#afo planned all of this before he was even BORN

[youling-the-ghost]

"I will never justify a villain's actions because of their childhood."

*Sees Tenko Shimura*

"Poor kid did nothing wrong. He has been nothing but a victim, also fuck All For One."

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 410: Kacchan Fights a Baby

Previously on BnHA: Kacchan was born and then he grew up and murdered the Demon Lord.

Today on BnHA: Kacchan fights a baby. Tomura and Deku finally remember that they were supposed to have been fighting too this entire time, and get on with that once again. Tomura is all, “[literally just reaches out and grabs Deku’s face because Deku’s main character powers suddenly abandoned him in a fit of confusion].” Deku is all, “[chops off Tomura’s fingers which is somehow not even in the top twenty of violent things that have happened in this series in just the last five chapters].” Tomura is all “joke’s on you I still got your quirk :D” and fuck me he actually stole Danger Sense, what the fuck.

logically I knew AFO still had to be alive somehow because he’s too big of a villain to go out that easily without a proper sendoff. but deep in my heart, I’m still secretly disappointed

it just isn’t fair, lol. this guy has died more times than Rasputin and he’s still out here scheming his schemey schemes. when oh when will it end

sir you did not just say you had yet ANOTHER unused trump card up your sleeve??

(ETA: the translation isn’t fully clear here, but I think the trump card he’s referring to is the whole “I’ll just go back inside him and join the part of me that was already in there and we’ll take over Tomura’s body again together” plan that he was trying to pull off. I think. if not though, that’s certainly something worth speculating about.)

well as always the psychology in this series is unironically fascinating! he just wants acknowledgement at the end of the day, huh. just wants some love and attention. too bad he was born in a rat-infested hellscape and learned all the wrong lessons and turned into a crazed omnipotent murderlad

also he really did turn back into a baby sdfsdlkjfl oh no. I need to see Katsuki’s reaction to this immediately

oh my lord

(●__●)

lmao this is so incredibly fucked up

ngl though, this is karma at its finest. he tortured and killed so many people trying to earn everyone’s fear and awe and reverence, only to literally blip out of existence at the end with absolutely nothing to show for it

everyone please enjoy this series of panels of a deeply vexed Bakugou Katsuki picking a fight with this slowly melting evil baby

“you think I care that you’re a baby now. you think I won’t fight a fuckin’ baby. let’s do this you little punk”

also I’m sorry but it’s absolutely ridiculous that the gigantic chest wound Tomura inflicted on him got sewed up so neatly lol. AFO’s not the only one who stubbornly refuses to die no matter what

...

just once, it would be nice if Horikoshi didn’t immediately shred my plot nitpicks to pieces mere seconds after I write them

LMAO

BABY AFO DON’T CARE. BABY AFO WILL THROW HANDS WITH ANYONE ＼(｀0´)／

KACCHAN MY BELOVED FAVE OF ALL TIME, ARE YOU REALLY ABOUT TO LOSE TO A LITERAL FUCKING INFANT

WHAT HAPPENED TO “PERFECT VICTORY” LMAO. MOVING THE GOALPOSTS EVEN AS HIS CONSCIOUSNESS FADES. “EH, CLOSE ENOUGH”

-- OH FOR THE LOVE OF --

me: wow it sure is uncharacteristic of Katsuki to just pass out before he properly wraps up this battle

Horikoshi: oh yeah good point, sure would be a shame if someone... IMMEDIATELY ADDRESSED THAT CONCERN ON THE VERY NEXT PAGE

me: ఠ_ఠ

ldskjflaksdjfkds

fdsfsdkf. “SORRY ABOUT THAT, FOR A MOMENT THERE I ALMOST FORGOT TO BEND THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE TO MY WILL”

holy fucking shit. his body was all “um, just a quick reminder that you’re HORRIBLY WOUNDED and have lost like ten gallons of blood and all of your cells are about to call an emergency meeting to shut this thing down before you get us all killed.” and he was all “WHAT WAS THAT?!” and his body was all “oh my GOD, FUCK, OKAY just forget we said anything”

and meanwhile Baby AFO is just lying there all “(◉⌓◉)”

this six-month-old child is truly and sincerely still trying to kill Kacchan while screeching death threats in high-pitched baby talk

this actually would have killed him too, if he’d succeeded in passing out. all that just to be punk’d by a damn baby

you are actually shitting me right now

at this point I’m genuinely not sure which of them has the more powerful angry toddler energy

oh no ffuffkdsfk

meeeeelting. meeeeeeltiiiiiing!!! oh what a world what a world

jesus Horikoshi I am genuinely speechless

... welp

WAIT NO WAY, REALLY?!?!

?!?!?! WAS IT ACTUALLY THAT SIMPLE THIS WHOLE TIME

-- lkjf

three times. three times in the same fucking chapter. I give up. apparently I’ll literally believe anything this man says. does it feel good, Horikoshi. preying on your readers’ hopeful naivete

yeefuckinghaw lmao

GOOD JOB KACCHAN YOU DEFEATED THE EVIL BABY

awwwww

I actually had a theory about this! well more of a wishlist item, really. I can’t remember if I’ve actually posted about it yet or not. but it’s like. you know how Deku and Kacchan are always being really dramatic about holding hands? wanting to hold hands; not wanting to hold hands; being afraid to hold hands; holding hands via proxy, etc. etc.?

and you know how both Endeavor and All Might have each done their own version of the victory pose that Kacchan is referring to here? with each one using a different hand?

so you see, I was thinking that it might be nice. might be a little poetic and all that. if at the end of the fight, Deku and Kacchan did, in fact, hold hands. and then did the victory pose together. and it became like their iconic hero moment. them standing there together. having accomplished their goal and defeated TomurAFO through teamwork. realizing their shared childhood dream. and sharing that moment of triumph with each other and with the world, ushering in a new era of heroes

anyway yeah. I was thinking that might be a pretty good ending. but it looks like Kacchan maybe really is about to pass out here now, lol, so maybe not? anyways time to finally scroll down

-- okay I literally said awww again out loud

what a fucking nerd. I have never felt more fondness for a character in my life

every damn person watching this on the news better have leaped to their feet and started applauding, goddammit. those motherfuckers better be CHANTING HIS FUCKING NAME. all those nagging reporters better be bombarding his phone with calls. those fuckers who deleted his footage from the Shouto interview better be shamelessly leaving him dozens of voicemails acting like none of that ever happened and presumptuously asking when he can free some time in his schedule to visit their studio again. all the heroes who haven’t hugged him yet better be lining the fuck up. that one guy from the post-kidnapping press conference in chapter 86 better be writing a fifty page letter of apology!!

oh hey it’s a random pre-battle flashback mysteriously taking place in Troy “a few days before the battle” even though I thought they only moved into that place the night before the fight

I love how Katsuki immediately narrows his eyes (I assume. we can’t see for sure but that’s the vibe I get) at Jeanist and has to resist the urge to call the police on him for that pun

so Hadou’s wondering what Jeanist is talking about because they already evacuated the civilians, so what else are they trying to protect. and Edgeshot is all, “well obviously we’ve gotta protect everyone’s future,” which is a nice... rearshadowing?? for him saving Katsuki’s life later on lol

and now Mirko is all “get to the fucking point already.” which, same

so Jeanist says that Tomura is an even bigger problem than AFO, because at least AFO doesn’t want to murder everyone on the entire planet. and he concludes with “he’ll probably try to touch the ground and use his quirk.” which is a conclusion that I have to say wasn’t really worth two pages of flashback buildup for, considering that we all figured that out years ago

I’m guessing this is all just some sort of awkward transition back to Deku’s fight now lol

and now we’re getting two pages of exposition on how long it would theoretically take Tomura’s Decay to spread throughout the city, and then the entire country, yikes

damn. talk about stakes

and now finally back to Deku!!

shoutout to everyone who correctly predicted that Deku was once again talking out of his ass when it came to being out of Gearshifts. we all knew. unlimited supply

wow Tomura way to throw AFO under the bus

the way I recall it, AFO wasn’t the one who failed to kill him back then lol. but go ahead and talk your shit king

DEKU WHAT ARE YOU DOING

holy shit?!?!

like my first thought was “well last time he did this he just tried to steal OFA rather than Decay him, so he’ll probably try that again and it’ll be fine.” only to remember that the AFO inside Tomura is currently permanently(?) out to lunch, and Tomura himself doesn’t give two figs about stealing OFA. so, uhhhh >_>

(ETA: nevermind.)

but then this happened

Deku what the actual fuck

OH MY GOD??!?!

