#bakugou is a stagnant character

[nutzgunray-lvt]

There's a really great point that @sapphic-agent brought up about Bakugou's lack of character development, and it's that whenever the narrative is in a position to call him out for his fuck ups, it never happens.

Bakugou's stans love to insist that he's faced the consequences for his behavior and learned from his mistakes, except he really hasn't.

I'm not going to be talking about Aldera or even his bullying of Izuku at UA, but we all know how that worked out. I'm going to be talking about the other things that he's done.

He (and Kirashima) deliberately disobeyed Thirteen's orders to stay back and let her take care of Kurogiri, and as a result, she got distracted and was thus severely injured by him (no joke, I thought she died when I first saw that episode). Is this followed up on? No. Somehow, Thirteen is miraculously okay, and then it's on to the Sports Festival.

The Sports Festival is its own level of messed up, so I won't really get into that either, except we all know what happens and how it ends.

What I will be talking about is the Training Camp, and how instead of listening to orders to stay back at camp, Bakugou RUNS TOWARDS THE VILLAINS because he stupidly believes that he can take them in a fight. When Izuku, Shouji, and Todoroki find him and inform him that he's the target, he STILL TRIES BREAKING FREE SO HE FIND THEM. How does this end for him? His stupid ass gets kidnapped. He gets rescued, they all move on to the Provisional Hero License Exam, and this is where Bakugou FOR ONCE faces the consequences of his actions: he fails the exam due to his attitude towards the "victims".

Does he reflect on this? Absolutely not.

Instead, he whines about "being the reason All Might retired". Now, this would have been somewhat compelling if he actually reflected on WHY he was kidnapped. Instead, he makes it all about him and his ego. Rather than talking about how regrets serving himself up to the villains on a silver platter or WHY they would think he's villainous enough to join the LOV or why the media doesn't believe UA can get a handle on his behavior... he makes it all about his and Izuku's non-rivalry.

And how does this end? He throws a tantrum over not being chosen by All Might, and All Might comforts him and lets him in on One For All.

Tell me how Bakugou is supposed to have learned from this.

[crownofgildedlilies]

christmas lights

pairing: kaminari x reader summary: Denki Kaminari should never be put in charge of making plans.  wc: 2.2k event masterlist

You should have known you were in trouble when Denki was the one who organized the group hangout. 

He had assured you everything was under control. All of your mutual friends—Mina, Kirishima, Sero, Bakugou, Jirou—had agreed to meet you both at a cafe in town just as the sun fell, then everyone would head over to the Christmas lights festival to enjoy the sights. 

Somehow, though, it just ended up being you and Denki. 

“Jirou just texted,” Denki waved his phone to emphasize his words. “She said she can’t make it, either. Something about her request to leave campus being denied?”

“Really?” Your face twisted in confusion. You hadn’t had any problems getting permission to leave, and neither had the others. “So no one else can come?”

Apparently, before you had even gotten to the cafe you were supposed to meet at, Mina and Kirishima both had separate family emergencies come up, Sero had gotten sick in the three hours it had been since you had talked to him last, and Bakugou had stopped answering his phone and was assumed to have fallen asleep. 

And Jirou was out, too. 

“Nope, weird, huh?” Denki laughed awkwardly, scratching at the back of his neck. The two of you were standing in line, waiting for your orders to go. The lights festival had already started, and you had really been looking forward to seeing all the bright decorations. 

“You still want to go, even if it’s just with me?” You asked hopefully. And maybe a little bashfully, too. How long has it been since you first started crushing on him? Somehow, his ridiculousness had won you over and you found him endearing instead of irritating. 

“Yeah, of course!” His smile was wide and genuine, and you couldn’t help but feel all sorts of mushy things in response to it. 

Mercifully, you were saved from having to respond without confessing your long harbored feelings for him by the sound of your orders being called out. Within a few minutes, you and Denki were out on the street, heading in the direction of the festival. 

The air was colder than it had been when you first left the dorms since the sun had set, and you had forgotten your scarf in your hurry to meet up with everyone—everyone resulting in being just Denki. 

Denki, who you were pretty sure was darting glances at you as you walked in silence. It was rare for him to be so quiet, so out of character that you couldn’t help but worry if something was wrong with him. 

“Are you good?” You hummed, shooting him a questioning look. At the same moment, you wrapped your arm around his, blaming the shiver that ran down your spine for why you needed to be so close to him and the flush in your cheeks on the chilled air. 

“Yeah, I am.” He smiled at you, and you fought the roll of your eyes in a defensive move. Instead, you dug your chin into the muscle of his shoulder to wordlessly reprimand him for the horrid offense of making you blush by simply smiling. He tilted his head to look at you better, but you watched as his attention snagged on something in the distance. “Woah, I see it!”

Sure enough, you glanced away from him and saw the Christmas lights in the distance. Red, green, white—warm and cool tones—drops of light in organized patterns or wrapped around trees. Twinkling, flashing, stagnant. 

Your eyes went wide the closer you got to the main part of the festival. Venders were stationed around the decorations, selling everything from t-shirts to sugar cookies to themed souvenir gifts. There was so much to take in, you involuntarily felt yourself clinging closer to the boy beside you. 

“Denks, it’s so pretty,” You breathed, and though you had been bummed before when you found out the rest of your friends hadn’t been able to make it, you realized you wouldn’t have wanted to miss the sights. 

And spending time alone with Denki was always a plus, even if it made you blush.

“Let’s look through the stalls. If you see any food that looks good I’ll pay for it.” Denki pulled you forward, and you shot him a curious look. 

“Since when do you offer to pay?” You teased, tugging him by his arm so that he slowed down and stayed pace with you. “Last time we all hung out, you begged Sero to pay for you.”

