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dark-frosted-heart · 7 months ago

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Roger Barel Main Route - Chapter 19 Premium Story

As usual, can’t guarantee 100% accuracy on this. I’m doing this for archiving purposes and you can probably find a better translation out there.

nsfw talk at the end. You thought there’d be no hint of nsfw given the situation, but you were wrong

I snuck into the courthouse to look for Roger after he got arrested. Thanks to Ale’s distraction, I slipped past the security guard and found a hidden door that led to the jail cells.

When I grabbed at the bars and strained my eyes, there he was—

Roger: …Kate. What are you doing here?

As soon as he saw me, his eyes went wide.

On the ground lay a pair of broken glasses and his face was bruised as if he took a beating.

(How terrible…)

Kate: Roger, please wait. I’m opening the cell.

Roger: It won’t open ‘cause it’s locked. It’s not easy—

Kate: If it won’t open then I’ll just break it.

I took out the gun hidden beneath my skirt.

(Even now…I’m not ready to shoot people)

(But I can help the person I love out of a locked jail cell)

In the darkness, the muzzle flashed like lightning and the of a broken lock hitting the ground resounded.

(it’s open…!)

Roger: …O_O

There was nothing dividing us anymore after I stepped into the cell.

Kate: …

Roger: …

The moment his amber eyes, which reflected the flickering candlelight, met mine—

Kate: Roger you’re an idiot, the worst, an egoist, a show-off!

Roger: ………Huh?

Kate: What… What’s with “And lastly, I’ve fallen for you”?! Lastly means we’ll never see each other again.

Roger was dumbfounded and looked at me as if he was looking at something strange.

Roger: I might not be into the liberal arts, but I know what words mean.

Kate: If that’s the case, Why would you part with “I’ve fallen for you” or “I adore you”? If someone said those words to me, they would be etched into my mind and there’s no way they’d be final…

Roger: Is that why you chased after me all the way here?

Kate: Yes. With Ale! It was difficult sneaking in and the passageway was so dark…It was awful.

I was relieved that Roger was saved, but also annoyed by how self-centered he was…

Emotions overflowed like a muddy stream.

Honestly, I just wanted to slap him so many times.

(But this wasn’t what I really wanted to tell him…)

Kate: …Are you really, Are you really going to…just give up?

How many times have I thought back to our conversation by the train station the night I learned about his past—*

~~ Flashback ~~

Roger: When you first became Fairytale Keeper, you told me about how crushed you felt by your own weakness. “I won’t despair”.

Kate: …Yes. I remember.

Roger: Even though you felt depressed, it was sweet seeing you keep looking forward and not give in to despair. I also believe that in life is to give despair the finger.

Kate: Give despair the finger?

Roger: Yeah. I went through the trouble of being born. I’m not gonna give into despair so easily.

~ End flashback ~

I still clearly remembered his profile, his gaze, and the way he smiled when he said that.

(I then learned afterward that Roger wasn’t a strong person, but rather, a person trying to be strong)

Facing despair over and over.

But now, standing all alone, Roger was being consumed by despair.

(Of course he would. The research materials that were as important as his own life were stolen and used against him…)

(And as a result, things were following the fate of betrayal)

It was like his cursed fate was mocking him, completely denying his way of life.

(I know there’s no way for a human to make curses disappear)

(But…if you get consumed by despair, then you’re done for)

Roger picked me up all the times I was about step into despair.

Kate: …The situation may be desperate. It may be hopeless. Even so…I’m here for you. I’ll continue to believe in you.

Roger: Believe in me…I’m the Double-crossing Hunter. I could even be betraying right now, in this very moment.

Kate: You wouldn’t. Because you promised that day, didn’t you? “I will never betray you without a reason.” Besides—If you betrayed me, then it’s because I was foolish enough to trust you. Right?

Roger: …O_O

Kate: Listen, Roger. Even with your fate to betray, I believe in you.

Roger: …

(This is the first time I’ve seen Roger look like this…)

He looked so vulnerable, and his heart was bared and wounded.

(Roger, I’m still weak, but…Would it be okay if I hugged you?)

I took a step, and then another…

It was like I was savoring this distance that I hadn't had the courage to cross as I got closer to Roger.

(You’ve picked my heart back up countless times. Now it’s my turn to do the same for you—)

I hugged him with both arms as he sat on the ground and squeezed him as hard as I could.

Kate: I like you…I love you. You’re the one I fell for, so it would be a problem if you were consumed by despair.

Then I lifted my hands up to hold his cheeks.

Kate: Pull yourself together, Roger Barel! You’re the strongest egoist out there! This despair’s nothing. Just give it the middle finger and laugh it off like you always do!

Roger: …O_O Pfft…

Kate: …Roger?

Roger: Heh… Ahahahahaha! Ahhh…You really are…

—Suddenly, his lips were on mine.

Kate: Nn—...!

No hesitation and his whole heart into it…A kiss typical of an egoist like him.

(I can’t breathe when you kiss me like that)

Kate: Haaah…

Roger: You really are the best. I’ve fallen for you again, Kate.

Kate: ~~!

While my cheeks flushed, I was overjoyed by the fact that Roger returned to his original self.

(That means I can’t lose either)

Kate: Roger.

Roger: Mmm…!

I pulled his head back and kissed him aggressively.

After I pulled away from the warmth, Roger smiled belligerently.

Roger: Thanks for that passionate kiss that almost devoured me. Seems like I never had a dog, but a wild beast or something.

Kate: Hehe, now we’re even.

Roger: That so? I am a “hunter”. If you’re a fierce beast, then I’ll chase you to the ends of the earth so that I can bring you down.

He pulled me back by the back of my neck and our lips met in a kiss much deeper than before.

Kate: Nnnn.

The obscene sounds heard from our lips showed just how intense our kiss was.

I couldn’t breathe as his tongue entwined with mine. My face burned up and my vision blurred.

Roger: You’ve lost.

Kate: Lost?! What contest were we having?

Roger: The one to see who’s the better kisser.

Kate: …!

This egoist started a contest without even telling me.

Kate: The contest isn’t over yet…

Roger: Nn…Haaa…It’s sloppy, but it feels good. Just kissing you makes me wanna cum.

Kate: That means I win, right?

Roger: Then if I make you come, I win?

Kate: Huh…Nnn

His hot tongue explored my mouth, sending sweet shivers down my spine.

(It feels so good…)

We continued our contest, stealing kisses in an egoistic way—

Just as my mind was about to go blank, Roger suddenly released my lips.

Roger: …

Seeing that smirk on his lips, I realized he was prolonging the contest.

(It’s frustrating…But, I don’t think I’ll ever beat Roger)

Roger: Well, looks like your passionate declaration of love’s woken me up. If you went through all that trouble to save me, then that means I’m needed.

Kate: Tell me what you know. Make it brief if you can.

I unconsciously stared at Roger’s face.

Kate: …

Roger: Hm? What’s up?

Kate: Ah, well… You’re back to your old self, and I was thinking…I’m happy. After all, Roger’s an egoist, proud, and pushes people around!

Roger: Yeah, sure. Is that supposed to be a compliment?

Despite being in a jail cell, we looked at each other and laughed.

(Huh, but…I think I’m forgetting something important?)

…I wouldn’t realize what it was until later.

*Too many times. The chapter’s always open so that I can copy and paste from it. Oh, here comes another flashback to that chapter.

Is Ale safe? Is he alright?

#ikemen villains #ikevil #ikevil jp #ikevil translations #roger barel #ikevil roger #ikevil roger route

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angstylittleb1tch · 2 years ago

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Who am I, to you? (Aether x creator!reader)

Summary: It is an imposter sagau universe where creator!reader escapes from her acolytes to the far corners of Sumeru and decides to start a flower shop but an unexpected guest comes for a visit...

Note: This is my very First Fic EVER. I do admit I'm no master at writing but I'm trying to learn and am open to criticism so please don't hesitate to correct me in my pronunciation, grammar, spelling or knowledge on any mentioned topic. Thanks!

Warnings: Yandere? (If you squint), mentions of swords, vines used as binding equipment (not bdsm you lil shits)

Pt 2

The sky today was just as beautiful as it was every day. Granted it never really changed due to teyvat basically just being zero's and one's but no one but you knew about that so better not to mention it.

Previous to your 'decent' into teyvat, you were just like any other gacha gamer who stumbled upon Genshin by accident and became addicted to it in a short span of time. Naturally, that had let you to explore more about this fandom which had eventually landed you to the sagau corner of Genshin fanfics which is why being teleported or rather isekai'd to teyvat wasn't a very shocking experience.

However, you weren't just going to walk into Mondstadt like the other fanfics, no. You were much calmer and more grounded not to mention clever. Never once were the acolytes alerted of your presence in teyvat as you slowly over the span of a few months made your way to Sumeru, making sure to stay hidden for days on end and to take all the longer but less active routes.

In your first week in Sumeru, you had found out that the traveler had yet to cross paths with the dendro archon and was still in Inazuma, so you had a general idea of where in the timeline you were.

Since you had no family or even proof of birth or existence in teyvat, finding a job was increasingly difficult along with keeping your identity hidden. However, as if you were blessed by some all-knowing power, higher than gods, you encountered an old yet very kind lady who allowed you to live with her at the outskirts of Sumeru so long as you helped her run her little flower shop.

Months passed in the blink of an eye, and you found yourself growing soft towards the lady you grew to see as your own grandmother. She insisted you call her that and you happily obliged. Your trust and love towards her grew so much so that eventually you decided to tell her the truth about your origins and status of creator in this world.

Though shocked at first, she never treated you any differently than before, and appeared to be more understanding of your situation. Both of you lived your life in happiness, away from the world. However due to being cut off from the world you were late to know that the traveler had successfully taken care of the Shouki no Kami and saved Sumeru from the scheming Akademiya.

Neither did you have any idea about how frivolously Aether had been turning teyvat upside down trying to look for you.

Unlike the other acolytes, Aether held a deeper connection with you, the creator. He was the first one you guided and the first to get to know your aura. There was absolutely no way he wouldn't find out about your arrival to teyvat. It was honestly better the others didn't. Imagine if everyone knew the creator was just walking amongst the common folk. That would certainly cause a panic amongst everyone.

He had to find you before the others did. He had to know. He had to see your face in person. One he had seen through the illusion of the sky way too many times before. One he had grown to love.

Yes, Aether was indeed in love with you. He had fallen not too long ago but he had fallen far. How couldn't he? You were just perfect in every way conceivable. Your eyes? Absolutely beautiful, he could have one glance and an eternity would have passed for him. Your smile? Mesmerizing. Oh, what he wouldn't give just to see a glimpse of it. He was sure he'd slay even the mightiest of gods, even Celestia, if it meant he'd be rewarded with one of your smiles.

It was entirely safe to say that when he'd gotten wind that there was a flower shop located at the ends of Sumeru said to house flowers no one had ever seen before, he was beyond intrigued. Especially since some poor soul he saw in Sumeru city had the same flower his sister always wore in her hair just laying around, claiming he bought it from your shop.

Now he just had to figure out what kind of a person would sell such a rare and practically impossible flower to get your hands on so freely. So, without thought, he soon found himself Infront of your little flower shop in the middle of nowhere with his eyes set straight at the door.

He could definitely feel your presence, it was everywhere. The plants, the flowers, the animals and even the air itself felt.... purified. It had to be your work. There was no doubt about it. Even Paimon didn't say a word for once in her life. She was too curious and perhaps a little uneasy at what kind of a deity she was to face now.

Unlike Paimon however, Aether could barely contain himself enough to stand. After a while of trying to gather courage to step in, he finally opened the door and was greeted by a view equivalent to the Fields of Elysium.

The sun rays fell through the windows lighting up the place, vast arrays of flowers were laid bare anywhere the eye could reach, wisteria flowers were hung from the ceiling as if they were growing from the skies above.

Never once before had Aether truly felt at home anywhere before more than here.

"I'll be there in just a second!" A sweet voice called out to him breaking him from his trance. It was you; you were talking to him. Addressing him. Before he could fully fathom what was to happen, you came out from the back of the store finally giving him a full view of your face.

"Hello there, how can I be of help today?" You greeted him.

Despite keeping up your calm, aloof and cheerful persona, you were panicking inside. Never once did you think you would meet him today. Him. Aether. Of course, you knew who he was. If his bright blonde hair wasn't a dead giveaway, then the floating ball of joy next to him definitely shouted out his identity to you.

You wanted to shout, to scream, to go up and crush Aether in a bone wrenching hug. You wanted to tell him how sorry you were for not being able to help him on his journey to find his sister. You wanted to hold him and take all his pain away. You wanted to tell him that you would be there for him.

That you Loved him. That you Love him.

Alas you couldn't, because there was no way in the entirety of teyvat that he would be able to let a stranger do that.

That's all you were to him of course. He didn't know you. There was no way he would. No one knew who you were, otherwise, you wouldn't be alive in this shop right now.

"Uhm hello?" You asked him, finally getting out of your own thoughts and noticing that he had been silent the whole time.

As if something snapped by your words, Aether finally came to his senses and responded,

"Ah! Yes! Oh, hi hello ahem I'm totally not staring."

You chuckled at his nervousness. "Never said you were."

If Aether's cheeks and ears weren't red earlier, they definitely were now. Your laugh was so pretty. He could never get enough of it.

"So, are you looking for any specific flowers? We have tons of variety; some I can assure you've never seen before! If you need, I can recommend you if you're buying for a specific occasion or I could just show you some general-" You smiled as you talked on and rambled about the flowers and Aether wasn't even sure if he was listening.

You looked absolutely ethereal, and Aether was so sure he was in heaven right now or somewhere close to it because archons were you beautiful. Even the Archon of Love would be jealous of your allure.

It's as if you were an enchantress, and in all honestly Aether wouldn't mind if you were, all because of the look you were giving him right now. He was already in cloud 9.

"-and so, I would definitely recommend the peonies. Hey? Are you even listening?"

"Hmm? Oh! Yes of course, Peonies, right? I'll take a bouquet."

"Alright just a moment, by the way, you never told me how you got here? I mean this place is pretty off the map, quite hard to stumble by it."

You knew exactly what you were doing, there was no way Aether just stumbled upon your shop out of nowhere. It was too out of character for him. Was there a reason he came here? Did he know?

"Oh, uhm I was uh recommended! Yes, I saw another traveler I came across in Sumeru own a rather unique flower, so I asked him where he got it, and he told me it was from your shop so here I am."

"I see, what flower was it? If you liked it so much, I could give you a few, consider it on the house."

"Are you sure? It's completely fine, I'll pay for them."

"No, it's alright, you can have them for free, don't worry about it. So which one was it?"

"Ahem, well it's the 'Inteyvat'"

"Oh. That flower.... I see you have an eye for flowers huh."

"Not really, it just... holds sentimental value. How about you, how'd you come across it?"

"Ah well you see, the seeds were given to me by my grandma, i suppose it's a family heirloom."

Both of you knew that neither of you told the entire truth however addressing it would cause a LOT of explanation, one you just weren't ready for, not before your coffee at least.

"So, what did you say your name was again?"

"Why? Are you trying to take me out on a date?"

"Would you say yes if I were?"

"Paimon will pay for the food!"

I guess everyone's a little bold today.

"I'm sorry did I hear that right? You? Paimon? The one who has less mora than Zhongli? Will pay for my date? That is only possible if we're going on a date in my dreams."

"WHY YOU-! Fine! Paimon won't be paying for your food then since you're such a big meanie to Paimon. And excuse you- Paimon isn't broke ok! Infact Paimon is richer than the traveler!"

"Paimon, how many times have I told you, those 'primogems' of yours are not actual currency."

"AGH-! Paimon's had it with you today! First you make Paimon fly the whole way here without telling why and now you're making fun of Paimon! That's it, Paimon is going to tattle to xiangling about how you actually threw away the Black-Back Perch Stew she made for you and only pretended to eat it because you were so full from Sara's cooking!"

You watched stifling your giggles as Aether's Face dropped into a terrified expression.

"NO! I'm sorry Paimon, please don't tell xiangling about that, she will murder me if she finds out. You don't want me dying.... do you?"

