#and its not even a situation where I can say with any level of confidence if they would or not because god if I fucking know

[arolesbianism]

Every now and then I remember that oni in fact will eventually have more lore added and I get so excited and scared for a moment and then I remember that it could take months until we see any of that and I proceed to forget abt it again and the cycle repeats

[colonelkaboom]

❥ Calling Sylus When You're Drunk

Xavier ll Caleb

✎ AN: Filled with liquid courage, you call Sylus and unintentionally express some insecurities of yours that have bothered you recently. To your surprise, he takes time to assure you that the way you view yourself is not how he sees you... Word count: 600 Disclaimer: Obviously this little fic mentions alcohol consumption. I picture this event being pretty early on in their (not yet romantic) relationship.

───────────

“Hello, Boss Man. How are things in the N109 zone? Landed any good deals lately?” You lower your voice trying to sound as deep and mysterious as the man you’re calling.

“Are you drunk, sweetie?”

“That is none of your concern, sweetie.” You attempt to lower your voice even further to match his. Before he has a chance to reply you repeat his nickname for you a few more times, trying to make it sound as good as when he says it to you. Sweetie. Sweetie. Sweetieee… 

“It’s going to take more than a deeper voice to become me, sweetie.” He says it again as if showing you how it’s done.

“I don’t want to become you, Sylus, I just wanted to try it out. See if it made me feel more in charge and confident, like you.” The alcohol coursing through your system certainly added to your current confidence level. 

“Although I take pride in my accomplishments I doubt I got to where I am because of my voice.”

“You never know, I might try it out, see where it takes me.”

“I’d love to hear how it goes.” He chuckles and you just know he’s having more fun with this conversation than he should.

“Don’t laugh at my attempts to toughen up, Sylus!” Your high pitched screech is far from commanding or tough. 

“I’m sorry, kitten. But if you want some advice from the master, I’d tell you to find your own voice in the world and not strive to copy that of others. Your own force is stronger than you give yourself credit for.” 

“Yeah, right…” You huff.

“You won me over pretty easily. And unless you see me as weak and pliable, there is no denying you possess a great deal of power already.”

“Sylus… You’re making me blush.” You can’t help but feel a bit annoyed at him for claiming you have any power over him, when he so easily makes you crumble. 

“However, back to the situation at hand. I doubt your sudden honesty on this topic came about all on its own. Where are you? How much have you had to drink?”

“I told you that’s none of your concern!”

“Well, here we have yet another example of your power over me. I’m worried, sweetie… So, if you won’t tell me where you are, I’ll send Mephisto to search for you.”

“Please don’t! I’m waiting for a taxi, and one is pulling up in front of me right now.” If there is one thing your brewing headache does not need it’s that horrible metallic caw caw caw. 

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to keep talking until I have proof you’ve arrived home safely.” Sylus’ calm demand sends a shiver down your spine. Was he always this soft-hearted, or are you too drunk to tell the difference between care and control? 

“Fine. We can keep talking.”

“You wanted to know if I had landed any good deals lately. I have. But none that come close to the agreement you and I just came to, even if it was partially due to you not wanting Mephisto to sniff you out.”

“Is that how he finds me? By scent?” You question, disgusted by the thought. You hear Sylus laughing and can’t help but smile at the sound. 

“Let’s save that for another time. You’ll need some more leverage before you try to coax out all my secrets, sweetie. But when you’re ready to try, please do it using your own voice. I’m certain it will get the job done.”

───────────

✎ AN: I have to admit, I'm not really a Sylus girlie, but the way he expresses his adoration for MC (in the game, I'm not necessarily referring to how I portrayed him here, although I hope it's reminiscent of the "real" Sylus) makes me swoon. He's so loving and almost poetic when he talks to us.

Read more ll Masterlist ll Colonel Kaboom 𓂃🖊

[mymoshangthoughts]

i think i have the unpopular opinion that airplane is an egotist lol

i do enjoy reading fics where he's like "i dont deserve good things, this guy is way out of my league" and i do totally get where people are coming from when they characterize him that way but more and more lately im just like

"what about the comments?"

like i dont think that airplane has a SUPER high opinion of himself, but i think he's just kinda... confident? like when he reads fucking essays online about how his writing sucks he's able to laugh his ass off over it and even join in the fray. so i keep thinking rather than him being like "i dont deserve this nice thing", he'd more have a "SCORE! nice thing for me!! WHOO!" reaction. and when a bad thing happened, instead of being super "this is the saddest day of my life, someone was mean to me", he'd be more "omfg did you like fr waste your time being mean to me? thats actually pretty embarrassing for you lmfao, r u oki bro?"

like kinda that terminally online asshole internet troll of a person who just doesnt take shit seriously and has enough self esteem to just legitimately not give a fuck when someone is shitty

ofc it's different with demons who can literally skin him alive, theres a huge difference between someone saying "youre ugly" and someone breaking every bone in his body, so its not like he doesn't cower when necessary

but also inwardly he just has the confidence to not be effected much by cowering. like "lol imma hug this thigh bc i aint stupid but the fact that this asshole needs me to hug his thigh says a looottttt more about him than it says about me"

idk im just kinda wanting to see more unapologetically confident airplane who just does not give a fuck about anyones opinion so long as the opinion is coming from someone who cant actually fuck him over in a significant way. like sha hualing? obvs care about her opinion, she can gut him. some rando disciple? "lmfao out of my way loser, im gay"

also i kinda wanna see that confidence stripped away until he's a mewling mess but thats just my desire to break down confident characters and make them cry pfff

its so much funnier to me if airplane was actually a pretty impervious sort of person, it's only the extreme nature of his current situation that turned him into a crybaby lmfao

idk if im making sense, i just kinda think of airplane as being a hilarious mixture of "the most self assured guy you've ever met, to an obnoxious extent" and "wait does he have any self esteem at all?!? is he okay?!?" in a fun contradictory way, cuz thats the impression i got of him from canon

also modern au mobei jun getting Very upset bc it feels absolutely impossible to get under airplane's skin. like he's sitting here trying his best to get a reaction and airplane is just "lmfao yea but idgaf abt your opinion sooooooooo"

look, i also think it'd just be awesome if mobei jun is actually most attracted to the egotistical side of shang qinghua. like sure, he thinks that cowering sobbing pathetic hamster shang qinghua is delicious, but give him shang qinghua cackling arrogantly at his detractors with the air of an emperor? mobei jun might actually faint with desire

so like, mobei jun visiting an ding peak so much initially because shang qinghua is sus as fuck and all that jazz, but eventually he's sneaking in as often as possible so that he gets to peak that side of shang qinghua.

like he first notices it when shang qinghua is too absorbed in his paperwork to remember there's a demon lord casually napping on his bed and starts making fun of the lousy penmanship, his fellow disciples, other peak lords, no one is except from his sharp mocking tongue and laughing criticism. but he notices it more and more

someone comes to qinghua's door to throw their weight around? sure, qinghua acts all small and harmless with them there but when they leave, he's cackling about "annndd that pathetic loser thinks that no one knows abt his porn stache, pssshhh, get on my level pleb. especially with your frankly boring as fuck tastes" and qinghua has a dirty sense of humor too and it's sort of driving mobei jun insane

so maybe sometimes he shows up at the peak without announcing his presence, trying to peak what sort of shit that shang qinghua might say about him behind his back and mmaaaayyybbe mobei jun is a bit excited at the prospect and disappointed when it's difficult to hear his name on shang qinghua's tongue

until one glorious day when his timing is just right and shang qinghua is neck deep in the middle of northern desert paperwork and he lets loose and mobei jun isnt sure whats worse: the things that shang qinghua's biting insults are doing to him or how, in stark comparison to the way that shang qinghua insults to others, all of shang qinghua's insults are accompanied by dirty commentary about mobei jun's body and potential sexual prowess in a quite positive light. normally shang qinghua is all "lmfao mr. never-gonna-get-fucked qi-ge is gonna tell me what to do? tough shit my lil bitch, i might be your daddy but i know the full depth of malicious compliance! go back to your brat-kink with jiu-whatever. you might as well be dickless for all the success you've had, mr. virgin mcbitch" but with mobei jun it's a lot more like "oh so mr. sexier than the fucking literal god of this world could have imagined in his dirtiest dreams wants this paperwork by next week? unreasonable brat, so spoiled, i should spoil him, he'd look reeeeaallly hot when spoiled absolutely rotten beneath me hehehh wait above me? hm, anyway, he's being a little bitch but i'll forgive it for that face but also man i wanna just pinch those fucking cheeks sometimes and then--man i bet he'd be really fucking wild in the sack to and--"

absolutely charmed by the display, mobei jun immediately reveals himself and beats shang qinghua senseless as a very clear indication of his intentions. to his absolute dismay, he never hears shang qinghua insulting him again and he doubles the beatings in desperation to somehow get shang qinghua's attention

(shang qinghua does not, in fact, have any actual bad blood against his zhangmen-shixiong, he just has a bad habit of going for the throat when he's in the middle of a tirade bc he was once an internet troll who shamelessly thrived on the anonymity of being able to say anything to anyone. he just really likes to talk shit and if he was in a position of power, would absolutely abuse it to talk shit alllll the time lmfao)

anyway i got pretty off topic bUT MY POINT IS that shang qinghua is best (imho) when he is a shameless egotistical shit-talker who's more or less impervious to the criticism of others

((man just fucking IMAGINE mobei jun's reaction when the ascension ceremony happens? like he FINALLY gets shang qinghua to talk shit to his face no less and then IMMEDIATELY gets abandoned. and like, it was kinda Really Bad Timing and also mobei jun never really wanted to just be a passive participant! he wanted to retort back! he wanted a back and forth! he wanted to refute shang qinghua's claims that he was spoiled just as much as he wanted to hear those claims! he wants the push and pull!!!! SO WHY IS SHANG QINGHUA RUNNING AWAY THAT FUCKING TEASE?!?!))

also as a general note i do think that shang qinghua's whole impervious thing is prolly routed in a lot of the trauma of being unwanted by family and all of that stuff, there was no one around to build his ego up so he built it up all on his own and he's really fucking good at building things up

[tastywormfood]

Ive tried to get my feelings about Moominvalley s4 into words, but im having a really hard time even accepting them. But ill try!

So here's my thoughts in Moominvalley s4.

Im 23 now and i remember being 12 - 15 figuring out my identity, and the only "representation" in mrdia being basically either "Bury your gays" trope or just queerbaiting. I grew up on a base level thinking i wasnt allowed to exist, and if i still dared to, tragedy would be my only birth right.

I believed i wasnt allowed to live a happy, soft AND queer life, cause no media i had seen had ever showed me that, that was a possibility.

Both the 90's Moomin series and Moominvalley 2019 are my comfort shows. I fall asleep to them at night, i listen to them like a podcast while im working or outside, they even calm my panic attacks. I collect cups, plushies, i collect the Comics and even some of the books.

I have 3 Moomin tattoos. This universe means a damn lot to me, and to thousands of ppl world wide.

As a queer person i find incredible comfort in Tove Janssons work, and you have to be a fool to be unable to see the way Snufkin and Moomintroll are written together.

I have been following this show since early 2020 and have watched interview to interview, ive listened to the podcast more times than i can count, and they knew what they were doing.

From the beginning of the show they deliberately wrote Snufkin and Moomin to be something more, they even confess In a BTS that their Moomin might like Snufkin more than Snorkmaiden. Even the podcast talked about it!! We are not crazy!!!

I feel incredibly gaslit by the entire situation, and suddenly im 14 again being told im reading too much into it.

Idk what happened inbetween S3 and 4, but it felt like all the love and care that came from the show, just disappeared?

Ignoring Snufmin for a second, every episode this season felt like a filler. It has no plot, followed up on nothing from the last seasons, and had an extreme amount of loose ends.

The former seasons, especially s1 and 2 has such amazing writting, character development and just a feeling of patience and of softness, i would watch it and think everything would be okay... But this season felt stripped of every inch of the care Tove Jansson put into her universe.

I want to talk a little about Moomintroll.

One of Moomins character Arcs is his want to grow up, its his need to be taken seriously and his need for independence and adventure. His need to step out of his dads shadow, and to be his own moomin! The character development he had built up through out the seasons, completely and utterly disappeared. There is no trace of anything in s4.

He is right back to where he started in s1, not being able to stand up for himself and say no, not having the confidence to go on adventures and right back to idealizing his dad. If anything this entire season felt like a prequal! Cause at least s1 Moomintroll wanted to learn, and was activily trying to change.

Moomintroll truly felt like a side character this season, i dont even think he has any important moments. Unless you count Comet in Moominvalley (which i dont), where all his independence has disappeared. Moominpapa literally has to push him out. He made one decision that eps, which was to float down the river instead of walking, which ended up being the wrong and slower way.

The regression Moomintroll went threw this season is heartbreaking, and thats not my Moomin.

Focusing for a bit on Snufkin, this season felt like a slap to the face.

They know that Snufkin is one of their most popular characters right? If not the most popular. If anything he is at least in the top 3, not only in Moominvalley but in the rest of the moominverse.

So why did this season feel like Snufkin erasure?

He was barely in it, and when he was all of that glow that normally radiats from him was all gone. He felt like the husk of a character.

This version of Snufkin was on of my favs, cause you could actually see his flaws and disagree with his actions. He had room to grow, and he did, he truly did.

He learned from Moomin just like Moomin learned from him. Their characters Arcs co align witch each other, their relationship and interactions are the pillars of the entire show. Snufkin and Moomintroll are what make the show proceed.

Finding the 2019 show for the first time as an 18 year old gave me confirmation and trust, that i was allowed to live a soft and slow life as a queer person. If Moomintroll and Snufkin could have that kind of beautiful queer slow burn romance, then i had a chance to as well.

They knew that a big part of their viewers are queer, and they knew how popular Snufmin was. They knew what kind of ppl they attracted, or they wouldnt have made it like that.

All the soft moments, the longing, the zoom in on eye contact, the zoom in on hand holding. They said trust us, they said be patient, and then they threw everything they had been building up out and set fire to it.

We got Queerbaited, and i truly havnt felt this feeling for a while. We got actual queer shows now, ofc they all end up being cancelled! But they exist!

This show felt like it was crafted with so much love and care, that i completely let my guard down. The entire queer Moomin community did a 5 year long trustfall, just to hit the floor the last second.

Season 4 of Moominvalley felt empty. It felt lost of all care and love. The first 3 seasons felt handcrafted by warm hands, season 4 felt machine made. Easy to digest, with no real soul.

Season 4 of Moominvalley feels souless.

I have chosen to live in a world where Comet in Moominvalley is a prequal to s4 and that s4 is a prequal to s1. The true last season was S3 and Moominvalley ended with Snufkin and Moomin walking arm in arm. Thats the only way i can Rationalize everything.

