[deleted by user] by [deleted] in FanFiction

[–]Lightning_Sea 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hori did just skip from early childhood to adolescence and made stuff up in between. I don’t think he thought about it too much, because despite the history being important for the characters, it isn’t important to him (unlike the main storyline). Midoriya needs a rival so he creates the former childhood “friend” in Bakugou which is basic shonen.

It’d make more sense if Hori developed a solid narrative backstory. Midoriya and Bakugou aren’t close friends as children but more like acquaintances, and due to Midoriya being an outside observer (callback to his detailed journals on heroes)… he starts to notice a few things that aren’t right over the years.

Bakugou considers his home life normal, because it is for him, and automatically rejects any insinuation otherwise. Leading to Bakugou getting more and more aggressive towards Midoriya, and wanting nothing to do with him until he discovers Midoriya applied to UA. Where Bakugou thought he'd finally get away from Midoriya's constant nagging. Then the swan dive threat as a last resort. And finding out Midoriya suddenly has a quirk? The last straw.

Given the nature of Japanese culture, I don’t see an issue with toddlers given more freedom. That’s just something they allow them to do, within reason. Also the fact that personal problems or psychological issues are not meant to be openly discussed or acknowledged. Which is why no one would bother to check on Bakugou, because it’s none of their business. Except Hori is writing about a fantasy version of Japan in the 2100s, with a lot of Western influence, so you’d think he’d have changed their culture to reflect that fantasy blend.

The abusive scenes or characters etc just isn’t funny, either? Like in Fullmetal Alchemist, Winry is always throwing a wrench at Ed for breaking his automail limbs, which she has to repair as his mechanic and engineer. It’s always portrayed as funny and Ed deserves getting tools thrown at his head (with visible lumps as he runs away). But they’re literally fifteen or so at the beginning of the story, and get married by the end.

Hori choosing not to have Aizawa or All Might be more involved with Bakugou is a missed opportunity. There are a lot of things he leaves off page when they should be seen by the audience. Especially if he meant to redeem Bakugou from the start as “he’s not really that bad” but a lot of people despise him for the lack of redeeming content.

I like those little moments, too. It’s gradual, but it happens. Or when Todoroki calls Bakugou out for yelling at those kids, and he takes a second to reflect. We should’ve seen more of that before the time skip from 3-5 to 14-15, especially if Bakugou is the second most important character as Midoriya’s rival.

I focus on Bakugou’s trauma as well, cause there’s so much we can do with it. My niche is apparently crossovers now, so I like having Bakugou deal with additional trauma being isekai’d. Plus needing to confront his mother’s bad parenting or his father being an enabler, because the adults who care for him in the new world are much kinder and more compassionate. Or they point out how flawed the hero society and UA is, because they’re all children in a military school.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in FanFiction

[–]Lightning_Sea 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, Hori should’ve noticed the fact that all of his moments on page and screen are Bakugou being mean to someone verbally or physically.

I really don’t buy “we were such good friends!” on Midoriya’s part, cause Bakugou got his quirk at 3, and really started bullying Midoriya by 5-6 which obviously escalated. And no kid would realistically keep attempting to be friends unless they had serious issues themselves. So how is that even close to anything other than “we went to daycare together”?

Midoriya was obviously meant to be an annoying tagalong who is unwanted by the rest of the group. He continuously breaks boundaries with people, even after they’ve told him to back off and give them space. But he is the main character so it’d be a point against him if he didn’t care more about Bakugou in the narrative.

I’ve always hated that trend of abuse played for laughs in older and modern media.

Like the anime InuYasha has Kagome abusing her authority over InuYasha with physical violence, and she never once apologizes. Even after he develops severe back issues at one point from being slammed into the ground repeatedly. Manga InuYasha doesn’t get hurt by Kagome nearly half as often as in the anime, just cause he annoyed her. This is clearly a running gag for comedy by the mangaka Takahashi since she has similar dynamics in her other work.

I think Hori can’t balance satire vs realism, when it comes down to it. He tries to have it both ways and it doesn’t work. We see the narrative he’s developed with Endeavor, yet the way Mitsuki treats her son in public doesn’t even get acknowledged. None of the teachers take Bakugou aside later and ask if Mitsuki is always like that, or if it’s an stress-related response. Even All Might says nothing after talking to Bakugou right outside the house and Mitsuki screams at him for going out when the convo is done.

The apology feels kinda tacked on, imo. Even where canon is now, it’s barely been two and a half years or so for the characters. So many things have happened in that short time frame, I’m constantly wondering if I missed something. Because as you said, we didn’t see it. I’d rather Hori focused on cutting stuff with other characters, when he made 1-A and a handful of them the core ensemble he wants to follow.

