#but his IS a hero with or without a quirk

[asayyun14]

I’m gonna use this opportunity to do a mini-essay on why I personally don’t like Aizawa Shota from MHA but I understand why someone would.

First, why I personally do not like him. He’s a very blunt and strict teacher, and at first rather unsympathetic towards Izuku. He also has extremely high expectations of his students and can put them under threat if these expectations aren’t met. I don’t like these qualities because due to my autism I have an uncomfortable amount of empathy for those he’s scolded so far (especially Izuku).

Now for why I get why someone would like him. I’m gonna get 2 points out of the way: he’s fictional, and I ain’t even watched the whole show yet. Now for the real points; I do admit he does look quite attractive as a hereto man.

Furthermore, due to the environment the heroes are in and his own personal backstory, he has to be strict with the students. If he didn’t push Izuku by informing him that without control of his quirks he’d be worthless, not only would it not push Izuku to be quick thinking, it would also make him boring and too perfect for the problematic lovers.

I am begging everyone 25 and under to learn that you don't need a 5 paragraph essay on why a fictional character is Actually The Most Morally Bankrupt Evil Character Ever And Everyone Who Likes Them Is An Abuse Apologist Who Preys On Children or what the fuck ever. You can literally just say "I hate that character" and move on.

[rocknbkdk]

i’m so disappointed with the mha ending, but horikoshi is a man after all.

how can you end the manga 4 months ago so beautifully, just to ruin it with THAT. we waited for 4 months for something exciting, but it a rushed ending of whatever the hell that was. it’s literally queerbait and i stand by it. horikoshi wrote such a beautiful relationship between 2 characters, with OBVIOUS romantic undertones. what happened to katsuki being the main funder? the rest of their lives? their feelings become one? he could’ve written THE shounen with a hinted lgbtq ending. IT HAD THE POTENTIAL.

mha had the most typical shounen ending. THE FIRST ENDING WAS SO MUCH BETTER. no unnecessary love interest for the main character, izuku finally won katsuki over, a (not so) friendship between 2 guys who were the plot and it still had a nice ending without izuku having a quirk. BUT NO. horikoshi had to ruin all of that. he also said he was disappointed with naruto’s ending just to end HIS manga the same way. hypocrisy at its finest???!!!

i actually had so much faith in horikoshi because of how beautifully he wrote himiko and ochaco’s development. himiko learning that love goes both ways, learning that the heroes DO care and ochaco learning how to accept her (in short). & with katsuki and izuku is the same. katsuki learning how to love himself along with learning how to love izuku. wanting to be the reason izuku doesn’t become a hero to being the reason izuku becomes a hero, and i could go on and on…

i feel so mad FOR katsuki, he never got to achieve any of his dreams. he spent 8 years on that goddamn man, to be is forced to be with a woman whose dead girlfriend convinced her she’s straight. AND APPARENTLY HE WAS THE ONE WHO ENCOURAGED IZUKU TO TALK TO OCHACO??? horikoshi wtf.

ochaco’s character development is completely watered down. her learning how to be herself, but she’s just a love interest to horikoshi. she very obviously moved on from izuku… just to fall in love with him again? after 8 years? izu//ocha was obviously very one sided. izuku showed completely no interest in ochaco before, so i don’t get how he randomly started crushing on her. yes, he blushed around her before, but he blushed around other girls as well because he never talked to girls before.

also, i don’t get why HIMIKO was pushing ochaco to talk to izuku? when she was clearly in LOVE with her.

ochaco admitted she dreamt of himiko, we had a togachaco scene just for it to be watered down by horikoshi making izuku appear and then them starting uncontrollably blushing around each other. all of it was completely unnecessary. he forced the underdeveloped ship so badly like even their relationship is underdeveloped and rushed because of, it literally does not make sense 😭😭

honestly sorry for izuku, katsuki, himiko and ochaco because they HAD TO BE WRITTEN BY THIS EVIL MAN CALLED HORIKOSHI.

LIKE LOOK AT THIS PANEL. how is this handhold peak romance?!?! it’s so stiff… and empty… they’re just grabbing each other’s hand. it’s so empty

also the toya situation? his abuser is roaming freely around. he never got any justice, even after death. but that’s another story. HORIKOSHI WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR WRITING SKILLS

ps don’t get me wrong at all. izu//ocha is such a cute ship, but it’s so bland it doesn’t have enough seasoning for it to become canon

(i’ll probably edit this a few times because i feel like i have more to add that my brain hasn’t realized)

[fluff-n-cookies]

NOT PROOF READ

Gender neutral

Something something Izuku Midoriya and the best friend that he likes to think that he's better than.(some angst with a happy ending to quwell my heart.)