I have so much more to say, but ill stop here for now. Hope all of you are doing okay<3

[kafus]

ever since liko lost in her battle against chili back in HZ056 i've been pretty passionate about wanting liko to win her future battle against grusha, partially because i just love her and want to see her win after such a heart-wrenching defeat, but also because i thought it would be good character writing - she loses, but learns to be passionate about battling in the process, and then she can apply that to her next major fight and win as a result. that was my thought process.

as HZ063 drew closer however, i started feeling like that maybe isn't what would happen - the way episodes have panned out, she hasn't really had any major battle training since her loss against chili (her joining roy with "awesome training" does not count LOL), and that massive cetitan and the type disadvantage started to really loom over the whole thing. but i still wasn't sure and by the time HZ063 came out this weekend, i genuinely had no clue what to expect, i just hoped the character writing payoff would be good, win or lose.

AND IT WAS!!! thank fucking god i love liko so much i need more really good liko episodes. i'm eating this up

first off: liko REALLY shows off what she learned from battling chili. honestly an absolute treat to watch. her level of increased confidence and focus honestly made me feel spoiled as a fan. never once did she take her eyes off the battle, she was not distracted by grusha being a hardass, and she's able to think through being pinned into a corner to turn the tides despite the odds stacked against her.

everything from the strategic switch to tebrim, to firing off magical leaf into huljukira's mouth, to grabbing tyltalis by the tail/feet... she's actually a really crafty and thoughtful battler when she sets her mind to it, which makes sense because her battle preferences are more to do with her mind than raw strength. even roy remarks "nice control" because she has notable precise control over her pokemon's actions. point is the payoff for her character development in her battle against chili was still present... despite her loss.

and man does this loss sting like a bitch after watching her perform so well... AND on top of that grusha is a complete asshole about it. like UGH it just hurts to watch. and frankly there's no excuse as someone in grusha's position to be treating students that way... but there is a reason. and the reason makes this episode super fucking interesting. i really like how it was handled, actually.

pretty much directly after a scene where grusha interrupts the trio having fun sledding with the arukujira, we're presented with grusha's backstory about why and how he quit snowboarding. the writing is essentially saying, here's grusha being a no-fun, shitty person, and here's why he's like that. (notably, the trio was doing something similar to snowboarding and had to dodge being injured themselves...)

what's important, though, is that we also find out that grusha didn't quit snowboarding because he was too seriously injured to ever do it again, just that it would be harder for him to achieve the same results he used to. he made a conscious, emotionally fueled decision to quit, because like the man says: he's harsh on everyone, himself included.

at this point, he is basically the opposite of liko, and to the general themes of most stories in pokemon. he is not an incredible pokemon trainer because of passion, in fact he only became a trainer after his snowboarding accident just so he'd have something to succeed at again. he is not an incredible pokemon trainer because of friends or adventure or any other reason than a desperation to reach the same artificial "success" heights that he did before his accident. not to say that he's inhuman - forgiving the arukujira that caused his injury, patting it on the head, and becoming its trainer, signals a sense of personal guilt over the situation, and the arukujira in question obviously likes him despite his behavior. but it's a very strong contrast to what liko learned in HZ056, with being connected with her pokemon through battle, and enjoying fighting tough opponents even though she could lose.

and it's important to note that even as far back as HZ056 itself, grusha was framed as a contrast to liko. he approaches her and his coldness (no pun intended) immediately slices into the atmosphere of the scene and liko's improved mood, and he implies that liko is weak for being happy after losing, because all he personally cares about is winning and being on top.

all of this is to say that grusha is in the wrong to fail liko, he's in the wrong to talk down to her the way that he does. and this is made clear by the writing! when liko loses and grows from it, grusha's there to say something negative about it. when liko is having fun with her pokemon and her friends, he sarcastically remarks that she must be "pretty confident" if she has time to "goof off." the man in the gym says that he could have kept snowboarding, but he quit, as opposed to liko who gets back up again. everyone thinks he's harsh and offputting.

and at the end when grusha fails her, even dot and roy are like, no, maybe he'll pass you or give you a second chance! because they (rightly) experienced those things and were able to grow from those experiences, so surely the same would be the case for liko? but no! and it's a shock to everyone!

the sound effect paired with liko's surprised face clearly indicates that this is supposed to shock the viewer just as much as it shocks liko and her friends.

and her friends are so surprised that they even try to argue with grusha about it!! it is unfair and wrong! and that's so fucking interesting!!! grusha is a flawed adult character, he's not part of the explorers but he's still treating liko wrongly as opposed to with the support that most of the adults in her life have given her, and he has a reason which makes him compelling, but not an excuse. for the type of show this is i am continually surprised by the complexity of some of the character writing, and this hits particularly well. liko's loss feels meaningful... and like setup for something.

to me, this episode seamlessly bridges off of liko's character development set in motion in HZ056, and also makes her character more clear through her contrast with grusha. i definitely don't think this is truly the end of this plot thread - whether or not liko actually gets to fight grusha again sometime in the future or something else, i definitely think liko will get to prove herself in some way, that pokemon battles aren't just about winning or losing and that grusha was indeed in the wrong. and i do hope she gets to fight grusha again or grusha gets to see her prove herself in the future, because it seems like the guy needs to learn to loosen up and have fun and be passionate, too.

i feel even more sure of this because amethio is in the upcoming episode (thank god, i missed him) and grusha parallels amethio in a lot of ways - they both work very hard to be stronger, but just because of a desperation to succeed, and they're both absolutely miserable and irritable as people because of it, though of course amethio's motivations for being this way are very different. i won't speculate too much about the next episode right now but i am hoping that this will be pointed out by the narrative in some way - an amethio episode coming right after this feels... intentional to say the least lol.

the intentional nature of horizons' character writing and its ability to follow through on things it sets up episodes ago never fails to impress me tbh. really good episode. i fucking love liko

[rex101111]

Ratchet and Clank size matters got added to the PSN store and I got a a major nostalgia pang so I went "eh, why not" and quickly played through it. And I do mean quickly, I know it was a PSP title but dang, last time I finished a R&C game this quick i played Nexus. Anyway, the thing that struck me about this game is that Ratchet is...a bit of an asshole here. And that struck me as odd because for the last few entries...he isn't.

Like this is still early series Ratchet, still on the PS2/PSP, released just before the first PS3 title, which was in retrospect a bit of an incredibly soft reboot. In the newer games, Ratchet is a fairly straight forward protag, nice, willing to help, only a little bit sarcastic if he's really strapped for time or dealing with someone especially annoying. Early Ratchet? Early Ratchet was a jackass, a dick, a selfish, quick tempered loner that only went on this quest because there was a tangible, direct benefit to him specifically. Seriously, in the first game Ratchet couldn't go two sentences without insulting somebody, and that's when he's in a good mood. In act 2 he's even worse, gnashing his teeth at everyone he talks to and threatening to sell Clank for scrap. It takes hours of in game time and half a dozen levels before Ratchet finally chills out, and a few more levels before he actually resolves to act like any sort of hero, and even that only happens after something he personally cares about gets threatened. Ratchet could give a damn, he can be convinced to help people, but he's still a selfish person who needs the situation rubbed in his nose before he realizes how dire it is. Clank having faith in him, throughout the entire game, even when he's being a dick, even when Clank himself is furious with him, meant something. When in the penultimate level he says "that's the Ratchet I always knew was there" and Ratchet brushes him off, you buy it, that beneath this sharp outside there's someone with the capacity to be a hero, an actual hero, a hero who isn't selfless, but one capable of overcoming his selfishness when it matters most.

Back when the first game came out, people complained about this, about their platformer mascot protag being a huge dick, and even the very next game addressed this by toning him down a smidge, but Ratchet in the PS2 trilogy is still very much not a perfect sunshine person. He's very sarcastic, pretty cynical, is very quick to call other people on their bullshit, and still has a very short temper. (Plasma city, anyone?) Ratchet had texture to him, he bounced off the much more straightforwardly nice Clank in a lot of ways, their friendship felt like it had weight and meant something because these two had so many differences between them that the fact they did get along so well and cared about each other so much showed that their friendship was genuine. I like the newer Ratchet and Clank games, played every one of them, but I've never been really happy with the direction they took with Ratchet. Each game made him nicer, friendlier, smoothing down his edges. And the reboot game had it the worst, they retold the first story, where Ratchet was at his worst and a major thread of the plot was him learning to get over his bullshit, but had the sanded down kitty cat of the later games instead of having confidence in their early work. Dickhead Ratchet worked, he had a place and it gave him a place to grow, while still maintaining his inherit sharpness. Ratchet should get to be an asshole again, just for a bit, let him get angry, properly. Sure, he's a hero who's saved two galaxies three times over and then some, but he did that while being a sarcastic little shit who made a joke about a plumber's ass crack showing and fired rockets at people while complaining about how high the prices are everywhere he went.

I dunno, maybe its a bit too late in the game to say this, but something got lost in the shuffle a while back, and getting a reminder of what was simply put it into perspective for me.

[whchenlvr]

omgg hellooooo ! just had an idea for a hc and was wondering if u could write about it!! so the hc would be about the union boys dating the reader but they gotta keep it secret bc they are kinda afraid someone would use their gf as blackmail or hurt them eventho they can defend their so (i hope u get me hfjfj) and if u wanna do one with the eunjang boys i thought they probably could be dating someone who is close to the union or wtv !! its up to u ofc

secretly dating him ;

weak hero x fem!reader

donald na

➤ he’s scared. like genuinely terrified by the thought of anyone finding out who you are, especially since he just declared war against eunjang, and his union is falling apart

➤ you’re thankful that he feels safe enough with you to confide these thoughts to you, and you know how dangerous it can be for him

➤ before, he would have kept your relationship a secret to show his strength, but now, he’s unsure how far people will be willing to go to hurt him, and he doesn’t want to take any chances with you

➤ sometimes it makes you sad that you have to sneak around, but despite all that, he treats you like a princess

➤ “y/n, do you want to rent a movie?” “want me to order us some dinner, darling? or would you prefer if i cooked for you?”

➤ it’s definitely not always easy, but donald makes you feel you feel safe and loved no matter the situation <3

gray yeon

➤ he didn’t mean to fall for you. he didn’t want to, either

➤ you were someone close to the union. the only reason gray contacted you was in hopes of you being able to help him in taking the union down, and though you refused, you found his ambition attractive

➤ you decided to help him after wolf betrayed the union by joining eunjang. it was the perfect opportunity for you to play both fields, and you did

➤ “i overheard kingsley say he was going to try and have ben abducted before the fight to make it seem like he ditched you guys.” “what? where do they plan to take him?”

➤ you take part in helping your boyfriend train eunjang to fight against the union; giving them little tips and tricks about each member they may have to fight

➤ when gray has every possible outcome thought up and planned in his head, he sits you down and finally takes a second to breathe. “what if this doesn’t work?” you knit your brows in confusion and look at him as he continued, “will you be okay?”

➤ you have to assume him that nothing will happen to you, just like how nothing will happen to wolf. you don’t know how true that really is, but it’s enough to calm gray

ben park

➤ he saved you, and now you feel you’re returning the favor

➤ you’d been wanting to leave the union for years, but it’s impossible with your family ties. because of this, you had to keep your relationship with ben a secret

➤ you thought it would be ben trying harder to keep you a secret, but it turns out to be the opposite in your case

➤ you’re so worried that ben will get hurt if anyone finds out you’re dating. the part of the union you’re affiliated with isn’t as forgiving as the portions under donald

➤ “y/n… i hate seeing you stress yourself out with this… it isn’t healthy.” “ben, i won’t let anything happen to you… i wouldn’t survive if it did and it was my fault.” “aw, baby. lucky for us, i’m pretty good at protecting myself.”

➤ still, you’d be triple checking everything whenever you go out with ben, and even scan your room with a bug detector before talking to him on the phone

jake ji

➤ after what happened with his brother kenny, jake doesn’t like talking about the people he loves and cares about with anyone. not even his closest friends in the union

➤ he thinks it’s too dangerous, too much of a risk, and you can only agree as you know how devastated jake was to hear about his brother

➤ you do your best to stay safe and cautious when you meet jake, but he is on a completely other level of paranoid

➤ sometimes, you have to sit him down and take his face in your hands and remind him that you’re safe and nothing is going to happen to either of you. and if it does, it isn’t his fault

➤ that always seems to calm him down until another situation happens. like the time you thought you were being followed and it turned out to be a random student who wanted to compliment your shoes

➤ despite how nervous he can be, jake never hesitates to make sure you feel comfortable at all times. “i kind of want to go out tonight… can we?” “yes, of course y/n. i’m sorry for being so annoying lately.”

gerard jin

➤ you were named the leader of yoosun high after jimmy lost to ben. donald wanted to put someone he trusts in place to teach jimmy a lesson, and he chose you

➤ unfortunately, you’d been seeing the lead singer of slam for nearly a year beneath the union’s nose

➤ while you were quite proud of yourself and gerard for not getting caught, there were a lot more eyes on you now than ever, and you found yourself constantly looking over your shoulder

➤ you don’t know this, but donald had you followed when you first joined the union and knew all about you and gerard. he didn’t tell anyone for three reasons: 1. he trusted you. 2. he didn’t see gerard as a threat to the union. 3. if things did take a turn for the worst, he wanted to see how your story would play out

➤ “what would you do it they found out about us?” gerard would ask as he plays with your fingers, and you’d just sigh. “i don’t know. but i wouldn’t let them tear us apart. i don’t care about eunjang, or yoosun, or the union. all i care about is that you and i are safe.”

➤ fortunately, the secret of you and gerard is one donald keeps with him until the end </3

wolf keum

➤ you were an anomaly in wolf’s life, and he liked to keep it that way

➤ he never had any big secrets. if there was something on his mind that he wanted, he’d get it. he wasn’t quiet in the way he did things, so it’s not like people weren’t always in his business. that was, until you

➤ you were so unlike anything wolf had seen before. you were truly good, through and through, and wolf refused to let his private life corrupt you in any way

➤ not only was wolf keeping you a secret from the union, but he was keeping the union a secret from you

➤ “you trust me, don’t you?” “of course i do, wolf. should i not?” “no, you should. if anyone comes up to you and asks if you know me, you know to tell the no, right?” “right.”

[itsclydebitches]

There's something I find pretty messed up about Little's part of the story. Penny is dead. The story puts focus on this and how it's effecting Ruby and is why Little's death is what breaks Ruby. The volume ends though with Little coming back so it's a happy end, right? Except Penny is still dead and never coming back. And they are going back to a world where people die when they are killed. It's like "Forget about your dead friend cause we got one where your actions don't have consequences."

