#but early bakugou is actually dangerous

[justatalkingface]

If society is the reason for the personality of Bakugo, why aren't there more Bakugos in society?

If "strong" quirks turn people into violent a**holes, why aren't Nejire, Tokoyami, Kaminari, and that loud wind quirk guy relatively well-adjusted to social interaction.

The answer is simple: because it isn't society's fault.

Like, don't get me wrong, it didn't help, that's for sure, but Bakugou's problem isn't society, it's that he's a jerk. Bakugou is unironically high on his own brand.

Part of that is how other people treated him, true (though it was happening even before he had a Quirk, so it's not society in the way it's usually used for Bakugou, where it's about his Quirk), because he was cool and competent as a kid, which made the kids praise him, which fed his ego, which made him want to do it more, in a vicious cycle... but even with that, there's still something unique to him that is at fault here: he's told, as a kid, that he has a good Quirk, and he can be a hero with it. This is basic, bog standard encouragement; it's a good Quirk, but he's, what, ten? That woman is probably telling every single kid that their Quirk is great. But Bakugou, though, he hears this, and his mind instantly snaps to a conclusion: he realizes that he's The Best, TM. That he's special, that he's better than everyone else. And that? That's not 'society', that's not the fault of people around him, that's Bakugou's fault, Bakugou's problem.

I'll be honest here, kids are stupid; Bakugou isn't the first kid to have a delusion of grandeur and he's not going to be the last. What makes it different with him, though, is that it's more than just a passing phase. That philosophy, his fundamental superiority, is a train of thought that remains with him for the rest of his life, and not only that, it is a cancerous logic that festers in his mind like a disease.

You know how Bakugou calls everyone else 'Extras'? That's the logical conclusion of his superiority complex, of the idea of that he alone is special, superior, the honored one: because if he's special, what is everyone else? Less then him. An extra in his story. Or, as Shigaraki would put it?

An NPC.

That's concerning. More than that, that is deeply alarming. Unironically, I think that counts as a mental disorder of some form (probably narcissism?), and it also inherently dehumanizes other people... which explains why he's so casual about hurting everyone around them.

And to be blunt? That's a very, very bad thing. Dehumanizing other people is how people are taught that it's OK to hurt others, or even kill them; fundamentally, Bakugou is radicalizing himself against everyone who isn't Bakugou.

If they are less than him, if they are not 'real people', if they are just extras... then it doesn't matter if he hurts them, insults them, because... why would it? It's not like they're actually people, it's not like they're important. They're just extras in The Great Story Of Bakugou. They're just NPCs in the Hero Game he's playing, and nothing else.

People do horrible, horrible things to NPCs in video games that they would never in a million years do to people in real life. They do it because NPCs don't matter, not like real human beings do. Think, for a minute, how you treat the random characters in Fallout or whatever, the nameless mooks you that will always more of, because they will always respawn after whatever you do to them. Think about what would happen if you did that to a real person.

You can even see it in how he acts in the various flashbacks back when he was a child: when he was young, Bakugou was brash, a bit aggressive, but largely an OK kid. But as time passed, his aggression grew, and his respect for others shrunk. He went from insulting people (at times probably accidentally), to actively bullying them. He became more and more comfortable not just verbally abusing others, but then physically hurting them. By the time canon starts, Bakugou seemed to treat, and consider, other human beings as barely more than trash, and Izuku's existence in particular as something like a cosmic mistake he was 'graciously' tolerating.

And then we find out that he was willing, in fact, to kill people. It's very likely that, if driven to a corner, that people may be willing to kill to survive, but that isn't what happened to Bakugou: he was in school. He was unironically playing cops and robbers.

And yet, Izuku's basic unwillingness to just... give up, to just sit back and let someone maim him as much as he wanted is what 'cornered' Bakugou to the point he resorted to overwhelmingly lethal force. He doesn't feel an ounce of guilt about it afterwords, either, and he only stops because he's threatened... with being kicked out of the exercise. He's not even serious about, he's willing to kill someone but he values winning more than his murder attempt, winning at something that's essentially worthless, even. It's an impulse, one that he doesn't ever question or think about again after the fact.

To be fair, his... radicalization, or just plain assholishness, got noticeably cut back after that point (to the point where it seems more like retcon than character development), but if it wasn't for that? Clearly, no one was willing to call him on things before, so if he didn't get serious consequences, and he had killed Izuku? He probably would have grown more and more comfortable with killing, the same way he did with everything else he's done.

But it's more than just that. His parents are... well, they're good people, but... they don't seem to be the best at making their son not be an asshat; both of them were pretty OK with their son calling his mother a 'hag', and not even in a sarcastic, well meaning way, but as an actual insult.

His mom is cut from the same cloth as her son (normally, it'd be the other way around, but Bakugou's character probably came first), if more restrained. Unfortunately, that means she's probably a source of a lot of his more aggressive behaviors in the first place, and not just in a genetic way: he watched what she did, and then learned to do it from her. She tries to get him to stop the worst of it but she doesn't seem to making a serious effort? It's not a serious punishment, or a heart to heart talk about his behavior, it's... basiclly the fan gag, which doesn't really teach anyone anything?

His dad, meanwhile is more passive, grounded, but at the same time: he married Bakugou's mother. He's clearly OK with behavior in that vein. It's good he's not contributing to the problem, but he's not solving it, either.

At the end of the day, while there are contributing factors, not of them are enough to explain, much less justify, Bakugou's actions or personality. Society didn't make him like this. No one taught him that it was OK.

The only one with responsibility was Bakugou himself.

[tired-biscuit]

fem!reader // age gap; bakugou is in his early 30s, reader is in her 20s.

bakugou gives me “get off my lawn!” vibes.

i imagine him gardening in front of his new home in a quiet little neighbourhood that he’s moved into after a particular scandal — the idea recommended as a solution to easing his temper in one of his anger management classes that his friends had somehow managed to convince him to go to — when his wrath comes face to face with you for the very first time.

he’s kneeling in front of the little garden that’s situated underneath his living room window as he digs his hands into the soil, no gloves, and with dirt pushing underneath his fingernails so deep that he’ll only be able to scrub it out when he finally heads inside to take a shower later.

so, he’s tending to the small patch of soil. with his brow furrowed and his teeth repeatedly sinking into the inside of his cheek, the temporarily-retired pro hero is visibly trying so hard to not crumple the flowers that he’s spent ages fighting to keep alive in their little pots ever since the day his stupid therapist had instructed him to buy the seeds, put them on the windowsill, take care of them, and watch them grow just like the calmness and the ‘zen’ in him is supposed to, or whatever the fuck.

and sure enough, the little fuckers actually grew. they grew so big actually, that he now has to complete yet another pesky task, consisting of finding them a new spot where they can fully flourish before they can get the chance to overtake his entire window, bed, room, even him, perhaps.

grumbling under his breath, the raging blond feels somewhat proud as he stares at his little creations. i mean, who knew he had it in him? a proper green thumb; attached to the explosive, otherwise oftentimes murderous palm of katsuki fucking bakugou!

and speaking of murderous: the look on katsuki’s face is a near perfect example of the word as he goes to place the first plant into the little hole that he’s just finished digging up. with his crimson eyes dangerously narrowed, he watches intently how the petals bend, as well as the leaves, whilst he picks up the poor flower and starts transfering it from pot to soil.

luckily, neither break or tear under his thick fingers. he’s being gentle and delicate for a change — adjectives people would never describe him with at first glance, nor after getting to know him a little bit better. no, he’s a grump through and through, and the focus in his head is so high now, in fact, that it even causes a wrinkle to etch itself deep into the middle of his forehead, accentuating the previous statement even further.

but that grump in him really manages to shine through the moment a football suddenly appears out of nowhere and knocks over one of the pots he’s brought outside only minutes prior.

tink! — a thin little crack appears on one side of the pot, now. bakugou, holding his breath without even realizing it, watches as it spreads through the glazed ceramic. the flower lays limply on the concrete step beside the garden that it’s just been knocked into. it had been his favourite one of the plants, the petals were so pretty and in a gorgeous shade of orange, but he can’t dwell on it; not when the crack is still spreading.

it’s spreading, spreading, spreading. just like the anger that bubbles within him.

tink, tink, crack! — the pot is chipped. a little piece of it crumbles off and falls onto the step.

oh, no. it’s ruined. it’s all ruined and the perfectionist in him is screaming.

and fuck, red fury swoops upon bakugou’s mind like a hawk at that. it’s such a small thing, a mere accident, but he just can’t help it; life’s been hard as of late. with his jaw clenched and all anger management lessons forgotten, he grabs the football and tightens his hold around it with both hands until he can feel the sparks dancing on his palms. until he can feel the warmth start to radiate from them.

the heat makes the synthetic leather hiss. it tingles, from his hands, all over his body. he hasn’t indulged in his quirk in such a long time. it feels good, even if the emotions that now plague and storm his outraged mind are awfully bitter.

and as for rage…

“are you fucking kidding me?!” his voice booms through the air as he pushes up to his full height in one swift, scary movement. “you stupid, brainless brats; how many fuckin’ times have i told you not to play he—”

it’s not often that katsuki stops in his tracks mid-sentence — especially in the midst of such a venomous one, at that — but the moment he whirls around and lays his eyes on you, deadly silence falls.

i mean, how can he not turn quiet? jesus on a cross, there’s a girl standing in front of him now, instead of a kid or an old lady. an actual girl, and she’s fucking gorgeous.

dressed in comfortable shorts, a cute crop top that shows just a sliver of your stomach, and colourful, almost childish flip-flops, your skin looks like it’d be warm to the touch if he were to stroke it. the sunshine that blazes above you on this hot summer’s day, causes sweat to glimmer in a layer so thin on your forehead. it makes the little hairs that frame your pretty face curl because of the way they’re turning damp with salt. makes the side of your neck have a certain sheen to it as well.

bakugou’s head cocks to the side as he assesses you further. sure, it’s hot out, however the heat doesn’t seem to be the main reason as to why you look so appealingly disheveled. after all, you’re inhaling and exhaling fast, and your shoulders are rising and falling even quicker as you seem to be trying to catch your breath.

did you run all the way over here?