“I just forgot my wallet!” He defended, and the whine that left him had you tilting your head back with a laugh. 

“Whatever you say,” 

The rest of the festival passed with the two of you laughing and teasing. It felt like a normal hang out, even with most of the group missing, and you found yourself distantly thinking of more plans that you could make with just Denki. 

But after a while of looking at all the lights, he finally made good on getting you something to eat. There was a stand that sold handmade sugar cookies in various holiday shapes, and Denki dropped you off at a bench underneath a tree wrapped in colored lights so intricately, it looked as if the very leaves were made of light. 

While you waited for Denki to come back, you pulled out your phone and scrolled through social media. At first, nothing new popped up. After a while of scrolling, you decided to post a picture you made Denki take with you in front of a massive Santa Claus made entirely of lights, which then led to you clicking on Mina’s latest post. 

Her, Kirishima, and the so-called sick Sero all hanging out at the dorms, playing a card game. You were pretty certain you even saw a glimpse of Bakugou and Jirou in the back, and the sight left a bitter taste on your tongue. 

Did everyone make up excuses to bail on you?

“I’m back!” Denki called out in his usual energetic way, but you stood to meet him with a frown as you shoved your phone in his face to show him the post. 

“Look at this. How come Mina and Kirishima are hanging out right now if they both had family emergencies that kept them from joining us?” You pouted, absolutely feeling hurt that all your closest friends seemingly made up reasons to not spend time with you. You had been skeptical about Jirou not getting permission to leave campus, but you had planned to text Sero and ask if he needed any medicine while you were out, and Mina and Kirishima had apparently straight up lied. 

“Uh…” The color had drained from Denki’s face as he realized what was on the screen in front of him, as if he was at fault for everyone bailing on you. Still too annoyed, you missed his reaction and instead clicked your phone off, shoving it deep into your coat pocket. 

“Were they just pretending to be busy to ignore us?” You frowned, blowing out a puff of air in irritation. Your night had been going so well, you couldn’t help but be so disappointed in your friends’ actions. “That's so rude of them.”

“No! I doubt that.” Denki was nearly stumbling over his eyes, his face flush. With the hand that wasn’t holding the cookies he’d braved a long line for, he scratched the back of his neck and darted his attention all around the festival. “You know Kiri, he’d never!”

He was looking everywhere but at you, and that was entirely too suspicious for the man that hadn’t taken his eyes off you since you met up.

“Denki, you’re acting really weird.”

“Am I?” His voice came out in a squeak, and suddenly your annoyance turned into suspicion as you narrowed your eyes at him. For a pro hero in training, he was awful at covering his tells. 

“Yeah.” You accused. It was nothing but obvious he was hiding something. You hoped the disappointment you felt at him keeping secrets from you, too, was evident on your face. Your night was one wrong comment away from being ruined. 

“Okay! I admit it!” Denki cracked far faster than you thought it would, and he tipped his head back so he could look at the sky instead of you as he confessed what he knew. “I told them we had to bail on the plans for tonight so they wouldn’t come!”

“What? Why?” You could say with honesty that that hadn’t been what you thought he would say. 

“Because I might have wanted to hang out with you alone but I was too scared to tell you that so, surprise!” He was rushing through his words, so fast you barely could keep up. 

“Slow down.” You ordered, voice softer than it had been only previously. With your shoulders losing some of their tension, you took a tentative step towards him so that you were nearly toe to toe. “You wanted to hang out with me, alone?”

“Yeah,” He nodded, wincing. 

“And you didn’t want to tell me that?”

“Uh huh,” Another nod, and it was hard to keep your expression neutral. 

“So you lied to me and all of our friends to trick me into hanging out with you?”

“When you put it like that…” He trailed off, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. 

“You’re lucky you’re cute.” You huffed, crossing your arms. You were really struggling with hiding your grin, but you couldn’t pass up the opportunity to mess with him after he had apparently conned the entire friend group so he could spend time with you. 

“Huh?” He looked as if he had gone over his wattage, confused by what you had said and not quite sure you had meant it. Rolling your eyes, you stepped even closer so that your crossed arms were pressed against the toned muscle of his chest. 

“I’m not repeating myself until you actually ask me on a date.” You challenged, finally letting the traces of your amusement show through the cracks of your annoyed facade. He was just so adorable you couldn’t hold onto any of your anger. “You can’t just trick me into one.” 

“You wanna make this a date?” Denki asked, voice dripping in disbelief. 

“Close enough,” You muttered to yourself, setting one hand on the back of his neck and tugging him down so that his lips pressed against yours in a long awaited kiss. You could taste the hot chocolate he had drank on your walk to the festival, could feel him relax into the kiss when he processed what was happening. 

His hands found a place on your waist, giving an experimental tug to pull you closer. Remembering you were in public and not wanting to be a PDA couple—not that you figured Denki would mind much—you savored the kiss for a few short seconds before pulling back to smirk up at him. 

“Man, I should have just done that from the start,” Clearly, he had thought he had blown it from the moment you found out about his ruse. He was a little breathless, and somehow knowing he was just as affected as you made you giddy. 

“You think?” You grinned, teasing, enjoying the way your lips stung from both the cold and the absence of him. Needing to feel him close again, you set your chilled hands on his rosy cheeks, squishing them together only slightly. “Next time, you should really just ask me.”

“Next time, huh?” He smirked, the effect lost by your touch on his face and sounding entirely too smug for someone who had accidentally stumbled into a first date. “My plan worked then?”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Rolling your eyes, you darted forward to give him another short kiss. “I’m pretty sure anyone else would have left you here the minute they found out you tried tricking them into a date.”