Yeah, that's an issue with the Ascension arc as a whole. As discussed previously, we're already starting from a place of confusing messages because the world can't decide what Ascension exactly is. Some beings lose all their memories and (arguably as a result) their sense of self. Some just seem to get cool upgrades. Some change in such monumental ways they probably can't go back to their old life even if they wanted to (can Somewhat ever live with the other mice again now that they're like fifty times their size?). And some, Like Ruby, undergo no changes at all except a convenient and ambiguous ~emotional clarity~

So Ascension is a catch-all "Anything could happen" situation where all options, no matter how shady they appear to the audience, are eventually presented as #good by the show... except I'm 100% sure they only come across that way BECAUSE they happen to side characters we're not invested in/are leaving behind. Would people honestly have been happy if Ruby:

Completely forgot who she was (King)

Got some crazy physical upgrade that would fundamentally change the power dynamics of the show/other her in Remnant/imply that she's a faunus to strangers if she got some animal trait (the Caterpillar/Somewhat)

Came away with a new "purpose" and decided she didn't want to be a Huntress anymore (the Paper Pleasers)

There's a reason Ruby did not change except to inexplicably regain her confidence because the show and on some level recognizes that these options are indeed an awful kind of "death," something that would be bad to do to your main character (baring a monumental shift in the show). When we talk about the importance of growth (in real life and in fiction) we're referencing a context in which a person changes slowly over time, adapting to each change in a natural way, all of it a combination of environmental factors and personal agency. To just have some magical tree instantly change you without consent, making you "better" by its own, undefined parameters... that's not wonderful, that's horrifying! But as you say, even if we overlook all that and come at Ascension from a direction the story wants, accepting and praising such an aspect of this world... Team RWBY doesn't live in that world. What did they learn from this then? Yay for people who live in alternate realities because they get to become "better" rather than dying? Good for them, but our friends are still dead and our lives are still on the line.

If RWBY wanted this arc they not only needed to reeeeeally clean up what Ascension is/how it works, but decide on the message they're trying to impart. Because what we got, on a literal level, is Ruby being depressed enough to choose ending (that version of) her life, instead being rewarded for that choice by a pantheon she's kinda fighting against (in a way that both skips her development and ignores every other implied rule of Ascension), and is returning to a world where none of this matters because death is a Permanent Thing That She's Going to Be Seeing a Whole Lot More of Soon.

Penny is dead. Many other allies are dead. Weiss' Kingdom is gone. Salem is set to exterminate the rest of Remnant, and instead of dealing with any of that Volume 9 gave Team RWBY a (literal) fantasy world where everything is just fine, actually. Wouldn't it be cool if no one actually died and whenever it seems like they did they'd just come back as an upgraded version of themselves? Yeah! Too bad that's not the reality they're heading back to.

Honestly, the way to clean up all of Volume 9 for me is to slap a "It was just a dream" disclaimer on it. Volume 10 we learn that Ruby had a crazy, contradictory fever dream post-battle in which the biggest trauma she's ever faced is magically fixed by her subconscious? Yeah, that tracks. More than taking Volume 9 at face value.

[lurking-gyomei-fan]

Yakuza!Hashira AU Thoughts

This has been floating in my head for a very long time and I finally compiled my thoughts on what role would each Hashira play if they were in a yakuza group. ...I also didn't research too heavily into the actual structure of the yakuza so please don't come at me for that lol Feel free to use these ideas also, but I'd love to read or see what you do with them.

Beware of long post- don't say I didn't warn you.

These ideas play more into the chivalry aspect of Yakuza. The government has too much red tape and is unable to enforce any meaningful rules or changes in the community.  They also cannot be mobilized as fast as the yakuza, who often take matters into their own hands to provide immediate results.  The government/police view the other yakuza and the underworld as a necessary evil and impossible to truly eradicate, and would much rather deal with the Ubuyashiki's group because they are much more reasonable...but every once in a while they need to be reminded why the Ubuyashiki Group has lasted for centuries.

The Ubuyashiki group is an old, powerful group in the Underworld, but not the oldest- that would belong to the 12 Kizuki group that is run by Muzan Kibutsuji.  The Ubuyashiki group was a sub sect of the Kizuki group a century ago, but in a violent and bloody revolt, they separated and ruled over a different area instead.  They have clashed multiple times throughout history, but time and modern technology has mellowed out their conflict into a small but intense rivalry. 

Ubuyashiki clan: 

Kagaya Ubuyashiki: The sickly but charismatic head of the clan, assisted by his wife Amane who steps in during days when he is too sick.  (Please note that Kagaya is older for the sake of this AU.)

Usually women are not held in high regard amongst yakuza, but in the Ubuyashiki clan, women are treated as equal.  Amane is a true partner and extension of Kagaya’s will. Between Kagaya’s incredible foresight and direction, and Amane’s poise and organization, they have built the Ubuyashiki clan to its strongest point in its entire history.   Other Yakuza clans have tried to slow the explosive growth of their clan by dismissing Amane during meetings when she is present, but she is fiercely defended by all of the Hashira. 

Gyomei-  Second in command; Punishment / Rule enforcer.   He is the external representative when it's too dangerous for Lady Amane to fill in for Kagaya.   When Kagaya is present, he acts as the main bodyguard. He is the most trusted confidant for both Amane and Kagaya, and will occasionally watch their kids so they can have a date within the compound. 

Gyomei had grown up in an orphanage where food was regularly witheld as a form as punishment, and funds were embezzled to fund the principal's lavish lifestyle. Gyomei relied heavily on religion to give hope to the other children and stay strong in the cruel environment they lived in. Gyomei would often go hungry to give food to the smaller kids, and used his tall build to physically shield them when the adults would vent out their frustrations on them. It was during such a night when one of the "caretakers" was in a violent, drunken spree and Gyomei was forced into a life or death situation. In that moment, he chose to save the children and himself-and beat the attacker to death with his bare hands.

Ubuyashiki's group happened to arrive that evening, intending to collect the gambling debts of the principal and other staff, even ready to charge a higher rate after discovering the origin of the funds and the extent of the abuse- but walked into a homicide scene instead. Kagaya sensed the physical and emotional strength within Gyomei, who had resolved himself to be turned in to the police for his crime, and convinced Gyomei to join his group in exchange for taking over the management of the orphanage and covering up the death of the caretaker.

10 years later, he is akin to a judge with the highest level of authority within the Group (other than Kagaya and Amane) to decide how punishment is to be rendered or how a high level conflict is to be resolved, especially for internal matters or people within their own organization. Despite his intimidating presence and powerful frame, he is patient and fair. He is diligently follows the laws that Kagaya put in place, and continues to be pious despite the sometimes gruesome nature of his job. He has a large, intricate tattoo of a serene Buddha on his back.

Sanemi- main external punishment enforcer.  In charge of handling external conflicts with rival groups, or hunting down people with outstanding debts to the group. Leads the most violent group and is well known on the streets and instantly recognizable from all the scars he has gained from the many fights he had been involved in through the years. Sanemi also has connections with the police department via Genya, who works for the police department with his friends, Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke. 

Sanemi was desperate to keep his family afloat after the death of his abusive father and taking care of his mother, who had become mentally unwell. Sanemi had found himself in a similar situation to Gyomei- forced to save his family one night, wrestling with his mother to prevent her from hurting her own children during an unusual fit of violent mania. It had happened so quickly that no one could tell what happened. She might have tripped over the futon; or perhaps she lost her footing on the tatami mat or on the slick pool of blood that had dripped from Genya's facial wound- but regardless of how, she ended up falling out of their 4 story apartment window and slipping into a coma after crashing onto the roof of a parked car.

With the medical debts rising and already saddled with the debts from his deceased father, Sanemi turned to the Yakuza to get cash quick and take care of the immediate needs of their family, and eventually he would discretely pay for his mother's hospital bills under the guise of a charity organization. Knowing that any association with the yakuza could harm the wellbeing and social standing of his siblings, Sanemi intentionally lashed out at them so they would leave and find new lives elsewhere. Only Genya stayed, worried about his brother and knowing that he shouldered their entire family burden. Sanemi continued to harshly push away Genya to keep him away from the Underworld, and nearly had an aneurysm when he saw Genya roaming around with a rival yakuza group- only to find out (courtesy of being tackled by Tanjiro lol) that Genya was working deep undercover for the police. Deep down, Sanemi is proud of his brother for finding his own way and having a legitimate job. Despite his angry bluster, Sanemi would take extra pains to secretly ensure Genya’s safety as he continues his undercover missions. (The rest of the Hashira know. They just don't say anything because they're tired of hearing him scream his denial.)

Tengen- head of information gathering.   He compiles reports to give to Kagaya/Amane.  His 3 wives are in charge of multiple avenues of information: one to keep track of internal investigations (alleged wrong doing, checking for spies, etc), 2 others for tailing people/undercover work, and processing all the data by working with Muichiro’s team. Tengen himself will go out on investigation missions if needed.   He also owns multiple high class escort clubs and bars, perfect grounds for finding the latest juicy gossip. He also runs several flashy entertainment companies ranging from legit show business to shell companies.

Muichiro- head of digital/cyber security and hacking.  A prodigy with an incredible ability to process information and create programs that can sift through an ungodly amount of data.  The team under Muichiro handles offensive cyber attacks and regular upkeep on their digital security.  Muichiro finds it fun to hack into some rival companies owned by the Kizuki Group and lock some of their accounts.  They know it's him because it forces them to play a near impossible password game...and it helps that there is a chibi icon of him with an akanbe expression.  Muichiro has caused them great financial pain because they have to keep buying more resources to get around his cyber attacks.

Obanai- Main arms dealer/broker.   Obanai uses his familial connection with the underworld to provide a steady supply of weapons and defensive supplies, and handles the logistics of securing the supply chain along with his partner and lover, Mitsuri. 

His family had been a sub group of the Ubuyashiki clan, choosing to follow the Ubuyashiki Group during the split with the Kizuki Group. They made many connections through the years, and would ruthlessly exploit anyone and everyone- including their own children. His family had become overly greedy and arrogant, believing their vast connections would help them succeed in overthrowing the previous head of the Ubuyashiki group, but they were discovered before the coup could be completed. They had tried to set up Obanai, their own child, as the instigator- but Kagaya, the young master who had taken charge of the incident on behalf of his father knew the truth: the person who had reported the family's misdeeds was Obanai himself, after catching wind of their plan to sacrifice him if their coup failed.

Obanai struggled for a while with the guilt of destroying his own family with his admission, but knew that it was the best action. Witnessing Mitsuri's positive outlook and her love of life allowed him to be at peace with his decision, easing the guilt of removing himself from a toxic family situation and finding joy in the small, quiet victories in daily living. He often wears a face mask because of a facial scar given by his family, a last form of physical torture before they were dispatched for good by Gyomei under Kagaya's orders. He also wears the face mask because mitsuri gave it to him and it was better than the wide strips of cloth he was using before.

Obanai dotes on his pet white snake, Kabamaru, who is often seen draped about his shoulders. There was a time when Gyomei was very upset because Kabamaru had gotten out of his room one evening and got dangerously close to some stray kittens that Gyomei was not so secretly fond of.

Mitsuri- head of supply and distributing; also manages legitimate cover front.   Her team works with Obanai to provide other basic supplies for the group and arranges transportation and  deliveries by using her food business to camouflage the underground trade. Was almost scouted to be a j-pop music idol but she liked food too much. 

It was for the better, because the company that tried to scout her was actually a front for adult films. They would pretend to hire young and beautiful girls with the promise of helping them debut as an idol girl group, only to exploit and traffic them. The management company that tried to scout Mitsuri tried to pressure her to sign with them by harassing her parent's small convenience store. Tengen, who has huge sway in the entertainment industry did not appreciate a small group having the audacity to try to do business in his territory, without even the courtesy of introducing themselves. Tengen and his wives ruthlessly exposed them after a week of research and inadvertently saved Mitsuri's parents.

Inspired by how cool Tengen and his wives were when they swooped in to save the day, Mitsuri decided she wanted to help prevent girls from falling for the same scheme that nearly ruined her. Her family also gave their thanks and decided to back the Ubuyashiki group, considering they saved their beloved daughter and responded faster than the police, who had dismissed them outright. Because of the nature of her role with the Group, she found herself working together with Obanai often. After months of courting, they officially became a couple.

Kyojuro- legitimate cover front; assists with finding other assets like promising business ventures, real estate, etc.  Has a great relation with the police force and within the community and city.   His business is sometimes used to help launder money, but he is far more useful being on the right side of the law. That isn't to say that Kyo isn't willing to get his hands dirty if it means the safety of the group and civilians- he is very competent and efficient in making rival groups disappear.

Kyo has an incredible buisness sense; he is able to quickly assess and rapidly consider the pros and cons of a situation, the boldness to confidently make a decision in the heat of the moment and with expert timing, and the foresight to create the opportunities to help himself or his clients shine.  Kyo is passionate about the community he serves, and wholeheartedly believes that building others up is how entire comunities grow exponentially. His companies often fund charities and law firms dedicated to helping low income victims find legal justice. He is regularly invited to speak at schools or colleges and other community functions to inspire others. Kyo is proud of his family's long history of working with the Ubuyashiki family to keep the balance between regular society and the underworld.   

Giyuu- Bookkeeper, Head of Finance.  He is in charge of keeping track of the money flow in and out of the group.  He is detail oriented and hard working. He has a hard time communicating his thoughts so he'd rather not speak much, but he doesn't mind other people's company.  Not easily swayed and hard to bribe, he takes his job seriously and efficiently. He is, however, weak towards acts of kindness or favors done for him, and will generously return those ten fold. Most department heads dislike him purely because they must constantly make their case on why they need more budget, and Giyuu makes them submit the proper paperwork and will review it meticulously, even sending the paperwork back if its incomplete and staring placidly back at the person who inevitably comes into his office yelling expletives at him for it.  The quarterly arguments with Sanemi regarding higher budgets for external raids are explosive, and Gyomei regularly needs to step in to settle Sanemi down.  

Kanae- Head of medical division.  Can also harvest organs with a smile :)  Is well connected and obtains medical supplies through their cover front organization called 'The Butterfly Mansion’, where they assist children in need for complicated medical cases.  Together with Shinobu, they’ve been able to make great medical advancements for childhood cures.   

Shinobu- drug maker/identifyer, responsible for identifying tampered or dangerous drugs. She is the head of the research and pharmaceutical division of The Butterfly Mansion. While the Ubuyashiki group does not prevent its sub groups from distributing drugs, there are rules that are heavily enforced: no distribution of tampered or mixed drugs, no selling to minors, and adults are responsible for their own debts.  If they can't pay, they go after any asset owned by the debtor.  If all they have left is the family, they can “negotiate” (still forcing, let's be real) with the family to work and payback the initial amount with a fixed interest and a payback time that depends on how badly the debtor fucked up.  Payback means working for the group as a servant/mule/supplier, or whatever capacity they feel they can assist with.  The Ubuyashiki group aren't the type to cut off fingers, (what good is a severed finger to them?), but they will beat your ass to teach a lesson.  Aoi and girls also work as internal supply distributors, and they assist with daily upkeep at the Butterfly Mansion.

