#(the best guess would probably be AFO. though whether that's a voluntary thing? i came up with half-a-dozen different scenarios)

[racke7]

Sooo... I got bored and started trying to make crossovers happen again.

And basically, I've realized how very close BNHA and Worm are to each other, as far as settings are concerned.

Like, there are underlying differences in the world-building, but:

Powers appeared from an unknown source

Heroes and Villains are a thing

Powers are very unique, but tend to be "thematic" in families

In my opinion, the biggest differences between the settings are:

BNHA takes place in Japan, Worm in the USA

Scion is a well-known "all the powers"-cape, AFO is an unknown "all the powers"-cape

Worm has Endbringers

And... that's pretty much it.

Which lead me to think about "BNHA with Endbringers" and... it sure does fuck with the setting a LOT.

[racke7]

#worm has a fuckton of bullshit ''word of god'' and ridiculous hand-waving for a shitton of things #but who really listens to wildbow about anything at this point? especially about his own writing? #but like... Endbringers. here's an enemy-of-humanity that can't be denied. they'll destroy cities at random. #most everyone who fights them WILL die. and if nobody fights them then the cities are wiped out completely. #Villains would suddenly not be a priority. especially if the Villains had powers that could maybe save lives during Endbringer fights. #(without the Entities to blame though. it made me think about who could be responsible for them existing. and... uhh...) #(the best guess would probably be AFO. though whether that's a voluntary thing? i came up with half-a-dozen different scenarios) #(and like... they all WILDLY change how AFO should be perceived by the reader. Endbringers are incredible.)

Regarding that last note. I wrote that down, and like... geez.

1) AFO is a shadow-figure, amassing power, and not participating in Endbringer-fights

1.1) AFO wants to kill the Endbringers, and is amassing power for that reason → AFO knows that if he gets killed in an Endbringer-fight, all of his efforts will be for naught → AFO also doesn't tell anyone about his powers because their outrage at his actions might hinder him → AFO is trying to Save Humanity → AFO has massive amounts of self-righteousness in his cause.

1.2) AFO wants nothing to do with the Endbringers, and is basically planning to "rule over the ashes" → Humanity is doomed, so if they're all going to die, AFO wants to live however he feels like until that time → AFO only obeys the Truce if he thinks that he might get caught not-obeying it → AFO has zero redeemable qualities and is a genuinely terrible person.

2) AFO is a known entity and isn't participating in Endbringer-fights

2.1) AFO wants to kill the Endbringers and is avoiding fighting them because all of his "amassing power" relies on him staying alive → AFO helps the Heroes by making "perfect heroes" by combining quirks for them to fight the Endbringers with → AFO is a respected and somewhat feared member of the Good Guys (probably) → Likely, there are rumors of him stealing quirks from "innocents".

2.2) AFO established himself as a warlord during the failing attempts of government-control → AFO will abandon his "territory" and move to a different one if an Endbringer attacks, and not feel more than annoyed about it → AFO is firmly in the camp of "the world is ending, I will eat my cake".

3) AFO is an unknown entity that participates in Endbringer-fights

3.1) AFO wants to kill the Endbringers, but is hiding himself from the world → AFO considers the Endbringers to be "rivals" for his world-domination and is trying to eliminate them → AFO's fights are carefully chosen for "the right time", and is usually him trying out a hopeful-seeming new quirk → AFO is very much still a Villain.

3.2) AFO wants to kill the Endbringers, but is hiding himself from the world → AFO is attempting to amass power in order to kill the Humanity-Destroyers → AFO tries on multiple occasions to kill the Endbringers (believing himself "done" with amassing power, only to be proven wrong) → AFO still keeps his amassing secret (because it's illegal) and his fights secret (because it's humiliating to lose) → AFO doesn't want to rule over a wasteland → AFO might not be entirely Villainous in ideology.

