lipsandcigarettes

[lipsandcigarettes]

Chapter 1 :

Chapter 119 :

Chapter 285 :

Chapter 322 :

Chapter 404 :

Them at the moment :

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Happy first re-birthday Katsuki

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it's a story about hands (reprise)

Yeah, okay, today's the day.

I gave my blog that title for a reason, you know, and it has loomed over me for years because the hand motif is absolutely everywhere and you could go on about it forever.

Maybe that's something I'll never actually attempt to do, but this chapter, we reached a breaking point.

Before I continue, I need to give a big, big disclaimer: I do not have a physical disability, so I'm not able to speak about that from the standpoint of representation as a first-hand perspective. I have at least listened to enough disabled people to know that fictional characters who become amputees only to miraculously gain their limbs back is, um, a trope. Disabled people in general being "healed" is a conception we would really prefer to avoid here. Not to call people out, but I don't think we're giving enough space to acknowledge that.

I don’t feel comfortable making the judgement call about what should happen. I’m leaving that open. I also don't want to downplay people's emotional reactions. Honestly, I don't know if I can accurately define the line between acknowledging real pain vs. ableist pity. But I’d like to talk about the possibilities of what could happen. Other characters have definitely gotten permanent disabilities as a result of their hero work, or even just the side effects of their quirk. But, for better or worse, I don't think this case is really about representation. Not that Horikoshi won't do that justice. He might. What I'm saying is that's not his purpose for having Izuku lose his arms. It's meant to be symbolic, so we can explore what it means. The other thing I’m keeping in mind here is that Horikoshi is notorious for playing with our expectations, like, alllllll the time. I mean, just take a few chapters ago for a classic example. Eri appeared at the end, and we all assumed she was about to take some sort of action to save someone with her quirk. Then, immediately following, we were given an explanation for why that wouldn’t be happening. And now it’s clear he wanted to do that “fake out” not just as a silly cliffhanger prank, but specifically so we would know not to suspect that Eri could be the miraculous solution to Izuku’s loss of his arms. Rest assured, there is no easy way out of this.

The expectation at play in this particular instance is an old one. It’s very understated, but its subtext has burned so brightly, you’d be a fool not to notice it. It sits with anticipation like one half of a call and response. Man, I was so certain. Lots of people still are. I was really looking forward to printing the panel where it happened onto a t shirt and wearing it proudly. All the hand motifs in this story radiate thematically from a single moment, the one that started it all for Izuku.

It raises all kinds of questions about the act of saving, who needs saving, why, what does it mean, what are the dynamics of power, politics, honesty, exploitation, compassion, pity, disdain, sacrifice. Katsuki has dealt with many of these since he first rejected Izuku’s hand. While Izuku was the one who was convinced Katsuki would keep on rejecting him…

…Katsuki was the one who kept that moment in his mind all these years and eventually came to regret it.

Katsuki is the one yearning for that hand-hold, the one who has imbued it with so much more weight than it ever originally had. Izuku, in contrast, does not allow himself to dwell on what he wants. To illustrate this difference, we need to look at another piece of foreshadowing:

Ugh, do y'all remember when lots of folks were complaining about how there never seemed to be actual consequences for Izuku's destructive treatment of his own body? I don't blame them, I was concerned and confused about it too. There were several "fixes" along the way. Recovery Girl healed him, but left a physical reminder. Then he started training to fight with his legs… sometimes. Then he got support items. All of these were unsatisfying non-conclusions because they didn't present Izuku with a lasting enough impression to change in a meaningful way. They didn't address his core, his origin.

Of course, that all changed this chapter. Now it looks like our frustration was inflicted intentionally. With the current context in mind, all of these moments look more sinister, like this day was always gonna come because they kept putting bandaids on a deep emotional and psychological wound. The problem is pretty much spelled out for us here:

As Katsuki put it, he just doesn’t take himself into account, ya know? He doesn’t care what happens to him. And he lies about it, to keep others from worrying, to keep them safe. To keep them from returning the favor and putting themselves in harm’s way for his sake. His motivations are noble,

…but what about the little boy inside Izuku? Who saves him?

This is all about Izuku giving himself up to the point that he literally has no more to give. The thing is, I bet he saw this coming. He knew his limits and decided to keep going anyway, because his personal safety and wellbeing are not important. Now that way of thinking has come back to bite him because the fight isn’t over yet, and he’s already made his sacrifice. So now we know who will be more distraught over this. Not Izuku—Katsuki.

It’s not about Izuku becoming disabled, it’s about how Katsuki wanted to use the intertwining of their fingers to communicate that he would never let go. Never stop valuing him most. Never let himself make the mistake of rejecting him again. Never let Izuku be so reckless with his life. To say: “we are in this together.”…if only Katsuki believed he deserved to be able to say such things. To reach out his hand would have been the ultimate way to simply imply them and let Izuku be the one to decide. Then, to feel their hands clasped together would be more than either of them dared hope for, but so beautiful, so right. A moment they’ve waited their whole lives for.

