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#I think Naomi is the hero for being like: hey it's your choice! your call Ruth!
dirigibleplumbing · 3 years
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I really enjoy season 8 and I like the tablet arcs and the stuff with Naomi (and yeah my name is Naomi and I’m pretty sure this is the only fictional Naomi I’ve ever encountered? definitely the only one with this large a role). I just wish they’d never tried to depict what Hell looks like in any extended way, or the parts of Heaven where angels hang out. I like them better when they’re more metaphysical and left to the imagination. 
I still like the episodes where they do this -- “Goodbye Stranger” being one of my faves -- but I think it kinda weakens the Heaven and Hell concepts by showing them so concretely. for Heaven I think there’s a kinda handwave of “this is how a human would perceive what’s happening, and the audience is human, of course this isn’t what it looks like to Cas and Naomi” but I don’t so much get that with Hell. 
also, what happened to Crowley’s endless queue? 
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Part Seven. Cooties, Discall, and Flirting
warnings: swearing, also I used the word “flirt” so many times it no longer holds meaning so beware word count: 4k 
behind the screen (irl dream x f!reader) series masterlist ultimate masterlist
A/N: putting it up here this time!!!! i liked this chap so i hope you do too!!!!! if you didn’t see the missing dms from part 3 (which are now actually in part 3), bugsy agreed to a minecraft date with dream in exchange for karl touring her on his smp!! anyway, enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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The frosty air bit at Y/n's skin as she hurriedly shut the car door behind her, starting up her car in an attempt to find warmth as quickly as possible. "Why do I live here?" she asked through chattered teeth, causing Naomi to laugh.
"It's not that cold!"
"I don't know how you're okay with this."
"Do you want me to drive? You're so stiff you'll crash,” Naomi offered as she looked at Y/n.
"I'm fine, I just need to warm up for a second," Y/n assured as she rubbed her hands together in front of the heater.
Naomi giggled and took her hands, rubbing them to help heat them up.
"Thank you, ma'am."
"Now hurry up, I have a work meeting in like 30 minutes."
"What?" she gasped, quickly putting her gloves back on. "Why didn't you tell me? I wouldn't have spent so much time looking at Christmas decorations!"
"I'm just kidding. But Karl will be mad if he has to wait for his food any longer."
"You're seriously the worst." She smacked Naomi's arm and started driving, much less panicked than a few moments prior.
"You love me."
"Whatever. How's your internship going by the way?"
Naomi sighed. "Good. It's really hard to be motivated to go since it's unpaid but it's the last thing I need to graduate so I have to do it."
"But you enjoy it, right? I mean it's what you want to do."
"Yeah, no, I love it. I just wish I was getting paid so I didn't have to work at the grocery store too. I wish I could get paid to play video games like you."
Y/n deflated slightly. She hated when people put it like that, it made her sound like it wasn't a real job but it was challenging in its own way. "I'll teach you how to pvp and you'll be on your way to the top."
"Maybe then I could actually meet George myself instead of waiting around for you to do it."
"Wait!" Y/n gasped. "Did I not... did I not tell you about the other night?"
"Uh... I guess not? What happened?"
Y/n squealed. "Dude! Make a Discord account right now. Get your phone out and make one."
"Why? What is that?"
"It's the thing we all use to voice call during streams and in private and stuff. Come on!" Y/n used her right hand to urge Naomi to grab her phone. "George said you can't have his number but you can have his Discord."
"Wait, really??" Naomi gasped. "Wait, what does that mean!? I can talk to him on it!?"
Y/n laughed. "Yes, yes! You can text or voice call or even video call but I don't suggest that right away. Don't scare him away."
"He really said he'd add me back? Wait, when did you talk to him about me?"
"On Dream's stream. After the movie, I went and talked to them for a few hours."
"Is that why I heard you giggling at four in the morning?"
Y/n felt her cheeks heat up. "Okay, well, that was just with Dream. George and Sapnap left the call around one and two."
"Date."
"Sounds to me like someone doesn't want GeorgeNotFound's Discord..."
Y/n saw Naomi cower shyly. "Sorry. Please give it to me."
"I don't know it off the top of my head, silly. So be nice for the rest of the car ride and I'll get it when we get home."
"Is Karl meeting us at our apartment or his?"
"Ours. Can you tell him we're almost there?"
"I don't know if I have the strength to... talk to someone who's such good friends with... my love..." Naomi started with a dramatic sigh, "it just reminds me of the pain I go through daily... without him..."
"If that were true, you couldn't talk to me. I'm also good friends with Mr. Not Found."
Naomi threw her head to glare at Y/n, who just laughed. "Come on, text Karl. Please. His food will get cold."
Y/n watched as Naomi typed away on her phone. Soon, the two pulled up to their apartment complex and headed upstairs. Y/n turned the corner and walked down the hall to see Karl standing at their front door.
"KARL JACOBS! WE HAVE FOOD!"
He looked up quickly from his phone and beamed at them. "My heroes!"
"What are you doing outside, silly?" Y/n asked. "Don't you have a key?"
"Naomi made me give it back after I pulled that prank on you guys last month," he explained as Y/n unlocked the door.
"Well deserved. I still find glitter everywhere."
Y/n set the food on the counter and the other two crowded around. "Thank you, mother, for lunch," Karl joked and kissed her cheek loudly, his love language of physical touch jumping out of him. Y/n grimaced playfully as she wiped her cheek on her shoulder.
"GROSS!!! COOTIES!"
Karl pouted. "I thought we were best fwends, Y/n . Best fwends don't have cooties."
"You do. You're a boy."
Y/n's phone lit up as Karl started going on a joking rant about how Y/n  always is so mean to his affections and he can't help wanting to show his friends he loves them and how she's so mean and, "Y/n you're not even listening to my complaints how are we supposed to be best friends when you're too busy talking to your boyfriend all the time and—"
"Boyfriend?" Y/n looked up quickly, worried he had seen the text from Peter that she just read. He was still trying to convince her to talk to him even after she bluntly told him no and why.
Karl walked over to the couch with his food and sat next to Naomi. "I was just joking... why, is there someone?" he giggled. "Dreeeaam maybe?"
Y/n shook her head, and her lack of defensiveness made Naomi and Karl look at each other. Normally she turned bright red and stumbled over her words when they joked about anyone being her boyfriend, but she was stone cold silent as her phone continued to illuminate her face.
"Y/n... What's up?" Naomi asked. "Is it Peter again?"
"Peter?" Karl's eyebrows raised and his food almost fell out of his mouth. "He's been texting you?"
Y/n sighed, locking her phone and sliding it in her pocket before finally joining her friends on the couch. "It's nothing."
"No, it's not."
"He wants to talk," Y/n mumbled.
"What?" Karl asked genuinely.
"I said he wants to talk."
Karl just stared for a few moments before looking at Naomi, who nodded, then back at Y/n. "You're not going to, right? Right? You've got to be kidding me, Y/n, he's a selfish dick and he's just going to keep hurting you. Why do you keep giving him the benefit of the doubt when he's proven time and time again that he's nothing but a fuc—"
"Karl!" Y/n interrupted. "I'm obviously not going to talk to him."
Karl's face flushed, probably embarrassed that he had assumed the worst and ranted. He sighed, exasperated. "Why don't you just block him already?"
Y/n shrugged. "He's harmless now that I don't let his words get to me."
"I'm just glad you finally decided not to meet up with him," Naomi said.
Y/n  shrugged like it was an obvious choice, but deep down she couldn't help but think about the exact reason she had come to that decision. Besides all the pain he had caused her, how could she consider getting back together with her ex when she finds herself giddy about talking to someone else over Discord? Simple: she couldn't. The possibility of liking Dream briefly crossed her mind, and she knew that in the few weeks she had talked to him, the faceless man she had never met in real life made her feel better about herself than her ex-boyfriend ever did in the two years they dated. She wasn't sure quite what that meant, but she knew it was something.
"Can I have George's Dis...call or whatever it's called now? Please?"
Y/n laughed at the failed attempt at remembering the name of the application and pulled out her phone, directing Naomi on where to add friends and listing off his name and hashtag. Naomi then gave Y/n her name so she could tell George who to add back. "There, now leave me alone about George for the rest of your life."
Naomi giggled giddily before going to her room, eyes glued to her phone for the moment he would add her back.
"I'm sorry for being so bossy when it comes to Peter," Karl muttered.
Y/n shrugged and cuddled into the couch, hugging a pillow to her stomach. "I get that he was awful, but you have to trust me to know what to do."
"I do! I promise I trust you but..." Karl paused to groan, "but he just makes my blood boil. I've never hated anyone in my life but I would love to slice his head off if I ever got the chance."
"Thank you for being protective, but I promise I can handle myself."
Karl looked at her sadly. "Why did you stay with him for so long? Even after he cheated on you and said all those horrible things?"
She shrugged shamefully. "I had no one else."
"You had me and Naomi! Y/n, you've never been alone."
"That's not what I mean, Karl. I love you guys so much but it's not the same as dating someone, you know?"
"I guess..." he sighed. "But wouldn't you rather be alone than with someone who's so possessive you're afraid to tell him about your real job?"
Y/n dropped her shoulders. He had a point. She really shouldn't have stayed with Peter as long as she did. He was scary. "Yeah."
A scream from the other room snapped them out of their serious conversation. "HE ADDED ME BACK!"
Y/n laughed and Karl shook his head. "Poor George. He's about to regret so much," she predicted.
"Noooo... I'm sure he and Naomi will get along great," Karl argued. "They'll be friends at least."
"Maybe. Hey, any updates about cameragirl?"
Karl blushed immediately and Y/n smiled.
"Is that a yes??"
"I... may have... finally spoken to her. Y/n, she's so cute. Like, she's so nice and I want to protect her from everything."
"What did you guys talk about?!" Y/n gasped, sitting up quickly.
"You're going to be so disappointed in me..."
"Did you talk about Sonic the Hedgehog again? Karl, I swear—"
"No! But I only said like two words."
"What two words?"
"Um, I said hi, and then she asked how I was and I said good."
"KARL!"
"I know!" he said as he buried his face in his hoodie sleeves. "I'm the worst! I don't know how to talk to her! She's so cute!!!"
Y/n laughed endearingly and pulled his hands away. "My offer still stands, I'll teach you how to flirt if you want."
"No, I still don't believe that you can actually flirt."
"I totally can, but fine. Ask Naomi to help you if you don't trust me. She'd teach you if you want." Y/n looked down at her phone as it lit up with notifications from Twitter.
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As if he knew by the smile on her face who it was, Karl challenged, "Flirt with Dream to prove you can."
"I have nothing to prove to you," Y/n mumbled, standing up. "But he wants to call me so I'm going to my room. You're welcome to stay here or go home since Naomi's still in her room too."
"Mkay," Karl said. "I'll just stay here for now. Thanks again for the food."
"No problem, dude." Y/n disappeared to her room and opened Discord on her computer, waiting for Dream to call her. She answered when he finally did.
"Hi, Dream," she smiled into her headset.
"Hi, Bug. What are you up to?"
"Nothing. I was just explaining to Karl how good I am at flirting because he doesn't believe that I'm good."
"I don't either."
"What?" she laughed. "Why does no one think I can? Have you seen all the thirsty people flirting with me on Twitter? You included."
"Yeah, but you hardly flirt back. You just insult us."
"I can flirt when I want to."
"Prove it."
"...I don't want to."
"Why? Because you can only flirt with your boyfriend?"
"Are you trying to get me to admit I have a secret lover?"
"Yes."
"Well too bad, I don't."
"Interesting... so you," he paused, careful with his words, "so you decided... not to listen to whats-his-face?"
"Mhm," she hummed, not trusting her voice to stay steady. Why was she nervous? She crossed her fingers hoping that he wouldn't ask how or why she came to that conclusion. She didn't have a lie ready to hide the fact that it might have something to do with Dream.
"Then there's no reason you can't flirt with me."
Y/n sighed dramatically but still smiled. "Why did you call me? Just to make fun of my flirting abilities?"
"No, I called because I'm bored."
"Wow, so I'm just a backup when GeorgeNotFound and Sapnap are busy?"
"Actually, I called you before I tried either of them."
"Interesting..." she mocked him and he scoffed.
"Stop changing the subject and flirt with me!!! Give me your best pickup line!! Why won't you?"
"How about because I reserve flirting for people who deserve it?"
"Oh, it's that good, huh? You have to be on a VIP list to be flirted with by you?"