Izuku Midoriya and his best friend, one with NO quirk, and NO other friends. they're pretty stupid too, the type of person with B's and C'son their report card.

they don't have that many dreams, they're simply just "Enjoying" school.

like what type of a person does that? do you have no passion? No light in your life? you're just there without thought, why? weird.

but regardless, Izuku keeps them around, they're nice to have when Kacchan's being an asshole, so then he's not the only one that's being yelled at.

They're also quirkless, equally as useless as he.

they're fun to hang with... sometimes.

I mean... they're kind of annoying, they laugh too loud looking back, and they talk a lot about themselves, and don't really do much other than complain and gossip, but beggars can't be choosers! this is the only friend that he has, an annoying friend is better than no friends right?

that is until, All might, when he comes into the picture.

and suddenly the world's so much bigger than those Friday night gaming sessions on the living room Xbox, it's bigger than going to merch pop ups to buy limited edition All might figurines and getting signatures from smaller hero's.

it's bigger, so much bigger, than comforting the other about being quirkless and useless.

And suddenly, it's about training, it's about learning, it's about growing into a hero. it's about fighting for civilians and keeping those who you love safe.

It's about UA.

It's about the USJ attack and fighting Shigaraki.

It's about the Sports Festival.

It's about One For All and All For One.

It's about Stain.

But more so, it's about Ochako and Iida, about Todoroki and Tsu and Momo-

and suddenly, you aren't a part of him anymore.

you aren't the person he comes running to when Kacchan calls him Useless, he doesn't come over to talk about the newest emerging hero's.

there's aren't pictures of you on the wall, they've been replaced by new pictures of his adventures at UA. The collectibles that you bought him for Christmas pushed to the back of his shelves to make room for little All might themed tickets that Ochako found at the dollar store.

you doesn't text you much anymore, when you do shoot him a

'hey Izuku! we haven't talked in a while, wanna go to that one coffee shop to catch up? :3'

it's met with

'I'm sorry I'm replying so late! I was with Todoroki and Iida training. I'll text you later.'

he never texted you later. or ever again really.

because you're here, still quirk less, still useless, still so very hurt by all those things that Kacchan said.

You're here, not a hero, you're a civilian, no dreams and no goals, only you.

and without that green haired boy that grew up with you, he left, and now he's saving the world.

He forgot your birthday.

[marronje]

Now having gotten somewhat used to the void in my chest I can finally drag all my thoughts about the epilogue into one pile

I know it may be getting old for some of you guys already, but I haven't seen some things being discussed anywhere

My problem with the ending is actually with the audience, I literally have almost no issues with how the epilogue is written, all the minor ones I have don't come from the epilogue but the previous plot building which wasn't perfect by all means.

1. People forget that this chapter isn't the Epilogue but the Epilogue pt. 2

TWO PARTS YOU KNOW

Please reread 430. You did? Now let's compare.

a) Can you see what the chapter is focused on? 430 is a lot more shallow, it focuses on facts and tries to contain all the changes at once and looks VERY rushed. Hori didn't have much time with his schedule, so of course he tried to fit all at once and nothing at all. This chapter is more about the system and facts, trying to answer the more crucial questions fans may have.

Chapter 430 has ~20 pages

431 has almost 40 (!)

b) 431 finally has time to look at the characters up close. Why there is so much about Uraraka? Well, because in the pt. 1 she's got one panel and a couple of words. That's why half the chapter is about her now, because she and Izuku are the male and female leads of the manga.

c) Why didn't we have more of Katsuki? Well, this character isn't very known for huge inner monologues and all this sappy stuff. We can get enough from character interaction and subtle cues, as always. Despite being a big asshole and a major loudmouth (I say this with all my love and adoration guys), Katsuki is a really stoic character. And this kind of character doesn't need a whole 5 pages writing down their motivation and inner thought process. I like this. This man remains the most conscious person here and has the greatest development in the series (and Shoto, sure, these two are on the whole other level compared to others in terms of writing)

Izuku and Ochako are more open to us, and it shows in the chapter's way of storytelling

And Shoto is still the most relatable dude here, me too, Shoto, me too...

2. Izuku is NOT shutting Katsuki out of his life. He basically invited him to TEACH TOGETHER just like Katsuki invited him to BE HEROES TOGETHER.

