#never seen an abandoned animal hospital before it’s so specific and so interesting to me

[unrememberedrooms]

2/19/23

#never seen an abandoned animal hospital before it’s so specific and so interesting to me #we didn’t go inside/poke around because someone lives in there but even just the front is so cool to me #photography #urban exploration #urbex #urbex photography #new jersey urbex #nj urbex #new jersey #nj #abandoned #abandoned buildings #reclaimed by nature #ivy on bricks my dearly beloved

[miskatonique]

HERBERT WEST CHEAT SHEET !

since my muses are not super well known in the contemporary rpc ( and i’m too lazy to do a full about page at this very moment ) i decided to put together little posts for them that give their general backgrounds, vibes, and plot possibilities !

this is a mix of canon and headcanon, and these are subject to change / adapt as i get more used to writing the characters

BACKGROUND:

Films: Re-Animator 1985, Bride of Re-Animator 1990, Beyond Re-Animator 2003

We don’t talk about Beyond Re-Animator......

Dr. Herbert West, 24 in the first movie, 27 in the second movie, idk like 40 in the third movie. Mad scientist to the MAX. In the novelization Herbert is an orphan who gets passed around in foster homes before eventually going to undergrad at NYU and pursuing his theory about the re-animation of dead tissue. Mostly people think he’s sort of crazy until one of his articles catches the eye of Dr. Hans Gruber at a university in Switzerland, and he invites Herbert to come work alongside him. Herbert eventually grows to respect Gruber as both a mentor and father-figure.

Herbert and Gruber develop a reagent that affects re-animation in dead animal tissue but they know that for their results to be taken seriously they need to do a human trial. Dr. Gruber volunteers but the dosage of the reagent is too large, and though it brings Gruber back to life it quickly overwhelms his system and he dies again. Herbert is taken into psychiatric custody in Switzerland but is eventually released.

Herbert returns to America and specifically sets his sights on Miskatonic Medical School in Arkham, Massachusetts because one of the staff, Dr. Carl Hill, used to work with Gruber years ago, and even went on to plagiarize some of Gruber’s work and publish it in America. Herbert makes it his secondary goal to absolutely terrorize Dr. Hill, and because he’s a chaotic gremlin in human form he’s very good at it.

Herbert continues working on perfecting the reagent, rooming with Dan Cain and eventually pulling Dan into the experiments as well when Dan’s cat dies and Herbert is able to prove his research by reanimating it. Herbert isn’t perturbed when Dan’s talk with Dean Halsey goes south, and just digs his heels in and insists that the only way to truly prove that the reagent works is to reanimate a human cadaver.

Results are just as bad as you’d expect. Sure, the cadaver reanimates but it also wrecks the morgue and kills Dean Halsey. RIP. Herbert insists that they reanimate him and the dean comes back less like himself and more animalistic, trying to kill both Herbert and Dan before his daughter Meg shows up and stops him. Despite it all, Herbert manages to wriggle his and Dan out of any suspicion from the police but Dr. Hill takes an interest in Herbert’s work once he does exploratory surgery of Dean Halsey and finds out he’s technically dead.

Dr. Hill confronts Herbert in his laboratory and threatens to steal Herbert’s work and take it for his own, offering Herbert the meager honour of being his assistant. Herbert promptly murders Hill via decapitation but decides not to let his fresh corpse go to waste and reanimates both Hill’s head and his body, which come back to life and knock Herbert out and steal all of his work.

Yada yada, Herbert gets Dan to help him go after Hill, the big climax happens. Herbert is able to prove his theory about overdose by shooting up Dr. Hill’s headless body with a bunch of reagent, which backfires and Herbert is left for dead all tangled up in Hill’s intestines, but not after he ensures that his research is safe with Dan.

They never explain how Herbert survives the first movie but he sure is alive in the second movie! It’s roughly 3ish years after the first film, so he’s got his doctorate now and he’s drug Dan all the way to Peru so they can be volunteer medics in a civil war. This obviously gives Herbert an unprecedented access to fresh bodies for his experiments.

Eventually he and Dan head back to Miskatonic Hospital, where they’re able to get jobs and a creepy cute little house that used to be a mortuary so they can continue the work. Herbert is now obsessed with the reanimation of separate parts and convinces Dan to help him build an entirely new life from parts. Dan’s not on board until Herbert shows him Megan Halsey’s heart and promises that they’ll build the body around it.

Dr. Hill’s head also somehow survived the first movie and it tries to terrorize Herbert, along with a cop who’s investigating Herbert for stealing corpses. Herbert eventually kills and reanimates the cop, and then gets into even more trouble when all of the other strange creatures he’s been reanimating start coming after him because they’re being mind controlled by Dr. Hill’s nasty head ( don’t ask me okay, this script was written in literally 6 weeks it makes no sense )

Anyway Herbert and Dan successfully bring their creation to life right before getting attacked by Dr. Hill and his army of weirdos, all while Dan is having a mental breakdown because he thinks the creation is his dead girlfriend Meg. In the chaos Dan and the creation escape separately while Herbert and Hill and co. get trapped under buried rubble and are left for dead ( AGAIN ).

But surprise! Herbert isn’t dead! We don’t know how he survived but we do know that at some point in time Dan turned over evidence to the authorities that led to Herbert’s arrest and imprisonment. The third movie picks up with Herbert who’s been in prison for 13 years and the dumbass new hospital doctor is a fanboy of Herbert and brings in some of his reagent. Herbert basically starts a prison riot, chaos ensues, this movie is Not Good, but the important thing is that Herbert escapes prison with his work and gets to walk off free and definitely alive into the night <3

VIBES / PERSONALITY:

His work is EVERYTHING to him -- there have been multiple times where Herbert has put his work above his own bodily safety or chance of survival, and I guarantee he would do it again, too. Herbert is mostly focused on being able to do the impossible simply because it’s “impossible.” He’s able to convince Dan to help him because he reasons the practical applications of his reagent, like saving lives by aiding in surgeries or helping with amputations, but at the end of the day Herbert is only concerned with discovery, acclaim, and giving classical science a big ‘ole middle finger.

He can be incredibly manipulative when looking for a specific action or behavior in the people close to him. This mostly is seen in how he treats Dan, often reeling him back in with promise of how much good their work will do in the world when Dan starts to get squeamish. Herbert is also really good at finding the sorest spots in someone and pressing on them, but usually only does this when he wants to prove a point or if he really hates someone.

He gains a lot of power by seeming like the more “level-headed” person in an altercation, but he can get extremely excitable or aggressive, especially when something goes well with his research or if it’s being threatened.

He’s genuinely a good doctor, doesn’t freak out under pressure, has neutral-good bedside manner, is very decisive and isn’t afraid to make difficult decisions when it comes to a patient’s life. However, Herbert considers himself a scientist first and a doctor second. The work on reanimation will always come before anything else.

He’s a HUGE fucking nerd, he loves making puns or little zingers whenever he can fit them into a conversation. He also likes playing practical jokes, though he doesn’t do it often. He’s got a great evil giggle.

Oh he’s terrible at taking care of himself. There’s a deleted scene from the first movie where Herbert is shown to be injecting himself with a weakened version of the reanimating reagent because it helps keep his brain sharp and makes it to where he doesn’t have to sleep. What a NUT. I think he probably weans off this habit, by force or choice. His sleeping and eating habits are still pretty bad, though. Definitely the kind of person who doesn’t eat/sleep/rest unless he’s genuinely about to collapse because of it.

Oh he’s also sooooooooooo gay. gay gay gay homo sexual.

There are very few people he outright respects or enjoys spending time around, and with everyone else he is absolutely so bitchy and rude. He doesn’t give a single shit about being polite. Also ACAB.

PLOT POSSIBILITIES:

Got any canonically dead muses? Want them to be alive again? Herbert can help with that! He’ll definitely want to make sure they stick around and observe them to see why the reagent worked so well, maybe do some extra tests, so he can also double as a really annoying, creepy roommate. Score!

Med student muses? I have a new classmate for you

Ever wondered what your muse would do if they saw someone graverobbing, or smuggling body parts into their house in the middle of the night? Do they stop him? Ask questions? Offer to help? Now’s the chance to find out!

He could always use a new assistant since Dan keeps abandoning him after every movie, jfc, loyalty is so hard to find these days

Meet-cute where one of his reanimated creations tries to murder you and he saves you from it <3

#( SAVE TAG: H. WEST. ) #ooc #this one especially is very infodumpy #i think that's why i was putting it off cuz i knew it was gonna be long a;lskfjda #herbert is the reason i started this blog..... i love this little bitch so much.... #not even sure if this is coherent besties !

[yeonchi]

Kisekae Insights #24: GJ Club - how a spinon became a spinoff featuring Kyōya and Kasumi Shinomiya

(Art by 結城辰也)

The Kisekae Insights series has allowed me to bring the spotlight back on Waifu Network animes that I haven’t posted much about in the past due to lack of fanart or lack of interest. Like Hidamari Sketch in the last instalment, GJ Club will be no exception until I continue posting the usual content in my anime posts. Honestly, it was good while it lasted.

While Hidamari Sketch is a fairly popular and notable anime, GJ Club, sadly, isn’t. The anime was adapted from the light novel series written by Shin Araki and it only received one 12-episode season in 2013 and an OVA in 2014. Since it is a slice-of-life series, not much is known about the characters’ histories, which made it very easy to adapt into my personal project. All these factors coinciding with it being the 50th anniversary year of Doctor Who made GJ Club the perfect anime to adapt and expand on.

Background information

For some reason, the light novel has been a bit hard to find. In short, while you are able to read it online, the sources are unfortunately scarce.

From 2013 to 2015, NanoDesu Translations posted translations of the light novel. They published a PDF and EPUB of the first volume (which is available on archive.org) and translated up to Chapter 17 of the second volume. It was then abandoned for two years before Haraguro Scanlations picked it up. As of September 2018, they only finished up to Chapter 3 of the third volume (with the first chapter being translated by Shadowys on Baka-Tsuki) and there are no further updates after that, with the exception of a one-off chapter released in November 2020.

As of August 2021, however, all the original translations by NanoDesu seem to have been deleted from their site. All the translations are available on AsiaNovel, but there are no illustrations because the reader doesn’t seem to support images. If the images weren’t discarded in the code of the novels, then all they would need to do is add support for them and then they would appear.

There are 9 volumes and two special volumes for GJ Club along with 8 volumes and a special volume for its middle school spinoff. It’s honestly telling how popular the series was when the translators have all but abandoned it.

Shin Araki also wrote an additional spinoff to GJ Club, namely GE: Good Eater, and a sequel, namely KB Club. GE is set in a fantasy world with the characters being based off the characters of GJ Club, while KB Club turns everything meta by having both series be the creations of a high school light novel club, with the characters of GJ Club being based off the members of said club, right down to their names. Honestly, I’m not a big fan of that approach given how I’ve adapted GJ Club into my personal project. In the end, I guess we’ll never really know what happens in the novels, but at least we have this.

Watching the anime and listening to the character music was how I first realised that anime was sexist to males because of the female-centric focus in most animes. Kyōya only gets one character song in the series, and even then it’s a duet with Megumi. If that isn’t sexist to you, then I don’t know how I can convince you that a lot of animes are sexist.

In January 2015, I published two posts outlining my idea for an English dub of the series that also fits with GJ Club’s depiction in my personal project. The setting would be changed to London, England, specifically the areas of Chiswick, Ealing and Acton (where their school is located) and the characters would speak with British accents. The images in the original post are dead because I idiotically copied the images from the site instead of saving and reuploading them to the post, but since I’m grubbing for content anyway, I’m going to repost my character details as follows:

Kyōya: The protagonist of the series. When he started Year 10, he was kidnapped by the girls when he walked into an old school building, hoping to find the Culture Club. He moved to London from Manchester just before he started Year 7. His best friend outside the club is someone named Tesshin Yokomizo (横溝徹心) who is a local and not seen in the anime. In the GJ Club, he is nicknamed “Kyoro” and despite his spinelessness, he seems to have talent in dealing with the girls around him. His birthday is December 18. Due to a crisis involving his family during his childhood, he and his sister Kasumi were left in the care of a family guardian just before they moved to London, but she left when Kyōya started Year 10. It might have been that childhood incident that emotionally scarred him and left him spineless…

Mao: The Year 11 president of the GJ Club. Her family is rich and they live in a mansion in Ealing. She has a habit of biting and picking on Kyōya when she is bored or angry. She always reads books and watches shows without kissing scenes.

Shion: The only daughter in her family, Shion is an expert chess player with many brothers, all experts in some kind of activity. She speaks in a Birmingham (Brummie) accent because her mother and a few of her brothers were born in Birmingham. It is unknown if Shion was born in Birmingham herself.

Megumi: The calm and nice middle sister of the Amatsuka family. She likes knitting and she is always seen making tea and cakes in the club room. In the same year level as Kyōya.

Kirara: Born in Swansea, Wales, Kirara is the tallest and strongest member of the club. She speaks English in simple, monotone sentences. Welsh is her first language. Kirara can be seen eating meat, sometimes sharing it with Kyōya, but not with anyone else. She is afraid of spiders and has little tolerance to alcohol.

Tamaki: (voiced by Karen Gillan!) The newest member of the GJ Club when Kyōya becomes a Year 11 student. Like Kyōya, she is kidnapped and forced to join the club. Her nickname is “Tama”. Her family is from Glasgow and they run a Shinto shrine in Acton. She has several younger siblings.

Kasumi: Kyōya’s younger sister, who was born in Manchester. After a visit to the GJ Club, she becomes inspired to start a middle school division when she starts Year 7. She has a brother complex and she mistook Mao for being a primary school student when she met her. Her proficiency in Welsh is better than her brother’s, who can probably speak at a beginner level.

Geraldine: Shortened to “Jill”. She moved to Chiswick from Swansea to be with her sister, Kirara. She first met Kyōya at Ealing Broadway Station when she had difficulty buying a Tube ticket. She didn’t really understand how to use the ticket machine, so Kyōya went to help her. After this, Jill considered Kyōya her “samurai master”. Jill doesn’t speak English fluently, so she relies on her whiteboard to communicate with the others. She is as strong as her sister and she joins Kasumi’s GJ Club when she starts Year 7 in Chiswick.

Seira: The youngest sister of the Amatsuka family. Though she speaks in a typical London accent, she sometimes talks through her cat clip in Received Pronunciation (the Queen’s English/RP) using ventriloquism to state her true feelings to Kyōya, who she has a grudge against.

Mori: The maid of the Amatsuka family. She likes to ride a motorcycle.  A running gag is her twirling before Kyōya much to his pleasure and annoyance to the rest of the club members. Sometimes, her mother takes her place without the family even noticing due to their identical appearance.

Kyōya, Kasumi and Momoka: The Brother, the Child and the Yandere

Normally in previous instalments, I would have described each character separately, but because their backstories are heavily intertwined, I will introduce them all at once in this section. Most of the backstory takes place around the Battle of Koshi Castle in December 2013 and during the Manchester Campaign of 2005-2013, which I have already covered in #15.

When Hiroki Ichigo’s twelfth incarnation was killed at Koshi Castle, he managed to escape in his TARDIS, where he regenerated into his new prototype, namely a four-year-old Kyōya. The TARDIS crashes outside North Manchester General Hospital on 11 December 2005.

Earlier, Hiroki and Akari’s gametes (along with those of Hiroki’s brothers and their families) were taken by Reona Yukawa and placed in the Progenitor so that they could breed super-soldiers out of them. When Takumi Kamijō and Kyōko Sakura manage to escape from their cells (saving Nodoka Manabe and Azusa Nakano in the process), he changes the destination of the baby about to be released into the Progenitor’s time portal. That baby was Kasumi, one of the super-soldiers grown from Hiroki and Akari’s DNA. She ended up at the same hospital as well and was about to be taken home by a couple when Girl Power killed them, resulting in Kasumi being taken by Akari and Shaun.

What remained of Hiroki was contacted by the spirit of Walpurgisnacht. Making a deal with her, Hiroki regenerated into his thirteenth incarnation, the female Momoka Mizutani. No, Momoka is not an OC for GJ Club, but she is based on the character of Apple Lam Chung-yan from the TVB drama A Great Way to Care II, played by Tavia Yeung. Momoka takes Hiroki’s TARDIS and heads to Salford, where with the help of Walpurgisnacht, she establishes a cha chaan teng café in the middle of a trading estate and hires a group of red drone Daleks as her workers, hiding their identities by having them disguise themselves as humans.

Over the next eight years, Momoka gets close to the new Shinomiya family by influencing them through Kyōya’s dreams to come to her café. Eight years later, on 11 December 2013, the Fourth and Fifth Doctors come in with their companions. When the Shinomiya family come in, a confrontation with Ayaka Kikuchi and her army ensues before Momoka transmats the Shinomiya family to a Dalek spaceship, where she prepares to execute them using the Yashio’ori. However, the Yashio’ori is sabotaged by the enemy army so that the laser beam would not charge.

As Ayaka and her army attack the Dalek ship, Momoka uses the Dalek-enhanced machine guns to fend them off. While two Doctors confront the Master, Momoka is killed by Girl Power officers, resulting in Walpurgisnacht taking over her body as she regenerates, maintaining her current appearance. Read #15 to find out what happens after this.

Once the Battle of Koshi Castle and the Manchester Campaign conclude, the Fourth Doctor helps Kyōya and Kasumi move to Chiswick in 2008. Five years later, the events of the GJ Club anime take place. During his time in Chiswick, Kyōya gets a job at the post office there and later, studies a double degree in Japanese Studies and Politics at SOAS in the University of London while also learning Cantonese, Mandarin and Welsh in weekend and evening courses (apparently he also wanted to learn Taiwanese but they weren’t running any courses, but that’s alright, he can always learn it somewhere else, which he presumably did).

On a side note, I volunteered myself to be Kyōya’s English voice actor, so I’ve practiced my Mancunian accent by watching actors like Christopher Eccleston, Stephen Tompkinson, Karl Pilkington and maybe a bit of Peter Kay as well. The only problem was that I’m not even sure that my accent is even Manc because I can’t tell if I’m getting it wrong and sounding like someone from Liverpool, Yorkshire, Newcastle or even Scotland. Oh well, that’s what happens when you really get into things.

I don’t buy expansion packs, I make my own (budget allowing)

So as I said, GJ Club only got one season and an OVA to go with it. Do Kyōya and the GJ Club make further appearances in the series? You bet your ass they do.

After being absent for much of the Next Gen Series in 2014, Kyōya and Kasumi receive a letter from their aunt, Narutaki, asking to meet in Hong Kong after their mother, Akari, went missing following the Siege of Ōsaka, only to be followed by Mao and the rest of the GJ Club, who learnt where he was going and managed to get on the same flight as them.

Narutaki, who had taken her Girl Power friends and established a rogue faction separate from the main group, takes the GJ Club to Nijō Castle, where she explains the background behind the Manchester Campaign and the events of Series 8 and 9. Soon after, Girl Power’s commander, Daniel, sends his brother, Nathan, out to find Narutaki. Kyōya tries to contact Hiroki, but he is unable to get through to him. Luckily, the TARDIS arrives and the Doctor and Hiroki help Angela and the others repel the attacking Girl Power forces. Some more things happen and by the end of the story, we learn that Kyōya and Mao are dating.

That Christmas, Kyōya and Kasumi head up to Manchester, but the Doctor briefly takes them and their friends back to Hong Kong for a picnic with Hiroki and the rest of the Zhuge family.

A few years later in 2018, the GJ Club and Momoka get a cameo at the start and end of the Gokaiger TV movie special. By this point in time, Momoka’s café in Manchester has expanded to many other branches around the UK and in Hong Kong.

The next year in 2019, Kyōya, Kasumi, Mao and Megumi are featured in a four-part adventure in Soulbound Series 3, helping the cast solve the mystery of Parker’s past and Shinbu’s origins. Two years after in 2021, Kyōya and Kasumi move to Hong Kong (along with the GJ Club) and join the Superhero Project as the new ShinkenRed and ZyuohTiger. You’d think Kyōya would be against violence given his harmless tendencies, but I suppose his character has developed over the years despite having abandonment issues.

So this has been the involvement of GJ Club in my personal project. It’s a shame the series wasn’t more popular or it could have gotten a second season, a manga, more (and frequent) translations of the light novel or hell, even a licenced release. This series is just like Sea Princesses in how popular it was, but despite the number of episodes the anime got, at least Shin Araki hasn’t abandoned the series (by putting it in a spinoff no less) unlike Fabio Yabu, who hasn’t made anything new for Sea Princesses since 2010 after getting more animated episodes than GJ Club did. On the other hand though, neglected series with little material has been good development fodder for my personal project as it allowed me to bring awareness to the existence of those series while also developing backstories and afterstories for them.

#kisekae insights #gj club #doctor who

[chocol4tte]

Memoirs of a Geisha Dabihawks AU (kinda???)

Hello everyone, hope you are doing well! I come here with another au.

By looking to my library, I came with the inspiration of Memoirs of a Geisha. For anyone who hasn't watched/read the book, is about the life of a woman who from the daughter of a poor fisherman, got sold into a okiya (a Geisha house) and thought he hardships of life, she became one of the most renowned Geisha in her time, in the WWII specifically. So, this au will be in that timeline (insert evil laugh)

So, in this au, Keigo Takami, son of a thief, got sold by his own mom into an okiya, making him pass as a girl, little Keigo traveled to Fukuoka, scared and without knowing what was going to happen to him,

He arrives there, fighting nail and tooth to get away from them, in a middle of a fight, his gender is being discovered by the Mother of the House.

(AGAIN, by reading some of this Geisha kind of stuff, is that NO MAN enters a Geisha house, well, only 1 and is usually the ones who helps the Maiko and Meiko with the kimonos and stuff (those things are heavy af))

Before he is thrown out to the streets, the Mother decides to use him, not as a Geisha (that would only bring shame to the house and her name!) but maybe as someone who would be as someone who helped the same house: as one who helped her Geishas to dress up correctly. A good investment to spy on other's manors as well too, even if the idea of making Keigo a Taikomochi, it wouldn't bring more results.

(a Taikomochi, is like a male Geisha, but instead is like a buffoon, so I WON'T GO OVER THERE AND I HAVE A GOOD DAMNED REASON WHY KEIGO DOESN'T BECOME A DRAG.)

Out of spite, Keigo escapes from there and lives on the streets for days, living by small works and a pay by day. Without a home to go back to and no family, he thought that his days were over, he barely had any money for a piece of bread, that's were his savior, a red haired kid offered him a piece of chicken in a stick and a light blue handkerchief with it. That kid was Touya, who for the last days, he have seen a girl (Keigo), with large blonde hair, working different jobs and not eating anything.

That was the first and last time that Keigo saw Touya, after being called out by his mom and had to leave him in the street. It was that small act of kindness, that Keigo used to accept that Mother's offer, or see if she still had the offer on the table.

She, of course, shut the door in his face without having a word, and yet, Keigo persisted on accepting that job for days, even if that meant serve her for whatever her desires were.

Convinced by his words, she opens her wings and invests in the kid's education, for clothe design and to teach him the clothes of a Geisha.

He burned with determination, of finding once again that red haired kid and stand besides him until his last breath.

Years passed, Keigo lived many winters in Fukuoka, learning whatever he could from any type of clothes, to be come the best of the best. Keeping his mind at work, and his heart at his savior, one who he kept watching him grow from far away, losing his smile as time passed as well. Keigo couldn't do anything but pray for Touya's happiness.

By the time, Keigo became a well renowned clothe designer who somehow, ended up in places that weren't usually visited or any tea house.

In a sumo match he met once again with Touya and got near him with the intent to befriend him, yet, by not recognizing him at all, Touya only gave the young man a cold sarcastic comment of his work, and yet, Keigo continued with his attempts of becoming friends with Touya.

The process is slow, it took years for Touya to open up and see Keigo as a friend... Until it became more later.

Touya never took interest in women, except for the one he helped when he was a kid, only to have his heart broken by never seeing her again. With his life becoming a living hell in the same samurai house he lived in, only anger and hatred bloosomed in his heart.

Until Keigo came, like a hawk, entering into his life with talons grippin his blinding hate and shattering enough to make him see again.

He was in love with a man. An independent man with intelligent eyes and an ambitious career, despite what his father said by his friend's career and the lack of masculinity and honor of it.

(Fun fact, homosexuality in Japan, or Asia in general, has been in history for a good time, but it later started being seen as something wrong and bad (I just investigated that, sue me))

After years of dancing around as friends, they both realize that their feelings are too big to hold from the other and have an a passionate love confession.

Things were great for a good time, but, that was the calm of the storm.

War made its presence with news of reclutiong men who were able to not only hold a sword, but ones who had the desire to fight for their honor and the sake of their country.

Touya, being a hot head, applies to the army, not before making a promise with his lover of coming back to him once the war was over and live in peace, both of them. With that promise, Touya left.

However, Enji discovered the secret and sickening relationship of his son and Keigo, that made him furious, enough to be blinded by rage and his own pride, that with the righr connection, he sends his son's batallion to the front lines, hoping to get rid of the trash and bring some honor to his family.

Touya was in fact, alive, surviving by mere luck and will. He knew that his father sent him in the front lines with the hope of him dying in war. But that wouldn't happen, he was going to survive and spend the rest of his days with Keigo, living in peace, far away from his father.

He no longer received any letters from Kei, thinking of multiple scenarios where the letterman had an accident or something, or even his father somehow interfering with their letters. That was until he heard about the bombing in Fukuoka, near the zone where Keigo lived and worked.

All reason abandoned his mind and soul, not wanting to belive the possibilities of Kei being killed... Until a letter from his sister arrived of not being able to find Keigo; Touya fought like an animal, not caring anymore if he lived or not. Not caring if the burns from the tank disfigured his body and face with terrible purple patches of burnt skin.

And somehow, he still survived for the next months in a military hospital with terrible conditions.

He never thought that coming home, damaged beyond repair, would be so painful and lonely. Only to see the destroyed house of Keigo in the ground.

Touya became a living burned doll, with no much will left in his mind to give life more fight. He was just... Tired and lost, with no more reason to stay in that damned world without his friend... His lover.

Months go by by a flash, with him visiting Keigo's home once or twice, to live with the reminder of the future that he lost.

Until he saw a familiar blonde, one who looked at him with shock and euphoria. Both of them running towards the other to see if it was a delusion from grieve. It wasn't.

Keigo had a huge scar in his face, covering almost half of it, and one in his back, with the resemblance of wings and more scars, as if he went to the fight as well. Turns out, Keigo was in the bombing, but helped others to escape from destroyed houses and buildings until he passed out staying constantly in a battle agaisnt death itself.

Both of them, glad that the other survived until the very end... End up building their own life from what was destroyed.

(For those who are curious, Touya ended up with the nickname in war as Dabi, one who cremated every enemy who dared to cross his path. After finding Keigo alive, he somehow becomes very conscious of his scars and deformation in his body, but Keigo is there to love every part of him, and overcome the trauma that war created in their minds)

[sorry if this is large and has more mistakes and lack of sense, it's too late for me, but I wouldn't be able to sleep without writing this thing)

The end

#dabi x hawks #Dabihawks #Dabihawks au #Dabi #touya todoroki #Keigo takami #Hawks #Bnha #Au #My writing #Dabi bnha #Hawks bnha #Also #This au started writing itself as I started writing it here #I hoenslty hope you ge tto enjoy this #I'll probably write a fic about this with more details #I'm. Sorry if there is any grammar mistake #english is not my first language

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

25. Not Fine, But Better

Previous

Word Count: 6239

Simon went to his father’s to recover. He was on an official break from school (hopefully, no longer than a year), and because of the nature of his injuries, was forced to move back home temporarily. His former employer was reluctant about giving him another position, though they worked out a few things for him to be involved in a freelance capacity, that way they were hiring him for certain projects, but not keeping him on their regular payroll. He planned to enroll in some online studies in the fall, and in the meantime, focused mainly on his ongoing project - the virtual reality social media.

A few things happened. Aside from regular visits to the doctor, because he was doing too much and reopened stitches, or for the extensive treatment that some of his more severe wounds were going to take, not to mention the healing of his spleen, which he was supposed to be taking extra care not to upset, but he was just so restless in bed and so anxious at the house, he kept getting up. The first night, he was content to lay down, primarily due to physical pain and exhaustion. 

The trauma doctor had suggested not getting on a plane, which meant that Mr. Laurent would have to stay at Simon’s and take care of him… which meant to Simon that his father would be in his personal space, contaminating it and his thoughts of it AND, he would know where he lived. He absolutely rejected that notion and said that he would hire someone for in-home health… Then he thought about the upcoming legal fees of his fights, potential jail time, even, the way that he abandoned his job, and he decided that maybe he would just go back to the Bay with his dad, against the doctor’s suggestion, because that seemed to be the least agonizing solution for him.

Of course, he re-injured himself, and spent all day in an ER, to receive word that his treatment would take longer and was ordered to bed rest for the spleen healing. He laid down in his old bed, as uncomfortable as it was and fell to sleep almost immediately. Outside of the hospital, where the medication and immediate professional help were, his nightmares became blatantly strong. He kept dreaming of laying in a pool of his own blood, on the cold ground, looking at a manhole, ready to die… and then the Void came out of it, about to swallow him whole and everything went black. He jumped up and immediately held himself. Maybe he needed to be strapped to the bed, as to not hurt more. He took a deep breath and reached for the cane that he would need to walk for a bit… and there was a white cat, resting on his old desk.

“Samantha?” He looked around the room, wondering if this was another dream, about his teenage years or something. But, he came closer and touched the cat and she pleasantly allowed it. It abandoned the cane to pick up the animal and nuzzled her. “Is it really you or did that jackass go find another white cat?” He snuggled her and limped out of the room to go get some water. He froze whenever he got into the kitchen and both of his parents were sitting at the little table. 

“Simon!” His mother said. She looked… different than he remembered. She looked younger, somehow, but extremely tired. She came over and tried to take Samantha from him, “Sorry. She must’ve snuck…” He jerked away and almost lost his footing. 

��What are you doing here?” he asked.

“Your dad said that you were here, so I stopped by and brought Samantha.”

He glared at her, “You’ve had Samantha this entire time?”

She chuckled and shrugged, “She’s MY cat, Simon. Whenever I was a little better, I stopped by and picked her up one day.”

“And you didn’t think to let me know? Leave a note? Nothing?? I thought she was dead!”

“You seem to be more upset about losing a cat than you’ve ever been about losing one of your family members,” she said. There she was. He knew that tone. He knew those eyes. She hadn’t changed. She was just better at seeming normal. 

“Don’t,” his father warned her.

Simon kept Samantha in his clutches as he went to pour himself some water. “When are you leaving?” 

The woman sat back down and looked at Mr. Laurent. “Your father thinks that you need us here. That us not being there for you is how you got to be this way.”

“What way is that, Faith?” he asked.

“Don’t,” his father warned the woman whose anger appeared to be rising, again.

“A little shit,” she hissed, despite the warning.

“Goddammit, Faith!” his father said. Simon snickered, wickedly. “Can’t you see that he’s just a hurt kid, acting out?” Now, Simon frowned. 

He wanted to storm over and punch his father in the face. He’d done so before, whenever he was a teenager and his father was drunk and complaining about his stupid memorial or whatever. But, Simon was in too much pain to even walk straight, much less, fight. He started angry crying and muttered, “Fuck both of you,” before taking Samantha back into his room, shutting the door (which hurt his side to do) and climbing back into bed with her nestled against himself. “I can’t believe that bitch took you away from me.” 

His mother was gone back to her mom’s by the time he got up again. He panicked whenever Samantha wasn’t there and rushed out of his room, clutching himself and neglecting the cane again to question his father about her whereabouts. Then, he heard her meow, excitedly, like she had something to tell him. Many things to tell him! He collected her and brought her back to his room. He kept her in there with him, scared that if she went outside, his mother might steal her again, even though his father assured him that it wouldn’t happen. “I won’t let her,” he had said. When the hell had he ever stopped her from doing anything?

He called “Dick for Brains” and asked if it was possible for him to use video conferencing to schedule an appointment. Dr. Richard was more than willing to accommodate this and seemed genuinely pleased that Simon had decided to try to resume therapy. 

However, in their first session back, Simon babbled on about this idea that he had for work. Of course, the therapist was going to let him speak about what he wanted to. It was a huge thing for Simon to even seek out help without being forced, and he was uncharacteristically excited about something. “A VR that serves as experimental experience based therapy. The premise is that you would be able to take these pick your adventure journeys, but each of the decisions would have either rewards or consequences and every choice that you make would take you down certain paths, giving you certain training to deal with your problems and conditioning your decision making, even one day could grant you diagnosis based upon your choices and solutions to said diagnosis…”

“So… you want to replace actual therapy with a virtual reality video game?”

“NO! You do the therapy to help you get better at the game. It’s like… it goes with it… unless you’re not so bad off that you NEED therapy, and then it’s just a tool in character education…”

“Okay. That sounds interesting. How is that coming along for you?”

“Ugh. It’s shit. You know… I don’t have the best gauge for reasonable decisions. So, I’m trying to program a lot of things, but I’m depending on various algorithms, and the things that I need to be more specific about, well - I’ve been reading a lot of psychology stuff to sort of help me out. Also, Grace had SO MANY resources available in her featured links on her website…” Simon’s eyes glossed over whenever he started talking about Grace.

“How is your relationship with Grace, Simon?”

He gave a sad smile and shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t have a relationship with Grace. She gave me another chance at life and I told everyone about all the messed up stuff I did to her. We haven’t spoken or seen each other in the weeks that I’ve been out of the hospital.”

“I read about that. It was really big of both of you to make the decisions that you made…”

“This isn’t about Grace,” Simon said. He began typing on one of his other laptops. “I’m not going to do that this time, Dr. Richard. I’m trying to think about treatment, but in a way that appeals to people more like me. I’m not one to sit in a room and talk about my feelings. You know how much I hate that. I AM one to sit in MY room, for hours, playing the same computer video game for weeks. As a kid, I used to create these figures. I have a ton of them at home. More recently, I’ve done robots…” Simon sounded all over the place, but Dr. Richard didn’t interrupt him. “In most games, there is a specific goal, and people tend to think… This isn’t anything that I’m used to, but the principle is fine. I want people to be able to feel like they are walking into their own worlds, and that their adventures are things that they can navigate to practice existing in the world. To get things out of their system that they should never do here, or to give them options that their minds might not automatically compose! You’re a therapist… do you think this sounds stupid or crazy or… just impossible?”

“It sounds like you’re enjoying your work and exploring more empathetic aspects of your talents. This project could be extremely good for you.”

“Okay, yeah, sure. But… do you think it would work? Do you think it would help somebody?”

“Are you making this to help other people or to get better at helping yourself?”

