#the one caused by Enji makes no sense given he praises Enji for trying to fix things with his family

[problemswithbooks]

I'm not really a fan of Hawks losing his Quirk to AfO. If it serves any purpose it will probably be used to help Izuku fight AfO in the vestige realm which is a fight I was never looking forward to in the first place. Otherwise I don't think it really serves much purpose for Hawks as a character because we're at the end of the story and we just won't get a big focus on how it effects him going forward.

I mean, I see people saying that him losing his Quirk has set him free from the HPSC but he was essentially free from them after the first War. They have been non-existent in the story since than besides passing mentions. From what the reports said last chapter it seems that all the Heroes fighting are doing so of their own pure desire to help, not because the HPSC is paying them or anything. Keigo isn't working for them and given the world ending stakes if he wanted to do anything but beat AfO it'd be a negative trait, not him finding his freedom.

I know people want Keigo to find himself outside of being a Hero and his Quirk but that doesn't really seem to be a theme in the story. If Hori wanted to tell that story he could have done so with Mirio or All Might but he didn't. Instead Mirio was given his Quirk back with little fan fair and All Might's inspiration and Hero heart was reinforced. The story is about people being Heroes not about themselves as just people.

Which is honestly how I see things going with Hawks. His Quirk will be a force for good that helps Izuku beat AfO from the inside proving that despite his saying his Quirk was dirty, he really did/does have the heart of a Hero.

Also, I do think it takes real Hawks out of the story most likely, which is a bit disappointing, though understandable. I never really understood where people got the idea he was going to have a full mental break down anyway and besides him flipping out because he can't help anymore I still don't really see it happening. I mean, Hori is going at light speed here, why would he take the time to focus on Hawks having a mental break when he hasn't even managed to do that for his main three villains yet, who actually need that for the story to end.

I could easily be proven wrong given that Hori's writing is unpredictable, but for the moment my guess is that Hori did this so he could take Hawks out of the fight so he wouldn't get involved with the Todoroki or Ochako/Toga stuff, while also leaving open the possibility to give Izuku a strong ally in Hawks Quirk if needed.

I know people wanted him in those fights, but Hori has a hard time juggling characters in fight scenes, something we've seen a lot in this arc and the one prior. And to be honest he doesn't serve much purpose in them either. I've seen theories of wanting him try and kill Dabi and being devastated because Enji saves his son, essentially picking Touya over him, but Hawks has been nothing but positive about Enji trying to change and help his family. He didn't try and attack Touya or even mention him when he came through the portal, so don't know why he'd suddenly decide to attack him Quirk or not.

When it comes to Toga/Ochako thing he only complicates it. Yes, he killed Twice, but as we've seen Toga's main problem isn't that Twice was killed, it's that Izuku and Ochako, kids around her age don't like her. She feels like no one cares about her because she has a bad Quirk. If getting revenge for Twice was her main objective than she wouldn't have been crying. She doesn't even think about Hawks or name dropped him to my knowledge. If anything she treats all Heroes as guilty. To add Hawks into this fight draws attention away from Ochako, Toga and her main issue of identity. Plus, again I don't see Hawks being upset if Ochako saves Toga in the way he couldn't save Twice. He liked Twice and did try to save him. At most I think we'd see him watching with a happy smile and some tears, not having a full existential crisis.

[izukusensei]

what spring does with the cherry trees (part ii)

Midoriya Izuku has been away from Yuuei for five years now, a boy when he left, a man now grown. Since then, Izuku’s father has sadly passed on, his mother long since gone, and instead of staying in Rome with his step-brother and wife, he decides to return to Yuuei, welcomed without question into the Todoroki household.

There, he meets Bakugou Katsuki, Todoroki Enji’s champion gladiator.

author: izukusensei pairing: Bakugou Katsuki x Midoriya Izuku word count: 2k+ warnings: gladiator au, smut, violence, slavery, character death

ii. 

"How to un-want what the body has wanted, explain how the flesh in its wisdom was wrong?"

Enji has already moved Bakugou’s living quarters. No longer does he sleep in the dank, dark bowels of the villa, but across the training arena, underneath the open sky. His room is one of four, the three unoccupied on either side of his own, built in to the mountainous cliffs that surround the Villa Todoroki. It offers him not only a reprieve from the commotion of the ludus, but privacy as well, of which Izuku is thankful for.

And while the night gives way to celebration for his fellow gladiators, the champion chooses to spend his time in said cell, apart from the others, instead of reveling in the joy that he himself brought to the House of Todoroki.  