“I was going to ask!” He pouted, turning to the side in an oh so incredibly guilty way. The movement jostled your hands, so you dropped them to his shoulders, needing to feel him beneath your palms and confirm that it was all very real. “Eventually.”

“I’m planning the next date,” You settled, and the megawatt smile that flashed on Denki’s face drove away any chill encroaching on your soul. You forced yourself to step back slightly, but made up for the distance between the two of you by threading your fingers in his and tugging your conjoined hands into the pocket of your jacket. “Now c’mon, I want to see the rest of the lights.”

“Whatever you want,” Denki grinned, easily placated. Though, you were certain that you could get him to agree to whatever you wanted at the move, just only with the promise of a second date. Smirking up at him, you gave a wicked look he should know only meant trouble.

“I’m so telling everyone what you did as soon as we get back to the dorms.” 

“Aw, come on! They’ll never let me forget it!” 

You only laughed, but you couldn’t help but think that you would never forget it, either. 

Not with how pretty he looked under all the Christmas lights. 

[doodlegirl1998]

hori constantly acts as if he isn’t the writer and has full control of the story and it pisses me off to no end. gonna drop some examples below. these are from the street wear profiles from the manga.

sen kaibara - “I love his Quirk, so I can’t wait to portray it more.” he’s acting like something/someone is actively holding him back from doing so.

tetsutetsu tetsutetsu - “I hope I get to show him in action more.” once again, acting like something is stopping him. side note, why tf did he give him that name. it’s just so lazy. and it’s not even funny. just annoying to say and annoying to write.

hanta sero - “He’s mostly just for one liners in the background, but he’s a good guy, and I’d like to feature him more. At some point. For sure.” and then proceeds to never do that.

this might just be me being bitter abt all the amazing characters he’s completely disregarded and disrespected. this might just be me not understanding what it’s like being a mangaka. but it still bothers me.

i just hate how he’s created this insanely interesting world and amazing characters and never expands on anything bc he’s too busy sucking bakugos dick.

speaking of bakugo, as someone who has narcissistic tendencies, he’s a textbook case.

he obviously has some sort of inferiority/superiority complex and a mild to severe case of a god complex. at best he’s dismissive of people who he sees as inferior to him, at worst he’s downright cruel.

his “nicknames” are all just fucking insults aimed at peoples insecurities.

raccoon eyes/horns: mina was probably bullied for her appearance and then her so called “friend” exclusively calls her names that poke fun at her appearance.

bird brain/bird face/other bird names: tokoyami has probably heard it all at this point but once again bakugo making fun of heteromorphs.

dunce face: denki has shown to be insecure about his intelligence and once again his so called “friend” mocks him for it.

tentacles/arms/octopus: again, mocking heteromorphs.

tail: i’m beginning to see a pattern here.

ears: ok how has no one pointed out how most of his nicknames are him basically just calling them slurs.

i don’t think bakugo has ever called someone their actual name. maybe a handful of times? but it’s like a massive event when he calls someone by their actual name.

exclusive calling people insults isn’t exactly heroic.

anyway rant over i just needed to get all this shit off my chest.

Hi @the-jello-bowl 👋,

There could be something to be said here about how the editors may have had a hand in Hori not exploring all the characters he may have wanted to.

But, even if that is the case, not all of the blame would rest on them.

Hori clearly did not plan ahead for a lot of MHA. He is very good at coming up with good character designs and concepts as well as bringing life to them but seems to be at a loss after that is done. The cast bloating is key evidence of this.

It is sad to see all these interesting characters be swept to the wayside in favour of Bakugou, who by contrast brings nothing of interest to the table.

Bakugou is a narcissistic abuser in my opinion. He uses cruel nicknames, not as lighthearted jibes, but to bring others down - especially his friends.

Other than the instances you mentioned, I want to bring attention to one that belongs to Bakugou's supposed best friend, Kirishima, who he calls only "shitty hair." We learn in his backstory that Kirishima changed his hair to be like his idols as a symbol of his growth prior to U.A. Therefore, being continually called "shitty hair" would hurt Kirishima deeply. He also tells Bakugou to stop, and yet Bakugou does not care.

The time I can think of when Bakugou called someone their actual name is that time he used "Izuku" instead of the usual "Deku" slur. And even that is bad because instead of asking for the right to call Izuku by his first name, usually reserved for close family, Bakugou just does it.

Typical narcissistic, entitled and stagnant Bakugou. We hate to see it.

I wish Hori didn't waste so many manga panels on this idiot.

[sapphic-agent]

Thank you for the invitation! I've read your posts on Bakuguo's relationship with Izuku, and I agree with almost all of them, but this most recent post is the first time I saw you suggest that it's not just a mistake in writing on the creator's part but *deliberate* writing on the creator's part (forgive me if you've written about the subject before). The only way I could appreciate Izuku's relationship with Bakuguo was as an unfortunate side effect of Izuku's immature ideas of what it means to be a hero, and that as he experienced more of the world and grew into being his own hero, that he would eventually reject this need to tolerate Bakuguo's ... Bakuguo-ness. I also was informed that Bakuguo's behavior is a trope of manga characterization that the audience would expect from this type of writing, so I should just accept it.

But now, from what you've written, this might not be true. I've always suspected that some creators would have preferred to write about characters who couldn't actually carry a story *without* changing, but they didn't want them to change. (For example, Sukuna in Jujutsu Kansen is obviously the creator's favorite, but a story about Sukuna would require change, and the creator likes that monster just the way he is.). Are there clues that Izuku's creator is just using Izuku as a "Caretaker" character to enable the characters he does like to behave terribly and get away with it? (I hope this makes sense.)