“DO YOU THINK IT WOULD DO EITHER?”

“There’s not enough information for me to know if it will help other people, but I think it’s already helping you and that’s the most important thing that you need to focus on. Getting better, yourself.” That was all that Simon needed to become completely obsessed with his project.

So, what happened was that he began to work on it a lot and neglect certain things he needed to do during his recovery. His father had to remind him and sometimes try to physically force him to let him check his healing, cleaning wounds, and getting ready to go have bloodwork done, etc. He was extremely irritable whenever Mr. Laurent would interrupt his work. Whenever it was more pressing medical concerns, Simon got a call from Grace.

“Hey,” she’d say casually. He’d smile immediately when he heard her voice, then frown, because he knew it meant that his dad had bothered her.

“Grace… I don’t know WHAT he’s said this time, but you need to stop doing this. How does he manage to even get to call you anyway?”

“Hazel gave him her phone number for emergencies. That is now the backup phone. Had to get her another. She’s too damn friendly, but I’ll never discourage her. She’s gotta be herself, you know. Listen. So… I’m told that you need to have an angiography. I looked it up and sounds like you gotta do this thing, and yet… Your dad can’t get you to stop playing video games?”

“No! That’s not what’s happening at all! I’m working and he just barges in! Doesn’t even knock. He’s obnoxious.”

“Orrr… you’re tired of being on somebody else’s timetable, and that’s understandable, but whenever I was in the institution, I was constantly on a formatted schedule that I had no control over. It was one of the downsides of getting myself in there. One of your downsides of starting fights that get you stabbed is doing whatever you’ve gotta do when you’ve gotta do it to get better. I’m gonna be pissed if your dad calls Hazel again because you’re acting like a child.”

“It won’t happen again.”

“Thank you. Have a good day.”

That was the last time he was cantankerous with his dad about appointments. He just had to suck it up and go when it was time. He had to listen, because he knew Mr. Laurent wouldn’t hesitate to bother Grace, as unfair as that was. Simon was furious that his dad did this. He called it harassment. Mr. Laurent didn’t seem to mind, even when Simon yelled aggressively about how Grace was always the person picking up his pieces when they were kids and he’s coming to a better understanding of how unfair that was to both of them, plus he has Samantha back and he is guilty about imposing on Grace. He sent her a message asking her to promise not to come running again for his father calling but agrees for her sake that if a real emergency comes up that she’s welcome to check in on him. She never replied, so he didn’t know if it was sent and he didn’t want to keep bothering her in her inbox. So, the months passed and he did what his father needed him to do to get better. Whenever he was able, he travelled back home, taking Samantha with him.

He was working full time and enrolled back in school part time, at a less prestigious college, but one that was comfortable for him, at this point. He still got up to MIT to see Professor Hughes and talk engineering with her. She was impressed by how well he seemed to be doing, but she would never tell him that. And he never missed an appointment with his therapist, or his physician. For the most part, he recovered. There was a little lasting damage that he would have to deal with, such as multiple surgeries to correct various problems connected to disrupting the body’s normal with multiple stab wounds, but it was manageable and he was… feeling okay. Whenever he wasn’t, he had better ways of coping than before, most of the time. Every now and then, he’d definitely lose it and break things and rage… but… it wasn’t as frequent as it used to be, so he at least felt good about that much.

Plus, he got to see Grace be SO happy with Hazel online and he wasn’t blocked from everything, so anytime anyone tried to give her trouble about him, he was able to step in and take whatever blows that they tried to throw her way. That was another thing… He had been diligently sticking to the truth about her, no matter what people asked or how guilty, ashamed, weak, cowardly, or whatever else these things made him feel. He went onto shows and conducted interviews and made videos to counter any negative feedback that Grace had ever done anything wrong. “Besides being a neglected kid with some issues related to that, Grace was a really good friend and I was a bad friend to her. Turned out my neglect issues were much deeper and I made her suffer for that, but she shouldn’t have to anymore.” 

.

Grace woke up with the sun most mornings. After she and Hazel returned to New York, it occurred to her that they had barely started living there before their little adventure in Mass. SO, they immediately made certain to try to start setting their routines and building their home style. Hazel’s room was the fanciest room she had ever had, excluding the chambers at the Monroe Estate. Grace let her have her own TV in her room, with a system that she had access to most of the apps, several games, and her favorite movies and shows. There was a housewarming plant that Grace’s friend had bought for Hazel whenever she moved in (and had to come over to look after whenever they were out), and that was in Hazel’s room, right by the window, for its sunshine. 

Hazel had gotten to the point where she was no longer sure if she wanted to hold on to having a leaf in her hair, so Grace bought her some cute hair accessories that looked like leaves - hair clips, headbands and stuff… and if Hazel ever wanted to stop, she had options, to sort of keep with her tradition that was sort of a large part of the identity she had carved out for herself. Now, though, she had a changing identity. 

She was Grace’s daughter and she didn’t know if keeping a leaf meant that she was holding on to a parent or parents that abandoned her when she had one who had fought to call her her own right in front of her. The last thing she wanted to do was possibly hurt Grace’s feelings, and she knew that Grace probably wouldn’t tell her if she did. She would just smile and make her feel good and meditate later or something. Hazel kept the hair leaf, for now. 

The room had bookshelves with Hazel’s favorite books, toys, and keepsakes, her jewelry rack and a very large quartz crystal sphere that Grace bought her “for good energy” whenever she was at her last home. It sat on a little sphere holder and Hazel generally set her singing Tuba right near it, whenever she wasn’t carrying it with her or sleeping with it. There was a framed photo of the Monroe trio - her, Grace and GlamMother, on her wall, as well as a mirror with her name on a plaque against its expensive wood. All of the furniture was well made and personalized in some way. 

For instance, her dresser had a cartoon stylized version of her smiling face on the sides and her name in lights across the top of the vanity. The colors of the room were hazel, ivory and green, and her headboard had a turtle magnificently carved into it. Grace got her the same type of products that she purchased herself. She still used the same natural beauty brands that she swore by as an influencer (and recently was reconnected with many of them) including a rebirth campaign for her own line of products. It really was like rebirth, but this time, she was living on her own conditions. She also was building for her daughter, as well, but in a different way than what her mother did. She would always ask Hazel her opinion of things, what she wanted to do, if she liked or approved of certain things that she wanted to do for her. The emblem on Grace’s products would be from a drawing that Hazel did of Grace as a tree, sitting in a lotus position, her hair as the leaves and Hazel falling from the tree into her outstretched arms. It was a pretty good drawing for a 10 year old, and Grace wanted it to stay just as it was for their emblem. 

Grace made meal prep for if Hazel had turtle days. Half the time, Grace wound up throwing the greens into a smoothie, because Hazel was fine for the most part. But, she would keep up this practice of being prepared for a long time. 

She generally saw Hazel off to school herself, instead of putting her into a car with a driver or getting her to learn public transportation like she often saw kids doing while she was out and about in the city for her first few years. She wanted Hazel to be as protected and seen as she could without being that over sheltering type of mom that she sometimes felt like she was probably being. But, Hazel liked the attention. It was nice to have somebody always having her back and ensuring her safety. It was nice always having someone waiting for you when you step out into the world, to guide you back home. 

They’d had most of the summer to settle in and the new school year was Hazel’s favorite EVER. She was finally going to be somewhere that she was getting herself to believe wouldn’t be temporary… she might actually make friends! She met a couple of people that were really cool the first week - Lucy and Lindsay. They knew each other from before, but Lindsay had recognized her from the internet and invited her to sit with them at lunch. Lucy wasn’t allowed to get onto the internet, but Hazel noticed that she had a Tuba watch and they admitted that they both still watched/loved The Mighty Tuba and Her Musical Friends. Lindsay made fun of both of them, but it was in that way where Hazel could tell that she still liked them and was gonna be their friend. Hazel LOVED it and asked if she could invite them over soon for a tea party.

Of course she could. Grace rarely told Hazel no. If it was doable, safe, and harmed nobody, she didn’t see any reason to refuse her things that she was interested in. Plus, Mrs. Monroe had bought a very expensive tea party set for the girl that Grace had to get assembled on the balcony, because she had no idea where to put it in her place… which meant that the balcony basically belonged to Hazel’s tea set. Getting that woman to understand that her space in New York is nothing like the space that they had in California was almost impossible. Her mother couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t just seek out a bigger place. Like… just because I have my own money, I have to like… spend it like that?

But, Hazel began having her tea parties the second week of school. Mrs. Monroe wanted them to come to visit the weekend of the 23rd of August. “Mom. We’ve only been gone a couple of months. I told you that Hazel and I aren’t going to be coming back and forth like this.”

“I’m thinking if you catch a flight in the evening on Wednesday, Hazel won’t have to miss school that day. But, you definitely need to be here by Thursday evening’s dinner.” 

“Ugh. Mom.”

“Grace, this is important.”

She sighed. “Fine. But you aren’t seeing us again before Christmas break. Hazel has limited days off and I have things planned for my 23rd.”

“Yes, well… Julia or Gabriel, or whatever the hell this assistant’s name is will send you the list of things you need to pack.”

“Why would I need to pack things?”

“We’re going to take you to Belize, since you won’t be here for your birthday.”

“Ugh… I wish I could argue with a free trip to Belize… okay, fine. Tell ADRIENNE to send me the information.”

“Adrienne? That doesn’t sound right… oh, really? Huh. She says that is indeed her name. Well, she’s sending it. We’ll see you soon.”

Grace hung up and stretched, sputtered air through her lips and peeked out at the girls at their tea parties, with their hats and some of Grace’s good tea. “Hey, Haze… GlamMother wants to see us next week, so I’ll be packing our stuff and I’ll email the school to get your work for Thursday and Friday in advance so we can turn it in on Wednesday.”

“Yes, Mother,” Hazel said in her tea party voice. “Will we be seeing Mr. Laurent and his Sad Sorry Son Simon when we go to California?”

“I’m not planning on it. Just giving you a heads up.” The three girls raised their teacups to Grace and she smiled and went back inside to pack. Simon was back in Cambridge, as far as she knew. She had seen him around online, but never hovered, so she couldn’t be sure. But… that week was the week of his birthday. She wondered if her mother had remembered that information, or if her body was simply falling back on old habits of the season by wanting to do something around this time of year. It was a very random time to Grace for them to just want to go to Belize… though, usually Simon’s birthday was paired up with hers. The significance of his actual birth date would only matter to Grace, not her parents, as the things that they did typically occurred AFTER August 22nd. Grace shook her head and opened the email of things to pack, so that she could prepare early.

.

The Monroes had some guests, Grace could tell. Not a lot, so she wondered if this was like some politician’s immediate family or what, and she resigned herself to the thought that if for one little second her mom even tried to give her hell about taking a flight today, instead of last night (to come in all late in the night and throw off hers AND Hazel’s sleep schedule), she would take her ass right on to her old bedroom and wait for the call to go to Belize. She didn’t play that mess with her mom anymore. Hazel ran to the door and tiptoed a little to use the knocker. There was a doorbell, but something about that fancy old knocker always intrigued her.

A butler opened the door and tried to take Grace’s bags, but she struggled with him, knowing that she could do it herself. “If you won’t let him, let me,” she heard a familiar voice say. Simon. She froze. He was standing. Obviously in good enough health. He was smiling, but it became worried when she stared at him. He put his hands up and she noted that he was in some type of… weird coat draped over his arms, instead of wearing it, that she could see the top of his apology tattoos, and that his parents were at the table with hers.

Her mother got up and rushed over, “Don’t be silly! It’s his job.” She collected Hazel into a tight hug and Grace still stood there, in the open door as Hazel rushed to the table, hand in hand with her grandmother, to pass hugs around. “Surprise!” Mrs. Monroe cheered. “It’s Simon’s birthday dinner… and a therapy idea thing…”

“Therapy told you to surprise me by bringing me here, with these people, under the guise of a free trip to Belize?” Grace asked, very much not okay with this.

“No. We’re having a sit down, between all of us, as adults, to settle everything once and for all. There’s cake!” 

Hazel cheered, “Yayyy! Cake!”

Mrs. Monroe sighed and folded her arms, “My God, Grace, we really ARE going to Belize. Just sit down and enjoy dinner.” Grace pouted her way over to the seat next to Hazel. Simon returned to the one next to that one. His parents were across the table from them, and Mr. and Mrs. Monroe were on the opposite ends.

“This is messed up,” Grace muttered.

“All of us are messed up,” Mr. Monroe said. “It took a while for us to realize it. We spoke a few times when Simon was in the hospital, and we thought that eventually, both of you needed apologies from us and attempts for us to do better. Now, Grace… you had some things to say to Mr. Laurent the last time you were together…”

“I said it all. Nice to finally meet you, though,” she said to Mrs. Laurent, and her tone indicated that it wasn’t nice to meet her at all. Simon reached out and rubbed Grace on the back. She smiled a little at him, then looked confused and wondered why they were acting like nothing had ever happened. Then again, they had “gotten over” what did happen, and she guessed she was kinda touch starved, because it was nice to get physical comfort from somebody that wasn’t Hazel, for a change.

“Simon had many things to say to his parents before you arrived, too. Now that we’re all here, really… say whatever is on all of your minds. Simon… you’ve been sulking for two hours, but whenever Grace walked in, you immediately brightened up.” Simon blushed as Mr. Monroe made this extremely embarrassing announcement. Hazel cackled about it and ate a mouthful of potatoes. 

Simon shook his head, “I’m not sure what you mean by saying this, Mr. Monroe.”

“Just that we never really discussed the night that you came back into our lives, wanting to see Grace and apologize… You didn’t actually apologize until a while later and… we’re all curious about the journeys it took to get from where you were to…”

“No, Dad.” Grace shook her head. “No. Simon and I used to be best friends. I loved him. There was nobody in the world more important to me. When we broke, I broke. You don’t get to just have reflection on what led us all here, to possible health and contentment. Just… No. Where is the cake? I’m having some on the terrace. You want in, Si?” His eyes widened and he got up to follow her. The butler was bringing out the cake, and she took the whole tray. “Momma’s got you, Haze,” she said without breaking her stride. She went outside and Simon smiled as she set the cake down. “Cut my baby a piece of cake. I’ll get her dish.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

Grace rolled her eyes at everybody in the room, grabbed Hazel’s desert plate and the bottle of wine from the table. She went back out and Simon was ready with Hazel’s slice. Whenever Grace gave it to her, she said, “I’ll be right out there if you need me.” Grace was… tired. She had been on a long flight, and to be faced with the Laurents AND her parents? And to have them acting like this was just okay to spring on someone? “They’re still messing up, but I guess at least they’re trying,” she glanced around. “I didn’t get glasses.” She frowned.

“S’ok. I don’t drink.” 

She smiled and said, “Neither do I, but remember whenever we were 14 and we said that we’d have our first drink together?”

“Yeah. We said on your 21st birthday.” He smiled and she felt warm in his gaze. She set the bottle down. “At any rate, they don’t need any wine. They’re being weird enough.”

“RIGHT?” Grace and Simon laughed awkwardly. “To be honest, I think that they realized that the only way to get me here was to hide their intentions from me. I wouldn’t have showed up if they had told me that they wanted to have dinner with your family.”

“Funny… I wouldn’t have come if they hadn’t told me, “Grace will be here for your birthday,” Simon admitted and leaned on the balcony rail. “All I wanted was to see you again. It’s all I could think about all month.”

“You’ve known about this all month? My mom called me last week!” She leaned next to him, her back against the rail, so that she could keep an eye on Hazel. For a moment, she had a flashback of the last time that they were out here together. The pain stung, but there was a numbness there… like that part of her that hurt was more like a limb that fell to sleep. “Hazel is the same age as we were when we met. I’ve been so paranoid about her running into trouble because I’m not present enough…”

“Is that what you think us meeting was? You running into trouble?” Simon asked. He didn’t seem offended, like he might have normally been. Just… curious.

“Don’t you think so? For both of us…”

He frowned and looked out at the Monroe yard. “I think that the people who messed up the most are all surrounding your kid right now.” 

“She loves them, though. I want her to have a good relationship with them. Not just because I didn’t, but because they’re the only grandparents she has.”

“Yeah, well… at the moment, MY parents are there too…” Grace stood up and folded her arms, looking at Hazel. Her parents had arranged for her and Simon to have their first joint birthday celebration since they were 16, and even arranged a sit down with the Laurents about everything that went wrong… Simon was also thinking about how messed up this was, because he added to her thoughts, “I feel weird about our parents finally talking, when we ourselves have finally gotten to good places in our lives and development.”

“I think it’s… A good thing, but just for them. For me… I think that the best thing has been that I survived. I thought that I was gonna die after everything. Nothing felt real. My whole life was just staring into nothingness and crying. I really did become the void…”

“No. You were NEVER that!” Simon said, putting his hand on her shoulder. “You always mattered. I was just too toxic to see that. The best thing for me has been that I realized how wrong I was…” Grace threw her arms around his neck and Simon relaxed in her arms and held her close. Every time was like the first time, but this was DIFFERENT different. This was the first hug that they had in some time and maybe even the first genuine one that they’ve had. Simon was caught up in his emotions, but quickly tried to keep them in check, “Wanna grab the kid and get outta here?” Simon asked, looking at her. They were still in the hug, but let some space in between their bodies.

Grace chuckled, “I mean… you know that my perfect birthday celebration is lowkey, with the closest people to me, some dogs and a walk around the creek. But, it’s not MY birthday.”

Simon turned and leaned back on the terrace this time, “If I had just done that with you for our 16th, things could have gone very differently.” 

“I think things would have eventually gone wrong anyway. We were both… beyond our own help. You seem fine now, though.”

“I’m not fine, but I’m better.” He shrugged his shoulders. 

“Grab the cake, I’ll grab the kid,” she said with a smile. Simon obeyed, as she went inside and he followed. “Haze, grab your bag. We’re headed out.

“Headed out?” Mrs. Monroe asked. “To where?”

“Simon and I are taking Hazel to our old stomping grounds.” Hazel jumped up excited. All four of the parents exchanged worried looks, which Grace ignored and put an arm around Hazel to guide her towards the door. “Hopefully… the rest of you will get whatever you need out of… this…”  They checked out early, giving their parents time to sort through their guilt.

The trio left the mansion, all three laughing and talking. Hazel about how she had heard so much about their adventures, though Simon was certain she only heard the sweet and not the… other stuff. He was just glad that Grace was willing to spend time with him again. It was the best birthday present he could’ve gotten. He didn’t deserve it, but he was going to be grateful.

Neither Simon or Grace had revisited much of their old places, so they wound up spending time well into the night taking Hazel to their childhood spots from when they were her age. Eventually she got so sleepy that she dozed off on the train and Simon had to carry her around. Grace told him that she could do it (she was pretty practiced in it and Hazel was a tall 10), with Simon still technically being in recovery for his injuries, but she guessed that his pride was still stubborn, because he insisted. 

They caught a cab back to the mansion, he put Hazel to bed, and Grace offered to walk him out. “Your parents have us in the guest house,” he said. 

“Excuse you?”

“We’re going to Belize… They didn’t tell you that EITHER?”

“What’re they trying to do? Get us back together??” She joked. 

He laughed, “Like you’d ever do that. You didn’t want me the first time.”

“That’s not true. I actually liked you way more than you liked me, because my feelings were selfless and pure.” He stared at his hands and nodded. She sat down in front of the front door and he sat next to her. “I wasn’t kidding whenever I’d say that I had the perfect relationship already, or whatever the hell I said that day. I can’t remember word for word, but I remember that all the words were true.”

“Yeah… If only I had been better.”

“Well… You said earlier that you’re better now.”

“Yeah…” He turned to look at her and she smiled and took his hand into hers. 

“We don’t have to talk about it. We can just live in it,” she said. That was always how she had been about them. No questions or comments about their feelings for each other, titles, etc. They were together and enjoying each other’s company again. The rest of the details were background noise. No things were not fine, and she didn’t know if things would ever be fine between them, considering the stuff that happened back then. But… things were better.

Next

#If They Didn't Get on the Train #AU Infinity Train #Infinity Train #Nesha Fanfiction #Infinity Train Fanfiction #fics

[saikostories]

MHA - Rhythm of the War Drum pt3

“Are you comfortable, my boy? Would you like another blanket?”

Midoriya shook himself out of his thoughts to look up at All Might. He’d drifted away into his thoughts without realizing it. The older hero stood close beside his hospital bed, leaning over the side.

Midoriya shook his head. “No. I’m fine,” he murmured.

They were currently in Tartarus’s hospital wing. The private room was sterile and white just like a regular hospital room, complete with a hospital bed and monitoring equipment. But the thick walls, military-grade locks on the door, and wrist and ankle restraints hanging from the corners of the bed revealed it for what it also was: a backup prison cell. No one had tried to use those restraints on Midoriya yet. He knew if he gave them any reason to doubt his submissiveness, though, they wouldn’t hesitate to strap him down like an animal.

A single, barred window no wider than a foot across was the only feature of interest in the room. Midoriya didn’t know what time it was. But judging by the darkness of the patch of sky Midoriya could see through the reinforced glass, it was sometime close to evening.

Everything since he’d woken up in that first prison cell had happened so fast. Midoriya felt like he was only now starting to catch up from the blur of activity. For the first time in as long as he could remember he finally felt like he had a clear head and his mind wasn’t blanketed by a heavy fog of drugs and fear.

After a hot shower he’d been moved to the hospital wing with an escort of armed guards, All Might, and Aizawa. The straightjacket he’d woken up in had been removed and replaced with a clean set of hospital pants and shirt. Midoriya felt strangely naked without it now. He kept catching himself folding his arms down across his belly and around his sides as if he was still wearing it. Although he didn’t necessarily like the idea of being restrained with no way to defend himself, at least when he’d been in it he’d felt contained and under control. When in a straightjacket there was less chance of him hurting anyone if he suddenly lost control of himself.

As he’d come to fear while he’d still been a captive: Shigaraki had used him like one of his Nomu to hurt people…

Unaware of the dark thoughts going through his student’s head, All Might continued to fuss over Midoriya – fluffing the thin pillow behind his back and smoothing the edges of the blanket spread over Midoriya’s legs – as if desperate for any excuse to be near the boy.

Midoriya passively let the old hero do what he wanted. For the moment, All Might’s presence wasn’t agitating. The Symbol of Peace’s concern and fleeting touches were tolerable. In fact, they were almost comforting if he didn’t dwell too long on who it was doing them. He still wasn’t sure how he felt towards All Might after everything he’d seen and felt while with the League. He still hadn’t forgotten the biting sting of betrayal. Just thinking about it made his blood run hotter and a rush of acidic hate rise in the back of his throat before he could push it down again.

Despite Midoriya’s lingering distrust towards his former idol, after spending so long without a friendly face to look at it was undeniably nice to be treated so gently now. Everyone else he’d come across since being kidnapping had only wanted to hurt and scar him. Maybe All Might was just faking his concern right now. Maybe he was only going out of his way to shower Midoriya with attention now that he had to face the consequences of his decision to abandon Midoriya with the League. Maybe All Might and the others really had been telling the truth and they’d all been led to believe he was dead. Whatever the case, Midoriya was willing to let those mysteries be for now. He was so tired and the clean clothes and warm blankets were almost enough to make him feel safe enough to relax.

Midoriya’s whole body hurt. Everything from his skin down to his bones ached as if he’d run a full marathon with no training. Even bundled under heavy covers Midoriya continued to shake with a persistent shiver that seemed to have nothing to do with the temperature. A splitting headache squeezed his temples. His tongue was dry and sat like a heavy piece of wool in his mouth. They’d tried to give him some water earlier, but he hadn’t been able to take much more than a few sips. Although his parched body desperately craved liquid his stomach had rolled in protest at the sudden intrusion. He’d just barely been able to keep what little he did drink down. Any more and he was sure he would have thrown up.

All Might had said that he’d spent the last few days detoxing Shigaraki’s drug – that that was why he felt so sick and weak.

That was one of the few things Midoriya truly believed from his former mentor without any hesitation or distrust. He could feel the aftereffects of Shigaraki’s drug reeking havoc on his body. Everything else the Symbol of Peace said or did, though, was still open to suspicion.

“There,” All Might finally announced, leaning back from Midoriya with a satisfied nod. He reached behind him and pulled an examination stool up beside the bed. He eased his skeletal frame down onto it and stared into Midoriya’s face. “Is there anything else you need, my boy? Anything at all? I will get it for you.”

“No,” Midoriya insisted. Overlong, shower-damp bangs hung in his face like a shield against the hero’s over eagerness to please and provide. “I’m fine, really.” It was difficult to look at All Might or endure the weight of his desperate gaze.

If only All Might had been this eager to save him from Shigaraki and the League…

“Leave him be, All Might,” a weary voice ordered. Aizawa stood on the other side the room in the corner near the window, his arms crossed across his chest. Red eyes that had nothing to do with the Erasing hero’s quirk glared at them from over the folds of Aizawa’s capture weapon. “Midoriya doesn’t need you hovering over him like a mother hen. Let the boy rest.”

Midoriya ducked his head down against his chest. He knew Aizawa’s reprimand wasn’t directed at him but that didn’t stop his nerves from instinctively going on high alert. Aizawa and All Might had been constant presences beside him since he’d woken up in that cell. He’d been given a small measure of privacy when he’d been allowed to shower, but whether by his former teachers or the prison guards, he was always being watched – and usually by Aizawa.

He could feel his homeroom teacher’s eyes on him constantly. Watching him. Waiting for the smallest sign of aggression. Looking for anything that would give them a reason to throw him back in a jail cell trussed up in a straightjacket. Midoriya had always suspected Aizawa mildly disliked him ever since the first day of school. Aizawa might have decided not to expel him that day, but Midoriya had felt ever since like Aizawa was only biding his time, waiting for some other slip-up on Midoriya’s part to give him an excuse to follow through on his original threat to get rid of him.

And hadn’t Midoriya given Aizawa an excuse to dislike him now?

It didn’t matter that it was because of Shigaraki or his rage-inducing drugs that Midoriya had been brought back the way he had. Midoriya had gone berserk and tried to physically harm other people. He could feel the weight of Aizawa’s eyes on him, constantly judging him for his shameful misdeeds and weighing the threat level he continued to pose.

It only made sense they would bring him to a place like Tartarus. Tartarus was a prison specifically built to house high-risk super villains.

And wasn’t that what he was now? A villain? He might have not been a willing participant but he had still committed those crimes. He’d used his quirk to try and hurt other people. It only made sense that they would want to lock him away where he could never hurt anyone again.

The heavy, sour feeling in the pit of Midoriya’s stomach intensified. His throat constricted with a violent rush of despair. He only hoped they would come through on their promise to let him see his mother one last time before they decided to throw him back inside a cell.

Before Midoriya’s mind could go any farther down such dark roads, there came a knock against the open door of the hospital cell. In the doorway stood a small cluster of people – several of whom Midoriya recognized.

“Hello, Midoriya,” Nezu brightly greeted, leading the group into the room. “You seem to be feeling better. I hope these arrangements are more comfortable for you than before.”

Midoriya could only a manage a shallow nod. “Yes. Thank you.” It was difficult to be grateful for a clean bed and clothes when he knew it was only a matter of time before he was put back inside a cell.

A middle-aged, rather plain looking man trailed behind Nezu. Midoriya recognized him from when he woken up in the cell earlier. He had been asking him questions about his time with the League of Villains. But who he was or why he was there with UA’s principal, All Might, and Aizawa was still a mystery to him.

And behind them followed two others.

Midoriya sat up a little straighter in bed. “Recovery Girl? They brought you here too?”

“Of course,” Recovery Girl smiled, grandmotherly and kind. “You’re my favorite patient after all. When I heard what you’d been through I immediately had to come see if there was anything I could do to help. Don’t you remember me coming to see you earlier?”

Midoriya paused, embarrassed confusion filling him. “No? I’m sorry. I don’t remember much of anything between being at a train station and then waking up in a cell with All Might.”

“That’s okay,” Recovery Girl gently tutted. “I really didn’t expect you to remember. You weren’t really feeling well then.”

She motioned to the older man beside her. He wore a long white lab coat similar to Recovery Girl’s. Glasses and salt and pepper hair were his only other distinguishable features. “This is Doctor Tsubaki. He is the head physician here in Tartarus. I’ve been assisting him on your case.”

“Hello,” the man said with a shallow, perfunctory nod. “I’m glad to see you calmed down and finally able to talk.”

“Hello,” Midoriya timidly replied, bowing as best he could where he sat in bed.

“Detective Tsukauchi and I wanted to stop by and check in on Midoriya one last time before we left for the evening,” Nezu announced. “Perhaps even talk a little more before we let Midoriya rest. We just happened to meet up with Doctor Tsubaki and Recover Girl on the way here.”

“We still need to do a medical assessment on the boy before any of that happens,” Tsubaki said. He and Recovery Girl came up beside the bed. The doctor set a heavy bag of supplies down on the mattress beside Midoriya’s feet. He met Midoriya’s eyes. “I can have everyone leave the room while we do this, but the door must remain open for the guards stationed outside in the hallway. They have high-powered stun rifles at their disposal which they are authorized to use at the slightest provocation. The only reason they aren’t in here with me right now is because of your teacher, Mr. Aizawa, and his ability to erase quirks should you suddenly become violent.”

Midoriya’s head once more bowed to his chest in embarrassed shame. His arms unconsciously snaked across his stomach and around his sides. He shouldn’t have been surprised by the doctor’s conditions. He was a villain now. He shouldn’t have expected to be treated like anything else but a criminal.

“Doctor Tsubaki,” the man Nezu had called Tsukauchi said. “It might only be by a technicality, but Midoriya is not officially a prisoner of Tartarus. He has not been released from police custody to the Corrections Bureau. He is only here out of emergency necessity given his quirk’s power-up abilities and the state in which he was rescued from the League of Villains. If anything, he is a victim in need of protection. Not a criminal.”

The older doctor sighed. “I am aware of the circumstances that brought the boy here. But there are still protocols that must be followed while in the prison. There was a reason he was brought here. I saw the security footage of him attacking the holding cell’s two way mirror. Until I am absolutely certain he is no longer a danger to himself or anyone else we will follow the prescribed safety measures.”

“It's… it’s okay,” Midoriya spoke up. He stared down at the blanket covering his lap. He couldn’t bear the thought of looking up so everyone could see his shame and embarrassment. The doctor’s evaluation of the situation was harsh – mercilessly blunt! But nothing he’d said was untrue. It was his own fault he was there. His own actions were what landed him in Tartarus and made him a danger to everyone else. “Everyone can stay. The door can stay open. I won’t make any problems. I promise.”

“We’ll try and make this quick,” Recovery Girl said, patting Midoriya’s blanket covered leg.

Doctor Tsubaki stepped closer to the side of the bed. “Head up,” he ordered.

Before Midoriya could fully comply with the doctor’s demand, Tsubaki slipped his hands underneath Midoriya’s chin and pressed his palms to either side of his neck.

Midoriya froze at the abrupt contact. He instinctively tried to lean away from the doctor’s touch but Tsubaki’s grip on his neck was just tight enough to still any such attempts without Midoriya making a scene. He hadn’t been prepared to be touched so suddenly. It took every ounce of willpower Midoriya had not to immediately panic. Other hands had grabbed and held him like this. Hands that could disintegrate his entire body into a pile of ash. Hands that could pierce his flesh and shred his thoughts and memories to pieces. The pure visceral memory of those hands against his skin was enough to make Midoriya’s heart beat faster against the inside of his chest.

“Temperature is fine,” Tsubaki said, unaware or just unmoved by Midoriya’s sudden skittishness. “Heart rate is elevated, but not alarmingly so. Midoriya, calm down. I am not going to harm you,” he sternly scolded.

“S-sorry!” Midoriya weakly squeaked. He tried to force himself not to focus on the hands cupping the sides of his neck, but the memories of other hands touching him, hurting him were too much for him to fully press down the wave of panic that was slowly crawling up his spine.

Recovery Girl patted his leg again comfortingly. “Doctor Tsubaki’s quirk allows him to diagnose his patients just by touch. This is the quickest, easiest way to do a medical assessment. Just hang in there a bit longer.”

Midoriya didn’t dare move his head to nod. He didn’t want to get another scolding from the doctor. Nor could he find the voice to answer. Mute and frozen stiff with visceral dread Midoriya could only close his eyes and beg the universe that all of this ended soon. Maybe if he kept still the doctor would hurry up and let him go. Maybe if he was a good patient no pain would come from this man’s touch.

Finally, after what felt like hours of breathless eternity, Tsubaki removed his hands from Midoriya’s throat, releasing him from his panic-induced stasis. Midoriya’s arms immediately wrapped around his sides, hugging himself close. The shakiness in his limbs from the drug withdrawal was building into open tremors. Midoriya hugged himself tighter to try and smother them away.

The doctor did not seem to notice the effect he’d had on his patient. He glanced at Recovery Girl who had a folder of medical charts open. She was writing down notes in it. “The dehydration that we noted the other day is still present and in fact worst. We’re going on three days now without any notable intake of fluids. We should put him on a saline drip as soon as possible. If we wait any longer his recovery time will be lengthened dramatically.”

“Agreed,” Recovery Girl said. She began removing a number of items from the supply bag Tsubaki brought with them. “I can start the IV line.”

Midoriya’s ears perked. “IV?”

“Yes, dear. We weren’t able to do much to help you when you were coming off of Shigaraki’s serum except sit back and let it run its course because of how violent you were when you were first brought in. Unfortunately, that’s left you in quite rough shape. You probably don’t even realize how thirsty you are right now given everything else you’ve been though. Don’t worry though, we’ll get you feeling better soon.”

Midoriya’s breath caught in his throat, his chest constricting with mounting dread. “I… I don’t think I need an IV. I can drink some water instead. However much you give me, I’ll drink it. Just… no IVs. Please..?”

Recovery Girl looked up from the pile of supplies, her expression concerned. “What’s the matter, Midoriya? You were never afraid of IVs before. What’s changed?”

The ache in Midoriya’s temples was getting worse. He thought he could hear his own blood pounding in his ears. “I…” It was getting difficult to find words. His chest felt like it was slowly constricting. He had to fight just to draw enough air into his lungs. “I… just don’t like needles now. Please… No IV.”

“I’m so sorry, dear, but this is something that needs to be done. Drinking fluids would take too long to be absorbed by your body. Intravenous fluids will be much quicker and more effective. Once it’s in you’ll be able to relax. We’ll probably also be able to give you something to help with those withdrawal symptoms. I think you’ll be surprised how much better you’ll feel once this is done.”

The knot of panic in Midoriya’s throat began to tighten. It was getting more difficult to draw in air.

“Midoriya?” a soft voice called. The teen startled, his head whipping towards the sound to find All Might leaning towards him again. The hero’s blue eyes were full of concern. “Are you alright, my boy?”

