I'm thinking of making Percy 26 instead of 23 since it would fit the actual dynamic that he and Michaela have, which I based an actual friendship on. Michaela is 25 for context.
I think it would add an extra layer of insecurity for him? He already feels like a failure due to being behind compared to his peers in terms of life trajectory in getting his first ever job (as a teacher) at age 26, not having much of the ideal 'teenage experince', lacking friends, and being a social shut in after his father died at 16. Alongside his aunt Tzipora thrusting upon him said job as a teacher at an important school with no prior experince other than tutoring kids in his local village would only cause him to have some typa crazy imposter syndrom 😭. Not to mention his whole family is famous for feats such as his dad (Tomislav) being the youngest pilot in Okos, his sister Anna being young when brought on a team to study prions, his aunt being a military general and his other father Percival Sr creating a more destructive nuke. He's got a whole bunch to live up too yet is terrified asf which is the perfect shitstorm for such an anxious person.
Got this as a brainworm while I was working on an ask from @dualfuel
I don't think shipping is inherently bad, but I do believe that there's an overfocus on it within fanfiction, that it exacerbates some of the worst tendencies within fanfiction (gratuitous wish fulfillment, enforcing fanon over canon, poor characterization), and that outside of formats like smutfics & oneshots (which can exist for their own purposes or just pure titillation), shipping/romance is actually way difficult to pull off.
In the BNHA fandom, Todoroki Shouto x Yaoyorozu Momo is one of the most popular F/M ships by volume. Why? Apart from a few similar personality traits, they share 2-3 scenes in the manga together, none of which have any emotional conflict or interplay between the two. They don't share any narrative or thematic space. Todoroki is a secondary character, Yaoyorozu is tertiary due to her presence in class 1-A (she would be whatever the word for fourth-level is otherwise).
I believe the line of thought goes something like: they have powerful quirks, are rich/high status/powerful, depicted as beautiful, both recommended students > they occupy the same/similar niche in society > therefore, They Ought To Be Together.
Not a solid foundation.
Despite all that, I want to recommend Crash (I'll be here), an Explicit TodoMomo romance fic (You can find it on AO3, not linking as I'm on mobile). It begins straightaway with the classic cliche:
*Goes to arranged marriage*
*gasp* "it's you"
*gasp* "it's you"
Regardless, I enjoyed it for:
Good understanding of canon characterization, which it then builds off of to introduce themes of isolation, obligation, dissociation & discomfort with body, and abuse
Solid grasp of Japanese culture, especially the arranged marriage tradition
Excellent prose, scenes and emotions flow clearly from word to brain
The flow encourages sticking with the story & introduces and resolves suspense at the right moments
OCs not written or deployed egregiously, but inappropriate contexts & to fit the role
Romantic scenes advance the narrative or develop the themes
The tittillating scenes also do this, surprisingly
The takeaway here is that to write a good romance story, You first have to write a great story, then write a good romance story.
Endeavor is treated a bit gently in this, but a) it was written in 2018 and b) It's more of a pseudoredemption, as he's not quite forgiven & His good behavior feels more like a narrative reward for Shouto, that his father will consider Shouto's wishes instead of imposing his own.