HOLY SHIT

okay. okay, fuck. lemme gather up my thoughts, and then we’ll wrap this up

they’ll never admit it, but you know the other OFA Vestiges secretly resented Shino a tiny bit for being the only one of them to not be gruesomely murdered. bet they all feel guilty for thinking that now

Shino and Banjou also seemed to have this cute little pseudo-rivalry thing going on, so I really feel bad for Banjou now. :/ he looks so horrified in that bottom right panel

gotta admit, I did not see this coming in the slightest. OFA has been this immutable “I do what I want!” quirk for so long that I never thought Tomura or AFO would actually succeed in stealing it, even partially. that shook me to my core

BUT, it’s also really exciting to me because it’s going to make this battle much more interesting if Deku can’t use his get out of jail free card. shit just got way more real and I’m here for it

lastly, so! let me tell you guys my prediction. I still can’t see Tomura being the final villain lol. I just can’t. it feels too anticlimactic. if I’m wrong, I’m wrong, and I’ve certainly botched MANY predictions in the past, but I have not yet learned my lesson from any of it and I will not apologize lol

so here’s what I think. Deku and Tomura battle it out for the next chapter or two, and Tomura snatches up more of Deku’s quirks one by one. we see all of the Vestiges disappearing and the mood gets more and more desperate. eventually we’re down to just Kudou and Yoichi. Deku is panicking, but for some reason Kudou seems even MORE panicked

Kudou/Gearshift eventually gets stolen too, and it looks like this might finally be it for Deku (I have no idea how he’d stop Tomura from Decaying the ground once Blackwhip gets stolen, btw, but maybe Katsuki or someone else interferes in desperation towards the end). but just when it looks like Tomura is finally going to take the last piece of OFA, Deku’s vibes suddenly do a 180, stopping Tomura in his tracks

cut to the OFA Moon Gorgeous Meditation Realm, where Deku and Yoichi are staring at the door -- yes, that door -- in shock. because it’s finally been opened (now that the other Vestiges are no longer there to keep it at bay). and just like that, enter AFO, for the THIRD FUCKING TIME :D :D

tl;dr, HERE’S HOW HORCRUX!DEKU CAN STILL HAPPEN!!! wait where are you all going. wait come back

anyway so wow that was a really bizarre chapter that I truly thoroughly enjoyed, which should probably be a bit concerning. on to the next two week break! (for anyone who’s not aware, Shounen Jump will be on break next week, so yeah.) I’m on chapter 391 now. so close but still so far. the end of the year has gone by too damn fast tbh

[irontragedyreview]

I was waiting for the official translation of this chapter because I wanted to know what meaning they were going to give to this phrase and since I don't know Japanese the most accurate thing I will get is the official translation.

At first I was going to take just Shoto's panel but in the end I decided to also take the previous one because the phrase "there's sure to be a period of chaos the books don't talk about", this phrase plus the way Shoto talks about the lack of a symbol and how a person like Afo born or emerges from them, it’s something that left me thinking and a little uneasy, because while I understand what Shoto says, it makes me wonder how much these kids know about their history.

What I'm trying to get is that the concept of Horikoshi's pre-Quirk society isn’t original, in fact it can be found literally in the X-Men comics, I would even say that you don't even have to go to the comics, The X-Men movies of the early 2000s showed us the pre-quirk society of bnha, the first scene of that movie is Jean Gray speaking in front of Congress against the anti-mutant registry, throughout this debate the question that makes Jean's words lose power is "Are mutants dangerous?", the question itself is unfair because Jean answers is that everything has the potential to be dangerous, even a teenager driving a car, the reply is that those cases can be regulated but mutants are an unknown and therefore a danger as they can’t be controlled. The original trilogy has this presentation to a society fearful of mutants, the end of the trilogy is the invention of a cure against the X gene, which is discovered through the experimentation of a mutant child (Chisaki arc). This is later taken up in the films that focus on being prequels, in X-Men days of future past where we meet Dr. Trask whose introduction is him explaining how the evolutionary chain of the human being was, how those more evolved ended exterminated their less evolved ancestors, the mutants here are the next evolutionary step and all those born without the X gene are the least evolved, who in Trask's words will only follow the same path as their ancestors before.

Now, whoever reads this will say "why is this story important and what does it have to do with Shoto's words?" Well, it's that Shoto's words, plus the panel that refers to those events that are outside the books, they make me wonder how the UA students know history, because they live in a society where the supremacy of the quirk is what is imposed, they didn’t live in first stages and we know little or nothing about how this stage is told to the generations that followed. Afo, Yoichi, Kudo and Bruce were born in the first glimpses of quirk society, however there is something that is interesting and that is that Kudo doesn’t represent a front against discrimination to people with quirks, they were a revolutionary army againts Afo, Yoichi himself never thinks about the discrimination and mistreatment of quirk people in the society in which he grew up, which is incredibly strange considering that he witnessed his brother killing a group that planned to kill them for recognizing that Afo belonged to that new generation of people. The pre-Quirk society carried out practices of discrimination and perhaps even death of people they considered dangerous, the majority of quirkless people in the old society were terrified of the quirks and their response was to attack the unknown. Ofc, we can only talk about Japan since we don't know what happened throughout the world, from what we can see the glowing baby was not considered dangerous in China, or perhaps there were certain quirks that were less inconvenient than others but in Japan we can see that there were groups against people with quirks.

Now, returning to Shoto's words, the big problem of the society in which Afo was born is not the lack of symbols, the chaos of pre-Quirk society was based on fear and discrimination of an unknown other. The times after the first stages are unknown to all readers, we only know what Horikoshi said, we also know that the society where Toshinori grew up and decided to become a symbol of peace was also very different. All Might is presented to us in the manga as the first symbol not only of peace but also as the first symbol of society, although Banjo is one of the first group of heroes who aren’t what we know as vigilantes (please correct me if I'm wrong). ), it isn’t until All Might and his long career that the society of heroes as we know it now is consolidated. All Might is the symbol and only pillar where this society stands and that explains how weak a symbol that shapes society can be, because once AM can no longer act as such, that is when society breaks down. In the movie Catching Fire there is a very interesting conversation between Snow and Katniss, where Snow tells her that Katniss' behavior cannot be ignored, because if people thought they could face the Capitol without fear, eventually the system would collapse and Katniss responds "what a fragile system if it collapses because of a few berries"

With all this I’m trying to say that having a symbol or not does not end up being a factor of true stability, AM or rather Toshinori renounced every aspect of his personal life to become the symbol of peace and bear the weight of society, but his figure was the only thing that kept society in order, the symbol of peace was fragile and only hid a broken and corrupt society, this isn’t AM's fault, the problem is that when Shoto talks about the lack of a symbol doesn’t finish internalizing that society with a symbol didn’t work either, because the symbol was only represented in a man and when he could no longer take his place, Endevor could have been the number one hero but he isn’t a symbol at the level of AM, no hero could fill that place.

So, is it the lack of symbol that allows chaos to be generated? Or is the function of a symbol to create stability? What happens when the symbol is more revolutionary and generates chaos or confrontation? This is where I may sound controversial but Afo could have been a symbol for the people he "helped", in a twisted way he was a symbol of refuge for people who were rejected and found with him a place to belong or even a solution to be found, someone that could take away the quirk that made them different in that society, Tomura is a symbol for those who didn’tt fit into society, we saw that when in the previous chapters he said that he wanted to be the hero of the villains, when we saw panels of people who said "Yes, Shigaraki destroys everything", Spinner is a symbol for the discrimination of heteromorphs even though Horikoshi neglected the issue.

So, in bnha there are symbols, the problem is that the heroes lost the symbol that gave stability to the society that they know, the society was sustained by covering its problems and creating its villains through the rejection and indifference of those who didn’t fit. The society of pre-quirks didn’t become chaos due to the lack of symbols but due to the systematic mistreatment of a minority where fear led to violence, Afo knew how to take advantage of those expelled at the time. It’s for all this that I wonder how much the UA students know about history and the formation of society, of course there could have been sides represented, for example like Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr, who could be symbols in that pre-quirk society but these wouldn’t have avoided chaos, since it’s formed by the discrimination of others considered different. The society of heroes in bnha doesn’tt need a symbol embodied in a person, it isn’t the lack of a symbol that generates chaos but the system, symbols can often be functional to the perpetuation of the same, instead of corrections to their shortcomings.

