Koyo

"It's your power, isn't it?" 落葉 (Rakuyo): fallen leaves 紅葉 (Koyo): red leaves changing colours

[rakuyokoyo]

MHA 404 AND BUTTERFLIES??

Came back from the dead after reeling at the 404 leaks. I've mentioned previously before that my fics have been able to predict some really uncanny things and I've experienced some really eery coincidences. It was usually One Piece and less BNHA, but these days I've seen some major coincidences (the last big one being fucking Gearshift being called Overdrive. OVERDRIVE?! That's been Kana's Quirk name since 2018-2019, and they even operate similarly! I'm gonna start charging Oda and Horikoshi, frfr.) (And if you don't believe me, you can go through my old notes because I've written about this for years before any of the relevant chapters were released).

404's less of a prediction but a huge callback. A Place Where the Chrysanthemums Bloom's original title, if you just scroll a bit, was acronymed as 'TBE.'

TBE = The Butterfly Effect

Kana's flower motif, the fact that her original last name was 'Papillon' and her parents' hero names being Papillon (=butterfly in French) was all because the story was originally called 'The Butterfly Effect' and how one small action cascades into something massive for Kana, her friends, and the heroes around her.

The fact that 404 is a complete callback to how I began this story in 2019 is extremely bittersweet and I just feel so warm with how amazing this journey has been. These huge coincidences actually feel insane as a writer, and a part of me feels frustration because if I published my story first, these coincidences would've made reading my fics such an amazing experience (like could you imagine if I was deep into writing the first war arc and all of a sudden Gearshift-Overdrive was revealed?!). But I think these coincidences are happy coincidences for the most part or at least an acknowledgement from the world that we were on the right path. These moments are so precious to me and part of why I love writing OC-fics.

—

In other news, A Place Where the Chrysanthemums Bloom will get its full first chapter + reveal on October 22nd, 2023 on Ao3 and FF.net!

[silentthevoice]

Petition to change “he looked at her like she was the sun” to “he looked at her like she was the moon” and any other variation bc I look at the moon in wonder and love and amazement while I’ve only ever just squinted angrily at the sun

[louisamayanniecat]

He looked at her like she was the sun, in that he never looked at her except in frustration. He basked in her warmth, he complained when she was gone, but he never looked. On days she was muted, he complained. On days she was stronger, he hid from her. He never looked at her until she was leaving, and in the beauty of the sunset he wondered how he’d never seen her before.

[legolokiismighty]

dude

[ileftmyscarfthere]

“You can’t love someone unless you love yourself first — bullshit. I have never loved myself. But you — Oh god, I loved you so much I forgot what hating myself felt like.”

— My thoughts before I go to sleep. (via swxrn-in)

[rakuyokoyo]

BNHA 317 Spoilers and APWtCB Oneshot: Mightless

My BNHA story, (abbrieviation: APWtCB) has multiple side stories, oneshots, and alternate universes (AU). Some are meant to explore ship potentials while others are 'what if' stories. All of them but one are centered around Kana.

The exception is a oneshot called Mightless.

A long, long time ago, I thought of two diverging paths and wrote this to my friend:

—

"I want to see an AU where All Might sees how tragic Deku's life becomes once he turns into a hero. He sees how much Deku struggles so he goes back in time and decides to not pass down One for All."

"I also want to see an AU where Deku fails to save a ton of people in the future—not because he's a bad hero or because he ends up weak—but as the #1 hero who loses because evil is so overwhelming. And he becomes positive that he wasn't the right successor for One for All, no matter what others tell him."

—

The result was the first draft of this oneshot called Mightless, which still features Kana but is told mostly in All Might's POV. It will also link to V is for Vantablack, the Villain!Deku/Kana ship story.

Seeing chapter 317's leaks just now made me remember this conversation I had and why I wrote Mightless in the first place.

BNHA has always had dark undertones, but it's been continuously dark for a while now. The last 'real' lighthearted arc we had was 1-A vs. 1-B and like the 3 internship chapters with Endeavor.

I rewatched the anime and the difference in tone is astonishing. The iconic scene in Season 1 when All Might tells Deku 'You can be a hero' feels so cursed seeing how little light there is in his eyes compared to how moving it originally was. Granted, I'm sure Deku doesn't regret becoming a hero and I definitely don't want to write him as such, but I think seeing the the flimsiness of human morality and the fragility of human mortality has really weighed him down.

I hope we see better days soon.

—

Note: some names/sections have been completely redacted for spoilers. These are just snippets from various sections.

APWtCB - Mightless

“All Might,” (redacted) repeated, two colours alternating between her fingertips. “I will give you a chance to go back in time, to the day when you met Midoriya Izuku. You will gain the opportunity to live a part of your life again and make different choices.”

A bell echoed in the distance.

“Different… choices?” He asked softly. “You don’t mean—”

“That’s right. Don’t pass down One for All to Midoriya Izuku. Don’t let Kikuchi Kana meet him. Don’t let him go to U.A.”

“But then (redacted)!” He cried, aghast. “I can’t subject her to that!”

