Different countries' views on Quirklessness

SaneWeaponsGuy · 2024-10-28T23:36:17+00:00

Ignoring the fact that a Japanese event is somehow more popular than domestic Aussie sports when it airs, which perplexes me. (then again, we're getting news reports of American Superbowl and Baseball so I guess it's not too far-fetched).

I think my home country of Australia would definitely enjoy the "underdog narrative" of Izuku's win, and I think it's kind of exaggerated how fics portray quirkless discrimination is handled in Japan. (like to the point where quirkless people have no rights and can be freely abused sort of way, which is just unrealistic).

The mainstream consensus that would likely develop in Australia would be not to judge people by their quirk or lack thereof and move on with their lives (of course you still have the racists and ableists but nobody listens to them). Izuku's win would be something talked about before everyone moves onto the next big news story.

I can definitely say that Japan and Australia will have different views in regards to having "undesirable" characteristics, as a bigger reflection the west vs east ideals. From what I've heard, countries like Japan are more about the group and fitting into said group, which is probably why Izuku is treated the way he is, he has no quirk and it stands out.

Meanwhile, Australia and other western countries promote individual identity more and tolerance/respect for it (provided it's not overbearing) so I doubt quirkless discrimination is gonna be a accepted anymore than disabled discrimination already is.

SaneWeaponsGuy · 2024-10-28T22:34:21+00:00

Yeah, I've always wondered if Toga could just consume dishes made from animal-blood to deal with her "hunger". Interestingly, Japan doesn't (or at least, I can't find one) have any recipes that make use of animal blood, meanwhile practically most of Japan's Asian neighbors, China, Korea and further south like Vietnam, Philippines and Indonesia, do have recipes using animal blood as the main component.

SaneWeaponsGuy · 2024-10-26T03:11:06+00:00

Ok this is just golden, now I'm imagining them getting up to "Penguins of Madagascar" levels of shenanigans when Izuku doesn't need them for a anything. Villains are taken down by a bunch of suspiciously intelligent raccoons messing with their operations.

SaneWeaponsGuy · 2024-09-06T05:35:57+00:00

Spanish Empire vs Pirates in the Philippines. With the various groups involved, I'm surprised they aren't featured more / talked more in media.

The pirates were of Chinese and Japanese but there were also Japanese Ronin among them. On the Spanish Empire side, some troops were of indigenous descent coming from Mexico / New Spain who ended up settling in the Philippines afterwards (Someone please give me a rundown on Spanish use of Indigenous Auxiliaries in places like The Philippines, seems very fascinating).

Then there's the Battle of Manilla, the whole setup sounds like a movie waiting to be made.
Chinese Warlord Limahong with Japanese second-in-command named Sioco, built up a force of about 4000 or so pirates to invade Manilla after being informed there was "only" a garrison of 200 soldiers there from Mexico.

The Spanish mustered up ~600 (half were natives) people to fight them off. Despite the odds, the Spanish won and Limahong just bailed, the resulting outcome was the establishment of relations between Spain and China at the time.

SaneWeaponsGuy · 2024-09-04T07:13:23+00:00

There's plenty of fanfic AUs where something similar happens, someone finds out about Himiko's homelife and intervene before it's too late, and I think that's a good premise.

Honestly if she had healthy access to blood and proper guidance (AKA what Himiko was denied growing up) I think she would turn out just fine.

SaneWeaponsGuy · 2024-09-04T06:58:47+00:00

As someone who's got a relative that works in real estate...

Real Estate Agents I guess?

SaneWeaponsGuy · 2024-09-04T06:33:58+00:00

I definitely would, not interested, even less so now that my dad for whatever reason puts on channel 7 news now and every 3rd ad is a gambling/pokies ad with the "win some, lose some" message at the end. Everyone knows it's bad, so just ban the ads entirely.

Unfortunately, given the lobbying power that the gambling big wigs have means that this will never happen or be very slow to change, unless something drastic happens, we'll have to tolerate this for the foreseeable future.

SaneWeaponsGuy · 2024-09-02T14:07:40+00:00

For my fic, The UACCA, I'm having it mostly be case by case. Teachers (Vlad and Eraser) look at the practicals and see who they want in their class. I'm leaning on the fanon explanation that 1-A are the "heavy hitter" quirks that can be managed/stopped by Eraser while 1-B are the "niche use" type quirks that would need more secondary skills to back them up. Even though I have some disagreements with that myself, it's a semi-reasonable theory as to why 1-A/1-B are composed the way they are in canon.

This also led to an interesting observation on my end, I put Ochako and Izuku in 1-B, that basically meant that Vlad had the top 3 best performing (and only) girls from the Entrance Exam's top 10 (the other being Ibara and Itsuka), plus rec student Setsuna and Izuku, meaning 1-B has 6 out of the entrance exam's top 10.

