#this scene should have happened in canon

[silvermillenniumqueenneptune]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Cleaning Lady (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Thony De La Rosa & Nadia Morales, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Arman Morales/Nadia Morales Characters: Thony De La Rosa, Nadia Morales Additional Tags: Female Friendship, Uneasy Allies, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode: s03e01 Arman, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Past Abuse, My First Work in This Fandom Summary:

When Arman disappears, Thony forges an uneasy alliance with Nadia and reveals some things about her own history.

[andthesunwillalwaysshine]

FUCK IF THE TOUCHED SPEECH MADE MY HEART COMBUST THEN WHAT DID THE END OF DAYS ONE DO ???? such a perfect whole scene with the comedic greeting to the awkwardness to buffy basically calling him an idiot in 3 different ways (and using one of his made up words back at him) and then actually being real with spike and telling him their moment wasn’t just nothing but meaningful to her to spike telling her it was the best night of his life (twice he says this) and how he finally felt close to someone (and to her) and he is terrified (because he has loved her for so long and is used to it going nowhere and doesn’t want to push her after what he did) to buffy reassuring him he doesn’t have to be terrified to them actually starting the first real convo about THEM 

this scene is full of love but it rips my heart out and it is so angsty still because with the big battle incoming neither one of them knows who will end up alive after this (if they win) and if they will be both be alive after this  AND BUFFY’S FACE IN THE END (AND WHILE LISTENING TO SPIKE AND HER SOFT ’’SPIKE’’ WHEN SPIKE SAYS HE CAN’T DO THIS BEFORE OPENING UP TO HER)

[lunarharp]

into the deep end - 30k T orufrey fic, focusing on memory trauma, disability, and romance.

the sweet oblivion of the victim, the poisoned freedom of the other.

for one moment - it had felt like two parts returned - the needed reunion of two disparate halves. no more secrets, no more pain.

the moment you get to give back what you never wanted to take. that moment, under the night-blooming flowers, when they had both let out the same single broken sigh of relief.

but they were never whole to begin with, were they?

qifrey swore he wouldn't say 'sorry' to this man any more if he could help it - sorry is cheap now. he didn't want to be in a position ever again where you only have 'sorry' left. so he just looks down into the threads of his blanket, strains his eye until it hurts, feeling his insides - his throat, heart and head - burn with pain. he expects more, but olly says nothing.

olly says nothing.

[lupins-hehim-pussy]

I wanna know ur Fontaine msq criticisms 👁️👁️👂I’m all ears

I'm not sure if you wanted me to talk about this secretly or publicly but! Here I go!

The TLDR: Fontaine MSQ aestheticised prison, poverty, child abuse, the justice system/court and didn't properly address any of it.

More:

Focalors/Furina has way too much of a sympathetic angle for a dictator who's lets people drown with her inaction.

Neuvillette feels Bad for sentencing some people to death/prison, but that's it. He's one of the most powerful people in Fontaine. If he felt like there are systemic injustices, I.E sending an abused Child to prison, he should be the first person to DO something about it, not just cry and be sad so the audience can be like aw, that's complex character writing isn't it? No it's not! And guilt doesn't absolve you!!!!!!! (These are stuff we deal with in OTCOJ read my fic now /j)

Meropide has children in it, both Sentenced there (Wriothesley) and BORN THERE (Lanoire), and this is just a quirk of the place. Not only that, Meropide accepts prisoners of all genders and crimes. There are abusers and abuse victims in one place. Do you know how bad that is? How much potential for crimes to happen in a place like that— oh wait, Meropide isn't under Fontaine's jurisdiction. If you are assaulted as an inmate it literally means nothing to the court.

Wriothesley had no qualifications when he took over. Depending on how long he lived on the streets, how old he was when he killed his parents, how old he was when he was first taken in by the orphanage, etc, the man might never have more than 4–5 years of formal education. Sigewinne probably had to teach him how to write reports. And do Meropide's spreadsheets. Edit because I forgot to elaborate on this one: This isn't a point brought up anywhere, which is bad, because when poverty and incarceration robs you of a proper education (and the rights to vote in many places too, too, by the way), it reduces your prospects for jobs, reduces many people's ability to get a home etc etc. Wriothesley was just, narratively, Given his position.

