@oshiawaseni / oshiawaseni.tumblr.com
Say there was… aconspiracythatkeptspirituallykillingoffqueerjumpMCsbeforetheseriesends …
What would it take for you to believe this conspiracy actually exists and to do something about it before it was too late for a ship you have really really loved for many years? What questions would you need to have answered to the best of one’s ability?
After chapter 424 and Kacchan’s heart breaking down, my entire soul craves intimate bkdk fic SO freaking bad. I hope Izuku’s kind-hearted baby boy gets all the soft and tender love he deserves. 🙏🏻 🧡💚
Alright guys here’s some Hori-brand freshly juiced bkdk meta.
Before chapter 415, I was writing a post on twitter about how I really love the “Dokun” of Shigaraki’s heart beat when Izuku punched him and how it’s the same sound effect for Izuku’s panic attack and also when Katsuki’s bead of sweat brought his heart back to life.
at the end of my post I casually wrote: It definitely feels like this is being written in a way that gives: “memories are bringing Shigaraki’s heart back to life.” and then it just freaking hit me about the other place DOKUN showed up… chapter 403… Katsuki’s first appearance after reviving.
I realised OH. OH SHIT!! “DOKUN” is the onomatopoeia Hori has been using for their hearts being brought back to life…
Katsuki in the literal sense, Shigaraki in the spiritual sense, Izuku in the ROMANTIC sense.
Now that we have Shigaraki's example of it, we can see this pattern that “DOKUN” is Horikoshi's chosen sound for hearts being revived.
And if we look back to after Izuku's panic attack, with this retrospect, we can surmise that the one last big “DOKUN” was drawn when Katsuki was finally revealed alive because Izuku’s “heart” had revived.
And so through the narrative’s subtleties, we are once again being told that Kacchan is Izuku’s heart. 🧡💚
Izuku said Kacchan never received any valentines in elementary and middle school. Izuku observed Kacchan open his locker and watch how nothing fell out or was inside his desk every single year. Izuku has always kept his eyes on him, so every Valentine’s Day, Izuku knew Kacchan did not receive any chocolates or love letters from girls, even friendship chocolates because Katsuki doesn’t mix well with women, period. Izuku can so confidently speak for Kacchan, that as far as he’s aware (I mean… he can’t take his attention off him for two seconds - Kacchan.exe is always running in the background of Izuku’s mind), Kacchan has never received a.single.thing which means that Izuku has always been watching over him, listening in to his conversations should he ever mention it. Izu-
Chapter 414 will parallel Katsuki being fired off at AFO in 404.
This panel is particularly evocative of Shigaraki’s current story…
AFO’s attire was drawn as Shigaraki’s lump of lead that Kudou will strike… because AFO is the one responsible for giving birth to Shigaraki’s pain.¹
This also highlighted to me that Katsuki was being contrasted next to the man who created someone’s lump of lead.
✨Sparkles and bursts of light ✨
I think the significance of this is… Katsuki’s entire existence is a light shining brightly inside Izuku’s heart.
A light which saves him. And saved him. He went through so many bad experiences as a quirkless person, and his Kacchan just… being… just existing near him… Izuku adored him his whole life, everything he was capable of… that shining explosion of pure potential, and this is what got Izuku through that painful time.
This accentuates Izuku’s defining contrast with Toga-chan who went down the wrong path because she hadn’t “known a love like that.”
Izuku did. He knew a love like that. And knowing a love like that made Izuku’s world easier to live in, and that love will find him, and keep him.
I CAN'T BELIEVE KUDOU IS MOCKING IZUKU ABOUT HIS "CHILDHOOD PLAYMATE" LMAO NOT EVEN THE OSANANAJIMI LABEL IS SAFE ANYMORE I'M CRYING? 😭
You ever read a doujinshi and wondered whether you’ve seen its plot before?
