Reviews Fanfic / Conversations With A Cryptid

Started Good, now has Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy (SPOILERS)

When I first took a look at Conversations with a Cryptid, I'll admit, I loved it. It took a nice introspection into what made All for One tick, while also pioneering the "All for One is Hisashi Midoriya" theory. However, Kidnapping of a Cryptid is where things started to hit Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy for me.

Going from smallest issue to biggest issues:

The treatment the Bakugou family is given. I'll admit, none of them are saints, even in canon, but the fic is especially mean-spirited to them. Bakugou loses his Quirk temporarily, his parents are turned into flat out abusers with Mitsuki regularly beating him and both of them treating Bakugou like an invalid when he loses his quirk, and Bakugou learns jack from his experiences. See, while I won't deny Mitsuki is emotionally and physically abusive in canon, the fic ignores the context behind it. Mitsuki and Masaru have tried all they can to reign in Katsuki's massive ego, and failed, so Mitsuki resorted to trying to beat it into him. Unlike Endeavor who was legitimately abusive to his kids, Mitsuki was a case of Parents as People, trying to quell Katsuki's ego but going about it the wrong way. Here however, she is just flat out abusive. The fic does say Katsuki has a Freudian Excuse, but then says Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse, when the same treatment isn't even given to his parents.

Then there is the way One for All is handled. A power meant to be the culmination of the predecessors that is passed on as a symbol of hope, suddenly instills suicidal depression in its wielders. What? I'm serious, what is the point in making this a thing? To justify why Izuku sometimes has depression episodes? What is added by making Nana commit Suicide by Cop? It reads like a pointless addition for the sake of drama.

Then there is the climax of Kidnapping. Izuku's article has been leaked to the public, the government is now shut down, Hero Society is falling apart, and Nothing Is the Same Anymore.... I get the idea of pointing out the flaws in the society they live in, but its too much at once, and to foster it all onto Izuku's shoulders is too much. He's already this fic's Cosmic Plaything, and now he is technically responsible for the collapse of society, something his dad couldn't even do? Aside from the stuff this puts Izuku through, it becomes kinda hard to swallow when you consider it only took an article by a teenager to accomplish what the superhero equivalent of the devil couldn't in several centuries. Plus, where can it even go from here? Even if Izuku somehow convinces people to have faith in heroes again, the government is shut down, riots are happening, and All for One is still on the loose. Any ending would seem like an Esoteric Happy Ending.

Conversations was a nice little introspection into the mind of All for One, but Kidnapping reads like a bad soap opera. If you want to read Conversations, just stop before the Sludge Villain kidnaps Izuku, and avoid Kidnapping.