#tbh i think this is partially at fault of the game. since we see less interactions between certain characters than others | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

herohotline · 4 years

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can i get some headcanons for todoroki, bakugo, and midoriya’s s/o coming home drunk and being super clingy and affection! please n thank you love u

A/N: alrigth FINE i hate not being able to use the reading link so i hijacked the computer and also ALL MY REQUESTS are nsfw so this is just what had to happen

Drunk!Bakugo

Drunk Bakugo would obviously be very impulsive, but I can see him being unusually giggly as well

If you actually want Bakugo to laugh at your jokes, just get him drunk tbh

Once he’s out with The Boys , you take the time do you your own stuff around the house. Probably just doing whatever you want to pass the time until Bakugo comes home so you can help him get to bed

You definitely know when he’s home because before he’s even at the door you can hear him and his friends shouting/laughing from outside

Opening the door to your apartment, you can see Kirishima carrying Kaminari on his back and Bakugo cheering as Mina is dancing in the middle of the street

Once you quickly rush over and take care of the safety hazard that is dancing in the street, Bakugo quickly wraps an arm around you and pulls you to his chest.

“Hey!! Look, it’s ___!!!”

Yup. It’s me. Great,

Kirishima looks like the only one who’s somewhat sober as he looks at you apologetically with a small wave. He’s got a hand wrapped around Mina to keep her from running back in the street

Once you finally get Bakugo inside (whos still got an arm wrapped around you, hovering behind you and making it hard to walk), you quickly lead him to the bedroom while he’s giggling in your ear

“Okay, Buddy, lets get you changed. You reek, you know,” you take him into the washroom and have to basically shove him off your back since he’s glued to you, having him sit on the toilet

“Trying to get in my pants?” He asks, and it would have been seductive, if he didn’t kneel over giggling right after he said it. You just roll your eyes and take off his shirt

After the long, long process of undressing him, you finally mangle him into bed. You even got him to brush his teeth a little, but his breath still stinks so you have him spoon you so you don’t have to smell it

Bakugo definitely doesn’t care or even realize why you have him spoon you. He’s just humming and holding you close, kissing your neck and back kind of sloppily

“So, did you have fun?” You ask now that you’ve got him in bed and he just groans.

“I guess.” Sighs against your shoulder. “Missed you. Should have come with us.” Arms wrap around you a little tighter.

You reach back and run your hand through his spiky hair. Just like that, he’s out like a light before you can say anything

Drunk Bakugo can definitely be chaotic, but very sweet once you finally get him like this

Drunk!Todoroki

I don’t imagine Todoroki likes getting drunk very often, probably only at special events. And even then, he usually only gets tipsy

He has a lot of control, more than most when he’s drunk, so he’s confident to have a few drinks and not be very affected

But one day he comes home from a very, very long Gala that he was forced to, and his whole body just feels tight and exhausted

He definitely drank a little more just because of how much he Did Not Want To Be At The Gala

When you greet him when he comes home, it’s basically just like that. Just like that he’s on top of you on the couch, basically suffocating you as he lies on you

“T-todoroki- youre- squishing me, you know-!!”

He just huffs and nustles his head in your hair

You have to push him off (as he whines very loudly) in order to breathe, but you’re laughing all the while

“What’s up, honey?”

“Nothing.” He reaches out and grabs your hand next to him, fumbling and playing with your fingers.

And then uses his grip on your hand to pull you back down so he can cuddle you again (but at least he’s not breaking your air supply this time)

“Was the Gala that bad?” You can already tell. He’s made it kind of obvious

“Don’t want to talk about the Gala,” he groans and shuffles around. He’s still in his expensive, probably stuffy suit, so you help him out by unbuttoning his jacket and trying to get him out of it. Honestly he doesn’t even notice

“Well, I missed you,” you give him a kiss on his cheek once you finally have him out of his jacket, tie and button up shirt, and you wrap your hands around his naked skin which is a lot warmer than usual

“Missed you, too.” He sighs

Drunk!Midoriya

Like Todoroki, I don’t think Midoriya gets drunk very often, especially in public

Once he gets older and less wounded up, he probably enjoys getting tipsy at home with you and friends in private somewhat frequently

I can see him getting drunk during Game Night with the dudes or something like that

Alcohol helps Midoriya become more confident, maybe a bit too confident,,?? stupid decisions are something he will always do, drunk or sober

If you’re not out drinking with him or just around in general, which is rare, he’ll have either Iida or Uraraka around

Who are the ones who deliver your dear boyfriend to your doorstep one evening

Literally you open the door and he’s hanging around Uraraka and Iida, a shoulder wrapped around the both of them while he’s trying to focus on standing

“Oh my God,” that’s basically all you can say. like. what

Uraraka winces. “We know-”

“HEY,” Midoriya snaps his head up to look at you, a big grin on his face as he stumbles forward and into your arms. “Guuuuys! ___ is here!”

Kind of embarrassing how he’s nuzzling into your chest with his arms completely wrapped around you, but Iida and Uraraka aren’t even surprised.

“How did he get like this??”

“It’s kind of funny, actually,” Uraraka scratches her cheek nervously. “We went to a bar for their quizzes, and people kept hitting on him? And giving him drinks? And we kept saying he should just send them back but he was too nervous so he just kept drinking them and then the people just kept sending them-”

“Oh I see,” you laugh. You roll your eyes as you have to wrap your arms around your boyfriend because he’s beginning to slip, and you pull him upright against you. “You were a little playboy today, huh? Cock of the walk?”

“No!!!” And then, very quietly, “maybe.”

“We shouldn’t have let him do it, it’s partially our fault,” Iida frowns and puts his glasses on, which you hadn’t noticed he wasn’t wearing. He sighs. “Midoriya kept playing with them so I had to take them off.”

