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I'm Liz; I've got a thing for a lot of things. Here lie the reblogs of Magi, Kill la Kill, Harry Potter, Fullmetal Alchemist, K-Project, Ao no Exorcist, Sailor Moon, No.6, Karneval, Doctor Who, Elfen Lied, Kamisama Hajimemashita, Shingeki no Kyojin, & more.

[dekacchannn]

I went back and read chapters with Gentle and La Brava again..and I wanna go over why they’re just a GIANT PARALLEL TO BKDK. GUYS IT’S ACTUALLY INSANE!!!! They almost feel like they don’t have any relevance to the plot and yet, they exist. First of all, their eye colors remind of bkdk! But this is nothing compared to what these two actually are.. Let's go!

Now first, I wanna talk about little La Brava before I move onto Gentle which I'm super excited about! When La Brava is recalling her crush that rejected her, we learn that she expresses her feelings through admiration. She gushes about how cool her crush was and how amazing everything he did was.. she gets called a STALKER. Does this sound familiar?

Izuku always gushes about how amazing Katsuki is..sometimes he doesn’t even have control over it. And at one point, Katsuki asks for a restraining order. He calls him a stalker in Japanese. So there’s a parallel. This tells us Izuku’s feelings for Katsuki are indeed romantic because we see this same thing in La Brava.

Next..La Brava’s quirk seems oddly symbolic too. It makes the person she loves the most temporarily stronger. Think about it. Izuku gets his power boost from his feelings for Katsuki.. Katsuki makes him stronger. Katsuki was the sole reason Izuku got OFA. Izuku’s body only moved when he realised it was Katsuki. His full cowling worked because of Katsuki.. his OFA quirks started triggering because of Katsuki and now? He’s using 2nds quirk and merging other quirks into one because of Katsuki.. Sure, other people have given him a power up.. but all big things, all evolutions..all NEW things..happened because of KATSUKI.

On the other side, Izuku makes KATSUKI stronger..

Katsuki was on the verge of DEATH here.. later we find out he’s barely made it in the hospital.. and yet, he not only got up because of his feelings for Izuku, HE PROPELLED HIMSELF AND FOUGHT! Because he recalled how seeing Izuku about to die, felt like HE was going to die too.. we DO NOT TALK ABOUT THIS ENUGH????

Notice a bunch of OFA stars around Katsuki.. Izuku’s love opened the door of OFA to him fully in this moment and because Katsuki loves him back, he could step through the door.

And this helps Katsuki get the strength he needs to move again.

Izuku kept thinking about Kacchan in OFA realm.. and AFO told him that his rage is staring to eat away at OFA’s rules.

HERE WE FIND OUT THAT EMOTIONS TOO STRONG FOR THE WIELDER TO HANDLE CAN OVERRIDE OFA AND BEND IT’S RULES!!! AFO is trying to use Shigaraki's hatred to get the job done but..can Izuku's LOVE do the same thing?? It sure can.

We know from before that OFA has been called a quirk that connects people’s hearts. We know there is only one feeling that’s too much for Izuku to handle which makes his OFA dangerously go out of control and that’s whatever he feels for KATSUKI!!! So could Izuku have somehow changed the rules of OFA cause he loves Katsuki that damn much that he was able to SHARE IT’S POWER WITH HIM VIA PURELY THE CONNECTION OF THEIR HEART? If Katsuki doesn’t actually have OFA in his DNA, that explains why no one can sense it. OFA is still within Izuku, but Katsuki has access to it. Oddly similar to La Brava’s quirk, no? It's very romantic and sappy but honestly, I wouldn't put it past Horikoshi.

So this was the moment when Kacchan got FULL access to OFA..

La Brava’s quirk activates in a time of CRISIS for her lover.. Katsuki’s cluster was activated because of his love for Izuku also in a time of CRISIS! He needed to save his LIFE.

Control yourself.. or lose the one you love. Edgeshot needs time to save Katsuki’s life. And so this feeling of love gave Izuku such a boost that he’s using all his quirks AT ONCE together with 2nds.. but it’s temporary. Much like La Brava’s quirk. The fuel will run out.. Just like any car engine, Izuku is bound to stall.. and it won't be good.

Thi is also gigantic because Izuku and Katsuki always follow each other and look what Gentle says? “She would never be happy escaping on her own.. she wild go to commit crimes beyond anything we’ve done so far.”

Izuku doesn’t wanna win without Kacchan..and what is he doing now? Acting like a VILLAIN..he’s out for BLOOD..he punched a HUGE hole in SFO’s chest....He did to him the same thing he did to Katsuku.. how romantic..and not very heroic..

“If I can’t be with him..I’ll just die.” Kacchan died without Izuku and now Izuku is on a dangerous path to die without Kacchan..

Let’s move onto GENTLE! This is the juicy part down here !

“I fought with my feelings on the line until all that’s left in me deep down was a HEART THAT BEATS FOR SOMEONE ELSE..”

Notice how we have both Gentle’s THOUGHTS and his words here.. words.. in which he LIES! He lies that he kidnapped and brainwashed La Brava to protect her, while his thoughts are ROMANTIC.. he let his heart beat for someone else..

Sounds familiar?

Yep. Izuku LIED about the true black whip trigger but unlike Gentle, WE DIDN’T HAVE ACCESS TO HIS THOUGHTS!!! Horikoshi didn't let us hear them.

Because if we did.. we’d realize they were romantic. Much like how Gentle’s thoughts were romantic while his words told platonic lies. And this was only about 20 chapters before the Black Whip activation.. it’s a great foreshadowing.

Gentle also blames himself for roping La Brava into his mess.. because she didn’t want to let him do things on his own even if it meant she was in danger.

Even if it meant she was going to DIE.

