#it’s the entire reason Izuku is the main character!!!

[poppy5991]

Horikoshi: writing a series that explores the impacts of trauma and PTSD on the individual, family, and society with incredible accuracy and poignancy in conjunction with a beautiful meditation on the complexity of morality & the need for empathy to solve society’s ills

People on the internet: this character is irredeemable

Me:

[tteokdoroki]

⋆ 𝜗𝜚 ˚⟡. — KATSUKU BAKUGOU. homemade love.

about. katsuki takes the pain of his middle-born daughter to heart, and does anything he can to fix it.

warnings. minors, blank and ageless blogs do not interact! sfw, fluff, characters aged up, bakugou is a girl dad of three, reader is referred to as ‘ma’, their daughter is quirkless like deku lol, he makes her pasta, pro hero!bakugou, fem!reader, … a draft from a long time ago!! enjoy please <3

katsuki who cooks and makes his middle daughter her favourite pasta recipe whenever she’s down.

she comes home from middle school with scraped palms and knees, teary eyed and with the weight of the world on her shoulders.

“they don’t like me ‘cause ‘m quirkless.” she says as soon as she’s through the door — the authentic bakugou twang thick in her shaky voice. her face is pressed into your torso when you make eye contact with katsuki, who’s emerged from the kitchen down the hall and to your left.

you see it all flash before his eyes — his childhood, his high school career and the day he died. the way he treated the number one, uncle izuku, for so many years. it’s all reflected in the familiar red of his middle child’s eyes and it kills him.

“c’mere squirt,” katsuki calls to her, drying off his hands with the red riot tea towel slung lazily over his shoulder. he’d been washing dishes before she got home. “we’re makin’ dinner together.”

“but i—“

“i wasn’t askin’, i was tellin’.” the older blonde nudges his head towards the kitchen, reaching a hand out for his daughter which she tenderly takes. when she sniffles, bakugou tucks her into his side as if to protect her from the horrors of the world. you let them go without interrupting, knowing the importance of this moment for the two.

it’s not easy, being a bakugou when you’ve got dynamight’s reputation to live up to. he’s fearsome and fiery, confident and calculated. your husband and the father of your three beautiful daughters is one of the main reasons why japan is safe today. the burden and weight of his reputation that your children carry is unimaginable — only made worse by the fact that your middle is quirkless.

and yet, dynamight’s love for her doesn’t falter. since the moment he first held his baby girl she’s been his entire world, his moon along with his sun and now his stars. he’s adored her before she even became a twinkle in his eye — no amount of power or special ability would change that for him.

she’s katsuki’s girl, not just dynamight’s daughter. he’d tear the world apart to find anyone who ever hurt her.

“hold the knife properly. you cut your finger off ‘n yer ma will have my head.” his gruff voice, holding no malice, makes your sweet girl snort with laughter — a change from her earlier wobbly bottom lip and teary eyes. “we’re tryna mince garlic for the sauce, not yer little hands, squirt.”

she sticks her tongue out at him, bright blonde curls bouncing when she narrowly misses a playful swat from her father. “i’m trying,” your middle child wails with faux upset — her nose scrunches all too similarly to how yours and it sends an arrow of love straight through katsuki’s chest. for a moment, the kitchen falls to silence and the elder of the two turns his attention to the pasta dough in his large floured hands — focusing on shaping them into little bow ties just how his daughter likes, on occasion adding them to a boiling pot of water.

“i’m trying,” she says again, but quieter. “but daddy, everythin’s so hard.”

and like pot simmering away on the stove, her emotions start to boil over — tiny hiccups forming a sad symphony with the sounds of a working kitchen.

bakugou instantly springs into dad mode, dropping everything that he had been doing to take your daughter’s hand in his. despite how messy it may be. “hey now gorgeous, don’t cry…tell me what’s wrong, yeah?”

“i-i don’t want to disappoint you by not havin’ a quirk n not bein’ a hero…” she manages to get out through her blubbering — digging the heal of her palm into wet eyes. “i jus’ wanna make you proud!”

katsuki’s face softens, everything except for love for his daughter melting away. “‘nd i am proud. fiercely fuckin’ so…ah, shit, don’t tell yer ma i cursed, kay?” he stumbles over his words, he’s never been the best at comforting people but when bakugou’s child needs him, he’ll be damned if he leaves her in any pain. “from the moment y’first came into this shitty — i mean — crappy world, i’ve been proud of you. you’ve always pushed yourself beyond anythin’ i could achieve, you’re kind to people when they don’t deserve it, you smile whenever things get tough…”

taking a moment from his passionate rant, katsuki slows his breathing and composed himself — squeezing his little girl close. “yer the best thing that’s ever happened t’me ‘n yer ma. my proudest moment… i love ya so much. you’d never disappoint me.”

“really, daddy?” your baby sniffles, rubbing at her snotty nose.

bakugou nods with a gentle smile, cupping her face between his two floury hands before kissing her forehead z “really.” he affirms. “now get yer choppin’ skills together, this pasta sauce ain’t gonna make itself.”

the two blonde’s return to cooking, a comfortable silence settling in your family kitchen, also full of love. that night, your family of five sit together munching on homemade pasta bow ties in a sauce that your middle daughter had worked so hard to make. she grins brightly between her sisters, staring at her father with her shining red eyes thankfully.

in that moment, she knows that she is loved no matter what the status of her quirk is.

you link your fingers with bakugou’s under the table. “you did good, dad.” you whisper to him, stabbing through your pasta with your fork. “

“so did you, ma.” he whispers back gruffly, thumb running over your wedding band as he eats his pasta too.

꒰ end. — all rights reserved © tteokdoroki 2024. do not copy, repost, translate & recommend elsewhere.

[vrisrezis]

My fav Bnha characters with a crush teehee

Have probs done this b4 butttt lol these look rlly long ngl

Katsuki is kinda disgusted with himself. He hates all that lovey dovey bullshit and he always told himself he wouldn’t end up falling in love like the shitty old hag, but here he is being a lovesick moron. Katsuki is not known for being subtle, you’d have to be a special kind of moron to not notice he’s totally head over heels. Even if he wouldn’t describe it in those words, he totally is. He has very complicated feelings about the fact he likes you, wanting to focus on his hero training but you make it so difficult for him with your stupid smile that he loves hates so much. However he’s aware of how happy you make him feel, so he’s willing to set it aside, it must be a good thing you make him feel so good, right? It’s strange, but he will find himself showing off more when your around, trying to prove to you specifically he’s gonna be the best hero. In training he works extra hard if you happen to be around or happen to even be watching, he may even start competitions with class 1A just to prove himself to you. Whether it’s dumb competitions like racing in the pool or even school related competitions such as, who’s got the best grades, this nerd absolutely shows off around you. He wants you to think he’s cool, that he will one day be the best. But he also tries to leave subtle … hints he likes you. Even though it’s obvious already, he’s been given the impression that he isn’t totally obvious. He shows his interest in you in other ways, but I will mention he has an extreme jealousy problem even before you are even dating. This is typically of people that are “stronger” than him, so todoroki and deku. However he might get that jealousy if say, kaminari flirted with you. Other ways of actually showing interest though is that he’s actually nice to you, though he shows it in ways that can go unnoticed. If your forgetful he always makes sure he has an extra water bottle with him, or anything else you may need he just says he happens to have. Or perhaps you need help studying or even with homework, he just says kirishima happened to pick a different study buddy that day, so you and him can study together. And kirishima, as the ultimate wingman, insists you two should study more often… alone… and the main thing that gives him away! Blushing! Oh man, if he isn’t the most obvious guy in the universe because of that red face! He can blame it on the cold, he can blame it on how hot it is out, he can blame it on his quirk, or that he’s angry, he is always red faced when you’re too close. If you’ve ever seen amity blight blush, it’s exactly like that. He stares at you in class with this soft expression that is almost never seen on his face, and if he is to ever be caught he simply turns away as fast as possible, wide eyed and blushing. You’ll find that bakugou believes in your strength, so he’s protective in battle a reasonable amount, only if you’re truly in deep shit. When he’s more comfortable with being your friend, he takes you out on hiking trips and just hanging out with you, and sometimes kirishima. The entire class of 1A knows about his little crush though so it makes it extremely hard for him to keep it a secret lol, he’s constantly paranoid somebody told you.