[mamashenanigans]

MHA The Boys AU

Seriously. Who would like to read it?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m still working on the AU that won the poll. Outlining it, but, due to my silly brain, I came up with this AU idea after watching two seasons of The Boys, so I REALLY wanted to share it!

Anyway, this is A LOT of brainstorming, so Read More under the cut

This AU takes place in the modern setting of The Boys, with Supes (those with superpowers) being created with Compound V. Vought, the evil corporation that manufactures Superheroes to market products, films, and etc for money, still experimented with the compound on some people prior to the present of the fic. One of the first(and actually true) superhero was Captain Hero, who has since died awhile before the events in the story. Captain Hero had fought in some wars, but gave that up as he hated having to use his power that way and instead wanted to help children. Vought saw the marketing opportunity and used him as a basis for what they have continued to do. Thus, the Captain Hero comics.

AFO was the first naturally born Supe, his mother having been experimented on and gaining only small spike growths. The twins were born and Garaki, the head scientist with the Compound V trials, decides to experiment on AFO since his power was the greatest supe ability to ever manifest. Although Yoichi is still frail since TTTS happened, Garaki still uses him as a control due to them being identical twins. After the experiments on him, AFO would always be brought back to Yoichi, who was the only person that treated AFO as a person and not just some lab rat. Yoichi was everything to AFO, LITERALLY, but Vought saw how they could use Yoichi to control AFO since his power and lack of parental figures was starting to create a monster. Vought gave up on allowing naturally born supes due to how terrifying AFO is.

The only entertainment they had were the Captain Hero comics, given in the hope that it would make AFO want to be like the hero. As in canon, he liked the Demon Lord more, but Yoichi always loved Captain Hero, so he eventually goes along with Vought’s plan to make him a marketable Supe because he wanted Yoichi to be happy and see him as a hero just like the one he loves in the comics.

At some point, Yoichi met Kudo and the latter realized that Yoichi was a pawn of Vought to control AFO. He tries to convince Yoichi to leave, but Yoichi knew he had to help keep his twin in control and also knew how hard it would be on AFO(and himself honestly) if he left his brother. After getting into a fight, Yoichi accidentally reveals Kudo’s plan and, in his anger, tells his brother that he WANTS to. AFO starts going insane and, when Yoichi tries to leave, he reaches out screaming at him and accidentally blows him up with a new Supe power he took.

Needless to say, AFO’s brain basically cracks at that point. The only thing that remains of Yoichi is his hand, which Garaki was more than willing to embalm for him to continue to try and keep him quelled. Vought also revealed that they have the recording of him killing Yoichi and, if it is released, no one would ever follow AFO again, so he sticks to his role as the face of the All for One #1 hero group, but also because he still wants to make Yoichi happy.

Since AFO is taking the place of Homelander, everyone is absolutely terrified of him and walk on eggshells all the time since he could snap at any moment even though he puts on a calm and heroic facade. Toshinori is a new hero added to the team with the ability to turn into a super powered version of himself(like he is in canon) for a short period of time. He is the Starlight character that joins because he really believes in being a hero before he realizes what is actually going on behind the scenes. I’m still trying to figure out what other heroes or villains take the place of the rest of The Seven from The Boys.

All Might does become a mole for One for All, the equivalent of The Boys team from the show. Kudo is the Billy Butcher, Bruce is the Frenchie, Banjo is Mother’s Milk, but I’m stuck on whether the other users of OFA are all there or if AFO or Vought has killed some of them. I’m thinking of maybe making Nana Queen Maeve’s replacement, but she has been working with One for All and maybe is the one that brings All Might into the fold?

AFO is known as The Suit since he still wears his signature suit and coat as Vought decided to go with the edgier look like Batman.

The story present has Izuku winning a chance to spend a week with the All for One team and will have a part in their new movie. His favorite hero is the new one, All Might, so he’s super excited to finally meet him! Buuuuuuuut, Izuku has eyes just like Yoichi’s and AFO takes notice quite quickly. He starts trying to bogart Izuku’s time and convince him how he’s so much better than All Might. Izuku ends up accidentally finding out about Nana and All Might being in One for All and they decide to bring him to Kudo and the others before he says anything stupid. Kudo notices the eyes too and learns from Izuku how AFO has been acting. He decides to use Izuku to get close to AFO to gain any evidence to prove how much of a monster he is.

This puts Izuku in a very dangerous position, especially because AFO is creeping towards cracking completely. Vought has spread the lie that Yoichi was killed by those in One for All to gain sympathy towards their hero team and to keep AFO’s denial in tact lest he goes mad over actually being responsible for Yoichi’s death. He had already stated that it’s all Kudo’s fault and Vought runs with it.

Unfortunately, Kudo’s vengeance gets the better of him and he forgets the day Yoichi died until it’s too late: Izuku is with AFO and he finally snaps, superimposing Yoichi over Izuku. Now, One for All needs to do whatever it takes to save Izuku from him and also take down Vought and their superhero team by gaining then revealing sensitive information. Kudo’s idea: find the recording of AFO killing Yoichi, his own twin.

I’m also thinking Hawks will take the place of Mallory, the agent working hard to take Vought down and help with witness protection, funding, and passing evidence off to the government.

I’d love any ideas y’all might have for other MHA characters to be involved!

Let me know what y’all think!!!

[codenamesazanka]

I might be delusional at this point, but i hope the bystander issue will be somehow addressed once shigaraki/tenko/whoever comes back. I feel like the jaku speech was such an important character moment that it has to be brought up again. saving the crying child might have only been the first step!

I'll be delusional with you, anon! There is indeed the fact that The Walk never showed up in the memories AFO showed Tenko/Shigaraki. And the problem wasn't just limited to Tenko - Hero Society did turn a blind eye to a lot of people and a lot of issues, and that pain is real.

But have this wild thought. What if the bystander issue is brought up again... but not quite in regards to Tenko?

So like. AFO is back and i know we all want him gone but—this is literally the last chance for the fact that HE WAS BORN AS A TRASH RIVER BABY BITTEN BY RATS to be addressed? That hey, people should've done something about that, back then, even when Heroes didn't exist yet.

I guess it would have to be Shigaraki who, as he's currently swallowed up by AFO, figures it out by seeing AFO's own memories and conveys it; and that's asking a lot of Shigaraki after what this guy did to him! ...But. Villains need a Hero of their own.

Endgames is a mess and a very smart friend told me before I shouldn't use logic. But Shigaraki has a pattern: Stain stabs him, but he learns from him anyways, used his name to continue to topple the status quo like they both wanted. Overhaul kills Magne, but Shigaraki preserved the bullets and even spared a thought to him at Jaku. ReDestro kidnapped Giran and tried to kill him and his League, but Shigaraki didn't kill him and included the MLA into his destruction plans.

Like, he no doubt would be glad to see AFO gone - kill the guy himself! - but point still stands. AFO fucks with his entire life... and Shigaraki aids in his defeat... but he thinks being a River Trash Rat Baby is pretty sad and unfair. So he demands the Heroes to address it. He wants to address it himself.

Villains need a hero of their own.

We know Shigaraki now has access to AFO's memories. AFO gave it to him to hurt him, sure, but the pathway is there. And right now he thinks Shigaraki is gone, so maybe Shigaraki is defused deep within him enough to go through any barriers between him and the memories. (However mindscape physics works, it made sense in my head, okay.)

This would be one way for the bystanders problem to come back to be addressed, should that ever be addressed 🙏🏼please🙏🏼begging horikoshi please🙏🏼. I had felt, after getting AFO's backstory, that AFO was a bit like Tenko during The Walk, but without the sympathy framing. But also just in general, like how AFO tried to recreate his own Hand trauma thing with Shigaraki. How AFO's motivation turned out to be 'intending on ruining every because he was ignored.' So they aren't as different in some of their feelings.

Finally, AFO's last thought before he rewound out of existence was that he wanted to be remembered by the world. Eyes on him, forever. He also wanted someone to just have cared about him, in a way. That's so sad, and should it be fulfilled (in that he's remembered as a cautionary tale), that's incredible kindness that he doesn't deserve... but that's what heroes do. They reach out and give some relief, even if the other person might not deserve or want it.

(or if you want, frame it as a fuck you to AFO. solve the problems of society, and you never need to worry about another AFO. forget AFO because that he and his tale becomes utterly irrelevant.)

This is far fetched. But here is one thought that's stuck with me.

Thanks for the ask!

[threepandas]

YANDERE!All For One.

A horrifying concept! Thanks, we (love) hate it!

