When Freemen Shall Stand is the second part of the My Hero Academia fanfic series Hold the Banner High by DeusVerve, following the events of In Triumph Doth Wave.
The fic can be read on Archive of Our Own here
, and the series can be found here.
Tropes in this fic include:
- Ascended Extra:
Ippan Josei, a minor character from two chapters of the manga, becomes Izuku's babysitter in Where Freeman Now Stand. - Call-Forward: Ippan explains that she's taking her classes online while Nedzu set something up for her between terms. Cathleen reflects that, knowing Nedzu, he's planning on somehow remodelling the entire school in those few weeks, giving an explanation for the extreme height of the doors at U.A.
- Cheerful Child: Izuku, natch. He's extremely enthusiastic about Quirks and bombards Ippan with questions about her Quirk.
- Expy: John Henry, the Pro Hero Steeldriver, is based on the man from the folktale.
- Failed a Spot Check: Ippan didn't realise that Cathleen was really Star and Stripe until she saw a picture of her in her Management lecture. It's a Justified Trope, since you wouldn't expect the Number One American Hero to be living with her wife in Japan, and they forgot to tell Ippan who Cathleen actually was.
- Fantastic Racism: Not directly shown, but Inko and Cathleen both notice how Ippan Josei carries herself. They speculate that her height and nonhuman appearance mean she's discriminated against. Later, Ippan Josei mentions that it's hard for her mother, who is similarly sized, to find work.
- Friendly Rivalry: Cathleen has this with John Henry, a Pro Hero from West Virginia. He is her main competition for being the #1 National Hero, yet makes a point of coming to California to congratulate her on her wedding.
- Height Angst: Downplayed, yet present. Ippan Josei is over nine feet tall and is used to being too big for certain venues. She has to take her classes online since U.A is not currently large enough for her to be comfortable. She's worried that, given her parents' heights she could grow even taller.
- Huge Schoolgirl: Exaggerated. Ippan Josei has at least two feet on Cathleen, who is not a short woman at seven feet tall. This as well as her nonhuman appearance has made Ippan a shy, nervous girl with extremely restrained body language.
- Poor Communication Kills: Cathleen and Inko both thought that they had told Ippan about Cathleen being Star and Stripe. This makes a slightly awkward moment for both parties when Ippan sees Star and Stripe in her lecture and puts two and two together.
- Square-Cube Law: Mentioned by name when Izuku asks Ippan Josei about how well she breathes and if she has trouble with overheating due to her size.