To me it shows clearly that these two just found their two paths that don't align fully. Izuku has been teaching for years after his quirk was gone. Sure, he still adores hero job, but he already has stability and purpose and it's IMPORTANT to him. He's only been back to heroics for a month after all. Izuku has matured significantly, and I respect that about his character even if it's not perfectly written.

"Izuku wouldn't ever decline the offer". Do I need to remind you that it's whole 8 years after their school days?

Imagine yourself 16, dreaming to start a rock band with your best friend. You're both so passionate about it, you think music is the most beautiful thing in your life and you'll never be over it.

But you get your fingers injured severely, and you can't play your guitar anymore. You're devastated, but your knowledge is valuable and you get a whole teaching degree and go to work in a musical college. It feels very fulfilling to you. But your friend is very talented, he continues and pushes forward and actually becomes a worldwide known rock star! You're so glad for him!

But the time passes, and your friend, now famous and loaded, states – you're getting most expensive treatment and surgery, and we – I and our old band bros – pay for this.

And your fingers, they work properly again. You had a whole life of 8 years, and now there are so many possibilities open. You know your friend wants you to join his band and travel and rock the stage together, he offers it to you without expecting much, because he knows you have your life settled already, you can't change that with a flick of a wrist. He's an understanding friend, even if his passion for your old shared dream burns brighter still. You can join his band for a concert or two once in a while, it's a good reprieve from your everyday life. But as much as you love music, your priorities shifted significantly since your youth – and now teaching is as important and precious to you.

You even invite your friend to give a lesson of two in the college where you work. It's a way for you two still remain in each other's lives even if your paths are a bit different now. Your connection is built on compromise and genuine support from both sides, and it's fantastic!

I know the analogy isn't perfect, but it works I suppose.

3. About Himiko and Ochako. It's a painful one, but

No, Himiko wasn't haunting Ochako for the whole 8 years, it's probably a time to time occasion. It's not because Ochako is tired, it's because she can't let go of her guilt and at particularly taxing times it manifests in these visions.

Dreams are still a big mystery for science, but what we know is that they're almost always NOT about what you see, but about the hidden layers of meaning.

And of course we know this is not REAL Himiko, it's just Ochako's mind.

So I don't understand all the weeping around Himiko now being DEAD FOR REAL OH. This is Ochako's mind, not a literal Toga's spirit no matter how much Horikoshi wants his symbolisms to be literal in this story. It's still open to interpretation if Toga is dead or notnot (she's coping).

Tsuyu is so Tsuyu 😭😭😭

Right, my girl, this dummy really thought there's something wrong with her health while she just needed to see a psychologist...

I remind you that psychotherapy is severely underdeveloped in Japan. There's still a lot of stigma around mental health there, so please keep this mentality in your mind while reading manga. "They could just go and see a therapist." No, they couldn't. Their culture doesn't work like this, and societal norms aren't a joke in Japan, they're literally overwhelming.

And about how this chapter "ruined" Himiko. To me, it didn't.

"Himiko was written for Ochako". Exactly. Ochako's main negative character trait was inability to open up about her true feelings, putting up a cheerful front and all that.

Himiko was created to get her to understand what suppressing emotions does to people. Unfortunately, it seems she didn't catch this message fully until Himiko told her with plain words and freaking pushed her forward.

And isn't it a torture for Himiko seeing Ochako beating herself over her death, putting up a brave front to avoid her inner struggle which is COMPLETELY OPPOSITE to what Himiko tried to convey?

And Himiko loved both Izuku and Ochako, so of course she wants them to be special for each other and open up to each other too.

Because Himiko LOVES love in any form (pun intended), and wishes happiness for her special people, and sees how they have been holding back from living how they wanted.

Do you really think Himiko would prefer a depressed Ochako having hallucinations of her over an Ochako who's opening up and rebuilding connections with the man she yearned to reach out to for so long?

And of course I'm not about the ship. This manga was never about the ships. We've got a clue that Izuku barely had any contact with his former classmates since graduation in 430. This chapter is created to gives us hope that it'll change, starting with Uraraka because Uraraka was the one to reach out to him first in the beginning, and now it's his turn.

I imagine that it's just a start of the reconnection arc. Izuku can do this with the rest of his classmates too later, and knowing his tendency to butt into others' business he certainly will.

(Yeah, it's an actually good idea for a new tome for you Hori, not Boruto 2.0, never Boruto 2.0 please...)

4(?). This one has gotten me confused...

They studied 3 years... so they must have become class 2-A, then 3-A.... I hope it's a bad translation.

