#this goes for the izuocha shippers too

[oshawottmain]

As a multishipper, I didn't care who Deku ultimately ended up with. I just wanted him to be happy. So I'm glad everything's working out in the end.

Please, let's not fight. As always, if canon doesn't live up to your expectations, fanon is always there, but there's no need to crash out or complain or try to undermine anything just because you don't like or disagree with it. Let's just enjoy our favorite fandom together.

[epickiya722]

Hi, Kiya...! How are you? I've been out from socmed for a while. And WOW...! How can BNHA got that many hate? Well, I'm not one of them. I'm grateful and happy for the ending. Thanks for the positivity in BNHA fandom, Kiya...

I'm glad that BNHA ended with no canon pairing (I remember in one of your post, that you also hope BNHA have no canon pairing, right?). Did you hear what anti BKDK and anti Bakugou said? That because of "loud" BKDK shippers (including me), Hori scared to made Izuku/Ochaco canon. Are they serious? It's a het ship, cutest couple (yes, even if I'm BKDK shipper, I can say that IzuOcha is a cute ship), and one of the best dynamic in the series. Well, let the haters hate, right?

Oh, right, for "Send Fandom", can I ask for BNHA? Thanks, Kiya....

I am doing fine, thank you! For the rest of my response, it's below the cut.

The first character I first fell in love with: Izuku easily became my favorite when I saw just how much of a wild card he was in season 2 (I watched that first). Favorite green boy! Then Miruko came into the picture and she hopped right there, tied as my number one favorite with Izuku.

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: You know what, I'm giving it to Burnin here. I already liked her, but I didn't realize just how much I would favor her as the story went on. It's not even because I ship her with Miruko (for me I gotta like the character, shipping comes later). It's because you gotta applaud her for even having the job she has. I think about how much harder it is for her to even be a sidekick to a high ranked hero and think "damn, okay, where is her award"?

The character everyone else loves that I don’t: Hawks. I don't hate him, I do like Hawks. But if I had to nominate a character for "coolest character" I would not put him on the list. Dabi also goes here. Again, don't hate the character, but... unpopular opinion, Dabi's "dance" was just him having the energy of someone who thinks he can dance but can't, but you applaud his efforts.

The character I love that everyone else hates: Okay, I haven't really seen hate for her like that, but I actually like Curious! Out of all the members of her group, I found that she was the most entertaining of the bunch. I stand on saying if she had been kept alive, she would have been lethal on the two big fights.

The character I used to love but don’t any longer: Ooh, I don't think there's a character that applies here for me. Most characters I like are still characters I like.

The character I would totally smooch: You already know Miruko is that answer. But I also will say Inko deserves a kiss, best mom. Rock Lock and his wife, they get kisses. Tensei, my birthday twin, best bro, adore him. Yoichi, kiss him, too.

The character I’d want to be like: I actually had to think about this one. Hm... okay, I got it! Here's an unexpected answer. You know that electric lady from the second movie who looks like she could be related to Denki? Her, I would like to be her. I want electric powers. It would have been easy to say Denki, I know. But I remembered her.

The character I’d slap: *breathes in, breathes out* Okay, quite a bit characters could go here. But if there is one person that isn't like "a bad guy" that I would slap without hesitation... it would be X-Less. I'm sorry, his dumbass move of still sitting there instead just picking up Shigaraki's unconscious body, mind you, costs lives! Exactly what was the reason he sat there?! Okay, he destroyed the machine AFTER MIRUKO did so, good. BUT HE STILL SAT THERE!

A pairing that I love: BurnBunny (Burnin x Miruko) undoubtedly. Proud shipper here, can't convince me otherwise. They are dating and then married during and after the story.

A pairing that I despise: So, you know how Miruko and Izuku are my favorite two, right? Yeah, I LOATHE them as a ship. Despise, disgusted by, I seethe being reminded that is a ship people actually like. It wasn't even a ship I even thought of at all until someone commented on my fic asking if I will write an explicit chapter of those two. UH, NO! I actually hate typing in Miruko's name sometimes when I post a new fic because it's one of the first pairings I see.

SEND ME A FANDOM

Like, alright, if you don't think the ending is all that good, that's fine. But folks were making the ending seem like it was like the worst ending of all time. Oh, please! "The ending is rushed." You know what, based take, I guess, but I would want to rush the ending and get it over with because of this fandom. Not satisfied? Could care less!

And I did, in fact, say that I preferred an ending with no ship confirmed. I believed I post about it nearly two years actually!

"The BkDks were loud and forced Horikoshi---" If shippers had that kind of power many other shonen before MHA would have went totally different. If Horikoshi really was "scared and forced" to make BakuDeku canon, they would have kissed on page. If Horikoshi wanted to make IzuOcha canon, on Izuku's side, he would have developed it more. I knew from the very beginning, Horikoshi wasn't going to do the classic "male/female lead ship canon" thing.

[pikahlua]

I have a question

But I really want to ask just from a writing standpoint, no ships or anything

Do you like Izuku and Ochaco's development as possible (or probable? idk where Hori wanna go with that) romance?

Cause I appreciated it (even tho it felt like the usual shonen romance) till the return of Izuku to UA, which made me see them more as platonic (and made me appreciate their bond way more tbh)

So from a writing standpoint, I'm not exactly a romance aficionado. It can really only come down to my preferences in what I like in a romance, but there are just some cheesy romance tropes I'm not into. I do think it's perfectly viable to analyze any relationship in any property, MHA included, for whatever dynamic you want. If you ask me to take a look at the potential romance in Izuku and Ochako's relationship, I can do that.

That said, this is a warning to hard-line IzuOcha shippers: I can't guarantee you'll enjoy everything I write about in this post.

To me, there are five major "sagas" in their relationship. Some of these I like, some of these I don't.

Saga 1: Beginning through the Internships Saga 2: Final Exams through Kamino Saga 3: Provisional License Exam through School Cultural Festival Saga 4: Joint Training Arc through Paranormal Liberation War Saga 5: Deku Retrieval Arc through to the present

Saga 1 was my favorite. This was when they were still getting to know each other and becoming friends. I like this part best because Ochako has the most characterization in the show. Her personality shines through and she's very entertaining. I also thought the stuff that happened between them in the Sports Festival was some of the most refreshing writing of opposite-sex characters I've seen in a while, platonic or romantic. Ochako has personal motivations that can be in conflict or in harmony with her relationship with Izuku, and the manner in which they interacted showed a special type of relationship for Izuku that he didn't have with any other character. It was nice variety in the context of everything else the show was giving us at the time. I wasn't necessarily dying for romance, because I do love a good platonic opposite-sex friendship too. But if it did take a romantic direction, I was excited to see how it went at the time.

Saga 2 just felt like it shoehorned the crush thing in there. It didn't really come from anything that came before it. I thought it was gonna be a good opportunity for some romantic humor, but it just turned out to be a bunch of embarrassed blushing and not much else. Wasn't really my thing.

Saga 3 tried to add something interesting to the mix with Ochako's jealousy which she tries to deny and squash, but...it doesn't come across as particularly deep or well-developed. Horikoshi kinda just throws it out there and then immediately ditches it. I wouldn't have been so annoyed if it didn't encompass all of Ochako's character for this saga. She didn't really do much of anything else at all. Even in the Overhaul arc, she didn't get any meaningful spotlight, and I mean this from an action perspective. After the awesome action she got in the Sports Festival, Horikoshi really pulled back on her and it felt like he was too afraid to make her get dirty and fight again, save for a brief moment when she pinned Toga in the woods at summer camp. I liked it better when Izuku was pining a bit after Ochako than the other way around.

Saga 4 was a bit better. There was finally some meaningful development between them with Ochako getting inspired to update her costume, saving Izuku as a development of her new character question of "who saves the heroes?", and--my favorite part--when she decides to trust Izuku when he says he can take Shinso on alone and she goes to take care of business elsewhere. But I notice these developments I like also happen to have non-romantic elements to them. It's really just when things are one-dimensionally romantic that I'm super disinterested. I like the complexity of other feelings even in their easy friendship. Platonic friendship that leads into budding romance brings at least a bit more flavor in the writing. That said, it's not a whole ton of flavor. I can see why other people would like it, but it's not the MOST exciting for me personally.

Saga 5 is again more exciting to me because of the non-romantic elements, kind of like you say. It's not that it's necessarily platonic, but it's just more interesting that Ochako's feelings seem more complicated now, and Toga has been added to the mix too. What we get in this saga especially puts me in a weird position where I'm rooting for Izuku and Ochako NOT to get together in the end, not because I don't like them or have a problem with the ship, but because it makes the overall story about their relationship since the beginning..."make sense" isn't the right phrase. It's just an interesting take on the trope in this genre. I really like the message it could potentially deliver on. I'm just not a big romance person in the first place, so the whole "there are even deeper things happening between people than just high school crushes" angle that doesn't necessarily mean romance speaks more to me. I don't really know what we get out of them getting together if that happens. But, as I said, I'm not big on romance to begin with, so I'm not the best judge of this. It could be we get a great message out of it and I'm just really bad at being able to see that at this stage. I will still be forced to lament what was lost in that case, though--because we would lose the far more interesting take on the trope if they were not to get together.

And that's why I say I'm not anti-IzuOcha, just anti-IzuOcha in canon. I think they're cute together and I really love their earlier dynamic. I think the fanart of them is cute. I love when they get along doing things. I love when people create excellent fan content for their favorite pairings. I just most like the idea of an ending where they don't end up together for the purposes of my own intrigue.