“sorry… hi! lemme just… ah… catch my breath for a quick second… gosh.” he blinks at the sound of your voice as you raise your hand in apology before resting both of them onto your knees and bending over at the middle. your demeanor almost seems sheepish when you look up at him from underneath your lashes, still trying to ease your breathing. “i’m so, so, so sorry for your flowers, mister dynamight, sir…! my little brother kicked the football way too hard as we were playing a game he made up, so i just… i, uh, i ran over here to apologize on his behalf, and to… get the ball back.”

katsuki quirks a brow as he lets his gaze fall to the football he still holds in his hands, and for which you’re so clearly asking to get back, now. he knows the kid who you’re referring to as your brother — an especially irritating little menace that’s been sucking his blood through a goddamn straw, with all the pranks he and the group of brats he calls his friends have been initiating on his property as of late.

and sure enough, when he looks over your shoulder, the little shit is nowhere to be found.

the thought of the kid continuously stepping on his nerves for the last few weeks angers him in a flash, making his grip on the football tighten and start to smoulder; it makes smoke spiral in thin lines underneath his fingertips. though, when he lifts his gaze and lets his eyes land on you again — on that stupidly pretty, sweaty face of yours — bakugou surprisingly feels that white-hot rage somewhat disippating bit by bit.

hand to heart, he’s intrigued by you. you don’t seem to mind being in his presence, despite the fact that you seem to know fully well who exactly he is. and if you know that, then you’re surely familiar with the rumours and gossip that never cease to follow a big name like his. as well as the public announcement, talking about his — forced — temporary retirement from the hero business, because of the consistently violent outbursts he had failed to tame over the years.

for fuck’s sake, the dynamight is your neighbour, and you seem to be outright unbothered by it. it’s peculiar as fuck.

and it’s also the reason why the only thing he grunts out now, is, “you’re new.”

“i’m sorry?” that surprises you. your brief confusion is evident in the way you straighten, as well as how your own head lightly tilts so that you can look at him properly for the first time ever since you’ve stepped foot on the patch of land he should be calling home.

“you’re new,” he repeats simply, jerking his chin towards your direction and pointing the football at you. “i haven’t seen ya ‘round here before.”

“oh—ohh…” there it is; a wonderful smile appears on your otherwise pouty lips as you smack your forehead in realization. “yeah; that totally makes sense! i came back home just a couple of days ago to spend summer break with my family, so that’s probably why you haven’t seen me around yet.”

summer break. so you must be still in college? it’s not odd that you’re still a student, with a tight body like that, clothes so revealing and scarce, and a face that just screams youth, youth, youth. adding it all together, bakugou catches himself feeling not all that thrown off by the fact that you’re in school, pursuing a degree.

at least you have a goal in life. unlike him, and his stupid gardening.

nevertheless, he gives you a curt nod and tries to tame the flutter of a muscle in his cheek as he hands you back the ball he’d considered melting with his quirk just moments before. he’s still so angry because of the pot.

it held his favourite flower, goddammit.

“you’re new here, too,” you chime as you take the ball from his hands. “i know you weren’t here the last time i came to visit… i’d remember a man like you if he were living across the street from me.”

he isn’t entirely sure if you actually don’t see it, or you simply turn a blind eye towards the dirt and the branding that he’s now burned into the ball with his fingers, but both choices seem just dandy to bakugou as he watches you grin up at him, now. so cutesy.

“moved in a couple of months ago,” he explains briefly, clearing his throat and wiping his hands against his black gym shorts. he has to wash them later anyway; what’s a little bit of sweat and dirt? “been sort of… startin’ over, hah.”

you could call it that, all right.

you give him a knowing look, but don’t say anything about the article that had covered the first page of nearly every newsletter in the country not a while back.

dynamight retires at the young age of 33 after yet another savage misdemeanor! read more below!

no, instead you say, “well, that’s nice. i certainly hope that you’ve adjusted and that our little neighbourhood has been treating you well, mister dynamight, sir.”

that last word… did you say it like that; so softly, almost purring, the first time, too?

“i suppose i did,” he answers, feeling a heat that he can’t blame on the late afternoon sun start to crawl up his neck. it’s not intense enough to make him blush, per se, but it is enough to tint the tips of his ears a light pink. damn, it sure has been a while if a mere tone has got him acting like this.

your smile grows bigger as you notice the faint change of shade. it makes your face beam. “i know it’s quaint compared to the city, but i’m sure you’ll learn to like it.”

he watches you turn so that you can head back to your house, inside of which your menace of a little brother is surely hiding, and he can’t help but eye you up from head to toe again, well, heel. the back of you is just as stunning as your front is, he’s dragging his eyes all over; that is until you whip your head to the side so that you can look at him over your shoulder.

“oh, and mister dynamight?”

“what?” he calls out. you’ve already reached the sidewalk.

“i really am sorry about your flower pot. i’ll buy you a new one, if you’ll let me,” you say, waving. “just don’t be a stranger, yeah?”

katsuki doesn’t answer. he wants to say a million things all at once, to agree, to deny, whatever. to tell you to call him katsuki, or at least bakugou; that he hasn’t been called dynamight in a while and hasn’t felt like him either for a long while, too. to ask you what your name is, because he’s just realized he’s never got it. to try shooting his shot, or just talk, talk, talk because he’s lonely, he’s been feeling oh, so very lonely ever since moving here.

but all he does instead, is raise his hand and wave.

[kingkatsuki]

— distance

Based on this post sent to me by @toutoshodoroki. You know I can’t resist Bakugou in a long distance relationship.💕

Pairing: Bakugou Katsuki x f!reader.

Warnings: fluff, long distance relationships.

Word Count: 1k.

Bakugou[7.34PM] — One New Message

Your face practically glowed as you reached across the desk for your phone, snatching it greedily as you held it to your face to unlock.

It wasn’t unusual for Bakugou to be awake at this time, as you tried to do the math in your head to work out what time it was for him. His work often called for unsocial hours, but just knowing that you could now steal a few precious moments before he had to start work was enough for you. Today had been hell, as well as much of your week— so this was already the highlight of your day.

The distance was hard, but finding the time for each other seemed to be even harder.

There were no words attached to the message, only a photograph that you were quick to click. The picture was of departure boards which seemed as though he was inside a train station, no— an airport.

You[7.37PM]: Going somewhere?

Bakugou[7.38PM]: First flight out. Checking in now.

You knew Bakugou’s job was demanding, and it often meant he disappeared for long periods at a time. It was something you fought about a lot at the beginning of your relationship. You remembered the moment you’d called him a catfish, and you’d blocked him on all platforms— until you received a tweet from the Official Dynamight agency account which solidified the fact that you were in fact talking to the number two Pro.

It was something you were beginning to come to terms with, eagerly awaiting his return and appreciating the missions where he was allowed to contact you. A welcome change to have him closer to your timezone so you could fall asleep on the phone together or feel like you were actually with each other. Waiting at home for your boyfriend to finish work and take you out.

It was selfish really, that it wasn’t the fact that it could be dangerous or he could get hurt that upset you. Of course, you worried about him, really you did. But what you hated more than anything about when he travelled for missions was that it meant that it became harder to talk to him.

You[7.39PM]: How long this time?

Bakugou[7.45PM]: I’m thinking two weeks.

Your stomach lurched at the thought that you might not be able to talk to him much for the next two weeks, grimacing over the fact that your week had most certainly gotten worse.

Curling up into a ball on your couch as you continued to text him back, trying to get as much of his attention as possible before he stepped onto the flight.

You[7.46PM]: Where to this time?

Bakugou[8.05PM]: Sorry, princess. Had to get through security.

Bakugou[8.05PM]: Grabbing a quick coffee. It’s too damn early for this shit.

He’d ignored your question about where he was heading, which made you think it was going to be one of the more serious missions. The ones where he couldn’t disclose his location, and that he had to surrender his cell phone at the airport before he stepped onto the flight. Wondering if you’d have enough time to call him before he left, a quick FaceTime today would be better than nothing.

The call connected as Bakugou came into view. Holding the phone in its usual position by his waist as it gave you a view of his handsome jaw, a large coffee in his other hand and a hold-all slung over his shoulder as he made his way through the quiet airport.

“Hey, beautiful.” He grinned as he pulled the phone closer to his face to get a better look at you, “Look so pretty today.”

“No I don’t,” You whined. He was the one that looked pretty, even after what you supposed was minimal sleep.

“You callin’ me a liar now, huh?” He laughed, moving the phone as he dumped his bag from his shoulder. The change in angle gave you a view of the grey sweats and trainers he was wearing.

“I would never,” You laughed, already feeling all your stress from the day begin to leave your body.

“Good, you better not.” He chuckled.

“But you never told me you were going away, you know.” You mumbled, disappointed you had to find out this way.

“I know, baby. I’m sorry,” His chin disappeared inside the neck of his hoodie as he stared down at his phone with crimson eyes, “I only booked the ticket last night.”

“Oh,” The trip had been that late notice, “So where are you going?”

