAL for a scene from my muse’s past in which they had a brush with death, either themselves or someone close to them ✨
tw // blood, death, mentions of torture
The voices on the other side of the door sound more hectic than before, and it's scaring Gus.
He's been scared a lot in these past two days. The storage room he and Graham are trapped in smells. Of blood, of sweat, of death. Maybe dead mice. Rats. Something else. Gus doesn't know. He doesn't know anything any more.
Gus looks at his better half through a bruised up eye. He tastes blood every time he swallows, and there's a harsh pain in his nose for every breath in. Graham looks worse.
And he can't hear the voices beyond the door.
Gus wonders if it's worth scaring him, when Graham's tall body is slumped against a grimy wall, his head leaned into some old boxes, in and out of consciousness. He's taken the brunt of it all. Taller, more intimidating - more fun to bring down a level. And Gus has had to watch it all.
He pushes a foot out. Taps his bloodied boot against his partner's to rouse him, finally.
Graham blinks awake slow. Out of it. A look of confusion on his face, as Gus pulls his own tied hands forward to sign as best he can.
'Loud voices.' He finally signs. 'I love you.'
The look on Graham's face... heartbreaking. Gus doesn't need to see what he signs before his eyes fill with tears. He has a terrible, terrible feeling.
And Graham's face shows he knows already that something is happening. The larger man shuffles, shifts. Stiff and sore from 2 days in this hellhole. A place they know they won't escape. Hands shift to sign:
This is a question I’ve seen a lot in the BNHA fandom, and it’s one I debated on with myself. And the conclusion is—
Let’s look a little deeper into this.
Before we begin, some notes;
1: I’m trying to be as unbiased as possible, so there will be both Aizawa Critical and Aizawa Defense ahead.
2: Speaking of being critical, I’ll be touching on some Bakugou Critical stuff, though some stuff will annoy my anti-Bakugou peeps as well, so they may not get the enjoyment they want. There is also some All Might Critical because as much as I love him, he is still a baby teacher trying to find his footing.
3: I am aware that this is a Manga made in eastern Japan and, as I am Western USA, there may be some value dissonance going on when judging. If someone with knowledge of Japanese culture—or better yet IS Japanese—can explain some things that Westerns don’t seem to understand about Aizawa’s actions and such, please do so!
4: I dunno how, but this became super long, so RIP mobile users.
5: Tumblr ruined the format in places.
Now before we dive into this deep sea of a rant, I want to make some things very clear;
1: I am only addressing the Manga—Vigilantes and the Main Series—and School Briefs, as I have not seen the anime.
2: I'm NOT to take meta things into account—or try not to—only what’s presented in the story. I’ll explain my reasoning for this in a bit.
3: There are over 300 chapters in the main series, over a hundred in the Vigilante series, and 35 in School Briefs, so if I happen to overlook something or get it wrong, please be patient and polite in your correction. With that said, grab your scuba gear, and let's start swimming.
First, let’s list all the things Aizawa tends to get flack for;
Expelling students
Threatening to expel Izuku after one lesson for not being able to control his quirk
Stating he would have expelled the entire class minus the few that were knocked out when they moved into the dorms
Coddling and playing favorites with Bakagou
Not scolding or punishing Bakagou for attacking Izuku
Partnering Bakagou with Izuku for the finals
In addition setting them against All Might
Assigning equal blame for Izuku and Bakagou “not getting along” despite it obviously being Bakugou’s fault
Not recognizing that Bakagou might have some PTSD after his kidnapping
His “logical ruses”
I mentioned before the list above that I don’t intend to take meta things--reality reasons--into consideration here. The reason for this is that stories tend to take place in their own universes with their rules and logic depending on genre, the medium, and the world it takes place.
The meta things are interesting to learn but not really that important unless the story takes place in our reality and is non-fiction. Everything else audiences should give a little leeway due to Hollywood rules. Plus, our worlds' rules don’t always apply to a story's universe or make sense there.
For example, “Dora the Explorer;”
In her medium and world, it’s perfectly safe for a little girl to go running around the jungle with her pet monkey and talking backpack, occasionally speaking to invisible people. In our world, Dora’s parents would be arrested for child neglect and endangerment, while Boots would be carted off to a zoo. Not to mention, Dora would be dead because the jungle has dangerous animals that eat children. Also, Dora would have a drug problem or an overactive imagination.