The pale girl nodded in contemplation, glassy eyes regarding him for a moment. “You are right. However, it could also have a butterfly effect. Who knows how one decision can alter the future? Perhaps Kana will get captured. But there is also a possibility of her (redacted). There is also the possibility of her attending U.A without ever meeting Midoriya Izuku. Either way, there is only one thing that is for certain, All Might. Both of them are currently dead, and there are no other ways to bring them back—except to go back in time and fix everything.”

All Might now recognized who she was—Kana had mentioned several times about a girl (redacted).

“(redacted),” he said quietly. “What happens if I don’t do anything?”

(redacted).

“What is your goal?” He asked gruffly. “Why do you offer me this?”

Lips quirked up into a small smile—but there was no malice.

If anything, it felt a little bit like Kana’s real smiles. A little sad and longing, but also warm and genuine.

“Will you take the offer?” She simply asked.

He had his answer the minute she proposed her idea.

“Yes.”

—

“Do you ever regret passing it down to Izukun?” Kana asked, pushing a cup of tea towards All Might. The teacher chuckled nervously, scratching his head. “Oh come on, Kana. Don’t tell me you also think that my decision was wrong. Sir Nighteye was enough.”

Kana smiled softly, taking a quiet sip of the fragrant drink. “I do and I don’t, but for different reasons than Sir’s.”

“Oh?” Perhaps there were still some aspects he hadn't considered.

“I think Izukun will be brilliant as a hero,” she said, azure irises sincere. “But as a friend, I worry about him a lot. He’s self-sacrificial and reckless, sure, but being the number one hero will also mean that he’ll need to see a lot of things that others can’t.”

All Might let her words sink in a little. “And you don’t think he’ll be able to carry that burden.”

“Oh, he’ll carry the burden all right,” she scoffed, placing the cup down. “But then what? There’s a lot more to being a hero than to be able to carry the burdens of others. Being at the top means being the best—the strongest, fastest, most heroic—but it also means that you need to be the best at hiding your sadness. Your anger.”

—

Those bright, emerald eyes seemed to fade into a dull green with each passing day.

—

“Your grief.”

—

Midoriya Izuku had grown to be the greatest successor he could ever ask for. Though the journey had been long and arduous, no one who knew about the secrets of One for All could say that Midoriya Izuku was not fit for the job.

But that had also been precisely the problem.

Your path… was also marred by blood, wasn’t it? All Might thought, bitterly remembering his promise to Midoriya Inko.

I’m sorry.

It was the only thing he seemed to be good at saying these days.

[tododekucrumbs]

Storyboard for My Hero Academia season 4, episode 7 (70) — even heroes cry sometimes scene! 🍜

[rakuyokoyo]

Random q, but is Falco (/your other OC) based off you?

At the time of writing this, I'm going to have to say that Kana (from the unpublished BNHA story, APWtCB) and I are the most alike!

I think every OC writer finds hints of themselves in their characters, and it's the same for me too. I'm sure I related to Falco a lot as a kid as I do now with Kana—a bit ironic since our ages are flipped.

That being said, I always treat my OCs like they're sentient people—I'm just a vessel that they use to tell their story. If I remove myself as the author, I've always seen Falco as someone that I looked up to—like a best friend. Kana, on the other hand, feels more like my daughter because she deals with a lot of things I struggled as a kid. Those problems came back to bite me in the ass though, so I think I use Kana as a way to turn back time and actually stand up for myself or solve my problems without running away. She's headstrong and brave even if she's terrified internally, and she's also affectionate and isn't afraid to show her emotions—qualities I lacked as a teen.

I can't separate myself from my stories so I guess they're sorta based off me in that sense??

Also, guess who just found out that you have to click on the messages button on the actual Tumblr website to get asks? :))))) I am technologically challenged, pls don't @ me and I'm so sorry if your ask has been rotting away for years.

[rakuyokoyo]

next Romance Dawn update?

not for a little while, unfortunately :(

I'll write this more extensively on my next Author's Note, but I've been suffering from a lot of mental health issues (as will have everyone else in this goddamn pandemic). I've struggled with major anxiety for a long time, but it came to the point where I could no longer write.

I'd get nervous breakdowns writing a sentence for an essay because I'd think that it was wrong grammatically, it was boring, or didn't add enough to the thesis or a billion other reasons.

I also developed short memory loss which made it even harder to write because I'd often forget what I wrote in the paragraph before, so I'd have to read and re-read to write even a single line.

Just not fun at all. I even had to delay graduation, and my school's not the type to do that if this wasn't serious.