"Hmph"

"Please Paimon I'm begging you I don't want to die so young! I'll never make fun of you again! I'll even stop calling you emergency food so please! Anything but xiangling's wrath...."

You just couldn't hold it in anymore. If anything, Aether's pleading added to your amusement, and you burst in a fit of laughs.

Aether had almost forgotten you were here. His gaze turned to you and a smile creeped up his face which soon turned into and embarrassed look as he realized you had front row seats to his predicament.

"Hey! It's not that funny y/n! I'm serious! Stop making fun of me- Oh just great now Paimon's laughing too!" Though Aether was seeming to be embarrassed he was happy he could make you laugh like that.

That was until your smile disappeared from your face as you registered what he said.

"I never told you my name."

Both Aether and Paimon looked at each other as the atmosphere took a turn for the worse. There was no humor in your voice and your face looked cold, completely contradicting your laughs and smiles earlier.

"I- Please let me expla-"

Just as Aether took a single step in your direction vines sprung at him, securing him in his place as they wrapped around him. Paimon tried to pry them off but to no avail. He looked back up towards you but all he saw was a pure black sword pointing at his throat and a dark look in your eyes.

"Who am I, to you."

Well, that went well. I think? I'm still trying to figure out how I want to end this fic but I'm not completely clueless. I will be making a nice lil happy ending though. Anyways if you have any suggestions on how you want this fic to end then I'm open to them. Gosh Writing is hard, my respect for authors just skyrocketed.

Also, just a reminder that THIS IS MY FIRST FIC so please be nice and generous in your criticism otherwise if you don't like it them you can fuck skedaddle right off, Thank you very much.

Anyways, I'm gonna go sleep now It's like 2 am rn and I have to go on a trip in like a day so yeah, until I decide to post the next part fellow beings.

Signing off.

Also, PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT IM BEGGING YOU I NEED TO KNOW IF THIS WORK IS EQIVALENT OF SHIT OR IF ITS ACTUALLY DECENT.

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zahri-melitor · 6 months ago

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The thing that actually most frustrates me about Damian's pets is not only that it's turned into a gratuitous menagerie that only show up en masse because it's now turned into 'Damian likes animals, give him another pet' without considering how many he already has, but that the basis of a good story already existed before we ended up where we are today.

The problem is that we wouldn't be in the situation we are today with them if not for Grant Morrison.

Because look, if you read Batman and Robin 2011 on its own, Tomasi and Gleason do a solid job of using Titus as a route to demonstrate Damian's growing responsibility and ability to show affection and connect with Bruce. Titus is explicitly framed as a responsibility, as 'a boy and his dog', and one dog around the Wayne household is pretty common (usually an Ace). It's the opening steps to more story about Damian trusting others.

If Damian loved animals and stopped to play with kittens in alleys and just had Titus at home, we wouldn't be in this situation.

Bat-Cow, and honestly Alfred the Cat, are what caused the problem.

Bat-Cow as a concept is inherent Silver Age ridiculousness (what a surprise from Morrison), but also Damian saving a milking cow who is being sent to an abattoir is far more of a demonstration of what we end up getting, which is what looks like a possessive level of hoarding. Damian not only saves the cow, but wants it installed in the Cave, even though that is a terrible environment to keep a cow in, and there's very little point in having a cow living on the Wayne property. And what annoys me more is that nobody will let the cow just quietly disappear off panel never to reappear again (she's at least now been on a 'farm' since Joker War and Bruce losing Wayne Manor).

Alfred the Cat irritates me in that he's just a duplicate story to Titus, only done with less effort and entirely because Grant Morrison never reads anyone else's work AND Morrison wanted to give Damian a pet to humanise him right before killing him off. Alfred is a narrative device and annoys me because a good editor would have had Morrison just use Titus instead, who could have hit very similar beats, rather than Damian acquiring three separate pets in just over a year of comics, right before dying (and as far as Morrison was concerned, dying permanently). A pet is for life, not just a reward because you're getting killed.

And from there on, it's just turned into 'oh Damian likes animals!' so we get Goliath and Jerry the Turkey (who I believe recently emigrated to main canon in the last few years rather than being in Lil Gotham). And the story doesn't know what to do with so many animals, so they disappear entirely aside from occasional art cameos, Super-Pets stories, and about one story beat ever 3-5 years. He's endlessly going through the story of 'why' he acquired a pet to humanise him, rather than being humanised by playing with a long term pet.

There's also a narrative problem where we never actually ever see Damian caring for his animals (outside of Titus and occasionally Alfred the Cat), but what scenes we do get of people looking after the animals are all scenes of Alfred and Bruce checking in on them because Damian's not available. So while the dialogue in those scenes tends to be 'oh Damian would normally be doing this but'... we don't see Damian doing it. We only see Alfred and Bruce doing it. Or Maya, who's looking after Goliath. And given how often Damian runs off to find himself on an island, a lot of that pet care over the years has been from Alfred and Bruce, because he's not been living at home.

And yes, there's also the issue that Damian And His Pets is rather similar to the self-centred position Damian has on his various clones. He considers his clones his brothers; but the narrative is frequently setting that up in a manner that suggests this is grace that Damian especially extends to them because they are his clones. It's not really grappling with the concepts of extending that care and humanism to people or animals that are not 'his'.

It's just endlessly frustrating to me, because if Damian just had Titus, I think both Titus would appear on panel more often (and thus have more narrative use), and there would be the potential to build further plots out from Titus, if writers wanted to explore the themes around what pet ownership can demonstrate.

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yuseirra · 4 months ago

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(Vague..hints about what 165 would be, I heard about it, I'm...scared to see that chapter. It sounds really horrifying, I can't phrase it otherwise.)

I think I'm going to jot down my feelings. I honestly feel so, so sorry for people who like this manga..; on the bright side it's been a work that's...imbued things in me to write and draw this much about myself but I wish that'd only have happened on a positive note.

I think the author is really being too much..;; They're being so cruel. For what? Can this story get across a proper message? That's what's most important to me and I can take it if I'm convinced it is but... This current route is so far from what most audience would believe as fulfilling or.. Feel happy about seeing. Unless this is fake and the last chapter has some sort of happy closure to it all.

I started reading onk after the anime came out last year and kept up with it, ordering the volumes and reading them. After Chapter 154 and listening to the opening for Season 2, I just thought, “Ah, this is what it is… This is it.” (If you read my oldest? theory posts about this work, this July, you’d know what I mean. I think I’ve figured it all out, and so far, nothing I’ve said back then has been disproven; on the contrary, it STILL makes the most sense.)

I have myself an idea of what this could be, but unless Ruby uses Amaterasu’s power to save everyone and bring them into a happy timeline in the final chapter, this is just...;;

Haha, seriously, this is... phew...

It’s true that Ai and the person she really loved had mutual feelings, but that person went completely insane and caused some incredibly serious issues, forcing Aqua to go after him with everything he had.

From how things are unfolding, I think these points have been confirmed.

We also learned that person was originally good enough to be called noble<I feed off this info like cow eats grass... That's the thing that keeps me going lol Kamiki is nuts...oh please...I really care for him

We know Aqua had a mission assigned from the gods.

For Ruby’s future, he had to capture their father, and this task required him to put everything he built in the story so far on the line.

I kind of understood this? Even if accepting it is a different matter.

No matter how important revenge is in Aqua’s narrative... it’s like, what should I even say? Kamiki ended up devouring Aqua’s story to such an extent that the latter part of the story feels overshadowed by him, and yet Kamiki hasn’t been explored in enough depth for that.

For those following Aqua, this progression feels incredibly harsh. Even if you were rooting for Aqua, the villain he’s up against should be properly fleshed out. Kamiki is full of gaps everywhere. Maybe some parts are intentionally hidden, but what they’ve done feels too much like a Deus ex Machina.

The things he’s been said to have done aren’t even within the realm of what an ordinary human could achieve, it's beyond logic. So unless he’s literally a god, it doesn’t make sense. That’s why I kept insisting he’s divine. When you look at the clues related to his character, there’s actual foreshadowing that supports this theory. If he isn’t, then nothing makes sense. I even wrote a post as soon as Fatal dropped. I just knew THAT had to be it.

There are so many actions he took that can’t be explained unless he’s something beyond human, things that even gods would need to intervene in, assigning missions to Aqua and Ruby. That’s the development that makes the most sense.

Even so, this plot is too much for fans who have loved and followed this series.

I kind of get it, but for fans who have been deeply attached and following this work(this includes me too), the final chapter… Even if there’s something to look forward to, it doesn’t seem like it’ll be worth getting your hopes up. And I'm usually a very hopeful person. It feels like the author wanted to try writing an ending like this, but even then, this... The last 10 chapters or so feel like they consumed all the preceding content.

If Kamiki had been more prominently featured and well-developed, that might have been different (I probably analyzed him more than anyone else out there, because there wasn’t much to go on, and I tried to understand what kind of person he was, filling in the gaps to infer his behavior and motives since his perspective was never shown). But Kamiki, who isn’t as well-developed as Aqua, now holds a weight in the story that makes Aqua sacrifice everything he’s built. I really wish they did both characters justice. I really liked them both.

In that case, he needs to be an unimaginably terrible villain. From what spoilers suggest, what he’s done is indeed severe. But if Ai truly loved such a person, and that’s flipped with the limited remaining chapters, the story becomes trash... Haha. Then what’s the point? I don’t know. That, I really don't wish nor see being contradicted.

Kamiki was kind but lost his mind. (Him being kind is something I never want to give up till the end. I just see it REALLY well too.) So he did a lot of things, I get that. But can something of this scale really happen in modern society, to the point where the protagonist must sacrifice their life?

If so, shouldn’t there be some justification brought in from outside the story to make it convincing? Hence, Kamiki is essentially a god, as suggested by his very name. He was a noble god who fell. There’s enough context, hints, and foreshadowing to support that. He was exposed to malevolence from a young age and became tainted by it. He probably did love Ai, which is why he wielded his power so recklessly, driven by madness to reunite with her.

But even with this, there’s hardly any explanation. Why he went mad, what he did with his life—it’s all glossed over in a few panels. If he’s the villain that the protagonist *must* defeat, there should have been more depth and depiction to fuel that narrative, but it’s incredibly ambiguous. The story just throws a few lines at us and expects us to believe, “He could do all this, so the protagonist had to die,” and that’s it. (That's why... I'm not really sure if they make it want to seem like he's THE bad guy either. Since it's rarely explored in detail so we can't sympathize with the victims if they exist and...hate this guy even more for it. That approach I agree with, because it shouldn't be that way if this story wants a message. But who knows. Scary stuff; it just makes you baffled and dumbfounded and go, "what is this?";; Again, it'd make me question, 'What kind of guy did Ai even love?' I do have my own answers for that. He's her previous divine husband who became hopelessly flawed upon losing her, THAT'S what, so it's not on HIM that he's turned out that way. But who knows.)

Do you think that’s convincing...?💦 I’m filling in the blanks myself, but this feels too much. Whether the final chapter is 50 pages or 100 pages, it can’t wrap this up properly unless Ruby turns back time to save everyone and bring them happiness. I’ve heard there are about 50 pages for 166, but isn’t that just two chapters’ worth? It’s basically the same as a double issue, and given how little content there’s been in recent chapters, even if they combine two, I don’t think it’ll be impactful.

I genuinely feel sorry for the fans of this series. Does this development make sense to you? I’m so baffled that I can’t help but laugh when I think about the plot. It’s not even funny; it’s just painful to watch. How many people would have wanted this kind of ending? I once wrote that over 70% of fans might end up hating the conclusion, that I have a bad feeling about the writer having some kind of personal ambition to create a "twist" and experiment on it out of their artistic desires - and if it ends like this, they probably will. It's not like I didn't see it coming. I did tell all the others who came to read this work upon reading my fanworks to wait until it's complete, there are some things I really appreciate about it, but I wasn't sure it'd progress on your usual, happy and safe route. It could have been that way. The answers were all there. There were many opportunities where there were chances of this story getting an ending many would be satisfied with,

And if I’m wrong about everything I’ve said here, I’ll be just as lost. I really won’t understand any of it. But I’m confident I’m right.

The traits of Kamiki match those of the husband of Ame-no-Uzume in at least ten ways. That god even had a story that said he drowned.(but if he really died, that's ambiguous and he is worshipped pretty well along with his beloved Amenouzume)That's just too much to be brushed off as coincidence, he's at least INSPIRED from that god.

I believe he was originally very kind. I can’t let go of that idea, because it’s been evident to me, and it sticks in my mind. But if that’s true, then this is the story of someone who was kind but went mad, and a son who became a vengeful spirit after his mother’s death. The mother, worrying about the father, left what was almost like a final wish: “If your father is still straying, won’t you help him with me?” But the son kills his father, thinking there’s no hope for him, and ends up dying himself in the process. If that’s really the story, then how... how can there be any positive message to take away from this?

I think I understand what’s going on. I think I do... but the story has been so unfriendly and, as a result, feels disrespectful to fans who have loved the series.

I'm actually thinking: if Kamiki IS Sarutahiko the god of guidance who's been TWISTED due to making EVERY possibilities of a future turn horribly wrong, are we WITNESSING his powers in real time?? Is THIS an extension of what he's capable of? because, I feel like.. He's been bringing sufferings to everyone including himself. Oh in that case I'd totally understand his pain. He really would be suffering. And he's THAT dangerous. What if this comic is being really meta, huh?? I think he doesn't want this either. Losing Ai just.. Totally shattered him I bet. But seeing how things are, I think it could really have been his powers that caused her to die in the first place, unintentionally though. I won't forgive the author if HE'S the one who's killed Ai AND he's been doing all these things in order to get her back afterwards, that is just...so rude. It has no point...

There’s still one chapter left, and I know it’s not right to make a judgment prematurely, but if things go on like this, it’s truly too much...; I genuinely feel bad for those who have loved this work wholeheartedly. And for myself... if it doesn’t end as I’ve thought, then I’ve been completely mistaken, haha. But I came into this with confidence, not about Aqua’s side of things(I thought HIM out of all should get a happy ending. I still wish for that to happen), but about what the story wanted to convey through Aqua’s parents. I believed there could be a meaningful message despite how difficult it seemed, so I took the initiative and interpreted it, drew a lot. If I’m wrong, I can only blame my insight... The story itself never changed; it just stayed there. But I was confident. I’ve never been wrong when it comes to instincts or analyses related to psychology. I thought I knew what this was...

I hope this work gets resolved in a way that is respectful towards its fans whom really cared for the series...they-we-deserve that as much as the authors deserve respect. We're in this together as a fan and the writers. We should care about each other.

#oshi no ko #oshi no theories #oshi no ko spoilers #hikaru kamiki #aqua hoshino #for the time being...the ones I feel most sorry for are the aqua fans and kana fans #next in line would be hikaru fans(ugghh...I guess I really liked what I made of him. I still don't think I'm wrong but)#spoilers #if hikaru looks bad..I don't think ai would be in that good of a spot either idk man #that's why they have to be gods #I just..see him as one. that guy..is not a normal human being. what he can do is illogical #I think he really did grant ruby and aqua's wishes-that's why he came to visit them! ge just couldn't live without Ai #long post

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dbgdbw · 10 months ago

Text

530.Party In Progress (3)

파티 중 (3)

‘Aigo, I’m dying….’

As soon as I entered the break room, I collapsed face-first onto the sofa. Approaching me, Gyeolie and Peace asked me if I was okay. Of course, in Peace’s case, it was him going ‘ki-yang.’ Responding with an affirmative, I dragged over a cushion to wedge under my head, and settled into a comfortable laying-down position.

‘...definitely took some of the wind out of my sails.’

Though I’d done what I could to try and prep in advance, there was very little that I could actually get involved in. While the lawyers on our side had made a conscientious effort to explain things to me in simple terms during our discussion, that side had, obviously, extended no such courtesy. And on top of that, the corresponding paperwork had only been generated in English, as though it were de facto procedure. Though I had been provided with a translation, when they had zero qualms about barrelling right ahead in English, I’d repeatedly been left scrambling in the dust while looking for the relevant text, having missed my window of opportunity.

