#Ask Horikoshi-Sensei

[isabeauwolf]

Figured I'd share my questions to Horikoshi-Sensei

Will we learn more backstory for Kai Chisaki? How he ended up in Dr Garaki's orphanage?

Will we get a My Villain Academia spin-off novels in the future for The League or Shie Hassaikai?

How did Kai and Hari met? What's Kai's favorite food? Did Pops give him his green and feathered coat?

Do any of the eight bullets have the classic yakuza tattoo's?

Did Dabi or Overhaul ever have a girlfriend or partner in the series that we don't know about?

If Mon had lived would he still be with Tomura?

What jobs would the members of The League have, if they were in our world?

Does Kai know that Tomura Shigaraki has a copy of his quirk?

The first 2 question are the ones I really, really wanna know!

The rest were just random ones that popped into my head XD

[shih-coulda-had-it]

Sorahiko fans the biggest winner of them all after all those years of slander against him

first time i've ever been super invested in a manga while it was running, and my favorite survived. MULTIPLE death flags (mentor/father/generational hand-me-down friend and guide/the man who advocated for mercy killing in a manga that was supposed to be about saving to win). TWO INCARNATIONS OF ALL FOR ONE. at the age of SEVENTY YEARS PLUS.

you can't replicate that kinda high.

[court-jobi]

Tagalong

((banner by me! I don't own Horikoshi's work OR the mindblowing art of @toshiimura))

Pairing: Midoriya x reader (retired by injury pro-hero fem!reader)

Words: 2.6K

Rating: T (18+ touches later on, to be safe~)

Warnings: Interrupted first time, heavy petting, established relationship, sharing a bed, honestly just Izuku in love and fluffy times commence in a hotel room.

Summary:

Joining Midoriya Sensei on his work trip -and yes, even sharing a bed for the first time- is medicine for you. The exchange of your passions has -and continues to be- an endless source of healing as you navigate life post-hero work. Each night away, you've danced into a settled calm with him; learning the rhythm of his habits. His sounds, his silences. When Izuku meets your gaze in the mirror, you read his mind loud and clear in how he emotes: he fawns, he sighs, then nods in the dearest way.

A/N: give me my sweet, simpering Deku, or give me death. Also by the way, yall are the best readers out there, thank you so much for all the love for my lil stories!

For my My Hero Academia Masterlist, check it out here!

Read on AO3

Life post-hero work was an adjustment for you… but you were starting to really get into the perks.

The lack of daily physical hardship holds the top spot on your list. PT? You can handle that on a rolling basis– the worst is behind you, and due to what you put yourself through which resulted in your injury, you’re out of official hero work for the foreseeable future- and in a way, grateful for the break on your muscles. You still retain your quirk, but can enjoy its thrills on a more recreational basis– your sweet boyfriend has even helped your healing by way of gentle exercises to keep things moving properly and get life manageable for you. 

Next would be the diet. You could certainly dip back into your baking hobby guilt-free now. You couldn’t get away from the hero world entirely -nor did you want to… but being able to settle into an agency office with an hourly job was also an incredible blessing. Late nights here and there were inevitable, but on the whole, you were able to greet and end your days with a steadiness of routine and safety.

Meeting Izuku Midoriya was the icing on your early retirement cake. Where you were tenderly finding your footing off the hero charts, Izuku held your hand to keep you upright. He didn’t lead or pull back on you– just came alongside you, so you didn’t fall too hard on the knees of self-doubt. He’s always so good like that. He knows your path because he himself shares it, and what a thing of fate that is.

New to you now though, is the general scope of free time you have. Not a forced flexibility due to the demand asked of an on-call hero, but you have paid time off. You have flex hours. You can work from home, if you so choose– so when you get the call that Izuku has been asked to hold a spot at the Sports Festival as the lead commentator, you are over the moon that you can answer with a wholehearted ‘yes’ when he asks you to come with him.

As if he’d be anything short of ecstatic, you truly believe the job was made for him. He’s got books upon books of hero research written by hand, and is essentially a walking Brittanica for Japan’s up and coming heroes, because of course he watches every other school’s sports fests in his free time so that his class can be the most prepared. Taking the role Present Mic once held when he was a student is a full-circle moment, and it's pretty precious seeing him in it. 

From day one, he’s a master of his craft, and from the couch you share in the observation deck with his co-teacher, Aizawa, you’re beyond impressed. You honestly wouldn’t be able to tell what department he was aligned with; he’s observant and complimentary of every students’ moves. You asked the pro hero hero beside you if this was the case when Izuku was younger, and he merely offered a sleepy,

“Intolerably, yes.”

But you see the lift of his cheek against his eyepatch and know that he’s secretly proud. 

The Sports Festival spreads over the course of a week now, as the culture surrounding the events available for support students to engage in has increased- to Izuku’s pride and joy. The training and feats of the heroes wouldn’t be possible without the other side of the coin, so he’s just as enthusiastic to hype up the developments of those courses as well. 

Watching your sweet Izuku -catching his eye when he looks back over to you and silently ushers you over to come watch an anticipated match-up of his kids off and on- is medicine for you. This entire exchange of passions has, and continues to be, a source of joy for you and is a treasured part of doing life with him. On that note, the event being held away from your district also grants you extended time to spend together that you normally wouldn’t, given the difference in your professional lives. Here, you’re locked in to five days and four nights of perfectly synced time– something you’ve not been able to do up to this point in your relationship.

Falling asleep and waking up together? This is the best thing ever.

On the first night, it hits your adorably flustered boyfriend that you’d indeed be sharing a room- and bed. That arrangement was something you’d registered the moment he’d asked you and were assuming he’d mentally (and spiritually) prepared for; but evidently it faced him the moment he stepped up to the counter to check in that Nezu had arranged you both to be together by default in the hotel block. 

But rather than falling on the trope of taking the armchair or sleeping on the ground like a middle school nervous nelly, Izuku was shy about it at first… but eager for the chance. The secret part of him finally let out some boyish excitement to find a bed big enough for you to actually share. You’d learned here that you both can spoon like you do on the couch, but you have so much room now. On both your parts, you’re a bit giggly and stiff at first- but settle in sweetly for the most comfortable night of your life.

By the second night, you both scoot into your room and -after a day of dancing around each other at more and more events- you’d be heard from the hallway: jumping into his arms and tackling him to the bed, filled with giggles and lots of kissing until you tangle up more willingly to sleep.

Night three, you’d both stayed out longer than you intended; catching up with some of the other instructors, which turned into essentially a repeat of the night you met. You take to talking up a storm on one of the hotel patios in a nerdy exchange of info-dumping and story-swapping that continues for almost three hours. You basically collapsed into bed the instant you got back, not even brushing your teeth out of exhaustion. Then by your fourth, you both are still so tired from the late night before and you flop on the bed, still in the sun-warmed clothes you set out in that morning.

It's so nice to be held by him- and it's torture to then look back up at each other. There’s definitely a softness found in Izuku’s face -as always, when it comes to your perfectly freckled sweetheart- but also something deep and personal. You want to ask him to shower together so badly and get rid of the day together- anything to add to this closeness you’ve been tiptoe-ing through all week. Worry over pushing him when he’s essentially on the clock keeps you from asking. This time, you still go about your rituals separately, only when you get out, you stay in a towel and shorts instead of full dressing down for bed.

When you're at the in-suite mirror doing your expedited, travel-sized skincare routine and Izuku stops by after he's out of the bathroom, he hesitates mid-step from trying to duck around you– and comes close, holds you by the middle. He stands shirtless behind you for the first time, showing you the scarring he carries in its fullest- no more tanks or undershirts hiding the worst from you. 

You’re as they say in the movies- incandescently happy.

“You smell so good,” he whispers. 

“You feel so good,” you answer. “Wanna go lay down?”

When Izuku meets your gaze in the mirror, you read his mind loud and clear in how he emotes: he fawns, he sighs, then nods in the dearest way. No sense in holding this darn towel up anymore, you simply turn in his arms, drop it, and kiss his surprise away with your reach up to his neck for a kiss. Your first of many, on this last night you could be wrapped up in your incredible boyfriend's arms with nothing but tender intentions on your mind.

Neither of you see a strong need for too many clothes under the sheets for this little foray into skin-to-skin contact, and enjoy a restorative makeout session. He's marked you up a bit, too, by all the harsh kissing he tends to do towards you (you low-key love this, since ‘that’s what makeup’s for’), and you especially appreciate how he plays with you perched in this arrangement.

You’re the first girl he's ever had topless in his reach– which is obvious from how he holds you in his lap nuzzling at your chest,

"Wow, y'r the moss'beautiful woman i'vever seen~"

From your previous talks of dalliances, you proudly keen over him, "I think I'm the only naked woman you've ever seen."

"-I've seen naked women."

You glance back to him, humored but flat, "Who."

Those green doe eyes flicker back up at you, oddly innocent as he quickly names his former classmate, who you’ve commonly heard referred to as Yaomomo, 

“Creati?” he tries to jog your memory, “i-it's part of her quirk, I didn't ev’r mean to look..."

Playfully suspicious, you test him, "Never had a feel?"

"I mean,” Izuku sharpens up a little to answer clearly, “She fell on me once, over in one of the training centers- and I wasn't gonna let her hit or head on something.."

"So a 'strategic catch'. Is that what we're calling it?" You sway your chest in front of him, feeling up his own, “I’m a horribly jealous creature, as you well know.”

He sinks and nuzzles gently at your pushed up chest- by his desire for lift. You’re playing with his painfully polite nature, of course- nothing but secure of your place with him.

"Not even once. Promise." 

Izuku lays a little kiss on your freshly cleaned skin where your heart lies under the surface, and ends up moaning at how soft it is- and so, keeps peppering kisses to your delight, "Oh wow... Oh wow, you're soft."

His name leaves you in an unsteady sigh as you’ve been scratching through his hair until it starts feeling so sharp and heady that you grip onto his neck in need of more support.

He's working on some passes with his tongue around your nipple when he whisper-sighs up to you, 

"mmmm don't stop doing tha'..."

So you play with his hair at his request, and he adores every bit of you that’s in reach: chin to cheek to neck while being the most gently vocal you've ever heard him.

The minute you rolled your barely clothed hips up on his lap just once, he split his attention from holding your waist to him to smoothing over your thigh to encourage the movement.

He started a slinking lean as he did so, losing his absolute mind watching you in a daze, before something dull hit your window - followed by a kid’s call of 'Sorry!!' . You siphon all your attention at the noise in a wide-eyed look that matches his.

Sweetly enough, you noted how fast Izuku held you at the sound, like he was going into strict ‘protect’ mode at the clash of a frisbee.

But, out of danger and out of breath, Izuku simply fell back and palmed his face.

"ughhbyou feel'so good... Mdizzy."

The heat you’d felt simmering in you has died at the interruption, but your fondness sure hasn’t.

You giggled, lowering into his chest and gripping the covers over your shoulders to warm you up, "Good dizzy?"

Even with an arm over his eye, your boy chuckled brilliantly, 

"Very good dizzy, hon’. Whew. We uh– we better stop before they start bangin’ on the door next."