[aashi-heartfilia]

BnHA 323: Why is Uravity the most overhated character in MHA?

Okay then, let's go!

If I have to say that Uravity is the most overhated character in MHA it won't even be an opinion, cause it is a fact.

Especially after this chapter…

Recently, Ochako's popularity is on a steep decline because some very vocal haters and shippers on twitter came up with various invalid and bogous argument that it is hilarious!

This girl isn't playing around anymore and she has got back her spunk from the sports festival and I kinda liked to see that but what made me sad was the fact that many shippers took it as some IzuOcha moment rather than ‘Save Deku' and started ranting in a chain of bullsh*t comments about her saying all she does has to revolve around Deku, yada-yadei...

Like seriously?

In terms of even character, I dare say that Ochako is more independent than Bakugo. Heck, his entire development theme revolves around Deku in one way or another then why when it comes to Ochako it is always treated as romantic or even wrong in a way?

And then there are other people saying:

“Oh anyone could have done what she did!”

Tell me one thing!

Who else was even suitable for taming the mob?

Teachers?

Who have failed to save their students over and over again?

Heroes?

Who are basically the Top 10 and people like Endeavour can't even hang around in public without a disguise!

Bakugo?

Who has matured now but still won't be able to convince the entire bunch of angry civilians! Also, he is probably still healing from his injuries and already got a moment in the last chapter.

Todoroki?

Who has to placed at a different place then the rest students because he's also probably on the bad side of mob.

Then who?

Who do you think would have been suitable for this speech moment?

Whose arc should it be?

Who was the one to notice the impact that, that “Look at Endeavour!” guy made?

Who was the one to rush desperately to help in the aftermath of war?

Who was the one to witness the impact of war?

But NO!!!

WE JUST GOTTA HATE ON URARAKA CAUSE SHE COMES BETWEEN OUR CRAZY FAN SHIPS AND HASN'T DONE ANYTHING CRAZY BADASS AND DOSEN'T DESERVE TO BE THE NO.1 HERO'S WAIFU!!

That's just basically the entire fandom lately when it comes to Uraraka and now it has totally convinced me that even after this speech, no matter what she does, people will always find a reason to hate her.

Like come on! Let her have her own moment of shine. To think people are so biased lately that if it was Bakugo giving that speech, all Baku Stans would be like "Oh look, God Explosion DYNAMIGHT giving speech! This is go good! MHA has changed forever bla bla bla..!!"

Then why does when it comes to appreciating women, all people do is rant on how badly and underwritten they are.

Like can we even just put ships aside for a second and take some time to appreciate that the Uraraka who was always flustered in the beginning and was never able to do much finally found a voice of her own and is now stepping up to protect her best friend who has been wronged by the society then why?

Uraraka then-

Uraraka now-

See the difference?

Why is she getting so much hate just for wanting to bring Deku home? Because she harbours feelings for him? Just because she is inspired by him to do good things?

That's why?

It's not like she goes out of her ways to follow him. She has a seperate life goal, different work studies, different motivations and finally an endgame villan too.

That makes her character revolve all around Deku when Deku himself fanboys All Might like crazy? When Bakugo's entire "If you keep on looking down on others" arc was solemnly based on him underestimating Deku or even Todoroki who was saved by Deku and vice versa? Deku is the MC so ofc he would have impact on other people. Then why does Ochako gets reduces to 'Just a love-interest' when she's clearly more then that.

This is called the society being harsh on woman. Yeah, she is clearly not the best written character in the series but she's also definitely far from worse.

At first I was a bit dissatisfied and disappointed with the pacing of this chapter but can we just appreciate Horikoshi for giving us such beautiful shots of her lately? The fandom is clearly full of bias and it will always find a reason to hate on Uraraka but honestly, Ochako will forever be one of my most favourite Hero from this show.

And nothing can change that.

[theloganator101]

Just finished reading a poly class 1a girls x izu fic with the tag as Bakugou being a good friend but bad at feelings and now even regret reading it and wanna bleach my mind to erase the memory of it. This happens after the 2nd war. So in the story Izuku has feelings for Ochako but is grieving due to all might's death. 'Good friend' Bakugou knows Izuku loves Ochako and also knows Ochako loves Izuku, and being a good friend what does Bakugou do?. Goes to his "friend's" crush and asks her out infront of him and the BS is, she also accepts. The story goes with them date & doing all the lovey dovey nonsense infront of Izuku. All these kissing, cuddling, dates she does with someone else while being in love with Izuku while the latter is forced to watch and listen about these and feel hurt & suffer more. The story goes on with him and the other girls, slowly gaining feelings for them as well while Bakugou and Ochako continue doing their shit in Izuku's face and cucking him out making him suffer further.

Finally shitty kacchako breaks up and Ochako gives her supposed reasons and says she 'didnt' enjoy being with Bakuhoe which is bs. Worst of all it Doesn't feel like the forgiveness was earned, like she accepted to date and do all the nonsense lovey dovey shit, even have her first kiss (sorry I'm a sucker for it and it's supposed to be special and doing it with someone special), dates and enjoyed all that with someone else and that too Izuku's abuser and knowing their history and knowing how he treats Izuku. All these makes her reason for doing these unforgivable and so difficult to root for her in the story. Not saying she can't get together with Izuku as a friend and as a romantic partner but she should earn both her friendship and the right to date him since she betrayed him.Whatever her reasons be she should have rejected Bakugou's advances at the start itself if she was deeply in love with Izuku. Truly one of the many fics where i wished Izuku and Ochako stayed friends after her fckery even though I'm an Izuocha shipper myself.

with Bakugou. he got away easy for cucking Izuku. like he explained he did this because he hurt him in the past and after his shitty apology in canon he wanted to help Izuku realise his feelings & ask her out in way to make it up to him. And he helps out by dating & making out with Izuku's crush in front of him. This is bs and ain't help considering he knew doing these would hurt Izuku more and he still does it. This is truly betrayal. If he truly wanted to help, he could've spoken to Izuku to make Izuku realise his feelings for Ochako. That's what a good friend would do even if he is bad at feelings. The level of excuses for Bakugou's actions is too much in the fic not to mention the double standards. Also Izuku is too forgiving and more like a doormat which is also frustrating.

Sorry for the long write up i Just wanted to vent my frustrations with that fic and how this shitty character gets away without facing any consequences for his actions like in canon with the same shitty excuse Hori and the Fandom gives.

I just...

I just can't

This is why I avoid those kinds of tags and stick with fics that rightfully calls him out on his BS and receives punishment for everything he's done.

[must-be-gaymer]

So thinks are going worse in this fandom

As you heard probably, some Tododeku and Kiribaku (mostly Kiribaku) shippers harrased Horikoshi and it's a rumor that they send death threats too to the poor guy to make their ships canon. The whole thing started on Twitter and they even made petitions to make those ship canons..I even saw petitions of not making Izuocha and Todomomo canon which is completely unbelievable on how this fandom can take shipping this far. My hero academia is a manga created by Horikoshi. It's his choice on how the story goes, it's his choice on who to interact with who, it's his choice of making ships canon or no. It's his work that he worked hard not for some "fans" to care about some ships which are meant for fun. I ship Kiribaku but like this is too far? If you're a rlly "true fan", then you would care about the anime not the fanfiction world.

Please send Horikoshi much love! ♥️

( I'll tag almost all the ships so you can guys be aware of what's happening right now)

[ao3feed-tododeku]

First Priorities

First Priorities by KaMo Writer

Ochako doesn't know what's wrong with her.

She's training to be a hero, she's good friends with the love of her life, and everyday she gets closer and closer to reaching her dreams.

So why does everything feel so... wrong?

And, for goodness sake, why does getting kidnapped by an A class villain feel more right than being a student at U.A. every did?

Words: 12216, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/F, F/M, Multi

Characters: Uraraka Ochako, Toga Himiko, Midoriya Izuku, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Todoroki Shouto

Relationships: Toga Himiko/Uraraka Ochako, Midoriya Izuku/Uraraka Ochako (One-Sided), Midoriya Izuku/Todoroki Shouto (implied)

Additional Tags: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Well okay that really depends on your definition of a happy ending, Bisexual Uraraka Ochako, Depression, Pain, Uraraka Ochako-centric, Basically I put Uraraka through immense suffering and only partly regret it, Honestly Toga suffers too, Just in general, Suffering, Mentioned League of Villains, Unrequited Love, also requited love, But with a different person, Canon-Typical Violence, Injury, Kidnapping, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Pining, Canon Compliant, However on that note I don't know where it takes place on the canon timeline so don't ask me lol, Romantic Tension, Tension, /slaps roof of fic/ this bad boy can fit so much tension in it, Same goes for angst honestly, Just so y'all IzuOcha shippers know, this fic ain't for you, SO SORRY, Except I'm not haha sike, Sweet Toga Himiko, well i mean she still got that creepy vibe but she trying her best, Rated T for the aesthetic, Love Confessions, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Enemies to Lovers, Getting Together

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33805624

[ao3feed-bnha-rarepair]

First Priorities

First Priorities by KaMo Writer

Ochako doesn't know what's wrong with her.

She's training to be a hero, she's good friends with the love of her life, and everyday she gets closer and closer to reaching her dreams.

So why does everything feel so... wrong?

And, for goodness sake, why does getting kidnapped by an A class villain feel more right than spending time with her classmates ever did?