On the other hand, their lawyers were capable of reading Korean without any difficulties. So why couldn’t we just use Korean then! Of course, they would hardly entertain the prospect of giving up an advantage, but.

- Appa, are you very tired?

- 끼앙.

“No, it’s just that… It really is a whole ‘nother ball game when it comes to expertise on a subject matter, huh.”

The baseline itself was a different animal altogether. Though team lead Kim-nim had mentioned at the beginning that this was why you have a lawyer on retainer, to handle these types of things, and that there’s no need for Director Han-nim to be overly concerned about the proceedings. Well, they were the experts for a reason. Even those experts would probably feel out of their depths like I was, if it was outside of their respective wheelhouses.

Even so, I wondered if it would be better for me to pick up English. On second thought, relying on Myungwoo and the Newcomer was probably the more efficient route……. Why didn’t people just speak a universal language. In this era of globalization, we should be able to dialogue together. In Korean.

- Feels like a fever, maybe.

The fairy dragon said, pressing a tiny hand against my forehead.

“Probably ‘cause I’ve been preoccupied by a few things. It’s alright.”

How many hours on end had I been trapped there, anyway. It had started in the morning, and it was nearly dinnertime, now. Nor had matters been squared away; it really was ludicrous. This was why it was called ‘an endurance contest’, I supposed. Once lunch had ticked over and things had bled over into the afternoon, the accumulated fatigue had meant that my brain couldn’t even function properly anymore. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have opted to send me away earlier. ‘We’ll finish up for now, then, and resume tomorrow’… Though, it probably had been about time to wrap things up.

Honestly, wasn’t it insane. How many pages upon pages of red tape were they planning on generating, when the source material itself could be summed up so briefly. It seemed that they were hell-bent on producing a several-thousand word count book from what amounted to a single sheet of paperwork. Scary, lawyers were really scary. A type of scary that even a fear-resistance attribute couldn’t work against.

Gyeolie, who had been looking me over, picked up a phone that had been laying on the table. Seeing him appearing to covet the phone that belonged to Peace, I’d prepared a phone for Gyeolie, too. It was a flip phone, to make it easy to use even in his fairy dragon form. With the phone half-opened to support itself on top of the table, he began fiddling with it with a surprising ease.

- That bad guy is supposed to be released today, I saw.

“I’d mentioned no internet-surfing allowed, hadn’t I.”

- I only saw it because it was a headline, appa.

Even if I’d given him the phone, should I have blocked off the internet access on it first. Since, unlike Peace, Gyeolie could read Korean. Fishing out my phone, too, I skimmed over the files I’d received, that I had sorted away for later. There was heavy discourse regarding the matter of compensation, as well as the numerous added conditions.

‘Direct requests of sacrifice from participants will not be permitted.’

This, too, was a new motion that had been introduced. It had been either Sung Hyunjae or Noah-ssi who had brought up the topic. It meant that, for example, the creation of a scenario where being unable to proceed unless one of the participants was dead would be prohibited. It was a measure designed to protect the physically weaker party members who would be at a disadvantage in such a situation, e.g. an F-rank–namely, myself. And there was another thing.

‘Participants may not be conferred disadvantages based on majority vote.’

Another addendum that had been introduced for my benefit. Though I may have had a few allies in the other contestants, when it came to the potential of an audience vote, well. Just imagining it was enough to make my eyes water.

‘It was a good decision to let them handle it instead, after all.’

With the slightest misstep, we might’ve ended up reduced to tatters before the first half was even concluded. And despite having labored as industriously as we had to expose and counter these hostile conditions, we couldn’t afford to let our guards down yet, still. Savvy individuals who possessed a deft hand at exploiting the loopholes in regulations kept popping up, and being on the offensive was infinitely easier than being the one rebuffing those attempts.

Just then, the door opened, and Sung Hyunjae stepped inside. His hair neatly slicked back, wearing glasses, and dressed in a far more sedate suit than his typical garbs–rather than a guild leader, he resembled someone who worked in the legal field. Specializing in corporate law, particularly. Setting the right tone was important, when it came to something like this, was what he’d said, or something. Of course, it would have been far more convenient to simply force them to cave via the pressure exerted by an S-rank’s aura, but that method was obviously a no-go.

“Looks totally like a, whatd’you call it.”

- A total dweeb.

Gyeolie sneered, sniggering. And just where had you picked up a word like that, huh.

“Your coloring has yet to recover, I see.”

As Sung Hyunjae began to approach, Gyeolie snapped his phone shut and flung himself in Sung Hyunjae’s path, as though to protect me. Peace, who had been lying at the foot of the sofa, lifted his head as well.

- Peace-yah, bite him!

- 그르릉.

Peace regarded Sung Hyunjae with a look of displeasure, but made no move to bite him.

“As things presently stand, it will likely prove beneficial for you to partake in this.”

Saying so, Sung Hyunjae held out the box he’d been carrying towards me. He wouldn’t have been able to leave and come back in that short span of time, so had he ordered some underling to pick it up for him, then. Placating Gyeolie as he pitched a fit, I opened up the box. An assortment of macarons in various colors had been delicately stacked inside.

“Here, Gyeol-ah.”

- Gyeolie can’t be won over by this kind of cheap ploy. Though I’ll eat it still, ‘cause it’s from appa.

Responding tartly, Gyeolie took the mint colored macaron handed to him. Sweets work a treat to take the edge off of fatigue, no, Sung Hyunjae said, taking a seat while pulling off his glasses. Like Noah-ssi, rather than being an indicator of poor eyesight, the glasses he wore were a preventative measure for their advanced sight. Since his vision wasn’t as sharp as Noah-ssi’s, he typically forgoed their use; but because today, we’d be spending all day pouring over an endless flow of words, well.

Owing to that, not only Noah-ssi and Sung Hyunjae, but Section Chief Song-nim and Hyuna-ssi had all ended up modeling glasses. Even if they weren’t a necessary measure, it was still more comfortable than going without, or something. Yoohyunie seemed to own a pair as well, and it occurred to me that I should probably pick out a set for Yerimie, too. Once she hit her third year of high school(1), wouldn’t Yerimie become deeply entrenched in her studies. Though there was a chance she’d decide to opt out, I supposed.

“I had hoped to petition for indirect sacrifices to be barred as well, in addition to the direct demands for sacrifice, in truth.”

“It stands to reason that it would broaden the parameters beyond an acceptable threshold in that case though, sir. Then, even in a situation as innocuous as presenting two biscuits to two individuals, it could be argued that they had been coerced into a situation where one of them had been indirectly forced to make a sacrifice by proxy–something like that.”

“As, ordinarily, both persons would simply take one each to resolve the matter, but you–Han Yoojin, lad–would not.”

“I do plan to make use of them as well, sir.”

“And if the biscuit in question were capable of raising one’s stats, and it so happened that either the young master or the little lady were by your side?”

“That’s, well… One of them eating it instead would result in better long-term returns, objectively speaking.”

That was the truth, wasn’t it. Rather than a shortsight attempt at raising my own measly stats to E-rank or D-rank, it would be far more constructive to be able to boost Yoohyunie or Yerimie to SS-rank instead. Sung Hyunjae looked at me with a ‘see, what did I say’ sort of expression. The fuck, it really was the most logical route of action, though.

“Particularly with that sort of mark branding your throat, mind.”

Reflexively, I touched my neck. I’d left the vibrant bruising there in full view, as though openly inviting Chatterbox’s delegates to drink in their fill. Since it was evidence of the damage I’d suffered, as a result of Chatterbox’s actions.

“...I’ve already gotten an earful from the others on the matter, sir, thank you very much.”

“But even then, lad–you’ll simply repeat the same pattern when confronted with the same scenario, I imagine.”

“Truth be told, though, it really was a golden opportunity–isn’t that right, sir. And it was nothing dangerous, at that.”

- …appa, don’t force me to side with that thing.

Gyeolie groused, face screwed up in a petulant look; and, skin-crawlingly enough, Sung Hyunjae gave a most benevolent smile.

“Sung-Han–”

- AAAAAAAAAHH! ACK! ACK! ACK!

Gyeolie flung the remaining half of the macaron at Sung Hyunjae at full force. Easily catching the offending macaron, Sung Hyunjae simply held it back out to Gyeolie in a seemingly kindly way. Squawking angrily, the fairy dragon made a beeline towards the far side of my shoulder, away from Sung Hyunjae.

“I believe I’d asked that you refrain from antagonizing him, sir.”

“Simply a display of my charitability, wouldn’t you say. In fact–I’ve acquiesced to accept but a measly return on its inclusion, no. As part of my team.”

I could hear the faint sound of Gyeolie’s pained whinging. Good grief.

“I’ve yet to give my assent to it as his guardian, sir. Gyeolie doesn’t have to be involved, alright?”

Though Chatterbox wasn’t part of the Benign King’s faction, you never knew. He might end up becoming more curious about the fairy dragon’s unique existence. And on top of that, Gyeolie’d had a hand in the Benign King’s death as well… Had it been up to me, I absolutely would’ve ordered him to stay away from this, but Gyeolie could be stubborn as anything. He’d mentioned that me being forced to go by myself, was even more reason for him to follow along.

At first, he’d insisted that he could pretend to be a pet dragon, rather than a party member, in order to be allowed to accompany me. Though it wouldn’t have been possible anyway, on account of the invitation counting each dragonkin as an ‘individual’ as well.

“Director Han-nim, you doing alright?”

As the door swung open again, Moon Hyuna, then Song Taewon stepped into the break room as well.

“And Noah-ssi, ma’am?”

“He’s seeing Chatterbox’s envoys off. Volunteered for the role, saying it’d be better off to have him do it, than making Section Chief Song-nim.”

During the proceedings, Noah-ssi had displayed a diplomatic side that was leaps and bounds beyond my expectations, all considered. The French Hunter world displayed similarities to the Anglo-American one, after all; and in his capacity as the Vice Guild Leader to Liette, he’d been exposed to a vast amount of literature regarding legal proceedings, apparently. Practically speaking, he probably stood on par with Sung Hyunjae when it came to Korean(2) Hunters who could parley on even ground with the Hunters from that side.

Liette, well… Likely hadn’t seen a point in resolving matters with litigation, probably. Which meant that Noah-ssi was likely to have been burdened all the more, as a result.

“And what’s Sung Hyunjae gone and said now, to get our little dragon all puffed up like this.”

“I was in the midst of proposing to Director Han Yoojin-nim, you see.”

“Hyung-nim, someone who sees fit to pursue a person not even in the ballpark of their own zodiac cycle, is low-life scum.”(3)

Wearing a smile, Moon Hyuna took a seat next to me.

“He's barking mad, clearly. Though I am thirty, that matter aside.”

“That so? What d’you think about a younger partner, in that case?”

What was with the abrupt–, …then, my eyes locked with Hyuna-ssi’s. A smile still playing on her lips, her eyes slowly scanned down my person. ‘A younger partner’–that was to say–since I’d just mentioned being thirty, what she meant was……. Suddenly, it felt like the back of my neck had been set ablaze.

“Ah, c’mon, sir–I’ve said that you shouldn’t tease me like this, haven’t I.”

“Don’t like it, then?”

“I’m not opposed, but… At any rate. Ah, honestly.”

I got that it was just joking around, but it was still bad for my heart. When Hyuna-ssi was looking at me with that face, wearing that sort of expression, and talking about younger partners……..

“That’s right–Section Chief Song-nim seemed incredibly adept at navigating foreign Hunter laws as well. I was slightly taken aback.”

“...there had been a precedent set that necessitated familiarity with the subject matter.”

Song Taewon spoke, a sigh mingling with his words. Ah, so it had been because of Sung Hyunjae. As Sung Hyunjae made a quip about Section Chief Song-nim certainly being particularly adroit, playing the ‘I’m completely oblivious’ card, Moon Hyuna guffawed.

“Section Chief Song-nim definitely ended up taking the brunt of it, when Sung Hyunjae first began stirring up trouble overseas. There was even an instance when I gave them a lift on my private plane, in fact.”

“You had, Hyuna-ssi?”

“I’d needed to tend to a matter, and our paths happened to coincide along the way, y’see. And in the face of an incident caused by Sung Hyunjae, what could a poor government worker or Hunter Association staff member possibly hope to do to mitigate things, especially if they’re not an S-rank. So it all fell to Section Chief Song-nim, when it was all said and done. He used to be real adorable, back then. It might’ve only been for a brief period, but there was a time where even he used to wear the dazed expression of a lost child, too, would you believe?”

My apologies to Section Chief Song-nim, but I kind of wanted to be an audience to it, too. The first time Section Chief Song-nim had had to venture overseas on account of Sung Hyunjae–it must’ve been an incredibly disorienting time, being forced to meander like that.

“Hyuna-ssi, your English skills seemed to be outstanding as well.”

As Yoohyunie had ended up having to go on a Dungeon raid he’d been putting off, Yerimie had been projected to accompany me, alongside Noah-ssi. But saying unnie, I’ll conduct the Dungeon raid for you instead!, she had requested Hyuna-ssi look after me as a proxy.

“Despite the current state of my affairs, I’d received a lot of love calls from overseas too, y’know. Pre-Awakening, I mean.”

“...should I be applying myself as well, then, after all.”

“There’s no downside to it, really. And it’s fine to leave it to others for now, but you really should consider university still.”

Moon Hyuna spoke solemnly.

“Things being what they are, it’s a good idea for you to enroll. Feel free to push it off a while longer if the Party doesn’t pan out well, but barring that–unless you’ll face pushback for going, you should absolutely start attending.”

Saying that I should at least make an effort to begin preparations in spite of the year having nearly drawn to a close, she slung an arm around my shoulders.

“People may not be capable of achieving perfection, but it’s still a good idea to minimize the number of flaws one possesses. If you can whittle ‘em down, then you should reduce ‘em.”

“There’ll be talks of preferential treatment, most likely.”

“That’s all temporary. And besides, Hyung-nim is plenty deserving of preferential treatment, I reckon.”

Well, that’s. Should I actually be considering enrolling for real then, after all. Though there was still a bit of time left before the new year rolled over, it already felt anxiety-inducing. When was the cutoff for university applications, again. The testing season was over, so would it be around the time deposits were due, right now? They said that a lot of places had an open enrollment ongoing, nowadays. Because Yoohyunie had Awakened before hitting his third year of high school, I was murky on the details.

In the meanwhile, Noah-ssi had slipped into the break room as well.

“Noah-ssi, you’ve been working very hard.”

“Ah, it’s no trouble at all. And Yoojin-ssi, you’ve been exerting yourself a fair bit as well.”

Noah-ssi, too, had cleaned up nicely in a business suit. It fit him like a glove, honestly. To be frank, the term ‘nobility’ seemed to apply perfectly in this instance. And even then, he’d been as cutthroat as anything in the midst of actual negotiations. Once again, I felt immensely grateful for Noah-ssi’s involvement with the rearing facility.

But backtracking a bit–if I did come to enroll in university, did that mean Noah-ssi and I would end up becoming year-mates(4)?

“As it has been announced that the parameters for the Party are set to be released in three days’ time, please make certain to have concluded your preparations by then.”

Song Taewon informed all of us.

“The event location will be announced shortly, tomorrow.”

We’d received word ahead of time, through a representative. The place where Chatterbox’s party was set to take place was none other than the United States. I’d entertained the possibility, on account of all the threads leading back to that place, but to think it really would be held in the U.S..

“Hunter Sung Hyunjae–has Hunter Liette’s participation in this matter been confirmed?”

“Just so. Seeing as an SS-rank bow hangs in the balance, I imagine.”

“Section Chief Song-nim, would you be granted leave for this, sir? The U.S. is quite far, after all.”

“In light of Hunter YoonYoon’s presence, I believe it will be permitted.”

“Ah, that’s true.”

Since, even if it was taking place in the U.S., he could make it back to Korea in the blink of an eye. Then, it seemed YoonYoon would be making an excursion out to the United States, too. He probably hadn’t gone to the U.S. before, right? And it would be my first time there too, of course.

A brief discussion regarding the situation at hand stretched on for a bit longer, before it was decided that we should turn in early for the negotiations that would continue the following day.