See what I mean? Dora’s world is where animals talk and where children are just as intelligent as adults. Not to mention, because it’s a preschool show, Dora never has to worry about getting hurt. So, judging it by our logic doesn't make a lot of sense.
In the case of “My Hero Academia,” the medium is Anime, the Genre is action/Shounen, and—this is very important now—the story takes place in a world where everyone has a superpower. This is a world where Heroes and villains fight constantly with each other. Why is this important? Because even though MHA is a bit of an off-shoot of our world, it’s not our world. The people there have a different mindset than us.
It’s kinda like Australia and the USA—hear me out;
Now in the USA, where I reside, most people are horrified at the idea of a “spider season” where spiders and their webs literally rain out of the sky and coat the ground like snow. In Australia though, it’s just an average occurrence. Now does that make it okay? NO. Spiders raining out of the sky is never a good thing! It’s awful (viva la fight me, bitch!)! But in Australia, raining spiders are the least of their problems. For they have to worry about one of Shelob’s children breaking in to eat their cat daily, angry kangaroos wanting their crackers and baseball hail with spikes. (Seriously, what divine/paranormal/cosmic entity did that country piss off?! I swear the only thing NOT trying to kill everybody over there are some of the sheep.)
In the BNHA universe, villains attack people with their powers, not daily but hourly, causing all sorts of havoc and destruction. Buildings are destroyed, people are injured, taken hostage, and yes, kidnapped. Are any of these a good thing? No! And the story never shows that it is, but it’s such a common occurrence that people are expected to get over it right away. Going back to the Australia example, is it a good thing that a spider the size of a cat breaks into the house? No. But is it out of the ordinary? Apparently not. But most people are used to it, so they toss the spider, check on Kitty, and move on.
This is shown to be one of the flaws of the superhero world in BNHA.
That would explain why Aizawa never stops to think about Bakagou’s potential PTSD. After he saved Bakagou was safe, so Aizawa assumed he would get over it. It’s just not something people in the BNHA world think about. That being said, it would have been nice to have Aizawa acknowledge his lapse in judgment and take steps to do better. And he was able to recognize Eri’s issues easily despite not knowing her very well, so I will say this is a point against him.
Speaking of Bakagou, let’s move on to the next complaint; Aizawa and his coddling of Bakagou. Right, I fully agree that Aizawa lets Bakagou get away with way too much, but I am going to play devil’s advocate in the spirit of fairness.
First off, EVERYONE coddles Bakagou. When it comes to Bakagou everyone’s personality changes to put Bakagou in a brighter light, despite it being otherwise. That’s just a writing failure.
However, I will be fair and say that from Aizawa POV, Bakagou isn’t acting too awful. (And there goes my anti-Bakagou followers, but hear me out.)
Remember, in the BNHA world, the kids are brats with their powers. This is seen during Shoto and Bakagou’s make-up exams and at the start of the story in Izuku’s class in chapter one. Bakagou’s attitude is immature but nothing out of the norm for that world. (Please note I am talking about Aizawa’s perspective on things. I am in no way condoning Bakagou’s behavior, nor do I think it’s okay Meta-wise or by the rules of the world. However, that’s a different post that I intend to tackle when the manga is finished.)
And readers seem to forget time and again that, unlike us, Aizawa has NO idea of Izuku and Bakagou’s history together.
Aizawa never saw Bakagou gang up on Izuku when he was unable to defend himself. He never saw Bakagou use his knowledge of Kanji to turn Izuku’s name into an insult that would haunt him throughout childhood. Aizawa never saw Bakagou rallying the entire class around him to mock Izuku. (Okay, that last one was just Bakagou’s charisma working and not an intentional act of Bakagou’s, but the point stands). Aizawa never saw Bakagou destroying Izuku’s hero notebook, a symbol of his dreams. Aizawa never saw Bakagou telling Izuku to kill himself. Nor did he see Bakagou charge at the villains to fight, knowing that they were after him, or that he dragged Izuku out of bed after hours to have a fight talk.
In fact, what Aizawa does see of Bakagou is pretty tame—by the standards of their world. Bakagou may have insulted Izuku once in awhile but it was nothing too bad. And yes, Bakagou essentially tried to MURDER Izuku in training but that can be passed off as getting carried away, something that wouldn’t be out of line with the world. (Keep in mind Todoroki creates ice walls and freezes people all the time.) In that case the blame partly falls to All Might—the teacher—for not stopping the fight when it got out of hand (more on this later). Hell, Bakugou barely even uses his quirk in school any more and when he does it’s seen as no big deal because—as we’ve seen with other kids—this behavior isn’t out of the ordinary. (It’s frowned upon like a kid screaming all the time but nothing major.) All of the actions Aizawa has seen from Bakagou are bratty but nothing extremely major, especially by their world’s standards.