After a lot of talking in the doorway (a lot of laughing, too, once you hear everything that transpired that night), you heave Midoriya into some nightclothes and into bed

“I didn’t know you were such a flirt, Midoriya,” you smile as you change into your own pajamas. “I’ll have to keep my eye on you.”

“Noo,” he whines from the bed. “No, I love you, I sweearrr,”

You laugh. “I know, honey!”

“But I mean it,” Midoriya groans as he forces himself to sit up on the bed, leaning forward to grab you and pull you to him. “I love love you. For real.”

“Wow, I’m so flattered.”

“SAY IT BACK!! you have to say it back!!”

Drunk Midoriya is also a crybaby, but I bet you’re not surprised by that.

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sage-nebula · 3 years

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Neo: The World Ends With You - Thoughts So Far

I’m on Day 6 of Week 1 and I want to compile my thoughts so far — not in a formal post, but at least all in one place, especially since I feel that jotting down what I think / feel as I go through will help me write my review when I’m done. Spoilers under the cut, obviously — and while it should go without saying, do NOT comment on this post with spoilers from later in the game, so help me. Even if I pose a question that gets answered later on — hell, especially if I do — don’t tell me. I don’t want to know. I will find out in my own time.

With that said . . .

So obviously, I’m really enjoying it so far. You can tell that the writers / devs haven’t lost their touch despite it being thirteen years since the first game was made. You can also tell that a lot of love went into this; this isn’t something they churned out just to make money (if they thought this was a moneymaker we wouldn’t have had to wait 13 freaking years for the sequel), but rather something they really, really wanted to make. Not a total passion project, because those aren’t allowed in the world of capitalism, but there is still a lot of love there.

That said, more specific thoughts:

THE MUSIC. It doesn’t really come as a surprise given that TWEWY’s soundtrack was phenomenal, but god, they brought it right back for this game. The remixes (“Someday”, “Three Minutes Clapping”, “Transformation”, “The One Star” etc) are all excellent, but the new tracks are phenomenal too. Tbh I’m not sure how any of the Players get any fighting done when the music makes you want to just bust a move right there in the scramble. It’s so good.

Most of the characters are great too. Of the Wicked Twisters, I think Fret is my favorite; he is pure of heart, dumb of ass, and I love that for him. I do like Rindo too, of course, and his habit of overthinking everything (since Fret has zero brain cells, Rindo has to make up for it), but him being standoffish / socially anxious and snarky makes him feel a bit like a toned down Neku, so he doesn’t catch my interest quite as much. And while I do like Nagi, the way she speaks in like . . . medieval-esque language is a bit off-putting. In particular it’s weird that Rindo didn’t tell her to knock it off with the “Lord Rindo” stuff since using such an honorific would be considered awkward / embarrassing in Japanese. I guess he’s just too socially anxious / awkward to tell her to stop, but it’s still a bit distracting. Other than that, I’m really not a fan of Kubo (one of the Reapers) or . . . Susukichi, I think his name is? The leader of the Ruinbringers. I find them both to be pretty annoying, haha. But I love Shoka, as well as Kanon, and Motoi is a good bean, too. As for the Deep River Society . . . those nerds have issues lmao. Especially their leader. Although I can’t fault him for breaking down sobbing when he realizes that he now stands a very good chance of getting erased, which reminds me . . .

HOW ARE WE ON DAY SIX AND THE WICKED TWISTERS STILL HAVE NO IDEA WHAT BEING ERASED IS?? We have kind of an inverse situation where where Neku knew right away that he would get erased if he failed the missions / didn’t win the Game, but didn’t find out until later that he was dead. Here, the Wicked Twisters learn that they’re dead fairly quickly (and Fret has some realistic denial going on about it at first, though he gets over it pretty quickly), but they’re still completely in the dark about the fact that their souls will get wiped from existence if they lose despite erasure being mentioned at least a handful of times. Like I guess it was never spelled out for them, but especially as someone who played the first game about a million times, it’s a bit maddening to see them be like, “Why is he crying like his life is on the line? lol whatevs no big deal la di da!” Since the Wicked Twisters aren’t aware of the stakes, a new player wouldn’t be either, and so it rather tones down the urgency that was felt in the original game where everyone was very much aware that they were fighting for their right to exist.

Since I brought up Motoi, I want to say that I just played past the part where he reveals that he was An0ther, who is apparently Rindo’s favorite blogger / poet. I feel like this is meant to be similar to how Hanekoma was CAT, Neku’s favorite artist, but it doesn’t carry the same impact because a.) as far as we know An0ther didn’t have anything to do with how Rindo died; b.) we haven’t seen Rindo bring An0ther or his poetry up that much, much less have anything An0ther said be his entire life’s mantra; c.) we haven’t gotten to know Motoi that well either. Like we met him once before this revelation. That said I’m not sure it was supposed to have the same impact as the Hanekoma = CAT reveal, but if it was then it did fall short. (Also I saw it coming the second Motoi quoted An0ther lmao.)

Speaking of Hanekoma, WHERE IS MY MANS??? I know he has to show up at some point because if I’m not mistaken we saw him in the trailers. And if I am mistaken then he still has to show up at some point because he played a central role in the “A New Day” epilogue chapter of Final Remix, what with Coco being unable to control him and him knowing what was going on, plus he was testing Neku for something in “Another Day” and that has to be whatever is going on in this game. I’m sure he’ll come in for some big reveal later, but like, we have a new street artist in this game (MKN) with no mention of CAT as of yet, and I’m just like . . . where is he. Where is my mans. What is he doing. Bring him to me.

That said, we already got to see my #2 mans (Kariya♥) so I am happy about that at least.

