Hello!
Been a while, hasn't it? To tell you the truth I just wasn't bothered to completely write out this 'chapter.' It's been a mix of not being willing to admit that Part 1 is over and the fact that I've been busy lazing around. Happy New Year by the way!
What is this chapter?
Just a space for me to ramble about my ideas while writing about Part 1 and teasing Part 2. Also answering any questions you may have, as well as just laying down the future groundwork. It's not a chapter you have to read, in fact, if you skip it I totally understand. But, this does increase my word count which makes it a lot more impressive…
So, let's start!
The Start
When I first started Part 1 back in July of 2021 I was super nervous. To tell you the truth, back then I didn't know what I was doing. The early chapters of Part 1 had a lot of scrapped ideas, to the point where I've even saved some out of pure annoyance.
Some ideas include:
Zero is more of a cunt
Zero stalking Sora by showing up like Sephiroth (Including just standing on top of a tree at U.A.)
Messaging Sora randomly
Just antagonising Sora in general
If you read the USJ arc again, you'll still see some of these ideas in play. Originally, I wanted Zero to just be the opposite of Sora. As in Sora is the PURE good guy and Zero is the PURE bad guy, no blurred lines.
That changed considerably by the time I finished the USJ arc.
Originally, Sora wasn't even going to have multiple Quirks. However, I had plans for the ending of Part 1 WAY before I even reached the USJ arc, back in May 2021 when Part 1 hadn't even started. Just 1 month after I started posting this story, meaning it would have been around Chapter 3-ish when I got the idea for the ending.
I'll get to that later.
Anyways, Sora was only supposed to have one Quirk. The issue was that I wrote about Sora having a vision once and I didn't want to delete it. So, I thought to myself how can I tie it into Sora's Quirk? I couldn't. Nimbus controls clouds, not dreams. So I thought to myself, okay, how about he has two? But then I had an idea for a really cool attack where Sora's clouds get set on fire…
It snowballed from there, and so I had to think of an excuse for Sora to have three Quirks. Then I thought that three is a weird number, and since 4 is an unlucky number in Japan I found it amusing that Sora would have 4 Quirks. Because of that, Zero had to change alongside him.
Zero already had a single Quirk, after all, Zero's entire character is the reason why I started to write this story in the first place. Zero's 'unmasking' was the first scene I ever wrote for this story. The idea is the same, but the location and events following the event are much different compared to when I first started to write Part 1.
Zero used to be a much simpler character, just a character that was a villain. However, as Sora developed so did Zero. Eventually, all the characteristics that Zero was supposed to have (And had in the USJ) were given to Yozora. Zero's actions at the USJ were retconned with his Quirk controlling minds, but being influenced by the thoughts of the person he is controlling.
A small retcon led to a cool scene between Sora and Zero, and personally, I think it was worth it. Zero is my favourite character to write about because he's such an enigma to the audience, so I have to be careful not to give anything away. Especially his identity. It's crazy to me that during the 'truths' Sora faced, I heavily considered blowing my load and just having Zero unmask right then and there.
But then it would cause a lot of issues for Part 2 onwards.
That being said, Zero was a major part of Part 1 and a testament to my improvement in terms of writing. Writing him is such a joy because he can use all these big words that I know about, which makes him a lot more educated. What's funny is that I don't even know what Zero's old life is like.
I've never thought of it since I always think of Zero as he is now and how he'll end up.
I'm letting the character come up with his own past if that makes sense. A lot of this story is me just winging it, or me coming up with a crazy idea and planting it just for the fun of it. Zero was meant to be the ONLY OTHER PERSON REINCARNATED. Hell, I didn't even have AFO's storyline plotted out at the start of Part 1.
This all came after the USJ when I started to ask questions that needed answers. Not only that, but the 'numbers' thing was just something I started because I thought it sounded cool.
The 'Fourteenth.'
Adds mystery to it, right? I thought so as well because for a while I didn't know what I meant by that. Originally, I was going to have 14 souls within Sora but I thought that was so silly. So I made 14 test subjects which I think worked out for the better. It's introduced a bunch of strong characters into the story that has their own lives outside of Sora. Hachi (Who's now the PM of Japan,) Nanao (A detective solving her own cases), Yozora (Just having his own fun) and Natsuki (A crazy scientist doing his own experiments.)
And of course, the Queen herself - Setsuna Tokage!
Easily my favourite character to write, think about and plan stories around.
I'll admit, I'm super proud of Tokage's character. I'm sure I've told this story a million times now, how originally her role was supposed to go to an OC but because I saw her on the front cover of the LN School Briefs 6 looking cute while doing the peace sign, I instantly decided on her. I already liked Tokage in canon, but that cover just solidified it for me (Plus her role in the LN is cool.)
Originally, even before the OC that was going to be in Shinso's class, I wanted it to be Miwa. A shocking reveal, right? I wanted her to like stab Sora in the back and ally with Zero or something along those. I'm so glad I scrapped that. It makes me angry just thinking about it, especially because Miwa and Sora's relationship I think is a fun thing to write every now and then.
They are brother and sister, and will always be that which that twist would have ruined.
Tokage is simply perfect. She's turned into a character of her own, and it's simply fun for me to put her in different situations that test her. Not to mention her music tastes are pretty cool.
But did I tell you all that originally, I wanted Tokage to change the colour of her hair often? After her 'haircut' on the Camping trip, I was supposed to introduce that. It slipped my mind, and I wasn't bothered to add it since it would have taken up unnecessary space. That doesn't mean it won't appear in Part 2 however…
Onto Yozora!
Don't worry, he's the last person I'll be speaking about. As I said previously, his role in the story was going to originally be Zero's. Someone that just fucks about for no reason and messes with the timeline for fun. Some of you OG readers might remember a now-deleted scene of Zero introducing himself to AFO playing the guitar back in chapter 4 of the story… something which I promptly deleted. Pretty sure there is an old review mentioning that if you want to look far enough back.