Izuku tries not to retch at the sights and smells and sounds, all so overpowering to the senses. The gladiators and the whores bought for the night are lost in their celebration, drinking and fucking, paying him no mind. But even so, he attempts to not draw attention to himself, winding his way through the maze of bodies like a mouse, nose turned toward promising reward.

He only feels as though he can breathe again once he steps outside underneath the night sky, but just barely. The air is dry, the ground parched from lack of rain, the dust unsettling with every step. It’s still hot, despite the late hour, and he can feel the promise of sweat prickling at his skin as he makes his way across the training arena.

Izuku’s heart is pounding, stomach fluttering as he knocks on Bakugou’s cell door, and in his eagerness, he opens it before the gladiator has the opportunity to grant him entry.

He closes the door behind himself, hand lingering on the rough wood to give himself another moment before turning toward the gladiator. Izuku watches as Bakugou stands from the bed with a slow and weary stretch, not at all threatened by the other man’s sudden appearance.

Izuku has never been so close to him before, always looking down at him from the villa balcony or pulvinus at the arena, and from his position now he can see that the gladiator is even bigger than he imagined, taking up all the space in the already miniscule cell.

He is bare but for his subligaria, his skin glowing in the candlelight, and the light too, accentuating the lines around his eyes. He looks… tired, world-weary, but even so, he still maintains an air of strength and superiority about him.

Izuku looks up at him beneath fluttering eyelashes as Bakugou walks toward him, only a few sauntering steps to get to where he stands. Izuku can feel his heart beat hastening as Bakugou’s eyes, so ruby red, never waver in their gaze.

A small smirk slowly forms upon the gladiator’s face, and in Izuku’s momentary weakness from the glorious sight, he doesn’t respond quickly enough when Bakugou reaches out and takes his jaw in his calloused hand. He turns Izukus’s head first this way and then that, and although the Roman is unsure of his intentions, he allows him to do so. After a moment of appraisal, Bakugou releases him, but makes no move to retreat.

“You’re bold to be here,” he says, voice rough but quiet.

“I am bold to my purpose,” Izuku replies, attempting to steady his own voice. “I come bearing gifts. Wine for our champion.”

He holds up the amphora of wine to emphasize his point, along with two cups that he brought for the gladiator and himself. Izuku then set the cups on a small table beside him, but before he can pour the wine, Bakugou lets out a laugh, startling and confusing the man.

“Do you find me amusing?” Izuku asks, cheeks aflame.

Bakugou takes a step even closer to him, and Izuku doesn’t know whether to stay put, firm in his courage, or to move away, farther from his reach. He chooses to stand his ground, not giving Bakugou any reason to doubt his devotion.

“Though you do bear a striking resemblance to your slave,” Bakugou says, “I am neither simple nor blind.”

Izuku is stunned to silence. No one has ever caught on to his scheme, recognized him in the guise of his companion. No one has ever given him a second look while hiding true self behind false façade, and then here is this man, not with him but for a moment, in darkness and shadow, and he can see through Izuku like glass.

“I wonder what venture is so great,” Bakugou continues, “that you would put yourself in such compromising position.”

There’s no point in denying it now. No reason not to voice true intent.

“I have noticed how eyes wander to the balcony as you train,” Izuku tells him, “in them something akin to desire. The same in which is reflected in my own.”

“Desire?” Bakugou repeats, a question.

“Yes,” Izuku replies, regaining confidence. “And I desire only the finest in all things. Silks from the ports of Neapolis, exotic furs from across the seas. The most exquisite foods, the sweetest confections. And now I desire the finest gladiator, a warrior from beyond the mountains, standing a masterpiece as though chiseled by the gods themselves. Better than the softest furs, the most succulent fruits. Better than all the wonders of the world combined.”

With a trembling hand, Izuku allows himself to reach out and touch the gladiator, fingers fluttering down the hard expanse of his chest. His skin is hot, slick with oil from his cleansing. Oh! Izuku thinks, to be the strigil in which he must hold so tightly in hand every night, to feel the curves of his body, the hard planes.

How such a simple thing causes him envy, yet Bakugou is here with Izuku now, and he would touch him, memorizing his every inch, every detail of his form, carved so carefully as though lovingly tended to by the greatest master of the art.

Izuku follows the trail of golden hair that leads down from Bakugou’s stomach to the top of his subligaria, disappearing beneath the inconvenient fabric.

“You are a thing of beauty, are you not?” Izuku says, his voice soft, curious, speaking more to himself than to the gladiator.

