My ramblings

My inner self-critic

Alright, so this rant is tangentially related to my previous one, so read it if you want to, but not that important.

Anyways, I figured out some sort of solution to my writer's block when it comes to the original works I'm working on. I just completely shut off my inner critic and just barf out huge dumps of content. I mean, the quality is absolute shit, but I'm going to revise that stuff many times over anyways. Might as well just get the ideas into some resemblance of structure and fix it up later on. Doesn't work as well for fanfics sadly, since I don't really want to revise it so many times.

So now, having written many pages of original content without an inner critic I think it's time to turn it back on and unleash it on my fanfics. Because let me be honest for a moment. "Pushing Onwards" is garbage and I'm somewhat tired of seeing people praising it as "some of the best they've read". I obviously like those comments back when I wrote the stuff, but recently I can't help but see all the stupid bullshit I put in. And now you too will be told just how dumb half of it was, chapter by chapter.

Chapter 1

Too short. Massive exposition dump of stuff anyone in the target audience would already know. Half the stuff is knowingly borrowed in some way from other fics. All Might is way too dumb and condescending. And why would he follow Izuku if the slime villain incident 2 didn't happen? Finally, Izuku's whole speech/rant is over the top and doesn't end up saying much of anything.

Chapter 2

Izuku's throwing away merchandize scene could have been done better. Again, why is All Might interested in someone who has largely been a forgettable encounter?

FILLER/PADDING.

Chapter 3

Kind of alright. Clumsy due to my own skills at the time, but other than that alright.

Chapter 4

Mostly just looking at the source material and typing "Ctrl+c" then "Ctrl+v". The scene with Present Mic. And the equipment stuff was largely useless. And Deku should not have done as well as he did at all. I had the chance to make great story themes and just threw them out the window along the Izuku's All Might merchandize.

Chapter 5

Could have been any other quirkless deku fic. Hardly anything unique.

Chapter 6

Same as above with an extra dose of Izuku being dumber than he really is.

Chapter 7

Copy of the OG USJ arc expect one for all is replaced ODM-gear.

Chapter 8

Same as above but also making a quirkless Deku way too powerful against the nomu. And All Might is way too dumb again when he offers ofa, and Izuku is too angry.

Chapter 9-12

Again, mostly the same as the source material, or it is the same as any other quirkless deku fics. Also a hint of Izuku's equipment being some sort of deus ex machina. (Which is something that continues to the very end of the book). Also starts implementing IzuOcha into the story with the grace of a whale falling onto a shack.

Chapter 13

Funky dialogue, and doesn't add much overall.

Chapter 14-15

Adds nothing to canon other than "but Izuku is quirkless"

Chapter 16

Continues adding IzuOcha with borrowed concepts, but with the elegance of President Ford descending the stairs from Air force one. (Look it up if you're curious)

Chapter 17

Once again, Izuku is a deus ex machina machine and OP. But him and Bakugo is beginning to mend their relationship in a way I'm still somewhat pleased over.

Chapter 18

(Looks at canon "Ctrl+c", looks at empty page "Ctrl+v")

Chapter 19

Besides the poor writing, actually something I'm still somewhat proud over. Izuku's dad coming back and it leading him and Bakugo to mend their relationship and Izuku to forgive All Might.

Chapter 20 and 21

Same as a lot of the other chapters. Borrowed from other fics or copied from canon, but plus some minor not important twist. I add Shinsou early to class 1-a, but it doesn't add to the story so why bother?

Chapter 22-24

I replace Bakugo's capture with Izuku's so that I can have him and all for one converse. Which is alright. But then I torture the kid and never bring it up in any meaningful way ever again. The fuck was wrong with me?

Chapter 25-27

No, just no. Not my favourite part of canon and it shows. Never again.

Chapter 28

Copying from canon, but Izuku is better than the themes of my story would suggest because I wanted to and deu ex machina bullshit.

Chapter 29 and 30

Same as above, but Mirio doesn't lose quirk and get ofa. Again, doesn't add much to the story at all. The only thing I still like is Deku's whole illusion scene thing. I had fun writing that.

Chapter 31

It's a slide show of events. Should've been the epilogue.

Chapter 32 + epilogue

Rushed, and threw any remaining story themes into the trash. A cliched ending with stolen quotes which where forced in the same way as a rhino ramming into the living room. Same quality as the latter half of this book.

Now, "Pushing Onwards" isn't my only work, but the one I have the most problems with. I can quickly go through the rest.

"Unfulfilled life of Deku"

Cute, but would have been better as a multi-parter, not one-shot.

"Heritage"

Mediocre

"A Villain's rise"

My ideas for where I wanted the story to go changed so much while writing that the earlier half ends up being disconnected to the latter half. You could just start reading from chapter 18 with a quick synopsis and get the same story value. Hope to change some of that with the WIP rewrite of the earlier chapters so that they align more with the newer ones.

"A Villain's Revolution"

"Oh fuck I added too many side characters just because I thought it would be cool and now I have to fit them into the story after their introduction"

Anyways, that is just some of the gripes I have with my own works. But hey, I think that is a good sign. Means I have improved and can continue to improve while seeing my own flaws. Anyways, have a good one.