As I said, none of the reincarnation plots was even thought of at first. That came after the USJ. Even when I first introduced Tokage, I just wanted someone like Senjougahara from Monogatari in Sora's life. And Tokage fills that role completely, not to mention I think she evolved in more ways than I originally planned for. But back to Yozora.
He's super fun to write.
He's a troll.
He's like Kiskue Urahara + Kakashi Hatake + Gojo + Izaya Orihara combined into one. Yozora is a character I absolutely love, and you can tell the Izaya Orihara influence on him - Mixed with the character's own brand of madness and anger. Behind the facade he puts up, he really is human and that irritates him.
I find that interesting.
As I said, I scrambled to make Yozora as different from Zero as possible. I wanted him to be a sarcastic piece of shit, but no he's just genuinely a guy that loves to get on people's nerves. Yozora grew out of control for all the right reasons, where he actually does care about everyone in his own sick and twisted way - Sort of like a kid who looks after his toys so he can break them even more.
When I think of a hero, I always think of a good villain driving them.
While many people love Dock Ock for being one of Spidey's human villains (And I love him as well) or Venom for his character arc and growth from being a villain to an anti-hero - I myself love the Green Goblin. A petty fuck that messes with Peter Parker for the thrill of it, for the chance of winning one over him. In that sense, I view Yozora as Sora's villain.
Not Zero.
As Yozora put it, Zero and Sora have a rivalry. They respect each other and are even friends.
Yozora and Sora will never be friends.
Yozora is the villain. And I absolutely love that! He's the Doflamingo of the story, the Sousuke Aizen with everything going all according to keikaku (Translator's note, it means plan in Japanese.) He's definitely a threat with Stain basically being manipulated by him for the fun of it, as well as Yozora wanting to build a cult for the thrill of it.
Plus, 'All I want for Christmas is you' is the one song he sings all year round. Yes. Even in summer. Yozora is just a menace and that's why he's fun to write about, nothing can really top the fact that not even I know what he says or does. I just write what feels right, and I'm always proud of how it turns out. He's the one villain that ever since I thought about him I had his back story in my mind while writing him out.
Yozora is just a chaotic evil, and for that, his role in the story is rather easy to guess. The stakes of his 'game' will be upped until he needs to be taken down. I've set that up pretty nicely I think. But that's not to say that Yozora doesn't have a few tricks up his sleeve, because he does. Going into Part 2 he's easily the most dangerous person in Japan because of his personality + Quirk + the influence he holds over Stain and his followers.
Honestly, even if I didn't start with Yozora's character in mind I'm proud of how he turned out. That goes for all the reincarnated people, all the ones introduced… and perhaps some that haven't been introduced yet.
Maybe AFO lied when he said 1-6 were dead.
Or maybe I'm pulling ya' leg!
The Middle
Post Sports Festival is when things really started to shape up for me. The rest of my path for Part 1 was super clear. Introduce Yozora and Nanao during the Stain arc, have Sora be captured and told the truth and then the DECIDE arc all with slice-of-life scenes filling everything out. Truly, it's become the bread and butter of this story in the best way possible.
I can't have done it without this formula.
And I look forward to improving it in Part 2. The MHA timeline is messy, so I always wanted Part 1 to end in December because it's the final month of the year. That being said, it was tough to reach the ending. The middle section of Part 1 isn't a slog to read, I know that much, but it was a slog to write. I mean seriously, I wrote like 60k words of just slice-of-life scenes in a month.
I love those scenes, and they worked wonders for the story, but writing them out was a pain I won't lie. Action interspersed and tension building was necessary and I understand why Horikoshi doesn't spend much time in the class interacting with canon. Simply put, if he wasn't building to a betrayal at the end like I was, there is no need to do it.
He can get away with telling us that Mineta is close friends with everyone, he doesn't have to show it because he can't use that angle. Not really. I wanted to show Mineta's relationship, with how rocky it was, and how it was repaired so I can explore how it ends up in Part 2. How Mineta grows as a person. Horikoshi's already in the final arc, I doubt we'll get that from him.
Simply put, if I wasn't focused on making EACH member of 1A feel like Sora's friend I would have done the same thing as him. That betrayal that Sora did to them hits harder because you've seen them interact, have deep conversations and just be friends. Sora didn't turn his back on people who the readers are told are his friends, Sora turned his back on people that care for him deeply and the reader is supposed to feel uncomfortable at that.
Unsure over his final decision.
Did he do the right thing?
In the middle part, you can clearly see me building towards this if you re-read it. I wasn't trying to hide it, but I suppose all the pieces weren't there yet. I've put a lot of thought into making this story as re-readable as possible, with lots of teases and hints for things to come/things that already happened as I write this. I want people to visit this story over and over again.
It makes things a lot more fun for me as well.
I've given a few hints as to Zero's identity, but that's a secret I'll keep close until the perfect time for it. Which won't happen for a while. But there were a lot of weird ideas mixed into this middle section. Sora writing a manga? Originally just a way to get Sora to earn money, but grew into a small subplot that hasn't been finished just yet.
The middle part was where I feel like I was forced to grow as a writer. I wrote more and more challenging scenes, and so my skills developed. It's a simple process, any writer worth their salt can tell you that. You'll write a scene until you are happy with it, which means that so will the reader. Every writer holds their work in a negative light, even me, so when I'm proud of my work I mean it.
Honestly, there isn't much to say here.
The End
As I said before, I had the idea of the ending arc of Part 1 for a while. Since before chapter 4 came out in fact. Well, not the final scene. Rather the Sora v Overhaul fight. Sora's ultimate sacrifice is the loss of his powers. I think it's a fitting conclusion to his arc in that respect, considering how much his Quirk means to him. Sora's the type of guy to use his Quirk to make a hand and open the fridge and pass over some food.
He's lazy, that's not a secret.