Bakugou pressed the screen as he turned the direction of the camera, pinching with his fingers as he zoomed in on the departure screen at his gate. The movement blurry, but you could make out the name of the destination.

Your city.

“Wait, what?” You held your breath, your heart was doing somersaults as you waited for his confirmation.

“Yeah,” He grinned, turning the camera back to face him, “Heard there’s a pretty girl that lives in this city. So I’m gonna go and find out for myself.”

“You’re lying.”

“There you go again callin’ me a liar, sweetheart,” Bakugou scrunched his nose, “You really trying to make me cry in front of all these people?”

“What the fuck,” You couldn’t believe it, after all this time he was finally coming to see you.

Tears began to cling to your lashes, pooling in your waterline as they threatened to spill over.

“You were saying last night that no one ever shows up or makes the effort for you when it counts, that no one takes the time, remember?” Bakugou continued.

You nodded on the other side of the phone, your throat tight from the tears that were now streaming down the apples of your cheeks.

“So I’m doin’ it, I’m making the effort.” He shrugged, his eyes softening, “Don’t cry, princess. You know I fuckin’ hate when you cry.”

“I’m sorry,” You sniffed, barely managing to get it out between sobs, “Are you really coming for two weeks?”

“Yeah I am, baby,” Bakugou smiled, “If you’ll put up with me for that long.”

“I didn’t think you’d ever be able to get time off work.” You’d both tried to meet up in the past, but your schedules could never quite make it work.

“Yeah, but I think it’s about time I stop talking about how much I care, and show you instead.”

[angels-fantasy]

Top Secret Fiction Ch. 3

Grass Talks (Literally)

Katsuki Bakugou x Reader

Description: After meeting the one and only pro hero Dynamight on a dating app, you two begin to see each other. Because of the dangers that come with his hero work, you both promise to be completely honest with each other from the beginning; though you can't help but keep one big secret from him.

You write fan fiction, mostly about him.

Chapter Details: Soft, lowkey ooc Bakugou but thats bc I imagine him to be a lot more mellow as an adult. Little bit of a serious talk, but nothing crazy. Readers quirk is also mentioned

Word Count: 1k

previous chapter

The date had been going well so far, and the sun was even beginning to set since now it was almost 7:00 pm.

You two were currently lying on your backs together, looking up at the sky filled with clouds, stomachs full of yummy food.

"That one looks like a giraffe, or something else with a long neck." You said point up at a cloud.

Bakugou hummed, "Nah, I think it's a flower or something. Don't you see the stem? And there's even petals around it."

Tilting your head at a different angle, you tried to see what he saw.

"I don't see it! I thought I would, since I'm used to seeing flowers all the time..." You said while still looking up in wonder.

Bakugou sat up and rested his elbows on his knees, "That's right. You're a florist ain't you? What made you wanna do that?"

You stayed lying down and answered him, "Yeah, I've been a florist for a few years now. I chose it because of my quirk."

"What is your quirk anyways? Is it something with plants and all that crap?"

"Yep. I can talk to plants, so taking care of them is much easier and I love being able to help others that are struggling with their own plants."

Bakugou rubbed his hand along the grass, "So me doing this... is it hurting the grass?"

You closed your eyes and listened, hearing the grass ask what it was that was rubbing all over them.

"It's not hurting them, but they can feel it."

He pulled his hand away. "What about walking on the grass. Does that hurt 'em?"

"Sometimes it can. If you're walking normally, then no. But if you're stomping all over them, then yes it does hurt them." You said, finally sitting up and facing him.

You leaned over and ran your hand along the top of the grass very lightly, hearing the voice of the grass sigh at the feeling. You learned early on after developing your quirk that most plants actually enjoy being pet, if you can call it that.

"They like it when you do this to them. Just make sure you do it really gently." You said while showing him how to pet the grass.

He followed your directions with a grunt and did the same motion as you.

You laughed lightly, "Petting grass is kind of silly now that I think about it. I guess it's different since I know that the grass likes it."

He shook his head and pulled his hand away, "It's not. I think it's interesting. I have some plants at home, now I'm wonderin' if they're happy with me."

You giggled at that, "I'm sure they are. But thank you. I always felt like my quirk wasn't super useful since I couldn't be a hero, y'know?"

"You don't gotta be a hero to have a useful quirk. Everyone can find a way to use their quirk, trust me."

You smiled softly, "You know what, you're really sweet. You don't portray yourself like that on the media at all."

"I ain't sweet." He said looking away shyly.

"If you say soooo." You cooed.

He smirked lightly and looked at you, "Thanks for uh, being genuine by the way."

You furrowed your eyebrows, "What do you mean? Why wouldn't I be genuine?"

"I mean like, almost everyone I've met just wants to be with me because I'm a hero. It just makes dating a lot harder, I guess."

You frowned at his words. You knew there were people who were out for money, but to play with someone's feelings like that? That was just heartless. You knew Bakugou was a grown man and fully capable of handling himself, but you couldn't help but feel bad.

You place on of your hands on top of his and said, "I understand what you mean, and I want to let you know that I don't have any bad intentions at all."

"I won't lie and say I'm not a fan of you as a hero," You continued, "but right now I'm getting to know you as Bakugou. So I hope you'll continue to allow me to."

Bakugou genuinely smiled. No smirk, or sly remark following it. Just a smile.

"Thanks. That means more than you know. But on that same topic, I also wanted to talk to you about a boundary I have if we're going to continue seeing each other." He said seriously.

You nodded your head and listened attentively.

"Because of my line of work, I just ask that you be honest with me about things. I fuckin' hate liars in general, but I really need you to understand that I can't have someone around if they're gonna be keepin' secrets and shit." He said frowning, almost as if he was thinking of a particular person when speaking about liars.

You nodded and smiled. "I promise, I'll be completely honest with you. I really wanna keep seeing you and if that's all it takes then I'm willing to do it."

He grunted. "Good. Let's clean up now, I'll take you home."

Just as you were about to start cleaning up, your phone went off. You picked it up quickly and saw that it was an email, a notification from the site you write fan fiction on.

You bit your lip and thought about what Bakugou just said. Deciding to ignore the notification, you just continued to clean up.

...

After Bakugou had dropped you off back at home, you quickly changed into your pajamas and got comfortable.

You said goodnight to Cheerios and your plants, who said goodnight back.

When you got in bed, you looked through your emails and at the notifications from HeroFiction.com that you had received earlier.

You began to think about Bakugou's words again.

"I fuckin' hate liars."

You shook your head and tried to rid away any negative thoughts you had. This secret wasn't that big of a deal, and it was probably for the better that he didn't know.

Keeping one secret wouldn't hurt, right?

...

next chapter

authors note

i had fun writing this chapter :) i hope you liked it! i also hope you liked softer bakugou here, hehe.

taglist: @doumadono @54fangirl @andysdrafts @dagger-dragger @lovra974 @l4rsun1vrrse @emmab3mma @littlkittenfan @tatiquichi @cloudxluv @seonne @shonen-brainrot @the2ndl @gold24fish @cxp1d @rv19

(those in pink are not able to be tagged unfortunately)

[sapphic-agent]

Trios that would have been more compelling and less obnoxious than the "Wonder Trio":

Izuku, Tenya, Ochako: This needs no explanation

Izuku, Tenya, Shouto: Again, this really needs no champion vouching for it. The Stain arc and the subsequent character work that came with it will never be matched by any other arc in MHA.

Izuku, Denki, Yuga: These three all have self-harming quirks that can be really dangerous and inconvenient during a battle. It was truly a lost opportunity to see these three bond over their issues. Making Izuku and Yuga being close friends right off the bat would've have been really beneficial in sowing the traitor plot point early on and would've have also been far more devastating for Izuku during the reveal. And honestly, Yuga being formerly quirkless and having a self-harming quirk is a much better narrative parallel than the "Save to Win and Win to Save" bullshit that we got. Denki and Yuga just seem like they'd have really good chemistry.

Izuku, Tenya, Momo: These 3 intelligent specimens would've have been extremely overpowered if Hori actually cared enough to develop them. Also, Momo would get to shine because her quirk is powerful as hell (I actually head canon that she has the strongest/most versatile quirk in 1A and maybe enough the BNHA verse as a whole) and it's a crime that her intelligence and OP quirk went underutilized. Also, Momo and Izuku helping each other through their lack of self confidence would have been really touching and maybe have Izuku reflect on his life and how he was treated pre OFA. Momo and Tenya also seemed really no nonsense in the beginning when she ruthlessly criticized Bakugou, so this could help Izuku cut Bakugou off much earlier and allow him to grow.

Izuku, Tsuyu, Mineta: Yes I know, I know. Mineta sucks. But even so, these three were super compelling and interesting to watch during the USJ arc. The ways in which they used their quirks to escape death has way more charm and personality in their hair follicles than post season 3 ShoBakuDeku have in their entire bodies. Also, since Tsuyu was one of the first to call Bakugou out, I feel like her bluntness would be a really good reality check for Izuku to realize that the way Bakugou (and Aizawa) treat him is not okay. Also, Mineta already idolizes Izuku (which is actually sort of sweet) so this could have been used to develop his character rather than the awful and repetitive perv shtick that we're unfortunately stuck with.