I suppose the answer to this relies on how we look at "deliberate."

Do I think Horikoshi is intentionally undercutting Izuku's character to make Bakugou seem better? No. I don't think he has the foresight, skill, or self-awareness to even go about writing like that. I'm sure in his mind he thinks that by giving Bakugou more spotlight, he's making Izuku better written by extension.

And a lot of that has to do with the fandom. Horikoshi is an author whose decisions are very driven by popular opinion, it's why so many of his storylines and characters are all over the place. For example, almost as soon as Bakugou began to become popular (around the Sports Festival), Horikoshi started to give him more exposure. If you pay attention, you'll even notice how characters like Iida and Uraraka begin to fade into the background. This is even supported by the two of them not being very popular (especially Iida) in comparison.

And obviously, BakuDeku is very popular, the most popular ship in the fandom. Horikoshi would never make it canon, but that isn't to say he won't milk that fact for all its worth. By pushing Izuku and Bakugou together, he's feeding into that. Every time they so much as share a panel about it, BakuDeku shippers go crazy here and on Twitter. It keeps attention on MHA, and keeps revenue up.

Horikoshi knows that a large majority of the fandom will consistently read anything he releases as long as he keeps Bakugou and Izuku connected. Both Bakugou and BakuDeku as a relationship are essentially a cash cow that he can exploit.

But for Bakugou to actually improve and become a better person and for Izuku to come into his own as a hero, they need to be separated. They are both detrimental to one another's development, which is why Bakugou's character development sucks and Izuku's character seems so stagnant. They should have had to grow and learn away from each other before reconciliation was ever even thought about.

Does Horikoshi know this? Probably not. I don't think he even has the capacity to think this way. But it doesn't change the fact that he will gladly shove Izuku- and everyone else- to the side if it means Bakugou's stans keep reading

[class1akids]

Do you think the ending would've been better if deku remained a U.A. teacher instead of being a tech hero?

I think the ending point for Deku is fine. Both being a teacher or being a tech hero or being a teacher who is a part time tech hero works perfectly fine for him.

I feel that the reason people feel so negative about is because we are missing crucial elements from Deku's perspective:

Did he consider becoming a tech hero but couldn't / did he instead choose teaching or did he settle for it?

We don't see if Deku tried to stay a tech hero but couldn't because of the state of tech wasn't there or if he already decided that once the embers are gone, he's done. We also don't know if Deku had any enthusiasm to become a teacher at UA or it was kind of offered to him and he thought, why not.

The manga with the information / vibe presented makes it seem like teacher was something he settled for and tried to be happy with but couldn't quite lie to himself and others about it. Which makes his character look weak and indecisive - back to his Ch 1 self who wants something but is also unsure if he deserves to try. Which makes him feel like a stagnant / flat character.

And I think also the fact that everyone knew about the suit but they kept it secret for him also doesn't work so well for Deku's own character (it works for Bakugou's). He was the one who wielded those quirks, who analyzed most everyone's quirk so if there was a suit in making, there is no better person to provide input and be involved in every step of the design and development phase than Deku.

So the fact that they didn't involve him means they thought he'd refuse and think it's too much money / effort wasted for something that's not needed and that those efforts could be spent elsewhere.

So then it all boils down to Deku's life being "fixed" by Bakugou, All Might and the others by basically telling him (again) that you don't know what you want, but we know what's best for you.

And for my taste, that makes Deku a character with very little agency and makes him feel like that all these past 400+ chapters, he learned nothing.

Compare Deku's case for example to Shouto's who is fundamentally very similar to Deku in that he bottles up things, has grown up not having much agency or self-perception, has been dehumanized the same way as Deku and is struggling also with similar sense of failure at the end.

Shouto also has good reasons to quit / disappear from the public eye with the family scandal still looming heavily and being out there not only exposes himself to criticism, but his family too. But he decides to face those difficulties, he keeps pushing on and yes, he relies on and accepts Class A's help and emotional support, but fundamentally he's the one carving his own path to his end goal.

So I think what's missing from Deku's narrative is being confident in who he is and being able to move forward after a short period of loss of self esteem maybe.

If the manga was longer, we could have had a 2-3 chapters long miniarc, where after Deku loses his embers, he starts to struggle in training against likes of Ojirou or Mineta, but then we get back his UA beginnings arc self and he starts to experiment with new ways of fighting, new equipment and get a triumphant moment of winning like how he won basically no quirks the SF race. Because he realizes that OFA was just his training wheel to reach his dream to be a hero even without a quirk.

And then having everyone's support, he graduates as the first quirkless person in the hero course. And then after that maybe he decides to go on teaching path, but in any case, he ends with a sense of triumph.

I think the ending Horikoshi wrote prioritizes Bakugou's arc over Deku's and it works well for Bakugou, but not so well for Deku. I do wonder if he ended it along what I outlined, couldn't there be a way to make Bakugou still Deku's biggest pillar of support, helping him and cheering him on all the way in a manner that respects both their arcs, gives them the same full circle but makes Deku feel like a character who's learned his own self-worth and is willing to act on it.

But I think that would have taken a longer time to develop.

Like I disagree with level of hate and hysteria the ending gets, but I do understand why people who were invested deeply in Deku's journey may feel betrayed by it.