You carded through his hair more, self-assured he was still just as taken by you despite the hard stop. How he kept you to him while shuffling the covers over you both was proof he didn’t want you going anywhere. Once settled, he felt he could focus again and brushed your hair back for attention,

"Hi there, handsome~"

"h-hi~" Izuku echoed.

You kissed again, a good deal calmer at first, but growing like a steady fire. Lips roaming, claiming, and keeping you ever closer. Comfort and reclaimed eagerness tipped you over by his strong guiding hand, all in favor to continue to mouth along your clavicle again.

Then, at the first sound of your addictive moans, he detached- forehead to your sternum, watching the rise and fall of your sweet belly beneath him.

"Ahh..” Izuku’s little war with himself was adorable, “w-we should stop. For real. I can’t- that’d be mean."

“You said that,” you answer with mirth, “but I don’t think ‘Little Deku’ agrees~”

Izuku wheezes out your first, middle, last and retired hero title to the point of coughing before you take it easy on him. Poor, desperate thing, brought low by little tease.

You chuffed against his stroke of nerves kindly. 

"Yes we should, if you say so," You snaked a hand through his hair, "Thank the Maker we don't have to second guess the chemistry department, huh?"

Izuku laughed brightly, slotting himself atop you, between the legs so you didn't have to feel how semi-hard he was. Snuggling back down, your heartbeats held their own conversation, content to cool to a reasonable temperature and slow things down, together.

"I'm so glad you came here with me." Izuku spoke softly to your neck, "This time with you really does me so much good."

And you really have enjoyed it. Getting to see firsthand the place where much of his proving of himself started, this event forged a lot of bonds with the close friends he still has to this day. 

"I'm glad I did too," You kissed the hairline within reach and simply laid comforting scratches along his back. "It's gonna be hell to go back."

"You don't wanna go back to work?"

You threw pity into your voice, "I don't wanna give up this glorified sleepover, no."

You don’t mean just getting carried away with thin walls and thinner restraint. You mean the intimacy that getting out of town sometimes offers in a way nothing else would. The week has made you softer, more in tune to the rhythm of Izuku’s habits. His sounds, his silences. 

The dampened shyness you hold thinking about it floats across him, so he laid back onto your arm to look up at you, 

"We don't have to. We can still have them~"

"Yeah?" You wonder how, earnestly, and he smiles in kind.

"Yeah!” his answer radiates nothing but pure sunshine, “Whenever you want! I'll come over, and we'll cook, and have podcast nights and snuggle, and... and.."

He’s got a look now- one that teeters along the line of flirty and unsure.

"Snuggle?" you finish for him mercifully.

"Y-yeah."

"Vocal snuggles?"

"Stop it," Izuku hid in your shoulder, "don't make fun of me."

"I'm not making fun of you~" you turned and kissed his blushing cheeks, rubbing his shoulder slowly. "No more than I'm making fun of myself for sounding like a wonton Victorian who just caught sight of an ankle for the first time."

His laughter betrays how offended he is at the idea, "Stoooop…"

"Mmmm, I don't think I will!"

Time to take things slow.. that might top your list now. If it means more nights with your hero draped in your arms, then the promise of time spent under his attention beats out any other remedy you’ve found so far. 

[katsudoncat]

HORIKOSHI YOU ARE A DAMN GENIUS!!!

Izuku said He Feels at Ease When Someone Holds His Hand.

Now we know that All for One is a Quirk capable of stealing or copying other Quirks and transferring them to whoever he wants or keeping them and using them if the user wants and we also know that he gave his supposedly Quirkless brother a gift of power accumulation… ok? Well that's when I saw this…

"Just holding hands soothes the heart."

Izuku says again that the simple act of holding hands calms the heart because it works for him, holding hands with his friends calms him down and makes him feel good.

Well, so far so good.

That's where THIS comes in…

It is then that Izuku can somehow feel the embers rekindling.

When his other friends arrive, Kacchan walks in and asks Izuku about the embers... "They flew you over here, but… are the embers okay?"

To which Izuku replies "Yeah" Because yes, the embers are so good that they burn again... And no, it was not the "Magic of Friendship" nor the "Power of Love" nor the "Izuocha"

then I was like...

Naniiiii? But what the hell happened here?! and I remembered the following...

Yeap! Izuku's hands in volume 417, and that's when it occurred to me that what a fucking genius Horikoshi-sensei is.

Well, now we all know that AFO steals quirks by touching his victims with his hands due to the holes in them that seem to absorb said quirks, right? ok, have you figured out where I'm going?… AFO is Izuku's father! YES!

So even though here it doesn't look like Izuku has the same holes as AFO, there does seem to be light in what would appear to be said holes, but that's because instead of absorbing Quirks, Izuku only absorbs energy, like the Quirk that AFO imposed on his brother stores energy and like AFO absorbs said power! So if when Izuku touched Uraraka's hand he absorbed part of the power of her quirk to revive the embers, wouldn't that mean that Izuku inherited AFO's mutated quirk somehow? Well you can say that Izuku would need the holes to absorb the power but do we remember what his mother Inko's quirk is? Attraction of small objects and she uses the movement of her hands to attract them, so if we add both quirks Izuku wouldn't need the holes, it would be a combination, and he would attract the power of the quirks just by putting his hands on people. And again you could refute me, "But Izuku has touched a lot of people with his hands" and I'll answer, Yes, but he was wearing gloves and it seems like he only activated his quirk recently in volume 417 of the manga by the looks of it since it's the first time those lights appeared on his BARE hands WITHOUT gloves, so Horikoshi, you damn genius, is this your way of revealing Dad For One in a plot twist at the end of the manga? Or am I just overthinking it?! Whatever it is, I'm happily sticking with this DFO theory!

[siflshonen]

I’d love to interpret bkdk as romantic but I will be honest, it is difficult to do when a het ship is being hinted at more explicitly. I’m still glad Horikoshi did not include a full-on confession though. We can do what we want in fics without having to rework canon.

Love your posts, thank you for your wonderful insights into bkdk. Your meta is always well-done.

I know this ask was originally meant for someone else, and you’re absolutely right that bakuhatsufallinlove does fantastic meta. You’re very wise to see how great of a job they do and it’s kind of you to say so. It’s also very kind of you to read my posts.

I’m about to not be quite so kind.

I hate Izuocha. And I’m annoyed by the insinuation that Ochako breaking down in tears over Himiko to Izuku - her big moment of bearing her emotions out in the open to him - is seen as an endgame romance, especially since the only other detail we have to go off of is Ochako smiling at Izuku in their hero suits when Todoroki is kinda doing the same thing, AND when I should DAMN WELL hope Ochako and Izuku are still friends and looking out for each other, especially since they bonded over the traumatic deaths of those they failed to save.

I’m insulted that Ochako’s confessions to Himiko are disregarded like that, or the tumultuous chaos she grapples with in her heart is brushed aside. I’m insulted by the insinuation that Ochako’s known love of seeing happy, smiling people is not acknowledged and instead her expressing joy over seeing that on Izuku’s face is painted over as being implied, for-sure romantic endgame. Maybe it is, sure. Anything is possible. I’m sure Himiko wants the best for Ochako and for her to be happy, and would probably think it was romantic that her feelings also reached Izuku by way of Ochako as being someone they mutually loved.

But Himiko is dead and it ripped Ochako apart, and her reaction to that is the last in-depth look we get at her feelings. Izuku recognizing that Ochako is a hero in her own right (not a heroine, aka a damsel for the hero to save and then end up with romantically per Japanese storytelling roles, not just “a female hero” like we think of it in English) is gratifying and wonderful. And I’m insulted by the insinuation that just because Izuku acknowledges that Ochako is and has been his hero and always saved him that this must mean that they are implied to be the romantic endgame. God forbid they mutually admire each other and respect each other and the story just ends there, and god forbid Izuku calling her his hero sends a totally different message.

Now, as for Katsuki. You cannot tell me that he doesn’t have some kind of deep feelings for Izuku. @bakuhatsufallinlove has posted extensively about unspoken feelings with a likewise unspoken understanding are common for Japanese romances, but I’ll admit I’m not here to talk about that.

Do you really want to tell me that Horikoshi-sensei allowing Katsuki and Izuku to keep their arms and have an implied handhold at the end doesn’t mean as much as whatever the fuck Ochako is doing in the final panel?

In Naruto, which BNHA takes many cues from, Sasuke and Naruto had their arms ripped off because the editor didn’t approve of the two of them holding hands in panel. Apparently, that’s too romantic and inappropriate for the male leads of a shonen. Given that, how interesting that the doctor recommended that Katsuki’s hand-holding arm be amputated. How interesting that Katsuki refuses. How interesting that Katsuki refuses while thinking not just of All Might, probably not really of All Might, but Izuku. How interesting that Izuku also keeps both arms, and we as readers are very certain they held hands even if it is not shown.

How interesting that Katsuki is not just the heart of Izuku’s mech suit project (and, in some respects, of the class,) but of Izuku’s image of victory, Izuku’s “Pro Hero with a quirk” origin, the heart of what he believes a real hero is like, and the literal actual heart of what he wanted to defend from ShigAFO multiple times over. How interesting that Katsuki’s story is in part him learning how to not be a burden to Izuku or used against him like, say, a heroine-damsel-in-distress might be used, AND it is also in part him learning to come to terms with his feelings for Izuku. In fact, we spend basically the whole manga dwelling on this with him. It’s that important that he reconciled Izuku with his heart and desires.

Izuku, who is so tearfully happy that Katsuki wants to be with him for the rest of their lives in whatever form that takes, even when they weren’t sure he was going to have a quirk and be able to be Katsuki’s superhero rival. Izuku, who is so happy to be with Kacchan and the class as a hero again, in part BECAUSE it is with Kacchan………….and everyone else on the next page.

Nothing is for sure. Nobody kissed or got married or whatever, sure. But you really want to tell me Izuocha is more heavily implied based on the ending?

Thanks for the ask. I’m sorry you feel that way. Get off my lawn.

[that-spider-fan-over-there]

BNHA 430: This wasn’t very “My Hero Academia” of you I’ll be honest—

Okay, where do I begin? Uh. So the story reached its conclusion. Congratulations, and all the best to Horikoshi-san for telling the story he wanted to tell for ten years, loved the characters, the little world he created after the cancellation of his previous works, I will cherish it for the rest of my life.

... but in my opinion: the last seven chapters were so bad- I don't think I can see this ending as anything other than a contradiction of what we were shown. Like, I thought we'd get a twist, everyone would be fine, something would change. I'm wearing the clown shoes already.

So, I'm just gonna treat this as a normal chapter, and not a final one, because I'll be here for days if I open this can of worms, which, I will not lie, is very bad (I'll open it at some point, not now.) I'm posting this on the.. 6th? Because apparently there's an announcement in the 5th and I don't wanna spoil the fun.

So, uh, under the read more are my thoughts on the ending, be warned I'm very, very negative about it.

*sigh* Oh boi, how killing the League made this go from an "underwhelming" to a "tone-deaf" chapter- I mean. Jesus fuck, leaving things open-ended don't erase the fact they can't make a single appearence to prove me wrong. And if they were alive, the last five chapters (and eight years!) were a waste of emotions and keeping them hidden was a stupidly cruel move.

