To Be Anyone But Me
is a My Hero Academia Deconstruction Fic by Pikaboo_73. Izuku Midoriya struggles to go through his day by day life trying to handle being an ordinary human in a superpowered world wanting nothing more than to be a hero for those like him. When the opportunity to achieve his dreams presents itself, his mental fortitude is tested as he encounters the glaring flaws of the society he wants to be apart of.
This work contains examples of:
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Not so much events, but Izuku is much more negatively affected by the circumstances in his life.
- Adaptational Badass: Izuku is better at fighting than canon, successfully freeing Katsuki from the Sludge Villain and getting 27 villain points during the Entrance Exam.
- Adaptational Early Appearance: Himiko Toga appears during Izuku's final year of middle school rather than the Hosu aftermath.
- Adaptational Heroism: Downplayed. Himiko isn't a hero, she just isn't a villain. Though she is willing to help Izuku in any way she can.
- Adaptational Intelligence: While not far from canon, Izuku uses his intelligence more often and more successfully than his canon self.
- Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: Izuku has this with many people.
- Izuku and Himiko are really close friends, with Himiko trying to turn it into something more, rather than enemies.
- Downplayed with All Might. While they have the same mentor/student relationship, Izuku does not have the same blind admiration and trust for All Might as in canon.
- Downplayed with Katsuki. While the bully/victim relationship hasn't changed, Izuku acknowledges that Katsuki is his abuser rather than trying to convince himself he's a friend like in canon.
- Adaptational Seriousness: Many of the flaws of the MHA world that are overlooked or Played for Laughs are treated seriously and have pretty dark consequences.
- Adults Are Useless: While some try to help, all of the adults in Izuku's life either don't recognizes the problems he goes through, can't do anything about them, or add to the problems.
- Awesome by Analysis: Izuku uses his analysis in multiple ways to successfully handle multiple problems. For example, he searches community tabs on the days of the U.A. Entrance Exam and reads posts before they are taken down to figure out what the exam is about and the minimum score to pass. He later uses this knowledge to figure out the rescue point system.
- Because You Were Nice to Me:
- Izuku treasures anyone who treats him with even the smallest amount of kindness.
- Himiko gains an actual healthy, if not a bit obsessive, crush on Izuku because he's the first person to show her kindness and accept her.
- Fantastic Racism: Discussed. Izuku notes how people like him and Himiko are mistreated because of society's views on their their quirks or lack thereof.
- For Want Of A Nail:
- Izuku meets Himiko during his middle school year and befriends her.
- Izuku gets first place in the Entrance Exam due to gaining actual villain points and extra hero points he didn't get in canon.
- Izuku doesn't tell Katsuki he was given a quirk after the battle trial.
- Hates Being Touched: Because it was a frequent method of intimidation by Katsuki, any time someone reaches for Izuku's shoulder, it triggers a panic attack.
- I Hate Past Me: Izuku hates his weakness and not fixing it in the past (he has tried but reasonably couldn't).
- In Spite of a Nail
- Izuku does not view Katsuki as a friend but still calls him Kacchan out of habit and fear.
- Izuku successfully frees Katsuki from the Sludge Villain, but they still needs to be rescued by All Might due to Katsuki passing out from oxygen depreviation.
- Despite not overworking himself (and asking), Izuku still only finishes cleaning the beach and gets One For All the day of the Entrance Exam.
- Despite Izuku's extensive preparation to take the exam quirkless, Izuku still uses One For All at the end of it.
- Despite showing being able to fight and adapt without his quirk during the Entrance Exam, Aizawa still criticizes Izuku about his performance.
- Despite the increased trauma reception, Izuku still accepts the name "Deku" from Ochako. Though it is from trying to take the name back and make it his own rather than from embarrassment from female interaction.
- Law of Disproportionate Response: For every terrible situation Izuku is in, people's responses don't match the seriousness of it.
- All Might brushing off Izuku's near-death experience when he first used One For All
- Aizawa giving underwhelming responses to Katsuki's insane actions.
- Class 1-A praising Izuku for his "fight" instead of being concerned for his injuries.
- Properly Paranoid: Although it borders Improperly Paranoid, Izuku's experiences make him assume the worst out of everyone towards him, especially if they find out he's quirkless.
- Restrained Revenge: Izuku claims he could easily get revenge on Katsuki, but instead wants him to be better by showing him how to be a hero.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Mount Lady yells at Izuku, a civilian, for ruining her debut. Then she, along with Kamui Woods and Death Arms, berate him for his actions. Again. This pushes Izuku to the point that he yells at them for their inaction.
- All Might has this throughout the series.
- Leaves Izuku alone on a roof after crushing his dreams.
- Him casually dismissing Izuku nearly dying after using One For All for the first time.
- Him continuing the Battle Trial because of Izuku's "feelings" (that never asked about and was incorrect).
- Aizawa has this throughout the series.
- Him disliking Izuku for reminding him of All Might.
- Him changing Izuku's score on the QAT, putting Izuku in last despite his performance. Even though he didn't expel Izuku, it shows he was planning to expel him regardless of how he actually did.
- Gives no consequences for Katsuki trying to attack Izuku.
- Gives no consequences for Katsuki's intentional lethal attack on Izuku and berates Izuku for breaking himself with his quirk despite the circumstances.
- Class 1-A, minus Bakugo and Uraraka, praising or ignoring Izuku (who just got healed from surviving a brutal beatdown, breaking himself and having a near-death-experience, and is still injured) instead of asking if he's okay. The fact that they later show they were disturbed by what they saw but chose to ignore it and ask if he and Katsuki were friends makes it worse.