Shinobu and Kanae were children of a wealthy doctor who was well respected in the medical community. Dr. Kocho believed in the oath he took as a doctor and did not turn away anyone in need of medical care. He was a secret friend to the previous head of the Ubuyashiki head, who had approached him to help his deathly sick son, Kagaya. While Dr. Kocho was unable to fully cure Kagaya and he would remain sickly for the rest of his life, he was at least out of danger of imminent death. Kagaya's father was moved by Dr. Kocho's dedication to his son despite being of a yakuza family, and they became life long friends. He even visited and celebrated with Dr. Kocho's family after Kanae and Shinobu were born. Kagaya's father avenged his friend by mercilessly destroying the group that had ambushed Dr. Kocho and kidnapped his daughters, and mobilizing his entire group to track down and secure the little girls. Gyomei was part of the group that infiltrated the enemy group and personally carried young Shinobu on his back and lead Kanae by the hand amidst an intense firefight, protecting them the entire way to the extraction point. From that point on, the two have been under the direct protection of the head of the Ubuyashiki Group.

Those are all my thoughts for now-feel free to use these ideas if you want but I'd love to be tagged in your work to see how its utilized. any likes/reblogs are also appreciated. :)

[sirenthegalaxycollector]

Criticisms of Veilguard

After playing the series for most of my adult life, I can confidently say that this is one of the few games where I could feel how much the leads did not want to be making this game and simply didn't respect or enjoy the world they were working within. I strongly believe that both these things contributed to the lack of understanding of the societal intricacies of the world and the disdain with which they consider their consumers. Its a miss on so many levels, but for me, personally, its the obvious corporate propaganda.

In a time where our real world is experiencing fascist ideals spreading like a wildfire fed by the fear of disrupting the status quo, anything claiming to be art media has a responsibility to try and give people a way to explore their fears. To try and open their perspectives to a different viewpoint, or to model options other than staying the course simply because of fear. This could have been a game about different informal organizations coming together to ease the world through a drastic change, and exploring the consequences of that change. It could have examined Tevinter's relationship with the Evanuris. Could have explored the ways in which they have historically profited off hiding the origins of their magical and technological advancement by building a society that marginalizes the very races who's pasts they plunder for their successes. Could have shown organizations like the Lucerni, supported by unions and guilds, of which the shadow dragons could have been one, working together to reform Tevinter culture over the last decade, setting the stage for them to be better situated to handle a situation like the Veil coming down. Or perhaps making massive gains in the aftermath, because it would be pretty hard for a mageocracy to continue to maintain status quo when magic is more accessible. On the subject of the Shadow Dragons, I strongly dislike that they named this anti-slavery organization that, because its just too close to the hierarchical titles of a certain racist cult in the u.s.a. Snakes Serpents would have been a better choice, there's the alliteration with shadows and, more importantly, it would have been a cool little nod to indigenous American cultures (and maybe others but I am most familiar with the mythologies of the Americas). Not to mention, Fenris should have been in this organization, he is alive in canon and would absolutely help organize slave rebellions. There is no justice when the Veil remains. Mythal and Solas made the Titans tranquil. That is where the Rite of Tranquility must come from, taking the lore from prior games into account. No wonder he disapproves so greatly in DAI when you use that option. With the Veil left standing, we still have the Titan/Dwarven souls trapped in the Fade. There is no way that Harding, the Inquisitor, or Rook would find that an acceptable solution after everything they have learned. I do not think anyone in the Veilguard would consider that acceptable. Yet, Veilguard completely avoids the topic of tranquility, it isn't even in the game's glossary. It is hard to not see that as a way of denying new players full knowledge of the atrocity committed against the Titans so they consider the Veil remaining just. Considering the real world parallels between the dwarves and elves of Thedas, and various ethnic groups of our world, the decision is, at best, poorly considered in its implications. In what world would being offered the chance to reunite these peoples with the soul of their cultures and choosing to keep them divided be considered just or right? Thedas, I guess.

This game had the potential to dig in and explore the biases present not only in the teams working on them, but also our world at large, something they were already primed to do with the set up of the previous games. Instead we got a game that reinforced the status quo, that framed societal change as a mistake, and reparations of any kind as the responsibility of the past, divorced from the people who continue to profit from the atrocities. I do not think that this messaging is coincidental. It is too much aligned with the interests of the corporate class that has eroded our societies so quickly. I don't know if less apathy would have changed the ultimate message. Perhaps the biases of society were too overwhelming to confront in the face of all that is happening around us. Or perhaps decision makers were unable to recognize the biases they held. Whatever the case, the game did not capitalize on the potential offered by the stories that came before it and that is disappointing.

[blorger]

Hi! First of all, I want to say that I enjoy reading your pieces of meta, a lot of them made my day and I find myself thinking back to them a lot. Great work 💓

Second, I want to ask you a question: What do you think are important actions made my Draco that created butterfly effects for the hp story? like for example there was a post that talked about how Draco fixing the cabinet can be connected to him taking Neville's remember ball and egging Harry about it in the first book.

I think it's a lil bit iffy that Draco is considered just a random side character by a lot of readers when a lot of his actions affect Harry and the story in a lot of ways.

Thank you very much friend 💗, I mostly write to exorcise the demon within me that won't rest until all Facts are documented so I'm endlessly delighted by other people's appreciation for my craft.

As for your question, I'm not exactly the best person to ask because Draco is my favorite character and I feel like I can't ever be objective when it comes to all things Malfoy; that said, I believe Draco is extremely significant to the plot in both intended and unintended ways.

jkr likely came up with the concept of Draco because she needed a school-aged foil for Harry but Draco also acts as conduit to introduce deeper, more adult themes in the story via his father, one of the first big bads of the series.

Intentional or not, Draco ends up being very vital to the structure of the books, a sort of middleman between the school world and the adult world who helps in making a lot of the conflicts in the books feel more real and immediate to Harry. Like, what makes Harry care about wizard racism? It's seeing his rival and one of his friends directly involved in the issue that makes him gain awareness of the situation. Draco is a constant in the books and his presence and beliefs make the situation in the wizarding world feel more personal to Harry. The kerfuffle at the the Quidditch World cup is more dangerous and immediate because we know it's Draco's dad who is out there doing it.

On a deeper level, Draco's presence and actions guide the course of the story from the very beginning. if Harry isn't immediately turned off by Draco and his elitist ways, he's less likely to care about a whole host of things, starting from where the sorting hat wants to put him. Would Harry and Ron's friendship be as strong as it is without a common enemy to unite them? in the first books especially, the two are equally invested in the whole rivalry thing, with Ron even taking the reins at times. Would Harry, Ron and Hermione even be friends without Draco? the troll incident that cemented the trio's friendship was caused by Draco's midnight duel challenge (and its aftermath) and the last conversation the three have before Hermione steals off to the troll bathroom is about how Hermione is displeased that Harry's rule-breaking got him a broom (which Draco is also responsible for).

Every major conflict in the book has shades of Draco, from the most lighthearted and comedic of scenes to the most charged and grave ones. From indadvertedly helping Harry gain confidence in his patronus with his DIY dementor all the way to pretending not to recognise him at the Manor, Draco's actions are key to the plot.

TL;DR: Draco is a linchpin in the whole series and I won't hear any arguments to the contrary.

xoxo

[starsapphire]

share your wisdom with the people

under the cut because i do actually want to see what option ends up winning the poll without my opinion swaying people. assuming my opinion even has the power to sway people

to Me tim's greatest fear is loss of control. not just over himself but over Everything. if you believe he has ocd (which i do), then you can consider it as manifesting, for lack of a better word, in Control Freak Behaviour. even before he became robin and then went through several torment nexi, he was kind of obsessed with keeping the world in order and following The Rules.

in the same way that most of the options on the "dick's greatest fear" poll were really something you could fold under failure, i think most of the options on my poll can (for tim) be folded under loss of control. someone dying? loss of control. disappointing people? loss of control. being rejected? loss of control. being alone? loss of control. Failure Of Any Kind = Loss Of Control. and i should be clear that while tim is a neurotic ocd control freak, he IS also very adaptable and go with the flow. it's just that the river needs to follow its usual expected route and not flood or experience any other issues or alterations in water level or trajectory because then he has to enact disaster protocols and call fema and it's really annoying. he has the sandbags in storage and he'll get them out and pile them up but he's Not happy about it.

i will say that i don't think tim is terribly worried about people not liking him. i mean he's a normal human being, obviously he wants people to like him, but he doesn't really have a self-confidence problem. i don't think he really even considers it an option for people not to like him half the time; as a rule, a situation tim is in control of is one where people have the exact opinion of him that he wants them to (be that liking him, being scared of him, being intimidated/impressed by him...). he is scared of abandonment/rejection/disapproval but like... to an average human degree. like he's not being kept awake at night by the thought of anyone but his father* disapproving of him.

obviously this is all subjective and it's just my personal interpretation of the character but. this is how i feel about it anyway 🧘‍♀️🧘‍♀️

*bruce is included here but specifically when he is bruce. not as batman. a father has authority and the right to make tim feel guilty, but batman is equal to robin and therefore he lowkey dgaf what batman thinks. unless of course The Guilt.

[theomnicode]

Who is Blast? How to character build step by step

Warning: Long post, tl;dr at the bottom

We've seen more and more of Blast lately, so Blast appears far less enigmatic in the manga compared to his webcomic self. I do like it personally that such a character is slowly dripfeeded to us so we grown to understand this character more and more in little instances.

One of the first proper appearances of Blast (besides silhouette) in the manga is when he appears as a memory to Amai-mask and helps him calm down, full space suit and cape and all sans his current glasses, which would put him before he sent Empty void packing in the timeline and snatched his glasses. (Chapter 135: Disgrace and fundamentals)

His second appearance is when he comes to save kid Tatsumaki from her cell and he seems to be doing something extraordinary there. (Chapter 137: Resonance.)

Blast may have the ability to read minds or surface thoughts or emphatic bonding with a person, in order to clearly see that Tatsumaki has a younger sister, and then encourages Tatsumaki to take care of her. It may be related to Blast sixth sense which allowed him to sense dimensional blade coming from hyperspace.

However, he also gives Tatsumaki some bad advice, being so independent hero who surfs across galaxies or something with his gang, he just told Tatsumaki to deal with her problems on her own and not rely on others. That can be quite damaging for a small child who still needs parental guidance. That and he does not seem know how to treat little kids in general. Sure, he may be speaking from experience but Genos came to Tatsumaki's aid and proved him wrong.

So far, he's still seemingly competent and kind enough, if a bit too independent and rough around the edges. He tries to be caring but does not seem to always know how, at least around little kids like Tatsu was.

His third proper appearance is when he comes to save Saitama, Flashy flash and Manako from the god's chamber where time moves slower when he portals inside. (Chapter 139: Abyss)

He seems equal amount concerned, confident in his abilities and little playful from the way he spins the cube. Not to mention powerful because the cube is extremely heavy and he can seemingly make it ignore gravity altogether. Blast hasn't shown us many abilities as of yet but you can tell this guy is very strong from the way he completely outblitzed Flashy Flash and portals like it's nobodys business. That alongside his sensing ability makes him quite powerful.

Blast then proceeds to portal our underground heroes back to ground level.

Blast appears once more in concern of Tatsumaki who had just been visited by OPM God and he's amazed and proud that Tatsumaki resisted OPM God's invitation for power. (Chapter 156: Divine Retribution). He acts like a surrogate dad to Tatsumaki, though whether they actually have any kind of familiar relationship is unknown, even if he told Saitama and flashy to say hi to them in his stead. .

Still a mystery how this kind of powerful dude got so many wounds in such short period of time, but he seems to imply that he had been fighting OPM God itself to hold it back. Blast honestly has middle-aged dad vibes at this point and seems pretty competent at his job. He has plenty battle scars to prove his experience of actually making it back home from even difficult fights and live for another day.

Blast gets some proper amount of screentime during the Garou fight however, where he and his strong abilities really starts to shine.

First thing he does is state the facts that Garou could possibly destroy the entire planet and its inhabitants and he needs to know how to proceed with the fight, because there will be less blood shed if Garou just came quietly to his portal. He goes straight to the point and does not mess around but he's also decent at negotiating. (Chapter 166: Squared)

Blast also asseses the situation fairly quickly, despite having only been on the scene for no more than few minutes, which makes it fairly obvious that he has a keen mind too. So far he seems like a kind, competent, strong, reliable and smart hero and no wonder he's 1# hero in OPM world.

When Genos attacks, Blast takes that opportunity to attack Garou back with his Gravity Knuckles and make him release his hostage in one go, that belays his strategic mind and he even manages to pummel Garou into his portal and shuts it. It could have worked too, if Garou just wasn't able to instantly copy everything, which was something Blast could not have accounted for. When Garou attacks with consecutive nuclear fission and gravity knuckles in tandem, Blast is still fast enough to portal direct them into the air and then suction the nuclear devastation inside another portal, proving he's also decently good at multitasking.

Blast also has his priorities straight when he wants to transfer everyone in the vicinity out first so they don't end up dying from radiation, showing he can still operate with sound mind even when under duress. Yet the one thing he is lacking in because he's so independant that he does not seemingly want to ask for help.

At this point, someone should have to be summoned keep Garou busy while he portals everyone away, because he really can't focus on doing both at the same time, with Garou being so strong, even if he were good at multitasking. Blast has leadership capabilities, but he does not know or want to delegate, even if he does not seem to be prideful or boasty about his own abilities.

Things are seemingly going his way but then...then his heroic persona seems to get little cracks on it, because he sure as hell did not bail out Genos for a second time. Maybe because he thought Genos was already dead before he could react when Garou pulled his core away? Who knows...but all Saitama saw was that everyone was dead and Genos was torn in half, with Blast standing there doing nothing. The least he could have done is not let Garou practically desecrate Genos's body like that, which could have been enough to actually save him too.

Not very heroic of him, with his space-time manipulation abilities.

Especially considering he has fast enough relfexes to make a barrier around Saitama and Garou during Serious Punch squared and portal them away before they could destroy the Earth. Doesn't really add up or make logical sense to me that Blast would just abandon Genos, but what is done is done.

Blast appears once more when Flash, Saitama and Manako go to meet with Sitch to ask if they can talk to Blast and he just happens to be there because they are experimenting with humans turned monsters to see if they can be turned back into humans.

Blast has taken note of Saitama's abnormal strenght in a good way, but he's also thinking about assessing him because he did not sense any malice in Saitama. (Chapter 195: Tenninto)

Interesting ability to note that Blast seems to confirm here that he has some kind of emotional/emphatic sensing ability, because he can sense malice and also Empty Void's attack from hyperspace later. Just overall some kind of sixth sense he also used to see that Tatsu had a younger sister when he touched her head and read her mind in some fashion or maybe sensed emotional connection.

Blast rebuffs Flashy's attempts to join the hunt on OPM God, because he is both independent, does not think Flash is ready for such a clash and he's also feeling responsible for the kids taken by Ninja villages. (Chapter 196: Threat)

However, the timeline just does not add up. Flash is already 25 years old and he was born in the ninja village, while Blast has been said to have fought OPM god for 20 years and fought and wounded Empty Void 15 years ago. Meanwhile, Empty Void is the ninja village founder, so Blast must've known about this.