Oh look, time to defeat the raid boss of BNHA: IzuOcha. (I wrote this meta in March, and after reading it now, I didn't feel I needed to change anything, but I added a small bonus section at the end. Hope you enjoy!)
I have a lot of things to say about why Ochaco was never meant to be the one... but I'll try to stay concise and on topic with regards to this meta. Ochaco appears set up as Izuku's love interest from the get-go, but is that really what Hori wanted to do? I'll be taking a dive into their themes and in part three of this meta, I'll be explaining why the answer to that question has been a resounding: NO!
When I compared the feedback Ochaco got from Aoyama, Toga and Mina about her having a crush on Izuku for wanting to be like him, to Izuku, who didn’t get any feedback for all the times he did the exact same thing and copied Kacchan, it felt very unfair.
See what I mean? It is completely unfair. And this was such a hard topic for me to navigate and answer for the anon at that time. But then I did some thinking.
Compress, Gentle/La Brava, Kamijirou and finally Kirimina (which came as a pleasant surprise, and for me, cemented Hori's intentions with all of this)... all of these characters have been written to highlight various things about BkDk's relationship.
Then, there is Ochaco's admiration of Izuku and she always gets told it's a crush, and it's so weird of a plot to begin with. This very one-sided "crush" also felt out of place with the rest of the themes going on. I eventually realised maybe we had been looking too closely at the admiration issue all along. By attempting to explain the meaning of the tree and why it's different from this other tree, we didn't see the forest it's connected to and that there was actually something bigger going on that Hori had been crafting.
Scale it back and you’ll see: It’s not that Izuku didn’t get his own feedback about his feelings for Kacchan in the various ways he shows he wanted to be like him, but Ochaco’s conversations with Aoyama and Mina and Toga were his feedback!! It was one of the biggest AHHHHHHHHHHH SO THAT'S WHY pin drop moments I've ever had.
I recently am now looking through the mha fandom for the first time and discovered your blog. Looking through your posts and analysis you seem like you’re quite knowledgeable about Horikoshi’s writing or him in general and are confident about the potential of bkdk being canon. In fact, quickly looking through the bkdk tags, a lot people on here are quite confident about the relationship, whether viewing it platonic or romantic. Now I kinda expected that, as a bkdk shipper as well, but I became confused when I found alot of people implying that Horikoshi “ships” bkdk or encourages it. For the longest time I’ve only ever consumed the anime and never really knew what’s been going on in the fandom. So I don’t know much about Horikoshi, but I swear I heard way back about him not liking the ship bkdk and deliberately implying the relationship between Izuku and Uruaka. The questions I’m getting at here is, what makes you think that Horikoshi wants bkdk to be canon and is there any hints about it outside of the main anime/manga that supports that? I acknowledge how it’s hinted at that bkdk heavily “need each other” or something like that in the anime/manga, I just always thought it was always going to be platonic and that Izuku and Uruaka will be end game. Maybe it is that and everyone is just joking about Horikoshi, idk I’m confused and lost lol.
Okay what you're asking for is a little strange, because Hori's storytelling really does speak for itself, his heart shows up the most in his writing of bkdk, but here goes…!
In regards to Hori’s feelings about them, hmm I’m going to get there one day soon(tm), but I’ll give you two examples outside the manga that show bkdk are important to him and why Hori is a bkdk like us.
First is when an interviewer was asking about Kirishima saving Katsuki and Hori responded to him with a sentiment that sounded a lot like “actually the takeaway from this scene was bkdk. that it was a bittersweet moment because Izuku couldn’t be the one to take his hand… but the decision was made." He really deflected the topic away from Kirishima and pointed at bkdk "Look at them instead".
Showing importance of that decision to bkdk’s development because THEY are what’s most important to the series, not any of their relationships with the main side characters. (And then we got the parallel to this where Katsuki feels he didn’t have what it took to take Izuku’s hand during the Deku retrieval arc. Regrets, regrets, regrets... everywhere. Now Katsuki is dead and Izuku "still hasn't told him ____")
My second example is something I bring up on twitter a bit, but that's only because it's so validating.