Oh man if you thought katsuki was bad, izuku is on another level of being obvious with his feelings. The boy truly wears his heart on his sleeve. It’s not even something he’s aware of at first, he just thinks your good looking like … wow way more attractive than anyone he’s ever met! You’re a good friend, with an interesting quirk and yes his notes on you are a lot longer than even kacchans and maybe he draws you a lot, maybe he draws moments where you looked really breathtaking and maybe he thinks about you before he goes to bed and when he wakes up in the morning and yes maybe he dreams about you too and overthinks everything you say to him and maybe he rambles about you an unreasonable amount to his friends but… oh man he… he likes you doesn’t he? And once he realizes, it gets even worse because now he’s just blushing at you and he looks like he’s gonna pass out everytime ochako mentions the fact he hasn’t confessed yet and he’s just dying on the spot. Boy talks faster than Eminem can rap whenever she mentions him having a crush especially if you happen to be there for the conversation. Tends to ramble around you a lot, just about random things and everyone is just like “oh god not this again” you have to be oblivious to not notice. Izuku tends to worry about you a lot, so he always checks up on you after training to make sure you didn’t get too hurt, and don’t even get him started when it comes to you going on missions, he worries so much when you’re fighting villains. Now he knows how his mother feels. Izuku tends to be clingy around his crush, so he tends to ask you to hang out quite often, whether it’s hanging out or even studying or even fighting together against some villain he likes being around you and likes making sure that you’re safe when it comes down to it. He tends to have very obvious slip ups that he likes you, voice cracks then correcting himself or perhaps coughing way too loudly when he tries to do an ahem cough, bumping into you and tripping, he’s so clumsy around you. Probably accidentally calls you pretty. He’s just… such a mess man.

Hawks is not experienced with romance, while many can agree he’s a good looking guy that has many people flocking towards him, he was never that interested in dating until you showed around. Honestly, could’ve seen him being aromantic before meeting you, lol. So since he’s never experienced romantic feelings, it’s going to take him a little longer than it should to realize his feelings. However he does show signs of taking a special liking to you beforehand, that even he doesn’t understand at the time. He hates the idea of people looking at you the wrong way, perhaps to court you. He assumes this is because he senses they’re potentially dangerous and as a good friend of yours, he’s just looking out for you. After all, he’s naturally protective of you in battles with villains, even if you can protect yourself. Sure he’s not protective especially of endeavor or miruko, but that’s just because he’s not as close with them as he is with you! He doesn’t feel his heart beat faster around his other friends, but he assumes it must be something else, maybe there’s something making him nervous, or maybe he’s just simply excited to be around you! Sure he doesn’t blush around anyone else when they compliment him, but that’s because it means a lot knowing a close friend thinks about him in such a way! For awhile, keigo comes up with many reasons to justify his feelings towards you until miruko and endeavor make him realize he’s being a total moron right now. Upon realizing his feelings, he’s not completely sure how to go about it, but he starts by trying to make it known he likes you. He’s subtle with his flirts, but once he puts his toes in the water to see if your comfortable with him flirting, he dips his whole foot in. At that point, people just think you two are dating with how casual he is with his newfound flirtatious personality when you enter the picture. Upon realizing his feelings he becomes 10x more protective and kinda already acts like a boyfriend by bringing you lunch to work and taking you to cafes and literal dates and stupid shit like that, lmao.

Aizawa I imagine having very few crushes in his lifetime, and has dates with even less people than that. Because of this inexperience even in his age, he’s not quite sure how to go about his feelings initially. Mic and midnight are extremely annoying about how obvious he is, as well. Aizawa is extremely protective of you, given his experience with his students, it’s only natural he grows protective of you and worries for your safety. Whether you’re a hero or not, he’s going to worry for you. Other than that, the way he shows he cares for you is different with you than it is with his friends. He’s good at listening to you and remembers very small things about you that maybe he wouldn’t remember with other people, he remembers very small details. Perhaps something as small as your favorite coffee even if you don’t like coffee that much. I imagine him fearing if his students ever found out he liked you, what kinda hell that would be. Dealing with them teasing him and potentially telling you, but he truly can’t help but be obvious at times. He stares at you longer than he should, even smiles at you longingly when he thinks you aren’t looking. He looks like a lovesick kitty. Generally reserved in his attraction to you, keeping to himself and hoping he can find some hints you return the feelings before initiating anything. However, he’s always been relatively stupid with romance so this takes awhile for him to even figure out and he has a habit of overthinking everything you say to him and is often left wondering what your intentions truly are with him. When you two spend time together, he likes doing things with you he’d never do with anyone else. Likes you playing and doing his hair, and watching movies and such, your hangouts often feel like dates even when you aren’t dating. So when the time does come you two date, it feels as though nothing has changed. He with trust you whole heartedly, if you aren’t a teacher at UA he is introducing his students to you, his co workers, and especially Eri, all the people who are important in his life but does it in such a way that feels casual and natural. He has a way of not making his crush known if your oblivious enough. However, a part of him that feels like he shouldn’t tell you how he feels come from a place of worrying for your safety and the people that may come after you. He will learn to trust you and your strength, he’s just a worried dad.

Miruko is a bold and brave lady, however even she’s never had much experience with love. Being way too determined to become a hero, it hasn’t given her much time to really experience romance aside from hookups. She decided it was a waste of time, but as one of the top heroes, she understands she can have both things in her life. If she cares to, anyway. And upon meeting you had come to the conclusion she would love to have both things. Miruko is a very confident woman so you will find she wastes no time in approaching you with her feelings. This is, when she realizes them. Due to her being new to it, it takes her a bit to realize it. But after a couple months of knowing you she figure it out. The way she feels compelled to buy you stuff despite not knowing you for that long, the need to protect you from danger even when you can protect yourself just fine, the strange need to wrap her strong arms around you, it all connects to her eventually. Upon realizing the feelings she’s gained she is very flirtatious and makes her intentions with you very clear. She doesn’t like wasting time. You will find though that despite how bold she is, if you flirt back she gets a little shy sometimes. This is a rare occurrence, but it happens! She can be a softie too yknow? She is physically affectionate with you, casually wrapping an arm around your shoulder when you two are talking, whispering in your ear a lot and getting close and personal when she really doesn’t have to. She loves inviting you over to hang with her for games and such, it already feels like you two are a couple even when you aren’t. It’s only a matter of time before she officially asks you out. You may find that during your hangouts she tries to impress you with her strength and tends to brags about her accomplishments. You’ll also find she dresses nicer and even wears makeup occasionally. Her flirtations with you are different than with her hookups too, compliments on how cute you are rather than how hot you are. She wants you to know you mean something to her as well, so on occasion she tells you that you mean the world to her.

Dabi has not experienced romance, ever. Hookups aren’t in his life either. Dabi had been set on one thing and one thing only, revenge. You’d have to be a real special one for him to be attracted to you, but no matter how special you are it will not deter him from his original plan. He didn’t plan on pursuing you in anyway, but he’s selfish at heart and can’t help himself. He may not try to pursue you romantically but he will try his absolute hardest to form a strong bond between you two. It may take awhile to be vulnerable with you but it will absolutely happen while you two are friends, he will be extremely open with you. He’s open about being touya early in your friendship to show he trusts you whole heartedly, to show he thinks you’re like nobody else he’s met. He would know his feelings, despite the complete lack of experience in dating. He just knows. He looks at you and thinks, you’re the one for him. Out of everyone on this list, he’s one of the more protective ones. I’d say the most if it wasn’t for toga, tbh. You will find he’s around you a lot, like just because he’s so protective but also because he likes to be around you. He cares for you and likes your company. You remind him of the good parts of home, you bring back his humanity. Dabi makes no moves on you, despite how strong his feelings are for you and how aware he is of his feelings. He’s scared to form a relationship, in fear it will go to shit and knowing he’d hurt you, knowing his plan of revenge will end in his death. He’d never want to put you through that. He spends much of his time hanging out with you and it feels like the two of you have been best friends forever. He tends to joke with you and be sarcastic, but always being one that’s there for you when you need it and even give you advice. He’s a true friend but he’s scared to be something more.