Do you trust Jirou? She certainly did put a whole ton of wasabi in his food, look at her face

Katsuki not toasting because he's the sober friend for his whole bunch of idiots>>>>

(he really has come here for the food)

Katsuki, when did you undergo your Syndrome arc?

[codenamesazanka]

the leaks:

skimming through the entire chapter 431 with my rough translation skills.

Uraraka's Quirk Counseling expansion seems to be her (and Tsuyu) trying to single-handedly screen for problems and child abuse by spending one month at every single (elementary) school/school district? They're helped by volunteer heroes.

She's also helped by Hawks, who negotiating with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and other organizations to provide support to change quirk education.

She is the best hero. 😭😭😭

My worries about quirk counseling have been slightly mollified by this. Slightly. It's geared towards very young children, and we don't see the actual counseling, just Heroes spending time with kids to make sure they're not showing signs of distress, but it's nice to see this tiny glimpse.

Uraraka has dreams about Toga, and wonders if Toga left her blood/quirk/will inside of Uraraka similar to how OFA functioned. Uraraka can't remember the content of the dreams, though, and wonders if Toga is trying to send her a message.

Deku says he's developed a policy to help students develop their quirks. He also goes around to elementary schools and facilities and give lectures, sharing his experiences with young girls and boys.

Shouto has taken up pottery-making classes, after thinking a lot about fate and inevitability and his path

The entire class mobilizes to capture a car thief who may or may not have used his quirk - alert said that if he does just his quirk, it might cause a big accident? idk about this part.

When Deku asks Uraraka out, Uraraka finally remembers her Toga dream, which is Toga telling her that just like how Toga lived as she liked, Uraraka should live as she likes. So Uraraka says yes to going out with Deku.

.☠️☠️☠️.

Laughing so hard because 'go live as you please!' is so Toga! It's Toga's ideal and guiding principle. She clung to being her quirk-influenced, bisexual-love, creepy-smile self, fighting to love and die as herself. She would be happy for Ochako following her heart! But did it have to be the most conventional hetero cutesy romcom shit.

The OFA-esque accumulation of will and power of Toga's quirk and love and ideals............... to encourage Ochako to date Deku.

I don't believe the League is mentioned at all by name except for Toga via Uraraka's dream, and one line from Shouto saying he was praying at Touya's altar (thus confirming that Touya is dead).

AFO is mentioned but in context of young heroes deriving their impressions of heroism from the AFO battle? idk about this part.

Two flashbacks to Shigaraki, from Deku.

First is Deku flashbacking to him inside Tenko's heart, holding Tenko's hands, as he talks about how even if he had OFA, he would still come to want to be a teacher.

(Feel like this is interesting because AFO has always been 'Sensei'/teacher to Shigaraki. In a way it feels like Deku is trying to be a Good Teacher to AFO's Bad Teacher, I guess?)

Second is Deku ruminating on Shouto's talk about 'inevitability' and how he's doing everything he wanted, and he's blessed. He flashes back to Shigaraki's "Really, do your best," which is when he also notices Uraraka laughing and get heart eyes.

So i'm laughing again that even without a dream ghost, Shigaraki's words about destruction also gets used and recontexted to fuel Deku/Ochako.

Did that extra panel of Shigaraki's almost-smile in Chapter 423 come about just to give us this ~*~parallel~*~???

It's pure gold. Villainous creeds (Destroy everything / Live as I please) ultimately used to not even prop up the Heroes doing heroic stuff related to the society that the Villains were rebelling against... but rather to get Deku and Uraraka on a date.

[angy-grrr]

According to these "leaks":

Izuku only thinks about Shigaraki one time, leads to nowhere as there is no Plus ultra/we all can do it if we reach out to others message. The villains, society's duality, hope and dispair arent part of this chapter according to these leaks.

No All Might, the closest thing is the signed card. We also get no update on him, so we lose the plus ultra foundation of the series at the actual end.

Izuku rejects Katsuki's offer to be part of his agency, hes okay working with everyone else and being a teacher, we lose the plus ultra foundation of the series again (the other half of all might's heroism, leading to believe theres no reason to join forces like that; it goes against what Toshinori told them and the war callback).

We dont see them actually working; we know they did, but we dont know how izuku's suit works, how they all would fight together or what their role is now that there arent as many villains.

We get quick updates of many heroes.

We get a bittersweet moment from Shouto

We dont know what Ochako's program does, leaving again the conversation about society, quirks heroes and villains out of it completely.