Unable to find words Midoriya could only mutely shake his head. Even if he had been able to speak he didn’t think he would have been able to find the right words to describe this helpless, body-wrenching panic that was washing over him. His eyes were starting to burn with the threat of tears. An unbidden sob broke past his lips.

Before Midoriya knew what was happening, All Might was suddenly right there beside him, perched on the side of the bed facing him. The older hero gently pried Midoriya’s left arm away from his side so he could hold the boy’s hand between both his own. On the other side of the bed Recovery Girl coaxed his other arm away from his side to lay in front of him on top of the bed. In a practiced flurry of motion, she cinched a plastic band around his forearm, ripped open an alcohol wipe package, and began swabbing the top of Midoriya’s hand with it. Behind her, Tsubaki hung a bag of clear saline solution on a stand beside the bed.

A new wave of panic washed over Midoriya. Another sob echoed the first.

He didn’t want this. He didn’t want to be here. He didn’t want anything poking his skin or making him bleed. He didn’t want this! Why wouldn’t any of them listen to him?!

“It’s alright,” All Might soothed. “No one’s going to hurt you. Here, squeeze my hand. I’ll help you get through this.”

Midoriya blindly gripped All Might’s hand. His eyes remained on Recovery Girl.

The school nurse had opened another package of supplies. This one contained what looked like a long needle.

Midoriya’s heart pounded harder. That needle was going to go into his skin. That sharpened piece of metal was going to stab his hand and go into his vein where it would sit and spread fluid through his body. Just like the needles Shigaraki used on the back of his neck to make him see red.

The back of his neck and spots across his scalp burned with memories. The trembling in Midoriya’s limbs worsened.

“Alright here we go,” Recovery Girl said. She positioned the tip of the needle over the back of his hand.

Midoriya was openly shaking now, each breath he managed to draw in coming out again in a panicked sob. He felt frozen, his eyes locked on the sharpened tip of the needle hovering over his hand.

“Don’t look at her. Look at me,” All Might urged. “Everything’s going to be alright. I’m right here. It’s just like I promised: I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.”

Somehow Midoriya forced his eyes away from Recovery Girl to look up and meet All Might’s gaze. The old hero was staring into his eyes as if pleading with him to trust him and let him help. Midoriya couldn’t say why exactly but in that moment he decided to briefly put his trust back into the Symbol of Peace.

Leaning forward at the waist, Midoriya buried his face into the front of All Might’s chest. The old hero hugged Midoriya tight, murmuring soft words of encouragement into the top of his head.

“Small pinch,” Recovery Girl warned.

Midoriya felt the needle pierce the top of his hand and instinctively yanked his arm back. His sobs intensified. He was now hyperventilating.

No! He couldn’t do this! He thought he could, but he couldn’t! He wouldn’t let them stick needles into him like before! He wouldn’t let this happen again!

The long arms wrapped around his shoulders, however, would not let him draw back from All Might’s chest.

“I have to redo it,” Recovery Girl said from behind All Might. “He pulled it out when he pulled his arm back.” Midoriya couldn’t see anything beyond the front of All Might’s shirt.

“Stay calm, Izuku. It’s almost over,” All Might murmured. “Just one more try and then you’ll be done.”

Midoriya sobbed into All Might’s chest, unable to pull back or even squirm in the hero’s arms.

There was another sharp pinch followed by a flurry of movement and muffled sounds. Midoriya instinctively struggled to cringe away but could only dig his forehead deeper into All Might’s sternum.

“There!” Recovery Girl finally announced. “All done!”

All Might’s arms loosened around him, allowing him to finally sit back.

Midoriya’s eyes immediately went to the top of his right hand. Recovery Girl was just finishing screwing the head of the IV line into the back of the catheter. Several pieces of tape covered the top of his hand, hiding where the plastic tube disappeared into his skin.

“There, see?” All Might praised with a soft pat on his back. “All done. You’re alright now. Now you can lay back and relax. You did well.”

Midoriya thought he heard Nezu or Tsukauchi say something as well, but it was like he was hearing them underwater from far away. Their voices were garbled and low – completely unintelligible. All Midoriya could do was stare at the top of his hand, his whole body trembling.

Recovery Girl uncinched the IV line to allow the saline drip to start. Midoriya felt the chill of the liquid hit the top of his hand. As he sat there frozen in petrified silence he could actually feel the coldness creeping up the length of his arm. He imagined that foreign liquid mixing with his blood inside him. Only now did he realize he hadn’t looked to see if Recovery Girl or Doctor Tsubaki added anything to the saline bag. Was that even saline? How could he possibly know for sure? He wouldn’t know what to look for even if they had changed it with something else. They might have added something to it before they even came into the room.

What if they had put some kind of drug to it? What if it made him see red again? That needle was sitting in his vein right now spreading potential poison through his body. How could he trust these people not to hurt him like Shigaraki did? They had already abandoned him to the League once. What if they’d decided that now that he was back to use him for some kind of experiment? He’d heard about doctors doing that back in the early days of quirk manifestations. They would target people who had undergone intense emotional trauma to see how it affected their quirks. What if that’s what they were planning to do with him? What if that was why they were keeping him in this cell that looked like a hospital room? To keep him locked up and under control! What if he went on another rampage and killed someone this time? What then? What?!

There were more voices around him, louder now. He still couldn’t understand what they were saying. All he could focus on was the taped mound of plastic protruding from the top of his hand. The pounding blood in his ears was getting louder, drowning out any other sound. His heart was thundering against the inside of his chest so hard it felt like it was going to burst through his ribs. He felt frozen in place, panic robbing him of his ability to breath. As he stared at his hand the edges of his vision began to fuzz with darkness. For a moment, Midoriya was certain he was about to pass out.

A sharp shake on his shoulder rattled Midoriya out of his thoughts just enough to allow him to look away from his hand. All Might was leaning over him again, his expression alarmed. “Midoriya. What is it? Are you alright?”

Midoriya couldn’t immediately find his voice. The fear still had him in its grip.

“… get it out.”

It was barely a whisper but he was finally able to form words.

“What was that?” All Might urged, leaning closer. “What’s wrong?”

“Get it out,” Midoriya managed a little louder, the pressure in his chest easing just enough to allow him to take a shuddering breath. Like a dam breaking, the panic he was holding in suddenly felt too big and too powerful to try and contain any longer.

“Get it out!” Wild, tear-filled eyes swung back down to the pile of tape and plastic on the top of his hand. Barely even aware of what he was doing, Midoriya began clawing at the edges of the tape. “Get it out! Get it out get it out getitout! NOW!” He could barely hear himself over the pounding in his ears.

There were startled cries from around the room. Midoriya peeled up one piece of tape and ripped it away. The IV catheter followed, which Midoriya flung away from him like it was a cursed object. A spurt of bright red blood splashed the top of the blanket.

Midoriya kicked backwards against the bed, desperate to get as far away from the doctors’ needles and their drugs as he could. He wouldn’t let anyone else stick him with their needles anymore.

Before Midoriya could escape the bed a pair of thin but deceptively strong arms clamped down around him. His arms were pinned to his sides. As he struggled the arms seemed to swell - growing bigger and tightening around him until Midoriya felt like he was being crushed. He thrashed harder. The arms were holding him against something solid that prevented him from moving any farther back. Midoriya didn’t know what it was but it felt like a brick wall.

“Let me go!” he frantically screamed. Tears streamed down his face. “Let me go!”

“Midoriya, calm yourself,” a deep voice rumbled directly behind him.

“No more needles! No more drugs! I don’t want to see red again! Please! Let me go! Don’t hurt me anymore!”

There was a flurry of motion around the bed. Somewhere in the chaos, Midoriya recognized Recovery Girl darting forward to clamp off the open IV line which was leaking a puddle of saline onto the floor where Midoriya had thrown it.

“Let me go!” Midoriya shrieked over the din of background noise, desperate for someone to hear him and take pity on his demands. “No more needles! I don’t want to be stuck again!”

The arms around him tightened, pulling him harder against the solid mass at his back. “Alright, Midoriya,” the voice said, calm and soothingly. Somehow the voice was enough to break through his panicked haze. “Alright. No more needles. No more IV. We heard you. I won’t let them stick you with any more needles. I promise.”

Sobbing in relief, Midoriya stopped fighting and went still. He couldn’t see past the tears in his eyes. “No more?” he demanded, almost too afraid to hope the voice wasn’t lying.

“No more,” the voice agreed.

Trembling from the exertion of his panic attack, Midoriya went limp. The solid wall behind him began to shrink in a gentle hiss of smoke. The arms pinning him down withered into bony limbs. They remained protectively wrapped around him almost like a shield.

“You’re alright,” All Might’s voice murmured into his ear as Midoriya struggled to calm his breathing. Tears continued to leak down his cheeks. “You’re alright now, Izuku. I’ve got you. No one’s going to hurt you. I promise.” All Might shifted behind him as though he were looking up at someone. “Tell your guards to back down, Tsubaki. We don’t need them. Everyone’s calm now. Aizawa, Midoriya’s not using Full Cowl. You can rest your eyes.” There was a tense pause. “Please. We don’t have to escalate this any farther. I have him. He’s calming down. He’s not a threat to anyone. He just got scared and panicked.”

Indeed, Midoriya’s heart was beginning to even into a more steady rhythm. Blinking the remaining tears from his vision, Midoriya shakily looked up through his curtain of overgrown green bangs.

Aizawa stood on the other side of the bed, his capture weapon undulating in the air around him. He was glaring at Midoriya with glowing red eyes. Tsubaki and Recovery Girl were shielded behind him. Tsukauchi and Nezu had pushed themselves against the far wall, out of the way. Midoriya couldn’t see behind him towards the door but given the way All Might was so protectively shielding him with his own body he assumed prison guards were in the doorway, weapons drawn.

Aizawa was the first the relent. With a weary huff he let his eyes drift close and his capture weapon return to its place around his neck. “Call your men off,” he growled at the prison doctor. “All Might has this under control.”

Tsubaki did not seem immediately convinced, but finally nodded. “You heard him, we have this under control,” he called towards the door. “Return to your posts.”

As footsteps retreated from the doorway and everyone hesitantly returned to their original spots, All Might leaned back from Midoriya. He slowly let his arms loosen around the shaking teen, but did not fully withdraw them. “Are you alright now? Will you be okay if I let you go?”

Midoriya shakily nodded. His body was still trembling but he felt more in control of himself now. With All Might’s help, he scooted back to the center of the bed. The sheets and blanket were a rumpled mess from when he’d try to kick himself out of bed. All Might smoothed and straightened them out over the Midoriya’s legs. As All Might returned the pillow behind his back, Midoriya’s arms found their way around his sides again. That done, All Might returned to his seat.

As Midoriya took one last calming breath an intense wave of shame washed over him. He could feel everyone’s eyes on him, judging him, weighing his sudden outburst. He couldn’t bear to look up and meet any of their eyes.

“I… I’m sorry,” he mumbled into the silence. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have acted like that. I just couldn’t stand the thought of that needle being there…” He suddenly felt the need to explain. He had to try and make them understand why it had bothered him so much. Maybe then they wouldn’t look down on him so harshly. “They stuck me with needles too…”

“The League of Villains?” Tsukauchi asked.

Midoriya nodded. “Yes… Shigaraki put that thing on the back of my neck. It had needles that went into both sides of my neck. It hurt. Every time I moved my head I could feel the needles dig in deeper. It always hurt. And then he came. He had needles too. And his hurt even worse. Whenever he came into the room he’d push them underneath my skin and make me bleed.”

Tsukauchi leaned closer, intrigued. “Is this the man you said Shigaraki brought in?”

Midoriya nodded. “He… He called himself Rorschach. I don’t think that’s his real name though. He didn’t look foreign or have an accent. Shigaraki usually called him the Doctor. I heard him complain a couple times that Rorschach’s name was too hard to pronounce so he just called him the Doctor instead. I think Rorschach is his villain name.”

All Might and Tsukauchi shared a heavy look.

“Rorschach?” All Might murmured. “Doesn’t sound familiar.”

“Might be a new villain,” Tsukauchi said. He’d already pulled out a small notepad and was writing down notes. “I’ll have to check the databases back at the police station.”

Suddenly feeling vulnerable, Midoriya drew his knees up to his chest. He shifted his crossed arms and only then noticed the rivulets of half-congealed blood trailing down his wrist from where he’d torn the IV catheter out.

Recovery Girl tsked in dismay and moved to tend to it. Midoriya instinctively cringed back, clutching his bleeding hand to his chest. After enduring Tsubaki’s invasive touch Midoriya didn’t think he could stand anyone else touching him just yet. Recovery Girl froze, an almost shocked look of hurt spreading across her face at Midoriya’s sudden aversion to her.

“It’s okay, dear,” she said after a moment. “I understand. I won’t touch you if you don’t want me to.” She rummaged through the medical supply bag that had somehow remained in place at the foot of the bed during Midoriya’s panic attack. She withdrew a thick pad of gauze and held it out to Midoriya. “Here. Put this against your hand until the bleeding stops.”

Midoriya tentatively took the offered gauze and did as Recovery Girl instructed. His eyes drifted back down to his lap so he wouldn’t have to see the quiet sadness on the school nurse’s face.

Why was he so afraid of everything? He’d known Recovery Girl for awhile. Logically, he knew she’d never hurt him. But why did he panic when she was only trying to help him? Why was he so pathetic?

The police detective softly cleared his throat. “Midoriya, I know you’ve just been through a lot and that you’re tired. But it’s important that we get as much information as we can from you. Can I ask you some more questions about your time with the League?”

“Tsukauchi, please,” All Might huffed, glaring at the detective in exasperation. “Can we at least give him a day to rest? He only just came back to himself. He’s not well right now. Can’t you see that? He’s not ready to be interrogated.”

“No, it’s okay,” Midoriya murmured. “What do you want to know? It’s no use putting it off… You’re already here. Might as well talk…”

Nezu stepped forward. “Really, Midoriya. You don’t have to do this. If you’re not feeling well enough we can wait until tomorrow after you’ve had some time to rest.”

Midoriya didn’t know why but Nezu’s attempt to defer sent a spike of irritation sizzling through the back of his head. A little ball of anger like a miniature sun began to build in the center of his chest, its heat slowly spreading through his body.

Yes, he was tired. He was hurting and sore. He had a splitting headache. He wanted to lay down and be left alone so he could maybe sleep and temporarily forget everything that had happened. One of the last things he wanted to do right now was talk to this police officer about the worst two months of his life. He had no desire to talk about what he’d suffered, or go into detail about how Shigaraki had turned him into a raging monster. Yet he was willing to put all that aside to try and make up for his embarrassing display of fear.

Gritting his teeth together, Midoriya snapped, “What do you want to know?! I’m willing to talk now! Just ask me what you want to know so I don’t have to sit here waiting for you to come back and do it later!”

As soon as the words left his mouth Midoriya regretted them. He didn’t know where that flash of anger had come from.

Everyone seemed just as startled as Midoriya by the outburst and stared at him in shock.

Midoriya shrank down under their collective gaze. Before his kidnapping he would have never talked to an adult like that. He would have been mortified just by the thought of doing so. But now… he was just so tired and wanted to be left alone. Maybe it was because he was still coming off of Shigaraki’s serum but his anger felt so much closer to the surface now than ever before - like his nerve endings had been rubbed raw and were ready to burst into flames at the slightest provocation. He briefly wondered if this was what Kaachan always felt like with how often he used to go into a rage.

“I’m sorry,” Midoriya hastily murmured, unable to look at any of them. “I didn’t mean to yell like that. I don’t know what’s wrong with me right now…”

Nezu was the first to regain his composure. “Please do not apologize, Midoriya,” he insisted in his unflappably calm way. “You’ve just been through so much. We can’t even begin to imagine what that must have been like. The fact you are willing to talk at all right now just shows how incredible brave you are.”

Midoriya hung his head, ashamed. He really didn’t feel worthy of any praise right now. Not after everything he’d done. He barely even felt in control of himself, let alone brave.

“What do you want to know?” he asked again in a quiet voice.

He was suddenly so tired… He hoped this wouldn’t take too long. Maybe he should have accepted Nezu’s offer to wait to do this after all.

Tsubaki abruptly cleared his throat. “We’re going to continue keeping a close eye on Midoriya’s health. Since an IV line is out of the question right now we will just have to make sure he drinks plenty of fluids. I’ll be back soon with some water for him.” He turned a sharp look directly onto Midoriya. “You are to drink whatever I bring you, whether you like it or not. Your health is in too rough of shape right now to play any games with it. If you don’t follow my directions to the letter I will be forced to use restraints and I will replace that IV line no matter how much of a fuss you make. Do I make myself clear?”

Midoriya cringed down against himself. His arms hugged his sides tighter. “Yes, sir,” he mumbled into his chest.

Tsubaki retrieved the bag of medical supplies from the foot of the bed and strode towards the door.

Recovery Girl stepped closer to the bed. Her expression was apologetic and sad. “Don’t let him frighten you, dear. Tsubaki’s a good doctor; he’s just gotten used to dealing with uncooperative super villains over the years. So he’s a little on the brusque side. But he does care about his patients. We’ll bring you something to drink to get your fluid levels up. And then some dinner. How does that sound?”

Midoriya couldn’t bring himself to look at Recovery Girl. He didn’t deserve her kindness after how he’d acted. “Thank you. And… I really am sorry about before.”

“Don’t worry about it, dear. I’ll be back later after you’ve talked to the detective.” Then with one last grandmotherly smile, she followed Tsubaki into the hallway.

Tsukauchi pulled a chair from the far side of the room up beside All Might next to the bed. With the detective’s help, Nezu climbed onto the bed and sat on the edge by Midoriya’s feet. Aizawa remained standing in the corner of the room. Midoriya tried not to look in his direction. The weight of Aizawa’s tired, bloodshot eyes on him were intimidating. His homeroom teacher looked exhausted, as if he were ready to drop at any time. Dark circles like soot smudges ringed the erasing hero’s eyes. Midoriya didn’t even want to guess how long he’d been awake now. That didn’t mean he thought Aizawa was any less dangerous, though. If anything, it was even more of a reason to fear him. Midoriya had no desire to feel the wrath of an extreme sleep-deprived Aizawa. He had a feeling that after all this Aizawa liked him even less than before.

With everyone settled, Tsukauchi brought his notepad out again and positioned it on his knee. “I don’t know if you actually remember me or not given everything that’s happened. I am Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi. We met briefly after the attack on the USJ center at UA. I’m in charge of a special police task force assigned to investigate the League of Villains threat.”

“He’s a close friend,” All Might added. “You can trust him.”

Or at least as much as I can trust you, a small, nasty voice hissed in the back of Midoriya’s head. A flash of anger and resentful hurt immediately followed in its wake.

Midoriya was startled by the thought and ashamed of it. He kept having moments like this where he forgot All Might hadn’t really abandoned him. He and the police never got any ransom demands from the League of Villains like he’d thought. Or… at least that’s what they kept telling him. It was so difficult to keep track of what was supposedly real and what wasn’t. He still wasn’t sure if anything they were telling him was actually the truth.

He tried to push those conflicting thoughts from his mind and focus on the present. He would try and make sense of everything later when he had time to think.

“I kind of remember you,” Midoriya said. “I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you before. My memory’s not that good right now. Everything before Shigaraki took me is a bit… blurry.”

Tsukauchi waved Midoriya’s apology away like he was shooing a fly. “Please don’t worry about that. Given everything you’ve been through I would have been shocked if you had remembered me.” Growing serious, the detective leveled a heavy look on the battered teen. “As much as you’re willing to tell me, I’d like to know about your time with the League. Where were they keeping you?”

“I don’t know,” Midoriya shook his head. “I spent most of the time in this one room. It was almost always dark in there. Just four cement walls and a reinforced door. The only light was a single florescent bulb hanging from the ceiling. I don’t know for sure but it felt like it was in a basement. It was always cold and there was sometimes a musty smell. The only time I was brought out was when Shigaraki dragged me out to watch All Might’s press conference on TV. I was blindfolded when they brought me out. When they took it off it looked like we were in a large abandoned warehouse. I… I really didn’t get many more details than that. It was dark and I was disoriented. And then I was too busy watching the TV…”

“How did Shigaraki kidnap you?’” Tsukauchi asked. His pen was a blur of motion on the notepad. “We weren’t able to find any security camera footage from the shopping center that showed what happened between you and Shigaraki before he went on his killing spree.”

Midoriya shifted uncomfortably in bed. His arms hugged his sides tighter. “Shigaraki came up behind me at the shopping mall. I was by myself. All my classmates had gone off in groups to go to different stores. At first I didn’t recognize him. He was wearing a black hoodie with the hood pulled up. He came up to me pretending like he was a fan who remembered me from the Sports Festival. But then he put his arm around my shoulder and grabbed my neck. Said he would kill me if I yelled or tried to alert anyone.”

“What did he want?” Tsukauchi probed.

“He led me over to a bench and made me sit down. At first he wanted to talk about Stain. He was angry that the League of Villains wasn’t getting as much screen time on the news as him. I just let him rant. I wanted to try and keep him talking until I could figure out what to do. Shigaraki said it was because of All Might that our society was the way it was. Said he needed to hurt All Might and show everyone just how weak the Symbol of Peace was before he killed him. Then he said something like, ‘I think I figured out a way to do that. And you’re going to help me.’”

Midoriya took a deep breath, the memories making him queasy. “Before I even knew what was happening a warp gate opened directly behind us on the bench and Shigaraki pushed me backwards through it. I was falling and then suddenly I was in a dark room. Shigaraki didn’t follow me. Before I could get up or try to figure out where I was I felt something sharp against the back of me head and I blacked out. When I woke up again, I was still in the room but I had chains around my wrists and ankles.”

Tsukauchi’s pen continued to furiously scratch across his notepad. “You mentioned they showed you a press conference. Tell us about that. What happened exactly? As we told you before, neither UA or the police department ever received any ransom demands from the League. We all thought you had been killed in the shopping mall attack. But you are certain you saw All Might speaking to the press. My quirk lets me know when a person is lying, and I can tell you believe you saw what you think you did. How is that?”

That unfamiliar flash of irritation once more flared in the back of Midoriya’s head. He didn’t like the detective’s insinuation that he was crazy or somehow had an overactive imagination. He might be damaged, but he knew what he had seen and felt.

Midoriya forced himself to ignore that surge of anger and remain calm. He wouldn’t let it get the best of him again.

“I don’t know how long they left me in that room. Maybe a day? I don’t know… There wasn’t any way for me to tell time. When they did come to get me it was Shigaraki and several of his men. I didn’t recognize any of them. They blindfolded me. I wanted to try and fight them off or escape but Shigaraki threatened to turn me into ash if I did. He had his hand on the back of my neck and my hands were chained. I had already seen what his quirk can do when the League attacked the USJ center. I… I was scared and decided to go along with things until I could come up with a plan.’

"They brought me up a set of stairs and then made me kneel on the ground. Shigaraki held the back of my neck the entire time so I wouldn’t try anything. When they took the blindfold off there was a TV set up on a rolling stand in the middle of this big empty warehouse. Shigaraki said that the League had sent their ransom demands to the news stations earlier that day to make sure the heroes and police couldn’t try and hide what was happening from the public. He wanted them to have to make a formal reply on national television, and he wanted me there to see it when All Might gave in to the League demands. He said he wanted me to see just how weak the Symbol of Peace really was. He seemed so excited. He was almost laughing when he saw All Might start talking to the reporters. He thought he was about to win.’

"But then… All Might announced that the police and UA weren’t going to negotiate with the League. That they were going to let the League keep me because if they gave into their demands it would set a dangerous precedent for future hostage situations…” Midoriya’s voice became strained. The back of his throat was starting to tighten. Tears stung the corners of his eyes. Whether real or not, he still felt a stab of remembered betrayal.

“Shigaraki was so angry when All Might said that,” Midoriya sniffed, angrily wiping away several tears that had leaked down his cheeks. “For a while I was sure he was going to kill me right then and there. He was squeezing the back of my neck and I could actually feel him shaking with rage. All it would have taken was for him to touch his ring finger to my neck and I would have been dead.’

Midoriya shook his head, wishing these angry tears would stop. He forced himself to keep talking. "I don’t remember much of what happened after that. Shigaraki threw something at the television and knocked it over. He ordered them to blindfold me again and take me back to the room. Said he had to figure out what to do with me now. Two League members dragged me back to the room and locked me inside. That’s where I stayed until Shigaraki came back and said I was going to help him another way. That’s when he brought in Rorschach…”

Taking a deep breath, Midoriya focused his attention on the bloody piece of gauze he held against the back of his hand. He didn’t want to look up or see anyone else. The small ball of resentful hurt was back, burning in center of his chest.

All Might leaned forward, his expression heart-broken. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry you had to go through that. But it wasn’t real. We never received any demands from the League.”

“I know!” Midoriya snarled, his frustration boiling over in a flash of rage. “That’s what you keep telling me! But I know what I saw. I know what I felt. I wasn’t dreaming. I saw that press conference on NHK national news! I’m not lying!”

“No one is saying you’re lying,” Tsukauchi calmly placated. “I know you’re not lying. My quirk tells me so. I know you believe you saw what you think you did, but it doesn’t change the fact that we never received any random demands from the League or had any reason to believe you were still alive. It’s just strange that you would have such a vivid memory when nothing like that ever happened.”

“Is everyone forgetting about that Berserker Serum Shigaraki was using on him?” Aizawa tiredly drawled from the corner. “I looked up the drugs Recovery Girl said were in it. Some of them can have intense, psychotropic effects if used in high enough quantities. And that stuff was a mix of several different powerful drugs, not just one. Isn’t it possible Midoriya was just hallucinating?”

“I wasn’t hallucinating!” Midoriya protested. “They didn’t start using any drugs on me until later after Shigaraki brought Rorschach in.”

“Tell us more about this Rorschach,” Tsukauchi said, his pen eagerly poised above the notepad. “You said Shigaraki brought him in to help make you work for them. What did he do?”

Midoriya hesitated, suddenly reluctant to speak. That panicked feeling he’d had when Recovery Girl tried to put in the IV was starting to creep up the back of his throat again.

He forced himself to find his voice. The faster he got this over with the faster he could be left alone and rest. “It was awhile after the press conference that Rorschach came. It felt like a couple weeks, but like I said, I couldn’t really tell time… If the light wasn’t on it was pitch black in that room. And they never seemed to bring me food or water on any kind of schedule I could track… They would just slide it in on a tray through the door, so I never actually saw anyone.’

"I felt like I was starting to go insane by the time Shigaraki finally came back.” Midoriya gave a sharp little ironic laugh. “It’s crazy but I was actually almost glad to see him, I was so lonely and sick of the dark by that point. I didn’t even care that he’d probably come back to kill me. I just wanted to be able to see light again and have someone else to talk to…’

"But he hadn’t come to kill me. He said he’d decided that since All Might no longer wanted me that he’d take me as his pet. That’s what he always called me: his pet. I hated it. It made me feel dirty.’

"He said that I was going to help the League. Even though I thought All Might and the police had abandoned me I told him I wasn’t going to help him. I told him he could just kill me right there because I’d never help a villain. Shigaraki actually laughed at me. He said that’s why he’d decided to bring in the Doctor. He said Rorschach was a new member of the League and his specialty was "persuasion.” I really didn’t understand what he meant by that until later…"

Tsukauchi looked up from his notepad. “That was his quirk? Persuasion?”

Midoriya hesitated. This used to be his hobby: analyzing other people’s quirks and abilities. But even now, after being a direct victim of Rorschach’s quirk, he still wasn’t sure of the full range of his torturer’s abilities.

“I… wouldn’t say that exactly… He started by just asking me questions.”

“What kind of questions?”

“Questions about my family, school, being taught by All Might… Asked me why I wanted to be a hero. Asked me why I thought All Might refused to rescue me. It was like he was trying to be a therapist. I never answered him though. He tried to grill me for hours. At points he started rambling on about different psychology terms and about how he saw this or that disorder or compulsion in me. At one point he said he’d made a psychological profile of me based on the things he’d been told and what he’d seen from the Sports Festival footage. Said I had a Hero Complex and that he had to "cure” me of it before I was going to be a suitable pet for Shigaraki.’

“I refused to talk. I wasn’t going to give him anything he could try to use against me. Finally, I think he realized I wasn’t going to cooperate with him and he got frustrated. And then he started to get angry… He said if I wasn’t going to talk then he was just going to have to find out the answers himself. Said I was forcing his hand and that if I had just talked to him like a good patient he wouldn’t have to use his quirk.”

“What was his quirk?” Tsukauchi asked. The detective almost sounded like he dreaded to know to answer. Nezu, All Might, and Aizawa all stared at him in quiet suspense.

Midoriya swallowed against the dryness in his throat. How could he possibly explain the full horror of Rorschach’s quirk?

“He…” Midoriya cleared his throat uncomfortably. “He, ugh… His fingers started to grow and morph into long, sharp points like needles. Like, out to here.” He held his right hand up and indicated a length about 6 inches from the tips of his fingers with his other hand. “He said he’d find out the answers he wanted one way or another himself.”

Midoriya had to pause. His breath was starting to come in short, panicked gasps again as more memories he’d long since tried to repress came rushing back to the surface. “H-he stuck those needles into my head! He held me down and pushed his fingers through my skull down into my brain! I could actually feel the pops as they broke through the bone. And then it was like he was suddenly in my mind! I could actually feel him going through my memories!’

"I tried to fight him, but it was like he’d just push in deeper. There was nothing I could do to stop him. It was like he could rip my mind open like a book to whatever page he wanted and see whatever memories were there. He made me remember things. It was like I was actually reliving them with Rorschach watching from the sidelines.’

"I don’t know how long he was in my head that first time. It felt like hours. When he finally stopped and I came back to myself my face was covered in blood. It hurt to think for a long time after that. I had a horrible migraine. I was almost grateful for the darkness after he left…”

Midoriya fought back a sob. His hands were shaking with the force of his memories. Tears streamed down his face without reserve. He wished he could calm himself, but he didn’t seem strong enough to fight it.

“They left me alone for awhile after that. I couldn’t stand to eat or drink anything when they brought me my next meal. I was too sick from the headache. I thought maybe he’d be done after that time, but what felt like several days later he came back and did it again. But that time he went looking through different memories. He did that over and over again until everything started to blur together and I didn’t know if I was in my memories or in that room. And it always hurt as bad as the first time.’

"Sometimes they’d leave me alone for long stretches of time in between Rorschach’s "sessions.” That’s what he liked to call them - sessions. It was like they would purposely wait until the loneliness was starting to get to me before they’d come back and start the whole process over again. Every time a session was done I would have to sit there and wonder if that was the time they would leave me to rot in the dark, or if Rorschach was going to come back the next day and start playing with my head again. It got to the point where I didn’t even know what was worse: the waiting or the torture. I would flip-flop back and forth between them which one I hoped it would be that time. It was like a sick game. Like they were messing with me to torture me even when Rorschach wasn’t there to stick needles inside my skull.’

“It was sometime after Rorschach started his sessions that he and Shigaraki started experimenting with that serum. They wanted to see how much they could control me with it. Rorschach said he made it specially for me. Whenever they would inject it I would get so mad and see red. I couldn’t control myself. I just wanted to punch and kill things. Rorschach would sometimes pull memories for me to focus on and be mad about before they gave an injection. They were almost always of All Might. But sometimes they were of other people too… I don’t know how long that went on, but like I said, it felt like years…”

His testimony done, Midoriya fell abruptly silent, his breath hitching in angry little sobs. The shaking in his hands had spread to his back and shoulders. Drawing his knees to his chest, Midoriya wrapped his arms around his sides to hug himself close.

The adults were quiet for several long moments of silence. Each of them appeared visibly disturbed by what he’d just heard.

“What a truly horrifying quirk…” Nezu murmured.

With a small gasp, All Might suddenly sat up straight. “The scars… Recovery Girl told us about them. She didn’t know what they were from before, but now…” All Might leaned towards Midoriya. “May I?” he asked, holding his hands out to Midoriya. He stopped just short of actually touching the boy though. He seemed mindful of Midoriya’s new aversion to touch.

Midoriya hesitated before reluctantly nodding his head. He wasn’t sure what All Might wanted from him, but it didn’t seem like he wanted to hurt him.

Gently, as though afraid to move too quickly for fear of spooking the boy, All Might pushed the curly mop of bangs back from Midoriya’s forehead with the edge of one hand. Five dark pink circular scars dotted the edges of Midoriya’s hairline. Bringing his other hand up in front of Midoriya’s face like the disembodied hand Shigaraki always wore, All Might was able to match each of his fingertips to the scars. He looked back over his shoulder at the other men. Heavy looks were exchanged between them.

All Might let Midoriya’s hair fall back into his face. His eyes shined with utter heartbreak. “My boy… I’m so sorry. No one should ever have to go through something like that. I promise you I won’t let Shigaraki or this Rorschach ever hurt you again.”

Midoriya looked away, suddenly exhausted. He’d done what he’d promised. He’d told Tsukauchi about his time with the League. Maybe now they would finally let him lay down and rest. All he wanted to do right now was sleep.

“Can… can we please stop?” he asked, hopefully glancing at Tsukauchi. “I don’t want to talk anymore right now. I’m really tired…”

“Of course,” Tsukauchi nodded. He seemed strangely somber and withdrawn. He closed and returned his notepad to his suit jacket. “We can talk more later after you’ve had some time to rest. Thank you for talking as much as you have.”

“Yes,” Nezu agreed, hopping down from the side of the bed. “We will come back tomorrow. There is a lot we have to do with this information. All Might, I assume you’re going to stay here and keep watch over Midoriya?”

“Yes,” All Might nodded without any hesitation.

“I’m going to stay too,” Aizawa growled from the corner. He seemed strangely angry all of a sudden.

Nezu leveled a worried look on 1-A’s homeroom teacher. “You’ve been awake since Midoriya was brought to Tartarus. You need to get some rest. I’m sure All Might can keep watch over things until you come back.”

Aizawa shook his head. “I might take a quick powernap, but I’m not leaving my student yet.”

Nezu did not seem willing to get into an argument with Aizawa. “If that’s what you’d like to do, that’s your choice. But I will look into bringing some other heroes here tomorrow to relieve you.”

Aizawa shrugged, no longer interested in the conversation. He seemed lost in thought. Or maybe he was just so tired he’d zoned out into a sleep deprived stupor.

“Go ahead and relax,” All Might said, starting to fuss over Midoriya again. “I’ll stay here and watch you. I won’t let anyone hurt you while you’re asleep. I promise.”

