#Have a great leaks day tomorrow prayers for our boys Izuku and Kacchan

[oshiawaseni]

Hii, I'm the admiration anon 🤸

I saw that you wanted me to elaborate my question. There are several points I would like to learn more about.

I'm curious about how is that admiration-love Izuku has towards Katsuki different and/or similar to the one Uraraka has towards Izuku.

What Toga has bring up in the narrative about wanting to be like or become the person you love and/or admire, how much coincide both relationships with Toga's idea of love.

Also, do you think Deku understood what Toga meant when she was talking to him recently about her ideas?

And I would like to know more about the differences between the admiration Izuku has towards All Might and Katsuki.

Thank you so much! 🙇

My brainrot is obviously the BKDK flavoured variety but I’ll do my best to answer you on this topic! (It’s not really something I’ve dwelled on). Also, thanks for clarifying your first ask for me, the result is sort of a mish mash of both asks... xD to everyone else, this is a whole ass meta. I hope it’s interesting for you :)

Admiration/Mimicry = (Romantic) Love ...?

There’s been an underlying theme in the manga where in trying to be like someone you admire it means you have romantic feelings for them. Which is strange because if that’s true then Izuku surely has been trying to copy Kacchan because he has romantic love for him. But it’s just not that simple for bkdk. It never has been with them. And while yes those feelings for Kacchan exist in some shape to him (even he might not be fully understanding his own heart yet), the logic behind Toga’s desires rings false to Izuku. Which is exactly why he only brings up All Might when everyone and their dog knows that when his feelings to win truly come out, so does his “inner Kacchan” and he mimicked him a few times as he tried to become a stronger hero-in-training. 

The reason he doesn’t think of Kacchan as his example is because his feelings towards Kacchan can’t be cheapened or simplified by this flawed and hollow logic of Toga’s. Because his mimicking isn’t at face value like Toga (physically turning into the person). Izuku has essentially been growing stronger and more confident as a hero in large part due to Kacchan and his encouraging support. As Kacchan is both somebody he strives for who motivates and pushes others just by being himself, and someone who possesses a confident personality that Izuku’s always admired and wished to have too. He has always longed to take in his favourite trait of Kacchan’s and become a determined hero who does not give up until he wins.

This all started when Aoyama called out Ochaco when he correctly guessed that she was thinking “what would Deku do?” Ochaco has series-long been trying to draw inspiration as a hero from the person who inspires her most: Deku. Which is pretty uncanny because while Ochaco is going through her arc of admiring Izuku and wanting to be like him, various people brought it up to her as being in love (Aoyama, Toga, Mina). And when Izuku did the exact same thing as her, with Kacchan, this behaviour of Izuku copying and idolising Kacchan, because he recognises him as the ideal hero he strives for, is called out as love by no one. 

Izuku and Ochaco are both nice people that want to make others happy. But Ochaco struggled with being altruistic like Izuku, often putting herself down for not having the pure motivators she sees in her ideal version of him. She felt like she fell short and disliked that part of herself. And that is how she was much alike Kacchan, who went through over a decade of feeling inadequate and rejecting Izuku because of how that made him feel. (The parallels are a-plenty) So it must be said that when he finally overcame his inferiority complex and looked within, Kacchan also wanted to be more like Izuku, but I’ll talk about them more later.

~ Toga and Ochaco -> Izuku ~

Deku and Toga is interesting only because Toga is not a normal thinking person. She’s clearly neuro-divergent with her takes on becoming people because she "loves them". But what she feels for them isn’t true love, in fact she might not know what love is supposed to be because a basis for it doesn’t exist thanks to her horrible parents who broke down and yelled at her for being too different. And she compensated for those essential missing connections by having herself a found family in the League. Deku called her “love” out with this one line:

If you want to become me, why don’t you also want to share the same heart (morals, values, beliefs) as me? Translation in Toga’s brain: “Why can’t you just be normal!” - exactly how her parents and Ochaco made her feel.

Essentially calling out her definition of love and desire to be them skin-deep and hollow. She realised that Izuku can't help her, his response only causes her ptsd from her parents to flare up. She decides to let go of Izuku, because just like her own parents, he didn’t accept the brand of warped love she has on offer. 

Also Izuku couldn't comprehend her love of him because it can only be realised by inflicting injury upon him. He understood her existence is a natural counter to danger sense because she doesn’t seek to kill him but her way of loving is to hurt him physically as a result of her quirk and her desire to become him. Regardless, Himiko is completely redeemable, and within reach of saving by Ochaco.