Toga is truly the most obsessive and protective, the closest you get to a yandere. She grows feelings almost automatically, because she feels as though she sees you for who you are right away. She feels like she’s known you forever, she knows she likes you the more she wants to steal some of your blood and become you. If you’re okay with an overbearing insane girl on your side, she’s the lady for you! She acts like she’s known you forever, even if you’re complete strangers. There is no filter with toga, and she acts like you’re already best friends when you aren’t. And when her romantic feelings become apparent, she makes those feelings very apparent and that she wants something more with you. She tends to get up in your face a lot when talking, with a blush on her cheeks, it’s just because she loves being so close to you! Flirting with you and calling you her darling or her love is a common occurrence, even when you two aren’t even a couple yet. She worries for you a lot and is very protective, and after twices demise this protective nature becomes 10x worse. She’s clingy and constantly cuddling to your side, holding your arm or your hand. She has no shame in you knowing her feelings, she just hopes you will stop being so shy and tell her how you feel too! She will absolutely murder for you too just to add onto her yanderish tendencies, not that I don’t think every villain would do that for you though, lol. Also, the moment you meet her she’s inviting you to the league of villains without a doubt. You’re a part of her little weird family now, no questions asked. You become extremely important to her and how she approaches life from then on. (You could actually help her become a decent person if you were aiming to be a hero. You hold so much power by being the object of her affection, lol).

Shigaraki is determined to destroy the entire world and everyone in it, but even he has feelings. He has feelings towards the league, secretly (or not so secretly) seeing them as his found family. And you, well, in his eyes you are also family but you’re also special to him even in comparison to the league. He isn’t aware of what his feelings towards you are for the longest time, even after the advice kurogiri had given him. He now relies on spinner to give him proper advice, who tells him he feels romantically towards you. Shigaraki is naturally a protective person when it comes to you, not liking anyone getting too close and personal with you, even spinner and toga sometimes. He’s lost a lot and he’s not willing to lose you too especially to some loser that doesn’t deserve you. He’s easily jealous and he’s also easily paranoid you could find somebody else. In his mind, he knows you deserve more than him and the possibility of you ending up with anyone that isn’t him is almost too much to bare. Even if he knows you deserve more, he’s selfish to his core. He likes to play games with you and treats you like a longtime friend, he consistently works on your relationship to make sure he keeps your bond going at all times. He enjoys being close to you and would like to keep it that way and maintaining your relationship. He could talk to you for hours about anything while playing video games with you (Nintendo gamer tingz). As time goes by, he tries to trust you more and grows less protective and obsessive, especially as he becomes much more powerful and much more confident he can protect you if need be. He isn’t bold about his feelings, an occasional shy blush coming from him is the closest you get to him letting his feelings be known. He may eventually approach you, though.

[pikahlua]

i have a question about this chapter

in the beginning, bakugou says “i’m done messing around izuku(?)” but i’m confused on what it means. does this mean that he isn’t gonna treat him horribly anymore or he’s done messing around and he’s coming into his own (quirk/name/person)?

Didn't wanna answer until I published the translation.

もうおめーの邪魔はしねえ もうおめーのじゃまはしねえ mou omee no jama wa shinee I won't get in your way anymore.* (*Note: This is a sentence that could have many potential translations: "I won't get in your way anymore," "I won't hold you back anymore," "I won't be a hindrance to you anymore," etc.)

This is one of those "Katsuki Bakugou contains multitudes" lines where he means a lot of things at the same time.

The surface-level, pseudo-obvious meaning is that Katsuki won't be a jerk to Izuku--but that doesn't actually make sense, because he isn't a jerk to Izuku anymore. That shit is long over.

I think the key to understanding this line lies in chapter 406:

The major struggle Katsuki has had throughout this final arc is about his sense of inferiority compared to Izuku. Remember, he was revived at the time when he could save All Might from AFO and make up for his perceived weakness that caused All Might's downfall.

So in one sense, Katsuki is saying he's strong now. His lack of power will no longer be a burden. Now he can run alongside Izuku and match his pace and support him without Izuku ever having to worry.

But there is also some deeper meaning behind that sentiment, one that's had roots in Katsuki's journey through the entire story, since chapter 1.

It's Katsuki's relationship with victimhood.

From the beginning, the one insecurity within Katsuki that was so great he would actually kind of voice it aloud was his fear that he couldn't match up to Izuku and that Izuku looked down on him for it.

And this all ties back into his insecurities about his role in All Might's downfall. All of this was a major point of what "Deku vs Kacchan, Part 2" was all about.

It's something I dissected a long time ago here:

So it's not that Katsuki wants to protect Izuku; Katsuki doesn't want to be the reason for Izuku's downfall.

And here:

Katsuki lightens Izuku’s load by looking out for everyone else, and this is why Katsuki works so well as Izuku’s weakness. He’s become the cornerstone of Izuku’s house of cards. As much as he hates being a weakness, Katsuki can’t just make it stop by telling Izuku not to care. Izuku will keep on caring regardless. So instead Katsuki has to convince Izuku that Katsuki is stronger so Izuku will keep chasing after him. Izuku needs to believe Katsuki is stronger in order to get stronger himself. Katsuki needs Izuku to believe Katsuki can handle himself, that Izuku can trust him, so they can work as a team and compensate for each other’s weaknesses.

Katsuki acknowledges in his apology in chapter 322 that Izuku is on the right path, that all his moves since receiving OFA have been correct. Katsuki has been a roadblock hindering Izuku and holding him back--yes, often by rejecting him and competing maliciously with him, but also by being too weak to stand at Izuku's side. He was caught by the sludge villain, kidnapped by the League of Villains, lethally stabbed and later nearly killed by TomurAFO. He wasn't the strong hero like All Might that fought to win and save the day. He wasn't an equal partner.

What I read when Katsuki says he won't get in Izuku's way anymore is that he's done it, he's strong enough to stand at Izuku's side, he's strong enough to let Izuku do what he does best, he's strong enough to support Izuku as Izuku strives to achieve what only he can achieve. AND I read Katsuki saying "I am no longer that weak person, I am no longer a burden, I am no longer NOT a hero, no longer NOT the hero I needed to be."

"I won't be a weakness others can exploit to get to you anymore."

(And I read that he's ready to let Izuku be the main character.)

[class1akids]

What if Toya and Endeavor sharing a dragon foreshadows that Enji will choose being a father and stay with Toya as he's gravely injured / potentially dying and Shoto having a dragon of his own means he'll get to go, become his own hero and help Izuku like he wanted to?

I wouldn't be opposed to a Todoroki family combo either, but I feel like the most logical endpoint of this plotline is for Enji to CHOOSE Toya for once over his hero job or even over the world and stay with him and for Shoto to be fully free without having to step in every time Enji fails the family to do his father's job instead of where he wants to be.

I also think that like Bakugou and Uraraka, Shouto should also get a quirk upgrade from absorbing all that fire from Touya. Touya copying Phosphor had no narrative pay-off yet for Shouto and we didn't see any attack from him in the entire endgame (other than damage control / fire extinguisher moves). It would make no sense for a character with Power S levels not to be at all involved in the main fight, when throw-away characters like Sato or Mineta get a shot.

Shouto is not even injured (unlike Ochako and Bakugou), so there is no reason whatsoever why he wouldn't be able to get up and help.

I feel like it would be a missed opportunity from Hori not to use the Origin Trio for a big combo attack in the endgame.

[dekusleftsock]

Hey, so you said in your tags about how katsuki is a freak in his own way, could you please expand on this idea a little and when it comes to Izuku?

Sure!

I actually made a post about this very concept semi recently but that post also didn’t really have organization lmao

The main reason I’ve always thought Katsuki as “a freak” as I dub him is for the very foundations of his personality. I think the main reason why no one in the western fandom looks at him and sees him for his (kinda) socially inept aspects is because of a combination between cultural differences and the nuances that hero society throws into Japan specifically.

