Title: Metallurgy
Author: BeeeTeee
Rating: M
Genre: Action, Friendship, Romance
Status: Work in Progress (141k words)
Library Category: Other Fandoms (Misc, Anime)
Pairings: Midoriya/Bakugou (fem!Bakugou)
Summary: In which Izuku gets a quirk naturally and Katsumi Bakugo is too introspective for her own good. Fem!Katsuki Quirk!Izuku
Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13224343/4/Metallurgy

I posted this in the My Hero Aca fic suggestion thread and was recommended to put it up for review, so here it is.

This fic is mostly what you'd hope it would be when you see what it offers. It's a pretty competent take on a story where Deku isn't quirkless, Bakugou's a girl, and all the consequences, ramifications, and butterfly effects of those two things happening at the same time.

It starts off in childhood, with Deku getting his brand new quirk, which is nothing if not interesting. Time moves forward in small skips, with him testing the limits and boundaries of his power, slowly but surely training it as a muscle until it's actually usable. Bakugou is re-befriended, and then the parts of this story that I really like start to kick in.

It's not often I come across an MHA fic that really captures what a healthy friendship between Deku and Bakugou would be like, but this feels like it gets the job done. Unlike in canon, they actually get the opportunity to bond over their shared interest in being heroes and individual talents, and their shared obsession for wanting to be the best they can be results in a working partnership in which they spend a lot of time practicing, theorizing, and generally improving themselves together. The pairing doesn't even solidify until they've mostly settled in at U.A, and even then, it doesn't obstruct their previous dynamic too much. They just change from a team of up best friends into a serious power couple.

There's also a few minor things that were done that really help the fic work; U.A was changed from a high school into an actual college, so that means the cast of students are all eighteen going into the U.A portion of the story. For obvious reasons, that makes the romance stuff a lot easier. Moreover, the extra time really helps with everything this fic sells itself on, and a cast of characters that are stronger, smarter, and a bit more experienced helps with some raised stakes later. There's some little tidbits of worldbuilding and theorization that help sell some things the main story fed us; for example, the mildly superhuman levels of strength, speed, and conditioning that people without strength-enhancing quirks can achieve. And a fun little tidbit with Cementoss later on down the line, which I thought added a lot to his (mostly irrelevant in this story, but still) character.

Of course, there's some stuff that holds the story back. Aside from the beginning and what new changes were made to canon, nothing's been really original or eyecatching since. It feels like a lot of typical MHA fics where Deku's simply granted a quirk and sent off to conquer the story even better than in canon, except this time he's got a tsundere childhood friend waifu at his side to kick ass right next to him. That said, it's fun and enjoyable enough that I didn't really mind it.

It can also be pretty safely accused as mostly shameless wish-fulfillment on a few levels. Deku's a very powerful protagonist, upgraded from a spunky, nerdy, hero-in-training with potential to surpass his mentor to... well, a very hunky eighteen-year-old version of Deku. I think the entire female student body of Class 1-A has expressed a strong interest in him at several different instances in the fic and if it weren't for the dedicated pairing, I might have thought there was some harem stuff building up at those points. There's a lot of wank going on here for Deku and Bakugou both.

And as a little add-on, just something I found mildly annoying:

Spoiler

Stain makes an appearance in the whole "training montage" section of the story before UA properly starts and sort-of befriends Deku, which feels like a pretty blatant attempt to add some cheap drama for when the fic moves onto that section of the story. I didn't feel like it was at all necessary, and I can already imagine word-for-word some of the dialogue and interactions that are going to crop up because of this earlier connection. I could be proved wrong, though.

Still though, all in all, Metallurgy is a fun and well-done MHA fic, which in and of itself is a rarity. It has a niche pairing that's done decently well, and a case of Deku having a quirk which doesn't feel totally out of place on him. A 4/5 from me. It's a good fic, especially in the fandom of MHA.

 

This is a solid story. If you're looking for something to read in the fandom it's worth reading. It's not perfect, and some of the internal character beats regarding the romance are pretty typical of fanfic romance, but I read it to the end and enjoyed it. Strengths are the interesting quirk and its development, as well as the relationship (shipping and otherwise) between Izuku and Bakugo. Weaknesses are the stations of canon, and the relationship between Izuku and Bakugo.

I mention the relationship being a strength and a weakness because it is serviceable, and if the pairing is what draws you in, you'll appreciate it. If you're ambivalent on the pairing, it's easy to see where it almost falls flat. It's not bad, per se, but it's definitely a fanfic level romance.

I'd give it 3.5/5, rounding up (due to smaller fandom, rare-ish pairing, and interesting alt-power) to 4/5.

Edit: This is probably less relevant to the story, but I'll include it anyway: Over time, I've found that generally, you can judge an author's skill by the content of their Favourite's List - or at least their fondness and tolerance of certain tropes. If I had seen this author's fave list before reading the story, I wouldn't have. There are definitely exceptions, and 140k in this seems to be one of them, but as the story gets deeper into the meat of BNHA, it'll be something to watch out for.

 

I agree very heavily with the sentiments already posted. This is complete wish fulfilment, with Deku getting a cool powerful quirk and training so much harder than in canon that he grows six feet tall and has 89 abs. This is fun for an exercise in exploring the alt-power but there basically isn't a plot, it just lazily follows the stations of canon with one major alteration.

Kacchan as fiesty tank girl is a vibe I've got a lot of time for. Their relationship is remarkably well-adjusted for fanfic or anime, and it comes across as best friends slipping into romance very easily. It works well and feels realistic.

However that brings us back to the main flaw of the fic, which is that it's utterly bland from the lack of conflict.

I stayed up a couple hours past my bedtime reading this, which I haven't done in a while for a fanfic. The writing avoids many of the horrible pitfalls which put me off fics. Although I never stopped to marvel at the craftsmanship, I was never distracted by crimes bigger than occasional typos.

Best My Hero Academia fic I've come across. It's like a Harry Potter fic from 2005.

3/5