He's also seen to be buddy buddy with Empty void before his monsterization, but Empty Void was the village leader all this time and Blast never did anything about it, well, except maybe hold hands with the devil itself. Perhaps he found out 15 years ago and decided to do something about it. Must be some wound to take whopping 15 years to heal up from though. (Chapter 173: Secret intel).

Regardless, Blast is omitting information because he knows people would look at him in bad light if they knew he was working with Ninja village leader when they were doing bad deeds under his nose. He needs to keep up the facade probably so nobody loses trust in their heroes.

Not a whole lot would be more damaging to his reputation than the knowledge that he was bit more than buddies with the devil itself. Saitama and Flashy Flash already threw slag on his rep by implying Blast fought Cosmic Garou while naked lmao. (Chapter 169: Daybreak)

(How adorable, they're definitely holding hands, otherwise Empty Void would be holding the map with TWO hands, it just means his right hand was occupied)

More cracks appear in that shining armor of Blast being virtuous number 1# hero, when he seems less and less heroic as we know more about him.

However, the worst is probably when he shows no visible signs of disturbance at Hamukichi's plight and watches indifferently, after suggesting with a smirk on his face that Flash and Saitama can watch as well. Interesting to note is that this characterization was different in the rewritten chapters where he has visible reaction and he's the one to observe how to turn back Monsterization. (Chapter 196: Threat)

He really does not even bat an eye in the current canon verse, unlike his rewritten self who seems more emphatic.

Blast had originally seemed kind, competent, strong and emphatic, but now he only appears very strong because his kind, fatherly facade has a bit too many cracks on it.

Scratch that strong too, because Empty void is using him as laughing stock after he absorbed Cosmic Garou's powers. (chapter 197: What only I can do). Blast says he hasn't just been twiddling his thumbs, but compared to this Empty Void who can create parallel timelines with couple ninjutsu signs, he seems woefully unmatched. Even worse, Saitama seems entirely too sure that Blast can actually handle Void...but Void has gotten even stronger than before and Blast may be even overly confident in his own ability to take Void alive. It will 100% come back to bite him unless he busts out something even stronger than space-time manipulation and 6th sense.

Blasts last appearance so far is him coming to knock some sense into Empty void, literally. (Chapter 201: You pass)

Blast then proceeds to show he also has a silly, endearing human side when he blows a raspberry at Empty void and then contemplates how dangerous it almost got because he lost visual contact when he followed Flash around and almost started to panic haha. Then he proceeds to grab both Sonic and Flash into a group hug and gongratulating them on a job well done.

He makes one crucial mistake though: he thinks Flash broke out of the cube's mind control on his own, when it was only Sonic and his fist who broke him out before he could accept. It will probably come back to bite him in the ass.

So overall, Blast seems like competent, kind, strong, emphatic, funny and strong hero...at least that is how one could perceive him if we did not know better that he's hiding something important and he has the capacity to be amoral and even unscrupulous. Webcomic readers know.

But hey, least the space daddy is not one dimensional character nor too mysterious anymore. Hue hue.

I'm glad Blast has been fleshed out in the manga this much. It allows the readers to relate to him so much more when his character has been actually fleshed out.

-*-

Tl;dr Overall Blast is very strong by using space-time abilities and 6th sense, competent, emphatic but also too independent to a fault and he's hiding some big secrets considering Empty void, the ninja village leader.

[bugsy-thesuperfan]

Bnha | Behind The Mask

1| So you had a bad day-

What was it about today's society that makes us act the way we do? No one can say the human race has not evolved, yet at the same time we seem to be stuck in the same recurring idea that Power is everything. How can one argue with that? Power is something everyone strives for, though maybe not in the same forms but it's still considered power nonetheless.

Then there was the fact that Y/n L/n lives in an Era where the world of heroes and superpowers were the norm. What else could be expected of the world when Quirks started appearing? Especially in such drowning numbers globally each new generation? The world was right to adapt itself to its new circumstances but its abnormality turned the quirkless, such as y/n, into easy targets. 

In most cases when a quirkless, those without power, sees others that do possess a quirk- they’d stand in sidelines in admiration. Others, like Y/n, keep themselves in the realities of their misfortune. Knowing exactly what awaits them if a hero fails to arrive in their time of need or how they will be viewed when preforming with other ‘normal’ people.

But for her family, she tried. She had to have the highest grades, to have perfect work ethic, and of course a good reputation. Anything to thrive, anything to survive.

That being said there was only so many Careers she could get into without the said career making a big deal out of having a quirk or not. That being said, for now Y/n was grateful that there were rules about using quirks so freely. Any usage without a proper license would be considered illegal. As a student council member of her school she gladly reinforces them. Students often took liberty in using them for bullying, suspicious activities, and or students who break into unauthorized places.

Enforcing the restrictions helped her stay on the same level as them, if not higher by being a school assigned authority figure. That being said, it was no surprise she was first on the scene when two students decided to force a student to use his quirk to make fake money. The Objective making it a more serious offense than simple horseplay.

”C’mon Y/n, it’s fine! I already sorted everything out, right guys?” Mina asked the three. 

“What good is it to bring something up with the teachers when it’s been solved already?” One tried.

“Bullying can’t be put in a grey area. If he forgives you now who’s to say you two won’t push further thinkin’ he’ll forgive you again? Then you’ll have him believing that that’s okay? Seriously, how did we end up as one of the top schools if it’s full of idiots?”

”Totes Harsh Y/n.” Mina whines. “You can’t just give an itty bitty warning?”

”it wasn’t an itty bitty crime.” She stood straighter. “Start walking”

“Wow, she really laid them out this time huh? Mina may have the works of a hero but L/n would surely make for a good cop don’t you think Ejiro?” Another group of three watched the exchange. “What was her quirk again?”

“Must be powerful with an attitude as strong as hers. Can’t be high and mighty if you got nothin’ to help back it up right?” the other commented. 

Kirishima felt a small blow on his self-esteem. Heroes were suppose to be able to spring into action, their bodies moving on their own. That's what he did right? He jumped in when he saw something was wrong, tried getting after the bully but they disregarded him so easily with a small bolder to the head. His hardening was strong enough to not get a scratch on him but he could still very much feel the pain of it's impact.

Before he could even retaliate Mina had stepped in easily, stopping the situation- on good terms no less. And Y/n? She didn't raise her voice. Kept it firm and even. She wasn't swayed and she didn't use her quirk. Kirishima admired her confidence but it reminded him how far behind he was compared to them. He was sure he established a strong front, right at least? Going head on?

Bring!

“Alright, alright, settle down everybody- Hey! I saw that! Sit down." Mr. Aikawa waved them down from their morning conversations. Every classroom was rowdy in the mornings before their teachers came in and then again at the end of class when the teacher leaves. "I know everyone is excited about your last year as junior high students but we still have a whole year to get through." 

Annoyed groans were heard throughout the class. 

"Yeah, I'm not too thrilled about it either but with that being said it's time to start thinking about your futures!" Mr. Aikawa grabbed a stack of papers from his desk and split that stack with the front row so that the students can pass them back to the next row and so on. "Now I don't exactly expect this to be filled out overnight but I do hope you can turn it in on time so that the school can take the proper precautions to help you ready for the high school's entrance exams."

"If you look at your papers you'll see numbers listed from one to three. Please make sure your most preferred school of choice is listed as number one and the rest down the list as back up schools within the preference of entry. Please don't pick one school thinking you'll get in automatically. Don't get cocky, although it's good to be confident, if you cross over to arrogance eventually you'll trip over yourself and fall." He smiles at the class as he leans on his desk, arms crossed. "I can't wait to see what you guys will become. Hero or not, I'll be cheering for you!"

What a daunting idea, giving a young teen the power to choose what they'll do for the rest of their lives. Is now really the best time to ask? Sure, preparation wise it seemed logical to start early and pick a school willing to nurture her into a good role for society but how does she know if it's right for her? There is nothing you can't learn but what can you tolerate enough to do for the rest of your life? It sounded like self-sentencing. Y/n simple didn't feel like doing it. She had the form in her hand, she was trying to read it but with such unwant it seemed her eyes were only scanning an ocean of words without catching a sense of what it says.

The walk home had less clarity, The sidewalks crowded with people trying to see the Tvs on display. Y/n had to hand it to the salesperson. With Heroes always being the subject of talk, leaving it on the news channel was beneficial. The enthusiasm might turn into their favor, having a customer buy a TV because their favorite hero looked good in it's settings. Only the best in high definition.

The heroes almost made it look like they were celebrities rather than the crime fighting peace makers the world originally wanted them to be. It was always who moved up ranks? Who's the most powerful? Who's more popular? Y/n supposes it was a good thing in a way but the comfort in always being saved could cause someone to get reckless.

Y/n glanced at the very little corner the crowded screen had left to offer. A live feed of a villain attack. A kid clawing desperately at a villain made out of green goo, trying to get out who Y/n assumed was his friend. 

"Get a load of this." A bystander commented to the guy next to him. Y/n instinctively turned to listen in. "So many Pros at the scene yet that kid is the only one willing to jump into danger."

"Heroes now n' days." The other scoffed. Her focus went back to the screen. There was a lot going on but at the very least she could make out their uniforms, clearly they were middle schoolers like her. The struggle was hard to watch, even if it was the norm for TV today. She forced herself to leave before the end results. Not wanting to risk witnessing a potential death of any kind. She was only a few steps away when she was forced to close her eyes by a giant gush of strong winds. Dark clouds swarming the area once the winds settled, letting rain pour down freely.

Instinctively Y/n stretched her hand out to feel the dramatic change of weather. 

"Alright! All Might made it to the scene on time!" The man exclaimed. "Now that's a hero!" 

"He just changed the weather with one punch!" The other gawked at the Pro hero on the screen.

She lets out a shaky breath at their cheering before glancing back at the sky. The rain was coming in fast, fast enough to darken her uniform before she could put her bag over her head. Her feet moving to lightly jog to the nearest store. "Groceries." She decided out of nowhere. "I think we need groceries." 

“I'm home." Y/n called out. Changing her shoes for her slippers. A concept her parents had argued about for a while due to the differences of their cultures. Honestly, there was always a discussion as to how things should be done.

"neechan!" Her nephew ran towards her with a tablet loosely in hand. "Guess what! Guess what!" He used his free hand to grip onto her shirt but quickly stepped back to look at his hand confused. "Did you have an accident?" 

"No." Y/n rebutted. "It was raining."

Her claim made no changes to his expression. In order to discourage a useless argument she pulls the curtain back a bit to display the left over rain drops left on the glass. "See? Have you been on that thing all day? Is that why you didn't see the rain? or hear it? Didn't I tell you that thing is gonna rot your brain one day?"

"I saw All Might on the news today!" Steven immediately tries to change the subject.

"Oh yeah?" She faked a surprised look. Y/n made her way to the kitchen, putting away the groceries as her nephew followed her. "What's he up to now? Anything cool?"

"He was saving people from a evil green giant jello man!" Steven stretched out his hands in the air to show off the villain’s size. She glances at him, smiling.

"Sounds Delicious. if I was him I would've ate my way through, like this," She pretends to bite the air towards his direction. "nom nom nom!"

"You can't do that!" Steven laughs.

"Why not? I like jello."

"That's just how he looks N/n, he's not really made of jello!"

An older man walks in smiling at the children. "We havin' jello?" 

"Jello villain." Y/n corrected as she watches her father go through the bags freely to see what she brought. "Steven was just telling me bout it. All over the news y'know?"

He stopped, remembering the broadcast from earlier. "You weren't there were you? Listen, I've already told you. If you see something like that- if you see danger run the other way. Just get as far away from the fight as possible." Her father warned her as if she had already gotten herself into trouble.

"I was fine, I saw it on the news live feed." She reassured him. "And I can handle myself well enough to get to a safe point don't you think?"

"I'm serious Y/n, They have quirks, you don't. I just don't want you to get hurt."

Y/n nodded. Her smile slowly falling but she made sure it stayed up just until she turned around to continue unpacking. "Got it. Keep my distance."

The first week of class were always slow seeing that most times it was to recap what they learned the year before. They were barely touching new material. There is no doubt that history is important and is taught so that we do not repeat the mistakes of our past but the first thing taught in this era is quirks. The fights, the segregation, 'infections', how they came to be. Of course it was a hyped subject seeing it shaped today’s world but how it came to be? That was always open ended. 

A gift from god? Erupt Evolution? Human testing? The question's answer was as sure as answering what wiped out the dinosaurs.

"That's enough for today's lecture, make sure to study chapter 9 and 10 tonight. There will be a discussion tomorrow." Mr. Aikawa waved them off in dismissal. Before Y/n could make her own escape with the crowd she was called back. "I’d like a word Miss L/n.”

"ooooo" The students responded in kind naturally. Whispering amongst themselves, glancing back with teasing smiles as they leave. There was hardly a reason to be called back. She was paying attention to the lecture, she took her notes, actively interacted in enough exchanges to divert the teacher’s idea of calling on her when he needed a voluntarily response to a question she didn't know. She did mindlessly doodle here and there but she doubts he'd seen her notebook. Nonetheless, she smiles politely, hands behind her back as she stood at attention.

"Have I done something wrong Sir?"

"Well, no not really, you're an excellent student it's just...you're high school list is not turned in. I understand that the paper isn't even due until mid terms but I would think a student like you would y'know prepare in advance, the early bird catches the worm and all that. This school has always aimed to have students be given the best that we can manage and you did right to take advantage of that. Realistically you can get into any school you'd like. You've done enough to get a good recommendation from the school director, I'm sure he'd be more than willing to write one for you if you requested it but we can't properly prepare you for the school of your choosing if you don't tell us."

"I understand, I do...I have certain things I'd have to consider first. Like you said this isn't a light decision."

"Could you at least tell me what career you're looking for L/n? Doctor, Lawyer, Hero? I mean, that's what everyone seems to want these days right?" He watches her shift as she can only give an apologetic bow in response to his suggestions. The exhaustion of the decision clearly weighing on his student's shoulders. "Look, if you really don't know what you want to be just yet then please take your time, It'll come to you. I suggest you find something you enjoy, a hobby, anything that'll help sway your decision. You're going to do great things in life L/n but only if you don't limit the opportunities laying right in front of you."

She nods again as he dismisses her. Leaving her with the same dread of a scolding lecture. Realistically she could go to any school with her grades? Realistically she can be anything? Realistically how much is that after she factors the fact that she has no quirk? A shop keeper? An Office Job? Definitely nothing exciting but at the very least she'd get paid. The saftest bet would be a business class. Aside from the fact that there is business everywhere her family could benefit from her studies.

Y/n tugged on her uniform’s ascot. She didn't understand the hype the other kids seem to have when talking about their dreams. Never really grazed the idea. There was nothing she could look forward to doing everyday without it seeming like a chore, there was nothing to be passionate about. Realistically, she was a realist.

"C’mon Ei, when are you going to give her your letter?” The boy tried to encourage his friend. "Thought you said you weren't going to back out on anything this year, If you don’t do it now you might never get another chance y'know. Different high schools and all."

