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#dramatic sigh

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(please reblog this for a larger sample size!)

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Glowy dark mode site skin

🎼 You would not believe your eyes, if 10 million fireflies ended up in the header of your AO3. 🎶

It's been a while since I tried glow effects, but I saw the fireflies and I couldn't resist.

CSS code and instructions for adding a skin to your account can be found posted on AO3 here.

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STOP MELEEING THE PYRO HE HAS 175 HP YOU WILL DIEEEEEE

not if i get an ubersaw crit hehe

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You’ve heard of one shots, now get ready for none shots! It’s when you think of an idea for a fic and then don’t write it

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these damn unusuals

reblogs > likes

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I had to do sm silly for my Untitled800(th) canvas

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Inaccuracies to Japanese culture in MHA fanfics

Necessary (?) disclaimer: this is just my personal taste, so don't come at me pls. If you have some pacific inputs, tho, I'd be thrilled to read them.

Mind that most of this stuff is because I have a major degree in Japanese culture and language, and I've lived and studied there for some time, so I'm quite sensitive to how people write about Japan. I'm not saying that the way I experienced Japan and its culture is how everybody perceives it, still there are many things that clash with what I studied and lived.

I know My Hero Academia is set in the future and that it's not real, but you can see through the manga that some cultural things didn't change in MHA's setting, so that's my starting point.

I know that people write because they like it, to enjoy themselves and nobody is forced to do researches about Japan; still, some things itch me nonetheless.

I'm saying this, but it doesn't mean that I can't enjoy the ff I'm reading because of these inaccuracies, I do most of the time, especially if it's well written.

Now, let's get to it:

GEOGRAPHY

I lost count of how many times I've read about Hawks travelling from the HPSC (which presumibly is near Musutafu, Shizuoka (22) Prefecture, where the UA is, or Tokyo (13) to Fukuoka (40) and vice-versa like it was nothing more than a stroll. They're not round the corner, it takes time to get there, even for the fastest hero (2 hours by plane from Tokyo, 5 hours by shinkansen).

And speaking of geography, let's put the Todorokis' mansion on the table. It's in Musutafu, so Endeavor takes his car to his agency and Shoto to school. This is relevant because of Endeavor's position in the hero society, he needs to live near the biggest cities to have such high case closure rates. Hawks was raised in the outskirts of Fukuoka, so it just rubs me the wrong way when I read childhood friends AU where little Keigo and Touya casually meet. I know it's an AU of a fanon ship (which I love), but it just doesn't feel right to me. I can't picture the Todorokis, the perfect family, speaking in Hakata dialect, living far from the capital or from UA. Keigo was an outcast, these two realities collide.

Shiketsu too. This school is in the West (in the Kyoto (26) area, I suppose), so it wouldn't be possible for AU Touya to just go to school there by car, he'd need to take a long train ride or to move to Shiketsu's dorms.

CULTURE

Sometimes there are just so many references to US culture I wonder if I missed a tag placing the story in the US instead of Japan. I understand that it's easier for a lot of people to find the story entertaining this way, but Japan is an important part of the story itself. The Hero culture and hero names too are often US-inspired, but not always, think about Tsukuyomi, Shinrin Kamui or even Deku.

Colleges in AUs are often treated too much like stereotypical US colleges. I even read about red paper cups for party drinks like it's what you find on every campus in the world. I've asked some friends studying at university in Japan and they confirmed that the depition was quite off.

This applies to music too. Everybody almost always uses English or American songs, and I get it, we understand the lyrics, they speak more directly and deeply to the reader. But Japan has a huge music culture and sub-culture, and it'd be nice to see that sometimes.

At times I've read about western style wedding ceremonies in the woods, but it's very odd in Japan. We can assume Endeavor and Rei's wedding was celebrated according to the Shinto rite (Endeavor's quite traditional in that sense), but usually Japanese people who want a western wedding do both the celebration and the reception in specific halls (結婚式場 kekkonshiki-jō); there are ads everywhere in Japan for these places. It's not uncommon that couples celebrate with both rites though (Shinto and western) but in different places and not always on the same day.

