YMMV / Ignited Spark

• Accidental Innuendo:
  • An In-Universe example - when Pony wants to become friends with Mezo, she tells him that she wants to overcome her chapodiphobia - but phrases it as her 'having hang ups about the tentacle stuff'. Mezo is very quick to ask her to watch her phrasing.
  • While talking with Shoto, Itsuka says: "Putting myself on top of Izuku and Ochako was never going to be a problem". How much of this line is accidental, or is just her thirst over her crushes subconsciously manifesting, that is up for the reader to figure out.
• Adorkable: Hisashi Midoriya. Honestly, just by looking at the man, you can see where Izuku got his dorkiness from.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Teko's initial refusal to allow Itsuka to become a hero. Was it rooted in genuine concern for his grandchild's safety, or fear that one day she might find out about his criminal ties with the Yakuza?
  • Does Toya genuinely care about his family (minus Shoto, obviously) or his said caring side for his mother and Fuyumi part of a long and painful Bait the Dog scheme to hurt his family as emotionally as possible?
• Anvilicious: While calling Eraserhead out on how his Break the Haughty scheme backfired horribly for Izuku and Ochako, Midnight claims that Ochako is probably going to have it worse, since she was injured the most by Bakugo, which will reflect negatively on her moving forward, and that female professionals always get the short end of the stick in comparison to their male counterparts whenever there is a problem in the field, which is a harsh case of Truth in Television.
• Catharsis Factor:
  • Nine's humiliating defeat at the USJ. After spending three entire chapters acting all smug and superior and promising to kill all the students just to spite All Might, seeing him get blasted away by a lightning bolt to the chest thanks to Izuku is incredibly satisfying.
    • Seeing Slice, who was even more smug than him, being forced to grab Nine to run away with her tail between her legs after Himiko, Tenko and the teachers arrive is utterly enjoyable.
  • Happens frequently during the Sports Festival against characters who underwent cases of Adaptational Jerkass:
    • Mineta, who had been nothing but a perverted idiot towards Momo, gets completely defeated by Fumikage and beat up by Dark Shadow after he makes inappropriate comments towards Reiko.
    • Monoma and Shinso, both of which Took a Level in Jerkass with their Irrational Hatred and hypocrisy towards 1-A students, find themselves finally paying during chapter 30. Shinso gets curb stomped by Shoto not even a second into their match, while Monoma gets easily knocked out by Itsuka during theirs, and this happens right after she makes his plan to brainwash her fall flat on its face and turns it on him by calling him out on his hypocritical attitude in the middle of their match, in front of everyone.
    • After over 30 chapters having his character behaving like a raging narcisstic jerkass, borderline Psychopathic Manchild that thrives by making Izuku's life miserable, Bakugo's defeat during their fight at the Sports Festival in Chapter 31 is considered the most catharthic moment of the story by the readers. And as somebody pointed out, what adds insult to the injury (and somehow counts as Fridge Brilliance as well), is the fact that Bakugo probably would have been far more accepting of his defeat if Izuku managed to beat him up black and blue, but Izuku defeated Bakugo by freezing him and preventing him from using his Quirk, the source of his strength and value that gives him the illusion of being special, which makes the defeat even more humiliating. Then Chapter 34 rolls around and reveals that Bakugo is finally facing consequences for his actions, being expelled from hero course and pretty much exiled to Gen-Ed. He can't even drop out of U.A. otherwise he will get blacklisted from every hero school in Japan, so now, for delicious irony, he has been Demoted to Extra both in and out of the story. And finally, Bakugo gets to hear the greatest "The Reason You Suck" Speech from his former bully victim, calling him out on letting his pride and resentment ruin his life and he is the only one to blame for it.
    • To fans who despise Aizawa's Sink or Swim Mentor attitude, not to mention how he tried to use Izuku and Ochako as tools to improve Bakugo's atrocious personality only for it to backfire immensely against everyone involved, seeing the Erasure hero getting called out by the families of the main trio, plus getting slapped in the face by Inko, was one of the highlights of Chapter 32. It gets even better in Chapter 33, when Midnight gives him a Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse speech over how his incapacity to handle Oboro's death is ruining both his students lives and his own.