Izuku, Shoji, Tokoyami: Like with the above trio, their forest camp sequence in trying to escape dark shadow has more personality and authenticity in their hair follicles than anything having to do with the stupid wonder trio. After all, the whole thing started because of Tokoyami witnessing Shoji being harmed by moonfish, which feels really raw and touching. Shoji also carrying Izuku on his back is super cute. These three also could've been used to address quirk-based discrimination, which is basically that backbone of BNHA's premise (even if it is always glossed over). Tokoyami and Shoji would've had to be victims of heteromorph discrimination (I think it was even confirmed in later chapters) which could drawn the three to each other. No offense to Shouto (and full offense of Bakugo) the two of them could never really relate to Izuku's trauma especially since Bakugou is responsible for 85% of it. They're both rich, they were both born with extremely powerful quirks. While Shouto is tragic because he was abused, he also benefits from the system of powerful quirks being favored which makes the two of them privileged. I also feel like Shoji and Tokoyami finding out about OFA and Izuku's previous quirklessness would just strengthen their bond and would motivate them to help and protect Izuku in any way they can unlike Bakugou who was a total nuisance the entire time.

Izuku, Mei, Ochako: Again, like with the last two, their admittedly limited time on screen together has more charm and personality than the stupid Wonder Trio.

These are the ones that I could think of from the top of my head. Feel free to add anymore.

These are all so cool! I especially liked Izuku, Denki, and Yuga. I always thought Izuku and Denki should have had more interactions anyway. And of course I love Izuku's scenes with Yuga. This is definitely a more unique one.

I would add Izuku, Momo, and Shoto to the list because I love the thought of Izuku being super intimidated by them only to be like, "Oh, oh no they're just isolated rich kids who have never talked to another kid their age and they're mine now" and adopts them.

Also, Izuku, Fumikage, and Shoto. I feel like they're fun.

It's not an Izuku trio but I'd also love Ochako, Tsu, and Momo just because they're best girls

[codenamesazanka]

I'm thinking. I'm thinking. it would be cool if all of my dislike and criticism of Deku's actions in this final war arc (and maybe before) was actually supposed to be the intended feeling. That he was supposed to be read as an arrogant little shit with no plan and failed at saving Shigaraki all along. Saving Shigaraki was his ego talking - him wanting to save that Crying Child, because it makes him feel good to be a Hero... in the easiest way possible. He pried open Shigaraki's lid with no regard for how questionable such an act is. He never understood Shigaraki at all.

Deku has the potential to be a great hero. When Yoichi and Kudou talked about his great qualities, it was because they can sense the seed of it at his heart. But it hadn't been cultivated. He does have a drive to save, but it was too early to call it that. He does believe everyone has the same heart, but he hasn't actually come to that conclusion himself. That's why they needed to speak about his own feelings for him. He's 16 years old and thrown into a war. How can anyone have proper development and meta-cognition in such a scenario?

I'm thinking. It was Stain who spared Shigaraki and told him he sensed the seed of a warped conviction inside of him, when all readers saw at the time was an erratic manchild. But Stain was right. Shigaraki's conviction grew and developed and became such a noble desire, but 'twisted' - A Hero, but for the Villains.

Deku just had the high of his life. What if he's about to enter the lowest? He failed to save someone. Society is getting rebuilt and where it goes from now on is absolutely crucial. He's "quirkless" again - that personality is gone so who is he now?

I'm thinking. There's a reason why his agreement with Overhaul hasn't been resolved yet. I'm thinking Compress and his vigilante ancestor's dream of reform can't be just ditched like that. I'm thinking how Deku can fail so incredibly at not realizing why Shigaraki stayed the leader of the League all through the end, and how Shigaraki tells him 'ganbare'.

I'm thinking about Shigaraki, and how he's a fair guy. But he's a Villain. He sensed Deku's intention, understood just how sincere it was, and can respect that. And the guy did just helped heal his childhood trauma. And thus, he's holding Deku responsible for making sure his destruction is permanent, and leaves with a semi-sardonic 'do your best'. I think that's actually just like him.

I'm thinking about Uraraka and Shouto getting two sad looking panels in this semi-celebratory chapter where All Might calls Bakugou and Deku the greatest Heroes. They were the two who actually considered the suffering their Villain went through. They acknowledged the whole of their Villain, their agency and desires, and they supposedly saved them. But there's no celebration for them. Maybe it's because they've seen the truth and can't be unaffected.

I'm thinking about Spinner, who saved Deku from a teammate at the camp raid because he believed in Stain who believed in Deku to be a true Hero. And then Spinner became Shigaraki's most devoted friend and Shigaraki left a message to him, via Deku.

I'm thinking maybe Horikoshi got out all the battle shonen stuff they wanted out of him and now he can do his own thing. He sucks at fight scenes and great at character writing and darker material.

The issue to this thinking is that this hope is sooooo dangerous. I had a similar thought that Endeavor, after the Touya reveal, was going to get some brutal atonement. I thought post-Jaku would be a really cool chance to examine the issues of Hero Society, and that Tartarus being recognized as a human-rights violations would end up somewhere. I loved what I felt was the subtly realistic built-up of the Heteromorph arc, and I still love it, but then it ended up the way it did. I thought AFO's tragic backstory getting revealed could be awesome. I've clowned myself again and again. I guess this is the latest clowning.

And none of this actually saves Shigaraki or brings him back. Rather, his death and last words is pretty much required for this brutal realization and haunting on Deku and the story.

Worse, this all has the potential to make me think Deku is interesting. What am I doing to myself. 🤡

[musicfeedsmysoul12]

n addition to not being that much more impressive than many in 1A, I never understood why “Explosion” was thought to be “perfect for heroics” in the first place. First of all, it’s a destructive quirk, and despite the prevalence of fire-quirked heroes, I’d expect the first reaction of most adults to a destructive quirk is to think “future-villain” - especially when wielded by a kid with no respect for property damage. Secondly, a lot of what makes it “good for heroics” is down to Bk’s intensive training - using it fly, etc - not things that would have been immediately obvious in elementary school.

Separately, I agree with what a few others have said that what makes Bk’s quirk seem so strong is his intensive training of it and his endless aggression. (Honestly, half of the kids should have found it psychologically hard to to actually attack someone with their quirk in their first class.) When other kids are actually worried about maiming someone, they’re not going to be using the constant 150% aggression like Bk.

Explosion is a 1 trick pony quirk at the end of the day. Or at least it should be but Hori gives Katsuki insane plot armor. Seriously, his stun grenade, ability to attack from a range, and his smokescreen clearing strike are BS.

This is why I always say there are two school of thoughts on Explosion Quirks: villain or hero.

For me, I think people praising him really focused on the combat aspect of his Quirk because heroism had become about fighting rather then saving people. I think a bright kid, with rich parents because they're a model and fashion designer the guy has money, Bakugou was placated by others even more. His willingness to train and work with his Quirk led to him being praised more.

Its a headcanon kids like Bakugou get specialized training for his Quirk because of how dangerous it can be. I imagine the trainer was shocked by how dedicated Bakugou was and praised him. It got around and everyone knew this kid was strong, wanted to be a hero, and had a combative Quirk.

So that can be why its him being praised so much, by a bunch of people focusing on combat not anything else.

Not sure about ‘kids finding it hard to attack others’ cause kids are nasty. I remember being like six and punching another kid in the face. Plus I had a brother two years older then me, and a cousin a week younger.

The three of us were nightmares and I ain't gonna lie if I was Bakugou I’d be using it on them one time. Of course I'd be horrified by them being hurt and would have been grounded so hard.

Little kids dont really have the ability to know right from wrong and empathy is very low but Bakugou… I've pointed out how malicious the Deku name is (and I will yell it still it occurred before Izuku was diagnosis and it was never a kind nickname) for a freaking toddler and while yeah Hori did it, whole thing is still disturbing.

His attacks are a bit BS and I think Hori was having to come up with a reason he's around because he is just that guy with an explosion Quirk. Mind I personally think Hori didn't like Bakugou but when he got super popular had to keep him around.

Everyone knows my thoughts on how Bakugou's arch should have gone. He's honestly such a boring character now to me, because I had that upswing of anger at him and now it's 'and here is Bakugou with a loud Quirk who somehow despite the logical assumptions is the best above everyone'. He's so boring.

The more I really think about it, the more I wanna really have Bakugou just be there. Have Izuku move past him without realizing it, and have Todoroki take the place as rival. I am not going to lie: the idea of Todoroki staying a rival for longer then canon (and actually presenting himself as a rival early on) is attractive as hell. He's RIGHT THERE. The son of the number two hero raised to surpass All Might constantly fighting against the protoge of All Might! The drama, the action.

I'd honestly only have the reveal of Todoroki's past be when the summer camp happens, and that's when Todoroki turns from rival to friend. Not the weird ass thing Hori did with Bakugou.

But yeah, you're not wrong.

[my-rewrite-academia]

Entrance Exam Mini-Arc

So, Nedzu explains all the changes for the exam, which Aizawa is happy about. When he requests that Power Loader makes the robots smaller, All Might agrees that it will help those with less flashy quirks gain points, which Nedzu notices.

-

Izuku goes to U.A. and, as in canon, trips over nothing, curses himself, and Ochako saves him. He goes quirk analysis mode, but cannot say anything but 'Buh?' and Ochako wishes him luck. It's noted that Ochako's smile is a bit... too sweet.

There's a written exam, which Izuku breezes through due to studying at higher levels for his analysis. Not much focus is given to it as we get straight to...

The practical exam! Well, the explanation of it. Bakugou is there and gets a bit mad at Izuku, but gets ignored. Mic asks for a yeah, and Kaminari and Ashido answer. He then explains everything, minus the Hero Points and how helping examinees helps you. Iida gets a bit insulted by Mic not explaining the fourth robot, but Izuku doesn't mutter so he's not yelled at.

It is also kept secret that there is a maximum amount of points.