I n another hand, Ochako keeps feeling like shit but not because she could have done something more for Himiko like last time, this time is bc she really likes Deku even more than before and wants to date him but it wouldnt be fair to Himiko. We regress her character, as she once again hides her feelings and is miserable even after working on changing the future of so many kids to be understood like Himiko deserved; even after her achievements, is not enough, because she needs to date Deku even if Himiko is an "obstacle" who needs to give her permission to live her life. There's no real full experienced life without expressing how much she wants to date Deku.

She actually expresses concern to Tsuyu, but apparently is not enough ; the only one who could help is Izuku, as the goal is to get them dating, even tho in chapter 429 it was revealed she hid from everyone including Tsuyu, not just Deku. Instead of learning about expressing your bad feelings to the ppl around you to healthily solve them, these "leaks" push a message of "telling your friend doesnt actually help, you have to date that guy".

Izuku uses Katsuki's words to understadn he should date Ochako, as he thinks shes particularly special (Izuku picks a favorite person in his life). She agress they should keep talking forever, and they dap. End of the series.

on top of that, she actually doesnt express her pain to Izuku (seeing Himiko's ghost, being conflicted about her wanting her to be free and love and the reminder of her ghost...), directly lets him talk about how shes special and wants to spend extra time with her in particular, and agrees.

This narration pushes the idea that Himiko as a ghost has been haunting Ochako for 8 years exclusively to start dating Izuku. The program and her work, her expressing her pain, etc dont matter. For her to "actually be free", she needs to date him.

Dap.

[ellisbian]

bakudeku will live together. izuku is now a teacher in U.A., this is his hero academia, he loves to teach to those little kids that remind him of him and his friends, there’s a kid especially that reminds about him. he has a quirk but is shy and has a low self esteem. deku will help him.

bakugou is now the number one hero, he is a peace symbol because izuku - quirkless but happy - wanted that his kacchan would’ve been this symbol, no one else could be in this role, because after all bakugou’s dreams too was to become the number one. izuku gives him this possibility , he also saved the world and his strong and gentle even if people wouldn’t say so but izuku knows him better than anyone one. he loves him for this after all.

every day izuku and bakugou share kisses before to go to work, every evening they try to go home as soon as possible because so they can have dinner together and then go to bed and share cuddles and kisses.

everything is perfect, everything is good.

this is how bnha will end well maybe not with kisses and cuddle on screen but this is how it’ll end trust me i had a vision !!!

[hatsunevita]

post-war bakudeku as pro hero duo where deku, having lost his quirk, starts using technological support stuff (like the costume all might had during his fight with all for one) because he is not ready to give up his dream and there are still people in need of saving.

and i like this concept because i think bakugou would destroy anyone who dares say that deku is not a hero anymore due to his quirk loss. bro is literally the first one to defend izuku’s honour and he gets so pissed when anyone underestimates deku and his determination to save people no matter what.

just. just imagine bakugou saying “you don’t need a quirk to be a hero, and izuku is a living proof of this phrase”. imagine him continuing to view deku as his equal. as someone worthy of competing. as his partner – in any sense.

[nepttunnee]

the thing that really gets me in mha is that like. before deku gets his quirk everyone is like you cant be a hero at all. which at the time makes sense bc all might is number one but like at all??? thats crazy. and then woah he has a quirk and he can be a hero and gets into the top class of the top hero school and we immediately meet a guy whose power is just tail. his name is tailman. and another who i kid you the fuck not is a diaper wearing misogynist whose whole schtick is he has sticky balls. and they’re like these r the top students ever!! the future of japan!! and deku is like i could have never gotten here without all might!! meanwhile ojiro is sitting there like a singular fucked up backflip away from being in the same boat as him hello?? looking at him straight on he’s just man?? are you serious right now. and then deku loses his super cool quirk whatevs and has to wait forever for his super powerful best friend/lover/enemy? to buy him a super cool gadget thingy whole time fucking tailman is over here on the same level as the kid who makes lightning bolts strong enough to fry the human brain come out of his hands

[the-mad-martian-on-mars]

i’m watching all the mha movies again and seeing izuku fighting genuinely brings tears to my eyes he’s THE HERO out of everyone in the world he’s the one who deserves a quirk it’s so unfair it’s so fucking unfair

[i-wanna-die-like-now]

Ghost King Danny AU where he meets the past OFA holders in the ghost zone and gets to know them personally, they're the ones that ask him to go to the future to help with some long awaited fight, to ensure that another person didn't die by AFOs hands. Clockwork reluctantly agrees and that's why he is there.

[polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup]

Just want to say: a, I admire very much that you've figured out a healthy way to work on your fics that allows you to have fun with it. And also b, am very excited to hear that you are getting there with pez! It has fully given me brain rot ever since I read it last year, there is just such a lack of content for the highly specific trope of using time travel as a device to explore extremely unhealthy levels of self loathing.