Meropide is an industrialized prison, and they portray this as a good thing. Prisoners are paid in coupons for their labour, and this is also portrayed as a good thing.

The One-Meal-A-Day reform was something Paimon gushed about being so great of a perk, that people might want to go to jail for food (could be interesting and reflective of systemic poverty if MHY had brains, but they don't, so I was just Pissed because essentially all Paimon wanted to say was "Prison isn't so bad, but still don't go to prison guys! Prison labour is really hard!"). By the way, in most real-world prisons they are obligated to feed you three meals a day. Because that's how much food a human needs. MHY went with one meal just so they can say "if you want to eat more, you have to work." And then the welfare meal is a goddamn gacha. So imagine you're a starving child who's too weak to work in the fucking robot assembly line, and you wander up for your first meal in 24 hours, only to luck in with a shit one. I'd kill myself.

They wrote Wriothesley, who's a victim of the system, into a guy who's say shit like "I'm the Duke I can do whatever I want" for a cool moment where he choke-slams an inmate (I know he was a bad guy. But also, in copaganda when cops are violent/disregarding protocols, they are always only portrayed to do that against bad guys, so what does our critical thinking tells us about this one?) They wrote Wriothesley, who was an inmate of a prison so bad, so notorious that it is the literal boogeyman of Fontaine, that has a legal (???) fighting pit, with an administrator who abuses his position to be unreasonable, to willingly stay in the place and become an Administrator who would choke-slam an inmate while saying a cool line about how he has the power to do whatever he wants. They wrote him, the guy who had to be fed on the streets by melusines, to think one-meal-a-day was a good enough reform (while he spends god-knows how much on his boat). This wasn't a victim-turns-into-abuser narrative either, they want all this to be seen as positive character growth.

And then, the final kicker is, they gloss over his entire abuse. You can only read about these shit in his profile, which most people don't because they don't Have Him or doesn't care to unlock it/read it online, and they jammed his entire backstory into a flaccid info-dump at the end of his character story quest. This man isn't Allowed to feel abused and neglected and show any reaction to it within the narrative of Fontaine itself, because if they actually Gave Weight to what happened to him, they'd have to confront THE FUCKING JUSTICE SYSTEM they had NO PLANS on criticising. I don't think they ever explicitly said the fucking Crime-Theatre nonsense was Bad either.

I could go on, but this is already so long. But yeah, I hope this gave you an idea.

[hanzajesthanza]

don’t let me reread because i saw this

and an image of reynevan pleading innocent like the crying cat meme flashed across my mind

[crystalkitty1220]

Man I wonder where the leader of the fear realm could've gone, it's alMOST LIKE NEVIN HAS AN

[that-spider-fan-over-there]

BNHA 429: It's not really a win when the only comfort is that Izuku/Ochako didn't became canon during a breakdown.

Honestly I think this is the most confused I've been with this story, so this might be the most openly critical I've been. (I've rewritten this five times already, so if it looks all over the place, I apologize).

"Joki Joki" being Tenko was debunked, which. You know what. Fair. Creating a character that looks like him only for be someone else with a tragic backstory five chapters before the finale? That's kinda cruel.

Harsh backstory for a small-role guy, by the way. A mutant Quirk (that we'll probably know only from supplemental material, if at all) his family didn't have, mouth sewn shut, locked in a basement for years, family leaves him and (probably) a Decay Wave was his only escape? And they say the world of BNHA isn't a harsh one /hj

I'm glad they didn't pull a Teen Wolf (iykyk). Ochako thinks Himiko is dead, Izuku's a shoulder to cry on. For... *counting* 4 pages of holding it in, 2 of actually talking about it, all of the 8 being about Izuku being nice but hypocritical (emotional suppression my dear beloathed Ch. 430 I fear you-).

