bombus frigidus

These are all the linocut prints I did in art class this past school year, also my senior year of high school. I really love how all of them came out!

I didn’t like the face in this picture, which is why it’s drawn over

ALSO, LOWKEY SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN SEASON 6 OF MHA

So, here’s a bit of backstory-ish to Wade Murphy, my self-insert for my Dabi fanfiction. He’s half American on his dad’s side, which is why his last name is Murphy instead of it being Japanese. He’s also five foot nine.

Wade’s dad is the famous American pro-hero, Inferno. He was one of the top heroes for quite a while in the US, ranking highly at number 1 for a long time. Unfortunately, he was arrested on assault charges after he had an episode of some kind and tried to kill/seriously injure his wife, who was Wade’s step mom. He was then stripped of his hero license, and outcast from the majority of hero society for his actions. Wade’s mom and dad were divorced waaay prior to this, but Wade would still go live at his dad’s house every two weeks and on school breaks. (He was in 8th grade when his dad fell from fame)

After Inferno became vastly hated, Wade’s mother forbade him from seeing his dad. Wade was okay with this for a while, but after a few years he really just wanted to say something to his dad. He couldn’t be any more unlucky in his wishes, because not too long after his dad was arrested and stripped of all his titles, Wade’s mom decided to up and move her, Wade, and Wade’s little sister to Japan, where Wade’s mom is from.

Wade and his sister were fluent in Japanese, thanks to their mom teaching them when they were little and always speaking a mix of Japanese and English at home, but adjusting to the cultural norms felt impossible. Wade’s sister was able to fit in a little easier, but Wade just struggled and struggled.

The thing is, Wade had actually lived in Japan when he was little. He was born there, and lived there until he was nine or ten. Wade’s family moved to the US when his dad got a job there to be a permanent hero. He’d already been working in the US as a hero most of the time. He’d spend 3 months in the US, then come home to Japan for a month, and the cycle would repeat. He was a licensed hero in Japan, but he favored the US more, partly because there was already a very prominent fire superhero in Japan that he couldn’t outrank. That hero would be Endeavor.

Even though Wade’s dad was in competition with Endeavor, their families were still good friends. Inferno and Endeavor had an unserious (for the most part) rivalry, and their wives and children got along really well, especially Wade and Toya. They were both the eldest children of their families, both had similar powers that were somehow even hotter than their parents, both shared a lot of interests, and both had some troubles with their dads that would end up sticking with them for life.

Anyway, Wade’s family moved to the US, leaving their Japanese life behind for now. Inferno quickly climbed the ranks, reaching the number one spot easily now that he was in the US full-time. Wade’s parents got divorced very soon after moving to the US, but they made it seem to Wade and his sister that it wasn’t a big deal, and that they got divorced for some mysterious but not bad reason.

While they were living in the US, Wade and Toya kept in touch, probably more than any of the others did. They were still best friends, just living on opposite sides of the world. Then, one day, when Wade was in class in 7th grade, he got called up to the office. His mother and father were both there, tears in their eyes. Wade knew something was up, because they were never around each other unless something really bad was happening. They took him home, and delivered the news to him that his best friend, and the only person who understood him, Toya Todoroki, was dead. Wade was devastated. He couldn’t believe it.

Toya’s death was a sadness that plagued Wade even years later. It got smaller and more manageable, for the most part, over time, but there were other times where it snuck up on him and became too much to manage.

After Wade’s family moved back to Japan, the Todoroki’s welcomed them with open arms. Wade’s sister was immediately close with Shoto, and Wade’s mom was close with Enji. (The family was still keeping great secrets about their issues at this point in time) Wade tried to make friends with Fuyumi and Natsuo, but he just didn’t have the same connection with them that he had with Toya.

Wade transferred to UA high from his American hero high school when he moved to Japan. Luckily for him, he didn’t even need to take another entrance exam. Because of his transcripts, and a letter of recommendation from Endeavor, he was able to start taking classes right after enrolling.