Which leads to the Togachaco fight. I think Ochaco eventually realised that just because she admired Izuku it didn’t mean she romantically loved him. Her feelings couldn’t compare to the real deal soul mates that were right in front of everyone's face with Kacchan and Izuku closing the distance and finally coming together. And she understood with Izuku’s response that trying to become like the person is not enough, at least for him, because you need to also align with his heart too. And though that is something she does a better job of than Toga, they are after all on the same path of becoming heroes, but it doesn’t really matter anymore because Ochaco has become fixated on returning Toga’s smile.

At first, Ochaco didn’t understand why she felt the need to save Toga. She called herself weird. But she finally understood during their conversation with Izuku, that every action Toga has taken up until that point has been a cry for help, an SOS that she’s been sending out to anyone who might accept her. 

Ochaco’s already been grasping the idea that in their world saving should not be exclusive rights for civilians, but everyone, heroes and even villains, are people that need saving as well. 

That's a quality about her character that supports Izuku’s ideology and feelings towards Tenko. But unlike Izuku, who Ochaco figured out has already found his greatest pillar of support and person to stay by his side in Kacchan, Himiko has been suffering her entire life, completely alone and never truly having someone who loves, accepts and supports her. And that is beyond sad and completely unfathomable for a 17 year old girl with her whole life ahead of her. 

Did you know Kacchan and Izuku use two different kanji for save? Kacchan’s means lifting up/supporting and he has become a reliable person who acts with this feeling for Izuku’s sake. Izuku’s kanji nuance is “relieving the helpless of their suffering” and it seems like Ochaco has chosen to do just that for Toga.

Toga’s been ostracised by society simply for being divergent and having a strange vampiric quirk that requires hurting others. So in a way, Ochaco rescuing Toga is how her heart acts in alignment with Izuku in wanting to save a drowning person who just so happens to be a villain.

But the last thing we heard from Togachaco was they weren’t going to try to be anyone else anymore out of love and admiration, they are facing each other as “Toga Himiko” and “Uraraka Ochaco”. Which makes it seem like they’re both over the delusion that admiring and copying somebody means (romantically) loving them. Also Izuku kinda stomped all over this concept by bringing up All Might (lol) and telling Toga if she wants to be him so bad then copy his heart too and stop hurting people “out of love” like she’s been doing. Poor lil Himiko. At least Ochaco is catching on that Toga’s always been rejected by others and that is what makes her suffer so much.

Sadly, the person she thought about the most couldn’t understand her either, in the end. But at least now she finally has someone willing to try. (She just doesn’t know it yet.)

~ Kacchan and Izuku ~

On the subject of the difference between Izuku’s admiration between All Might and Kacchan: Izuku said it himself. Kacchan was the person IN HIS LIFE and the most closest to him. He was around him every single day all throughout their school life. Even more so when they were children and friends, but they have grown up together. Izuku’s love and admiration was spawned by being in close proximity with somebody who had confidence and a determination to never give up. He saw these qualities in Kacchan he felt lacking in and admired and longed for them in himself. While All Might was a complete package hero in the distance, Kacchan was very much his personal hero in his life. His other half whose personality completed his own if you were to combine them. 

His feelings towards him grew just by being around him day to day and watching him exist. Kacchan didn’t take shit from anyone and stood up for himself always. And despite knowing he should hate how these qualities made Kacchan act, he still found himself loving and mimicking those parts of Kacchan all the same because he draws a lot of comfort and confidence from him.

Maybe all along he felt “It’s Kacchan... that’s just who he is” because Izuku had fully accepted Kacchan in a very holistic way and never stopped caring for him, despite his flaws. Everything Kacchan ever offered Izuku and to the world, Izuku took it with a smile on his face. But that’s love for you. True unconditional love Izuku has always felt for his Kacchan.

I think Izuku’s love and mimicry of Kacchan has rung the most true in the series and that’s because while they’ve been in each other’s hearts this whole time, they have been very aware of the other person as a being separate from them and understood they have irreconcilable differences as individuals, but even that couldn’t stop the pull of their kizuna and finding their way back to each other. It took Kacchan a while, but they both accepted each other, even the bad parts that don’t sit well with them and absorbed the biggest piece of the other’s heart they felt lacking in to become improved versions of themselves, all while pushing and encouraging each other along the way.

It’s something more concrete than “What would they do”: It’s the other’s ego that exists in their heart that compels them and pulls them along on their journey. Kacchan’s ego helping Izuku be a more proud and confident person, and Izuku’s ego helping Kacchan become a team player that cares about helping others. Their greatest strengths had always repelled each other, until they eventually figured out that they actually compliment each other. It was only when their inescapable gravity pulled them back into each other’s orbit that they became happier, more rounded and complete.