Words: 12216, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/F, F/M, Multi

Characters: Uraraka Ochako, Toga Himiko, Midoriya Izuku, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Todoroki Shouto

Relationships: Toga Himiko/Uraraka Ochako, Midoriya Izuku/Uraraka Ochako (One-Sided), Midoriya Izuku/Todoroki Shouto (implied)

Additional Tags: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Well okay that really depends on your definition of a happy ending, Bisexual Uraraka Ochako, Depression, Pain, Uraraka Ochako-centric, Basically I put Uraraka through immense suffering and only partly regret it, Honestly Toga suffers too, Just in general, Suffering, Mentioned League of Villains, Unrequited Love, also requited love, But with a different person, Canon-Typical Violence, Injury, Kidnapping, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Pining, Canon Compliant, However on that note I don't know where it takes place on the canon timeline so don't ask me lol, Romantic Tension, Tension, /slaps roof of fic/ this bad boy can fit so much tension in it, Same goes for angst honestly, Just so y'all IzuOcha shippers know, this fic ain't for you, SO SORRY, Except I'm not haha sike, Sweet Toga Himiko, well i mean she still got that creepy vibe but she trying her best, Rated T for the aesthetic, Love Confessions, Falling In Love, First Kiss

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33805624

[ao3feed-bnha-girls]

First Priorities

First Priorities by KaMo Writer

Ochako doesn't know what's wrong with her.

She's training to be a hero, she's good friends with the love of her life, and everyday she gets closer and closer to reaching her dreams.

So why does everything feel so... wrong?

And, for goodness sake, why does getting kidnapped by an A class villain feel more right than spending time with her classmates ever did?

Words: 12216, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/F, F/M, Multi

Characters: Uraraka Ochako, Toga Himiko, Midoriya Izuku, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Todoroki Shouto

Relationships: Toga Himiko/Uraraka Ochako, Midoriya Izuku/Uraraka Ochako (One-Sided), Midoriya Izuku/Todoroki Shouto (implied)

Additional Tags: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Well okay that really depends on your definition of a happy ending, Bisexual Uraraka Ochako, Depression, Pain, Uraraka Ochako-centric, Basically I put Uraraka through immense suffering and only partly regret it, Honestly Toga suffers too, Just in general, Suffering, Mentioned League of Villains, Unrequited Love, also requited love, But with a different person, Canon-Typical Violence, Injury, Kidnapping, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Pining, Canon Compliant, However on that note I don't know where it takes place on the canon timeline so don't ask me lol, Romantic Tension, Tension, /slaps roof of fic/ this bad boy can fit so much tension in it, Same goes for angst honestly, Just so y'all IzuOcha shippers know, this fic ain't for you, SO SORRY, Except I'm not haha sike, Sweet Toga Himiko, well i mean she still got that creepy vibe but she trying her best, Rated T for the aesthetic, Love Confessions, Falling In Love, First Kiss

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33805624

[mysterylover123]

I read your IzuOcha meta, and I loved it so much! It made so many good points! Now I’m wondering, since that meta was done a while back, have your opinions on the ship changed since then with the moments that came out afterwards, or are they more or less the same?

Ooh boy, Izuocha. I’m still conflicted over them TBH. They have some seriously sweet moments, but one of the overall problems I have with them is how one-sided their dynamic feels Post-Hero Killer arc. Before that, it felt like Ochako really was at least the third most important person in Deku’s life (after All Might and Kacchan, of course) but since then, their relationship has just stopped being important to Midoriya. 

Just to run it down:

1. Hero Killer Arc: Once Izuku goes off to his internship, he doesn’t think about Ochako directly until she calls to ask about Iida.

2. Final Exams: In the Manga, Deku doesn’t talk to Ochako directly for this entire arc. He doesn’t react to her match at all - we hear his thoughts on MIneta’s match and not Ochako’s - and when they are about to hang out together at the mall, she leaves and he spares her no extra thoughts.

3. Training Camp: One scene where he worries about her injured arm and she’s one of the people he thinks of, but only in a crowd, and both feel flacidly unimpressive next to his “KACCHAAAAANNN” freakout feels.

4. Hideout Raid: Ochako says nothing to help him make the choice of whether or not to save Kacchan, or anything at all (in the manga) and he doesn’t think about her opinion except as it pertains to Bakugou. She clearly disagreed with him, but doesn’t voice it, so the two don’t talk about this potential conflict. There’s no one-on-one with them, Ochako just smooths over things with the crew and no resolution happens.

5. PLE arc: Deku ignores Ochako the whole time, excepting the one moment where he recognizes Toga is a fake. He could do that for anyone. He works with her, but he also works with Sero in the same scene. And he finds plenty of time to be inspired by Iida and Kacchan, worry about Todoroki and have his Big Life Altering fight with Kacchan in the same arc, so it’s not that he’s too busy with other shit.

6. Internship arc: Ochako is the only person Deku could actually talk to about his Eri angst, but he doesn’t. In the same scene where Tamaki and Nejire reach out to Mirio, and Kirishima and Aizawa help Deku deal with his angst, Ochako can only say his name. It’s Iida and Todoroki who help him deal with that emotional trauma, and they don’t even know what the problem is. Throughout the whole thing, they fight on seperate levels and Deku never thinks about or notices her.

7. Remedial arc: Ochako and Deku both have PTSD about the same thing (Nighteye’s death) which they blame themselves for. But they never confide in each other about it. Ochako confides in Aizawa and Tsu, Deku in Mirio, and Deku gets some consolation from Aoyama. But from Ochako, nothing.

8. School Festival: Deku is fighting his Villainous Counterpart, Gentle, who is inspired by his Love Interest, La Brava. A perfect opportunity for Deku to reflect on how his love interest, Uraraka, inspires him. Who does he think of? Mei, Jirou and Mina. He and Ochako only talk briefly in this arc when she lends him some tea.

9. Joint training Arc: Supposedly the big Izuocha arc. Two juicy opportunities for Deku’s relationship with her to be built up. First, Monoma could trash Deku’s friend/love interest to piss him off - classic shippy technique, make the hero  lose control of his/her powers when the s/o is insulted, and this is the Izuocha arc, Ochako’s on Deku’s team. So who does Monoma insult? Kacchan. Second: Classy Avatar shippy situation where the LI plays on the connection she has with the hero to calm down his Out of control powers. And sure, Ochako hugs Deku. But this does nothing. It’s the emotional connection with Shinsou that helps break it for Deku (I know, the brainwashing. It still feels like the chapter sets you up for Izuocha and gives you Shindeku instead. And in the aftermath, it’s Shoto who asks about Deku’s powers, and Kacchan who he confides in.

10. Winter Intern arc: Ochako keeps Deku’s Christmas gift. He doesn’t keep and treasure hers. He mentions her briefly alongside Shinso to his mom then traipses off to OT3 shippy shenanigans with Kacchan and Shoto, confiding in, learning and growing along side them in ways Ochako has yet to approach. Whether it’s Shoto, the guy he destroyed his body to emotionally rescue, or Kacchan, the near soulmate level rival who knows him better than anyone, doesn’t matter. Deku feels more for them than he does for Ochako now.

11. Current Arc; Deku apologizes to Ochako and they fistbump, which is nice, but not remarkable. No more than went down between Deku and Iida in the Hero Killer Arc. Honestly, it’s a platonic gesture. A bro gesture. And despite being together during the raid for about two chapters, Deku and Kacchan immediately ditch her at the first sign of trouble to go chase down the plot.

So yeah, that was longer then I meant it to be. On Deku’s side, there’s been virtually nothing special to his feelings towards Ochako, especially compared to his interactions with the other members of the Wonder Trio and his various friends, since about Chapter 45. We’re on 280. That’s too long to wait to give the protagonist any real development in his feelings for his love interest for me to really be all that invested on Deku’s end anymore. In theory, I like the idea of Ochako’s cheerful, nice girl attitude helping Deku get through his stressful life, but that hasn’t happened. They honestly also seem too much like siblings to me now (doesn’t help that she has his same facial proportions and looks like his mom) to read as romantic. My remaining interest in them is mainly as a potential OT3 option with Kacchan, if the series ever gets around to developing Kacchan/Ochako’s relationship again, and as a fairly typical “boring Shonen main romantic subplot” against which more compelling dynamics can be contrasted. 

I guess this is all a fancy way of saying that I’ve cooled on it now and find it fairly boring, and wish they could just be platonic friends again instead of constantly being put in our faces as they “don’t worry Deku’s not gay he’s got a girlfriend” dynamic they’ve basically turned into. 

Thanks for the ask - I hope no Izuocha shippers take offense to this, it’s just my opinion and analysis so far. Things could change. The series could properly develop them again. If so I’ll revise my opinion. Adieu

[dekusheroacademia]

Shipping and fandom in BNHA: the survey questions + caution

This is an addendum to the (soon to be posted) results of a survey I decided to do on shipping, ships and the BNHA fandom.

Here I will share some warnings and then the questions of the survey.

The survey stayed open between the 8 of August (Europe time) and the 10 of August and got 640 responses.