Back to my mans for a hot second: I actually erased my demo save data and started fresh to remind myself of everything when I got the game, and idk if it was in the demo or not, but regardless—at the end of the demo portion there’s this shot of the sky and then this nameless voice is like, “It’s finally starting. I hope you wake up soon. I don’t want you to miss all the action.” My current guess is that the speaker was Hanekoma, speaking to Joshua. Joshua being “asleep” would explain why the Game is as screwed up as it is right now, what with it having been going on for a year and people able to choose to play again and again and again while the rest of the Players—who tbh should also be counted as winners if they survive the week!—are trapped in limbo.

Because that’s the thing: I know that it was partially a lie to cover for the fact that Joshua’s game with Megumi was set to last three weeks, but at the end of the third week Megumi told Neku that a new rule was being put in place that wouldn’t allow repeats of the Game anymore. But even setting that aside, in the original Shibuya UG rules, anyone who survived the Game could get a wish at the end, whether that was to be brought back to life or made into a Reaper. This is why at the end of Week 1, the three winners were Neku, Shiki, and Beat. However, here the Ruinbringers are able to keep everyone trapped and they have been trapped for at least a year, given what Motoi said. It’s completely different rules and I’m sure that this has something to do with the fact that the majority of the Reapers we’ve seen so far are from Shinjuku (at least going by the spoilery trailer, and iirc it was confirmed in “A New Day” that Coco was from Shinjuku actually, but it’s been a while so I could be wrong about that).

Speaking of, has anyone noticed that the possibly-Shinjuku Reapers don’t have wings? No?

ALSO speaking of Coco, at least tangentially: Coco was the one who revived Minamimoto at the end of “A New Day”. However, he’s definitely not how I would have expected. Like despite Coco using the Taboo Noise sigil to bring him back, he’s clearly not in his Taboo form. He’s using psychs as a Player would, rather than a Reaper. And while it’s clear he’s up to some form of nonsense, it’s unclear exactly what form of nonsense he’s up to. I know that he’s here for fanservice and that him looking like Nagi’s bias from Elegant Strategy is a tongue-in-cheek nod to that, but I have too much faith in this series to think that’s all this is. I’m wondering if being revived for a second time fixed whatever screws were loose in his head before? Or if he was revived as a human Player by like, Joshua or something? (Although why Joshua would do that I have no idea. Maybe Hanekoma instead?) Hmmm . . .

Small aside, but we all know that Nagi has put herself into hundreds of thousands of yen in debt for Tomonami merch lolol RIP Nagi. (I’m also interpreting that she’s not actually older than Rindo or Fret, but she just skipped a bunch of grades. Like I feel like this might have been lost in translation a bit, and that she’s a senpai to them because she’s in uni but she’s not actually older than them. I could be wrong but that’s how I’m interpreting it right now. She just doesn’t look or act older than them.)

Oh another minor annoyance, but whether it’s due to the partial 3D environment or something else, I’m SO ANNOYED that some of the streets aren’t connecting as they should now. Like, how going in the direction of Molco spits you out at Spain Hill or 104 or whatever? I don’t remember exactly what area it was, but it wasn’t Molco!! I’m sure if I hadn’t played the original a million times like a loser this wouldn’t be such a big deal to me, but I have and it is lmao. Also, they’ve had the Shibuya Underpass / Cat Street blocked off this whole time and I’m like :( let me go to Cat Street :( let me see my mans

I’m relieved that Ken Doi is still making delicious food and I look forward to his ramen curry fusion. I was really upset about RamenDon being gone at first but as long as Ken Doi is still around I am happy.

My dinner just arrived so this is all I have to say for now, but I will update more as I play more. I love this game and I’m so happy to be back in Shibuya, even if the characters pronounce it wrong sometimes (saying “ShiBOOya” like pls . . . you are supposed to be Japanese . . . get it right . . .)

#neo: the world ends with you #no but seriously I will block anyone who sends spoilers lol it will be ON SIGHT

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thundersnowstorm · 5 years

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thoughts on the first two episodes of got s8

it’s honestly really annoying how they seem to have forgotten that jon bent the knee entirely out of his own volition, that dany was perfectly willing to help the north fight the white walkers without having them bend the knee. the northerners’ ire towards dany is understandable, but fundamentally it was jon’s fault for making such a major decision so impulsively.

he so clearly does not want to be king of anything, i’m honestly surprised dany’s reaction to finding out about r+l was about the threat he posed to her throne. he’s already given up a crown for you bb, he’s not gonna try to make a pass for the iron throne all of a sudden.

the r+l revelation was underwhelming

i feel for sam. i really do. and he has every right to hate dany. but dany was not wrong in burning the tarlys (if we’re going with the established social framework). jon killed plenty of people for disobeying him, has killed plenty of people in battle. the main difference is that we never met those people’s likeable children. so miss me with that dany hate.

dany’s character is honestly all over the place. half the time she’s sweet and bubbly, but then she’ll change in less than a second to be this cold, ruthless queen. and no, i don’t think it’s build up to “mad queen dany”, i think d&d don’t know how to write her consistently and need her to act in certain ways to keep drama going

speaking of drama, i love sansa but jfc….. where’s the girl who said “courtesy is a woman’s armor”? sansa played nice with littlefinger and cersei for seasons, but all of a sudden she doesn’t seem to remember that playing the game means making friends of your enemies. if a queen that your brother has sworn your people to (despite doing it messily as all hell) comes to your castle with dragons to fight your common enemy, it might be a good idea to be at least courteous? being rude is helping absolutely no one. and she certainly has the right to not like dany, but she’s not being particularly smart about how she’s dealing with dany.

this is honestly because of the writing and plotting. sansa’s being played as making smart political decisions and that’s the takeaway you’re supposed to have, but d&d just haven’t truly thought the politics through.

that said, i did really like their scene together in 8x02. it was actually a decent portrayal of two powerful women with different yet equally understandable motivations.