[wander-wren]

hot take all those posts about uraraka and deku having the same type (toga and bakugou)?

wrong. wrong! wrong. sorry

deku is the one with the canonically stated weird creepy obsession. whether you personally think its creepy or not is debatable, but regardless chasing down your ex-friend-turned-bully with stars in your eyes and taking such meticulous notes on his fighting (the moves he uses to beat you up) that you can beat him in a fight when you are at a huge disadvantage is…..it’s not normal.

the way. deku loves kacchan. is. not. normal.

that’s toga’s character

now you could say that bakugou is equally obsessed with deku and i think he is but it comes from less of a place of love. it’s mostly his own insecurity centered on the closest person to him. i think deku knows he loves bakugou (for whatever type of love you’d prefer), but bakugou doesn’t know he loves deku. he just has…these feelings he doesn’t know what to do with, and most of his character is a ball of low self esteem masked with huge ego, so it all just gets wrapped up in that. you know?

and i dont think it’s a hot take to say deku is FAR more feral than bakugou, he of the 8pm bedtime and tax returns. deku is fucking unhinged, man. kid breaks his limbs regularly for three seasons and runs off to become a vigilante.

also, deku AND toga’s character arcs are about seeing the way the world thinks of them, the ideas they internalized for a lot of their lives, and then accepting themselves for who they really are. deku doesn’t let anyone stop him from being a hero, and toga doesn’t let anyone make her feel ashamed for her bloodlust. bakugou’s character arc isn’t about inner acceptance, it’s about changing and growing as a person instead of remaining stagnant like he has all his life, comfortably at the top by accident of birth (this is not to discredit the very very obvious work/training he does pre-UA, no one fights like that with explosive hands otherwise, but it’s clear he didn’t need to adjust anything personally/socially).

i know absolutely nothing is going to stop the meme now, but every time it comes across my dash my eye twitches because ugh, blonde and loud does not a toga parallel make.

disclaimer: i am an anime-only so idk what’s happening in the manga but i sincerely doubt it could be anything big enough to wipe out several years of character building. correct me if i’m wrong!

[delawaredetroit]

Hi! I love your BNHA analyses! But I do have to say one thing about the licensing exam.

Your points about Todoroki would hold up... If most of what the manga is trying to communicate about his character hadn't already been resolved.

Todoroki already learned a) not to underestimate his opponents and b) to respect his teammates and fellow hero students. He learned the latter during the Sports Festival when his move against Sero drained him and during his fight against Midoriya. Not to mention the incident with Stain showed him (through Ida's situation) the importance of relying on and trusting others. And for the latter, he learned during the final exam. He took charge, messed up, and had to face the reality that someone else (Yaoyorozu) knew better and that he had to follow that someone's lead.

These faults were already acknowledged and addressed. There was no reason to do so again during the licensing exam. In fact, I would argue that it kept his character stagnant. His character didn't improve from the remedial courses- only Bakugo's did because that entire arc was about him, not Todoroki- and was left out of a major arc. This is also supported by him and Inasa- the reason he failed- barely interacting during the remedial courses. The only reason he failed was so that Bakugo wasn't the only one to do so. Because Horikoshi can never let Bakugo be the worst or fail at something/face consequences on his own.

(I would also point out that the way he failed and what you listed had nothing to do with one another. The only reason Todoroki failed was because Inasa held a grudge. He didn't actually do anything wrong except for engage with him for a little too long. And who wouldn't? This kid he barely knew and doesn't remember him is attacking him for nothing. How is he supposed to do the task at hand when another participant- that would irl be a fellow hero- is purposely sabotaging him?)

I agree with most other things you say, but Todoroki failing was something that shouldn't have happened. He was already humbled and learned better

I knew one of these would end up in my inbox eventually after I wrote this post.

Shouto has had a problem with cooperating with others since the beginning of the manga. An established character flaw like that doesn't go away over night just because he starts to address it.

It's true that he learned not to look down on his peers in during the sports festival. And he was able to work with Izuku and Iida during the Stain Arc, but Izuku was one of the closest relationships he had and Shouto trusts him with his life. After much handholding and being told directly what he was doing wrong, he was able to work together with a classmate who deeply respected him (Momo) during his midterm.

That's improvement for sure. But it in no way meant Shouto had the ability to work with people he didn't see everyday or who were hostile to him in particular.

As I've said, Shouto likely would have failed the midterm if he had been paired with someone else who also had difficulty with teamwork like Bakugou. That's likely the only way Shouto would have learned this lesson early enough to prevent a failure at the provisional licensing exam.

2. Whether Shouto's character improved from the remedial course arc is a separate question. I'd be inclined to agree with you that that arc was mostly for Bakugou and Inasa's sake.

3. On the issue of the reasons I listed and the reason he failed having nothing to do with one another.

Shouto made a series of mistakes during the licensing exam.

First, he immediately rejected cooperation in the first stage of the exam and bulldozed through it without thinking about what the purpose of this test was and what they were measuring. Because he is quite skilled, he still passed the first round anyway. But since he didn't consider the big picture at all in the first half, it put him at a disadvantage in the second half of the exam.

Second, he stirred up conflict between the tests by confronting Inasa (this was unintentional obviously, but this was the effect of his behavior).

Third, he rejected cooperation with Inasa during the second phase of the exam from the second he appeared, though that was a mutual error for both himself and Inasa.

Fourth, he was significantly distracted by a personal matter and got into an argument with another hero in the middle of a fight with a villain.

Fifth, Shouto and Inasa almost severely injured a fellow examinee who was incapacited and was in need of help during a rescue exercise.

To some extent, it feels unfair because the HSPC changed the scoring of the exam to weigh cooperation more heavily after Kamino and because UA doesn't value this as highly (see Bakugou not failing after attacking his teammate in the midterm), but there is an internal logic to it. Shouto was lacking in a main skill they were testing.