Izuku says she's "his hero"- it's true, he thinks all his friends are his heroes. But we're shown 2/4 times (Blackwhip and the mob, but not Tenko cornering him in the mall, or their first meeting?) which made me realize he's the only named character/hero she "saved". The "who saves the heroes" thing? Not like she helped other heroes, that plot went to- oh.

Also, the whole "putting others before yourself", the only example listed that comes close to this is her giving some of her Entrance Exam points to him. The others are just her being nice to him, repressing her feelings, Blackwhip was the only other moment that kinda counted. The only "other person" she put before herself? Himiko.

I'll believe Himiko's dead when I see it; blood transfusions don't kill the donator. They take a minimum of 4hrs max. They sent Spinner and Touya to a hospital, but not Himiko, who was unconsicous, winging a transfusion out? Yeah, that's bullshit, "hope for a sequel" is becoming more and more of a plea.

I wish I could say I liked the breakdown, but all I think is "Ochako's a character development tool, with redundant, pointless arcs, and all she got is doomed yuri, trauma and reassuring words from a LI".

I didn't see Izuku crying at first; removing "Joki Joki's" 2 pages, the "talk" took 8/15 pages, I kept wondering when did he ever relied on "her strength", it's not like he trusted her enough to talk about his feelings, secrets or anything.

Class A interrupting was funny, I'm with Katsuki: Does Izuku still have embers (he does). I'm sorry to Ochako, I just didn't care anymore. I knew he didn't tell anyone else, lol (<- I'm shaking him into opening up-). But if he wasn't willing to open up about that I wonder what else doesn't Class A know. Does Inko know her son's dreams are over again or…?

Uh. One For All, crystalization of power from everyone's hopes, LFtR vestige scene, remaining embers looking a bit stronger, "Control Your Heart" is still a thing, "holding someone's hand makes me feel at peace", we have that talk with Katsuki, rule of narrative means if he opens up there's a chance this story can end on a hopeful note, Izuku fans here's how we can still win- (I'm inhaling hopium, I know)

I'm confused Hawks isn't getting ditching the Hero Billboards, just expanding it for "ordinary people". Isn't that continuing part of the problem? Part of why Dabi was created, why many heroes don't care about being a hero? I get it's to inspire others to be everyday heroes, but this if backfires in-universe...

Aoyama's farewell party with Eri singing was as sidelined as the 3Baka (… actually no, 3Baka is still more sidelined sob) and it hurts, but hey. Monoma got a statue before Katsuki, I just know if he isn't traumatized about his corpse he will brag. (I'm trying to find positives in this chapter)

The last pages. I know it's symbolic. Society extending a hand, Izuku "inspired" them to move. It's what Izuku was talking about in Ch. 1, "saving people is the coolest thing a hero can do". It's even from his poem inspiration "Called useless by all/Neither praised/Nor a bother/Such is the person/I wish to be".

But it doesn't come just from Izuku fighting giving up OFA, but from him still failing Tenko, who was doomed from the start, the LoV never knew who he was before "Tomura" (so. Spinner how's the book working out-). And no one else wants to, look at Ch. 427.

If it was still an ambiguous "AFO searched for Tenko", fine Ig, but since Ch. 419, it's half "No one helped Tenko except AFO" and half "Tenko never had a chance to live". I'm not saying them hating Tenko isn't justified. Look at what they have to rebuild. But ditching the "Tenko's whole life was planned" part, they still don't know the LoV came to be because they thought a child looked scary. Jeez, no one knows they were victims of ostracism, abuse, manipulation. Why they turned out the way they did.

And it ends on Izuku and Ochako smiling with the "future where heroes can relax" line. It's adorable, but they're still dealing with the guilt of Tenko and Himiko being gone. But I guess it's fine because they're smiling now? Because people are now doing something? So the reward from almost dying is: Bystander syndrome is chipping away?

*sigh* I guess the TL;DR for my opinions are:

Joki Joki isn't Tenko but damn if he isn't a woobie,

If I don't see the corpse Himiko isn't dead, I refuse,

Somehow Ochako's breakdown was more about Izuku, and we still didn't get introspection, just because it's comforting words doesn't mean they don't feel hollow,

It sounds like I hate her: I don't hate Ochako, I just hate the way she's written in "Tell, Don't Show" for Izuku, even my opinions about the breakdown are more about "dude what are you talking about" rather than it being about her and her alone, so I can't take her as seriously,

I think I just became Katsuki ATP: yeah yeah she's crying but what about Izuku and OFA- oh it's mostly fine.