Admittedly, I am usually not a fan of online surveys as the sample collected really depends on how viral the survey goes and where it is shared. For this reason, I will now share where the survey was posted:

Reddit (subreddits: Bokunoshipacademia, Bakudeku, Wonder Duo, Izuocha, Kiribaku, Kacchako, Tododeku, Kacchako_Bad, Kamijirou, Todomomo): Reddit is one of the few platforms where F/M ships are more popular and get more engagement than M/M ships, so keep this in mind

Deviantart (an anime group, a BNHA group), where it did not receive much interest

My personal twitter (but no retweet, so I don't expect too many people to have filled it), and I retweeted it on an anti-Bakudeku convo

Discord (I am in a couple of small Bakudeku, Todobaku discords)

Because of the way the sample was skewed towards reddit, I think these are valid assumptions:

This survey cannot be used as a way to define what the most popular ships are, but only what the popular ships are on reddit

For some stats on popular ships check my past analysis on ao3

This survey cannot be used as a way to define what the most popular character is, but only who they are on reddit, mainly

For some stats on popular characters check my past anime figure purchases analysis and popularity poll analysis

This survey CAN be used to check attitudes and preferences among shippers. For example, if all Izuocha shippers love Kaminari, in the survey, I do think this could reflect overall Western Izuocha shippers, but keep in mind that this could only be a picture of Izuocha shippers on reddit

THE QUESTIONS

Would you consider yourself a shipper? Yes / No / I don't Know

Do you participate in the MHA (My Hero Academia) fandom? And how? (choose all that apply) No / Yes, interacting with fanfics / Yes, interacting with fanarts and edits / Yes, discussing plots and characters / Yes, discussing ships / Yes, collecting and creating merch

What is your favorite ship? Open Answer* * Some people added more than one ship, in that case I picked the first one written if no indication of preference was given among the ships listed

Who is your favorite character if you had to choose one? Open Answer* * Some people added more than one character, in that case I picked the first one written if no indication of preference was given among the listed

What words would you associate the MHA fandom with? Toxic / Welcoming / Fun / Big / Aggressive / Interesting / Childish / Too emotional / Creative / Too sensitive / Kind / Enthusiastic / Hateful

Is there a ship you dislike? If so, which one? Open Answer

Who is your least favorite character? Open Answer

Do you watch the anime and/or read the manga? Yes, the anime and I am up to date / Yes, the manga and I am up to date / Yes, the anime, not up to date / Yes, the manga, not up to date /Never read it or watched it

Select what you would consider "toxic fans" of MHA: An user who sends death threats to another user because of an opinion on MHA they disagree with / An user commenting negative things under Horikoshi/VA's twitter/instagram's accounts / Users who keep talking about ships / Users who post only about shipping and ships / An user who ridicules a specific ship in their twitter space / An user who ridicules a specific ship in a shared space (forum/community/reddit) / A user who invent drama on other users / Users using homophobic rhetoric / Open answer option

What is your ager? Under 18 / 18 - 25 / 26 - 34 / 35 - 44 / Over 45

If you participate in MHA fandom, where do you do that? Twitter / Discord / Reddit / Ao3 / Anilist or Animelist / Open answer option

What is your gender? Female / Male / Non binary / Agender / Genderfluid / Prefer not to say / Open answer option* *Every answer was accepted as it was, for example if someone identified as Genderqueer, the option Genderqueer was added into the results. Some answers were mockery of this gender question (imagine "attack helicopter"), so they were added as "Words mocking gender"

Is there anything you'd like to add? Open Answer (you can see some of these comments here)

[echodrops]

Why You Should Be Shipping Shigaraki/Ochako

No, no, hang on a second--I see that side-eye you are throwing hard enough to ruin your peripheral vision. I feel the shade you’re casting like a thundercloud rolling in. But you didn’t read wrong. I meant what I said.

I’ve never made a secret of my love for rare pairs, but for once in my damn lonely shipper’s hellscape of a life I would love it if my favorite crack ship in a fandom had more than two fics (I’m NOT JOKING) to its name.

What can I do to correct this egregious oversight before the entire summer passes with nary a whisper of the most romantic ship since Juliet wherefore art thou’d Romeo?

Well, what else? I was forged in the fires of early 2000s’ fandom, and I know that desperate times call for desperate measures meticulously researched and extremely rose-tinted

Shipping Manifestos.

Fam, I am about to blow your minds, align your chakras, open your third eyes--because Shigaraki and Ochako is the most slept on ship in the entire BNHA fandom, and if you give me ten minutes like an hour (holy shit, this is long), I can prove it.

Disclaimer: @mistystarshine is the enabler who convinced me to write this but we were both enabled by @ohmytheon’s Reconfigure (on AO3) so you know who’s really responsible.

Spoilers to Chapter 231, watch out.

First off, I know what you’re thinking. Maybe you’re still reading from pure shock. Maybe you’re doubt-reading to get your daily fix of internet skepticism. Maybe you’re waiting for me to say these two characters are meant to be because she wears pink and his hair is blue. Maybe you’re already freaking out about age gaps but like that is what future fics and AUs are actually for!!!

I’m not telling you to give up your IzuOcha or Kacchako. I’m not gonna pry ShigaDabi out of your eager little villain stan hands. But if you’ve never considered multi-shipping, now is the time my friends, because I’m totally serious heartfelt here! I’ve got VALID reasons for shipping Shigako--ten of them, in fact:

1) Midoriya is taken for granted as Uraraka’s love interest--but Shigaraki is incredibly similar to him.

There are reams of meta on the parallels between Midoriya and Shigaraki, with plenty people noting how Horikoshi specifically set the two up as foils to examine similar character development despite their drastically different circumstances. Yet for all the meta pointing out that Shigaraki and Midoriya are basically the same character through a mirror darkly, I’ve never seen anyone bear that thought out to its logical conclusion: there are traits Uraraka admires in Midoriya that are extremely apparent in Shigaraki too.

Multiple times in the manga, Uraraka expresses admiration for Deku’s resolve and refusal to give up. His determination in the face of impossible odds and his sense of dedication to his cause are powerful motivating factors in Ochako’s storyline, and Deku’s behavior--his willingness to charge straight into danger and his unflinching pursuit of his goal to be #1--have basically become the standard to which Uraraka holds herself.

Her crush is literally founded on an appreciation for Midoriya’s drive, earnestness, and constant growth as a person.

But these are all traits that Shigaraki also explicitly possesses. Shigaraki’s unwavering resolve is so strong that even though everyone around him says dream is unattainable... they follow him anyway.

Ujiko flat out tells Shigaraki he’s chasing a pipe dream, but he’s willing to come along for the ride strictly because of how committed Shigaraki is to making that dream a reality. The strength of Tomura’s conviction alone persuaded a collection of the most volatile and difficult personalities in the manga to band together and become found family the most well-known anti-establishment organization in all of Japan.

Shigaraki never, even in the face of overwhelming threat, backs down from a challenge, and he approaches each impossible task with absolutely as much effort, ferocity, and refusal to quit as Deku. He is just as dedicated, just as much of a shounen protagonist main character, and just as willing to push himself above and beyond as Deku.

The traits that motivated Uraraka to become the character she is today, many of the exact same traits that formed her crush on Midoriya, are all there in Shigaraki. In another world, the person who inspired Uraraka to go “Plus Ultra” could be Tomura himself, and if 1) no sense of self-preservation, 2) ZERO CHILL, and 3) dogged obsession are what Uraraka finds attractive, Shigaraki clearly has 'em covered. Oh no, he’s meeting all my standards.

2) Being serious though, Ochako’s role in the plot would be vastly improved by more meaningful interactions with the antagonists, even if just in battle.

I’ve written before about how badly the writing of BNHA treats Ochako, and why her constantly being out-of-focus is a hallmark of the genre’s crippling inability to handle dynamic female characters, but it bears repeating: in her current position in the story, Uraraka’s character has minimal agency. She exists to fill the role of Deku’s love interest (at worst) and an emotional crutch (at best). Again, absolutely no hate on the IzuOcha ship--it’s clearly canon endgame and “wholesome” I guess is what they’re calling it nowadays. But the way IzuOcha’s being written in canon is actually the worst possible thing that could happen to Uraraka’s individual character, because Ochako’s crush on Deku has been given virtually no bearing on the story’s main plot and allows Horikoshi to consistently reduce Uraraka’s personal accomplishments to “inspirations from Deku” (in order to, likely, fulfill young male readers’ fantasy of having a girl fixated on them).

Is Uraraka about to do something cool in the manga? Wait for her comment about being motivated by Deku.

Does Uraraka actually get to see some action and get involved in a fight? Wait for someone to bring up her feelings for Deku.

Is Deku about to have a dramatic clash with the story’s villains to advance the main plotline? Wait for Ochako to entirely vanish (at worst) or get sidelined into a three panel clip where she’ll use the same martial art move she’s been using since like chapter 10 (at best).

If I have to read “Gunhead Martial Arts” one more fucking time... Give Ochako her OWN supermoves goddammit!!

The story of the comic itself continually pushes Ochako out of any position of relevance. She’s not one of UA’s strongest fighters (despite having a quirk that, if applied like ANY of the male characters, has incredible potential), she’s not given half the emotional depth or attention even side characters like Kirishima get, and her backstory lacks the development many of the male characters’ get (I’m looking at you, Todoroki).

As a “good girl,” she isn’t allowed to get her hands dirty like Toga, she isn’t allowed to get as bloodied or ugly as any of the boys, and she can never be allowed to surpass the main male characters in coolness or plot relevance because girls can be “heroes” but they can’t be The Hero™. (I’m literally gagging, guys.)

Which is EXACTLY why a plot involving Shigaraki and Ochako--in ANY capacity, even just a flat out fight against each other!--would actually be a fan-fucking-tastic addition to BNHA.

Skip the token Toga vs. Ochako chick fight where they squabble over who loves Izuku more. Let Toga talk to Izuku as herself for once. Let Uraraka throw down with the League’s leader. At least once, Horikoshi? Just once?