"Yeah," she laughed, completely joking. "It's life-changing."
"How do I get on that list?"
"Why do you want me to flirt with you so bad, you weirdo?"
"Because you said it's life-changing! And because I just don't believe that you're good at flirting."
"Why? What about me screams that I'm an awkward mess?"
"Everything!" he laughed. "Every time I've witnessed anyone flirt with you you just get all embarrassed and change the subject. Or on Twitter when we flirt with you, you almost always just reject us outright. People like that aren't smooth."
"Fine. I'll flirt with you, Dream. Not now but when you least expect it and it'll leave you so speechless that you'll never question me again."
"Good. I'm excited."
She snorted lightly and shook her head. "You're ridiculous."
"Oh, hey, you know how I said Sapnap, George, and I wanted to do a big hangout thing with everyone?"
"Yes! Is it happening??"
"Yeah! We still don't know exactly when but George mentioned he thinks New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are stupid holidays so we want to get everyone together in person for that to prove it's a great holiday."
"I mean... I'm kinda with George on this one," Y/n agreed.
"What?! How? It's the start of a New Year! It's an excuse to kiss someone and you start the year with all your friends and loved ones and-"
"It's literally just another day. The only thing that changes is people accidentally put the wrong year when they write dates down for the first month."
Dream laughed. "That's stupid. No. It's a good holiday."
"Whatever. You'll just have to prove to me that it's good."
"I will."
"And the thing you said about having an excuse to kiss someone is stupid. If you wanna kiss someone, just kiss them."
"That easy, huh?"
"Yes."
Dream hummed thoughtfully, a mischievously playful tone to it that made Y/n change the subject slightly to spare her heart from beating too hard.
"So he's coming for New Years'?"
"Okay, yeah, so he doesn't know exactly what date but we're trying to get as many of our friends as we can to come so we have to plan around everyone. Also obviously you and Karl and Naomi are invited."
"Oh, Naomi too? Good, because I think they're talking to each other right now."
"They are," Dream laughed. "George texted me when she added him and he panicked because he doesn't know how to talk to girls."
"What?!" Y/n gasped in offense. "That's his and my thing! Why didn't he text me panicking??"
"He said he was going to text you but since it's your friend he felt awkward."
She grunted. "Fine. I guess that makes sense. Except, I know her better than anyone so I'd be waaay more helpful than you."
"You saying I don't know how to talk to girls?"
"I mean, you've used so many pickup lines on me on Twitter and I'm still not wowed, so yeah, I'd say you aren't as smooth as you'd like to think."
"Bug! What?! I'm totally good at talking to girls," Dream tried to defend, pulling excuses out of his ass. "I just haven't used my best tactics because you're easier to scare away than most. As I said, you can't dish it or take it so I have to use special moves."
"They still haven't worked." The quick beating of her heart and shaking of her hands informed her that that was a lie. Every time he replied to her tweets, the painful grin on her face proved it was a big, fat lie. Maybe she was a little impressed at his "special moves" but she wasn't going to ever admit that to him.
"Whatever, you liar. Anyway, we were thinking of renting a cabin on a lake or something like that for everyone to stay in."
"Oh! Yes, that sounds so fun! I love lake houses so much."
"Good. I'm gonna talk to George and the other brits and see if that's doable. It's gonna happen. I promise. I'm tired of not seeing my friends."
"Wait, how many people are you guys thinking? I'm still nervous about showing people my face..."
"It's a rough list but basically Sapnap, George, Quackity, Karl, Wilbur, Niki, um, Tubbo, Tommy, who else.... I think that's it right now. We'll make sure you know them and are comfortable with them so you don't feel pressured to show strangers who you are."
She nodded to herself. "Okay. I could also just not come if I'm not comfortable with someone—"
"What?!" he asked loudly, genuinely surprised. "Wha— no. We just wouldn't invite them."
"But—"
"I'd way rather have you there than anyone else. Hell, I'd kick George or Sapnap out if you didn't want to show them your face."
"Wait, really?"
"No pressure but I really want you to come and I want to make sure your comfortable."
"What if I don't want to show you my face?"
There was a long pause and Y/n knew he was trying to control his voice so she didn't know he was disappointed or slightly offended. "I mean... I don't know. I guess I... wouldn't go."
Her heart cracked at the sadness in his voice.
"I really don't want you to be pressured into—"
"Dream," she said. "It's okay. I'm probably most comfortable with meeting you over anyone else."
"Really?"
She didn't trust her voice not to sound too sappy and giddy. She didn't trust it a lot when she was around Dream. "Mhm."
"I'm glad," he said happily but softly. "It will be fun. Also, give me your phone number."
"So forward of you, Dream."
"Shut up, I wanna make a group chat."
Y/n laughed and told him her number. "I'm really excited now, Dream! I haven't hung out with people in so long and it sounds like a fun little vacation."
Dream laughed at her excitement. "I just want to hug the shit out of George."
It was Y/n's turn to laugh loudly. "Have you met him in real life yet?"
"No."
"I doubt he'll even let you touch him. He doesn't seem touchy."
"I don't think he is but I don't care. I am very touchy so he won't have a choice but to hug me."
"Ugh, another touchy person. Gross."
"Are you not?"
"Not really. Karl is the touchiest person I have ever met so he's kinda rubbed off on me a little over the years I think, but in general no."
"Oh, yeah, he's already threatened to kiss all of us as soon as we meet," Dream said with a laugh.
"Best to just let it happen. He pouted earlier because I wiped my cheek after he kissed it."
"That doesn't sound like something someone who can flirt would do."
"Because I'm not flirting with Karl!" Y/n groaned but a laugh was behind her words. "What is with you guys?"
"You just can't be on Karl and my level of flirting if we don't see it! Can't be in the gang if you don't show us your skill."
"Just you wait, Dream. You'll see."
"Wait, what about our Minecraft date?"
"What about it?"
"When we do that, you have to flirt with me!"
"No, I don't," she protested with a loud laugh.
"Um, I'm pretty sure it's very rude to not sweet-talk your date. You have to flirt with me then."
Y/n giggled. "Oh yeah? And what if I don't?" She hadn't meant for her voice to come out laced with something suggestive, but if Dream noticed, he thankfully didn't show it.
"Well, we'll just have to keep going on dates until you do."
"Pretty sure forcing someone on dates is illegal, buddy."
Dream laughed. "You agreed to it!!"
"I agreed to the first one," she corrected. "I agreed to one date in exchange for you letting Karl tour me around your server. One."
"Don't worry." Unlike Y/n's, Dream's voice was purposefully laced with something suggestive as he told her, "after our date, it won't take much for you to agree to more."
"Oh whatever," she scoffed, trying to cool her face down with her icy hands. Even they were no match for the heat on her cheeks. "When are we doing this stupid thing anyway?"
"Ah, the smooth talking has begun, I see."
"Dreeeamm..." she whined, growing increasingly tired of the butterflies in her stomach. Why did she suddenly feel so nervous around him? It's not sudden, she told herself.
Dream's cute laugh interrupted her thoughts. "What about tomorrow?"
"I'm streaming Among Us tomorrow."
He groaned. "You never make time for me."
"I cannot stand you," she joked, laughs slipping through her annoyed voice and blowing her cover. "You're the one who said you were too busy to join my lobby. So really you don't make time for me."
"No, no, no," he protested. "I'd make time for one-on-one time with you, just not a game where I hardly get to talk to you."
"Oh my gosh." She rolled her eyes. "How did you turn this around to sound cute again."
"Aw, Bug, you think I'm cute?"
"You ruined it by asking. What are you doing tomorrow anyway?"
"I have to finish a plug-in by tomorrow night so George and I can test it. There's still a lot to fix so it'll probably will take all day."
"Oooh," she cooed. "What's it do?"
"It changes the world every time we take damage," he explained with a hint of pride in his voice.
"What the! That sounds awesome!"
"Thanks," he said shyly, proudness gone now that he was being complimented. "Anyway, George is really busy next week so we have to test it tomorrow night so we can record the next day."
"You probably should finish it then."
"Or you could cancel your stream and we could go on a date."
"Dream!" She laughed. "No! How about next week. Between you editing the video you record, we go on a Minecraft date. How's Thursday?"
"I guess I could fit you into my schedule..."
"I hate you."
His cheeky grin could be heard through his stupid words. "Keep telling yourself that."
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A/N: *sniff* *sniff* yall smell a hater in those twitter screenshots?? hmmm..... 
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What are your thoughts on Near and Mello (Death Note)? You don’t seem to like them as characters
I was about to say that I don’t necessarily dislike them, but, honestly, I do. I really really do.
And hey, look at that, I get to offend an entirely new fandom. 
To be honest though I’m not even sure where to begin.
I suppose I’ll start with the concept of the orphan heirs to the title of L.
Wammy’s Dog Fighting Arena for Boys
Death Note is a fantastic and brilliant anime, however, every once in a while more general anime tropes sneak through and cause it to fall flat on its face. We have L, who for reasons is a sugar addicted man child (well, I actually have thoughts on L, who I quite like, but my theory is that he is the way he is because he’s a jackass who fully intends to be that off putting).
The Wammy orphan bit is the worst of this. We have an orphanage of... children competing for the title of L, an anonymous detective that Watari made up. These children are all super serial geniuses who are even weirder and less socially adjusted than L. Just, kill me.
Even the premise for why they exist is bad. The authors’ in the Death Note guide admit that, when they realized they were going to kill off L, they realized they had a major problem. They didn’t want a repeat arc with another L as a nemesis, SO THEY BROUGHT US TWO Ls, THAT’S COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!
Why I call it anime derp is that the whole ridiculous Wammy’s concept is never addressed. Wammy’s existence, the little we do know of L’s backstory, makes Watari the level of skeevy reserved for manipulative Dumbledore.
The man uses these children and pits them against each other in a high stakes intellectual environment where they stake their entire worth on their still developing intelligence.
In canon, we see what this has done to Mello, L, Matt, and Near. All of them are completely messed up human beings and they either die or never get better. L is an utter jackass who cares very little about justice. Mello becomes an actual gangster and uses the Death Note to make hits on rival gang members (not to mention Sayu, but we’ll get into that). Matt also becomes a gang member and kidnaps multiple women. Near cannot function, at all, in society and when we catch up to him ten years later in that hilariterrible one-shot he’s gotten even worse.
If we’re taking LABB as canon then you have Beyond Birthday who becomes a serial murderer and lights himself on fire in a desperate, insane, attempt to show up L. We have reference to A who killed himself under the pressure of trying to become L. 
We can presume there’s been other orphaned children, who had nowhere else to go and no one to protect them, that Wammy just destroyed so that he could have Batman.
Death Note, however, never touches this with a ten foot pole.
Instead these are our weird and quirky band of heroes who are so weird because... it’s anime and we like weird! Weird means you’re a super genius! Yay genius orphanage!
So, right at the very idea of Wammy’s existing, they already have to win me back. Mello and Near do not win me back.
Mello is a Thug
We’re supposed to feel very bad for Mello, he’s always been second to Near and this messes him up, and he leaves to try and find his own path. I’d say god bless him, you go Mello, except his own path turns out to become a gangster.
Mello’s not a remotely good guy.
Just because he’s pitted himself against Light, and tells us he’s sticking it to Kira and Near at the same time, does not make him remotely good. And that’s what irks me about him, Mello is a great skeezy character, but the story actively wants me to think he’s the hero.
It’s sort of like trying to convince me that Kylo-Ren is secretly a great guy. It’s really hard to sell me on that when we watch Mello in real time and, more, why are we even bothering? Let Mello be the scumbag he is.
First, Mello steals a weapon of mass destruction and immediately begins using it. It’s not about solving the Kira case for him, or at least, it’s certainly not about stopping Kira. It’s about showing up Near, L, and all those who never believed in him. 
That Mello, first, not only steals the notebook from the government, but then gets it into the hands of gangsters, AND THEN USES IT TO ASSASSINATE HIS RIVALS. Well, suffice to say, you do you Mello.
More, this is a guy who tortures, murders, and probably rapes multiple people to get this to happen. Mello’s attempts to retrieve the notebook start with the kidnapping of Japan’s head of the police force. He then kidnaps Light Yagami’s younger sister and... Something very bad happens to Sayu.
We never get confirmed what happen, we don’t see much of her in captivity or much after, however immediately after the events we see her in a wheelchair. At the end of the series, Sayu is catatonic and barely able to express emotion.
