Guide to Reading and Writing MHA Fanfiction!

-Plot: Deku + Quirk-

Just give Deku another quirk, right? 

To be fair, he could've developed another one if he'd been that lucky

-but he wasn't. 

The most basic quirks I've seen are elemental quirks, hypnosis, healing quirks, blood manipulation, an alternate version of All for One, super strength, immortality (usually found out by a "swandive" scenario), and super high intelligence. (Please add on the first basic one that comes to your mind in the comments....I'm interested -_-)

Elemental ones include water, electricity, earth, and fire manipulation. 

(Fire manipulation is one of the most common because it would connect with his father having a fire-breathing quirk, which doesn't actually make sense, but all the same, very common.)

(This is also the same with an ulterior version of AFO, assuming he's his biological father.) 

I would recommend not writing in any of these quirks for the sake of originality!  :/

Giving Midoriya another quirk is fun to think about, but when reading it, it only has a "Oh WoW that's cool" effect for maybe a minute before that plot falls apart. 

Consider staying away from quirks that don't heavily impact the plot because I've read many, many stories with the plot staying the exact same, except for some plot armor around the fight scenes. It's like reading a screenplay of the show! It gets very boring to the reader, especially when they've read a LOT. 

However, you're still free to pick your own story. 

Another specific quirk, for Villain!Deku AUs, is a MPD type quirk? 

It's where his personality completely changes and becomes overridden with bloodlust? 

It's a way to shock anyone who hasn't read one like that before. Weirdly enough, it's extremely basic amongst shorter Villain Deku stories. 

This can be switched up with simple plot tactics like, him getting into UA with a "villainous-like quirk", him hiding that quirk from everyone else, and this quirk giving him another cool aspect like intelligence. 

(Would also like to add that, as a person that likes MPD protagonists, the most common instances of this are in Venom!Deku AUs, where Venom is a rebellious personality that he has to live with based off a Marvel Cinematic Universe Plot.)

This ain't to say there haven't been some really good versions of this trope!

For example, famous fanfic on Ao3, "Yesterday Upon The Stair" by PitViperOfDoom is an incredible fic about "Deku sees dead people." 

That's literally one of the tags. 

His quirk is the ability to see every ghost that still haunts the living world. 

Not only is that SICK, but it gives him an original backstory, character development, and interacts with other quirks well. 

NOT TO MENTION, the author is a genius for this I swear- 

most of his personal quirks ( i mean habits) can be explained by his experiences with ghosts! 

Slight Spoiler, although it is early on: (in italics)

Whenever he mutters, he's actually talking softly to the ghosts around him! 

I don't know I just thought that was very clever...

Also, this story is incredibly well-rounded and introduces class dynamics, side plots, relationships between the adults in the show, Midoriya and Todoroki's relationship, and a killer mindset for Midoriya. 

If you can't tell, I totally recommend this book. (Read for free on AO3!)

Wait, that rhymed.....'0'

Another good example is Heroes Never Die by AboveTail (also on AO3). 

His quirk inflicts a lot of trauma on him to say the least and is the driving force of the plot. The flashbacks and character development are also splendid. 

That one's shorter than YUTS by a long shot soooooo if you were gonna choose?

Thanks for reading! ♡