#my hero academia salt

[justanisabelakinnie]

I think if I never have to hear Attack on Titan, My Hero Academia, The Promised Neverland, and Puella Magi Madoka Magica recommended as “good/outstanding/feminist” works of media for anime newcomers to check out ever again, then I can finally, finally, FINALLY fucking die in peace.

[moodyvoid]

After pestering him for days, you finally convince Dabi to pierce your tongue.

Beforehand, he’s taunting you the whole time saying “It’s gonna hurt really bad— are you sure you still want to?” getting a kick out of seeing you nervous.

However, once it’s time for the act, he’s surprisingly gentle as he tilts your head to face him just right and he directs you on what to do. His voice is soft, but stern.

“Stop moving.”

You start to realize how intimate this all is once he’s up close to you, lining up the needle. The two of you catch eyes for a moment, “Take a deep breath for me… and breathe out.” as he pushes the needle through, securing the jewelry in place. You blink a few times, not even realizing it’s over.

“Not so bad, huh?” he asks, putting aside all the tools while you look in the mirror.

You go to ask him what he thinks about it, but barely get the question out before he’s kissing you — something he was fighting the urge to do the entire time.

[theweeklydiscourse]

God forbid you ever criticize the lack of consequences Bakugou experiences in MHA, or suddenly you’ll find dozens of Bakugou stans pouring into your mentions to make a speech about how cruel you are for forcing him to eat cement. They’ll act as though “consequences” inherently involves throwing him into the dungeon or putting him in detention for 100 years and then moan about how him facing consequences would only perpetuate a cycle of abuse/discrimination.

Listen, it’s not really that much of a consequence if the “consequence” in question isn’t directly connected to his current or past bad behaviour. “Oh but his scars!” “When he died that one time!” “His guilt for getting kidnapped” None of those are related to his bullying, and in my opinion, that makes them insufficient as consequences in an arc about changing for the better.

The consequences I would actually like to see could be as simple as: Izuku feels sad/mad because of what he went through, or certain characters reflect on how Bakugou’s past impacts their perception of him. More introspection on the victim’s end is needed, Bakugou doesn’t necessarily need to be pilloried for the arc to be satisfying.

[saltisboring]

First Meetings

[sayuricorner]

Unpopular opinion: I think class 1-A from MHA manage the "Friends class" dynamic way better than the Akuma class from Miraculous Ladybug.

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

one thing i can appreciate about bakugou is that at least he put more effort into his apology than catra.

does that justify his actions? absolutely not. but it's something.

[z-mizcellaneous-z]

[hamsteriffic]

Miraculous Fandom Stats 2023

A Visit to Gotham

…and beyond

As promised here are my stats for Miraculous Ladybug fics on Ao3 with crossovers only. To see a snapshot for Miraculous Ladybug without crossovers click here.

📈 The data presented here is a snapshot of the Fandom on 06 Jan 2024

Don't be mad! I'm just a stats hamster.

🖤 Proportion of Crossover fics

At the time of posting, Crossover Fics accounted for 13% of the total fanfics on Ao3 (9177 works) (Fig 1A). They were predominantly featured in Batman All Media Types (5097 works) or DCU (1034 works), accounting for 68% of all crossover fics (Fig 1D). The majority of the works were rated for General (39%) or Teen Audiences (39%) (Fig 1B).

Fig 1. Proportion of Miraculous Ladybug works posted on Ao3 in 2023 [A] featuring crossovers (grey) and without crossovers (black); [B] and the proportion of all works posted on Ao3 as of January 06, 2024 (9177 works). [C] The proportion of cross-overs outside of the MariBat fandom as well as [D] the growth of the top ten fandoms in crossovers in 2023 (red) are also presented.

Excluding works from the MariBat fandom, the second highest number of works to be crossovered with ML was Boko No Hero Academia with 348 works (3%) and is also the fastest growing crossover fandom, almost doubling in works in 2023 (141 new works) (Fig 1C-D).

🖤 Top 10 Fandom Crossovers

Here are the crossovers in a Table format.

Table 1. Top 10 Fandoms in 2023 and percentage change compared to 2022.

Popular Tags used in 2023 (number of works) and percent change compared to 2022:

Fluff (246): -2%

Angst (161): -1%

Badass Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug (130): -1%

Lila Rossi Bashing (127): +1%

Alternate Universe (100): -7%

Hurt/Comfort (94): -2%

🖤 Top 5 Relationships

Fig 2. Top 5 relationships in ML crossover fics in 2023 and percentage change when compared to the year prior.