Again WE, the audience, know the deal with Izuku and Bakagou, but Aizawa doesn’t. Part of the reason is that there’s not a lot that has prompted Aizawa to look into their history. And even if he did look into the school records, I don’t think they would say anything as Bakagou attacked Izuku in class and backed him into a wall and the teacher didn’t do anything, despite the fact it was all happening right in front of him. I’m willing to bet that the middle school and elementary school records say bump-kiss.
So, all in all, it’s pretty fair that Aizawa would just assume that Izuku and Bakagou “don’t get along” (but I will come back to this).
Speaking of Izuku, let’s move onto his part now;
A lot of folks tend to get upset that Izuku is called a “problem child,” but--
Look, I love Izuku, but who’s ALWAYS damaging his body and throwing himself into danger with no sense of personal safety? When there’s trouble, Izuku is usually placing himself right in harm’s way. I mean, hypocritical, but Aizawa is a pro, Izuku is a student.
Some think that Bakagou deserves that title however, keep in mind that to Aizawa, Bakagou has shown himself just to be an arrogant brat but nothing to get too worked up about—aside from the near murder on the first day of class, but I digress. That being said, I dunno if Izuku deserves the title of problem child either as Mineta causes more havoc than he does. However, the name is clearly affectionate, so I let it pass myself.
People are also bothered by the fact that Aizawa was going to expel Izuku on the first day of school, which allows me to tackle the complaint about expelling students in general. Oh boy.
Now before I move on to the next point, I would like to point out something I think people tend to overlook;
U.A is a school for heroes. What does that mean? THEY’RE LEARNING TO FIGHT VILLAINS.
This isn’t an ordinary high school with normal high school rules. It’s a school to teach them to deal with disasters, murders, thieves, etc. They’re basically getting these kids ready to be soldiers with celebrity status.
Now I’m not saying that Aizawa should be pulling a St. Slaughter or a Major Payne anytime soon, but pussyfooting around and coddling will do more harm than good (more on this later).
People have an issue with Aizawa expelling students, and I’m a bit confused as well. If I understand correctly, Aizawa does this because he wants them to experience a “death.” What he means to say, is that he wants the students to realize what it’s like to lose everything and have their dreams die. This is harsh I’ll grant you—especially in Japanese culture from the very little I know—but I see the merit in seeing how a person reacts when something tragic happens, especially when you’re a hero. It’s also a way to wake the students up and make them realize that being a hero isn’t a game. It’s serious business, and you can’t play around, or you’ll lose everything. (I like the idea, but the method is a bit odd and confusing.)
Anyway, reasons aside, I think threatening to expel the students on the first day was a good idea. It was a fair way to make sure everyone showed their all, giving him an idea of what he was working with in the long run.
This leads me into the second part of this; threatening to expel Izuku after one lesson for not being able to control his quirk. Again, I like Izuku, and I’m going to get hate for saying this, but—I see Aizawa’s point.
Keep in mind Aizawa has ZERO clue that Izuku was quirkless all his life and that he only had his quirk for less than a year. For all Aizawa knew, Izuku had it his entire life and never took quirk therapy or learned to properly use it. From his POV, Izuku was not only putting himself at risk but others as well. Aizawa had a valid point in expelling Izuku if he couldn’t control his quirk. He was also valid in only changing his mind when Izuku showed that he could regulate it, or learn to. Izuku’s quirk is dangerous, not just to himself but to others. There’s also the fact Izuku did poorly on the other tests which showed that not only that Izuku had poor control of his quirk, but had nothing else to make up for it. Even in the army and the police, you have to meet the physical requirements.
“But Aizawa never bothered to give Aizawa side classes or anything!” Ah, this brings to something that I never see brought up in his relation to being a teacher; Aizawa’s relationship with All Might.