Funny, the narration is "people aren't equal but it's because of these differences that people find common ground to get along"- THE VILLAINS WERE KILLED OFF FOR BEING DIFFERENT BRO WHAT DO YOU MEAN- "if lending a hand and caring is being a hero then we all became the greatest heroes". Izuku, whatever you're drinking, I'm taking it and drinking it all by myself. You may have cared (which I can't even say for certain anymore). But Tenko died. On accident. Because you gave him OFA.

I liked the "Midoriya-Sensei" part. For 5 seconds. It's fitting, he loves learning stuff, he's good with kids... until you say "it's only because his embers are gone". Then why use it as a tease for seven chapters only to just get rid of them at the end? Is running to Ochako really the last we get to see him use it? Not even as a part-time hero? (not that it matters at the end-)

Ragdoll works with the WWP, Tsukuachi was head strategist in the final battle, Hawks is the (H)PSC president, Aizawa is Aizawa. Why wasn't Izuku hired at an agency? Intelligence was a huge part of his character, yet the moment he was fully Quirkless again, he had to leave? Men truly aren't created equal...

"Cursed power", "blessing", "special" — the only thing special about OFA was being haunted by a guy whose brother was insane enough to hunt it down for generations. A Quirk's a Quirk; having multiple people/powers in one body isn’t special, Tokoyami and Shoto exist. Izuku was supposed to make it special using it on his terms. But I guess "meant to save, not kill" was a lie, as eight out of ten people who had it died. Nine out of eleven, counting BNHA: HR. Tenko died because his body couldn't handle the Quirk, but I guess Izuku isn't gonna think about any of it? Katsuki was right, I guess. OFA is a curse.

Spinner wrote a book (not a comic, guess he took offense to Izuku. Fair, actually). Mr. Compress got a panel, but no real mention of the LoV? They broke the status quo for months (in-universe), and after all of that, nothing changes? Did Spinner know about Tenko, how he became Tomura? And the people who will read it and pull an MLA? TomurAFO had followers, now he's martyr a lá Re-Destro. I’m hoping Spinner didn’t commit suicide like Destro did.

Ochako’s expanding Quirk Counseling. Reform’s implied (it only said expansion), but Himiko still became what Curious wanted her to be: A cautionary tale. And I’m still asking how Ochako knows Himiko what went through, she only told Ochako she was hated because of her Quirk and how she loves. I wanna think she’s reforming it, but nothing else changed, why should I think she’s the exception? She might literally just think Himiko didn't get help, that's a cruel irony.

(At least she's seen as a hero on her rights… even if it took 429 chapters, messy writing, her face looking like rubber, and still being a girl recognized as a "caretaker", not a kickass hero).

Shoji's travelling through Japan to solve discrimination and got a prize for it. No foundations or mentions of Spinner being the main reason he did it, just "standing atop those who rose up eight years ago", just solving it peacefully, you sure are, buddy. Like, I'm sure you are being successful but how exactly are you solving this? I mean, you "solved" the hospital fight by fighting Spinner with Koda- Oh wait, time constraints, we can't elaborate how. I'm rolling my eyes

Shirakumo showed the noumu state could've been reversed, yet Katsuki, who never killed someone aside from AFO (and that guy was gonna die anyway), fatally exploded him. I hoped it was a misunderstood panel but no. He died because he wanted to save Tenko. Even fucking Gran Torino was alive by the end of this. Why.

I think Shoto is the only main character I’m not really having a problem with (Ochako's ending required Himiko for it to feel somewhat complete. Sorry, Ochako). I’m weirded out that they mentioned the billboard using the guy whose life was ruined by it as an example, but other than that, he’s doing fine. Wish we saw him talking to his siblings though. But alas. No mention of Fuyumi and Natsuo. And Rei's with Endeavor. Fuck I take it back Todofam still deserved better.

Inko got so sidelined when Mitsuki and Masaru were in 424 for half a chapter, by the way. Just one panel for her, the protagonist's mother.

Schedules not aligning is one thing (I get it, my friends and I can't align ours anymore), but Class A not opening an agency together? They survived the same two wars. And you're telling me they wouldn't say "WE'RE WORKING TOGETHER AND TAKING MIDORIYA WITH US"? Also, where’s the "world where heroes have time to spare" when they look so busy? Were they understaffed or working as celebrities? (if someone says it was for the suit I will point out to the three nepo babies of Class A + Momo's Quirk, Katsuki’s a dumbass if he forgot that detail).

We wasted pages on a kid that can throw plates from his hair. To tell him he can be a hero. Coming from the guy who had to stop working as a hero when he lost OFA. I'm not taking this parallel seriously.

I wish Izuku wasn't in "everything’s fine" mode until the end. We're really gonna leave him at "implied" mode, not confirm if his mental state's fine? Being open and emotional was an appealing part of him and now we just get “Yeah that’s just how it is”.

This one's petty and irrational, I know, but since I'm letting some of the steam out: I hate Izuku's new design; face scars (the constant "HE FAILED" reminder makes my eye twitch and I wish that was a joke, but also so many characters in BNHA got face scars, it doesn't even stand out), "perfect tie", normal formal attire- where's the character highlights? The things that make Izuku stand out?

But hey: He gets to be a hero again! Not with skills, heart, intelligence, strength, in spite of Quirklessness. No, he has an Iron Man suit! That Class A paid billions for. The government should be paying the child soldiers- sorry, Class A and B (and Shiketsu and Ketsubutsu) instead, but all they get is a pat on the back. If the suit breaks down, hurts or kills him while in it? I'll laugh (Hatsume and Melissa worked on it? Oh it's gonna happen, I'm hoping). And Toshinori, what happened to him, did he hit his head when he landed on that building!?

Went from: Smiles cover his fear and reassure people, believed saving is about saving body and soul, wanted to help Tenko, only didn't because Gran Torino said it wasn't a good idea. Disliked people were being heroes for fame and not because it's the right thing to do, only used support items as reinforcement and a precaution, never as a full solution, even Iron Might was so he’d have a chance to fight, not a solution.

To: If Tenko died smiling, it wasn't resignation, he was saved, even though he died. Didn't care AFO killed the Shimura - his mentor's - bloodline. Is fine with the billboards existing, even though it caused things like the Todoroki plotline. Now he's giving Izuku a suit, when the last time he did it himself, it didn't save him and his spine was almost snapped? Dude, what?

Also full disclosure, I thought he was paralyzed, but I guess he just had a bad back. Let's not discuss the trauma of almost being snapped in half and feeling your bones break so bad you set a record of how many screws were used, I guess.

... I hated BKDK's conclusion. It's actually so laughable how much I hate it. If it had another outcome, I'd probably be overjoyed as a shipper. But look at this mess:

Thematically, Tenko wasn't rescued, it wasn't a perfect victory because AFO still got away with what he did to him. Save to win, win to save were just nice words. "The End of an Era and The Beginning"? Nothing changed in the world they live in, and they don't stand out among other heroes (these are AM’s successors. And they aren't even important. How.) What new era is this, really?

Their resolutions, relationship rebuild? Offscreen, but Katsuki was the one with the Iron Man suit idea for Izuku and apparently that compensates for it. Because he’s the one who can solve all of Izuku’s problems now, not motivate him to be better anymore. It wasn’t even Izuku’s idea, it was Class A, and sure it’s a nice (condescending) gesture. We’ve seen Toshinori barely come out alive even with one. That's a support item for a reckless little shit who will get himself killed.

Izuku barely batted an eye to any of the things he went through - losing his arms and/or OFA? Seeing Spinner's breakdown? Lady Nagant!? Katsuki or Tenko dying because of Izuku and OFA!? SOME INTROSPECTION?! IT’S BEEN OVER 100 CHAPTERS SINCE YOU’VE BEEN THE EMOTIONAL MC—

Katsuki's insecurities were pointless by the way! Izuku's empathy and heart never mattered, a Quirk was more important to be a hero in the end. BULLIED HIM FOR NOTHING BUDDY- like. Shouldn't have done it at all, but now his character development means nothing because his previous beliefs were the right ones. Changing for the better was pointless. Like Twice's death. Or Katsuki’s own death, since “Control Your Heart” meant nothing as well.

Izuku still remembers Tenko, but has he done anything about it? No one wants to remember him, Himiko or Touya. Spinner's book won't be taken seriously except for Tenko's followers, Mr. Compress was sidelined, Twice's death was pointless. They didn't change society, they've returned to the status quo. Pointless as Izuku losing his arms.

That fucking suit- Wow, he really couldn't be a Quirkless hero, the casual rivalry was just erased for an easy way out of their consequences, there's no catching up because Katsuki paid for Izuku a way to be a hero. Izuku doesn't get there because he still believes Quirks make a hero. This isn't heartwarming or romantic or whatever, Katsuki just proved he also didn't believe Izuku in the end.

And it ends with Izuku seeing Tenko's... Ghost? Hallucination? Vestige? I guess we’ll never know, because Izuku’s following his dreams again! Let's ignore he's doing this during class hours and he definitely should be in UA but who cares, he probably quit, we'll never know. Aside for the BKDK/DKBK fics, being a teacher was clearly a inferior choice for him and he can't do both ignore Aizawa and Present Mic look at him being the world's greatest hero!

It just took 1 year of trauma, scars, following on his mentor's mistakes, losing the thing that "actually" made him be a hero, having the first (Katsuki) and the last (Tenko) people he tried to save dying because of his existence (one literally by his hands), proving anyone can be one! By ignoring the guilt of those you failed, give hands and sparing your thoughts, having superpowers and/or connections who'll give you a suit! And if they still "act out"? Then they deserved death no matter the valid points they've had and you gotta play jury judge executioner. Unless they decide to be quiet like a good entitled citizen.

Fuck this shit I swear- You could’ve had a BKDK proposal with a double spread handhold, and I'd still think Izuku's ending isn't earned. His "happy ending"— actually. BKDK crumbs are the fandom's consolation prize for this ending. I feel cheated out my OTP (like. I'm shipping the version of them in my head, not the canon one 412-onwards because it got worse from there-)

A story about hope bent itself over to give the protagonist an unearned happy ending, when it said it was for every character who wants to connect to that hope, who wants to give that hope. Izuku went from "wanting to be a beacon of hope and save people" to "talk about beacons of hope, but in the end, others are doing this better than you. You had none of the willpower to be one." He's not hope or unity. Act 3!Izuku is just a plot device, I feel nothing for his ending other than irritation, and I hate it because he was my favourite character. Lol, a very useless one in the end.

So. Yeah, those are my thoughts about the ending. I think. I don't know if these are all of them. I feel horrible about hating it, but I've sat on this chapter for days and right now, not a lot can make me like it, especially with the timeskip, which made this "open ending" a rushed and incomplete mess. If you disagree with me, honestly, that is very fair. I'm glad for you if you liked the ending. I'm just disappointed, and wanted to share my opinions. (and I do have more stuff to say about it but I think I've been negative enough)

But for the weeks I spent hoping this wouldn't slap a classic shonen ending in this catasthrophic mess and for making me feel like a dumbass after what we got in the end: Everything after 410 that isn't 421 and 422 is non-existent to me, this epilogue was a freaking waste.