Too tired and emotionally drained to protest, Midoriya slid down against the pillow. It had been so long since he’d been in a real bed. He wondered if he was going to be able to stay awake long enough for Tsubaki and Recovery Girl to come back. He was actually rather thirsty now after talking to Tsukauchi. He didn’t think he was going to have any problem drinking whatever Tsubaki gave him.

In any case, he’d done what they’d asked of him and told his story. Hopefully he could sleep without any nightmares.

***

Aizawa was tired.

That really shouldn’t have come as a surprise for how long he’d been awake. He was pretty sure he’d just set a new record for himself keeping watch over his student. He had, in fact, taken Nezu’s advice the night before and allowed himself several hours of uninterrupted sleep propped in a chair in the corner of Midoriya’s room.

It was early morning now. Sunlight weakly shined through the barred window beside Aizawa, warming his side and tempting him to let himself drift away into another nap like a cat. Aizawa ignored the urge. He had a job to do.

He felt slightly more alert now after his power nap. He no longer felt like he was about to drop from exhaustion. His eyes, though, still felt like they were full of gritty sand. Aizawa’s stash of eye drops was getting dangerously low. He would have liked to sleep a few more hours but he didn’t feel comfortable doing so while so much uncertainty still hung over his student.

Midoriya had mercifully slept through the night, curled on his side under heavy blankets. After dinner and several bottles of water he’d promptly slipped into unconsciousness. Several times he’d become distressed and cried out in his sleep. Without waking the boy, All Might had been able to quiet him with a gentle hand on Midoriya’s back and a murmur of soft words in his ear. Midoriya had yet to wake.

Aizawa glanced across the room at All Might. The blond hero hadn’t moved from his spot by Midoriya’s bedside all night. He sat hunched forward in his seat like a drooping scarecrow. Exhaustion and heartbroken helplessness shadowed the man’s skeletal features as he stared at his sleeping student.

Aizawa understood All Might’s distress. Listening to Midoriya’s recount of his time with the League of Villains had made Aizawa’s stomach churn and his blood boil. He’d barely been able to contain his rage as he’d listened to the torture Shigaraki and this new villain, Rorschach, has subjected his student to. Before becoming a teacher at UA he’d worked for several years as an underground hero. He’d seen countless horrors and bore witness to the worst of what humanity was capable of inflicting on each other.

But this… This torture, degradation, and rape of the mind that Midoriya had described was a level of evil Aizawa had not encountered before. It made him want to hunt down these villains and hurt them as badly as they’d hurt his student.

But he couldn’t. There was no time for revenge when so much damage still had to be healed – if healing was even a possibility at this point. He had a responsibility as Midoriya’s teacher to be there and protect the boy from himself if the need arose. He would not leave Midoriya. At least not yet. He would watch over his student for now. But if he ever saw Shigaraki again…

Aizawa didn’t know what he’d do exactly. But it probably wouldn’t be something becoming of a hero.

The shuffle of footsteps and a murmur of voices coming down the hallway alerted Aizawa to newcomers. Casting his sleeping student a quick glance, Aizawa went to the doorway to meet them. He didn’t want anyone disturbing Midoriya if it wasn’t necessary. The boy had been through enough. All Might remained by Midoriya’s bedside.

“Good morning,” Nezu brightly greeted as the Erasing Hero emerged into the hallway. The prison guards stationed on either side of the doorway remained as silent and motionless as stone sentries. Nezu seemed determined to ignore their presence – as if he could pretend they weren’t in a maximum security prison and instead just having a pleasant conversation in the halls of UA. “I hope there were no issues overnight?”

“No,” Aizawa confirmed in a hushed voice. “Midoriya slept through the night better than expected. No other incidents like the one with the IV line.”

Aizawa glanced at the two people that accompanied Nezu. “I see you brought reinforcements.”

“As promised,” Nezu confirmed.

“We volunteered to come relieve you and All Might after Principal Nezu explained the situation this morning in an emergency teacher meeting,” Cementos explained. “We’ll watch over Midoriya so you and All Might can have some time to rest.”

“Yea, got ta say, you’re not lookin’ real hot right now, Shouta.”

Aizawa glared at his other replacement. “You brought Mic?” he growled at Nezu.

“He volunteered,” Nezu explained with a chirp. “As a UA teacher Yamada is more than capable of keeping order in the unlikely event Midoriya suddenly becomes violent again.”

Present Mic pretended to look wounded. “What’s the matter, Shouta? Aren’t you glad to see me? Nezu told us how hard you’ve been working. I volunteered to come to Tartarus so you could get a nap.”

It was at that moment All Might appeared in the doorway. “Principal Nezu,” he greeted in a hushed voice. “Yamada. Ishiyama. Thank you for coming.” He joined them in the hallway.

“All Might, are you alright?” Cementos asked. Open worry shined in his eyes. Yamada also seemed taken aback.

Aizawa only then realized how startling All Might must be to Present Mic and Cementos. They hadn’t seen him since before his clash with Midoriya at the train station. The older hero was still in his skinny form. Under normal circumstances that wouldn’t be so disconcerting. All the teachers at UA knew about All Might’s time limit for bulking into his public persona. But the extra dark shadows around his eyes and haggard way he held himself – like he bore the entire weight of the world on his withered shoulders – was new. In the harsh glow of the prison’s florescent lights, All Might seemed to have aged several decades over the last few days. To see their country’s unbendable Symbol of Peace so beaten and emotionally drained was unsettling.

All Might did not seem willing to meet any of their eyes. “I’m fine. Just didn’t get any sleep last night. I wanted to make sure I was awake in case Midoriya needed me.”

Nezu hummed with concern. He said something to All Might which Aizawa didn’t catch. Aizawa’s attention was locked back onto his childhood friend.

Stepping forward, he gripped Yamada by the arm and dragged him several paces down the hallway away from the others.

“Ow, ow, ow!” Yamada yelped in pain.

“Be quiet!” Aizawa snarled into Yamada’s face. He glared at his childhood friend over the folds of his capture weapon. “This was why I wasn’t happy to see you. In case Nezu didn’t fully explain what’s going on, my student is currently sleeping in that room trying to recover from two months of extended torture at the hands of villains.”

Yamada quieted, sullenly rubbing his arm where Aizawa had grabbed him. “Nezu did explain what’s going on. He told us the League has a new villain that has needles for fingers and can manipulate other people’s minds with his quirk.” Yamada gave a visible shudder of revulsion. “Said they were also using some kind of drug on Midoriya that was making him act crazy.”

“Exactly,” Aizawa growled. “Midoriya is emotionally and mentally unstable right now and doesn’t need someone like you around screaming at the top of his lungs. He needs peace and quiet so he can rest. If you’re going to stay here you have to promise me you aren’t going to do anything to disturb him. Your main mission here is to be quiet and stop Midoriya from hurting himself or anyone else if he has a sudden relapse. Do I make myself perfectly clear?”

“Yea, yea, crystal,” Yamada groused. “No need to go all Scary Teacher Mode on me.” Growing serious, he met Aizawa’s eyes. “How bad is it?”

Aizawa gave a weary huff, his shoulders sagging with a sudden rush of exhaustion. It was only in front of Yamada that Aizawa felt comfortable enough to show such weakness. “It’s bad. The League messed with Midoriya’s mind so he’s not sure what’s real anymore. They made him believe that everyone he thought he could trust – his friends, the police, heroes, even All Might – abandoned him to the League. He’s angry and confused. He’s been hurt in ways we’re still not sure the full extent of. And, unfortunately, he has a quirk that makes him very dangerous if he gets angry. If I hadn’t been there at the train station I’m not sure if All Might would have been able to stop Midoriya’s drugged out rampage. And to top all that off, Shigaraki made a very clear threat that he plans to come after the boy again.”

“Nezu’s looking to do a complete security system overhaul of UA’s campus,” Yamada said. “I think having one of the kids kidnapped and turned against us has him scared of it happening again. He’s still putting up a bright and optimistic front, but this situation has definitely gotten to him.”

Aizawa nodded, a wave of possessive anger rising in the back of his throat. “He’s not the only one. If I ever see Shigaraki again or meet that doctor that hurt Midoriya I swear to all the gods I will personally make sure that neither of them hurt anyone else again…”

Yamada eyed Aizawa for a long moment of silence, his gaze solemn. “Let’s just hope Shigaraki’s not stupid enough to actually try following through on his threat,” he finally said. “I’d hate to have to make a habit of visiting you in prison.”

The sound of more footsteps coming down the hallway made both men look up. More visitors wouldn’t necessarily have been a cause for alert if one set of footsteps wasn’t the distinct clack-clack of women’s heels on tile. Aizawa knew it wasn’t Recovery Girl. Recovery Girl had long ago given up wearing heels and now only wore flat, soft-soled boots. No, this was some other woman.

Out of the corner of his eye Aizawa saw All Might swell to his full size.

The group of teachers turned as a group towards the sound just as Detective Tsukauchi rounded a corner and came into view. A short, plump woman with green hair accompanied him. She walked with a noticeable skip of urgency in her gait, as if it was taking everything in her power to remain by the detective and not just run ahead of him. Visitor badges hung on lanyards around their necks.

“Mrs. Midoriya,” Nezu greeted. He, Cementos, and All Might came to stand beside Aizawa and Yamada. “Thank you for coming so quickly. My name is Nezu. I am your son’s principal at UA High School.”

He and the other teachers all offered bows of respect to Inko Midoriya.

Inko, for her part, seemed unsure how to immediately respond. There was a frazzled look in her eyes as if she was still trying to figure out if everything that was happening was real or some kind of fever dream. “I- yes, thank you. Pleasure to meet you all.” She gave a hasty bow before righting herself and looking at each man questioningly. “Detective Tsukauchi called me earlier this morning. Said that my Izuku is still alive. Is this true? Is my son really still alive?”

There was a pained note of desperation in her voice, as if she was afraid to believe what she’d been told was really true. A line of tears was beginning to bead along the bottom of already tired, tear-reddened eyes.

Nezu nodded. “Yes. I know this must be quite a shock, but Izuku was not killed in a villain attack like we all originally thought. We were able to rescue him from the villains that were holding him and place him into protective custody.”

“In a prison?” Inko said, incredulously making an all-encompassing gesture towards the building around them. “Why does my boy need to be protected in a prison?”

“There were some unforeseen circumstances surrounding his rescue,” Aizawa explained. “The villains that were holding him were using powerful hallucinogenic drugs on him and had a specialist with a quirk that made Izuku believe things that never actually happened which warped his sense of reality. When he was rescued he was acting violently and was a danger to everyone around him. For both his protection and everyone else’s he had to be brought to a secure location where he could detox and doctors could do a medical assessment.”

Inko seemed too distraught by this information to know how to respond.

“Mrs. Midoriya,” All Might carefully spoke up. “I understand how disturbing this must be to hear, but we are going to do everything in our power to help young Izuku. I swear to you I will make it my personal mission to help him recover. I will not let him go through this by himself.”

Nezu nodded in agreement. “Yes. Izuku is UA’s most important student right now. Its entire faculty, staff, and alumni are here to help. The police department has also-”

“Please,” Inko weakly interrupted, the tears in her eyes welling dangerously. “I appreciate everything that everyone has done and plans to do for Izuku but I honestly don’t care about that right now. Right now I just want to see my son.” Several tears slipped down her cheeks. She took an unsteady gasp of air that sounded more like an overwhelmed sob. She appeared to barely be holding herself together. “I’ve just spent the last two months believing my son was dead. Right now I just want to see Izuku and know he’s still alive for myself.”

“Mom?” a soft voice drifted into the hallway from the hospital room.

Inko’s ears perked, her eyes widening with hope. A renewed sense of urgency seemed to engulf her.

“Izuku?” She frantically pushed her way past the knot of teachers clogging the hallway. “Honey, is that really you?”

Inko hesitated at the sight of the prison guards stationed on either side of the door with their stun rifles. But with a renewed look of determination she hurried past them and disappeared inside the room. There was a brief pause before a sharp wail of near-hysterical joy echoed out of the room, followed shortly by a cacophony of muffled sobs.

Aizawa and the other men stared after her in downcast silence. This should have been a happy moment. What greater joy could there be for a hero than to be able to reunite a mother with a child she’d thought she’d lost?

But this did not feel like a victory. At least not to Aizawa. And he doubted it did to All Might or anyone else there. It did not feel like a victory to return a child to his mother when that child had been so terribly tortured, defiled, and abused. There was so little of the original Midoriya that Aizawa recognized anymore. If not for his face, Aizawa wondered if Midoriya’s mother would still recognize her own son.

No. This did not feel like a victory. If anything it felt like another twist of a knife in the stomach by Shigaraki. Listening to Midoriya’s mother cry in distraught joy Aizawa renewed the promise he’d made to himself. If he ever saw Shigaraki again the man was not going to walk away alive.

Midoriya woke with a spastic jerk. He didn’t immediately remember where he was and sat up quickly. The room was empty and dimly lit. But it was not his cell in the League of Villains’ hideout he realized after several panicked moments of confusion. As his heart rate evened into a steady rhythm, Midoriya realized he was in a bed with several blankets draped over him. When he’d been Shigaraki’s captive none of the villains had ever given him blankets, let alone an actual bed.

That’s right… He was currently in Tartarus’s hospital wing. All Might and Aizawa had rescued him from the League of Villains and brought him to the maximum security prison to detox Rorschach’s drugs. Once again he was being held captive. But at least for the moment, he was not being hurt or tortured.

Relaxing a bit back against the pillow, Midoriya glanced around the room. It seemed to be morning. Sunlight was coming in through the only window. He must have slept through the night. If he’d had any dreams he didn’t remember them. Midoriya couldn’t remember the last time he’d been able to sleep so well. For the first time in as long as Midoriya could remember, he actually felt rested and alert. His headache from the day before was mostly gone, though his mouth still felt cottony. He wondered if Recovery Girl and the gruff prison doctor would bring him more water whenever they came to check on him.

As Midoriya rubbed the sleep from his eyes he caught the murmur of voices in the hallway just outside his room. The door to the room was open. From where he sat Midoriya could just make out the outline of a prison guard standing at attention on the other side of the doorframe. He was pretty sure it was a stun rifle the guard held at the ready against his chest.

Unaware of his own actions, Midoriya’s arms wrapped across his stomach and around his sides in memory of the straightjacket that had made him feel safe from himself not that long ago. He shouldn’t forget where he was. Even if his former idol and homeroom teacher had “saved” him, he couldn’t forget he was a prisoner again. He still wasn’t sure if they were ever going to let him leave Tartarus after what he’s done. He was a dangerous villain now. He’d hurt other people with his quirk. For all Midoriya knew they were getting ready to throw him back inside a cell right now.

The murmur of voices was barely louder than a whisper. Midoriya stilled his breathing to try and hear better. He could pick out what sounded like All Might’s deep baritone amidst the others. He thought he also heard the squeaky chirp of Principal Nezu’s voice, but distinct words were indiscernible. Every so often he thought he caught the murmur of his name, but couldn’t say for certain in what context he was being discussed.

A sour note of dread formed in the bottom of his stomach. What if they were deciding what they were going to do with him? Would they give him a chance to defend himself before they put him back inside a cell? Did he even deserve a chance to plead for mercy? A part of him felt like he deserved to go back inside a cell and never see sunlight again. Not after what he’d done at that train station…

The murmur of voices abruptly quieted as two sets of footsteps approached. Within a few seconds the voices started again. Midoriya strained to hear what they were saying. A morbid sense of curiosity compelled him. If he had an inkling of what was coming he could prepare himself to accept whatever fate they were deciding for him.

He couldn’t make out anything they were saying before he was finally able to discern the higher pitched tone of a woman. “Please…” it whispered in and out of hearing, “…plans to do for Izuku but… see my son…”

Tears stung Midoriya’s eyes as his mother’s voice finally registered in his brain. It took him a moment to find his voice the rush of frayed emotions was so intense.

“Mom?” he called to the door. He wanted to get out of bed and rush for the door to see if it really was his mother. He remained where he was though. He’d been tricked into believing things that weren’t really there before. It had been one of Rorschach’s favorite games. He also didn’t know if the guards would turn their guns on him he suddenly got up and ran towards them.

“Izuku? Honey, is that really you?” his mother tearfully called back.

Midoriya couldn’t find his voice to answer. His throat was constricted with emotions. Tears blurred his vision. He waited with baited breath as footsteps hurriedly approached the door.

And suddenly his mother was there.

Inko froze several steps inside the room, her eyes wide and filled with terrified hope. She stared at Izuku as though wondering if she wasn’t really seeing a ghost.

Mother and son stared at each other for several moments of overwhelmed silence before a sob of hysterical joy burst from Inko. In a green blur, she rushed the bed and suddenly Izuku was enveloped in his mother’s arms.

“My baby!” Inko wailed into the top of Izuku’s head. “It’s really you!” Her grip was crushing, almost as if she was trying to absorb her son back into her body where she could keep him close and safe. “You’re really alive!”

“Mom!” Izuku greedily hugged his mother back, wrapping his arms around her back and pulling her to him in sheer desperation to feel the sheltering protection of her presence. He buried his face in the side of her neck and released a body-wracking sob he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding inside until now. Like a flood dam breaking, all the despair, loneliness, and horror of the last two months came rushing to the surface. He gripped his mother tighter.

For the first time in as long as Izuku could remember he finally felt safe. The soft, pudgy warmth of his mother’s arms squeezed him so hard Izuku imagined he could actually feel the broken pieces of his soul being pushed back together. In that moment Izuku almost felt whole again.

Overwhelmed with emotions, Inko blindly rocked Izuku back and forth where they sat. Mother and son continued to sob against each other, locked in each other’s embrace and lost in the sheer magnitude of the realization that this was real and the other was actually there – alive and real.

Izuku didn’t know how long they stayed like that. But his eyes were swollen and his throat raw from crying when Inko finally relaxed her hold around him and sat back. Breaking apart, Inko cupped Izuku’s cheeks and stared up at him as though desperate to remember every curve of her son’s face.

“My Izuku,” she sobbed. She seemed unable to process that he was really there. Her lower lip trembled as she spoke. Her face was red and wet with tears and snot. Izuku doubted he looked any better. “You’re still alive… You’re really still alive. I spent so long believing you were dead…”

“I’m sorry,” Izuku heartbrokenly whispered. He could never stand seeing his mother upset. She looked so tired. He couldn’t remember ever seeing his mother with such dark circles around her eyes. Worry lines Izuku didn’t remembered being there before his kidnapping creased the corners of her mouth. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to make you worry.”

“I wasn't worried,” Inko clarified with a choked off sob. “I was devastated when the police told me what happened at that shopping mall. I thought my boy was gone. That you were dead.”

Izuku squeezed his eyes shut and turned his face away in shame. “I’m sorry, mom. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” A fresh rush of guilt washed over him. His arms snaked down across his stomach to hug his sides.

“Honey,” Inko gently tutted, pulling her son into another hug. Izuku melted into her embrace. At least in his mother’s arm he didn’t feel like he was about to fall apart at the seams. “I’m not blaming you. How could I ever do that? It’s just… I was so broken by losing you. I thought you were dead. There wasn’t even a body for me to hold a funeral for. You were just gone. And I… I just…” Inko wasn’t able to finish her thought as a new round of sobs overtook her and she dissolved once again into tears.

Izuku tightly hugged his mother in apology. Silent tears of remembered despair dampened the shoulder of his mother’s sweater. This was all he’d wanted for so long. To see his mother and be reminded there was at least one person who had missed him and wanted him back.

Several minutes later when the two regained some semblance of control again, Izuku leaned back and met his mother’s teary gaze. Now that the immediate joy and relief of seeing his mother was beginning to ebb, the uncertainty and lingering doubts of his rescue began to creep back. One of the reason’s he’d wanted to see his mother so badly was to get the truth. Inko had never lied to him in his life. If he could ask anyone this and finally trust the answer, it would be his mother.

“Mom… after the shopping mall attack, did you see All Might give a press conference about me being kidnapped? Did you hear about the League of Villains making any ransom demands for my release?”

Inko seemed confused by the question. “No, dear. The evening you disappeared police came to the apartment. They said there had been a villain attack and thought you might have been caught up in it.” Inko’s eyes misted with tears, but she somehow managed to keep herself from bursting into a new round of sobs. “They had me come down to the police station and ID your backpack. There… there wasn’t anything else for me to identify as yours…”

Inko fished a tissue from her purse and dabbed at her eyes. “When I did they said that the villain that attacked the mall had a quirk that turns people to dust. None of your friends could find you and there wasn’t anything they could find that proved you were still alive. They… they told me it looked like you were dead.” A sob slipped past Inko’s resolve to maintain her composure. “I refused to let them list you as dead for several days in case you came back. But you never did and the police finally said they had to list you as killed in the attack.”

Inko stared into Izuku’s eyes. Nothing but honesty and sincerity was conveyed. “That attack was the talk of all the news channels for several weeks because so many people died. But All Might never gave any press conference about it. All the newscasters were saying he should make a statement, especially since one of his own students had been killed. But he never did. I… I did not deal with things well after I thought you’d died. I don’t remember much of what I saw on television. It was so hard for me to find the strength to get through the day or focus on much of anything those first couple weeks. But I know All Might never talked to the press. Of that I’m certain.”

Against his will, new tears stung Izuku’s eyes. His lower lip began to quiver. Bowing his head he leaned forward in silent plea for his mother to hug him. Inko immediately complied. She pulled him to her bosom and wrapped warm arms of safety around his quaking shoulders.

“What’s wrong?” Inko pleaded. “Why’s it so important if All Might gave a press conference or not?”

“Because I was afraid you were going to say something like that!” Izuku cried into her shoulder. “I thought I knew what happened to me, but now I don’t! I was so angry for so long because I thought All Might had abandoned me, but now I don’t know what’s real anymore! I don’t know what to believe. At first I thought everyone was just lying to me. But… If you’re saying what All Might said is true, what else isn’t real?”

Inko was silent for several moment as though trying to decide how best to respond.

“I don’t know, Izuku,” she finally murmured. She hugged him tighter as though she could somehow smother away his pain with the sheer force of her love. “I honestly don’t know… All I know right now is that you’re still alive. And as long as you’re still alive we can figure everything else out as we go. Until this morning I never thought I’d see you again.” Inko’s voice caught for a moment in the back of her throat. “For now… let’s just focus on you being alive and back with us. Okay?”

Izuku gripped his mother tighter. He couldn’t reply past the knot in his throat. His mother’s arms were a sanctuary of warmth and protection. But there were some things not even the love of a mother could protect her child from. Yes, Izuku might be back. Yes, he might still be alive. But so much had happened to him that his mother knew nothing about. And he hoped he would never have to tell her the details of his captivity. He doubted she would be able to handle it. She had already suffered so much because of him.

No. For now he would let her celebrate his return. But that did not change the fact Izuku no longer trusted his own memories. Everything he thought was real was in question. And if he couldn’t even trust himself how could he hope to go back to the life he once knew?

Despite Cementos and Present Mic’s arrival, All Might and Aizawa did not immediately leave the prison. Now that Midoriya’s mother was there, there were a number of important things that needed to be discussed. Nezu and Tsukauchi were to lead the discussion. As the boy’s mentor and homeroom teacher, All Might and Aizawa opted to stay and sit in on the meeting. If All Might was being completely honest with himself, he wasn’t staying just out of professional responsibility. The truth was he wasn’t ready to let his resurrected successor out of his sight quite yet. The thought of leaving Midoriya made All Might’s stomach clench with a rush of anxiety. He’d spent too long believing the boy dead to leave him now so easily.

They gave mother and son an hour before they felt it was appropriate to interrupt their reunion.

All Might quietly followed Nezu and Tsukauchi into the room after a soft knock on the doorframe by Tsukauchi. Aizawa slouched in after him. Present Mic and Cementos remained outside in the hallway.

“Good morning,” Nezu chirped in greetings as they all entered. “If it’s not too much trouble, Detective Tsukauchi and I would like to discuss some things now that Mrs. Midoriya is here.”

Izuku and Inko seemed to have mostly calmed down since Inko’s arrival. Both of them still had puffy eyes and watery expressions, but otherwise seemed composed. Inko sat close beside Izuku’s bedside on the same stool All Might had spent the majority of the night watching Izuku sleep. Although calm, Inko gripped her son’s hand tightly as if afraid if she let him go he’d disappear in a cloud of smoke.

All Might couldn’t fault her need to be near her son. He was still having trouble processing Izuku’s return even now almost three days after his unexpected return. He couldn’t imagine what the last two months had been like for Izuku’s mother.

Inko nodded, her grip tightening around her son’s hand. She hastily wiped at her face and hair with her free hand as though trying to freshen herself before a parent-teacher meeting. “Of course. What is it you want to discuss?”

With a little help from the detective, Nezu seated himself on the edge of the bed near Izuku’s feet. Tsukauchi took a seat in one the other chairs. All Might and Aizawa remained standing behind them.

Tsukauchi kicked off the meeting. “Mrs. Midoriya, I first off want to reiterate some of what I told you in the car on the way here for Izuku’s sake. The police department will continue to investigate Izuku’s kidnapping and work to bring those villains responsible to justice. Until the doctors give him a clear bill of health the plan is to keep Izuku here in Tartarus where we can be sure he is safe and secure. Once he’s cleared to leave we will take steps to ensure he remains protected from any other villain attacks. Unfortunately, during his retrieval from the League, Shigaraki made a direct threat to come after him again.”

Izuku seemed surprised. “You mean… you’re not going to keep me locked up here in Tartarus? I thought… I was afraid that since I hurt people with my quirk that I was going to be locked up here permanently. I broke the law…”

“Of course not, my boy,” All Might instinctively assured. His stomach clenched with the realization of what Izuku must have thought they were planning to do with him. “You are in no way to blame for what happened. Shigaraki was manipulating you. What happened at that train station was not your fault. You are not a villain and I won’t let anyone treat you like one.”

“All Might’s right,” Tsukauchi nodded. “No one is planning to put you in jail. Once it’s certain you’re on the mends you will be released from Tartarus as a free person.”

Izuku initially seemed relieved by this announcement but then seemed to withdraw inside himself, as though he doubted he deserved such mercy.

“That brings us to our next point,” Nezu carefully spoke up. “Due to recent events, UA is taking measures to better ensure the safety of its students. It has been an idea I’ve toyed around with for several years now, but after Izuku’s kidnapping I feel it is my duty as principal to make sure he is safe from any more villain attacks, both on campus and off. That’s why, effective immediately, UA is changing to a dorming style model. As we speak, construction workers are breaking ground on new student dormitories. They are scheduled to be complete by next week. All students will reside on campus where they will be monitored and protected by professional heroes and state-of-the-art security systems 24/7.”

All Might wasn’t sure how he thought Inko would react to such news but her response was not something he was expecting.

“No,” Inko said, firmly shaking her head. Her teary expression had been almost instantly replaced by one of firm resolve. “After Izuku’s released from here he’s coming home. He’s done with your school.” She squeezed her son’s hand harder as though to reassure herself he was still there. “He’s been through too much. And this was only his first year too! I can’t trust you to keep my son safe. I already went through losing him once. If something else happened to him I know I won’t survive. I won’t let you put him in any more danger. He’s coming home with me so he can move on and leave all this dangerous nonsense of heroes and villains to other people. I won’t let him be put in any more danger.”

“Unfortunately, we can’t let Izuku just go home,” Tsukauchi said. “He has to return to school. The leader of the League of Villains made a direct threat to come after him again. Going back to UA with its new security enhancements is the only way to ensure his safety.”

Inko remained undeterred. “Then we’ll leave Japan! My husband works abroad. We’ll move. We’ll move far enough away no villain will ever find us. We’ll changed identities if we have to. I’ll move Izuku to the other side of the planet if that’s what it takes. But he is not going back to that school. Not after everything that’s happened.”

“There’s no guarantee that will work,” Tsukauchi sadly informed her. “Despite all my taskforce’s efforts we still don’t know how powerful or widespread the League’s influence is. And if they do recapture Izuku, what then? UA is the only place that can ensure Izuku remains under constant surveillance by pro heroes. We also don’t know the full extent of the damage the League inflicted on Izuku yet. UA has an entire staff of professionals who can help him reintegrate. From previous experience working with victims of prolonged captivity, the time spent with the enemy doesn’t magically disappear once they’ve been freed.”

Nezu nodded in agreement. “At UA Izuku has friends and staff to fall back on that can help support him. UA has a responsibility of care to Izuku. He deserves the best care he can get and UA can provide that.”

Izuku hung his head. Overlong bangs hid his face in shadows. “So… I can’t go home?”

Tsukauchi shook his head sympathetically. “Unfortunately not. We can’t risk it. The League surely knows where you live or could easily find out. Your mother would be in danger if you go home. I’ve already made arrangements to have a patrol unit placed on your residence for her protection, but having you there too raises the chances of the League attacking. For her safety as well as yours, your best bet is to return to UA.”

Izuku sat for a long moment of angry silence. “You know I can’t do that,” he finally hissed. “I can’t knowingly put my mom in any danger.”

“You will be safe at UA,” Nezu insisted. “There we can get you whatever professional help you need to reintegrate with your classmates and continue with your hero track studies.”

“But what if I don’t want to be a hero anymore?”

The question took a moment to register in All Might’s mind. When it finally did he wasn’t sure whether to believe he’d heard what he just thought he did or not.

“You… you want to quit?” he somehow found his voice. His trademark smile was dangerously close to slipping from his face.

What he thought he just heard was impossible. Izuku might be battered and beaten, but there was no way his idealistic protégé was actually saying what All Might thought he was. Izuku Midoriya had come too far and worked too hard to actually be considering giving up his dream of becoming a pro hero. All Might refused to believe that was what Midoriya was saying.

For his part, Izuku stared into his lap as though warring with his own thoughts and emotions. “I… I don’t know…” he mumbled in tired confusion. He rubbed at his temple as though fighting off a headache. “I just don’t know if I’m right for hero work anymore. Shigaraki made me do so many bad things… I hurt Kacchan. I tried to kill you. I don’t know if I trust myself anymore. How do I know I won’t go berserk again and try to hurt someone else?”

“We won’t let that happen,” All Might insisted. The knot in his stomach was tightening. He’d just gotten his protégé back. He felt almost panicked at the thought of losing Izuku again, even if it wasn’t to the jaws of death. “We will get you back on track. What happened with Shigaraki and the League doesn’t have you derail your dreams. I know you’re scared and that you feel guilty about what happened, but that just proves what you did under Shigaraki’s influence wasn’t really you. I will help you get back to where you were before all this happened. I am not giving up on you. You can still be a hero.”

“Whether Izuku decides to continue in the hero track or not is immaterial at this point,” Aizawa tiredly interrupted. “Whatever he decides, the only logical place for him to be is at UA. We can keep him safe there while he decides what he ultimately wants to do.”

“That’s right,” Nezu agreed. “Izuku does not have to make any decisions about his studies right now. Right now the only thing that’s important is ensuring that he’s safe and gets the care he needs.”

All Might waited with baited breath. Neither Izuku or his mother appeared particularly happy with this idea. Their eyes met and mother and son exchanged a long, heavy look. His heart clenched at the dejected look of disappointment in his successor’s eyes.

“I just wanted to go home…” Izuku murmured, looking back into his lap. “Every moment I spent in that cell all I wanted to do was go home. But now I can’t even do that…”

“I’m so sorry,” All Might commiserated, his heart aching with sympathy for his student. “But we will help you. I swear to you I will do everything in my power to help you. You will not have to do this alone.”

Izuku didn’t immediately answer. Then with a resigned sigh, “Fine. I’ll go back to UA…”

For some reason, Izuku’s capitulation did not buoy All Might with much hope.

Midoriya did not hear much of anything else the adults said after that. His mother took over the conversation from there. He thought they were discussing plans for once he was discharged from the prison and was able to be transferred to the school’s campus. Izuku heard little of it. His thoughts were focused on the fact that he was to return to UA where he was supposed to carry on as if the last two months never happened.

He doubted Bakugo or any of his classmates that had been at the train station would forget his stint as Shigaraki’s attack dog. Already he dreaded having to face them and pretend like he had any right to be on the same campus as them after his shameful rampage. No matter what All Might said he no longer felt like he deserved to call himself a hero in training.

His teachers’ reassurances felt hollow to Izuku. They still didn’t know everything Shigaraki and Rorschach had done to him. They had no comprehension of how much rage and fear still simmered under his skin. Izuku didn’t know if he trusted himself to be among his classmates. Who knew what he was still capable of, or what triggers might still exist from Rorschach’s conditioning…

Lost in dark, wandering thoughts Izuku only came back to himself when Tsukauchi looked at his watch and abruptly stood from his seat. “I’m afraid I can’t stay much longer. I must get back to the precinct. Mrs. Midoriya, may I speak with you in the hallway for a moment before I go? There are some details I want to discuss with you about the patrol unit we’re going to assign to you. No need to bore Izuku with the details.”

“I-” Inko glanced at Izuku as though warring with her desire to comply with the detective’s request and her newfound need to keep her son in sight.

“It’s okay,” Izuku said, forcing a weak smile onto his face. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Alright,” Inko said. She rose to follow the detective out of the room. “I’ll be right back, dear.”

“I must go as well,” Nezu announced. “With the new dormitory plans underway, I can’t stay away from campus for long.” The mouse jumped down from the edge of Izuku’s bed, but not before offering Izuku an encouraging smile. “I know it might not feel like it right now, but you are not alone in this. Everyone is here to help you.”

“Thank you,” Midoriya politely replied. His heart wasn’t behind it though. He didn’t have much of any feelings right now except a quiet sense of dread and soul-sucking emptiness. They kept making it sound like returning to his old life was going to be so easy. Midoriya was wearied just by the thought of everything that lay ahead of him.

“Aizawa, will you be accompanying me back to the mainland?” Nezu asked as he headed for the door.

“Yes,” Aizawa agreed. The Erasing Hero cast Midoriya a parting glance as he followed Nezu out the door. “I will be back later. If Mic gets too loud you have my permission to tell him to shut up.”

“Yes, sir.”

With Aizawa’s departure, Midoriya found himself with only All Might left in the room. He stared down into his lap. He didn’t want to meet All Might’s gaze. He couldn’t think of anything to say to his former mentor. It was still so difficult to look at him. He’d resented All Might for so long for abandoning him it was awkward to be in his presence anymore.

Beyond the curtain of green bangs he hid behind he heard All Might step closer to his bedside. Midoriya’s arms unconsciously slid across his stomach to hold his sides. He couldn’t bring himself to look up and see the disappointment he knew must be on the older hero’s face.

“My boy… Did you really mean what you said before about not wanting to be a hero anymore?”

Midoriya couldn’t say why, but All Might almost sounded… distraught.

“I don’t know,” Midoriya murmured. His sight was fixated on a fold in the blanket by his knee. “I don’t know what I want anymore… but I don’t know if being a hero is one of them.”