It's a bit difficult to explain but Aizawa trusts All Might too much in matters of teaching, despite All Might being new. Sure Aizawa throws a jab at All Might here there, but overall he trusts his digression. Aizawa acknowledges—and in his own way admires--All Might’s brains and skills, so it’s not out of character for him to assume—like everyone else—that he knows what he’s doing. This brings me to this;
“Why isn’t Aizawa giving Izuku extra classes to control his quirk?” Because he’s assuming that All Might is handling it. They’re together all the time and have the same quirk, not to mention All Might is stating that he’s helping Midoriya when he can, so it’s a fair assumption. And since Izuku is improving his control, it’s not unlikely for Aizawa to think that All Might is actually helping out. The audience knows that while All Might tries to assist, Izuku’s figuring things out by himself but Aizawa doesn’t.
Look, All Might is a genius and basically an ace all around but as a teacher, All Might is still learning. He’s trying but he has no idea how about how to properly teach others.
The biggest example of this is the final exam.
Aizawa gets a lot of guff for teaming Izuku up with Bakagou for the finals because they “don’t along.” Now, when I first saw that scene, I was as irritated as quite a few people, then I thought about it and, from a story—and most importantly here Aizawa’s--perspective, it makes sense.
Aside from his “fragile ego,” Bakagou’s biggest weakness is that he has trouble working with others (though he did okay with Kirishima during the sports festival and the USJ). To help Bakagou get over this, he had to be placed with the person he hated most against an impossible foe that he couldn’t beat alone.
As for Izuku, Izuku isn’t very assertive at this point, nor does he stand up for himself very well. The thought process was that an impossible odd would force Izuku to stand up for himself to get Bakagou to work with him.
The biggest issue, in this case, was All Might.
In the final exams, Aizawa has entrusted the boys to All Might. In theory, this is a good idea; All Might is intelligent and knows both Izuku and Bakagou the best. Therefore, it should have been no issue for him to get the two to overcome their weaknesses. The problem was that All Might didn’t hold back enough and nearly did permanent damage to the other two. Even Recovery Girl called All Might out for that. So, all in all, I don’t think Aizawa is to blame for the final exam.
In relation to Izuku and Bakagou, let’s quickly talk about another complaint concerning the two; “Aizawa punishes Izuku for Bakagou dragging him out to fight.”
Aizawa didn’t know the full story, just what All Might told him.
Izuku admitted to being just as involved in the fight. Plus, Aizawa did go easy on Izuku.
He only grounded him for three days for being out of bed after hours and fighting. Aizawa even held off on the internships till Izuku was able to rejoin the class. Not a big deal.
Speaking of class, we jump into the final arguments of Aizawa as a teacher; Stating he would have expelled the entire class minus the few that were knocked out about the Bakagou rescue.
I don’t agree with this but--yet again--I see his point.
People say it’s hypocritical considering all his logical ruses, but here’s the difference; no one was in danger with his ruses. As stated lying to them about expulsion forced them to do their best, same with the lie about the finals. As for the lie in BNHA briefs on Parents Day, it was a way to teach the students about a very important part of being a hero; how to deal with a villain with hostages. Not to mention everything was happening in a safe environment where no one was at risk.
That was NOT the case with the Bakagou rescue. The students were charging into danger where they could have been taken captive, gotten Bakagou, or themselves killed. Not to mention they could have hindered the heroes who would have had to focus on protecting them. Yes, Bakagou was saved, and no one was hurt. However, it was a hell of a gamble that could have gone wrong in so many ways and caused several casualties. Maybe Aizawa was harsh by threatening those not a part of the rescue but again, we know they tried to talk the others out of going and thought they succeeded, but Aizawa didn’t. As far as he was aware they knew the plan was going down and decided not to say anything which, once again, placed everyone in danger. So while I don’t agree with Aizawa here, I do see why he scolded everyone.
No segway to this one, but I’ve seen people state that he sleeps during class, however, he’s only done that when others are teaching. It’s not professional, but as he’s aware of what’s going on and quips in here and there, I don’t hold it against him.
Now before I move on, I would like to go over some personal gripes I have;
1: His failure with Tenya
*As his teacher Aizawa should have been informed about Tenya’s brother, if only to explain his absence and why he left the sports festival early. As a hero, a teacher, and someone who lost his friend, there was no reason for Aizawa not to know how Tenya was feeling and what he might do. It would have been rational for Aizawa to pull Tenya aside and try to talk to him. Would it have done any good? No, but it would show that he was trying, and not ignoring his student's emotional woes. (And yes, I know that I used the world to explain why he didn’t notice Bakagou’s issues. However, this is a little different as Aizawa has personal experience in the loss of a loved one, not being kidnapped. [And I know Tensei didn’t die but close enough.])