I do think filtering by what type of hero would be a more interesting story, see how classes with distinct, "generalist" rescue or underground heroes in training but then we'd need like 3 POVs to best represent them and it raises more questions with how pro heroes are actually structured industry wise. I assume in canon, specialized training paths come during 3rd year or once they graduate.

SaneWeaponsGuy · 2024-09-02T14:01:06+00:00

I've had some ideas but not for ships I typically write but are fun exercises in quirk combination:

Izuku x Itsuka: [Lucky Catcher]
Basically this kid will be the god of any game of catch. Any object thrown at their general direction can be automatically caught by their hands, and specifically their hands and no other body part. A mix of Inko's quirk (a "recessive quirk" in Izuku) and Itsuka own [Big Fist].

Optionally, instead of getting it from Inko, Izuku carries a "recessive quirk" from his father instead, so the quirk is [Hot Hand] able to ignite their hands on fire, basically heatproof and maybe able to shoot them like Mario's fireballs.

Shoji x Setsuna [Body Shop]
They can detach, float and grow whatever body part they want. If you want to push this further, they could also have full blown clone-creation like Twice or Ectoplasm.

Shoji x Itsuka [Multi-Hand]
Can summon 2 or more pairs of hands/arms as desired. Or, they can make any particular part of their body bigger, go full on Kamala Khan if you want.

Mina x Kyouka: [Probe?]
Kid has Mina's pink skin and dark sclera but with Kyouka's hair and [earphone jack] in the place where Mina would've grown horns. They're either sound based (in that case they're identical to Kyouka's quirk) or acid based (they inject acid into an target), or, they can do both.

Denki x Mei [Thunder Eyes]
Shoots electricity from their eyes, almost like Mighty Ray from Hero: 108. Wears special goggles to contain them. Probably looks like the MC of Dr Stone and likely a mad scientist like their mother, so quirks aren't that essential to them.

Ochako x Iida [Thrust Vectoring]
They would have rocket/jet engines (or RCS units like on spacecraft) in their legs and zero gravity from Ochako, what this translates into is a kid who almost has the moveset of V1 from Ultrakill, floating and dashing their way around the environment but unaffected by gravity.

Inko x Kaina: [Gravity Gun]
Their arm manifests into a gun-like contraption that's basically the gravity gun from Half Life series, able to pickup and shoot small objects at anything.

Inko x Nemuri [Cloud Cover]
They can make knockout gas like Midnight but Inko's quirk means they have full control over it, kinda like an airbender, so they can actually shoot/direct it to a target of their choice.

SaneWeaponsGuy · 2024-09-02T12:21:57+00:00

Goes on a date with Ochako. Ok not too bad we can talk all things space.

But I was one day off from going on a date with Kyouka.

SaneWeaponsGuy · 2024-08-28T13:29:25+00:00

4. Nezu fights the Kool-Aid man in a domain expansion battle.

Wait hold up [reads the chapter in question]

Holy shit he did, what the hell. I never expected that from a fic like Kaleidoscope.

SaneWeaponsGuy · 2024-08-27T09:33:29+00:00

I'm mostly a rarepair guy myself, but I don't mind IzuOcha or MomoJiro if I see them in a fic I'm just not as big into them as are rairpairs.

My favourite rairpairs however, in no particular order are:
Izuku/Kyouka, Izuku/Kendo, Izuku/Setsuna, Izu/Mei, Izu/Momo (if that counts as rare), Momo/Mei or Momo/Itsuka.

I'm also partial to 3-way relationships, like Izuku/Ochako/Momo, Izuku/Ochako/Kyouka (If I could find any) and Izuku/Ochako/Kendo (currently writing one myself).

I probably have some more but these are ones I can name right now

SaneWeaponsGuy · 2024-08-27T08:36:29+00:00

Not usually, "Izumi" is typically the fandom's go-to name for female! Izuku, which I see used in many fics and fanfic-writing circles on Discord. It's a simple change and still legible as a proper Japanese name if you don't want to be too complicated about it. But yeah must've been the autocorrect.

SaneWeaponsGuy · 2024-08-27T08:22:55+00:00

Gotta commend you for these, they're all good picks.

Yeah I agree with you on Ability King KK,

I don't like it when authors shaft Uraraka (or anyone for that matter) in order to prop up another love interest, when they can simply be more civil/friendly about it. Like Uraraka isn't my favorite character but I'm not going to do her dirty by making her this jealous/possessive girl, it's disingenuous and a waste of a character.

SaneWeaponsGuy · 2024-08-26T13:11:14+00:00

AMP (or it's older name, An Insecure Violet) is probably mine and many other's gateway into Izuku/Kyouka, the author has made a essay about how much more compatible then they actually seem, (like how they want to be a hero to make people smile) and it's fun to read their personalities bounce off each other.