While works tagged with Adrien/Marinette has increased by 3% in 2023 when compared to the year before (Fig 2) the top 5 relationship pairings have not changed with Daminette taking first place.

Relationship Tags with Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug across all time (from Highest to Lowest):

Damien Wayne (1870 fics)

Adrien Agreste (1237 fics)

Jason Todd (806 fics)

Tim Drake (580 fics)

Dick Grayson (321 fics)

Hope this entertained you! Until 2024, same stats time, same stats channel.

Sodium Content and Methodology below the cut:

🖤 Top 5 Salt Categories

Look, Marinette is in Gotham for a reason. Usually it’s because of some sort of common table condiment/seasoning. Here is a breakdown:

Fig 3. Frequently tagged salt and character bashing tags across all crossover works prior to 2023 (green) and new works posted/updated subsequent to Jan 01, 2023 (dark blue). The change in numbers to the previous year (where present) are indicated.

Methods

Partitioning

To see changes in crossover fics in the ML fandom over time, I have tracked the number of crossovers posted to Ao3 per year.

Data was filtered by the date the fic was last posted, between 01 Jan - 31 Dec for each year.

Note that older fics may get updated, this data is only a reflection of the fandom at one moment in time. This analysis was performed 06 Jan 2024.

Filtering

Note that I have followed the Ao3 definition of a slash representing romantic relationships and & indicates platonic relationships.

[bakubamboom]

Art of Dabi from MHA doing the saltbae thing with ashes cuz I thought it was a hilarious idea.

Maybe I should redraw this one since my art has improved a bit since then.

[emerald-dragonflame]

Art Style/AU Challenge PT 2: My Hero Academia's Style

Part 1 and Explanation here

I understand now why people hate lineart... thin lines suuuuuck. I don't think I captured the MHA style all that well, and I'm not entirely sure what exactly it's missing, but I hope it's still somewhat recognizable. Also, the names of the Flying Serpent Crew is subject to change in some AUs if I feel it works better with the story I'm telling (I'll put their real names in parenthesis so it's less confusing)

Backstory:

buckle up, this might be a bit wordy, but I tried to make it as brief as possible

Lady Drake: The Dragon Fire Hero

Quirk: Dragon

She has the ability to fly, breath fire, and have super strength, along with the ability to be resistant to fire

Taiba was born in Nigeria and immigrated to America when she was less than a year old with her parents and 3 other siblings. She's very cut off from her native country, and is the only one of her 3 companions that adores her adopted country. Making it a little difficult for her to really connect Bruce (Brosmýr's name in this AU), and Victerico, since their both also immigrants.

She had always wanted to be a pro hero, especially after her quirk appeared. In this AU, I headcannon that America in MHA, the way that you become a pro hero is either by 1. simply passing a test, like for driving or a GED, or 2. going to collage specifically for it, and Taiba went to college. This is were she meets Bruce Ficsher, her future partner and husband.

They both start their own independent company after college, of which I don't have a name for, yet.

Nightingale: The Feathered Lighting Hero

Quirk: Harpy

He can fly, is crazy fast, can control lightning, and can mimic voices and sounds, but only if he's heard them before

Bruce Ficsher was born and raised in Ireland for most of his childhood, but when his father got a job in the states, they moved there when he was a teenager. Due to this, he's still a little bit bitter at his father for forcing him to leave his friends and family to go to a country he barely cares for.

He's pretty down for the 2nd amendment tho.

When he was born, he... very much looked like a baby bird, bulging tired eyes, chicken wings, and all. He did eventually grow out some down feathers, but it didn't really help the teasing from his classmates. That is, of course, until he got a lot bigger than them. He was always referred to as a bit creepy, and being a bit of a loner didn't help.

Bruce wanted to be a hero mostly because of that. He wanted to show that even if he wasn't the most appealing looking hero, he could still do good. That he wasn't condemned to being a villain. That all he ever wanted to do was help those in need.

He was fine just simply talking the Hero's Test and shadowing under a Pro until he could get his full license, but his parents had other plans. So they sent him to college, where he met Taiba.

During their college days, they butted heads a lot. However, forced proximity made them need to start to work together (their powers worked very well together), and they learned that they were a very good team.

They started dating their first year together, and got married before they even finished college.

Captain Serpent: The Water Snake Hero

Quirk: Water Serpent

He has the ability to breath under water, use hydrokinesis, and glide in the air. He, however, can't fly

Victerico left his native country of Spain and when he was in his mid twenties. He is the eldest of the three, being in his early 40s, and is the one that was the most down on his luck.