I'm still chugging away at Romance Dawn and APWtCB as best I can, but I think it'll be a while before it get uploaded. I'm very sorry :(

—

On the other hand, I do have something really exciting planned! A friend reminded me that I actually hit ten years since I was first on FF.net (the original account no longer exists). So for my decade-long anniversary, I'm planning on publishing a oneshot of sorts(?), especially on the stories that I planned but never got to publish, along with future plans, some of my favourite stories that I've read over the years, as well as some more art. I'm late by like half a year, but I think it'll be a pretty long project, anyways :D

[thegirlwhocrieswolf]

The international bestseller Love & Misadventure by Lang Leav is available from all major bookstores and online via Amazon, BN.com + The Book Depository

[rakuyokoyo]

APWtCB: Kikuchi Kana (BNHA OC)

(I fucked up her skin colour—she's supposed to be extremely pale from being anemic all the time but I forgot;;)

I’m not much of an artist so I apologize in advance, but I’ve been trying to practice more! I use CSP and a Cintiq so if anyone has any tips (especially colouring and lineart), please show me your ways! (fyi: I didn’t do lineart here which is why it looks so messy LOL)

Unfortunately, APWtCB has constantly seen delays because chapter 1′s been a nightmare to write for various reasons;; but I definitely want Kana’s story to debut. BNHA as a story explores a lot of really unique topics (especially in regards to family and parenting) that I also struggled with as a kid, and Kana’s approach to solving her issues was really interesting for me to write about as she’s a fairly tragic character.

I’ve pasted her basic stats + a snippet of APWtCB below!

—

Name: Kikuchi Kana (菊血 花娜) Birthday: February 23rd (Emperor’s Day) Age: 15 Gender: F Height: 167 cm (5′5″-5′6″) Quirk: Overdrive Eye Colour: blue/lilac (later)

—

Note: Kana is hanging out at Todoroki’s house and they’re just in his room, sitting under the kotatsu and eating mandarins :) Gunther is the name of her father, Hanako is the name of her mother, and Kaiser is the name of her brother (she doesn’t call them ‘mom’ or ‘dad’).

—

[APWtCB] Chapter X: Father is a Title

“Gunther employed a lot of homeless people,” Kana said, quickly taking the strand of red ribbon and tying part of her hair up into a loose bun. “Those who don’t have a place to return to... those who were rejected by society without loved ones... he’d feed, clothe, and shelter them.”

Todoroki raised a brow, surprised at her revelation as he remembered the stories about her past and how her gaze turned quiet and sullen every time she mentioned Gunther. “That’s unexpected, knowing what you told me about him and how he treated you.”

Kana shrugged halfheartedly, giving him a small smile while thinking back to those icy-blue irises that always seemed to watch her with anger and despair. “Isn’t it? But he grew up in extreme poverty, so I think there was a part of him that wanted to serve others outside of heroics.”

He split the mandarin in half and handed it to Kana after peeling a slice off for himself. “How’d he meet your mom?”

Kana let out a small hum, leaning back slightly as she tucked her knees in, staring at the traditional wallpaper of his ceiling while thinking back to the stories that Kaiser told her. “Hanako’s from a really rich military family. I know that her father—my grandpa—saw Gunther’s potential and liked him when he was a trainee, so they arranged for a marriage. Once he died, Gunther inherited his company and made it what it is today. But he never forgot about his origin and... I think he was tied down by it.”

There was a slight bitterness mixed with sympathy to her tone as she rested her chin on her knees. Todoroki watched her sullen face attentively, feeling a small pang in his heart as he saw her face, slightly older and aged in a way that he knew was different from himself. He was always trapped in the past, unable to move forwards from what Endeavor had done to him and the rest of his family, only being able to slow down once he met friends like Midoriya and other peers at U.A.

And then there was Kana—his boisterous, fun-loving, and genuinely kind friend, who moved a little too fast and hurt herself a little too much for his liking. She was always sprinting ahead with the likes of Bakugo or literally with Iida, but he knew from her tired blue eyes and trembling, pale hands that she was always running. Running until she was exhausted, but forcing herself to smile in that crooked, easygoing grin of hers to reassure others that she was okay.

The room lapsed into a comfortable silence as Kana finished the pieces of fruit before reaching into the basket for another mandarin, slicing open the skin with her thumb and working on the rest quickly. Todoroki glanced down at her busy fingers, and then to her clouded eyes.

“Is that why...” he started carefully. “...Is that why you wanted to forgive him?”

Kana’s hands abruptly stopped.

“Forgive him?” She asked softly, azure eyes distant as her cheek burned from the last time Gunther had hit her. “No. I don’t think forgiveness is what I wanted to do. Could you forgive your dad for everything that happened in the past?”

Todoroki gazed at her evenly, turquoise and warm grey quiet as the two sat in silence and in mutual understanding of what the other had lived through.

Not even you can outrun your past, can you?

“No,” he said finally, stirring from his cushion and gently reaching for the mandarin in her hands. “Not right now, anyways.”

Kana brows furrowed as Todoroki peeled the citrus himself, the smell of fresh oranges bursting brightly contrary to the dark memories that were on playback in her mind. “I don’t think I can forgive him either. But I wanted to tell him that I’ll save the people I want with the power that I’ve been given. I’ll choose my own fate instead of being tethered down to his.”

Her fists balled up tightly on top of the kotatsu, knuckles turning white for a brief moment before colour returning as she relaxed once more. “I wanted to say that I understood the pain in his heart, but he hurt me too much trying to mend his own.”

Kana looked up to Todoroki, cerulean blue almost impossibly warm and heartbreaking all at once. “And there’s no going back trying to fix something that’s already broken. But I would’ve been there for him no matter what, if he wanted to move forwards.”