Much like how Katsuki followed Izuku into these last two wars, knowing fully well he could die. And he DID die..BECAUSE of his relationship with Izuku...BECAUSE IZUKU HASN'T BEEN HONEST ABOUT LOSING CONTROL OF HIS HEART FOR KATSUKI..and he left him and all the other heroes on the battlefield, unprepared for SFO's shenanigans.

Moving on...La Brava describes Gentle as her only LIGHT. THIS IS ANOTHER HUGE PARALLEL!!

This is the most telling part because Katuski IS IZUKU’S light. From the moment he found him on the streets, to his apology, to Katsuki being the only one making Izuku come back and talk in the bath scene.. and finally.. To chapter 362, where Katsuki died..being called “LIGHT fades to rain.” And we see the light in Izuku’s eyes and even his hair entirely fade the moment his eyes lay on Katsuki’s dead body. Horikoshi also drew a SUN card with Katsuki on it and he drew Izuku as a SUNFLOWER and we know sunflowers NEED the sun, always look for it and die without it.

Horikoshi’s depiction of romance is just that. Two people that love each other are each others light. They are each others closest person, they make each other STRONGER and they can’t imagine their life without each other. This is all present in bkdk.

Here is another parallel to both Izuku and La Brava asking for the one they love back in a very similar manner!

Gentle also uses EYELINER TO LOOK LIKE LA BRAVA!! And we've seen Izuku literally transform into Katsuki especially lately..

All of these little clues put throughout the manga are very smart because Horikoshi will want to escape the accusations that he made bkdk canon because of the shippers. There are clues from the very beginning that this was his intention. And I’m sure we’ll get a ton of flashbacks to connect it all in the end.

Gentle and La Brava are each others whole world. And we know Izuku canonically can’t imagine his world without Katsuki.. and Katsuki can’t imagine his life without Izuku. It’s why he was ready to die for him.. and he died with a smile on his face, thinking about him.. caling out to him..

La Brava doesn’t want to be LIKE Gentle.. Izuku doesn’t want to be LIKE Katsuki.. I spoke about the misunderstanding regarding Toga's idea of love here. But they admire the one they love greatly, they trust them with their life and they want to be WITH them. This is a beautiful and quite a genius parallel to bkdk.

And finally at the end.. people say that Gentle and La Brava don’t represent bkdk because they're different and hence they’re not a parallel.

Yes.. they do not represent bkdk. There is really no Katsuki in Gentle and La Brava’s relationship all that much on the surface.

Because they BOTH represent different aspects of IZUKU.

La brava represents Izuku’s happy, innocent side of his feelings for Katsuki. Him hyping him up, gushing about how amazing he is.. Katsuki being Izuku’s light …Izuku following him around all the time.. to the point where both Izuku and La Brava get being called stalkers.

Gentle on the other hand represents the dark aspect of Izuku’s feelings for Katsuki. The loss of control of his heart.. his feelings getting the best of him.. him bringing the person he loves in danger and roping them into his mess..

They aren’t supposed to represent bkdk because they’re not even remotely similar to bkdk. But they both represent Izuku’s own feelings.

Gentle told Izuku to follow through with his feelings. And we haven’t seen Izuku do this yet.

It was almost like Izuku’s battle with his own feelings.

As he was fighting the two of them.

A warning from the future. In the form of Gentle.

La brava, the happy, good side of Izuku’s feelings.. was able to power up Gentle, Izuku’s dark side of his feelings with her “LOVE” quirk,. But it was only temporary. Why? Because they have to FUSE!!!!

Gentle never actually voiced his feelings for La Brava. She tells him she loves him multiple times, professes her undying love for him.. but all he says is "Thank you, La Brava.." and he speaks about how his heart beats for her. We know he loves her. They're a couple... but because he represents Izuku's dark side and we're not seeing Izuku admit or face his feelings at all...we haven't heard Gentle SAY IT either. But we have heard both of them speak how their heart is being affected by La Brava..and Katsuki..

Oof..this was super long. if you've made it this far, thanks for reading. In conclusion, Gentle and La Brava's arc came right before Izuku begins losing control of his heart for KATSUKI..and there is a little comic of these two that's comes with the chapter where Izuku's Black Whip triggers! As if to tell us.. hey..pssst...these two are RELATED!

"La Brava loves him enough to join him in all capers.." Well... Katsuki loves Izuku that much too..he followed him everywhere..even if that meant he was going to die..

[sincerely-your-fangirl]

Gonna start the week off with more bkdk moments that aren't talked about enough! Similar to my previous post, here's another (from Chp. 274):

I found the first few panels interesting because it felt like I was witnessing things through someone else's eyes (i.e. not Deku's). I pictured the droves of bodies moving in slow-motion, their cries lessened to background noise. Those eyes have singled Midoriya out among the panicked crowd of civilians and heroes, watching his next move. And just as the boy was about to run, a voice cuts through the chaos. I remember being surprised to realize it was Bakugou's!

He was able to deduce that Midoriya was Shigaraki's target the same time the other boy did--despite standing farther away from Burning. Clearly, he'd been paying close attention. Not only that, but he immediately knew what Midoriya would do. He knew that Midoriya would separate himself from the group in order to protect everyone else, so he reminds the boy that he too, was someone the others could protect--"because heroes are supposed to protect everyone". Even crazier was that Bakugou follows him.

Those words and actions, coming from the same kid who used to believe that being a hero meant facing enemies head-on and winning. Winning alone, without anyone's help (especially wide-eyed, green-haired twerps).

Now Midoriya's off to lure Shigaraki his way and instead of leaving him be, Bakugou joins him. Because changing Midoriya's mind was never an option.

But, why Bakugou? Why not Todoroki or Uraraka--or literally anyone else? Why does Bakugou care?