It’s well known that Horikoshi’s story/world is heavily influenced by American super hero comics. Superman, Spider-Man, Harley, Poison Ivy, Bat-man, Captain America, ant man, etc. are all very obvious influences throughout the story, with characters like Allmight often feeling like a combination of Superman and Captain America.

The reason I bring this up is because the very aspects of these super hero comics is kind of in direct contradiction with Japanese society, especially as those heroics within the world affect the society around them.

Heroes are this curve ball thrown into a society that teaches its citizens to be polite, complicit, and quiet. That’s not to say that this is necessarily a “wrong” way to have a society, but I think it’s with this context that Katsuki’s character (and therefore the intentions behind it) become clearer.

Heroes are bright, loud, and powerful. But long before Katsuki was a hero he already was these things; how does that affect his social life? How do the people around him treat him in the context that he is both not a hero nor having of a quirk? If heroes are the “exceptions” to the society around them, and Katsuki is not yet an exception, then he is an outcast, right?

It’s this context that I feel most people forget. Katsuki understands the people around him, he’s very observant and nosy, but he also just doesn’t care. He is unabashedly himself at all times. Those jokes Aizawa made about keeping him out of the spotlight showcase this perfectly, Japanese society expects a certain standard for the social context around him—which he actively ignores.

It’s a very ironic aspect to his character given that most people admire and/or envy him. It puts a whole new light on izuku saying that he was the one “actually in his life”, that Izuku may have admired him before his quirk for simply being himself. Not to mention how it makes sense that he would believe izuku was looking down on him for admiring him before his quirk, because Katsuki was bullied! I think that’s an often overlooked detail given that he only became “acceptable” to most kids around him when he gained his quirk. The memory this is showcased in is entirely Izuku’s pov, which is heavily biased in the sense that he admired Katsuki. Getting jumped by kids two years older than you though is so weird, and I can’t help but wonder if the perspective might’ve changed were it in Katsuki’s pov.

To me, the idea that Izuku’s memories of Katsuki being this social god come from blind childlike envy and admiration, especially as the contextual things happening (Katsuki is a REALLY big hero fan, he’s rude, he doesn’t remember people’s names, actively terrible at making friends at UA for a good couple weeks, getting bullied to even a minimal extent) in comparison to the words being told. You are told by Izuku that Katsuki is amazing, brilliant, talented, energetic, crass, and in reality (especially when they enter UA), to most people Katsuki is annoying, loud, mean, a little intimidating, and not nearly as cool as he thinks he is. His friends spend the entirety of the beginning of their first year actively making fun of him for thinking he’s tough shit when he so obviously isn’t.

And I think the biggest most important part to this “Katsuki is a bit of a social outcast” discussion, is that the villains thought he was like them! They thought he would hurt people because he screamed “die” and didn’t like winning when he felt he didn’t earn it.

The only reason Katsuki is not as much of an outcast as, say, Izuku, is simply because he won the lottery. He earned that extra point. He caught that curve ball to Japanese society and honed it into something greater.

And, see, Izuku can’t really know/comprehend that Katsuki would be, I don’t know, unpopular to any extent (shown in the beginning of the series when he’s freaking out on the bus that HES being complimented and Katsuki is being insulted), because to him Katsuki always acted like a hero. And in a way, he does! But it’s in the way that hero society throws that curve ball, contradictory to social norms, and of course it makes sense why they still happened at all; the past was dangerous! It was life changing! Disparity and violence and death, desperation fueled this huge monumental change. And what is izuku “I don’t know how to make people like me” Midoriya going to do when this kid, Bakugou Katsuki, acts like one of the heroes on TV? He’s not gonna call the Geneva convention and ask why the hell this child isn’t acting like a normal citizen—he’ll admire him to such a visceral degree because it’s almost like he was born a hero.

I like the concept that, because heroes and villain are cut from the same cloth, relatively similar in concept and strength and past hurts in their history, that this also affects how they are socially. You are outcasted by society: you want to oppose societal norms to live freely as yourself and others as theirselves, you want to make sure everyone can smile at the end of the day because sometimes you or your parents couldn’t, you want to be the best because someone told you that you couldn’t, you want to be just like the hero on your TV, who inspired the hero in your life.

Also you need to be at least a little bit of a freak to be listening in on people’s business all the time because it involves your childhood friend/rival to literally any degree. Like bro what is wrong with you come HERE BBG LET ME PICK YOUR BRAIN APART PIECE BY PIECE

More side note: idfk where I got the Geneva convention thing. I was just thinking about how mha has genuinely had violations against the Geneva convention

[sapphic-agent]

Let's Talk About Izuku Midoriya

As most of you know, Izuku is my favorite character in the show. But dismissing my bias for a second, there are a lot of issues with his character. Mainly, how it's handled within the story and the negative affect it tends to have on the overall plot.

What I think really dampens Izuku's character is a lack of depth. Fellow Izu fans hold your fire... let me finish.

The lack of depth wasn't always a problem. In season 1, he tends to have a lot of lines that indicate complex emotions. When he's walking home after Bakugou's suicide-baiting, he shows at least a little contempt for what was said even if he tries not to take it to heart. Hell, even during the suicide baiting itself, he reacts with anger and intends to stand up to Bakugou even if he is forced into silence by fear. During the bus ride to the USJ, Kaminari and Asui are (rightfully) observing that Bakugou is a dick and Izuku is surprised at the swap in their roles. In the Battle Trials, he's guilty when Bakugou accuses him of purposely hiding his quirk, but also confronts and outsmarts him, knowing that beating Bakugou (standing up to him) is the only way he can even start to become a hero.

(This is evidence that at some point Izuku was aware that Bakugou's actions weren't alright and wanted to condemn them, he just didn't have the strength or confidence to go through with it. This entirely disappears later in the series with no reconciliation of those feelings)

We don't get many scenes like this later on. Izuku takes Bakugou's insults and attacks with no reaction or just a nervous one. And we never, ever see him attempt to stand up for himself against him.

And no, I don't count Deku vs Kacchan Part 2. Izuku was practically forced to defend himself as Bakugou would have attacked him either way, and his entire role in the fight is going on and on about his admiration for Bakugou. Izuku isn't standing up to Bakugou, he's being placed in a situation where he's forced to help develop him. The entire episode is solely for Bakugou's benefit while shoving Izuku into a corner.

But even taking a step away from Bakugou for a minute, Izuku also becomes more one dimensional in regards to Uraraka.

I've said this before answering an ask, but in the beginning of the show Izuku was the one who was attracted to Uraraka. He was flustered by her kindness and reacted bashfully to her hero suit. And for some reason this... goes away. The last time he gets even slightly embarrassed around her is the licensing exam when she appears jealous of Camie (Toga). Not only that, it feels like all of that transferred to Uraraka. She was the one who ended up becoming bashful and flushed and embarrassed, which would make sense if Izuku's feelings didn't almost entire disappear. It does both their characters a disservice; Uraraka is reduced to a more one-dimensional love interest (don't @ me for this, she has her moments and I love her) and Izuku loses another aspect of his character.

I would even say this is present with Todoroki on some level. Izuku was supposed to be his first real friend and they barely interact. Which is even worse considering they're both part of the "main trio." It would have been so easy to play them off of one another since they're supposedly best friends and should be the closest two in that trio. Their friendship was one of the starting points of the entire series and their connection is an integral part of both their characters. Yet they both interact more with Bakugou than one another.

(For comparison, look at Bakugou and Kirishima. They're in a multitude of scenes together and we see how their relationship develops over time. We see their companionship and how Bakugou comes to trust and rely on him. We don't get anywhere close to that with Izuku and Todoroki.)

Over the seasons/volumes (whichever you consume), Horikoshi has dumbed Izuku's character down to crying, defending others, and being self-sacrificing. And these aren't inherently bad traits for a main character, but they weren't all he had in the beginning. He had more personality and he had stronger feelings. Taking that away from him cheapened his character.

Another failing of Izuku's character is how him being quirkless is blatantly ignored by the series.