It’s highly implied she was raped.
With the kidnapping of Takada, regardless of what you think of her... Nothing good was going to come of that. Mello resorts to the tactics of terrorists just so he can prove he’s a big man.
Further, Mello’s brilliance is never really that brilliant. Yes, he gets the notebook (though notably does not hold it long and loses his name in the process). However, his big win at the end is supposed to be him having realized Mikami would mess up were he to kidnap Takada. He had no guarantee of this, frankly, I think he was just kidnapping Takada in an act of desperation. Because that’s what Mello does when he runs out of ideas: he kidnaps people close to Light Yagami and sees what happens.
This gets both him and Matt brutally killed.
Near’s a Moron
Near is so weird and so maladjusted, my god, and he’s such a pretentious ass. He’s just... knock off L in every way. Which, granted, is kind of what he’s supposed to be. Except that the story never capitalizes on this. 
We see hints of it, Near trying desperately to live up to L’s name and mantle, but it never really delves into it.
More, what we do see of Near’s plans...
I really want to go into the one-shot epilogue, because that said so much about Near, but I’ll resist.
Instead I’ll note that L was 13 days from proving Light’s guilt. It takes Near and Mello combined five years, and Mikami’s dumb ass, to get to the same place. And even then, they nearly all died if Matsuda had been a worse shot.
Near has no idea that he’s nowhere near as brilliant as L. Instead, he gives us the world’s most hamfisted, frustrating, lecture at the end of the series where he tells us that Light was so stupid and that together he and Mello triumphed over evil.
Good for you, Near, I’m so happy for you.
I Just Don’t See the Point of Them
The second half of Death Note, in general, is a slough. It’s not just me saying this, you ask the majority of the fanbase, and they’ll admit it all goes downhill with L’s death.
I think the authors desperately wanted to avoid writing the dystopian politics of what would happen if Light won unopposed. They wanted a detective thriller, the trouble was, that story ended with L’s death.
So they try to feed us the same, but worse, story twice, and it just doesn’t work.
Personally, what I’d rather have seen is Matsuda and company slowly but surely realizing Light is Kira and Matsuda, in the end, having no choice but to assassinate him as they just cannot get any proof. It’s a very different story, but it would have been such a good story of betrayal that, again we sort of got hints of, but never really confronted.
Alternatively, keep Naomi Misora alive, and have her be the spearhead of brilliance we need. As it was, I am eternally sad/amused that she was killed off because she was too damn smart for the series (the authors admit she figured everything out too fast and as a result had to be eliminated).
Just, please, not genius orphan children. 
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flightfoot · 3 years
Text
Tower of Nero quotes
So since I’m planning on writing some analyses for Tower of Nero, I decided to assemble my usual catalogue of quotes, so I won’t have to constantly flip through looking for them and typing them up hopefully. This is based on the kinds of analyses and things I want to talk about or just found interesting, but hey, I figure other people may find this useful as well.
Beware of spoilers, because no duh.
It was a silly thing to say, but some stubborn part of me insisted that Percy Jackson must be here somewhere, waiting to do dangerous tasks for me. That was his job!
But no. That was the old Apollo’s way of thinking - the Apollo I’d been the last time I was in this apartment. Percy was entitled to his own life. He was trying to have one, and - oh, the bitter truth! - it had nothing to do with me. (TON 37)
“Paul...” I ventured. “Aren’t you worried about having us here? We might endanger your family.”
The corners of his mouth tightened. “I was at the Battle of Manhattan. I’ve heard about some of the horrible things Sally went through - fighting the Minotaur, being imprisoned in the Underworld. And Percy’s adventures?” He shook his head in respect. “Percy has put himself on the line for us, for his friends, for the world, plenty of times. So, can I risk giving you a place to catch your breath, some fresh clothes, and a hot meal? Yeah, how could I not?” (TON 40-41)
What was it about kindness? In my time as Lester Papadopoulos, I had learned to stand up under horrendous verbal abuse and constant life-threatening violence, but the smallest act of generosity could ninja-kick me right in the heart and break me into a blubbering mess of emotions.
Damn you, Paul and Sally, and your cute baby too!
How could I repay them for providing me with this temporary refuge? I felt like I owed them the same thing I owed Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood, the Waystation and the Cistern, Piper and Frank and Hazel and Leo and, yes, especially Jason Grace. I owed them everything.
How could I not? (TON 41)
Sally Jackson crossed her arms. In spite of the grim matters we were discussing, she smiled. “You’ve grown up.”
I assumed she was talking about Meg. Over the last few months, my young friend had indeed gotten taller and- Wait. Was Sally referring to me?
My first thought: Preposterous! I was four thousand years old. I didn’t grow up.
She reached across the table and squeezed my hand. “The last time you were here, you were so lost. So... well, if you don’t mind me saying-”
“Pathetic,” I blurted out. “Whiny, entitled, selfish. I felt terribly sorry for myself.”
Meg nodded along with my words as if listening to her favorite song. “You still feel sorry for yourself.”
“But now,” Sally said, sitting back again, “you’re more... human, I suppose.”
There was that word again: human, which not long ago I would’ve considered a terrible insult. Now, every time I heard it, I thought of Jason Grace’s admonition: Remember what it’s like to be human.
He hadn’t meant all the terrible things about being human, of which there were plenty. He meant the best things: standing up for a just cause, putting others first, having stubborn faith that you could make a difference, even if it meant you had to die to protect your friends and what you believed it. These were not the kinds of feelings gods had... well, ever.
Sally Jackson meant the term in the same way Jason had - as something worth aspiring to. (TON 45-46)
And are you any better? taunted a small voice in my brain. How many times have you stood up to Zeus?
Okay, small voice. Fair point. Tyrants are not easy to oppose or walk away from, especially when you depend on them for everything. (TON 57)
I already felt disconnected from reality. I couldn’t concentrate. I didn’t know who I was, who I was supposed to be, or even who I wanted to be. I was getting emotional whiplash from my exhilarating surges of godlike power, my depressing crashes back into mortal frailty, and my adrenaline-charged bouts of terror. In such a condition, approaching Dionysus was asking for trouble. Just being near him could widen the cracks in anyone’s psyche. (TON 76-77)
Dionysus eyed me with a mixture of shock and horror, much the same way I looked at myself in the mirror these days. (TON 77)
In retaliation, Dionysus decided to look and act as ungodly as possible. He was like a child refusing to tuck in his shirt, comb his hair, or brush his teeth, just to show his parents how little he cared. (TON 78)
“Dad!” Will shot to his feet. He ran down the steps and tackled me in a hug.
That’s when I lost it. I wept openly.
My beautiful son, with his kind eyes, his healer’s hands, his sun-warm demeanour. Somehow, he had inherited all my best qualities and none of the worst. (TON 80)
“I figured you’d come back to camp eventually,” he said. “I hoped you would, anyway. I wanted you to feel at home.”
It was enough to start me crying again. Gods, I was an emotional wreck. Will hadn’t inherited his thoughtfulness from me. That was all his mother, Naomi, bless her kind heart. (TON 87-88)
“You’ve grown up!” Kayla gripped my shoulders with her archery-strong hands. The June sunlight made her freckles more pronounced. The green tinted tips of her orange hair made me think of Halloween-pumpkin candy. “You’re two inches taller at least! Isn’t he, Austin?” (TON 88)
I wanted to tell them that they were all so young. Their lifespans were a blink of an eye compared to my four millennia. I should be wrapping them all in warm blankets and giving them cookies rather than expecting them to be heroes, slay monsters, and buy me clothes. (TON 90)
“Nico has been having... I guess you’d call it post-traumatic stress disorder. He gets flashbacks. He has waking dreams. Dionysus has been trying to help him make sense of it all. The worst part is the voices.” (TON 93)
I frowned at Dionysus. “You could always, oh, I don’t know, decide to help.”
He scoffed. “You know as well as I do, Apollo, that quests like this are demigod business. As for advising, guiding, helping... that’s really more Chiron’s job.” (TON 99)
I wondered, bitterly, if there was anyone I hadn’t neglected, hurt, or overlooked during my time as a mortal - strike that - during my four thousand years of existence, period. I could only be grateful that my shoes were not sentient. Or my underwear. Gods, I would never be able to stop apologizing. (TON 110)
“I betrayed you once,” she said. “Right here in these woods.” She didn’t sound sad or ashamed about it, the way she once might have. She spoke with a sort of dreamy disbelief, as if trying to recall the person she’d been six months ago. That was a problem I could relate to. (TON 114)
“I have to go back,” Meg insisted. “I have to see if I’m strong enough.”
Peaches cuddled up next to her as if he had no such concerns.
Meg patted his leafy wings. “Maybe I’ve gotten stronger. But when I go back to the palace, will it be enough? Can I remember to be who I am now and not... who I was then?”
I didn’t think she expected an answer. But it occurred to me that perhaps I should be asking myself that same question.
Since Jason Grace’s death, I’d spent sleepless nights wondering if I could keep my promise to him. Assuming I made it back to Mount Olympus, could I remember what it was like to be human, or would I slip back into being the self-centered god I used to be?
Change is a fragile thing. It requires time and distance. Survivors of abuse, like Meg, have to get away from their abusers. Going back to that toxic environment was the worst thing she could do. And former arrogant gods like me couldn’t hang around other arrogant gods and expect to stay unsullied.
But I supposed Meg was right. Going back was the only way to see how strong we’d gotten, even if it meant risking everything. (TON 114-115)
“So now you believe the Trogs exist?” Nico asked.
“I am learning to believe in all sorts of things that can kill me!” (TON 136)
If my trials as a mortal had done anything, they had shown me how many times I’d abandoned, forgotten, and failed my Oracle over the centuries. I could not abandon Rachel in the same way. I’d neglected the basic truth that they did not serve me; I was supposed to serve them. (TON 158)
Nico smirked. “Friends, meet my glow-in-the-dark boyfriend.”
“Could you not make a big deal about it?” Will asked. (TON 163)
“Rachel, I’m scared,” I admitted. “It was one thing thinking about putting myself in danger. But the entire camp? Everyone?”
Strangely, this comment seemed to please her.
She took my hand. “I know, Apollo. And the fact that you’re worried about other people? That’s beautiful. But you’ll have to trust me.” (TON 175)
When he’d told me to remember being human, he’d meant building on pain and tragedy, overcoming it, learning from it. That was something gods never did. We just complained.
To be human is to move forward, adapt, to believe in your ability to make things better. That is the only way to make the pain and sacrifice mean something. 
I met Rachel’s gaze.”I trust you. I’ll make things right. Or I will die trying.”
The strange thing was, I meant it. A world in which the future was controlled by a giant reptile, where hope was suffocated, where heroes sacrificed their lives for nothing, and pain and hardship could not yield a better life... that seemed much worse than a world without Apollo. (TON 176-177)
Not one deserved to be snuffed out by Nero’s cruelty. The revelation stunned me. I had become a human-life hoarder! (TON 182)
“I’m so sorry”, I managed at last. 
“No, no,” Jason said. “I made my choice. You’re not to blame. You don’t owe me anything except to remember what I said. Remember what’s important.”
“You’re important,” I said. “Your life!”
Jason tilted his head. “I mean... sure. But if a hero isn’t ready to lose everything for a greater cause, is that person really a hero?”
He weighted the word person subtly, as if to stress it could mean a human, a faun, a dryad, a griffin, a pandos... even a god. (TON 218-219)
As a god of healing, I knew something about psychology and mental health, though I’ll admit I did not always best practices to myself. (TON 225)
I knew my anxiety about my own weakness was getting mixed up with my anxiety about Meg. Even if I somehow made my way back to Mount Olympus, I didn’t trust myself to hold onto the important things I’d learned as a mortal. That made me doubt Meg’s ability to stay strong in her old toxic home.
The similarities between Nero’s household and my family on Mount Olympus made me increasingly uneasy. The idea that we gods were just as manipulative, just as abusive as the worst Roman emperor... Surely that couldn’t be true. 
Oh, wait. Yes, it could. Ugh. I hated clarity. (TON 225-226)
I found myself back in the caverns of Delphi, volcanic gasses layering the air, the dark shape of Python moving heavily in the background.
“So, I have you again,” he gloated. “You shall perish-”
“I don’t have time for you right now.” My voice surprised me almost as mush as it did the reptile.
“What?”
“Gotta go.” I lashed the reins of my dream.