Izuku doesn’t wander any further down, but instead, he runs his hand back up Bakugou’s stomach, his chest, his neck. His fingers trail across the braid down the side of the man’s scalp, behind his ear, but before Izuku can sink his fingers into his hair, Bakugou grabs his wrist and stops him.

“You see me as a thing to add to your collection?” he asks. “A trinket for you to use?”

Izuku stares at him in confusion, taken aback at his tone. He thought the gladiator would be flattered by his appreciation of him. Did he not realize that Izuku’s declaration was one of praise, words a reflection of the heart?

“I do not mean it as a slight,” Izuku tells him.

Bakugou growls, “Though I receive it as one.”

“Most men in your position would be pleased!”

“My position?” he repeats, jerking Izuku closer by your wrist. “You think because you are Roman and I am slave, I would drop to fucking knees to please you? That I should be flattered that you would deign to look upon me with something other than contempt?”

“No! I merely –”

“You are used to getting what you want,” Bakugou continues. “But I do not want a spoiled Roman whore.”

Izuku gasps at his words and begins to fight against him, but the man is immoveable. He cannot pull his wrist from his firm grasp, and in his anger and frustration, Izuku drops the amphora resting in his other arm to the ground, the clay shattering and wine covering his feet.

Izuku uses his hand, now free, to try to push Bakugou away, but the gladiator only takes that wrist in his other hand, trapping him completely.

“Have you been so long a slave,” Izuku asks, fatigued from his struggle, “that you have forgotten when someone does not treat you as one?!”

Bakugou’s nostrils flare, eyes darken like a molten lava, as he forces Izuku back against the door. He holds both of his wrists in his grasp, above his head, and in his fear, Izuku no longer fights against him, allowing the gladiator to do with him what he wishes in hopes that he will be left with no more than bruised skin.

“You have not treated me like a slave?” Bakugou asks.

His voice is soft again as he bends down to speak to Izuku, his lips so close to the other’s that they would brush if he so desired them too. It’s a cruel imitation of a near kiss, so like the one Izuku would have risked all to receive before he stepped foot in the gladiator’s cell.

“You come here to use me,” Bakugou says, “deceive me. You want me for your own pleasure, with no thought to my will, my choice.”

Izuku trembles, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. He’s ashamed, suddenly, struck dumb at the gladiator’s words. In his hubris, Izuku thought his presence a gift, with no thought it would be denied or ill-received. He did not consider how such deception would make Bakugou feel. Even if he did give in to desire, how would he react if he knew that desire was misplaced, projected on to the wrong person?

Izukue turns his face away, lest the gladiator see his tears fall, but Bakugou grabs his jaw with one of his hands, making the other man look up at him again.

“To what end?” Bakugou asks, and his brow softening with the question. “Do you merely wish to fuck a gladiator? There are many others who would have you.”

“Apologies,” Izuku pleads, more tears trailing down his cheeks, but whether from fear, humiliation, or rejection, he knows not. “Desire was born of good intentions.”

Bakugou lets him go, but he does not yet move away. Izuku brings his wrists down, close to his chest, and rubs the sore and aching bones, the skin that is sure to bruise.

“If you truly wish to please me,” Bakugou says, “send me someone who could actually stir my cock.”

The gladiator turns from Izuku and walks to his bed, lays down with his hands behind his head, eyes closed. It’s a clear dismissal and the Roman doesn’t have to be told any more clearly to leave. Izuku opens the door to flee, but before he can, he hears Bakugou’s voice once again.

“Send more wine, too, if you would,” he says. “I would not want the night of my victory to go to waste.”

Hiroshi is occupying Izuku’s bed when he returns to his chambers. Hiroshi’s room is joined to Izuku’s, but he is playing his part, pretending to be the Roman, and Izuku is glad of it. He needs familiar and loving arms to comfort him after such a disastrous night.

“You’ve returned too soon,” Hiroshi whispers as Izuku crawls into bed beside him.

“He did not want me,” Izuku replies, trying to control the tremor in his voice.

He feels shattered like the glass he is, scattered in to infinite pieces, left trailing from Bakugou’s cell to his own room. He’s scared, sorrowful, and full of desire to sleep so that maybe he can be free of this waking nightmare.

"How could he not want you?” Hiroshi asks.

“He called me a ‘spoiled Roman whore,’” Izuku tells him, flinching at the words.  “His words do ring true.”

“That beast!” Hiroshi gasps. “How dare he say such a thing! And you, determining worth on the words of a gladiator!”