Unfolding one arm from across his stomach he reached up and dug into the mess of curls on the side of his head. With a sharp tug he withdrew a single strand of dark green hair.

“Here,” he said, holding the strand out to All Might. “Take it back. I don’t deserve it anymore. Not after what Shigaraki made me do… Take it and find somebody better than me…”

He couldn’t bring himself to watch All Might take the hair – and with it One For All - from him. He knew it was for the best. He no longer deserved a quirk. He’d lost any right to wield such power when he’d tried to harm other people with it. That didn’t mean giving it up didn’t come with a twinge of regret and shame. He’d wanted a power to call his own for so long it felt like he was now relinquishing a piece of his very self.

When Midoriya instead felt a gentle hand pushing against his own he looked up to find All Might standing over him. The Symbol of Peace was still in his muscular form. Midoriya realized something was wrong before realizing with a jolt that there was no trace of a smile anywhere on All Might’s face. It was the first time Midoriya had ever seen All Might in his hero form without the smallest hint of teeth showing.

“No,” All Might said, shaking his head sadly. The shadows masking his eyes seemed so much darker than Midoriya ever remembered. “Keep it. You might still need it. Think this over before you make any hasty decisions. So much has happened… I know things feel very bleak right now but I’m going to help you get through this. There was a reason I chose you as my successor. I still believe in you and what you’re capable of. I don’t want you to give up on yourself so quickly.”

Midoriya couldn’t say why – maybe it was because of All Might’s display of unbreakable faith in him, or maybe it was because he was disappointed that All Might wouldn’t just accept his admission of defeat and take the strand of hair from him - but tears stung Midoriya’s eyes.

“I don’t deserve it,” Midoriya choked past the knot in his throat. “I’m a failure. Shigaraki turned me into a monster. I can’t be your successor anymore. I don’t trust myself.”

“No he didn’t. How could a boy with so much power be willing to give it up if he really was a monster? I believe in you. Just… please. Don’t give up on yourself yet. I know there’s still fight in you. You’re a fighter. It’s one of the reasons I chose you. Don’t let Shigaraki beat you. I promise you, we’ll get through this together. I didn’t abandon you then and I’m not going to abandon you now.”

Midoriya retracted his hand and stared down at the strand of hair pinched between his fingers. All Might seemed to take that as a sign that Midoriya was willing to renew the fight and released a sigh. Puffing his chest out, the Symbol of Peace clapped a relieved hand against Midoriya’s back.

“We’ll get through this, young Izuku! You have my promise. I won’t let you down!”

Midoriya did not reply. All Might might not be willing to take One For All back now, but Midoriya knew it was only a matter of time before All Might finally accepted the truth and took his gift back. One For All was too powerful and dangerous a quirk to leave in Midoriya’s care. He couldn’t be trusted with it anymore. For his and everyone else’s sake Midoriya knew One For All could not stay with him.

***

“Tell me, Midoriya, why do you want to be a hero?”

The question was asked so lightly, the same way someone might ask the time. Midoriya struggled to focus on the words. It was so difficult to focus. A migraine split his head. The pain was so intense Midoriya couldn’t find the strength to even push himself to his knees. The very thought of moving made his temples pound harder and his stomach clench violently in protest.

He lay on his side on the floor of his cell. The bone-chilling coldness of the cement was almost soothing in his disoriented state of suffering. It gave him something else to focus on besides the pain. The wounds from Rorschach’s fingertips along his hairline had already knitted themselves close. Midoriya didn’t know if that rapid healing was a side effect of Rorschach’s quirk or not, but as soon as the villain fully retracted his fingers from his head the edges of the puncture marks would begin to seal themselves back together.

Blood covered his face. Midoriya could feel a small pool of it cooling in the dip between his eye socket and nose. A violent shiver rattled his frame. His head ached worst as a result. Curling against himself, Midoriya squeezed his eyes shut in a vain attempt to momentarily escape the nightmare he was currently trapped. The dim light of the single light bulb hanging from the ceiling was blinding. The clatter of thick chains around his wrists sent shockwaves of pain vibrating through his skull, stilling any more feeble attempts at movement.

“You’re being very uncooperative today,” Rorschach noted from beyond the shield of his clenched eyelids. The villain was so close. He sounded as if he was standing right over him.

Midoriya huddled tighter against himself on the ground. He’d always known being captured and subjected to torture was a very real possibility for anyone hoping to become a pro hero. They’d already covered such possibilities in class. There was a time when Midoriya had actually thought he might have a step up on some of his classmates in that area if the worst ever did happen. He’d endured enough beatings and psychological torment from Bakugo over the years that Midoriya thought he’d be able to withstand at least some of the mental strain of a capture scenario.

But Rorschach… Rorschach was not like Bakugo. At least with Bakugo his torment had been explosive, direct, and over fairly quickly. Rorschach, on the other hand, was calm, collected, and maddeningly persistent. At times Rorschach asked his questions almost as if he was a friendly councilor seeking to merely guide Midoriya. But Midoriya knew better. He’d suffered enough of Rorschach’s sessions now to not be fooled by the man’s cool, professional demeanor. Behind those questions was a man of pure sadism who only wanted answers and cared nothing about the pain he inflicted in order to get them. If Midoriya didn’t know better he would have almost said the man enjoyed this mental game of cat and mouse.

“I’ll ask you again, Midoriya,” Rorschach calmly said, dropping into a crouch beside the boy’s shivering form. “Why do you want to be a hero?”

“I… I…” Midoriya couldn’t find the words. It hurt so much to think after one of Rorschach’s assaults. It seemed to take all his strength just to string two lines of thought together. The pounding in his head was debilitating. He couldn’t bare to open his eyes and endure the harsh glare of the light bulb. It all hurt too much.

“I already know the answer. I’ve seen it with my quirk. But I need you to say it. It’s the only way for us to move forward with your treatment.”

Midoriya squeezed his eyes close harder. He weakly dug the side of his head into cement floor, wishing the ground would open up and swallow him to anyplace other than here.

“Midoriya,” Rorschach calmly persisted. “Admittance is the first step in any form of therapy. I need you to say it out loud so we can make headway in your treatment.”

“I don’t need any of your therapy,” Midoriya managed to growl. The throbbing in his temples pulsed white.

“But you do. Your particular case of Hero Complex is outstanding. I’ve only heard about such dedicated persistence to delusions before in textbooks.” There was a long pause, as though Rorschach was reevaluating his line of questioning. “I would like to avoid doing so, but if you remain so obstinate in actively working with me I will be forced to use my quirk again. We cannot allow your rehabilitation to stagnate.”

The threat was as clear and tangible as a knife to Midoriya’s throat.

Midoriya’s breathing quickened, his heart thundering against the inside of his rib cage. He didn’t want that. He didn’t want Rorschach in his mind again. Only pain came from Rorschach’s fingers. The thought of the villain riffling through his memories and making him relieve the worst moments of his life made panicked tears bead along the edges of his clenched eyelids.

“Let’s try this again,” Rorschach’s deceptively smooth voice washed over Midoriya. “Why do you want to be a hero?”

A sob slipped past Midoriya’s defenses. This particular session with Rorschach was stretching into what felt like it’s fifth hour. He wanted nothing more than to make the questions stop. “To… to help people. I want to be the kind of hero other people can look up to and trust.”

“Very good. We’re finally heading towards a breakthrough. Tell me, why do you want to be that kind of hero? Why is being that kind of person other people can look up to so important to you?”

Midoriya hesitated. The pounding in his skull was deafening as he struggled to put words to his motivation and feelings.

“Why do you want people to look up to you?” Rorschach patiently pressed.

Another sob of despair. There was just no escaping Rorschach’s questions during these sessions. It hurt so much to think and Rorschach was relentless, especially when Midoriya was so tired and weak from one of his mental assaults.

“Because no one ever has! No one ever looked up to me or ever asked me for help when I was younger! I was always just the weak, nerdy kid all the other kids made fun of! I always wanted to be just like All Might. I know what it’s like to feel helpless against a bully. I don’t want anyone else to ever feel like that! I want to help people so they never have to feel helpless like I once did!”

“Very good,” Rorschach praised. “So your motivations are based in core desires for strength and to be recognized as powerful and trustworthy by your peers… Shigaraki and the League of Villains can give you that. If you submit to Shigaraki he can help you gain unimaginable strength. And you can use that strength to help break the invisible shackles that currently bind our society.’

"Our world has become so caught up in arbitrary definitions of 'Good verses Bad’ and 'Justice versus Villainy’ that no one can objectively see how much those concepts overlap anymore. Who is 'right’ or 'wrong’ is defined by a small group of people that make arbitrary rules to keep people submissive and in their place – all in the name of keeping order.”

Midoriya almost laughed at the irony. “But you are being a bully to me right now!” He clenched the sides of his head with his hands to try and stop the throbbing agony between his ears. “There’s no confusion about whether what you’re doing is good or bad! You kidnapped me and are torturing me to try and make me do what you want! That’s not 'good’ by anyone’s definition!”

Rorschach gave a little sigh. “I see there’s still so much social conditioning we have to undo… It’s impossible for you to see the greater good in what we’re trying to do. I know this must feel like torture to you. I acknowledge and validate your feelings. But sometimes the healing process can be painful. This is something you must accept so that we can move forward in your treatment.”

“I won’t help you. I won't ever help Shigaraki or the League! You’re all nothing but evil villains!”

“Even when the one you admire the most – the one person you yourself looked up to as the pinnacle of heroism - abandoned you to your supposed 'enemies’?”

Midoriya froze where he lay on the ground. The side he lay on was becoming numb from the coldness of the floor. In that moment he swore he could feel the icy chill seep deeper into his heart.

“This is a classic case of cognitive dissonance,” Rorschach explained. “You say Shigaraki is villain yet it was All Might who refused to lift a finger to save you. Because you have labeled All Might a hero you refuse to acknowledge his misdeeds. Aren’t heroes supposed to save people? From what I’ve been told All Might was supposed to have been particularly fond of you. Yet he did nothing to help you when Shigaraki offered him a way to get you back. All Might abandoned you. Tell me, if he really was a hero who looked out for the welfare of others, why didn’t he do anything to save you? Based on your own previous definition of villains from past sessions, how is All Might not one in this scenario?”

Midoriya had no reply. Fresh tears beaded along the rims of his clenched eyelids. He’d long ago lost track of time in this windowless cell, but the stab of betrayal from All Might’s press conference still hit him like a knife to the heart.

All Might – the one man Midoriya once trusted to the very core of his being – had said he wasn’t worth the effort of saving. He wasn’t worth the cost of releasing several villains from Tartarus. He wasn’t worth even the flimsiest attempt to save.

“Tell me, why do you think All Might didn’t think you worthy of being saved?”

Rorschach’s question cut to the very core of Midoriya’s soul. His head hurt so much and that question was so painful.

Even now, what felt like months since that press conference the memory of it still managed to leave Midoriya aching in indescribable pain.

“Why didn’t All Might try to save you, Midoriya?”

“I don’t know!” Midoriya wailed into the floor, his pain and frustration boiling over in a rush of anger. Tears leaked through his clenched eyelids. He imagined those tears mixing with the blood on his face and dripping off his cheeks in red rivulets. He curled tighter against himself – as if that would do anything to stop Rorschach’s relentless questions. “I don’t know! I thought he cared about me but he just left me! He didn’t even try!”

“Very good,” Rorschach praised. “Now we’re making progress. Let’s explore this relationship between you and All Might more and see if we can’t pinpoint where this disconnect between your trust in him and his disregard for your wellbeing stems.”

Before Midoriya could even brace himself, Rorschach’s hand was on his chest – pushing him flat onto his back and holding him down on the cold concrete. Midoriya’s eyes shot open. The flood of light against his corneas stung, but the panic of suddenly being held down with a villain poised overtop him overrode the pain of any migraine.

Ten-inch long elongated fingers that tapered to the points of needles hovered over his face.

Midoriya instinctively thrashed against the weight of Rorschach’s hand pressing on his chest. “No! No more! NO!”

“Now hold still,” Rorschach cautioned. His voice was as smooth and emotionless as greased honey. “This might sting a bit…”

Midoriya screamed as the needle-sharp fingers pierced his skin and sunk into the meat of his forehead and temples. He could actually feel the squelchy pop of Rorschach’s fingers breaking through bone. And then –

Midoriya shot up in bed from a restless sleep with a choked off howl of fear. His arms flailed wildly in front of him as though fending off an attack.

Aizawa was startled to full awareness by the sound. He’d been half-dozing in his chair in the corner of Midoriya’s hospital room. In an instant the Erasing Hero was on his feet and moving towards Midoriya’s bed. The backs of his eyes flushed with warmth at the activation of his quirk.

“No! No more! NO!”

“Midoriya, calm down. It’s alright. You’re safe.”

With far more practice than Aizawa ever would have wanted to have, he rested a hand on the side of Midoriya’s arm. That light touch was enough to startle the boy out of his panic and back to himself. Midoriya instinctively cringed back from Aizawa’s touch. Wild, fear-filled eyes swung towards the Erasing Hero. There was a moment of breathless eternity as Midoriya stared at Aizawa as though confused by his sudden appearance by his side before realization washed over him and the worst of his fear seemed to drain from his face.

“Mr. Aizawa…” Midoriya shakily acknowledged. He seemed to droop backwards against the pillow. Aizawa let the heat recede from the back of his eyes. His hair drifted back to hang down both sides of his face.

He sadly surveyed his student. This was not the first time Midoriya had woken from a nightmare in a cold sweat, screaming to be left alone by some invisible attacker. In the week since Midoriya’s return this same scenario had become depressingly common not just for Aizawa but for all of Midoriya’s other minders as well. Every time the boy drifted off he seemed plagued by horrific dreams. Aizawa doubted the boy ever got more than a few hours of uninterrupted sleep at a time.

The boy was still visibly shaking. His cheeks were wet with tears. As Aizawa watched, his arms snaked across his stomach to hug his sides. It was a habit Aizawa had never noticed in Midoriya before his kidnapping. Midoriya was breathing hard, as though struggling to regain control of himself.

“You’re alright,” Aizawa insisted. “Just try and slow your breathing. No one’s going to hurt you here.”

“I’m okay. I- I’m fine.”

Aizawa wasn’t sure if Midoriya was trying to convince Aizawa or himself.

“Do you want to talk about your nightmare? This is the third in two days that I’ve seen. I’m sure you’ve had more.”

Normally, Aizawa would have never offered to be so familiar with one of his students – he had a position of authority to maintain. But Midoriya’s situation was unique and both Recovery Girl and the prison doctor had urged Midoriya’s minders to offer a sympathetic ear should the boy ever seem willing to talk. So much of Midoriya’s time with the League of Villains still remained a mystery.

As expected, Midoriya hastily shook his head. “No. I’m fine. Really. I… I actually don’t even remember anything about it.”

Aizawa could see through such a flimsy lie from a kilometer away. The shine of residual terror in Midoriya’s eyes belied anything the boy might have said. He did not press the matter though. He would offer his student any help he needed, but at the end of the day Aizawa was not a trained psychologist and he did not feel qualified to deal with a traumatized child. Matters of the brain and emotional distress were not his areas of expertise.

Nevertheless, that didn’t dampen Aizawa’s concern. He hadn’t been exaggerating about Midoriya’s nightmares. All the teachers that came to Tartarus to take turns watching him could attest to Midoriya’s continuous nightmares. He often woke screaming to be left alone or begging All Might not to leave him with the League. The strain of hearing such cries were taking more and more of an obvious toll on All Might as the days dragged on. Nothing the boy did went unreported to Nezu or Tsukauchi and it was distressing to hear how much the boy still suffered even after his rescue.

It had been over a week since Midoriya detoxed Shigaraki’s Berserker Serum and mentally returned to himself. He had remained in Tartarus’s hospital wing the entire time. When his mother wasn’t visiting or Detective Tsukauchi interrogating Midoriya about his time with the League, the boy spent most of his time napping or surfing an internet-capable tablet Nezu had brought him to catch up on the last two months of news. Unless directly spoken to, Midoriya rarely went out of his way to interact with anyone. When he did he always seemed sullen and withdrawn – a mere shell of the shy but smiling boy Aizawa had almost expelled from his class so long ago.

Aizawa might not be an expert in psychology, but he’d worked enough years in the underground hero world to know when to be concerned. He’d seen too many people slip into depression after a traumatic event like a kidnapping or torture. Without proper care they rarely bounced back to their former selves. Nezu was already making arrangements to hire a trained therapist for UA’s staff.

Unaware of his teacher’s growing concern, Midoriya shakily ran a hand through his hair. Aizawa was still getting used to the change. The day before, Midoriya had abruptly asked if he could be allowed a haircut. The boy had always had an unruly mop of green curls, but over the course of his confinement it had grown so long it hung like a curtain in Midoriya’s face. One of the prison guards had offered his services. Apparently the man was a fan of Best Jeanist and fancied himself an amateur hairstylist – and within the time it took Aizawa to go to the guards’ lounge for a cup of coffee and return Midoriya had a new haircut. He almost hadn’t recognized the boy when he’d walked back inside the room.

The guard had taken more liberties with Midoriya’s new look than Aizawa ever would have allowed someone to take with his own hair. Shaved close on the sides in an edgy undercut, the top portion of Midoriya’s hair had been trimmed and styled so that it swung forward over his forehead. The guard had done a good job - Best Jeanist would have been proud. Aizawa was pretty sure such a haircut would have cost a couple hundred-thousand yen to get done in a salon. But with his hair cut so close there was no longer anything to hide the physical reminders of Midoriya’s time with the League of Villains.

Constellations of 1-yen coin sized circles dotted the boy’s head and the edges of his hairline in clusters of five. The scars stood out against the boy’s scalp in varying shades of white, pink, and an angry red. Some areas appeared to have been favorite entry points for Rorschach and more heavily used – like those around the edges of Midoriya’s face. The puncture scars in those areas were darker and more heavily knotted than the scars on the sides of his head – as if they had never been left alone long enough to fully heal. Aizawa’s skin crawled to think how often Rorschach had to sink his fingers into those points to leave such horrific marks.

Releasing a final shaky breath, Midoriya sagged back against the pillow. Tired, empty eyes stared into his lap. The boy looked so defeated and lost. It physically cut Aizawa at his core to see his student in such a state.

“You should try and get some more rest,” Aizawa advised. “We still have a few hours before we start your transfer process. Once we get you to the safe house you can rest but it might be several hours before we get there. Clandestine transfers often involve a number of roundabout routes and evasive tactics to shake any potential tails.”

Midoriya did not seem overly excited about the prospect of leaving Tartarus. He’d been briefed on the plan the previous day. “Where is this safe house?”

“Unknown. Even I wasn’t given any details on it. The police and hero teams that are going to assist in your transfer have all only been briefed on certain portions of the full plan to prevent any information leaks. All I know is that it’s a secret residential property UA owns where we can keep you sequestered until the new dorms are complete and you’re able to be moved to campus. Your mother’s packed several boxes of clothes and personal items for you which have already been transferred to the safe house and are waiting for you there.”

Midoriya seemed to grow even more sullen. “I wish I could have gone home and done that myself…”

“You know it’s too dangerous to let you go home, even for a short while. We don’t know how dangerous the League of Villains is and we can’t risk letting them find out where you are before you can be securely transferred to UA. All of this is for your and your mother’s protection.”

“I know,” Midoriya murmured, refusing to look up from the blankets. “It’s just… I still wish I could have gone home one last time…”

Aizawa released a weary sigh. He really wasn’t suited to be an emotional support. “I know things feel overwhelming right now. But you will get through this.”

Midoriya did not reply.

Unable to think of anything else to say, Aizawa turned to return to his seat. Mic had brought him a stack of essays the day before that still needed graded. Even if he was assigned watch duty on Midoriya, he was still 1-A’s homeroom teacher. He couldn’t shirk the rest of his duties towards his other students in favor of focusing on one.

He didn’t get the chance to even take a step before a soft voice spoke up behind him.

“Mr. Aizawa… do you remember that first day of class when you said you were going to expel the student that came in last for the fitness test?”

Aizawa froze, his back still to Midoriya. An ice-cold chill went down the back of his neck. He hadn’t forgotten Midoriya’s first night in Tartarus and the bloodthirsty way the teen had stared through the two way mirror and asked that exact same question. He doubted he would ever forget his student’s deranged promise to blind him and squish his eyeballs between his toes.

“… I do,” Aizawa hesitantly replied. “What about it?” Although not fully activated, heat began to build in the back of his eyes as he slowly turned back towards the bed. Was Midoriya having a relapse? The exact same phrasing of the question Midoriya had threatened Aizawa with instinctively made the Erasing Hero’s senses go on high alert.

Midoriya, however, was not staring at him with a berserker grin or murder in his eyes. Instead, the boy seemed mostly lost in thought, his eyes firmly downcast as though embarrassed to even look in his teacher’s direction.

“It’s just that…” Midoriya seemed to struggle for a moment to put thoughts into words. His arms hugged his sides tighter. “It’s just that ever since I woke up here in Tartarus I can’t help but think it might have been better if you had expelled me that day… It would have hurt at the time. I know I wouldn’t have taken it well. I had worked so hard to get into UA. But… if you had expelled me that day I never would have been kidnapped by Shigaraki or hurt anyone with my quirk. You and all the other teachers wouldn’t have to waste your time watching over me here in Tartarus, and my mom never would have had to spend two months thinking I was dead. You were right: I don’t belong in the hero course. I don’t even deserve to be let out of prison after everything I did. You should have just expelled me that day and saved everyone a bunch of trouble.”

The heat that had been cautiously building in Aizawa’s eyes instantly faded away. For a long moment of silence he just stared at Midoriya. He wasn’t overly surprised by Midoriya’s admission but that didn’t mean he wasn’t disappointed the hear the boy thinking such things.

Aizawa heaved a tired sigh. He should have expected he would have to have this conversation with Midoriya at some point. He would have been lying, though, if he had said he wouldn’t have wished it was All Might Midoriya decided to unload all this guilt and self-reproach on. Aizawa did not consider this aspect of teaching his strong suit. But giving guidance to struggling students was an essential part of his job whether he liked it or not, and he would be damned if he wasn’t dedicated to his job.

“Midoriya, I know you’ve been through a lot and everything feels very hopeless right now, but you cannot let yourself have such dark thoughts. I want you to listen to next few things I have to say very closely because I will not say them again.”

Despite the lingering guilt on Midoriya’s face, the teen raised his eyes towards Aizawa as though intrigued to hear what he had to say.

Aizawa stepped closer to the side of Midoriya’s bed and held his gaze. “When I ran that fitness test I had every intention of following through on my promise. I didn’t originally see you as hero material. Your quirk was too volatile, too dangerous for you to control. Without an ability to harness it you would only be a detriment not only to yourself but everyone else on the battlefield. How could anyone look to you for help when one punch with your quirk would render you completely useless?”

What little light there was in Midoriya’s eyes immediately dimmed. The teen looked back down into his lap. Embarrassed shame shadowed his face.

“But,” Aizawa sternly continued, urging Midoriya to look back up at him, “I stand by my decision not to expel you that day. You impressed me by completing the distance throw by directing your power through your fingertip at the last moment. That showed impressive problem-solving skills and ingenuity. You’ve improved so much since that first day. You’ve gained considerable control over your power since then. It might not feel like it, but even though Shigaraki was manipulating you to use your power in a way not befitting a hero you almost defeated All Might himself in battle. There was a reason Shigaraki targeted you. You are incredibly powerful. If we’re able to get you back on track you have the potential to become a hero all villains will fear.’

"I will be the first one to admit that the life of a hero is not an easy one. Even if you didn’t have the burden of dealing with kidnapping and torture, hero work is not for the light hearted. Ultimately, the decision whether you continue your hero studies or not will be up to you. No one at UA can force you to go pro. But as I said before, I still see a lot of potential in you. I wouldn’t be here in Tartarus right now if I didn’t have hope of getting you through this. There’s a long road ahead of you. I’m not going to try to fool anyone by saying you don’t. I will never lie about something like that to one of my students. But now, maybe even more so than before, you have the potential to be an even better hero because you’ve seen firsthand what it’s like to fight against villains and be at their mercy. I know you. I taught you for an entire semester. I know one of your biggest motivations to become a hero is to help other people. You now understand on a visceral level what it’s like to feel helpless and manipulated. You understand what’s at stake when a hero goes up against a villain. You can use your experience as motivation and protect others from having to go through the same things you did.”

Midoriya was quiet for a long moment of silence. Aizawa swore he could see the gears turning in the boy’s head.

“If you were me… would you quit?”

Aizawa did not immediately answer. He turned Midoriya’s question over several times in his head.

“I don’t know,” he finally said. His voice was heavy with honesty. “I’ve never been in a situation like yours. I honestly can’t say I’ll ever fully understand what you went through. But I would understand if you decided you didn’t want to continue. When I first became an underground hero I had moments when I too had thoughts of quitting. Like I said before, a hero’s life if not something to be taken lightly. Not everyone can take the stress. Most pros retire before the age of 30. I can only hope you will think things over before you make any final decisions. I will be the last person to try and convince someone to become a pro hero if they don’t have the stomach for it. I already think there are too many unqualified people in the field as it is. But… you have so much potential. If you ultimately did decide that becoming a pro was no longer right for you I would always consider it one of the greatest failures of my teaching career.”

A watery snort met Aizawa’s confession. “I always thought you didn’t like me,” Midoriya chuckled with a sad, ironic laugh. “Ever since that first day of class I always thought you were just waiting to find something else to kick me out for. I never thought you actually wanted me around.”

“I admit I might have to rethink some of my methods of motivating students, but I am not vindictive or have some malicious desire to expel students from my class. I have to look logically at the bigger picture. Preparing a classroom full of teenagers for the rigors of hero work is not easy. By the sheer nature of the job, there is no room for coddling or handholding. Students have to hit the ground running and be able to hold their own, or they’re just going to be chewed up and spit out before long.”

Aizawa crossed his arms, staring hard at Midoriya if only to impart how serious he was being. “You proved you were able to hold your own when I held you to the flames that first day. You proved you were someone who wouldn’t fold at the first sign of hardship. I might have been tough on you, but I never did it because I disliked you. Don’t get me wrong, I still consider you a problem child that needs almost constant supervision to stop from getting in trouble, but there’s no denying how valuable you are. It became apparent very early on that you are an integral part to the class dynamic. You help inspire and motivate your classmates. There was a noticeable change in the class after everyone thought you’d been killed. It will be good to have you back. I also think once you’re back with your friends it will help you readjust to normal life. I know for a fact All Might is desperate to get you back on campus and back into some semblance of a normal routine.”

A dark shadow seemed to pass over Midoriya’s face at the mention of his former idol. “Yea… I’m sure he is. He doesn’t want me to quit either.”

“All Might is very fond of you,” Aizawa observed. “Your supposed death shook him. I don’t necessarily approve of his favoritism, but he will help you reintegrate into school life. When we’re back at UA you can always come to me with any problems or concerns, but I’ve come to find All Might is very possessive when it comes to you. He doesn’t like to share the responsibility of watching over you with any of the other teachers. Principal Nezu practically had to threaten to terminate his teaching contract if he didn’t leave Tartarus for more than a few hours to get some rest. His door will always be open to you.”

Midoriya hung his head, his eyes distant. “All Might helped me train for UA’s entrance exam. He trained me for almost a whole year. I owe him so much for how far I got in UA… but that just puts so much more pressure on me to continue in the hero course. I don’t want to disappoint All Might, but I already feel like such a failure.”

Like a light bulb clicking on in the back of his head, everything suddenly made sense to Aizawa: Midoriya and All Might’s inexplicably close relationship, All Might’s doting towards the boy, even how hard All Might took it when Midoriya had been “killed.” It all suddenly made sense. If All Might had really spent a year training Midoriya for his entrance exam, no wonder the older hero was so protective of the boy! Midoriya was basically being trained to be All Might’s successor. Their quirks were so similar. Of course All Might would be drawn to Midoriya. No wonder the two had spent the first semester basically joined at the hip. How had Aizawa never made this connection before?

Secretly, Aizawa promised himself he was going to have words with All Might the next time he saw the Symbol of Peace. If one of his students was getting outside training or counsel from another teacher, Aizawa typically liked to remain in the loop.

“That…” he weakly said, still trying to process this unexpected revelation, “would certainly explain why All Might wouldn’t want you to give up yet.”

“Yea… I guess.”

“You know All Might will not let anything else happen to you, right?” Aizawa asked, studying the boy’s face. “None of the teachers at UA will. I know it’s difficult to know who to trust anymore after everything the League made you think was real but we are all here to help. All Might is not the only one who would give his life to stop Shigaraki from getting his hands on you again. Every precaution is being taken to make sure you are safe when you return to school.”

“I know,” Midoriya softly replied, although his tone suggested he did not actually have that much faith.

Aizawa curiously studied Midoriya for several moments. “Can I ask you something, Midoriya? It’s been something I’ve been wondering ever since you were brought here.”

Midoriya seemed to grow wary, as though afraid of what Aizawa might ask. “What is it?”

“How much do you remember of waking up here in prison?”

“Not a lot,” the boy admitted. “Whenever I see red my memories get blurry. I’m not even sure if what I remember is actually real or not.”

Aizawa remained undeterred. “When you first woke up here you were being held in a holding cell so we could observe you. Nezu led a small interrogation through a two way mirror. During it you tried to manifest your quirk to break out of the cell. I nullified it with my quirk. Even though you couldn’t see through the two way mirror or know who was behind the mirror besides Nezu you felt me erase your quirk. That in and of itself is no mystery or surprise. Anyone can tell when they no longer have access to their quirk. What was surprising was that you seemed able to immediately pinpoint where I was standing on the other side of the glass. How is that possible? In my entire career, no one has ever been able to determine what direction my quirk was coming from. How did you know?”

“I’m not sure,” Midoriya shrugged. “I don’t really remember talking to anyone through a two way mirror. But… what I do remember whenever I would see red is that it’s like my entire body is on fire. Every nerve ending burns. But it doesn’t hurt. I don’t ever remember feeling pain whenever I saw red. It’s like all your senses are heightened and you can feel every little change in the air around you. You feel so angry, but alive at the same time. It might have almost been instantaneous, but if I was still seeing red when you used your quirk on me I might have been able to sense which direction that split-second change of Full Cowl disappearing happened before it spread over my whole body.”

“I see,” Aizawa nodded. Midoriya’s explanation was close to the theory he himself had begun to formulate, but it was still interesting to hear it from the subject in question. “Try and get some more rest,” he abruptly announced. “We’ll start to get ready for your move in a couple hours.”

“Yes, sir…” Midoriya murmured. He sounded so tired, as though his conversation with Aizawa had zapped him of all his strength. Aizawa doubted the boy would try and get any more sleep though.

As he walked back towards his chair, Aizawa made a mental note to keep a closer eye on Midoriya when they returned to UA. Whether the boy decided to continue in the hero training course or not was immaterial. Midoriya was returning to Aizawa’s classroom and no one – not Shigaraki, not Rorschach, or anyone else in that accursed villain organization – was going to hurt his student again.

Uraraka glanced at the clock on the classroom wall. Only twenty more minutes before the end of class, and with it the end of the school day. Final period usually would have been hero course training, but because of the new dormitories being constructed all hero training simulations had been put on hold until next week. The dormitories were slated to be completed by the next day – Friday- and that weekend she and the rest of her classmates were scheduled to move in and become permanent residents of UA.

Uraraka wasn’t sure how she felt about the dormitory plan. She lived by herself in a rented apartment, so the prospect of being able to live with her classmates was an exciting opportunity. She’d never enjoyed the solitude of living alone in Tokyo away from the rest of her family. Her parents couldn’t afford to move or be away from the family construction business for that long. So that meant Uraraka had had to move to Tokyo alone to attend UA.

It had been a lonely transition. It would be nice to be around other people outside of class again – almost like having a surrogate family. But the policy change had come so suddenly – and after the start of the new semester too! – that it felt like things were happening so fast Uraraka couldn’t keep up.

The general consensus of the rest of her classmates about the upcoming move seemed to be one of reserved excitement.

At the front of the classroom, Snipe was lecturing on the history and regulations of support weapons in the course of hero work. Uraraka was only half listening to him. She doodled listlessly in the corner of her notebook. Her particular quirk didn’t really lend itself to weapon-based offenses so she had no invested interest in learning about the limitations of their use in battle.

To be honest she was rather bored. Ever since the suspension of their after school patrols, schoolwork seemed so boring and mundane. It had been almost two weeks since the train station attack that had ultimately put an end to their student patrols. Almost two weeks since she’d last seen their resurrected classmate, Midoriya, return as Shigaraki’s attack dog…

The memory of Midoriya’s deranged grin and the sadistic glee with which he’d systematically shattered the bones in Bakugo’s hand still sent a shiver down Uraraka’s spine. She still had trouble believing that monster All Might had fought that night was really the same boy she’s saved from tripping over himself the morning of their UA entrance exam.

Towards the front of the classroom in the second desk of the first row, Bakugo sat slouched in his seat. He seemed about as interested in Snipe’s lecture as Uraraka was. His right arm rested in a sling against his chest. Uraraka couldn’t see his hand right now from the angle she sat, but the number of pins and suspension cables holding his fingers in place was impressive and cringe-inducing.

The doctors had only been able to do so much when he’d been taken to the emergency room after the attack. The damage to the bones and ligaments in his hand had been so extensive it was going to take numerous surgeries and months of physical therapy before Bakugo would be able to use his hand normally again. Uraraka had overheard Bakugo telling Kirishima that Recovery Girl had given him at least a three month recovery time even using her quirk in scheduled intervals. The human body could only endure so much healing at a time, especially after such a traumatic injury. Without Recovery Girl’s help Uraraka doubted Bakugo would have regained any use of his hand before their third-year graduation.

Bakugo had been strangely quiet and withdrawn since he’d been released from the hospital and returned to class. Uraraka didn’t know if that was because of the painkillers the doctors had him on, or if Bakugo was still trying to come to terms with the beat down he’d suffered from Midoriya. She suspected it some combination of both.

She and Bakugo along with others that had been at the train station that night – Iida, Asui, Mineta, and Todoroki – had all remained loyal to the gag order the police put on them. No one had said anything about their missing classmate’s return. Everyone else in 1-A just assumed their injuries and shellshock were a result of their clash with Shigaraki and his cadre of villain underlings.

Which… if Uraraka was being completely honest with herself wasn’t exactly that far from the truth…

She’d been shocked by the change she’d seen in Midoriya. She’d barely even recognized him. Whatever the League of Villains had done to Midoriya had been thorough. The green haired boy might as well have been one of Shigaraki’s mindless Nomu for all the mercy he’d shown his former classmates and mentor. If All Might hadn’t shown up when he did Uraraka dreaded to think how else that night might have ended. In some ways she was glad they no longer had student patrols. The world felt a little too dangerous and uncertain right now for mere wannabe heroes like her and her classmates to be out on the streets.