“How dare you! You cannot-”
I rocketed into reverse like I was tied to a rubber band. (TON 233)
We both knew that, under most circumstances, Meg was fully capable of rescuing herself. But with Nero... I suspected Lu, like me, wanted Meg to be strong enough to save herself. We couldn’t make the hard choices for her. Yet it was excruciating to stand by while Meg’s sense of independence was tested. (TON 244)
But now, after knowing Lu, I wondered how many of these Germani really wanted to serve Nero, and how many had been conscripted into his service with no choice. Enough people had died. My grudge was with only one person, Nero, and one reptile, Python. (TON 250)
“Well, no, not Mr. D,” Nico said. “You know how it is. Gods don’t fight demigod battles. Present company excepted.” (TON 263)
Austin and I had gotten to know each other - not just as god and mortal, or father and son, but as two people working side by side, helping each other get through our often messed-up lives. (TON 273)
My heart broke. Meg looked elegant, older, and quite beautiful. She also looked utterly, completely no longer herself. Nero had tried to strip way everything she had been, every choice she’d made, and replace her with someone else - a proper young lady of the Imperial Household. (TON 285-286)
I tried to contain my horror. “Meg,” I said. “There’s only one person you need to listen to here: yourself. Trust yourself.”
I meant it, despite all my doubts and fears, despite all my complaints over the months about Meg being my master. She had chosen me, but I had also chosen her. I did trust her - not in spite of her past with Nero, but because of it. I had seen her struggle. I’d admired her hard-won progress. I had to believe in her for my own sake. She was - gods help me - my role model. (TON 293)
“I didn’t kill my father,” she said, her voice small and hard. “I didn’t cut off Lu’s hands or enslave those dryads or twist us all up inside.” She swept a hand towards the other demigods of the household. “You did that, Nero. I hate you.” (TON 295)
“Lu has immortality,” I said, “because you’re immortal. The two of you have been connected for centuries.” 
Nero’s eye twitched. “But that’s my eternal life! You can’t trade my life for my life!” (TON 309)
Python had always been the real power behind the throne - a bigger puppet master than Nero’s mother ever had been. Like most bullies, Nero had been shaped and manipulated by an even stronger abuser. (TON 310)
Nero hissed. “Ungrateful child. The Beast-”
“The Beast is dead.” Meg tapped the side of her head. “I killed it.” (TON 311)
Rachel pulled out a blue plastic hairbrush and threw it at the nearest barbarian, beaning him in the eye and making him howl. 
Sorry I underestimated you, Rachel, I thought distantly. You’re actually kind of a hairbrush ninja. (TON 313)
"You - cannot - take - it - Lester!” Nero said through clenched teeth, pulling with all his might.
“I am Apollo,” I said, tugging the opposite direction. “And I - revoke - your - divinity!” (TON 317)
“Hasn’t he proved himself already?” Artemis demanded. My heart ached, seeing my sister again. “He’s suffered more in these last few months than even you could have expected! Whatever lesson you were trying to teach him, dear Father, he’s learned it!” (TON 319)
“This has gone on long enough. Too much loss. Too much pain. But if my husband insists on seeing it through, the least you all can do is not talk about Apollo as if he’s already dead!” (TON 320)
Then I was back in my mortal form, looking up not at the Olympians, but at the faces of my friends (TON 320)
I alternated drinking my nectar and Mountain Dew, which was sort of like alternating between premium gasoline and regular gasoline. (TON 323)
Meg had thrown away her sandals, braving bare feet despite the arrows, rubble, bones, and discarded blades that littered the floor. Someone had given her an orange Camp Half-Blood shirt, which she’d put on over her dress, making her allegiance clear. She still looked older and more sophisticated, but she also looked like my Meg. (TON 323)
I considered that perhaps courage was a self-perpetuating cycle, like abuse. Nero had hoped to create miniature, tortured versions of himself because that made him feel stronger. Meg had found the strength to oppose him because she saw how much her foster siblings needed her to succeed, to show them another way.
There were no guarantees. The imperial demigods had dealt with so much for so long, some of them might never be able to come back from the darkness. Then again, there had been no guarantees for Meg, either. There were still no guarantees that I would come back from the caverns of Delphi. All any of us could do was try, and hope that in the end, the virtuous cycle would break the vicious one. (TON 324)
Even if I survived, I would not be the same. The best I could hope for was to emerge from Delphi with my godhood restored, which was what I had wanted and dreamed about for the past half a year. So why did I feel so reluctant about leaving behind the broken, battered form of Lester Papadopolous?
“Just come back to me dummy, that’s an order.” Meg gave me a gentle hug, conscious of my injuries. Then she got to her feet and ran off to check on the imperial demigods - her former family, and possibly her family yet to be. (TON 327)
“We all have a duty to rescue each other, wouldn’t you say?”
I nodded, wondering how the centaur had become so wise over the centuries, and why that same wisdom had escaped me until I had been Lesterized. (TON 328)
I felt a tingly sensation of power building just under my skin - perhaps my divine self, trying to reassert itself in the proximity of my old arch-enemy. I hoped it was that and not just my mortal body combusting (TON 332)
Deep breath. This was for Meg. This was for Jason. This was for everyone who had fought and sacrificed to drag my sorry mortal butt from quest to quest for the last six months, just to get me this chance at redemption (TON 333)
And yet, along with humility, I’d learned something else: getting humiliated is the beginning, not the end. Sometimes you need a second shot, and a third, and a fourth. (TON 335)
“YOU CAN’T HIDE!” Python bellowed. “YOU ARE NO GOD!”
This pronouncement hit me like a bucket of ice water. It didn’t carry the weight of prophecy, but it was true nonetheless. At the moment, I wasn’t sure what I was. I certainly wasn’t my old godly self. I wasn’t exactly Lester Papadopolous either. My flesh steamed. Pulses of light flickered under my skin, like the sun trying to break through storm clouds. When had that started?
I was between states, morphing as rapidly as Python himself. I was no god. I would never be the same old Apollo again. But in this moment, I had the chance to decide what I would become, even if that new existence only lasted a few seconds.
The realization burned away my delirium.
“I won’t hide,” I muttered. “I won’t cower. That’s not who I will be.” (TON 339-340)
I had done my best. Surely, Zeus would see that and be proud. Maybe he would send down a lightning bolt, blast Python into tiny pieces, and save me!
As soon as I thought this, I realized how foolish it was. Zeus didn’t work that way. He would not save me anymore than Nero had saved Meg. I had to let go of that fantasy. I had to save myself. (TON 341)
The prophecy came true. Apollo fell, and Python fell with me. (TON 346)
The river sapped my memories, my emotions, my will. It pried open the burning cracks in my Lester Papadopoulos shell, making me feel raw and unmade like a molting dragonfly. (TON 348)
I held onto my purpose. I remembered Meg McCaffrey’s last order: Come back to me, my dummy. Her face remained clear in my mind. She had been abandoned so many times, used so cruelly. I would not be another cause of grief for her. I knew who I was. I was her dummy. (TON 348)
Wow, Apollo, you marvel. How did you survive? 
I didn’t.
But at that point I was no longer Lester Papadopoulos. I was not Apollo. I was not sure who or what I was (TON 349)
“Have you learned?” she asked.
If I hadn’t felt so weak, I might have laughed. I had learned, all right. I was still learning. 
At that moment, I realized I’d been thinking of the Styx the wrong way all these months. She hadn’t put destruction in my path. I’d caused it myself. She hadn’t gotten me into trouble. I was the trouble. She had merely called out my recklessness. (TON 353)
Why couldn’t I let go, then? I kept clinging to the edge with stubborn determination. My wayward pinky found its grip again. I had promised Meg I would return to her. I hadn’t sworn it as an oath, but that didn’t matter. If I said I would do it, I had to follow through.
Perhaps that was what Styx had been trying to teach me: it wasn’t about how loudly you swore your oath, or what sacred words you used. It was about whether or not you meant it. And whether your promise was worth making.
Hold on, I told myself, to both the rock and the lesson.
My arms seemed to become more substantial. My body felt more real. The lines of light wove together until my form was a mesh of solid gold.
Was it just a last hopeful hallucination, or did I just pull myself up? (TON 354)
I rose with a sob and hugged her tight. All my pain was gone. I felt perfect. I felt... I almost thought, like myself again, but I wasn’t even sure what that meant anymore.
I was a god again. For so long, my deepest desire was to be restored. But instead of feeling elated, I wept on my sister’s shoulder. I felt like if I let go of Artemis, I would fall back into Chaos. Huge parts of my identity would shake loose, and I would never be able to find all the puzzle pieces. (TON 355)
My chest was bronze and perfectly sculpted. My muscular arms bore no scars or fiery lines glowing beneath the surface. I was gorgeous, which made me feel melancholy. I had worked hard for those scars and bruises. All the suffering my friends and I had been through... (TON 355)
I felt awkward and uncomfortable in this form, as if I’d been given a Rolls-Royce to drive but no car insurance to go with it. I’d felt so much more comfortable in my economy-compact Lester. (TON 357)
I remembered my dream of the throne room - the other Olympians gambling on my success or failure. I wondered how much money they’d lost.
What could I possibly say to them? I no longer felt like one of them. I wasn’t one of them. (TON 358)
My poor Hyacinthus. Had I really created these flowers to commemorate him, or to wallow in my own grief and guilt? I found myself questioning many things I had done over the centuries. Strangely enough, this uneasiness felt somewhat reassuring.
I studied my smooth tan arms, wishing again that I had retained a few scars. Lester Papadopoulos had earned his cuts, bruises, broken ribs, blistered feet, acne... Well perhaps not the acne. No one deserves that. But the rest had felt more like symbols of victory than laurels, And better commemorations of loss than hyacinths. (TON 358-359)
I turned and strode out of my room, trying to recall how the god Apollo walked (TON 359)
As much as we pretended to be a council of twelve, in truth we were a tyranny. Zeus was less a benevolent father and more an iron-fisted leader with the biggest weapons and the ability to strip us of our immortality if we offended him. (TON 366)
My father coughed into his fist. “ I know you think your punishment was harsh, Apollo.”
I did not answer. I tried my best to keep my expression polite and neutral.
“But you must understand,” Zeus continued, “only you could have overthrown Python. Only you could have freed the Oracles. And you did it, as I expected. The suffering, the pain along the way... regrettable, but necessary. You have done me proud.”
Interesting how he put that: I had done him proud. I had been useful in making him look good. My heart did not melt. I did not feel that this was a warm-and-fuzzy reconciliation with my father. Let’s be honest: some fathers don’t deserve that. Some fathers aren’t capable of it.
I suppose I could have raged at him and called him bad names. We were alone. He probably expected it. Given his awkward self-consciousness at the moment, he might even have let me get away with it unpunished.
But it would not have changed him. It would not have made anything different between us.
You cannot change a tyrant by trying to out-ugly him. Meg could never have changed Nero, any more than I could change Zeus. I could only try to be different than him. Better. More... human. And to limit the time I spent around him to as little as possible. (TON 367-368)
I still didn’t feel like my old self. I didn’t want to feel like my old self. (TON 371)
When I’d first met Meg, she’d assured me that Lester’s appearance was perfectly normal. At the time, the notion had horrified me. Now I found it reassuring. (TON 371)
Ugly weeping would not have been appropriate for a major Olympian god, so that’s exactly what I did. (TON 372)
To be honest, though, I could no longer consider my time on Earth a punishment. Terrible, tragic, nearly impossible... yes. But calling it a punishment gave Zeus too much credit. It had been a journey - an important one I made for myself, with the help of my friends. I hoped... I believed that the grief and pain had shaped me into a better person. I had forged a more perfect Lester from the dregs of Apollo. I would not trade those experiences for anything. And if I had been told I had to be Lester for another hundred years... Well, I could think of worse things. At least I wouldn’t be expected to show up at the Olympian solstice meetings. (TON 373)
She laid her hand on my arm. “You haven’t forgotten. I can tell.”
She meant about being human, about honoring the sacrifices that had been made. 
