Cards on the Table: A Word to My Readers
Hello, everyone. I'm going to be speaking directly to you and I'll be making a point to be as candid as possible. In the interest of ripping off the proverbial band-aid, let's get the big one out of the way: I am no longer going to be actively posting chapters for Torchbearer.
If you'll allow me a moment more, I'll explain this decision, since I know that to most if not all of you, it's kinda coming out of nowhere.
This is actually a decision that's been several months in the making, with the thoughts starting all the way back in October 2020 if I'm being honest. Writing Torchbearer was starting to feel like a chore and the only reason I kept doing it was because of all of the people who follow and support it and, through it, me. At first I thought that maybe this was just built-up fatigue and that my month-long December break would help to revitalize and remotivate me, as it has before.
This is not what happened. Almost as soon as I had started writing it again in January, it started feeling burdensome again. I did my best to make it enjoyable by including plenty of my usual humor and writing the sorts of scenes that I like, but the spark, for lack of a better term, was mostly gone. If it was the case of toughing it out for a few more chapters to get to the end, then I would have persevered in the interest of finishing it, but we all know that, even with half a million words behind us, it's nowhere close to being done. Maybe it would never have ended.
What convinced me that this was a problem specific to Torchbearer was that my original story, ContRact, has been as fulfilling to write as ever, even with far fewer people reading it. That leads me to one conclusion: I've simply outgrown Torchbearer. Its original purpose was to serve as a practice project to improve my writing abilities and get a sense for how people react to my style, such that it would enable me to start my real project, which I could then publish and potentially make money off of. Having served this purpose, I continued writing it because I saw how much you all were enjoying it and thought "what the hell, I'll just keep this going. It's still fun and I still have more to gain from it."
For a while I did, but no more. Fires of Creation was named such because that's how I feel when I'm truly invested in a project. It consumes me, filling me with fervor and joy to the point where the act of creation itself is almost its own reward. Almost. Like, 75-80% of the way there. The remaining 20-25% that drives me to actually commit to something is the goal, the purpose of the whole thing. I've met my goals for Torchbearer. It's served its purpose.
Fine. Okay. That makes a certain amount of sense, but why now? Why not give it another month or two to see if this is just a slump? Slumps happen. They've happened before. Why not just do my usual thing and post a fun little Omake? Two reasons, really.
First, my brain has just given out. I've been working off notes chapter-by-chapter for the past four chapters or so and now I've reached the point where I just don't have it in me to plot out how the last three fights go beyond surface-level details. Anything I did at this point would be forced and half-assed, and you as my readers deserve better. You deserve the best that I can give. It's not worth anyone's time otherwise. Not yours and not mine.
The second reason, as well as the much, much more positive one, is that I've found an opportunity to do what I actually went to school for and have wanted to do for most of my life: make a game. Not some slapped-together one-off either, I'm talking something real. Something that will force me to use my entire skillset, not just my storytelling ability. It's still a long way off from being anything tangible. I need to learn (and, quite frankly, re-learn) a lot of things before it's time to begin production, but the tools are there in a way they just weren't five years ago when I graduated. I can safely say that everything required for me to succeed is there and, perhaps more importantly, it's highly affordable.
But this is going to take time. Time that I just won't have if I'm trying to balance writing two stories in addition to learning/working on the game. Three projects at once is just too much, so something had to give. In the end, I made the pragmatic decision and chose the one that I stand to gain the least from.
So, what was the best way to go about it? I wasn't about to just ghost the lot of you and leave you wondering where I'd gone, like so many other stories that I've read over the years. Some of you have been with me for nearly three years, which was one the story was first posted. You deserve something.
To that end, I've decided that I'm going to do three things.
Firstly, I am giving blanket permission to any and all who wish to continue this story in their own names to do so. The only requirement is that you credit Torchbearer and myself. Many of you recognize that this AU has potential and it would be a shame for that to be squandered, so if someone wants to use it, why the hell not, right?
Secondly, I will remain available to answer questions and provide character/plot advice to anyone who decides to take advantage of the first offer. You are by no means required to consult me, but it doesn't take much effort on my end to make myself available via PM. Please note that this will be limited to specific questions or "what do you think X character would do" situations. I will not be writing entire sections or coming up with a plot for you; that's your job as the writer.