You see, Viterico came to America on the hope that he could start a new life for himself. A better job, maybe find a wife, and start a family. However, bad break, after terrible luck, after bad timing led to him being homeless and jobless. And would have rather die than live like that, so he became a villain.

Due to his quirk making him look like a sea monster, Victerico decided to hang out in rivers and swamps, lying in wait for people to scare. When he did, they would either run, and hopefully drop something valuable, or he would threaten them until they gave him something valuable. It was awful, but it worked.

After a couple of years of doing this, he was captured by Taiba and Bruce, however, this would turn out to be his big break. For you see, Viterico was the only witness to a murder that had been perpetrated by an infamous serial killer.

He helped Lady Drake (Taiba) and Nightingale (Bruce) finally catch (and sadly kill) the villain, and in turn, the two of them heard his story. They rescued him from prison, on the condition that he become the third member of their agency. Viterico accepted, and after taking the test, and shadowing under the two of them, he became the latest member of the (name pending) Agency.

Main Story:

This is getting long, so I will try to make this brief; their agency ends up in Japan after the appearance of All for One, coming to try and help by their own volition. I imagine that they would want to try and help the students of UA. And with Bruce being a huge language nerd (seriously, if he wasn't gonna be a hero, he would've been a linguist), they were able to get along just fine in Japan. Coming into the main story of MHA after the Provisional Hero License Arc, trying their best to be both protectors of the UA students, and help with the expanding crime after All Might looses his power.

Single Portraits under cut ↓

[mariagreenwoodart]

Wow I'm using this reference again

I first used it on a picture of Himiko Toga from MHA back in may of last year.

At the time, I was really proud of it (and tbh the shading isn't half bad). But the line art is kinda wonky and the proportions are kinda off.

But then in November/December, I decided to draw Furina from Genshin Impact in that pose.

And oh. My. GOODNESS. I LOVE IT. It's one of the best things I've ever drawn.

Now I'm gonna draw Mitsuri Kanroji from kny in that pose.

Wish me luck!

[hall-of-the-pyromancer]

Can't wait for the newest episode to drop where the villain stans and Enji haters invigorate their hatred for the man over what he did... despite the fact that everything that Enji did in the past has already been stated where he went further down the slippery slope after Toya "died" and nothing said in the episode and the corresponding chapter is new info. Seen it when the chapter released so it's gonna be pathetic when the episode comes out. I can already see the posts like "Endeavor fans, how can y'all like this man?" Idk, how can y'all like Dabi who's killed 30+ lives, went along with the League who plunged Japan into darkness, wants to kill Shoto and didn't care if Natsuo died, and almost caused a 5 km nuke that would've killed everyone at Gunga, the Todorokis, and who knows how many others?

[epickiya722]

If I see one more person say they don't like Izuku Midoriya because he is "too pure" or "too good", I'm going to lose my damn mind.

HIM? People, Midoriya is a good person, but is he a "too pure" person?

He is impulsive, reckless, a bit selfish, quick to anger, and would probably kill someone.

A "too pure" character is Koji Koda. Eri is another. Hell, Kirishima is more "pure" than Midoriya!

But Izuku Midoriya?

Maybe we're not looking at the same character because mind you, IF YOU ACTUALLY GET PAST FUCKING SEASON 1, then you would know that he becomes this later.

DOES THAT LOOK LIKE "TOO PURE" TO YOU?!

And he becomes this way OUT OF HIS OWN WILL!! He wasn't just magically corrupted!!

GET PAST THE FIRST SEASON AND VOLUME OF MY HERO ACADEMIA AND THEN COME TALK TO ME!!

[astroarcane]

I wonder wtf the BNHA author's reaction would be to the entire fandom constantly ripping into his self insert

[pikahlua]

pika i miss kacchan so much... the manga ain't the same without him 🥲

I'm gonna be honest: I'm barely hanging on by a thread here. Katsuki really became the emotional core of the story, and his reflections, even when obscured from the readers, are the narration I'm desperately missing, not Izuku's. I actually think that's a function of the story, that Izuku has become the "hero" while Katsuki is the "protagonist/reflection character" (at one point it was split between Izuku and All Might, then All Might retired). The PLW is where this switchover really became clear to me. So without Izuku's thoughts and without Katsuki's reactions to everything, we're just waiting through the moments where Horikoshi has to bring back all his characters before the ultimate finale. But that doesn't do much for me, the one here entirely for Katsuki Bakugou and Katsuki Bakugou alone lol. I warned y'all this story is boring as hell without him. I heckin' warned y'all.