There had been no word about what happened to Midoriya after the train station attack. All they’d been told by Principal Nezu was that All Might had defeated Midoriya and that they’d been able to move him to a secure location. Where that secure location was, Nezu refused to say.

She, Iida, Todoroki, and Asui had all tried brainstorming where their missing friend could be. Since his startling return, Midoriya rarely strayed far from any of their thoughts. When they were alone away from the prying ears of others, the boy was the only thing they talked about. Todoroki had even tried to subtly gather information from Endeavor by inquiring about what had happened to the captured Nomu that night. But whether Endeavor was under a similar gag order or he truly had no more details about the incident than them, Midoriya’s current location remained a mystery.

As the days drug on and there was still no word about their missing friend’s whereabouts or what was being done with him, Uraraka had noticed a growing sense of anxiety amongst the small group of fledging heroes. Midoriya had been a close friend to most of them. His supposed death had hit all of them hard. So to have him suddenly return from the dead as a villain’s pawn was a soul-crushing scenario none of them had been prepared to deal with.

A soft knock at the classroom door caused Snipe to stop mid-sentence. The door slid aside to reveal Principal Nezu. Behind him, his massive body framed in the doorway, stood none other than All Might himself.

A small thrill of excitement went through Uraraka. No one had seen or heard from All Might since the train station attack. Although they had nothing to actually prove it, Uraraka and the others that knew about Midoriya’s return were fairly certain All Might was with Midoriya - or at least knew where he was being held. There had also been a very noticeable rotation of teachers subbing for each other’s classes, as though they were taking turns covering for each other while they went off campus.

Maybe if Uraraka or one of the others could corner All Might after class they could find out where Midoriya was.

There was a ripple of excitement through the classroom from the rest of her classmates. Everyone seemed just as excited to see their missing teacher. Their excitement was short lived though.

Uraraka wasn’t immediately sure what it was about All Might that made her pause. But then, like a punch to the gut, she realized what was so wrong with the scene.

There was no hint of All Might’s trademark grin anywhere on his face.

The Symbol of Peace was completely straight faced. Uraraka was sure she’d never seen All Might without some kind of smile. Even at the USJ complex when the League of Villains he been attacking, he’d still had a smile on his face. To see him like this now was unnerving.

A hush fell over the classroom. More than a few of her classmates exchanged uneasy glances.

What was All Might doing here after such a long absence with possibly the scariest straight face in the world?

“Good afternoon!” Principal Nezu cheerily addressed the class. “Sorry to interrupt your lecture,” he glanced at Snipe as he and All might stepped inside the room, “but I need to make a special announcement.”

“Of course,” Snipe said, moving aside from the front of the room.

With a boost from All Might, Nezu stood on the teacher’s lectern. All Might took position behind Nezu just off to the side. His face remained shadowed and stern.

Nezu looked out over the class, his face settling into a calm but serious expression. “As I’m sure many of you have noticed, there have been a number of changes to UA over the last few weeks. The largest of these changes was our last minute change to a dorming style system. You might have also noticed a number of your teachers being absent from class, not to mention the suspension of your after school student patrols. I want to thank all of you for being so patience and flexible during this time of transition. I came here today to address the reason for these changes. Later tonight All Might and I will be giving a formal press conference about this very topic. All of you will be able to view it then, but we felt class 1-A deserved to hear an explanation before the rest of the country.’

"As you all remember, the other week there was an attack by the League of Villains on a train station in the Shibuya district. Several of your own classmates were involved in the incident. I want to take the time to formally thank all you that were there for following orders and not divulging any details about what transpired that evening. After today you will no longer have to keep it secret.”

Uraraka’s stomach twisted with the realization of what was happening. Were they finally going to find out what happened to Midoriya?

A number of curious looks were cast towards her, Iida, Todoroki, Asui, Bakugo, and Mineta by the rest of their classmates.

“What your classmates have been so careful to keep secret is that it was not just the League of Villains that appeared at the train station that night,” Nezu went on. “During the attack, the League of Villain’s leader, Shigaraki, revealed that for the last two months he has been holding your classmate, Izuku Midoriya, captive. Midoriya was, in fact, not killed in the shopping mall attack this past summer.”

A ripple of shocked murmurs exploded through the room.

“Midoriya is alive and you didn’t tell us?” Kirishima yelled, casting Bakugo an incredulous look. “How could you keep something like that a secret?!”

“We weren’t allowed to say anything about Midoriya,” Iida sullenly said from the back of the room. “We were all under gag orders…”

Kirishima appeared to deflate a bit. “Yea, okay… But still.” He helplessly looked to Bakugo as if begging the blond to back him up.

Bakugo remained silent and just angrily stared at the top of his desk.

“I know that this is a shock,” Nezu interrupted. “It would be for anyone to find out a friend that was supposedly killed is still alive.”

“Are you going to tell them about why Shigaraki brought Deku out for that fight though?” Bakugo nastily spoke up. “Want me to tell everyone about how my arm got into this sling?”

The incredulous murmurs in the room almost instantly died away. The tension in air became suffocating.

If Bakugo was expecting Nezu’s calm to break in the wake of such a challenge, he was sorely mistaken. Nezu remained the embodiment of collected composure.

“You are correct,” Nezu agreed. “There was a reason Shigaraki waited until that attack to reveal that Midoriya was still alive. During the course of his captivity, Midoriya was unfortunately subjected to intense and prolonged torture and psychological manipulation. Under the influence of another villain’s quirk, Midoriya was drugged and trained to attack those he would have once considered his friends. Through the coordinated efforts of your homeroom teacher, Mr. Aizawa, and All Might we were able to save Midoriya from the League of Villains and bring him into protective custody. He has since been recovering in Tartarus Maximum Security under the continuous watch of UA’s teachers.”

Nezu looked out across the sea of stunned faces, his demeanor sobering. “Since the train station attack, I am pleased to report that Midoriya has shaken the League’s control from him and is slowly returning to his former self. As we speak he is preparing to be released from Tartarus and moved to a UA safe house. He is scheduled to return here to campus this coming Monday and rejoin 1-A in its studies.”

“He’s coming back?!” Mineta shrieked from the side of the room. Utter panic radiated off him. “He’s coming back here?! But he’s a monster!”

No one paid him much mind. 1-A as a whole was too stunned to know how to react. In her dazed shock, Uraraka was only partially aware of the flash of – what was that? – fear? in Bakugo’s eyes from across the room.

“Yes, Midoriya will be returning to UA Monday morning,” All Might confirmed. It was the first time he’d spoken since entering the room. His tone was hard for Uraraka to decipher, but it left no room for argument.

Mineta instantly quieted and sat back down in his seat. His eyes still brimmed with ill-contained panic.

“Yes,” Nezu agreed with a nod. “His return is one of the reasons UA has decided to switch to a boarding style. For both his safety and as well as all of yours, UA is taking steps to ensure its students are kept safe from any further villain attacks. These are dangerous times we live in and UA is taking the necessary steps to counter that danger.”

All Might cleared his throat, his face still a stony mask of seriousness. “It might go without saying but Midoriya is likely to experience some difficulties readjusting after everything he’s gone through… I hope as aspiring heroes that all of you will do what you can to help ease Midoriya’s transition back to normal life. It will not be an easy change. What Midoriya has gone through is something most pros never experience in their entire career. I humbly ask that you all be patient and understanding towards him. He will need your friendship and support now more than ever before.”

“Thank you for your time,” Nezu concluded, offering them all a bow. “Mr. Snipe, sorry again for the interruption. Please carry on with your lesson.”

1-A stared after Nezu and All Might in collective silence as they showed themselves out the door.

It went without saying that no one paid Snipe any more attention for the rest of class.

[lovemesomesurveys]

Have you ever laughed at someone because they had a funny name? >> Not to their face, but I’ve definitely laughed at some people’s names if I come across them online or something. Especially if it’s one of those names that can make a juvenile sex pun out of, lol. <<< lol same :X I legit knew a kid in my neighborhood whose name sounded like hymen... Speaking of names, why do celebrities always call their kids stupid ones? Gah, I don’t know. They think they’re being cute and trendy I guess, but no. Just no. It’s not nice for the kid. Like Elon Musk, wtf?  If you have a problem with someone, will you confront them? Probably not.  How do you like your tea? With a packet of sweetener.  Do you get car sick easily? Yes.

What did you want to be when you were a kid? A teacher. Insert funny memory here: I don’t feel like thinking of one at the moment. Do you think you’re a good conversationalist? Why is that? Ha, nope. I feel like I never know what to say and I just make things awkward and lame. Are you more likely to be called a hard worker or lazy? I’m sure people think I’m lazy. And there is a laziness factor, but the bigger picture is health related issues and having no energy or motivation to do much of anything.  What is your sense of humor like? I don’t really know how to describe it.  Do you think you’re fairly intelligent? In what way? I just feel very average. How do you like your eggs? Scrambled, sunny-side up, hardboiled, deviled. Do you enjoy visiting your relatives? Yeah. It’s been awhile since I’ve visited with any family outside of my immediate family, though. :/ And that’s even before the pandemic hit.  What’s your favorite thing about the nearest upcoming holiday? Fireworks are visually appealing, but I don’t enjoy how loud they are. I’m too jumpy and sensitive to loud sounds like that. Have you ever been on a float in a parade? What were you doing on it? Nope. Have you ever had a strange compliment? What was it? Some lady asked me if I had polio and when I told her no, she said, “Oh okay, I thought you looked pretty good for having polio.” Wtf?? When was the last time you had deja vu? Hmm. I don’t remember the last time I experienced it. Have you ever had a dream in black and white? I don’t think so.  What about a dream with no sound? Uhhh. I don’t know, actually. Like... I’ll recall things being said in a dream but I’m not sure if I recall them actually being said or I just know they were. That’s interesting. What is something you find interesting but would never pursue as a career? Well, I’m very interested in psychology and got my BA because I thought I wanted to pursue something in that field, but I don’t. I have no idea what I actually want to do.  What types of people do you tend to avoid? Arrogant and cocky people. What is one personality trait a potential friend must have? Good sense of humor. Have you ever seen someone slip on a banana peel? No. Have you ever been in a helicopter? Yes, when I had to be flown to the hospital after my accident. What is a color you love that’s not your favorite? Uhh. If I love it, it’s a favorite. Where would you like to travel to? I want to travel to a lot of places. What color is your car? / What color would you like it to be? I don’t have a car, I don’t drive. If I did, I’d probably want red. Does anything hurt on your body right now? What? I’ve been having a bad pain flareup. 

What is your favorite mode of travelling? Car or plane. Have you ever had chicken pox? Yes. Can you roll your eyes into the back of your head? No. If you have online friends, do you think you’d get on in real life? I think our survey community on here would get along well. Who is your favorite animated character? Winnie the Pooh. Are your favorites often what the majority like? Hmm. I feel like I don’t like a lot of things majority of people seem to like, actually. If you could have anything for dinner tonight, what would you choose? *shrug* It’s 2:54AM, I’m not thinking about dinner. Do you prefer sweet or savory foods? Savory. Do you worry about eating too much? What about eating too little? I don’t have a problem of eating too much, in fact I need to be eating a lot more. Is it dark outside right now? Yes. Do you get scared when it’s a full moon? No. Do you think Jaffa Cakes are a cake or a biscuit? I had to Google that, but from what I can see it looks like a cookie. If you go anywhere, do you always buy souvenirs for people? I always buy souvenirs, but usually for myself lol.  What was the last toy you got in a cereal box? Wow, I don’t remember. I haven’t had cereal in years. Hypothetically speaking, if you owned a charm bracelet, would you always make sure the charms meant something to you? Well, yeah. Choosing the charms are the fun part. If I’m going to wear something, I want to like it. Are you waiting on anyone coming home right now? No. Is it easy to make you gag? Yes. Do you like the way your voice sounds? No. I hate hearing my voice in a recording. Do you usually keep to yourself? I keep a lot to myself. Can you see the stars from your house? Yeah. How would you react if your favorite band made a song with your first name as its title? It’d be pretty cool. Are you considered an awkward person? I definitely consider myself to be very awkward, so I’m sure others do as well. Has a career advisor ever helped you choose your ideal career? No. If you were abandoned for a week, would you be able to fend for yourself? You gotta be more specific. Like for one, where am I? Is there a light on in the room you’re in? Yes. Have you ever been friends with someone who was your complete opposite? I had a best friend who was the outgoing, adventurous, outspoken one and I wasn’t any of those things. She helped me have fun and get out of my shell a bit at times, though.  Have you ever wished you were an identical twin? If one, do you hate it? It’s weird to imagine someone looking exactly like me.  What day were you born on? A Friday. What’s your favorite number? Why did you pick that? 8. It’s been my favorite since I was a kid. What does your favorite perfume / deodorant smell like? One of them has patchouli notes in it. The other is a beachy scent with some lavender.  Who’s your favorite Disney character? Alice from Alice in Wonderland and Winnie the Pooh. Do you like having a favorite everything or do you enjoy keeping open? I always say I have a lot of favorites of things. I have a hard time choosing just one for a lot of things. What’s your favorite advertisement? Or do you find them all irritating? I don’t have a favorite advertisement. I generally just tune those out.

#personal #text #survey #surveys

[eclecticash22]

For the anon asking about the Norma Jeane anon! LD goes into more depth on this.

**Trigger Warning: sexual themes, self harm, suicide**

Also, before you begin reading I want to make sure that we’re on the same page. No judgment is welcome here. Anon doesn’t want to be judged and I do not want to see judgment. You’re entitled to your opinion, but if you have anything negative to say, then I ask that you keep it to yourself. This is a judgment free zone and it will not be tolerated! Thank you for being kind human beings.

Hi this is LD from the Norma Jeane ask. I was gonna answer this in your ask but the letter limit made it hard to explain. I ask that when you post this that my username remains unknown. To respond to the other anon, I asked another psychic on tumblr who I was in a past life. She said a European woman between the 50’s-70’s. Now I’m not sure what made me decide to look up Marilyn Monroe but I did and I just felt something. I’ve looked into her and we really have a lot of similarities and synchronicities. Our childhood is similar. My mother is someone that part of me loves but another part would rather stay away. My dad is in my life, but as rarely as we see each other he may as well be absent. Norma Jeane would go to the beach with her mom sometimes and she’s always loved the beach. The beach for me is one of the few places where all of my worries disappear. I overthink a lot. But being at the beach, there’s just one thing on my mind and that’s the water. ( I’m also the same person that asked you if I was a mermaid sorry😅). Anyway, like Norma Jeane I’ve also been sexualized at a young age. Like her, it started with ppl in my family. Idk i just always seemed to attract ppl in that way. I had mixed feelings about it at first. I loved the feeling of sex, craved it lots of times(I heard that not everyone who has been sexually exposed at a young se stays away from sex and the opposite may happen instead). However on the other hand, I felt dirty for the ppl that I’ve had those intimate moments with. It was never rape because i was never forced. It would just be suggested by a friend or cousin and I would give in. I always had a hard time saying no to ppl. I felt guilty and ashamed whenever I would touch myself( I probably should’ve warned from the beginning that this might get a bit sexual). However, I’m starting to embrace my sexuality and am learning that whatever attracts ppl to me is my own kind of power, so long as nobody takes advantage of that. I’ve never been in any foster home or orphanages but I remember my mom threatening me a lot of times about cps taking me away and telling me I would live in a foster home. I’ve stayed in numerous of different people’s households. Some family members. Some friends who I clung to( I think I have abandonment issues, I get very attached to ppl I like). Idk I was just always looking to stay with a family that wasn’t my own. I’m also very shy now in contrast to my friendly younger self. Despite that I’ve always been told that I’m good with words and speaking. I’ve always loved reading and am good at writing, although I don’t really like writing much. If you knew that Marilyn Monroe loved to read and wrote poetry, then congratulations you know more about her than most ppl who walk around with her on shirts and posters of her on their walls for aesthetic reasons( something that bothered me at first but whatever). I’ve also been into acting. My mom told me that I was good with speaking in public and that I should try it. She encouraged me to join in middle school but my shyness and fear of being embarrassed or made fun of prevented me from doing that. I tried out tho in high school. Although that was short lived because the theatre teacher left, she told me that I was good and I enjoyed acting very much. Animals are something else that I really loved. I always wanted a dog, but because I’ve lived in apartments almost my whole life, I always ended up with fish, which was probably a sign from my higher self that I was a mermaid but that’s a different story. I’m sorry I’m all over the place and I keep losing track. There’s just so many things to cover. Los Angeles is another place I’ve been interested in going to. Specifically Sherman Oaks. That’s because I had an obsession with the late Cameron Boyce, who now that I look back on had a few things in common with Marilyn Monroe, such as height, where he lived, being an actor, writing poetry, and dying at such an untimely age. My walk is something else that I think we have in common.

This doesn’t happen often because it’s not really noticeable, but every now and then someone would point out how I would twist or how my hips would sway whenever I walked. My mom looked at me funny once when I was younger when I walked in front of her. This is because I’m a guy. A bisexual guy specifically, which makes sense since Marilyn has been with many men. Maybe she’s been with a few women as well, or maybe I’m fully gay and just won’t accept it yet idk. I’ve always been feminine as well. I don’t identify as a woman, but I do feel like one lots of times. I’ve also been told a few times that i should be a model, mainly I think because of my long legs. A trait Marilyn also had. Maybe because of my face too but I don’t think I’m THAT good looking. Then again, there were ppl who didn’t find Marilyn attractive enough either. I’ve also been in a mental hospital once. I’ve had suicidal thoughts and even tried it a few times. I’ve seen a therapist, and right now, with how I’ve currently been feeling I wonder if I’m bipolar. I also suffer from insomnia and anxiety. Again, if you know more about Marilyn Monroe than just looks and glamour than you’ll understand. I also love the 50’s aesthetics. Although I’m a fan of the 80’s and 90’s as well so ig that probably doesn’t mean much. I love roses and been interested in gardening. I’ve also always wanted to live in one of those Spanish homes. I always found them beautiful.I love love. I love men, I love children. I have a lot of fantasies. Part of those fantasies are of being with various men(I’m not getting into details). But other fantasies involves being with a secure, fun, intelligent man who really loves me and having children. Which is weird since I’m a guy but Marilyn has always wanted to marry with a man she really loves, have kids, and be a good wife. After she settles down and retires from her career ofc. It hurts me so much that none of my relationships seem to last. They always leave. I’m currently trying to recover from a “break up” right now. I’ve determined my beauty and value based on how many guys are attracted to me, which is cruel and untrue. There are times when I feel like I can’t really live and be happy without someone by my side. I have a huge fear of being alone and rejected and unhappy my entire life. Just the thought depresses me. I can’t express enough how much I’ve loved and gotten attached to boys, thinking I would be loved back and live a life together, only to be heartbroken. I think in this life, I have to learn lessons that I didn’t learn in my past life to not depend so much on men to keep me happy and that I shouldn’t get so attached. Not all relationships are forever. There are probably more similarities but that’s all I can think of for now, and this is long enough already. Now, even with all of these similarities it still doesn’t prove that i was Marilyn Monroe. I’m pretty sure a lot of ppl can relate to most if not all of what I just said. So I went to you Ash to ask if Joe DiMaggio was my twin flame in my past life(yes that was me too Ash I’m so sorry). I feel like Marilyn and Joe were twin flames in that life and I’ve had dreams of this guy who looks very similar and have similar characteristics to Joe. When you told me Joe DiMaggio was in fact my twin flame, I saw this as another confirmation that I could’ve been Marilyn Monroe in a past life, however I still couldn’t be 100% sure so I decided to just pop the question I really wanted. I asked Ash if I was a girl named Norma Jeane. I didn’t feel comfortable saying Marilyn Monroe because I didn’t want to be seen as those egocentric nut jobs who claim to be the reincarnation of famous ppl. I also knew less ppl would know who Norma Jeane is compared to if I put Marilyn Monroe. In fact it’s these very reasons why I’m hoping that what I’m telling you doesn’t get out of hand. I don’t like TOO much attention and I don’t want to be backlashed for believing in this. Speaking of which, Marilyn also

Didn’t like all of the attention and invasion of privacy a while after being famous. She would walk around in “disguises” and give fake names whenever she checked into hotels. Which is somewhat similar to things I’ve done before. Marilyn and I both seemed to be secretive and enjoy our privacy. Not that we weren’t honest or open, it’s just not everyone needs to know everything you know. Also I’ve always said that I wanted to die in my sleep. I’ve always said that because I wanted to die a peaceful and painless death, not knowing that I did die in my sleep in my past life. Anyway, yeah so I asked if I was Norma Jeane and I got a yes, which was a relief. I’m sorry anon that this probably what you wasn’t looking for. I didn’t have any psychic moments. I didn’t have any dreams or recall any memories. Marilyn Monroe didn’t appear to me and tell me that I was her in a past life. Everything that I learned is only due to research, signs, intuition, and these two lovely and helpful tumblr psychics that I mentioned. Ofc part of me will always have doubts whether or not I really am Marilyn Monroe. It’s only natural to have doubts. Just like how I have my doubts if I’m really a mermaid in the astral or spirit realm or afterlife or whatever you call it. But until I get proof that I’m not Marilyn Monroe or a mermaid or that Joe DiMaggio wasn’t her twin flame, I will go on believing these things to be true or at least a possibility. But I’ll never be 100% sure until I’m dead. This has honestly been painful to talk about considering I’m bringing up not only my past life but also my past in THIS life, which some of it still hurts. But it’s been nice sharing this. Thank you❤️.

*Hey, LD! Thank you for sharing your story. And no need to apologize for asking about being a mermaid or Joe DiMaggio! I’m happy to answer your questions  ❤️ ❤️ *

#LD

[twdmusicboxmystery]

9x14: Scars - Details and an Epiphany!

As I said yesterday, this episode was loaded with parallels, most of it very subtle. If you haven’t read my post from yesterday, click on the link and read it because I’ll be referencing it a lot here. The other great thing about this episode is that it seems every scene and line of dialogue is packed full of callbacks and parallels. I’m sure I’ve missed a lot of them.

***As always, spoilers abound for TWD 9x14. Don’t read until you’ve watched! You’ve been warned!***

The short of it is that Rick and Michonne’s story is closely mirroring Beth and Daryl’s (one member gone and presumed dead by the other).

We saw some water symbols, such as when Michonne and Daryl searched for Rick's corpse by a body of water. Daryl said he'd followed it all the way to the ocean. We've seen a lot of ocean symbolism around Beth, especially in conjunction with Oceanside. Now, that cannot extend to Rick. So, the two people believed dead by TF but who we know are alive will probably both returned by ocean. So that reinforces that Rick/Michonne are going through the same arc as Beth and Daryl.

In that same conversation, Michonne asks Daryl if he's coming back to Alexandria. He says yes, once he finds something. Michonne says, "Plenty of reasons to come back. Finding something doesn't have to be one of them." I think that's part of the, "we get to come back," theme.

Of course, Daryl says he will never stop looking, and we definitely want to compare that to him looking for breath after she disappeared. Again, because the arcs are the same, this confirms what we’ve always theorized: that Daryl looked for Beth but never found her. Just as he’s never found Rick.

Then there's the sad line where Michonne asks if he's okay being alone. First of all, part of the “it’s okay/not okay” theme. When I saw this scene before the episode aired in a sneak peek, I actually this interaction. I thought Daryl said, “Yes,” but he didn’t. He simply nodded and then asked Michonne, "You?"

So, when Michonne replies, "I'm not." I thought she meant she was not okay being alone. But what she really meant is that she wasn't alone because she had the baby.

This line is actually much sadder for Daryl because he is alone. I think we all know him saying he’s okay being alone is a load of crap, given his reaction to Beth’s statement about him being the last man standing. The most obvious parallel here is to be episode Alone from S4. Obviously Daryl has been alone in the woods for several years after the time jump, and he is surviving, but he's not really okay. (Beth: "it's not okay.")

And I know Michonne didn't mean anything negative, by it, but it's really kind of insensitive thing to say to Daryl. After all, he doesn't have Beth’s baby to remember her bad, does he?

Michonne finds Rick's gun, which is a lot like Daryl getting Beth’s knife. I can't help but wonder what this means for how Carol came to have Beth’s knife. Because, as we’ve established, this is such a close parallel to Beth and Daryl, we can draw conclusions from what they’re showing us here. So did Carol find Beth’s knife in the mud somewhere AFTER her body went missing? The parallel probably won’t be that close, but we really don’t know what went down during that missing 17 days, and I’m willing to be that in a broad way, the parallel to how Michonne found Rick’s gun will be direct.

I noticed when Michonne puts Rick’s gun in Judith’s box, there's a picture behind her with purple flowers in it. That jumped out at me because I remember in S7, when Maggie woke up at Hilltop after Glenn died, there were purple flowers that looked exactly like those ones. Because of the way they showed Maggie wake up, we compared it to Beth waking up to Grady. We also saw similar flowers when Rick woke up in the hospital in S1. I’ll talk more about this at the end, but it could be a tie to Beth at Grady, or simply to Maggie having lost Glenn at that point. Michonne has lost Rick for all intents and purposes right now.

When Daryl and his group arrived at Alexandria, I noticed a couple of random references in the dialogue. Connie holds up a note to Michonne and says she wished she had worn different shoes. 

Super random, and kinda funny, but I wonder if it's a reference to the lost shoe/foot theme. I also noticed animal cages hanging in the background. They’re square, not like the rounded birdcage we saw in Beth’s cell, but still similar.

We all agreed that Henry’s scar reminded us of Beth’s. Probably just because you can see the stitching. Henry, with all the Beth parallels he's had this season, now has a scar.

Aaron tells Daryl that he once told him he would be a great dad and it turned out to be true. A couple of things about this. It does show that what Aaron said back then was a foreshadow. (Another thing TD has been written about.) And we did suggest that, while we do think Daryl will eventually have his own children, a part of that could have foreshadowed him being a father figure to Lydia and Henry. This is a confirmation that that was the case.

(Quick aside: those people to swore to high heaven Daryl would have a romance with Lydia? TD was right about that too. Definitely not a romance, and he is definitely a father figure to her. Daryl didn't even bother denying it in this conversation. Just saying.)

You could argue that the father foreshadow ONLY referred to Henry and Lydia, but I don't think so. My evidence for it comes from this same conversation. Aaron specifically says, “you got to skip the exploding diaper part,” to which Daryl replies, “A lot’s changed. Back then, we were still building bridges.” It feels like a contradiction of what Aaron said, which to me says Daryl may have to deal with the diaper situation at some point.

The dialogue itself is also important. “A lot’s changed,” is a callback to Beth’s, “I wish I could just change.” And then there’s the Bridge Theory.

There is a part where RJ asks for more tomatoes. We’ve seen the tomato symbol a lot. In general, they represent peace and prosperity. I'm not sure where they had RJ asked for them. Perhaps to show that RJ is doing well at Alexandria, or perhaps because Michonne thinks there is peace there, which right now there largely is. It's right after that, the Judith goes missing.

When she finds Judith gone, Michonne goes to see Negan. He makes an interesting horse reference. When he realizes Judith is missing, he says, "maybe she's off petting a horse." The way he's using it in context is to say, maybe she’s off doing something idle or little-girlish. But we know she's not. He says she's Michonne's daughter and, like Michonne, she's not taking shit going down.

The first thing petting the horse made me think of was Daryl and Buttons, which happened in S5, right after Beth. We can also point out the Horse Theory in general. So, not sure exactly why they used this line here, but it's interesting. Again, with how closely this whole thing is paralleling Beth and Daryl, the horse reference makes a certain amount of sense.

Judith took Rick’s gun and left a note. Naturally, we always went to compare any written notes to Beth.

We also saw a super-random bicycle in the middle of the woods, maybe meant to be Judith’s? I’m honestly not sure what to make of that yet, but it was obviously a symbol of something, and it was mostly yellow (Beth color). I know a revamp of my bicycle theory is long past due, so I may come back to this.

Overall, I thought the end of this episode was very sweet and very good in showing not only Michonne and Judith bonding, but Michonne’s character development.

I gotta say, I loved the horse drawn minivan.

So, in a more general way, this tells us a lot about Michonne’s new attitude at the beginning of this arc, why she wouldn't let people in, etc. It was a flawed way of thinking, but after seeing what happened, we understand more where she's coming from. It does seem that she's now moving back toward the Michonne she used to be and what Rick and Carl would have wanted.

Quick note: While this does explain a lot of the questions we had about the time jump, it definitely doesn't explain them all. It doesn't explain why Tara, specifically, was so angry at Michonne. Even in the flashback with Carol and Tara and Jesus, Tara’s says Michonne isn’t her favorite person these days. She’s already very angry with her. Maybe it's just because Michonne decided not to let people in, but Tara's anger almost seems a little too heavy for that. So, we don't know specifically why Hilltop is angry at Michonne. We don't know why they all dropped their farming tools and ran inside the gates when they heard riders coming.

We also still don't know how Daryl lost the wing on his vest. When I noticed he had both wings when the flashback started, I thought when he got shot by the arrow by one of the kids, maybe somehow that made the wing fall off his vest. But I did find this shot when they returned Alexandria with the kids, and both wings are still on Daryl's vest. So still not know how that happened either.

We also don’t know how he got the scar over his eye, as that doesn’t seem to have been a result of this incident either. So again, he answers a lot of the questions we had, but not all. Other stuff must have happened to result in the rest.

Jocelyn:

Jocelyn, who just so happens to know Michonne—Denise Huth confirmed on TTD that it was a mere coincidence that Michonne ran into someone she'd known before the turn—pretends to be hurt and needs help finding the kids she's caring for. Michonne and some others going find them in an abandoned building and bring them back to Alexandria.

They employed a TON of dialogue foreshadow in these flashbacks. Some for what would happen later on (still in the flashbacks) and others for what's happening in the present with Whisperers.

When Michonne went to get the children from that abandoned building, there are diagrams of how to string animals up for gutting. An obvious foreshadow of her and Daryl being strung up in a similar way and branded. The animals in the diagrams were even cows. And what animal is most famously branded? Cattle. 

Which, btw, we can relate back to Carol and Mary at Terminus. “You’re either the cattle or the butcher.” In this case, Jocelyn’s group = Terminus and TF had fallen prey to their “mask of evil” as Daryl would have called it. A lot of things in this episode felt like Terminus, actually.

The second chart shows rabbits. Remember that Lizzie also killed rabbits.

When Jocelyn makes off with the Alexandria kids, they disappear through the drain tunnels in the ground. This is really an interesting callback. I think Michonne’s terror comes mostly (other than the fact that Judith is gone) from the fact that she probably associates the tunnels with Carl's death. It was down there, after all, that she found out he'd been bitten. Now Judith, her other child, has disappeared via that same route.

But the other thing I really want to callback to is when we first found out about that the existence of those tunnels, when Maggie went looking for Glenn in S6. She and Aaron went down there, but didn't end up actually leaving to look for Glenn. Why is that important? First off, because that was during Glenn’s death fake out. There was a million parallels between Glenn and Beth during that fake out.

Also, earlier in S5 we learned that Alexandria had exiled three people. The walkers Maggie and Aaron ran into in those tunnels were confirmed to be some of the people who’d been exiled. So just as Jocelyn went down through that drain to escape Alexandria, we saw others doing the same in the midst of Glenn’s death fake out. Which in turn had lots of parallels to Beth. (I promise I’ll tie that all together at the end. Bear with me.)

Okay, Daryl and Michonne at the abandoned playground. As I said yesterday, ots of people picked up on Daryl's line about how some people are evil, but they hide it, as if wearing a mask. That’s a perfect example of how they’re foreshadowing what's going on in the present day with the Whisperers, which is why I think this Jocelyn thing will replay at some point during the Whisperer arc.

Earlier, when Jocelyn and all her kids are at Alexandria, a couple of interesting things. We see them all playing “the quiet game.” I seemed just a little bit random to me. Maybe a foreshadow of Connie and her being deaf, but the quiet game is about not talking, more than it is about not hearing. And given that Jocelyn's group turned out to be evil, I feel like this is a sinister foreshadowing of some kind. Something we haven't seen fulfilled yet. Like maybe someone isn’t able to be quiet and it means their death. We did have the crying baby, which Connie saved, but that doesn’t ring true to me either. I'm not sure, but this was just so random, I think it has to lead to something.

When talking to Jocelyn, Michonne says that when she heard Jocelyn's kids could hunt, she assumed it would be a few squirrels and a slingshot. The slingshot is an obvious foreshadow of Connie. I also noticed that when Jocelyn told the story about Michonne getting signatures for a petition in high school, she showed up at some "fancy ass Regent’s dinner” with double the number of signatures she needed. Regent is another word for ruler or King. Fancy academic dinners often have names like that. But I couldn't help but think that foreshadowed Michonne showing up at the Regent’s (King Ezekiel’s fancy ass fair). See what I mean about how they were using dialogue foreshadows for the present day?

When Michonne and Daryl get free, they split up and I noticed that Michonne grabs a water pipe. (Water =s Beth). 

She drops it after fighting the kids I the hallway in favor of her katana (which one of the kids had). Yet another way to show that this arc is being paralleled with Beth in some way. Because Michonne wielded the water pipe as a weapon, I also thought it could be a way to show that Beth is the weapon they will use to defeat this (or some other *coughs Alpha*) evil group.

Michonne kills Jocelyn and then all the kids still try to kill her. I thought alternating between Michonne killing walkers in the present (while looking for Judith) rather than showing her kill the kids was really smart way. Obviously, the alternative would've been a lot darker and probably not allowed on TV.

Everything works out, Judith and all the Alexandrian kids are found, and there's a happy reunion.

Winnie does get away, which is super-interesting. As I said yesterday, I think she’ll resurface, but just a couple of details about her. Since this happened roughly 5 years ago, I think she could be with the Whisperers. Even though she’s evil, I naturally want to read into the fact that she was part of this group who disappeared, and no one knows where she is now. Feels like an anti-Beth thing. Oh, and she's blonde. I mean, I would've read into her as a Beth parallel one way or the other, but they just so happened to make her blonde. Just saying.

I will mention one point of unreality in all of this. No way all the parents from Alexandria wouldn't have been there to help get their kids back. I get that in terms of the story, they needed Michonne and Daryl to bond and go through something together, just the two of them. It has everything to do with the parallels to Beth and Daryl’s arc. But no way those parents would have just twiddled their thumbs in Alexandria while Michonne (pregnant lady) and Daryl went to get the kids. Just doesn't happen my friends. But since I know what the show was trying to accomplish, I'll let it slide. ;D

Okay, in closing, I said there was something I wanted to pull together at the end. This was a small but kind of important epiphany I had while writing this post and thinking about the episode. I’m surprised it didn’t occur to me sooner, but now that I say that, I realize it really couldn’t have until I formulated the “Carzekiel will also get a death fake out” theory. In other words, I couldn’t have put it all together until this season.