    • Shoto finally letting go of his anger and resentment against Ituska, as well as his blind worship for Toya. After a full arc of seeing the boy ranging from such a vicious prick to insecure and afraid of his feelings, the moment where he unleashes his flames is long overdue and deeply appreciated. The fact that he throws the match right afterwards and denied both Endeavor and Toya of their precious victories over him only makes the moment sweeter.
• Evil Is Cool: The Consortium really earns this, since they are way more competent than the League was in the early stages of canon and are composed of a very Badass Crew.
• Fan Nickname: In a Shout-Out to Black Clover, the main trio received the nickname "Clover" by readers, a reference to the three leaves of a clover: Izuku is Faith, Ochako is Love and Itsuka is Hope. Nejire could count as Luck, in case she does join the polycule. Word of God actually liked the idea and said they will make a way to fit in the story. Sure enough, Arc 7 is titled "Clover Rising" and begins the Relationship Upgrade amongst the main characters, including Nejire and Melissa.
• Fan-Preferred Couple: Given Nejire's closeness to Izuku from the moment they meet, many readers want them both to hook up, even though is known that he will end up with Ochako and Itsuka.
• Fridge Brilliance:
  • In Chapter 23, Eri mentions that some of the food she's eaten includes onions, beets, tomatoes, and sometimes fish with fat. This could simply be Overhaul purposefully feeding Eri the bare essentials in order to survive, but think about it. What do onions, beets, tomatoes, and fish with fat have in common? They're all foods that help increase blood flow and circulation. It makes sense for Overhaul, wanting Eri's blood for his quirk suppressant bullets, to make sure she has a diet that emphasizes blood flow - while also making sure that she eats nothing beyond foods that would be efficient enough for her to live on to keep her spirit broken.
  • Shouto's case of Adaptational Jerkass (using his ice quirk much more offensively, not showing any care for when he inadvertently shot Izuku and Ochako out of the sky, and tried to stop Itsuka from saving them during the first round) may seem to be out of nowhere - but also consider that in this universe, he's living with Touya. It's pretty clear, considering Shouto's promise to make him proud, that he's trying to emulate his brother. Although this could also slide into Fridge Horror when you start to wonder, if Shouto's emulating his big brother, how Touya acts as a hero ...
• Friendly Fandoms:
  • With One for All and Eight for the Ninth and Changing Gears. The authors often exchange ideas and praise each others works, and there are plenty of references to 849 on Ignited Spark.
  • With Green Tea Rescue. The author cites GTR as one of the main inspirations to Ignited Spark and also reviews some chapters for side stories and some fan art as well.
  • With Mischief (MHA). KageNekem is a fan of Spark, and the story's version of Itsuka is what inspired his own take on the character starting with the Guardians Training Camp arc.
• Genius Bonus: All Might reveals that his last fight against All for One happened on Endor Forest. While locations in MHA being named after Star Wars planets are no surprise in fan works, it's worth noticing that Endor was not only the location of Luke and Darth Vader's last fight, but also where Emperor Palpatine (from who All for One is an Expy from) was believed to have died, until it was revealed not to be the case.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Tenko's character as whole. Given that the fic debuted around the time of the manga's Final Battle arc, any of his interactions take a very sad turn considering that was for a twist of fate this incredibly nice and kind young man didn't became a sadistic and nihillist monster.
    • Special mention to chapter 20, that came out around two weeks after Shigaraki's Villainous Breakdown on chapter 363, where he goes on a rant over how no one offered him a helping hand when he was abandoned and broken on the streets, and yet the heroes are doing everything they can to save a seemingly dead Bakugo.
    • Tenko's hero costume, a sleeveless black bodysuit with a white cape is obviously an homage to Nana's original outfit. However it also acts as a sad and dark Continuity Nod to Shigaraki's outfit during the Paranormal Liberation War arc, where he uses a long and dark red cape, that he took from X-Less after killing him and turning Jaku City into a crater. Even harsher, Chapter 21 was launched two days before season 6 of the anime, adapting the War arc, debuted.