Yeah. That’s what we were expecting. We’ve been so comfortable. Horikoshi gave us all the signs. He tempted and teased us over and over. BUT. You know he does this thing were he gives us a desirable, completely plausible and simple thing to look forward to, and then he snatches it away. And THEN he replaces it with something much better, something we were not expecting at all because it seemed too good to be true. That’s exactly what happened when Himiko snatched Izuku away, and we were robbed of the chance to see him and Katsuki fight together. In hindsight, though, I’m glad things went a different way because now there’s so much more depth and angst on display. Likewise, in the present moment, we may consider how, as one door closes, another opens.

As wonderfully meaningful as the hand-hold would have been, perhaps it is still too simple a resolution for Izuku, for his and Katsuki’s relationship. Tbh, it could have been done like 100 chapter ago. At this point, there’s so much more potential. There are a couple of ways it could go. If Izuku stays armless, Katsuki will be forced to use other methods to get his point across. He’ll have to do something else, or say what he means, or both. Yes, I’m talking about what you think I’m talking about. If I say it, I just might jinx it (lol), but I mean it. I’m being serious. Either way, if Izuku did get his arms back in the end, I’m sure that it wouldn’t be an easy fix. It would be hard-won against Izuku’s self-destructive mindset, and/or by Katsuki’s conviction. Again, I say this knowing it is not meant so much as a representation of disability, but as a representation of Izuku’s greatest character flaw taken to the extreme. I know this might sound harsh, like, hasn’t he been through enough? I get that, but… I’ve said it before and I say it again: Izuku is stubborn as hell.

I wish I had a resounding final note to end this on, but I kinda don’t. I’m not sure what’s best. Now we just have to wait and see what Horikoshi has in mind.

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shinsou

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I love Monoma 😔

Okay, but Uraraka's plan to drop a METEOR SHOWER on Bakugou (to get an opening and make him float and render him immobile) is wild.

Midoriya, someone who usually is observant, didn't even caught onto that but Aizawa and Monoma did.

Which, while it's an Uraraka moment (dropping meteor showers on people, let her do that again) I also love that is kind of highlights that Monoma is observant. Makes sense that he would have been paying attention because his quirk is Copy. He's gonna want to watch how people use their quirks.

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I was rereading the chapters for match 1 in the A vs. B arc and noticed something.

At the end of Match 1, after winning on A’s side, Shinsou learned the lesson that he can’t just be carried by other people in order to be effective; he needs to work hard to become more singularly competent.

But his teammates looked at him strangely when he said this, because most have realized independent strength is only one side of the coin. Teamwork and support is equally important. Plus, it’s been mentioned that the pro hero scene as a whole is trending toward team-ups. And guess who represents, essentially by his quirk itself, the fact that an aspiring hero can’t and shouldn’t try to rely on only themselves?

It’s the other half of the lesson.

Just a thought.

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I really undestand all the point, but I never really looked it that way...?

I am so sorry, but I am really a dumbass so until right fucking now I always thought that "Dynamight" and "Ground Zero" were just like, really good hero names that the fandom invented to Kacchan because we're on another level. (I'm fucking stupid it hurts)

So for some reason I literally prefer his hero name to be "Ground Zero" over "Dynamight" because it was never a good hero name to Kacchan in my brain (not hating on anyone who like it I promise—). I just think it is a really obvious hero name, considering Kacchan's quirk, so I prefer "Ground Zero" better.

BUT!

In this context, I only like "Dynamight", because I really can't stand a fic (even if the writing is really good) that Bakudeku are not sure of themselves and it stays like that for a fucking long time!

So just to conclude:

1- I am a dumbass.

2- I still prefer Kacchan with the Hero name "Ground Zero" but I definitely don't prefer him when he was ground zero, aka before his sacrifice (if that even makes sense). And I like "Dynamight" kacchan, aka after the sacrifice, a hundred times more in this post context.

Sorry for my Ted talk 👍🏼

might be a useless thing to ramble about but honestly the stark contrast in flavors of bkdk content before and after bakugou rising is absolutely wild. yeah there was a gradual shift in how the fandom portrayed bkdk, but I can usually predict how a story is gonna go on whether bakugou is ground zero or dynamight

here's what I mean...

