AFO Users Under Dramatic Lighting 🤍

Nine and Rody were the only movie characters in MHA that I really liked. Those two are very popular. However because they are movie characters they were never supposed to have any scenes or moments in the actual show. So there wasn't any impact that they made to the show as a whole or to the major characters despite having the potential to do so.

I mean that's something Horikoshi decides to do or not. Nothing really dictates that Nine, Rody or anyone else from the movies can't be part of the main story.

And Star and Stripes isn't technically a movie original character that Horikoshi retconned to be an important character featured in her own arc in the manga as well?

Or heck even Melissa Shield did have a little participation in the final war arc. Her presence is more subtle than SnS but she's implied to made the new gauntlets Deku use during the vigilante arc and later help to build "Iron Might" armor.

So yeah there's no written rule about movie characters not being allowed to be part of the main story, it is all Horikoshi election.

If he wanted he could do something with the others but he didn't, or he couldn't find a way to properly introduce them outside of cameos.

And what a waste honestly, there's so much potential in the original characters from the movies.

I mean yeah I can imagine Dabi being such a petty bitch that he probably would feel happy to tell Shigaraki that, because on Dabi's mind that would be the first time he's the replacement and not the replaced one.

Also Shigaraki probably knew something after that retcon of him knowing AFO manipulated him all the time.

And by the way he kills Nine at the end of Heroes Rising he should have the idea that no one under AFO/Ujino command is truly untouchable.

Can you fucking imagine Dabi telling Shigaraki that he was made by Ujiko to be his replacement? That AFO had a whole group of backup children in case Tomura failed. That he was that disposable. Can you imagine Touya being made not once but twice for the selfish wills of another person, as a weapon? Never supposed to live and be human, just serve their selfish purposes? Can you—

Could you tell me your thoughts on Nine as a character? I rarely meet fans of his. If you would indulge me, How about a bit of a what if, where Nine replaces Shigaraki and Shigaraki is a footnote in Nine's story? IE, Tomura is a movie villain in this universe.

I can assure you it's the same for me 😅 Nine fans are a rare species, but here we are.

As for what I think about him as a character? Uf... where even start?

I really find him to be way more interesting and rich in themes than most people think.

On the sense most people seem to take him as a one note character whitout any interesting trait, and calling him incorrectly a "might makes right" guy which hey, is in part true but that's just the surface.

Another thing I don't agree with most people is that Nine ideology is a very basic "the survival of the finest and only the strong deserve to live".

That's not really true. There's multiple hints that reveal parts of his true nature, especially when we have his POV in his origin chapter:

It always istruck me how Nine claims that under his ideal world everyone should aim to make their own way to top by pure strength, but simultaneusly he steps to defend the people he sees as oppressed by an unfair society.

And while some people make the argument of "he only cares about the people with strong quirk", but think about this: how he even knows his friends for example were that strong even before meet them?

His story only show these persons at their lowest point on life, yet by pure instinct Nine decided help them and offer them a hand without really demand nothing in exchange.

When he rescued Chimera is particulary powerful because we know Nine gets ill by using his quirk, yet he had no problem on create a massive storm just to save Chimera from the people who intended to kill him for being an heteromorph.

I really think Nine uses his ideology as a sort of defense mechanism due the circunstances he lived through most of his life. Which is logical as he was an orphan abandoded at what seemed to be a public bathroom at birth, which is sick af.

And it also relates to this particular line of his chapter:

"Everything is already decided" while we saw him being a child alone and multiple ominous smiles.

It really gives me the feeling that Nine actually felt a lot of abandonement and insolation while growing giving him idea that only the strongest should rule over the world, but at the same it can't really take away his selfless nature.

The fact Nine knows he was being used by the doctor, yet the only thing he thinks about going through the process are his friends even correcting himself by say "is for create OUR ideal world" shows how much he actually values the people close to him, to what extremes he's willing to go for give them what he considers fair.

And it's so powerful how even with his body destroyed and crawling on the ground Nine still keeps moving by the sheer will to make real his dream world.

It's an interesting way in which he parallels Deku on how he fights even at the cost of sacrifice and destroy his body just for the people he loves.

Kinda ironic if you think about the fact Horikoshi make his way to try to portray Shigaraki as "a hero for villains" despite that idea doesn't fit him at all, when Nine was already an heroic villain who parallels Deku a way that is pretty organic and logical.

I said a lot of times how funny is that is a fraction of time Nine not only executes the same ideas and concepts the main stroy try to apply to Shigaraki, but he does it better.

Nine story is really the story of an underdog who starts from the very bottom, having a really tragic life that molded his vision of a flawed world that should be destroyed, yet he feels very human on the way he relates to people on the same situation and he will do everything for them.

Is what really sells Nine as a character for me. None of these things are stated trying to convince us they happen like with Shigaraki, with Nine this stuff just... happen. Is the most basic show don't tell.

I wonder were that subtle and smart storytelling went in the main story.