He didn't train all that hard because of his extremely versatile Quirk. He's sacrificed his body so many times, but never his life. And he won't. He doesn't want to sacrifice his life, but during the Overhaul fight, you could get the sense that Sora didn't care if he lived or died. He was prepared to die, even if he didn't go out of his way to ensure that outcome.
Of course, this was inspired by Bleach.
Ichigo v Aizen is my favourite fight ever. I think it's poetic, and poetry was always my strong suit. I originally wanted the DECIDE Arc to be sorta like the Chimera Ant Arc from HxH, where the heroes become the good guys. I sorta dabbled in that idea, but I refused to go into depth with it because I have a better idea using that in Part 2 of the story.
Sora's final transformation isn't one of joy. It isn't supposed to be. The public may cheer for him, but Overhaul was terrified out of his mind. He thought he was fighting a monster, fitting for Sora.
To be a hero that's compared to a monster.
Sora was always going to leave U.A. at the end of Part 1. It's a goodbye, after all, he's lost his powers. What more can he do? But it was May 4th 2021 when I got the best idea ever. DodemGM's review that day mentioned Oregairu, a series I had dabbled with reading but never watched. Because of the review, I bought season 1 of the anime on blu ray and watched it.
Now the final episode of the season has the MC do a morally despicable thing that could alienate his friends for their happiness. But it's a selfish decision. It's supposed to help his friends, and it does, but that doesn't deny it's selfish by nature.
That struck a chord with me. I love Hachiman (I even named a character after him!) I found it hard to think of a reason why Sora leaving 1A would hurt everyone, but I had found a perfect reason. Sora is doing something selfish to protect them. And it fit his character perfectly, he's always been the means to justify my ends type of guy. This is nothing out of character for him, which is scary!
That he loves them so much he's willing to be hated by them.
As a recent reviewer pointed out, Sora is somewhat like Itachi. And he has ended up sorta like him, his 'carefree tomorrow' not only doesn't include himself but it's built on lies and false betrayals. I personally love Itachi as a flawed character, not the messiah that his fans and Naruto (the story) try to portray him as. Sora's lies have looped around, from being there to protect 1A to them actively protecting 1A.
Ironic, isn't it?
Poetry I'd say.
Yu Yu Hakusho's main character, Yusuke Urameshi is an obvious inspiration for Sora. Both are delinquents with a heart of gold, deep down I do believe that Sora is a nice boy, he just hasn't had his moment yet where everything clicks for him as Yusuke did. Yusuke died and saw how even his life which he thought held no meaning impacted everyone around him.
Sora runs away from that. He mentions it often how he never really thinks about how his old family must have felt about him dying. He left 1A without wanting to see the consequences of his actions. In that regard, Sora is still a child - He's barely developed in that area. But at the same time, Sora did leave U.A. to face the consequences of his actions.
In a sense, I've tried to show Sora's responsibilities without making them too obvious.
Sora's knowledge of the future could have led to him just letting things playout the way they should have, and if everything went wrong then he would be able to justify it to himself rather easily. They weren't his friends or family, so they weren't his responsibility.
He doesn't save people like Deku or Ochako.
Sora's a lot more… selfish? I don't know he right word to describe him other than that he fiercely cares about the people closest to him. One could argue that's a trauma response to his death, but that's a different can of worms I don't want to open (yet).
Point is, if he can't save someone directly in front of him like that boy during the Stain Arc/Incident in Hosu, he won't move. It's not that he's a bad person, rather he's not naive enough/cares enough to save everyone.
He's similar to Ichigo Kurosaki in that regard.
Also like Ichigo not being able to be a Soul Reaper, Sora can't be a hero anymore.
His position in the hero course was revoked when he stopped having powers. When he asked U.A. to tell the world that the hero known as Aozora died. That along with Sora even fighting Overhaul after everything that happened to him, that he did not do so out of revenge but out of a desire to right his wrongs shows that he's not all bad. Originally, I did want Sora to keep on trying to kill him but I left that idea.
Sora's first and only kill has been decided ever since I started this series.
That will never change.
Meanwhile, Yusuke suffers a similar sort of problem in Yu Yu Hakusho. And honestly, I just absolutely love Yusuke. Sora was a poor man's Yusuke at the start of the series, but he developed into his own character surprisingly quickly. Sora's journey in Part 2 and beyond isn't about understanding himself, he does understand himself now. Part 1 was all about that.
Part 2 is about forgiveness.
Atonement and responsibility.
In a sense, I took a page out of Rurouni Kenshin now and have started to write a cool character arc for Sora that isn't what you expect from him. He's never really gone on a journey of forgiveness yet, which is a unique character arc for him I think. It won't be his main character arc, that's already set, but it'll be an aspect of him that I'll be touching upon on.
Part 1 was influenced by a lot of series, mostly Bleach and Yu Yu Hakusho.
But what about Part 2?
The Future
Part 2 is shaping up to be fantastic.
Not just because I'm excited to write it, but because I can break away from the constraints of canon finally and tell brand new arcs using the chess pieces I've put on the board.
That said, Bobby Caldwell's What You Won't Do For Love (Album Version) is a massive inspiration for me this time around. Instead of each chapter having a specific song, each arc has a specific (Or more than once) song that has influenced it. What You Won't Do For Love is an important song for Part 2 because love is a massive part of everyone's life.
Not just romantic love, but all types of love. While the song is about romantic love, which does play a massive role don't get me wrong. Romance is definitely a major part of the story, not just between Sora and Jiro but between other characters as well. There are a lot of romantic undertones within the story itself.
Music inspires me.
I write while listening to music, it's why I have a recommended song every chapter because it means I listened to that a lot while writing the chapter or a certain scene. Even now I listen to music because I think the vibe of a song helps me write more clearly. My music choices in Part 1 were tame, and to be honest it made Part 1 special.
Now though, I don't have to be tame.