The next 'couple' that helps Horikoshi tell bkdk's love story is Kamijirou. They don't say it as explicitly to the readers as Gentle/La Brava and Kirimina do, but this moment is still worth mentioning as it's another example of other characters speaking for BkDk's actions.
In the first war, the Midnight group were traveling to go against the villains at their hideout, and Kaminari was scared out of his mind, unable to cope with his anxieties from the dangers facing him.
Tokoyami tries to calm him down by praising his guitar skills, to no avail. Midnight is apologetically saying he's being involved in the war efforts because the adults don't have what it takes to fight alone.
She then tells him something which acts as confirmation of Kaminari's feelings for Jirou, for the first time in the manga.
Part One | II. Gentle/La Brava | Part Two -> KamiJirou
Kirishima and Mina have been acquainted since middle school and are tied together with themes of admiration. They also have a lot of other parallels with BkDk and Horikoshi's purpose behind these similarities became even more intriguing with the addition of chapter 383. This chapter came while I was still writing the Hori trails meta so it's inclusion is a bit of happy accident, but it helps reinforce our understanding of what Hori is up to.
I've always been interested in KiriMina because they're the only other pair besides BkDk that have history together which pre-dates U.A. So I was curious about where Hori was going to take them.
In this meta I will be exploring many similarities and parallels between KiriMina and BkDk, as well as share my thoughts on Horikoshi's intention in writing them this way.
I'm LOSING MY MIND over the KiriMina/BkDk parallels in the new chapter right now.
It feels like Hori is really hammering BkDk into people's heads lately! We knew this was coming but, WOW. It's just unbelievable seeing it actually on paper, you know? I'm sure some fans are going to start wondering "If KiriMina are paralleling bkdk... are there any other couples doing the same?"
'Cause ding ding ding! Yes they are! That's where we can come in, to show them the way. To point them in the direction of La Brava and Gentle's lines, etc.
Also this is the most bkdk I've ever seen Hori draw two other characters. "If you won't compare their story and actions, maybe my DRAWING will convince you." - Hori, probably.
Look at Mina's facial expression. I've seen Katsuki wear that same expression so many times, that it has been ENGRAVED INTO MY SOUL.
Her eyes, her mouth, her EXPLOSION of acid from her hand. I mean.. HELP! IT'S SO OBVIOUS HE'S TRYING TO GET PEOPLE TO SEE HER AS KATSUKI TO FULLY REINFORCE THE PARALLEL.
And Kiri's hair and eyes (like Izuku's OFA powered hair)
KiriMina's story:
In this chapter, she was "paying her debt" to Kirishima. EASY parallel with chapter 322.
He calls her baka, and says there is no debt, because she's always been his hero. We have never gotten Izuku's reply for this moment, but he surely feels the same towards Katsuki. And if people haven't been considering Izuku's well guarded emotions with Katsuki yet, that even though they have such a strong bond, Izuku never answered... then this KiriMina chapter will help remind them. I'm not sure whether he will say the same things to Katsuki one day, he may do... but what is clear to me is Horikoshi wants BkDk to be in the back of people's minds right now. He wants them to start paying attention to what the characters are saying, and apply it to BkDk. And if they ever realise exactly how much it all comes back to BkDk, then they are also seeing how integral their relationship is to the story.
This is some damn good stuff! It will be interesting to see how Hori progresses things from here. For example, Togachaco. Will they also become romantic? Or will they be used to show their "love" for Izuku is something Katsuki and Izuku's love for each other isn't?
Toga and Ochaco's [Admiration and Envy] in contrast to BkDk's full blown romantic type soul mate type best friend type I think I'm in love with you and want to be with you always type love. I guess all we can do is watch what Hori does from here on, with bated breath!