Thank you for reading.

(EDIT.: Fixed some spelling mistakes and added a few more things because I can keep going on how bad this ending is. Also to clear stuff up: I am still a BKDK shipper. But only until 412, anything after that? Yeah, no, keep that shit away from me lol.)

[chickentnders]

I Think Katsuki is Going to Give Izuku His Quirk in the End

(rewritten here)

There are only two chapters left, so who knows, I haven't seen leaks, but I think there's some compelling evidence supporting the possibility that Katsuki will end up quirkless and Izuku will be given his quirk. And I felt like talking about it. Hi.

*Manga spoilers through chapter 428, Vigilantes, and the Heroes Rising movie*

In chapter 304, Izuku finds out that he's likely the last person who will ever hold One For All, since it can only be transferred to a quirkless person now. Izuku is the 9th, and final, user of OFA.

Except, the thing is, this isn't true.

I'd been going with the understanding that OFA can't be passed on again, but that's not quite what it says in the manga. They say he might be the last wielder and that it can't go to an ordinary person anymore.

This is true, in order to hold the power of OFA, one has to be quirkless, because it eats away at one's life force to have multiple quirks added to their own (as we see with the 4th user).

And this also isn't true, because of the Heroes Rising movie.

The really crazy thing I realized is that this contradiction, doesn't actually contradict what's been established in manga canon.

So, what counts as canon?

Everything, apparently.

In Heroes Rising, there are two little kids at the center of things, Katsuma and Mahoro.

In chapter 384 of the manga, those same two little kids showed up. Then they show up again in chapter 405.

Meaning, the events of that movie… happened?

And that means that there aren't nine OFA users; there are ten.

All Might Vestige

In chapter 362, Katsuki dies. R.I.P. Kacchan, who has now also died in the anime.

But near death, the person he sees in his final moments is All Might. Not Izuku, not his family, not his friends, his teacher. And not just All Might, All Might's non-verbal glowing vestige.

Why this version of All Might, instead of the man?

I have an idea, and it has to do with Heroes Rising.

I thought Vestige-Might was just a stylistic choice on Horikoshi-sensei's part. All Might symbolizes Katsuki's dream, he's the person he idolized his whole life, and he's thinking about things he regrets in his final moments; an autograph from his hero, such a simple thing he never got to ask for.

But then Katsuki stopped being dead and all of a sudden Mahoro and Katsuma showed up in the manga, twice, and I had to reevaluate my perception of MHA canon and what qualifies.

Let's rewind a bit to chapter 254, before the PLF raid so I can make a quick point (for others like me who are used to supplementary material not being acknowledged in, or as, canon).

When Eraserhead and Present Mic are talking to Kurogiri and trying to coax Shirakumo out of him, Eraserhead talks about Shirakumo saving a cat, after Aizawa had left it behind.

For like four years I wondered why the story kept trying to make me care so much about Shirakumo and his friendship with the other two, with so little information given, only to find out not long ago that the entire backstory is covered in Vigilantes.

Which means Vigilantes is canon.

Which means, with the inclusion of movie characters in the main manga… it's all canon. Searching the subreddit and wiki also confirmed this for me.

So if Heroes Rising is canon, that drastically changes the context and potential meaning of Vestige-Might appearing to near death Katsuki.

Because in Heroes Rising, Izuku transfers OFA to Katsuki to defeat Nine.

When it's over, OFA doesn't stay with Katsuki; it goes back to Izuku and Katsuki has no memory of this ever happening. But Katsuki does hold OFA for a short time.

That means that Katsuki is the 10th OFA holder.

Like I said, there aren't nine, there are ten holders.

Like, did it bother anyone else that nine was such an awkward number for OFA holders? It feels incomplete, right?

Considering the events of the manga, this is a potentially huge deal with some interesting implications.

In the final battle in the manga, Deku passed OFA to Shigaraki, one quirk at a time. OFA, the quirk, is officially dead and gone; only the embers remain in Izuku and Izuku is quirkless again.

But like I said… since the movies are canon, then it's also possible that a small ember is also in Katsuki. He didn't hold it long enough to have his own vestige like All Might, but he was still a holder.

So, what if Katsuki was seeing Vestige-Might within the OFA vestige world and that really was All Might? Glow-Might couldn't speak, just like how we see him in Izuku's vestige space; and iirc, he can't speak, because All Might is still alive.

Now, Katuski only saw All Might, not any of the other holders, but that also makes sense. They have no emotional investment in Katsuki, he barely held the quirk, and he doesn't know who they are aside from what he read in All Might's notes. But All Might does care about him, so it makes sense that the piece of himself that exists within OFA would appear in his student's final moments, through the ember of OFA inside Katsuki.

As I was looking to find chapter numbers for this, I ended up flipping through the All Might vs. AFO fight by happenstance and realized something else:

This is from chapter 403. It looks like All Might is about to die and as he thinks this is the end for him, his life flashes before his eyes and he looks back at the path he walked and notices these balls of light on the ground. He thinks, "And what I saw… seemed so very significant."

Hey. You notice anything about this bright ball of light in the center of the panel?

At the end of the chapter, we see Katsuki and Izuku holding those balls of light, with All Might watching from the background, holding his own ball of light. I thought this represented him being their teacher, pushing them forward to become great heroes, a passing of the torch to the next generation of heroes. He never had kids, so this is how he passes on his legacy, through the aspirations of all the children who looked up to him.

Or.

Or it is a passing of the torch, but literally.

Dynamight's Final Fight

I don't know if anyone noticed this, it might not be significant, their costumes get destroyed all the time, but…

In his fight with Shigaraki, as ShigAFO tells him he'll never be anything more than Deku's hanger on, Katsuki's costume is destroyed. Going back a few chapters from 362 (R.I.P. Kacchan), visually, it feels like we're being shown his dream of becoming a pro hero get destroyed bit by bit. His arm gets crushed and twisted, his gauntlets are shattered, his mask gets torn off, he gets an upgrade to his costume and it's barely effective, and it seems from the narration that his quirk was damaging his body from the inside out (like how OFA would do to Izuku).

That fight looks like the end for him, his heart literally explodes (or gets pierced, idk), but he gets back up, saves All Might, and has a grand finale against AFO. The last thing we see him do is propel Izuku the final step to deal that last punch and end things. It's Izuku's story, so of course he lands the final blow, but the point is, Katsuki the one to support him then, because it could never be him.

When we see him in the hospital after it's all over in ch. 424, not only is he told his arm possibly never going to regain normal function, let alone enough to use his quirk like he did before, but his heart is also damaged. We already know that he uses support items to store up his sweat, and I imagine in the MHA world a prosthesis could function similarly in hero work, yet he wants to do the long and painful rehabilitation, despite possibly never regaining function. This is not to criticize his choice to keep his arm at all, I just thought it was interesting, considering how similar he's shown to be to Mirko and how he chose the opposite of what she did.

This feels like a very important choice, because of the support item aspect.

But the most interesting thing in this scene was that he mentions that Izuku never had a quirk to begin with, right before he finds out that Izuku is quirkless again.

(side note: Both Izuku and All Might fought quirkless in the final battle and I love that for them? Like Izuku was technically quirkless when he dealt that final weather changing blow, incredible.)

How Does OFA Actually Work?

Once All Might gave OFA to Izuku, he no longer had the quirk, just the embers. He couldn't pass on the ember that was left inside him and those embers couldn't be stolen. Izuku can't pass on what he has left either. The actual OFA quirk is gone from the previous holder once it's transferred.

But I think another reason that All Might or Izuku couldn't pass anything on again after giving it away, is that they were both quirkless. In the absence of the quirk-passing quirk, there's nothing left of their own quirk factors to pass on, because they never had one. And all of the other holders died/were killed so it wasn't tested as a possibility.

If you think about it… didn't Nana still have Float once she passed OFA onto All Might? All Might never unlocked the other users' quirks (he never had Float) so there's no test he could have done for this either. As far as all the other holders knew, OFA was just lifetimes of built up strength passed on, none of them made true contact with the vestiges to learn about its true power. There would have been no reason to assume that their quirk was forfeit once OFA was passed on, because they didn't know that the actual unique quirk factor was stored.

But if she still had Float after transfer, I would imagine that means that only a copy of the quirk, a small piece, is what's passed on in OFA and that the original stays with the person. One For All isn't eight quirks, it's a single quirk with the abilities of the predecessors. Otherwise, if Shinomori died of old age at a very young age, All Might living as long as he did while holding onto it for longer makes no sense.

If OFA gives, while AFO takes, it also makes sense that OFA doesn't take the person's original quirk.

So what does that mean for canon right now?

If Katsuki is the 10th OFA holder and if a small bit of OFA lives inside him, it was unused, and therefore undiminished, because he never knew it was there—he doesn't remember the events of the movie. He hasn't been using OFA like All Might used it until it was barely a flicker, so the piece that could be inside him is still burning brightly.

He can't pass on OFA anymore, just like All Might and Izuku; the actual OFA quirk is gone.

But Katsuki isn't quirkless.

OFA is a quirk meant to pass power from one person to another. If Izuku and All Might could still make use of OFA's strength, who's to say that it's transfer ability couldn't also be used via the embers? Remember, they didn't have their own quirks to try this out and everyone before them had died early.

Katsuki would be the only person left who could possibly use it pass on a quirk again, because he actually has his own quirk. And while Izuku was the last person who could hold it as a quirkless person (a rarity in his generation), as a quirkless person once more, he's also the perfect vessel to receive a quirk using the last remaining bits of OFA.

So how does this not contradict manga canon?

Well, like I mentioned, the vestiges tell him that he might be the last wielder of OFA, because now it can only go to someone quirkless, and there are fewer and fewer quirkless people born in the world.

Yet, in Heroes Rising, Izuku transfers it to Katsuki, who is not a quirkless individual.

At the end of the movie, once Nine is defeated, Katsuki can't hold onto it and it goes back to Izuku. This aligns exactly with what the vestiges told him. Katsuki just got a taste of the super strength aspect of the quirk, but it didn't stay with him. All Might posits that it's because he passed out before the transfer finished, but changes his mind into thinking it was a miracle granted by the predecessors (since OFA has been shown to have a will).

But what if he was wrong, and it went back to Izuku, because Katsuki literally couldn't hold onto it, as it was too much for his body?

In Heroes Rising, Nine (whose name feels very significant now), was given the ability to hold nine quirks and use eight, and it was too much for him, he had to be genetically modified by Garaki. And even then, he was trying to steal Katsuma's Cell Activation quirk, because his body was breaking down the more he used them. I could be mistaken of course, but I think we're given a villain like this to show what multiple quirks do to the body and the movie ended the way it did, not breaking canon rules for OFA, because we're seeing that it was always impossible for Katsuki to hold onto it. Nobody but Izuku, a quirkless person, can.