On a minor note, sometimes characters that are related are just too physical with each other. In the MHA universe they canonically seem more open to physical contact than in present Japan, but still sometimes it's just too much. It's not common to hug even your own children (my host family confirmed this to me, just saying).

NAMES

We all know Japanese is a complex language, but I just can't when I read a parent in a fic using a suffix like "-kun" to their own child. That's not how it works. "-kun" is used among male pairs (excuse Iida, he's just too formal) outside the family unit (this is a key concept in Japanese language, the distinction between "inner" circle, called uchi, and "outer" circle called soto). So no, Rei can't call Touya "Touya-kun". And neither Natsuo, who calls him Niisan (older brother). The ""exception"" (more or less) is "-chan". Parents call their kids (in kindergarden, until primary school usually) -chan with an abbreviation of their name, like Katsuki > Kacchan. For girls it's just a cute, intimate thing (think about Tsuyu calling everybody -chan and requiring her classmates to call her so, that's why Izuku is so uncomfortable using that nickname).

And speaking of abbreviations, too often they're based on Western ways to create them. The best example of this is Fuyumi 冬美. Her name's kanjis are fuyu (winter) and mi (beauty), so her nickname should be "Fuyu" and not "Yumi" like I read 90% of the time. Maybe it sounds foreign to you, but it's correct. Touya too. Adding an -o (Toyo) is so US/Australian, it sounds so strange to me. Shiggy, Nat, Toy, Keigs, Dabs, Dabsters... they're all western-style nicknames. I'm fond of them, but they sound strange if I stop and think that the story is based in Japan.

MISC

Housing: fire escapes are not as common as one could think. There are often external stairs in small apartment buildings, but they're public, in the sense they're used by tenants to reach their floors. Same for balconies. There's not a balcony culture in Japan, it's more of a European thing, and usually only big houses have them. This is the one I always close an eye on and that bugs me the least, but it's not very accurate.

Money: this is so funny. I swear I've read about dollars. In Japan. Dollars. Sometimes I've also read yen treated like it was dollars, while completely disregarding the exchange rate (usually 1$ is 132¥ more ore less), or giving things the wrong prices (like a cigarette pack worth 200¥ when it costs roughly 450¥).

Driving: in Japan they drive on the left side of the road, but I can't recall a single fic where the driver's seat was appointed to be on the right side of the car.

It's really not a surprise that "Paper Mountains, Glass Seas" is my favourite series ever.

Apart from being wonderfully written, it makes Japan so tangible and recognizable. @bittermoonswrites goes all the way talking about expats life, language, culture, art in such a human, relatable and itimate way it's unreal.

It's a more adult fic, with contemporary themes, and I don't look for this kind of accuracy all the time, especially in canon-verse fics, but it's so nice and refreshing when I read about small, precious details that ground the story in Japan.

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Quick reminder for those who don’t speak French and would like to write the words “my dear” in French. “Mon Chéri” is used for men and “Ma chérie” for women. Sadly there isn��t a gender-neutral term for this word but there are other alternatives like “Mon cœur” (My heart) or “Mon amour“ (My love) amongst many others.

So pleade, be careful to use it right the next time you write because I see a lot of people writing gender-neutral fic and than writing “Mon Chéri”.

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Reblog to kill it faster

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from this

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всем соломы в штаны, всем! всем поголовно!

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offense classes bonding

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pov: you spammed E and are about to suffer the consequences

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I was playing as medic legitimately yesterday and I was about to uber a soldier for a crucial push but he DIED the MiLiSECOND BeFORE and I ubered the SPY. he was so audibly confused at my choices :,)

We have all been there. Tf2 Tja was solls moment :')

#same but with a sniper