In a sense, Part 2 is going to be more of Part 1 but better. Sure I haven't written it out yet, but I've planned (with extreme amounts of detail… 80k words planning all of it as of writing. Part 1 suffered from me not really planning everything until the Sports Festival. I had ideas of what I wanted to do, but I had to wait a while for them all to come together.
Planning is an important lesson I learned early on. If I plan, I get to write more instead of just leaving it up to my mood. It also means I don't get stuck on what else to write, if I want to add something I can add it without being stuck as to where to go after I've written it.
Now the story is an M rating, so I can really go into depth with things that are 'adult.' As you might have noticed, the world of MHA isn't all that pretty. It's rather ugly. Murky. I want to explore that (as does every writer) cause it'll be fun to write about. Not to mention I've already planned storylines about it…
Obviously, the biggest question is 'What will Sora do now?'
And that's a good question.
It might surprise some people, and it might not surprise other people. But obviously, Sora's journey will continue, even without a Quirk and not even a hero. I've planted some seeds that'll grow, but who knows :)
I think even more important than that is exploring how the world feels. We all know what Sora feels after what happened, so don't expect too many POVS from him. He'll be in a lot of scenes, but it won't really be exploring how he feels. Not until a certain point is reached, but even then there will be a lot of different characters getting the chance to view things from an outside perspective.
I think that's important to show.
Sora isn't the centre of the world, not everything revolves around him. And even if he becomes a hero again, there are going to be a lot of people that will react to that. So because of that even if Sora will be in every chapter, not every scene will be about him or even feature him.
And that's interesting.
As for the length of Part 2?
82 chapters.
Give or take a few.
Essentially, close to double the length of Part 1. Luckily, I'm writing most of Part 2 out as I write this (Only on chapter 2 sadly). But I will start uploading once I reach chapter 19 which shouldn't take that long.
The first 5 chapters will be released daily before I switch back to the usual bi-weekly upload.
I also want to toy with arcs that are released weekly whereas the stretches in between are done bi-weekly.
Cut Content
Hoo boy.
There is a lot of cut content which is why I wanted to even make this chapter to begin with. First of all, I think you have all heard about the cut Sora x Miwa romance. Glad I cut it.
Originally, I thought "Uh, I can't see Sora getting with anyone from 1A. That would be so shit and just like every other SI/OC that the author uses to justify their weird obsession with a character."
And so Miwa was created.
BUT…
I snapped out of it and realised who cares. Not only are Jiro and Sora just not dating right now, but considering what Sora did in the final chapter of Part 1 who knows if they'll even get back together?
Sora took control of the story in his own way, and so slowly by slowly Jiro became his 'romantic interest' which is a term I hate. It just implies that being a 'romantic interest' is all a character is good for, which is definitely not the case!
In my eyes, a romance between Sora and Jiro wasn't even planned. It just grew naturally as I started to write the story and liked writing their dynamics, it just happened as many relationships do in real life.
Other than that, other cut content includes a scene before the USJ where Sora would be sent out of class and meet with Aizawa in his office/staff room where he'll look outside and see…
A masked man standing at a tree branch menacingly.
Yes, Zero was going to originally be a stalker-type character.
He was then going to message Sora the day before the USJ and their conversation was going to be this:
Unknown: Hello
Unknown: Did you like the surprise?
My eyes narrowed. Was this...?
You: Are you who I think you are?
Unknown: Depends
Unknown: Who do you think I' am?
You: Marshall D Teach?
Unknown: Try Madara Uchiha
You: Ha funny
Unknown: You know, you shouldn't go on the trip tomorrow
Unknown: It will be your funeral
Unknown: I don't wish to kill a human like me
You: Like the others aren't humans?
Unknown: They aren't
Unknown: They are characters, like Blackbeard or Madara
Unknown: I don't want to kill a fellow human
You: You are wrong, they are all humans
You: With hopes and dreams
Unknown: That isn't being human
Unknown: A fly hopes to live, yet it's still squashed no?
You: Survival is an instinct
You: A fly doesn't want to be the world's greatest hero
Unknown: Maybe
Unknown: Although I'm curious as to why you chose to be a hero
You: I could say the same with you being a 'villain'
Unknown: Me? A villain?
Unknown: Please don't flatter me like that
Unknown: I haven't done any villainous acts yet
You: Today says otherwise
You: Asking Shigaraki to disintegrate the gate
You: Showing up on top of the building
You: What's your game?
Unknown: You don't know the truth?
Unknown: The truth of why we are here
You: Why?
You: What the hell are you talking about
You: Who are you?
Unknown: You may call me Zero
Unknown: A shame you have no idea of the truth
Unknown: You'll understand soon enough
You: Why reach out to me?
You: What's the point?
You: You could have hidden, and I never would have known
Unknown: Why hide?
Unknown: I want you to know that I exist
Unknown: Just as you can change future events, so can I
Unknown: I suppose it's a mystery
Unknown: Can you catch me in time before the future is irreparably changed?
You: Your insane
You: Innocents will die
You: People I care about
Unknown: Characters*
Unknown: How out of touch with reality are you?
Unknown: They aren't real
Unknown: They are fictional characters
You: I used to be like you
You: Don't you realise that you're running away from the truth?
You: We are dead, there isn't a way back
You: This is our reality, accept it and move on
Unknown: I am accepting reality
Unknown: You are the one running away
Unknown: What if we could go back home?
Unknown: To our family, to our friends?
Unknown: To live our full lives again!
You: That's impossible
Unknown: So is making clouds and changing their shape
Unknown: Quirks can make the impossible, possible
You: So that's it?
You: You are doing all this to go back home?
You: And you think that I'll help you?
Unknown: We can go back together
Unknown: Fix our mistakes with these new powers
Unknown: We can make our lives even better
You: No thanks
You: I like my life here
Unknown: That's a shame
Unknown: I wish I could have had a brother on my journey
You: Journey?