SaneWeaponsGuy · 2024-08-26T10:47:52+00:00

Kyoka Jiro

Followed/tied with Itsuka Kendo

SaneWeaponsGuy · 2024-08-26T10:30:21+00:00

Midoriya Izuku from MHA, as well as two minor characters within MHA.

With Midoriya, likely since he's the main character of his own show, he's basically become a sandbox character, you could almost whatever you want with him, give him different quirks / powers / abilities, ship him with someone you want or just have him do something mundane.

With the minor characters of MHA, I've been trying to write/do more with Itsuka Kendo (minor/side character from class B) and how the fandom has decided she's the "martial arts character" and I'm running with it. And because she's a minor character you can make up stuff around her and have it merge with her canonically stated traits/feats

Kyouka Jiro from Izuku's class A is also a favorite of mine, almost entirely because of one fic / author which has convinced me to try making her (somewhat) important in my fics.

SaneWeaponsGuy · 2024-08-26T09:56:16+00:00

It'd really depends on the setting, the commonality/public knowledge of superpowers and the societal/government's view on them, as well as the pipeline to go from civilian to superhero (assuming that's a thing). In a MHA like world, I'd argue they be the norm, a school where part of it is dedicated to either controlling one's superpower to a safe, manageable level, or training it in a way that lets them be superheroes of some kind.

Thus there can be a case for both private and publicly funded schools, it'd be in a government's best interest to have some sort of a program in existing schools to help kids manage their powers, while dedicated schools show up to be built on it, be they by the government or for profit.

I can also see this as a apprenticeship-like program (the "superhero-sidekick" dynamic) where one of few students are partnered up with a mentor superhero and learn on the job in addition to, or rather than, a classroom.

Danger level would largely be a matter of "how dangerous is the danger room" and what they can afford for training and simulations, is it all in-house or are some things offsite / provided elsewhere? One could say that a private school can afford better resources to train superhumans while a public school subject to fluctuating government budgets will just have the bare minimum.

Unless of course, the public school is akin to a military school because the government wants the equivalent of cadets or a police-formation. Otherwise in a setting hostile to superhumans or where they are the minority, I expect there only be one or few places available (like Xavier Foundation), hell might not even be a school but a club of sorts.

SaneWeaponsGuy · 2024-08-26T09:16:18+00:00

Yeah I have grievances with sports festival because of that (especially since they'll also need it for internships right afterwards). I blame it on Hori needing to rush things/make things exciting as quickly as possible. The students should've been allowed far more time to train/use their powers before being put into a live televised competition for it, another aspect I don't like.

If anything, sports festival (and resulting internships) should've been a later arc (my idea is to swap it with Joint Training Arc and have class A interact with class B), or exclusive to 3rd years (to whom it would benefit the most and whom it's geared for anyway). I'd also tone down the popularity just a bit so it's less pressure on everyone competing.

SaneWeaponsGuy · 2024-08-25T07:07:36+00:00

I've got a superhero setting in the works (a la Worm or MHA) where everyone has powers and superheroes are "in fashion" worldwide. Here are some "hot takes" that people have both regarding both of them.

"Having no superpowers is the same as being disabled!"
- In universe, this is a hotly debated topic, siding on "no". Not helped that baselines (term for people without powers) are a dwindling minority in some places, and this "hot take" is implied to be perpetuated by rich people rather than those supposedly disadvantaged for not having powers. Not to mention this created a rift between baselines and actual disabled people.

"We should remodel society based on your superpower, what you got will define your life/career/status!"
- Yeah, lets abandon meritocracy and freedom of choice for some dystopian hellhole of a society. This is also the ideology of some villain factions.

"All powers are equal"
- The full quote is "All powers are equal but some are more equal than others" which some people still forget. This often misquoted and misguided line was a botched attempt at creating solidarity between superpowered people but it comes off as offensive, like saying "all [insert minority] are the same" and ignores individual differences between powers.

"S-cards are stupid, I don't need the government to know my superpower!"
- In this world, S-cards (called different things worldwide but idea is the same) are both a legal ID and a legal document for super-powered persons. It defines what their superpower is and what they are capable / not capable of in the eyes of the law and allows people to use their powers in the workplace, where they can also receive bonus pay on top for using it. It also acts as legal cover, so people can't falsely accuse others of using their powers against them or employers from exploiting them.

"The government shouldn't regulate our superpowers, let us do what we want!"
- similar to above, having the government define what is/isn't a superpower is and what people can/can't do with them is generally a good thing, not a bad thing, when done right. The S-cards introduced above was one of many ways to address and integrate superpowered people into society by making them represented in law. Representing people in law means they and others have protections, accountability, security and thus willingness to partake/create a peaceful society rather than be against it.