We already know Izuku was the 9th holder, but I actually just realized, Izuku was holding onto and could use eight quirks. But if Katsuki was the 10th user, that means he was also possibly holding onto nine while being able to use eight, just like Nine. If I'm mistaken, someone please correct me, but look:

Yoichi's original quirk to pass on power

Power Stocking Quirk gifted by AFO

Gear Shift

Fa Jin

Danger Sense

Black Whip

Smokescreen

Float

(and a copy of Katsuki's Explosion could have been in there, never unlocked or known about since he doesn't have a vestige)

Possible coincidence? Absolutely. But, I mean—

And as for how Katsuki would even know that he has OFA if he doesn't remember: He saw Vestige-Might specifically and All Might was there after the battle with Nine.

Katsuki knows about the vestiges from Izuku. He figured out that All Might was the one who gave Izuku his quirk, despite having no reason to believe that quirk transfer was possible aside from Izuku telling him he got his quirk from someone else. Katsuki is smart enough to figure out that Vestige-Might appearing to him could possibly mean something OFA related.

As For Why Katsuki Might (Possibly) (Probably) (Maybe?) Give Up His Quirk

Because he didn't get the prosthesis. And because of his final fight.

I already mentioned this, but to me, it feels like he's resigning himself to a decision. As if he wants to keep both of his hands as a reminder of what he used to be able to do with them and there's no need for a support item like prosthesis, if he's not going to be using his quirk anymore. If he's giving it up.

Of course, he doesn't yet know that Izuku is quirkless at that point, but the author knows and that's who controls the character's actions.

We've learned a lot about Katsuki throughout the story. We know Katsuki has changed from the punk he was at the beginning. We know he's been paying as much attention to Izuku as Izuku has to him. We know he's sorry and wants to make things up to him. He apologized in front of their entire class and didn't expect forgiveness or for things to change between them. He can't undo years of bullying, there's no way to take that back, the past can't be undone, but he's trying to atone. He wants to atone.

We know he cares about Izuku, we know he would literally die for Izuku, and we also know that Katsuki was devastated at the news that Izuku is quirkless again. He's actually cried a lot in the story, but I think that was the first time he cried for someone else's sake. They were his first tears that weren't from frustration, and his thoughts in that moment were "what did I do to you?"

We also know that Katsuki wanted to be the strongest hero, and honestly… he kind of already achieved his goal.

From chapter one he's gotten a ton of media attention—the sludge villain, winning the sports festival, the kidnapping and rescue (coinciding with All Might's end), defeating a villain with Shouto after they got their provisional licenses. He's literally famous. People have taken notice of him with everything he's done the entire story, for good and bad, and then the entire world saw him defeat AFO and help Deku make it to Shigaraki to land that final punch. After a rocky start and being painted as villainous, he showed he could be a great hero and it was acknowledged by the entire world. There isn't really anywhere else for his story to naturally go as a hero.

It's literally physically impossible for a single human to surpass All Might without OFA, which was Katsuki's goal at the beginning. And at the end, he just wanted him and Izuku to keep chasing after each other, always trying to catch up forever, but now they can't.

It's also why Endeavor's story is so tragic. Can you imagine being Endeavor when he found out about OFA and that the game had been rigged against him from the start? He spent his entire life trying to be the strongest, not number one, but the strongest. He put all his energy into surpassing All Might, abused and neglected his family in pursuit of that goal, cast aside everything else, and then he finds out his entire life had been pointless, because All Might was using a cheat code. Endeavor never stood a chance to begin with. He could have spent that time getting to know his kids, or marrying someone out of love, or making one (1) single friend, but instead he was the number two hero for twenty-six straight years and went nowhere. His ambition meant nothing.

It's been reiterated time and again in the story that Katsuki and Endeavor are parallels. Shigaraki was right that Katsuki would never catch up to Deku, it's impossible. He would have lived his entire life like Endeavor in a meaningless pursuit. And if we look at Endeavor's conclusion, well...

Endeavor had planned to give up hero work and spend the rest of his life looking at Touya and atoning to his family. He ended up being forced to by his injuries, but he had still planned to give up the thing in his life that had given him the most meaning and pride (when it should have been his family). Hero work was the thing he valued most, and so Endeavor gave it up for what really mattered.

For Katsuki, the thing that gave him the most meaning and pride in his life was his quirk. And striving to be the best, just like Endeavor. He valued that over his friendship with Izuku, the thing that really mattered. It's kind of undeniable at this point, leaving shipping completely out of the equation, that Izuku is Katsuki's most important person.

So with Endeavor's conclusion, and how the manga is currently going… I can't help but wonder if that final fight against OFA was supposed to be Katsuki's big send off. A huge spectacle with everyone in the world watching, because that was the end of the road for him; his last big battle, not just in the story, but ever.

What if that was the end of his journey to becoming a pro hero?

What if we got to see his quirk evolve one last time and take down the baddest bad guy, because it was the last time he was ever going to be physically able to use his quirk?

Is the logical conclusion to his story for him to give up that thing he valued over what was important to him, just like Endeavor did in the end? Would him giving that up symbolize him not following in Endeavor's footsteps of obsessive drive that eclipses everything else in his life?

Is Katsuki is going to give Izuku his Explosion quirk, using that last bit of OFA?

And what if Katsuki is going to end the story quirkless and was always intended to from the very beginning?

And here's where I get back to those lights.

Because I think it (possibly) confirms what I was saying in the beginning.

There are nine One For All users, according to the manga. We've established that that's not actually true if the movies are canon, and they are. There are ten OFA users.

These are the full two panels previously mentioned of what All Might was thinking at the start of 403 when he looked back at his path.

He thinks, "As for what I've done? I just happened to glance back at my path. And what I saw… seemed so very significant."

Let's see how many lights there are as he looks back at his path:

There are ten (10) lights [insert TNG joke here], not nine. And the big one, smack dab in the center, is shown with Katsuki's explosions around it.

I thought for a moment that these were possibly just the stored quirk factors, but Izuku and All Might are quirkless, so there wouldn't be ten lights if that were the case.

I think it's showing us that these lights represent the holders of OFA.

Katsuki is that tenth center light, confirming that he's the 10th OFA user.

This panel right here of the child Katsuki and Izuku with their balls of light? This is on the last page before Izuku sees Katsuki alive again after finding him dead and losing his mind. Please note All Might in the background, also holding his own ball of light.

And remember this from chapter 362 (R.I.P. Kacchan)?

It's the same image as Katsuki's final thoughts. The balls of light are the trading cards they got that day, but wait for it—

In 403, right before the panel of them as children holding the balls of light, we see that same center ball of light on the ground of All Might's path again, then a panel of Katsuki holding his All Might trading card beneath it. Almost as if the story is trying to tell us something about what that trading card represents and what Katsuki holding it really means.

Right before we see their expressions as they lock eyes, as Izuku realizes Katsuki isn't dead, it shows the two of them as little kids, happy to have both gotten All Might trading cards.

I don't think the trading cards we see here are really trading cards.

This whole chapter, the last two pages especially, was completely re-contextualized for me after noticing there are ten lights.

Like I said earlier, All Might didn't just pass the torch metaphorically, I think he passed it literally.

OFA is always represented as flame, as embers, etc... Those trading cards don't just symbolize their friendship, or their dreams, or their admiration, I think Horikoshi-sensei is showing us that they both have the same trading card, because they both have the same thing inside of them. Something passed onto them from All Might, because All Might is also shown with his own ball of light.

Why would All Might have his own All Might trading card…?

The trading cards aren't trading cards, they're One For All. Katsuki and Izuku hold the embers that All Might passed down to both of them.

Remember, the scene in 362 and 403 are exactly the same. They're Katsuki's memories. How is All Might's near death vision showing him memories that aren't his? Well, if they're connected through One For All, it makes sense that he sees that, because that's literally impossible otherwise. He could see them as high schoolers, as middle schoolers when he first me them, but not as small children in a very real scene that actually happened.

And if OFA is still alive inside Katsuki, I think that means he can transfer Explosion, because he has his own quirk factor.

If Izuku and All Might could still use everything that made OFA what it was, despite not having it anymore, there is nothing saying that the transfer ability wouldn't also work.

The only thing stopping them from trying is having nothing to pass on, because they were quirkless. Katsuki does have something he can pass on, though.

And who better to receive Katsuki's Explosion quirk, than the person who'd spent his entire life watching him?? Izuku is the perfect person, and I imagine the only person Katsuki would deem worthy of receiving it. He knows Katsuki's moves almost as well as Katsuki himself.

At USJ when the Shigaraki attacks, Izuku puts on a brave face and fights just like Kacchan. When he learns from Gran Torino, he realizes that he has to be more loose and fluids with his movements, just like Kacchan. In [training exercise I can't remember] Katsuki notices that Izuku copied his moves. He knows how Katsuki's moves work without him even telling him.

What if the story came full circle and Izuku was constantly emulating Katsuki in the beginning, because it was foreshadowing that he was always supposed to end up with his Explosoin quirk?

Can you imagine how good that payoff could be?

All that paying attention to Kacchan, admiring him, copying his moves, trying to be like him, having him as his image of victory, knowing a frankly alarming amount about it, what if that was all 430 chapters of foreshadowing? This is why I asked if maybe Katsuki was always intended to end up quirkless.

What if the thing that caused the rift in their friendship is going to be the thing that heals it, as Bakugou's ultimate acknowledgement that quirkless nerd Izuku was always a hero and deserves to be one more than anyone else?

What if giving his quirk to Izuku, who is once again quirkless, is his ultimate atonement and the thing that Horikoshi-sensei said back in like 2022 (paraphrasing because I don't remember, please don't quote me) that he hoped would make Bakugou fans and haters alike both happy? Because I thought it was killing him (R.I.P. Kacchan), but this feels like it makes more sense.

I think swapping places from where they started would be the perfect conclusion for their friendship and Katsuki's journey. I don't know about the whole story, and I don't care to speculate about that, but for the two of them, this feels right to me.

That said, I am aware there are some

Potential Issues With This

1. Would Izuku accept the quirk? Probably not, but as we saw with Yoichi and Kudou, the recipient doesn't have to be aware in order to receive OFA; it's on the giver to will it to them. The recipient does not have to consent, all Katsuki has to do is spit in his food, really.

2. There's the issue of Izuku trying to give it right back. But All Might only managed to hold onto OFA's embers for a few months after nurturing it for 40 years. Izuku only held OFA for a little over a year, he probably won't have the embers very long and it's already been a while since the final battle. All Katsuki would have to do is wait a few weeks for the last embers of it to fade from Izuku before transferring it, ensuring he couldn't pass it back. Since Katsuki only held OFA for less than a day, that would probably use up the last embers of OFA for good.

3. The lack of acknowledgement of the events of Heroes Rising in the main manga is a MASSIVE writing issue. For me, this is the thing that makes the scenario most unlikely, because as of July 24, 2024, there are only two (2) chapters left to go and that's not much time to explain movie events in order to not have a quirk transfer seem like it came out of nowhere or breaks established canon.

3a. But, like I mentioned before, this was already done this with Vigilantes concerning Shirakumo's backstory. We're supposed to feel empathy and compassion for their long dead friend, but no real work was put into the main manga to establish how close their relationship was, we're just told that they were friends and classmates. We get some hints to the events in Vigilantes in the main manga, but they don't carry as much weight without the full context.