He is ALREADY dangerous enough. Unhinged enough. Having his complete and undivided attention? His INTEREST? His fucked up, Machiavellian, sociopathic lil squirrel brain, COMPLETELY focused on the task of hunting you for sport?

Ha ha... *deep inhale* *starts screaming, never stops*

The man was already a living horror movie monster. Making him a yandere makes him WORSE~☆. Which is GREAT. For us, specifically. The readers. Not for the victim. THEY are fuuuuuuucked. Possibly in the literal sense, but unlikely.

Mind games and power plays are more fun.

The pointless struggle. Possession of something. The resemblance to Self. Because HE is perfect. Other people? Abhorrent. They're Rats. Vermin. Less, even, then that. They are nothing but occasionally interesting Quirks with meat attached to them. Sometimes useful servants and peons, born to be ruled.

But respective PARTNERS?

Gods NO. Don't be disgusting.

He is PERFECT. Powerful. He pulled himself up from the ruins of the early Quirk riots, the first days of those ugly wars, and became something MORE. Ascended. A Dark Lord, meant to rule, BORN to rule, over this new age of Man. It all makes perfect sense to him. He has plans within plans. Stretching out for centuries.

He just needs to get his brother BACK.

End this little rebellion.

It's a set back. Just a set back. And he's being PERFECTLY reasonable about his brothers Quirk. Utterly sane. He's ALWAYS been level headed and rational about family... is what he tells himself.

But he's NOT. He's Yandere AF.

His parents? He doesn't care AT ALL about. They nominally were supposed to control HIM. Uninterested, thanks. But? His weaker little brother? We SAW how he reacted. So I propose? You gotta be RELATED to him. And THEN the Bad Touch Instinct flips on.

Do you ACTUALLY have to share blood with him? No. But it would seriously help your survival chances. But the more you LOOK like him? The closer your Quirk to his? The more you are "him but weaker somehow"? The more INTERESTED he is.

The sort of Yandere he is? Is almost entirely dependent on HOW he learns of your existence. Cause? There is no way in HELL he had sex. At least not with ANOTHER PERSON. He has thousands of Quirks, thank you very much, any need he has? He can settle HIMSELF. Don't touch him.

Keep your filthy, filthy, disgusting paws to yourself.

So if someone SOMEHOW managed to get PREGNANT with his child? :) Well, now. :) he Certainly does have some Very Violent QUESTIONS. For EVERYONE involved. Starting with: How did you get his DNA? And did you touch him?

And once THEY are brutally dismembered corpses? You know, AFTER the child is born. Yandere time! They will want for nothing and KNOW nothing but him. Vault baby 2.0!

But?

Let us say? That the "mother" isn't an idiot. She KNOWS that she Oop's'd a baby with a Fuckin Psycho. Time to RUN. Let's EVEN give that kiddo Self Insert Powers! Cause WHOOPS? "Mummy... mummy I think I stole a quirk." (At least that random toddler seems WAY happier?) Oh SHIT! That's, KINDA DISTINCT.

Uuuuuuuuh *frantic maternal mental math* my babyyyyy.... has.... a....

SUPPRESSION Quirk! Yep, JUST like great *garbled cough* Aiko! Runs in the family, real rare. Looks like a two touch. Once to "suppress" and again to "UN-suppress" RIGHT, honey? *confused child nodding* yep! See! That's EXACTLY what it is. Nothing to see here.

Now PUT IT ON THE FUCKING FORMS.

And? That probably WORKS. For a while. Cause Mother moved them to the DEAD CENTER OF NOWHERE. Where her Quirk won't get her panic pregnant by any SUPERVILLIANS at a fucking Super Strength Thrown down (gdi, what even IS her life?!). But? Really only takes ONE(1) person, don't it?

One person to notice... waaaait a minute.

I've felt this before.

When AfO gave me my Quirk. *Looks at person in front of them*

And? Male? Female? Non-binary? Doesn't matter. He'd be INSTANTLY so, so horror movie creepy.

Suddenly EVERYONE AROUND YOU knows who you are. Is very polite. Your hotel is immaculate. Your food gourmet. People watching without watching. But are you imagining it? You haven't changed anything from yesterday. Why all of a sudden?

He gets the test results.

You Are His.

Suddenly the watchers are GONE. There is only ONE(1) watcher. Tall, broad, pale. An immaculate suit no matter how out of place. Red eyes. A placid face that might as well be carved from stone, for all the genuine human expression it shows. Never there when you turn your head.

Across the street. Atop buildings. In the shadows of alleys.

You can't tell if you're paranoid or your eyes just aren't quick enough. Was there someone just outside the window? Was that REALLY a shadow you saw, cast from the otherside of the door? You live in a safe neighborhood... don't you?

You can't tell if it's your reflection you're seeing or NOT.

Your gut says it isn't. (Says RUN.)

One by one, he'd pick off those around you. What information do they have? Who amongst his loyal can he replace them with? Isolate, isolate. Slowly, ever so slowly. Like a spider weaving a web.

Shhhhhh, shhhhh. Can't let you startle. Have you NOTICE. You'll fight. Hurt yourself pointlessly struggling. Things aren't ready yet. We must continue to play pretend. Go about our little lies. Enjoying the "freedom" he allows. All while he observes. Learns. Refines his plans accordingly.

People can adapt to damn near anything. As long as it doesn't hurt them. Sometimes even when it hurts them. A watcher? That... that never DOES anything? Maybe it's just some Quirk you unknowingly picked up. It's a crowded place, the city. It could happen.

Would explain why it went from lots of them to just one! You got control of it. Yeah. Yeah that makes more sense. (We rationalize away SO MUCH, in this age of Quirks.)

Which makes the fear so, SO much more real. So much SHARPER. When you jerk awake. In your bed. In your room, in your apartment. Where you SHOULD be alone. To a powerful hand, clamped like steel across your lower face. A familiar hole humming against your lips, dead center of a strangers palm.

That's your Quirk.

Why does-?! Eyes flick up as you struggle to breathe. Red, red eyes. White hair. Your face but older, watching you struggle, coldly handsome and deeply masculine. There's only one person he COULD be. All For One. You panic. Have to escape, but you can't get leverage. Scrambling pointlessly at the hand effortlessly pinning you to your bed. Crushing you too it.

Your fingers catch at his suit, his expensive watch, but despite your frantic efforts nothing draws blood. No amount of bucking so much as rocks him. He waits you out. Watching you panic yourself nearly unconscious. Not enough air. Can't breathe. Can't BREATHE!

Coughing, confused, and struggling to suck in air, you finally go limp.

He breaks into a grin. It is the stuff of nightmares. Croons down at you, like praising a pet, that you did good. Calls you by NAME. Oh god, he knows who you ARE. You don't have a lot of Quirks, never wanted to be like him. But you're SCARED. Your hands shake as they come back up.

As though you're going to try and pull his hand away, again.

Palms against skin. You... you try to RIP as many Quirks out of him as you can. Hopefully it hurts. M-Maybe it'll stun him?

He jerks. The grip on your face turns brutal, crushing, then relaxes back to suffocating. For a brief, terrible moment, you were certain you were about to LOSE your lower jaw. He shudders above you. Eyes sliding close he seems to revel in the sensation he just experienced.

Lifting a hand, he runs it through his hair, down his face, his neck. Lightly. Slowly. A shudder. As though he can't keep his hands off himself after that. Please God, let that not be what you think it is, starting to press against you through your covers.

His eyes, when he opens them, BURN.

A hand braced next to your head. The choking scent of his cologne, spiced and musky, burning at your nose. It mixes, like the calling card of something DANGEROUS, with his sharp aftershave. He leans down with the sort of ease that speaks of incredible muscle control. The movement utterly fluid.

A hungry grin, getting closer and closer. Then nothing but mad, crimson eyes filling your view. Your view of him blurs. Tears. All your long muttered plans for anger and sass abandoning you, now that the moment has come. You... you don't feel terribly brave. You feel cornered.

His hand move from clamped over your mouth to holding your face still.

He enjoys the view. Watching you cry for him. Muses in a low voice, just for you, that he wonders... will you try and fight next? His brother did. And you have far more Quirks then he possessed. Should he rip them out one by one? Or all at once? He could give you MORE. Share some of the interesting ones.

But, ah, you'd have to EARN that. Now wouldn't you?

You truely are his child. Covetous and greedy, just like him. Tell him... did it feel GOOD? Did you HUNGER? Want his power for yourself? His greedy little thing~♡

Is he a platonic Yandere? Does he want to screw you through the decadent king sized mattress? Yes. Somehow both. Somehow neither. Honestly? You can pick! He is EXACTLY that level of Weird about it. Just like with his brother.