This was an integral part of his character. It's what separated him from the vast majority of people in the show. It destroyed the only dream he ever had. He was discriminated against for it. It defined his entire existence for the first fourteen years of his life.

And it's never talked about.

Okay, I shouldn't say that. It is used to draw parallels between him and Shinsou (and Aoyama later on). But other than that, Izuku really doesn't acknowledge it. For someone who would grapple with not being good enough for OFA, him not really dwelling on being quirkless is odd.

In a series about the corruption of society, it's strange that the discrimination the main character faced from that society isn't talked about. In fact, outside of Melissa (she's legit the only character who was born quirkless and stayed quirkless, everyone else who's listed quirkless had their quirks taken away or received a quirk later), the series doesn't really introduce quirkless people at all even though they make up 20% of the population (and that isn't a small number by any means, that would be 1.6 billion people in 2023).

Yet this issue that was very present in the beginning of the show is just... swept under the rug. Like everything Izuku went through because of it just doesn't matter. A four year old came to the realization that he was beneath his peers by society's standards, but Izuku just doesn't talk or think about it ever again.

It not only ignores the very real trauma and struggle the main character went through, it also shuns a very important piece of world building. Having Izuku born quirkless was the perfect way to introduce this problem with society. But no, other than his dream being ruined and Bakugou's bullying, Izuku doesn't struggle with this in any other way. We only have vague implications of what he went through growing up quirkless so we can't imagine what it's like for the other 1.6 billion people.

This ties into his lack of depth, but a lot of the time it feels like Izuku's only relevance is to be a prop for other characters. Bakugou is obviously the main one and I went over this in the apology analysis. But Izuku doesn't respond to his apology in any way, we never get to see his thinking or how he was affected, and then he faints at the end. Izuku is a puppet in place to further Bakugou's development. This is also present in Deku vs Kacchan Part 2; all his thoughts are centered around admitting Bakugou and propping him up.

As much as I hate it, it somewhat makes sense for Bakugou. But it's utter insanity that this is extended to Endeavor as well.

Back during the Sports Festival, Izuku displayed disdain for Endeavor. He was aware of what an awful person he was and how he hurt Todoroki. Yet for some reason he then tells Todoroki that he thinks he's ready to forgive him.

This is completely out of character for Izuku. For one, he never inserts himself into others' business unless it's to defend them. And up until that point he hadn't said a word about Endeavor; not to comfort Todoroki and not to abhor his actions. So why in the world would the first thing out of his mouth about him be that Todoroki seems ready to forgive him?

It's almost like he's acting as a mouthpiece for Horikoshi, indirectly telling the audience that Todoroki no longer holds any resentment for Endeavor. Izuku's relevance in this scene as Todoroki's best friend should not have been to assume that he's ready to forgive his abuser.

He also verbally defends Endeavor against Dabi. Even though he knows how abusive and neglectful Endeavor was to his children. Condoning Endeavor while disparaging Dabi makes no sense for Izuku's character. He was defending Shoto too which makes sense, but there was no reason to add Endeavor into that. Just because Endeavor was his mentor (for like three weeks if that) doesn't erase what he's done.

To make Izuku ignorant of this was a slap to the face of his entire character.

Even in his own major arc, Izuku gets the shaft. Dark Deku was a major let down because there was hardly a deeper dive into his character. He was on his own with the past OFA holders for weeks and we barely see him talk to them. Him cutting contact with Toshinori when we didn't even get to see them interact much made no sense (Toshi didn't even try to find him afterwards which was so out of character). The top 3 heroes allowed him- a fifteen year old student- to run on his own without even trying to talk him out of it.

And what's supposed to be an honest attempt to get him to come back and trust him turned into 1A a) physically attacking and ganging up on him and b) allowing Bakugou to goad and insult him. And he wasn't even close with all of 1A for nineteen of them to do this. This should have been restricted to Iida, Todoroki, and Uraraka (and maybe Tsu and Aoyama). He has issues with showing vulnerability in front of people, why om Earth would it make sense to blindside him with his entire class?

(The only part of Dark Deku I truly enjoyed was Uraraka sticking up for him at UA and Kota and that woman he saved earlier running to comfort him and show their gratitude. Although Eri not being there is very weird.)

Like I said above, I love Izuku. But I absolutely hate the way he's been handled by his author. He deserved an actual well thought out character arc and a lot more focus and attention. He deserved to have more intricate, complex relationships with other characters that weren't his childhood bully. He deserved to be treated well in his own story.

[nutzgunray-lvt]

Not to sound too inflammatory, but how the HELL did Horikoshi write Bakugou vs Izuku 2 the way he did and think that's good writing?

This was supposed to be Bakugou's #BigMoment where he stops being a bully to Izuku and instead becomes his rival. This is supposed to be where he starts to actually develop past his abusive egoist (Hori's words, not mine) personality and realize that he's not the main character and needs to get his head out of his ass.

Instead of getting that, we get this utter hot mess where Bakugou is once again put on a pedestal over Izuku, and Izuku's the one having to make nice with him because of course he is.

To outline, Bakugou up to this point has:

Mercilessly bullied Izuku for 10+ years for being Quirkless, while simultaneously acting offended that Izuku never told him about OFA during the QAT

Was an ungrateful asshole to Izuku after he tried saving him from the Sludge Villain

Attempted to torture him and nearly killed him during the Battle Trials

Nearly got Thirteen killed when he ruined her plan to subdue Kurogiri at the USJ

Toyed with Ochako during the Sports Festival

Accossted an unconcious Todoroki during the Sports Festival, which got both him and UA immense public backlash

Was an ungrateful, aggressive asshole to Best Jeanist both in and out of public to the point where Best Jeanist remarks on Bakugou's complete lack of growth

Backhanded Izuku and outright said he'd rather fail his final exam rather than work with Izuku

Deliberately disobeyed orders to run back to camp and instead ran straight for the villains (twice!)

Had to be reminded over and over again to not use his Quirk due to collateral damage reasons (not that he understands or cares about that, but whatever)

Was an ungrateful asshole to All Might and the tean during the entire Kamino Ward mission

Failed the Provisional License Exam due to his horrible attitude towards civilians

You'd think that with how complex and three-dimensional we're supposed to believe Bakugou is, he'd realize that the public and his mother have a point in regards to his attitude. You'd think that he'd reflect on his behavior and realize that heroes SHOULDN'T act like this, especially as someone who's such an All Might fanboy (gag).

Similarly, you'd think that UA would realize that even if it's solely for PR's sake, they need to crack down on Bakugou's behavior and stop enabling him at the expense of Izuku and everyone else. It's already landed Aizawa and his teaching in hot water, since it makes it look like he couldn't care less about his behavior (which he proceeds to confirm is indeed the case). Should Bakugou vs Izuku 2 still happen, All Might could have given Bakugou a reality check and told him that:

OFA is none of his business

Bakugou doesn't have the attitude All Might wants in a successor

His bullying of Izuku is awful and needs to stop effective immediately

All Bakugou is doing is making himself and UA look bad with his attitude

Bakugou can get people - including himself - hurt and/or killed with his attitude and actions

Crying and pitching a fit about it isn't going to change anything

Have Bakugou and only Bakugou punished since he not only started the fight, he wouldn't let Izuku leave

But nope. We get this instead:

Bakugou coerces Izuku into breaking curfew

Bakugou demands to know why he failed his exam while Izuku passed his

Bakugou demands to know about OFA and why Izuku didn't stay inferior to him like he was "supposed to"

Bakugou then segways into his whiny proclamation that he made All Might retire

Bakugou then makes Izuku fight him

Bakugou pitches a fit to All Might about not being chosen to weild OFA and cries like a toddler being denied candy at the checkout line... leading to All Might COMFORTING HIM and leaving Izuku by the wayside

Aizawa proceeds to not even TRY to get the full story and Bakugou gets house arrest, but Izuku does as well which negates the whole fucking point

How the HELL is any of this good writing? How the HELL is any of this positive character development for everybody involved? All it does is further show that a) Hori really wishes Bakugou was the main character, b) Bakugou is a walking talking example of why Tell Don't Show never works, and c) everyone else's characterization suffers because of this.