He said it himself. He was one of only a handful of people that understood One for All. Not only that, but he had a personal score to settle with Shigaraki/All for One--his kidnapper and the cause of all his guilt regarding All Might's retirement. Furthermore, those complicated feelings that he's had towards Midoriya since they were kids were still very much present.

BUT there is so much growth, here. Bakugou's now acknowledged that perhaps he was the one who'd been lacking all along. That he projected so much of his own weakness and insecurity onto Midoriya because he was unable to point a mirror at himself.

//

Even moreso, Bakugou has come to realize that a hero's true strength lay in their service. In what they could do for others. Saving to win. While I believe Midoriya influenced this change in Bakugou, he has also made the idea his own.

"When you guys are in trouble, I'll save ya; and when I'm in trouble, you cover me, okay?"

At this point in the manga, those iconic, game-changing bkdk scenes have yet to play out. Bakugou still hasn't "risen" (pun intended) to this full potential nor has he sorted out all the things he's wanted to say to Midoriya and apologized.

But something compelled him to follow Midoriya back there. Perhaps he had his own agenda to fulfill, or maybe he sensed that his childhood friend--who has zero regard for his own safety--would be in danger and needed someone who could keep up and watch his back...

...And that someone could only be him.

Bonus:

I adored these brief interactions right before it finally hit Midoriya that Katsuki "Kacchan" Bakugou was at his side and willingly following him into battle. Like, up till that point Midoriya didn't even question Bakugou's presence. It must have felt so natural, sharing intel and strategizing with the other boy. It really warmed my heart to witness how slowly, but surely, they've begun growing beyond their tumultuous past and into a future where they could become a formidable hero duo.

[darkcircles4lyfe]

Why Tiger is kind of a big deal, actually

Folks, I have a headache. I just spent the better part of my day doing research, and having even less fun than I expected while doing it. However, coming out the other end of it, I can say this: Tiger, in terms of representation of trans male characters in manga and anime, is practically an anomaly. And we should all be more aware of the weight that carries, not just because it shows how little representation we have, but also because maybe this says something about Horikoshi. Before I get into that, though, some backstory. 

Originally, I wanted to do this as quantitatively as possible, show you how much representation there is, where and when and who it comes from, regardless of how subjectively good or bad it is. Basically all I wanted to say was, “look, there isn’t much.” But even I didn’t realize just how bad and messy things were going to turn out to be. I’m not going to show you my spreadsheet because it’s a fucking dumpster fire. For starters, there are a lot more instances of trans female characters, some that could be described as non-binary, genderfluid, or otherwise ambiguous, and very few trans male characters. I ended up with a list of about 20 alleged trans male characters, spanning roughly 40 years of Japanese media. (Not exhaustive, especially because not everything is available in English) Of those, some turned out to be inexplicit/vague/unclear, some were tragic, some were demeaning, some were very minor characters, and some belonged to creators and/or stories with exceptionally problematic aspects. Again I’m not gonna show you my spreadsheet because it got messy and subjective and honestly I was so frustrated I kinda lost my patience. In the end, only one survived as a manga I will definitely be seeking out for substantial, gratifying, therapeutic representation of someone like me. That one manga is Boys Run the Riot, by the way. I wish I could say more about it here, but I haven’t read it yet! Anyway, a few more did survived this filtering process excluding the fact that they’re minor characters, and Tiger was one of them. I want to reiterate how utterly abysmally tiny this pool of characters is. But I swear I still want to have some fun with this post, so let’s talk about Tiger, aka Chatora Yawara.

And what’s more fun than calling out our good buddy Mr. CC on his translating bullshit! Yeah! This all started when I was looking back at ch 72 and I realized something didn’t make sense:

Like, what does this even mean? “Genre?” “Wrong??” I can’t even understand what this statement is referring to exactly, just that it sounds bad. Seems very much like something got lost in translation. I unfortunately can’t really do the work myself, especially without access to the original Japanese, but sometimes I like to try to triangulate with multiple translations put together. Btw though, if you have access to the Japanese versions and can/want to translate, please do reach out to me to either confirm or deny all this. For now, here is a side by side comparison of officials (blue) vs. available fanscans (yellow) for Tiger’s introduction:

It’s subtle, but the officials get things a little more muddled. The most glaring difference is that CC has Aizawa refer to the whole hero team as “these ladies,” which sounds very bad! Idk if the original Japanese has any gendered language to justify translating it to “ladies,” but I’m guessing probably not. My interpretation of what went wrong here is that CC thought Horikoshi wanted to make Tiger being trans part of the joke, playing it for shock value, when really what was meant by “wrong gender” was more like “the only Pussycat who isn’t a woman,” and not “wrong” as in “mutilated woman who thinks she’s a man” (yes, transphobes call us that). After all, how would Deku be able to tell Tiger is trans and be shocked about it anyway? The other comments make a lot more sense with the added translator note in the fanscan as well, letting us know that the whole bit is a reference to Billy Blanks. Hence the “wrong genre.” Basically, all put together, the scene is actually just a joke about Tiger being a hard-ass buff dude instead of a cute, fun little kitty. So yeah, this is all fine. Cannot stress enough how refreshing that is after the research hell I went through today. 

Now let me get into what takes Tiger from okay to great in terms of representation. I want to underline the seemingly tiny detail that he is 31 years old and has been a part of his team for 12 years, so since they were 19. That likely means they were all friends in high school and had already been planning to work together for years. Perhaps their friendship even dates back before Tiger came out and started transitioning. I mean, imagine young Yawara happily befriending a group of girls (same bro, same) but being uneasy about the fact that the hero agency Ryuko is dreaming of starting is going to have them all themed as catgirls. Like, if he comes out, will he ruin that dream? But no, he cares enough about them and they care enough about him that it makes no difference whatsoever, and he even has fun going along with the theme too. Seriously, the fact that he has a gender-nonconforming style of hero costume is some next level shit. 