He wants to croon and cage. Tie them up and discuss the newest research papers. Cuddle like equals yet have them at his feet. He wants to fuck himself. But only his PAST, WEAKER self, whom he can dominate. And while it's PREFERABLE they be into that? He doesn't give a shit if they aren't. Obviously... outside of a quirk? This is not possible.

(God knows he's probably TRYING.)

So the next best thing? Someone who LOOKS very, very similar! He would be OBSESSED. And the harder it was to get them? The more CONTROL he had? The closer they were to being LIKE him? The deeper his Obsession.

This has been my Yandere AfO Talk. If ya'll write anything, for the LOVE OF GOD, LINK ME.

[blueskyheadleft010]

Listen, I don’t go to the BNHA canon lore or whatever; but like, I think the way AFO supposedly died by ‘rewinding’ himself into nothing is stupid and I firmly believe he did not in fact, do this.

He is centuries old. He’s planned his revenges out like a 4D chess player, and anything less than this would’ve resulted in Nedzu figuring out how to checkmate AFO ten ways to Sunday the moment he even breathed near him.

He’s got thousands of quirks at his disposal, including teleportation, mind reading, and possibly illusion quirks. So you tell me; even if he felt like he’d been cornered like a feral animal, that he wouldn’t have back up plans?? Like there’s no way in hell the devil himself would decide to just go ‘fuck it, let me take this untested drug to kill my worst enemy because my pride is too big to accept anything less.’ Like wtf? The man might be missing part of his brain or something, but he clearly has ways to heal himself and he’s been playing the long game way before anyone alive today was even born, so why can’t his appearance just be a fucking illusion?

Who’s to say he doesn’t have a cloning quirk? How do we even know if the heroes really killed the fucker if he rewound himself into nothing? He could’ve just been faking all of this. He could’ve put everyone into a trance or dreamlike state and convinced them this happened.

“But op,” you say, “One for All declared him dead so he’s dead for sure!” You exclaim.

My pal, if All Might believed AFO was dead after he punched his head off, and he clearly came back, then One For All is fucking dumb. If he was believed to be dead then, the quirk should’ve left All Might. If it didn’t think it was dead then All Might should’ve known something was up if the quirk didn’t leave his body after the fight and they should’ve kept looking. Either the quirk is a fucking liar, it didn’t want AFO to die, or it just got tired of existing and gtfo of reality and the end of the story. It’s paradoxical in nature and makes no sense.

In conclusion, AFO took one look at how fucked the League of Villains was and decided to scrap Revenge Plan #468 and go into hiding. A good villain will convince the heroes there is nothing to be concerned about and that everything is going according to plan.

Hiding is AFO’s specialty. Of course he’s not gonna ‘die’ by having a building collapse on him or something mundane. No one would believe it. So of course he’s got to go out with a bang and mentally scar everyone along the way.

Just you wait, that fucker’s in hiding once more. He can’t be killed at this point. Frankly it’s embarrassing to even try, and considering the amount of stock power One For All has accumulated, it’s only a matter of time before a successor dies from using it and he’ll just prance in and pluck the corpse and stuff it like a perverse mannequin in his bedroom while he retires as king of the Earth. Truly, you fell for the oldest trick in the book. You just lost the game.

[a-may-w]

Thoughts on All For One being Izuku's dad.

*MILD SPOILERS AHEAD*

I'll be honest I was fully convinced this theory would come to fruition in one way or another (Izukus dad never being around, "Hisashi" meaning a long time ago, the parallels between the first OFA user and Izuku, etc.) so I was a little disappointed it ended up not being true, especially considering the closure it would bring to the OFA AFO quirks with the bloodline coming full circle within Deku. I'm bringing this up though because I wanted to share one of my main ideas of why/how AFO could have been Izukus dad---pre-All Might battle AFO realized that he would never be able to get OFA himself (It would never willingly be given to him and trying to steal it was out of the question) and that instead he needed somebody else to get it for him. And the only way they would be able to get it is if it were passed onto them willingly. He needed a hero. He could have found a budding hero, or anybody really, and manipulated them into a position where they would be given AFO, but this was his brothers quirk he was trying to take back. He wanted to get it as close to him as possible. Back to the Shigarki bloodline. So he started looking at different female hero's. The ones that were good enough for his standards rejected him. They said something about him unsettled them. He wasn't actively looking the day he found her. He was eating at a restaurant when he heard a man several tables down loudly reprimand a server. He called her "Stupid!" and "Insolent!" and "Bitch!" She stood up and called out "Leave her alone!" Their was determination in her eyes. They were green like his brothers. They married in the summer under cool leaves. Both of them were getting older. Neither of them had found somebody. He liked her. She couldn't believe he liked her. Hisashi liked that she lacked self-confidence. Izuku was born eleven months later, with green eyes a shade lighter than his mothers. Hisashi laid a hand on his forehead and felt the embers of a quirk fill his soul. He tried to use it, later, but found he couldn't. The quirk alluded him like smoke in the wind, shapeless and unidentifiable but without a doubt there. He didn't dwell on his disappointment. He had a job to do. Hisashi surrounded him with heros---comic-books, figurines, posters, clothing, dish ware, keychains, pillow-cases, but especially, All Might. "Plus Ultra!" Hishashi said. "Plus Ultra!" Izuku said. "Plus Ultra!" All might said when he punched his face clean off. Even away Hisashi kept up the conditioning. He exclusively bought TV packages that were dedicated hero only broadcast stations. Through his power on the board he convinced UA to start accepting quirkless people. As much as he could do while away. It wasn't hard. Izuku inherited his mothers demeanor. Or maybe his brothers. Hisashi couldn't tell. A simple villain release synced up with All Mights patrol and Izukus school schedule worked brilliantly, and, before Hisashi knew it, Izuku had OFA. His brother was born again. Hisashi couldn't believe how well the plan had worked. How easily Izuku clung to heroism. How quickly All Might believed in him. It was almost like destiny had lined up just for him. He would need to get Izuku on his side eventually. Maybe e would tell Izuku that the only way to stop Shigarki was to give himself up. Maybe something to play into his brothers heroism. Maybe something with Izuku's Kudo. The exact nature of the agreement he would figure out later, as long as it was something that would guaranteed his brother would be by his side again.

[donkeys-waffles]

Okay, listen I'm not all that convinced AFO is completely gone. And let's put DFO aside for a moment. His and Yoichi's story feels uncomplete, there are certain elements that were given the time to be graced on but never really elaborated on. Like for example, that possibility that certain elements of AFO's backstory were fabricated to accomplish a certain message.

It's very easy to read over his backstory and gather the idea that he was born evil. But after a deeper look, it's very clear that was the purpose. We are meant to believe AFO is evil because that's what he wants us to believe, that's what he sees in himself. I feel bittersweet towards his supposed 'end'. Because I hate how Bakugou delivered that end, for one. But on one hand I enjoy how he mentioned needing Yoichi, it starts with denial and ends with recognition. And even if this a hot take, I think it's a beautiful, emotional end to such a messed-up individual.

However, I have a weird feeling about two things. First, I'd like to say, one thing I've noticed in writing is if something is brought up randomly, it'll generally come back to bite you later. Nothing is left unsaid, otherwise you have plot holes.

I found it interesting how it's mentioned AFO wasn't able to use his last trick up his sleeve, without any elaboration as to what that would have been. And I would say this was done on purpose, maybe just used as another example of every dream he wasn't able to accomplish before he died. But bringing light to this does nothing to strengthen the impact of his death on the narrative. Another interesting detail was Yoichi's wish. His dream of AFO being the kindest quirk in the world, which I can see being used to cause a reaction in the reader, as if trying to make them feel some heartache for such a bastard. But even with that reasoning, that sentence in the end feels so empty. unfulfilling, and almost lack-luster. It seems odd to be brought up and this could be bias, but I feel like that sentence had more importance than just literary cannon fodder.

We know AFO's main goal, make everyone love him like Yoichi, and his midterm goal was to steal his brother back through OFA. Makes sense.

But I still have questions. I understand why he took Tomura, to get a strong enough host to steal OFA, makes sense. But how does leaving Gigantomachia in the mountains have anything to do with such a goal? For what? Retirement? What did that achieve, wouldn't it better if he kept him around? If he was planning on moving his consciousness to Tomua later, then keeping him around would be better, right? Afterall, he'd be able to meet the child and possibly have a better understanding of the situation. Gigantomachia is an incredibly strong asset (look how he took down SO many heroes in the first war); he could have possibly even used him as backup during his fight with All Might.