Literally any form of plot that puts Shigaraki and Ochako into contact would mean moving Uraraka into a more central position within the manga’s plot, would boost her screen-time, increase the likelihood of her contributing to the story’s primary conflict, and would give her more to do and emotionally engage with than just repeating the same lines about Deku being amazing on an endless loop. There is untapped character development potential in spades here if Uraraka was given chance to genuinely interact with the other half of the story’s cast!

Give👏 Uraraka👏 something👏 meaningful👏 to do!👏

Putting the story’s foremost female character on out there on the frontlines with the manga’s actual main character antagonist would finally break her out of the mold she’s been forced into by genre stereotypes and set her on an even playing field with the male heroes at last.

A meaningful encounter with Shigaraki could be Ochako’s ticket to being treated respectfully by the story itself (and hell if giving underappreciated characters a real place in the world isn’t Tomura’s freakin’ calling card already).

3) Okay, I know the words “subverting expectations” leave a bad taste in everyone’s mouth nowadays, but there is a huge difference between “throwing inexplicable plot twists at the audience just for shock factor” and “averting stale cliches in an emotionally rewarding manner.” Sure, cliches do exist for a reason, but there are still many instances where actively avoiding a cliche plotline is a great choice. A shounen manga’s token love interest ending up with someone other than the hero--namely with a (reformed) villain--would be an interesting flip on the trite “hero gets the girl” script.

Look, we all know how it goes: Hero clashes with Bad Guy. They duke it out all over Kingdom Come. RIP like fifty square city blocks. The Hero wins, heads home triumphant, sweeps his Princess off her feet, and sails off into the hero rankings sunset. End of the same story we’ve seen a million times. Sometimes it’s done well and the audience is left satisfied. Other times, the heroine involved is reduced to the hero’s reward, less person than wish fulfillment. In either case, tying up a romantic subplot with a hero is the go-to way of resolving female characters’ storylines and, at this point, pretty much a given in manga, even when the romantic subplot is never given the development it deserves, leaving audiences bewildered at how and why the hook-up actually happened.

I’m not saying every comic should “subvert expectations” and cancel its romantic subplot between the hero and heroine, of course not. But I am saying that it would be pretty refreshing to see something else for once.

By virtue of their role, villains don’t usually “get the girl.” Even redeemed villains rarely end up in happy, healthy, well-written relationships. It’s not impossible but it is unlikely that a series’ designated female lead ever wavers in her attentions from the main hero to a new romantic target.

So it would be pretty cool if one did, if the moral of the story’s romantic subplot wasn’t just "token love interest completes painfully shoehorned romantic gestures.” A good romance with a redeemed ex-villain instead of a hero would take a lot more explanation. It would demand, by its very nature, more work on the author’s part to suspend disbelief. The characters would have to develop an entirely different rapport from the normal interactions between designated love interests, and, to a certain extent, strong character growth would be required in order for such a romance to even get started. There’s more moral complexity and conflict to a subplot like this, and a greater sensation of choice--if the heroine doesn’t have to end with the hero by the end of the story, well hey... That means she could end up with just about anyone. Whoa.

Even more so, in the specific case of Shigaraki, who has lived a life of misery and manipulation, the idea that he could come out on the other side, grow as a person, redeem himself, and eventually enter a healthy relationship with someone who isn’t going to hurt him is an idea I find deeply appealing. I think there are a lot of villain stans, myself included, who see parts of themselves in Shigaraki. If a character who has been so severely impacted by abuse can still heal and ultimately end up happy, to me, that’s a far more hopeful and heart-warming conclusion than the alternatives. I did warn you this manifesto would be rose-tinted, didn’t I?

I want storylines that prove that none of us are beyond saving. That people who make bad choices can still change. That romance isn’t a reward for playing the “right” role. That heroines have options. That there are still pleasant surprises to be found in romance plots.

4) But why Shigaraki and Ochako, in particular? It’s not like they have any remotely shared life experiences--

Oops. Friendly reminder: Ochako is the only major character in the manga besides the villains who is overtly described as, I quote, “poorer than poor.” Todoroki, Yaomomo, and Iida can all make it rain; Kaminari, Mina, and Jirou can afford stylish clothes; Kirishima can drop a stupid amount on night vision googles... Even Midoriya, whose father “works overseas,“ can afford plenty of All Might merchandise. One of the popular fandom theories for a while was that Ochako could be U.A.’s traitor specifically because of her desire to help her parents financially, and I think that most readers at this point can discern a clear divide in BNHA’s society: heroes are the “haves” and villains are the “have nots.” To be a hero in this story is to attend a prestigious school, have access to expensive support items, gear, insurance, fame and glory, etc.

Meanwhile, with the exception of All For One, to be a villain in BNHA’s story is to be marginalized, live in unfit conditions, lack access to basic safety and nutritional resources, and struggle to make ends meet. When ability to thrive in a hero-centric society is synonymous with being a good and worthwhile person, anyone who doesn’t just naturally excel in the hero-driven economy is treated as flawed at best and suspect at worst. Poor characters in the story are ignored, and, as demonstrated with people like Twice, left essentially to fend for themselves.

Uraraka’s status as lower income is mostly played for laughs. She’s still a privileged character in that she can attend U.A., receive hero items for free, has a safe place to live, etc. But it is important that the story acknowledges her family’s situation, because her financial status does set her apart from her classmates.

She is less privileged than the others. Being “the poor character” situates Uraraka in the interesting divide between those who couldn’t cope and chose to rebel against hero society instead, versus those who conformed to the hero system in an attempt to improve their situations. In different circumstances, if Uraraka’s family was just even the tiniest bit worse off, we might be seeing a very different character here, one who had to make some much harder choices to keep her family afloat.

Having been in the position of "going without,” Uraraka also has a unique understanding of the “real world” that many of her heroics classmates might lack. She understands what it is like to go hungry, to not be able to afford to keep up with the newest trends, to be constantly anxious about the future--to feel unsuccessful, overlooked, and under constant pressure to perform. As someone who wasn’t raised in the lap of luxury or even really a middle-class home, Uraraka has more insight into--and would likely have more empathy for--the plight of the downtrodden daily criminals of the BNHA world. Just based on her own life experiences, Ochako is more likely than her classmates to recognize how harsh reality can be, and understand the temptations that lead people to make terrible decisions.

This makes Ochako an especially interesting character in terms of her pro hero future. Would she be able to sympathize and reach out to struggling "villains” more effectively than others from her class, who lack her humble background? Would she be able to better see the big picture of BNHA’s society, and the way it actively creates villains from its marginalized populations? Would she be able to look at the League not just as criminals, but also as people who never stood a chance within the confines of a rigged social structure?

Uraraka’s background shifts her closer to the story’s villains than many of the other hero characters, and puts her in a unique place to both empathize and become motivated to change the flawed system that produced people like Shigaraki and the League in the first place.

5) Likewise, Uraraka’s background actually makes her more palatable to Shigaraki than other heroes. At least at the beginning of the comic, Uraraka isn’t shy about admitting that one of her reasons for becoming a hero is to help her parents financially. Ochako’s original motivation for heroism isn’t portrayed as nobly as others’ like Deku--Deku has no ulterior motives for being a hero; he just wants to save people and wouldn’t care about personally benefiting.

Instead, Ochako is presented as someone who (initially) sees heroism as a means to an end. It’s not that she doesn’t want to save people, but that she’s not doing so only for the intrinsic worth... the hefty paycheck that comes from heroism is a big draw.

Over time the manga has shown her shifting away from this (which actually makes her character less unique, unfortunately), but I’m sure it’s still a thought for her, and she’s definitely going to send paychecks to her parents in the future. At the end of the day, heroism is still going to be Uraraka’s ticket to a better lifestyle, even if she’s committed herself to it honestly by the time she leaves U.A.

But it’s this exact form of personal motivation that Shigaraki is much more likely to understand than the “goody-two-shoes” motivations of people like Deku. Multiple times in the comic Shigaraki has expressed confusion with society’s habit of clinging mindlessly to symbols, of their blind faith in the virtues of heroism, and their ability to simply overlook suffering because “surely a hero will do something about it.” Stain’s ideals about “true heroes” go straight past Shigaraki, who seems to hate heroes who are earnest (All Might, I’m talking about All Might) far more than those who are simply faking their way through for fame. 

Shigaraki understands humans who are driven by personal gain. He respects the individual desires of people he cares about. Someone in the hero industry explicitly seeking tangible benefits would likely, to Shigaraki at least, come across as more genuine than someone who claims they have no ulterior motives, and a person who is blunt about their needs and grounded in the reality of BNHA’s world would likely be much more acceptable to Tomura than someone who spews trite lines about peace and justice.

Shigaraki’s feelings for heroes have been irreparably damaged by his conditioning from All For One, but there are certainly some heroes that he would find less loathsome than others. He will probably never understand Deku’s selflessness. All Might’s saccharine symbolism actively infuriates him. But a person who became a hero to put food on the table? To provide for her parents (maybe especially because it is her parents she’s trying to provide for)? That’s at least understandable. If the manga’s future does see Shigaraki redeemed, my thought is that the only type of heroes we’ll ever see him willingly interact with would still be heroes just like Ochako, with more “down to earth” personal motivations. Uraraka, your codename is “If I had to date a hero”...

6) While we’re talking about shared life experiences, there’s another very obvious similarity between Shigaraki and Ochako: neither one of them can touch things with all five fingers.