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Oh also, as you asked about the what if scenario, I have a slightly different idea for an AU in which Nine position is inverted with Shigaraki.

But rather than make it a shallow rivalry (as the movie kinda implies they have) I was thinking: what it Nine intends to save Shigaraki instead?

As I said before, is part of Nine's nature to help people no one else would do.

If he found Tenko Shimura that day he will attempt to rescue him and protect him while living both in the streets as homeless orphans. Which is ironic because they're likely a very similar age, just with Nine being slighty older apparently.

And what if they both are later found by AFO and he has ideas for both of them?

AFO will still have his main plan to make one of them "the next me" like in canon, in this case Nine being the candidate because our potato weirdo projects himself and Yoichi into Nine thinking the child is what both would be together.

Problem is... Nine isn't a emotionally disturbed kid who can be manipulated by AFO bs, so obviously when he realizes what are the man true intentions Nine will rebel and fight back. Probably escaping, as he and AFO aren't really compatible at all.

It's ironic as AFO is actually what Nine tried to convince himself he is, but in reality AFO is a selfish lunatic who only uses everyone for his own sake. That would make Nine have a lot of introspection and realizes he doesn't want to follow AFO steps, and neither wants Tenko/Tomura to have that fate.

But as probably Nine could escape alongside Tenko, he becames the next big opportunity on AFO plans, being manipulated into something similar to canon or even worse.

While Nine will still fight and try to save the kid he helped that day, perhaps he will came to late and if something like the island incident happens but using Shigaraki as the villain there, he probably will die being a defining moment of Nine developement as a character.

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Well that was a bit long.

I could write even more, but that would be me going crazy and making a long bible lol.

Hope you enjoy the what if scenario. It's a bit improvised because I didn't think about the details yet, just a very basic storyline structure.

I think I'm in love with Giulio Gandini already

MHA fans shouldn't ignore how beautiful Nine is.

Have you seen how gorgeous this man looks?

He should be bring into conversations about the most pretty male character more often.

Especially when Horikoshi draws him.

I don't think this need more explanation, Nine is something else.

The critique of "I like this quirk but not how is used" can apply to a lot of them.

But mainly AFO (the quirk) because the way Horikoshi writes it is the most lazy and uninspired thing ever. All for One and Shigaraki are such terrible users of the quirks and it's lame af.

Nine on the other hand is the perfect AFO user: skilled, smart, creative and badass despite only having 5 quirks max during his debut. And that's because the writer and director of the movie know better how handle a user of multiple powers than Horikoshi does.

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Cider also got such a sexy voice in the anime. His VA puts everything into those lines, despite they make the dialogue a bit softer than the manga (what a crime).

Your Izu is going to be blessed by hearing Cider trash talking about BK all the day. Funny how people usually thinks Bakugou has a big mouth, but his level of insults are on pair with a 10 years old kid. In fact a lot of people make fun of BK on Twitter/X because his fanboys think he could enter a roast competition with other anime characters, but dude would be bullied to death.

Cider? He's a street boy, he can roast you in ways Bakugou a rich kid without real world experience can only dream off.

Canon possum is a joke but one thing I never forget is how decay IS powerful, sure a powerful quirk with an idiot is not a good thing in many fronts but...

Cinder (I'm loving him already) has to know a guy who can decay stuff with one touch even if he is an idiot.

Would cinder be worried about the quirk ?

Again, shig is an idiot and a bad leader and all that but one thing we can't deny is he knows how to fight.

So I think cinder would make a point to avoid him like the plague.

In canon Cider is the kind of person who knows he shouldn't bite off more than he can chew, since after all his plan during his debut was to steal during a very specific moment in which heroes aren't present, so is more reward without having to fight and less risk.

It was just a coincidence that A.M was there with Bakugou and Todoroki.

I guess his mentality also applies to fight dangerous villains, and the lov had some big names attached them. Their reputation probably was enough for Cider to not have his gang involved with such group of psychos.

But... I disagree on Shigaraki being a good fighter.

Maybe before all the bs power ups given by the doctor he at least knew how do surprise attacks and such, but Decay being such a one-dimensional quirk also means the user doesn't require a lot of skill to put it in use. It is basically just run towards the enemy and touch for instakill.

Which became even more braindead post awakening. Like even Overhaul has more room to be creative and need skill to put in use.

Decay is just a broken and boring quirk that requieres nothing to be effective. Crusty asshole somehow manages to be more plain than he already was at first, is like he evolves in reverse.

Keeping alive the tradition of Shigaraki being shirtless and barefoot

Not complain at all, I prefer him that way.

If Mustard stayed relevant, how would you characterize him? I mean things past his baseline "pragmatic psycho" thing he has going on.

Interesting question, as I do agree that Mustard would need more things personality wise to work with if he's going to be a more long term character.

At first he's indeed very pragmatic, especially compared to the rest of the league and his implied age being probably the youngest even behind Toga.