And then, three days later, the details of Chatterbox’s Party were finally released.

- - - - -

(1) this would be senior year of hs (~entrance exam period) for her, bc of the way korea’s educational system is laid out:

(2) yoojin makes it a point to identify noah, kang soyoung, and sung hyunjae as ‘korean Hunters’ re: their legal statuses/citizenship ambiguity (respectively), which is why he deliberately categorizes them as ‘domestic’ Hunters instead of ‘foreign’ whenever the subject comes up

(3) mha once again calling shj out on his questionable conduct, even if he’s being facetious in this instance, by framing it with the zodiac mention to put things in perspective:

because it mirrors situations frequently created by korean men in positions of power irl:

remember how both moon hyuna and yoojin pointed out shj’s ‘people collector’ hobby as being a distasteful facet of his personality? and shj himself mentioning how his attention wandered towards yoojin in the first place because of a prior interest in yoohyunie, until yh didn’t give him the reaction he wanted–which then evolved into inserting himself with yj for leverage instead, after finding out his connection to yh/yj’s potential usefulness. shj’s intervention turns out to be benevolent for narrative purposes, yes, but it’s a deliberate subversion of expectations because of how contrary it is:

the point i’m making–the author is repeatedly identifying shj’s one-sided ‘forced affection’ towards yoojin to be a negative trait in-verse, as that’s how it’s intended to be perceived by the audience, because a good amount their interactions are largely a portrayal of how power+age differentials get abused in korea’s confucian society, particularly when people (including readers) dismiss yoojin’s genuine discomfort in various scenes. ‘it’s the implication,’ as background social commentary for the intended audience. that's why mha also segues into talking about the importance of yj continuing his education, too.

similar situations come up frequently enough in korea, after all:

+ more on ‘sponsorships’ in footnotes for ch197

(4) footnote on 동기 in ch203

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dearweirdme · 7 months ago

Note

Heeyy!

Squatting your asks and straying away from the usual topics of these days' discussions cause I've been deep into SKZ content lately and I want opinions about something (please bear with me, this is going to be long but this ask is about taekook).

It came out like two days ago that Minsung (Han and Lee Know) are now living together, just the two of them. The rest of the members are also divided in teams of two in new dorms, so, in itself, it may not seem huge, but it is, because it's Minsung and if those two are not real then nobody is.

And how do I know that? Because honestly they've said so themselves. And so did their members. From calling the other their boyfriend/husband (or call themselves the other's bf/hubby) and releasing a very romantic duet together where the lyrics are a declaration of love, to their maknae justifying himself for sharing a room with them with "there was a time I really couldn't read the room" and the rest of group (especially Hyunjin) always mocking those two sappy asses.

Could it be all just fanservice? Nah, not all of it, no way. And frankly, all the power to them, I'm so happy for my obviously very very gay and very very in love boys, they just became the embodiment of "and they were roommates", but it got me thinking.

Because Minsung gets away with a lot. I've listed a few examples, there are honestly way more that I can't be bothered to cite right now, where their behaviour or what they say, taken at face value, in official content, is at best questionable or just outwright outing. And yet, nothing. JYPE doesn't really push or highlight them (which undermines the fanservice theory, in that sense they're not really a traditional kpop ship like jikook or woosan can be), but they don't shy away from them either. They just seem to... let them be. Counting on the fact maybe that it will not be picked up on at a worrying level.

In a way, they operate how Kpop companies have always operated on the matter. That is, not acknowledge a thing and count on people's willfull blindness and heteronormativity to explay away or diminish suspicious moments and set the general narrative. Throw in fanservice and "queerbaiting" to mess with people (hi Super Junior) and you obtain an industry where you can somewhat be open while always existing within the confines of plausible deniability (of course this is way more complex that this but let's summarize and, in the end, I truly think people underestimate how actually queer Kpop is).

Circling back to Minsung, that's also how you get people insisting to hell and back that those two are just friends while the only thing basically they haven't done to confirm their relationship is make out on a live.

But then, and I'm finally getting to the point of my ask (sorry for the time it took)... WTF happened with taekook?

I can't for the life of me understand BH's strategy on this. To not push their ship publicly once it got evident in private that they had a situationship, sure, makes sense. But why go to these lengths to separate them, to the point that people noticed it??

I honestly believe there was some kind of streisand effect with taekook, where a lot of people's tipping point for believing in them was precisely the fact that BH did their best to keep them apart, even resorting to frankly questionable methods (hi Burn the Stage editing).

Had they just let them live and be, would there have been as many taekookers as there are? Would Tae and Kookie's interactions have been so thoroughly analyzed instead of being considered the expression of a good friendship with some fanservice thrown in there?

Why not go the usual kpop route? Minsung are but the last names on a long list of queer idols and kpop labels fine with them existing under the radar. Why not imitate them? Why adopt a strategy that in a lot of ways backfired? It baffles me.

So yeah, if you have thoughts on this, please share. Others too. And sorry for this long ass convoluted ask, this whole thing has been going on in my mind for the few past days.

Hi @syneepsis !

I had to think on this a bit, because I know very little about Straykids and Minsung. You are kinda asking me to compare, but lack of knowledge prevents me from doing so. But, ofcourse I do have some thoughts and ramblings.

I’m a big believer in things standing on their own. Taekook and Minsung are from different bands, with different people in charge, in slightly different timelines. Straykids debuted after BTS, which might’ve been a factor (people tend to learn from what they see). Tae and Jk’s characters probably differ from Han and Lee know, which might also make a difference. All in all… so many different variables, which combined or on their own might explain why things seem different.

As for why I feel BH went as hard as they did. I think they are driven by money and power. Which is not abnormal for a music company. It doesn’t even matter much what their actual bond with BangPd is/was, I think in any case the fear of a possible scandal standing in the way of BTS’s success was reason enough for the company to set these boundaries for them.

Imo Tae and Jk’s relationship started when they were finally getting bigger. They had a hard start, being with a company who almost went bankrupt. It’s my understanding that people were already looking down on BTS because they were with a small company, a queer scandal might’ve actually ended their careers (or at least that’s what the company thought). I think when their relationship became known, the company felt that was a risk to undo what they had invested in. It’s very possible imo that feelings of resentment were also present.. but that’s going very deep into speculation and I believe the fear of a possible scandal would have already been enough to make them be harsh.

I do think they went extra hard and could have possibly toned it down. The way it appeared to us might’ve also been a combination of both the company’s rules and Tae and Jk’s own fears of discovery though. When you feel the eyes of a huge public on you and you actually see fandom discuss the way you stare at each other.. that might make you scared.

“Had they just let them live and be, would there have been as many Taekookers as there are?” I think there would have been way less Jkkrs for sure 😂. It’s hard to say, without coming out (which I think is a definite no in today’s Sk society) i think some kind of hiding would still have taken place. Tae and Jk are very physically close, the way they move around each other, the way they drift to each other.. it’s pretty hard not to see. We’ve been talking about how obviously Tae has singled Jk out.. imagine there being no limits.. it would become super obvious to many many people I think. Even now, we’re at a point where non-tkkrs kinda scramble to make sense of the Hawaii post without calling it fanservice. Imagine Jk not holding back and him talking like ‘I went skydiving with Tae’ instead of ‘i went skydiving’.

There will always be a huge part of army who will always go ‘they’re straight’ and maybe that would have been enough cover.. I don’t know. But I think in the eyes of the company, that was a risk they did not want to take.

#taekook #Taekook analysis #not sure this was helpful 😂

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gascon-en-exil · 1 month ago

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With the jock studio video in mind, and what you said about it having more robust gameplay, I was wondering. What's the VN that you think would benefit the most from having more gameplay, or even being attached to another genre? Likewise, is there any game where you felt the gameplay detracts from it and it would work better as a visual novel?

It's tough for me to answer this, as the majority of the visual novels I've played had what I thought to be an adequate amount of gameplay for what was intended. There are a few games on Steam, like Robin Morningwood, that lean too heavily on gameplay for my liking and come off too lacking in meaningful content for my tastes, but then in such cases I usually just don't even play those games. The only notable exception has been the clicker game Blush Blush, which is so low investment that I don't mind how little actual narrative content there is. Some of the dicks could have been drawn better though.

I could go through the list of gay dating sims I've played and talk about how well I think their level of gameplay suits them though:

Coming Out on Top: more or less the grandfather of the genre at this point, at least in English. Gameplay is almost entirely dialogue options, but it works well for what it is and some routes have interesting variations, ex. the quiz on Phil's route or the Microsoft Clippy parody on Amos's.

Camp Buddy: Leaving aside the sketchy age issues, the journaling and foreplay minigames are mediocre...but they obviously paved the way for better things in the sequel and now in Jock Studio so I'm not going to hold it against this game.

Camp Buddy: Scoutmaster Season: quite an improvement, less so in the spot the differences minigame I showed off in that video and more in the foreplay minigame which is even sillier but a lot more variable. You can really tell that BLits have been thinking about ways to make porn more interactive.

Full Service: Harvest Moon-style gifting and time/resource management that works quite well for the more open style the game is going for. The bits of DLC that have been implemented feel tacked on by comparison, but everything else (even the gacha!) is solid.

Chess of Blades, Dead Man's Rest, and Guilded Hearts: I've praised the former two a fair bit already for their writing, even though all of these have nothing more than basic binary dialogue options in terms of gameplay. DMR especially nails the solid writing and the weight of a gay period drama, no minigames necessary. The third one, which is based around the characters playing an in-universe MMO, might have stood out more if it had leaned more into that with some mockup MMO gameplay.

The Symbiant and its sequel: same as above, only with a branching ending tree for more options. The sequel does some quasi-free roam stuff, but it's honestly not that noteworthy.

To Trust an Incubus: Wins my award for Most Unnecessary Gameplay, because it's only some awkwardly-inserted rounds of finding objects on a cluttered screen.

Dear Monster: dialogue options again, only now with animated character portraits that...cause a bunch of lag and have also caused my PC to crash more than once. The solid story is easily the saving grace of this one.

All Men Are Pigs/AMAP: back to just dialogue options, but I really enjoy the interlinked storylines and how certain love interests can get in the way of others. Telenovelas were an obvious inspiration for this game, and you can really feel it in the melodrama.

Dream Daddy: it has so many problems aside from bad minigames, although they are indeed pretty awful on the whole. Scrapping them wouldn't fix DD, but it would make the game at least a bit less annoying.

Errant Kingdom: no gameplay to speak of aside from the roleplaying potential of your initial character choice, and even the dialogue options lay out for you clearly what results you're going to get which takes some of the fun out of it all. Might have benefited from some sort of gameplay, maybe?

Jock Studio: As I've said, I enjoy the sheer hilarity of the Three Houses-esque character building, and since it's still in development there's time to improve on its minigames and other systems.

#Gay dating sims #Visual novels

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hellcatinnc · 11 months ago

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Collar x Malice - Aiji Yanagi Review

Includes Spoilers

So I gave up I really needed to meet Aiji and I knew I would never get to it at this point because Collar x Malice is such a dark game for me I can only handle it a little here and there and I'm at my there part so knew I couldn't sit through 2 more routes before Aiji but I will go back later and do theirs but I forwarded past them so I could unlock Aiji. Anyways welcome to my opinion of the sweet man every one knows as either Aiji or Yanagi which ever you want to address him as.

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Where do I start, well lets start here I heard so many people say he was like Dante from Piofiore now don't get me wrong he is has some characteristics like he is loyal and very much handles himself for the most part at treating you like a gentleman. However he struggles with not only his traumatic past but I don't think he thinks very highly of himself. He can't even figure out why you would love a man like him. He started off as a delinquent in high school to being a cop later to try to make admins to what he had done in his past. Now just because I don't feel like he is much like Dante don't let that full you one thing is time differences Dante is from the 1920's how they do things is way different. I am glad I did Aiji's story though he really is a beautiful man inside and out. Let me walk you down the sides of this man that make him so great. Let me tell you though he will draw you out to the end before you hear I love you. Thats where I missed Dante because once he knew he loved you he told you but Aiji struggles because he spent most of his life pushing everyone away so he has to learn how to let you in to love him.

He is so cute sometimes like he talks about how he takes care of things back at the office and everyone says he is like the dad of the group taking care of everyone. However the moment he is faced with a little girl who is lost from her mother clings to his leg this man froze up not knowing what to do with a kid. This is a man who could be a good father one day but got a long ways to go since he isn't used to being around kids. That being said if he is anything like how he is with you in the game and just needs to understand how you feel and how to connect and he becomes the best part of himself. The cutest thing was the little girl kept calling him uncle and when they walked her back to find her mother you get a glimpse of what they could look like one day married with kids. However damn Yanagi had to open his mouth and say they both looked like his little sisters in this moment, not long after though the MC makes the comment they must look like a family to anyone walking by. She stops herself realizing she was thinking about him as her husband. Of course Yanagi was so oblivious to this.

The story for him is pretty predictable because the prologue to him shows the MC as a little kid and the nightmares she has been haunted with cause she saw a monster killing a man in front of her. You find out the full story later when she was little she was kidnapped and Aiji was the one who saw her in the park so he followed. He tried to knock the guy out and take her but it ended up the guy beating the hell out of both of them. When he realized the man was going to kill them both he decided to kill him first. Downfall when the MC came to she saw Aiji beating the man as he screamed for his life. After Aiji tried to save her but she was scared to death of him after all that. He lived with that guilt his whole life and thought he didn't deserve to be near her or to have her forgiveness. You find out this how he recognized her the moment he saved her in the church in the beginning it was the same place where it all happened years before.

Honestly this is one of the things I loved about him the best because he may have been a teen delinquent but he saved her. One day when he tells the MC though she makes it clear she doesn't care about that she was just a scared little kid that saw things different however she was always thankful for that boy that saved her. This is what intertwines them together and honestly its beautiful because he was the one that saved her to even be there in his arms. It was like fate stepped in and even though Adonis was the ones that wants to torture them from the past the fact is he ended up there to be by her side again. He is a more serious type a guy in alot of ways but he has lived with this burden of hurting people so he just stays introverted away from everyone til the MC gets those walls down for him.

He isn't normally a blushy mess but ask him for pda in public like holding you and he will blush hard, and stumble his words don't get me wrong he will do it if it makes you happy. He just struggles doing something like that in person it takes alot even for him to start holding your hand but I honestly think Kei was the reason it was pushed because Kei had no problem taking your hand and once Aiji started to fall for you he wanted no other man to touch you. Its funny because Kei used to tease him about stealing his woman and all which really you got to see how Aiji changed over time. First he was irritated by Kei then it got to the point he would threaten Kei to the point you see he is very possessive and even tells the men that your his so back off. He still blushes if he is complimented because he doesn't know how to handle it but damn is he not adorable when he blushes... see for yourself.

This is what I'm talking bout the response that Aiji starts giving as Kei pushes his buttons. You have to know the scene though because he already admitted to knowing her heart was Aiji however I feel like he would jump on the chance to be with you if you had pulled away from Aiji thats just who Kei is. Sometimes Aiji needed that push though to make him comfortable with telling you how he felt so thanks to sweet Kei.

This cute moment when the MC wakes up from a night mare and Aiji is right there in her face. I love the banter she gives him after when she lays in the bed to sleep and she says it smells like him and she loves it and he starts coughing like man could not deal with that response knowing she was enjoying being close to him like that when they hadn't been yet. These are the moments when Aiji is freaking adorable.

How the MC grounds Aiji in the middle of a shootout was amazing and also the reason I think he was able to let go of the past and truly be hers in a different way. This was right after you find out he killed someone in the past and the MC tells him she knows who he is now and she needs him as a partner and I thinks its when they truly became insync. He tells her he is thankful for being partners and he believes you can take on anything together after this.

The first time he pulls you in for a hug then follows with a kiss was the sweetest most intimate things. By this point he has admitted every time she is so cute the more he loses his mind and can't control wanting to grab her and kiss her which he does. Its adorable this very serious man gets broke down by a woman doing cute little things that pulls at his heart. I think thats why the MC getting in his heart was so sweet and tender because it was when he least expected it. I love this scene because the MC had said she loved him before now but he hadn't replied but in this scene he admits it this was such a impactful moment in Aiji's life.