She gently reached for Todoroki’s hands and observed them—one cold, one warm, but pale with long, pretty fingers. He let her cusp them, letting the silence hang in contemplation as he tried to read Kana’s eyes.

After a few more seconds, she parted her lips. “Sho... it’s not my place to say what you should and shouldn’t do with your past. But if there’s something you want to tell Ende—your father, then I hope you find the opportunity to do so.” She looked up at him slowly, the ends of her lips curled up into a sad, longing smile. “Because that chance was stolen from me, and I can never go back.”

[enigmaticpink]

Do you like enemies to lovers because it’s hot or do you like enemies to lovers because you think of yourself as unlovable & unworthy of love and therefore like the idea of someone seeing all the worst in you right away and still falling in love with you anyways

[gratatata-shalala]

[rakuyokoyo]

APWTCB: I hope BNHA goes to America!

Hello! Quick updates, some Koyo Predicts with some APWTCB notes, and RD chapter 14 snippets!

—

Romance Dawn (a One Piece Story) chapter 14 is finally in the editing phase. It’s the last chapter of the arc and the future of RD seems very unclear, hence the long writing time. I plotted 130 chapters back in 2016, but now it looks like there needs to be another revamp as my standards have changed. Sigh.

I’m not rewriting anything, but I think some of the story for future arcs post-Amare needs serious attention. What I decide to do next will change the ending of chapter 14, so I’m sorry for the long wait!

APWTCB (a BNHA story) are the acronyms for TBE’s new title! There were three major reasons as to why I never published APWTCB: (1), there are twelve OC families, but I wasn’t sure how to write eleven of them (lol), (2) I’ve become increasingly anal about chapter titles, and of course, chapter 1′s title was the hardest to choose, and (3), I wasn’t happy with the original name for this story because it didn’t hit hard enough for all the love and labour I’d put in.

Surprisingly, I was able to solve these issues last week! I still don’t think chapter 1 will be out anytime soon, but the chapter title has changed from TBE to APWTCB. Yes it’s long, yes it’s ugly, but I think it suits the story much better. TBE Notes and #tbenotes will both be altered to APWTCB Notes/#APWTCBnotes from now on.

—

Koyo Predicts/APWTCB Notes:

So, the end of an arc. Chapter 253 and the start of the Paranormal Liberation War Arc began on December 9th, 2019, and is (likely) on its last legs, over a year later.

I wrote a few predictions (here) last year and they went pretty well, with the big wringer being able to guess Bakugo’s hero name. I don’t make predictions to gloat or even start a conversation, but fanfiction writing requires you to assume certain things will happen, especially if you’re writing an OC.

I’d call these less predictions, and more of ‘this is what I’m assuming is going to happen, so I’ll write accordingly’.

The way that this arc ends doesn’t exactly matter—Twitter seems to think Deku will have his own mini-arc with the vestiges. Sure.

There may be a 1-A or 1-B student who dies or leaves (after being revealed to  be the traitor), and Shinso Hitoshi will fill the seat.

I also think BNHA might end—at least the Hero Academia side of it. They might focus more on pt. 2 with Movie 3 and the ‘WHA’ badges the Origin Trio had on their arms and go global. (World Hero Association?) Maybe a timeskip as well.

I’d personally love it if the cast goes abroad. This is a bit of spoilers, but Kana was raised in France/United States (California), so it’d be nice to not have to bring everyone to Japan. From the twelve families that I mentioned earlier, many of them still live in L.A and have hero names that are created from compounded words: Warmachine, Foxnine, Stormchaser, Braveheart, Heartmender, Oathkeeper, Lovelace, and Overdrive are the major ones for now.

The direction of BNHA has been... odd with the start of Season 4/Shie Hassaikai arc, and APWTCB has been especially hard to write because I’m never sure how dark BNHA will turn, or what Horikoshi’s end goal is. Regardless, Kana’s story continues to be written and Scrivener tells me I’ve hit 200k words yesterday! It’s looking to be extremely dark which was the opposite of what I wanted, but it’s also a story about hope, and I want to do it justice.

—

Romance Dawn chapter 14 snippet: sorry for the wait!

She tried over and over again.

Most of her nights on Root Island had been dreamless and uneventful—no memories of the past and certainly no predictions of the future. Always dark, dark, and alone, helping her rest well for the next uneventful day.

But now there was someone she specifically wanted to meet, and yet she was never there.

What do I have to do? She found herself asking daily. How can I see you again, Amare?

The answers were disappointing.

One thing that’d changed from her time on Root Island, however, was that she did dream—quite frequently, in fact. Instead of the vast expanse of familiar darkness, she found herself time to time on a cliffside that poked out from a seemingly infinite forest. Next to her was a massive waterfall, the waves crashing down onto a pretty pond below her. Connecting the cliff to the other side, however, was a red, arched bridge with a pale, wooden flooring. The other side didn’t look too interesting—just another forest—but something inside of her always hesitated when she thought about crossing. The shide streamers tied onto the side of the traditional bridge swayed gently with the soft tickle of wind, tugging on her hazel hair.

Something about the scenery made her heart hurt. A weight that made her uncomfortable, but not painful enough to cry out. On some of the rougher nights she felt that the weight was replaced with a hole—as if someone had carved out a part of her heart and was forcing her to live like a fish on dry land.