Cute/fridge horror observation: Shigaraki is even daintier about touching things than Uraraka is; Uraraka usually lifts just her pinkies, but Shigaraki frequently uses as few fingers as possible.

Yeah, yeah, they both have to be dainty and careful with everything they hold. It’d be cute to watch them eat together. They could mutually gripe about the annoyance of video game consoles not designed for four-finger use. More than that though, neither one of them can touch other human beings without the risk of causing death.

Uraraka, as a hero, has the more privileged quirk design (she can turn her quirk off, while Shigaraki can’t) and until recently, the comic was always very careful to portray Uraraka’s quirk in a way that no one was endangered by it. But dropping Zero Gravity into the hands of a villain for a single chapter reveals the truth: Uraraka’s quirk has just as much lethal potential as Shigaraki’s.

Like Shigaraki, Uraraka has to face the reality that her touch alone could jeopardize the safety of anyone she comes into contact with, in her daily life and in her hero work. Drop some debris without looking twice? Just crushed a civilian. Release your quirk without thinking? Now the villain you floated is paste on the sidewalk. Thought that it was safe to float away the building? Oops, you crushed someone still trapped inside. Yikes. In a one-on-one battle, Uraraka is actually at a disadvantage not because her quirk is weak, but the dead opposite--in an outdoor fight, she would have to actively work not to accidentally send people off into outer space.

Having an auto-activate touch quirk means that both Shigaraki and Ochako have to be conscious of every single thing they touch all the time. Both of their quirks require constant bodily awareness, and both come with the lurking knowledge that “My touch causes problems.” Even for Ochako, who would merely be a nuisance if she accidentally floated objects indoors, it’s easy to internalize frustration and negative associations with one’s own body. Every day, Ochako has to be careful with herself in a way that few of her peers do, another factor that sets her apart.

One of the story’s overarching themes is the idea of “self-acceptance” and what it even means to “accept yourself” in a world where (almost) every human being possesses a distinguishing feature, often built into their bodies at the expense of standard human functioning. For people with limited control over their quirks, who can’t choose when the effect activates, a quirk is a constant burden and facet of their identity that entirely re-shapes how they interact with the world. Both Shigaraki and Uraraka face the practicality of having burdensome, even lethal, auto-activate quirks that require constant self-awareness. This is a similarity that, of the major characters, only Shigaraki and Ochako possess so far. (Even other major characters with touch-based quirks like Overhaul appear to be able to choose when to activate their quirks).

The “funny” way Shigaraki and Ochako hold things seems like just a small similarity until you remember the amount of practice and frustration it must have taken to internalize a four-fingered touch. Until you remember that this similarity marks them both as very careful and self-conscious characters. Until you remember that Shigaraki’s got a one-touch instakill... but so does Uraraka Ochako.

7) Okay, similarities are cool and all, but you know what they say: opposites attract. And if we’re talking character motivation, there are no cleaner opposites in the entire series. Shigaraki and Ochako are actually even better emotional foils than Shigaraki and Deku, because Ochako’s central motivation is “Make as many people smile as possible” and Shigaraki’s is, literally, “Make it so no one can ever smile again.”

I know I ragged on it earlier, but now I’m going to use it to my full advantage: as the story evolved and characters grew, Ochako’s “true” motivation to become a hero revealed itself: she feels a deep, intrinsic happiness when witnessing the happiness of others. Her desire as a hero is to spread relief, the sense of security that allows people to go about their days smiling. She literally feels happiest when everyone around her is happy.

Even more so than Deku, this casts Uraraka as Shigaraki’s diametric opposite in the story, because Shigaraki’s entire pipe dream goal also hinges on the smiles of others--and how absolutely much he hates them. Shigaraki’s goal is total world destruction because he just resents the happiness of others that fucking much.

On the surface alone it’s more fascinating than the story will probably ever live up to: Ochako, the heroine who wants to spread smiles; Shigaraki, the villain who wants to destroy them. Even if we’re just talking canon, zero romance involved, that would still be an interesting conflict to explore. The story could cover a lot of deeper ground by drawing the comparison between these two characters more directly. It would definitely validate Uraraka being involved in more major plot events, at the very least.

BUT this was supposed to be about shipping, so of course I can’t leave it there, and leaving it there would only be half the story anyway, because nobody is born hating smiles. Everything we’ve seen of Shigaraki’s past so far indicates that he was a kid with a cute dog, a warm relationship with his sister, and an interest in heroes--i.e., a decent life that probably included his own fair share of smiles. Shigaraki’s hatred and resentment are direct products of the traumatic manipulation he suffered at AFO’s hands. He despises the idea that people around him can smile and act upbeat, even when they objectively know villains are lurking all around them. He is actually sick to his stomach at the idea of people blindly putting their faith in heroes, knowing what he does: that heroes often fail, that there are many people who desperately need to be rescued and are instead overlooked. The world failed Shimura Tenko and then had the nerve to keep on smiling without him.

Other people’s smiles represent nothing but the joy, security, love, and peace that Shigaraki Tomura hasn’t experienced since the day his quirk manifested. The sight of any living thing fills Shigaraki with rage because everything bright and beautiful, everything good and calm and kind and soft and warm, is everything that Shigaraki has lost and believes he will never, ever get to experience again.

Shigaraki doesn’t really hate the pure happy smiles of others; he hates the fact that the world has taken away every single thing he ever had to smile about.

It is my belief that Horikoshi is hinting at a redemption arc for Shigaraki, especially as we see the League become closer allies. But Shigaraki can’t be completely redeemed, can’t be persuaded to give up his world-destruction plan, until he can look at the smiles of others without scorn. Until the bright, upbeat attitudes of heroes other people no longer feel like a personal attack. Until he’s happy enough that the happiness of others no longer hurts. Until the weight is lifted.

And I can’t think of any character more obviously suited to helping lift an immense weight than Uraraka, the zero gravity hero who wants nothing more than to spread smiles.

8) Speaking of lifting weights... Kacchako is a popular ship stemming in large part from Bakugou’s refusal to treat Uraraka with kid gloves. He faces her head-on as a real opponent and views her like any other hero hopeful.

As I’ve said before, this is pretty much the most respectfully the series itself has ever treated Uraraka Ochako, and it caught a lot of attention because it was one of the rare occasions that a female pro hero-in-training was really treated as an equal to the male characters. Kacchako shippers had something awesome to work with.

But... You know who else treats women as equals? (Hell, you know who treats literally everyone as equals, from those with mutant quirks to trans people to those with severe mental health issues?) You can say what you want about Shigaraki’s habit of, you know, mass murder, but in terms of viewing others equally and respecting (okay, let’s be real, it’s probably closer to just ignoring) differences, Tomura is about as open-minded as BNHA characters come. The League is an equal opportunity employer.

Unlike actual hero characters, Shigaraki has never once suggested that Toga is incapable of keeping up with any of the male members of the League, and in fact has entrusted her with many of the League’s most dangerous and crucial missions. He explicitly has faith in her ability and skill.

Toga’s right there in the fight against Gigantomachia and the QLA, as much an equal member of the League as anyone else. In terms of gender equality, the villains seem to be light-years ahead of their hero counterparts, and Shigaraki in particular doesn’t discriminate, among his allies or his opponents either. He’s not a “spare the women and children” kind of guy; every hero and villain challenger is treated with equal violence (and equal snark), whether they’re male, female, a long-time pro or a student in training.

In whatever context--canon opponent, AU ally, or a future romantic interest--Shigaraki would take Ochako just as seriously as Bakugou did. If you like Kacchako because Bakugou doesn’t dismiss Uraraka, that same dynamic would be present in Shigako too.

9) And on the topic of Shigaraki and women... It doesn’t feel accidental that every single female character who ever had love for Shigaraki has been taken away from him. A distinct part of Shigaraki’s storyline is that all positive female role models have been systematically removed from his life. He lost his grandmother, a hero he could have looked up to; he lost his mother, who he now has no memory of; he lost the older sister he clearly held dear... All For One’s control over Tomura has always been total, but this particular detail feels especially insidious: was All For One’s spite for Nana so strong that he delighted in deliberately destroying every single relationship Tenko had with women connected to Nana’s legacy? (Or is AFO perhaps just a raging misogynist? Every single one of his known associates is male and he seemed to despise and mock Nana particularly hard...)

In any case, the point I’m trying to make here is that, even ruling love interests out, Shigaraki’s storyline would be enriched by forging a meaningful connection with a female character like Ochako. Acceptance--maybe even some grudging admiration--for a female hero? A fantastic opportunity to show just how different the “villains” are from the discriminatory society that produced them. Supporting friendship while he’s on the road to recovery? A+ way to diversify interactions between the male and female cast. Send a tough girl to Tartarus to question his motives? Nice chance for tense dialogue and some good old noire-esque foe yay. Hostage situation that takes a turn for the surprisingly cordial? Fun way to explore different dynamics and humanize the villains because hey, they treated the “damsel” to dinner shortbread cookies. My god, Shigaraki could even develop some positive sense of rivalry with a woman, for example! The possibilities are endless if you’re actually willing to give female characters a shot!

Being more serious, Tomura’s life has been dramatically marked by the loss of his female family members, and--at least from what we know so far--his entire youth was spent without the presence of reliable friendships, let alone any form of “love” that wasn’t disturbingly fake. Beyond his fragmented memories, he has no models for healthy relationships, romantic or otherwise.

Letting Shigaraki develop to the point that he could form a mutually positive relationship with a female hero character would be extremely cathartic for me as a reader. I don’t mean “rewarding redemption with a last-minute happy ending romance”--I mean actually getting the opportunity to watch Tomura rediscover what it means to be genuinely loved and realize he has the capacity to give love and be happy in return...