I could have forgiven him if he didn't realize that Stain was in Hosu till it was too late, but we see that he figures it out right away. I think there should have at least been a scene where it shows that Aizawa called Manuel to explain Tenya’s situation and told him to keep an eye on the boy. But nope. He doesn’t even give Tenya his sympathies and does nothing when he puts 2 and 2 together about Stain and Hosu. This is bad for me because, in this case, Aizawa is aware of a situation he’s sympathetic to and is aware of the possible consequences and does nothing.
2: How he failed Bakagou
*YMMV as this all opinion and everyone falls into this—again, that’s bad story framing--but Aizawa failed Bakagou by not scolding him more. I’ll be fair and say that by what Aizawa actually sees and the rules of the world, Bakagou isn’t that bad—from AIZAWA’S POV.
That being said, there were still many moments that Bakagou should have received a hell of a talking to. Here are some examples off the top of my head;
On the first day after All Might’s lesson, Bakagou should have received a lecture from Aizawa and detention, at least. Why? Because no matter how you look at it, Bakagou was in the wrong. He used a move that he knew was dangerous and endangered a fellow student with the intent to do serious harm. (A premeditated action, btw.)
Another reason is that action warranted punishment is that—despite what Bakagou thinks--it’s been established over and over that while heroes fight villains, they don’t do any more damage than necessary UNLESS there are special circumstances. Bakagou needed to be pulled aside and have this explained to him.
Now there’s the argument that he assumed that Bakagou got carried away. If that’s the case, the boy should have had it explained to him how heroes can’t afford to let themselves get carried away like that. Why? Again, heroes aren't supposed to inflict more harm than necessary, and his quirk could end up hurting innocent people, even killing them. These are things a HERO school should be teaching.
But nope. All we got from Aizawa was, “Stop wasting your talent.” How about a, “Stop being a brat, and if you try to kill or maim your classmates again, you’re expelled,” Aizawa!
Again, in the spirit of fairness, Aizawa could have assumed All Might handled it, but more on this later.
Another thing Bakagou should have received scolding was for his general attitude. In the BNHA universe, how a hero presents themselves is important, and his attitude was so bad it made people think he was a villain. Bakagou needed to be pulled aside and explained that his attitude was not okay—then again Endeavor was popular enough to become #2 before his “development”, so this is a bit iffy.
And then there are the finals;
Now, as I stated, I don’t hold anything that happened in the finals against Aizawa. What I do hold against him is what happened after.
For the third time, Bakagou attacked a classmate, something that was recorded and witnessed by Recovery Girl, yet we never see him get scolded for it. And this is the second time Bakagou has injured a classmate.
Now as I’ve covered, we can maybe let the first time from Aizawa’s perspective. Bakagou got carried away, it was the first week, he assumed All Might handled it, and he didn’t know the two well enough to figure out what was going on, blah, blah.
This time Bakagou and Izuku weren’t even fighting one another, so there was zero reason for Bakagou to lash out the way he did against Izuku. On top of that, this is the third time Aizawa has witnessed unprovoked violence towards Izuku. The first time was on the first day of school, the second was the class with All Might—which again, we’ll be generous and give a pass for previously stated reasons—and now this time. This shows a pattern that should have been addressed. Why? Because not only was it hindering Bakagou's growth, but it was endangering Izuku! Aizawa needed to figure out what was going on for the safety of his student. He could have talked to All Might—who knew full and well the situation—or Izuku, or Bakagou himself. Something that showed he wasn’t ignoring it and was trying to do something to de-escalate things. And speaking of All Might;
3: The lack of communication with All Might.
*A bit hard to explain, but an issue that I’ve noticed is that Aizawa never seems to question All Might or his actions.
“But Aizawa criticizes All Might all the time!” Not really. He makes a comment here and there but never really talks to him. Aizawa clearly respects All Might, but he never communicates with All Might. Such as,
“Hey, what went on in your first lesson, and did you talk to Bakagou about his actions? Do I need to do anything? Are you teaching Midoriya how to use his quirk properly? Is he making any improvement? Not much? Then we may need to explore other options. What the hell were you thinking when you nearly did permanent damage to our students?” (Okay, the last can slide as Recovery Girl may have healed the injuries before he knew the extent of the damage but I digress.)
All of these are basic questions that I believe that as co-teachers—That’s All Might’s job at UA, right? Co-teacher to Class A?--the two should have discussed, but never did. (That we’ve seen.)