-

As for the actual practical, again there's an abrupt start, which makes everyone confused, (yes, including Izuku). Izuku uses a broken-off pipe to cut apart exposed wirings, helps Kaminari use his quirk more efficiently, helps a civillain where we get an early cameo of Shinsou, and saves Ochako from the Zero-Pointer.

It's also revealed that the staff have an emergency kill-switch in case it severly injures a student. Not that important, but it shows that U.A. isn't as dangerous and non-chalant as canon suggests.

-

So, Izuku thinks that he's failed the exam as he didn't get many points, as far as he's aware. But then he gets the acceptance video, and All Might explains the hidden points system, showing him each moment he helped a fellow examinee, comforted civillians, protected others...

And he finds out he's gained the top spot. With only 38 Villains Points, he gained enough points in the other other categories to shoot his score up to 259 points, with 99 points in Hero Points - maximum.

(I do have an entire listing, which I will post next.)

Meanwhile, Bakugou believes he's gotten the top spot, as he counted each and every point he got. In theory, he should have gotten 400 or so Villain Points, and he ignored all other categories. However, there is a maximum of 99 points in each category.

So a 99 is all he gets... and ranked 36th. Last place. 23 points behind 35th. And rank 37 recieved 98 points.

It's the first slap in the face, as he realises that, if the one underneath him had two more points, he would have failed.

-

And that's the entrance exam arc! I'll be posting the full rankings soon!

[itsnothingofinterest]

So here’s a thought: in the latest chapter; Kudo’s transfer causes Deku and Tomura to relive and mix memories of first meetings with/opening up to future friends. Considering how Kudo was the one who met with and reached out to Yoichi; do you suppose it’s possible we could see the rest of the transfers bring forth memories thematically relevant to the sacrificed OFA user? And if so, can we guess what these memories could be?

Hmm, it might be tough given how most of the OFA vestiges are...not the most fleshed out characters MHA's ever produced, but I’d like to take a crack at it.

~En: memories of Danger & survival We’ll be going in the order I roughly think Deku will shoot the vestiges over, even if that means starting with some especially basic ones. (I'll also be avoiding memories they were both there for since they'd be uninteresting.) For the case of En, the most fearful of the group; that'll be a simple set of times these two were each in danger.

For Deku; that could mean facing Machia or Redestro, although I'd also love him to see some visions of heroes like Endeavor or Star & Stripe coming for his life as well. If he wants Tomura's perspective, he should get his perspective on heroes trying to kill him. And there's quite a few to pick for Tomura to see from Deku; the Zero-Point robot, Muscular, Muscular again, Lady Nagant, ...maybe Gentle?

~Bruce: memories of loss & what comes after To keep things simple still, both of these are two moments (+ surrounding context) they each saw an ally die to a villain. The same villain: Overhaul.

Deku would get to see Overhaul kill Magne right in front of the League. Tomura would see him kill Sir Nighteye in front of his interns. Then as I theorized previously, we could get too see one or both of them experience the blended memory of beating fused Overhaul into the ground and taking his arms for great justice & greater revenge.

~Nana: memories of family & allies (Also, since the effect should be pretty strong by now, and also because it's interesting, let's suppose they may start actually experiencing memories now instead of just playing them in the background.)

For Deku; Perfect as it may seem, it's a bit early to see the Shimuras, so this might instead mean seeing some lower stakes memories with the League. Maybe their training with Machia, maybe some early recruitment moments if that doesn't step on Kudo's thematically relevant memories. Really just check out @codenamesazanka's post here for some great ideas; with special mention going to Tomura sympathizing with Bakugou because he was chained up at the sports festival. I'd love for Deku to see Tomura directing his humanity to League members like Twice, but humanity directed towards Bakugou would be a great foot in Deku's door. (Which of course means the best thing for Deku to see each such kinds of Tomura's humanity, for Deku to compare.)

For Tomura; Oh there's a plethora of choices for Class 1A hangout moments he could see. Although to be honest...I've not been the most invested in these moments, so I can't say which'd be most impactful for Tomura to see. I'm a villain fan, what can you expect?Although if I had to guess, knowing this series and whose memories we're talking about, it'll be something focused on Bakugou. Call it a hunch.

(Though it'd be nice if we did get to see Inko again instead. And I'd laugh if this was how we got to see Deku's dad at long last.)

~Banjo: memories of…okay kind of struggling here since there’s not much to Banjo. Honestly think he might get stolen instead since his quirk's such a lifeline & Tomura could probably steel more than one quirk by the end of this. But if he does get launched; maybe he could cause…memories of friendship? Or of high emotions?

For Deku; that might mean seeing memories of the League working together, maybe in Daika. Or speaking of Daika, maybe it could be Shigaraki’s city destroying awakening. Or maybe the time the League got ambushed & restrained in their bar and Tomura yelled at All Might just how much he hates him.

For Tomura; there are also quite a few of Deku’s memories that could qualify here. Maybe the fight with Muscular, maybe his 2nd fight with Bakugou, or maybe it could fittingly be the time Uraraka and Shinsou saved him from Banjo’s own quirk.

~All Might/Toshinori: memories of (not) being rescued.

For Deku; I think this would go as I described in this post: a mixed memory of him rescuing Bakugou from the sludge villain combined with Tenko wandering the street; resulting in desperately trying to pull Bakugou out from the sludge for hours or days while people pass him in the street, until he finally drags sludge!Bakugou to the bridge to encounter AFO. If he wants Tomura's perspective and see what drove him to villainy, this one's a big part of that.

For Shigaraki, this would be a far simpler memory; but an impactful one too I think. The meeting with All Might where Deku was told he can be a hero. How Tomura would respond to those words, I can’t be sure. Maybe it’d be as meaningful to him as it was to Deku. Perhaps he’ll dismiss the words as just an old dream he doesn’t care for any more, or acknowledge their meaninglessness coming from someone else’s memory. Or if I’m so lucky; maybe he’ll even think back on all the members of the League & other criminals looking to him to make the world they feel safe in and say to All Might “what do you think I’ve been doing?” (Probably not but I think it’d be cool. A guy can hope.)

~Yoichi: memories of their origin.

For Deku; this would obviously be seeing the crying Tenko crying outside of his house because he was abused by his family. Maybe also the events earlier in that day seen in ch.235 too. This would lead to Deku attempting the thing quite a few readers see as the natural conclusion to this memory sharing; Deku reaching a hand out to save the crying child…and it won’t work. I mean duh; this is a memory. He can’t talk to or do anything for the past version of Tenko; all he can do is learn, all he can do is watch the deaths of the Shimuras transpire and hope he gets something out of it that’s worth losing all of OFA.

Although, if I may propose one interesting twist in this: I’ve been theorizing for a while now that AFO could’ve taken the Shimura family’s quirks and hidden them & their vestiges in Tomura. This wouldn’t be my favourite way to bring that up (I’d rather they first meet with Tomura instead); but suppose that allows Deku to talk to the Shimuras as he lives through Tenko’s last day with his family? Could at least be neat.

And for Tomura; I can’t think of a more appropriate Origin-y chapter than chapter 1 page 1: Izuku getting bullied by Bakugou. Maybe they’ll also both be in the same place (we did suppose Deku would meet the crying child above after all), and Tenko could take the place of the kid young Izuku was protecting. I could see Tomura being quite moved by the image…before scoffing. Deku, his self-claimed ‘hero’ who’s been getting in his way and attacking his mind this whole time? Protecting him? And from Bakugou of all people, or anyone else Deku saw as a hero? Lol. Lmao even! Maybe if it was AFO; afraid Bakugou prevented something so convenient from happening though. But as far as Tomura's seen; Deku will save him from anyone & anything except the heroes who mean him harm. A bit like his mom & grandparents with Kotaro. But then maybe he could see Bakugou actually attack Deku, like really beating him up, and it could cause him to wonder…why? Why would Deku then forgive him? Rescue him? Work along side someone who’d treat him like that?

I don’t think any basic-arse heroic symbolism that hasn’t even reflected Tomura’s reality so far would really change his viewpoints or anything. But that question might nudge them. Might introduce the idea that the worst, most powerful people with no big incentive to change, can do so anyway. So maybe, just maybe, Tomura doesn't need to kill them and wash their influence clear as the only way forward for his villainous ilk.

[deusvervewrites]

Regarding the current discussion about why Aizawa often gets the Dadzawa treatment in fanfics, I actually have a theory:

When we first meet him, we are primed to dislike him, after all he is an asshole teacher and specifically an asshole towards Izuku who we all like. But he accepts Izuku after the latter proves himself and we are given the impression that he is this "hard but fair" type that just wants to make sure everyone does their best. Not saying that thats what he is, thats just the impression most readers got from his earliest appearances.

And then, at the USJ, we see his cool side (at least for a short time) while him being an asshole gets overshadowed by Shigaraki and the Noumu being way, WAY more dangerous + he gets a sympathy bonus for getting beaten up while defending the students.

Also, despite being an asshole to Midoriya during the QAT, he also held back Bakugou, another asshole that we all wanted to stop fucking around and start finding out.

All of this I believe did two things:

It gave the impression that early Aizawa, despite being a hardass, is a good and committed teacher (stopped Bakugou, fought the LoV), especially compared to teachers (and adults in general) in comparable Manga and YA media who are often utterly incompetent, shitty, or worse. (Reminder that the likes of Korosensei are sadly the exeption, not the rule.) Obviously this image is undermined by... almost everything he has done since then, but we all know how powerful early impressions can be.