Meanwhile in Vigilantes, Shirakumo and Aizawa are very close and they're all friends, but tbh, Mic is basically a third wheel. The entire arc reads like a tragic story of lost love, Shirakumo's death changed everything for Aizawa. After Shirakumo's death, Aizawa goes off on his own, works himself to the bone, doesn't sleep because he's training all night (the origin story of the sleeping bag), is depressed, stops trying in classes, he's told his quirk is suited for working with others (which is true) yet he goes independent, basically abandons Mic and the plans the three of them had to start an agency together (he says they were going to be a duo or a trio and let me tell you, Mic was not included in the duo)—it's depressing.

No wonder Aizawa was the one who got so worked up at seeing Kurogiri; Shirakumo meant a lot to him, his entire world shifted when he died. And no wonder Mic was so uncharacteristically reserved and pissed about the whole situation; he'd had to watch Aizawa retreat into himself for years after Shirakumo died, and then his ghost showed back up as a villain. Aizawa's arc is pretty long in Vigilantes, I think it's an entire volume, so it would bring the plot to a grinding halt if it were all included in the main manga, but unfortunately, none of this information feels effectively communicated through subtext in the main manga.

In my opinion, Vigilantes is a necessary read to understand several things the main manga. I loved it, and I highly recommend it (despite some very questionable scenes); imo, Number 6 vs. The Crawler felt like it did a better job at what at least two final fights in MHA were going for. But I'm not a fan of writing that requires you to have read outside material to fill in gaps. That said, I've also seen this happen before in American comic books, so I think it kind of makes sense that that influence would carry over and he'd rely on supplementary material like Vigilantes and the movies.

So getting back to my point, if Katsuki does have OFA, like those lights and Vestige-Might seem to imply, I'm kind of thinking it will be the same sort of situation, where it's expected the reader will have watched Heroes Rising. Especially since Horikoshi-sensei drew so many illustrations with Mahoro and Katsuma.

The ten lights, the fact that Nana still had Float (afaik), Vestige-Might, the fact that Heroes Rising was acknowledged at least twice in the main manga, Endeavor's ending, the trading cards, etc… all make me think that this is the conclusion for Katsuki that Horikoshi-sensei was working towards: quirkless Katsuki and Izuku with Explosion. But I also know that just because something is set up and foreshadowed, doesn't mean that the author will actually go through with it, especially in a weekly manga where anything can interfere with the story at any moment. Maybe I'm close to right and maybe I'll be so far off it's not even funny.

But who knows. There are only two chapters left and some writing choices have been confusing to say the least. I just hope we get a satisfactory ending, no matter what it is. Thank you, Horikoshi-sensei for all your hard work.

What do you think?

Do you think Katsuki will give Explosion to Izuku?

Do you think Izuku will become the first quirkless pro hero instead?

Do you think Katsuki could become the first quirkless pro hero? How wild would that be!

Do you think they'll go to a fair and share a crepe and we'll finally get that holding hands scene and the quirk will be transferred via saliva and Izuku will have an oh shit bakudeku canon moment thinking back to his words to Toga? Unlikely with how many chapters are left, but I would scream.

I haven't seen anyone talk about this before, I really only look at ship tags, but this feels pretty bkdk and I'd imagine I would have seen it at some point if so, especially around the time 362 (R.I.P. Kacchan) and 424 dropped. I don't really read theories, as I generally don't care where the story goes and am just along for the ride, but if someone has said all this before me, sorry for being redundant!

I hope this wasn't too repetitive, thanks for reading ✌️Don't mind my blank blog, this is just a side blog on a side account, feel free to let me know if I've made any mistakes, I'm not an expert on the story by any means and welcome correction.

I haven't looked at leaks (if they're out, I don't check for that) so that would be wild if anything I mentioned here was in them, but tbh I doubt it, haha.

[dira333]

Hate to love you - Reo Mikage x Reader

A/N: Yes, I've started watching Blue Lock (again) and despite the fact that Gagamaru and Bachira are my clear favorites, Reo wouldn't leave me alone.

Enemies to lovers (kinda) - College AU - slight angst to fluff

“Reo Mikage is obviously an asshole.” 

Reo stops in his tracks. The voice sounds familiar, even though he can’t properly place it. Whoever’s so sure of his character, is hidden from his eyes behind a giant monstrosity of a fake plant.

Someone else chokes. “Y/N, you can’t… you can’t say it like that!”

“Why not? You know how I think about people who seem perfect. There has to be something wrong with him.”

“He could just be perfect.”

“Nah. I call bullshit.”

There’s a small smile playing around Reo’s lips as his mind supplies a picture of your face.

You always sit a few rows behind him and from what he’s heard, you’re just a few points behind him on assignments. You’re also the teacher’s clear favorite. Well, next to him.

“You could just admit that he’s too hot for his own good and get it over with.” Your friend says and you snort.

“Oh I can admit that he’s attractive, allright.” You say and Reo chooses that exact moment to step out from behind the plant and wave his hand with an exaggerated smile.

“You talking about me?”

Your friend chokes on her drink. 

You, on the other hand, don’t even have the decency to look ashamed.

Instead, you glare at him, showing him the same face he’s always granted when you’re aware of his presence - as if you’ve just smelled something really awful.

“Eavesdropping is rude.” You point out and he smirks.

“So is calling someone an asshole.”

“Only if they don’t deserve it.”

“Ah well-” He starts with a lazy smile only for a lanky arm to pull him down.

“There you are!” Bachira singsongs. “We’ve been looking for you. Come on!” He starts pulling him away before he stops talking.

“Bye Y/N” Bachira manages to turn halfway to send you a wide smile and a wave and you wave back, smiling just as brightly. 

Huh, Reo thinks, you like Bachira?

-

The Itoshi brothers might not get along, but they certainly know how to throw parties, Reo thinks as he pours himself another drink. The bar is expertly filled, but most people turn towards the - probably awful tasing - Punch in the middle of the kitchen.

As he starts mixing something for Nagi - his friend hadn’t explicitly asked for a drink, but he knew it would only be a matter of time before he came whining - he spots you.

Interesting, he thinks to himself, and stops what he’s doing to follow your figure with his eyes.

You’re not a usual in this crowd, at least he hasn’t seen you around often enough.

And he’s gotten a lot more attentive to you in the last few days and weeks, even if he’d deny it to anyone asking.

Just las week Horikoshi-sensei had pulled your assignment out and read it aloud to the class, calling it an exemplary work. The smirk you’d thrown Reo is still burned into his mind.

Just outside the kitchen, you step to the side and for one horrible wonderful moment, he can see you perfectly. You’re wearing something casual, loose fitting hoodie swallowing your frame in a way that leaves his mouth dry.

Goddamit, Reo thinks as he feels the clear Zing of attraction zipping through him. That’s not how this is supposed to go.

-

“Did you bribe the Professor?”

Reo looks up from his books. He’s not often in the library, but this assignment is kicking his ass and he cannot focus at home. 

Okay, and maybe he came here knowing you’re a regular at the library. But that’s only for him to know and feel weird about.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” He offers with a smile. You eye him like he’s a bomb, about to go off any second.

“The new assignments are in.” You huff, pulling the chair out from the other side of his table. 

His heart leaps at the possibility of you coming closer, only to miss a beat when you lean forward, the clean scent of your shampoo washing over him.

“So? What about them?”

“It’s partner work. And we got assigned together.”

“Why would I bribe the professor for that result?” He asks, trying to get you out of the shell you’ve build. You squint your eyes at him and something weird, and new, moves over your face.

“Forget it.” You say. “When do you wanna work on it? I’m sure you’ve got more than enough to do with Soccer and everything.”

“I’ll make the time for you.” He says, satisfaction curling in his stomach when he can see you swallow thickly at his words.

Something has changed in your bickering, even though he can’t put his finger on when it started, he can almost taste the tension in the air.

Have you started feeling the same way as him?

-

“You and Nagi…?” You start before shaking your head. “Forget it. Are you finished with your part?”

“Not yet. What about me and Nagi?” 

Your face, usually so expressive, is turned away from him.

Maybe you’ve already figured out that he can read your thoughts from your lips, your eyes, the furrow of your brows. 

Maybe- “Are you and Nagi a thing?”

His jaw drops open. You flinch away, as if hit by your own words.

“I… shit- I just… Forget that I asked.”

He can’t. Not when he’s sitting in your dorm room, back against the frame of your bed. 

Not now that he knows you’ve got a framed autograph of Jinpaichi Ego sitting next to a Hello Kitty plush or that your room smells just like you.

“No. We’re not. Why would you even think that?” He asks, voice thicker then he wants it to be.

“Uh, because Nagi’s hanging off you at all times?” You ask back and your clear annoyance with everything him is like a breath of fresh air. 

“Yeah, but that’s Nagi. He hangs off anyone?”

“True, but… you’re so nice to him?”

“I can be nice!”

You snort. He grins. There’s a moment, just a heartbeat long, where your eyes lock onto each other and you speak without words.

I’d be nice to you, his eyes say. Sure, yours say, teasing him even when you’re not speaking.

-

He’s not sure how it happens. He’s not sure if he cares.

Your shared assignment’s long forgotten as your hands curl into his shirt and his thumb rubs softly along your jaw.

Your lips taste sweet and spicy, like the soda you’d sipped minutes ago and the super spicy chips you’d offered him this evening. You’d laughed at him when he couldn’t handle the spice and he’d lunged forward as if to tickle you for revenge - only to kiss you instead.

You sigh into the kiss, pull him closer until there’s nothing that separates you anymore.

Not even a goal feels that good, he thinks, when you whisper his name against his lips.

.

He’s not sure how it happened, but it’s over. Cold air rushes over his skin, leaves goosebumps in its wake as he’s grasping for oxygen.

You turn away from him, back stiff and tense.

“What…”

“You can stop now.” You say, your voice just as tense as your posture. “With the flirting.”

“I’m…” His brain’s filled with fog, his hands reach for your. He’s not sure how thinking works, or speaking, or anything else that’s not kissing you, holding you.

“You got what you wanted, right?” There’s so much ice in your voice, it could stop global warming. You still refuse to look at him. “Isagi told me about it. You always want what you can’t have. So now that you’ve got me, you can stop with the flirting.”

Reo’s endured the nasty glares and the biting comments. He’d found it funny, in a way, how you could be so riled up when it came to him, but pleasant and friendly to everyone else.

He’s not proud of it, really, but this last comment catches up to him.

Only when he’s outside your dorm, cool wind blowing away the last bit of fog in his brain, does he realize that he should have stayed.

-

“So…” He drops his bag on your table. The librarian shoots him a warning glare while you opt to ignore him.

“We still have to finish our assignment.”

“I’ll mail you my part.” You offer but he pulls his chair out and leans forward, gets right into your face until you have to look at him.

“I’ll take you out. Coffee or Dinner?”

“What?” You ask, your voice high with what’s either confusion or anger or something else. He hopes it’s something else.