Now the moment after it all when he pushes you against the wall pressing up against you and kissing until your panting oh dear god I thought I was going to melt it was such a hot moment. I would have signed on for some more racy pics of him coming out of a shower or at least his shirt off. This moment showed his dominance and how he was struggling not to bed his woman every time she did cute things. Who knew this strong man, serious man would break the moment a woman did something he found cute he melted like butter. Even though he has a dominant streak he still pulls himself back knowing he never wants to make her uncomfortable with him but I think its hot knowing he has a animalistic side damn that freaking hot, boggles my mind this man exists...lol. Anyways just take my word for it scene is hot.

What can I say I really do love this mans character he is still my 2nd favorite in Collar x Malice, Kei is still my favorite but Aiji is a fast 2nd honestly. I do think his story is the most real feel to it though like to find out he has a traumatic past and he pushes people away until you. It progresses perfectly and never feels rushed. Its sweet when it needs to be and sexy in other parts. Also the other guys picking on him is too cute too especially Mineo and Kei.

The best ending is sweet it actually reminds me of the proposal you get with Dante in his good ending. No other Mc in this game is ready to take that leap into marriage but I think Aiji doesn't want games he wants to make the woman he loves his wife and wants to live with her as soon as he can. The proposal was sweet and he never gives like a full proposal speech but when you know him by this point you know this in itself was alot and the most vulnerable he has ever been and he did this as a late Christmas gift because things were hectic and he wanted to do it when things had calmed down. He even second guessed if you would like the ring cause its simple but he does love you and by this time he can tell you that and that he will be with you forever and always.

His bad endings of course ended in death of the MC or him but you never like saw them unlike in Kei's route you saw the death bleeding and all and it becomes more of a tear jerker. I didn't cry in Aiji's route per say well over thinking Kei was going to die because he pushed Aiji and the MC out of the way and saved their life then I had tears down my face. What can I say Kei has a place in my heart none of them else got to. However the tragic end is the MC kills Saike then loses her shit and runs away and he talks about in this scene he knows she needs him and he will search for him to find her because a world with out her in his he doesn't want.

Overall this man is so husbando material and is now on my list for sure. Its funny cause when you do his ending and its one of the bad endings it amazed me they even had a end where you side with Saike after he has killed all the other guys and although I don't want the other guys to die it was nice to see this side too cause I like Saike god I wish he was dateable. Damn why is so damn hot with blood on his face and dressed like that. Anyways only brought him into it since its in Aiji's route.

I also love how your able to fix the rift between the mc and the brother in this one. Its actually sweet how Kazuki worries about you and how irritated he is with seeing you all over Aiji lol. Thats the brother syndrome that no man is good enough but deep down I think he likes him, I know he likes his cooking.

#aiji yanagi #collar x malice #otome #gaming #reviews #review #柳愛時 #husbando

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zachsgamejournal · 2 years ago

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PLAYING: Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

I love the Dynasty Warriors games. I love the Zelda games. What could go wrong? So far: nothing.

I really love the Zelda games. While they're mostly about exploring, there is a healthy helping of combat. And honestly, it's not super fun. Enemies are obstacles. They're there to make the exploring more challenging. Which, for me, removes some of the fun from the exploring. Still, it makes secrets hard-won and fits the story of violent evil trying to conquer the world. I'm thankful that enemies (besides bosses) do not have high HP counts and that often you can use your tools to make the combat easier. Point is, the combat is not the draw or core fun of The Legend of Zelda.

Enter Hyrule Warriors.

The Warrior games are almost all combat. And as I've explored in my Dynasty Warriors Posts, the combat is a means to an end. The real game is influencing the battlefield so that your army wins. In the older Dynasty Warriors games, the player had lots of freedom in the order in which they tackled objectives (i.e. Officers, Reinforcement Gates, Story elements). As the games advanced, each level started to have a more defined "plot": a series of events that would or would not trigger depending on the current conditions of the battle. Such as, if officer A from Army A meets Officer B from Army B, then a fire event would activate--causing Army B to suffer heavy loses. But if Officer A is defeated before meeting Officer B, the event does not play and Army B does not suffer huge losses. Learning each levels plot gives the player an edge in the battle. It made the game highly replayable, as each time I faced a level I was able to iterate my strategy.

Sadly, I think Hyrule Warriors is too plot-centered, but it does have the relaxing combat Warriors games are known for.

I was super excited to see Hyrule Warriors coming to Switch. When I got it, I couldn't wait to play. That was years ago, so my memory of the game isn't great. From what I can tell, it sort of dabbles in all the various timelines and games of the many Zelda games. Unfortunately, that makes a rather nonsensical story that's hard to follow. I didn't care too much, I just wanted to Warriors! But pretty early on, I discovered that you're not invited to explore your own "route" through a level. The battlefields are very restricted until certain conditions are met (main quest objectives), and if you do not target these objectives, then you're likely to lose very quickly. The game was fun, but I didn't recognize many of the characters and locations (I was mostly an Ocarina of Time person) and I hated how restrictive the levels felt.

I didn't mind putting the game down after 5-10 hours and leaving it behind.

Then came Age of Calamity. I wasn't super excited given how disappointed I was in Hyrule Warrios. But my son was old enough to enjoy Zelda and the accessibility of Hyrule Warriors made him a huge fan. He loved Breath of the Wild but found it too hard to play, so he begged for Age of Calamity, which acts as a prequel. We gave in and bought it. While my son enjoyed it, I avoided it. That was, until we replayed Breath of the Wild.

My wife had never seen Breath of the Wild, so I was trying to make it interesting for her: that is, focusing on story elements and not just roaming around and solving shrines. She lost interest but the kids were invested. I decided to focus on the story. We moved through the quests and got to the final boss quickly. But I also looked for all the "memories" that you could collect. The backstory that was presented was really interesting. Much more so than Breath of the Wild's main plot. So that made me more interested in playing Age of Calamity since that's the events that matched the interesting back story.

Finally playing the game, it's been fun. Of course, just like Hyrule warriors, the levels are very linear. They're almost more linear as most of the maps are a series of corridors instead of large open maps. I'm not sure if this is because of they're influenced by the BotW map, or it's intentional to better control the player's progression. The combat is pretty straight forward. But they're use of the bombs and stasis abilities from BotW are pretty clever. It helps break up the button smashing. I've collected many characters and it's interesting how each character's straights brings a different style to the game. It's not just about picking your favorite character skin, but how you want to play the game is impacted.

Besides main levels, you can also do bonus challenges that open up as you progress. You also collect materials to unlock shops and character improvements. It's fun and makes the button mashing of the main game more fun. I enjoy leveling up my weapons but I hate the guess work in adding boosts to your weapons. I believe Warriors Orochi let you pick abilities to add to your weapons. It made more sense to me, but I may not remember it correctly.

Ultimately, I think the game captures the vibe of BotW and repurposes many features in a way that makes sense for a Warriors game. It's very clever in that sense. But sadly, the story isn't very engaging. Most of the levels just seem to be: fight your way to this character and ask for help. Maybe I just know the world too well to find any of the plot enlightening. Still, it's a fun game.

Finally, and quickly, the Divine Beasts. These are easily my son's favorite parts of both games. While the levels are basically just easy-win shooting galleries, they do deliver on the promise of the original BotW. I never expected to pilot these things in BotW, but it's great that these are playable parts of Age of Calamity.

Good work team.

#Zach's Game Journal #Playing #Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity #Nintendo Switch #Video Games #Gaming

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astraymetronome · 2 years ago

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Aizawa Shouta

A Tear Stained Face in The Evening - Chapter Two

Notes

Aizawa really wasn't expecting his week to end like this, but that doesn't mean he's upset about it.

Now we get onto Dadzawa’s perspective. ^^

Aizawa often thought of himself as a cold man, but he wasn’t heartless. He was pretty used to finding people on the brink of despair and taking them back. As an underground hero, and as one in general, he couldn’t ignore someone in pain. He didn’t know a lot about this kid, just that his name was Izuku, but he wasn’t gonna leave him to drown further. Aizawa’s own kid suffered for years before he and his husband took them in. He almost failed them and now he won’t fail this kid.

The last person he found on a roof like this had jumped the moment they saw him. He later learned it was a 16-year-old girl who had been bullied for having a ‘weak’ quirk. He was very regretful that she hadn’t even considered talking but he understood that it seems some people get to a point where they don’t want to be saved. This kid, this soaked, small kid, did want to be saved. He could tell by the way he hugged the railing a bit too tight and kept his feet from slipping. He couldn’t tell how old he was from the looks of it in early middle school, maybe even still in elementary school, if just barely.

He didn’t even know how he got here. He’d been on his patrol route a few blocks away and flickering lights grabbed his attention. He went to go check it out when the kids' quirk hit him. He felt so many emotions flood over him and they all screamed pain and fear, though, after a moment he caught the need for help. The sensation of regret and fear was clear though it was swallowed up by despair. He knew whoever the cause of it had to be saved, whether it was from someone else or themself.

Flickering lights led him to the building, he didn’t really understand it but he figured maybe the quirk affected non-living things as well. He pushed away his thoughts and instead headed up the building. He didn’t expect to find a child but he was very glad he had.

______

Shouta’s week had gone as it normally would: work, family, patrol, and repeat. It was very much a cycle but he wasn’t against it. He found comfort in patterns and honestly it at least made things easy to predict. His child often took the bus home from school since the one they went to was a bit far from UA. They planned on moving closer, but Hitoshi had been adamant they wanted to finish middle school where they were. He understood why as well, it would be easier for their kid to stay in their environment than go somewhere new. The bullying had turned into being ignored which Hizashi had been upset about but their kid explained it was for the best.

Neither of them liked it but their child was right, it would be better to be in a physically safe environment than to go to a new possibly worse environment. On Monday, he had gotten home before his child and husband, considering the latter had to work at the radio station and the former would be home soon. Aizawa got to work on dinner and was quietly letting their cats roam the house. He knew the three of them would swarm his child once they walked through the door so he wanted to at least have them tired.

His child pushed the door open about 10 minutes after he’d started on dinner so he called out to them. “Toshi, get started on your homework. If you have any questions I can help but please get it done.” His child often suffered from forgetfulness which was a side effect of their quirk. Their kid had come out to both of them multiple times without realizing it so they kinda noticed and evenly got them checked out. He felt bad for his kid but he also understood that mental quirks work strangely.

“I know dad, I just... I saw a kid. They seemed to be having a pretty rough week already.” Shouta heard his child say. He peaked out of the kitchen to see them quietly thinking while getting their classwork out. He simply sighed and nodded a little before turning to get back to dinner.

“Some people have struggled with coping, kit.” He told them as he proceeded to continue. “On top of that we can’t just assume someone is struggling, I know how you are and you often connect to people without meaning to but I’m sure they’ll be okay.” He told his child as he quietly listened for anything else they might say.

A couple of hours later, Aizawa was about to leave for patrol when his child got his attention. “Could you just… be extra observant, dad? Just in case?” They asked him softly. He gave a gentle smile and nodded in response before kissing them on the forehead. “Yeah, I will. Now try and get some sleep, Hizashi will be home in 30 minutes.” He told them.

He ended up not finding anyone that night and told his child as such. They seemed to feel a little better with that information.

Wednesday was a little eventful. Their oldest cat, Rēsu(Lace), had started to get sick. The calico was deaf and hadn’t been eating a lot so he knew it was probably almost time for her to go. When she got sick and refused to move he knew she was gonna have to go. This cat had been with him since he was Hitoshi’s age and his parents had named her. She was such a sweet cat he felt sad that she was getting to the point where she could no longer function.

He took them with him as he went to a nearby clinic. When they arrived a young boy entered and he noted how the staff seemed remorseful and upset. At first, he considered he wasn’t supposed to be here so he kept an eye on him but he watched as he put flowers, lilies of some sort, in a vase next to a picture of a woman. Her hair was green and so were her eyes, a nice bright emerald shade that the boy seemed to share just a bit darker than the lady’s locks. He watched as one of the women got up from behind the desk and hugged him.

The boy's hands were bandaged up and he could see a rash peeking out from under the shifted fabric. He seemed to have bloody knuckles, but he didn’t seem like a kid who would fight. The boy waved goodbye to them and left swiftly in a middle school uniform, with a yellow backpack hanging on his back. He tilted his head a little but he turned his attention back to his child and cat, who Hitoshi was completely focused on.

They ended up putting her down in order to keep Rēsu from getting worse. She’d lived a nice long life so he figured it was time anyways. As his child walked out in front of him, Aizawa finally got a good look at that picture of the woman. He quickly realized it was a memorial to one of the vets, her name was Midoriya Inko and she’d passed last month from the look of it. He sighed as he left after his kid, feeling bad for the other one since he understood loss.

________

“Kid. You should step away from the ledge.” He told the child as he stepped closer to the ledge. He saw him flinch before blinking at him with wide owl-like green eyes. His memory immediately jumped back to the picture of the woman in the clinic. He felt his gaze soften as he quietly moved when the boy rambled.

“I c-can’t.” The boy admitted as he turned away, before continuing.“How d-did you e-even find me?” He heard the boy mutter as the boy’s fear and sadness shifted to confusion and pain. He stepped forward as thunder clashed and caused the boy to flinch once more.

“You’re distressed and, what I’m guessing to be your quirk, is making that obvious,” Shouta told the boy honestly. He didn’t want to lie or risk making him uncomfortable since his trust was needed here. He made eye contact with the teen, feeling how they melted from their pain and guard to that of a child, desperate for help. “Plus you’re on my patrol route, so I would have found you.” He added to make the child feel like he wasn’t a burden. He also pulled up his hair to try and move towards that as well.

Shouta was trying to give the boy space but he knew time was of the essence here. The teen squeaked and looked back down, folding in on himself so he quickly tried to distract him from whatever was flooding his brain. “My name is Aizawa, could you tell me yours?” He asked gently and stepped closer once more.

He watched as the boy debated it for a moment, clearly not expecting to answer. “Izuku... My first name is Izuku.” Izuku told him. He noted that and made sure to remember the information. Midoriya Izuku.

He saw the boy shivering as he spoke, “Well, Izuku, could you step away from the ledge for me? Just a few steps so we can talk?” He asked carefully while stepping forward once more. The temperature was nothing he wasn't used to. Shouta had done plenty of environment training before so to him this was just inconvenient.

“No. I’m staying here…” Izuku told him as his gaze went downward. “I-i just want to go.” He heard him mutter before his body racked with sobs. They were surprisingly quiet and Shouta probably wouldn’t have noticed them without his training.

“Could you tell me why? Please Izuku.” He continued when his eyes stayed away. He could tell the boy was suffering. He wanted to help him out and he figured trying to make a connection would help him open up.

“Because I’m so tired. It’s only been a month and I want to go!” Izuku called out quickly and immediately he saw him break down. Aizawa stepped forward and wrapped his arms around the boy's waist. He quietly shushed him in an attempt to comfort him as he struggled weakly. If he hadn’t grabbed him the boy most likely would have fallen.

Shouta tucked the boy against his chest and hugged him. He felt the way he collapsed into it desperately and as his hands tightly gripped his shirt. He felt pained by Izuku’s screaming and crying but he let the small teen get his feelings out, so he gently rubbed his back before taking out his phone with one hand. He made sure to send his husband a text before turning his full attention back to the broken child. He was unsure of the exact amount of time that passed but it had been at least an hour before the boy had started to calm down.

He could feel him staring at him so after a moment he watched the boy. He had been expecting him to speak quickly but in the end, he took some time to. “I-is that y-your quirk?..” wasn’t the kind of question he was expecting to hear.

Aizawa gently placed his chin into the boy's wet curls. He didn’t mind it but he needed to have a bit of an understanding of the situation. “Izuku, can you tell me what happened? What made you wanna do this?” He asked as he sat up a small amount in order to give him some space.