Izuku holds on tighter to his companion, not having strength enough for anymore words. Hiroshi persists, though, not allowing him to hide from cruel reality.

“How did he know it was you?” he asks. “Did you tell him?”

“No,” Izuku replies. “We are not so alike as I thought. You are wise and I should’ve listened to you, but instead I chose to play a child’s game. How will I ever be able to face the morning sun?”

Hiroshi strokes the other’s hair. “Sol is a merciful god,” he says. “He will show you mercy as he rides his chariot across the sky. You must only take leave of your bed and the task is done.”

The two of them lay in the dark, in the silence. Hiroshi’s words do lift some of the weight from Izuku’s shoulders. Has the world ended because he has been denied? No, he supposes, tomorrow will come and he will move on. No matter how difficult the thought seems.

“Your step-brother comes one week hence, for the Vulcanalia,“ Hiroshi tells the other. “Your godfather came to inform you when you were away.”

Izuku sighs. “Oh, how the gods piss on me this night.”

Izuku’s step-brother, Tomura, is the only family Izuku has left, though not by blood. The only true blood he has in the world is Hiroshi, though Rome does not recognize the kinship, and by unfortunate fate he is condemned to be a slave. After Izuku’s mother died, his father married the widow Shigaraki, Tomura’s mother. And then she, too, died. Along with a child as she was giving birth. And if those tragedies were not enough, Izuku’s father passed within the last year, while he was away at school, leaving Tomura, the oldest, as his heir.

Tomura, being a legatus – a high ranking military officer – was often away from home, leaving Izuku as sole steward of the villa after he finished school. But then Tomura married Himiko, a senator’s daughter, and since she came to live at the villa with Izuku, he could not stand to be there any longer, and had to leave. Thankfully, Izuku’s godfather allowed him to stay at the Villa Todoroki.

“Himiko will be close in tow, no doubt,” Izuku says to his companion.

“She is the spoiled whore,” Hiroshi replies, the lilt of humor in his voice. “But worry not, for Dabi accompanies them as well.”

Now, that piques his interest. Dabi is his step-brother’s childhood friend, turned rival in more recent years, whom Izuku has always fancied. He is a legatus now, like Tomura, but yet free from bond of marriage. This visit could prove profitable.  

“Remove gladiator from thoughts and turn them toward proper men,” Hiroshi says, and Izuku can tell by his tone that the discussion is ended.

That night, although Izuku tries to take Hiroshi’s advice, his dreams are of rough hands, ruby eyes, and wounding words soothed with healing kisses.

ii. Cecilia Woloch, “Postcard Beginning With a Quote from Mark C., Avenue de l'Opéra,” Carpathia

Thank you so much for reading! To everyone who liked and/or left a comment on the last part, you are so amazing!  I hope you continue to enjoy this story.

[problemswithbooks]

Endeavor and All Might interacting after the war is such lost potential it’s disappointing

Yeah, it really is, especially when I think Enji and All Might could have had a more meaningful interaction overall then All Might had with Stain.

I mean, I love Stain and am really happy he had more screen time, but it didn't really contribute much in the long run, that Enji couldn't have done better given his more fleshed out character and connection to All Might.

All Might was clearly seeing all the destruction and Izuku's spiral as his fault, and coming to terms with the fact that his way of doing things wasn't the big fix he thought it was. I'm sure hearing about Enji's abuse due to his desire to surpass him didn't help either. In that moment he feels like he wasted his life and that he's a complete failure--it's his darkest moment.

And Enji's just had his darkest moment to, plus he understands the feeling of having realized his choices led to long term failure and pain for others. Also Toshi gave him advice when he first became 1# and it's be great to have a call back to that.

The thing is, Toshinori does need cheering up in that moment, but I can see why some people thought it was completely absolving him of any bad choices he made, or fluffing him up. One of Stain's few character traits is his obsession with All Might being the only Hero--he's a fan boy, so his words come across as pure praise, even if I think Hori was trying to have the moment have more depth.

With Enji being the one to talk to him, he can relate to All Might instead. it would be better framed as "yes, some of your choices ended up causing problems, but not everything you did was bad", instead of "you've actually never done anything wrong and are perfect". Enji has been in that head space before and in a way still is, but unlike Enji All Might did do good and did try to help as many people as possible. Having Enji acknowledge that All Might did inspire people for the better over all and admit that his obsession was his own fault not Toshi's would be huge for his character as well.