The other thing that makes him great is he’s just, there. Doing his thing. No one questions him, acts like he’s a fraud, scandalizes or misgenders him. His being trans at all is only mentioned in a quick note next to his sketch page, which is fine by me tbh. Better that than some dramatic reveal. He also doesn’t have any stereotypical traits. I mean, I guess some trans men being gym rats is kind of a stereotype, but not a bad one? It’s more of an actual thing that we can joke about. A negative portrayal I would expect might emphasize a trans man’s “womanly” body, for example, simultaneously fetishizing and mocking it. If anything the fact that Tiger’s body is very masculine suggests he was designed by someone who knows how medical transition works, and the fact that he happily participates in gender-nonconformity suggests he was designed by someone who understands the complexity and diversity of gender presentation. He’s just ya know, casually and quietly one of the most genuine representations of a trans man in manga ever.

Horikoshi does seem to have a way of making even the most minor characters feel real and complex. But with this there’s more to it than that. Trans men fly under the radar constantly. People don’t know shit about us. They forget we even exist. No cishet man who decides on a whim to make up a random trans male character magically gets it right. So lemme just point at Tiger with every ounce of emphasis I can possibly cram into my finger, and look you in the eye with the war-hardened stare of someone who has seen just about goddamn everything: This. Is. Significant. In a world where trans men get next to zero representation, let alone decent representation, this isn’t just good, it’s suspiciously good. Like Horikoshi Knows Things type of good. I hate to go here, but I don’t know how else to articulate this… like, in my spreadsheet elimination, the only examples that fared as well or better than Tiger were written by actual queer people and/or come from stories with more major queer characters. At the very least this means that for a cishet man, Horikoshi is way more knowledgable of lqbtq+ issues than average, and at most…well, you know what I’m getting at. I will also go ahead and say that a character like Tiger could very well be a sign of Horikoshi testing the waters for other more central queer characters in the future, getting a read on his audience, editors, publisher, etc. and how they react to it.

Regardless, I’m writing this post not to speculate, but because I want y’all to be armed with the confidence to say Horikoshi is on your side, and not the side of the ignorant dudes who think bnha is their personal plaything. I’m tired of those people pissing all over this manga like it’s their turf. You know, the kind of people who tell you bnha is a shounen, which means it’s “for boys,” straight, cisgender boys, and you don’t belong here so you should shut up or go read something else. Please take this post as a reminder that you’re not delusional, you do belong here, and you’re in good hands with Horikoshi, whether you’re queer yourself or just enjoy a good queer ship/headcanon. 

Anyway have a nice rest of your Pride Month everybody <3

^also enjoy this little exchange with class A, it’s very cute

[darkcircles4lyfe]

2nd user quirk theory

I’ve touched on this before, but I think it needs a post of it’s own. I’ve developed it more.

At this point, it feels really suspicious that we don’t know what 2nd’s quirk is yet. I have no idea when it’s going to come up anymore. Possibly it’s a Hail Mary type of thing, but I hope not. I don’t want it to come out of nowhere. I’d like to think there are some hints scattered around and a clever purpose for it. It might be easier to explain my reasoning if I just say it right off the bat and then get into the evidence: I think 2nd’s quirk is some sort of ability to see through people, into their true natures, their secrets, their motivations, their best and worst parts, etc.

What about those gauntlets? I think they’re meant to throw us off track in guessing, but actually have nothing to do with his quirk. Otherwise, it would be too obvious, and frankly uninteresting. In reality, the guantlets could be similar to Eraserhead’s capture weapon in that they’re designed to compensate for lacking a quirk with offensive applications.

I can sense some apprehension toward this idea. I think I read a tweet once that was something along the lines of, “ugh, imagine if 2nd’s quirk is empathy. that would be so cheesy.” I kinda agree, but that isn’t exactly what I’m proposing. Think about how useful a people-reading sort of quirk would be during the tumultuous time 2nd was alive. He would be able to detect who he could trust, and who was on All for One’s side or otherwise vulnerable to corruption. This explains his apparent role as a leader, and it would be an interesting reason behind his pessimistic attitude, too. When you’ve seen the worst of so many people, it’s hard to keep faith in humanity. 

On the flip side, there could be a part of 2nd that has some desire to preserve Deku’s innocence. He might view his quirk as a curse or a burden Deku isn’t mentally prepared for. Personally I don’t think Deku knows about/has been allowed to use it. The fact that 2nd still stands in the OfA realm while the rest have all settled into their respective seats seems to symbolize this. I can’t think of a reason for 2nd withholding his power except that he thinks it is too dangerous, unpredictable, or damaging in some way. He might even be concerned about how it has potentially been strengthened by OfA. Imagine if you found your own quirk hard to deal with, and then you were faced with the prospect of an even worse version of it getting passed on to someone else. Yikes.

But most of this isn’t much better than a guess. My main evidence comes from the flashback and conversation between Yoichi and 2nd. When they first met, 2nd was preparing to kill Yoichi. Someone so war-hardened doesn’t seem like the type to freeze up just because he made eye contact with his target. In reflecting on that moment, Yoichi asks what made him change his mind, and 2nd does not offer explanation, though it is clear Yoichi is implying that 2nd knows very well how some people are worth saving, and is simply choosing to focus on negative experiences. I point out 2nd’s lack of comment because it likely means the answer to the question “why did you reach out to me?” contains information that is purposefully being kept hidden from the reader. It naturally flows with Deku’s “you looked like you needed saving,” but again, 2nd doesn’t share Deku’s outlook on people. Plus, 2nd knew nothing about Yoichi when their eyes met… or did he? What could he glean in a single instant that caused him to do a 180 and offer his hand instead of shoot? More than anyone else, maybe.