She also knew that the days on the Moby Dick had gone by disturbingly fast, to the point where everything became blurry and melded into a giant mush of colours. The funeral proceedings for Carlos’ platoon and Amare had gone by without a hitch but she could barely recall any of the details. There were no more tears left to cry. No more strength left to fight.

“What’s the point of a funeral with an empty casket?” She’d asked her captain when they stopped by a nearby island. “That little girl is out there somewhere, so far away from home. Can’t you at least bring her body back with your influence?”

The captain gave her a careful glance. “I’ve contacted Sengoku, but…”

“But what?”

Falco shook her head quickly. Many of her crewmates had come to her, offering condolences and words of hope and strength in an attempt to lessen her grief, and Falco realized for the first time how many people truly seemed to care for her. Florence always made sure to pop between her rounds, checking up on her before scurrying away to tend to another injury. Thatch and Marco treated her like nothing happened, trying to lift her spirits with their usual jokes and antics. People she’d never even talked to asked if she was all right, if she needed anything or if there was anything they could to ease the burden a bit. She appreciated the help, honestly, but there actually wasn’t much in her head. There’d been no tears after they’d returned. No pain.

Nothing.

One thing she had noticed though was the dormant memory problem—like her brain was lacking storage and the only thing that it could do was to either throw out the oldest memories or the most painful ones. Root Island was all but a distant past now, and the only thing she could remember was the very first time she’d met her two best friends—a man brighter than the sun and a little girl who always seemed to know her better than she did herself.

Although Falco knew she couldn’t exactly control who she wanted to remember and what she wanted to let go, the possibility that she could forget everything that hurt her one day felt comforting, in a way.

Amare.

Fingers curled up to a tight fist as her heart felt the resolve that she so desperately needed.

I have to leave, she told herself, feeling the tears roll down her cheeks. Leave, and never look back. Think of this as a happy dream with a tragic ending.

But to forget hurt would mean forgetting Love. And yet, remembering Amare would mean reliving that nightmare over and over again. The sound of Ace’s heart shattering into a million pieces. Her screams and cries that refused to bring a little girl back to life. The desperate shouting of everyone around her, trying to get her to wake up. A flatline.

The rose pendant felt heavy around her neck.

[rakuyokoyo]

I was able to guess Bakugo’s hero name correctly a year ago (BNHA293 Spoilers)

So, uh... I don’t know if anyone else follows me here anymore (I know I haven’t been updating Romance Dawn but that’s on its way, 2020′s just been a shite year) but if you’ve followed me for a while, you know I’ve talked a TON about how my ideas in One Piece actually manifested itself into the canon, YEARS after I initially conceptualized them. I can’t talk specifically about that because it’s spoilers, but one thing I can talk about is the reveal of Bakugo’s hero name.

Obvious chapter 293 spoilers.

—

If you’ve never read any of my stories before—hello, I’m Kana and I write stories here. My BNHA story hasn’t been uploaded formally yet because I’m still in the editing process, but I’ve written a lot of posts about it here, here, and here.

I woke up early today to do some schoolwork and I saw a Tweet that discussed this upcoming weeks’ spoilers, which included Bakugo’s hero name. And imagine my surprise when I first read the comments, then the panel. Turns out, I was actually able to guess Bakugo’s hero name almost a year and a half ago.

(Yes, she has a lot of nicknames for them).

On the right hand side, the created date shows July of 2019 and that’s the earliest record I have for calling Bakugo ‘Dynamite’. The regular font (such as ‘Small Might’) shows some minor, fun nicknames that Kana calls the boys, whereas the bolded ones are the ‘real’ nicknames she addresses everyone by. The fact that the MAIN nickname Kana always called Bakugo by ended up becoming his actual hero name in the canon BLOWS MY MIND and I’m so happy because I think it can be used in a significant way in the story.

—

So in my last post too, there were a bunch of (omitted), and that’s because I was hiding parts of the plot and Bakugo and Kana’s nicknames for each other. In this one, I actually use ‘Dynamight’ instead of ‘Dynamite’. It’s not clear in the Japanese since both sound the same, so we’ll have to wait for the official translations to find out which one it’s going to be. I initially started off by calling Bakugo ‘Dynamite’, and then ‘Dynamight’ later on because I was debating on which one suited him more. Now, I won’t have to wonder because I can just go with whatever Hori decides to make canon!

The first screenshot is showing the part of the chapter that I wrote in my post:

(and as you can see, the created date is August of 2019—I unfortunately no longer have the modified dates for the chapters since I re-edit all my chapters constantly).

And the second part that was completely omitted in the post is here:

Please excuse the god-awful writing, this is why I never post drafts ( ; ω ; ). There’s a SHITTON more examples I could potentially show, but I’m sure you can tell that my editing skills aren’t the best and I think you get the point. When I search up ‘Dynamite’, all the chapters on the left sidebar have moments where Kana’s called Bakugo ‘Dynamite’—and it’s a lot of chapters.

(I hadn’t realized I even had a chapter called ‘Dynamite’...)

—

I even talked about this AS RECENTLY AS LAST WEEK with a friend on Discord.