“No,” I said. “I won’t forget. The memory is part of me now.” (TON 390)
It would have been inconceivable to the old Apollo, but the idea of aging in this lovely desert tree house, watching Meg grow into a strong and powerful woman... that didn’t sound bad at all. (TON 394)
Call on me. I will be there for you. (TON 396)
108 notes · View notes
aion-rsa · 3 years
Text
Future State is the Next Evolution for DC’s Legion of Super-Heroes
https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
This article contains spoilers for Future State: Legion of Super-Heroes #1
Never let it be said that Brian Michael Bendis doesn’t know how to keep busy. The prolific writer has had his hands full since coming to DC in 2018. Arriving with much fanfare on both Superman and Action Comics, Bendis also relaunched Young Justice, co-created a new DC mainstay in Naomi, wrote the excellent Batman: Universe, shepherded the Event Leviathan mini, and more. All of these books introduced new characters, re-tooled existing ones (such as aging up young Jonathan Kent to his mid-teens), and set various wheels in motion throughout the DC Universe.
And in the midst of that he also rebooted the team with the largest roster in all of comics, the one that brings with it the most complex web of continuity, the one that requires the most amount of worldbuilding by virtue of its 31st century setting. I am, of course, talking about the Legion of Super-Heroes.
It’s been a little over a year since the launch of Bendis and Ryan Sook’s ongoing Legion of Super-Heroes book, which kicked off in the Superman titles, brought the now Legion-aged Jon Kent along (any good Legion needs a Superboy…it’s the law), showcased some truly spectacular new character designs in Sook’s art (new costumes and regular redesigns for Legionnaires may as well be the law, too) and established what the 31st century of the current DC Universe looks like these days. In true Legion fashion…well, it’s a lot.
The book seemed to reach a stopping point with its twelfth issue, taking a brief hiatus. But not too brief, because as part of DC’s Future State initiative, which offers tantalizing glimpses of the DC Universe to come across the entire line, Bendis returns to the 31st century with the two-part Future State: Legion of Super-Heroes, this time aided and abetted by Riley Rossmo on art. And like Sook before him, Rossmo followed one of those unspoken Legion laws and gave a bunch of the Legionnaires new looks. Great new looks.
But…isn’t Legion of Super-Heroes by its very nature ALREADY a Future State book? Not exactly, and fans of the recent series will find plenty of surprises even as it picks up on story threads from the main series. Oh, and if the roster wasn’t big enough already, there are some Legionnaires you haven’t seen yet, and some fan favorites everyone has been waiting for. Bendis told us all about it…
(This interview has been edited for length)
Den of Geek: Future State: Legion of Super-Heroes #1 kicks off with a time jump from where we last saw the team in Legion of Super-Heroes #12. What can you tell us about that time jump?
Brian Michael Bendis: We were going to do a time jump after the first 12 issues, regardless. That was the plan because it’s in the DNA of Legion where you don’t have to, if you don’t want to, there’s no reason to stay [in one time period]. You don’t have to do monthly, to monthly, to monthly, like you would on Superman or Batman because it’s a shared universe and anything that happens in one book affects all the other books.
Whereas Legion, because it’s a thousand years in the future, you can do five years later. You can jump and bounce around and show the story from different perspectives. So the jump was always on the list of things to do with Legion. And then DC called and said, “Hey, Future State!” And I’m like, “Oh, great. Already in my notes.” It was all already planned. It’s the future, of the future. I liked that, so I leaned into it hard.
The issue isn’t clear about how much of a time jump it is, though.
No. The hint I will give is that it’s not as big of a time jump as people might think, considering the dramatic changes that have happened around them.
Is that time jump, and whatever it is that happened, tied to the “Great Darkness” that was being teased in the latter part of the main run? Or is this a separate event?
It is a separate event, but it doesn’t stop the momentum where they’re headed. They’re concerned that this is The Great Darkness. They’re like, “Oh, this is The Great Darkness. We can deal with it.” And then they go, “Oh, shit. This wasn’t The Great Darkness. This was just a mild case of darkness.” As bad as the event was, there’s something else coming. They live in almost…not fear, but in dread of what this Great Darkness is, how it may manifest itself, and whether they’ll be ready for it when it comes.
It’s funny, when I spoke to you before the launch of the book, I had asked you about the potential to touch on existing Legion stories. At the time, you were like, “No, we don’t want to do that,” and you specifically mentioned The Great Darkness Saga as one where “people know what’s going to happen.” And clearly you’ve found a way around that.
I think when we brought back Secret War or other things at Marvel, you want to find something that fits the label, but elevates. You don’t want to just repeat the beats of something people have already seen. I personally like it when, if you don’t know anything about the history of the Legion, it completely works. But if you know everything about Legion, we’ve got something for you. That’s been my goal from the get go.
You had said that the time jump was already probably going to be baked into the book anyway.
It was. It was like my third note when I was making my notes for Legion. It was like, “oh, and we don’t have to follow a linear timeframe.” We can tell stories from anywhere in this period, even going to prequel stories and then stories that go before they were all gathered as well.
How much of the specifics of that were in place before it became Future State? Was Riley Rossmo on art already on the table? Or did that happen later?
No. I’m very happy to report that Riley was the first name requested, and he immediately said yes. I had worked with Riley on a couple of things. There’s something about his work that very deeply speaks to me. I just was like, I would like to see more Legion with him.
I said, “This is a grand opportunity. Just go nuts.” That’s what you want for someone like Riley, to give him an excuse just to use all his tools and all his imagination. He took it from there.
And the script was really like… sometimes you write scripts, and they’re emotional, and sometimes they almost take on a list of drawing prompts. I was just prompting him to go as crazy as he wanted to go, and I would then take the ideas from there.
How did you settle on which Legionnaires would be part of this? Did Riley have input into that as well?
I 100% said to Riley, “Who do you want to draw?” I do this with anybody I can. If there’s any space in which we can meet. I’m like, “What would you like to draw?” I’ve learned through many years and many collaborations that just asking brings a level of craft and quality to the finished product that everyone gets excited about. When an artist points to something and says, “I want to draw that,” they’re telling you, “I’m going to draw the hell out of it and this is going to be amazing.” So I always try to make it work.
He had a list of characters, some of which I already knew he was going to pick from our past work together. I was able to use most of them. Also, I told him what the hook of the story was, so it was easy to cast. There were some character needs we had, like Saturn Girl, but he had already picked them.
One of my favorite things about the Legion in general, and then particularly about this run of it, it’s always about how the characters evolve and how the costumes get redesigned on a regular basis. This was the first opportunity since Ryan Sook did the designs in the main run for that to happen. Did you discuss any of Riley’s designs beforehand?
I told him “Here’s what’s happened to them, here’s who did it, here’s why, and make your choices. Here’s what’s motivating the character.” And then sometimes he came to me with designs where I went, “Oh, I can write a whole of stuff about that.” So, yeah, it was a nice mix.
It’s nice to see the Duo Damsel change happen.
See, I agree with you and I hated it at the same time. One of my favorite storylines of all time is the Duo Damsel thing. But it’s also like the biggest tragedy in comics to me. It’s like a haunting thing. It’s losing a limb but it’s a whole person. So, I was excited to write it and dreading it at the same time. I knew I would feel it and I knew that Riley would bring a lot to it too.
You’re able to encompass that whole thing in just a couple of panels too. It was really powerful.
Well, if I remember correctly, that’s how they did it back in the day too.
Yeah. It was like, she came back and they’re like, “Wait, you’re alive.” It’s like, “well, kind of…”
Yeah, and no one knows what to say. It’s just so unique, the tragedy.
There’s a lot of characters who appear in this issue. Shadow Lass, Ultra Boy, Brainiac 7, Saturn Girl, Colossal Boy, Chameleon Boy, Cosmic Boy, Timber Wolf, Blok, Duo Damsel, Bouncing Boy, and Element Lad. I rattled off the people that I know for sure because they’re throughout most of the book. And then page eight and nine, there’s this spread and there’s a few Legionnaires that I can’t quite identify. Is that Shrinking Violent and Polar Boy? Who are some of these others?
That’s the Substitute Heroes. Time jumping was number three on my list of Legion notes, but I think the Substitutes was number eight. May I say, hilariously at the announcement of this relaunch of a Legion of Super-Heroes, the first comment was, “Substitute Heroes.” I was like, bring them. We don’t want the Legion, we want the Substitutes. I was excited to bring them in here, and it seemed like a good place. And also, Riley was the right person to infuse them with new energy.
Who’s the guy wearing the Superman crest and the hood?
You will find out next issue. A payoff’s coming.
On page 23, you give Bouncing Boy possibly his most badass moment ever. How long have you been planning that Bouncing Boy moment in your head?
Riley made it the most badass moment ever, I will say. If you really do some pseudo-super-Legion science, he really does add up to be the most powerful Legionnaire. I just thought it was a great way to celebrate that character, which I love.
That panel’s great. I almost want to see it in 3D.
Everyone gets their moment and then every once in a while, just something really special happens in the collaboration and you’re like, yeah, good. I absolutely wanted Bouncing Boy to have that kickass of a moment.
I have one more question about one of the mystery Legionnaires. There’s another great shot, another great spread at the end of the book. There’s a guy who is carrying a laser sword of some kind. I don’t recognize this character.
That’s Ferro Lad and his sword. He has a sword now. I love that design.
There’s one more issue of Future State: Legion of Super-Heroes out in February, but there’s no Legion in DC’s solicitations for March and April.
But there are Legion plans coming. Legion is a hard book to make. There’s 34 lead characters, and we try to shove as many of them on panel as often as possible because that’s one of the best parts of the Legion is the scope of it.
I think you can kind of tell from the jam issues and the fill-ins and the level of quality, attempting to keep it at the highest quality possible, yet still delivering that very special Legion feeling…instead of fill-ins that may not be up to the quality that we were doing, we’ll stop, get a story ready to go, and solicit it when it’s time. There’s more to come.
I know that’s frustrating for some people and some people just want it monthly. I get that, but not all books are created in the same way. It’s art. Even though it’s commercial art, it is art. The pandemic also takes a lot out of the schedule. When we’re ready, we’ll put out more. We’re planning stuff that connects to what’s going on in Justice League as well. Not to connect the two, but that is 100% within what’s happening.
Do you already have your artistic collaborators lined up for the next arc of the book?
Yes.
You’re not going to tell me, are you?
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No. It’s very, very good news. I’m absolutely delighted, but honestly, I don’t want the person stolen. Sometimes that has happened to me. I don’t mean to be vague, but right now, I don’t want to oversell something that is down the line.
One of the cool things you did in the main run of the book was introduce legacy characters that fans don’t usually associate with the Legion, like Dr. Fate and particularly Gold Lantern. I want to know what kind of feedback you got from fans on those.
Well, I was actually quite delighted. I thought the purists were really going to hit us hard on any additive stuff, but most Legion fans know that almost every run of Legion has had the added characters to the roster.
It gets frustrating only because when there’s been a lot of time in between Legion books, so some of these fan-favorite characters from past runs don’t get as much face time because you’ve introduced Gold Lantern and “oh, Gold Lantern is standing in front of Ferro Lad. We want more Ferro Lad!” Which I understand, so you better make sure Gold Lantern is interesting enough that no one feels slighted because it’s not Shadow Lass. I must say the additions, particularly of Gold Lantern and Dr. Fate and Monster Boy, all seem to go over very well and I was grateful for that.
Our biggest pushback was on redesigning the costumes. That comes with every Legion redo as well. So I pointed that out. But part of it is that some of the biggest fans in the world have already dedicated cosplay, and we messed up their cosplay. This happened in the X-Men too when we redid Magneto’s costume. People were screaming at us. We’re like “Oh, because you bought the helmet. Okay. I’m sorry. I get it.”
But I just don’t think they take away from each other. I just know from Legion past and other franchises I’ve worked on that anything you’re earnestly adding to it is good, even if it’s got pushback in the moment. I live in a world with the things I’ve gotten pushed back on the hardest ended up being huge movie moments that everybody applauded 10 years later. “Good job on creating Ronin!” I’m like, “Really? Where were you when it debuted? Because people were ripping my face off.”
So compared to stuff like that, I think the Legion fans have been just really, really generous and cool about where we’re going. I think they can tell we’re real Legion fans and we’re not messing around, and we’re taking it seriously. Even though you may not agree with every choice we’re making, you see we’re making loving choices.
Future State: Legion of Super-Heroes #1 is on sale now. We’ll have more from Brian Michael Bendis about his upcoming run on Justice League very soon!
The post Future State is the Next Evolution for DC’s Legion of Super-Heroes appeared first on Den of Geek.
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ichikonohakko · 5 years
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[Villain! Deku AU] Gray(scale) (2/2)
AO3
“Izuku, I—“
“This is your dream, Hitoshi-kun,” there was a smile, small and dim, but it was a smile. “Being a hero is everyone’s dream, is it not?” Hitoshi could hear the strain behind that statement, as if Izuku was fighting against himself. He furrowed his brows for a split second, but Hitoshi caught it just fine, and it made him… sad.