“If you’d actually gotten to know me instead of trusting something you misunderstood, you’d have seen this coming.” 

“I… I’d not… I…” He smiles at how easy it seems to fluster you nowadays. But there’s still the spark in you that got him interested.

You huff out a breath and cross your shaking arms in front of your chest.

“If, and I want to emphasize this, if we get a 100% on this assignment, you can take me out to dinner.”

He smiles. “Am I allowed to kiss you before we get the result or can you wait that long?”

Your resolve visibly falters, but you’re trying not to show.

“We… can talk about that. When it becomes important.”

He smirks and your brows furrow in that way that tells him you’re onto him. He doesn’t mind.

-

You wait with the other girlfriends.

You’re the only one with her arms crossed and your brows furrowed.

Out of all of them, you’re the only one who looks like they’ve just lost.

“Hey.” Reo pulls you from the gaggle of girls with ease, kisses the skin right between your eyebrows. “What’d you think?”

“Was that really necessary?�� You ask. “You could have totally gotten that goal without it.”

He laughs, carefree and light, wrapping his arm around your shoulder to pull you even closer.

“Of course it was necessary. Don’t tell me you don’t like me showing off while I play.”

You huff into his shoulder.

“You stink.”

“Mhhm. I love you too.”

tagging @shoulmate for reasons

[bi-bi-bi-bakugo]

A Short Essay on Names in My Hero Academia and What That Means for Katsuki and Izuku

Introduction

Names have always had an important role in the storytelling of My Hero. Names dictate personality, they tell us the viewer, who the character is. Not in the most point blank way of say, naming a bad guy "Lucifer" to show that this character is evil or complex. But in the sense of what that name means to the character. For example, the personality shift when it's revealed Dabi is Touya Todoroki. People have talked about it. Dabi is quiet and reserved, but Touya is loud and eccentric and wild. With the name revealed, he is free to be who he is. He reverts to who he was back when he was known as Touya, because now the world knows him as Touya, so now he can act like Touya.

Hawks used to be Keigo Takami, but he had his name stripped from him by the HPSC. He's Hawks now, just Hawks. That's all people know him as. And it's not like all heroes hide their identity. It isn't like a DC Comics situation. If that were the case, Aizawa probably would have been called Eraserhead-Sensei by the kids instead of Aizawa-Sensei. So heroes hiding their identity isn't a large part of this hero society. Meaning Hawks did not have to lose his name but it was taken from him to show he was now their puppet, their property. He wasn't his own person anymore but an extension of the HPSC.

Starting with "Kacchan"

I know we're joking about Katsuki telling the greatest villain that his name is Kacchan and it is silly, but just think of it seriously for a moment.

Izuku has become/always has been such an integral part of Katsuki's identity. Katsuki is Katsuki because of Izuku. He is Kacchan because that's what Izuku calls him. And Izuku is part of who he is so he must be Kacchan above all other things. Because Kacchan is tied to Izuku, and Izuku is part of who Katsuki is.

It's so beautiful and while the idea of telling the biggest enemy ever that his name is actually Kacchan is super silly, think about it in the context. It's the second defining battle against the villains. Katsuki had just died not five minutes ago when Izuku arrives. Katsuki just died with Izuku being his last thought, with Izuku's name being the last thing he says. But then Izuku comes and there is hope. And then Katsuki is alive and there is hope again.

Ending with "Deku"

Now, the name Deku is very much complicated especially in relation to what it means to Izuku. For years it was used in the same way some people would use a slur. To harm, to other, to put down. But it was given to him by Katsuki, and so he keeps it. Ochako tells Izuku that she likes it, and for the first time Izuku hears that name used with a positive connotation. And that is a turning point for him, and I believe the start of the change in Katsuki's and Izuku's relationship, or at least, the foreshadow of the change.

From there, Izuku makes Deku his hero name and effectively reclaims it. When people ask his name, he always says his name is Deku before his actual name- Izuku Midoriya. That's something that's always stuck out to me. He is doing what Katsuki did during the battle. He is calling himself by the name Katsuki gave him. Just like Katsuki telling Shigaraki/All for One his name is Kacchan. It's the same reason, same meaning. Just Izuku did it first.

Because with Izuku and Katsuki, the other is so integral to who they are as a person. Izuku is Deku because Katsuki said so, and Katsuki is Kacchan because Izuku said so. You can not have one without the other. You can not understand one without knowing or understanding the other. You need one, to know the other.

Conclusion

What Horikoshi has done with names and their meanings in the overall narrative of My Hero is beautiful. In My Hero, names are the very essence of who a character sees themself as. It is such a profound way to write your characters and I love it so much.

[zombieheroine]

Thoughts on MHA/BnHA 426????

Shocked, devastated, still in mourning. I will never be okay again, something in me has been altered, there's a strangling feeling in my throat but all I can do is stare into emptiness.

For real, I read it and was Very Much Not Okay for several days.

More under the spoilers cut. Just remember, you asked.

OKAY SO. I am both absolutely devastated but also very fulfilled with how the Todoroki family saga is wrapping itself up. It think this is one of the strongest aspects of the entire Boku no Hero Academia story, and I am very happy with how daring its conclusion is.

Like so many, I started out hating/not caring about Endeavour at all, but as the story dwelved more deeply into the whole mess that is his family and he as a character started evolving, I grew to care a lot. His character embodies a lot of deep dark fears that I have, like what if you've been wrong all along, and you're actually selfish and horrible and all you do is for nothing yet you hurt everyone you love for it. And then one day your best days are behind you, you're growing old, and all you have is a handful of ashes, because you destroyed everything that mattered in pursuit of nothing at all.

Then again, basically since the season 4 of the anime I've been lowkey worried that Horikoshi would just take a shortcut with the Todoroki family and be like "no worries, dad gave flowers once and shows up once a week from now on, it's all fine, the nuclear family unit will be all good now!"

But that's not how the manga went, and I've been looking forward to this absolute gut punch for a long time. I've actually rooted for pretty much everything this chapter gave us.

Because it's true that there are unforgivable things. Sometimes you can't fix what you've broken, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try.

I think the story has well and truly driven in that there are consequences to your action and choices, and that this is what parenting is: you give it your all no matter what, and then your kids make their own choices. They owe you nothing, while you owe them everything.

To me it makes sense that Shoto is the closest to Enji: he got the most attention and "care", no matter how misguided and abusive it was. He's also still young enough and has enough in common with his father to actually have room for better things, while he has also built his own separate support network that he actually depends on and that will nurture him to become different and better than where he came from. He leaves while shouting reassurances to his mom and dad, so settling in a very normal and balanced dynamic with them.

It's the older Todoroki siblings who represent different outcomes and underline other points. Toya represents the absolute worst case scenario that might come from an abusive family dynamic: a total rejection, vengeful and violent. Everything went wrong with him, and then he was groomed to become the absolute worst version that he could possibly be. For Toya vs Enji, I wondered if one would kill the other and which would be worse. I theorized that Horikoshi wouldn't make Enji kill Toya and that the most likely end would be that Enji (more or less) lets Toya kill him instead. But I hate the "redemption through death" trope, so I've had an AU idea ready where Toya ends up bed-ridden with his injuries, and Enji and Rei care for him despite how it looks to the public.

Now that Toya is in hospice care, I've gotten that but uhhhh worse, thanks for that Horikoshi-sensei, I'm not okay??? This probably hits so hard because I've been through that, having a family member in hospice care. Yes, it's just a part of life, but that's what makes it hurt so bad. Hurts so much more than any grand battle with hard moral choices could, because this feels so real. From a writing perspective, it's great, but just the thought of a hospice ward is enough to make me want to cry for real. So.

I had my Toya feels way back when the battle happened. It makes me so sad to think that what he really wanted all along was very simple, but just couldn't grab it, and then everything went to hell and it's not even his fault. Another unfulfilled person, very much like his father, whether he likes it or not.

Moving on, for Fuyumi I hope she gets distance and a better relationship with her mom and her brothers on one-on-one basis. She's been that "eldest daughter" who's tried to fix everything on her own, so I'm glad it looks like she's getting a fresh start and isn't fretting over anyone.

I'm especially happy that Natsuo decided to cut ties with Enji. That's been brought up as a possibility in the story before when the Todoroki family was having their weekly dinners, but I honestly didn't think Horikoshi would go through with it: usually in stories like this, if a parent tries to make amends, they succeed and the children forgive them. I think this is really strong writing, that not only the possibility of not being forgiven was brought up, but it's also carried through. Natsuo was neglected and ignored, he has basically no relationship with his father, and he doesn't want to build one. He doesn't care that Enji regrets his action, and he doesn't want to put time and energy into what he sees as only a bad thing in his life. He's an independent adult with a life of his own, and he chooses to walk away and cut ties for good. Good for him, especially since his choice would have been the best case scenario for Toya: live your own life and leave the past behind.

Among the siblings, I love that they come together to accept each other, especially Toya. They don't have much time, not that even all the time in the world was going to fix what's been broken, but they take what little they have and make the most of it. It's not enough and it doesn't make everything okay, but considering the other - and much easier - option would be to just walk away, to cut ties looking good and righteous to the public while doing so, it's the best they can do. They choose to embrace their lost brother until he passes, to accept someone who's essentially a massmurdering terrorist, because to them he's family.

As for Endeavor, his retirement makes me sad. It's like a final nail to the coffin: he wasn't cut out to be a hero and he never achieved what he wanted the most in life. But then again, I do like that in the context of the larger story, it cuts to the point of what true heroics are. It's not about strength, power rankings, image, or flashy costumes. It's about accepting responsibility, doing the right thing especially when it's hard and unpopular, and serving others. His character was early on described as 'a hero who doesn't look like a hero', and him giving up the name and the costume signifies this bigger point of the story, that heroes shouldn't be idols in capes on a pedestal, and that ordinary people shouldn't just expect someone else to come and solve their problems for them. The end point of his character is to accept that doing the heroic thing is thankless, hard work out of the spotlight.

But it's not all bleakness, because there are still people there for him. I really like this sort of a nuanced ending, where some things work out and others don't. It feels very real and thus makes me feel real feelings: it's not all suffering but not all sunshine and roses either. It's just life, difficult and uncertain.

And yes, all my endhawks feels too. A little flicker of light. I do think they are a great match and they met each other at a perfect moment in their lives. They wouldn't have worked out before, but now they have good things to give each other and empty space in their lives to build something new. Interesting that Enji is retiring and Hawks is now quirkless, they will both have to be good people in more conventional ways (and paralleling Midoriya and One For All; fascinating).

'Endhawks' more like endgame, heh.

[codenamesazanka]

Reread, Chapter 306 to Chapter 328 (Edgy Deku Arc). How Does Deku Approach Saving Shigaraki? He Doesn't.

If the chapter number is not listed, it's because there's no significant development in the Deku Saving Shigaraki plotline (Deku being absent from chapter/chapter focus is about other things/etc).

Chapter 308:

When confronting Muscular, Deku thinks back to Shigaraki/The Crying Child - imagery is of them overlapping.

Deku does think: "But at least I want to learn what makes [Shigaraki] tick deep down."