He felt the boy's emotions flood up at his question so he had an idea relating to it. Shouta didn’t want the boy to feel pressured into his feelings again so he activated his quirk. “My- My m-mom died last month…” The boy admitted which made Aizawa’s heartthrob. He felt horrible that he had to handle this at such a young age. “She was h-hit by a car and i-it killed her. I didn’t even get to say goodbye!” He could tell the boy was breaking once more so he was careful to squeeze him a little tighter, wanting the boy to feel safe and he needed to blink.

“Yes. My quirk is called Eraser, kid.” He told him as he proceeded to rub the back of the boy’s shoulders when he zoned for a moment to think through what he said.

“Are you Eraserhead? I-i don’t know a l-lot about you, b-but I’ve heard things o-on forums...” Izuku quietly continued, which made Aizawa hum in response. The kid must be pretty into random information if he found things about himself. It made sense considering Shouta did patrol in this area and he’d probably been by the kid's house multiple times over the years. He felt a little more comfortable when the teen leaned into him, clearly exhausted with everything.

He shifted in the rain and held him up a little bit before speaking up. “I am, though before we talk more I’d like to get you out of the rain. Could we do that?” He wanted to warm the kid up in order to prevent a cold or any hypothermia considering the wind chill. Izuku nodded to him so he took that as confirmation when the boy followed the action quietly. “Okay…”

The teen pulled away from his chest, so Aizawa used that as a chance to stand up and stretch for a second. When the boy sat down on the ground he was quick to crouch down and offer his hand. “Here.” He said simply before helping Izuku to his feet.

“Thank you…” Was quietly spoken by the green-eyed teen as he moved to grab his bag and shoes. He went ahead and also picked up his note, choosing to let the boy keep his privacy by slipping it into his yellow backpack.

He placed his hand on the boy’s back and started to lead him down the stairwell, being gentle when he heard sniffles and signs of tears. He wanted Izuku to at least be safe tonight so he planned on bringing him home for now. He felt the smaller body shutter from the cold when they stepped out of the building, being met by his husband outside.

Hizashi smiled softly at him and the boy, clearly taking note of his uncertainty and anxiety, before waving them over to the car. The blonde opened the car door and they both watched as the soaked boy climbed into the back before his husband took his things from him and slid them in next to him.

Aizawa slipped into the passenger seat when the child was distracted by Zashi and proceeded to quietly listen for any signs of distress after his husband closed the door. He heard nothing as he made his way to the driver's side and climbed in.

“Hey Izuku, I’m Hizashi.” His husband said softly. He knew that he had a soft spot for children so it made plenty of sense for his spouse to want to keep him calm. He glanced back to see Izuku curl into himself a little and nod in response which was rather expected.

As they drove home, Aizawa kept turning around to check on the boy, making sure to mentally keep an eye out for any injuries or signs of mental distress. He seemed to just be dissociating, while bad, at least kept him out of a spiral.

He stayed like that until a bit of life shone through his dull eyes when they pulled into their driveway. Izuku at least seemed to have houses like this in his good memories so it shouldn’t cause strife of any form.

Shouta and Hizashi both stepped out of the car silently so as not to startle him. They waited for him to open the door before he waved the teen and his husband inside in order to grab his stuff. He relaxed a little to see him disappear into his home with his spouse as he slung his bag over his shoulder.

He entered the house to hear the shower starting up as he hung the teen’s things up near the front door. He placed a towel under them and moved his bright red shoes to rest on top of it before heading into the living room. “I’m getting a bed set up for him real quick, if ‘Toshi is up let them know while I grab a change of clothes for Izuku.” He asked so Aizawa nodded with an added hum to show his understanding.

He made his way down the hall and lightly knocked on their child's door, smiling softly at quiet words. “Come in?” He heard them say quietly before he pushed the door open. He could see the eye bags his child had with ease and the two cats curled up on their chest. He gave a soft sigh as he spoke up.

“We’re gonna have a guest for at least tonight, I found someone on patrol and it’s too late to take him to the station. I can’t in my right mind leave him somewhere where he can’t be supervised.” He explained. Shouta made sure to never keeps things from Hitoshi. He knew they hated being lied to and he saw no reason to not give a small bit of information. He didn’t share anything personal, as to keep Izuku’s privacy, and made sure to be vague enough that his child would understand.

He moved to head back and was handed a hoodie and sweats to give to the child. They made sure he would have a new pair of boxers, and they kept some just in case for emergency fosters. “We should wash his clothes, can you ask if that's okay?” Hizashi whispered as he headed towards the bathroom door.

Aizawa wrapped his knuckles against the hardwood of their bathroom door before speaking up. “Izuku, could we throw your clothes in the wash? ‘Zashi grabbed an old hoodie and some sweats for you to change into. Just for now.” He asked before adding, “Can I place them on the sink?”

Izuku’s voice was soft when he replied, so soft he could barely pick it up above the rushing water. “Yeah, that's okay, sorry...”

Aizawa waited a moment before quietly slipping the door open. He placed the dry clean clothes on the counter before gathering the soaked ones from the floor. He barely noticed the bloody bandages in the trash can so, after he closed the bathroom door, he checked the inside of his sleeves to see signs of blood stains. He sighed as he proceeded to make his way toward their laundry room and dropped the boy’s clothes into the wash. He added in non-irritating detergent just in case since he didn’t want to irritate his skin or the, most likely, cuts over his arms.

After he started the wash and stepped out to join his husband, he found Izuku stepping down the hall like a baby deer. He felt his heartache for the sweet child as he quietly crept closer. He noticed how he seemed to be stuck in his own head, so he was quick to try and interrupt his most likely negative thoughts. “You can sleep, kid. We can talk about this in the morning.”

He wanted the boy to be well rested and comfortable before they got into the stress of a sensitive decision. Shouta smiled as he brought his hands up to rub his eyes. “Okay.” The boy told them as he walked towards Hizashi.

They both seemed to take notice of the rash that decorated the boy’s hands, so they shared a glance before his husband got to his feet and left for a moment. He knew what he was getting so the red box in his hands didn’t surprise him when he spoke up. “Could I wrap your hands for now? Just so you don’t irritate them while you sleep?”

Aizawa had honestly been expecting the child to refuse and close off from them, but instead, he simply nodded. He watched as Hizashi stepped over and opened the first aid. He slid on gloves, a safety measure, before checking out his hands. The blonde put an antibiotic and an allergy cream over the heavily affected places before carefully wrapping his hands in bandages.

Shouta noticed the moment his spouse spotted cuts on Izuku’s wrist, seeing remorse spread across his face as he worked. Once he was done, Hizashi helped lay him down. The teen was half asleep from everything so they were both going to allow him to sleep. It was well deserved after all.

He stepped away quietly before sighing as he kissed Hizashi’s head. “Sho, I'll watch him while you shower. Go warm up, honey.” He told him before nodding. He was getting tired and getting a cold would honestly suck with how everything was going so far.

Aizawa made sure to take a quick shower, using the moment as an opportunity to think about the child’s situation. He knew very little, but he could guess it. The slight fuzziness that seemed to be hovering over their home faded over time. He made the assumption it had to do with Izuku being asleep. His quirk was interesting and a part of him wanted to know what the boy was capable of if he worked it more.

He left the shower to find his husband gently running his fingers through the boy’s damp curls. It made him smile as he kissed Hizashi’s head before sitting down to take his place. He let his husband get up and head to bed as he sat next to him.

Shouta sat there for a good 30 minutes before sitting up and getting comfortable on the lounge chair they had next to the sofa. He quietly watched him and sat back with a quiet sigh. This kid seemed so kind and gentle to his surroundings and he hated the fact that Izuku was pushed so far. No matter what; he was going to help him.

#mha #bnha fanfiction #bnha #midoriya izuku #aizawa shouta #chapter two #our emotions in the night #archive of our own #dead inko midoriya #fanfic

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bnhaobservation · 3 months ago

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@rhythmic-idealist said:

I’m gonna do my best to come back to this! A short response: the Iida family didn’t need Stain killed. Rather, Tenya needed saving, in that his villainous actions were also going to get him killed. Tenya is deemed worthy of saving, by the narrative, regardless of the fact that he was making horrible rage-fueled decisions. So that’s what I’m getting at when I say Tenya needed saving- he very much was going to die if Izuku hadn’t shown up in that alley. I am still trying to process why he was saved when Tenko and Himiko (and mostly Touya) weren’t, because BEFORE we knew the ending, the hero killer arc felt like a tone setter- you either have to condemn Tenya Iida to deserving to die, or believe Tenko and Himiko and Touya deserve to live. Final half-response before I formulate proper thoughts for later (sorry): one of my main BNHA ending thoughts involves how I sort of expected it to be pointing out and handling privilege and the “way things are” in order to suggest ways to actually upend that imbalance in privilege. Analysis I do of the ending often revolves around…. this seems like a story about privilege happening in the way that privilege happens, so WHAT was it for? And it has a lot of shortcomings in that regard I think. It’s just important to me to let you know rn that this post doesn’t contain my full reaction to the ending, which is a lot of sadness, confusion, and disappointment. Okay now I’ve gotten that out of my system. Apologies, real response incoming, I was just struggling to sit on that

Ops, sorry, I misunderstood you on the whole Iida family needed saving.

Now... maybe I'm totally off track but I like to think there was a time in which Horikoshi considered saving Tomura, Himiko and Touya.

We've various arcs that offer understanding, we've Shouto who understands that Rei burned his face merely because his father made her life impossible and don't blame and wants to save her, we've the Stain arc in which while it's made clear iida wanted to do the wrong thing, he's given plenty of sympathy for hos his rage twisted his thoughts, we've how Shouto and Bakugou during the remedial courses were told to connect their hearts with the kids, we had Gentle Criminal, we've Nagant, we've the story implying killing Twice was a mistake, we had Uraraka claiming she wanted to save people because she couldn't save Nighteye and so on.

Maybe Horikoshi wasn't sure if he wanted to kill them and left open both options.

On the other side... saving all the aforementioned people is narratively 'easy'. Rei was punished by spending 10 years in a hospital for a scar she caused in a moment of misplaced panic, Iida had bad intentions but ultimately he saved Native and didn't kill Stain, Gentle Criminal never did something too serious, Nagant was jailed and helped defeating AFO and Tomura, placing her life on the line.

The story is basically saving people who did light crimes or was already punished. It's hard there would be controversy in this, while there would be controversy if the story were to save people who had murdered multiple people, there could be controversy, especially since they don't show regret nor have time for redemption.

So many tales prefer to end things tragically by killing them off.

It's not really something new, "Saint Seiya" (1985-1990) wasn't shy to murder many antagonists who did less and were even regretful for it.

Said this doesn't mean that I agree with the choice of murdering them, I think Horikoshi with them went on the 'easy' route' which killing them off offers. Which okay, it's a possibility but I was hoping for more.

Honestly I though Midoriya and the others would become the greatest Hero because he would manage to save them. I'll summarize because it's not so simple but, fundamentally, he instead became the greatest Hero because he killed the greatest big bad (AFO) which doesn't make him any different fromt he Heroes that preceded him, like Son Goku from "Dragon Ball" (1984-95) or Kenshirō from "Hokuto no Ken" (1983-88), which would have probably be fine if the story didn't seem to imply he would do more than what they did.

And yes, he inspired people which indirectly made society better but... maybe it's just me but I wasn't impressed. I get Horikoshi tried hard to deliver this, I just wasn't won over.

I probably won't manage to reply to you for a while as tomorrow I'll get hospitalized, so my apologies for my future silence.

When I'll come back home I'll get back at you!

One problem with the society of BNHA is that being “someone in need of saving” is an undesirable category to be in.

“People who need saving” is a category of people. It’s hypothetically a valued one, since heroes save those people.

However: there’s no glory in needing to be saved.

There’s glory in SAVING, but we value the people who do the SAVING, not who need to be saved.

One thing that REALLY felt off to me in the final chapter was how that granny talks to Joki Joki Boy. She talks about herself, about who she can be. If I was in his shoes I would itch under this. Under someone explaining how they can be so charitable to people like me.

I was trying to think about what Izuku could possibly have “showed the world.” I still don’t quite have my answer.

But weirdly I do know what wasn’t shown to the world when the cameras on Ochako and Himiko cut off.

They didn’t see a villain being a hero. They didn’t see a hero needing saving.

The lines between the three societal categories - hero, villain, and people who need saving/protecting - blurred. And the camera missed it.

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kunimikat · 4 years ago

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How they act after you break up with them.

(I made sure to check but there might be small grammar errors, and this is a long one so strap in 🙇, but hope you enjoy angst+fluff here) but not me actually feeling bad for them after-

Is more out of it then usual.

The reason you broke up with him is because you felt like it wasn’t a real relationship. And more like you sometimes got to talk during class, and sometimes out of school.

He writes in his a separate notebook of ways he could’ve done better

Starts comparing himself to other guys more often

Leaves earlier then everyone else to got to dorms.

Mumbles even more then usual, and sometimes the only person that can snap him out of it is Aizawa.

Sometimes takes it out on his friends

“Hey Deku!-“

“Not right now Uraraka.”

“Oi, Deku nerd, the-“

“Can you not right now Kacchan?”

“HAAH?-“

“Midoryia! Would you like to study?”

“Maybe later Iida...”

Todoroki offered him soba but it resulted in Midoriya slowly slurping up soba as he looked into the void of people

He shut everyone one out and didn’t talk barely most of the week.

He’d take out a lot of his anger during training.

It somehow finally clicks into place how bad you feel and how much you miss him when All Might pull you aside and asks. “Uhhh...Is Young Midoriya ok? I’m getting real worried....ITS NOT LIKE I DONT WORRY ABOUT MY OTHER STUDENTS HAHAHA! HOW’S-

There’s 15 minutes of your life awkwardly telling All Might how all your classmates are doing.

Which made you want to jump off the top of UA at the moment.

You decide to head to his dorm and ask him about it, cause you feel like it’s your fault.

You walk in on him crying, clutching the shirt you bought for him on his birthday.

You almost dropped to your knees in guilt at the sight

You rushed over and sat by him, comforting him, though it wasn’t much as you started crying too.

Basically a crying festival for an hour.

“Please....Please Y/N I love you so much, I promise I’ll make it work, and I’ll do my best to make it up to you, just please...PLEASE don’t leave me.” You kiss him on the lips and then his hand, “Babe it’s not all on you, I promise I’ll do better this time too, I’m so sorry for being selfish, I love you, ok?” Another crying fest.

After you start dating again:

Always makes sure you’re comfortable, and checks into your dorm before he starts a study session.

Helps you with your work before his. ( Though you insist he doesn’t as he’s gotten points off multiple times for turning in his work late.)

Goes on dates every time you have some free space in your schedules. Somehow ends up in an All Might merch shop 80% of the time.

!!CUDDLE SESSIONS AFTER HERO TRAINING AT ALL TIMES!! Even in Recovery Girl’s office, though many times she bops you both on the head and tells you to get out.

(If you both like All Might) You both geek out over new All Might stuff, and his old interviews while wearing an All Might onesies.

(If you like a different hero) You could spend hours bickering on who’s best hero, pulling up recordings and articles on the. With you holding your favorite hero plushie and him wearing All Might pajamas.

And waking up early just to take a long route to school together.

Makes sure to say ‘I love you’ at every small moment, and compliments you, though he can’t take compliments himself-

If it’s a permanent breakup:

“I...I understand, but why?”

Tears well up in his eyes and he for once he keeps eye contact with you, without looking away

It takes everything in you to not breakdown

“I’m sorry Izuku, I just don’t think it’ll work out in the end.” He grabs your hand and holds it both of his. He puts it to his forehead, nearly on his knees at this point. You try not to cry with him, but you knew it wasn’t going to end up a happily ever after in the end. And you wanted to break it off before that could happen.

“Izuku, I know, I know, I’m so sorry, I wish it couldn’t end like this-“

“Then don’t let it. Please Y/N don’t let this end.”

You eyes welled up as you put a hand over your mouth while repeating ‘I’m sorry, so sorry Izuku’. You looked away from him as you slipped your hand out of his, you close your eyes painfully, the tears finally running down your face. You couldn’t help but look back one more time, and almost wanted to run to where he was and take it all back. He sat on his knees, his head in his hands as painful sobs wracked his body. You quickly leave the room, shutting the door behind you.