Many of my past leadership predictions for Michonne and Carol (and by extension belief that Beth will lead as well) are based on one of her lines during her and Daryl’s fight in Still. “I’m not Michonne, I’m not Carol, I’m not Maggie…but I made it.” Anyone who’s followed me long knows I can really beat this line and it’s symbolism to death.

Many TDers made early predictions about it that didn’t pan out. Or else we had theories…but they had holes in them. The leadership is the one that really seemed to work out for us. Maggie leading at Hilltop, Carol at the Kingdom, and Michonne at Alexandria. So by definition, Beth will have to lead somewhere, sometime too, and we definitely didn’t see that before Coda.

Minor aside: this is yet another reason I do think it will be Ezekiel, rather than Carol who is “just gone.” Because I think Carol will have to lead alone at the Kingdom for a time, just as Michonne is leading without Rick and Maggie led at Hilltop after losing Glenn. By the same token, if Beth woke up alone, then she lost Daryl as much as he lost her, and might have started leading at any time after that. We simply don’t know yet.

Anyway, so the epiphany I had was that three of the four ladies mentioned in Beth’s line in Still—Michonne, Carol, and Beth herself—all had death fake out arcs. So I had the thought that maybe her line foreshadowed that.

The odd one out is Glenn and Maggie. Because, although I obviously believe Beth is alive, we know Rick is, and I think the same will be true of Ezekiel, I do NOT think Glenn is coming back. I doubt anyone does.

Well, it took all of about twenty seconds for it to click for me. Glenn ISN’T coming back, but he already had his death fake out. In season 6.

So this line did foreshadow that these four couples would all have a death fake out. We know they planned from very early on that Negan would indeed kill Glenn, just as in the CBs, so they had to do something a little different with his fake out. The whole point of doing it in S6 was to include him and Maggie in this arc. And it really wasn’t even a matter of him being paralleled with Beth per se (I mean, it WAS, because hers was the only fake out that had happened at that point; Richonne’s and Carzekiel’s wouldn’t come for several more seasons) but rather that the same symbolism has been and will be employed in each case because they’re all following the same arc.

Hence, the Sirius/Serious piggyback images we’ve seen around Carzekiel, the hand-holding, the clocks…

I think the writers figured out the major characters that people loved from the first three seasons—which included Rick and Michonne, Daryl, Carol, Glenn and Maggie—and figured out who their love interests would be in the long term. These are the four main couples of the apocalypse. There have been other awesome couples, sure, but these are the most mainstream and epic. These are the couples who were given death fake outs and resurrection arcs. Glenn’s was simply shorter than the others, spanning only a few episodes where Bethyl’s spanned several seasons. I’m assuming Michonne will figure out about Rick sometime next season, and of course we have no idea what kind of time span Carzekiel will have, but you get the idea.

So, for what I said earlier: this is why the purple flowers behind Michonne—the same ones we saw Maggie wake up to RIGHT after Glenn died—are important. It’s why the tunnels being part of this Jocelyn story are important. We first saw them in the midst of Glenn’s death fake out. It’s also why the Xs are important. Michonne and Daryl both have them—rather than other characters—because they’re both part of this same arc. See what I mean?

So yeah, that was my other other epiphany. :D And it, you know, makes me happy. *Does creepy TD dance* 

#beth green #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

[robotslovedeath]

Why You? | Draco M. x Reader (3)

A/N: I’m totally not improvising this as I go uwu anyway enjoy chapter 3 while I listen to some chill music to get me going (chill as in p!atd and some nostalgic game songs from childhood) also! i genuinely like harry as a character and i swear im not trying to shit on him lmao sorry if you think i loathe him with a passion. making him a dick in this is my intention just for the purpose of this fic dndbsb try listening to I'm a Mess by Bebe Rexha while reading! my ideas mostly rely on that song 👀

Word count: 1,633 words

Warnings: None.

Summary: Y/N’s been awfully interested in Harry Potter ever since she met him the first day she arrived at Hogwarts. Not that everyone else did, but crushes. What else could she say? It isn’t until Draco, coincidentally crushing on Y/N, spots Potter and her laughing wholeheartedly, like nothing else in the world matters. Frustration hits him unexpectedly, and he tries everything to get him to lure you to him, eventually making you his.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 |

"Harry, it's not what it looks like-" You began, pleading him to not bring it up to anyone else. Especially Ron and Hermione. You couldn't believe he had seen the hug between you two. Thinking about that, why the hell was Harry even spying on them?! Has he not got anything else to do? It was creepy in a way. "Y/N, it's way more than what it looks like. Are you serious? I-I've spent days trying to get your attention away from that sick Slytherin, how could you just disobey my orders like that? You're my friend and Malfoy can't just do as he pleases."

You were in utter disgust. Did he think you were some animal figure to him? Like you would go to anyone you saw and immediately take a liking to them? How arrogant could he be? He specifically mentioned that you were his friend. Did that mean that you could only rely on him? "Excuse me? Am I a joke to you? Do I look like I care about your current relationship with Malfoy? I don't give a single damn about that. If you're trying to protect me, then do it correctly! You're only making me want to run back to him!" You spat, your eyes ready to pour the remaining tears you had left in you.

"You're better than this, Potter." This time you called him by his last name. You didn't know him anymore, he was a complete stranger again. How could you love someone like him? Draco was right after all. For once, he actually was. Eventually, after running away from Harry, you found yourself in an empty classroom. The room being your second place to study in, just incase someone bothered you. As far as you were aware, no one knew about this place. Large sighs escaped your dry mouth, the loud ruffling of your books in your bag making so much noise. You finally found your F/B again, continuing off where you recently were.

In the end, you quickly got over your Harry-phase and decided to focus on your studies again instead of some lame crush that probably wasn't that big of a deal anyway. Well, you sure hoped it didn't or you would probably regret it again. Nose inside your book, mind inside your own little world, you didn't notice the time had gone by so fast. You put your book away right as you were about to exit the room, taken by surprise at the sight of him suddenly entering without warning.

"Y/L, thought I might find you here." Draco spoke, a signature smirk highlighting his pale face. "Draco- didn't I tell you to leave me alone? I really don't have the time for this, classes are about to start in a couple minutes-" He truly startled you. How would a guy like him know where to find you? It was strange, but you were glad to have at least a bit of company for the remaining break. "And also, please don't tell anyone about this place. I use it a lot and Ron and Hermione can't find out or they'll get mad--"

He cut you off with a shake of his head, and let you go past him. "They won't know anything unless they see where you run off to. I don't think they care enough anyway, Y/L. Why don't ya ditch 'em for a while, hm? We're pretty much Weasley and that Mudblood but way better. Way better than Mister Potter too, darling." The word 'darling' lingered on his tongue for a while before smiling again, noticing this as an unsure agreement at first. "I could.. maybe arrange that. I just need excuses, they won't believe a word if I make something on the spot."

Draco was definitely in for that simply by the look on his face. "You could tell them you're off to snog me for the next 800 years-" "Draco! Are you out of your mind? They wouldn't believe such a preposterous lie. As much I wish they would, they aren't fools." He at least tried to get your attention for some time, clearly failing to do so. "Anyhow, I'll.. probably think about it for now. It all seems so fast and I can't get use to it, Draco. Please give me time." You mumble rather slowly, distracted by how you were about to be late to class. "Apologies, I should get going. Good day, Draco."

Finding your seat ever so quickly, your short breaths made a couple pair of eyes stare in your direction. Just as you were about to settle down, class started. It was another boring lesson, you still being at the back and nearly dozzing off, before somebody hit a book to your head. "I'm sorry, Y/N! The professor told me I had to do it for your own sake, I would never do such a thing, I promise." It was Longbottom, his gentle side always being close to you as he realised how bad you were hurting ever since childhood. You kinda liked that side of him. You could even say you loved it a tiny bit. "No problem, Longbottom. No need for the apology." Guess this day wasn't as bad.

Class was dismissed and you only had to survive one more class until the day was over. Then you had all the time in the world to finish your book, avoid the trio and maybe go and check what Draco was doing. Not that you liked him. He was only your friend. "Hey, Y/L! I haven't seen you around much, is everything okay?" Finnigan was talking to you now, unusual for him to check up on you. Or maybe another demand from Ron. You knew how worried he would get seeing you with a Slytherin of some sort.

"..I'm fine. You really don't have to worry about me," You were thinking for a while, until, "say, Ron didn't send you here to ask how I was doing, did he?" You gave an unsure smile at him, your brows in a frown. "Bloody Weasley! Uh, excuse me while I step outside. Professor, may I head to the bathroom?" She gave a nod of approval and you proceeded outside to find the nearest corridor and lean against it, nowhere near your current classroom. How could he waste somebody's time just to ask how you were doing? You hadn't even talked to him since you last saw Potter. You didn't want anything to do with them anymore.

You got the fact they wanted to protect you, but it was so selfish trying to control you. What if you liked talking to Draco? What if you liked seeing his face? Hurrying over to the classroom, you found your seat again except this time someone's gaze was on you. You could feel it from the back. "..What are you looking it at?" Frankly, you felt like that was way too harsh but it didn't matter. He's a big boy, isn't he? Draco could handle it.

"Don't forget your assignments. Other than that, class dismissed." Well, that was it. Dinner and then everything was going to be fine. You really should have looked where you were going; bumping into a familiar chest, and looking up in sorrow. "Oh.. Draco. Hi." Your words slipped ever so quickly, hands by your sides, trembling sightly. "Hey, Y/L. Rather odd of you to be the first one out of class. You normally take your time once class is over, what's the problem with you now?" You wanted to get away from him, not having any time on your hands at the moment. "I'm.. heading somewhere. I.. broke my finger and I have to go to the hospital wing?" Your voice went way higher than before, vaguely smiling at Draco.

He chuckled. His chuckles turning into full on laughter. "You're kidding, right? You've never broken a bone. Ever since you got here you stated you were the healthiest witch alive." How could he remember that? Why did he? "That's none of your business. Enjoy dinner, Draco." Turning away from him, you sprinted to your beloved, empty classroom and sighed in relief when you saw he hadn't followed you. Even if he did, Draco knew where you were hiding from the beginning. You regretted that you didn't look back.

"You really hate them, don't you?" You jumped from your seat, landing on the floor with a loud thump. "Don't scare me like that! Bloody hell, what do you want?" He landed you a hand, taking it and standing up again. Dust was scattered everywhere on your robes; glad they weren't on your face. Although.. you began sneezing, face red and puffy. Great, you forgot about that allergy. "..Why do I feel so weak around you? You managed to make me fall and sneeze uncontrollably. 'You proud?" An annoyed groan left your mouth while you wiped the dust away.

He stepped towards you, too close than you intended him to be. "What are you doing?" He didn't say a word, only gazing into your E/C eyes. He wasn't about to.. you know. Was he? "Y/N, there's nothing to be afraid of. I'm only going to.. know you a bit more." "Huh? Know me? What do you mea-" Cold lips connected to your warm ones, completely bewildered by what was happening. You couldn't seem to get away from Draco. It was like you were under his spell. Without magic. You two stayed like that for a couple seconds, eventually pulling away and leaving a string of saliva between your mouths. "I- did we just-? Did you--?" He nodded, walking out of the abandoned classroom and heading straight for the hall.

He really did just kiss you.

#hp #draco #draco malfoy x you #draco malfoy x reader #draco malfoy #draco x reader #you #x reader #harry potter #potterhead #malfoy #narcisa malfoy #lucius malfoy #scorpius malfoy #malfoy family #malfoy manor #albus severus potter #scorpius and albus #albus dumbledore #ron weasley #hermione granger #lily evans #james potter #hogwarts #hp fanfic #harry potter fanfiction #fanfiction #fanfic #slytherin #gryffindor

[richincolor]

Everyone, please welcome debut author Axie Oh to Rich in Color! We’re thrilled to have her here–I absolutely loved her novel, Rebel Seoul, and you can read my review here.

Rebel Seoul is one of the newest offerings from Tu Books, and you definitely need to check it out:

After a great war, the East Pacific is in ruins. In brutal Neo Seoul, where status comes from success in combat, ex-gang member Lee Jaewon is a talented pilot rising in the ranks of the academy. Abandoned as a kid in the slums of Old Seoul by his rebel father, Jaewon desires only to escape his past and prove himself a loyal soldier of the Neo State.

When Jaewon is recruited into the most lucrative weapons development division in Neo Seoul, he is eager to claim his best shot at military glory. But the mission becomes more complicated when he meets Tera, a test subject in the government’s supersoldier project. Tera was trained for one purpose: to pilot one of the lethal God Machines, massive robots for a never-ending war.

With secret orders to report on Tera, Jaewon becomes Tera’s partner, earning her reluctant respect. But as respect turns to love, Jaewon begins to question his loyalty to an oppressive regime that creates weapons out of humans. As the project prepares to go public amidst rumors of a rebellion, Jaewon must decide where he stands—as a soldier of the Neo State, or a rebel of the people.

Pacific Rim meets Korean action dramas in this mind-blowing, New Visions Award-winning science fiction debut.

I knew the moment I read the synopsis I would love it. Now on to the interview!

Rebel Seoul was one of the winners of the New Visions Award. Can you tell us more about why you decided to enter the contest and what it was like to work with the staff at Tu Books?

I first heard about the contest at ALA in 2014, where I was given a brochure at the Lee & Low booth. I had begun to query REBEL SEOUL (titled something else at the time), and was getting a lot of feedback along the lines of: “dystopia is dead.” This was before WNDB really took off, so I accepted this as fact (now, I would argue – yes, maybe there are a lot of books set in American dystopias with white protagonists, but very few with POC protagonists in a non-Western or even Western setting). When I got the brochure, I really loved Tu Books’ mission statement to diversify children’s literature. I was also inspired to write REBEL SEOUL in part after reading Cindy Pon’s short story “Blue Skies” in the Tu Books’ anthology DIVERSE ENERGIES. So when I sent in my cover letter with my application, I comped my book to that short story! Since winning, everyone at Tu Books has been super supportive and awesome. I’m really proud, honored and grateful to be a part of their list. P.S. Cindy wrote a beautiful blurb for REBEL SEOUL!

Science-fiction often gives an author the opportunity to extrapolate upon the present to reshape the world. What drew you to creating a militaristic world like Neo Seoul? What were your favorite parts about building this world?

This is exactly it – I extrapolated upon the present. In the world of REBEL SEOUL, Seoul is divided into Old Seoul and Neo Seoul, and I based that concept on Seoul’s present-day geography, as Seoul is naturally divided by the Han River. North of the Han River is Gyeongbokgung (Gyeongbok Palace) and some of the older parts of the city and south of the Han River is the Gangnam district and some of the newer areas, hence Old and Neo (New). All the landmarks and districts are the same. Seoul has a very extensive subway system and lots of taxis and shopping areas and billboards, so I just made that all “futuristic.” Really, I did no world building. It’s all there already!

The militaristic world came from a childhood spent watching a lot of sci-fi anime, which oftentimes have plotlines of war or rebellion. Again, I extrapolated from the present, like the idea of mandatory military service, which is a requirement in South Korea for males. In my alt-future, it’s a requirement for all citizens.

My favorite parts of building this world were those moments when I could extrapolate from what already exists, where I could add in a scene that felt true to me that I hoped would resonate with others. One of my favorite scenes I put into the novel is when Jaewon goes through the funeral home of a hospital (funeral homes are often in hospitals in Seoul), and he comes across a mother mourning her son. The whole scene is something I’ve experienced in my own life during memorial services, and I wanted to show through the scene a love and reverence for the moment.

One of the things I really admired about Rebel Seoul was that the characters all had rich lives before the start of the story. Tell us more about Jaewon and Tera’s development as characters.

With Jaewon, I was inspired by Korean dramas. He’s pretty typical of protagonists in high school K-dramas, a loner with a heart of gold. I think the appeal of these characters is that we can trust and put our faith in them. Although they make mistakes and stumble, they never give up, and this gives us hope as viewers. I wanted to channel this feeling with Jaewon. I began with this character archetype and then layered him with a family, friends, history and dreams. As for Tera, her characterization came more from anime. She’s similar to a lot of characters in sci-fi/mecha anime, like Heero from Gundam Wing or Soma Peries from Gundam 00. She’s a government experiment, trained and manipulated since birth for a “greater purpose,” but coming into her own person, discovering her own dreams and desires.

Jaewon and Tera are one of my favorite battle couples in YA. Who are some of your favorite battle couples, romantic or not?

Minho and Thomas from THE MAZE RUNNER. I’ve only read the first book and seen the films, but I love their friendship, and how together they protect the group. Will & Lyra from His Dark Materials. I love them both so much as individuals. But together, they’re unbeatable. Not YA, but I love Relena & Heero from Gundam Wing. I love how they’re both strong individuals with their own goals and motivations, yet in times of vulnerability, seek each other for warmth and comfort.

Family, both biological and of the found/friendship/soulmate variety, had a huge impact on Jaewon and his motivations throughout the novel. Why did you place so much weight on these relationships in Rebel Seoul? What interested you in those types of stories?

Again, going back to K-dramas and anime, K-dramas often focus on family and close friendships, and anime on found families and soulmates. These are themes that come up in the media I love and consume, so it felt natural as I wrote the story to incorporate them into REBEL SEOUL. In general, I love all types of relationships – I didn’t specifically start off thinking, okay I’m going to have a bromance or a team of four very different individuals who come together as friends and partners – it just sort of happened! And K-dramas always have four main characters (two leads, two secondary leads), so that formation came naturally into my storytelling.

If you could pilot any giant robot (whether from Rebel Seoul or another fictional universe), which would it be and why?

Gundam Deathscythe Hell!!! This is the upgraded gundam Duo Maxwell pilots in Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz, the animated film following the television series. It’s just so cool! It specializes in stealth and close combat. It wields a large SCYTHE and has bat wings and cloaking armor that allows it invisibility. Plus, I love Duo. I feel like if I took a “which gundam pilot are you” character quiz, I would get him.

What books by or about people of color or people from First/Native Nations are you looking forward to this year? Or that have already come out this year?

It hasn’t come out yet, but I read and loved FOREST OF A THOUSAND LANTERNS by Julie C. Dao. It’s an exciting and thought-provoking villainess origin story inspired by the evil queen in Snow White and Chinese court dramas. Looking forward to: WARCROSS by Marie Lu, STARFISH by Akemi Dawn Bowman & TRAIL OF LIGHTNING by Rebecca Roanhorse.

Some books I already read and loved: WANT by Cindy Pon, I BELIEVE IN A THING CALLED LOVE by Maurene Goo and THE EPIC CRUSH OF GENIE LO by F. C. Yee!

Is there anything else you would like to tell us about Rebel Seoul or your other work? What can we look forward to from you next?

Right now I’m working on a YA fantasy inspired by a Korean folktale. Fantasy with a dash of romance were always my favorite kinds of books as a teen (think: BEAUTY by Robin McKinley or HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE by Diana Wynne Jones), so I’m indulging that love of mine, and combining it with the culture and myths that I grew up with!

Axie Oh is a first generation Korean American, born in NYC and raised in New Jersey. She studied Korean history and creative writing as an undergrad at the University of California – San Diego and holds an MFA from Lesley University in Writing for Young People. Her passions include K-pop, anime, stationery supplies, and milk tea. She currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada with her puppy, Toro.

You can find out more about her at her website or follow her on twitter.

#axie oh #rebel seoul #WeNeedDiverseBooks #young adult books #science fiction

[moonshroooms]

Random Fandom Questions Oh My

A - Ships that you currently like a lot. (They don’t have to be OTPs because not everyone has OTPs.) Friendships, pairings, threesomes, etc. are allowed.

Currently the other ships I like right now are Human Bill Cipher and Dipper (a big guilty pleasure). If there are any Billdip shippers reading this may I humbly recommend Defining Bill Cipher, cause it’s 100% fantastic with plot, characterization, and some uh, heated moments if ya get what I mean. 

I always enjoy Frisk x Sans from Undertale, though I’ve been lagging behind on fanfics. I also like Sans and Toriel (which honestly, I like Frisk and Sans better for fanfics, but I’d want Sans and Toriel to be canon), and Frisk and Asriel are super cute too.

I’ve started reading Owari no Seraph (like, I think I’m only like ch 5), and I already knew about Mika x Yuu long before I ever started reading so I’m absolutely shipping them right now A++

I also ship Gon and Killua from Hunter x Hunter, though I don’t read a lot of fanfics for them. I just kinda annoy my friend with it when we watch the show XD

B - A pairing–platonic, romantic or sexual–that you initially didn’t consider, but someone changed your mind.

You know, I actually don’t think I do

C - A ship you have never liked and probably never will.

Ciel and Sebastian from Black Butler. And it’s weird cause like, they are absolutely ripe for shipping and there are plenty of other ships in like, nearly the same position I like but just. He doesn’t love-love Ciel man. He don’t even friendship-love him. Sebastian wants to eat his soul like literally and that’s it he’s just food. For whatever reason I just can’t get into that pairing. Please just let Ciel be with Elizabeth she’s such a cutie and let them be happy forever on okay good okay

D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t.

Ichigo and Masaya from Tokyo Mew Mew. I am 100% a Kisshu x Ichigo shipper and I know Ichigo x Masaya is like, oddly, one of the healthiest relationships you could have in an anime and Masaya would be a boy I’d fall head-over-heels for myself if he was real like honestly everything about him is basically perfect but I just. He’s so boring. He’s a really boring character to watch. And he gets more interesting near the end of the show, but it was just kinda too little too late, yanno? If they’d put more hints at the darker side of his wonderful personality then I’d probably would have shipped them, but I saw Kishigo first and that’s who I glommed onto srry

E - Have you added anything cracky/hilarious to your fandom? If so, what?

 I don’t contribute anything to society let alone a fandom XD

  F - What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom?

 I mean, that’s under the idea I’m actually in a fandom? Do I have to do something to be in a fandom? Can I just enjoy content? Does that count? If it do then I’ve been in the Tokyo Mew Mew fandom for like, 10 years or more. It’s like 99% dead so it’s not like I’ve searched up anything recently, but believe me if it ever gets a good remake I will be there 100%

G - Have you ever had an OTP? If so, do you remember your first one? Who was in it?

 My first OTP back before I ever knew what an OTP was was Kisshu and Ichigo from Tokyo Mew Mew. And that fandom is super dead and I’ll probably never read a new good fanfic ever again but I’ll probably never let them go. I still consider them my OTP, and I’ve never found anyone that tops it XD They’re also completely toxic but just. Ah. I love them so much I just want them in a cute relationship plz

H - What is your favorite source text for fandom stuff (e.g., TV shows, movies, books, anime, Western animation, etc.)?

 Ennething. I guess anime is the easiest one to find though. I think I like Western animation better than anime, if only for comedy that hits home a little bit more, since I grew up in that culture and whatnot

I - Has Tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why?

 Nah. I avoid the Discourse by never joining the conversation e v e r. And most of the time I don’t really follow fandom blogs specifically, just blogs that happen to post some fandom stuff, so I probably don’t see any sort of annoying people or awful environments or anything. I don’t understand how people can get so annoyed I feel like discourse is just so easy to avoid/ignore??? But maybe that’s just me

J - Name a fandom you didn’t think about until you saw it all over Tumblr. (You don’t have to care about it or follow it; it just has to be something that Tumblr made you aware of.)

 Voltron. I didn’t even know it existed until some of the funny blogs I follow started posting stuff about it. I don’t even know what Voltron’s about, other than the name sounded really familiar, like it’s an old anime being remade or something.

K - What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc?

 Peridot from Steven Universe. No wait, Rinna from Forest Born. Forest Born is one of my favorite books (from the Books of Bayern series by Shannon Hale, I highly recommend them). When I was younger I related to Rinna a lot (and I’m like, nothing like her now but that’s beside the point), and I loved her development her slow development towards not hating herself so much. It’s wonderful and steady and feels real

L - Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your faves. (Characters you’re neutral about are fair game, as are characters you merely dislike. Characters that you absolutely loathe with the fire of ten thousand suns are exempt, as there is no point in giving yourself an aneurysm over a character that you hate.)

 Jackie from Star vs. is a really nice girl A+ girlfriend material and if I didn’t ship Marco and Star she’d be next up for the Marco ship train. I absolutely don’t hate her and she’s a fun and nice character, but sorry you can’t be Marco’s girlfriend the bloodmoon and also me said so

M - Name a character that you’d like to have for a friend.

 Isi from the Goose Girl. She already reminds me a lot of my friend, so maybe I’m a little biased, but she seems like an absolutely wonderful person to be friends with and I’d 100% love that. I’d also like Dasha from River Secrets and Enna from Enna Burning. Just. Any of the main girls from the Books of Bayern. I love them all

N - Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice).

 Since I don’t have a main fandom, I’ll just choose one:

 From Steven Universe I want more funny comics, dumb memes, and Stevonnie anything. And that’s considering there’s already a shitton of all of that. There’s never enough

  O - Choose a song at random. Which ship or character does it remind you of?

 He’s Hurting Me by Maria Mena. And Kisshu x Ichigo, mostly because I’ve seen an AMV with them and that song XD

  P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas).

 Active Fandom for Tokyo Mew Mew AU!

 Okay fine, that doesn’t count. But oh geez I can’t think of any good ideas though. I don’t know but anything but a coffee shop AU. Give me something with adventure man. Uhh *spins wheel* Siren AU with *rolls dice* Pokémon. Make it happen, people

  Q - A fandom you’ve abandoned and why.

 Eh, considering I’m never an active part of any fandom, I can’t say I’ve abandoned anything. I’ll even go back to really old fandoms and try to find something I haven’t read before

R - Which friendship/platonic relationship is your favorite in fandom?

 Do Steven and Connie and Star and Marco count even though I ship them? Because I value their friendship just as much if not more than their shipping capabilities. If not then, Sailor Moon and the other sailor scouts from Sailor Moon (from the original anime). I just really like that they joke and roast and support each other. A lot of the episodes focus a lot on their random interactions and it’s a joy to watch.

S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon (prompts optional but encouraged)

 I have none honestly XD I’m not usually a person that gets into headcanons much. I ship plenty of people that aren’t together but I wouldn’t really call them headcanons, I dunno. Gon and Killua end up married. There, there’s your headcanon.

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending?

 Kisshu returns to Earth for Whatever reason (any reason that means more battles and adventures is good), Ichigo ends up falling in love with him, Pudding and Tart end up together, Lettuce and Pie are together, Masaya is just fine and not dead, and everyone’s happy the end

 That’s the best I got XD

U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites.

 Kisshu from Tokyo Mew Mew: Other than the fact he’s from my long-standing OTP, he’s just really fun to watch. He’s probably the reason I have an immediate attachment to character that are slightly crazy and shit tons of dangerous. He’s cheeky and flirty and gawd I luv it A+

 Peridot and Lapis from Steven Universe. I couldn’t choose really. Peridot is such a trash gremlin and Lapis is amazing when it’s not complete angst she is just Ultimate Emo Child.

 Willis from Awful Hospital (I highly recommend this comic by the way. It’s weird and wonderful). So far he’s just the cutest little thing and I love watching him it’s great

  V - Which character do you relate to most?

 I used to relate to Rinna from Forest Born a whole bunch, especially when I was younger. Nowadays I relate much more to her older brother Razo from River Secrets. He’s self-concious, but always cracking jokes and always in the mood for eating. I think he’s hilarious and honestly I hope I can be as funny as him. He’s got a lot of talents he just never notices. I hope that gets to be me, too.

W - A trope which you are virtually certain to hate in any fandom.

 Characters with no personality. And I think this is mostly just in the otome and harem anime’s that this kind of thing is rampant, cause you gotta make a character that people can slip into but just. My god. I tried playing an otome once and I couldn’t even finish it it was so awful and infuriating. Watching Diabolik Lovers was so painful this girl just L E T everything happen she didn’t even try putting up a fight even when some dude GAVE HER A KNIFE TO STAB HER VAMPIRE WHATEVERS WITH. MY GOD. I hated everything I wanted to cry. And don’t even get me started on the manga Black Bird I hate it so much they just rinse repeat everything. ‘No love interest don’t do sexy things at me I don’t want it’ ‘I’m doing it as punishment for you doing/not doing Whatever’ ‘Noooo’ and then proceeds to just continue to love the assbag. Just stop oh my goooood

  X - A trope which you are almost certain to love in any fandom.

 Enemies to Lovers. Or enemies being in love in general. Or forbidden romances of any kind. Basically I want a shit ton of angst and a happy ending.

Y - What are your secondhand fandoms (i.e., fandoms you aren’t in personally but are tangentially familiar with because your friends/people on your dash are in them)?

 I know a little bit about Homestuck, which I tried to read once and got bored. I keep wanting to pick it back up but just… aaaah the beginning is so boring I can hardly tell what’s going on. And I hate the 1 panel thing. I’m sure it was good while it was being posted, but it just takes so long to load the next page. I need a multi-page version please.

 I also know a tad bit about Madoka Magic, which I’m not entirely sure how. I just kinda. Read stuff I came across, despite never being interested in the show myself.

  Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go! (Prompts optional but encouraged.)

 Dear god please let Star and Marco be together (they probably will).

 I want at the very least a cute cheek kiss from Steven and Connie, also, can Stevonnie fuse with other gems??? That’d be wild.

 Danny Phantom needed to be longer also he needed to be with Valerie I loved her why the flip flap did they give her such a crappy reason to not be with Danny AAAH

 I haven’t been able to watch the Legend of Korra because I tear up anytime I see something about the old gang being old or dead like legit if I ever see Aang being all dead and spiritual and shit I will cry

 The Amazing World of Gumball is hilarious and I want more people to watch it

 I tried watching Bob’s Burger’s for just like, a funny show without a plot and I got bored eventually. Thankfully Gumball saved the day

 I think Ni no Kuni is an adorable game and I love their little definitely-not-Pokémon monsters and I’ll probably rant about who’s on my team one day

  I ship Link and Midna 100% but like, only the TP incarnation of Link. Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild and Spirit Tracks Link can be with Zelda. Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass Link can be with Tetra (specifically Tetra).

 Speaking of Tetra, why the flip flap SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN’T PLAYED WIND WAKER BUT LIKE, IT’S REALLY OLD AND HAS A REMAKE SO I GUESS THAT’S MOSTLY YOUR FAULT BEWAAAAAAAAAARE. ALSO THE BEGINNING OF BREATH OF THE WILD I GUESS? THOUGH IT’S NOT REALLY A BIG IMPORTANT SPOILER. 

does she get pale when she turns into Zelda? Like, bam you’re royalty also kiss your tan goodbye. Same thing happens to the mysterious old man when he becomes the king. Do bluebloods just not get tan or something like, the flip?

#fandom #fandoms #personal #asks

[behindheremeraldeyes]

SasuSaku Festival 2017 . Day 01- Valentine’s Day . Title: He loves me. He loves me not . Summary: She’s working at the Yamanaka Shop when he suddenly goes in claiming to be looking for a flower. Will the petals reveal her lovely destiny on that Valentine’s Day? . A/N: Happy SasuSaku Festival, everyone!!! Oh boy, I’m so excited with the themes!!! Some are quite hard, but a challenge is always fun every now and then, right?! Well, you guys know me, and I’m clearly late with the themes, so be patient and enjoy the festival, even if it's already over! I would like to thank the organizers of this AMAZING event, and say that, even if I'm not submitting my stories, and even if I'm terribly late, it was one hell of an event! Thank you, @sasusakufestival ! Thank you for a new tradition!  About the story... It turned out quite amusing to write, and I hope you can enjoy it! I hope you have fun and participate, and please, tell me your opinion about the story (aka leave me a Review XD)! . . . It was the 3rd Valentine’s Day in Konoha after the war.

Heart-shaped decorations were spread all around the village, with chocolate promotions being announced everywhere. Balloons were tied to stuffed animals, and there wasn’t a single restaurant that wasn’t already fully booked for dinner. Gifts were being bought and exchanged, and it was easy to spot the smiling faces and the blushing cheeks that decorated the lovers’ lives on such a peaceful and red day.

Love was in the air, indeed.

But thanks to the pollen inside her nostrils, Haruno Sakura could barely smell anything at all.

“ Thank you for choosing us! Happy Valentine’s Day!” She bowed her head down respectfully for the nth time that morning, as a pretty smile decorated her lips. By that time, she had certainly grown accustomed to the whole sales thing, as she already seemed to be a professional in selling flowers. She had been there for less than a day and was already showing confidence in her bouquets and kindness when treating one of the clients.

As expected from the Godaime’s perfectionist apprentice, people thought, as soon as they exited the Yamanaka Flower Shop after unexpectedly meeting pink hair behind the counter.

Yes, even if seeing her there was a surprise to everyone who entered the shop, it was impossible to deny her professional competence. The girl who was named after a flower seemed to be doing an excellent job at her friend’s family business, and even if she was smiling from one ear to another, deep inside, the pinkette was struggling to control her blood-thirst towards the one girl she calls her best friend.

Ino-Pig was definitely going to pay her when she came back.

No matter how many times she thought that over, there was nothing inside Sakura that could simply understand what the Yamanaka girl had just done. Valentine’s Day is certainly the busiest day of the year for the flower industry, and the shop just couldn’t afford to give up on someone like Ino during such times. More than anyone, the blonde knew how messed up things would get at the store, or else she wouldn’t have asked the pinkette for help. Ino had basically begged Sakura, and for she was a good, single friend, who had been given a day off from the hospital and whose only love interest seemed to find the whole celebration a complete waste of his time; the Haruno girl just couldn’t say no to those pearly, sapphire eyes that belonged to her best friend. She would try her best, but when the matter was flowers, there was just no way she could ever compare to the mind tricker.

Ino’s the heart and soul of that place, and even if Sakura will never admit it, there is just no way to beat Yamanaka when it comes to those beautiful plants.

The blonde understands the flowers, she knows the clients and more than anyone in that store, she can prepare the prettiest bouquets for each, specific demand. She’s always been really good at this, and that was pretty much why the Haruno girl had accepted her request of giving a hand on the shop. Sakura was ready to help carrying heavy pots and separating the flowers for the costumers, but she was absolutely not ready to replace the flower expert for a couple of minutes that turned into hours as she not-so-discreetly went out to meet the socially inapt artist.

Sakura was definitely going to murder Ino as soon as she came back.

That is, if she survived until the end of that day.

A tired sigh escaped her lips as another costumer walked out through the door. She turned her green eyes to face the Yamanaka mother, and at that moment, she could tell that she couldn’t wait to scold her child for the rest of the day. They were both pissed at the girl, and at that moment, the one thing Sakura wanted the most was to create a shadow clone so she could drag the blonde back by the hair. Her fingers could even feel those platinum locks messily intertwined in her knuckles, and a smirk crossed her face at the thought.