I just adore everything you're doing in it. Neither midoriya is anywhere approaching okay for any portion of the fic and I love rereading and mining into all the subtle characterization pointing to that. It's a bit like nhtycth in that some really goofy funny stuff is often hiding some really fucking worrying things, but the fact that characters DO do that stuff—that todoroki uses his teaspoon's worth of extremely stunted social skills to bludgeon his friend's door open and help him, that a rpf shipping war is an actual source of drama despite how goofy the sentiment seems on the surface, that about half of what jon says is deeply worrying and the other half is extremely funny and there's a lot of overlap between the two—really lifts the tension and brightens the universe. It's sort of similar to what you did with gerry, in that endless misery isn't nearly as painful as the ups and downs of a life that, when you step back and zoom out, has something deeply and horribly wrong with it.

(jon sort of reminds me of spider-man in that he uses human to deal with trauma and stress, except I don't think he at any point realizes how fucking funny he is. He's just there, in a home depot, gnashing his teeth because he's got so many bodies to dispose of and this cashier sure is taking her time.)

I really, really, really have had trouble finding fics that take everything midoriya has dealt with to task. It's a hell of a thing to live 14 years as a disabled minority, have it heavily shape your existence, and then one day you wake up and you realize you're...not that, or at least, nobody will ever acknowledge you as that again. You've lost all claim to it. Those experiences that shaped who you are? Dust in the wind. 14 years of pain and life might as well be buried in the ground for all the good they do you. Nobody's going to cut you any slack or quarter, you've gotta simply work harder, be better. And now when you do that you get the results you wanted, so that's fine, then. That's good. There was something wrong with the you before, and there's something right with the you now, and if the transition is a little rough, well that doesn't matter, you're the same as everyone else now, so it's your own job to fill in whatever gaps you need to.

I really can't get over how mentally fucked it must be for midoriya to run into quirkless people, run across quirkless issues, and be silently caught between, incapable of speaking his mind and too scared to do so anyway around those he can trust.

Also I should mention, I'm just very excited for bakugou to get back from the gym. He's been there like a year I hope he's getting a good workout in.

Me realizing that it’s been a year since pez dispenser debris:

I feel like there’s just this very specific type of grief that Izuku has to grapple with in the span of pez dispenser debris that I’m just obsessed with. He’s sort of silently mourning who he could have been, when 1) he has to present like there’s nothing lost to maintain his secret and 2) the entire world is constantly inundating him with the message that there was nothing lost.

Like. I don’t want to get too deep into it because it risks spoiling things and I do have major plans to continue it (I’ve loved this story for so many years before I ever even hit publish), but the emotion that Izuku’s feeling right now is so much more complex than “I hate who I used to be and want him to stop existing” or “I just want to keep my secrets.” And I think the way he interacts with Mirio is the biggest evidence of that.

Izuku’s placed himself at the very center of the Quirklessness debate with his support of Mirio. He fights for Quirkless heroes, very publicly, to the point where he’s not even graduated yet but considered to be one of the most prominent voices on the matter. If you took a poll of Quirkless people as to which hero would be most supportive of them pursing their own career in heroics, Izuku would be right at the top of the list. When it comes to Quirklessness itself, he’s nothing but supportive.

But he didn’t tell Mirio the truth of his own Quirklessness.

Out of everyone, Mirio’s the one everyone expects to know, despite him being a relatively newer relationship compared to someone like Iida or Uraraka or Todoroki. And I tried to imply that he’s sort of the one who knows the most about Izuku out of everyone save All Might.

Like, we’ll get into how much exactly Mirio knows soon, so I won’t divulge what, if anything, Izuku has told him. But we know that Mirio knows, weirdly enough, that Izuku is deeply fucking haunted. He knows that boy has many violent ghosts in his bones. He finds it hilarious and will tell their realtor about it. Izuku told him about the discontent spirits who died in a violent passion and live on inside of him before he told him about his Quirklessness.

And I just feel like one of those things is a little bit easier to discuss than the other.

Izuku has decided to keep his own Quirklessness quiet in a way that surpasses secrecy about One for All. If it was just about OfA, he could tell people he didn’t get his quirk until the entrance exam, and it wouldn’t even be a lie. He’s purposefully obscuring his own past as Quirkless even as he takes a forefront of the Quirkless hero debate with his open support of Mirio.