Reaching that level of mutual support and closeness--especially with a female pro hero--would be the biggest “FUCK YOU” that Shigaraki could give to All For One, short of, you know, actually killing him.

Shigaraki Tomura has a critical (and deliberate) lack of healthy connections to women. BNHA, coincidentally, has a criminally under-utilized female lead just twiddling her thumbs over here, waiting for a meaningful plotline to be thrown her way.

Sure, putting AFO in prison is cool and all, but have you considered... crushing his pride and legacy of evil by helping the boy he tortured for years learn to love again? I’m just sayin’!

Uraraka Ochako, snatching Shigaraki right the fuck out of AFO’s hands:

10) Basically what the whole thing boils down to is this: Shigaraki Tomura needs a hero.

Don’t mistake my meaning. A lot of “girl meets bad boy” plots end up amounting to “girl becomes emotionally responsible for fixing bad boy’s issues,” and that’s not what I’m gunning for--Shigaraki has to redeem himself because redemption is only meaningful when it stems from the character’s own inner desire to change; I’m not quite rose-tinted enough to buy into the Love Redeems trope myself. I’m definitely not advocating anyone dump Shigaraki Tomura as he is now into Uraraka Ochako’s lap and expect her to turn him from a beast to a beauty. It’s not an unrelated woman’s responsibility to fix a broken man.

But! From a reader’s perspective, I think we can agree: Shigaraki’s redemption cannot be complete until he learns to believe in real heroes. He doesn’t have to like them. He doesn’t have to support hero society. But he has to be able to look at real heroes like Izuku and Ochako and admit that they are doing what’s right--that society is a better place because they are here. Shigaraki’s path to recovery can’t even begin until he’s capable of at least acknowledging that the world has things worth saving in it.

If Horikoshi moves forward with a redemption arc for Shigaraki, it will probably be Deku who Detroit Smashes the message of truly noble heroes into Shigaraki’s head. That’s his job as the resident Warrior Therapist, I suppose. But you know... to me, it might be even more meaningful if Shigaraki’s hero--if the hand that reaches out to rescue him--isn’t The Hero’s™ but just a hero’s. We all know Deku is selfless and good to the core. As All Might’s perfect successor, he really has nothing to prove. It’s everyone else who is in question. It’s the whole rest of hero society that owes Shigaraki Tomura an explanation for the suffering of people like the League’s members. It’s everyone else who needs to prove they can do better--that in the future, there will be no bloody children left abandoned in back alleyways.

Uraraka Ochako’s conviction is to save people. As a female hero who hasn’t lived a privileged life, she’s uniquely situated to think about those who are most often overlooked. In a world where violence begets violence, where only those with strength and flash excel, what a powerful message it would send for the terrifying antagonist to effectively be rescued by someone the story itself has called “a frail girl.” At the end of the day, heroics isn’t supposed to be about mountain-destroying explosions and mach punches--heroics is supposed to be about heart, about reaching out a gentle helping hand, about spreading smiles to those who need them most.

Tomura’s faith in heroes has been brutally stripped from him, and every part of his conflict is tied up intimately with his misdirected hatred: it wasn’t actually heroes who isolated and hurt him--it was villains. In order to move forward, he will have to come to that horrible realization, deal with that means for himself and his place in the world, and recognize the truth: there are goodness and good people in the world. Selfless heroes, those who wouldn’t turn their backs on a crying child, do exist. There are people, even now, who would extend a kind hand to Shigaraki Tomura and do their best to bring a real smile to his face. Because that’s what’s really going on, after all.

Shimura Tenko is still waiting to be saved.

And I know just the person to do it.

[singingcookie]

HELLO YES CAN WE TALK ABOUT THAT ADORABLE CARRY AND HOW THEY DIDNT REALIZE HE WAS STILL HOLDING HER AT FIRST PLS AND THANMK

Ah yes. So like, fun fact: this chapter also turned out really different from its outline. Well. Everything but the last scene turned out really different. But I have fun stuff about that and pretty much everything else so...another outline comparison?

Obviously spoilers for chapter 21 of DoJ under the cut

Back to Ochako’s pov

This should start up incredibly chaotic. The sound of screams, being bumped into from people scurrying either to or from the where the flames are congregated. Ochako’s nose is burning from the smoke, and she has to cough to even take a deeper breath in.

Details are hard lol! I tried writing down notable sensory details to get me going but it still took ages to write the first page or so. Finding ways to word the images in my head and have them come across so hectic was really hard for me 😩

There’s a question of what they should do when Deku’s phone rings. It’s Todoroki. Ochako stands close to Deku’s side to try and listen but she can barely make anything out with all the commotion going on. She almost contemplates asking for speaker but, all things considered, that obviously wouldn’t fare any better. Deku mostly just seems to be agreeing and listening until he finally says that they’ll do their best and hangs up. Todoroki said that Iida had called Aizawa immediately. They were closer to the havoc and they’re helping lead the effort to get civilians to safety and any possible need for triage. Luckily a decent number of the class was already nearby so some are fending them off and other are helping with the effort to grab civilians.

So as you can see here things............deviated. A lot. I had a really hard time actually planning out how this chapter was gonna go and I pretty much wrote up this part of the outline going “okay this is probably gonna change but these are the basics. The basics I have to get across.

So as you can see, originally I thought of having izuocha like....idk too far away? Too in shock? To jump to action. Which was, honestly, very dumb on past me’s part but they were quick to say “fuck you we’re helping” like of course.

They wanted to rush over to deal with the trees and help but I was standing there like these guys are so far away how tf is this gonna work. And that��s when it was like “omg, bridal carry.”

I think I had to break from writing after deciding that though. And I was telling my little sister about it while we were in the car. And we kind of mutually came up with the scene. We played around with the scenario a little bit, and it was originally a jokey thing. But after we talked about it, and she agreed (as a Tododeku shipper) that she thought it flowed well and made sense, I decided to include it. It was so vivid though we could both imagine as a scene in the manga so a day or two later I decided I had to commission it.

I’ll be forever grateful that @jellojolteon was up for the task and did it so so wonderfully. 💖💖💖

We also were joking around about the Momo thing and after telling @savetheirhearts-midoriya about it but saying I thought it was too goofy to include, she told me I had to include it. And who was I to refuse? Lmao

Looking back on this though idk how I thought that that it was gonna be chaos but still chill enough to be able to have a phone call smh. Luckily I’m not super strict on my outline being the end all be all lmao

I definitely like the way it turned out a lot better though. Did a good job with showing the class’s self reliance. Especially considering they’re in third year now. It shows off that they have this kind of thing down pat now. Kinda like how the Big Three came off in canon.

They decide they should try to tell other civilians where to go (maybe check how long the street usually is in Kanagawa for the festival) in the midst of that, they see Toogata and Amajiki with Eri. They explain they were with Aizawa but he felt it might be best if they go to safety with the others. They didn’t want to leave Toogata and Eri alone but Amajiki will go back into the fray once he’s guaranteed they’ve made it safely. They explain where to find Aizawa and they take off.

Maybe include a conversation with Ochako saying that, all things considered, at least this attack is happening where a handful of pros and a majority of the 3rd year hero course were out tonight. Deku wonders if that’s really much of a relief. “Was it just a coincidence or…?”

Ochako blinks in surprise, about to stew on that thought a little more when there’s a scream just up ahead. A little further ahead, there’s two girls, twins from the look of it. One is on the ground, unconscious and disheveled as well as a bloodied arm.

ooooooh right, again, more differences here. I never altered the fact that I changed the setting in my outline LOL. Mostly because I knew and it seemed pointless to change something so small when I already know lol. I wanted to include Eri a little here but when I thought about it it just felt like it would slow down the pace of the scene. And it just felt too....pushy? Idk something about it just felt off. So I decided to cut it. I also changed where Aizawa came into play but I’ll get to that in a few lol.

Second and third paragraphs though are the same. I knew I wanted to highlight the fact that is was very likely targeted.

Aizawa arrives right as they do and they ask what happened. The sister explains that they were wandering around the festival looking for her boyfriend who was further down. She started to go off ahead, but some crazy girl popped out of the alley and attacked her sister. She ran off before the twin could come back over. She tried to stem the bleeding but--

Ochako says they’ll take it from here as she goes to join the girl on the side with the bleeding arm. She says that she feels bad doing this since Inko worked so hard but she tears off some of the bottom of her yukata, to wrap the wound.

Alright so, I changed where Aizawa came in mostly because I felt like, upon, writing it, he would be coming from further into the festival than they were. And they’re up toward to front, so it only made sense to have him show up late....not to mention that he might notice that the girl (Toga) was acting a little off. So I had to limit his exposure LOL

The story was pretty much the same and, real talk, I wanted an excuse to free up Ochako’s movement since a yukata is a little limiting. But I definitely wanted to feel the ache that came with messing up something that we spent so much time waiting for. I went ahead and added some details about Toga looking a little too long before this next part just to drive home that something really doesn’t feel right about this girl...

The twin watches her, seemingly entranced, an unblinking expression on her face. “You really know what you’re doing, don’t you?”

“Oh well, I’m a hero in training!” Ochako’s a little embarrassed. “It’s all in the job.”

