The commons room was empty; everyone had gone out for the day, just as Momo had hoped for. She had recently found some new books that she wanted to read and while she could have read them in her room, the commons room had better lighting. As to why she waited until everyone was gone to start reading her new books…
If the deep blush on her face was any indication then the books were definitely not suited for general audiences.
So deep into her reading, Momo didn't even hear the door opening and closing until someone had called her name.
"Yaomomo!"
The heiress let out a scream as she jumped in fright at the sudden voice. Turning to where it came from, her already deep blush became even deeper when standing there was Kyouka, Izuku, and Shouto-kun, all looking at her with varying looks of worry.
"K-Kyouka! Wh-When d-did you all get back? I th-thought you'd be out for the whole day," stuttered out the peach as she tried to hide her books.
The purplette raised an eyebrow at that before she took in the scene. Having been dating the resident green-haired analyst for a while now, Kyouka had learned how to observe her surroundings and pick up little details that others might miss.
Unfortunately for Momo, these details were plain as day to anyone who could have walked in.
"So what's in the books that you were reading that's got you all hot under the collar, Yaomomo?" questioned Kyouka with a teasing smirk.
"Nothing!" squeaked out Momo. Why did she have to be down in the commons room at this time? Why couldn't she have listen to common sense and stay in her room to read?
"Oh yeah? Then show us what you were reading if it's nothing," continued the rocker girl. Seeing the taller girl shake her head though, Kyouka took matters into her own hands. "Suit yourself, Yaomomo."
Another scream came from Momo as Kyouka tackled her onto the couch, the two girls now wrestling for control over the books in Momo's hands. In the midst of "battle", Momo let out a loud squeak when an earphone jack snaked over and poked her in the side, causing her to let go of her books.
"That was unfair, Kyouka!" exclaimed Momo, too embarrassed to keep fighting.
Kyouka just rolled her eyes before looking at what her best friend had been reading. From what she could tell, they looked harmless. Looking over towards her boyfriend, she became confused when she saw the blank look on his face.
"Yaoyorozu-san, where exactly did you get these books?" questioned Izuku, his tone making Kyouka and Shouto worry.
Despite still being embarrassed, Momo answered honestly. "I f-found them at a place that sold used books and thought they were intriguing."
Izuku could only pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Yaoyorozu-san. There is nothing intriguing about Twilight or 50 Shades of Gray."
Kyouka looked even more confused now. "Wait, you know about these books, Izuku-kun?"
"I wish I didn't, but when you're researching Pre-Quirk Era pop culture, you come across things that make you question humanity," replied Izuku with a grimace.
"…You're starting to scare me, Izuku-kun."
The greenie let out a groan. "Look, they're just bad, poorly written stories that shouldn't exist."
"There's nothing wrong with them," replied Momo with a slight pout.
This earned her a deadpan look from Izuku. "Yaoyorozu-san. Twilight is about a vampire that sparkles in the daylight."
"…Wait, what?" questioned Kyouka with a blank look.
With a nod, Izuku continued. "Basically the story features an emotionless girl being the object of desire of not only the sparkling vampire, but a werewolf too. By the end of the series, the girl ends up with the vampire, while it turns out that the werewolf only wanted the girl because apparently her unborn daughter with the vampire ends up being the werewolf's soulmate."
"Okay, ew," replied the purplette, looking at the book in disgust.
"It doesn't help that the entire series is based on a sex dream the author, who the lead female is based on, had."
Kyouka quickly tossed the book away, as if it burned her. Ignoring the whimpers from her best friend, Kyouka looked at the other book in contempt. "What about this one?"
"50 Shades of Gray originally started off as a Twilight fanfiction with BDSM themes."
That book joined the other as Kyouka tossed that one away as well.
"Stop throwing my books, Kyouka!" exclaimed Momo, giving her friend a pouty glare.
"What the hell, Yaomomo?! You of all people I would think would be the last person to read garbage like that!" countered Kyouka, returning the glare.
"Th-They're not that bad!"
"Yaoyorozu-san. 50 Shades of Gray glorifies domestic abuse," stated Izuku. "The man clearly doesn't love the woman and does everything he can to break her into be loyal and submissive to him."
Shouto turned to glare at the books. Having grown up in an abusive household, he despised ANYONE who would do that to someone they supposedly loved.
It was Kyouka's turn to be frustrated and pinch the bridge of her nose. "Momo, you're supposed to be one of the smarter ones in class. Why the hell would you want to lower you IQ and read things like that?"
"I just wanted to try something new," replied Momo, glancing away in embarrassment.
"There's better ways of going about that," said Kyouka in a deadpan tone. "Why the hell do those books even exist?!"
"Because there was a large period during the Pre-Quirk Era where people were afraid to criticize anything," explained Izuku with a sigh. "Criticism is a necessity for anyone to grow and do better in their respective fields, but some people treated criticism as if it were insults and would essentially throw temper tantrums until they got their way.
Sure, people still made jokes about how bad these books were back then, but because criticism started dying off at that point, a lot of other, much worse books, comics, TV shows, movies, and the like kept coming out in America as time went on."
"And now, they've somehow made a return and in Japan no less," added Kyouka, glaring at the books. "Todoroki, will you do the honor of burning this trash."
"Gladly," replied the half-and-half boy with much disdain as he grabbed the books and set them on fire over the kitchen sink.
"No, Shouto-kun!" cried out Momo. She never did like seeing books of any kind get destroyed like that and seeing her own boyfriend be the cause made it much worse.
"Don't worry, Yaomomo. We'll find you some new, better books to read," said Kyouka with a smirk.
"You are all so very mean right now," replied the raven-haired beauty with a whimper.
"It's called tough love, Yaomomo, and much like criticism it is a very much needed thing for human growth. Now come on, maybe the school library will have something you'll like."
Momo let out another whimper as Kyouka grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the dorms, with Izuku and Shouto not far behind. She still couldn't believe this had all happened to her. Then again…
…At least it wasn't Mina or Mineta who caught her.
FIN
-:-
Criticism, as stated, is a necessity for people to grow and do better in their respective fields and it's a shame that we've gotten to the point where people think all criticism does is hurt people's feelings. Whether you're an athlete, an artist, a teacher, a writer, etc., people NEED criticism and there is no shame giving it or receiving it.
For example, with writing fanfiction, whether you do it as a hobby or as a gateway to becoming a published author, you need criticism so you can improve your skills and write better stories that people can enjoy. If you somehow write a story with an obvious plot hole, and someone points it out with questions asking how such and such happened because it does not make sense, do NOT ignore it. Take it into consideration so you can rectify it later one.
And to everyone else, if you come across criticism on someone else's story, do NOT reply to it if it's to tell stop criticizing. You telling the critic to not criticize is nothing more than coddling the author and not letting them improve as writers. It is up to the author and the author alone on whether or not they want to accept the criticism.