You both were pretty quiet and emotionless the whole week.

Midoriya was even worse then before,

It got to the point where sometimes he didn’t eat or sleep

He barely responded to anything anyone said

Hell, even Bakugo was worried at some point

Midoriya would always go back to his dorm and cuddle with the gifts you gave him while you were dating.

It took a long time for him to get over it, and even when he thought it did, he still gets emotional over it

Even after highschool it pains him to see your off doing your own thing without you at his side the whole time

Quieter then usual

Is so deep in thought, sometimes forgets he’s in class or what he’s doing

During tests, or while working on assignments he’d be so deep in thought he didn’t realize he broke his pencil, or used his quirk on his desk

Instead of having his usual outburst on people he’d just walk off, or click his tounge and walk off

Even during Hero Lessons he’d be less calculated, and not as pumped up

When anyone tried to ask he’d just say “Fuck off, I’m fine.”

His grades slightly dropped

He had bags under his eyes, and had even worse posture then usual

When it came time to leave, he’d be the first one out, and no one could find out where he’d go

A permanent frown was on his face at all times (basically him most of time but with a deeper frown)

No one knew what to do at this point

It didn’t click with you until one day during Hero Lessons

He was sparring with Kirishima and all of a sudden he fainted

Everyone was surprised to say the most

You rushed with Kirishima to Recover Girls office

You both almost busted the door off it’s hinges

She wacked you both on the head but quickly tended to Bakugo, surprising you both as she checked on him

“Oh....I wouldn’t have expected this from Bakugo.” You and Kirishima had confused looks on your faces. “Well he passed out from exhaustion, which I usually see with that foolish Midoriya boy. This one usually keeps up with himself, something must’ve happened.” She cut herself off as she saw the look on your face that said it all. She beckons Kirishima to follow her out, as he still wasn’t getting what was happening.

You finally got a good look at him, and saw just how exhausted he looked. The bags under his eyes, his bruised body, and how pained he looked in his sleep. You hugged the non-bruised part of his arm, and finally let the tears you held let go. “I’m sorry Katsuki...I’m sorry I didn’t see it sooner.” Before you realized he woke up, he placed his free hand on your head, rubbing small and soothing circles on your head. “S’okay, let’s make this work.” You knew you didn’t have to say anything else as you both stayed like that until Recovery Girl came in to kick you both out.

After you start dating again:

Comes to your dorm everyday to get you up knowing you’d oversleep if he didn’t (also wants to see your sleeping face...not in a weird way)

Cooks you breakfast in bed on off days,

You guys cook something together when you have a movie night

Instead of yelling most times, he just makes sure he understands your side of everything before jumping to conclusions

Makes sure he isn’t too rough with you verbally (lol not sure physically)

Brings you to his parents house during some free time since you get along with his mom and dad well

Won’t admit it but adores the fact that his parents love you

Whispers ‘I love you’ when he’s made sure your ‘sleeping’ (you’re not, you just wanna hear him say it all shy like)

You guys go on training dates, where you both train together, then have a picnic where you just trained

Him being more open with PDA, like holding your hand, or laying his head on your shoulder, etc. just small stuff

He loves playing with your hair and twisting it around his fingers while cuddling or studying

You both cheer on your favorite hero during a fight on TV, or you pick a random channel on TV and you just listen to him rant how stupid something is while you lean onto his shoulder at 2am (somehow got him to stay up this late)

If it’s a permanent breakup:

“No...no...you can’t, you can’t be serious”

He sounded so broken. His fists clutched so hard you thought his bones would pop out

Anger was evident in his face, and he honestly scared you with the face he was making

“Y/N....are you joking?” You frown and step back a little, did he really think everything you said was a joke? “No Bakugo, I just think this isnt gonna work out in the end.” You heard him click his tongue, then just look at you in shock, then anger. He looked down, his bangs covering his expression. “So you’re just gonna end it like that? No working anything out, just break up? It was one fucking mistake Y/N.”

“Yeah one big mistake, you don’t suck faces with some other person on accident, Bakugo.” The venom in your voice slicing through the tension filled air. “Can you just fucking forgive me? I won’t do it again.”

“You said that last time, Katsuki, then you go and clown off again-“

Before you could get anything else out Bakugo already had his quirk going in one hand, and the other holding your shoulder down. You both looked surprised, even as he backed away. “No..nononono fuck Y/N baby I’m sorry-” you smacked the hand that reached out for you. You started packing everything, Bakugo’s eyes widened as he just stood in shock. Before he knew it you were leaving already.

“N...NO NO Y/N PLEASE, I’M SORRY-“ he grabbed you by the arm that reached for the door knob. You quickly shrugged him out of his grasp, and opened the door. “Goodbye Bakugo, I hope well for the next person with you.” And you slammed it in his face. He stood there, it’s like the emotions he felt before were completely wiped when you slammed the door on him. It was 8:03pm, he should start getting ready for bed anyway.

For a few weeks he was unresponsive, and only talked when he needed to

His movements were sluggish and he’d often stare at nothing

Bakugo didn’t even glare, or really do anything when Midoriya tried talking him

Or shittyhair, dunce face, raccoon eyes, or soy sauce face

They were all the same, and just molded into one voice every time someone tried talking to him

After a while he got over it, but he still regrets what he did

You helped him through so much yet he went off and did stupid shit

Even after highschool, he’d still keep up on you frequently through social media

Basically stalking you on there, guessing he never truly got over it once he felt tears subconsciously stream down his face as he saw you with someone else, happier.

He felt like he didn’t do anything wrong, and he was confused at the throb in his heart every time you looked away from him or ignored him.

So he did ask you, and all you did was look at him like he just hit you.

Why did you look so hurt?

Todoroki shrugged it off, thinking you’d come back like you did after every fight you guys had

But you didn’t, and that’s what took an actual toll on him

More emotional

A permanent frown on his pretty features most of the time

All he mostly eats is soba

He didn’t know how to handle this in all honesty

Sometimes he’d just stare at you, and even when you looked back he’d just stare...

Sometimes he’s so out of it he doesn’t realize he’s either froze the entire classroom or was a living breathing radiator, or both (rip Momo, Satou, and Tokoyami)

He’d ask Midoryia for help but it came out as a fumbled mess most of the time:

“Midoryia...how do you hurt....them, a lot...without...? Can you help?

Midoryia is just like:

(Sorry I had to add that in I was cackling sm from it)

“I think you should just talk to them Todoroki.”

That was harder to do then he expected, you mangaged to avoid him pretty well,

One day he was just fed up and as soon as the bell rang he took your hand and left the class

He takes you to an empty classroom, his left side nearly giving you frostbite

You were about to yell at him before you saw his broken expression

“What...what did I do for it to be like this?” You we’re now quiet as you saw the confused and hurt expression on his face. Him barely being able to control either of his quirks, he was shaking, yet still held a confused expression. It just clicked with you, Todoroki wasn’t used to the sudden emotions or feelings, and when one of the people he’d usually go to to talk about it wasn’t there, he started to crumble.

You hugged him tightly , not caring if his quirks messed up your uniform. “I’m sorry Y/N....I’m sorry I’m not enough, but-“ You cover his mouth as tears fell from your eyes and onto the ground or his uniform. “I- I-I’m so sorry Todo...it’s just you never gave me affection and I was being so selfish and petty about it, I just- I didn’t realize that you went through your own experience for it to turn out like this. It’s not your fault, and I love you the way you are Shoto.” Todoroki didn’t even notice the tears come down his face as you kissed him over and over again. A small ‘I’m sorry’ from you every time. His quirks calmed down and now you were holding each other in a random classroom. You’re heart nearly stopped as you looked up at him and saw a small, teary eyed smile.

After you start Dating again:

Todoroki was much more observant

He’d stay up late readings articles saying “How to understand emotions” or “Is there other good food then Cold Soba” wait-

Regularly gets you gifts, even though most of the time you make him return the stuff since he’s been getting so much with his dads card

Endeavor ended up yelling at you both in a 7/11 while you were stuffing your faces with a soba flavored chips

You both figured out a way to get Todoroki to express himself without words

He’d slightly activate his left side if he wanted any sort of attention, and his right side was if he was feeling stressed or upset

He subconsciously goes to your dorm now to check up on you to make sure you’ve had a glass of water, dinner or anything really (He just wanted a reason to go to your dorm)

You played with his hair once, and he’s never going back

When cuddling he’d lay his head in the crook of your neck, hoping to feel you playing with his hair

You push him to start taking therapy sessions to understand what emotions he’s feeling and how to express them

Takes you in your free time to an empty field just to hear you talk, and learn more about you

And he’d always wake up early and made sure to get a few snacks for you before you woke up and brought them to your dorm room (Last time he tried to cook he almost burned the kitchen down)

Overall Todoroki just loves giving you small head pats now, you don’t know where it came from but you didn’t complain

Poor bby stuttered so hard the first time he said ‘I love you’ you giggled

Ended up making him feel embarrassed and like he did something wrong, but you quickly kissed him/praised him

He can’t stop saying it now, one time you picked up his pencil, before you could hand it to him just a sudden “I love you Y/N” the entire class looked at you both in shock

“STOP SUCKING FACES OVER THERE!”

“SHUT UP BAKUGO”

“HAAAH?”

Todoroki is the happiest he’s been.

If it’s a permanent breakup:

“Over? What do you mean we’re over?”

You felt so horrible by the the pure confusion on his face

But the rude things he said to you, over powering your want to get back with him

Lately Todoroki has been more protective, and rude. Insulting everything you do, belittling you slightly. It just added up and you were tired of it

Todoroki tilted his head to the side, deep in thought.

“Y/N your being on the dumber side again, are you hanging out with them too much?” You were taken aback by how nonchalantly he insulted you and your friends. “Excuse me? Todoroki did I hear you right?” You stepped foward leaning your head toward him. “Of course you can, or did Bakugo’s yelling make you not hear so well?” The fact he said it with no emotion, or nothing to it was making you clench your fist. “The hell has gotten into you Todoroki?” You shove his shoulder a bit. He frowned at you heavily making you flinch. “Well if you didn’t go and ignore me most of this week maybe I wouldn’t be like this. I usually hold my tongue but you’ve been rude this entire week.”

You stood there speechless. “Well Ex-fucking-cuse me Shoto. Maybe if you didn’t insult me all the damn time I wouldn’t ignore you, or wait for an decent apology.”

You drag out the last words as you glared at him, Todoroki giving one back. “I’m only telling the truth so you don’t look dumb. I’m helping you out Y/N, I thought you’d understand.” You scoff in utter shock, you couldn’t help the sudden urge to slap some sense into him. Now he stood speechless, the force in that slap causing his hair to look messy, and a red mark on his cheek. Tears were in your eyes as you clenched your fist, biting your lip from cussing him out on the spot. “Your lucky I don’t beat your sorry ass, just...just the the fuck out Todoroki!” You pushed him toward the door. He looked at you with no emotion in his face as he saw you start to bawl your eyes out. “Just...just get the hell out Todoroki, it’s over, we’re over.” He felt a pang in his heart, but choose to ignore it and just left.

It only actually came to him during the night as he was about to walk to your dorm after a nightmare, when he realized the entire conversation

He tried knocking on your door but you didn’t answer, even though he could hear your music

He went back to his dorm, sat on his bed and just had a full mental breakdown

Realizing his main emotional support that helped him through mostly everything was gone

He felt he said stuff his father said to you already which made it even worse

He tried texting and calling you but you had him blocked on everything

He repeated the entire conversation in his head, just now coming to how disgusting he really did sound

Todoroki for that whole week was an emotional wreck

During hero training if he was thinking about you or what he did he doesn’t notice poor Satou trying to get out of his wall of Ice.

Is always with Midoryia at some given time,

He kind of clinged onto people in his circle that gave him attention of some sort

When he some time passed he eventually got over it

After Highschool you both kept in touch, but it pained him when he saw you engaged and happy with another person

But he was happy if you were happy.

Heyyy so this is probably the longest thing I’ve written since like my last Wattpad fanfics I used to do(yikes). But hope you enjoy, and don’t be afraid to request! I’m taking them now so go wild.

Sorry that they were all confusing it’s my first hcs+scenario thingy, but I have a few other things in the works so... 💃🕺

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riddlerosehearts · 2 years ago

Text

okay so, i think the biggest part of my hangup with both paldea and hisui as regions is that i like pokemon's dense, route-based design and i will take a well-designed and rich linear world over a comparatively empty open world, and a small route that's packed with things to find around every corner over a giant field full of nothing other than pokemon, every single time. i really have been having a lot more fun in paldea than in hisui and just loving all the different types of environments, loving seeing all the different pokemon wandering around, swimming, sleeping, and hanging out in groups, loving the beautiful designs of the towns and cities and loving that i can seamlessly go to them without loading screens. but god i miss environmental obstacles in pokemon?? i miss forest mazes, i miss caves filled with a bajillion confusing ladders, i miss enemy team bases with weird warp pad mazes and grunts all over the place, i miss rock smash puzzles and strength puzzles and cut puzzles and things that i actually NEEDED my hms or my ride pokemon to get past. in PLA and SV i pretty much only need to ride my pokemon to get places faster or cross a river. and even with the presence of towns and cities, the areas in SV still just feel so needlessly large to me and don't really have that many neat landmarks or unique elements that make me think "ooh i wanna go see what this is!!" and what actually caused me to stop playing and write this post was that i got extremely annoyed trying to find all the trainers in a certain area because the area is just too big and it's too hard to tell where i am and where i've been because everything looks too samey and honestly there aren't enough trainers spread across such ginormous areas and dammit where are the last 2 trainers already??

also i've run this point into the ground by saying it so much but i just wish the towns, as beautiful as they are and as glad i am that they exist, had buildings we could go in and more unique things to do in them. even if each town just had one Thing each like maybe artazon had a museum, levincia had a department store, cascarrafa/porto marinada had a hotel, etc, that would go a long way in making them all more interesting and making me stick around in them for longer. i hate seeming nitpicky and overly critical because i'm very much having fun with SV and i think it's gonna end up being the best game since sun and moon for me (largely due to the writing tbh) but i still have so many issues with the way gamefreak approaches the concept of an open world pokemon game and we are a long way from having "breath of the wild but pokemon", even if we're making progress.

#idk if this post is even coherent. i have been playing pokemon on and off all day lol oops #but i wish there werent so many open world games that fall into the trap of just. not having nearly enough to Do to justify being so big #PLA + SV also would've been such good games to bring back secret bases in!!#imagine doing union circle and you and your friends explore your secret base together??#sorry i just wish gamefreak had several more years to make this game #also i wish they would've given me things to collect like the spiritomb wisps and the old verses from PLA #starlight plays sv #pokemon sv spoilers

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honeytae · 4 years ago

Note

if you’re open for regular requests i’d love to request lil scenarios of the boys learning english alongside their english-speaking s/o! this is totally self-indulgent i’m doing the TEFL program and i’m going to south korea next year to teach :)

first of all, that’s amazing omg!! congratulations my love, i hope you have the best time over there and please don’t be shy in sharing your stories with us!!! i tried to stick to the boys actually learning english with their s/o but i strayed from that with a few members just bc i ran out of ideas lol but i hope you still enjoy!

fair warning....i’ve never ~seriously~ tried to learn korean, so i’m not entirely certain of the parallels between korean and english. i just hope these are wholesome enough to override that lmao

namjoon:

“You know,” Namjoon looked up from his phone, “I understand expanding your vocabulary, but why are there so many weird slang words?”

“Kids these days?” You shrugged, the man chuckling in response before flipping his phone around to show you what had puzzled him.

“If something slaps, that’s...good?” He wondered, watching as you suppressed a smile at the tweet he was showing you.

You could tell by the profile picture that the user was an ARMY, one of the many fan profiles on the platform, and the tweet was written completely in English.

Although there was a ‘Translate to Korean’ option readily available with just a tap of his thumb, you knew Namjoon never missed an opportunity to challenge himself to be able to fully comprehend what a native English speaker was trying to say.

You nearly snorted at the tweet’s content, smiling as you read it out loud.