You: You're a madman working with villains
You: Your 'journey' is a one-way trip to prison
Unknown: Maybe so
Unknown: But at least I'm not going to pretend that this is my life
Unknown: That this body is my body
Unknown: I haven't given up like you
You: I'll stop you
You: We* will stop you
Unknown: We?
Unknown: Ah, 1A
Unknown: You can try
Unknown: It'll be fun tomorrow
Unknown: May the best man win Sora Yamazaki
The user is unable to message anymore
I growled slightly, cocky huh? Well, that's going to be their downfall. I looked over to Miwa, who was happily chatting with Hinata and Gekko, or the constant buzzing of messages from the group chat. Or my friends, who stayed after school to make sure I was all right. I'll never take them for granted, and never take my life for granted. They were wrong completely.
After all, Marshall D Teach, and Madara Uchiha all fell. They Fell to something greater than they could have understood, even with all the knowledge at their disposal, this person who was just like I failed to comprehend that 1A was greater than any expectations you could give them. Hell, not even I still understand 1A, but I had faith. Faith that we would all pull through. Faith that I would win
Faith that we would win…
…
As you can see, this did NOT happen!
I'm super glad I didn't go with this plan and changed that chapter 3 HOURS before I uploaded it so it could be how the story currently is structured. Sora was unsure if the attack on the USJ was going to happen.
It would have ruined Zero's surprise, which I think is a strong hook to the story. Furthermore, in my opinion, it would have changed the tone of the USJ arc negatively. The way the USJ arc currently is in this story is Sora working with 1A to beat the changes Zero and the League made to their plan, a stronger overall theme than just Sora v Zero.
Originally I wanted to have Sora be more manipulative with everyone in 1A. In the end, I decided on Sora lying to them more than manipulating them, but that's not to say that Sora didn't manipulate them in the last chapter of Part 1.
The point is that originally Sora and Zero's dynamic was going to be more akin to a villain v villain type deal. I'm thankful I didn't go ahead with that because I enjoyed writing Sora's slow descent into someone that messed up the entire raid for a chance at revenge more than him being a sorta grey character from the start.
Sora and Zero's dynamic changed considerably from Zero's first appearance to his second.
At first, he was a smug prick who was psychotic and didn't care about anyone. That was of course retconned with his mind control Quirk being liable to the mind of the person being controlled able to express their thoughts and actions to some extent.
I've already spoken about this, but Zero really is the cornerstone of this story. I mean he's Sora's direct rival, the Sasuke to his Naruto. Without Zero (and all the other reincarnates) this would be such a boring story because only Sora can affect the world.
This way, they all affect the world in different ways.
One is the Prime Minister of Japan while the other is a terrorist with Stain. It's such a joy to plan out future arcs because not even I, the author, can really guess what the characters will do.
I'm just writing whatever feels right for THEM to do, not what I want them to do. An example of what I originally wanted to do was have Miwa also be a reincarnate and 'betray' Sora.
Hell, for a time, I even switched Zero's true identity with Miwa before laughing at it. Speaking of Zero's true identity, I wanted to reveal it a lot throughout the DECIDE arc. Especially when Zero and Dabi kill Mr Compress.
In fact, sitting on my hard drive is a completed scene showing exactly that.
However, I'm still sticking to my original plan of revealing Zero's true identity at the very last second because even the people I've given vague hints about agree it's GOOD.
Another cut scene was Tokage changing her hair colour.
There were a bunch of 1A backstories I changed.
For example, originally I wanted Shoji to like become a hero because his mum was in a coma due to a villain attack but then I remembered his canon motivation and scrapped that idea.
Sero was going to have a 'Harry Potter' type backstory. No parents and lives with an aunt and uncle that dislikes him etc. Instead, I gave him a sort of Neville Longbottom backstory because I have plans for him.
Ah, Ojiro.
His backstory was going to be EDGY as hell.
He and his brother were going to have studied under the same martial arts teacher, but when that teacher dies they fight over who should inherit the dojo. Ojiro's brother would then be pulled into an unfortunate accident making him go blind, but he becomes a criminal anyways to prove his strength.
In the end, Ojiro had promised his brother that one would become a villain, and the other a hero, and fight it out to decide who would become the dojo's teacher.
I am SO glad I dropped that idea in favour of Ojiro basing himself on a hero that saved him and his family when he was younger. It's just plain and simple and fits Ojiro's character.
Tokoyami's backstory was also changed slightly. Originally I wanted his parents to be properly abusive to him but I changed that for the better. Now they just neglect him slightly.
I wanted a scene where Aizawa and Sora get drunk together but decided against it at the very last moment. I'm saving it for later.
Also, Sora wasn't supposed to go into a coma.
He was supposed to 'die' but I decided against that as well. Coma was just better narratively rather than his body going in a death-like state. Also, the final chapter was going to be much shorter but include a scene where Sora's life flashes before his eyes.
Originally, instead of Christmas, I wanted the final chapter to take place right before 1A's music performance at the school festival. But I couldn't match the timelines and thought 'eh fuck it, if I'm going to post this in December I might as well change it to Christmas.'
Sora was supposed to get a dog called Chainsaw Killer Ripper Max after the Stain Arc, but I decided against that.
There was supposed to be a mini-arc about Sora learning to play the guitar, but I also cut that.
Sora was meant to have more training scenes but I actually forgot to include them. That lack of training was then used to make Sora feel more guilty during the DECIDE arc (Genius writer for real.)
The Halloween party was cut short. Originally I wanted a much longer scene for it with more quiet moments between Sora and Jiro, but I also decided against it. It would just be wasting time and wouldn't really add much.
I wanted a short comedy arc with Mineta being framed by someone for sending nudes of a second-year student around the school, with 1A and 1B backing him up and making everyone else believe he's innocent (Which he is.)