The second thing is that if opened the door for "What-If?" scenarios in which Aizawa wasn't an ass, or, more specifically, not an ass to Izuku. The constant underdog thing was already pretty obvious there, and, as stated above, characters like Bakugou or Shigaraki were liked less/seen as more dangerous, so the idea of an Aizawa that was still a hardass, but instead off going after our boy Izuku focussed his ire on eg: Bakugou, who was generally seen as more deserving of that treatment, was just very appealing. Both for Bakugou to meet consequences and for Izuku to finally catch a fucking break.

This is obviously just my opinion and heavily influenced by my experience with the first chapters as well as my earliest BNHA fics, but I just wanted to share this.

Also, there is obviously more to this, eg many Dadzawa stories are also Quirkless!Izuku stories that still propose that the man fights essentially Quirkless and use that as an obvious connection. Also, also, some fo the most famous/biggest BNHA fics, like most of Clouds works, feature Dadzawa heavily, and if you have limited knowledge of canon or forgot some aspects when falling into this fandom it's easy to just follow along what sounds like widely accepted and liked versions of characters.

But yeah, anyway I need to get some sleep so I'm stopping here.

TLDR: It was imho kind of a perfect storm of lots of different things that turned Canon!Aizawa into the Dadzawa that now stalks Ao3.

It fits with the "If I'd known you'd only just gotten your Quirk, then I would put in my duty of care" trend you see a lot.

[anti-katsuki-lounge]

I honestly thought Horikoshi was going to do big things for Bakugou.

Because, (hot take) two of the stories arcs are all Bakugou’s fault.

The training camp arc happened because he was acting like a rabid animal when he won the Sports Festival, and that made the Shigaraki think he had found a valuable asset that would hurt the hero society. The LOV capture him because he was a dumbass and allowed himself to be out in the open long enough for them to swoop in and nab him. This not only put his classmates in danger, but harmed the reputation of UA, caused All Might to lose OFA early, caused Pro-Heroes to be harmed almost to death and the trust the citizens have ACROSS Japan.

Obviously, he had no way to know what their plan ultimately was, but his actions really SCREWED over SO many people. You’d think he would have gotten his head out of his ass and realized how his behavior could easily get people killed or they could be at least affected by it.

And then there’s also the Dark Deku arc. Where Midoriya is really flexing his martyr mindset. He was doing SO much good during that arc, but he was putting way too much on his shoulders, and his support team wasn’t top tier. Bakugou KNOWS that he puts himself above others, never thinking for himself, and that HE played a part in that mindset, if that one talk between him and All Might gave any indication. He KNOWS Midoriya is taking all this on because he was trying to take everything on at the expense of his own well-being.

This should be where Bakugou really proves that he actually has what it takes to be a hero. To reach out to Midoriya and be a holding hand to help his past victim.

What happens?

Well, for my first point, Bakugou fights Midoriya, whines about only ending All Might’s career and why he lost the license exam (because he somehow doesn’t understand being a fucking asshole to people you’re supposed to save ISN’T what a hero does), all the while not giving ONE shot about the other lives he’s ruined or what he’s really done. Along with forcing his victim to fight him past curfew, dragging Midoriya in hot water for some goddamn reason (Aizawa).

And the second point, he jeers at how Midoriya was acting high and mighty towards him and his classmates (he wasn’t) all the while KNOWING why he separated himself from everyone. Then literally a few minutes later “apologizes to Midoriya.” (AKA complains about how Midoriya wasn’t staying in his place and actually forced Bakugou to do a bit of soul searching and grow up. Which he ultimately doesn’t.)

Both of these instances, I was amazed at how Horikoshi just absolutely FLUBBED how Bakugou should have reacted to these situations. I was expecting him to finally start to grow up and try to at least minimize his asshole attitude. And…he DOESN’T. He approaches these situations from the wrong mindset and he stays the same! How could he act like this?!?

Horikoshi had successfully made me despise his most treasured character.

All of this. I couldn’t have said any of this myself.

[nerdystarstruckace]

I saw a really interesting mha take. (Not in a good way) The base message of it was 'bakugou telling midoriya to kill himself wasn't that big of a deal because he was 13 and 13 year olds don't understand those words have that effect'. Let's go over why this take defends bullying and actually in the end hurts bakugous character???

Most of my friends know I'm not a bakugou fan (esp early seasons) but even I can acknowledge he had a hell of a redemption. It took so damn long, and yk what? He's still a jack ass sometimes, but he's not a bully anymore. When bakugou bullied deku and told him to kill himself, he was 14 about to turn 15. How do we know this? Well! In Japan the school year starts in April! The entrance exam (which is ten months after the first episode) takes place in February. Soooo, first episode is probably early-mid April so bakugou is Abt to be 15 (April 20th). This makes Bakugou not a 13 year old (lol).

Even if he was 13, it doesn't defend his actions. Now, I've interacted with a lot of Middle schoolers, and not all of them are mean. The ones who are mean know what they are saying when they tell someone (seriously) to kill themselves. I myself was younger than the characters when I started watching MHA, and I immediately knew that was bullying. Don't use the BS of "13 (actually 14/15) year olds don't know better!" Because it makes teens that age seem stupid and honestly? It defends bullying.

Bakugou fucked up with his treatment of deku, his treatment of him was textbook bullying. And to defend that is wild. The person also in their take stated that deku recognized that what bakugou said was wrong but he understood how dangerous it was...so deku who is younger than Bakugou could understand but bakugou couldn't? Bakugous character growth is so appealing because it was a true transformation of a bully. It hurts me to watch bc it reminds me of people in my own life. It is disrespectful to the beautiful character/redemption arc to try to excuse the bullying, and it's disrespectful to victims of bullying similar to this.

I understand loving and defending a character, but you can acknowledge their wrongs while loving them. So while this person with this take obviously likes bakugou, they missed the point of him. He was a bully. He traumatized deku for life, and most likely? He can never 'fix' that, but he can regret it and grow and move on. That is who he is, so to take that away from him is to reduce him to just an entertaining jackass. Anyway, that's my rant on a take I heard! And there's more I could have said but it's already too long lol.(No disrespect or bad feelings to person who said the take)

[paragonrobits]

its kind of hard to put it into words exactly, since its a fandom thing I dislike as a general attitude and its hard to pinpoint the specifics about it, but one of my bigger fandom pet peeves when it comes to BNHA/My Hero Academia's fandom reactions in general is the knee-jerk dislike of hero society in general as if its the fault of superheroes that systemic injustice exists, the overwhelming bias in favor of the villains to the point attributing benign intentions or heroic feelings for them that canonically have no real basis at all, and above all, the weird way people blame heroes for bad stuff happening at all

its weird to kind of single it out. It's more a reason why I don't engage much with the MHA fandom in general because I got sick of takes like 'heteromorph phobia exists, its the heroes fault that this happens despite this being a systemic problem' and similar attitudes like that.

And a lot of it centers around the villains and a long-time fixation on them, attributing heroic ideals to them while at the same time ignoring their actual on screens actions. Some prominent examples of this include Dabi and Toga, who I think are pretty likely still fandom darlings, with many criticisms of hero society going onto their treatment, and how it informed their origins. To be plain about it: yes, it sucks to be horrifically injured trying to please your abusive parent or have a mental breakdown because your family tried to ignore your powers until you did something Very Bad because of it. But becoming serial killers (which both Dabi and Toga are explicitly stated to be when they're introduced) isn't exactly a rational or appropriate response to that, and it honestly still feels weird the way that it felt like a massive part of the fandom was completely indifferent to their body count, or honestly thought that 'Deku and Bakugou join the villain side and get involved in wholesale mass murder' was, at ANY point, a realistic possibility for the plot.

And it feels that, in a lot of ways, the fandom tendency to sympathize with the villains and demonize the heroes was taken to some extremes here, in a way I might suggest could straight up be an object study.

Its kind of notable because its a series particularly hard to reconcile with that kind of thinking. This show very clearly shows its intentions early on; this is a superhero series. Superheroes are cool, it says, and the whole idea of being a hero is to save people from peril and reassure them. But that peril doesn't exist because of the heroes, and its a very strange conclusion to reach that (as some villain-centric attitudes suggested) superheroes saving people is a sign of moral decay and its bad to want to risk yourself to save strangers from danger.

Like i remember a whole lot of stuff like this, years back; people concluding that Dabi cared a lot for his fellow villains and depicting them as a found family (despite Dabi making it clear pretty often that he's motivated entirely by spite, constantly does micro-aggressions, and can't even remember his teammate's names consistently), and this lines up to a recurring idea I see in fandom takes that misunderstand a thing and warp them beyond all recognition.

Specifically a tendency to take characters that the fans identity with and presume a found family situation where none canonically exists, and base their thoughts on the characters entirely around that assumption, and depict their foes as being the real villains, despite them... well, not being the serial killers whose explicit goal is 'kill lots and lots of people'. This was where you got a lot of people insisting that Shigaraki was a revolutionary against hero society despite him being extremely clear that his only intention was to kill as many people as possible; there was no talk of revolution except, at best, in the sense of when he was done, the society as we knew it wouldn't exist because most of it would be dead.

Its sort of the logical conclusion of villain fixation, presuming found family associations when the characters involved vaguely tolerate each other, and demonizing the heroes, as well as also demonizing non-personal bonds and relationships. Its hard to say exactly why, but a lot of these fans really seem to hate any kind of character motivation not purely rooted in strictly personal connections. Saving a friend or loved one is good but somehow I've legitimately seen people trying to argue that putting yourself in danger to protect a stranger is... somehow, evil.

That strange demonization of impersonal heroics comes up a lot in criticisms of hero society, and the biggest example is how Shigaraki's speech about how much he hates the regular people who rely on heroes and the heroes who save them, and how for some reason a lot of people assume that he's making an actual point. And he's not. The whole idea there is that if you take him seriously, he's arguing that its bad for people to want to be saved or for people to want to rescue others.