My username ‘rkyky’ is ‘rakuyokoyo’ without any of the vowels and I can’t modify anything on Discord without there being an ‘(edit)’ next to the message so you know at the very least, this is true and not modified after the spoilers.

—

So yeah. I know this isn’t that special and I’m sure somebody somewhere else has also come up with the same nicknames, but as someone who writes and thinks about these characters 24/7, watching headcanons become ACTUAL canons is something that’s exciting and a bit frustrating at the same time, because it would’ve been INSANE if I’d published it first. But alas, my slow writing cripples me as always (ಥ﹏ಥ)

The new hero movie about the Three Musketeers also gave me a heart attack because I thought their theme was going to overlap with mine, but it didn’t. There’s a specific team name I’m going to use to address a team consisting of Kana, Deku, Todoroki, and Bakugo that starts with J and ends with ts. Feel free to guess!

I hope this was somewhat of an interesting read for you guys! My Koyo Predicts also seems to be going well, so I guess we’ll see what ends up sticking or not. To be COMPLETELY honest, I kind of wish his hero name was Ground Zero or something else, because I wanted Dynamite/Dynamight to be personal between Kana and Bakugo, not to mention how I’m sure every BTS fan will now equate Bakugo to the song, Dynamite... but I guess I’ll take what I get.

Meanwhile, please feel free to check out my One Piece story, or the movie spinoff of my BNHA story called Torch:Bearers!

Till next time,

-Koyo

[rakuyokoyo]

Chapter 285 Spoilers/TBE Spoilers

Days like today, I wish I just sucked it up and published TBE last year. Maybe then I could’ve caught up to where BNHA is at right now (though highkey doubt).

Note: major BNHA manga spoilers, major TBE spoilers

I’ve briefly mentioned a few times about how amazing it was to sometimes see ideas I’ve come up with years beforehand become canon by pure coincidence. In just One Piece alone, an idea that I came up with around a decade ago when I first started Romance Dawn actually showed up with Momonosuke and Trafalgar Law. At first I was thrilled and excited because even though the nuances were slightly different, the main ideas were EXACTLY the same and I’ll point them out once we hit those moments in Romance Dawn.

Something I did not really expect, however, was this to happen with BNHA.

One of the reasons why I love this story from a writer’s standpoint is that I’ve never been able to accurately guess what would happen next in BNHA. The ironic thing is, the one point of the plot I wanted to add but didn’t know how ended up matching with Horikoshi’s idea.

Basically, Kana is a character that mirrors the origin trio in many ways. With Todoroki, their views on family and Quirks foil each other, and I love writing about the two because there’s always something so comforting about they way they’re there for each other. With Hawks, he and Kana see Quirks as both a gift and a curse, and their different philosophies of the hero world is (in my opinion) what makes their love so sad and lonely.

Midoriya’s a bit of a basket case for me because he doesn’t foil quite as cleanly as Todoroki, Hawks, or Bakugo, but rather than having perfect foils and parallels, Midoriya is just someone that becomes important to Kana in every aspect of her life. His relationship with others, his sense of self-sacrifice and heroism, and his determination to be the best and not let his Quirklessness stop him from becoming a hero is a major source of inspiration for Kana. He gives her a purpose, something that’s so important for people like her who’s never even thought or desired a future.

And then we have Bakugo. I always have trouble writing about Midoriya, but for the longest time, I had nothing that I wanted to write about when it came to Bakugo. Todoroki, Midoriya, Hawks covered all the grounds for Kana and then some, so I wasn’t sure how I was going to fit him in. 

But as I developed Kana’s character as well as her backstory, the Overhaul arc became a major turning point for her and it became very clear to me how Bakugo could fit into Kana’s life.

This wasn’t intentional, but rather than focusing on the past which is how Kana parallels with Midoriya, Todoroki, and Hawks, Bakugo and Kana also grapple with their present and the future, and I realized how many similar things Bakugo and Kana actually go through. Post-Kamino arc they’re forced to become quite close due to something devastating happening to Kana. And then... chapter 285 leaks came out today.

Basically, once Bakugo and Kana become close, Kana gets a premonition from one of the main antagonists—an OC named Eve who has the power to see the future with multiple restrictions. Unlike Nighteye’s Quirk, Eve’s Quirk shows a possible future. Whether it’s a very likely or very unlikely future depends on how many times her mirror shows that future, and unlike Nighteye’s, Eve’s future predictions can be changed. Its major weakness is that the future in the mirror may not always be accurate (and no one knows how likely or unlikely it’ll be), but it’s advantage is that if there is a bad future, everyone can take precautions to stop it. Eve is a pretty unique antagonist (after all, how can she ever lose if she knows what will happen in the future?) and there’s a few more restrictions on her Quirk, but this is the main idea.

I intended Eve to show Kana a premonition of Bakugo dying, but I had no idea where to include it. When this arc started and I saw a city about to potentially get destroyed, I thought ‘aha! This is the perfect place to squeeze my original scene in!’

Little did I know Horikoshi would ACTUALLY do it in the arc I intended to! I’ve included three excerpts from three different chapters below.