“I know that.” Kirishima grips his love letter tighter.

“I heard you aren’t the only one who’s planning to confess. Some 2nd year said he was going to ask her out soon! You don’t want him to beat you to the punch, do you?” Another friend pushed. "Maybe I'll try my luck instead."

"Quit bugging! I know okay? It's not like I can just throw it at her out of the blue. To be honest I'm not even sure she knows who I am."  The letter felt like bricks the more his doubts start to cloud his mind. His eyes lifted, ready to add on but his train of thought was cut short when he saw the very girl he was thinking about.

“Y/n.” Eijiro mumbled. His friends quickly followed his view.

“Oh, hey Y/n.” His friend greeted casually once she was in range. “You’re out of class pretty late. Are you staying for after school activities today or something? Student council?"

”No. I was held back to talk to Sensei.” Y/n sighed annoyed but stopped walking to acknowledge the group.

“Not getting yourself into trouble are you? What did you do?” The other teased.

”Of course not. He wanted to talk about my High school form." She glances at kirishima, the redness on him visible as she looks him over. “You three should go home if you’re not staying for any activities. You might get in trouble for loitering the hallways.”

"c'mon you wont tell us? How bout a hint?" He pauses for a moment. "Actually, speaking of high schools Y'know I was kinda thinking it would be cool to shoot for U.A"

"U.A?" The latter's face scrunched slightly at the idea. "Please, normal people like us don't grow up to be heroes. Gotta rule that out from the get go."

"Normal people?" Y/n frowned. In what state were they normal? From what she recalls these three were all quirk holders. Perhaps normal if compared to the 80% population of quirks.

"Yeah, it's all about entertainment value and approval ratings these days. That's what people are looking for in a hero." He scoffed. "Hey, I've always wanted to ask Y/n. You got some strong quirk we don't know about? I mean if it's any good you might be able to actually try U.A. You're not bad to look at so you could get a decent audience to get to a good ranking."

"So that's all it takes huh? A good quirk and a pretty face?" She huffs. "My quirk status is my business don't you think? I can get into U.A if I wanted to. In fact, that's why the teacher pulled me aside, he wanted to make sure I wasn't wasting my time for schools that don't meet my needs. He said with my grades and record I could get into any school I wanted to."

"Well, Miss Perfect, I was planning to go to droid technical high." Not wanting to loose the attention he currently had with her he continued. "Wanna apply together?"

"If I wanted to go to a tech school, I'd go to an early college then make a clear path plan to go to M.I.T. Unlike some people I'd rather not settle. If we all take the bare minimum now, then bare minimum is all you'll ever get in life."

"That's a little harsh don't you think?"

"You've always been a go getter L/n" Kirishima smiled meekly, barely able to bring himself to meek her gaze properly.

"What school are you going to?" She demanded, not wanting to hear another comment on her situation. She glances at the letter in his hand.

"I..I haven't decided yet..." He frowns at his own words but tries to keep his smile. "It's a big decision y'know?"

For a moment she was able to calm down from the high of her sour mood. Features softening as her own movements mirrored his shyness. "yeah, it is." she whispered. "I don't know where to go yet either. its just all so....intimidating."

It must've been wrong to feel comforted by those words. Having a more genuine smile from the thought of them having the same feelings.  'Don't settle,' was exactly what he needed in his life. Was this the opening he needed? Before he could get anything else Y/n was already closing up the conversation. Bidding them goodbye. All he could do was offer a weak 'bye' right after she turned the corner at the end of the hall. So much for setting up a potential meeting behind the school.

~*~

She couldn't sleep. So much was going through her head without actual focus.  She tried to close her eyes and let the darkness take her to dreamworld but all she could manage were quick power naps that only last a couple of minutes. Which only led her to shuffle out of bed and into her slippers to make her way downstairs. Craving to find something in the refrigerator to quiet the noise she felt. It was a risk, she was sure to get scolded if she was caught roaming out of bed at this hour.

She peaked out her door looking at both ends of the hallway for signs of life. She barely made it to the corner when she heard someone.

"They should have given her that choice form already, right?" Her father's voice rang out from the kitchen. "Why didn't she bring it to me yet? We were going to see which tech school would be best for her to go to."

'Shit.' Y/n swallowed as she took a step back, hoping she was out of view. This was not a conversation she was willing to go into blindly with a side of lecture. She wasn't that hunger anyway. Maybe she had some gum around somewhere?'Abandon Mission.'

"Por que?" Her mother asked as she took one candies from the snack buddle they bought for steven's lunches. "Did she say she wanted to go to a tech school?"

"Yes." He answered trying not to look away from his wife's gaze. To which she didn't bother to break her own as she peels away the wrapper slowly.

"No." He admitted with a sigh. "Look, I don't hear her coming up with any ideas of her own. I'm just trying to help her out. Going to some school like I don't know, M.I.T? Could help her later in life significantly."

Though she's said those words before, for some reason hearing them from someone else felt like having a pit planted in her stomach. The idea of working so hard, studying long, for what? She was too distracted by the numbers and the grades that she had no room to think what to do with herself afterwards. Anything that pays the bills? Then what? Find a compatible husband? kids? Then forced them on the same path?

Life without passion seemed rather meaningless....and empty.

"She's having trouble figuring out her life." The wife pointed out with a shrug. "I was the same way when I was her age. I'm just now finding out what I want to do for myself. She needs time.”

"Plan B, it's plan B." Her father assured his wife. "Once you're done with those classes, we buy a space and we'll start your whole restaurant thing. I'll keep working my junk yard and then fix up the old mechanic shop for y/n to manage when she's out. She great with her hands, the things she's been able to fix? Honey, Miracles I tell you. If that's how much she can do on her own can you imagine if she actually went for it? She'd be a pioneer of the future! I'm telling you I feel it in my bones."

Y/n couldn't promise she'd stick to what her Dad wants. Like her mother said, things just happen unexpectedly. It was such a waste of effort on her. Such big talk at school when It never occurred to Y/n that some schools might require a bit more money than school supplies. To think her father was willing to spend so much money on educating her when there's a chance she won't even continue doing what she studied for.

"MIT?" Her mother thought back to his suggestion. "The old mechanic shop?"

"Yes." Mr. L/N nodded hesitantly.

"Really?" Mrs. L/N gave him a look. 

"As-as plan B. All this is- is just a temp thing, you'll see!”

~*~

'Dad said not to get caught up with Villains if you see them'

"I can't tell you where the spring agency is if you're pushy." Y/n was cornered by a giant, trying to force directions out of her. She kept her gaze away from the creature, trying to use her phone to assist his needs. She couldn't think as rationally as she would have wanted to. Standing against students was one thing. Easy to make them rethink their intentions by threatening authorities onto them. Maybe even a low life thug. But this guy? No guy that big is going to be scared of the police or cuffs, might not even be scared of heroes in the area.

Where were they? Always trotting around, boasting their strength and efforts against villains. Where were they? She couldn't even hold the phone right. Hands sweaty. Fingers pressing all the wrong letters in the search bar.

Before she knew it a familiar shade of pink made her view, serving as a barrier between her and the giant. “Turn ‘round that bend over there and take a left at the main road! It’s 2 kilometers away!”

“….Thank you…” The giant turns to leave, “…everything I do is for master…”

The girls waited till they were in the clear to breath again. Y/n’s hands instinctively moving to hold Mina up as the girl lets herself drop to the ground in tears. “That was so scary!!”

”…Hey, hey don’t cry it’s okay, we just have to-to call the police.” She knelt down to be at Mina’s side, rubbing her back.

”You’re crying too!” Mina whines, Turing to fulling hold her. “I just made up those directions! C’mon we gotta run!”

Y/n wipes her tears. To be honest she didn’t entirely feel herself crying under that villain’s gaze. It doesn’t matter if she tried to take charge of the situation. Her body was more than willing to react honestly to the danger. “We’ll get to a safe place then but we can’t delay a call to the police, they’ll settle matters.”

Y/n ended up settling back into the comfort of a pier after it was all said and down. Siting at the edge as she looks out into the waters. Newspaper in hand. “Absolutely useless.” She scoffs, taking her pen she bites off the cap as she continues her job search. “You can’t save yourself. You can’t decide a future, you cant even make a little stupid change to start saving up for school! Ugh! Will I even go?!” 

She rips the paper up, tossing it to the side before she caught her reflection, glaring back at her. “What are you looking at pendeja? Don’t you got anything better to do than bitch? The life of the quirkless. How ridiculous." Her eyes found itself drawn to a loose peice, an ad for hiring. It was a relatively a popular place. 

Point palace pizza.

She usual didn’t go herself because it was a hangout hotspot. Kinda hard to avoid people if you go to a place filled with the very classmates you wanted to avoid. It wasn’t like she didn’t want to get along with people but it was definitely a lot less complicated without them. But if this was the only way she could get money then so be it.

“What do you mean no? The Ad said you guys needed help?” She huffs following the older man, presumably the owner, around as he takes some orders himself. Though it was a bit hard to take in, messy apron, sweaty, observant though uncomfortably so. “You’re clearly understaffed man."

”Uh, yeah,” he looks around. “Yeah well maybe as a waitress?"

"A waitress?" She frowned, the further away she was from peers the better. "The ad call for a delivery guy?"

"Yeah, Guy. And it usually goes on pretty late and last thing I need is moving around and forcing myself through files and investigations cause some kid got taken up on the way. And if It was a girl? Believe me they'll be up my ass 5 ways Sunday so forget bout it."

"I'm not a little kid." Y/n huffs out a soft pout.

"Are you a student?" 

"Yes, middle school- er- Junior high, 3rd year." Y/n straightened her posture, her voice wavering as he takes it upon himself to look her over again.

"Yeah, a kid." He scoffs. "Look you want the job or not?"

"What's the pay?"

"Enough to want your life to be just school again. And the hours could get worse so I don't want all this 'I cant I got homework'. I will replace you the second a chance arises. Still want it?"

"Yes" It was better than nothing. Afterall every other place wanted her to have some kind of experiences which is kinda hard to come by if you need it to start the job so that just makes an endless loop. "When can I start? Do we talk out a schedule or something?"

"Now."

"Now? Wha-? but I'd have to call home and ask-" She stops, immediately catching on to what he meant earlier about hiring kids. "No yeah. I can start today."

"Good, we should have some boxes in the back, go look for your size and get to work. I'm sure someone will run you down the basics." The boss scoffs. Leaving her to her own devices as she struggles with the ramaging thoughts fighting in her mind.

Does she have time for a quick text? Will she be fired on the spot for getting caught using her phone? How late will this drag on? Is it just training today and then an independent shift? She wasn't the best at memorizing faces upon first meetings. That's gonna cause her some issues right? There's no pants in those boxes so is it okay if she went on with her school skirt? Will she get pants later? Or provide her own? Everyone seems to be wearing black pants. Does she have to pay for the uniform or is it only hers till she no longer works there? What bout the name tag?

Y/n was flushed from the sudden extortion her body had to endure for their busy day. Memorizing information wasnt that bad, it was something school continuously teaches but matching it to the person was what got to her. Then there was chatter everywhere so it was hard to see who was talking to who.

Naturally it was overwhelming but it took her a while to realize why it was particularly difficult to keep everything in order and it was because there was no order. Teens hanging around without buying anything. Shoes on the chairs and tables like they owned the place. No one was disposing their reusable dishes the way they were supposed to so the waiters had more to do. Was this a daycare or a restaurant? Either way she was going above and beyond not to give him a reason to lay her off quick.

'Aw Crap, did he even say how much all this trouble's gonna be worth?'

A/n: Alright listen up, from here on out- it’s a read at your own risk. I don’t know what I’m going to write in future chapters, I don’t know what will ended up triggering who. I will not put warnings for things-⚠️ THIS IS MY ONLY WARNING ⚠️ 

What’s next?

how do you like to read?

[stormdragon23]

>:3

Questions 8 and 22 for Choi Jongin 🦊❤

You sure know which questions get a long response alksdjfa

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

Quite a few things. Off the top of my head, one thing I'm not a fan of is Jongin spending money extravagantly. I haven't really seen this in fics, but it does pop up quite a lot when I hear people talking about him. I understand that he would be rich as an S-Rank, especially as the guild master of the largest guild in Korea, but I don't think he would buy the most expensive thing out there just because of its price. I do think he'll have a strong preference for high-quality items, and they may happen to be expensive, but it wouldn't be the main reason why he buys them. So hearing about him getting "the most expensive suit" or getting someone "a very expensive gift" isn't a good description of what he got and makes him appear rather shallow. I would prefer if what he got was described by the quality rather than the price tag since the most expensive doesn't always mean the best

The question only asked for one, but I like you, so you get another >:3

Another thing I don't like is anything to do with Jongin praising or speaking highly of himself. I know he's confident in what he can do, but he has never been shown to boast in canon (as far as I know). Anything he states that sounds like boasting is actually fact. Him being known as the Ultimate Hunter? True. Him having the largest guild in Korea? Also true. But he has never directly said anything like "I'm better than you" or has been condescending in any way (correct me if I'm wrong.) He may sound like he's bragging when talking about his status and such, but it is all true. In fact, he, in a way, brings himself down to other people's level and speaks to them as if they were equal, even though someone of his status has no need to do so. So every time I see people have him clearly speak down to people (anyone, even those he doesn't like), especially S-Ranks, I'm just like :/ I get insults, but I don't think Jongin is the type to say it directly to someone's face. I think it would be indirect, a hidden meaning in his words that you need to think about to understand

There are a bunch more, but they can be saved for later hehe

Gah, that was only the first question. There's still another-

22. If you're a fic reader, what's something you like in fics when it comes to this character? Something you don't like?

I haven't really read many fics with Jongin recently, but the more recent fics I've read show Jongin being able to analyze a situation quickly and react accordingly. I don't see this very often (mostly because there are already very few fics of Jongin that I can find and take the time to read), so seeing it is always very nice <3 Jongin is shown to have experience in doing this, so seeing it be incorporated in fics and expanded on makes me glad. Especially when Jongin's feelings are shown to be different from the ones he expresses to those around him

One thing I dislike is whenever Jongin loses control of his emotions, at least in front of other people. Shouting seems out of character for him as I think he would have a calming voice for the most part. I had a headcanon where Jongin can handle his emotions very well in the heat of the moment, but when the feeling starts to linger for a while, it might be visible in subtle ways, like him clenching his jaw and clutching something tighter than usual. I think Jongin is generally a stoic person who smiles to hide his true feelings, which is why I don't understand fics that show him shouting or throwing something out of anger. The only times he is shown to expressing his emotions strongly is if he knows he could die or heard about someone else almost dying. Very rarely is it out of frustration and even then, he doesn't lose it in public

I'll stop here for now because there's more questions I need to answer alksdfja

I'm very passionate about things related to Choi Jongin haha

Eh, close enough

From the ask game here

[eravicis]

Solo Leveling // Legends Never Die

Title: Chapter 10 - Grind Series: Solo Leveling ( I Alone Level Up ) Pairing: Sung Jin-woo/Original Female Character Rating: Mature Chapters: 10/? Word Count: ~6304 A/N: It only took… three years… haha… did you miss me? ;; It's been so long that I wonder if people will like this chapter… hope you like it! ><;

Again, I will tag the appropriate tags at the beginning of each chapter to avoid general spoilers.