There's probalby some merit it putting down some kind of finger on the issue, right there; there's a lot of negative reaction to impersonal heroics, or saving someone in need even though you don't know them. The flipside of this, saving someone must happen because you care about them, is the cause of a lot of fandom stuff like 'x character must be in love with y character because they almost died saving them', even if the whole point of Character X's arc is about acting selflessly.

If you save someone because you love them, or care about them, but WOULDN'T save a stranger, that doesn't speak better of you, and its not a character progression at all. It's just selfishness with a glossy paint job. And characters and roles that are adjacent to the concept of 'selfless duty requires you risk yourself for strangers and are obligated to put loved ones as low priority, if you even acknowledge them at all' tend to get a LOT of fandom flack.

The increasing among of bending over backwards and breaking yourself in half trying to come up with benign motives for a group whose entire motivation 'our lives suck, so lets kill as many people as possible and burn the whole world down because FUCK YOU', while constantly accusing the impersonal but dutiful characters who want to save people in danger and stop others from bringing harm, is honestly a very weird thing.

Given how many villains bring up the implication that saving others makes them not want to rescue themselves is bad, the implication also becomes 'you should leave people to die horrible deaths because they might become reliant on you', and I think that bizarre amount of callousness is honestly kind of a hallmark of this type of fan. Peace and love and kindness but only to your friends and family, everyone else can go to hell, and if you want to save people that aren't in your in-group, you're bad person.

It's just a very weird take, and its all the more annoying because you kind of have to go into this series knowing what its about to get that far. It's about superheroes. It is about characters learning to be better superheroes to save more people. If you at any point thought the end goal was 'the trainee heroes join the villains to kill the world because systemic problems exist and the only way to bring about change is by murdering everyone because Friendship' and assumed that was a reasonable conclusion of this story's arc, I... uh, yeah I honestly don't know how to end this beyond how the FUCK did that ever seem like a reasonable conclusion to you?

Was it just because something something Feelings and being motivated entirely by character emotions rather than analysis of where the story is going? Because that's the only way I can see that becoming a conclusion. Seriously the whole idea of hating superheroes because they save people is so goddamned weird. It's like the logical conclusion of people deciding the Jedi are bad and the Sith are good is because the former are taught to emphasize duty over personal stuff and the latter don't, despite the latter also being sadistic tyrannical assholes whose signature technique is a torture beam.

[hazelroses1]

Ochako Trying to Masturbate When Her Roommates Aren't Home But Alas, Eijirou and Katsuki Come Home Early

#nsfw #kirikacchako #voyeurism #exibitionism

Ochako attaching her mountable dildo to her headboard on a day when she finally has the house to herself? More likely than one would think. With her roommates working, she can get off after days of being pent up because they’re home. 

The lock on her bedroom door doesn’t work, and one of her roommates doesn’t like to knock. Even if he does, he opens the door at the same time. Usually, Ochako doesn’t mind, but lately, she’d rather keep her privacy after realizing how attracted she is to him. In his defense, he has gotten better at knocking and waiting. Still, if he gets excited about something, whether that is actual excitement or ready to rage, sometimes he doesn’t. Throwing her pillows at him sometimes works to make him leave, or it just makes him explode them into a million feathers. It’s a work in progress.

So, she’s glad to have some alone time to relieve the aching she’s constantly subjected to from having Katsuki Bakugou and Eijirou Kirishima as roommates. They’re gorgeous, giant, muscular pro heroes that everyone drools over. Eijirou’s smile or Katsuki’s half-cocked grin could make anyone drop their underwear. Ochako is one of the droolers who would let them rip hers off her, no questions asked. Seeing Katsuki shirtless as he cooks, his sweats low on his hips, and his back muscles shifting underneath flawless skin makes her forget her name. Then Eijirou, who’s an entire head taller than Katsuki, wearing shirts that he’s about to burst out of because of how muscular he is? How could she not be hot and bothered all the time?! She knows what he’s packing from many of what she hopes were inconspicuous peeks whenever he wears compression leggings.

However, she maintains their platonic friendship despite her intense interest in them. Ochako doesn’t want to ruin their relationship or make them feel uncomfortable, so instead, she’s fucking her red and black dildo while wearing a tank top with Dynamite’s design on it. She gets to be as loud as she wants, especially when she grabs the remote and ups the vibrations, and her toes curl hard enough to cramp. She’s so close, her mind wishing it were one of her roommates fucking her instead of her toy. It would be even better if it were both of them, but the thought makes her body burn with embarrassment.

It’s 2 P.M. in the afternoon. Katsuki and Eijirou shouldn’t be home until almost 8 P.M., which is why Ochako makes no effort to listen for the front door opening or the sound of boots being kicked off. She’s in the throes of passion, mere minutes from orgasmic bliss when Katsuki slings her door open.

“Oi, Cheeks, I’ve been fucking calling you because― what the fuck are you doing?!”

Ochako scrambles off the dildo fast enough that it slings her slick over her comforter, and she dives to the other side of the bed to hide behind it. “Get out of my room! What the hell, Katsuki?!”

“Holy fuck,” Katsuki says when he glances at her thick dildo bobbing on the headboard. “Who knew you could take a dick that big. That’s so fucking hot.”

Ochako thinks she’s going to explode. “W-what?! Please, I didn’t think you were gonna be home! I-I just needed a little alone time!”

 Katsuki walks into her room, tossing his shirt off as he goes, and grabs her computer chair. He moves it to the side of her bed by the door and sits, leaning back in it as his hand lays dangerously close to the thick outline in his pants. Ochako’s brain fizzles when she realizes Katsuki is as hard as a rock.

 “Lemme watch, Cheeks,” he says, his voice full of lust.

“What, no!” Ochako protests. “This is private, you jerk!”

“Yeah, that’s why you’re fucking yourself wearing my design on a dildo the same red and black as Shitty Hair’s colors? Shit isn’t private anymore.”

“I-I!” Ochako sputters, failing to find words that might explain why he’s right without making her look like a creep. Katsuki grins as he grips his cock through his black pants and strokes. Ochako’s eyes zero in on the slow movement, her mouth so close to watering. She wipes her chin preemptively.

“Shut the fuck up,” Katsuki says with no malice in his voice. “You’re an idiot if you think we can’t tell how bad you wanna fuck us. That’s it, right? Wish it was me or Eijirou stretching out your pretty little cunt? Come on, Cheeks. Let me watch you cum.”

Ochako isn’t sure what to do at first. She hasn’t done anything like this, but something about having Katsuki watch her piques her interest. His hungry gaze never leaves her, not even when he shoves his hand inside his pants and rolls his hips upward. Ochako sees how he tosses his head back and bites his lip in her brain, and she plans to keep it there for the rest of her life.

“You wanna watch me cum while wearing your shirt?” she asks as she stands to her feet and lets Katsuki drink her in.

It’s empowering and makes her feel desired to have those vermillion eyes studying every inch of her. She climbs back onto her bed and positions herself in front of her dildo again. Katsuki pulls his dick out of his pants and spits in his hand as he spreads his legs wider. That’s it. She will ride that monster if it’s the last thing she does, but for now, she’ll give him a good show. Ochako sighs as she sinks back onto her dildo. It morphs into a squeal since the vibrations weren’t turned off. It’s enough sensation to make her eyes cross. Ochako fucks herself hard, relishing how her toy fills her perfectly from the rocking of her hips.

“That’s it, baby. Show off for me,” Katsuki murmurs as he strokes himself faster. “Gonna have you bouncing on my dick like that real fucking soon. Just like that, now play with your clit. I know she’s gotta be aching, right?”

He’s right, and Ochako reaches between her thighs to rub her sensitive nub, moans pouring out of her. She couldn’t stop her mewls if she tried. The pressure builds again, so close to bursting, but she sees something in her doorway. The color from her face drains again when she sees Eijirou staring at them both with wide eyes. Why are they home?! She has to find out why she’s been caught. Ochako halts but doesn’t remove her dildo for now.

“We can explain!” Ochako blurts out. “It’s just I, you see. Um-”

“Your dildo has my colors on it, Ochako,” he says as he leans against the doorway.

“I mean, y-yes, it does, but―!”

“Oi, I didn’t tell you to stop,” Katsuki interrupts. “Keep going and get out Shitty Hair if you’re gonna complain about it!”

Eijirou grins. “Oh, I’m not complaining! I wanna see the show, too.” He meets Ochako’s eyes, and Ochako shudders underneath that intense look. Eijirou gives her a predatorial grin, his sharp teeth making her skin itch for bite marks. “You heard Katsuki. Keep going.”

[sapphic-agent]

How would you have redeemed Bakugou?

I'm glad you asked😈

So, this actually isn't a very hard question to answer. Bakugou should have been an easy character to redeem as a) he's young and b) he embodies everything wrong with society so as our main character resolved (or should have resolved) to change that, it should have been easy to change Bakugou along the way. Let me break it down.

Class 1A doesn't like Bakugou A big point of contention for not only Bakugou but 1A as characters is the fact that he's explicitly awful to Izuku (and them even if it isn't as bad) and half of 1A doesn't care while the other half outright admires him. Kirishima and Mina especially as a later point of both their characters is that they don't like bullies, yet they end up as part of his friend group and take his verbal abuse.

I would have kept up a general indifference/disdain for Bakugou that was showed at the beginning of the show. Kaminari (another one who ends up as part of his group unfortunately) clowning him should have been kept up the entire series, as well as Tsu pointing out how awful and annoying he is. Bakugou's attitude should have kept him ostracized from the majority of the class.