I’d imagine his quirk is activated by eye contact, for limitation purposes. There’s also his scar (which he doesn’t have yet in the above panels…hmm). Whoever gave it to him was probably aiming for his eyes. Were they afraid of/offended by what 2nd saw in them? 

Okay, last thing… *sigh.* I have to address why tf 2nd looks so much like Bakugou. The short answer is thematic parallels. 2nd reaching out to Yoichi parallels Deku reaching out to Bakugou when they were little kids, and echoes Deku’s desire to help people despite their appearances. Since we’re expecting Deku and Bakgou to have a callback to that moment at some point, it’s possible that 2nd will be involved in that too. The visual parallel may extend to 2nd providing the means for Deku gaining some understanding about Bakugou. I mean, we all know who has been the trigger for quirk awakenings in the past. I wonder if there’s something Deku still doesn’t know about Bakugou. 

[dekacchannn]

I want to talk about Horikoshi’s idea of love, the way he handles relationships and his writing style, bkdk and Ochako’s future. It’s no secret chapter 348 is my favorite chapter in the entire manga because it’s a massive turning point for Izuku, Katsuki and Ochako.

So I’ll very shortly remind of my previous post which focuses on this in depth that you can read in my pinned post. So hidden behind the admiration that Izuku feels for ALLMIGHT and Ochako feels for Izuku.. is the TRUE romantic imitation which all of us have felt at one point or another if we fell in love. You start listening to music your crush listens to.. going to places they do, picking up their little habits but you DONT WANT TO BE LIKE THEM! It just makes you feel closer to them. And this is what we see in Izuku’s feelings for Katsuki and this is why Izuku mentions only ALLMIGHT when Toga asks him about it in chapter 348. Despite HIM knowing he imitates Katsuki.

If Izuku brought Katsuki up here, it would have been game over for bkdk.

He even admits it to himself and calls these feelings gross in DvK2. And that’s what Katsukiesque narration in this chapter represents. That true idea of love and the true romance of My Hero Academia. So let’s go!Izuku in this chapter has a role of basically shutting down Toga’s idea that wanting to be like someone represents love. What does this mean? Is this Hori telling us through Izuku that Ochako doesn’t actually have romantic feelings for him? Maybe.

In Japanese, Izuku says: “I’ve always wanted to be like ALLMIGHT..I can understand wanting to be exactly like someone can make your heart feel fulfilled but.. why doesn’t it make me feel that then? I could never hurt someone I love.” (Thank you Noemi for translating this form me. 🧡) The fascinating thing here is that Katsuki was not the one who came to Izuku’s mind. Because like I already said, this finally proves to us that Izuku’s idea of love isn’t being the same as the person he loves. Which again, goes back to the realistic theme of romantic imitation.

Why is this chapter a turning point for Ochako and what I believe is going to happen in her fight with Toga? Like I said earlier, Izuku dismissed Toga’s idea of love as simple admiration and by this, he is dismissing Ochako’s as well. At least that’s how I see it.

Ochako has been very secretive lately with the way she distanced herself from Izuku, the way their relationship isn’t cute anymore but rather polite and friendly.. When Toga tries to tease her about Izuku, she dismisses her and instead says: “I’ve been thinking about only YOU.)

But think about it.. Hori has been very secretive with Ochako from the start. She never felt weird around Izuku until her friends started teasing her about it. Once this happened, their relationship changed because Ochako couldn’t feel normal around him anymore. She never stated herself what exactly she’s feeling and she even said things like “That’s not it!!!” And “I’m confused, my feelings are all over the place.” Hori has been carefully avoiding to tell us what exactly Ochako is feeling. This could be because she doesn’t know herself

But it could also be because Hori has been planning to plot twist the whole thing once Ochako realizes she never actually had romantic feelings for Izuku. He was just the kind of hero she wanted to be and she felt strongly about that.At the same time, Hori has also been very careful never to show Izuku’s interest in Ochako specifically. It was always “ I talked to a GIRL”. Never “I talked to URARAKA”. That and.. he blushed to many other girls as well. But he’s over this. He hasn’t had this reaction in years.

Horikoshi seems to pay a lot of attention to the depth of his relationships and even relationships like Kirimina which barely have any screen time, feel deep and developped. Kirishima is inspired by Mina, they grew up together, Mina used one of his moves in her way…

Sounds familiar, right? Not to mention.. Katsuki’s parents insanely parallel Bkdk. Horikoshi made Izuku very detached from Ochako. He went as far as to show us her letter specifically when he left UA which was the same straight to the point letter everyone else got.

Everyone except for Katsuki. We didn’t see his letter, but we saw parts of it and some of the things written are very emotional and personal. Hori showed us these two peoples letters specifically. And for a reason. By reading the manga, I noticed Hori loves foreshadowing and hints.

So nothing is shown for no reason. Izuku parallels Ochako in a sense that he is hiding something he is feeling regarding Katsuki. This is visible in DvK2 and especially Black Whip activation moment and his thoughts. “You have to control what’s inside your heart”

And especially Deku saying but never finishing “If it reacts to my feelings then that time I was…..” while hiding this from everyone. Clearly whatever he feels he thinks he shouldn’t feel or shouldn’t let anyone know he feels. Interesting. Especially for a shonen manga.

Another thing is Ochako doesn’t subconsciously imitate Deku. She always thinks about it.. forces herself to be like Deku even.. while to Izuku imitating Katsuki is the most natural thing ever.. he does it without realising and it makes him stronger!

So Horikoshi is great at writing feelings and relationships so his choice to make Izuku not show any romantic interest in Ochako, was very deliberate. A trick. Because those used to Shonen romance will think that “boy+girl=canon” But that’s not how Hori feels.

His comments regarding the relationship between Narusasu really helped me understand the way he thinks a relationship should be like. That and Hori hinting he did not like the Naruto ending (let’s be honest.. no one liked it) tells me he’s planning something different. Hori also said he believes nothing is off limits to him and that he will do what he likes NO MATTER WHAT. This could mean a number of things so I will not speculate but it’s good because it could mean he isn’t following traditional Shonen path.