And the fact that he’s at the forefront of this debate in and of itself requires a difficult dichotomy. He is the world’s most vocal proponent for the first Quirkless hero. He is a known figure in the Quirkless community now.

He isn’t considered one of them anymore. He’s an outsider coming in.

It must be such a strange, odd sort of grief to come to the people you were home amongst for most of your life and be greeted as a stranger. To return home, and to be welcomed in for the first time, and to not even be able to tell people that you’ve lived here all your life and don’t need a tour.

It’s a sort of death of self, I think. And I think Izuku never expected to have to grapple with his own ghost.

[vaguelyaperson]

everyone who thinks deku can’t continue to be a hero after losing his quirks SEVERELY underestimate the shit this menace could get up to if he had a batman style utility belt

[mangosmoothies]

deku ending up quirkless at the end of such a big battle is a perfect tie to his character argue with the wall

[codenamesazanka]

AU idea. Spinner is the one who dies, and Shigaraki lives and gets the last words.

Spinner gets warped to the same rock Mic and Aizawa were on; dying, he asks them to give his last words to Shigaraki. Not very coherent, very rambling, a lot of it more airing out his regrets, but still last words:

Tell Shigaraki... I knew it wasn't... you. I'm sorry I didn't... that extra step. My life, my heart... empty. But following him... my first friend. Tell Shigaraki Tomura... 'You are my hero.'

After the war, Mic and Aizawa are somewhat of opposing opinions on whether to relay this to Shimura Tenko, who's in prison awaiting trial.

(Shimura still has AFO and OFA, but the combination of the two has "blocked" him from accessing any of it without decaying his body inside out, making him effectively quirkless)

Mic thinks they don't owe it to a Villain - he's grief-stricken and believes that Spinner and Shimura was responsible for breaking down Shirakumo, somehow. But Aizawa is more pensive - that Shirakumo gave his life to save Shimura, at the last second during the battle; and Iguchi Shuuichi would call the villain a 'friend'. Shirakumo was Mic and Aizawa's friend, whatever form he took, and given what he did, that's reason enough for them try. So in the end, Mic and Aizawa do go to see Shimura.

(All Might accompanies them; he calls Shimura 'Tenko', which Shimura does respond to).

Through the prison bars, Mic and Aizawa tells Shimura the circumstances around Spinner's death, and those last words... but Shimura is seemingly unmoved. Is that all Spinner said?

Mic gets upset, and he lays out all his frustration into Shimura. That's all he has to say? That was his follower's last words! Shirakumo died for this? Did Shimura ever cared for anything? He really is a monster who tried to destroy the world for nothing but some sick desire. How could anyone think Shimura is a Hero is beyond him.

This rant brings a bit more life into Shimura, who darkly wonders that since they're the real Heroes, why couldn't they save Spinner, so that Spinner didn't have to rely on a monster like him?

Mic yells at Shimura that that was his fault, giving Spinner extra quirks; while Aizawa butts in to say they did try to help Spinner - they warped Spinner back to Central Hospital, but it was too late. Spinner was declared brain dead.

That was something Shimura didn't know, only having heard that Spinner did not survive the hospital attack. Shimura asks when exactly Spinner died, and All Might pipes up that it took a while, but a relative (Spinner's older sister, but in disguise) finally came to finalize decisions and pull the plug, though she did not claim the body. The village refused to let him get buried back 'home'. Currently Spinner's unclaimed urn is at a pauper's grave facility.

Same as Toga.

Mic backs off a little, after that. No matter how he feels about the League, that's a pitiful end.

Aizawa asks what Shirakumo... what Kurogiri and the League meant to Shimura.

Shimura says that Kurogiri called the League his (Shigaraki's) friends. Kurogiri was there when the League was formed. Kurogiri had watched over him for nearly 10 years. Toga once teased him about being lonely that Kurogiri got captured.

He had wanted his League to live as they pleased.

After a moment of silence, Shimura also says, more softly than he had ever spoken before, that Spinner was the one who got him to play PvP again. So when Spinner wanted to see the horizon again, he wanted to make that happen.

Mic says, And that's why he called you his Hero? What a dumb reason...

Shimura says, Between friends, isn't that reason enough?

.*.

Months later, All Might is at UA, meeting with Nedzu. Mic sees him, says hi, observes that All Might has been coming in a lot to meet with Nedzu.

Yes, All Might responds. There's lot of reconstruction left to do. To improve things. Heteromorph discrimination, quirk counseling, Tartarus reform, welfare...

Mic expresses surprise and admiration for how much All Might and Nedzu is tackling.