The fun bits were relegated to two pages and small panels but I like to think Monoma goes to Katsuki's room to brag about the statue, Eri deserved to have a full page to sing

Hawks, I fail to see the point of switching Hero Billboards to "Everyday Ladybug" Billboards,

Bystander Syndrome is one thing, how are they gonna prevent another instance of the LoV if they don't know it was discrimination that started it all or that Tenko was a walking Greek Tragedy?

Izuku and Ochako's smiles give "Aw, it's adorable. Oh it's traumatized" vibes.

Yeah no, I'm not buying it. If Edgeshot can still live, why can't Himiko or Tenko? Why does Izuku still have embers, if we have one chapter left? What is the reasoning for "twisting fate", "saving and winning", "perfect victory with zero casualties", "I wanna save that little boy" if it ends on standard shonen ending?

Hell, OFA had dead people communicating with our protagonist and antagonist, and is connected to the deuteragonist, and you're telling me it doesn't mean something good can happen to Tenko?

... God now I just hope the next one isn't a timeskip, just Izuku and Katsuki holding hands, talking and being honest to each other (especially Izuku because oh boi I have seen some Writing Critics and I can't say I disagree) (maybe we'll confirmation on what actually happened to Himiko and Tenko, what about OFA, but that only depends on the page count of the next one).

Once again, sorry if it's all over the place, this chapter just. It wasn't great, in my (overthinking) opinion. I'm still unconvinced Himiko and Tenko are dead dead, until the last page of BNHA, we now have BKDK talking left, so let's see what the next one will bring. And I'm not rewritting all of this, I'm tired XD

So, yeah, that's my thoughts! Thank you for reading!

[dangans-ur-ronpas]

Chapter 22

im back from hiatus. makoto time

SEE HERE FOR GENERAL WARNINGS AND FIC SUMMARY

Some pre-chapter notes:

still no byakuya pov so we get to hang out with his divorced boyfriend

you might notice some events are out of order compared to the og timeline. this is within my plan...

@digitaldollsworld :]

Content warning tags: implied physical violence, blunt force injuries, more concussions

< previous - from start - next >

“I did warn you.”

Makoto casts a rueful look upwards, looking through his bangs as one hand rubs at the tender lump on the back of his head. Thankfully, it wasn’t too swollen, and he didn’t feel much lingering dizziness, but it’d definitely be hurting for a while. In front of him, Kyoko stares down over her crossed arms, totally unconcerned, if not for the way her fingers were tightened on her elbows, and the slight pinching around her eyes.

“I was being careful,” He mutters back, though even to himself he sounds whiney and petulant. Like a kid that got caught in the act. He looks back down at the floor between his scuffed sneakers, and shifts slightly. It wasn’t exactly comfortable crouching here, leaning against the tiled wall of the boy’s bathroom. “I knew what I was getting into.”

“You didn’t. You charged in here without a care in the world.” She replies bluntly, and he winces a little at that.

“I was just trying to help-”

“I’m well aware.”

He recoils again, feeling the miserable, sinking feeling in his gut threatening to swallow him up. He did what he had to during the trial, despite knowing full well that Byakuya would hate him for it - but this time around, he really fucked up.

He drops his head between his knees, miserable between the throbbing pain and his own guilt. Above him, he hears Kyoko sigh, and then she’s lowering to a crouch in front of him, so that they were eye-level. “What’s done is done.” She still seems displeased, but not angry. “Lift your head. I’m going to check that you’re not concussed.”

“...You know how to do that?” But he lifts his face anyway. And jumps a little, as she places a hand below his jaw, tilting his face upwards. “U-um...”

“Okay, your pupils look fine. And the reaction to light seems normal.” She turns him a little to the left, then the right, her own eyes pale and striking. He can feel a flustered kind of warmth crawling up his cheeks from his neck. “How’s your vision? Blurry? Sensitive?”