Thirdly, I will provide a summary of the major plot points that I had planned for the remainder of the story, at least as far ahead as I had anything planned at all. That will, in fact, be provided in this very post. For those who do not wish to have this information, I will provide a warning tag at the beginning and end of that section so you can CTRL+F your way past it should you so choose. I wanted to at least make this available for those who just wanted to know where I was going with all this when I hinted that there were "big things" coming and not just leave you all hanging. Honestly, I don't know why more authors don't do this when they decide to end a story on FFnet.
In addition to all this, I don't plan on my Pat_reon, Fires of Creation, going anywhere anytime soon. If anything, there will be more to see on there once I start getting more into character designs and such for the game. I will also continue writing ContRact, one chapter per month, as I have been doing, so if you just want more of my writing now that Torchbearer is done, that's a good place to find it. Google "Fires of Creation Pat_reon" with the underscore removed to find it.
HERE BEGINS THE SPOILER TAG SECTION. CTRL+F THE WORD "RHUBARB" TO SKIP IT. THIS IS YOUR FINAL CHANCE TO AVOID KNOWING THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW IT.
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Alrighty. Since you're here, that means you want to peer into the abyss of my mind and see what sorts of fuckery I had planned for this thing. So be it. What follows is a more-or-less chronological series of events as they would have taken place in the story. Spaces of time will be skipped, since this is only the major plot points that I had thought out.
Izuku is the one that gets taken during the League of Villains' attack on the summer training camp. He fights Dabi for a while before Stain comes in and paralyzes him, at which point he is sealed into a capsule by Mr. Compress and taken. Katsuki is present to witness this, in a sort of flip on the canon situation of Izuku watching Katsuki get taken.
At the League's hideout/bar, Izuku has multiple interactions with various League members, ranging from philosophical conversation with Stain to veiled threats/flirting from Himiko to Tomura trying to get him to play games. After a day or so, he is summoned to speak with All For One, in private. It is then that All For One asks him if he would like to hear the story of Prometheus, the first Supervillain. When asked how he could possibly know all of this information, he confirms that he was indeed Prometheus.
The story goes thusly, as taken directly from my notes. AFO tells it in a more conversational tone:
Prometheus started out as a Vigilante, as the Pro Hero system had not yet been implemented. His initial philosophy in his fight against Villainy was "Burn away the corruption and let a clean new world rise from the ashes." When he found someone that he considered to be irredeemable and/or unrepentant, he killed them.
Prometheus was a strong-willed man who was unrelenting in his cause. The government made him an offer to join in the first generation of Pro Heroes, but he refused to compromise in his approach and, when given an order to cease and desist, he refused again. Thereafter, he was branded a Villain.
Publicly, Prometheus' Quirk was Fire Breathing. In reality, this was simply the Quirk he had chosen as his cover for his true Quirk, All For One. Given the sheer amount of power in his possession, it was a simple matter for him to assume control of what is generally regarded as the first Villain Alliance.
The government cracked down on Prometheus and his Villain Alliance. Hard. The one-two punch of being betrayed by not only the society that he had sought to help, but also by those who had formerly been his brothers and sisters-in-arms was too much for Prometheus to take. During one particularly vicious raid, wherein the members of the Villain Alliance were routed and their hideout destroyed, he faked his death as Prometheus and assumed a new identity as All For One. His goal was now to tear down the government that had betrayed him and to show the people the truth.
He laid low at first, building his arsenal. He knew that he would be in for a long haul, so he prioritized obtaining a Quirk that would extend his life. He was successful and stole the Quirk known as Forever Young, which stopped his aging process from the time he obtained it. Due to the high-profile nature of this Quirk, however, its theft revealed All For One's existence to the public.
All For One went underground and became a sort of Quirk Broker. He would take the Quirks of those who did not want them and pass them along to those who did, keeping various Quirks for himself. He built a veritable army out of those who owed him and during this time created One For All.
Over the years, All For One became something of an urban legend by his own design. He and his followers occasionally clashed with Heroes, the government and the various holders of One For All, but there was seemingly no power that could match his.
Fast-forward to roughly twenty years ago. He was out and about in plain clothes, his true face long having been forgotten due to his various disguises he donned while playing the part of All For One. On this day, by chance, he met a certain woman. After a few such meetings, the two agreed that it must be fate at work and started dating. Over time they fell in love and eventually married.