But as pragmatic he can be he's still a child with an inmature side, and we can see that when he gets angry at Tetsutetsu and can't help himself but act less carefully and being a bit overcondident. He also seems to destile some represed anger on what he considers an easy target.

I would like to explore more that side of him, as Mustard seems to be very resentful against the education system for some reason, maybe is his "villanous" quirk that left him without the opportunity of being a hero? Who knows, but his dialogue can be interpreted as he wants something about hero schools and hates the ones who have the privilege of go to UA for example.

Other thing I would do with Mustard is explore the idea of him not fitting with the LoV.

Because let's be real, he doesn't fit there at all. His style and approach to crime sooner or later will clash with the rest of the members, especially Shigaraki at that point of the story and I can't see Mustard taking his bs once AFO is out of the picture and crusty boy has to lead.

Mustard might be a child but probably he has more clear ideas than the rest of the LoV and once the initial hype for shooting people and do random chaos he would think Shigaraki ideas of destroy everything are worthless crap, so he obviously will aim for better objetives.

I can imagine Mu having a bit of superiority complex and leaving the LoV for look better oppotunities with people who can aspire to bigger plans. Probably the Shie Hassaikai following the canon timeline.

But also, I would like give Mustard a more vulnerable and human side outside being just a gunnuts.

The fact he's a child in a world of crime and danger might have more downsides for him than he initialy realizes.

I can see Mustard sometimes feeling alone and out of place next to a lot of people way older than him.

He might want to have friends of his age like a normal child would do, even if he tries to negate that idea.

Also where is his family? Mustard would likely want to have a place to call home and feel loved, despite tries to convince himself to no need such basic things.

That's what I can think for now. Mustard had a really cool concept to imagine scenarios if he stayed as a recurrent character.

You can't take sexist Dabi away from me!

But seriously I love the idea for multiple reasons, one of them being that is a direct response to the whole "lov are sjw" that lov fans love to circlejerk just to make them look more noble compared to the "problematic" characters like Endeavor or Overhaul especially.

Just think on Dabi having to share space with Toga after that makes it extra hilarious.

And another important reason is because as you know I ship DabiTen a lot, but here's a thing: I like Geten being a trans boy.

So the consequences of Dabi being super sexist but at the same time Geten being sort of the love of his life are fun because it will drive him mad for clash with his own beliefs. I imagine a situation in which Dabi tries to have sex with Geten, but when he found what Geten haves under his clothes it left him in shock.

Ah the sweet drama.

For some reason I think this is Dabi's favorite book ever:

Hahahahaha hahahahaha

Listen @nyc3 I do love some good old joke "Dabi is a sexist" but in canon...we don't see much to proof that. He was rude to his mom and sis one time ? Sure. He was under a fucked up situation as he knew why he was born.

Plus when he wakes up from the coma, he wanted to see his mother and sister.

Funny jokes

But don't think dabi is a sexist.

Eh, I didn't say that. Is just not for this particular scenario.

AFO is perfect for crossover material in fact.

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Since you mention it... there's a pretty dope crossover of DS and MHA in Ao3 that is a massive one-shot that blends both stories (until certain point for MHA) in a pretty fascinating way.

And Muzan himself is the villanous main character.

The basic premise is that he survives the events of DS ending and he lives through the dawn of quirks and alters the MHA timeline. Of course during the dawn of quirks Muzan and AFO clash and they have a great rivalry.

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That's a fair take, I dislike a lot of things about Zenitsu myself. Yes he's annoying but surprisingly not so much for me, I find him funny most time.

There's other things that I hate about him, mainly his atrocious romance with Nezuko and other things post ending that isn't worth explain if you didn't watch the whole series.

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Yeah crusty boy will be there... just for die in a quick and pathetic way when a hashira shows up.

It will be the best option, trust me.

What do you think about another crossover AU for SeltzerBunny? This time with Demon Slayer.

It's kinda easy to adapt the respective canon quirks of our dear couple into Breathing Styles.

Cider/Mizunami obviously would be a water breathing user, and for this AU I like to think he would be tsuguko of Sabito who survived this time.

While Midoriya is a wind breathing user (cause you know air force and float and green aesthetic... whatever) who was saved by Masachika (Yeah he's also alive at least for now) from the lower moon who killed his mother.

That lower moon would be no other than BK, who is a promising demon in ascension who is capable of generate explosions like his quirk in MHA.

And this would make Midoriya quest for revenge his principal motivation.

Still thinking about the details for this AU and who should be the other characters adapted into it, as MHA having such a big cast compared to DS force me to pick only the necessary lol.

@nyc3 hello

So while I did saw the first season of DS and do think it's well paced and better than MHA in every way -not a big achievement to behold. I didnt saw the other seasons, I got spoilers here and there. My point is how some of the names here are unknown to me.

That being said...I do like more aus for this ship.

Cinder is still a thief in this au or he seeks revenge?

How they meet and how is their dynamic?

(Almost finishing chapter 1 of my seltzer bunny fic)