“N-no? Um, I can see fine-”

“Any trouble focusing on anything? Pain?”

“No, I-”

“Follow my finger.” She releases his face, and holds up one finger, moving it slowly closer to his nose.

He pushes it away, now thoroughly embarrassed. “I’m fine,” He insists, turning away. He knew pretty well how unnerving Kyoko’s gaze could be, but right now they felt like sun lamps, burning a hole in him. “I- can I just tell you what happened in there?”

That seems to get her attention. She drops her hand, and shuffles closer.

“I’m listening.” She says, voice soft and serious. And he coughs, clears his throat, and begins-

—

He had come up to the second floor with the intention of going to the third, if only to wander around a bit to take his mind off things, but had wanted to stop by the library first, with the vaguest idea of trying to pick out a book to give to Byakuya as a sort of peace offering.

But as he came up into the hallway, and looked at the wall where Chihiro had been pinned - the body gone, the bloodstains cleaned, and even the holes in the drywall patched and expertly plastered over - he felt a deep, bone-chilling feeling in his chest, and couldn’t bring himself to walk past it. He turned around, and then noticed the slight sound coming from the boy’s bathroom as he passed, and remembered what Kyoko had been up to before yesterday’s trial.

It had bothered him then, and even more so now, as he recalled it. Kyoko’s alibi was flimsy, but she’d executed it expertly. Even the person she claimed as her witness, Toko, hadn’t said anything to support it, but by the time Toko was giving her testimony, no one was paying attention to Kyoko anymore anyways. It was like she’d planned it all, and if it hadn’t come out at the very end who the true culprit was…

He frowned, and shook off the unease. Whether he could trust Kyoko for now wasn’t something he could determine from yesterday alone, because it was clear she was doing things on a different level from the rest of them. Even compared to the real Ultimate students, she always seemed to be a step ahead, calculating beyond measure. In the end, the only thing he could do was be grateful that she was on their side.

He stepped into the bathroom. It’s the same as yesterday, old, dusty, the light buzzing with a lemon-yellow glow. He passed the empty stalls to the last one on the end, its door hanging ajar -

A pale figure shot out just as he was about to push the door open wider, and slammed a leather-clad palm against his mouth before he could cry out. He panicked for a moment, one hand grabbing the fingers pressed into his cheeks, the other shoving at the mysterious assailant’s shoulder, before he suddenly recognizes who it is.

“Kh-yo-goh-?!” He managed, voice muffled. Kyoko, with clumps of dust clinging to her sleeves and what looked like a cobweb flying off her hair, glared back at him.

“Let go of my hand,” She gritted out, and he realized he was still squeezing the fingers around his face, and let go quickly, raising his hands in surrender. She released him in turn, cradling her hand gingerly to her chest as she did. There was something wrong with the way her fingers were curled, the way her face paled slightly when she tried to clench it into a fist.

“U-um, are you o-”

“Fine.” She did not sound fine. Her voice was strained. Her posture was as steady as ever, but her eyes kept darting. “What are you doing here?”

“I…” he hesitated. “I was just. Looking around?”

She stopped casting uneasy glances to level him with a stare, eyes narrowed slightly, and even he knows how pathetic that must sound. “I-I’m being serious! And- and anyways, what are you doing here?”

“Investigating.” She said it like it's the most obvious thing in the world, and in hindsight, he really could have just guessed.

“I thought you said you were going up to the third floor?”

The corners of her mouth turn downwards. “I said that to throw off anyone who might have been listening in. Including the mastermind.”

“...Oh.”

She looked away from him, and he stood there, unsure, feeling both stupid and, somehow, frustrated. It wasn’t as if he was trying to look for her. And he only ended up coming into the boy’s bathroom on a whim.

The stall behind her is empty. There’s not even a toilet, just an odd collection of cleaning supplies. Totally innocuous at first glance, but he frowned, and squinted. It was hard to tell with the light, but everything in the stall was just as dusty as the rest of the place, except for a perfect rectangle of tiles against the far wall.