The two made a life together. He would often have to step out on "business" and she must have been vaguely aware that whatever he was doing might not be entirely above-board, but she loved him nonetheless and rightfully believed that he loved her. Over time, his wife's love combined with the steps forward that society had taken over the years began to soften All For One's mentality, albeit ever-so-slightly. He used a system of mail forwarding to disguise his location and give orders/receive updates from his underlings.
Of course, the thing that ended up changing him the most, as such things often do, was becoming a father. It made him want to make the dream into a reality and truly become the mask that he wore around his wife.
It is at around this point in the story that Izuku begins to realize that All For One is telling essentially the same story that Inko told to All Might, and that he must actually be Hisashi Midoriya.
For about three years, Hisashi was happier than he had been in a long time. He had vague plans to set up a successor and quietly retire into the background of his organization as an advisor and perhaps occasional enforcer. Fate smiled upon him again when he discovered a roughly five-year-old Tenko Shimura and took him under his wing, grooming him to be this very successor.
Shortly before Izuku's third birthday, Hisashi's intelligence network informed him that Grand Torino and All Might were closing in on his position. In order to protect his family, he told Inko that he had to go overseas for work for an undetermined period.
For nearly seven years, Hisashi played a game of cat-and-mouse with All Might, Grand Torino and Sir Nighteye. Eventually he had enough and confronted the Symbol of Peace, intending to rid the world of him once and for all. He was defeated and maimed, though All Might was maimed as well.
Hisashi could no longer re-unite with his family or even show his face to them because of what All Might had done to him. The hatred that he had so nearly moved past exploded into being with a terrible vengeance and he swore that All Might would pay with his life.
At some point during this exchange, we get the "I am your father" line, since MHA draws from Star Wars.
During Izuku's stay with the L.o.V., Himiko is dispatched to try and figure out what the Heroes are planning on doing and, if possible, to trick them. This is done by her taking Izuku's blood and transforming into him. Impostor Izuku is then roughed up and ejected from one of Kurogiri's Warp Gates directly in front of U.A., claiming that when he refused to work for the League, his Quirk was stolen.
Katsuki is overcome with emotion at the entire situation, leading Himiko to believe that he and Izuku are closer than she first thought. Katsuki eventually discovers that something his wrong when the time-honored exchange between them goes wrong.
"Hey, Deku."
"Yeah?"
"Don't call me Kacchan."
"Alright, if that's what you want."
Katsuki is beyond furious at discovering the ruse and Himiko is barely able to escape him in one piece.
The eventual fight between All Might and All For One goes a bit differently than in canon, with All Might's less-deteriorated condition allowing him to match his nemesis more evenly. Unwilling to risk a repeat of their previous battle, the injured Hisashi retreats.
Izuku's world is sufficiently rocked by recent revelations that he decides not to tell anyone about All For One's true identity. Once he is home again, he breaks down and admits to Inko that he "met dad."
At some point in the future, Hisashi is able to regain his former appearance with Eri's help. I was debating having the Overhaul arc either shortened or skipped because Hisashi found out what they were doing and just kicked the shit out of them.
This is as far as I have anything really planned as far as major events go. Eventually Izuku would need to reconcile his desire to know his father with his desire to be a Hero. Maybe he convinces Hisashi to return to his roots and he becomes an Anti-Hero. Maybe he joins the League under false pretenses to help change them back to what they were supposed to be.
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RHUBARB
There you have it. I'm not dropping off the face of the planet, but you won't really see me here anymore. My hope is that those of you who have supported me thus far will continue to do so and that the end of this project will not stop you from enjoying my future ones, regardless of the fact that they won't be fanfics.
Know that even though I'm moving on from Torchbearer, it will always be special to me. It's my first big story that I've ever posted and it gained a bigger following than I ever thought was possible. This gives me the confidence that there are indeed people out there who like my work and that making things isn't a waste of time for me.
Special thanks this time goes to everyone who has ever taken the time to read this story, share it with someone else, leave a comment, support my Pat_reon, or anything else that I forgot to mention. This does of course include Animeguy1101, The 0bservanc3, Fallenasgardian, Hyper and RotWS.
Next time, you'll be seeing me somewhere else, doing something else.
And, for one final time, thank you for reading!