Toga/Ochaco to Izuku, Izuku to All Might, Izuku and Kacchan towards each other. On the surface the theme of admiration may seem the same, but they are fundamentally different. First, one idea is that admiration/mimicry = romantic love. The false concept you’re mentioning, which was (wrongly) pushed onto Ochaco by Aoyama and the more extreme version of becoming them pushed by an unhinged teenage girl who doesn’t care who she hurts to fulfill her needs, and has expressed some pretty warped feelings of love towards Izuku and Ochaco.

Izuku acknowledges that he admired All Might and longed to be like him too much. Because he had All Might point this out, but Kacchan also encouraged him multiple times to stop trying to be him and to instead aim even higher. To stay true to himself. He told Izuku they can both achieve this goal by leaning on each other. It’s a lesson Izuku’s heart has taught him over the last 12 years.

Change born from his feelings of admiration and love for Kacchan comes so very naturally to Izuku. He compartmentalises Toga’s feelings from his own feelings because when he thought of wanting to become someone you admire, he could only think of All Might. That’s because he never tried to become Kacchan.

I think in his mind, his feelings for Kacchan don’t even compare to Toga’s (and formerly Ochaco's) towards him. Nor does his admiration towards All Might. (See: closest person in physical and also emotional sense) While he had been very consciously trying to copy All Might, to fill his shoes and become a replacement symbol of peace that’s just like him, he always saw Kacchan as this pure, untouchable existence that is very separate from his own. More than the feeling of wanting to become like him, Izuku longed to be close to him and walk by his side. He longed for and felt comforted by his confidence yes, but never once tried to be just like him, to become somebody that he wasn’t. 

He noted to himself that mimicking Kacchan came very natural to him when he really wants to win. That’s because he’s always held Kacchan’s confidence and determination and strength, Kacchan himself, close to his heart. It was so easy for Izuku to tap into his personality traits and movements because the source is so readily available. Kacchan’s presence is such a prominent beacon shining ever so brightly in his heart, that it blinds him.

Because when it comes to Izuku and Kacchan, their entire time of knowing each other and reacting/responding to each other, neither of them stopped being Izuku or Kacchan, they retained their identities and always acted true to themselves, all while acknowledging the other person and constantly being inspired to do better by that persons greatest quality (The desire to win vs the need to save) thanks to All Might telling them they should embrace each other’s values because both are essential for the best hero work.

Whereas Izuku was already self-admitting that he was subconsciously bringing out what he should think were Kacchan’s worst qualities, Kacchan had to face his own weakness and find and isolate those feelings he didn’t know he was capable of in himself, but knew were some of Izuku’s greatest strengths.

And rather than just trying to become Izuku, Kacchan fully embraced an awareness of his own weaknesses and differences with Izuku, while acknowledging the missing parts he felt lacking in and actively worked on those areas to be better not only for the people that mattered, but also for himself. Because Katsuki’s name meaning is “win (against) yourself.” The change to his core character and defeating the past version of himself is absolutely fitting.

Though their pathing was different, both boys came to understand these missing pieces had been inside them all along, because the very existence of the person who embodied those values, had been residing in their heart the entire time. That’s why drawing it out in times of crisis is only natural for them. Simply by knowing each other as intimately as they do and shredding their negative past away, their hearts began coalescing, affecting and changing one another. It’s as if they have a very necessary piece of the other in themselves in the same way that Ying and Yang do. Just as Dark cannot exist without Light, Kacchan can not be without Izuku. Like two puzzle pieces built only for the other.

In ch 362... Kacchan was talking to that piece of Izuku he keeps in his heart because likewise, Izuku coming to the forefront of his mind is a very comforting thing for him. Thinking of the person he loves the most at what he believed to be the end... it was undeniably romantic and I can’t wait for them to come together...

They have both shared mutual admiration, a desire to be closer, a deep connection and have each always held their most precious person, their very own personal hero, close to their heart.

Izuku and Kacchan don’t love each other because they consciously choose to mimic one another, they influenced change in each other’s very nature because they love each other.

And that’s the difference.

#bakudeku #bnha meta #asks #thanks anon I hope this ..helps? #op #long post #have a good rest of your september as well :) #Izuku once refused to let Kacchan give up for any reason because his idea of Kacchan is a hero that beats the bad guys & wins no matter what #when kacchan realised Izuku's admiration of him.. I think he came to deeply treasure those feelings #because he chose to protect Izuku's feelings and ideals of him over his own life #that's why he sacrificed himself :( #they come right out of a shakespearian tragedy these two ;--; #FINALLY DONE WITH THIS I HOPE THERES NO BIG ERRORS AND WAS INTERESTING??? #if it didn't help you at all I am sorry... did my best. #Have a great leaks day tomorrow prayers for our boys Izuku and Kacchan