“What’s in here?” He asked, and her attention snapped back to him.

“Nothing.”

“You said that really fast…”

Her brows furrowed slightly, a scowl if he ever saw one, though the corner of her mouth twitches slightly. “...Have you ever been told you’re too observant for your own good?”

He smiled sheepishly at that. “Um. Not to my face?”

Kyoko was quiet for a moment, apparently pondering whether or not to tell him, before she sighed, and leaned in, one hand resting on his shoulder to pull him close. “Not now, but later.” Her hurried whisper tickled against his ear, and the fine hairs on the back of his neck, and he inadvertently shuddered. “When I’m not around, and it’s safe to do so. Press against the tiles against that back wall. Don’t spend too much time there, or you’ll draw suspicion.”

And then she left. Suddenly and with barely a sound, leaving him stupefied, standing in the middle of the bathroom, rubbing at his ear. He had the feeling that he had just been trusted with something very important, but he had no idea what, and no idea why.

He should have left as well. And followed her advice later, much later, when the tension had passed and the mastermind was suitably distracted; but the curiosity had been too strong. He was antsy and pent-up, and desperate for some answers.

The room behind the stall wall was a dusty, foreboding place, cobwebs and cracked gray cement and exposed ventilation pipes. Fluorescent lights hum from the ceiling and cast a pale, eerie white glow. A shelf leaning against the far wall, a chipped-up desk and stool in the middle of the room. The shelf was crammed full, files and papers and books - yearbooks, he realizes - and crumpled-up pages litter the floor.

A file room? He stepped in hesitantly. Why such a place would be hidden behind a boys’ bathroom, he didn’t know, but as he approached the desk he found the files that Kyoko had just been looking at. Some things about the school’s founding, a blueprint of the building - and a yearbook, with a scrap of paper sticking out from between the pages.

It must have been a misprint, because the embossed date on the book’s spine made it out that this was meant to be published for this year. His school year. His school year that hasn’t happened yet, because of a killing game.

It was the only explanation he could think of, but he couldn’t help the sense of foreboding prickling up his back as he reached for it, hesitating briefly as he reached for the cover. It flips open to the page just before the freshman class portraits, where the piece of paper that had been sticking out like a flag.

YOU MUST NOT LEAVE.

The words were printed neat and bold, in stark black. Makoto frowned, and picked it up, turning it in his hand as if it was some optical illusion, promising to reveal some deeper meaning. And there must be some deeper meaning, because he couldn’t shake the strange, uncomfortable feeling that he knew exactly why this wording was used. ‘You must not leave’, not ‘you can’t leave’.

It makes it sound like we have a choice, he thought, before-

—-

As he finishes, he reaches up to touch the back of his head again, feeling out the tender bump. The pain was still there, just manageable, but insistent. It felt like all the energy in his body was being drained out of that spot, leaving behind a bone-deep, achey tiredness.

Kyoko is still across from him, chin tucked into her hand as she thinks. And then she sighs, and stands up, stretching slowly. He waits, expecting her to get angry, or something, but she doesn’t even seem too disappointed. Or maybe she was just good at hiding it.

“Come on,” She motions for him to stand, and he does, feeling his knees creak. “We should go to the nurse’s office.”

“Huh? No, I’m fine-”

“We don’t know that for sure. And I’m not enough of a medical expert to clear you of a concussion.” She glances to their side, where the door to the hidden room was, perfectly blended in with the rest of the wall. “That door is locked now. I can’t get in.”

“What, seriously?!” He tries it himself, stepping past her to push against the tile. But there’s no budge, not even the slightest movement to suggest that a door existed there in the first place. “But the files-”

“Whoever it was that knocked you out was likely the mastermind. They wouldn’t have let that room stay open after they found out that we knew about it.” Kyoko shakes her head. “It’s unfortunate, but there’s nothing we can do about it now.”

He winces at that. “But you hadn’t finished looking through them…”

“No, I didn’t. But I doubt that we’d be able to access those files whether or not we could get back through that door,” She pauses, and glances back at him. “But again. There’s nothing we can do about it now.”