By blocking Ochako’s feelings being revealed and sending Izuku back 400km away from Ochako at the very end of the manga, he is finally telling us. “It’s over. No more messing around. Time to get to what’s REALLY going on.” And Ochako is about to reveal in her fight with Toga that everyone’s pressure has gotten to her and that she convinced herself she has feelings for Deku when she never did and that she is finally letting go of her obsession for him so that she can be the true hero she can be!

Another interesting thing is that unlike other mangas where multiple ships were an option, that’s not a thing in MhA. Naruto had Hinata who he showed romantic interest in, Sasuke had Sakura who he showed he cares about and they had some super romantic shippy scenes..But Sasuke and Naruto also had a very deep romantic looking bond. So by doing this, no matter what Kishimoto did.. it wouldn’t feel right. Horikoshi is avoiding this by not giving Bakugo literally anyone else aside from Izuku and by making Izuku detached from everyone else.

Childhood friend is also a big trope and a big thing I’m Japan and the only person Izuku knew from childhood? Was Katsuki. Most of other shonen manga endgame ships had this trope. Growing up together. Again.. Kirimina and Bakudeku.

Hori purposely avoided every romantic moment he could have given to Izuku and Ochako and somehow found away to make it about Izuku and Katsuki. And I’m not talking about the initial, childish blushing Izuku had for many girls cause they were aliens to him at the time. At this point in manga and pretty much ever since DvK2, Izuku’s and Katsuki’s characters became all about each other. And if Ochako didn’t express she had some sort of feelings for Izuku, this ship would hardly exist. Which is why I feel like it’s a trick from Hori’s side.

Now I am not sure how big chances of Bkdk being canon are.. but I’m sure that we can at least get an implied end. But with everything that happened so far.. it’s more than implied already. All we need is Izuku finally opening up to Katsuki and admitting to him that he is his image of victory and that he triggered his quirks because of insane feelings he’s keeping bottled up about him. Katsuki also never heard Izuku say “give MY KACCHAN BACK TO ME”.

Anyways this dragged on. I believe in Horikoshi. He seems to have a great understanding of how relationships should work with a healthy amount of admiration that doesn’t drag you down, imitation and a deep connection. I don’t think he is going to end the manga with a marriage between two characters he purposefully skipped bonding and developing when he had countless of chances to. I hope Horikoshi can finally change the way shonen mangakas handle romance forever..

If anyone can do it.. it’s Horikoshi.

[darkcircles4lyfe]

^^^^Everybody look at this!! Back when I was writing my meta about how ch 348 reveals Horikoshi’s true intentions for potential romantic relationships, I had a bit of a roadblock which I didn’t admit to. The problem was, Toga’s idea of love did not seem truly healthy or realistic, since it’s obsessive and maybe even shallow. But I was too focused on the possibility of Toga hinting toward Izuku and Katsuki’s dynamic maybe making Izuku question his feelings later because of what she told him. I didn’t realize that unrealistic part of Toga’s idea of love could be an intentional part of the narrative hint. This post makes such an important point which I love: if Izuku had thought of Katsuki instead of All Might as someone he wants to be like, that would be damning for the romantic potential of their relationship. Because that would mean Izuku was idolizing Katsuki instead of loving him as a flawed human being. So instead, by linking Toga’s idea of love to the way Izuku thinks of All Might*, which canonically is portrayed as admiration to a fault which inhibits his growth, this moment actually does a lot more for Ochako’s development than Izuku’s. Because Toga and Ochako are “the same” in their supposed crushes, this means Ochako’s feelings for Izuku are being characterized as unproductive idolization too. Meanwhile, by going unmentioned, Izuku and Katsuki’s relationship potential remains intact.

(*All Might as a mythical figure, not Toshinori as a person and surrogate father, which is actually a beneficial part of their relationship)

I fully believe this is a sign that Horikoshi has actually put a lot of thought into demonstrating what love really is. This is such a subtle yet imperative detail. Folks can forreal shut up about “shounen mangakas who don’t know how to write/don’t want to prioritize good romance” now. Thank you, Sei!

[kacchananti]

Did Bakugo really hate Deku?

I know most people don’t think this but in my opinion bakugo never actually hated deku. Ever since they were kids, they had it instilled in them that a quirk made a person and having a strong quirk was basically what decided your place in society. There’s a reason bakugo became the leader of their friend group as kids – part of it was because he was so confident and  capable, but because he had the strongest and flashiest quirk out of all of them, they naturally followed him because he was the strongest of them.

When it came to deku, they were definitely friends for a period of time, and we don’t know exactly when they stopped hanging out but we know it was sometime after they found out deku was quirkless. Now, bakugo always wanted to be the center of attention because he thrived on being praised for how cool and strong he was, but he specifically always wanted to be the center of deku’s attention. 

He specifically wanted deku to tell him how cool and awesome he was and he wanted deku to be looking at him and not other people.

Even when they grew up and stopped being friends, when they started UA bakugo still always wanted deku looking at him. But the thing is, he was always looking at deku too. A part of this was probably because he was trying to figure out how deku had managed to hide his quirk from him all those years and then he started thinking deku had just waited for a moment to outshine him. But i think that another reason he was always watching him was because he wanted deku’s friendship back.

I think that bakugo always wanted to be deku’s friend but because deku was quirkless he felt like he wasn’t supposed to. Society told him that quirks were what made you great and since deku didn’t have a quirk it meant he was weak and useless and helpless.