The only thing Aizawa ever really gets on All Might about is his favoritism towards Izuku, and that’s because he wants the other students to benefit from All Might’s knowledge as well. Other than that, Aizawa lets All Might slide on a lot of things.
I get that it would be disrespectful if Aizawa questioned everything All Might did, especially since U.A. gives their teachers a lot of freedom on how to teach, but still. Just a bit of communication to show they’re on the same page, at least.
4: Allowing Toru and Momo’s costumes (Meta reasons aside)
*Now in the spirit of fairness, these guys live in a world where people dress provocatively all the time, so it’s not AS big an issue there as it is in our reality. HOWEVER, there is a legal limit in-universe to it which Momo and Toru have crossed. Even if we argue that Momo’s is on the cusp, Toru’s is not. Her “costume” is not only dangerous and irrational, but it’s illegal. Aizawa should not be allowing it, especially when Mirio’s costume removes any justification for Toru NOT to have a costume.
5: Spending more time with a Gen-Ed student than his own class.
*Look, I’m going to be blunt—I don’t like Shinsou (not hate, just not like). I am forever an outcast of the Erasermic community for not liking Shinsou and Eri. (And fellow Present Mic fans who un-followed as soon as they read that. Bye-bye, my Mic mutuals...) BUT I do see why people see them as father and son because, aside from the mini-zawa elements, we see more of Aizawa interacting with Shinsou than most of his own students.
But fan feelings aside it is a problem that we see Aizawa teaching a Gen-Ed student more than his own. Not to mention it makes him look like a hypocrite when lecturing All Might about his relationship with Izuku.
Aizawa's role in the story is Class 1-A's teacher, we should see him teaching them more.
6: We never see Aizawa teach
Think about it, how many times do we actually see Aizawa Sensei teach? In most of the lessons, we see Aizawa is usually just supervising as the other teachers do their thing or offer exposition. Even with his favorite not-student, we never actually saw Aizawa teach Shinsou anything. For all we know Aizawa dragged him into the woods one night and said, “Here. You’re basically mini-me, so here’s a copy of my weapon. Now, try not to hang yourself while I stand over here doing nothing. Good luck, purple boy!” He doesn’t even say what Shinsou is doing wrong during training, just that it took him six years to get the hang of it.
Say what you will about All Might, but good or bad we see him teach. In his first lesson, he explains what Izuku, Ochako, and Bakagou did wrong to the class, and why Tenya did the best. Another example is when we see him offering advice to Izuku and the other students when they’re creating their signature moves. Hell, there’s an entire chapter of All Might training Izuku in a montage to build his muscles.
We don’t really get anything like that with Aizawa. And this is especially bad as being a teacher plays deeply into his character arc and who he is.
So with all that said, is Aizawa a bad teacher?
Well, he does his teacher duties well enough from paperwork to contacting parents. And Aizawa does seem to understand his students' strengths and weaknesses well enough, as seen in the final exam. Others argue about this, but he was good at spotting the areas they needed to work on and which teachers would do the best at doing so.
Also, when Aizawa actually interacts with the students, he seems to have a good balance of discipline and care for them. And he is good at giving advice, as seen with Todoroki, what they need at times, such as Momo who needed a confidence boost. The issue is that we don’t have more of those scenes.
Look, it’s obvious that Aizawa cares about his students and vice versa and that Aizawa is good daddy material—get out of the gutter right now, internet—but as far as being a good teacher? Honestly, we don’t have enough material to say. Almost everything about his skills as a teacher is left to headcanon or guesswork.
And the sad thing? A few montages or just scenes with Aizawa offering advice would have fixed this right up. But oh well.
But with what we have, is Aizawa as bad as some detractors say? By the in-universe logic and the genre? No, I don’t so. Do I think he’s a great teacher—well, I really, really want to say yes, but the lack of proof makes it hard. Let’s just say that the seeds were planted for him to be one of my favorite mentor characters but they never grew past sprouts as he didn't receive enough spotlight as a teacher.
Anyway, that’s my longer than expected piece on things. Feel free to share your thoughts, but when making your arguments please keep in mind the world BNHA is in, its genre (shounen), and medium (anime). I’ve seen a lot of people use real-life examples of how “teachers can’t do this or that” and they forget this is an anime that takes place in a world that is not our own at all, so a lot of those arguments don’t seem fair. Also, please mind your manners.