*agasshi (아가씨) - miss *halmeoni - granny/grandmother *eomma - a casual reference to mother/mom

I tried adding some introspection, but I think that's hard to do in that situation.

Summary: Jinwoo is faced with an ultimatum, and Yoona stumbles her way into an "easy" way of grinding through the system.

—  x  —

AO3

Lizards.

It's a slang term that refers to the people who betray other party members, saving their own skin and leaving them behind. It's not the same as the situation with Jinwoo or Yoona in the Double Dungeon since they had volunteered to be left behind so as not to drag down the party in their escape. These people, however, save themselves for their own personal gain.

Jinwoo recollects a conversation he had with another Hunter named Oh. He clarifies that because being a Hunter is dangerous, it's expected that risk and injuries come with the job. However, the problem with the job is that their current electrical technology loses its functions once it enters the Gate. Or rather, it's more like there is no technology that's able to connect to the other side of the gate. Thus, people cannot watch what's happening inside the Gate from the outside. (It's been said that humans and hunters have yet to develop the necessary tech to withstand the transport through the portal due to the high mana density.)

This makes it very difficult to prove a crime has been committed inside the dungeon. Without the security of technology to monitor inside the dungeons, there is no way to stop a hunter from committing any sort of crime. So the weaker someone is, the more expendable they become. However, if someone is strong, people seek that strength and will cling to them.

But, if a hunter says that they're useless or even get in the way, then, like a lizard leaving its tail behind, a person can end up being cut in more than one way.

And it's this specific warning that repeats itself in Jinwoo's mind as Jinho panics, watching their exit disappear. Even if they tried to stop them from trapping them within the boss room, the attack force was ready to strike them down if anything changed.

Paying attention to details wasn't needed, hm? Jinwoo suddenly understands what Hwang Dongsuk means. 

Dropping the bags onto the ground, he muses that this giant spider monster, the boss, is nothing like his traumatizing experience in the Double Dungeon. In fact, there's a feeling that perhaps this is fate that he gets this opportunity to test his current abilities on a C-Rank dungeon boss.

"That's mine," he says, his dagger summoned to his hand as he prepares for combat.

And for the first time, he smiles with confidence.

—  x  —

The destruction where the Gate opened is disastrous.

There's shouting in the distance, but what remains of the park is gone and, instead, is littered with debris and wounds on the earth from the blasts in the ensuing battle. What people could be saved are pulled off the field and the only people left are some Hunters trying to fend off the boss.

Yoona runs as fast as she is able to get closer. But from a distance, she could only watch who she could assume to be the healer dropping to the ground from mana exhaustion. The only person left standing appears to be a tank, holding his shield up. In front of him is a plant-like creature, tall and massive, that stands easily four stories tall, wood and vines making up its form between its bark. It stands in front of the blue portal, wavering and threatening to allow more creatures to escape the dungeon. Its build is very similar to that of a stocky golem, a four-legged creature with a tree trunk for its face. Glowing green eyes gleam from between its bark as its front arm lifts and quickly drops it.

But the back of the head of the tank bracing for impact is familiar, someone she didn't expect to see so soon on the frontlines.

"Adrien!"

His head doesn't turn, bringing up his shield to block an incoming attack from the large plant-like golem.

Yoona doesn't want to assume, but it looks like she has caught them between waves. This also means that they don't have much time for Adrien to catch her up on what's happened thus far. This creature looks like they're the last one of the group that's managed to escape the dungeon's gate.

The healer passed out, exhausted, with her health low to the point that it's in danger. Yoona sees both of their health bars above their heads, like a video game, and the corners of her mouth twitch. Honestly, how much is the System making her see this as a video game instead of a life-or-death situation?

Clearly, someone has a terrible sense of humor.

She doesn't even think when she utters a healing spell with the wave of her hand, the sparkling glow that comes from her fingers shimmering over Adrien, who's about to take another blow to his shield. He manages to brace it in time as he is enveloped in the healing glow of her healing magic. He sinks into the earth under its forceful weight, cracking and breaking the earth around him, a grunt before he changes it into a yell to shove the creature off his shield.

Yoona slides into place beside the healer, looking over the healer's condition. She's weak, dripping in cold sweat, and exhausted from mana exhaustion, on top of the low health. She waves a hand over her face and utters a heal to watch most of their injuries disappear and finally breathe without the distress.

The creature shudders, stumbling back from how Adrien threw it off-balance.

He spares her a glance back with a small grin. "Much thanks for the assist."

"Of course," she responds with a grin, happy to see her friend again. But this isn't the time to play catch-up.

The creature slams its large hoof-like feet down on Adrien's shield again and he gets shoved deeper into the earth.

"Need help?"

"A little," he grunts and shoves the creature with more strength again once Yoona has finished healing him to full.

Huh, finished healing him. Is there something he should be aware of? Above all else, healed him to full? This is Yoona that came to his aid, right? But, she has… white hair?

The idle thoughts disappear when the golem drops its foot back down on the shield in a rushing force that Adrien gets pummeled, disappearing into the earth under his buckler like a hammer hammering a nail into the ground.

Setting the healer away from the battle, Yoona pulls her staff out from her inventory in a shimmer of electrical golden light and it swirls around her in anticipation of what's to come. With a grin, Yoona twirls the staff in her hand. No longer does she feel intimidated by such a daunting and seemingly overwhelming creature from the Gate, but Yoona is excited to test out just how powerful this new staff of hers is.

—————  x  —————

(!) 𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 [POISON] is ineffective against TREE GOLEM!

—————  x  —————

A pity, Yoona thinks. But it confirms that it's a golem rather than a living creature. She had a feeling that the area-of-effect poison would be ineffective against it. Idly, if she was a fire mage, she could probably do some really intense damage. Well, if this were a video game that's based off of elemental properties like a certain little pocket monster series.

Still, she casts a buff spell on herself, which buffs all of her physical and defensive stats temporarily, and takes off running.

The golem notices her and turns in her direction.

It's too slow to respond when Yoona runs until she's just in front of it, and then jumps straight up. With more strength than she realizes she has when she becomes level with its face, Yoona takes this opportunity to stab the golem in its eyes with her spear.

With a roar, it pulls its head away from the offending weapon.

With the strength she now has, thanks to her recent level gain, she pulls back and her staff-turned-spear cleaves clean the head of the golem off of its trunk body. And in nanoseconds, Yoona watches as its vines move swiftly to grab for its head. 

In the same momentum, Yoona doesn't give it a chance to recover, and she twirls in mid-air, grabs an ax from her inventory, and drops its blade down into the center of the trunk where its head once was. With how much force she applies to the ax, she continues the motion with several strikes from her left to her right and back again before the ax breaks from fighting against the golem's trunk.

As it shatters, it disappears into the air in a fit of blue light and sparkles when she releases it.

With its trunk cleanly cut open from her ax, it exposes its center, the core. Different from the monster's magic cores that drop from a monster's defeat, this one is what controls this creature. From somewhere else, its monster magical core will appear.

Dropping down onto the staggering headless body, Yoona lifts her spear and points the sharp blade at the core. Without pause, she brings it down and breaks the jewel-like blue orb, breaking it into near halves.

With a broken groan of wood grinding, it stumbles and drops to its knees, shaking the earth.

—————  x  —————

(!) 𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 You have leveled up!

—————  x  —————

She blinks at the notification. Really? How easy is it really to level up like this? Still, she's not going to complain if it means she's leveling up. However, she wishes with every level up, she has something more than that to allot more points into her stats.

Maybe she's going about this wrong. Idly, she makes a mental note to look over the interface again later.

Canceling the effect of her buff spell, Yoona jumps down to the ground where Adrien is busy digging himself out of the hole. He blinks when he realizes the golem is down. His head swivels, blinking repeatedly when his gaze lands on Yoona.

She twirls the staff and replaces it back inside her inventory in a flash of light, making her way over to him. Her gaze subtly narrows when the hairs on the back of her neck lift and she tries to resist the urge to look around, aware that she's being watched. Yoona needs to feign ignorance or else, it's possible that those watching would figure out she's been Reawakened.

"Need a hand?" she asks again. It's amusing considering he's about halfway out of the hole and is still waist-deep inside it.

"Yeah," he says, holding his hand up from the hole. She braces his wrist and pulls him out with surprising ease.

Yoona lets him go as Adrien blinks, looking her over and dusting himself off while she looks at her hand and flexes her fingers. How curious; normally, Adrien is considerably heavier than he looks because he's muscular. Plus, equipped with the gear, he's a size that someone of her frame would have trouble moving. 

"Yoona?"

The incredulous tone comes when comprehension dawns on him.

She turns her head to face him, giving him a small smile.

"No, wait," he says, shaking his head in disbelief and lifting a hand to her and the other to his head, "you can't be her—last I checked, she had black hair and her healing spells literally couldn't heal me to half health, let alone to full." He drops his hand and crosses his arms across his chest with a scrutinizing stare.

"Who are you?"

"Haha." Yoona averts her gaze and nervously forces a laugh, wondering how she's going to explain to Adrien that she experienced a Reawakening and is capable of getting stronger? Hell, she wonders if he would even believe her. Much less believe her about her ability to see now an interface that she calls her own personal video game. Even if the consequences of said video game mean the end of people's lives.

Adrien arches a brow.

"A-ny-way, we should head inside the gate and kill the boss before any more of those creatures respawn," Yoona says, holding her hand to her eyes to peer at their surroundings when there seem to be no more creatures around that have otherwise escaped. However, in doing so, she can't seem to see who it is that's watching her, but she can sense that there are two B-Rank Hunters nearby. They weren't there earlier when she took down the golem, but definitely after.

Maybe if she really tried, she could probably throw a dagger in the direction just to scare the living daylights out of them.

He squints and then stares at her for a moment longer before hefting a heavy sigh. "Alright, I'll let it slide this time but—!"

"—… But what?" She looks hesitantly in his direction. Honestly, lying has never been her forte.

"You owe me some kind of explanation other than what I can only assume is… whatever I think it is."

This time, Yoona's wariness drops and she's left surprised. Taken aback by his vague wording, her brows quickly furrow when her thoughts start running. Assumptions like he's on the radio with the UK Hunters Association or perhaps, the people that she senses that are nearby might have something to do with it.

There's a sharp look in his eye that warns her to leave it at that and radios that all is clear and that he's heading into the Gate.

He gestures with his head for them to head inside and with one final cursory glance around, Yoona follows.

Inside the Gate, a forest with high temple walls greets her with tall trees and high underbrush. They stand in a clearing in the middle of a forest where its canopy shrouds the floor of the forest in shifting shadows. The temple walls make it feel like a maze and the canopy of the trees is the ceiling.

"Damn," Adrien swears.

Yoona has seen her fair share of Gates and sometimes there are new ones to explore. This one is a meld of the typical forest dungeons often found through a Red Gate—a dungeon that locks its Hunters inside until all of the hunters have died or it's cleared—and a typical dungeon. Generally, each one specifically has limitations, much like typical dungeons where there is a direct or a maze-like path to be explored upon entry.

"What? This dungeon isn't to your liking?" Yoona asks, somewhat amused.

"It's fine," he shrugs weakly. "But, I just realized, how are we going to clear the dungeon and beat the dungeon boss by ourselves? We're not exactly high-ranking Hunters."

Yoona feels it's probably safe now to tell him about her recent changes.

"But!" Adrien takes a few steps forward, casting a glance in Yoona's direction with an arched brow. "Something tells me that something happened to you after we left that hell of a place." He steps close to her, relieved and with bright eyes.

Placing a hand on her shoulder, he gives her a watery smile. "You made it and—" he squeezes her shoulder, "—I'm really glad you did."

Yoona smiles, nodding, and placing a hand on his to give him a reassuring squeeze. "Yeah," she says, feeling a strange lump forming in her throat. "A lot happened."

Adrien quirks a crooked smile, pulling Yoona in for a tight hug. Yoona forces the lump down her throat, appreciative of his genuine care for her welfare. It's been far and few between since people often wanted something from her or found her more of an inconvenience. But Adrien has always been a friend first and foremost, even after they found out their ranks as Hunters.

So when he pulls away, he clears his throat and straightens, giving her another look over.

"Hm."

He glances around the dungeon. Scratching his head, he crosses his arms across his chest and arches a brow. He returns his attention back to Yoona.

"So," he begins, giving her an expectant look.

Nervously, Yoona laughs and averts her gaze.

"You took down that golem with no problem—you wanna share something with the class? Or namely, I don't know, me? Cause I feel like I need to know something before we die trying to clear this dungeon." And then he arches a brow. "And weren't you… hm, I dunno, shorter?"

He makes a gesture hovering over her head and to where she comes up to his shoulder.

Lifting her gaze up to the taller, Yoona clears her throat and places a hand on her hip. She tries not to think about how her height correlates to Adrien. (But, she was definitely up to his chest before, no, wait, smaller? And now, she comes to his shoulder?) "Well, remember the double dungeon?"

The sound of the forest rustles in the back and the humidity is palpable that Yoona wipes at her brow. Even Adrien adjusts the armor he wears as he readies his equipment, sensing the change in the atmosphere. Again, Yoona pulls out her staff with a shimmer of light.

He twirls his sword in his hand before raising his buckler, moving ahead of her as they start venturing into the dungeon. "Is this a rhetorical question?"

Ah, right, stupid question but she honestly blames nerves. She isn't sure how he'd take the news, but she feels like she owes him that much, having been one of the few people who experienced the double dungeon. Adrien is one of the few people that's stuck with her since she started working as a Hunter.

"Wait." He turns his head to give her another look over and looks dumbfounded. "Did you get a Reawakening?"

"Focus, Adrien!" 

He shakes his head. "Talk and cover for me—surely, you can do that, can't you?"

Yoona makes a face but moves after him, positioned behind him for any attacks that would come from the front. She supposes old habits die hard and follows as she sighs, finding she isn't nervous about the dungeon, but rather how he'd react to her news. After all, she hasn't even told Jinwoo about it yet. Maybe it's just easier to tell Adrien since he was there—at least, he was there before she "died."

"There's not much to tell you except I might've Reawakened."

She resists the urge to grimace and slap herself on the forehead.

"'Might've? Might've? ' So you're telling me that your white hair has nothing to do with your highly probable Reawakening?"

Ah, she really can't fool him, can she? Foolishly, Yoona thought she could back out of telling him the truth, but she's come this far. The guilt that Adrien knows before Jinwoo manifests itself in her chest, clawing at her, but at the very least, she owes Adrien. He was there and it's not fair of her to keep this from him when it's all too obvious that he can see the changes.