She turns to leave. And he grimaces again, still kicking himself for his own stupidity. But he follows her anyways, dogging beside her with feet that feel as heavy as lead.

The nurse’s office is clean when they get there, the waste bin empty, the curtains pushed back. Even the bed is made, and Makoto can’t help the pang in his chest as he remembers seeing Taka there, curled up and silent, unwilling to say anything to anyone. Kyoko is already rummaging through the drawers, and she passes a white bottle to him.

“For the headache.” She says simply. “You can grab an ice pack from the fridge here, too.” And turns to leave.

“Wait, what about you?” He blurts out, before he can think twice about it.

She raises an eyebrow. “What about me?”

He hesitates, but he can’t take the words back now. “Your hand. Your left hand, I mean - it’s hurting, right?”

And as he could have predicted, she freezes, then sighs, a sound that’s half-annoyed, half-amused. “Again. Too observant,” She flexes her hand in front of him, as if to prove him wrong. “It’s fine. It won’t hinder me.”

Now it was his turn to scrutinize her. There are no tells on her face, no outward sign that she was lying at all, but Makoto remembers how she favored her right hand when typing on Alter Ego’s keyboard, and how shaken she had been after he had grabbed her left hand earlier. He knows what he saw, and that seemed to be the one thing he was good at here.

“...I won’t ask you what happened. But you shouldn’t try and pretend like it’s fine if it’s not, or it could make it worse.” He casts a quick look around the nurse’s office. “There’s probably those, uh, those finger splints thingies – like the kind that athletes use – somewhere around here…or we could ask Sakura, maybe? She probably knows about these kinds of things.”

“...It’s fine, Makoto. I don’t need it.”

“You don’t-” He stares at her, incredulous. The strange contrast between her concern for his potential concussion, and yet her own self-neglect was baffling, but he finds it hardly surprising. “...Okay, can you let me see the damage then?”

“No.” She replies instantly, in a voice so flat that it didn’t leave any room for deliberation. And suddenly, he’s worried that she’ll leave again, and makes an aborted attempt to grab for her arm - and hesitates, before pinching onto her sleeve instead.

“Why?” He feels frustrated, the same frustration he felt that night Sayaka died; when Byakuya confronted him about his blindness. “Why hide it? Why…why do you want to deal with this all by yourself?” He can’t help the edge of desperation that’s creeping into his voice. “Wouldn’t it be easier if we could all work with each other?”

Kyoko’s eyes narrow slightly, like she’s the one who doesn’t understand him. “Makoto…don’t be ridiculous.” She shakes him off. “I doubt anyone here has the capabilities to help me.”

“You don’t know that! We’re all students of Hope’s Peak, so- so I’m sure they can all help somehow.” Granted, now that he’s met his fellow freshman class, he’s learned that they were all human, and sometimes, painfully so. But even despite that, they were all still extraordinary when compared to him. “What, is this about- about pride, or something?”

She huffs, a sound that’s almost a snort. “Of course not. Don’t confuse me with-” She pauses for a moment, hesitating. “...No, it’s nothing to do with pride. It’s about my own safety. Surely you can understand that much?”

He winces a little at that. He does understand, unfortunately; several times now, he’s seen some of the most well-meaning, seemingly harmless people of their group become violent and desperate, and resort to the worst possible means. But even so, he can’t give up. “But, if it’s just the ten of us left-”

“Enough, Makoto. Listen.” She turns to face him fully now, giving him her full attention. “We are in a place with no clear exits or entrances. We have been given explicit instruction to kill each other, but not pointlessly injure. And yet, one of us has been disabled, seemingly for no reason, which means that there is nothing here that we can take for granted. Not even our own bodies.” Her injured hand clenches again, though it shakes slightly at her side. “Maintaining distance is the safest option for me. I would suggest you do the same.”

Every word she says is true. He knows this, and he hates it, in much the same way that he hated how Byakuya had spoken so callously about Sayaka after the first trial. What he hates more though, is how hard it is to refute any of it…and how he knows that she was only saying it with good intentions. Out of concern.