However, that was scrapped and instead reworked into being a better and full-on arc in Part 2 with much bigger stakes. And a court trial! Yes! You heard me right, Sora is going to become a lawyer now!
Sora was supposed to start growing a beard, but instead, that went to Kaminari (Who shaves often). As to why…
Speaking of Kaminari, I actually wanted a lot more screen time with him and Sora. Apart from the fact that Kaminari is his best friend and in a lot of scenes with him, I just wanted more between them.
Oh, and I wanted their special move "Jackpot" to be used a lot more.
Yes, it's inspired by DMC's Jackpot featuring Dante and Vergil.
But for the main event, I present to you…
An old outline for Part 1!
Yep, you heard me.
An outline that was made sometime in early 2021
Here it is:
Part 1:A
Sora learns what sacrifices mean, in USJ he uses his dual Quirk to sacrifice movement for a minute as he gain sthe biggest power boost, getting rid of tentacle man and managing to go all the way to the centre next to Aizawa. Unfortunately, his Quirk runs out just as he reaches Aizawa, who remarks him as a fool.
Shigrraki reaches out, nearly grabs him but All Might comes. Izuku helps Sora get up as he gives him to Tsuyu and Mineta, but by then Sora can move again, albeit slower then usual and not able to manifest his Quirk properly, follows Izuku to Todoroki, Bakugou and Kirishima as he says "This is my fight too, ain't no one gonna stop me from protecting everyone,"
All Might wins.
Sora is told about his secondary Quirk, the ability to sacrifice something for a greater boost of temporary power. All Might asks him if he know's someone called All For One, suspicious of Sora. Sora says no.
Sports Festival happens, Sora doesn't take it seriously despite everyone else.
Izuku v Sora, Sora manages to barely lose. Bakugou remarks that he'd like to fight the lazy bastard from the stand as Sora loses on a technicality, the entire time he was beating Izuku. Izuku v Sora is more on their opinion as heroes, Izuku believes in saving everyone, Sora believes in protecting those he cares about.
Sora get's scouted by Edgeshot, but before that Aizawa talks to him. Aizawa manages to get a blood sample, uses that to go to Nezu where Mic and Midnight is waiting, with a seemingly DNA test of Oboro.
Sora learns from Edgeshot how to do long distance attacks, like shuriken and control his Cloud Cloud Jet Pistol. Sora walks around in Hosu, see's Stain and lets him go. They have an interesting conversation about heroics, Satin was going to attack but Sora manages to fly away, saying Stain's a hypocrite. Sora helps with evacuation, in the midst he gets injured by a nom, but he doesn't let go as see's a family injured.
The blonde mother looks eerily similar to his own biological mother.
However before that he passes out, Edgeshot takes care of the rest.
Sora wakes up in a hospital, Edgeshot says he did good but that he has to cut the internship short, mostly due to the fact that his Hero work is too dangerous, but that should he do well enough in his second year he can intern for his agency.
Sora accepts, his family come. They all hug him, saying look at the video posted. It's of Sora not relenting, not loosing despite being bloodied as he gives his final stand. He's being called a hero, yet Sora cries as he knows he's not strong enough yet to protect those he cares about. Miwa comforts him as she hugs him, in the door she whispers I love you to him, but by then he's fast asleep.
Sora and Bakugou are rivals at this point, trying to get on each other's nerves.
Todoroki and Sora surprisingly are on good terms, Sora giving him hentai recommendations as a joke.
Sora and Kaminari are remarked like brothers.
Sora and Izuku are also rivals, with Izuku seeing him as not wrong but not right at the same time.
Training camp, goes as cannon, Sora switches places with Bakugou.
All For One reveals that Sora is the fourteenth, the fourteenth experiment regarding a Quirk of his that he never uses. The ability to steal souls from different worlds, currently Sora is the only other one remaining. We see Bookman, he says the changes Sora made to cannon created him, that he has his own agenda seperate to AFO. Sora, chained up spits on the floor around the villains as he says he'll bring them all down.
That no matter what they wouldn't hurt anyone he cares about, that it's his promise to them!
Dabi says that his eyes aren't lying, he's the type to focus on one goal for the rest of their life.
Just then, the heroes storm in, saving Sora. Bookman banters with Sora, saying he's a pawn in a much bigger game, that he planned it all. Suddenly traps spring as Edgeshot loses a leg, other heroes suffer a similar fate. Sora was bait the entire time.
Just then, explosions come and Bakugou, Izuku, Todoroki, Momo, Denki and Kirishima are captured. Bookman smiles at the group as he says "everything has gone to his plan," Staring at the group more closely.
Just then All Might saves the day, fighting All For One. In the confusion, Sora manages to escape and captures Bookman, he remarks that nothing is going to his plan. They battle slightly, and Bookman uses a technique similar to Denki's, but he doesn't link it.
Bookman says that he's read the future, that he knows more then Sora - That he's in control
Sora stabs his hand in defiance, punching Bookman across a building as he sacrifices using hs arm for the next half an hour saying that he'll protect everyone. Bookman gives a grin as he asks if he can really protect them all from fate, from betrayal and from human nature? Sora doesn't reply, as he watches All Might win. Bookman escapes with Kurogiri's help, calling him Oboro which annoys Kurogiri.
After, Aizawa explains to him that he's Oboro's son, and Sora says that Kurogiri was called Oboro, surprising Aizawa. Sora doesn't tell anyone the truth about what AFO told him, Aizawa says that they need to find his mother.
Sora doesnt want to, but he agrees.
Cannon events with Mirio, Edgeshot agrees to take him on for intern.
Things go as normal, Sor hears of Eri and feel a kinship with her, human experimentation.
Sora goes to meet his mother with Kaminari, but chickens out last second as he sees she has a family, he doesn't want to intrude and ruin someone's life.
He feels stronger resolve, Kaminari asks if thats what he really wants, that he might not get a second shot.
