Xaphania

Since the author wanted to have a “realistic” ending, I am also going to have a realistic look at the epilogue – mind you, I haven’t read the whole thing and probably won’t but I just wanted to get this off my chest so I can move on to forgetting it even exists.

Even before I get into the actual content of the chapter, it’s pretty clear that Bakugo and Midoriya have a really good relationship now. I would probably call them best friends even. And on some level, I think Bakugo is interested romantically as well – but this could just be the shipper in me talking. And I think Midoriya has a good relationship with Shouto and the rest of Bakugo’s friends as well. But I feel like the same cannot be said for Midoriya and Uraraka. I think after the final war, they sort of drifted apart and haven’t really reconnected since then. Which is pretty common I think – sometimes you lose touch with people you used to be close to. And with Uraraka, I think she was fully over her crush on Midoriya after (or even well before) the final war.

Now on to Bakugo and Izuku’s talk – Obviously, Bakugo wanted them to be hero partners and work together. This is what he’s always wanted, and it may have served as motivation for him to have the suit built for Izuku as well. We don’t really know. He may have been hoping that Izuku would quit being a teacher and work with him full time. And he assumed that Midoriya wanted the same thing as well. But, somewhere in those 8 years, I think Midoriya’s goals changed. He probably fell in love with teaching because being a hero again is an impossible thing for him – he wasn’t aware of the suit being built for him. And the epilogue happens soon after he gets the suit, so I’m guessing he probably didn’t have a lot of time to use it and get into the thick of being a hero again. So, in that way, it makes sense why he said no to Bakugo’s veiled offer to work together – he doesn’t want to fully stop being a teacher. And I think this difference in their goals and hopes wasn’t something Bakugo expected, which would explain his heartbroken expression. But I don’t think this means they’ll never work together in the future; this epilogue is just a snapshot of their lives. Maybe Midoriya would rediscover his love for being a hero again the more he uses his suit, or he may still team up with Bakugo frequently to do hero work – they’ll probably continue being rivals anyways and I think they’ll always work together. Maybe not full-time hero partners, but partners, nonetheless. And I don’t think that’s a sad ending at all.

“If Everyone is special, then no one really is” – I think this was Bakugo calling Midoriya out on his habit of thinking everyone is special. Because if you think everyone is special, then no one is actually “special” and you’ll be unable to realize who actually matters to you most. I think that conversation probably had Midoriya thinking and when he sees Uraraka at the party, he wants to try taking Bakugo’s advice and reconnect with Uraraka. So when he runs into her on the way back, he takes it as an opportunity to reconnect. And yes, them blushing does make it seem “romantic”, but it could also not be. “I want to talk to you more” at face value really just comes across as him wanting to get their friendship back. If you ship these two, you can probably read it as romantic. I don’t (and that weird handhold definitely makes it more platonic than anything else to me).

Now for me personally, I love bakudeku as a ship because of the unconditional love they have for each other. Bakugo loved Midoriya so much that he spent 8 years of his time, money and effort to give Midoriya back his dream. Midoriya loved Bakugo so much that he never gave up on him all throughout their childhood, even when Bakugo would bully him. Platonic or romantic, these people are the most important to each other and I think Bakugo is aware of this. Midoriya however, isn’t. Because as Bakugo pointed out, if you think everyone is special, then no one is. I think reconnecting with Uraraka is the first step towards Midoriya understanding this. And since I don’t like angsty stuff, I think down the line, Midoriya will realize fairly quickly that Bakugo is the most important person to him and will make sure to prioritize his relationship with him above all else.

I really really hope it becomes a hit. The current arc would be soo good animated.

And even if she somehow ends up by herself, dude always comes for her. I mean in Phantom and GMG, she gets taken and his first reaction is to get her back ASAP. No planning or thinking. He just absolutely has to go get her back.

In Tartaros, I have no doubts that he sniffed her out when she was fighting that dude who sucks people’s souls. I think Tenrou was the only arc where he didn’t know where she was. Them meeting up there was pure luck. But it’s understandable - they were in the middle of a test after all.

Him being aware of her was something I noticed in Dragon Cry when she goes to save the slaved girls and he asks her if she’ll be okay on her own. It made me wonder if there were other such instances and that’s how I stumbled across this lol

I’m not saying that it’s romantic or anything, but it really shows how responsible he can be. This is a guy who’s been shown to be extremely reckless. He’s also shown to not remember much of anything. So for him to be doing this, and only ever for Lucy, is honestly very sweet.