She turns to leave the nurse’s office, and this time he lets her go. 

“For what it’s worth, I still trust you.”

The words are out of his mouth before he can even reconsider it. But she stops with one foot past the threshold.

For a moment, it seems that she is about to turn around and say something, but instead, she rounds the corner, and disappears from sight.

< previous - from start - next >

[rotisseries]

alright im giving in im finally asking. what in the everloving fuck is narines

HIIIII HELENA honestly I'm so glad you asked I think you'd love them but BASICALLYYYYY one of my mutuals, hella, @tbos-main, has this really cool original fantasy wip, the blood of serpents, which I am OBSESSED with so I do fandom post about it like any other media, and two of the characters are nate and rin. well. naithairan and herines technically but I'm on nickname basis with them. and I can explain tbos in more detail but since you asked about narines specifically, they are two characters who are very much on opposing sides of the central conflict and in a way that IS irreconcilable like. it has to be genuine all consuming hate it's bad. but they're also narrative foils and parallels and whatnot and outside of the main ideological difference in regards to the central conflict, they are very similar people in a very fucked up way, they're both martyr figures with a lot of religious themes, they both have had to learn the language of violence well, they both are willing to go to unfathomably low depths of morality and monstrousness in the pursuit of protecting the people they love, they're both incredibly calculating and callous, and so they have this INSANEEE dynamic that is very much "I see me in you I see everything I hate about myself in you I need to kill you because I need to be killed but yet I cannot kill you because that would be like taking a knife to myself and we recognize each other deeply and intimately in a very specific way no one else can and I HATEE you for it" and so like. they should fuck about that. obviously.

[mirananananan]

soooooo are they confirming roykeeleyjamie endgame or just trolling us because………

[sonknuxadow]

i dont even like sonelise. i have several criticisms of how the whole romance thing was written and i agree that the kiss scene was kinda weird and unnecessary and the writers should have found another way for sonic to be brought back to life. but the way so many people talk about them makes me go "oh heres a guy who doesnt actually know what happens in sonic 06"

like so many people portray elise as this weirdo whos obsessed with sonic and say that sonic hates her and thinks shes creepy. but they were friends?? sonic cared about her just as much as she cared about him? and the way people say she was obsessed with him and trying to force him to date her or whatever.. there was literally a cutscene in sonics story where the topic of sonic leaving once all this is over comes up and while elise was upset at the idea of not seeing sonic again she wasnt gonna force him to stay with her and even told him that its ok?? theres probably more i could say but idk brain not working

[feytouched]

lowkey wondering if i should redo the house of hope fights for the sake of reloading a certain interaction. at least i got this cool screenshot out of it. iykyk

[burritowitch]

there's a black label blue beetle book in my head that will not ever ever leave now i don't think

[p4nishers]

what if aziraphale said "we're on our own side" first?

[quietwingsinthesky]

so because nick was able to almost raise lucifer from the empty, we really have to assume that anyone could do it. like all he had was some determination and a hammer, and he could have pulled it off. so. what im saying is that this leads us to assume that in-universe, dean just didnt feel like it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[transmasc-rose]

I was talking to Curtis about how certain aspects of Doctor Who would be treated if they were episodes of Torchwood and/or had that rating leniency of Torchwood (imo the limitations of Doctor Who make for better TV than Torchwood in general, but not always) and when I brought up Amy's Choice, Curtis said I should do an episode rewrite and.

Hm. Hmmm. That could be really interesting. Amy and Rory and the Doctor's dynamic would be so... different in a Torchwood rated show, given the things they do with them in Doctor Who, and if they actually used the Dream Lord as an interesting villain (and they'd actually be able to play into the Doctor's worst traits in an adult show! For better and for worse!)...

However I'd have to actually rewatch Amy's Choice, and also decide how much I want to stay faithful to the episode, how much I want to stay faithful to "what would/could Torchwood have done here, and how much I actually want the result to be. Good.

Because "what Torchwood would do" and "what would be interesting" are not necessarily the same things.

(Accidentally wrote a Novel in the tags also. Whoops.)