4. On how anyone would react to Inasa's provocation

It's not that Shouto's reaction isn't understandable, but he was in a licensing exam to become a type of first responder. People say and do dire things in emergency situations, and sometimes they make it personal. Yes, he shouldn't have taken the bait and he should have continued to focus on the task at hand because that was his job in this exam. He was asking for a license to save people's lives, so more can and should be expected of him. What Shouto demonstrated here was that he prioritized arguing over a personal matter over rescuing the civilians in this exercise. Of course they were going to fail him.

Again, Shouto is one of my favorite characters in BNHA, but he earned this L.

[anartisicandautisticstararcher]

Hi, I'm also developing a reboot of MHA, although my intention is to create something new with the concept of the manga, I'm creating new characters and creating a totally different worldbuiding, but I'm keeping the essence of the manga, like focusing on education of heroes. I'm still in the development phase, but I have an idea of ​​how I can write Katsuki's character, even though I'm really reinventing the character, like he's literally another character. But here's what I have planned for him: . Katsuki was born into a prestigious family, where all the individuals are famous people, including his parents, as much as it may seem like a fantasy, it wasn't quite like that, Katsuki suffered enormous pressure to be perfect, this was done by his grandfather, his parents tried help him, but they often agreed with his grandfather, and everyone in the family kept saying that he is the next number 1 hero, but then I want to focus on the part where Katsuki tries to find out which hero he really wants to be, since everyone else he just said that he would be the next greatest hero, but he himself realized that he doesn't know what hero he wanted to be.

. Katsuki suffers from pressure and this influences him to develop an inferiority complex, mainly creating a fear of not being able to achieve his family's prospects. This influences the way he treats Izuku, since our protagonist was the only one who saw Katsuki in a different way, like seeing the blonde as a person and not an object, but all this changes, when Izuku does something that until then Katsuki was the only thing he could do in their classroom and that the blonde was proud of (I'm still thinking about that episode).

. Including this episode and the fact that Izuku has a quirk considered useless for being a hero, it made Katsuki explode with rage and start offending Izuku, calling him useless in front of everyone, which influenced everyone in their class to start bullying Izuku. (In my reboot, Katsuki didn't actually bully Izuku, but he didn't protect or defend him, and he was the one causing the bullying).

. Until when Izuku was 12 years old, he was removed from his school, in addition to All Might (He will have another name) becoming a guardian for our protagonist (Something will happen that I don't want to reveal), after an event. This made Katsuki feel guilty, but he tried to ignore it, thinking that he won't have to worry about Izuku, but it still makes him have a guilty conscience. This ends Katsuki's participation in this moment in the story, as he will focus on Izuku's training and how he will adapt to his new life.

I want to give Katsuki a chance, I don't have hatred against the character himself, I think my dislike of him is more about the poorly done redemption and the fans who don't accept anything other than idolizing him. I also want to write a healthy rivalry between Izuku and Katsuki, even though they will start as enemy rivals, but as the story goes on, they will both have a serious conversation and really understand each other, even though in the first part I want to focus on Izuku and his squad, Katsuki will be an ally in the upcoming arcs. There are so many things I'm creating for my reboot, I really want to create something new and different, I don't want to reveal anything, but I'm actually proud of how the development of One for All's worldbuilding is going.

Wow. My first ask in...forever.

I hear you, Anon. This is a similar problem that I had with Bakugou's redemption arc: He sort of remains stagnant and doesn't really change that much...also the fact Aizawa was willing to go through hell and back to defend Bakugou's abhorrent actions.

For me, I wanted to make Izuku and Bakugou actually be friends. But I didn’t want to completely sweep what Bakugou did to Izuku under the rug. This is one of the reasons that I added the 'MHA happened but it was an alternate timeline' plotline. To make the story different from the original while properly addressing problems that were never resolved.

And like you, I plan on making Izuku and Bakugou's rivalry a healthy one. But it's not all sunshine and rainbows. In fact, Katsuki remembers the actions of his past self like Izuku. So it adds the extra layer of 'Is he doing this because he actually wants to be friends or is it out of guilt?' to his and Izuku’s friendship.

[anti-katsuki-lounge]

So.

The most powerful villain is causing havoc.

The safety of Japan hangs in the balance.

He gets a second chance at life by bullshit means.

And he STILL thinks about surpassing Midoriya after all that’s happened.

(Slow clap)

Ladies and gentlemen,

Proof Katsuki Bakugou, throughout the ENTIRE SERIES

IS

A

STAGNANT

CHARACTER.

We gotta love that yummy peak character development. The pinnacle of storytelling right here.

🤢🤮

Ok, that hurt to type even when I was being sarcastic. Fuck Katsuki and his Gary Stu ass non-existent character arc 🖕

[ao3feed-izch]

A Heart's Unraveling: Journey to Rediscover Love

by Dios_tubbington

In the midst of a stagnant marriage, Momo and Shoto find themselves drifting apart, their once vibrant love fading into the background of their busy lives. However, Momo’s life is abruptly altered by a devastating accident, leaving her husband shaken to his core. As he watches Momo fight for her life, he is forced to confront the depth of his love for her and the role she plays in his life.

Haunted by regrets and missed opportunities, Shoto reflects on their relationship and vows to make amends. With newfound determination, he embarks on a journey to rebuild their connection, realizing just how precious their love truly is and the importance of cherishing every moment together.