Izuku was on the bed, his face pale and gaunt. During the course of one and a half year Hitoshi came to know him, this occurrence will happen at least twice a month. Izuku didn’t live a healthy life; there are many times he just didn’t remember (or bother) to eat. There were days he only subsisted on coffee or some random snacks he found and fancied. And it was always during these times and Kurogiri-san would come for him.
(Because Sensei had punished Izuku every time he fainted because of this particular matter. Hitoshi assumed that he punished Izuku verbally, because it was always a hysterical breakdown Hitoshi had to pull him out from. He still remembered the last time it happened, when Izuku cried and tried to claw himself for two days straight and draining his already-compromised body fluids because Sensei had told him that he was disappointed that Izuku cannot take care of himself.)
Usually, Hitoshi would sit on the bed, running his fingers along Izuku’s face because the other always found comfort in such little touch. But this time, he was standing on the edge of Izuku’s bed, wavering between wanting to cry and unspeakable pity.
Just like their first meeting just a few months before.
   Shinsou Hitoshi liked to wander around his neighborhood.
It may come as a surprise, since people knew him as a bit of an antisocial person, but Hitoshi enjoyed the feeling of being surrounded by people he didn’t know. He enjoyed the feeling of fading into the background, a cup of hot chocolate in hand as he watch people pass him by. He enjoyed reading the news, fantasizing about being a hero every time passing news about one came to his ears.
But, Hitoshi chimed to himself, who can I save with this ability?
Maybe he could become the type of hero who didn’t save people directly; they defeat villains to save everyone. But… would that be a true hero? Both All Might and Eraserhead will always be able to save people before they defeat the villains, because after all rescuing someone is a vital part of being a hero. But for him… who could he save?
“The answer to that question… would you like me to give it to you?”
He was already there before Hitoshi even realized it. It was a man, probably in his early thirties, wearing a set of clothes that reminded Hitoshi of a bartender. He looked… familiar, kind of the face he would pass by in a street. His eyes were glittering green, his face adorned with freckles, he looked… handsome. “Why thank you, Hitoshi-kun. I’ll be sure to convey your praise to the owner of this body.”
“Eh…?”
Glittering green looked towards him with a look of piqued interest laced with amusement. As if Hitoshi had amused him just by sitting there. The man then stretched his fingers towards his chin, lightly tilting it upwards, before humming to himself. “Oh, you are very pretty. My dear Izuku would be so pleased with you…” Hitoshi’s heart rammed against his chest, not because the man had called him pretty (which was a pretty odd thing to call a teenage boy with), but because of the way he looked at him. Like he was some sort of… specimen.
“Kurogiri had really outdone himself this time,” the man mused as he ran a finger on Hitoshi’s cheekbone. “A pretty paradox, the same age as darling Izuku, too! We don’t often run to someone like this. If only we could find somebody like you in Tomura’s years too…” There was a smile, a regretful one, but… it didn’t reach his eyes. It was like everything was a source of amusement for this person, and Hitoshi’s entire body was flaring at him, urging him to run.
But he can’t run. This man had his eyes on his entire being. One wrong move from Hitoshi and—
“Shinsou Hitoshi-kun,” the man called, snapping Hitoshi out of his reverie with a single call of his name. “Would you like to save someone? Usually I would do it myself—take your quirk and be done with it—but… I sure think that it’s time for my Izuku to have another person in his life.”
Hitoshi wasn’t sure on how to process all of this. On one side, he felt his guts screaming at him not to trust this person, but on the other hand, he was curious about this person that he out of all people can save…
“I… I would like save this person.” was his answer to the man, no conflicts over the two choices presented at him. Being a hero, rescuing people and defeating bad guys has been and will always be Hitoshi’s dream. If this man said that there is someone he could save, then what reason did he have to refuse?
The man smirked as he let go of Hitoshi’s chin, eyes gleaming with glee as he stood up and offered him a head. “Shall we go then?” Hitoshi took his hand and they walked away and away and away from the crowd.
When they reached a certain bunker hidden between trees and mountains, the strange man looked at him and asked once more:
“Your dream is to be a hero, right Hitoshi-kun?”
“Yeah…”
A smirk, a gleeful smirk.
“Good. You’ll be a lesson.”
Back then, Hitoshi didn’t understand what he had meant.
    “How is Izuku, Naomi-san…?”
“He will be fine, Shinsou-kun. As he usually do after the doctors have worked their magic on him.”
The look on Naomi-san’s face was a calming one, but Hitoshi couldn’t help himself. Izuku had fallen asleep on the bed he had previously slept on only hours before, accompanied only by the sound of IV dripping down. Hitoshi really hated seeing Izuku unconscious for myriads of reasons; but the main was because it reminded him of the many times he had to stand on the side as Kurogiri or Sensei examined Izuku’s limp body.
Hitoshi took a deep breath as he sat himself on the armchair just next to Izuku’s bed, eyes wandering over the form of his sleeping friend. He really couldn’t imagine life without Izuku around, sporadically coming into his life with a tired yet beautiful smile. And yet… and yet….
We think we may have found a way for your quirk to be a hero material, Shinsou-kun. We really need new heroes right now to regenerate the ones we have lost, so what do you think? Do you still want to be a hero?
“Of course I do…” Hitoshi sighed, burrowing his face on his hand as he curled into himself.
Even after being in touch with people like Izuku, Sensei, Kurogiri, and even Shigaraki, Hitoshi still retained his childhood dream of becoming a hero. He understood that the hero system wasn’t perfect, same as any other system created by mankind, and he saw how people like Shigaraki and Izuku existed precisely because the hero system was not good enough. But all of those things didn’t make turn away from the heroics, if anything, it even pushed him even further to create a much-needed change for the current society.
Hitoshi would make it so people like Izuku and Shigaraki would never have to exist. He won’t wait until somebody else did it, he will be the one to do so.
Because he could still remember the thrill, pride, and happiness he felt when he first saved Izuku from whatever it was that plagued him. Even when Hitoshi wasn’t exactly sure if he had done anything worthy for Izuku to hold him closely in heart, Izuku reassured him that Hitoshi was probably the hero that the world needed….
   The room was cramped and dark, filled with boxes that smelled of metallic tin can. There wasn’t any light sans the one coming from the hallways. Hitoshi stood next to a man (mist) who introduced himself as Kurogiri.
“The Master told me to tell you that he would want you to use your quirk to snap Izuku-san out of his episode.” His tone was neutral, as if this ‘Izuku’ always had an episode and he always needed someone to snap him out of it. The more Hitoshi think about it, the more curious he became. Just... who is this Izuku? Why do these people seemed to care about him and yet at the same time not? And... how could Hitoshi save him?
“After you, Shinsou Hitoshi,” Kurogiri held the door open for him and he stepped into the darkness with wavering steps. Everything seemed to echo in a place that should be too narrow for echoes to sound, or Hitoshi could be imagining things since his heart was beating really fast. I shouldn’t be here... I should have never come here... His gut was screaming at him, but Hitoshi braved himself to venture deeper into the dark room.
There were metals, many of them, and Hitoshi felt like he was standing in the middle of a room full of trash cans. But he silently made his way to the left corner of the room as the strange green-eyed man had instructed him on their way before they met Kurogiri.
You won’t miss him; frail little thing he is. If you’re a hero, you will never be able to miss him.
And the man was right.
There was a boy there, his face buried on his knees as he clutched the sides of his head with his gloved hands. He was shivering and murmuring things under his breath, the perfect picture of a person who is in dire need of a hero.
Hitoshi’s heart went out for the boy, pitying and wanting to rescue him at the same time. He instinctively went forward and kneeled in front of him, trying to establish eye contact.
“Hello...? Are you alright?”
The boy curled deeper into himself, flinching as he heard Hitoshi’s voice. But he didn’t answer him, so Hitoshi’s quirk hasn’t taken effect. The boy was still murmuring and Hitoshi strained his ears to hear snippets of his words.
“Can’t... shouldn’t... wouldn’t... sleep. Shouldn’t... pass out... I’m not good enough. I’m sorry Sensei... I’m really really really sorry....”
There was a sound of scratching that Hitoshi only noticed now that he was really near, and he realized that the boy was clawing on his own throat. His eyes tripled its previous size as he abruptly tried to pull the boy’s hands away from his own neck. “Hey! Stop! What are you doing?!”
The boy stopped.
He looked up from his knees, beautiful green eyes meeting Hitoshi’s own red in a pure silence. Hitoshi had his hands firmly on the boy’s wrists, desperate to not let him claw his already-bleeding neck. “Please...” Hitoshi breathed out silently. “Stop...” There was another second shared between the two and the boy finally answered to him.
“You... are very pretty...” And he was gone.
Hitoshi aligned his gaze with the blank eyes he was familiar with. The boy looked so tired, so drained, so so... injured. He really couldn’t take it.
“Please, go to sleep.”
And that must have been what his body really wanted; because he fell to Hitoshi’s arms almost immediately after. He didn’t need to think because that’s what he really needed anyways, but judging from his murmurs earlier, he had been holding out without sleep solely out of his own will.
“Oh, he finally fell asleep? Your quirk really is amazing, Shinsou Hitoshi.” Kurogiri said as he clapped his hands slowly. “Now I know the perfect remedy to get every time Izuku-san had an episode!” He sounded excited, and as Hitoshi tightened his grip around the boy currently sleeping in his arms, he couldn’t help but feel like he had gone into a place he shouldn’t ever know.
   They meet again time and time after, but Hitoshi never really stayed until Izuku wakes.
Until the one time he did and he decided that he would never ever leave this person, because it was the first time Hitoshi felt like he had someone who made him feel like a hero.
(And Izuku got better. He still needed to be pulled out of his episodes once in a while, but he was mostly better)
   “Bakugou Katsuki?”
“Yes, Kacchan!”
Izuku was in his cheery mode and Hitoshi couldn’t help but smile at his friend’s antics. Izuku always said that he dressed in a bartender suit because it was a formal look good enough for Sensei, but Hitoshi knew that Izuku chose the bartender outfit because he had always been fascinated with the barista he met while getting his favorite coffees.
Hitoshi knew that Izuku woke up approximately six months ago in this place without any memories. How he clung to Sensei (Hitoshi never really caught his name and they never really met after their first meeting) almost maniacally because he thought he didn’t have any other reason to exist other than to please him, Hitoshi also knew of Izuku’s fascination to his former life—one he would refer as Deku. And recently, he had gotten to remember more and more things about his childhood friend of the time, named Bakugou Katsuki.
Listening to Izuku recalling about his past made Hitoshi skeptical of this Bakugou character. Izuku spoke of him fondly, with laughter in his voice and nostalgia in his face, but his words...
“Then he pushed me down the bridge until I fell into the river! Thank heavens I only hit my head with a small rock!”
...it sounded like this Bakugou was bullying him.
But Hitoshi kept his silence and lowered his head. He had seen the claw marks around Izuku’s neck, the gunshot wounds on his shoulder and torso, the deep cut on his arms and legs, and even the scar on his head. Hitoshi looked up when Izuku stared at him, smiling his best smile. “Yeah, thank heavens it wasn’t anything worse.”
Because... he was really thankful.
   When Hitoshi failed the hero course entrance exam to Yuuei, he went to the penthouse.
Naomi-san greeted him as usual, with a smile and a cup of Darjeeling tea steaming on the table. Izuku came a few minutes later, drenched to the bone as he threw himself on Hitoshi’s chest.
“I heard! I’ve always been a fan of Yuuei, but I think they’re being stupid for not accepting you!”
Hitoshi noticed the bloodstains on his clothes first and the absence of his gloves after. Izuku rambled on and on, cursing Yuuei for not accepting him and how he should apply to the general course. Hitoshi indulged him, feeling thankful that someone is being angry in his behalf, and yet he felt really unsettled when Izuku smiled and asked to borrow his quirk.
“What... are you going to do with it?”
“An errand. It won’t be long.”
The very next day, Hitoshi woke up on his favorite four poster bed in the penthouse with an invitation to study at the general course of Yuuei Academy.
   Shinsou Hitoshi felt that sometimes, the time he spent away from Izuku was a blur.
Especially so in his school life.
So he always waited patiently for the days Izuku would appear out of the blue in the middle of his classroom and took him away to the penthouse, where they would spent time together until Hitoshi woke up with a smiling Izuku next to him, thanking him for borrowing his quirk.