i’ve been deeply annoyed with jon since season six but i gotta give him credit where credit is due and say at least he’s got his priorities in check. deal with the night king, then politics.

every time they call jon “aegon” i die inside a little bit

needs more ghost. unless they intend to kill ghost in a battle scene. in which case, don’t even let ghost be on screen!!

all the bran memes are hilarious but goddamn i really hate robo!bran. what a butchery of a character who i really do care about.

tyrion trusting cersei was truly the dumbest choice they could’ve made for his character

still don’t care about jaime y’all, sorry

cersei sleeping with euron was the worst and i hated it

theon’s hair looks good! unfortunately the lannisters all have terrible wigs

theon and sansa surprised me, but it has actual build up and it’s the only relationship (with a male, living character) that i can get behind for her. bonding over shared trauma and healing together is my kinda trope

i have mixed feelings about gendry x arya. it was definitely rushed, although that was rather what they were going for (end of the world and all that). seeing arya partially naked…. idk, it’s weird to see a character who has been on the show since she was eleven have a sex scene, even if she is an adult now. i honestly think they should’ve just cut the scene before the nudity, to avoid that weirdness. especially given d&d’s track record with women and nudity.

although it is nice to see them letting arya display more emotions beyond just “assassin”

missandei and grey worm are cute and i love them and i’m p sure he’s gonna die. which i do not want. please don’t kill one of your two black characters, it’d be a real dick move d&d

every time a northerner looks at them, my hackles just go up. stop being racist and leave them alone jfc

ser brienne!!!! she’s so happy and i’m so happy for her and ahhhhhhhh

everyone except dany is in pretty much full black and i hate!!! this!!! wear some color ffs

sansa’s armor outfit looks…..bad

overall it’s been kind of a mess but mostly fun

predictions for the rest of the season:

who was the dumbass who thought putting the noncombatants in the crypts with a bunch of stark corpses in full armor was a good idea??? my theory that westeros has a total of maybe five braincells has yet to be disproved.

no one in the crypts is safe next ep and i am Worried.

unless the show seriously deviates from the books, jaime is killing cersei. not looking forward to it tbh.

there is a decent chance that winterfell is gonna burn and i am not ready Emotionally.

characters that are gonna die: cersei, euron, qyburn, zombie!gregor, jon, grey worm, night king

characters that are probably gonna die but i’m not sure: theon, dany, jaime, jorah, melisandre (if she’s still around?), all three dragons (and possibly ghost but nooooo)

characters that are most likely gonna survive: sansa, arya, sam, yara, gendry

characters that i hope will live but might die for pointless shock value: gilly, missandei, brienne, podrick, lyanna mormont

characters i have no clue about: varys, tyrion, bran, davos, bronn, tormund, dolorous edd

my hope is that the show ends with the iron throne melted down and seven independent kingdoms. thematically, that’d be the most satisfying. i don’t trust d&d with themes tho so we’ll see.

so far it seems like next ep is gonna be the Big Epic Battle where they defeat the night king, then the last three eps are about dealing with cersei and picking up the pieces. idk how i feel about this, since it kinda frames cersei as the Big Bad. we’ll see how it ends up.

#got s8 #got #mine #my meta

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xyliane · 7 years

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not selling any alibis: chapter 1

summary: killua is an assassin, but he has a pest. a cockroach. and it’s making his normal non-assassin life hell. not least because his family insists on making it all his fault.

notes: I’ve been working on this thing for. gosh. I think the initial idea for this au came back in january (on minimal sleep, probably), and it’s been percolating and simmering until it’s finally boiled over. anyways it’s a spy/assassin au. T, killua zoldyck, zoldyck family shenanigans (read: illumi is awful and the rest aren’t much better). killugon. 3400 words.

fic will update...probably not til the holidays tbh, the next few weeks are eeeeeeeeeeeevil. I just wanted to see if there was any interest in this mess.

[ETA] fic is now updating on ao3! link is here.

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chapter 1: eyes in your pockets, nose on the ground

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“Do you have the target?”

Killua adjusts his sights, the comfortable weight of his sniper rifle keeping him steady even on this rickety perch. Across the wide street, typing away at her desk with the blissfully ignorance of someone trying to finish their paperwork at the end of the day. Killua doesn’t know who she is, and frankly, tells himself he couldn’t care less. It’s not in his job description.

Assassin means quick, clean, and quiet. Killua may be the best in the business, but that doesn’t mean he has to know about the lives of the people he kills.

“Target locked,” he says over the comm.

His brother’s voice hums an affirmative. “No sign of your cockroach?”

“None so far.”

“And what about in the street entrances? You cannot afford another loss, Kil.”

“Don’t have to tell me that twice. Or twenty times,” Killua mutters. Illumi is a pain in the ass to have on comms. His oldest brother might be a great assassin, but when he plays spotter for Killua, he can’t stop backseat driving. If Illumi’s going to insist Killua stay in the family business, to the point that he takes spotter whenever possible, he can stay out of Killua’s personal life.

So far, it’s worked out okay that way. Killua has his life, a normal life with classes and video games and friends and a years-long crush on his best friend, and he has his family’s work. They do not cross paths.

It had been going well for years. He’d moved out of the mansion to attend high school, having finally proved to Father that he could be in a “normal” school and stay at the top of the game. It was there he met Gon Freecss, a cannonball of sunshine and chaos who wormed his way into Killua’s heart, the best friend he could have ever asked for, even if Killua doesn’t know what he did to deserve Gon. Five years later, their mess of a two-bedroom apartment is nothing like Aunt Mito’s house or the Zoldyck mansion, but it’s theirs. It’s Killua’s space to not be a Zoldyck, to not worry about being perfect at what his family wants. To be best friends with Gon even if that means spending too much brainpower stomping down on the urge to burst into his best friend’s room and kiss him senseless.