“The Dis-ease bridge just saved my life. Seriously, this song slaps.”

Glancing at Namjoon, he raised his eyebrows, eagerly waiting for you to translate and explain what that could equate to in Korean.

“It’s definitely a good thing, Joon. They love it.”

At your interpretation, Namjoon grinned, nodding to himself as he pulled his phone back in front of his face to scroll through more reaction tweets to the new album release.

seokjin:

“What the hell is that?”

You picked your head up from your sketchbook when you heard Seokjin whine from beside you, eyebrows knitting together at his distressed tone. Taking a glance over at his laptop screen, you found his mouse bouncing from letter to letter on one of his weekly english lessons.

“What is that, like 15 letters? How do you even use that in a sentence?” He went on, obviously flustered by the word on the screen.

Pulchritudinous.

You placed your hand over his to stop his panicked counting of the letters, causing him to look over at you with a sigh as he frowned.

You nearly giggled at his reaction, but the genuine fear in his eyes made you stifle it as you soothingly held his hands in yours.

“It’s just an over complicated way of saying beautiful. I don’t know why they’re teaching you that, nobody ever uses it.” You assured him, his eyes going down in size a bit at your words before he nodded.

Watching as a smirk tilted his lips, you raised your brows at the sudden expression.

“What?”

“Well like, I could say I’m...that?” He said, eyebrows raised cockily as he gestured to the long word stretched across the screen.

“Well it’s actually not used like,” you paused, giving in with a shrug as you grinned back at him.

“Sure, love.”

yoongi:

“Why did I skip English class all the time?” Yoongi sighed, pinching his bottom lip between his fingers as he plucked at the skin in frustration.

“Because you were trying to be a rebel.” You answered without looking up from your phone, the man obviously not liking your answer as he reached over to where you were laying beside him to pinch at your hip.

Yelping, you scooted across the mattress to get away from his hand, whining his name with a scoff before looking over at his notepad.

“What are you doing, anyway?” You asked, leaning on your palm as you scanned the rows of scribbled English letters written on the page.

“I’m trying to get better at writing.” He admitted shyly, a small grin on his face to match the fond one on your own.

“Aw,” you pouted, Yoongi raising his eyebrows at your tone, “but I like your chicken scratch.”

“You’re such a brat.” He chuckled, adjusting the velcro on his brace with a grunt.

Since Yoongi’s shoulder surgery took away obvious straining activities like dancing and performing, he’d turned to studying English from the comfort of your bed during his recovery as one of the only safe activities he could partake in for a while.

It was now one of his favorite past times, learning new words and phrases he could potentially use in the future. It worked for you both because it took his mind off the pain and kept him motivated, and since you could speak both his and your language, you could help him out whenever he got stuck on something.

Usually he did lessons verbally on his phone, but it seemed today he had taken the old fashioned route.

“Your handwriting really isn’t bad, Yoongs.” You observed, the carefully placed tails at the end of each ‘a’ making you smile out of fondness for the man.

“My man has the prettiest handwriting.” You cooed, pushing a strand of his stark black hair out of his eyes as he blushed down at his notebook.

“Stop that.”

hoseok:

“Hey, babe?” Hoseok called for you, listening to your footsteps growing closer before you popped your head into the kitchen doorway.

“Yeah?”

“I’m having a little trouble.” He gestured to his open laptop on the counter, you recognizing it as an assignment from his English course.

“What happened?”

“Pronouns. Pronouns happened.” He pouted, his disdain for the new chapter quite obvious as he stared down his computer screen.

“What about them?” You asked, stepping closer to the man sitting at the kitchen island and placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“I need to make ten sentences using proper pronouns and I feel like I’m doing it all wrong.” He explained, causing you to hum as you looked over his sentences.

“These look great, Hobi.” You smiled as you glanced over the first three he’d written, flawlessly executed on the document.

“Can you help me with the next one?” He wondered, you nodding your head as you took a seat on the stool next to his.

“What do you want the next one to say?” You asked, watching as he glanced off to the side in thought, slightly squinting his eyes at the tile floor beneath the sink.

“My house is next to,” He spoke in English, pausing as he searched his brain for what pronoun to put next.

“Theys?” He answered as more of a question, then shaking his head as he switched back to Korean, “wait, no.” He sighed, placing his chin in his hand in thought before glancing over to you.

“I know it’s wrong, I just don’t know what the right answer is instead.” He explained, you shooting him a loving smile as you pushed the dark raven hair off his forehead and pressed a kiss to the newly revealed skin.

“I’ll help you, Sunshine. No worries.”

jimin:

Flopping onto the bed, you let your tired body fall on top of Jimin’s hoodie clad chest, his arm encircling your body as he mumbled a soft greeting to you.

“Hm, what are you learning about today?” You nuzzled into his chest, peering at his phone propped up on his thigh.

“Animals. Birds, mostly.” He answered, briefly turning from the screen to press a kiss to your head before focusing back on the row of English words matched with pictures of popular birds glowing from the device.

The first was a robin, the next a blue jay, and then a dove.

You listened as the virtual instructor prompted Jimin to repeat after her, spelling out the letters before stating the whole word. You smiled as your boyfriend followed instruction, pronouncing the words the best he could after the microphone chimed for him to do so.

“D-o-v-e. Dove.”

“Dove.” He repeated, smiling to himself as the app announced he got the point with a little heart.

“That’s cute.” He went back to his native language, you humming in confusion as you lifted your head up off his chest to look at him.

“The heart?” You asked, reaching up to twist a stray strand of hair out of his eye as he shook his head.

“Dove.” He said again, making you tilt your head, not knowing what he meant.

“It sounds like ‘love.’” He connected the two English words, you smiling fondly at him in response before scooting up the bed to kiss the tip of his button nose.

“You’re so cute.”

taehyung:

Three knocks at the door announced someone’s arrival to your bedroom, causing your head to lift from the novel you’d been so immersed in. Taehyung was home, but you’d wanted to give him space because you knew he needed to work on lyrics for his mixtape in order to submit them on time.

“Hey,” he poked his head in with a small smile, “can you help me with something?” He asked sheepishly, stepping further into the room when you nodded.

“Of course. What is it?” You set your book down, marking your place before closing it to pay full attention to your boyfriend.

“Well, I’m trying to write this verse in English and,” he trailed off with a shrug, “you know.” He finished, you nodding in response with a gesture for him to come sit next to you.

He eagerly walked over to you with his notebook in hand, lowering himself to the mattress before rolling his way over to where you were leaning against the headboard.

Honestly, Taehyung’s English wasn’t bad at all. He was insecure about it, but you’d never really understood what the reason for that feeling was. His vocabulary was more than decent, his comprehension was good, and his pronunciation was great for having such a thick accent.

But there were many times where Taehyung came to you for guidance, as you were a native English speaker yourself.

And so, as he rested his head on your shoulder confiding in you about everything he wanted to say and how he wanted to say it, you patiently took him through what would work and rhyme best, smiling as he hummed the melody to himself to see if the phrases would work in his creation.

jungkook:

“Baby, can you read it to me again before we go on? Just one more time.”

You glanced over at your boyfriend in his makeup chair, several employees bustling around the man as they attempted to get him ready to go on stage while they had him seated.

With his arm extended backward to where you stood behind his leather chair, he offered his phone to you while shooting you a grin through the reflection in the mirror.

Taking the device from his hand, you opened it to the notes app where he’d written what he wanted to say in his statement on stage in just a few minutes.

You were in London tonight, which meant that all of the boys had been rehearsing their English so that they could communicate easier with their audience.

Jungkook, ever the over-achiever, was determined to do the toughest English tongue twister he could possibly find. Not only that, but in a British accent for his British ARMY’s.

“Betty bought a bit of better butter to make her bitter butter better.” You read from the phone, barely able to read the sentence yourself before you glanced up at Jungkook through the mirror again.

You watched your boyfriend nod as his brain took in the words you’d just said, taking a deep inhale before he began speaking the phrase back to you.

You gawked as the man effortlessly repeated after you, a few of the makeup artists stopping as well as Jungkook raised his eyebrows back at you.

“Was that okay?”

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daringyounggrayson · 3 years ago

Text

whumptober day 4: pushed (AO3)

It’s raining. Normally, that’s a non-issue; Dick’s Nightwing suit is mostly waterproof, and his boots are designed to have excellent traction, even in less-than-ideal conditions. But this is pushing it. He’s on top of a moving train, his vision is limited due to the rain and his mask’s broken night vision, and his shoes are struggling to plant themselves firmly on the slippery train roof. And the rain is heavy, coming down in sheets, and the wind is howling, nearly knocking him over on more than one occasion—it’s the worst storm Bludhaven has had in years.

And then there’re the goons trying to knock him off the train. Now their fight has become a strange dance where Dick is trying to dodge blows while also making sure they don’t fall off in their attempts to kill him. The ridiculousness of trying to keep people who are trying to harm him safe is not lost on Dick.

If he could, he’d just stick trackers on them and call it a night, but that’s not an option—there are bombs hidden somewhere in the train and/or along its route. People could die.

A branch from a nearby tree falls onto the train, causing all three men to jump back, seeking cover. Dick nearly slips off again, and from their screams, he’s sure the other two do too. Dick is on his hands and knees, balancing there as he tries to figure out how to use this to his advantage. There’s an entrance a few cars ahead. If he’s quiet and stays out of their line of sight, they’ll probably assume he fell off the train. He could easily get past them and slip inside to stop the train and get everyone off before these two fools can even set off their bombs. Ideally, Dick would also find and disarm the bombs, but replacing a train and some of its tracks is something Dick can live with so long as no one gets hurt.

He lies down on his stomach, army crawling across the train’s roof, letting the branch block him from his enemies’ view. When he gets to the ladder, he slides his legs over the edge until his foot hits a rung. Then he leaps from one ladder to the next, catching the next rung with a tight grip. It would be faster to simply jump across the rooftops, but he needs to be as discrete as possible.

He’s nearly there—just a few yards left to go—when a gun goes off. He instinctively stills and covers his head, and a bullet bounces off the train several feet away from him. Normally, gunshots wouldn’t be a shock in this kind of scenario, but Dick’s already disarmed them, he—

He looks up to find a third partner. He’s just exited from the same place Dick was hoping to enter through, and he’s holding a gun with a shaking hand. Fantastic.

Dick moves like lightning—he charges the man and knocks the gun out of his hand before his trembling fingers can find the trigger.

“How many of your people are here right now?” Dick shouts above the wind, holding the man in a headlock.

“It doesn’t matter. it’s too late,” the man sneers. “You can’t stop us now.”

“That’s what they all say.” Dick swipes his legs and knocks him to the ground, pulling out handcuffs and attaching him to a nearby bar. “But you know what? I kind of like being underestimated.”

Dick stands, planning to walk back to the hatch and enter the train. He hasn’t even taken his first step when heavy footsteps charge toward him. Dick ducks just in time to avoid being body-slammed by one of the goons from the other train car, and the man stumbles, losing his balance and sliding along the length of the roof. He’s quick to get back up and charge Dick again, this time with raised fists and an animalistic screech.

“I’m kind of on a tight schedule here,” Dick calls as he engages in the fight. He really doesn’t have time for this; the train’s picking up speed.

A large gust of wind nearly knocks him over again, and his boots squeak as they try and fail to find traction. The thug lunges at him, tripping over his own feet but managing to land a weak hit against Dick’s shoulder.

It’s ridiculous that it’s enough to send him tipping over the edge.

He tries and fails to find his footing, only managing to slip backward further. He reflexively reaches out for the attacker’s hand, but he forces himself to retract; the odds of Dick pulling him down and killing him are higher than the odds of the man managing to hold their combined weight. As he falls over the edge, the tips of his fingers brush against the train car’s safety bar, but the rain prevents him from grasping it.

He hits the ground, tries to roll with the fall. The initial impact knocks the wind out of him, and he’s left gasping as sharp pain explodes over his head and back. When he finally stops, he’s covered in mud and blood, and every inch of him feels sore. It wasn’t a long fall, but it was fast and hard.

He pushes himself up on shaking elbows, watches as the blurry figures on the roof disappear into the train car. He’s not going to get back there; even if he had the time, even if he had super speed, he doesn’t think he can move. He needs help.

Dick presses his emergency beacon and calls Wally on his comms. He thinks he says something, but he must pass out, because next thing he knows, Wally’s tapping his cheek, begging him to wake up. He’s blurry, which doesn’t make sense, because Wally’s not running—the only thing moving is his hand, and it’s slow.

Instead of voicing his confusion, Dick vomits. Wally rolls him onto his side, talking too fast for Dick to understand.

In between gasps, Dick says, “The train. Bombs.” His voice sounds wrong to his own ears, slurred.

“You’re hurt,” Wally points out, hesitant. His hands are bloody. How did Wally get blood on his hands already?

“I don’t care—you have to save them!” Dick says, gritting his teeth and closing his eyes as the pain builds in his head. “Medical is on their way—go!”

oOo

Dick isn’t awake when the medical team arrives, but he does wake up, so he figures they did show up.

He raises his hand to rub at his eyes and finds an IV sticking out of it, stuck to his hand with clear tape. He turns his head, taking in the machines and monitors. He must be in the Watchtower’s ICU.

“Hey,” someone—Wally—whispers on the other side of the bed. “Are you awake?”

“Mmhmm,” Dick mumbles. He turns his head to face Wally, wincing. “Bombs?”

“I took care of it; no one got hurt,” Wally promises.

“Thanks.” Dick closes his eyes. The lights are dim, but they still feel too bright. “How long have I been out?”

“As in unconscious?” Wally sighs, and his chair creaks. “Well, uh, you were in a coma for almost three days. You woke up yesterday, but you’ve been pretty out of it. I’m honestly not confident that you’ll even remember this conversation.”

“Wanna bet?” Dick asks, a loopy smile crossing his face.

Wally laughs. “Sure, I could use ten dollars.”

“I’m going to remember.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I am.” This time Wally doesn’t protest, and Dick takes it as a win. After a moment, he asks, “I’m okay, though, right?”

“Oh sure. Spinal bruising and a brain hemorrhage have nothing on the Justice League’s medical technology and your stubbornness,” Wally says lightly. “What happened to you anyway?”

“Got pushed off a train,” Dick mumbles, words slurring together as he gets closer and closer to unconsciousness. “Probably landed head first on a rock.” He can barely remember the fight, barely remembers falling. Instead of a solid memory, it’s just a bunch of non-chronological snapshots.

“That tracks.” Wally shifts in his chair, and his fingers find their way to the back of Dick’s hand. “It was scary, finding you like that. I thought you were going to die.”

And Dick had told Wally to leave him anyway. He doesn’t regret doing it—someone has to make the hard calls—but he doesn’t envy Wally. “I’m fine,” he tries to reassure.

Wally’s voice is tight when he speaks. “Yeah, you’re going to be fine, because you’re you—but you weren’t fine. And you’re still not. Hell, you’re hooked up to a bunch of machines and you can’t even keep your eyes open.”

Dick opens his eyes and finds that Wally’s are shiny with unshed tears. “Wally.”

“Sorry, it’s just—” Wally shakes his head, wipes the back of his hand across his eyes. “Uh, can I get you anything? Last time I was here you were nauseous.”

“No, stomach’s fine, just tired.” He must be on a million drugs, too. He wonders how many he’ll have to add to his regimen because of this.

Wally nods, then looks down at his watch when it beeps. “I have to go—Watchtower duty. The rest of the original Titans said they were going to stop by later today, and Alfred and Bruce are outside waiting for me to finish, so you won’t be alone.”

Dick hums in acknowledgment. Then he says, “Thanks for coming, the other day and now.”

Wally leans in and hugs him gently, carefully. “Anytime. And take as much time as you need to heal. Seriously—the Titans will be okay without you for a while, even if Roy ends up leading.”

Dick laughs and nods into Wally’s shoulder, and then they let go. Wally leaves with a promise to be back soon, and Dick, determined to remember this conversation, reminds him to bring his ten dollars when he does.

#dick grayson #wally west #nightwing #flash #titans #teen titans #elizabeth writes

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