And why keep OFA at a distance when his entire goal is to steal said quirk? I'm referring to that one panel in Vigilantes. Thats the entire opposite of his entire 200-year-old goal.

And that whole thing with his copy of rewind... This man is 200 years old, with an extremely strong villain empire, who has earned the respect of a genius scientist... You don't achieve any of those things by being stupid. And now I'm not normally one for completely trusting the MHA Wiki, but I can't blame them for giving him a 6/5 intelligence. He's a genius, and is spectacular with quirk analysis, it's his thing ya feel me. But it does show his lack of self-preservation, which is against what he's supposed to be angry at All Might for.

All Might took his health and his empire; we know he didn't really care about his empire as much from Spinner. (I mean lack of self-preservation because he's using a quirk that will eventually rewind him out of existence, whether he transfers his quirk to Tomura entirely or not. There's a possibility that it won't work, he failed to take complete control the first time remember. Is that what this supposed 'trick up his sleeve' was supposed to remedy? This is the same man that gave himself immortality, the same man that ran away from All Might for years, the same man that has shown to rely on the strength of others instead of dealing wounds himself. And might I add the same man that is supposed to be angry about his health being diminished. Afterall if not his health or his empire what could he possibly be angry at All Might for that's so special, so unique compared to his predecessors?)

This brings me to my last point. Since when the hell did this bitch care about THE CHILDREN! This man literally stole quirks from children, killed thousands, and turned a crap tone into braindead nomu. And he's angry on behalf of the children. Are we ever going to get an explanation for that?

Like I would understand if he killed the children that he apparently gave heroic ideals to. Like Ha! You will pay for passing on your ideals to children by watching me steal their quirks and kill them. But that's not what he means, or he would've stolen Tokoyami's quirk, killed Jiro instead of leaving her with a broken eardrum, and blasted Izuku away with deadly force instead of holding back in the first war. We have no answers for such behavior from a man known for exhibiting zero humanity (and making that behavior his ENTIRE personality.) Need I remind you this man stole Tomura (possibly gave him the quirk that killed his entire family,) and groomed him just to possess him later alright. He also turned Tsubasa into a nomu for shits and giggles, which we have never talked about once! Tsubasa, need I remind, was a small child and was the Doctor's grandson (which you'd think give him immunity to this kind of sick shit but apparently not.)

There are so many questions left unanswered, many of which Yoichi himself can't even answer. Like with all their human experimentation they do on a daily basis, the clone theory wouldn't really surprise me. It would make a lot of sense for his character as well. And even if that theory doesn't pan out, the vestige behind the locked door (which is entirely separate rant honestly,) or even Tomura's AFO vestige maybe. Though I feel if Izuku really saves Tomura in this war, then we might never hear much of anything from that vestige. Especially since their first priority would be to cancel it out as soon as possible. A lot of people bring up how the story is almost over, and they are probably right. But the end date was supposed to be 2022 originally, right? Then it was moved to 2023, now it's 2024-2025. Like yeah it is almost over, but there's still story that needs wrapping up clearly because that deadline has been pushed back multiple times. Too many times to make it a valid counterclaim anymore. Either way, I don't think we are in the clear of the Demon King's superiority complex anytime soon.

[20001541]

the contrast between these two scenes...

you can argue that afo was lying when he told tomura that he was "near and dear to him", but I actually think he was being truthful here. he loves who tomura shigaraki is because he's something he helped create with his own hands and it's who he projects all his own desires/will onto, all so he could become him as he sees the image of tomura as the idealized version of himself. tomura isn't just a pawn to him, he's what afo is putting his whole future on. everything tomura became is what afo wants to be. which is why he was guided onto that path by afo and why later afo took his body for himself.

however when faced with tenko, tomura's core and who he really is in the inside, he has nothing but contempt for him. tenko is nothing afo wants to be and he despises tenko's own desire to be a hero. he doesn't care for who tenko is, only what he wants him to be. he has no use for a small, crying child therefore he only has nothing but spiteful words towards him.

it's sad in that shigaraki really believed afo cared for him as a person. afo was the only one who stopped to help him when he was alone, and gave him a home to live in and guided him to becoming stronger. shigaraki thought that meant he was loved and valued by afo but the reality was that he was being groomed for one specific purpose only and that the plan to take over his body had been in motion before he was even born.

[hamliet]

I'm really worried now about how bnha is going to end. I fell in love with the story because a lot of horikoshi's hero characters (nana, enji, hawks for example) were allowed to have flaws while his villain characters were still painted as sympathetic and human without having their villainy be erased. Now I'm feeling like hori is trying to turn this into a good vs bad kind of thing and the message is going more and more into the direction of some people are in fact born evil. on the one hand, we are constantly being told that all villains are human and that deku is special because he can see that, on the other hand we have AFO who is supposed to be the bad guy behind it all and heartless and whom the narrative never sympathizes with. it's all very odd to me. You could potentially argue that afo is a product of his environment and that nana, Kotaro, and shigaraki all made their choices in the end no matter how much they were being manipulated, but I got the feeling that the narrative doesn't believe that and even if it does, it bothers me that it refuses to acknowledge it. it feels so empty and cowardly, like horikoshi can't decide between "this guy is the big bad and just pure evil" and "every villain has a human heart" and like he doesn't actually believe in redemption as a concept, only in good people who do bad things but don't mean it and bad people who are really just bad. there's just something gross about it in general

I mean... yeah. That's why it's a thematic mess.

I will say that I think Hori isn't attempting to argue that he doesn't believe in redemption; it's more that

he wants to please everyone, and actually

he wants everyone to root for redemption.

By Trying to Please Everyone, You've Pleased No One.

I've actually talked about this before particularly in regards to the Endeavor arc, where it felt thematically confused because he was trying to placate both sides--people who didn't want Enji redeemed because they feared he would wash away the abuse, and people who wanted him redeemed. And we know Horikoshi initially had different plans for Enji but changed it, so this is partly to blame as well.

But the reality is it's a stronger story if the story isn't written to be enjoyed by everyone. If people can dislike parts of it. Even if people scream about how it's morally bad for saying circumstances influence how people become or something like that. (Those attacks come from genuine pain, and I honestly get the feeling that Hori is very, very aware of this, especially considering how visceral he writes abuse. But that doesn't mean they are themselves valid criticisms.)

You can't please everyone. You just can't. No one wants every single ice cream flavor melted together. Not every story will be for everyone. And no, that doesn't mean you should be deliberately hurtful, but if you're writing a story where the abuser is redeemed, if you want to portray the abuser as human, some victims may not want to read it. But many will want to read it. And both are okay. Some people will misunderstand you, and that's just--life.

The reality is that in this world everyone has competing needs, and what can meet someone's need doesn't meet another's, and that's okay. The beauty of humanity is that with all the billions of us on this earth, someone should be able to help meet someone else's needs in a certain area. You can't feed everyone, but you can feed someone, and watering down the story so that it's basically now devoid of nutrients/what makes a story interesting doesn't actually help anyone. By trying to please everyone, you've pleased no one.

Hori Is Very Pro-Redemption

I genuinely think Hori somehow decided to try to make Shigaraki extremely palatable not because he doesn't believe in redemption, but because he wants everyone to believe in it and root for Shigaraki.

It's not unique for him to retcon characters' mistakes; like I said, he's done this with Enji, with All Might, and with Hawks where he very obviously swerves from the initial plan. However, that weakens the very themes and the characters, and makes the story less interesting and objectively less well-written.* And now this AFO reveal, considering it's the main plot, kinda throws these more subplot ideas to the back burner and weakens the entire frame of the story rather than just the subplot.

So Hori's into redemption. The problem is that he doesn't know how to convince everyone that redemption is worth it, and so makes it so obvious that it's devoid of any actual interesting questions we can ponder. Essentially if you refuse redemption for Shig now, what's wrong with you? It's nigh morally impossible not to.

But I, Redemption Arc #1 Fan, like it when it's questionable. Redemption, for me, is never about deserve.

It's disappointing, but I've also seen way worse lol in terms of thematically undermining a story at its ending. So, no, I'm not happy about it and I will critique it. But I still want to see the characters I've loved for so long get their happy endings.

*Yes, "good writing" is an opinion; however, there are general consensuses of what constitute good and bad writing. This type of thing--removing agency completely in the last hour--is bad writing.

[dozhdevik]

My thoughts on chapter 418 and 419.