[that-spider-fan-over-there]

I'm still very baffled at people who complain about lack of Izuku's POV, and it's not because I don't understand it; hell, every leaked chapter I keep thinking if we'll soon get an insight on his mind (admittedly, my patience has dwindled because of the previous fandom so that's 100% a flaw on my part rather than the story's pacing. In my opinion), but.

When you really think about it, our little freckled unreliable narrator here never actually gets introspective on anything personal- we get the "I gotta be stronger so others won't worry" "I need to save that kid who was crying" "I have to catch up so I'll be the best version of a hero I can be", but uh all that aside. Literally most times he's actually introspective is either to help someone with their own feelings or when he's thinking about. Well.

Point is I still haven't forgotten that door with a bunch of lockers in the vestige world. Or the entire "control your heart" narrative- which is one of the reasons I'm an advocate for "Final battle in the vestige world".

Because I wanna see that door being opened with all those raw emotions hitting him like the true tsunami he holds in.

For comparison, Izuku is like an outsider's POV of Steven Universe in SU:F; we can tell he's bottling it up, but "what" exactly and "how much" is the suspense, rather than the "when" he'll be forced to face it all, even if we already know some of the things he's keeping it in.

Because while both are a matter of time, Izuku has the added bonus of keeping it too close to his chest. He's stopped being a POV character long ago. Which now that I realize, could count as a subversion of the "everyday relatable MC"; because usually in most comic books, we know what makes a human a hero; but in BNHA; we're questioned: what makes a hero human? It's one of the reasons, I'd argue, Izuku's been getting flack as a protagonist: we're seeing a hero who needs to rediscover his own humanity, his individuality.

It's because he has put his own expectations of himself on such a high pedestal post-PLF, he only thinks now of what he can and should do, but we, as the audience, have known him as someone growing to be a hero while he accidentally forgets and confuses his origin. We're still seeing "the Deku who always does his best", but learned that's detrimental without the heart of Midoriya Izuku.

Personally, however, I'm patient. It's been a little fun because in a way, everyone else is getting an exercise on being the main character, and it feels like Izuku became a side one. That's actually not a bad thing: as he rediscovers what makes Deku and Izuku important to his identity, he regains agency to the story and we as the audience will slowly get back on his mind. BNHA's themes of identity are still prevalent; we just need to open that door beforehand. How or when, it's up to Horikoshi-san, but soon enough. I'm putting trust it'll pay off, the story has yet to make me regret it, bumps in the road and all.

TL;DR: I think Izuku's lack of internal thoughts since the PLF Arc is an intentional choice it'll pay off, and it's related to OFA's door; as it would make sense to the themes of identity and self discovery BNHA has, just involving the audience's reaction in a way. Especially because Izuku's a character who thinks he's worth what he can do rather than who he is. That said, the absence of these thoughts has precedents because Izuku is an unreliable narrator who doesn't really do introspections unless it's to other's benefit, hero-related or relative to his relationship with Katsuki.

TL;DR to the TL;DR: We'll get Izuku's thoughts eventually you guys are just mean /j/j/j/j

[super-paper]

you don't have to respond to this if you don't want to, but--I saw you mentioning you felt stupid earlier and I'm going through the same feelings myself but I just wanted to say that your analysis of my hero academia was genuinely the best I'd ever seen after following the comic for almost an entire decade(I've been here since almost the beginning...). it's not your fault if the writing took a bizarre turn, you were correctly recognizing things about the story that was presented to you and I've really appreciated your presence ever since the first time I read one of your posts.

Thank you for your kind words, they really helped me feel better. I always enjoy reading your thoughts as well, so I hope you are able to feel better soon as well.

At any rate, I think I'm a bit calmer now-- At the risk of setting myself up for more heartbreak in two weeks, I really think there's no way for it not to be a fake out because Tenko dying sincerely is a failure on every level for so-so-so many characters and the story as a whole. Izuku wanted to redefine OFA as a power meant for saving not killing, yet OFA ends up killing Tenko anyway? We get a scene where the main villain literally mocks Tenko for having never been his own person and commands him to disappear, and he does?? Nana ultimately fails to save her family from AFO a third and final time??? The Yoichi expy is ultimately forced to die while tethered to his abuser and is never allowed to truly escape or live a life outside of AFO???? Spinner pushes himself to his absolute limit and Kurogiri sacrifices himself because they both want to save Tenko, and it ends up being all for nothing????? Toshinori never gets any resolution with his beloved mentor's sole remaining family and has to live with the pain of once again failing to save her legacy?????? Tenko wants to become a hero to the villains, to the LOV specifically, but dies while all of them are literally hanging on by a thread at this time???????? Gran Torino was right??????????? There's bittersweet endings and there's bleak endings, and this is absolutely bleak if true.

Like, I know death and rebirth are huge themes in MHA-- but this is a case where the overall build up and execution of the chapter has left much to be desired. Still, the fact that Tenko says the name "Shigaraki Tomura" in quotation marks in the raw text does lend to the idea that this is actually the death of his villain persona rather than the death of the individual-- my other big concern rn is how Tenko's rebirth will ultimately be executed, since he still asks Izuku to pass a message along to Spinner on his behalf. Like..... a resurrection that has him losing his memories of his life as Tomura, or reverting back to his young "untraumatized" self, obviously feels wrong for entirely different reasons-- but this is just speculation atp and I don't wanna get worked up over smthing that hasn't happened yet.

Tenko's ""death"" also shares explicit parallels to both Toshinori's and Katsuki's brushes with death, so I do think Hrkshi could make things come full circle in a satisfying way here-- if Tenko's death is the only one that actually sticks while the heroes are allowed to defy all odds and resurrect/be reborn as the best possible versions of themselves, then obviously there's no salvaging the story. But I wanna have faith.

(Side note: Tenko/Toshi/Katsuki's (and even Touya's) limbo scenes depict them as surrounded by light and "sharing" that infinite space with someone who sincerely wants them to live-- and these scenes are starkly contrasted with AFO's limbo scenes, where his moments before death all depict as him being surrounded by darkness while being mocked by the vestiges of his victims.)

Anyway!!! At my own peril, I'll be leaning hard into the "Tenko Shimura: Rising + quirk awakening + aura!might using his vestige and the remnants of OFA to fill in the gaps of the broken reconstruction quirk (thereby fulfilling Izuku's wish to turn OFA into a power that exists to save while also helping Tenko symbolically embrace that he has the power to do more than just destroy-- he can save the villains through creation, not destruction)" theories from this point forward.

[mamashenanigans]

Everyone is going to hate me, but—

I think Horikoshi made the right choice killing Tomura.

He still had autonomy when he made the decision to be a mass murderer. No amount of AFO gloating that he designed Tomura’s life takes away from the responsibility still falling on Tomura for what he’s done. Within the world of MHA, someone who is a mass murderer doesn’t just get off scott free. It’s Tartarus or you die in the fight.

It would have been really easy for Horikoshi to pull a deus ex to bring Tomura back: Eri somehow can do it, AFOFA somehow brought his body back, or even some random Quirk we’ve never heard of just showing up at the right moment.

But he didn’t.

He took the hard path, knowing fans would be upset, because he knew it made sense within the world he’s crafted. Izuku says in the newest chapter that Tomura wasn’t going to give up the LOV(this is base translations so I don’t know how it’ll be worded when we get fan then official) and it’s implied that means he wasn’t going to change his ways if he had survived. Instead, his “soul” (Tenko) was saved and set free.

Here’s a good example to make this easier to understand:

Darth Vader still had to die.

At the end, Vader became Anakin again, saving his son and “killing” the Emperor. He turned back towards the right path(the light), but it STILL didn’t absolve him of what he had done. Lucas explained that, regardless of him turning back to the light, he had done terrible things and still needed to die. Murdered millions, probably billions, when working for the Empire. Lucas actually wrote the scene where he goes to kill the younglings specifically because Vader’s backstory is so incredibly sad that he was worried fans would try to excuse the entirety of what he’s done or misunderstand the reason Vader still had to die in the end, even though he IS the main character of Star Wars.