Because Kirishima is a big part of the reason Bakugou starts to change, I would keep him Bakugou's friend. But he doesn't tolerate any of Bakugou's disrespect and consistently calls him out.

Uraraka and Iida defend Izuku from Bakugou This kind of ties in to the first point, but I think Uraraka and (especially) Iida should have shown more concern. Bakugou's behavior isn't normal and I think the two of them of all people should have been aware of that. I mean, you see your friend who doesn't defend himself and looks terrified for his life being yelled at and assaulted by someone with a dangerous quirk and you don't do anything?

I feel like for who Iida is, he would look down on that and would make the effort to chew Bakugou out. Izuku's friend constantly calling something out would stress to him (and the audience) the fact that how Bakugou treats him isn't okay and shouldn't be condoned.

Aizawa chews him out Unfortunately, Aizawa has to give Izuku a hard time because that's who his character is, but he should have been just as hard (if not harder) on Bakugou. Bakugou, who has been careless with his quirk and has deliberately disobeyed his instructors. Bakugou, who threw a literal temper tantrum at the Sports Festival. Bakugou, whose actions put fellow classmates in danger.

I've said this before, but it's so insane to me that he consistently sticks up for Bakugou while actively talking down to Izuku. You would think that Bakugou would be the kind of hero Aizawa hates.

He loses to Todoroki (or Uraraka or Shinsou) Him losing would be the start to him having to deal with failure. He should have been humbled this early in the show. It would have also been a great segway into him learning that saving people should be a hero's top priority, not being the best. Winning isn't everything and it should be the last thing on a hero's mind.

And I know the whole point in canon is that he didn't get to win the way he wanted to, but that doesn't negate the fact that he still won and was regarded at the best in 1A.

His actions at the Sports Festival turn pros away Idk about anyone else, but I would not want a walking PR liability nightmare in my agency. He threw a temper tantrum on live television. He attacked his unconscious, defenseless opponent and had to be knocked out. Why on Earth was he still given so many offers (over 3,000 is beyond ridiculous, I would even say Todoroki's number was dumb too)? And the fact that Tokoyami and Iida were given way less offers is just insulting, they got third place.

This would have been a good time to stress that his actions have consequences and that he can't do and say whatever he wants and still get everything.

The fact that everyone- students, teachers, and pros- are so desensitized to his attitude and behavior is extremely concerning (especially for the teachers and pros).

Best Jeanist teaches him more I appreciate Best Jeanist's efforts, but let's be real he focused way too much on Bakugou's style. I give him leeway because he isn't a teacher (and still did way better than Aizawa), but Bakugou needed a reality check. He should have been more focused on teaching Bakugou and telling him why his attitude needed to change.

(He also should have been kept around for the work studies. Bakugou didn't spend nearly enough time with him. And why is it that the only adult who genuinely wanted Bakugou to be better past getting stronger the one who had to "die" and disappear? Any other hero could have been used and it wouldn't have changed anything)

Bakugou doesn't pass the final exam This has been said a lot so I won't go into how he passed and Sero didn't, but the fact that his actions here went completely unchecked is disgusting. He was deliberately uncooperative and assaulted his teammate and somehow still passed? Excuse me? Aizawa has expelled students for less, but Bakugou didn't immediately fail? Anyone else would have been suspended at the very least.

Bakugou needs to be held to the same standard as everyone else. Giving him special treatment just enables his terrible behavior.

Aizawa actually admits fault in allowing Bakugou's behavior to go unchecked and actually makes good on his promise to fix it The fact that Aizawa spent that press conference deflecting from the actual issue is extremely annoying. Yeah, Bakugou works hard. So do all your students and you're not singing their praises. Not a word about Izuku who literally works out during class whenever he can. Not a word about Uraraka who learned hand-to-hand combat.

That all means squat diddly when Bakugou has repeatedly broken rules and received less than a slap on the wrist for it. Using how hard he works as an excuse is a copout, especially when it was his own actions that got him kidnapped in the first place. He knew he wasn't supposed to confront the LOV and insisted on it anyway.

Todoroki doesn't fail the provisional licensing exam For once, Bakugou has to face the full consequences of his actions on his own. And this is where he really starts to ponder if Best Jeanist was right and that his behavior isn't becoming of a hero. If everyone else passed and he didn't, doesn't that mean that he really is doing something wrong?

(Personally, I would make it so that he would have to try against in his second year, but that's subjective)

Bakugou doesn't get to know about OFA Instead of rewarding his terrible behavior, All Might should have given him a reality check. That being strong isn't what makes a hero. That Izuku earned One For All because of his heart. That the toxic ambition that Bakugou has is what helped shape Endeavor into a monster (let's pretend he knows about the Todorokis) and that he's going down the same road.

And this would be the turning point for Bakugou. What makes him stop and look at himself in the mirror and realize that he doesn't want to end up like that. That he doesn't want to be a monster.

And that's when everything I mentioned before finally clicks for him. This is where Bakugou really starts to change, and not because he forced his way into knowing a secret that was none of his business. But because he's being forced to realize that his actions aren't hero material.

This is where Bakugou begins to actually put in the effort to change. Not to get him what he wants, but because it's the right thing to do.

(None of that save to win bullshit)

Small, but meaningful changes Bakugou begins to be more mindful of his behavior. It's nothing big, but he makes an effort to stop insulting his classmates. If he starts, he stops himself. If he does, he owns up to it and apologizes.

He drops the shitty nicknames and starts to show the bare minimum of respect towards his classmates. He leaves Izuku alone. He takes it upon himself to go to Aizawa (not that I think canon Aizawa would be much help, but let's pretend for the sake of this) and ask how he can improve. He makes the genuine effort to change and improve. He actually gets better.

Accountability Bakugou confesses what he did to Izuku to Kirishima. Kirishima is rightfully upset and chews him out, but understands that Bakugou is genuinely trying to change. He tells him that he needs to find a way to apologize.

And Bakugou does. He apologizes to Izuku privately and owns up to everything. Not just in Aldera, but everything that happened in UA too. He shows actual remorse and sincerity, no excuses or reasons and no sugarcoating. Just a real apology owning up to the fact that there was no justification or logic behind his behavior and a promise that he will be better.

And Izuku thanks him. He doesn't accept or refuse it, he just says thank you.

1A somehow overhears. And Izuku's friends give Bakugou a piece of their mind. The rest of the class is rightfully horrified and upset. This leads to Bakugou being even further ostracized from the class (they aren't mean to him or anything, but they don't like to be around him).

Save to Save Bakugou's arc comes to completion when he risks his life to save someone. Not Izuku, just someone, anyone. Someone who needed to be saved. It isn't even during the PLA War or any other significant event, it's a random occurrence. He doesn't think about it, his body just moves. He saves that person successfully, and then collapses from his injuries.

Maybe he lives, maybe he dies. Who knows? That's not the important thing. What's important is that it signifies that he really did change by willingly giving up his chance of being the #1 to do the right thing.

That is how I would have redeemed Katsuki Bakugou.

[barid-bel-medar]

For the Time Traveling Bakugo and Izuku au, normally, there's a pro and con for changing events too much as a time traveller unless the events were far enough that the whole timeline can adjust to it. BK only intended to do minor changes, that he perceives, before going for the big game prior to UA. Izuku went to tell AM about secrets that he shouldn't know at all and dealt with the problem before it bugs. AFO, Hero Society adjustments, etc. are dealt early that BK's future info is mostlyuseless

Yeah this relates to the point I made over here, namely that Bakugou doesn't actually get what needed to be done to stop the future they came from. It's not that a different successor was needed, not that a different 'hero of the story' was needed, not even entirely that fights needed to go a different way (the only exception here really is the earlier fight between All Might and AFO, and even there it's more a 'make sure to watch the corpse be burnt to ashes and even then keep a close eye out'). It was that people needed to be saved in the past, which would prevent those fights from being a thing.

You can't start with the getting of OFA/start of the school year.

It also doesn't help that Bakugou still doesn't get on more than a shallow level of why Izuku was the right choice for OFA (ignoring that 'if you have a Quirk it'll kill you eventually' thing since while I can actually see a good reason for it, I'm also not going to go into it here since that's not the point here). It wasn't just because he saved someone. It's that he selflessly saved someone. He sees the heroes failing to save Bakugou, sees that Bakugou is going to die, and knows he has to do something. It's the same thing with him rescuing Ochako during the entrance exam; he's not doing it because he wants to destroy the Zero Pointer, or thinks he'll get something out of it. He does it because he sees her in danger and believes he needs to help her (it is most likely that the Zero Pointer wasn't a real danger to her and would have stopped before reaching and hurting her, but Izuku can't know that; for all he knows she could be hurt or killed by sheer accident) Bakugou would be saving someone for selfish reasons, and All Might would have been able to tell (he wouldn't necessarily know it's because Bakugou want's OFA, but he would reasonablly view it as happening because he wants his attention).

Also at this point he would have already given OFA to Izuku.

But to also go back to how he views the changes he needs to do pre-UA, he's not getting that he's doing very *shallow* changes. Yes, he has what on the surface level are healthier relationships with their primary and middle school classmates; he's also still viewing them as extras. He gets that he needs to treat Izuku better, but he also doesn't get that what he needs to do isn't protect him but to treat him as an equal. That also is a bigger issue here because Izuku is also a time traveler but he also quickly realized Bakugou is basically ignoring the possibility because he views it as his role to change things.

The only big thing Bakugou really viewed as needing to be changed is who the successor to All Might is, and that was never the case.