—

This chapter was written on August 23, 2019, a year before Chapter 285 was leaked. The title is Beginnings of Endings.

Note: some spoiler names/titles/plot will be omitted with an (omitted).

“(omitted)” She snapped, azure eyes vibrant like those of a fire’s. “Dealing with the (omitted) was my problem anyways! Stop sticking your nose into it!”

“Hah?!” He cried, standing up with fists clenched to his sides. “You’re the one who’s being a dumbass about this! The white-haired brat said it, didn’t she? Her futures are reversible if we make an effort!”

Kana gritted her teeth, drawing a fist back. “Shut up!”

(omitted)

“And?” He asked weakly. “What was going on?”

Kana shook her head. “I don’t know. But there was so much debris around us—probably the aftermath of a battle. You were bleeding out in my arms. I-I don’t know if I’d tried Overdrive and it didn’t work, but your wounds just looked so fatal…”

“Did I say anything?” Bakugo asked, crimson irises locked into azure.

“(omitted)” Kana said quietly.

The two continued to look at each other silently for a few seconds, Kana with tears continuing to fall slowly, while Bakugo gave her a quiet, passive gaze.

(omitted)

Dim, grey eyes flashed, engulfing him in light. When it disappeared, he realized that he was seeing the aftermath of a battlefield. Crumbled buildings scattered debris everywhere, but it was almost deathly silent compared to how loud the actual fight must’ve been.

“Bakugo!” He heard Kana’s cry. The girl ran towards a bloodied body in the centre of it all. She was wearing a white shirt with her usual thin ribbon and maroon skirt. Her hair hung loosely below her shoulders, and her skin looked marred and injured.

—

This excerpt is from a different chapter called Where Hands Cannot Reach, written on September 10th, 2020 (two weeks ago).

She suddenly stood up and began to run, much to the shock of Tokoyami and Dark shadow. “Kana!”

“GO!” She screamed, forcing herself to face them. “Go and get help! Do whatever—whatever you can to save him!”

“They’re too far, Kana-chan,” Dark Shadow said. “You’re the only medical support around—”

“If I don’t go, Bakugo will die,” she screamed, shaking her head in despair. “Kei—Hawks might have a chance if you can find anyone else.”

“Bakugo will?” Tokoyami said, eyes widening. “Why... how do you know that?”

Dark Shadow looked down at the hero in his partner’s arms with worry. “But his wings—”

“Focus on his life first and not his Quirk!” Kana cried, reaching into her inner pocket and throwing a glass vial towards Tokoyami who caught it with disbelief. “I don’t know if that’s enough—it probably isn’t, but I need to find Bakugo and Midoriya first. That… that should at least keep him alive. Try to get to Momo if you can—she knows basic first aid.”

Kana sprinted, tears rolling down pale cheeks as she tried to grasp her bearings. Bakugo had been surrounded by rubble in Eve’s vision, which likely meant that he was close to Shigaraki.

—

And finally, an excerpt from The Ending We’ll Write, which was written on July 4th, 2020.

“(omitted)” Kana mumbled, looking at the ground awkwardly at the entrance to his room. Her toes dug into the floor and her fingers fiddled around, cloudy azure pupils averting his gaze. The boy stood up from his bed and reached for the gauntlets on the desk, tightening them around his wrists with a quiet click.

“What do you want, (omitted)?”

It was a rhetorical question, but Kana’s mind immediately quickened with the answers. What do I want? I don’t know. I think I saw a future where you die—today—so I want you to stay home. But I know you won’t do that. I want to be able to come home tonight. Eat shabu shabu or sukiyaki with everyone at the end of tonight with all of our limbs attached. I want this to not be the end for us because there’s still so many things I want to talk to you about, and I haven’t even thanked you or repaid you for everything—

“(omitted)?”

His voice was quieter and without the exasperated irritation that usually came from calling her name.

Why are you looking at me like that? She thought, carmine clashing with azure. Don’t look at me like that. Like you’re the one worried about me.

“If you have something to say, spit it out,” he said, the usual coarseness returning to his voice. “Get rid of that pathetic look, as if we’ve lost already.”

Kana bit back a scowl. “I can’t help but worry sometimes, okay?”

He gazed at her quietly. “How many people do you think we’ll lose today?”

“I don’t know,” Kana said softly, “but what are the chances of no one getting hurt and no one dying? Probably slim to none.”

—

I had to hide so much but I hope this can somehow show what I was trying to do. When this arc first started, I saw it as the perfect chance to include Eve’s premonitions, but I’ve written a lot about it even before this arc ever started. And now to see Eve’s premonition (that I intended on it not being true anyways) actually come to life is sort of insane for me.

To be honest, this premonition was supposed to be a bit more about Hawks and Kana, as the second excerpt shows her decision to abandon Hawks to save Bakugo. But hey, if Horikoshi is going to make Eve’s future canon, I’ll run with it.

I highly, highly doubt Bakugo’s injured (much less dead), but it’s just enough angst for me to work with. Seeing my ideas collide in One Piece was frustrating because I wasn’t able to use my ideas (for a hint and some spoilers, something about Momonosuke was supposed to be Falco’s, and something about Law was supposed to be Amare’s), but this time, I was actually able to integrate my plot and what I wanted from Bakugo almost seamlessly into TBE, so I’m absolutely thrilled.