And may I remind you, since I know people are going to be groaning about everything AFO did to “create” Tomura—

Anakin was a fucking SLAVE. A CHILD slave.

His mindset, molded by slavers, stuck with him through his entire life. He was a slave…then a slave to the doctrine of the Jedi…then a slave of Palpatine’s. The only choices he REALLY made for HIMSELF was to marry Padme and save Luke’s life. Palpatine, after meeting him as a child, spent the rest of Anakin’s life prior to the suit molding him into the apprentice he wanted. He purposefully had the iconic suit made to inflict the most pain possible to a man turned into a quadriplegic with 3rd degree burns over every inch of what remains of his body.

And that dude STILL deserved to die for what he had done, Palpatine’s influence or not.

So, yeah, I think this was a bold, but honest move by Horikoshi.

There are still some chapters left before the entire series ends per a comment by Horikoshi, and the last page hinted at stuff having to do with Toga, Spinner, and Dabi. Will he turn around and bring him back anyway? Maybe, but I’d be very disappointed.

Stick to your guns, Horikoshi.

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

Incomplete list of changes I would make to mha if god gave me the ability to do so

So

Shinso is Midoriya’s main rival/foil among his classmates and actually gets a proper arc, Shigiraki can continue to be his villain rival

No Bakugo, he’s not plot relevant at all after the first episode. We will vaguely refer back to him in the final season with a shot of him staring at one of Deku’s battles from like a store or something but that’s it I want him gone

Female Shouto Todoroki

Also less in the whole Todoroki family arc about how sad Endeavour is that his family hates him for abusing them for their whole lives and more about the Todosibs complicated relationships with each other and Rei

No villains for the entire first season its just focused on UA, the competitive environment and how Izuku adapts to that and also his blossoming friendships

No Toga Ochako foil, there’s no reason for them to be foils sans ‘girl’. Idk develop that one gas villain (Mustard?) or whatever and have him be Ochako’s foil

Give Toga a proper character about self identity or whatever instead of just that love bullshit, idk she can foil someone else, I like villain hero foils but Ochako Toga was not it for me

The first villain the UA kids would fight is Stain. This isn’t just bc the Stain arc is one of my personal favorites, but I think it would be a cool transition between a mainly school focused 1st and partially 2nd season that would mainly worldbuild and get us into hero society and graducally exposing the flaws in that society. Given the LoV are basically just a bunch of people who are the result of the cracks in hero society I think it would be a nice seguway

Also Iida Tensi should actually be a corrupt hero.

Stain Iida parallels!!

Aizawa is actually forced to realize he’s a shitty teacher and has to undergo a character arc to be nicer to the people around him and realize that trauma does not make people stronger, it didn’t for him and it won’t for his students

Midnight is given development as a mentor and hero beyond boob jokes and dying

Also, like... if you want to make Mineta a character people don’t want to see die the second he’s on screen just have him gradually grow out of being so perverted?? Like a joke here or there is okay I guess but as the series goes on he should also get development lmao

Significantly more of 1A and 1B should be from hero families. Nepotism baybee.

More focus on some of the topics in heroism set up earlier in the series, like how heroes are paid based on who gets credit for taking down a villain and things like public image and charisma and how that allows for more corruption to fester

Either develop Aoyama more and make us care about him or make someone else (ie Ochako, refer back to my ‘why Ochako should have been the UA traitor post) the traitor who we actually care about

Keep Izuku analyzing quirks jesus fuck let him think instead of just be a plot device

More worldbuilding in general tbh

Let at least some of 1A ultimately become vigilantes after realizing the system is corrupt and made to benefit the people in power and heroes in this world are just functionally superpowered cops and that’s not the right type of system to see as morally infallible- *I am shot and killed by Horikoshi*

There’s more but I’m tired, please add at your wish

[anti-katsuki-lounge]

So I’m writing a fanfic, and due to the fact that it's a very important set piece I have to adapt, I watched Two Heroes a few weeks ago

And after reading fanfic for a good four years straight (and reading manga chapter summaries and reviews) I was fucking whiplashed by the fact that the moment Bakugo opened his mouth I was reminded why fucking hated him again

Like yeah I'm intimately aware of the fact that his personality is steamed sewage (thanks Kaminari) but good fucking Lord, Izuku didn't even beat him in the villain target practice shit (and that's another thing, I forgot how Horikoshi will literally never let Izuku have a dub over Bakugo-*** even though this is Post-Full Cowel and Stain and realistically should have won)* but he immediately fulfills his role as barky pomeranian and curses his general existence.

Thank God he's barely a factor since Melissa takes up most of his possible screentime (should have been a more important character tbh- they should have imported her to the main storyline)**

There's a reason I turn him into a minor antagonist (emphasis on minor, like a recurring mid-boss) in most fics I outline

*If you didn't know, Izuku got 16 sec on what was basically Break the Targets from Super Smash Bros Melee/Brawl, and Bakugo got 15. Todoroki beating them both is more understandable since he nuked the course and cut the knot to say.

**QUIRKLESS INVENTOR COME THE FUCK ON!!!!!! I like Mei-Mei as much as the next guy but dude, missed opportunity- hell they could have been foils.

***Bakugo has literally won all of their fights (except the first which was technically losing the entire game rather than that specific fight so it barely counts) AND All for One has generational beef with him in the newest chapter (he [in]conveniently looks like the Second User who humiliated him with all the stuff he did to oppose him), over Izuku AND All Might the holders of ONE FOR FUCKING ALL THAT ARE DUELING HIM AND TOMURA NOW

Thank fuck I don't have to watch Heroes Rising or World Hero Mission cause he actually IS important in those movies and I would legit follow his Ch 1 advice if I had to watch them

(If you want to know what happens to Bakugo in said fanfic that is currently being written [DAMN YOU EXECUTIVE DYSFUNCTION] basically he gets his finger bitten off when he's five by Maria (the fic’s version of Izuku) who ain't takin his shit and gets expelled from UA after he tries and fails to attack her [AS HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN] and later gets humiliated in several different fights from both heroes and his own villainous allies before getting annihilated and thrown in jail during a way more pressing matter [the training camp going way worse than in canon] as an afterthought)

All of this. It’s odd that Izuku’s not allowed to surpass him in anything. Not grades, not likability, not in combat. Even when Izuku finally gets something Katsuki’s either there to shit on him or surpass him.

[pikahlua]

BAKUGOU KACCHAN. Thoughts…? *explodes*

Time for anything and everything Kacchan:

In the end I don't quite know what his motivation is for saying the name Kacchan here, and I have no idea if we'll ever know. But in this moment we do know that he's taunting AFO, so that's our best context clue. But still, there could be multiple reasons.

To be clear, we have no confirmation that any microphone can pick up what Katsuki is saying. I sincerely doubt he's just broadcasted his nickname to the entire world. He spoke the name for AFO. And he spoke it after asking AFO if he still thinks of him as an extra and after declaring that he'll handle the things One For All can't. It reads to me like an emphasis on his "closeness to Izuku" that TomurAFO tried to exploit and now it's coming back around to bite AFO in the ass. "Yeah, that nerd and I are close, which is why you ain't shaking me. I'm gonna handle you for him! P.S. Here's my main character name, the name all the readers know me as [breaks the fourth wall with a cannon]"

I do think that's a possible meaning here, but my only experience with this is through online research. I've also since learned that this structure puts emphasis on the person's first name. I wrote the line the way I did for the sake of erring on the side of being literal, but I think it's most likely going to be translated officially as something with a tone like "That's Kacchan Bakugou to you, you senile old fart! Don't you forget it!"

[rain-coat-killer]

Well, that's just how every piece of media I personally have liked has been going lately.

It's good as it goes, but once it gets to the end it's kinda...yeah.

P.S This is just my personal thoughts on this manga at the moment. So you guys don't have to read if you would rather not.

Unless Afo's vestige shows up, there's going to be a lot of holes in the narrative. Not exactly plot holes persay, but a decent amount of things that are just going to be up in the air.

It'll be unsatisfying, is what I'm saying.

Bakugo coming back just to keep Afo from meeting Izuku and then immediately passing back out was just...bad.