(Hitoshi didn’t know and didn’t really want to know what Izuku did with his quirk. He was just grateful that Izuku was next to him, smiling and not clawing his neck out)
   Sometimes, Shinsou Hitoshi had lapses in his memories, but he was fine with it.
He knew what happened during his lapses, anyway. In fact, he was grateful for it. Because the lapses in his memories meant that Izuku would be there, greeting him with a smile and a story to share. He was Izuku’s hero, he didn’t really care about everyone else.
   Until... he cared.
Or to be precise, he realized that he cared still for his dreams of being a hero. Hitoshi stared at the cup of Darjeeling tea Naomi-san had prepared for him. Lost in thought. Izuku was really important to him, he was his best friend and had been his anchor during his most desperate times. He leaned on Izuku when Izuku leaned on him, just a pair of boys leaning on each other. Pretty normal, right? Hitoshi knew that many people shared the same relationship as he and Izuku. They were best friends, after all. There wasn’t anything wrong with their dynamics. No. Nothing at all.
This is your dream, right?
To rescue people and to defeat villains, being a hero is your dream, right?
He knew. In the back of his head, he knew. Izuku is a villain. But Izuku was his best friend, he didn’t need to capture his best friend, right? He could always turn a blind eye towards Izuku and Izuku alone. Because Izuku himself is a victim! Yeah! If only this world had better heroes, Izuku wouldn’t have had those scars around his neck...
And Hitoshi would be a hero to save him from all of that.
The rain outside was pouring hard and it snapped Hitoshi out of his internal struggle. He shook his head and decided to check on Izuku.
There was a gnawing feeling in Hitoshi’s heart as he walked over towards their favorite room in the penthouse. But he steeled himself as he walked, taking a deep breath and exhaling it before finding the room... empty.
The windows were opened and rain poured down to the expensive carpet, but Hitoshi ran.
“IZUKU!” He didn’t care that he was wet, he didn’t care that he was screaming on top of a balcony and nobody could hear him. Hitoshi ran towards the elevator, not caring that he was wet and immediately pushed the ground floor. Why? Where was Izuku? He was really sick, why did he leave, where had he gone? Why is he gone?
Hitoshi ran and ran and ran, around town, around the crossroads, desperate to find something—someone.
Hitoshi took a deep breath, trying to recall where his best friend might have gone. He retraced his steps as he let the rain poured over him. He was just... where?
Where had he been?
“The penthouse... where...?”
No. No. He knew. He remembered. He often shared a penthouse with Izuku, but... where was the penthouse...?
“No... no... no...”
Izuku had rejected him.
Hitoshi had known Naomi-san for over a year now, and he was well-acquainted with her quirk. Memory erasure, a quirk Izuku often borrowed whenever he got a much more dangerous reconnaissance mission. Naomi-san must have used her quirk on him, that’s why he couldn’t remember where to penthouse was anymore....
“This is your dream, Hitoshi-kun,” there was a smile, small and dim, but it was a smile. “Being a hero is everyone’s dream, is it not?”
Not like this.
Not like this!!!
“I... I...” suddenly, the thought of losing Izuku crept at him like some sort of insect. It crawled on his skin as it got harder and harder to breathe. He could register someone with striking blond hair trying to shake him out of his stupor, but he... he...
This is your dream, Hitoshi-kun.
“Don’t disappear, Izuku...”
And the world turned dark.
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elliotthezubat · 6 years
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DEATH CITY DAYS GAIDEN 23; The Struggle of Doppo Kunikida
an rp adaption of chapter 40/the OVA of bsd. enjoy
thanks @soul-dwelling
The Struggle of Doppo Kunikida
~sometime after the orphanage headmaster’s death…~
Kunikida: "..." *inhales* "Perfect." kirako: seems you have an even busier schedule than usual. Kunikida: "Yes..." *jots a note* "I almost forgot--we had another request to assign." kirako: oh? yosano: oh, kunikida great timing, I need you to come shopping with me- Kunikida: "No. I am sorry. Take someone else to go with you." Tanizaki: "We have inside information about a bomber. They hand explosive suitcases to bystanders which then detonate--" Kunikida: "Later." ranpo: kunikidaaaaa, we're out of snacks. Kunikida: "Cupboard." *starts walking to the exit* Dazai: "Of course, sir~" Kunikida: "..." *dramatic turn* "DO NOT. RUIN. MY. SCHEDULE!" atsushi: *looks at dazai, mildly worried* Dazai: *bishie sparkle* "I swear on my life~" Kunikida: "YOU ARE WILLING TO THROW YOUR LIFE AWAY AT THE DROP OF A HAT--" *a chime is heard from Kunikida's wrist* Kunikida: "! Oh. I'm 18 seconds late." atsushi: ._.; -on the way to the subway station- saleslady: we have new glasses in stock now! Kunikida: "I already have a good pair, thank you." fortune teller: *rapping* hey there peeps, come around, come around, cause ya boi the local prophet has come ta town. hey there blondie, guess what, very soon, a certain little lady's gonna give you trouble this afternoon. Kunikida: *keeps walking* "I already had a fortune told--didn't like it. Goodbye." -the station- intercom: attention. the subway train to mitakihara district now arriving. Kunikida: *steps up to the platform--* *A loud shriek emanates from his phone* Kunikida: "..." -_-# *looks at the phone--an image of a cartoonish Dazai hanging from a noose* "What is it, Dazai?" Dazai: "I am sorry, but you have a guest...None other than he, the one who designs your notebooks..." Kunikida: "..." *shiny eyes* "MASTER CARYLE?! Am I dreaming?!" Dazai: "No, you are not. He made a stop here to our office before he's off on his flight home to Europe--" Kunikida: "I am coming back immediately--" -bing- Kunikida: *the color fades out of him* intercom: the train has now arrived. Kunikia: "Dazai...You bastard..." Dazai: "I know...the torture of a choice, yes?" intercom: all boarding. Dazai: "It's all about the ideal choice. Right, Kunikida?" Kunikida: "...PLEASE TELL HIM I WILL ALWAYS ADMIRE HIS WORK!" *hangs up* Naomi: making a call to tell him a lie like that. that's pretty dickish, dazai, even by your standards. Dazai: "Oh no...YOU'RE RIGHT!" -at the station- Kunikida: T_T "Being so organized is a curse..." ???: you want me to return this to the lost and found? Kunikida: "???" *he spots a girl and a hooded person* Hooded Person: "Thank you." *departs* girl: *walking with the suitcase bomb* -the doors are starting to close- {Tanizaki: "--a bomber. They hand explosive suitcases to bystanders--"} Kunikida: "!!!" *leaps through the doors, runs at the Hood* Hood: "..." *turns* "!!!" *runs* Kunikida: "Shit!" *spots the girl* "..." *grabs the suitcase out of her hands* girl: !!! h-HEY! Kunikida: *opens the suitcase--to see the bomb* "Shit!" *runs up the stairs, pushing people aside* "Move!" girl: *chasing* GET BACK HERE, THIEF! Kunikida: *looks up to the sky* ("Got to time this...Counter should be at 6...5...") *throws it high into the air* -BOOOOOOOOOOOM- izumo: what the hell?! girl: ?!? -a few minutes later- officer: thank you for your statement, sir... girl: ...... Kunikida: *nods* "The Agency will offer any support it can." *looks at the girl* "Please follow this officer until your guardian--" girl: I...I CANT BELIEVE THAT JERK! *grabs him by the ponytail and drags him along* Kunikida: >xO "UNHAND ME!" girl: you're not seriously gonna let that buttface get away with this, are you? I saw his face, if we don't hurry, he's gonna get away! Kunikida: "Stop! You are a bystander in all of this--let the police handle it." girl: don't underestimate me! i'm a hero of justice, and for that, I've been practicing in martial arts every day! if I just ran away, I wouldn't forgive myself! Kunikida: "...No. Go home, child." girl: T~T fine. then i'll go by myself. you know, I don't know the subway layout very well. I could get lost, killed, or worse. and my fate would be on your conscious for the rest of your life. Kunikida: "!!! You can't do that!" girl: then you don't have much choice than to help me then, do you? Kunikida: >:[ Girl: ^^ by the way, I’m Aya Koda, nice to meet ya~ -at the agency- kenji: ...hey, who's 2nd in command at the agency? atsushi: why do you ask? kenji: the chief of police is asking for the boss, but he's out right now and I don't know who to ask. Tanizaki: "??? Hmm...I'd say Ranpo, given his experience and deductive skills--" ranpo: *playing pokemon* nah, I don't give a flying ant's ass about rank or leadership. Naomi:... (he actually named his rival in the game 'poe'...) *shiny eyes* Tanizaki: "...Okay. Dazai--" Dazai: *opening a window, stepping through it--* atsushi: *holding him back* DAZAI PLEASE! DX> Dazai: "I CAN'T LIVE WITH MYSELF! NOT AFTER WHAT I DID TO KUNIKIDA! I can't think of a way to top that prank! ... Oh, wait--I just thought of a way. =w= I'm good now." everyone: you're joking, right? -at the train station- -someone is running, as if in a hurry- Chuuya: "Goddamn it!" ("Overslept! I don't even WANT TO DO THIS!") -step step step- Chuuya: *still moving--but hears the steps* "???" -bump- ???: woah! *falls over, something escaping from their bag, disappearing into the subway* Chuuya: "Watch it!" *looks down* yana: sowwy, I was in a rush. guess I want paying attention to my surroundings, hehe~ ^^; Chuuya: "Watch where you're going, then." *looks at what fell out* -nothing there?- yana: well, I better get going. toodles~ *walking away, losing the opaqueness of one lens of her glasses to look back at him, still facing forwards* -in the tunnel- aya: ... Kunikida: "My ideal...schedule..." aya: you agency guys are actually pretty lame...im talking about you, four-eyed beanstalk. Kunikida: "It's Kunikida..." aya: ...well, if your schedule was so important to you, why did you come save me? Kunikida: *holds his journal to her face, taps the word on the cover* aya: 'ideals'... Kunikida: "I realized a world where people died in front of me was not ideal." aya: ........?? what's that? *pointing* Kunikida: "..." *approaches--* "!!! Not good..." -bombs are lined up along the tracks- Kunikida: "All it takes is one train to run over one of these to cause multiple causalities..." -...- Kunikida: "And given the motive...Yes...There should be a trigger nearby--" *turns* -no one...- Kunikida: "...Aya? ..." *removes a gun* -...- Kunikida: *walks forward, listening* "..." -beep....beep....beep...- Kunikida: "!!!" *turns a corner* aya: *trembling....with a bomb strapped her chest* Kunikida: "!!!" ???: "Please. Toss the gun." Kunikida: "..." ???: "Or do you want to see her head fly off?" Kunikida: "..." *tosses the gun* aya: ah- Kunikida: *gets on his knees, holds up his hands* ???: *smiles* "Very good...Kunikida." *CRACK* -and so- aya: ..... *Blackness...* *The sounds of pages flipping* Kunikida: *grunts...lifts his head...everything is blurry* ???: "A nice book." ???: "Write it down, it exists. Take it away, you're worthless." Kunikida: *looks up* "You've done your homework." ???: "Again you, I had to. For 2 years" Kunikida: "...2 years ago...when you were arrested for planning to blow up a school... Shousaku Katsura." aya: ?? Kunikida: "You planned this, then leaked information to arrive with my peers at the Agency for the sake of revenge." Shousaku: "..." *smiles* "That's not it. I don't want 'revenge.' I want to erase what you said. When you arrested me, you repeated, 'Do not yield to adversity. Be courageous. Discipline yourself for justice.'" *Shousaku picks up the metal bar* Shousaku: "Those ideals are rooted in my head..." *CRACK* *Kunikida's head is knocked down, blood swinging as the bar collides with his head* aya: !!!! Shousaku: "I...want it all gone." Shousaku: "You said those words to me--pitying me! Those words--'courage,' your ideals--mean nothing to someone like me! Do you think I wanted to be useless?!" aya: STOP IT! *Shousaku finishes clubbing Kunikida...then points the bar at Aya* aya: !!! Shousaku: "3 minutes until the train comes. 3 minutes until the train hits the explosives. And the signal to disarm can only be sent from here. You cannot do anything, Kunikida. They are going to die. Your ideals, the stubbornness of your Agency...all of it will go up in smoke. What do you have to say about that?" Kunikida: "..." *muttering* Shousaku: "I can't hear you." Kunikida: "...You're right. In fact, I already knew you would say that." Shousaku: "!!! How could you--" Kunikida: "Page 89." Shousaku: "..." *flipping the book* "You haughty conceited little-- ... What the heck is a--" *The page lights up* Shousaku: "!!!" Kunikida: *lifts his head* "STUN GRENADE!" -BWOOOOOM- yosano: ??!! Chuuya: "?!!! ...What the hell now?" *leaps up to the ceiling, starts running* Kunikida: "...Ideals do not depend on blind faith. I too have improved...Aya, are you okay?" aya: y-yeah...the train! you gotta stop it! Kunikida: *opens the laptop, pulls up the disarming program--and sees two entries* "...What the--" Shousaku: "...Hee hee hee..." aya: ??? w-whats so funny? Kunikida: "Aya! Don't move!" Shousaku: "Because if you disarm one explosive..." *looks at Aya's collar* aya:....*her stomach drops* Kunikida: *growls, goes to Aya's collar--* Shousaku: "Ah-Ah-Ah...Do it, and the collar explodes instantly." aya: *tears falling as she trembles* {aya: -I could get lost, killed, or worse. and my fate would be on your conscious for the rest of your life.