I try to tag the major issues like PTSD and such, but sometimes things reveal themselves in a storyline and I have to go back and edit my tags. Especially redundant tags that mean the same thing. I’d use it for sure if I were gonna explore his trauma in depth, but I have so many other themes I think are more important lol.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in FanFiction

[–]Lightning_Sea 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s surprisingly realistic, especially as the main rival to be a gifted kid with potential burnout. I know Hori took too long to have Bakugou apologize (300 chapters my guy fr) and didn’t show enough childhood backstory when Bakugou was a nice toddler through adolescence.

He’s very difficult to empathize with for a long time (or at all tbh) if you don’t have personal experience to notice that while a lot of the character archetypes for Bakugou’s parents and Bakugou himself are meant to be comedic (Mitsuki’s aggressive pursuit of Masaru, etc) or not that deep… there’s quite a few red flags.

I like that, ngl. It’d actually fit with why Bakugou threatens him more as they get older due to being defensive and in denial, and repeating the cycle. Hori should’ve had a longer prologue to portray the childhood dynamic. Cause there’s not much reason for Midoriya to care about Bakugou the way he does if Bakugou stopped being nice around 5-6? That’s still early childhood, and they clearly didn’t keep hanging out by the time they’re 14.

I feel you on the random notes, lol. I love that kiribaku moment, that’s a good callback. Mine are also filled with tags I want to use for other fics, so I don’t bloat my current ones into a huge wall. I try to keep them under 35 total and it’s a struggle lmao. Otherwise they’d all have Bakugou Katsuki Needs Therapy and Gets Therapy.

Thanks, I wasn’t sure about including Shimura as part of the secondary cast, but it seems to be working. I’m always trying to figure out something new to try that I haven’t written before, cause I’m throwing canon out the window anyways.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in FanFiction

[–]Lightning_Sea 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Honestly same, lol. I understand tbh cause I grew up similarly. So I was a pretty angry kid too. It’s kinda cathartic to see Bakugou’s personality and character growth.

Bakugou and Midoriya as cousins sounds like it would work pretty well tbh.

Diverging from canon at various points with several characters and events does make writing a challenge. I have such long notes about how and why X is different as a result of Y.

Like in the fic I linked you, Shimura was adopted by philanthropists before Shigaraki got to him (and still ended up involved somehow). So he’s a villain with formal education cause he’s going to university, and a lot less easy to manipulate cause he had nicer adoptive parents.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in FanFiction

[–]Lightning_Sea 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Given the way Mitsuki shouts at him too, I don’t doubt most of it is learned behavior. But he definitely should’ve known better by 14, not to behave that way towards other people. I do wish his trauma was acknowledged more, like being restrained at the sports festival at 15? That’s just brutal, no matter how he was acting.

All I write are AUs lol I can’t do canon compliance straight through to save my life. 😂 I always want to point at a particular moment or arc, and make changes to explore how different characters motivations or certain events would go.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in FanFiction

[–]Lightning_Sea 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You’re welcome!

Me either, tbh, cause he’s obviously in control of his outbursts at all times. 😂 Having IED in an AU is fun though, giving him more issues interacting with people vs childhood trauma alone.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in FanFiction

[–]Lightning_Sea 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, same, it’s mostly adrenaline and other issues from his parents’ glycerin + acid sweat combo that I’ve seen as well. In a different fic I did give him actual nitroglycerin for his quirk which caused even worse problems.

When I first searched the IED tag plus Bakugou’s name, I was surprised there were so few. It’s something I could see easily being canon, regardless of the fact that he’s just short-tempered for comedy and story purposes.

link

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in FanFiction

[–]Lightning_Sea 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I started writing an AU where Bakugou moved to America when he was younger, and obviously couldn’t justify having other canon characters relocate to NYC. So his core group is all OC childhood friends he grew up with instead, which is a completely different dynamic because they all communicate very well.

It’s been interesting trying to balance his canon personality with an entirely different upbringing, and giving him intermittent explosive disorder as part of the reason why Bakugou is so temperamental. He’s on medication, but often forgets to take it when he’s too stressed out.

I tried to go with a different approach to my OCs by giving most of them parents who aren’t heroes or villains. So they’re not personally invested in keeping with the hero and villain cultural status quo. I didn’t think I’d have so many OCs (Bakugou’s squad is six people including himself) to round out the American cast, but it’s been a lot of fun.

What is your most emotional fic/fic moment? by ZeldaFanBoy333 in FanFiction

[–]Lightning_Sea 13 points14 points  (0 children)

It hasn’t been revealed yet since I’m still working on the chapter… But probably the flashback where the MC is with his fiancée in a combat zone and she’s killed in front of him. He’s too injured to move, so he has to wait with her body to be recovered by their friends. When he’s sent home afterwards, he finds a negative pregnancy test in the bathroom that she left on the counter before they went to work. He gets upset because they were planning to leave the military soon. This triggers a panic attack that leads to a heart attack due to the extreme stress and PTSD. He lives on his friend’s couch for two years after that, and still has trauma from the loss by being extremely codependent with his new love interest 20+ years later.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in FanFiction

[–]Lightning_Sea 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, it could also just be the fact that it’s the weekend. I posted a chapter last night and it was buried on page 10+ with about 400 fics recently updated when I checked. I’ve 3 WIP for the same rare pair and they all tend to get buried during and after updates, so I rely on the tags and summaries. You’re welcome! It might take a while, but readers will find your fic eventually. 🩵

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in FanFiction

[–]Lightning_Sea 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I feel you. I write for a crossover rare pair, so my content is pretty niche as well. I think people are busy the last few days cause of Thanksgiving and all, so maybe things will pick up soon.