Wade had a hard time making friends. Most of his classmates had heard about the now infamous hero, Inferno, and his scandal, but it took a while for them to make the connection of Wade being his son. This was partially the reason for his lack of friends. The other was that he was just different from the rest of the kids in his class. He dressed “weird”, he had a strange American accent, (the Murphy’s lived in Texas when they were in the US) and he just didn’t understand the cultural norms for teens in Japan. He understood the ones for little kids, because he grew up with that, but his perception of teenagehood was very different from what his classmates thought.

Eventually, Wade graduated, and he’d made at least a couple of friends. One of them was Keigo Takami, otherwise known as the pro-hero, Hawks.

Wade was scouted by hero agencies almost immediately upon his graduation. Endeavor’s was the first to ask him, but Wade, surprisingly to everyone but himself, declined. He didn’t want to work with Endeavor, not just because he reminded him of his “evil” dad and dead best friend, but because he knew something fishy was going on with the Todoroki family, and he knew Endeavor was somehow behind it all. He didn’t know many, or any, details, but he remembered bits and pieces of the things Toya had told him, and things he’d seen during his time spent at their house. Wade was also certain, kind of conspiracy theory-ish, that Endeavor was somehow responsible for Toya’s death. So, every time someone would ask why he didn’t want to join Endeavor’s agency, (which would happen quite often) he’d just give an American politician’s style of a non-answer answer.

Oh! I forgot to tell y’all how Wade got his scars. Basically, a little bit (a few days) after his dad got arrested and everything came crashing down, Wade took a long walk to downtown Houston. (His family lived in Houston) During this walk, he saw a news broadcast on the side of a building (there was a screen, like in NYC) talking about Inferno, and the things he was being charged with. Frustrated and super-duper upset that no matter where he went, he couldn’t escape his dad’s/his problems, he lost control of his emotions, and therefore his quirk. He didn’t just wield his fire, he turned into the fire, and he didn’t stop when he reached his limit. (at the time it was around seven-ten minutes) He kept going, screaming and crying, crouching into a ball, as his flames ignited the buildings around him, civilians screaming out for help. His flames were so strong during this episode, that even after firefighters had extinguished the fires Wade caused, they couldn’t extinguish the flame that made up his body. He was eventually put-out, and had to be taken to the hospital for treatment after, because he’d burned for about an hour and a half. It was a miracle he didn’t die, according to the doctors.

Okay, that’s all the backstory lore to him, but here’s the current stuff:

Wade starts off my current timeline for him as a pro hero who’s bored of his life and feels like the people around him are almost all fake. (Holden Caulfield much?) He sees an article about the League of Villains on the news one day and decides to seek them out. Maybe this is the change his life needs, y’know? So, a few days after a one-night stand with a mysterious man that has stapled skin all over his body, he find the League of Villains. When he gets there, though, he realizes the man he slept with is part of the League! (how awkward)

Wade has to explain why he, a pro-hero, is joining the LoV in order to not be killed or something by them. They accept his reasoning, and he officially joins the LoV. He and Dabi are pretty cold towards each other at first. Dabi is distrustful of Wade, especially since he KNOWS Wade from their childhood, and he doesn’t think Wade is the type of person to do this sort of thing. Also, Wade is highly suspicious that Dabi is Toya Todoroki. He would know that smile and those eyes anywhere.

Eventually, Wade and Dabi warm up to each other, and even act on their feelings and finally get together. Unfortunately, their silly-goofy fun time doesn’t get to last long, because Wade and Hawks are sent to infiltrate the League. Now, Wade and the League have to act like they don’t know each other at all prior to Hawks being there.

Soon, Wade feels really pressured to make a decision between his life as a hero or villain. With increasing pressure from the heroes to stop the League, and Hawks scrutinizing his every move, Wade feels trapped. So, when Dabi reveals himself to be Toya Todoroki to Wade when they’re alone after Wade tells him about his dead best friend, he decides to join the League, and ditch the heroes for good.

That’s kind of all I’ve got so far. Looking at it, it seems like a lot, but I don’t think it really is. I’m working on writing this all out into a fanfic of some kind, so maybe I can publish it on some platform later.

Also, please don’t judge my art too hard! I know it’s not perfect, and I know most of the time people are nice about that sort of thing, but I always get scared when I post something new no matter what.

Thanks for reading this super long yap session! ;-;