[bibibbon]

Hey. I want to ask is it weird to create a oc just for the sake to make someone who love Izuku so much they take his responsibility from him as being all might successor. There is a whole plot reason why OC is doing it not just for love but I am a huge sucker for hero being saved metaphorically and literally by their love interest.

Nothing makes me happy to see a self sacrificing hero being saved by one person who love them so much they rather change the fate of the world themselves if it mean to let the hero be return to bliss.

Like I say, it is your rewrite, so do what you want with it!!!

I don't think it's a bad thing to create a character for another character. I mean, horikoshi did it with Toga and ochako, didn't he?

However, it very much depends on your execution.

For example, I think the execution of toga and ochako in this sense is okay. It had some problems like how the ship itself revolved around a male character or other aspects of the two characters really lacking a lot of parallels between each other.

I have talked about my opinions on this pairing, and honestly, it could have worked had it been executed differently.

Another example of a writer creating a character for another character is the dragon prince. This, in my opinion, can be seen with claudia and Terry.

This is definitely my opinion, but from what I have seen and heard, the dragon prince writers were thinking of giving claudia a romantic partner early on in the series. Some speculate that it was supposed to be the protagonist callum, but it ended up being a character introduced in season 4 called Terry.

A few minority of people hold onto the belief that callum was supposed to initially be Claudia's love interest for a huge number of reasons, one of them being Terry being quite similar to arc 1 callum especially in mannerisms.

An example is the "trees to meet you" line.

Now, the problem isn't that Terry may have been created for this reason but how his character was used.

Terry, for the most part in the series, is literally just Claudia's boyfriend. That's exactly what he is in the series. He kills for claudia. He watches claudia kill for her father, and he is the comedic relief in his group.

He is a one-note character, and while I don't think it was intentional, it is true. Due to the lack of information and arc for Terry as a character, he ends up being a plot device type of character.

From what we know of Terry, which is implied in season 4, the earth blood elves didn't accept him for being trans so it does explain why he isn't connected to them or why he doesn't mention them much as that must of been scaring for him.

I would assume that the earthblood elves abandoned Terry and some time during the two years that viren was dead and Terry was stranded alone without anyone claudia and Terry found each other. Both alone and desperate for some source of interaction and companionship, they quickly became boyfriend and girlfriend.

For Terry, claudia is everything he has. She is his only companion, and in a way, she became something he depended on during the dark (his light in the darkness, who knows 🤷‍♀️). The same thing barely applies to claudia herself as her mission was focused mainly on viren and resurrecting her father no matter what it took.

Claudia DOES love Terry, yet their relationship is toxic at that. From what we see in season 4, claudia is seen to hold the type of belief that all elves are bad and that Terry is "one of the good ones."

Now obviously mixed with Claudia's own experiences pre season 4 with an elf being the one that is responsible for her father's death or an elf being responsible for king harrows death, that combined with what she previously was told about elves and what aaravos told her about elves and dragons it is understandable that she would develop the idea that "ALL elves and dragons are evil until proven otherwise."

While I did say it and will say it again claudia does love Terry yet due to the way she was taught how to love which in season 6 she claims that it was her father viren who taught her how to love (not a good look)we can come to understand that her love can have quite the toxic nature to it.

It is after all her feelings of helplessness that caused her to abandon Terry because she didn't want anyone she loved to abandon her again, so he chose to abandon him.

Now, enough talking about claudia going back to Terry, he is someone who is seen to have quite the optimistic outlook in things. While his love for claudia and overdependence on her (to a certain extent) is toxic that it's caused him to do actions such as killing ibis and watching sir sparklespuff be killed which he is seen to actively show signs of remorse about. Terry still seems to love claudia. He accepts her for who she is, and a part of this can definitely be linked to his trauma surrounding rejection from the earthblood elves (which I wish was explored more, we need a Terry backstory!!)

Now, in season 6, we see Terry actively oppose aaravos, which is definitely going to cause a strain on both his and Claudia's relationship. I definitely see Terry leaving, which would be a huge moment for his character, but due to the lack of information and backstory for him pre season 4, I fear that it may be underwhelming.

I guess what I wanted to say from this huge ramble is if you are going to make a character to be the other half or to be there primarily for another character please give both characters equal level of nuance and don't make them one noted.