All Might says it's not actually him - he's been acting as a liaison for Tomura.

Mic: For Shimura?

All Might says he's since insisted on using the name Shigaraki Tomura again. Despite the death sentence... Tomura has been trying to make use of his remaining time. So he's been working with Nedzu, to share his experiences.

Mic: For something like prevention? What, is he trying to atone?

All Might says, Yes. Well—Tomura's own words were... 'The Villains still need a Hero of their own.' And that's what he'll do until the end of his life. He'll fight to destroy for the League until the very end.

Mic considers this. He still doesn't like Shimura or Shigaraki or whatever name he's going by. But Mic also thinks about Shirakumo giving his life for this.

With a huff, Mic wishes them best of luck. ganbare.

[strawberijasper]

I talked about this on my Twitter but I’m STILL thinking about it so I’m gonna talk my shit again.

Just a heads up for the anime only’s however, this post will contain heavy spoilers!

Hot take, I don’t think Deku should get his quirk back. I know I know— HEAR ME OUT BEFORE YOU BOO ME OFF THE STAYE THO!!

I know a lot of people would be upset if he stays quirkless, and I fully understand why, but think about it. Bakugou passing the embers of OFA that remain in him onto Deku, while it’s cool in theory and I do think would be an interesting plot, it feels like a cop out to me? Narratively Deku losing his quirk and simply not getting it back is poetic in a way and I think for the kind of story that MHA is, works much better.

Deku starts the story quirkless. He’s this boy with all these goals and ambitions, he wants to be a hero despite everyone telling him he can’t. He’s quirkless it’s just not possible right? But he believes so wholeheartedly that he can, even his childhood best friend turned bully can’t discourage him. He had the drive to be a hero even when powerless.

Then All Might comes, gave him the opportunity he never thought he’d have. Not just to be a hero but to have equal footing with the rest of society. To be a hero who isn’t doubted or looked down on because he’s different. And All Might passes the torch, and in doing so, he unknowingly was passing the job of defeating AFO onto Deku. It was now his job to defeat the world’s greatest evil, because that’s what OFA was cultivated to do. It’s purpose was always to defeat it’s creator. And Deku did just that (or at least had a hand in it I’m aware he had help, the power of homosexuality can defeat all great evils ofc ofc).

AFO is defeated, OFA’s main purpose has been fulfilled. The war is over, the users can finally be laid to rest (because remember part of them remained in the quirk in order to help the next users, even in death they fought). Deku doesn’t have a quirk anymore but that doesn’t mean he CAN’T still be a hero. It doesn’t mean he’ll be forced to leave UA (which is what I’ve seen a lot of people say). First of all, UA wouldn’t do that, we know they wouldn’t because we are explicitly told in the first episode that UA changed the rules on quirkless people being in the hero course, Deku explicitly tells us this. So we know for a fact they wouldn’t do that.

The school also knows that Deku CAN fight, he’s fully capable of fighting because he’s been training for over a year, he’s improved a lot and that’s not just his skills fighting with a quirk, that’s overall skill. He has more work to do and needs to learn how to fight without relying on a quirk but they know he’d be able to do it. He’s a quick learner and even without a quirk he’s strong.

We also know now for certain that there are ways for a quirkless person to hold their own in a fight, they have a real chance at being a hero (All Might in the war arc, WHICH I’VE BEEN SAYING THIS FOR YEARS AND NO ONE BELIEVED ME!!). Deku could easily iron man it, he doesn’t NEED a quirk when this is a world where support gear exists specifically to help heroes. There are plenty of heroes that fight virtually quirkless, take Aizawa for example, or Shinsou. They have quirks that help in battle but they fight without any power, it’s not impossible to be a hero without a fancy quirk.

The cycle ends with Deku, and now he’s been given the chance to do what he always believed he was capable of doing. He can prove to a world who doubted him and put him down, that you can be a hero without a quirk. Not only would he be the new symbol of peace, but he would be the symbol of change. He would be the one to really start the conversation around quirkless rights, and isn’t that beautiful?

It’s one thing for Deku to fight for quirkless rights while being a hero with a quirk, but it’s another to be the face of a movement. Narratively this works a lot more in my opinion.

I could be wrong and Deku could end up getting his quirk back and if that’s the case I won’t be upset, but in my opinion I’d much rather he stay quirkless. If Deku says goodbye to OFA for good, gets to be the reason the past users finally get to rest in peace, then that would be beautiful. Genuinely I would love that as an ending so much, and I hope there are people who agree because I can’t be the only one who sees this. Please tell me I’m not the only one T-T