In fact, the first part of this post was written by me long before the spoilers of chapter 419, but it simply was not published. I think it's time to share my opinion.

I saw a post a while ago in which a person complained about some annoying anonymous people who claimed that AFO was nothing more than evil in the flesh and that he had no feelings. This inspired me to write a post about this because I strongly disagree with this opinion.

While this is not a surprise given the AFO flashback chapters, I think people shouldn't take the Narrator's words in these chapters at face value because All for One is the most unreliable narrator I've ever seen. The same Tomura in chapter 418 experiences an identity crisis, because for the first time he began to realize that he was not created for destruction. You can watch the end of chapter 237 where Shigaraki comes to the conclusion that the reason he killed his family was because he really wanted to do it, but that's NOT the case.

This is what AFO convinced him of, repeating over and over again that Shigaraki was born to destroy.

This is what AFO meant when he said in Chapter 418 that Tomura had never made a single independent decision in his entire life: because AFO had brainwashed Tenko so much that even when AFO wasn't there to show him the way, Tomura continued to think that way in a way that supported the ideas of destruction that AFO wanted from him.

At the same time, All for One constantly denies that he has any human feelings or emotions, to the point of convincing himself that the tears he shed in front of Kudo were a tool of manipulation, although this makes no sense. I was always convinced that AFO, no matter how much he pretended to be an emotionless monster, always felt heartache over the loss of Yoichi.

Now that the spoilers for chapter 419 have been released, despite my overall shock at what happened in this chapter (I really didn't expect Izuku to lose his arms, even if there were signs for it), my opinion hasn't changed much. While I have to admit that I couldn't have foreseen the extent to which AFO interfered in Tenko's life (to the point where AFO encouraged Kotaro to have a second child), it did confirm what I wanted to write about Chapter 418. AFO controlled every aspect of Shigaraki's life, right down to his thoughts, without Tomura realizing it.

At the same time, I think chapter 419 also confirmed that AFO was an unreliable narrator in chapters 407-408, and that he actually has feelings, despite how much of a monster AFO presented himself as in those two chapters. If you pay attention to AFO's eyes when he took over Tomura's body in Chapter 419, you can see how AFO is devastated.

Despite AFO defeating Shigaraki's will, he does not feel triumphant. He doesn't seem to care about his victory. And the reason for this is quite simple: he lost Yoichi. AFO has lost his little brother, and now all he can do is return to his main plan to take over the world. Although without Yoichi it doesn't mean as much to him now.

[irontragedyreview]

I'm going to be honest, I wasn't going to write about the leaks in this chapter (I still like to see more leakers posting about this, especially those I trust the most), but if there is something more obnoxious than the shipper discurse, that is the men discurse and the way in which they interpret the characters in shonen, because believe me, shonen is a genre where the worst takes by men on characters are concentrated, especially when you talk about the side emotional. Seriously, many men have not left their edgy child phase who believes that the world is horrible and that the characters have to see reality, etc., outside of the children/teenagers who watch the shonen genre more than anything for the fights, etc. many men who literally have hundreds of followers who analyze the stories as if they were experts on the subject, from the most toxic masculinity perspective.

Also, in all the previous chapters I wanted to do an analysis about Tomura and Izuku but no matter how much I wanted, the words didn't come, these leaks plus certain comments managed to unlock my words.

I'm going to start with Tomura because he's the birthday boy. The takes I have read of this character throughout the manga, especially outside tumblr and by men, are terrible, however nothing compares to the comments after these leaks, from people saying that it was great because his character didn't deserve redemption, that at the end was nothing more than a puppet of AFO and therefore his construction doesn’t matter or not exist because Tomura for them didn’t exist outside as an object for AFO, etc. One of the insights that chapter 418 left is that Tomura/Tenko has never made a single decision in his life and that his path has always been marked and signed by AFO. Those words remained in the minds of the readers and were validated by the fact that the origin of Decay was made by AFO and even Tenko’s birth was planned by AFO, because again AFO is the villain of  thousand plans and is in every step. Seriously, Tenko was only born to be another pawn in AFO's game, because according to the leaks AFO created him and therefore even Tomura's decisions are only a permitted ramification of what AFO wanted him to feel and think.

However, it’s a damn lie, it doesn't matter that AFO was a starting point for Tomura, his ideas, his relationships with the LOV, are HIS. It’s that he chose, not for nothing his last words before of being swallowed by AFO were "even if all my hatred fades and only an empty shell remains, I must still be a hero for them (the villains/his LOV)” it’s the first time since the final battle began that Tomura looked closer to peace and his words were reflected in being a hero for his people, the helpless who are abandoned by society. Likewise, another of the things that was repeated during his confrontation with Izuku, it was wanting to make it clear that he wasn’t human, that nothing more but destruction would be his salvation. In the same way he repeats that he killed his family because it was his will, because someone like him was born "rotten", his quirk marked him to be only destruction. This was even repeated by AFO, the constant search for Tomura to internalize that what happened was something he was looking for and we’re aware that it’s a lie. The decay's "awakening" was a traumatic event that was exacerbated for Kotaro, who beat his son and instilled fear in him, not for nothing Tenko was having a breakdown when his quirk "awakened", he didn’t want to kill Mon-chan, his sister, his mother or family, he was a scared child who just wanted to reach a safe place. The only death where Tenko could say that he has a minimum will is with Kotaro but ignoring the context is a mistake.

It’s not innocent that during the fight in the fortress Tenko would have felt more violent and resurfaced when he saw how all the heroes around him gave their lives to revive bk, we have him screaming "why no one helped me when there was still time, when I wasn't that broken yet" (not exact words but a paraphrase), Tenko was still there fighting against AFO, Tenko never disappeared no matter how hard AFO tried to quell him, the pain of a society that ignored him formed his vision of a heroes society like something rotten, the vision of All Might as the hero who shapes a society that hides everything among shiny things but forgets those that the heroes ignore or not fit in.

Because something that we can’t ignore that the society that gave rise to villains like Tomura and even AFO, is an apathetic and cruel society to people that doesn’t fit. We can argue that beyond all the things that AFO has done, perhaps he wouldn’t be what he is now if he had not grown up in a society that had just discovered the quirks and saw some of them as monsters and others as something to worship (he kills the shine baby because he was praised), society is so apathetic that it ignores or encourages a cruelty that creates its villains and then is surprised by it. Tomura is also the result of those people who saw a child walking in the streets in shock and stained with blood and passed by and when a single person approached him, just looked at him and said well the heroes will take care of it, leaving him alone. Maybe nothing would have changed because AFO already had a plan for Tomura but the apathy of that society that prefers to ignore responsibility (I'm not talking about citizens having to enter burning buildings replacing professionals, but doing small things, helping people in a small way example helping a lost child, etc). A society that was happy with someone like All Might protected them but when he began to fail and couldn’t take his place turned their backs on him, the same citizens who are seeing children fighting a war and the only thing they think about is losing faith when the results are adverse or when they had to give a safe place to civilians like them or heroes like Deku.

It’s this society that Tomura wants to destroy and it’s understandable because, we can discuss whether the way Tomura wants to do it is correct or not, but let's not deny that Tomura gave a place to people that society pushed away because they didn’t fit in and that he wants protect. What I'm trying to get at is that everything that shaped Tomura and his decisions to create the LOV are his decisions, he isn’t a puppet and his vision isn’t to be a pawn just because AFO gave him his quirk, his vision of society isn’t wrong, Tomura chose his path, he chose his people. Izuko's analysis will come shortly because this analysis was too long for me.

[senpaiquirks]

Tenko Shimura Quirk (Theory)

Ok, so it's been confirmed that Tenko/Tomura originally did have a quirk - AFO just swiped it from him the moment he was born. But we do not currently know what that quirk exactly was.

So, before we begin, here are a few things to keep in mind: We do not know what quirk (if any) his mom or her side of the family had. And we do not know what quirk his sister got either (we know she got one by the time Tenko was born and it's partially why AFO never used her for his plans). So this speculation is solely based on Nana Shimura's quirk, as she is the grandma and we know she had 'Float'. And for now, we'll just assume his mom's side is all quirkless.

Ok, we good?

Now let's get onto my speculation of his quirk. <3

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We know what Float does - it allows the person to literally float in air, though only to a certain degree. We don't know the exact range or how long it can work (or even the side effects of using it), but I assume it's similar to Ochako's 'Gravity' and causes a sense of nausea within the user. And it seems to work from whatever height they're currently at, so they need to get a good head start if they want to float from the height of something like a building.