Words: 517, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga)

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Categories: F/M

Characters: Yaoyorozu Momo, Todoroki Shouto, Uraraka Ochako, Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki, Kirishima Eijirou, Jirou Kyouka

Relationships: Todoroki Shouto/Yaoyorozu Momo, Midoriya Izuku/Uraraka Ochako

Additional Tags: Married Couple, Pro Hero Class 1-A (My Hero Academia), Fluff and Angst, Near Death Experiences, Class 1-A as Family (My Hero Academia), Future Fic

source: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54832540

[ao3feed-kiribaku]

Phanes (Fantasy Au Shoto Todoroki x OC)

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/lZiSG0f by Hotaru_Honey I thought freedom was the answer to the hole in my chest. The forest was thick, as was the tension that clouded the air. I held my own waist -hands wrapped around myself in a form of emotional defense. I looked down at the boy in front of me, eyes brimming with tears as his expression stayed stagnant. "do you love him?" he whispered, voice full of disdain and eyes brimming with sorrow. My arms fell to my sides, and I gave him a remorseful look; Straightening my spine and eyes scanning his expression. "yes..." I whispered, watching as his face flinched in hurt. He tucked his head, hands clenching into fists in his lap. Slowly, I walked up to him, reaching down and cupping his jaw in my hands. "but not like I love you," Words: 645, Chapters: 1/50, Language: English Series: Part 2 of In the World of Zinniafell Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Categories: Other Characters: Todoroki Shouto, Dabi | Todoroki Touya, Todoroki Enji | Endeavor, Todoroki Fuyumi, Todoroki Natsuo, Todoroki Rei, Takami Keigo | Hawks, Toga Himiko, Original Characters, Kaminari Denki, Shinsou Hitoshi, Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Ashido Mina, Asui Tsuyu, Bakugou Katsuki, Kirishima Eijirou, Sero Hanta, Jirou Kyouka, Sensei | All For One, Bakugou Mitsuki, Kayama Nemuri | Midnight, Takeyama Yuu | Mount Lady, Midoriya Izuku, Iida Tenya, Yaoyorozu Momo Relationships: Todoroki Shouto/Original Character(s), Jirou Kyouka/Yaoyorozu Momo, Kaminari Denki/Shinsou Hitoshi, Bakugou Katsuki/Kirishima Eijirou, Asui Tsuyu/Uraraka Ochako Additional Tags: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Romantic Fluff, Prince Todoroki Shouto, dragon OC - Freeform, Dragons, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Sexual Tension, Mild Sexual Content, Gods, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Childhood Trauma, Orphans, Eventual Smut, Fluff and Smut, On the Run, Blood and Gore, Attempted Kidnapping, Attempted Murder, Herbology, Alcohol, Mind/Mood Altering Substances, Pirates, Switch Todoroki Shouto, OC is a switch, Body Worship, Shoto is a sub, Todoroki Shouto Needs a Hug, Soft Todoroki Shouto, Abusive Todoroki Enji | Endeavor, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Ashido Mina is a Good Friend, Aromantic Ashido Mina, Mama Mina, Kaminari Denki is a Dork, Bisexual Kaminari Denki, Topping from the Bottom, soft smut, Gentle Sex, Heavy Drinking, Making Out read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/lZiSG0f

[doodlegirl1998]

Hi, morning.

Just wanted to add more to how the fandom detest Izu...and this is all thanks to Hori's incompetency.

Fandom loves to yap how Shig' is a great guy bc "baby Tenko played with those two random loser kids" and this is all smth Tenko is saying.

We literally saw Izu saving a lil boy FROM BK. And the fandom does nothing with this.

Fandom loves to yap how bk has a great development, how he deep down always care for Izu.

Chap 1 he literally suicide bait Izu for no other reason then to dare to want to be a hero.

This is never addressed nor it will.

They have to give all his good traits and actions to others characters to make them look good...while fandom gives Izu nothing (it boils my blood how they blame Izu for Shig's death..just saw an acc saying for the "mysterious man" to be careful bc Izu is going to "save" him) but blame and hate.

You think Izu is the villain in this story...a Homelander.type but he is not! God, he is so innocent in all this nonsense this is a bit funny.

The sponge Bob meme works here.

This fandom didn't stick to see if Izu would be a great hero....they stayed bc they saw their toxic and pathetic fav...being reward for doing nothing. "Why change if the world bents to bk's will/my will"

And the ones who wanted to see a story where Izu became a hero....left or change their mind.

I stayed to see....this trainwreck.

Good evening @mikeellee 👋

There is something to be said about those members of the fandom who praise other characters for doing things, yet when it's seen that Izuku has also done something similar... *crickets*

It also angers me to see how the fandom gives Izuku so little yet reassign his good traits to their faves - but especially when that fave is Bakugou.

Bakugou, who in canon, stayed stagnant, vile, and abusive to the end without concequence.

Izuku is not to blame for Shigaraki's death, Spinner was wrong in blaming him as are the Villian Stans. Shigaraki did not want to be saved, he stayed unrepentant and used his last bit of strength to kill AFO.

We stayed to see a trainwreck of an ending but at least we met some good friends along the way.

[sapphic-agent]

Let's Talk About Shigaraki

I've had some time to collect my thoughts, so I think I'm ready to finally talk about Tomura.

Fair warning, this is more of a rant. Mostly because there isn't much to say except that Horikoshi hates this motherfucker, almost as much as he hates Izuku.

Tomura is a character whose autonomy and agency has been stripped by the narrative repeatedly. And that's not really uncommon in MHA (Izuku, Hawks, Shoto, etc.), so why am I pointing it out? Because Horikoshi's assassination of his character didn't need to happen. In fact, it feels like he bent over backwards to make sure it happened.

Anyone who's been around my blog long enough knows that the MLA arc is one of my favorites, I even put it in my top five MHA arcs. It did a great job of having Shigaraki progress as not only a villain but a leader and come into his own power. My one issue with it and what kept it out of top three was that it seemed to immediately undo all the progress Tomura made by making him want AFO (the quirk). Him gaining this quirk didn't tie into his goals at all and it flipped him from wanting to use his destruction to make a world for the LOV to be free in (Eric Vale's delivery of this scene in dub was fire btw, go watch it) to him just wanting more power. It was an extremely weird decision.