Giving them this moment would feel like a conclusion to their relationship as well, because Enji's dislike for All Might wasn't fully addressed back when he asked for advice. Toshi didn't have all the facts then about Enji's ugly obsession, and didn't seem to feel much for him at all past 'coworker'. This puts them on more equal footing and lets them talk more openly about their mistakes and how they want to fix them.

It could end with the core message of bnha--plus ultra, aka trying your best and going beyond limitations. Yes, they both fucked up (one way more then the other) but they can keep going and continue to try to do better. Not everything Toshi did ended in despair and he did some really good things that helped spark the desire to help people in others, but those choices that ended in something bad, Toshi can get back up, do his best to learn from his mistakes and fix them as best he can.

It's just a more impactful scene then the one with Stain because they're both far more fleshed out as characters and have an actual history to work off of. It can still happen in Kamino, and honestly it'd be really symbolic later if during the scene it was Enji who takes the sign of the All Might statue, while Touya later destroys it. They can also get the info about the time frame closing from a recovery team at Tarturus or something--though I see no reason to shift the deadline one way, only to have it go back to what it was prior due to Star's sacrifice. It'd make more sense to have a small time skip before Star's fight, and have her actually extend the deadline for them. That way we feel like Izuku got more of a break, and training time between then and the second war.

As for Stain, I don't really know. He hasn't show back up in the story yet so it's hard to say if that conversation with All Might had any long term effect on him. Or how/if he'll have any sort of small arc of his own with Iida. If this was supposed to be a turning point for him he'd have to be included somehow, but I doubt that's going to be the case. But only time will tell how taking him out of the scene would impact the story. For the moment though having it be Enji instead seems to work way better.

[problemswithbooks]

Right like why are we acting like Endeavor is his own person and not someone whose writing has been bungled since the Deku Solo Arc? I think the only important students that came away unscathed were Bakugō and Iida. Aizawa is the only adult whose characterization has felt solid so far. I’m not going to talk about what happened to the villains.

I do understand that it's hard to look at characters solely from a writing perspective--I certainly talk about them as people just as much as I do as tools for the story. But I do see a lot more posts talking about bnha as if these characters are human beings rather then drawings written by a person way more often.

Like take the Hawks V Twice fight. I’ve seen posts about it and added my opinion from a writing aspect as to why that entire fight was so confusing for audiences and ended up splitting the fan base way more then it was. Yet no one engaged with me from that aspect, instead continuing to talk about how Hawks was wrong because of RL reasons--which wasn't the point I was trying to make. 

Enji gets similar treatment. People just look at him and talk about how, because he’s an abuser, of course he’s not making progress, which is totally disregarding whether or not that adds to the narrative of bnha or not. Yes, abusers are more likely to back track or even not change at all, and that could even work in a different story, but given all the time and effort Hori put into Enji’s arc, having it stagnate and repeat at tedium isn't helpful and is a waste of time.  

And I do find it weird that so many people were willing to complain about the Deku arc, yet have praised this current one, even though a lot of the problems caused by that arc have snowballed into this one--like the rushed pacing and the dependency on flashbacks to flesh out things that could have been shown earlier. Plus all the weird character shifts that happened during the Deku arc that the story now has to work around. 

As for Bakugou and Iida making it out relatively unscathed I agree--as for Aizawa not so much.

It’s not that his characterization is bad, but I don’t really like the direction Hori seems to be going with him. Him being angry at the villains makes sense, and is constant with his character. What I take issue with is the way it's implied that Aizawa is mad because he blames Shigaraki for Oboro’s fate and wants revenge. Aizawa has always been presented as a logical character, and although it’s fair he’d be upset about his dead friend, you’d think he’d understand that the Doctor was the one that zombied Oboro, not Shigaraki. 

He could still want revenge against Shigaraki for the countless other things he’s done, like leveling Japan, or continuously trying to murder his students. How about for taking his eye or putting him in a situation where he needed to cut off his own leg? Or even having the Nomu pretty much torture him the first time Shigaraki invaded UA? 

But it seems clear to me that Hori has forced his character to be more mad about Oboro because it’s the one thing Shigaraki didn’t play a part in. When Shigaraki inevitably gets redeemed, he can be swayed by the sudden (stupid) realization that Shigaraki didn't hurt Oboro. In fact it’ll probably be Oboro/Kurogiri that makes it clear he actually cares about Shigaraki and therefore Aizawa should to. The rest of the legitimate issues Aizawa could have had will be forgotten and he will get over his “misplaced” anger.   

So, even though his character hasn’t gotten that bad of characterization yet, i do fear, given all the things building up to, he will sort of be ruined in the end. Which I don't really look forward to because I really like Aizawa.