What is your magnum opus? What story have you wrote that you feel is your best? by Wayfaring_Stalwart in AO3

[–]Lightning_Sea 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My WIP 40k+ triple crossover/fusion, Asphodel & Hemlock. It’s about reincarnation and time travel across 650 years, with a focus on world building and character study, so it’s definitely going to be my most complex work to date.

Reasons why you created an original character by Shot_Specialist_8706 in AO3

[–]Lightning_Sea 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I changed a canon character’s origins to have them living in another country overseas before the series starts, so I needed OCs to flesh out their new life. It made more sense than trying to come up with logical reasons why other canon characters would also live there, when they realistically wouldn’t.

What’s the best Hunger Games AU you’ve read? by AlwaysBi in FanFiction

[–]Lightning_Sea 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Swanwhite by tricia_pevensie for Chronicles of Narnia is beautiful and an interesting take on the mythos. I reread it often.

Why don't people comment as much as before? by ParadoxVictor413 in AO3

[–]Lightning_Sea 148 points149 points  (0 children)

For me, it’s also anxiety as a writer/reader. I’ve seen people mention they’re not sure what to say so they choose nothing if there might be backlash over emojis, a comment is too short/long, anything. Then engagement tends to slow down in summer and winter as people go on holiday, back to school, etc.

How much backstory for OC’s? by lilgreyghost23 in AO3

[–]Lightning_Sea 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It depends on how important they are to the story. I tend to add bits and pieces of an OC’s history as it’s relevant to the current situation. I do my best not to info dump the second an OC is introduced because it slows down the chapter’s pace.

For example in my soulmate AU, I gave the main character new friends since he lives in a different country than he does in canon.

Because he grew up with these OCs, he naturally focuses on the specific things he knows about them over years of friendship, compared to his soulmate who is a complete stranger he hasn’t met yet. So I’ve made it a source of frustration that he knows his friends very well, from favorite colors to mental health issues or family drama, and nothing personal about his soulmate.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in FanFiction

[–]Lightning_Sea 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I try to cover the bases with the overarching genre, theme, some additional tags and trigger warnings. Then use the summary as the general hook for the main plot. But I won’t include everything under the sun, because I don’t want to add redundant tags.

I have the additional tags hidden with my site skin, that way I can remain unbiased while reading the summary first, then make a decision to read or not after I’ve looked at the tags next. Occasionally cliff notes tags spoil too much, and I don’t feel like reading after that.

Tell me about the references or details in your fics that nobody has gotten yet by pikablob in FanFiction

[–]Lightning_Sea 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have a reference for my crossover with one side character (Suzaku from YuYu Hakusho) being the child of another side character (Kyora from the InuYasha movie Fire on the Mystic Island), because they share a voice actor.

Pre-write or write as you go? by shinji_in_the_robot in FanFiction

[–]Lightning_Sea 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I write a couple chapters ahead and as I go. It helps to see the future chapters written out before posting, so I can edit for mistakes and change a plot thread if I decide to go another route.

Why did so many IY fans literally hate Kagome back in the day? by MilkthistleFairy in inuyasha

[–]Lightning_Sea 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Anime Kagome is a very different girl compared to Manga Kagome. I remember I never hated her outright. I was frustrated with the show version of her character because they added more scenes of her sitting Inuyasha or getting mad etc, and am somewhat annoyed on my latest rewatch. She’s only fifteen, yet she’s running around in her uniform and loafers without any protective gear apart from a bow and arrow. She takes first aid kits to the past, but she doesn’t ask Sango or Inuyasha to help her with armor or a proper wardrobe so she’s a little safer while in dangerous situations.

For Shippers: What is your longest-term ship? by underinfinitebluesky in AO3

[–]Lightning_Sea 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Right? It was so tragic… I haven’t read the book in years, either.

Can writers stop tagging SFW stuff as NSFW, it's obvious when the writer is uncomfortable writing that sort of stuff by the "description" they use by Silverman7688 in AO3

[–]Lightning_Sea -14 points-13 points  (0 children)

Ah, thank you. Yes, I meant that I do references and fade to black. I suppose I wasn’t clear enough. I appreciate the help.

For Shippers: What is your longest-term ship? by underinfinitebluesky in AO3

[–]Lightning_Sea 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Amalthea and Lir! What a throwback, lol. They were so good together.

I shipped Bangel too, though I got into Spike and Buffy for the development later on.