The PLA War further perpetuates this and it causes some confusion as to where Horikoshi was going with his character. Instead of a newly established in-control and ambitious villain, he turned Tomura into a puppet for All For One to use for his own benefit.

(Off topic, but that also felt out of character for AFO. Prior to this, he seemed to want Tomura to succeed and carve his own path, even taking the time to gently correct his outbursts and give him actual advice and guidance. You could argue that this was manipulation on his part, but it didn't feel like it at the time. Why would he want Tomura to be level-headed and calm if the plan was to use him as a husk for his own control? It felt way more like Tomura was initially meant to be his successor, not his puppet. This reads more like another Horikoshi retcon)

For some reason, it feels like the intention was to turn him into a victim for Izuku to save. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing... Except he didn't develop Izuku enough for him to be able to do that.

Izuku doesn't understand Tomura, he even admits this himself. He sees Tomura as someone who causes destruction for the hell of it. And you know what? He wasn't wrong going off his few interactions with him. But that's where we hit our problem; Izuku has not interacted enough with Tomura.

And honestly? There's no excuse for this. They're supposed to be our protagonist and antagonist. They're supposed to be parallels with one another. So why in the world do they only really have one intimate scene together?

(I have mentioned this before, but Izuku should have been the one kidnapped, not Bakugou. Bakugou being in this position provides nothing to the plot, especially because All Might would have sacrificed his power for anyone. Bakugou isn't a dynamic or integral enough character for this to benefit the character progression of Tomura or the rest of the LOV, but Izuku is. Him learning why they're villains would have really done so much for their characters, as well as his own)

This leaves their interactions during the Final War completely stagnant and stale. Izuku doesn't understand Tomura, and Tomura knows that. He sees Izuku as a goody-two-shoes with no understanding of how dark the world can be. Except Izuku does understand because he experienced it. But how would Tomura know that? And how would Izuku know how Tomura became a villain? There's no understanding between them which is why Izuku is unable to connect with Tomura like he did Stain and Gentle Criminal. Which is why him trying to save Tomura goes nowhere.

It didn't have to be like this though. Even if it was rushed, Horikoshi could have squeezed it in. He could have made the effort. He chose not to. Partly because he can't be assed to give either of them good development, but also because he avoids the shit Izuku went through like the plague. He hates to acknowledge it and when he does it's sugarcoated (and used for Bakugou's gain, not Izuku's own). Because of he gets into the nitty gritty of it, his favorite blond rat's "development" goes right out the window.

Horikoshi wrote himself into a corner here, which is why the Izuku vs Tomura fight is so lackluster. Their interactions mean nothing, so their fight means nothing. What's his solution to this?

To fucking kill Tomura and retcon his entire backstory to force AFO back into the plot.

The last shreds of agency Tomura had as a villain were ripped away. He can't even have his own tragic backstory at this point. Hell, Kotaro can't even own his own shitty decisions, blame is pinned on Nana even though him abusing his kids was his choice and AFO somehow had a hand in him having kids?? Ok.

(Abusive man not being held accountable without someone else- a woman- taking the shit for it, what else is new in MHA)

Also, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN AFO GAVE HIM DECAY?

In all fairness, this has been a theory for a while. But again, the entire point of his character in the MLA arc was that he took charge of his "cursed" power and made it his own. So AFO giving him Decay erases another part of his development.

(And to add to this, what exactly was the point of having him take a quirk away from Tomura? Why not make him born quirkless so a parallel can be drawn to Izuku (and even Aoyama)? What is it with Horikoshi and quirkless aversion? There are four characters born quirkless in the narrative even though they're supposed to make up 20% of the population: Izuku, Aoyama, All Might, Melissa. Only Melissa stays quirkless)

AFO just happening upon Tomura- desperate, shunned, and vulnerable- who just happens to be Nana's grandson makes him so much eviler and more despicable. Him seeing an exposed child and deciding to use him to be cruel to Nana's memory and Toshinori drives home his callousness. Making it so that he orchestrated it just takes away from that. Tbh, it just makes him look like a loser. So, both Tomura and AFO just suffered character assassination.

Back to killing Tomura, do you know how awful this comes off? This character claimed his own power and goals, only for that to be stripped by making him a puppet, the attempt to save him is drawn out and goes nowhere, and then he just fucking dies. Like he never mattered at all. Like trying to save him was a complete waste of time and there's nothing about him worth saving.

And people saying he deserved to die for his crimes, THAT ISN'T THE POINT. It isn't about what he did or didn't do. I couldn't care less about that. It's about how Horikoshi stripped him of agency again and again and then discarded him when he didn't serve the shitty narrative he created.

Tomura and Izuku deserved so much better than this

[raymusterio]

In later seasons is when their character growth really shows, look for it in their actions. Bakugou has a lot of personal growth without fundamentally changing his character, he's still loud and explosive but his values and morality changed. I think that's why people write him off as a stagnant character.

To me, it's really not like drarry because Midoriya and Bakugou, whether viewed as platonic or romantic, are intertwined and their relationship complex. I would compare BakuDeku more so to Merthur from Merlin than drarry, but even that's not a great comparison.

Either way, it's all up to interpretation, as is everything.

Happy watching and welcome to the fandom :)

I'm watching My Hero Academia for the first time. Am I ever gonna find out why people ship bakudeku or is bakugou always this awful to midoriya? Is this like dr*rry where they hate each other the whole series but people ship them anyway despite them having no chemistry and being terrible for each other?