This is what bakugo was made to believe and he was always someone who upheld society’s standards, the standard that put the strong at the top of the hierarchy and the weak at the bottom. So because the hierarchy divided them into strong and weak, i think bakugo felt like he shouldn’t be deku’s friend, and their “confrontation” at the creek really solidified that. Bakugo wanted to be the strongest so he wasn’t willing to accept any help from anyone, but especially not someone who was at the bottom of the hierarchy, who was supposed to be weaker than he was. So he took deku’s kindness as him looking down on bakugo and pushed him away

Then during the endeavor agency arc, we see this panel of fuyumi thanking deku for being shoto’s friend

I know a lot of people probably interpreted it differently, but i think the reason bakugo was looking at them here and pouting was because he wanted to be acknowledged as deku’s friend too. And we see this same pattern repeated several times, bakugo just looking at deku and watching him, almost like he wants to say something but can’t bring himself to. And my guess is that at this point he wanted deku’s friendship but he didn’t think he deserved it yet.

But moving forward to their training days, we find out that the reason bakugo actually pushed deku away because he was afraid of how selfless deku was. He could see that deku was willing to put his life on the line for others, but because he was quirkless (weak and helpless) it meant that his recklessness would just get him killed. This fear probably only got stronger when deku actually got a quirk that he could do something with, because now he had the means to jump into danger and get himself hurt.

These feelings didn’t just show up for bakugo in that moment. He obviously had them before, when he himself says that this was the reason he pushed deku away and bullied him. To me personally, this is all the proof i need to solidify that bakugo always cared about deku. he never hated him, he just hated how deku made him feel because bakugo was the first person who could clearly recognise deku’s heroic spirit and his willingness to put it all on the line for others, and that was something bakugo himself lacked.

When bakugo sacrificed himself for deku in ch 285, he did it instinctively and without thinking, because he cared for deku so deeply that he had to do something in that moment to help him. Those feelings of caring didn’t just suddenly appear in that moment, it was just that by then bakugo was aware and admitted to himself that he does care for deku and that his worried forhim. 

But he obviously cared for him before too, because you don’t just do something like this for someone you kinda like. You do this for someone you love, for someone you can’t imagine being without.

[darkcircles4lyfe]

Rivals and Heroines: a lesson in expectation

I’ve thought for some time that Horikoshi is most likely knowingly taking advantage of the fact that most people see BNHA as predictably shounen, in more ways than one. Stories can receive a lot of recognition and acclaim for dismantling tropes outright, but what about a story that pretends to play along? Previously I’ve had a hard time presenting evidence for Horikoshi possibly having hidden motives, but now, after ch 348, I think I have a slam dunk. What used to be little more than my musing about what kind of writing I would love to see has become a subtext so obvious it’s basically just- textual. 

Now I can finally lay out how we expected these past few chapters were going to go, vs how they turned out: 

Toga + Uraraka + Izuku in a fight together looked at the very least like it would = Izuku finding out about Uraraka’s crush. Even I thought this. I called it “inevitable.” And whether folks wanted it to happen or not, that looked an awful lot like a setup for canonizing them as a couple. It would be pretty cliché and ill-timed, but what do you expect? Of course a shounen would do that. My optimistic prediction was that it would be an opportunity for Uraraka to dismiss the whole thing once and for all, but I knew what was far more likely: Toga acting as a catalyst for Izuku and Uraraka discovering they have feelings for each other, because Toga likes both of them too and of course she’s gonna gush about that and make them flustered. 

But let’s talk about that word, “likely.” Based on what? Not Horikoshi’s own pattern of writing, but of those around him. It’s “likely” because shounen media is always heteronormative, usually reducing female characters to their romantic potential, and generally prone to neglecting the overall narrative complexity of a romance subplot. He’s a boy. She’s a girl. Can Hori make it any more obvious? But if you consider Horikoshi as one individual storyteller, it all falls apart. Suddenly there is no basis for assuming anything. (I have talked about this aspect already so I’m just gonna link to that.) 

Now let’s talk about what actually happened. BECAUSE NONE OF THAT^ ACTUALLY WENT DOWN. Bless her, it was Tsuyu who really came through and personified how brutally our expectations were defied. She arrives at the last second just as Toga is about to reveal Uraraka’s crush, which obviously cannot be a coincidence. She’s all like nope! Now is not the time! Izuku doesn’t belong in this fight, and Uraraka can handle it herself. While technically this could just constitute a tease, like, “whoops! guess you’ll have to wait for the big reveal until later!” The dismissiveness of it reads a lot more final. This is self-awareness on Horikoshi’s part, showing us he’s conscious of the cliché. Through Tsuyu, he is telling us that it all ends here. No more coy blushy flirty immature shallow nonsense. No more stringing you along. No more red herring. Because it’s time to show you what’s really going on. This is the chapter that reframes everything. 

There’s a whole cyclone of ideas circulating in this chapter and all the other moments it harkens back to, spinning around each of these characters, who are learning from each other. These are the real reasons all of them had to collide in this moment together. They are as follows-

1. A lesson for Uraraka: villains are people worth saving

This idea was first mentioned by Toga, technically, as she wonders in the wake of Hawks killing Twice, whether any of the heroes think of villains as people. Izuku also independently arrives at the idea of saving Shigaraki. Uraraka has a less concrete inkling toward that conclusion, and it is ultimately Izuku’s perspective that gets her to realize she wants to save Toga, and that it’s a valid goal. 

2. A lesson for Toga: love is kind

A seed of this idea was most likely planted by Twice, because he cared for her and showed her kindness, and his death broke something in her. But the world has rejected her, so she rejects the world. Her parents never showed her love, so she had to define it for herself based on the desires of her quirk. If Uraraka can find out about how Toga is mourning Twice, she can use that knowledge as a tool for uncovering Toga’s desire to not only become like her loved ones, but to value their wellbeing. Toga also deep down wants someone to value her wellbeing, and to accept her. This could play out a number of ways, and tbh my prediction confidence on this front is not strong so I won’t dwell on it, but I did notice one thing: In the midst of Toga confessing to Izuku and asking him her question, Uraraka is panned over to two times: 

ya know, in a Realizing Things kinda way. The first is ambiguous, but in the second, she’s having a flashback to when Toga asked her that same question, noticing that when she and Toga had their confrontation during the first war, Toga approached her in the exact same way. It may seem obvious to us, but perhaps Uraraka here is realizing for the very first time that Toga had romantic feelings for her.