  • Himiko and Ochako's interaction in chapter 24. While Himiko assuring Ochako about her insecurities regarding her appearance are a heartwarming moment during the story, this chapter came two days after their fight during the Paranormal Liberation War arc was adapted in the anime, where Himiko is attempts, in a very messed up way, to declare her feelings for the hero student only to be shut down.
    • Himiko's character in general, really - she's accepted for who she is by her friends, has a grandmother-granddaughter relationship with Recovery Girl, she's mentally adjusted, and even her feelings for Ochako, in this universe, are somewhat reciprocated. Contrasting her with how she is in the manga now - clearly in the midst of a Villainous Breakdown, attempting to kill both Izuku and Ochako, and truly alone - is utterly heartbreaking.
  • In the same vein, Toya being a hero gets a really harsh take, considering that chapter 24 came in the exact week where the events of "Dabi's Dance" were animated. The fact that he still seems to hate Shoto for what happened to their mom is even sadder.
    • It gets even more painful after Chapter 388 of the manga comes out. The ending of it features a heartbreaking panel of Toya, with no scars, full hero costume, surrounded by his family, all of them truly happy... all while in the real world, Dabi is going through a Super-Power Meltdown that is about to kill his entire family and countelss civillians in the process. If you pay enough attention, Shoto is not amongst the family members on Toya's vision, showing that his resentment towards him runs so deep, he can only be truly happy in a world where his baby brother does not exist. And to further break someone up with the family drama? This chapter was released on Mother's Day. Talk about twisting the knife.
  • In Chapter 41 it's revealed that thanks to his precognition Quirk, All for One knew that Izuku would become the Ninth Wielder of One for All in the original timeline, so he decided to keep an eye out on the boy not only because of that, but because he intends to use Izuku as his Vessel. Chapter 420 of the manga reveals that All for One was responsible for the tragedy of the Shimura family in more ways than originally believed: Not only he was close a friend of Kotaro, incentivating the man to have Tenko and to be specially harsh on the boy due to his love for heroes, but also stole Tenko's original Quirk and gave him Decay so the boy would kill his own family. Fridge Horror kicks in, because there is a good chance that All for One did the exact same thing in this story, but since he already intended to use Izuku as his Vessel, he destroyed Tenko's life for no reason other than because he could.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight:
  • While Tenko and Himiko being heroes is Harsher in Hindsight given the time the fic debuted, it is also very heartwarming to see both of them not only saved from their Start of Darkness, but also happy and surounded by friends and loved ones. Tenko has Hana, Gran Torino and All Might, while Himiko has Mirio, Tamaki and Recovery Girl.
  • In the fic, Nejire was an outcast because nobody stood her Constantly Curious nature, and Yuyu was her Only Friend until Izuku, befriended her during the Entrance Exam. In the manga, Nejire was shunned by her classmates because everyone thought she had an Inferiority Superiority Complex towards them until she was approached by Tamaki, one of the shyest characters in the series, approached her and became her First Friend at U.A.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • A Black Comedy example: In canon, Himiko kidnapped Camie and posed as her during the License Exam, where she spent most of her time being flirtatious and invading Izuku's personal space. In the fic, both Himiko (who is a hero) and Camie (who is a villain) love to tease Izuku and a girl he has a Ship Tease with. Himiko with Ochako and Camie with Nejire.
  • In Chapter 24, Izuku considers letting Nejire into the secret about One for All, since both it and Wave Motion are Quirks that rely on controlling the right percentages of power to use it, before being shut down by Itsuka, since is problably a bad idea letting the biggest chatterbox in U.A. find out about such an important secret. Comes Chapter 28, Nejire ends up finding out about it anyway, due to accidentally hearing their conversation on the infirmary.
• I Knew It!: When the Hooded Man made his debut during the USJ, many people especulated that it was actually Muscular. Which is not far from the truth as chapter 17 reveals. Hood is actually a Composite Character between Muscular and the unnamed cagefighter used as base for Hood.
• Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: While villains from the Consortium and the Inner Circle are all despicable, vile and irredeemable in their actions, the amount of Adaptational Jerkass that characters like Bakugo, Shinso and Aizawa receive makes several readers hate them more than the antagonists. The three of them, at the very least, seem to be trying to make an effort to change (Bakugo is shown to be on better terms with the main trio in the flashfoward). None of them, however, is more hated than Nighteye. His fatalist Manipulative Bastard Knight Templar atitude over refusal to accept Itsuka as a successor and willingness to drag even Mirio, someone he supposedly cares about into his argument just to prove he is right, makes him universally despised amongst the fans.
• Love to Hate: Kanshi Shiryoku/Intelli, President of the HPSC and High General of the Inner Circle may be a devious woman, and while fans hate how she uses fan favorite Lady Nagant as her personal chew toy, there is no denial over how charming her unapolgetic Evil Genius personality is.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Since Hisashi actually shows his face in the story, readers keep joking that is actually All for One with black hair and contact lenses. The fact that All for One is healthy like before his fight against All Might only fuels the readers with the "Hisashi is All for One" gimmick.
    • Additionally, 'Rizzashi Midoriya' gained traction after he somehow charmed Midnight and is revealed in the second Flash Forward to have married her.
  • Upon the second Flash Forward revealing that Nejire is in an Ambiguous Situation, several readers replied with various comments of 'How dare you', due to Nejire's popularity.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • Nine definitely crossed it during the USJ Invasion. If not when showed himself more than willing to murder teenagers until All Might arrived, then he really crossed upon sending Hood to brutally kill Izuku just because he called Nine weak to his face.
  • While Flect Turn already crossed during the Humarise terrorist attacks years prior in which not only hundreds were killed, not mention how he framed Eddie Soul for his crimes, he crosses even further during attack on Hosu, where he has no problem letting his daughter Momo be left in the crossfire of the Consortium's rampage, knowing full well she could be killed. In fact, Daikoku even planned on using her possible death to help propel his image for his upcoming political campaign.
• One True Threesome: One true Foursome example. Many people think Nejire should join the polycule, and some even say she will do, but the author is trying to keep as twist. As of chapter 31, this seems confirmed to be the case, with Nejire expressing interest on Itsuka as well. Evolves into a fivesome example when Melissa expresses interest in both Izuku and Ochako as well.
• Paranoia Fuel: Camie mentions the ability to use her illusions to turn herself invisible, or at least unseen by others, and she's used this to stalk the members of Class 1A to find out where they live.
• Realism-Induced Horror: While the main threats of the story are super powered individuals, not to mention a Nebulous Criminal Conspiracy, the Domestic Abuse both Shoto and Momo live through their personal lives is truly an aspect more terrying than anything else. Shoto has been pretty much gaslit into seeking approval of his brother Toya, who does nothing but belittle and mistreat him since they were kids. As for Momo, she is stuck under the thumb of an Abusive Parent who not only controls every aspect of her life, but treats her as a tool for his own personal ambitions, all while mentally abusing her at any given chance. The fact that Daikoku is an incredibly rich, powerful and pretty much untouchable man, really drives the comparison between him and real life abusers thar get with their crimes due to their wealth.
• Spiritual Successor: To Type-2 Hero. Both are fics where Izuku goes trough a massive case of angst upgrade, gave up on his dream long ago, only to receive new chance from the universe and become the hero he always dreamed of. He also ends up falling in love with two beautiful and loving girls (Ochako is one of them in both stories) and adopts Eri as well.
• Spoiled by the Format: On A03, per usual, the tags reveal that Tenko and Himiko are not villains on this story are spoiled before their debuts on it. As well, the updated tags confirm that Nejire and Melissa will be joining the poly group.
• Ship-to-Ship Combat:
  • Nejire's POV chapter during the USJ has really sparked a desire at the readers for her to join the polycule, even though its known from the literal beginning of the story that the main trio is booked solid.
  • In-Universe example between Mina (who ships Izuku and Ochako) and Setsuna (who ships Izuku and Itsuka.)
• Unexpected Character: A trademark from the author. Now with its own page.

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