miserable beguiler

[reimagined] is pretty self explanatory but I've called it this bc of a distinction that is very important to me

This is what most people would label as either an AU or a rewrite

While neither of these are wrong they also both don't really convey what I'm actually doing.

I hold a lot of respect for people who had the courage to share their stories with the world regardless of the quality or popularity. Making art is hard and [especially now with everything going on with AI] genuine art is even harder to share.

I believe that the story Horikoshi has written is fantastic. Not perfect by a long shot, nothing ever is. But its a story that has connected with so many people for so many different reasons.

I also believe it could be better. But at some point in a process of "fixing" someone's art you lose what the author poured their life into. It can become extremely diminishing and disrespectful even if that's not the intent [I'm aware that a lot of people do intend to come off this way and I think that's really telling of them as a person]

I know that what I would do is different than what he originally intended. Which is why I'm not just slapping rewrite on it and calling it a day. It would also be diminishing of my own storytelling and experiences to call it a rewrite. I know what i want to make and I'm very aware that it's not a story everyone is going to like [nor understand]

You may be thinking 'Why don't you just say its original and change the names so it isn't copywritten?'

The story I'm telling is something that I neither have the heart nor the want to separate from MHA. This is my take on the concept of what Horikoshi has created. [Think more classic comic book adaptations than the traditional rewrite]

I'm not just filling in plot holes and removing stuff i don't like. I'm taking what I see and turning into what i think it could be. [a big what if scenario at every possible junction] I'm using what inspired me about the original and expanding on those ideas. It is intrinsically tied to the story he made and I'm ok with that.

Its called a reimagining because I'm not just touching the plot. I'm making a new world, a new universe, where I can answer the questions I would ask about a story. Worldbuilding is one of my favorite things and the kind of ideas I want to play with would be diminished by making it a 'cannon compliant' kind of work.

I'm not telling a single story from one point of view. I'm not telling the story of how Izuku Midoriya became the worlds greatest hero. Don't get me wrong that story still happens. However what I am doing is making a world that you could pick any character, any at all, and tell their individual story. Creating a world where anything can happen to anyone.

Im telling a story about the human condition

I'm writing a love letter to My Hero Academia. I'm taking a work of art that has impacted me deeply over the past couple years and giving it all I've got. I love this story and I want to show people how much it means to me and what it means to me.

[What I'm not doing is saying Horikoshi is perfect and I share all his thoughts and ideas. That would make the whole point of this project really hollow. We are different people with different views of the world and that's the whole point]

Circling back to my second point [why none of its tagged with mha]

Fandom spaces scare me

I'm not posting this to get popular or to make money. I'm posting my work because a really important person to me believes it to be a story worth making. Its an extremely personal and self indulgent project.

Of course I love it when i can make art that people enjoy. I do not care if my stuff is relogged with mha tags. The reason I don't tag it like that is because I want people to find this story because it connects with them. [like ships people enjoy, or characters people want to see more of]

I want to reach people who are interested in what I'm doing. This includes people with different ideas and opinions. I love learning new perspectives and it helps me make art that makes people feel seen.