#dappledtalks

So, first of all, the setting of the series is that it’s like Earth, but some people have superpowers. The whole world’s hierarchy has shifted to accommodate these changes, placing a certain bias on people with ‘quirks’ and slightly against people who don’t. People who are quirkless are often seen as less powerful, mundane, more of a spectator or a watcher. They can’t do all of the things that people with quirks can do, and are often slightly looked down upon because of this. 

Because of this bias, I feel like if we’re going to go with this au, Izuku would go with this much like in canon. He’s All Might’s biggest fan, wants to get a quirk, doesn’t have a quirk, and spends the rest of his life up until the series being relentlessly bullied by kids who do have quirks. Just like in canon, Izuku will go about his day, taking notes of various superheros and their various superpowers, being bullied by Katsuki- etc. 

However, I feel like the pivotal point wherein Izuku’s path is decided- villain or hero, is when All Might saves him. He transforms back, Izuku learns his biggest secret, and then All Might tells him he can’t be a super. Imagine, your biggest hero telling you you can’t do it because you’re not special. You’re too ordinary, you can’t do it. 

I feel like Izuku would struggle at first with these thoughts, trying to understand why this would happen. He’d try and convince himself that All Might didn’t understand- but he’d fail. He can’t come up with an excuse solid enough to try and rationalize what All Might said. He can’t be a hero. 

But.. No one said he couldn’t be a villain.

All Might would be able to gather enough strength without Izuku trying to save Katsuki, so there’s that. Izuku would continue to feel this way until he decides to do something about it. 

Now, here’s where I feel like it would differ from what a lot of other people do. In a lot of villain! Izuku head-canons I’ve seen, there’s a large amount where he’s given a kind of quirk- like fire manipulation, the ability to take other’s quirks, or stuff like that. I mean no offense to anyone who’s thought up an AU, but I feel like Izuku doesn’t need one. 

Like, we’re talking about the boy who can think his way out of a situation. Who’s memorized every fact about every super, who knows his bullies’ fighting moves like the back of his hand. The boy who can match and even outmatch supers with nothing more than his ingenuity and resourcefulness. The boy doesn’t need a quirk! He can beat them up on his own! 

Now, I feel like Izuku would less try and seek out the League Of Villains and more like..accidentally stumble into it. They’d accept him after a while because  holy SHIT does this boy know supers, and he'd become like their planner. He knows supers and he knows people, so it’d be really easy for him to do. He’d still use Deku as a villain name, just to spite Katsuki. 

From this it becomes speculation, but I feel like Izuku would still try and get into UA. I don’t think he’d get into Hero course (rip poor bad bean child, just wants people to respect him), but I feel like Marketing would be a really good job. He’d have a legitimate reason to scout out new quirks and people, a legitimate reason to jot them all down and take notes on them. I feel like it wouldn’t be just a really good job for him, but also for his nefarious, villain-like purposes. 

No one would really notice the nice, green-haired, freckled boy in Marketing. No one would really think that someone that..ordinary would be a villain. 

Izuku’s costume would be a lot like his original, only a hood and a mask because he’s like a kid and his mom didn’t make a cool suit for him. Bonus points if he got the mask from like some random costume shop lmao. 

He’d stay (mostly) out of the fighting, probably sitting on some rooftop and helping out the rest of the villains from a comm set. He’ll just be parked up there with his notebooks and homework, binoculars as he jots down more notes as he helps the villains. Lmao I can see that rn. 

It all comes to a head when the villains attack the off-campus facility. It’d happen pretty much like the original, but Izuku would be there, kind of observing from one of the taller structures of the place. He’d help them beat up Eraser Head but wouldn’t let Nomu kill him, because he’s still a bean child and doesn’t want anyone to necessarily die (Bonus points if the villains are only using him for his knowledge and totally plan to kill all the supers later and he just doesn’t know that rip). 

At the end, the villains would escape and one of them would call out, “Deku!” And Izuku would just like answer and run away with them. Katsuki would recognize that name and be like, “wtf??” 

After a few more confrontations with the villains (I dunno I haven’t finished watching the series don’t fucking judge me okay), I feel like the supers would finally figure out that someone’s feeding the villains information. They’d look around the tallest buildings until they found some random kid in a hoodie, parked up on the edge of the roof with a snack, a notebook, and a device in his ear as he spoke to the villains. (Bonus if it’s like Iida and Uru {I forgot the rest of her name soz}) 

They’d be like, “who the fuck are you why are you feeding the villains information?” And Izuku’d like freak, like spit out his food and scramble to get his mask on and hide behind a gravely voice. They’d wonder, “who the fuck is this kid?” And Izuku is inwardly dying because he never planned for them to confront each other and it just occurred to him that he’s a very small, weak child against two powerfully trained supers.

Iida would totally try and find out what his name is in very probing questions as they sort-of fight, and he’d be like, “My name is Deku!” They’d fight for a bit, cue Izuku outsmarting the two and using their quirks against them and then dramatically escaping, leaving nothing but one of his notebooks behind. 

Cue all the supers reconciling back at the school and trying to figure it out until Iida slams the book down and is like, “will this help?” Katsuki would totally recognize the book because he’s spent so long teasing Izuku about it. Maybe he reveals it to the class, maybe not? I dunno. 

And that’s as far as my thought process goes so yeah lmao. Did you like it? Tell me, I’d love to hear your feedback! Don’t be shy to shoot me an ask or an instant message and I’ll get back as soon as I can!