No updates planned at the moment. I’m just having fun writing all these crazy chapters in TBE! Maybe more things will match up in the future.

-Koyo-

[thechekhov]

Can you indulge me please, given the recent pandemic why is it that artist or fanfic writers are slowing down their works? I ask because personally I believe this makes it a better opportunity to work faster, as something to distract from the gloomy reality occurring.

I'll indulge you, but I'm afraid you won't like my answer very much.

The reason authors and artists aren't working their asses off MORE is because this is a pandemic, not a vacation.

It's not 'extra free time' for everyone.

For many it's 'my grandfather just died of COVID' time.

For many, it's 'I got laid off and am desperately trying to look for a way not to get evicted' time.

For many, it's 'I'm isolated from my friends, family and other sources of inspiration, I'm at home alone trying to deal with the world at large collapsing' time.

It's time to go out and protest for their rights. It's time to fall into a depression because they can't pay for medicine, because they're worried about a loved one with an immunodeficiency, because they have to decide whether to pay full tuition for taking classes online, which isn't as easy to learn from and feels like a rip-off.

I feel like this needs to be reiterated - fanfiction and fanart USUALLY doesn't pay. It's a hobby. Most fanfic authors aren't armcandy to a wealthy millionaire, and they can't just ignore other important life necessities in order to keep updating their 50k coffeeshop AU. It's not a viable career, and it will not keep you afloat. And while yes, many use it as an escape, many also can't write when they aren't safe, secure and know where their next paycheck is coming from.

So I'm not very surprised many creators are taking time away. They have lives, loved ones, other responsibilities, and at least one of those three is very likely a clusterfuck right now. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Be kind. Always assume everyone is doing their best. You never know what someone else might be going through.

[rakuyokoyo]

I’m sorry. I’ve written/brainstormed almost every day of my life since I was in elementary school. But I can’t write at the moment despite all the time I have. I think this post does a great job at explaining why.

Please take care and be kind to each other.

[deviledevil]

happy belated birthday deku🥳

[rakuyokoyo]

A Letter from Koyo: #blacklivesmatter

Romance Dawn chapter 14 is still being written. I apologize for the delay, but the chapter is looking to be pretty huge and I’m still only in the first third :(

—

I’m disappointed to come back to Tumblr after hearing the news that yet another black citizen—a citizen that cops are supposed to be protecting, mind you—was murdered by a senseless act that did not bring justice but was rather motivated by hate and racism.

You might say ‘there’s no place for politics in fanfics’ or ‘it’s inappropriate for you to talk about these things on a story that has no relationship to the real world’.

Well, I’m a human being and a history major, so I will talk about these things. Sorry.

Politics of hate and anger is not who I am. It is not who I write my characters to be. As an Asian, non-American woman, my identity could not be further away from those who have been unjustly murdered by those who are hired to supposedly save other people. But even I, a lowly girl who just writes and fucks around in life, can tell that this is wrong.

You might consider stories as a ‘safe place’ away from politics and anger and hate because you’re emotionally exhausted. But what I’ve increasingly come to learn is that finding ‘safe spaces’ is a privilege. Looking away is a privilege. Not speaking up is a privilege and a disservice to not just your country, but to humanity.

We’re human beings, not animals, but at least beasts kill to survive. People who kill because of hate have strayed so far from humans and beasts that I can’t help but be disgusted, and I’d pity them too if it wasn’t for the fact that innocent people are the victims.

For the past 20+ years of my life, I never spoke out about these issues because they exhausted me. But watching my friends and fellow human beings having to stand over and over for a ridiculous reason made me realize what I’m really exhausted with now is myself for running away and always turning a blind eye to these issues because I can, as an Asian who’s often just stereotyped as polite and smart.

I’ve donated $20 USD to the Minnesota Freedom Fund (before they got overwhelmed). If you can, please consider matching me to an organization of your choice. If you cannot donate, there are many ways you can help out. blacklivesmatters.carrd.co has fantastic resources to get you started.

Remember—looking away is a choice and a privilege.

Stories do not choose their audience. Stories are read by everyone. I do not know much about my readers, but if you’re out there fighting for your freedom or you’re out there supporting the movement so that others can exercise the same freedom as you, I want you to know that I want to be there every step of the way.

And for those who are not, know that this one’s for the history books—and politics of hate and intolerance will always surrender to love and kindness.

[rakuyokoyo]

Koyo Predicts 2:

Okay, I haven’t updated in a while but the current BNHA manga got me REELING and if any of these things happen (marked with an *), it’d be INSANE since they’d match SO well with what I have planned for Kana at the moment. It makes me sad I could never release anything before this arc started because it’d be more amazing to have my ideas published first, then have the official story follow what I did!

-Someone will die: Dabi, Hawks**, All Might, a 1-A student* (Kaminari?), or Endeavor are my top contenders at the moment

-Hawks will lose his sight***

-Possibly another Quirk

-Todoroki Dabi reveal

-Bakugo hero reveal + Best Jeanists’ fate