Raid on Yakuza start, Sora goes up ahead with Izuku and Aizawa.
everything goes as cannon, instead of Lemillion loosing his quirk however, Eri steps in the way as her conversation about Sora affected her. Eri dies due to Overhual's rage, he instead choses to go into a rampaging Musutafu to kill as many people as needed be, fed up with heroes and Quirks. Sora is about to go, but Aizawa stops him.
Aizawa says if he's ready to go out there and make the ultimate sacrifice, Sora doesn't reply.
Izuku, Lemillion and everyone else try to stop the rampaging Overhual, but can't get close. All hope is lost as civillians start to die, one by one buildings are falling. Izuku almost dies trying to stop him, barely saved in time by Aizawa.
Sora is there, looking stronger than ever before as his hair is shaggier, his face more focused.
Using pure physical strength, he grabs Overhuals face and starts to fly, throwing him in the air.
Sora v Overhual = Ichigo v Aizen
In the end, Aizawa stops Overhual using the serum, thus ending him from using his Quirk. The final sacrifice Sora made is the ability to not use his Quirk again as he remarks that the clouds are gone, looking up.
He then wakes up in UA, everyone is sad that he has to leave. He's offered a place in support course and general studies, but the denies syaing that it's his choice.
He gets invited to festival, but he doesn't go.
Sora leaves 1a forever, despite everyone begging him to do so. Sora snaps and makes everyone hate him(? Maybe a fight?)
I even kept all the spelling and grammatical errors, isn't that cute?
Bookman was originally Zero's codename, but I changed that. Also, Bookman was going to be an old man that was secretly mind-controlled by Zero's true self which was going to be revealed much later once Bookman would have 'died.'
But I'll get to my Part 2 original outline when the third intermission chapter is released in… a few years.
And that's about it for the cut content section!
Characters
I don't really know what else to put, so I might as well do some character profiles. By the way, the character theme songs are what I personally think fit the characters the most.
Sora Yamazaki:
16 years old
D.O.B - May 10th
Height - 165cm
Hair colour - Dark brown (Formerly light blue/silver)
Eye colour - Dark brown
Blood type is AB-
Likes sweets and strawberry-flavoured sweets
Is knowledgeable in literature, maths and history (His best subjects)
Bad at science
His favourite movie is Inception.
His favourite celebrities are Eiichiro Oda, Lionel Messi and Kendrick Lamar.
The person he respects the most is Aizawa.
He mostly wears baggy clothing and plain stuff, but he enjoys plaid shirts.
His favourite jacket is a denim jacket that is too expensive for him.
Sora's fashion sense has been mocked because he wears very nice clothes that never matched his hair colour (He hated it and tried to ignore it). Now he doesn't have to deal with that problem, but other than that fashion and looking good is a secret passion of his.
Character theme songs are:
Baka Mitai from Yakuza 0
Banjiya Blues from Gintama
03' Adolescence by J Cole recorded in 2014 Forest Hills Drive
The Sound of Breath by SiM
Silver Bullet from DMC5
December 17th by Crazy Ken Band
Bet On It from High School Musical 2
Naihi Shinsho by One Ok Rock
In My World by Rookies is Punk'D
Lost Heaven by L'Arc-en-Ciel
Zero:
? Years old (Around the same age as Sora)
D.O.B - Between May and July
Height - Around 168cm
Hair colour - ?
Eye colour - ?
Blood type - ?
His favourite celebrities are Masashi Kishimoto, Kendrick Lamar and Cristiano Ronaldo
His favourite movie is The Dark Knight.
The person he respects the most is Sora.
He enjoys wearing costumes and masks.
Dark colours are his favourite.
He's an expert when it comes to fighting and has been practising martial arts since he was a child. The most important thing to him in his life is the promises he makes to others, and even if they contradict his goals he will fulfil them till the bitter end.
Character theme songs are:
Silver Will by Falcom Sound Team JDK
Kimi no Kioku (Memories of You) from Persona 3
Good Kid by Kendrick Lamar recorded in Good Kid, M.A.A.D City
The Sound of Breath by SiM
The Decisive Collision by Falcom Sound Team JDK
Alleycat from Persona 5
Number One from Bleach
A Lone Prayer from Persona (First game remake on PSP)
Farewell (Unused Version) from Pokemon Black and White
I'll Remember You by Falcom Sound Team JDK
Setsuna Tokage:
16 years old
D.O.B - 13th October
Height - 163cm
Hair colour - Dark green
Eye colour - Dark green
Blood type - B
Likes joking around with people she cares about.
Her best subjects are science and philosophy.
Her favourite movie is Scott Pilgrim vs The World.
Her favourite celebrity is Emma Watson.
The person she respects the most is Midnight.
She has a unique fashion sense which isn't what makes her different from other girls, it's the fact she's so risque with what she wears to school as it makes an impact for fun.
How she really dresses is whatever outfit she can scramble together that matches whichever model she likes at the current time.
Setsuna doesn't know how to play video games, but she watches other people play them instead. Her favourite genre of games to watch is long story-based RPG and she dislikes online shooters.
Character theme songs are:
Your affection from Persona 4
タイムマシーン・ラヴ (Time Machine Love) by Ryusenkei recorded in Tokyo SniperPurple Haze by Jimi Hendrix
Tender Feeling from Persona 3 Portable
The Less I Know the Better by Tame Impala recorded in Currents
Chamber of Reflection by Mac DeMarco
Romantic from Yu Yu Hakusho soundtrack
Bitter Bitter Sweet from Oregairu S1 (Band song)
Yozora:
24 years old
D.O.B - May 4th
Height - 176 cm
Hair colour - Dark Purple
Eye colour - Dark brown (Changes with his Quirk)
Blood type is O-
Enjoys discussing ethics.
His favourite colour is red.
His favourite movie is the Brown Bunny.
He doesn't like any celebrity, but the only one he tolerates is Selena Gomez because he has a crush on her. He hates any mentions of their past world.