Ground Zero era: bkdk do not get along very well (either they avoid each other, or are constantly fighting); crazy circumstances push them into romantic/sexual situations; rampant dubcon (ie, sex pollen/heats, they're both drunk, one is unsure, ect); Bakugou is a pissy reluctant lover OR Bakugou is a pushy aggressive lover; Deku is constantly blushing and freaking out about being Kacchan’s lover; long tiring road towards any semblance of fluffy romance; OOC behaviors galore

Dynamight era: bkdk are good friends, roommates, hero partners, and/or in an established relationship; mutual confessions OR one confesses and the other agrees to date even though he doesn't understand his own feelings yet; more explicitly consentual sex; Bakugou is an enthusiastic lover (showering Deku with affection, cooking for him, fussing over his well-being, ect); Deku is thrilled (and a little possessive) about being Kacchan’s lover; So Much Fluff and Hurt/Comfort; these two are so fucking obnoxiously in love it hurts

... And not to say one era is better than the other (I totally prefer the Dynamight era lmao), but that it's crazy how radically our perception of romantic bkdk changed after Bakugou took that attack for Deku

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Ship moments: comparison

Here is a comparison of all the main ships moments and how many are in manga, anime vs novels etc. Again, the moments are what any fan of the ship would consider a meaningful interaction, so of course we have something like "character A saving B and going full rage" here being compared to "character A sharing tea with character B", as I did not weight the different moments. Being that each ship is different, a tea sharing moment might be what is most loved about ship C, vs the angst of rage for ship D.

To do so, I made lists of all the moments so you can check which ones I considered.

The moments added are from these, and categorized as:

Manga (Manga)

Anime (if there are filler episodes or extra scenes not in the manga) (Bones)

OVAs (Bones)

Movies (Bones)

Novels (school briefs) (Novels)

Spin off manga (Team up mission up till volume 3) (Spin off)

Drama cds (unfortunately not all of them were translated) (Extra)

Exhibition skits between actors (from summaries of them) (Extra)

BNHA Ultra Stage additions (Extra)

I did not consider Smash given that it was an explicit parody and re-imagining, instead of extra material.

To look at all the lists you can check here.

This is the whole data:

As you can see, colors are the different manga+adaptation+extra.

Interestingly, Kirimina was the only ship that had no extra (anime or novels or other) moments, all the moments they had was in the manga. Following was Togachako, which had only manga, with a few added moments this last sixth season.

This is just for the manga (violet FF ships, pink FM ships, blue MM ships):

In the manga, Izuocha, Iidachako and Kamijirou are the top 3 F/M ships. The top 3 M/M ships by interaction are Bakudeku, Tododeku and Kiribaku which are also the top 3 ships on AO3 for the whole fandom.

Tsuchako was the top F/F ship, followed by Togachako.

Now, I wanted to see how much of these ships moments was due to the manga vs extra added material (from spin off to Bones added etc.).

And now, if we look at the percentages of non manga material:

On top we have Kacchako, with 67% of its ship moments (more than half) coming from non manga material (so extras and anime only scenes). Following we have Iidamomo, then Bakudeku, Kiribaku and Todobaku all above 60%.

As said before, the ship with no extra manga material was Kirimina, with 0%, following Togachako that only has 6%.

And to conclude, this is the final total:

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I knew it, honestly. And I love this moment so, soooooo much. I liked the quiz!

*throws into the void* just spent the last 7 hours of my life on this, pls i can't look at it anymore

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I like you. We’re the same type. ‘I don’t like it.’ But it’s true.

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MONOMA SHOWING GENUINE CONCERN FOR BAKUGOU???? EXCUSE ME WHILE I SOB-

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The thing that gets to me the most is Izuku's left hand!!! It’s carefully, protectively placed over the top of Katsuki's heart 😭 I’m so happy but also in pain… hori, why did you do this 😭💔

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Are you fucking kidding me

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME

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What is your honest opinion of Neito? I even like him, I understand that he takes the rivalry between class 1A and 1B too exaggerated, but he's a good person, I don't understand the hate against him.

He’s definitely hated on by the fandom far too much. Is he unpleasant? Yes. Has he done things I don’t agree with? Absolutely. But, unlike Katsuki, I understand his motives and why he is the way he is, and unlike Katsuki he actually can be nice to people. He’s nothing but supportive of his classmates and cares for them. Neito is what Katsuki strives to be (without the bullying), a loud, abrasive, and seemingly condescending individual who actually has a heart of gold and does what he does because he’s lashing out at how the world has treated him. That’s not an excuse for his behavior, but a realistic reason. He also gets punished for his behavior, whether it’s by being knocked down a peg and/or being reprimanded. I think the biggest problem with him is something that plagues a lot of characters in MHA and it’s that Hori exaggerates his traits as a means of “comic relief”. In the Sports Festival, Neito was a cunning and skilled character who was knocking Katsuki around and toying with him (until Katsuki’s plot armor kicked in and he pulled a trick someone of Neito’s caliber should’ve seen coming a mile away). Then we had this awkward period when all he did was antagonize 1-A because Hori needed funny moments. Then we finally got his backstory and he’s been essential to the plot since. Unfortunately Hori’s definition of “comedy” has soiled Neito’s reputation in the fandom. In conclusion, he’s far over-hated and unlike Katsuki, actually has reasons for his negative behavior and is punished for said behavior. He’s one of those characters who’s a good character, but has personality traits that others may find difficult to like, not helped by the fact Hori exaggerates them for poorly thought out comedic purposes.

Side note- does anyone remember the time Shota strangled him? Guess it’s time to add child abuse to the list of things I don’t like about him.

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He's so fucking pretty, why we don't talk just a little more about him..?