I don\'t even have to read this fanfic to see how right you are about your observations. This fandom\'s Tall Poppy Syndrome is next level I tell you, and it really sucks because I like the idea of Iron Man!Deku and this is the only example of that I could find.
The fic would be much better served by cutting out All Might offering Izuku OFA. Either because he\'s already passed it on, or they never meet, or he\'s dead, whatever.
Secondly, it would be much better off if it would get off its god damn soapbox. But it can\'t, because the soapbox is the entire POINT of the work.
It\'s like, okay, you can\'t use support items outside of what you built (I believe that\'s how Mei gets away with her \"babies\" in canon) in the Sports Festival. Makes sense right? Just skill on skill.
But the narration wants to act like Izuku is being actively discriminated against because they won\'t let him use his suit of super armor. You know, you can\'t bring a GUN in either.
Trying to argue that things are being stacked in favor of the quirked, by denying you the use of outside objects that you didn\'t build is just stupid. The whole point of the competition is that its what you got, verse what they got. It\'s not anyone\'s fault that they are more powerful than you are.
And then the whole damn thing just falls apart. How do you argue that you don\'t need superpowers when your clothing has superpowers? How do you argue that ANYONE can do it, when you yourself are wearing a one of a kind, multi-million dollar, school funded suit of power armor?
Can just ANYONE get one of those? Head on down to the local Saul-mart?
Two things I think would save the basic idea.
1. Get off the god damn soapbox. Tell a good story.
2. Give Izuku a building quirk of some sort so he can make his own armor. He\'s not reliant upon anyone, it explains HOW he can build things without it clearly having to cost millions, if not billions of dollars. He can strike up a partnership with Momo (As she can get him rare materials with her quirk). Finally, HE CAN show that his machines are powerful enough to help the quirkless become heroes as well and/or bulk up the police. Enabling you to challenge the hero system if that\'s what the bug up your ass is.
That\'s why I hate Quirkless Izuku fics so much. Beyond sucking out all the fun of the setting, and missing the point of the work. They are too busy trying to jerk off their \"point\".
I\'ve seen Quirkless Izuku\'s defeat Bakugou, Todoroki, The Anti-All Might Nomu, All Might himself, and All for One...IN THAT ORDER.
Because they HAVE to wank that batman.
I personally think canon's approach to giving Izuku a Quirk worked out for the best, since, as Horikoshi said, it wouldn't be practical for him to fight villains with exceptionally powerful Quirks unless he has one that can match them. Izuku formerly being Quirkless is a handicap he must overcome, since unlike his classmates, he hasn't had a decade worth of experience using his Quirk. The fact that he recently learned that he has six other Quirks means that is Quirk is incredibly difficult to master, more so than the quirks of virtually everyone else he knows.
Even the fact that All Might gave him the Quirk is relevant in its own way. While Izuku proved himself worthy, the existence of people like Mirio who might deserve it more shakes Izuku's already fragile self-esteem, and makes him wonder whether he deserves it. As such, I think that having Izuku be the heir to One For All is a more compelling plotline than what most of these Quirkless Izuku fanfics put forth.
While I would would agree Valiona, this fandom seems to have a LOT of Garth Ennis\', who utterly hate superpowers and superheroes, floating around in it.
It just...boggles the mind how much nerfing and lazy character bashing they have to cram in just to make their Quirkless Izuku relevant. Or they do that yes, but no crap. No Izuku doesn\'t have an analyzing quirk, he just LITERALLY knows everything about your quirk seconds after seeing it because he\'s just so smart. Like..how...how do you even rationalize that in your own mind?
And where is the fun? All of it sucked out so the author can write the same speech that dozens and dozens of other quirkless Izuku writers have written. Almost always by making the MHA world look ten times worse than canon has ever shown it.
And by the by, if you have to bash All Might and Inko to make your story work....come the fuck on.
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Proving that you don't need superpowers to be a hero by giving you superpowered clothing
Full disclosure. I hate Batman. I hate "Badass" normal heroes, and I hate the "Bat-wank" that they get that has them punching leagues above their weight class because the author wants to wank.
Yes indeed...this is one of THOSE fics. You know, the kind that completely miss the entire point of MHA and proceed to suck all the fun out of the entire setting.
However, rather than going the full Batman route, and having 14 year old Izuku use his "cleverness" "skills" and "quick and nimble" to break the setting in half because Batman. This fic decides to grab the incredibly overused in Fanon Mei to make a point by proving that it's point is wrong.
The point being: You don't need a quirk to be a top notch hero.
Riiiight. Of course you don't. Oh you don't NEED superpowers. You just need a suit of armor that gives you SEVERAL superpowers. You are literally wearing a quirk with extra steps.
You aren't proving that "Quirkless people can be heroes too!". You are proving that "Quirkless people who wear things that give them quirks can be heroes too!"
The other problem with this fic, and so many other quirkless Izuku fics, both in universe and out of universe. Is that the story is more concerned with making its point then being a good story, and Izuku is more concerned with making his point, than being a good hero.
Then it comes. All Might offers Izuku One for All....annnd of course Izuku turns it down, basically insulted All Might would slap him in the face like that.
And in the moment, any enjoyment one could get out of the fic is gone.
Because at that moment, Izuku is transformed from something of an arrogant bloodknight jerk, into a completely brain dead, UNBELIEVABLY arrogant, thoroughly unlikable fool.
No one is that dumb. No one turns down that level of useful power. All it does is serve to glaringly highly highlight what I said before. That Izuku cares more about his point, then he does about actually being a hero and saving lives.
Why should I care about this character now? Because I don't. If anything, I want him to fail, just to have his nose rubbed into the fact that he HAD a chance to gain useful power...and he turned it down...and now it's too late.
I can't judge what happens after that, because quite frankly, I closed the fic then and there. It had completely lost me, and I had a friend to yell at for using a bet to get me to read this thing (Kiss my ass Brian!)
Beyond that, the writing is serviceable from a technical standpoint I suppose. I'm trying to think of positives for this fic....but I'm just too damn annoyed with it.