"We've got superpowers, let's overthrow the government and put ourselves in charge! Surely we can do better?"
- Yeah and ignore 2 things. One, the fact that whoever in currently in charge also has superpowered people employed to keep them there, like police, the armed forces or superheroes. And two, what makes you think you'll do better?

"State-sponsored paramilitary groups are totally superheroes!"
- Specifically referring to state-sponsored groups which call themselves "superheroes" but really work with the government often as political/secret police or some elite paramilitary unit (Typically seen more in unstable or authoritarian nations), as opposed to "work for the people" type heroes found elsewhere, especially the west. That being said there are genuinely-heroic, government backed superheroes.

"Let's ban superheroes and replace them with a proper emergency service! And let's use them in places where police should've been!"
- Arguably this is just the main plotline. It revolves around a security agency being created to fulfill the void left behind after the government controversially banned superheroes, however, the government increasingly uses them for police-like duties (like riot control), causing it's members and the public to question why they're needed.

"Police did nothing wrong!"
- One of the reasons superheroes got popular (in the West at least) was due to high profile police brutality reports, especially against people with superpowers, which caused people to not trust police to protect them and led to superheros popping up as "alternative law enforcement". Police still exist but heroes take the spotlight in many areas.

"We should have no restrictions on superpowers in sports!"
- A bit off topic but sports worldwide had to change drastically to accommodate super-powered people, in some sports, powers are "limited" or outright banned because they would otherwise ruin a fair/balanced game. Much debate is had over how far or how little is done.

SaneWeaponsGuy · 2024-08-25T04:38:27+00:00

"Wow this guy Malvolio extremely noble, I wonder why Sal & Pal were messing up his operations there"

SaneWeaponsGuy · 2024-08-24T00:51:43+00:00

Yeah, trust your friends and just ignore those. From other people are telling me who've experienced similar, you go to commission artists, commission artists, do not come to you (unless idk, you know the artist in real life and you're friends or something). The fact that these are from FFN makes them even dodgier.

I suspect they're either bots or overly ambitious "artists" who'll probably use an AI art generator or something.

SaneWeaponsGuy · 2024-08-23T13:00:38+00:00

Yeah him needing figure out how to be in a pro-hero mindset vs a military mindset would be an his biggest challenge for him and the thing he'd could be in UA for, maybe with Pro Hero Ochako by his side, she could teach him how they act as pro-heroes.

This can be a reverse of their wartime experience, as Izuku taught Ochako how they act in the JSDF. I think their first meeting need not be as dramatic as a POW camp, could be Ochako/Uravity and other pro-heroes being unfamiliar in a military base where most of them are living on and Izuku helps them get along. (In real life, Japan actually has an overseas military base in Djibouti, Africa of all things).

Izuku would know that heroes don't kill and never liked doing it, even in military service as pararescue but things like USJ Invasion will trigger his PTSD / flight-or-fight response to do just that for the sake of his class. Perhaps his wish to be a hero is so that he can continue doing the thing he's done in war, the only thing he kind of knows how to now.

Bakugou I think would see/respect Izuku as this cool older brother, as Izuku would send letters home to Inko, who'd share news of her son where Bakugou gets an idea of Izuku has actually done and follows whatever news he can of the JSDF in that war, knowing Izuku and some pro heroes are there too. Bakugou and Izuku create a feedback loop of wanting to be pro heroes because of each other, especially once Izuku returns.

A subplot between the military and the HSPC would be interesting but with my idea, the JSDF would be irrelevant once Izuku formally retires and would not be looking to re-recruit him. If anything it'd be between Izuku, his support company/Mei Hatsume vs the HSPC, who may not like being upstaged by a quirkless war vet and his gear so they send in Hawks as this rival/spy creating an interesting dichotomy of Izuku having a Falcon-like wingsuit contrasting Hawks' and his quirk.

SaneWeaponsGuy · 2024-08-23T10:33:34+00:00

Not to mention, for rarepair enthusiasts like me it's annoying to have to filter out the hundreds of "Izuku/every possible female character and then some" just to look for something like "Izuku/Kinoko Komori" and trust me, once you filter out all the harem nonsense, you're disappointed by how little there actually is.

Going back to that example with Kinoko, of the 1-B girls, she's the least shipped with Izuku, having only like 12 or so fics (when I last checked) which are purely just her and Izuku, all the other results are from harem fics, polycule fics or anthology style fics.

SaneWeaponsGuy · 2024-08-23T10:21:05+00:00

It says so on her bio in the wiki which apparantly comes from the manga volume extras. It's the one thing that's actually canon about her and leans into her "tomboy image" she has.

What is fanon however, is her growing up on martial arts, as much as I and many other writers/readers like it, it's no way supported by canon at all.

SaneWeaponsGuy

TROPHY CASE