"I used to hate the world and I was happy when everyone died.
But I was wrong, because there was one person worth saving. And that’s what I did.
I saved him.
Then I protected him.
That's why men like you and me are here. We have a job to do...
YES! Izuku is fighting for his life right now to protect Katsuki so he can be revived and still have a chance to smile again. And now Gentle's line has me remembering this panel too...
The whole Izuku retrieval arc that Katsuki instigated was him fighting to protect Izuku's smile...
I’ve always thought 1-A must have somewhat known about Katsuki’s feelings for Izuku. If not from how passionate he was in bringing him back to U.A. in the lead up to the climactic ch322, then at least from the way he behaved in the hospital, which was another big tell. Bones even felt it would be a pretty natural insertion for 1-A to guess at how *not calm* Kacchan was going to be upon hearing about Izuku’s condition.
And now these scenes are making me wonder what class 1-A really thought of Katsuki’s obsessive targeting of Izuku in the past…
Like... would they roll their eyes and think “There he goes again… why doesn’t he just kiss him already” 🙄
While a lot has changed in Katsuki’s attitude towards Izuku, one thing that‘s stayed a constant with him is how Izuku is always on his mind.
And Katsuki’s feelings for Izuku have become so strong that he’s placing them above all else, even his own safety.
When Katsuki found out he was being targeted by AFO specifically because of his relationship with Izuku, he realised that he was stuck in a hopeless situation and his end was near...
He comforted his heart with thoughts of Izuku and a feeling awoke inside him: the desire to become the winner who doesn’t give up that Izuku always saw in him and loved about him.
Looking back at some DvK2 panels, I realised there was so much confusion between them, right down to their communication, it reminded me of a fundamental misunderstanding Izuku and Katsuki always had with each other that reared itself from time to time and might have made readers think... “Huh?”
An example of it is the conversation that happened after Izuku ran out to save him from the slime villain. “Don’t look down on me!”
This interaction didn’t make much sense coming from a naturally gifted person to someone who’s quirkless. It might have been written off as Kacchan being difficult again, but later dialogue between them provided context to this and showed us that from the very beginning, Katsuki had always felt that Izuku was looking down on him from a higher place every time he helped others.
Or here, where just seeing Izuku smiling puts Kacchan on edge and he thinks Izuku is challenging him or secretly belittling him, when really... Izuku was praising Kacchan and smiling to himself at how impressive Kacchan always is.
Kacchan used to think the very worst about Izuku’s intentions. But the truth is often so far from the assumptions they both make about each other.
This misunderstanding about how the other perceives them runs throughout BkDk’s relationship arc.
Izuku sees Katsuki as a symbol of victory, determination and never giving up. I think that to Izuku, the Kacchan who has always been by his side, is his greatest personal hero. Equally attracted and repelled by him, he saw him for his strength and guts and longed for the best parts of Kacchan in himself.
Katsuki sees Izuku as someone with the heroic heart to save anyone no matter the cost to himself. Warm. Gentle. Kind. Shoto struck a nerve when he asked Kacchan about Izuku’s meddling kindness during the Sports Festival. And ch 322 told us that was because he felt Izuku had all the things he lacked and this feeling had always existed inside Katsuki. Deep admiration towards the other had been going both ways, all along...
They’ve had moments where parts of these feelings were exposed to the other, and they made progress in getting closer and trusting one another, and even though they both are able to clearly see the great aspects in the other person... they never seem to realise or appreciate they have their own qualities worthy of the other’s admiration. They can’t see their own pickled plums.
Being blinded by the strength of the other, all while not feeling good enough themselves is one of BkDk’s largest parallels. I think their miscommunication in DvK2 reveals this aspect about them the most.
What Izuku said was “Because you were this amazing person in my life, I’ve always been chasing after you!” To us, it looked like he was saying this to express his love, admiration and respect to Kacchan, but Kacchan took it differently!