The person he respects the most is Friedrick Nietzsche.
He enjoys wearing suits because they make him look serious. Occasionally he'll wear a Santa costume even when it isn't Christmas and he enjoys it.
Yozora loves social media.
Character theme songs:
桜音 by Piko from Yorinuki Gintama Ending 4
Soul Phrase by Shuhei Kita from Persona 3 Portable
Nourishment of Love by Kasahara Hiroko from Rurouni Kenshin Reflection OVA's
Nanao Iori:
22 years old
D.O.B - March 14th
Height - 165 cm
Hair colour - Blue with streaks of silver and white
Eye colour - Hot pink
Blood type is O-
Loves her job.
Is extremely good at her job.
Is very career focused.
Her favourite celebrities are Clint Eastwood and Dave Toschi.
The person she respects the most is her father, Naomasa Tsukauchi.
Her fashion sense consists of two outfits. The suit she wears to work and her pyjamas, she never buys clothes that she can't wear to work. Her style is boring and plain.
She is very competitive at poker.
Character theme songs:
Shiki no Uta by Nujabes from Samurai Champloo
Runaway by Kanye West featuring T Pain from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Kids by MGMT
Hachi Yamaguchi:
26 years old.
D.O.B - February 2nd
Height - 153 cm
Hair colour - Grey/Silver
Eye colour - green
Blood type is AB
Has a very strong morality.
She loves children.
Hates hurting others.
Her favourite celebrity is Mother Teresa.
The people she respects the most are those who are silently in pain and try to continue enduring.
Hachi always dresses professionally, but she does own very risque dresses that she wants to wear at special events along with a special partner. Hachi loves wearing high heels because it makes her taller.
Hachi enjoys eating cereal in the afternoon as a snack.
Character songs:
Out of Time by The Weeknd recorded on Dawn FM
Lobster Vibes by I Am Bones
Numb by Linkin Park
Natsuki (Azrael):
28 years of age.
Height - 181 cm
D.O.B - September 23rd
Hair colour - Blonde
Eye colour - Blue
Blood type is A
His favourite TV show of all time is Breaking Bad.
Enjoys surfing.
His favourite stories make him cry.
The means always justify the ends to him.
His fashion style is rather unique in that he prefers to show the number 'seven' that's on his chest at all times. He mostly just wears a lab coat. He also wears glasses despite not needing them.
Character theme songs:
Hikaru Nara by Goose House from Your Lie in April
Shall Never Surrender from Devil May Cry 4
Forgiveness by Paramore recorded in After Laughter
Class A:
Theme songs -
I Believe from Persona 5 Royal
Part 2
At this point, I don't really know what else to talk about, so I might as well talk about my thoughts heading into Part 2 of the story. To say I'm excited would be an understatement. Many emotions are swirling within me, the main one being pride.
I'm not usually passionate about anything.
It's not to say I have commitment issues rather I tend to burn out rather quickly and easily. And after that, it's hard for me to like doing that thing again. Whether it's playing a game and not liking it for whatever reason, a music artist or even writing out a story.
I've had burnout before and it's not fun.
The fact is that this story will probably exceed two million words by the time it's done, or rather by the time I'm happy with it enough to leave it alone for good. Realistically I should say that I'm 1/3 of the way to completion… but it feels like 1/5 to me.
Part 1's being edited as we speak.
Extra scenes and altered scenes to almost every chapter, as well as better grammar and spelling. Just a lot of work is being done to 700k words to make things a lot more readable which is insane I know. But then on top of me writing out Part 2, and knowing me, I won't like how some things are written so I'll edit that once it's done as well.
To say I'm not nervous about entering Part 2 would be a lie. I'm taking a hiatus from writing anything really and focusing on planning and editing before I start to write anything. I have a lot more free time in my day now but it's still filled with thinking of things to write in this story.
New characters and interesting plots.
Scenes that are both funny and sad.
And cool moments that make me incredibly hyped to write them.
There was a time a few months ago when I grew disillusioned with the manga. Truth be told the last manga chapter I read was 262. I started MHA and grew to love it because of the vibe of the series.
Izuku Midoriya endured various amounts of pain that would have broken anyone but somehow didn't break him. That's what I think is his greatest strength, and is what I think the manga tried to give to 1A.
The problem is everything is so rushed.
Aren't they still in their first year of U.A.?
I still love MHA and the world and characters Horikoshi created. I always will. I'm looking forward to catching up on all the chapters I've missed and smiling at Izuku showing his endurance for the world to see in the final battle that's been going on for quite a while now. But it hasn't been that many months since Izuku saved Eri and the current point in the manga is that it's been five years for us.
Everything is so densely packed it just feels like we are speedrunning through the series.
I want to see more of the world and characters Hori has made, and that was partly a reason why this story ended up the way it did. I don't want this story to end up a rehash of canon, nor do I want this story to end up having what I feel are the weaknesses of the source material. Nothing is perfect, especially not this story.
It's a work in progress.
I don't have a beta, not like many others who write stories which benefit them. I don't really post much about this story on other websites where the fandom is which I know a few other authors do. Truth be told, this story isn't even that popular because it's a SI/OC and this fandom simply hasn't matured enough yet for those types of stories to truly get popular.
And finally, this story is long.
So long it boggles my mind that I want to write all this.
For whatever reason, I've managed to stick to this and continue writing, despite all these negatives. And that's because of the lesson MHA taught me, endurance. To endure the pain because on the other side is everything I've ever wanted.
For that reason alone I want to apologise to you, the readers!
The quality of this story is spotty at times! Thank you for enduring all this, and I hope that you'll enjoy Part 2!
I said I was going to answer reviews and questions, but truth be told there isn't a need to do so. So instead I'll leave it here for this short intermission update, and I wish you all a happy new year!
I'll see you all soon!
And these words are here just so this can reach 10k words.
:)