So, from this, Tenko could've had the exact same quirk. And his personality is very similar to Nana's, right down to wanting to be a hero. But, I feel like his quirk would still be unique to him.

With the little info we have now, I theorize that his quirk would be something similar to Odd Thomas' ability. Basically, he'd be like a magnet - attracting and polarizing other objects/entities, especially if he's looking for said object/person. Which would be really cool, it'd make him super powerful especially as a Rescue Hero.

[princess-of-the-corner]

Bro Rei's parents would be having a bad time. Let's see. First not only did Enji 'trick' them by hiding his mutation quirked aspects, all of the possible children are in relationships with those of the same gender, one even having multiple partners, two of them are dating mutation quirked people, and Natsuo, who in their eyes, is the best possible candidate to influence (manipulate) literally laughed in their faces when they asked if he had any plans for a wife in the future. Their plans really went down in flames.

Oh Rei's parents are SO mad about so many things.

For a long time they don't even know about the Mutation Aspect. Though Enji publicly has no issue with Mutation Quirks, he doesn't really talk about his own experiences (Though he's faced some discrimination from people who knew/people who saw him with his dad, his mutations are so minor that it barely counts and he can pass as he doesn't have them so it feels weird to discuss when compared to someone like Kaito who is very obviously a Mutation-Type)

So I have bits and pieces of things written in Road to Hell and like. They kinda throw Rei at him without thought for what kind of person he is because of the Status he has. He's the #2 Hero. Only way he could be 'better' is if he's All Might. And also Rei was 'ruining her chances' by exerting what little agency she had and 'scaring off potential suitors'. So they also do something silly like letting Enji and Rei live together before the wedding.

Then the wedding is a 'red flag' to them because the best man is a Mutation Type.

Then they disappear for like a year and Rei's fine with that because she kinda wants to cut them off because she's realized they're kinda toxic but hesitates out of 'they're still my parents' and also while Enji is a lot better in comparison and encouraging to her, she's also still working on believing that.

Then they show up a little bit after Toya is born. They show up completely unannounced btw Enji is off at work and Rei is home alone with a two-month-old. And this is the next 'red flag ' as far as they're concerned because why is Rei actually like. Doing things? Why is she taking care of the child directly instead of handing him over to a rotating list of nannies and going on vacation? They're not poor why is he making her do things?!

After this Rei and Enji make a more active decision to cut them off. (Rei is hesitant because 'they're your parents!', Enji doesn't want to force her, but both agree that they don't want them influencing the children).

At this point, they're upset because to them? Enji is backing out of the 'Deal'. They gave him Rei, and now he's supposed to give them public and financial support like a good son-in-law should! That was the whole point of this! The entire reason Rei exists was to be part of a Deal to further the Family's interests! How dare he back out?!

But one can be patient. After all, you can still get something out of the children. You just.... need to get them away. So they need to wait until the kids are old enough to be able to get away from Enji to listen.

Toya is option one. Though they hesitate because he wants to be a Hero and thanks to Enji they know Heroes can be a bit too stubborn. Doesn't stop them from trying. From sending a letter all 'sympathetic' and 'oh we're just loviing grandparents who want to meet our grnadkid that was kept from us!'. Toya 'dies' before they get too far. When he comes back, he has those nasty little additions. But with the reveal that someone like AfO exists, well. How dare that villain 'infect' their precious grandbaby with a Mutation?

Fuyumi is the next target. They find it silly how she thinks she can have a 'career'! That's not what a woman does! Women are eiher houswives or trophy wives, depending on your socieoeconomic class! No woman works because she wants to! Just because she's only found failures of men who can't take care of her! They try to contact Fuyumi but she ignores them. She may not know the whole thing, but she believes Enji and Rei are good people so if they cut off contact it's for good reason.

Natsuo is a bit more easy to convince. Due to the bad shit happening and miscommunications, he could totally believe that the grandparents he has no info about are decent people, but Enji was just a controlling bastard that he kept Rei and the kids away from them. He'd figure out eventually that they're not, but that'll be later down the line.

Thankfully Shoto fully dodges a chunk of this because by the time he's a legal adult, the family has had several conversations clearing things up so he Knows Better™ when a letter comes for him.

Swinging back to Rei: Her family is one of the many reasons she and Enji stay married instead of getting a divorce. Given her mental health issues, it'd be easy for her parents to get her deemed mentally unfit to take care of herself and in need of a caretaker. All custody of her and power of attorney and all that could easily go to them as her parents. But being legally married to Enji, even if Rei is deemed unfit to take care of herself, all power would go to her husband by default instead. And even at their worst, Rei trusts Enji more than she trusts her parents.

[aimportantdragoncollector]

I was waiting until I had a really dramatic prompt aND I FINALLY THOUGHT OF ONE SO LET'S GO

How about a no-quirks AU where AFO is a woman and she marries Second/Third just for political gain? Say Second is the heir to a major weapons developer or Third is the reluctant new head of a certain branch of government—something where their parents could (be manipulated to) set them up with someone else powerful and they wouldn't be able to say no.

Thus Second or Third's tragic and tense crash course into meeting Yoichi! :D

(You can also shuffle the others' genders around if you'd like I just figured AFO would have to be at multiple disadvantages to consider marrying Second or Third even for personal gain lmao)

Female AFO is fun!

1. Yoichi and All for One are both women in this AU, because I want to explore some sisterly dynamics. They're born into a wealthy Japanese family. Their father owns a major weapons development company and very much wanted a male heir. However, he had fertility problems and it took numerous expensive treatments just to have Yoichi. Their father never let Yoichi forget that she was supposed to be born a boy, and although AFO was the perfect heir in every regard, she was never good enough due to not having a dick. Their mother was weak-willed and unable to stand up for them.

2. Yoichi was a sickly, neglected child and AFO became very protective as a result. As children they were very close. By teens, Yoichi had started to feel inferior toward her favored, brilliant, and beautiful sister. As young adults, they fought because Yoichi had ethical objections to the family weapons business.

3. The Shigaraki father started pressuring AFO to get married from a young age, because he's desperate for a grandson. AFO resisted until their father drew up a document to leave the company to Yoichi instead. This could have been a bluff, but on the other hand, the Shigaraki father would loudly go around saying he'd rather see his company destroyed than in the hands of a woman, therefore if AFO didn't give him a male heir than he would let Yoichi dismantle it. (Seriously, this idiot thinks he's King Henry VIII with all this talk of heirs.)

4. We're increasing the tropes to the max in this AU. Second is the bastard child of a weapons development CEO. He was raised by his grandmother. His family called him back as heir after the legitimate son came out as gay and eloped with his boyfriend to Europe. Second didn't want anything to do with them, but his grandmother needed expensive medical treatment so he had to agree. AFO negotiated a merger of their companies (a major accomplishment) and she asked to marry their son to seal the deal. No one consulted Second before marrying him off.

5. Yoichi has an enormous crush on Second, who's an environmental rights activist and the author of her favorite book. She's secretly devastated her sister is marrying the guy she loves, feels too inferior to say anything, etc.

6. Second is very grumpy about being forced into this marriage and rude to Yoichi when they first meet. (More tropes!) However, AFO can't be bothered to plan this wedding due to running the company and keeps throwing Yoichi and Second together to handle the arrangements. Yoichi and Second fall in love, but there's a lot of angst over Second needing to marry AFO to save his grandmother. This culminates in a grand scene with Yoichi screaming "I object!" in the middle of the wedding, then running off with Second.

7. Here's where it gets really interesting. This was all a massive gambit from All for One. While the Shigaraki father is having a breakdown over the public embarrassment of the failed wedding, AFO takes over his company and has him marched out of his office by security. AFO got Yoichi to sign papers giving up any rights to the family business, using guilt-tripping over the groom theft and promising enough money to fund an overseas operation for Second's grandmother. From the beginning, AFO knew about Yoichi's crush and picked Second figuring he would run off with her little sister and thus leave her unmarried, free, and in a great negotiating position with his family to claim compensation. AFO has been deliberately throwing Yoichi and Second together. After all, she's a good big sister who wants her little sister to have whatever makes her happy.

8. AFOs across the multiverse would be screaming at this one for setting Yoichi up with Second. But female AFO doesn't care. She's just sitting on her massive pile of money, planning how she will use this to guilt-trip Yoichi for the rest of their lives, and laughing at her male alternates for totally lacking any subtlety.

(All of my ask game AUs are free to use in my Three Weeks of Trioholders event.)