Gon, of course, doesn’t suspect a thing. He’s used to Killua’s odd hours at this point, and with his job at Kite’s clinic doing some bizarre combination of paperwork and site visits for whatever it is Kite does, it’s not like Gon keeps normal hours either. He’s also too damn oblivious to realize anything involving kissing or desires to kiss or anything else that makes Killua lie awake at night debating the merits of screaming into his pillows.

But the last year or so, the jobs Killua’s taken have run into…a pest. His cockroach. A spy almost as good at their job as Killua is at his, with the tendency to snatch Killua’s best finds right out from under him. Can’t kill anyone if they vanish into the system, or protective custody, or hell, maybe the cockroach kills them.

How they vanish isn’t the problem, it’s that they do. It pisses Killua the hell off that he’s lost five separate targets in the last nine months, and neither he nor his family can figure out how. It’s not uncommon to run into rivals in their game, but it is rare for anyone to get a leg up on a Zoldyck, least of all one so good that Killua hasn’t even seen them for himself. For every botched job he has, he has to complete another three for even a fraction of his reputation to return. He does them, and he does them damn well, but then this asshole cockroach gets under his feet again and screws everything back to hell.

Which is how he ends up with Illumi resuming his role as Killua’s handler and backseat driver, like he’s twelve again and off on assassin’s first contract. That pisses Killua off almost as much as the cockroach themself.

He checks his backup cameras just in case anything’s crawled in while he was scoped. Nothing at all. “I’m clear. You see anything, Illumi? Since you’re the one with the security cams and all.” And has nothing better to do than be a pain in the ass, but Killua doesn’t say that out loud.

“There is nothing on my scans.” Killua is about to make fun of how easily Illumi is mixing up “checked the cameras” with “intensive scanning” when his brother makes a noise almost like a hum of recognition. It’s the sort of noise Illumi made when Killua was about to eat the unpoisoned fruit, or step on the sturdy boards while training, instantly signaling that something is not going according to plan. Come to think of it, maybe that was more of the point of the training beyond mere poison resistance or surviving four story falls: the ability to notice even the smallest details, even from someone familiar.

Killua snaps his attention back to the scope. The woman is still in her office, still typing away. “What is it?” Killua bites off.

“Oh, well. Perhaps there is something.”

If Killua keeps grinding his teeth, he’ll probably have nothing but stubs by the time he’s thirty. If he lives that long without either killing his brother or having a heart attack from one of Gon’s stupid ideas.

Killua’s just as stupid and infinitely more selfish, though, because now he finds himself wanting more from Gon. The sort of more that is a massive distraction when trying to line up a kill shot and his spotter is not doing his damn job of spotting problems before they become issues.

“Illumi. What did you see.”

“Hear, little brother. You must use all your senses.”

Sniper rifles are heavy, and Killua is increasingly considering the value of abandoning his position to bludgeon his brother to death. “What did you hear, then?”

“The sound of clampers attempting to scale the alley side of the building.”

Killua swears. That’s outside of his view and his cameras, supposedly under Illumi’s watch. That’s the point of having a backup and a spotter—someone to keep an eye on things he shouldn’t have to worry about. If he’d been on his own, like he should be, Killua would have spent the extra time to set up additional surveillance. Being even partially blind is horrible, especially at times like these. Killua is the best because he knows what he might miss. Relying on Illumi is a terrible blindspot, even in the best circumstances.

“Hook me into the audio while you figure out where the fuck this cockroach is,” Killua says. Illumi hums in acknowledgment and Killua’s headphones crackle with static, making him wince. Whatever frequency Illumi has been on, it’s next to impossible to hear anything. He fiddles with his receiver, trying to clear the sound.

He’s almost got it when the noise clears abruptly, Illumi’s voice returning. “Kil. Take out the target now.”

“It’s not the right time—”

“Your cockroach is taking the chance, so we must take ours. Shoot her.”

“On your head,” Killua mutters, and cuts the comms to focus in on the window. He steadies, aims—

And almost fires at an empty office, vacant except for a gently spinning office chair and a piece of paper with an enormous smiley face taped to the computer screen. Better luck next time! it says.

Killua swears again and slams his headset on the floor hard enough to make it crack.

—

If he hadn’t promised Father he’d stop by the mansion after the job—the failed attempt at his fucking job—Killua would have followed through on earlier plans to clobber his brother with the business end of his rifle and gone straight home. Gon has a way of making even the worst days palatable, just by being himself. He also seems to be having trouble at work lately, but what complaints are left to commiserating over a handle of cheap whiskey. Hopefully he’ll still be awake by the time Killua gets back.

Instead, he spends the forty five minutes it takes to fly to Kukuroo Mountain and the Zoldyck helipad filling out paperwork and wishing he could be with his best friend instead of within punching distance of Illumi’s blank face.

The Zoldyck mansion and grounds around Kukuroo Mountain used to be one of Killua’s favorite places growing up, full of mystery and danger even with all of the training he went through. Now, it’s okay sometimes—Mother is still overprotective, Father still expects Killua to become a carbon copy of himself, and Grandpa Zeno always looks like he’s trying to test Killua on something. Milluki’s always working on some super secret hacking project, and Kalluto’s been loaned to a colleague indefinitely. But Alluka’s not even at the main mansion anymore, so what little joy Killua had left in the house he grew up in is also gone. Some bullshit about Mother and Father wanting to keep her projects “safe,” but more likely it’s to keep her apart from Killua. Her and Nanika both.

And there’s Illumi, who should stay on the other side of the moon as long as he stays out of Killua’s business. Something he is deliberately failing to do.

The corridor to Father’s office gapes and yawns, the stretches between wrought iron lamps seeming to elongate with every step Killua takes. He’s dreading this conversation more than almost any other. Not helping are the prim steps of Illumi, just behind him and far enough to the side to reverberate in slightly disjointed echoes down the hall.