3. A lesson for Izuku: the depths of admiration

Up to this point, Toga’s idea of love has only been explained to Uraraka, because Toga says the two girls are alike in that their love for Izuku manifests in wanting to be like him. Now, Izuku is prompted to look inward and see if he can relate to admiring someone the way Toga does. In the moment, the first person he can think of whom he admires is All Might, but Toga wasn’t talking about that kind of admiration, she was talking about romance. Izuku is currently incapable of conceptualizing the depth of admiration beyond his fanboy comfort zone. 

Let’s get into the details of 348 here. Izuku says he “can’t imagine wanting to share the same heart and mind as (All Might).” What a romantic phrase, “share the same heart and mind.” He knows what Toga is talking about, but not who he would apply it to. He admires All Might, but not like that. This shortsightedness is also highlighted at the beginning of the chapter, where a narrator calls Izuku out for being, despite his heroic accomplishments, essentially still (as I heard JP twitter calling him) a virgin otaku (lol). He’s oblivious, awkward, inexperienced, and possibly in denial. The whole narration sounds affectionately chastising, wistful and almost nostalgic looking back from some hindsight. 

Now… the question on everyone’s mind: if this is a gag meant to point to how Izuku is oblivious of and/or awkward about Uraraka’s feelings (assuming that all of this was supposed to lead to them being a couple, as was our expectation), then why, oh why, was the phrase “kuso nado” (translated in officials as “damned nerd”), used by the narrator? That’s Katsuki’s phrase, obviously. So Katsuki is the one calling him oblivious to someone’s romantic feelings, almost as if this is something Katsuki already knows about him, from previous experience, and it is relevant to their own relationship? This is what I was talking about with speculation turning into blatant subtext. There really is no other explanation for this. It’s just. Right there.

So anyway, the whole All Might comment reiterates how Izuku is really out of touch with romantic feelings. Uraraka could relate to wanting to “share the same heart and mind” with someone, but Izuku says he can’t. And yet, that is not exactly the crux of the irony, or else Uraraka would have been the narrator at the start of the chapter, maybe referencing how she originally called him plain, not “damned nerd.” I swear, this is so cut and dry. Actually, when you think about it, Izuku’s obliviousness has never been a source of dramatic irony for Uraraka’s crush in the first place, like, ever. It’s never, “ooooo if only he knew~” it’s just, “ooooo you like him~” and that’s it. On the contrary, Izuku never knowing about her feelings can hardly be his fault considering Uraraka intentionally shoved down and ignored them.

 On the flips side, obliviousness and misunderstanding have always always ALWAYS been a part of Izuku and Katsuki’s relationship. Oh boy, let me count the ways. From when they were little kids and Izuku tried to help Katsuki up out of the river and Katsuki mistook it for being looked down on, to the bullying, to Izuku having to tell Katsuki about getting his quirk from someone else, to Izuku having no idea how All Might’s forced retirement was weighing on Katsuki, to Izuku being embarrassed to admit he saw Katsuki as his image of victory (*ahem* a level of admiration more personal than what he had for All Might!), to Izuku hiding the fact that emotions related to Katsuki triggered Black Whip, to Katsuki being unsettled by Izuku’s self-sacrifice, to Katsuki sacrificing himself, to Izuku running off to fight alone again anyway, to Izuku being shocked by Katsuki’s apology…. every. step. of. the. way. 

I feel like a broken record but seriously everything is all so obvious now. There is nothing tongue-in-cheek-shipping-brainrot about this. This isn’t rivals being accidentally homoerotic, or a female character being neglected by a misogynistic male author. I practically have no choice but to assume that Horikoshi has been planning a complete 180 fake-out and Izuku and Katsuki are about to be canon instead, or at least left open. I truly do believe now that this whole time, narratively speaking, Uraraka has been masquerading as the heroine/love interest, while Izuku and Katsuki have been playing rivals, all in service of Horikoshi leading us to expect this manga to turn out like any other shounen. But now he’s finally starting to show his hand. It’s like a trope-defying plot twist. I know a lot more of y’all can feel it now too. I bet even the homophobes are about to jump out in a big way, from the sudden insecurity. It’s. I’m. I dunno what to say, man. This is really wild and I can’t believe we’re here.

Folks, the end is nigh. I can’t wait.

…And that’s all the hyper-analyzing of quotes I got in me today, yep. No more. That’s definitely it. 

(major spoilers for Blue Flag/Ao no Flag under the cut)

Keep reading

[a-hobit]

Reading though this for the like 10th time id love to add that because we still don’t know the 2nds quirk Izuku saying “share the same heart and mind” could 100% be some foreshadowing here. It’s a pretty specific phrase and I’ve heard some people think that we haven’t seen the users quirk yet because his quirk is emotion based. I think he’ll have to share emotions with Katsuki at some point — or you know something like that.

[theeggoman]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BAKUGOU

[baku-bombshell]

( Source )

[baku-bombshell]

( Source )

[viria]

kiddos 

[baku-bombshell]

chiyaya666 on twitter

[ainudraws]

Having lots of Bakudeku feelings today ;-;

[robbie-verse]

"b-b-b-boyfriend ???

someone who you go to amusement parks with, share crêpes with and hold hands ?!"

[jozstanko-art]

Happy Birthday, King 💐

[sushiisiu]

fantasy au !!!

[ten-shika]

The bois