-} Kunikida: "...You figured it out..." Shousaku: "Your ideal, 'Let no one die'--has been shown to be a failure. You either let the train die or save this girl. And you know that you won't sacrifice all those lives for one girl. And you have no time to figure out a new plan." aya: *shaking* ???: *walking along the path, finding kunikida's glasses* {-sasaki and rokuzo lay dead on the ground-} {Kunikida: "...This...did not have to happen!"} {Dazai: "Justice is a weapon. It can be used to harm, but not to protect or save."} Kunikida: "..." Shousaku: "And now we'll see, in red, how foolish your ideal is." Kunikida: "...Yes...You're right..." aya: kunikida.... Kunikida: "...Reality always butts against the limits of an ideal...but on this path...I WILL ALWAYS FIGHT FOR MY IDEAL!" -he presses the button- Kunikida: "..." *stares at Aya* "I'm sorry..." aya: I-its not your fault...s-sorry for calling you a four-eyes beanstalk... Kunikida: "..." *grabs her, pulls her close* aya: !!!!! -BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM- Shousaku: "!!!" *watches the smoke* "..." *laughs...tearing up* "That idiot...To die with a child...!!!" -the smoke clears, revealing....- aya:.... Kunikida: "..." Shousaku: "!!! How are you alive?!" Kunikida: "You need to do more research...in the Agency...fatal injuries mean..." yosano: no injuries at all... *tosses kunikida his glasses back* Kunikida: *catches, puts them on* "I had marked in my notebook that the Doctor would be passing this way..." aya: so then....she saved us? Kunikida: "Any fatal injuries, she can heal immediately." Shousaku: "And the grenade was to alert her?!" -the authorities arrive- Shousaku: *in handcuffs*…. “Heh…” Kunikida: *sighs* -and so- aya: ....hey, kunikida? Kunikida: "Hmm?" aya: you don't go on many dates, do you? Kunikida: "..." *twitch* aya: so....if you aren't doing anything later....maybe we could...I dunno... 7///7; Kunikida: "..." *gets down to her eye level* aya: ah- Kunikida: "No." aya: ..... Kunikida: "I have 58 requirements for an ideal partner. You do not meet 31 of them." aya: *grips fist and PAWNCH* I was JOKING!! >A< Kunikia: *glasses smash* *slow motion--crashes onto the sidewalk* -at the agency- atsushi: ...dazai? Dazai: "Hmm?" atsushi: I cant stop thinking about it....if something did happen to the manager...who would take his place? Dazai: "...??? You didn't know? They were already chosen." atsushi: really? who is it? Dazai: "Someone who instills their beliefs in others, can handle affairs calmly, is unwavering, who understands their weaknesses. A role model. No one...but..." Kunikida: *stumbling* Dazai: *voice over* Doppo Kunikida. -on the roof- yana:.... *examining with the planted rat cameras* hmmm... Kunikida: *meanders down the street* yana: hmmm.... <so what do you make of it, bossman?> ???: *smiles* <Potential.> yana: <....this shousaku kid....I don't think he's that bad.....just a misguided sociopath with no direction in life....perfect recruit material if I say so myself...> ???: <Find where they hold him.> yana:....*smirks* understood.
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phobio2000 · 6 years
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Life's Secrets
"The secret of the Lord is with those who fear him, and he will show them his covenant. My eyes are ever towards the Lord, for he shall pluck my feet out of the net." - Psalm 25 I think that, at the heart level, life comes down to who you fear and who you serve, and out of those two the course of your life is determined. It is strange how I don't tend to have a strong desire to be the sheriff in those cowboy movies. Rather, I prefer those characters who are kind of unassuming and not the poster child, not the star of the show but is warm, quiet, humble, but very capable, like one of those hobo looking guys wearing a dark and dirty poncho but is very good at getting the job done and pays close attention to details, sees what others don't see, and tend to the needs of the individuals. I remember years ago I heard this guy describing Apostle John as the guy who patch up the broken net. It makes sense because the Gospel of John was not written until decades later, when John writes about the things that were missing from the other gospels, mostly out of the perspective of intimacy and love. I remember a pastor was preaching about it and said that John was saying "Hey, you guys all got it wrong, let me show you how its done!" When I was in the fifth grade, dodge ball was very popular. It's not the same dodge ball that kids in the US plays. The ball is hard. It hurts to get hit, and it's very easy to jam your finger when you try to catch it, and you can only catch it with your hands. If the ball touches your forearm, you have to surrender the ball to the other team, and if the ball touches your body, you're out, even if you caught the ball. That video game "Dodgeball" explains it best. So one day the PE teacher divided the class into two (50+ people total) and we played dodge ball. I didn't know what I was doing so I just followed the fad and be in the center of the court, hoping to catch a ball like the cool kids would. And then a classmate pulled me aside and took me to the very back of the court and said that we are going to catch every loose ball. It's not a glorious role, but very important. Because these fifth graders' arms were not strong enough to make the ball fly strong from end to end. It will land before it gets to the other side, and when we pick it up, we can give it to the cool kids to attack the other team. It was an eye opening experience. We caught so many balls. If you catch a ball while in flight you can bring a dead teammate back in. If you catch a ball that landed already, you get nothing, but you get control of the ball. I think that's an event that really made me think and changed the course of my life. On the court you have the cool kids in the front, who can catch the ball well and throw hard, and you got a bunch of guys in the middle that kind of just floats along, and then there are the two unsung heroes in the back, helping the team far more than the glob of people in the middle, that are, for the most part, easy targets. Which would you rather be? If I cannot be one of the cool kids, then I'd rather be at the ball picking up trash so that I can contribute more than the wonky fellas in the middle who really don't know what they're doing and where they're going. When I read the story of Abraham, I was very fond of his faithful old servant, who went to fetch Rebecca for Isaac. When I read the story of Elijah, I abhorred his servant who went after Namen for money. When I read the story of Ruth, I thought Naomi is just totally awesome. I think that, over time, it sort of became the desire of my heart, to help the stars be successful, rather than jamming traffic in a rat race and want to become "the cool kids". Because, let's face it, most people don't get to be that. It takes talent, hard work, and luck. And then, in the process of being obsessed with that, we lost ourselves, living for the obsession while our personal identity diminishes over time (is that worth it?). I think it is far better to keep our eyes on God, still work hard and apply our talents, but let God lead. But for things that I am really passionate about, I desire to run in the front. Like, if I were a violinist, I want to be the virtuoso. If I were a superhero, I want to be Ironman because I love machines. But at the same time, in my mind there's always this image of a group of kids playing cowboys and Indians and the kids fight over who gets to be thee sheriff, and that image sort of become the epitome of our lives, always obsessed over wanting the hottest girl, fastest car, get that promotion, that they don't even bother to think about what it means, what it takes, and what what are the responsibilities anymore, so we end up with this crazy dog eats dog world. I think life has a rhythm, and the Bible describes it. It's like wood working. There are grains in the wood. It's like sailing, there are currents going different directions, thus the fastest route is not always going to be a straight line. I think life's ultimate success is when you take the time to learn its rhythm and apply yourself that way. Because Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes that, those who turn the fastest don't necessarily come out as the winner, but a lot of has to do with circumstances and opportunities. Because this is a created world, governed by physical laws and invisible moral principles. While with science and engineering you can rely on the physical laws, but when it comes to personal growth, finding happiness, finding love, artistic things, it comes down to discovering, learning, submitting yourself to, and applying these principles. And one of those principles is the principle of serving. When Jesus saw that the disciples were disputing who is the greatest amongst them, he quickly corrected them by telling them that whoever wants to be great, let him be a servant. And then later on he demonstrated that by washing their feet, and commanded that they wash one another's feet. When I watch Batman, I am very fond of Alfred, portrayed in The Dark Knight series. I love how in the last movie when he told Bruce that he never wanted him back in Gotham to begin with, but wish he had just disappeared somewhere, get away from it all, and live a happy life for himself, and that it suffices him to just be able to sit down at a café in Paris and see him with his wife and kids, make an eye contact, and say nothing. And that's what happened in the end. When Alfred saw Bruce with Cat Woman, he was so happy, but he quickly got away because he didn’t want to end up starting a conversation and drag him back into his old life. Isn't that beautiful? Because to me, one of the core problems with people is that everyone wants to be Batman and nobody wants to be Alfred. But when you look at things from a different perspective. Alfred serves Bruce, Bruce serves Gothem. Batman is only a hero because he choose to serve. Abraham's old servant serves him, but he serves God. Jesus serves the Father, the Holy Spirit serves everyone, dwelling in the heart of every believer, even though he also is God, but does not compete with Jesus and the Father, just like how Jesus does not compete with the Father, described in the Book of Philippians. The kingdom culture is a counterintuitive culture. The Bible says the wisdom of God is foolishness with man. The thing is, when you set your mind to serve others, you set yourself free. It's like you're no longer obsessed with yourself and you suddenly have the capacity to see the world and the area of your calling with a new sense of clarity, seeing what the problem is and what should be done about it. So by serving, you actually become a more successful person, or at least more capable, while promotions are in God's hands. And we are happier people when we let go of ourselves and all of the worldly entanglements and set our eyes on the Lord and let him lead and guide us. Over the years I found that, a lot of higher ranking people are really out of touch with what is going on within the company and within their areas of responsibilities. They are so keen to play the game and obsessed with getting ahead, that even though they get promoted, they don't do a good job. Often times it's those little guys who are not obsessed with ambitions and just keep it simple and try to do a good job everyday for years, they are the ones who really understand what's going on and are the major contributors, while the higher ups are often just bureaucrats whose hearts are set on pursuing after their own interests. My second point is "The secret of the Lord is with those who fear him, and he will show them his covenant." This is a hard thing for me to write about, due to my present situation. It really hurts right now, after choosing the fear of the Lord all these years, and having been given so much, in terms of insights to life and ability to work, yet here I am, still waiting for the salvation of the Lord, although it is close now. I think in life we are always confronted with the choice of who we are going to serve, which boils down to who we ultimately choose to fear. Jesus said do not fear those who can kill you, and afterward can do nothing more, ,but fear him who has the power to condemn you to hell, fear him! I think we all have fears and insecurities, that if something does not happen, we are not going to survive, or going to miss out on opportunities to get ahead or get what we want and think are pretty and shiny, and those desires and fear tend to drive us towards making decisions, everyday little decisions as well as big major ones that influence the direction of our lives, that are not out of fearing God but fearing other things. We save ourselves in the process, but ultimately, we lost ourselves at the same time, little by little, piece by piece, or maybe just one whole big chunk at times, and then, at the same time, we miss out on inheriting the secrets of the Lord and the opportunities of him showing us his covenant. Psalm 25 continues with "My eyes are ever towards the Lord, for he shall pluck my feet out of the net", which means, eye on him, fear not, he is the one who can deliver you, fear him! If we make our life's pursuit be about going after God's promises, wouldn't it be more profitable and efficient to pursue it with a spiritual hunger that says "If I choose to fear God now, he will show me his secrets and covenant. I will receive more faster, even though I may have to lose my life tangibly in the process." I think these two things are what contributed how I know so much, nothing more, and my present economic situation attests to that, but not for long, I don't think. I think I am ready to fly pretty soon. :D.
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