Bakugou’s role in general is the result of the pressures of BNHA’s popularity. Horikoshi claims to have changed his mind on Bakugou after he cried after the Battle Trials. It does not appear that Bakugou was being set up as the deuteragonist with a long winded atonement arc in the first arc of the manga, but he was too well received to remain a secondary character. Even after the Battle Trials in the Sports Festival, All for One’s dialogue demonstrates that Shouto was initially meant to fulfill more of a deuteragonist role.

Changing the plan for a character isn’t inherently negative, but the problem is that the audience loved Bakugou for the exact traits condemned by the earlier chapters. That dynamic stunts Bakugou’s reform because it creates a situation where (1) there is a character who fundamentally opposes the themes of the manga who is constantly validated by the narrative and (2) the character has to consistently engage in behavior that contradicts his own character development to keep the attention of the audience.

Horikoshi also did not significantly change the intended themes after inserting Bakugou into the deuteragonist position, which makes the contrast even more jarring.

Bakugou’s death fits into that pattern because his arc was entirely divorced from the expanding heroism to save the villains plot line. Having Bakugou be dead for much of that internal conflict for the savior squad was an easy way to avoid that glaring issue. Deep down, even some of the biggest Bakugou fans were uncomfortable with how siloed Bakugou was from the themes in Act Three. This is the reason many of them tried so hard to find someone who could be Bakugou’s villain when Act Three was being published.

The focus on Bakugou, Izuku, and Shouto as a trio outside the necessity of the Endeavor Agency Arc was also primarily about catering to the fanbase and marketability. It’s especially obvious in how most of the conflicts among these three are never resolved, but they’re constantly in the forefront.

Other than Bakugou, this issue is clear in the flattened characters of its girls between their concepts and what was included in the story. Rei was initially meant to have more agency; her draft version had an affair and had some mutual resentment with Shouto over the Endeavor situation. Lady Nagant was originally intended to have a full volume rather than exploding in three chapters. Ochako’s more unpleasant flaws at the concept stage were transplanted onto a minor character like Mount Lady. These are all choices made to maximize profitability of a shounen manga by avoiding any discomfort teen boys would have with considering the lives of morally complex women. But they are also decisions that made the story worse in the name of catering to the lowest common denominator.

Silly goofy idea where pro heroes Deku, Shoto, and Dynamite (the last against his will) are part of a charity "win a date" raffle. Naturally, you enter all three. You probably won't win, not with the thousands of other fans who have entered, but at least your odds are increased slightly if you enter all three.

"do you wanna talk about it?" bakugou's thumb moves rhythmically across your cheek. it grounds you. his other arm is bent, laid on the surface of your couch. his bicep is nicely shaped—smooth, soft, and bulging from his shirt.

the ball is in your court now, and you wrestle with the idea for a bit. experience has told you that nothing he says will be able to resolve your qualms, because these things are irrational. the comfort that you offer others won't work, because you won’t listen, and you won't believe in it.

katsuki is looking at you earnestly, countenance devoid of smirks, frowns, and even the glint in his eyes. in these quieter moments, you're reminded that, despite what the world thinks, your boyfriend is incredibly patient, perhaps more than what you deserve, and more than what you can give back.

he’s different, you tell yourself, so he’s worth a try.

you sigh. “okay,” his thumb has stopped moving, “but promise that you won’t baby me or give me superficial reassurance, ‘cause that’ll just make me feel worse.”

“i promise.”

Using a random fic of mine as example..

The left example: ✅✅✅

The right example: ❌❌❌

Idk how many times I’ve read a good fic summary and been so excited to read before clicking on it and being met with an ugly wall of text. When I see a huge text brick with zero full line breaks my eyes blur and I just siiiigh bc either I click out immediately or I grin and bear it…it’s insufferable!

AO3's posting form has two modes: Rich Text and HTML. the vast majority of people write in Rich Text editors, aka any normal word processing software (MS Word, Google Docs, Apple Pages, what have you). but when you first open it, the posting form opens in HTML view. if you paste formatted text into HTML view, it erases every piece of formatting, including paragraph spacing.

this is an easy fix. when you go to post your fic, make sure the posting form looks like this:

not like this:

[manga chapters listed in order of appearence]

"except for valentine's day," you explain. "But that's, like, an erotic thing."

you’re the one who moves first. you lean in, gentle, and press a kiss to his left shoulder—right over his star-shaped scar; your fingers trace over his chest slowly, like you’re learning what constellations he is by touch. he stiffens for just a second, like he doesn’t quite know what to do with something so soft. but then… he tries. his hands find your hips, his grip a little unsure, a little loose—but he holds you anyway.

when you look up at him, his eyes are softer than you’ve ever seen them and his mouth tilts, just barely, into something that isn’t quite a smile but close enough.

it’s enough. more than enough.