By the time the door arrives, Killua is half-jittery with the need to do something, anything to get out of this house. Instead, he pushes the door open and slips into the room, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket.

“Welcome home, Kil,” Father says. He’s shucked his bespoke suit jacket and rolled up his shirtsleeves, blue eyes unreadable from behind the desk. People always say Killua takes after him, his height and his white hair and his blue eyes if not his bulk. How Silva ever managed to build a reputation as an assassin is less to do with stealth and more to do with brutal efficiency. But Father’s presence is grounded and weighty where Killua’s is electric and sharp, perhaps from age but just as likely from experience, even if Killua’s completed almost double the amount of contracts as when Silva was his age. There’s a reason Killua is heir to the Zoldyck dynasty, not because he wants to be but because he’s damn good at it.

It’s unusual to see Father out of his work clothes while in the office, even long after the end of the day. Propriety is vital in this business, he’d explained once, when Killua was too small to really know what the word meant. Mom, a slim black-haired shadow perched in her high backed chair at Father’s right hand, remains in her best work kimono, thick glasses glimmering in the red light.

Grandpa nods, his normal grin gone. “I hear there were complications again.”

Killua tries not to whip his head back to glare at Illumi. “I have my report here,” he says. “I had hoped to go over it myself, not have it fed through some incompetent third party.”

Illumi plucks the papers from his fist and gives them to Mom. “I believe, as your observer, I am neither a third party nor incompetent,” he says.

“Your screw ups cost me my job tonight, brother,” Killua snarls.

“Perhaps you should have checked your own tools rather than relying on what you perceived to be lacking in the first place.”

“I did set them up, you took them from me!”

“Boys,” Mom says, her voice dripping with misplaced emotions. “Don’t fight, not here. Kil, your report is flawless, but it does support what Illu reported already.”

“It’s not my fault.”

Grandpa Zeno at least looks a little sympathetic when he says, “Fault doesn’t matter, kid. Results do. And yours don’t look good.”

Killua does not growl or pace. He doesn’t allow his family the satisfaction of seeing his frustration manifest here. Instead, he pulls his hands out of his pockets and unrolls his copy of the paperwork. “I have the best record in this house, except for yours, Grandpa,” Killua says. “My only failed assignments have all occurred within the last eight months, and even taking those into account, I am succeeding well above Kalluto or Illumi’s expected averages. And all of them are related to that fucking cockroach.”

Father props his chin up on his fist. “Yet compared to your standards, you lack, Kil. That is unacceptable.”

“I still believe this is to do with his current living situation,” Illumi says softly, black eyes not showing a hint of emotion, not even satisfaction or success he’s obviously luxuriating in. “He has taken fewer and fewer contracts in the past few years. Perhaps it is time for the heir to come home.”

That is not negotiable. Killua is not leaving his apartment, his home, his friends. He’s worked too hard to keep that part of his life safe, locked away from his family and the blood on his hands. But he swallows the fear right back where it came from. “That’s besides the point. What I need to know is how my missions keep getting leaked.”

Father glances at Mom, who shrugs melodramatically. “There have been no words on leaks, Kil.”

Killua rolls his eyes. “I don’t screw up. Not like this. You know there’s something going on, or you wouldn’t have me under surveillance again. Either Milluki’s losing his touch or you’re getting lazy, Illumi.”

A brief flash of a grin passes across Zeno’s face, more for Killua’s benefit than anyone else in the room. “Told you he’d find them,” he mutters loud enough to echo. Father glares deadpan, the same look Illumi gives but with the strength and age to back it up. Unfortunately, when it’s targeted at Grandpa, it does about as much good as an water gun in a hurricane.

“Kil, no one else in the family is suffering from these losses,” Father says. “We suspect it’s coming from your end.”

Killua’s hackles rise defensively. “It definitely isn’t. I run sweeps every day, before and after missions, and whenever Gon’s in class. I made the protocols that allow me to stay out of this place, and you all approved them. Hell, you use them in all our safehouses now. Including Alluka’s systems—”

“Then the protocols need to be updated, darling,” Mom says. “As do those for field surveillance. Illumi, you will oversee Kil’s efforts at both of these.”

“Of course, Mother.”

“What? No! This was Illumi’s fault in the first place.” Working with Illumi out of the field is even worse than the backseat assassining that happens on the job. No way is this going to end without Killua tearing his hair out.

“Don’t argue, kid,” Zeno says. “Silva wanted to keep you at home until the aiai protocol is fixed. Consider this a compromise.”

“There’s a problem with Nanika?” Killua asks. “I thought Alluka finished last year. What has she said?”

“It’s nothing Milluki can’t fix,” Father says.

Mom looks more upset about this than Father, but she wants him back under the Zoldyck thumb almost as much as Illumi. Father’s always emphasized, if Killua can maintain his success and his secrecy, he can “expand his horizons” or whatever he says to excuse Killua’s flights of whimsy. Not that they are whimsical at all. Killua simply wanted to have a little corner of life for his own. Father seemed alright with even that, just so long as Killua never tested his leash.

At least, until now. The risk of losing what little independence he has looms large in Killua’s mind, and he shudders at the thought. He can’t lose all the time he’s put into stupid classes and stupid university credits just to lose them now. More importantly, he can’t lose his friendships. It’s bad enough he doesn’t get to see Alluka. Losing Gon…

Killua straightens, pulling his shoulders back and meeting Father eye for eye. “Fine,” he says. “If I get an extra visitation day.”

“Done. And you’ll install the new modifications in your apartment,” Father says.

“In the complex’s public spaces, not in my apartment,” Killua says.

“Today.”

“Tomorrow. I have to wait for Gon to go to class, since coming all the way out here means I’m not getting home til after dinner.”