4) AFO is a known entity that participates in the Endbringer fights

4.1) AFO is a warlord who will defend his territory even from Endbringers → AFO doesn't succeed in killing the Endbringers, but is still considered easily one of the strongest "capes" in the world → AFO is very much a Villain, and likely arrogant about being able to "scare off" the Endbringers.

4.2) AFO is a Villain who will respect the Truce and will often even fight the Endbringers personally → AFO is considered "respectable" Villain → AFO might be manipulating this for his own gain, but he does at least pretend to be a Righteous Villain.

4.3) AFO is a maybe-Hero who will offer people "deals" for better quirks, and who is constantly fighting the Endbringers for the sake of humanity → AFO has a complicated reputation → AFO is a ruthless bastard who wants the Endbringers dead.

5) The origins of the Endbringers

5.1) Super-quirks that sometimes appeared over the course of history → Will there be more of them? Is there any point in killing them? Who were these people before their quirks turned them into Endbringers? → ???

5.2) The Endbringers were experiments into "quirk origins" → The people this was done to were "consumed by their quirks" and became Endbringers → Quirk-research is super-illegal for good reason → (If AFO creates noumus, he's likely doing it with a "mutually assured destruction" kind of philosophy) → Endbringer-worshiping cults are likely more common, and likely a LOT more dangerous (because they could theoretically create new Endbringers) → ???

5.3) AFO created the Endbringers

5.3.1) AFO went "oops" → He was planning on making a "perfect weapon" and couldn't control them afterwards → His motivations for 1-4 are now slightly different → (Fixing his mistakes, etc).

5.3.2) AFO was captured and "mined" for quirks → The experiment went haywire (possibly because of AFO adding "extra quirks" to the process somehow) → AFO escaped → AFO's feelings towards 1-4 are now slightly different → (Karmic justice for the world which did that to him, etc).

Conclusion

I don't think I could convince myself to write any of these scenarios, but it sure as fuck changes things, doesn't it?

Like, honorable mentions going to:

2.1 -> A bright young hero being confronted with AFO being a self-righteous and ruthless bastard who "helps" their coworkers to become stronger, and they have to play nice with him, because the Endbringers are still breathing down everyone's necks, and don't you want the people you love to be safe? -> Horror-fuel

5.3.2 -> Giving AFO a sympathetic reason for him to wash his hands of the Endbringers and simply sit back and watch the world burn, without really painting him as "good/bad" for it (he might be good/bad for other reasons in the setting, that's still very much open) -> A jaded mirror to a young hero's optimism about the world.

But yeah, these are really just scraping the tip of the iceberg. You can take these things and mix and match them in a lot of different ways, and the world would be different for every single one of them. And from a world-building perspective I think that that's fantastic.

It's just that I also fucking hate the Endbringers from a narrative perspective, because they're natural-disasters. There's no real emotional investment in Endbringer-fights, because they're just a bunch of dudes fighting a big meat-grinder with sticks.

The "danger"-stakes are high, the "narrative importance and opposing ideologies"-stakes are practically nonexistent. Endbringers don't care. They just do Endbringer-things until they die or are turned off.

So... I'm still tearing my hair out trying to figure out how to make a crossover between these settings work, without involving Endbringers. And preferably also without including "BNHA's Big Problem" in the mix, because "punching people solves the problem" is much more satisfying, narratively, than "we need legal reforms".

Sooo... I got bored and started trying to make crossovers happen again.

And basically, I've realized how very close BNHA and Worm are to each other, as far as settings are concerned.

Like, there are underlying differences in the world-building, but:

Powers appeared from an unknown source

Heroes and Villains are a thing

Powers are very unique, but tend to be "thematic" in families

In my opinion, the biggest differences between the settings are:

BNHA takes place in Japan, Worm in the USA

Scion is a well-known "all the powers"-cape, AFO is an unknown "all the powers"-cape

Worm has Endbringers

And... that's pretty much it.

Which lead me to think about "BNHA with Endbringers" and... it sure does fuck with the setting a LOT.