She scratches her head and sighs. "Alright, so I—sort of, yeah—had a Reawakening, but when I got tested by the Monitoring Division, there was no change in my evaluation."

This is the truth, despite Adrien sparing her an scrutinizing look, opting in lieu of investigating around the corner of the dungeon. Somehow, she has a feeling he doesn't believe her. This is proven true when they clear a couple of floors of the dungeon, most of it emptied when the Gate opened earlier and let them roam outside in their world, and all Adrien does is sigh in the most exaggerated manner.

Dramatic, really.

"I'm serious!" Yoona decides to emphasize. "I was evaluated to still be an E-Rank when they came to the same conclusion you did. They were there when I woke up."

Adrien, again, remains skeptical, but decides after a moment more that he seems to believe her.

Their investigation through the dungeon is anti-climatic, finding that most of the monsters have already left the gate, leaving only the boss deep inside the dungeon. However, there's an odd tingle down her spine at the feeling when she approaches it. Nerves? Anxiety? No, it's probably something like excitement? Oh, yes, that's it.

It's been awhile since she got to test out the limits of her newfound abilities that she's excited about fighting this dungeon boss.

The boss, in the end, is at a higher level than the previous bosses she's fought before.

No, she's wrong.

There's more than one boss at the end, and she's positively giddy.

"But, something did happen while I was down there, and I don't know if you'll believe me," Yoona starts, wondering if this is okay. Telling Adrien before she's telling Jinwoo feels somehow wrong and her grip tightens on her staff before she relaxes again.

But Jinwoo wasn't there.

Would he understand?

"You won't know until you try and tell me, right?" Adrien shrugs. He relaxes now that they've cleared the dungeon. It seems the Gate has already released every creature from the dungeon out into the world. He sheathes his blade and continues to navigate the maze. "And at this point, I can almost believe anything can happen. If we can stumble upon a rare double dungeon that has S-Gate monsters inside it, then anything is possible."

"You think there's more than that out there?" Yoona blinks, incredulous. "And do you think our luck is really that bad?"

"Why not? These Gates only started showing up ten years ago and we still don't know everything about them or why they started showing up. Plus," Adrien pauses briefly to give her another glance, "anything's possible now. I really hope that we're really not that—" he grimaces, "—'lucky' to encounter another one of those dungeons."

Yoona presses her lips into a thin line, furrowing her brows. It's like a conspiracy theory, one that seems common on the internet. She can only imagine why they would come to this conclusion.

Especially when their theory holds true: at the end of this dungeon are two large creatures that she could guess as two boss monsters.

She senses it before she sees it in the next room over. They enter a cavernous room with large trees encompassing the sides and their long branches filling the ceiling and covering the sky. Large tiles and building pieces of an ancient civilization are littered into pieces on the sides, giving the impression the ceiling caved in and its debris is left in the middle of the room.

Movement in the corner catches their attention that Adrien barely lifts his shield in time to brace for impact.

"Adrien!"

It's an explosion of energy and debris that shoves Adrien from where he once stood, his feet sliding along the ground as he explodes into the wall of the temple. Smoke covers him that Yoona can't see whether or not—

Another movement on her other side that she barely lifts her staff in time to brace for impact and she's sent flying into the other wall in her own explosion of debris.

She coughs out, surprised, and barely moves in time when another movement in the smoke catches her off guard that she drops, crouches, and then lunges with her staff.

It barely nicks whatever is attacking her, taking advantage of the brief smoke to hide itself from her view.

But it's strong, sturdy, and she knows she hit it.

It takes a moment more that she dodges the next impact, jumping forward to duck into a roll that takes her a few steps closer back to the center of the boss room.

"Adrien! You doing okay?!"

"Oh, never better! Ugh," he groans as he manages to pull himself from being pummeled by whatever it is that is attacking them.

What on earth is this boss?

No, Yoona sensed two earlier—

The smoke finally clears as she hears the growling, low and deep, that she makes the connection that it's what she had speculated—two bosses.

Well, she speculated one mini-boss and the actual boss but watching as the two jaguar-like creatures circle them told her otherwise. One is slightly smaller than the other with both sporting inky black coats and four large black wings along their back. While they don't have paws, they have talons, moving with surprising dexterity and quiet that Yoona swears they probably also had some kind of paw pad.

And they're both triple her height.

They circle her now as Adrien comes to the center of the arena. Yoona couldn't help the small smile she makes, an excitement she didn't know she could have in the face of danger manifesting in the face of a new challenge. Her grip on her staff tightens and then relaxes again, ready to move in the next moment she's ready.

Now, it'll be a little odd working with Adrien since she's Reawakened, but it can't be helped.

"Adrien, we're going to work together to take them down, right?"

"I'm pretty sure I'm the only one here that can help, so yeah!"

Even though she's not looking at him as they have their backs to one another, she can practically hear his eyes roll at her rhetorical question.

But she doesn't get to explain her plan when both of the jaguar-like creatures lunge and it takes all of what strength she has to take the weight of its force against the staff. It's heavy and she barely manages to brace for it. But feline creatures move just as fast as she's able to manage and the second paw comes that she barely manages to angle the staff just enough to block the paw.

However, she isn't quite right and its claws manage to just cut through her clothes that it draws blood.

Yoona winces and thinks of the buff skill that shrouds herself in a brief aura of red.

—————  x  —————

[SPELL: 𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐍 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 has been activated.]

[Your SPEED and STRENGTH have increased by 30%.]

—————  x  —————

It's a little soon but she wants to take care of this quickly and before her [Fatigue] becomes a problem.

—————  x  —————

[EFFECT: "𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐘𝐙𝐄": The opponent will be paralyzed at a certain rate.]

[EFFECT: "𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐍": Whenever a spell is cast, foes within 25 ft. of the caster will lose 1% of their health per second.]

—————  x  —————

She pushes back, sending the creature back that it's surprised, unable to find ground at the accelerated speed that comes from [Burn Booster.] The tip of the spear slices through one of its front legs that it cries when it's sent flying into the wall. And in one fluid motion, Yoona turns on her heel with the ease of a dancer to skewer the other that's digging its claws into Adrien's shield, right into its chest.

It reels back with a screech, realizing that this one is the mini-boss when she pulls her spear free to find that there's a red jewel adorning its neck.

"Cover me!"

Adrien tries to read what Yoona commands when she ducks, the other one coming forward from behind her once more with another lunge. He grunts from exertion at the weighted momentum when his shield barely manages to connect with the attacking Alpha. And while he's distracted, Yoona turns to spear the boss creature right into its breast. But it misses the mark of its heart and she braces herself.

Just like its partner did, it rears back with another screech and she pulls her spear back.

—————  x  —————

[EFFECT: 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐘𝐙𝐄 has been activated.] [EFFECT: 𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐍 has been activated.]

[The foe's resistance was too high. The effect(s) was canceled.]

[Fatigue: 39]

—————  x  —————

Damnit!

Yoona watches as Adrien falters, thinking victory is at hand when the other jaguar creature manifests and pounces. He barely manages to raise his shield in time as he's sent to the ground, barely able to withstand fang and claw as he's pummeled. His health bar rapidly falls when Yoona utters another [Heal].

—————  x  —————

[EFFECT: 𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐍 has been activated.]

[The foes' resistance was too high. The effect(s) was canceled.]

—————  x  —————

This immediately draws both of the jaguar creatures attention to her.

Damnit!

Sparing a glance back at Adrien, she finds him knocked out, but alive and breathing with his health in the clear. With his shield resting on his chest, at least, he's mostly protected for the moment that she diverts her attention back to the prowling jaguars.

How did Adrien get knocked out when she healed him to full? What's more, wasn't he just fine moments ago?

Yoona backs away from the two approaching prowling predators as both of their wings shimmer. The hairs on the back of her neck tell her that they're only going to get faster. There's no way that their only attacks as boss creatures are fangs and lunging claws.

She twirls the staff in her hands, making sure they both can see it, but she's vastly outnumbered. 

Just as she guessed, their wings shimmer and they both seem to take turns lunging as they begin to bounce off the walls. They become faster and faster and she's not able to block each of their attacks. Each one becomes heavier and heavier that she has a hard time keeping up until she's getting hurt. She can hear her health plummeting.

—————  x  —————

[EFFECT: 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐘𝐙𝐄 has been activated.]

[The foes' resistance was too high. The effect(s) was canceled.]

[Fatigue: 58]

—————  x  —————

Yoona isn't built to directly take hit after hit like this. And she's getting incredibly tired taking such heavy blows that she can tell if she tried taking any more of a beating, she won't make it. Why are they so fast and somehow, hitting her so goddamn hard ?!

And then, she sees it: her opportunity to break through.

—————  x  —————

[SKILL: 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐄𝐃 has been activated.]

[Your SPEED has increased by 30%.]

—————  x  —————

They both jump at the same time and she jumps up higher the moment they cross over one another. With one flick of her wrist, she swings the spear clear across the backs of their neck to the bone of where their spine connects their skulls. Instead, she meets resistance as she slices through the fanciful accessories adorning their necks.

But, it's deep enough to cause serious damage that their cries are enough to make her wince. She lands with another flick of the staff-turned-spear and braces herself, not wanting to give the jaguars any room to breathe. Yoona lunges, going after the jaguar on the right as it falters.

"Heal!"

—————  x  —————

[EFFECT: 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐘𝐙𝐄 has been activated.]

[𝐃𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐎𝐍 𝐁𝐎𝐒𝐒(𝐄𝐒) are paralyzed.]

[EFFECT: 𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐍 has been activated.]

[The opponent will lose 1% health per second.]

—————  x  —————

Rejuvenation floods her, relieving her of the built up fatigue as she begins to flick through her weapons repertoire to slice through the first winged jaguar. She summons forth an ax and slices through the tendons of their legs; summons a sword to finish the job as she cleanly beheads it; and, summons a claymore to double tap as she downward slices through its heart.

Taking that same claymore, she swings with a force the other winged jaguar isn't prepared for. It isn't able to move as it takes the blade straight through its heart. She sheathes the blade back into her inventory and summons the sword once more to behead the jaguar.

She drops to a knee, dropping the sword down to the ground as she hears pings going off once more.

Finally taking a breath, Yoona returns to standing as she swings her braid back and wipes her brow. She picks up the sword and returns it back into her inventory to draw out a dagger. Yoona is going to earn some money for all of her efforts, otherwise; there's no point in being a hunter. And plus, no one else is here, right?

Well, except Adrien and she pauses before going to the corpses of the creatures.

She makes her way over to Adrien, kneeling beside him to check both his pulse and his breathing. Thankfully, her initial glance at both the health bar and mana bar seem fine and he's not in any danger. But she does feel a small bump at the back of his head that matches the small little icon next to his health bar. Ah, did he fall in a bad way that either conveniently or inconveniently knocked him out?

Yoona isn't sure whether or not she's lucky or not that he didn't see how she took out the dungeon's boss. With a sigh, she decides to leave him be for the moment so she can go ahead and extract the mana crystals. The faster she does this, the sooner they can leave.

Using the knife with the precision and training Yoona gained from med school, she cuts out the crystals and stows them in her inventory. As she does so, all she can think about is how this will finally pay for her schooling and finally, start to get herself out of the negatives. Maybe if there's any extra, she can send some to Jinwoo…

At the thought, she hopes he's doing okay, lifting her gaze up at the sky as though her thoughts would reach him.

—  x  —

"Of course you'd betray me; I'm weak."

Jinwoo expects this, but color him surprised when Jinho decides to take his side. It didn't take very long for the words he knew were coming from Dongsuk. Is this really how these people are going to do this?

"Have you… ever killed someone before?" Their eyes gleam menacingly as they stalk toward Jinwoo and Jinho.

Jinwoo doesn't even get the chance to properly think of a reaction when the System seems to do it for him as it pings.

—————  x  —————

[An urgent quest has arrived.]

—————  x  —————

He flinches, at first, thinking the System is simply acting up, but then he gets blasted into the wall behind him.

That's not what really hurts, but rather the reminder of the anger and disappointment he felt back in the Double Dungeon. The Quest Info screen fizzles, like it's losing signal in comparison to where his mind has gone. Disappointment claws at him, irritated that he forgot. Anger burns inside of him until he feels like yelling at the world.

How?

Somehow, he remembers what Yoona told him before.

" To stay angry? I think you can stay as angry as long as you want ."

" Look, anger is okay, grief is okay, spite is okay ."

How? How? How? How?

HOW? 

HOW?

The simple question buries him, enraging him that he's this foolish, this weak STILL to think that he had any kind of trust in another person. He wants to scream, wants to yell, seething in the frustration and helplessness he once had. After all, at the end of all of this, he's at fault.

How could he have…

Forgotten what kind of place this is?

That this place is governed by the strongest, by the "Survival of the Fittest" principle?

His hand grasps hold of the stones next to him, slowly pulling himself out of the rubble as a cool fury washes over him. Jinwoo hasn't been thinking clearly until just now, but he's clear now. After all, time and time again, in all of these dungeons, he's overcome death that he could almost consider it a friend. And yet, he's recovered each time. Going back in despite the possible dangers, he's mistaken that these places were safe.

He was wrong.

The System is telling him, forcing him to commit murder.

They're a THREAT.

Steel steadies his hands when he found that the answer was easy, almost surprised at himself at just how easily he accepted what he's about to do. It's asking him to either kill them or die. Why would it give such an ultimatum if it didn't have something else in store for him? Or perhaps, the system would become complicated if he were to die because he refused to take a life.

This is neither a coincidence nor an act of goodwill and it's obvious now: the System needs him. And what it needs is for him to become strong, to steel himself against all possible foes that he may face in the future. It needs him to be strong.

Jinwoo lifts himself out of the rubble despite the blood covering part of his vision. A cursory glance at his health tells him that they took out just a little under half damage of his total health. That's plenty for what he's going to do now.

Ultimately, the System isn't trying to make him stronger, but rather, he can tell that it simply wants a more powerful version of himself.

Ah, now that he knows what it wants… if the System is going to use him, then he's going to use the System.

He stands and begins walking over toward the murderers.

"Since you guys are playing around with people's lives, I'm assuming that you're also prepared to face the consequences." Jinwoo cracks his knuckles at his sides, energy sparking across his frame in his silent fury. The System is forcing him to quickly accept the fact that these people aren't worth his time, worth the effort of keeping them alive.

"What is this idiot going on about?" asks the one Hunter with a buzzcut.

"Since you call yourselves hunters, I'm asking if you're prepared to become the hunted."

"Dongsuk, I'll take care of him," says a brown haired hunter that has his hair pulled into a ponytail. He approaches Jinwoo with a confident swagger that he even has the nerve of putting his arm around Jinwoo's shoulders.

"Look, man, it seems like you still don't fully understand the situation at hand."

In Jinwoo's right hand, electrical blue lightning flickers as he resummons his dagger.

For one single moment, he thinks of Yoona. Jinwoo thinks of Yoona, a healer, who tries her best to save lives . Yoona, who's becoming a doctor.

And Jinwoo takes his first life with a single flick of his hand.