His best friend’s name makes a flicker of emotion pass across Illumi’s face, sour and unamused. Killua marks a point in his favor, a tiny spot of hope in this mess.

“Agreed,” Father says.

Killua lets out a breath slowly, not letting his relief show on his face. “Great. So can we get to sorting out the leak now? Since I’m here, and not going to class tomorrow.”

Kikyo shakes her head, tapping her long nails on her husband’s desk. “We will take care of that, I think,” she says.

“If it’s centered on my contracts and no one else’s, I should be involved.”

“We have it under control,” Father says.

He’d said the same thing before all but exiling Alluka from the family, like she was a problem to be solved rather than Killua’s sister. He’d said it when the protocol—when Nanika was moved to the main mansion once its immediate success didn’t take hold. It takes every single spotless job to earn even a fraction of time with her, and losing that… It’s not a comforting thought. “Obviously not as much as you think, or I wouldn’t be missing another contract,” Killua says.

“You are the only unaccounted-for element in this search,” Illumi says. “Perhaps you should not be involved at all.”

“I—”

Grandpa nods somberly. “We’ve been discussing this privately for some time now, Kil. If you are the target of this subterfuge, you should not be involved in the search. It would only draw more attention. And your performance during this time has been an issue as well.”

Killua’s eyes narrow. If they’re talking about a break, he’d take it gladly. He’s never had one, not while applying for university, not when Gon came down with some terrible upper respiratory infection, not even the first time one of Professor Krueger’s hell tests descended upon his grades. But if they’re talking locking him out of his own problems, just because he’s not following their plans…

“Are you seriously accusing me of leaking my own contracts?” Killua asks incredulously. He can’t stand his family most of the time, but they’re his family. Even Illumi. He can’t betray them to someone else. The very thought is anathema.

But no one responds. It’s worse than if someone said to his face they thought he was a traitor, because at least that way Killua would know who to punch. Instead, Father says, “Kil, you know the suspension protocols. No contact with the family, no access to the grounds, no further contracts. No access to family resources. Use the time to triple check your protocols and install any updates in the apartment complex.”

Killua balls his hands into fists. “You can’t suspend me now,” he says. “You need my help with this!”

“Check ins are once every twenty four hours with Illu,” Mom adds as though she doesn’t hear him. “Do not miss them, or all visitation rights will be revoked.”

“And if we cannot determine the cause, or decide it is too dangerous, you will return home and your visitation privileges to the secondary compound will be permanently revoked,” Father says. “It is too much of a risk to leave my heir in harm’s way, especially at a time like this.”

Illumi doesn’t smile. Illumi never smiles. But his blank black eyes seem to glimmer all the same. “You know how to reach me, Kil,” he says.

It takes every hard-won fiber of control in Killua’s body to keep himself from breaking the door on the way out.

#hunter x hunter #hxh #hxh fic #my writing #killua zoldyck #killugon #illumi zoldyck #silva zoldyck #kikyo zoldyck #please do not play a trope drinking game with this fic #you will Die #gonna post this on ao3 later this week #who's the cockroach???#spymance au

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pinksweatergettingbetter · 7 years

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// y’know since I finished DD I've been trying to puzzle out why the ending was so unsatisfying, and I think I’ve figured it out

First off, I felt really uncomfortable finishing off the phantom; I actually ended up feeling bad for him during his breakdown. But why, though? His breakdown is actually pretty similar to Matt Engarde’s (cowering behind the bench in fright, tearing up his face). In fact they’re both quite similar villains: They’re both responsible for kidnappings in some way, both could be considered sociopaths and both pretending to be innocent.

However, where I hate Matt Engarde and take great pleasure in making him cry as I threaten to put him in jail or leave him at the mercy of an assassin... I don’t really feel anything towards The Phantom. I acknowledge his crimes were bad, but they don’t make me feel the same hatred, so I don’t really feel especially good taking him down.

In fact, the person I felt the most hatred towards in DD was Aura Blackquill, and her take-down wasn’t satisfying at all.

So I think the main problem with this ending is similar to the reason why everyone mistakes Dahlia as the arch-villain of T&T

Lets think about her for a second; Dahlia isn’t the true villain of Bridge; its Godot (as the murderer) and Morgan (As the person who put the evil plan in motion in the first place)

But we hate Dahlia with a fiery passion. Why?

Because she's A) Really Unpleasant, and B) She visibly hurt someone we care about as an audience.

Godot doesn’t register as the main villain because his actions (though stupid, selfish and fucking awful) were based from a good intention (not really though) and his victim was someone so peripheral that it hardly matters. Hell, we don’t even know who she is and how she affects someone we relate to (Maya) until quite late in the case. (tbh I actually don’t know why people don’t hate Godot more; he put every one of the Feys in danger for his own shitty revenge and he sucks. But I’m getting off track...)

Morgan doesn’t register as the main villain because she only appears in flashback and doesn’t do anything material. She’s still disgusting for treating her daughters that way and attempting to have Maya killed, but she doesn’t appear for us to hate.

So our hatred is laser-beamed at Dahlia, who is nasty, smug, and most importantly: She hurt someone we care about. We can see how much her actions destroyed Phoenix over the course of the entire game; his misfortune is the catalyst for us to hate her, along with what she had in mind for Maya. Same for Matt Engarde and Manfred von Karma; both of them visibly hurt and endanger Maya and Edgeworth respectively, who are characters we’ve come to sympathize with and love.

Nobody cares about Juan Corrida, Robert Hammond or Valerie Hawthorne/Terry Fawles’ deaths all that much because we don’t know them. If they had been the villains’ only targets, we wouldn’t have hated them as much. What makes them an Arch-villain is how they affect a main character. Redd White and Morgan Fey (in her first appearance) become closest to arch-villains in their one-off villain roles because of their involvement with main characters.