It felt from a writer standpoint, someone trying to hastily fix a mistake they couldn't anymore. Or they just suddenly got an idea they, at the time, thought was really good. So they came up with a bunch of crap to justify it.

It felt very rushed and sloppy basically, and that's all I have to say about it.

Then we have the fact that Izuku and Shigaraki's fight has been out of the picture for so long. There's this feeling of disconnect. I find I don't exactly care?

Like Izuku and Tomura as characters feel too distant at the moment. That's not great for the supposed main character and his villain.

As well the reason we were looking away from them for so long was Afo, and Afo's whole journey here proved pointless because he failed. So, in turn, it kinda just feels like we were being patted out for a whole year for nothing.

Storywise, it feels like nothing has happened for such a long time, now that Afo has failed. A complete waste of time.

There could be an argument that it shows everyone's contributions brought this. But honestly, it still doesn't feel earned.

Hori didn't show enough pushback. Afo started the war disabled, then died, then he activated rewind and was on the clock. He didn't kill a single person. Apart from maybe Stain. But I doubt it.

This whole war has felt very one-sided. So his death almost feels like a beaten dog finally getting kicked to death.

Now I am left wondering why the nomu have never hurt Izuku, why that winged nomu grabbed him specifically.

Why was Ujiko Izuku's childhood doctor? Would he have recognized him if they met?

What Afo had planned in the first place for Izuku, since he had apparently spent his entire time in prison thinking about him. That comment, while chilling at the time has led to absolutely nothing.

As well, I do not know how this manga is going to finish in a satisfying way. As I said, Tomura and Izuku's characters feel so distant now. Any conversations they have or change of heart Tomura has is going to feel fake to me.

And that's how it's going to end, right?

Tomura being redeemed. It's either that or he dies. Or worse gets redeemed just to die.

But yeah, these were just all the thoughts running through my head at the moment, so that's probably why they sound disjointed. 😂

Overall, I still love this series, and it will always hold a special place in my heart. But yeah. Crappy ending so far. 😑

[justatalkingface]

There is a difference between making your characters suffer for story purposes, and just flat out torturing your characters for shits and giggles.

And Izuku Midoriya unfortunately falls into the latter category.

Because for whatever reason, Hori just flatout refuses to allow Izuku to have anything nice.

From a lack of supportive adults in his life regardless of his quirk status, lack of teachers actually giving a shit, lack of friends to confine in so he could be paired with the Cash Cow Triplets (Him, Shoto, and Bakugou), and just overall being the butt of many "jokes" that're not funny given his history.

There are even times where it seems like Hori wishes Bakugou was the main character instead of Izuku, and that's honestly sad to be honest.

You know, it's exhausting sometimes being an Izuku fan, because it feels like Hori took the standard shonen formula with him and just... made it worse.

Izuku starts off beaten down, bulled, and discriminated against, then he meets All Might and changes, and trains, and it's great! And then he gets the Quirk.

The problem isn't that he has problems using it, the problem isn't that it's even dangerous, it's that it's so dangerous that using it causes him instant, permeant harm, even with an OP healing Quirk. And when he tries to get help with it?

All Might: Sorry! I'd love to help, but I used up my entire quota of usefulness just getting you to this point. If I do anything more, God will literally murder me!

Izuku: ...What?

All Might: Being your mentor would have been great, I was looking forward to it, but sadly I must slowly fall apart, both in body and as a character, and grow more and more pathetic until little old ladies help me across the road!

Izuku: What?!

Then he goes to UA, and meets Aizawa, whose basic response to children half the time is to ignore them and the other half boils down to:

"Look at me one more time and I'll expel you so fucking hard your limbs will fly off!"

Beat.

"Psych!"

Beat again.

"Or not psych?"

And then finally, finally, we get to Gran Torino, and sure, he only knows how to express affection through causing physical pain, but he's the only person to just actually help Izuku, and he's so desperate not to kill himself he's pathetically grateful to be beaten up just so he doesn't pull a Deidara.

And the thing is? Izuku is hardly the first protagonist to suffer from power related problems. What makes him unique is how unusable his power is, and yet it's his only option.

Naruto, for example, has the Nine Tailed Fox, that big oogie-boogie, living hate, all that stuff. It controls him, drives him berserk, burns his flesh.

But. You know. He doesn't actually use it all that often. He has all these other options available to him, and even even if it ultimately boils down to 'More Shadow Clones' and 'Bigger Rasengan', and that's kinda boring, but it doesn't hurt him. It's a simple but serviceable combination that doesn't in any way, shape or form harm him, and allows him not to use his self destructive powers.

Izuku has OFA and... his brains. That's it. And, I think in a different version of MHA, brains alone could have been enough, hell, it was, for awhile. But you'd have to adjust the goals, is the thing.

Lets look at the Sports Festival.

Izuku did well in the Sports Festival, and honestly that should have been enough, but he had to win for All Might (for... some reason). Acting as an effectively quirkless person, he got to that final round, and even if he got stopped there, that could have, maybe should have, been enough.

But it's not enough to be 'enough'. It's 'Plus Ultra'. He has to be the best. If you look at the festival as a grade, Izuku, before fighting Shoto, had an A, maybe an A minus. He got to the final round where god knows how many other people didn't. But an A wasn't enough, he needed an A plus. And, honestly, that's a typical shonen thing, sure, to strive to be the best, but again, just brains isn't going to make you the best, so he needs more. He needs a typical shonen powerset to match those ambitions. And all he has is One For All.

Another example is Bakugou; I don't want to get into it too heavily (because talking seriously about Bakugou leads to you getting sucked down into the Endless Abyss of Bad Characterization he creates around him) but Bakugou has the formula of a typical shounen rival, but the execution doesn't match. Skilled, powerful, an opposite to the hero in personality and somewhat antagonistic to them... like Sasuke was. But Sasuke lost. He didn't just lose unfair fights, against vastly overpowered opponents, he lost against people on his level, like Rock Lee, or Haku, and critically to Naruto, his rival. There weren't secondary objectives confusing things, there weren't mitigating factors, he just wasn't good enough. Moreover, Sasuke had a reason for being who he was, a deep purpose that drove him that made him aggressive and unwilling to cooperate (immense psychological trauma!) that made his character make sense if you thought about it. And, honestly, and most damning of all, Sasuke, before he had about eight psychotic breaks and became a criminal, was nicer than Bakugou.

Sasuke fought with Naruto, true, but he never bullied him. Sasuke never hunted down to Naruto to tell him he has no parents, that nobody loves him, and that nobody ever will (though, ironically, I think Naruto actually did something like that to Sasuke early on, though that's digressing a bit). And the fact they weren't that antagonist, that their dynamic wasn't so one sided, made their rivalry so much more... palpable to read about, while it was still a rivalry (I'd argue that they stopped being rivals after he left and Naruto was the only one who cared, who seeked him out, while Sasuke was off doing his own shit and living his life without Naruto, and but I digress yet again).

I mean, hell; it's the final arc, and we had this big... friendship moment. All of Izuku's classmates are uniting, under the banner of working together to help each other. Sounds good, right? It's a classic formula. Except... they united against him. All of them, together, formed up under the banner of Bakugou, his 'rival', to hunt him down. Not with Izuku, against... Tomura, or AFO, but against him.

The thing is, I can sum up Izuku's struggles, ultimately, in three ways: he loses. He wins, pyrrhicly, in a way that either damaged the value of victory (or himself) immediately, or had lasting long term negative repercussions for him (or both!). Or, and this is a lot more common lately, he wins, but it feels like an empty victory because it doesn't feel like Izuku won, but Hori made it so he won, so that his victory feels unearned.

Izuku can't win. He can't get respect from anyone, including himself. He can't have his issues be discussed in a meaningful way, and it's just... exhausting, sometimes, to read this, and realize that he's just... suffering. He's suffering all the time, and there just doesn't seem to be an end in sight. After this is over, assuming he's still alive, assuming he still has a Quirk, and is still able to be a hero (all of which I could easily see not happening), do you think he's going to be any better? Is he going to respect himself now? Because I can't really see that happening, anymore, the way I could early on.