“We should get both of you over to triage,” Deku notes, looking toward Aizawa. This seems to snatch the other girl’s attention from Ochako’s deftly moving hands. “They can help check on her properly there.” The sister suddenly jumps to her feet, suddenly remembering her boyfriend’s further ahead and alone. She has to go find him and takes off

“Ah wait!! Eraserhead, Uraraka-san, I’ll go make sure she’ll make it okay, be right back!” He takes off too.

Pretty much the same, as far as what’s conveyed, I think. Especially highlighting that something’s wrong with this twin and that Ochako’s uncomfortable. Though, here I didn’t spell out the latter as clearly as I felt it during outlining.

Main difference is who’s saying what and--again, tbh I like how the final result came out better. Toga pretty much dips as soon as Aizawa shows up. Because 1) Aizawa’s caught her in the act before (during Overhaul arc with Rock Lock) and 2) his quirk immediately takes off hers. So she knew she had to get out ASAP once she saw who it was. I also changed Deku’s “be right back” because what the point of coming back if they’re taking the passed out one to where triage is? Dumb lol

Ochako wonders if she should maybe use her Quirk on the woman to help make it quicker for them to transport her. Aizawa says he’s not sure that’s necessary. He doesn’t want to send her or Midoriya off alone because it sounds like a lot more of the League than what they’ve actually seen. And...yeah, it’s awfully weird that they haven’t really seen a lot of them. Did they really concentrate their attack closer to the entrance? But then there’s the person who attacked this woman--

Her thought is cut off when Aizawa continues, “And if I go to take her, you won’t know when to release your Quirk. It’s probably better not to”

The first part of this is confusing--likely because originally I planned on Deku coming back but once I realized that was a little futile I had to rephrase how this was worded lol. But no matter what I didn’t want anyone to think too hard about who was doing the attacking yet (I figured people would get it by then but I still wanted to keep it low profile).

The girl between them suddenly wakes up, startled, and they assure her that they’re heroes on the scene. “It seems you were attacked and passed out from the fall or possibly received a blow to the head.”

“And you guys got rid of her?”

“No, the villain seemed to take off when your sister came over to help.”

“What? But--”

“Oh, don’t worry, she’s okay! She went to go find her boyfriend but she and our friend’ll be--”

“No, that’s.” She looks between them seemingly more dazed and confused. “I don’t have a sister.”

Aizawa says that she received a blow to the head. It’s possible that she has a concussion and she’s a little confused. “No, I’m telling you I don’t have a sister!”

“I’m an only child, and I came here alone!”

This whole exchange was more or less the same. To be honest, most of this last scene is lmao. This scene (unlike the rest of the chapter outline) was super vivid when I planned it out and whenever scenes are vivid, they almost always play out exactly the same as my outline lol

That said, chapter 22 is incredibly vivid so. Prepare yourself 👀👀👀👀👀

“But she looked just like you…” Twins. A crazy girl. She happened to be unconscious and...had a blood wound. Just like her.

She pales. No way. She doesn’t want to believe it. Not even a little. But her body moves before she can think, taking off with no heed to Aizawa calling after her.

Deku-kun!!

This was, again, near exactly the same because it was such a vivid image in the planning stage that it carried over well into actual writing. For a little bit I debated whether I should actually name drop Toga but ultimately I was like “the readers are smart, I don’t have to hold their hand about it!” So I trusted yall to put two and two together lol

But yeah, that about sums it up!! The notorious scene actually only happened because of Izuocha wanting to help and me and my Tododeku shipper sister sitting in the car in the BK drive thru if I’m not mistaken lmfao

[green-tea-is-love]

*peeks out from corner* Hey, I love your art especially your izuocha art :3 they make me smile and fuel my shipper heart ❤️ just wanted to say you're awesome :3 okie bye *goes back to hiding*

Thank you!

This kind of message fuels me too 🙈🙈🙇🏻‍♀️🙏🏼 thank you so much !

[tofu-beifong]

Izuocha w/ closet shipper bakugou?

I LOVE CLOSET IZUOCHA SHIPPER BAKUGOU….;laskdjfl BLESS

I’m not sure how good my hcs that I come up will be, but!! I’m gonna try because I love this idea (this post got kind of long? damn)

Bakugou gets a ton of fun out of sneaking behind Ochako when she’s on her phone when he can see that she’s smiling as she’s looking at the screen and says stuff like “texting Deku again?” which scares the crap out of her and she’s always flustered and blushy afterwards, replying with “B-bakugou it’s not like that” (the answer is yeah, she was texting Deku of course)

He knows where they usually meet to hang out around the school, so during Christmas-time he grabs Denki and they put in the effort to find a place to hang a mistletoe (imagine Denki and Bakugou yelling from the distance like “Hey you two should kiss” and they both get really flustered and try to laugh it off)

I had this other hc I wrote earlier where Uraraka and Bakugou are bro-friends and she talks to him about her crush (on Izuku) where it’s likeOchako: “What if he doesn’t like me?”Bakugou: “KILL HIM”Ochako: “No!!”Bakugou: “THEN I WILL KILL HIM FOR YOU”(this dialogue is thanks to my friend @logical-ruse and I love it alskdjfa)

On Valentine’s day Izuku got chocolates for Ochako and she got chocolates for him, but they’re both really nervous about giving them to each other, so they kind of avoid each other the whole day. Bakugou notices this and so, at the end of the school day, when they still haven’t given each other the chocolates, Bakugou’s like “oi, Kirishima” and he tells him about his thoughts and gets Kirishima to find Ochako while he goes to grab Deku(Kirishima makes something up asks Ochako to help him find his hw and Bakugou, who has no chill is kind of like “Listen Deku you’ve been pissing me off again lately” and Izuku is like “K-kacchan where are we going”)The school is nearly empty at this point, and Deku and Bakugou are walking from one end of the hallway and Kirishima and Ochako are walking from the other end. Deku is thinking “Oh hey that’s Kirishima with….oh NO it’s HER” when he realizes it’s Ochako with himand then Kirishima is like “oh hey it’s my bro Bakugou! Thanks Uraraka I think he can help me find my homework” and they both leave the two of them alone in the middle of the empty school hallway so now they gotta give each other the chocolates!And Deku can barely function, he can barely make eye contact with her but he pulls out the chocolates from his bag and says really quietly, “Um, these are for you…happy Valentine’s Day….” and she’s actually really surprised and so happy that he got chocolates for her, because she knows he was thinking of her so she has a chance to reciprocate those feelings; she takes out the chocolates she meant to give to him and says “What a coincidence, I meant to give something to you too…I made these so I hope you like them” and she’s blushing too. Izuku is also really surprised she also had chocolates to give to him and he tries to hide how happy he is and he offers to walk her home; Kirishima and Bakugou are watching the whole thing feeling really accomplished, and Kirishima says “Bakugou you fuckin matchmaker, playing Cupid” and Bakugou just smiles mischievously

and in the far future, maybe when they’re in college, Deku still hasn’t confessed his love for Ochako but it’s so obvious that they really like each other, and so when he asks his buddies for advice on how to confess to her: “Guys how do I tell her I’m in love with her and want to spend more time with her”, Bakugou just really calmly and with genuineness tells him, “You should tell her how you feel about her. It’s better to tell her your feelings than hide them and feel regret, you never know she might like you too” and then tries to cover up his good intentions with “yeah but what the fuck do I know about love, do whatever u fuckin want ya dumbass”

[spock-smokes-weed]

I totally get you on the todoiida vs tododeku part!! I'm not super into MHA but I love love love Iida bc of how he Feels and Acts and like, I can relate to Midorya bc of the whole,,,, bullying situation. I find the dynamic between the two of them as friends far more interesting than the romantic dynamic that fandom creates between him and Todo!!! That scene didnt have the same emotional impact for me as Midorya's determination to not let his friend die in that alley (1/?)

I have so many problems with the my hero fandom and their ablism and character  erasure, I totally get you there!

And yea!!! The alley fight scene really holds so much more tension and weight than the school fight scene. Like there if Todoroki didn’t use his fire, he would have just lost the match and his  internal battle. But with the alley fight, if Iida didn’t have the gumption to stand back up, himself and his friends would be dead. The emotional payoff is a lot more satisfying in the narrative, and to me personally as someone who adores Iida.

And imma be real with you Chief, I don’t see Midoriya and Todoroki having romantic chemistry. Not at all. Like I really do understand why people ship it, but the chemistry is just not there for me. Their relationship is infinitely more interesting when they’re just pals (in my opinion any way)

And oof tododeku shippers don’t make it easier to like it either. Like you said, the way they earse Ochako and Iida and act like Shoto is Midoriya’s only freind, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I’ve always been a big IzuOcha shipper because they have a genuinely cute friendship and their romance is progressing very naturally. You can tell that they both really care about each other and value each other as friends first and for most. Also the scenes where they get super flustered around their feelings for one another is just, freaking cute. So like it’s super disheartening to see his friendship to Ochako be routinely downplayed and overshadowed all the time. Same with his friendship with Iida.

And I will go my fucking grave as a TodoIida stan because I think they work so well together!!! The fight in the alley was one thing, but I think how their personalities are too!! They’re both socially dense but also very caring and compassionate! Also I love the way that Todoroki never laughs at Iida. Like when Iida goes too strict or says something that makes sense to him, but the others around him finds funny, Todoroki just nods his head and is like “I get it”. They’re constantly on the same wavelength and I find the way the interact so charming. Also often they’re always chilling in the background together. Like it’s canon that they hang out all the time.

Sorry if this reply is messy!!! Anything to talk about Iida and my love for the rest of the Deku squad!!!! Also thanks for the ask!!! I always love seeing you in my inbox!!