But, returning to DD, the Phantom doesn’t actually... do that. Sure, he killed Clay, who was Apollo’s best friend, and Metis, Athena’s mother... But they’re such non-entities that it doesn’t trigger my sense of sympathy. Now I’m not saying non-appearing characters can’t have weight; but the way to do this is to have their presence made known through the actions or words of more important characters.

We can feel Magnifi Grammarye even if we’ve never met him because of the effect he had on Zak, Valant an even Trucy. We can feel Misty Fey because of DL-6 lore and Maya’s own grief. We can feel Celeste Impax because of how broken Adrian is over her death. Or at least we can at least feel bad for Adrian and hate Matt because of it.

But they don’t do that in DD; they set up their expendable characters very poorly. Clay obviously means a lot to Apollo, and we’d probably feel his presence through Apollo’s grief....... if we were allowed to actually see Apollo’s grief. He’s basically shoved out of the story after Clay’s death to ‘investigate it on his own terms’, so apart from a couple of lines, we don’t really see how much it hurts him in depth. Meanwhile, (and this frustrated me to no end) NOBODY else seems to give two shits about Clay. Even Solomon Starbuck, his mentor, is more worried about Athena during the case. He basically has a line or two of how much it sucks to lose Clay, then he totally forgets about him.

I love Clay as a concept, but he’s drowned out by all the other grandiose plot elements and never given a proper funeral. So I find it hard to care about his death.

Metis gets things slightly better as Athena doesn’t go missing halfway through the game... but her death also only comes up pretty late in the game and, well... Her memories aren’t altogether great. As much as Athena says she loves her, she also explains her belief that her mother had been experimenting on her, and didn’t care much for her. And it’s fairly obvious that Metis Cykes wasn’t the most attentive of mothers, no matter what Simon Blackquill says to the contrary. Anyone who lets their naive 11 year old daughter play with heavy machinery is not a good mother in my books. So I loose sympathy for her.

Oh! And the person who grieves for her most? It’s Aura Blackquill, who is so bitter, cruel and selfish that I like Metis even less just by association.

So our main reasons to hate the Phantom don’t really stack up. Besides that, his previous bombings don’t actually have any casualties, unless you count what happened to the HAT-1 and Starbuck. At the same time, if I remember correctly, that’s actually the fault of Yuri Cosmos and the Government who allowed the launch even when there were threats from a spy. Good going, you guys. (that might’ve been the HAT-2 actually but tbh my point still stands.)

There’s no story-weight behind his villainous deeds. Also, there’s no malice; the Phantom doesn’t kill for the horrible reasons the other villains do. von Karma killed out of twisted and petty revenge, Matt Engarde was a vain and utterly self-absorbed monster, and Dahlia (and Morgan) were both selfish and hateful.

But the Phantom kills for two reasons; orders from a higher-up, and to protect his own identity. Sounds a lot like our Other Assassin, Shelly de-Killer, who I’m not sure anyone hates, really. (I dunno. I never hated him all that much) That obviously doesn’t make his murders permissible or forgivable in any way, but it lacks the spiteful motivation that makes us hate a villain. Phantom was just ‘doing his job’. Perhaps we’d hate him a little more if we knew the origins of his mysterious contractors.... but we don’t. We don’t even know if they’re evil. They could be the country’s own government for gods sake. Hell, even knowing that would add some intrigue. But we know diddly squat. He’s a nowhere man, living in a nowhere land, making all his nowhere plans for nobody.

In any case. The Phantom doesn’t provide us with evil personality traits or close-to-home crimes. Who does?

Aura Blackquill, of course! She’s highly unpleasant, her motivation is selfish hatred for a child, her actions are ridiculously overblown and ill-timed (could’ve done something a little earlier than the day before the execution, eh, Aura?) and the person she kidnaps?

Trucy. Our precious darling Trucy who we’ve had an entire game to get to know, love and sympathize with.

Of course I love (read: hate) how the game tries to play this off like it’s no big deal; Phoenix barely worries about her (in comparison to his constant stress/anxiety/near panic attacks over Maya in Farewell) and when she comes back there’s like 2 lines of her being all “Nah it was cool i just did magic tricks lol” Along with Aura asserting that “none of this could have been accomplished without me”. Yes, thanks Aura; none of this could have been accomplished without terrorism and kidnapping. You sure are a grade-A hero.

So we finally come to the final point of the Phantom; his lack of emotions. Or his semi-lack of emotions, or... Well. DD doesn’t explain it very well. Does he have emotions? Does he not? Are they very minor, or does he control them very well (...somehow? You can’t suppress an emotion so much that it disappears; by the Mood Matrix logic, they’d still be able to hear it easily underneath.)

Phantom gives the cliché spiel of “emotions make you weak”, until the heroes insist that they don’t. And then... He doesn’t go down with defiance? He doesn’t go down cursing emotion to his grave. In his last moments, something in our heroes’ words touches him and in a moment of self-reflection he tries to ultimately remember who he is. Most villains show no remorse, but the Phantom seems very close to perhaps taking a step in the right direction. He renounces his lack of emotions and gives in to fear, and his end is really honestly terrifying to watch (at least it was to me)

This might partially be that I still associate him with Bobby, who’s been pretty much my favourite character in and motivation for finishing the game. Whatever the case, the Phantom doesn’t really make me feel smug for defeating him. Just kind of... uncomfortable.

Then he gets shot by the most amateur sniper in the universe (unless this is just another plan) and carted off to the Police. And so, with that ONE SINGLE TRIAL, the Dark Age of the Law is vanquished. Because that’s how Trust works.

TL-DR; the DD team did a poor job of setting up concrete reasons for us to hate the phantom, making his defeat not particularly satisfying. Also the whole plot is garbage and i hate it but meh

#Dealing with DD #sorry for the wall of text ahaha #ooc #just trying to long-windedly puzzle out why the end stunk so much

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