When trying to understand Muscular (by asking him three (3) questions about his motives) fails to pan out, Deku says "Seems like this fight is inevitable," recalling his response to Nana about having the resolve to kill Shigaraki if Shigaraki is beyond saving. Then he KOs Muscular.

Chapter 309:

Gran Torino says "Don't be so rigid. Killing can be another way to save someone. Never forget that." Deku, consistent with his own wishy-washy response in Chapter 305 that doesn't take killing off the table, doesn't refute that; also takes Gran's cape as a gesture of carrying on Gran's legacy.

Chapter 310:

Deku mentions Shigaraki only in the context of a threat. "Don't have leads on [the Villains]" "With All For One's quirk transplanted into Shigaraki… he was too strong for us to bring down, even with Endeavor's and Aizawa Sensei's help."

Not Deku, but a note on Kudou - in a flashback to the immediate aftermath of the scene in Chapter 305, Kudou complains about devoting the vestiges efforts to "one who wants to 'save' our mortal enemy", except 1) Shigaraki is not their Mortal Enemy, AFO is? 2) Did Yoichi not made clear just in-universe moments ago that Shigaraki was a victim of AFO's?

Chapter 311:

Endeavor says: "It must be like Deku said... Right now, [AFO's] top priority might be hijacking Shigaraki." Heroes acknowledge that Shigaraki is AFO's possession victim.

Chapter 314

Deku learns about Nagant's backstory. He admits that he was ignorant, but now he's starting to see things clearly - that the world is in shades of gray, a blend of fear and anger. As he says this, among the memories he's thinking of, is Shigaraki's Jaku speech.

Deku also recalls a line from Shigaraki's Jaku speech - "…Swept their pain under the rug… With maggots crawling out." Then says "Which is exactly why I gotta extend a helping hand."

I do consider this Deku reaffirming his desire to save Shigaraki.

Chapter 318

Not Deku, but the vestiges talks about Deku. Nana worries about the burden she has placed on him. Banjo says Deku sees every cause as worthy. Shinomori says Deku seeks to save everyone as a true Hero. Kudou says Deku is choosing the right path.

Is this about Shigaraki? ...Maybe???

...And sadly that's actually it! After Nagant explodes, Deku is Very Angry about AFO. Then he's a one-man Villain hunting machine. Doesn't really spare a thought about Shigaraki anymore beyond "I have to stop Shigaraki and the League."

I'll allow that he's super stressed out and lonely and overwhelmed by the duty he's taken on... but any thoughts about even saving or even understanding Shigaraki or even the Crying Child has evaporated after Muscular.

It's notable that during the Uraraka Speech And Umbrellas Scene, Uraraka gets a flashback to Toga crying when she talks about everyone smiling together in the future, while Shouto and Endeavor think about Dabi as they promise to 'do this together', but Deku gets nothing. In fact I don't think he makes any mention or even thinks of Shigaraki/Crying Child until... Chapter 342.

:

Last on-page declaration of saving Shigaraki Crying Child? Chapter 305

Last solid implication of Deku wanting to save Shigaraki? Chapter 314

Last time Deku thought about Shigaraki in a context that isn't 'need to find him/stop him'? Chapter 314, when he flashbacks to Shigaraki's Jaku speech.

[As always take however much blame you think I'm unjustly putting on Deku to put on Horikoshi doing bad writing.]

[isabeauwolf]

Send more questions to Horikoshi Sensei 🤭

Y'all surprised that they're Overhaul related? No? 😂

I'm still voting for my birdman! 💜💚🐦‍⬛

[shih-coulda-had-it]

They cooked Sorahiko for years for what he said on that hospital bed, whole audience was booing him, but there in the crowd Hori was cheering him on the whole time.

Correction, there were at least TWO voices cheering for that unkillable old man: him AND ME.

[ladycry19]

POV: u hurt his master (his love) and it’s taking every ounce of strength to not transform and kill ❤️

My fantasy AU! Aizawa wolf hybrid that can transform in for a full wolf form. Y’all remember that funky wolfzawa Horikoshi sensei drew ? Yeah. That’s his beast form (if only I could draw it lmao)

In this AU, Morgan is a monster/beast tamer and wolfzawa is one of her companions. And ofc they fall in love lol

She’s allowed to have kiddos with Aizawa in this AU , in fact I’m giving her triplets. Don’t ask me details about them bc I haven’t fleshed them out aside from their genders and general looks lmao

Also tried a slightly new painting process with this that I enjoyed a lot more than the normal style so I’m still figuring out my coloring style but I think I’m getting there !! When I figure it out it’s over for u bitches lol

[angy-grrr]

hello!! about your post the other day on how people think bkdk is just another sns, do you happen to have the source for ‘horikoshi dislikes the ending of naruto’? its such an integral part of my bkdk worldview and why im so convinced theyre gonna be canon, but i cant for the life of me figure out where horikoshi mentioned that 😅

This is the link of a transcription of the twitter thread! This was from the middle of 2015, even before Katsuki got kidnapped and wasn't super clear whether he would stay in the hero or villain, so I think we need to keep it in mind when reading about this too.

To give more perspective, a reminder of what happened in that time: Bakugou vs Deku 1 happened in January, and this interview probably happened when the sports festival was starting (as we see it goes until August/September)... A year later we get Katsuki's origin chapter, two years later the second Kacchan vs Deku fight after the kidnapping and rescuing, and six years later we get the apology.

(Interview under the cut, the parts where this is discussed)

The interviewer asks what Horikoshi thought of Naruto and Sasuke's rivalry, and Horikoshi says it was frustrating. Horikoshi says he really liked the "Valley of the End" and thought that would be the end of the series. - Kishimoto notes a lot of readers though Naruto and Sasuke would make up after the Valley of the End and go back to the village together. But he made them fight. - Horikoshi continues that all the misunderstandings during the second part were frustrating to watch and when it all came together in the final fight he almost felt like a parent watching these characters he had grown up with, and he was rooting for them both. - Kishimoto says he's happy to hear that, he wanted people to be able to understand both Naruto and Sasuke's feelings. Horikoshi notes it was really emotional, built up over 15 years. - Kishimoto notes he likes Bakugo as a rival and found it funny how he's an ally almost like a villain, telling the main character "die". He thinks Horikoshi did a good job since you don't know if Bakugo will stay an ally or become an enemy. - Horikoshi notes Bakugo is horrible, but thought it would be more interesting that way. He says he wants him to be like Vegeta from Dragon Ball but doesn't know how it'll play out from here. Kishimoto says he thinks it'll be interesting whichever direction Bakugo goes.

I think this last comment is kind of a reference to what he planned for prototype Katsuki Gougou -he was a really nice guy who would insult ppl accidentally and be loud during fights, but he found it annoying. He probably thought and took inspiration from V*geta in order to craft a rude personality for the beginning, and as we know it wasn't clear whether he would even ever support Izuku in the first place or stay as an obstacle to surpass.

I dont believe we are reading into things when thinking Katsuki has become way more than another V*geta, and that his relationship with Izuku doesn't resemble the one he has with G*ku, as far as I know -cmon he is literally crying over feeling like he lost his chance to be by deku's side forever, while not caring about his own arm or possibility of not being a hero, I dont know about DBZ but I dont think something similar happened lol.

When we say he doesnt like it, its because he clearly states very bold declarations in front of the author -who is basically a sensei, a superior role than his and who he should always respect the most. So being critical about it makes it even more clear how much he truly disliked it -he was tired of the misunderstandings and hoped they would just go back together to the village. So, to say the least, he never really truly enjoyed the idea of a rivalry where the characters are so important to each other, but end up fighting for more unnecessary misunderstandings.

We can see how he took notes from the whole everyone coming together for the fight, and he likes that emotional aspect -also making tribute to DBZ with everyone cheering for the hero just like many ppl did irl. We'll have to see what happens, but I believe we'll see more of Katsuki and the reasons why he was able to survive this long and see vestige All Might

[bibibbon]

"Can we be friends or have moots with those who have very different views from us?"

What will your answer with that ask above?

Me, I have a friend (starts off as moot) who is a multishipper. I mean they can find ships from any fandom they're in, and once they love it, they'll make fics and arts of that ship.

About BNHA, they're die hard fan of BKDK, don't ask me, even I can't understand it (I'm also anti Bakugou and BKDK). But my friend and I can still talk about fandom stuff (minus the ships cause I'm not really into shipping).

Don't you think fandom have become more toxic these days? Like, even if I don't ship bkdk, but I never think to say rude things or send death wish to those who ship them. I feel sad when my friend receive those negative things just because of shipping fictional characters.

Thanks for bring positivity to BNHA fandom. My friend was surprised when finding out, you're anti bkdk but never say rude things to the shipper. You're the first anti bkdk blog that they followed and like the posts.

Even if BNHA end with disappointing last arc, it's a great journey overall, right? I don't get people who talked shit to the writer/artist of a certain work? Horikoshi-sensei have work hard all these years, we should appreciate his hard work, at least....(I can feel how hard writing is as a writer myself).

Now, at least I can see that BNHA near its ending from last year. But for JJK I did not see that coming. Is it true that JJK will also ending this year? What do you think the ending will be, tragedy or open ending? Can Yuuji defeat Sukuna?

As long as there's mutual respect between one and another I do believe that two people with different views can be friends. However, this honestly depends on the person for example I personally wouldn't be friends with someone who has a completely different set of morals than mine. Other than that( and maybe a few things I suppose) i think its good to surround yourself with people who have different views as it allows you to build a much more nuanced perspective on certain things and honestly talking to people who you have different views than can be fun.

Honestly depending on the websites or platforms your in different fandoms vary in their level of toxicity and all. I have found it that the most popular fandoms are the ones that have the highest levels of toxicity and Iam completely against it. People should be allowed to like or dislike or comment on whatever without recieving death threats or hate by others because at the end of the day these are simple pieces of fiction and the person you're hating/harming is a real being behind the screen.

I would like to thank you for your comment as I actually wasn't aware that I had such an impact on your friend and if the anons friend is seeing this I would like to apologise for whatever you went through as no one deserves to get hate or death threats for expressing themselves and making content for things they like.

Giving an author hate/death threats is completely inexcusable and shouldn't happen at all. I want to clarify that criticism (which is something that my blog is heavily centered around) is completely different to hate and while I think MHA has had a lot more downs than ups it's still a series with a lot of potential that has captivated me to be honest.

Also, I do want to bring to light that the manga industry in Japan is incredibly competitive and has put a lot of it's artists in tough, exploitative and outright inhumane positions so great works may lose quality overtime due to that or other external factors. In the end horikoshi is an amazing artist with potential to do much more but the writing ends up lacking in various aspects.

I have seen the posts saying that jjk will come to an end but I honestly doubt that gege will wrap up the manga at the end of the year. As of current the manga is in its last act and probably has one or two more arcs to go through before wrapping up to a conclusion. I used to be somewhat optimistic in hoping that jjk will follow the story of the younger generation overcoming and breaking the flaws and problems of the older generations so we would get somewhat of a bittersweet/happy ending but I do see a bad/open ending much more plausible in the current direction ths manga is heading in.