The Union Academy Experience

Let me tell you something

The scene begins with a hand putting a DVD inside a console as it loads and the video begins to play.

Hi everyone, Hambo here. Today I wanted to talk to you about Union Academy stories. Some of you may be familiar with stories like that. Where it's a crossover of different shows all set in one universe. It's a cool concept, but unfortunately the entire genre has been flooded with the same story format: reader wants to be a hero, he has no powers so he gets harassed, he leaves, he comes back with godly powers and gets the bitches.

I'm not trying to bash anyone that made a story following that exact formula but I just wanted to give some advice. You don't have to listen if you don't want to. I just want to help everyone have a pleasant reading experience. So let me break some things down.

First:

The main character. If you decide to make a Union story we obviously need to know what to do with the reader. What his deal is and what his powers would be. There are plenty of things that have been used: Saiyan, the Gamer ability, Sans Undertale, some weird Sacred Gear, a God gives you his blessing, a GODDESS gives you her blessing after giving you some sloppy, ability to summon fate girls, etc. There's obviously a handful of things you could do to make the reader have. Take Demo2099 for example. He made the reader Spyro the Dragon which is neat. Spyro is a classic video game character (never knew much of him though since I was a Nintendo kid). You can have the reader have any power you choose, but I recommend choosing something that will make them stand out.

Second:

The characters. Next up is deciding what characters will be featured in the story. Obviously in a massive crossover there are going to be some familiar faces. And in a massive crossover it can become difficult to juggle all these different characters and give them appropriate screentime. Trust me, I messed up in this aspect in my own story. I stuck with a handful of shows I knew about to make things easier.

Also with the characters is their personality. The common thing among these types of stories is that everyone and I mean EVERYONE is a complete fucking chode. Like Bakugo and Sasuke, yeah I get that, they're the worst. Bakugo legit told Deku to kill himself in season 1. And fangirls still try to ship him with Deku and say that he's cute. Those types of girls are the ones that find serial killers hot. Anyway, if you make your own story then please have the characters keep their core traits.

It's okay for them to stray from the path of their character for a bit. But to completely re-write their personality to make them seem evil is just awful. Let's take Rias Gremory for example. Her being a bitch has been a staple of these stories. Look, she brought Issei back to life and he was forced into her peerage but that's about it. She needed help in getting out of her arranged marriage with Rizer. She takes care of her peerage. She worries for them. She loves each and every one of them. The reader might not be a devil, but she wouldn't go out of her way to harass the fuck out of them.

Don't even get me started on Ruby. A girl who wanted to make sure everyone got a happy ending before being sent out in a war against the wicked witch of the west. You want to make her a bitch? Really?

Like some characters can act like bitches no doubt. Like Weiss or any tsundere for that matter. But they eventually grow and develop. They can make an attempt to make up for what they said or did. You don't have to forgive them outright, but just keep letting them try and try to make it up. Blake is no way a bitch. She may doubt the reader if he's a human and worry that he's racist. Yang is just a high maintenance type of girl. I can't really say for sure if she'd outright bully someone. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and say she'd do some light teasing but if she went too far she'd try and apologize.

Next are the teachers. Yeah some teachers can act stupid, but you're telling me that Prof. Ozpin wouldn't do something about the bullying? Sure he didn't with Velvet in the show but that's because he wasn't there nor did anyone actually bring it up. Like, at all. But Ozpin is a nice guy. He knew Blake was a Faunus and isn't a bigot. He let her in the school and cares for his students. He doesn't want them to die in a war he made because that witch-locked-in-a-tower pussy got him acting unwise.

What about All Might? The number one hero who is the symbol of peace and justice? He wouldn't take a stand against bullying since he too was once a powerless guy? Guy sensei? A man who can't use ninjutsu but never gave up and became an awesome shinboi?

It makes no sense for everyone to be so cruel! Like if you explicitly say that this is an alternate universe where everyone is a dick then fine. But if everyone does that they already know what's gonna happen with the characters and story.

Third:

The story. This can vary wildly, but most end up being a revenge type of story. Trust me, everyone loves a good revenge/comeback story. I've seen enough Disney movies back in the early 2000s to know the ins and outs of a classic underdog story.

As I said before the most common story setup is this: reader goes to the school, people find out he's powerless and harass him, he leaves or gets left for dead, comes back after a timeskip with the power of God and anime on his side and gets the bitches.

You can have him do whatever in the time frame between getting his powers and him showing up to the school. You can show off him training and learning to use his powers. It's fine to have them know how to use their powers right off the bat, but you could make it more fun if you show them struggling or accidentally causing property damage. Show the reader going around the city making a name for themselves under an alias and have some major street cred by taking down a villain that a pro hero couldn't. Then when you have them show up to Union everyone will shit bricks.

Fourth:

The ending. Now this is very vague and left for interpretation. Your ending is whatever you want. But let's simplify things. If you're doing a revenge story then the best way to end things off would for the character to pull off one final badass act. That way they can solidify as the strongest in that verse. Like skipping all the fodder and heading straight to the final boss. Any one of them! Salem, Madara, All For One, Shigaraki. Whoever you want. Even though Madara is the strongest and would curb stomp everyone in the room several times over.

So if you use him your character will be the coldest motherfucker alive. Do whatever you want to end your story. It should definitely end off with a bang as the character leaves the academy with his devoted lovers and friends. Leaving all the bullies and doubters there at the cringe academy. The character is a free man now!

Conclusion:

So basically... Do whatever you want if you didn't like any of this information. You don't need to take this advice to heart since I'm not a pro writer. But if want to use my advice I'll give you the rundown. Be original, don't do a betrayed story, keep characters consistent, if their personalities need to change and you can't do it well then use the verse you made to bullshit a way. It isn't good but it will get things done. Like tape. And do your best to make a killer ending. If you can't then it's alright. It's just enough to have a definitive end. Something I need to learn myself haha. That's all from me. Bye!