Perhaps that wasn’t a terrible idea at all, she thought.

Unfortunately, she wouldn’t even have time to make the hand signs, for the bell attached to the door was once again announcing another costumer.

Here we go again, she thought, preparing another kind smile to decorate her facade.

Another kind, regular smile, to another kind and regular costumer.

Or that was what she thought.

“ Welcome to the Yamanaka Flower Shop! How can I-“

Her heart skipped a beat, the words got stuck in her throat and all she could bring herself to do was stare in awe at the person standing at the entrance. He was tall, handsome and had the one pair of dark orbs that would always send shivers down her spine. She had been seeing him around the village for the past couple of months, and yet, meeting him always felt like the first time. He had a hand shoved into his pocket, with his dark locks covering the left side of his face and his stoic expression gave him an uninterested aura as he looked deep into her eyes.

Uchiha Sasuke was as intense as ever.

And not even when surrounded by all kinds of flowers his mysterious and dark charm abandoned him.

“ Sakura.” His voice brought her back from her fantastic world, and she almost jumped in pure reflex. He kept staring at her, with his usual, stoic face, barely moving from the entrance at all. “ Shouldn’t you be at the hospital?”

“ Uhm… Actually, Tsunade-sama made me take the day off. She kinda forbade me to go to the hospital today.” She placed her right hand on the back of her head, right behind her messy pony tail, and shyly offered him a chuckle in response. Whenever he was home, the Uchiha would constantly scold her about the amount of time she spent working, and seeing her behind that counter during her break was definitely not pleasing him at all. His thoughts were written on his face, and at that moment, Sakura just didn’t know how to escape from the condemning glare he was sending her.

“ Tch, Shouldn’t you be resting, then?”

“ Yeah, but… Ino asked me to help and so I came. And by the way, what are you doing here, Sasuke-kun? ”

His dark orbs widened for a moment, and suddenly, it was as if she could see an interrogation mark spread all over his face.” H-Hn.. I’m just… Looking around.” He shifted his position uncomfortably, looking away from her and focusing on a random flower he found by his right. Sasuke was glancing down, averting eye-contact, and for a moment, Sakura even thought he seemed to be nervous.

But that was not possible, right?

He is Uchiha Sasuke, after all, and he doesn’t know how it feels to be nervous. She has never seen him expressing such emotion, and at that moment, while he was at a flower shop on Valentine’s Day, things would be no different.

Right?

The scene happening in front of her suddenly made the pinkette get a bad feeling taking over her senses, as she could feel her heart beating faster. She swallowed dry, as her hand tightened the grip she had around the edge of the counter, and soon, the Haruno girl found herself wanting to know more about why he chose the flower shop to simply skip some time.

Why was he there?

Why wasn’t he hanging around with Naruto?

And why the hell was she suddenly feeling so irritated?

The pinkette certainly didn’t know the answer to any of those questions. However, it was not like Haruno Sakura to simply let go of something that’s bothering her heart. Especially when that something was related to Uchiha Sasuke.

It didn’t take long before she found herself gathering up some courage to face him. She took a deep breath, and with determination spread all over her viridian orbs, the medic nin found herself ready to ask the one question she was afraid to ask. “ A- Are you… Looking for- Uh… A gift?”

Her foot was nervously tapping the ground and her fingers wouldn’t stop playing with each other. Her eyes were trapped in a cruel decision of wether or not to look at him, and an embarrassed blush was spread around her cheeks. The Uchiha, she knew, was fully aware of what she meant behind those words, and at that simple thought, Sakura felt her heart almost jumping off of her chest.

What on earth was that feeling?

She didn’t know, for sure.

But his words would probably help her figure out why it hurt so much.

“ Hn, you can say so.”

“ Oh… I see.” She faked a smile, shifting to that kind, shopper Sakura. “ And can I help you with anything?”

“ I don’t need your help, Sakura. Actually, I was looking for Ino. Is she here?”

Listening to his words without looking deep into his eyes made her chest clench even tighter. She felt her world falling apart in a sea of colorful petals, as her broken heart stained them with the most passionate red. It was hard to breath, it was hard to think and it was definitely hard not to cry at that very moment when she had just found out the bittersweet conclusion of her first love.

“ Sorry… She’s out right now, but she will be back shortly.”

“ Hn, I see…”

So he loved someone else, she thought.

Someone who had equally fought for him during their innocent days, and someone who was worth being called her rival. Apparently, he was in love with a girl whose attributes overpowered hers in so many ways she couldn’t even imagine. Yamanaka Ino belonged to a respected clan and its mark was sealed in her ninja skills. She is funny, smart and a lot more feminine than Sakura will ever be. She would be the perfect girl for him and for his clan, and there was just no way Sakura could alter that cold reality.

Ino was the girl he loved, and she could never compete against her best friend for his heart. Not anymore, when their feelings could never be changed again.

She had won, indeed. And now, Sakura knew that he would do anything to win her heart. Sai would definitely be no match for him, and it would just be a matter of time before Sakura could see both of them happily walking around the nostalgic streets of the village.

They would be happy with each other. And at that moment, the pinkette could only hang on that thought not to break down into tears. If two of the most important people of her life would be happy together, then who was she not to cheer for their happiness?

Pain filled the smile that crossed her lips, as she watched the love of her life from behind the counter. Her fingers were now tightly gripping the lime-green apron she wore over her clothes, and her teeth were clenched in pure agony.

God, didn’t that silly boy know Ino liked Cosmos?

A sudden, soft touch on her shoulder was the one thing that brought the pinkette back to reality. She slowly turned to face the source of such gesture and was suddenly calmed down by the view of a pair of light brown eyes staring at her. Apart from the age lines spread around her face, Ino’s mother was still a beautiful and strong woman, just like when Sakura and her daughter were just kids. Back then, she would always be smiling at them, while they would play with the flowers spread around the Yamanakas’ large and colorful garden, but now, after the war took her husband away from her, she simply preserved her emotions under her calm demeanor.

Ino’s mother is a really strong woman, and Sakura could learn a lot from her. She had absolutely no right to be sad around a woman like that.

“ Sakura… I think you could give him a hand, don’t you think?”

“ Eh? I’ve offered already an-“

“ It doesn’t matter, sweetheart.” She smiled softly, noticing something Sakura was obviously oblivious about. “ Just go and offer him your help. Do it before he breaks any of the flowers.”

The Haruno girl’s orbs widened at the serenity she could see stamped on the Yamanaka matriarch. She was at peace, and soon Sakura wondered if she would ever be like her. She wondered if she would ever be able to grow used to that whole situation, and suddenly, the words of that woman started to make sense to her.

Offer him her help.

Don’t let him break the flowers.

Realization hit her hard, and an overwhelming feeling took over her aching chest. Ino's mother was right. She couldn’t let the Uchiha and her forever unrequited love break both her and Ino apart. Not again. She had to offer him her help as the friends and teammates they are and will always be. Sakura needed to do that in order not to lose either of them, and in order to move on.

She needed to help him pick the flowers for her best friend.

She needed to find peace in her defeat.

“Hai.” A shy smile was spread over her lips as the Haruno made her way towards the Uchiha, who was now kneeled near the blue hydrangeas. Silently, she kneeled next to his left side, adjusting her position and her apron as soon as she didn’t feel any kind of rejection coming from his eyes. He was carefully watching her, as her nostrils were filled with his manly scent, and suddenly she could feel his warmth radiating towards her. Standing next to him has always felt good, and even if she was still feeling broken, she knew time would eventually mend her heart.

Sakura knew that, on a Valentine’s Day years ahead, she would be okay.

But at that moment, she just needed to save the flowers.

“ You have no idea of what you’re doing, right?”

“ Hn, is it that obvious?” He smirked defeatedly, making her heart flutter in a comfortable sensation.

Oh, that boy…

“ Yeah.” She chuckled. “ Let me help you, okay? How… How’s the girl you’re planning to give the flowers to?”

“ Eh? G-Girl?” His face grew a bit uncomfortable again, as he quickly returned his attention towards the flowers. “ She’s… She’s okay, I guess.”

“ Oh, come on… How am I supposed to help you with the bouquet if you won’t tell me a thing or two about her?”

“ Hn, why don’t you… Why don’t you choose what you like, then?” He looked at her with his deep, dark pearls, trapping her emeralds in his own, warm darkness. “ I was thinking about the hydrangeas… You like them, right?”

An almost invisible blush took over her cheeks as she turned her attention to the pure blue of the hydrangeas’ petals. As always, Sasuke was, indeed, right about her flower preference. Hydrangeas are the flowers she is most fond of, and she was impressed- content, to say the least- to know he had retained such information about her from their genin days. Sakura just loved how attentive he could be when people least expected him to, and that was certainly one of the reasons why she had long ago fallen for him.

Sasuke was just… Her Sasuke-kun, she thought.

Moving on from him would be the hardest mission of her life, she knew.

“ Yeah… I like them. A lot.”

“ I guess that’s it, then… I’ll take them.”

“ A-Are you sure you don’t prefer the Cosmos?”

“Aah. I’m sure about the Hydrangeas.”

For a moment, their eyes were completely lost in each other’s reflections. She could feel her heart beating faster with every passing second, and even if her head was still a mess of broken illusions, Sakura just couldn’t bring herself not to react at his presence next to her. Their gazing was still as intense as it’s always been, sending shivers down her spine and the musky scent coming from him was enough to dissipate any floral aroma that could've been ruling her nostrils ever since that morning.

His scent was addictive, his warm breath fawning over her lips was probably the best sensation she had felt for the entire day, and the flowers on the background just made her feel like it was all just a dream from which she would soon wake up. A dangerous, lovely dream that would soon come to an end.

At that moment, Haruno Sakura was fully aware that she was probably experiencing her last opportunity to stay so close to him with her feelings still dancing freely through her senses. She knew that, as soon as he gave those flowers to her best friend, things would never be able to return to what they’ve always considered normal. Everything would be different, and the pinkette herself would be no exception.

She was going to change. She had to, wether she wanted or not.

And as soon as the door bell rang again, Sakura knew the blonde Yamanaka would make sure to remind her of such thing.

“ I’m back, everyone!” Ino announced, as her voice echoed around the entire shop.

The end of her love was, indeed, loud.

“ Well… “ Feeling a bittersweet taste taking over her tongue, Sakura broke them away from that flowery trance, making their eyes blink at the awakening call from the blonde’s voice. Slowly, she rose from the ground, followed almost immediately by him, as she was now holding the plants in her hands. The pinkette, then, took a deep breath, tightening her grip around the flowers they had just separated. The flowers they had chosen together. “ I-I will… I will ask Ino to prepare a beautiful arrangement for you, then…”

“ Hn.” He gave her a small nod, averting eye-contact as he aimed his gaze at the petals that had fallen on the cold, floor. His expression seemed, somehow, troubled, and such sight only helped confirm medic nin's suspicious regarding the one who was about to receive such affectionate gesture from Uchiha Sasuke on Valentine’s Day.

Ino was a really lucky girl, Sakura thought. And indeed, she was.

But probably not because of the same reason Sakura had been hammering over her pink head ever since the raven haired boy had entered the store earlier that day.

“ Oi, Pig!” Sakura glared at her best friend, as she walked towards the counter with the flowers in her hands. The pinkette wasn’t happy at all, and judging by the embarrassed smile on the blonde’s face, she could tell Ino was fully aware of the reason why. “ Couldn’t you be a little more responsible -Shannarou?”

“ Eh… My bad, forehead… I was… Busy.”

“ Tch, yeah, right…” Sakura stopped, sighing, as she faced the girl’s sapphire eyes from across the mahogany counter. “ Stop procrastinating. You have a visitor.”

“ A visitor?” Ino lifted a confused eyebrow at the Haruno, before her eyes finally wandered around the store to find the said visitor. It took her some good seconds before she spotted the Uchiha, but when she did, Sakura noticed, a bright smile flashed on her lips. “ Sasuke! You came!”

“ Tch, of course I did.” The Uchiha grunted, as he sent the blonde an annoyed glare. Apparently, for what Sakura could tell, the future couple had already agreed to meet at the shop, leaving things even more awkward considering her position.

Sakura was definitely feeling like the third wheel at that exact moment.

However, she was not going to be discarded from his bicycle.

“ I’m sorry for the delay, but-“ Ino stopped for a moment, as her eyes suddenly drifted towards the flowers wrapped in her best friend’s arms.

Her sapphires widened in pure shock, and for a moment, her rosy lips even parted in pure awe before a malicious grin took over them. She was definitely up to something, and even if she tried, Sakura just couldn’t figure out what. Whenever Ino has that took on her face, the medic knows that something bad is about to happen. And at that moment, as a terrible feeling took over her senses, she just knew there was no escaping anymore.

“ OH MY GOD! Did you already do it?! And you didn’t even wait for me!? That was so not cool!”

“ Eh? Did what, Pig?” The Haruno’s eyebrows were lifted in pure confusion, as she started at her best friend.

“ Hn, thanks to you, I couldn’t really pick up the right ones, so, no… I still didn’t do it.”

“ What are you talking about, Sasuke-kun?” Sakura insisted, now looking for an answer on his perfect featured.

“ You men are really useless sometimes…” Ino sighed, taking her fingers to rest over her forehead in defeat. “ But I’ve seen you at least picked the right ones.”

“ Oi, you two!” Sakura was getting mad, as her hands were now balled into fists. If they ignored her one more time… “The right ones for what?”

“ Aah… It was not that hard. I just had to remember her-“

“ Shut up, you two!” A loud, powerful scream echoed around the shop, creating a deadly silence around the entire place. The costumers that were at the store stopped to look at the tiny girl who had made the entire building tremble, as both of the responsible ones slowly turned their heads to face her.

She was glaring, her brows converging together in a thin line and they could feel her chakra levels rising incredibly fast as she simply stood there with the Hydrangeas still in hands.

Her best friend looked adorable, Ino thought.

But she certainly knew better than to piss the girl with the wide forehead.

“ Good…” Sakura adjusted her position, running a hand through her hair. “Now, Ino… Do you mind telling me what the hell is going on here?”

“ Eh? You still haven’t told her either?” She looked at the Uchiha, with her brows arched.

The blonde seemed confused, to say the least. It was written all over her face, and Sakura was satisfied to see that kind of emotion ruling her best friend’s expression. It seemed natural, and for the first time, it was also full of doubts regarding something she seemed to be pretty confident about some moments earlier.

Ino was confused, therefore, Sakura decided to find questions on the only one who would never get caught unarmed. Sasuke would giver her the answers she was looking for, she knew. She just needed to look at him to know the exact meaning hidden behind that mess.

Or at least that was what she thought before her eyes widened in shock after what she found spread over his face. Her hearts skipped a beat, her throat went dry and suddenly, she had no idea of what to do any more at such rare sight.

Was that…. A blush?

“ Sasuke-kun…” She blushed back, feeling her heartbeat speeding up involuntarily. W-What’s happening here?”

“Hn.” He looked away, trying to hide his burning cheeks.

“ Tch, you have got to be kidding me!” The blonde exclaimed, sending a straight glare at the Uchiha. “ Are you telling me that you’ve made her help you choose flowers for Valentine’s Day for a girl and you didn't tell her who the girl was?”

“ I… I thought she would’ve realized it.”

“ Damn it, Uchiha Sasuke! You guys are unbelievable! Of course she did not realize that, you dumbass! By the puzzled look on her face, I would even say Forehead here misunderstood something.”

“ Uh? No… It’s impossible… Right, Sakura? Y-You…” He swallowed dry. “ You know who these flowers are for, right?”

The blank face the pinkette offered him was annoying enough to tell him what he didn’t want to believe. Apparently, the medic nin was blinder than he was when the matter is demonstrating affection, and now the frustration that had built up inside him was begging him to walk out of that store.

The moment was truly ruined, he thought.

But Ino would make sure to fix it.

“ Well, I guess you’ll have to tell her, then.” The blonde smirked, taking the flowers from the counter and offering them to him. His dark eyes glared at her for some seconds, as he kept switching stares in between the flowers and the annoying girl who- he knew- had probably made up an entire story in her head regarding the destination of those flowers.

Sakura was, for sure, annoying.

And as he took the flowers from the Yamanaka girl, he knew she was the one to be blamed for what he was about to do.

Hn, never again will he celebrate Valentine’s Day.

“ Sakura…”

“ Yes, Sasuke-kun?”

He looked into her innocent eyes, feeling the back of his neck heating up slowly. She was looking at him with all the expectations of the world shining inside her emeralds, and for a moment, the oh-so-amazing Uchiha Sasuke felt his natural confidence slipping through his fingers. Still, he wouldn’t let any of that stop him from saying those words.

“ These flowers… These flowers are…”

“ They are…” He could see her lips slowly curling up in a smile, as her cheeks were turning redder with the seconds.

“ They are…. Hn. They are for you” He shoved the plants to her arms, hiding his hand inside his pocket. “ We’re going out for lunch. I’ll take you back as soon as we’re done.”

After witnessing such scene, the blonde girl couldn’t help but allow a defeated sigh escape her lips.

As expected from Uchiha Sasuke, Ino thought. He was able to turn a romantic lunch invitation into an imperial command, leaving the girl no room to decline it. He seemed nervous, and the Yamanaka girl just wanted to hit him really hard on the face so he could fix what he had just done.

No girl would ever find that romantic, she thought,

But that was before she looked at Haruno Sakura.

Even if confusion was still spread around her face, it was impossible no to see the kindness and the purity hidden behind her emerald eyes. She was holding tight onto the flowers she had just received from the Uchiha, and even if her mind was still not completely sure about what had just happened, there was something in her heart telling her not to let go of those plants.

A bubbly smile took over her lips, vanishing that sorrow expression that had taken over her face ever since he had first declined her help. Sakura looked lively now, and Ino could see how happy she was to finally be going out with the love of her life. They were going to be together, and the Yamanaka couldn't be any happier to see her best friend’s childish love finally coming true.

Sakura deserved the Uchiha. She deserved to be happy, and since it had been long since her crush had dissipated from her heart, Ino knew that she could give them a little help.

They needed that kicking start, after all, it was still Haruno Sakura she was talking about.

And that girl can be really blind sometimes.

A chuckle escaped the pinkette’s lips, breaking Ino’s monologue of how she was an amazing friend. Sakura seemed happy, indeed. However, there was still something missing. Something to make that girl even more annoying.

“ When I hear you talking like that, Sasuke-kun, it even feels as if you were asking me out on a date!”

Two blanked faces kept staring at her for some long minutes until the Yamanaka girl nodded her head as if to confirm her suspicious. Her cheeks flushed immediately in the deepest shade of red, as she didn't know where to look anymore. She was trying to spill out some words, but her despair just didn’t allow her to form any meaningful phrase on her mind. Her love was coming true right in front of her, and suddenly, all the chemistry involved in her body’s ecstatic reaction started to cross her mind.

Sakura was really a dork, and that was certainly the one thing that had been missing before.

But now that they were both complete, Ino knew her job was done.

“ A-A-A date?”

“ Hn, don’t you want to com-“

“ Of course I do!” She raised her voice for a moment, earning a hidden smirk from the Uchiha. “ I do… It’s just that… I’m kinda busy right now.”

“ Tch, are you an idiot?! Damn it, you two do deserve each other.” Ino stepped in, walking towards her friend and quickly ripping out the apron from her body. Sakura almost fell in the process, and as soon as the pinkette was back on her feet, she felt a rough touch on her back pushing her and the Uchiha towards the exit. “ I’ll take care of everything! Just enjoy your date, will you!?”

“ Are you sure, Ino?”

“ Positively! You two have fun, and you better not get home until your lips are swollen, Forehead!”

“ Pig!”

“ Hehe… Happy Valentine’s Day.”

#sasusaku #sasusaku fanfiction #sasusaku festival #sasusakufestival #ssfest17 #myssfics

[hyenaswritings-blog]

A drabble: Audrey Jensen, Scream

(Not my gif!)

Anonymous said:

If you're still doing them could you please do #17 with Audrey Jensen? If it's not too much to ask and you don't mind making it specific, I'm claustrophobic so maybe you could throw that in and add a little comfort/fluffy element to it?? If not that's fine <3

Yup, sure :)

17# : “Looks like we’re gonna be stuck here for a while”

“If you want to see Noah alive, you have an hour to go to this place”, killer said through my phone, and a map flashed on the screen.There was a red mark on top of a building. I’ve never been there, but I knew how to get to there. Killer had taken Noah, and now called to me and Audrey to harass and threaten us. Noah was like a brother to me, and I would do anything for him, so I grabbed my keys, and started to walk to my car.

“Hey, are you sure we should just do what the killer asks? This could be and probably is a trap, so we should think about this a bit”, Audrey said behind me. “I know that this can be a trap, but we don’t have much time, so I will do anything that the killer asks. I will not let him die!”, I said firmly back to her, and started my car. She stood outside for a while, thinking about her options and then jumped on a seat next to me. “Alright, let’s do this, for Noah”, she said.

When we drove to the yard of our destination, I got chills going down on my spine. The place was abandoned house. It was big, and looked like it was haunted, and as a sane person, I really didn’t want to go, but for Noah’s sake, I got out of the car and took a deep breath. “You ready?”, I heard Audrey ask. “Yup”, I lied, and started to walk towards the front door. It let out a loud creak as I opened it slowly, and then we entered in the house. It was dark, and full of spiderwebs and dust. “Am I the only one thinking that this is a really bad idea? I feel like we are the basic girls in every horror movie ever who get killed first”, Audrey asked. “You know, that really doesn’t help. But no, you are not the only one”, I answered.

We walked a bit further, until we heard a piercing scream coming from deeper the house. “Noah!”, we shouted at the same time. “Where are you?”, I screamed. “Please, somebody help me!”, I heard him shouting again. We ran in the house frantically, searching the source, but couldn’t find it. “Hey hey, Audrey. Let’s stop for awhile, and listen”, I said after sometime. We stood, and listened, until we realised that the voice was coming from below us. Soon we found a door, which lead to stairs that went under the building.

I swallowed, and started to walk, one step at the time. “Noah?”, I whispered. We didn’t get an answer. The stairs led to a tiny little room, and only thing in that room was a table, and on that table there was a bluetooth speaker. “What the he-” I got to say before we heard a loud bang. I looked Audrey in the eyes, and then we ran right back upstairs, only to see that the door was closed. I tried to open it, but it was locked.

“Open this you son of a bitch!”, I screamed and beat the door, but it stayed closed. “This cannot happen, I have to get out”, I whispered. “Hey, it’s fine, we’ll find a way out, I promise”, Audrey tried to soothe me, but it didn’t work. I took my phone, and tried to call Emma, but there wasn’t signal. I ran back to the room, but there wasn’t a signal either. “Shit!”, I screamed.

Suddenly I realised how small the room was, and I started to panic. I couldn’t breath, and I felt pressure on my chest. I dropped on my knees, and tried to calm down, but the walls seemed to come closer and closer. “Oh god, no,no..”, I whimpered in panic, my hands trembling.

“Hey, what’s going on?”, Audrey asked with very worried tone. “I--I can’t-I can’t breathe”, I choked out. “Look at me. (Y/N), please, look at me”, she said to me firmly. I raised my head, and looked into her beautiful and piercing blue eyes. “Just like that, and now, breathe at the same sync as me, okay?”, she asked. I nodded. “Alright. Now, breathe slowly in, with your nose”, she said, and did it with me. “Then, count to three”. “One..Two...Three. And now, exhale slowly with your mouth”, she guided me. We did it again and again, until I was somewhat calm again.

“Wow. I didn’t know that you knew how to calm down from a panic attack”, I said after a silence. “I guess there is a lot that you don’t know about me”, she said with a smile and a wink. I blushed and looked at my feet. “But I would like to know more”, I told her after a while. I looked at her in the eyes, and smiled back. “Well, in that case, tell me what you want to know, we have time since it looks like we’re gonna be stuck here for a while”.

I thought for a while my first question. “Well..You always wear that key necklace. Does it have a story?”, I asked. She looked at me surprised, like she wasn’t expecting that kind of a question. “My mother gave it to me, before she left to the hospital”, she said quietly, and touched the necklace. “Oh. I am sorry, you don’t have to talk about her if you don’t want to”, I apologized. “It’s fine. You know, I think she would have liked you”, she smiled. “But now is my turn”, she changed the subject. “Hmm...Do you have somebody special in your sight?”, she asked. “Wh-What?”, I blushed. “Well? Do you?”, she giggled. “Umm..maybe?”, whispered smiling. “Who is it?”, she asked, and I could almost swear that I heard a tint of jealousy in her voice. “Nope, not gonna tell”, I laughed. “Oh c’moon”, she pleaded. “No way”, I said stubbornly. “Fine. Then I won’t talk to you until you tell me”, she said, and crossed her arms. “That is so unfair”, I laughed, and poked her in her side. She waved her head as a “No”. “You really are not gonna speak to me ever again?”, I asked. Now she waved her head as a “Yes”.

I breathed in, and decided to go with it. “Well, in that case. The person that I like doesn’t seem to like me back in that way, so it seems that I am in this so called “Friendzone”, or that is what Jake calls it. But if I can’t have this person as a partner, then I want them as a friend at least. As long as this person is happy”, I rambled. I looked carefully in her eyes, but I couldn’t read her emotions. So, I decided to take it further. “This person is the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen walking on the earth. If this person would be an animal, it would be a cat most definitely”, I laughed and continued; “This person has alway protected me, and taken care of me. But it seems to be that this person is interested in somebody else than me, but I am trying to accept it. It just..It is just really hard to see this person, when they do that cute little thing with her nose when embarrassed, or how this person is always ready to protect me, or others close to this person. But, as I said, I can only look, not touch”, I spoke longingly.

“Well, I told you, so now you can speak again”, I changed my tone back to happy after some silence. She didn’t say anything, so I looked at her. She stared me right in the eyes, and had this weird expression. “Wh-”, I got to say before she cut my words by kissing me hard. My heart started to beat like crazy, and I carefully touched her black short hair. I brushed it, and kissed back with same passion. Soon she slipped her tongue in the kiss, and my breath hitched in my throat, and I felt like electricity going through my body.

Just when things started to get heated, I heard sirens from outside. “Did you hear that?”, I asked and broke the kiss. “I’ll ignore them if you do”, Audrey purred. “You idiot”, I laughed, and rose. I pulled her up too, and we ran to the upstairs door. We beat it, and screamed, until a police opened it.

15 minutes later we were sitting in an ambulance, on our way back to home. “How did the police know where we were?”, I wondered out loud. “Oh, I texted to Emma where we were going”, Audrey answered. “You little..”, I started to scold her, but she had this adorable look on her face, so all I could do was to kiss her.

(A/N) AAAAAAAh I am sooooooooo sorry for a lack of posting, but I am back now!

-Hyena

#audrey jensen #audrey jensen scream #audrey jensen x reader #audrey jensen imagine #audrey jensen imagines #drabble #scream mtv #audrey jensen fanfic #audrey jensen fanfiction

[mikeswheeler]

I was tagged by the lovely @finnxwheeler​ and @jewishstanuris​ ♡

Okay so answer the questions and then tag 8 people!

What made you sign up to Tumblr? HOOO BOI well i’ve been on this site for,,, a long time lmao i signed up with my first account aka my main, personal one in around early 2011 ??? and it was honestly just bc i wanted to see what this site was all about bc i kept hearing ppl talk about it on other sites and reference it and i was like ???? what is Tumblr anyways ?? (like it was all bc of that “What is air?” stuff that was happening and i was so confused bc i was like why is everyone asking about air and then my older brother was like oh it’s a Tumblr thing so i was like what’s that and well,, the rest is history)

What did your blog start off as being? WELL my first account was basically cringe-central, like this was in 2011 so my content was basically Memes and Tumblr-esque inspirational quotes and cheesy, basic lookin’ photography (i was also really into anime and Harry Potter at the time so that was another thing) (oh and for some reason i had a Lolita phase where i was super into that style of fashion) (i was a weeb as a child)

Have you ever received any creepy asks, and if so, what did they say? Ehhhhhh,,, kind of ??? like i’ve definitely gotten a couple that i either wanted to deflect or i just kind of conveniently deleted it from my inbox and pretended it never happened lmao 

Have you ever had a bad experience on Tumblr? All the pornbots like it’S SO ANNOYING ??? AND GROSS ?? it’s especially apparent on my personal blog idk why but i have to block so many at a time smh 

If you had to pick a favourite English monarch, who would you pick? This is like a question i’ve never had to think about so I’m not really sure what to answer... 

Do you prefer hot or cold? COLD COLD COLD i’m also in California though so our cold isn’t like...... unbearable ya know ??? but i can’t stand being super hot and sweaty, it’s so uncomfortable !!! 

Do you have a special skill or talent? UHM I GUESS ACTING ????????? idk i kinda don’t wanna say that bc that’s implying i’m like ‘good’ at or whatever, but i have been in multiple plays/musicals before and even gotten an award for one of my roles so i guess that counts for something !!! 

Do you have a phobia of anything? Tight spaces, spiders (or just bugs in general), the dark, heights, anything medical related so blood and needles and hospitals and what not, aliens/the paranormal/supernatural (it’s not such a wild concept ok like it’s all totally plausible)... uHM yah i’m a big baby about a lot of things 

If you had to pick a favourite real life villain from history, who would you pick? Again, never had to consider this question before in my life so i’m not really sure !!!

Do you have any dark traits?

There are times where i’m pretty withdrawn and moody and easily irritated 

If you could do anything, literally anything, like fly on a unicorn or something, what would it be? 

Is it weird if it’d be something like,,, be cast on Stranger Things ??? like i think i fantasize about being on that show ten times a day, i just...... i really wanna be on Stranger Things gOD IMAGINE HOW AMAZING THAT WOULD BE 

What is the scale of the worst argument you’ve ever had? Slamming doors, raised voices, lots of crying...... fun times !!!

What is your favourite slush flavour? Not really into slushies tbh 

If you could bring back any food or drink from your childhood that has been discontinued, what would it be? DUNKAROOS ????? i feel like any snack from the 90s tho like we just don’t have anything as fun as what we had back then 

What is your favourite and most vivid childhood memory? Nothing specific but i remember playing outdoors with my siblings A LOT like we had a pretty big backyard so we’d constantly be out there, being imaginative and coming up with fake scenarios and acting them out, or like playing with the hose in the summertime or THE POOL omg we had this pool and we’d be in it so much...... also video game battles with my older brother ! my childhood was kinda shitty but at least i have those moments to reflect back on 

If you could bring anyone back from the dead who would it be? My first theatre teacher from high school... he passed away due to cancer around my sophomore year... he was really inspiring to me, i mean he’s kinda the reason why i stuck with that class and didn’t totally give up (thus resulting in me finding out that i love acting and that’s what i wanted to do with my life) 

If you could go back to any time period and live there for a week, which period would it be and why? GIVE ME THE 80′S OH MY GOD my mom grew up in the 80′s as a teenager so i always hear all the stories from her about what it was like and it seemed like ??? so cool ?? especially if you were a teen like what a dream ! give me my 80′s teen movie memories !!!

If you could visit any abandoned place to take pictures, where would it be?

Wow, this is actually a good question....... maybe like a retro arcade or art museum or amusement park ???? i feel like those could make for some Neat Photos (the aesthetic tho)

Do you have any particular, peculiar interests? Hmmmmm psychology interests me ?? i took a psychology class my junior year of high school and it was really fascinating, learning about human behavior and those stories of old psychology experiments (so Wild too like damn, i can’t believe they got away with so much shit back then)

Do you have a creepy/scary experience that has happened to you, and what was it? Not necessarily to me personally like, i’ve heard things before but idk to what extent that could mean so i never really looked Too Much into it bUT UHM i know my family has, especially in my childhood home (that place was straight up haunted like i swear) ALTHOUGHHHHH one night my mom was talking to us about something she saw in her room and all of a sudden a bunch of weird shit started going on in our apartment like our printer kept turning on and off and noises came from the kitchen like a cabinet shutting and things like that IT WAS CREEPY OK 

Do you like/read creepypasta stories? If so, what’s your favourite story? Don’t really have a favorite, but i have read creepypasta stories in the past before - they’re pretty intriguing ! (i’m a total wuss tho!!!! which is why i don’t read enough to have a personal favorite)

If you were in the Wars of the Roses, would you be a Lancastrian, or a Yorkist? Haven’t given this any thought before to decide so I DON’T KNOW !

What is your recurring nightmare? Don’t really have any ????? 

Have you ever had a lucid dream? Nah, because the moment i become aware i’m dreaming and i can do whatever i want, i wake up !!! it’s so frustrating lmao 

If you could go to another planet, which would it be? UHM i just really like the way Saturn looks lmao also Venus bc it sounds Nice but in terms of living conditions, i’m sure none of those are suitable  

What is your religion, if any? Don’t really have one !!!! (in the sense of actively practicing) although my mom is Jewish so i have always felt the most connected to that one 

Have you ever got so drunk, that you did something really embarrassing, and if so, what did you do? i’ve never gotten drunk before so lmao 

Mike, Dustin, Lucas, or Will? THIS IS ???? NOT FAIR ??? THEY’RE ALL MY SONS HOW DARE YOU MAKE ME CHOOSE JUST ONE but fine, i pick Mike just bc i feel the most related to him in the sense of personality traits 

Do you like Marina and the Diamonds? SURE ??? she’s got some good stuff 

Charli XCX? YAH SURE WHY NOT i like some of her stuff !!

Tag a blog that you’ve seen, and you love their posts, but have never told them, and would like to talk to them. @miliebobbybrown HER EDITS ARE ALWAYS SO ??? GOOD ???? her whole blog is total #goals just bc of how Nice everything is like wow i am,,, Intimidated but in the best way possible

Pick one thing you like/love from the 80s. The pop culture :^) (movies, music, fashion...... like wow, i just love it all so much)

What year were you born, and name something cool from that year. 1998 and Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets was published 

What was your blog name originally? (If you had another blog name) This one was originally lifeisdefinitelystrange (rip) 

Do you follow any blogs that you know the user in real life? KIND OF ?? I JUST MET @telekineticeggos FOR THE FIRST TIME IN REAL LIFE LAST NIGHT SO LMAO but we’re also planning on doing more things together in real life in the next few months so YEET 

If you are in the ST fandom, which is your favourite song off the ST soundtrack? Africa by Toto (duh), Atmosphere by Joy Division, Heroes by Peter Gabriel, and When It’s Cold I’d Like To Die by Moby (those last two songs were too emotionally impacting to not name) and from the score itself i LOVE KIDS THAT ONE IS SO GOOD TO ME LMAO but tbh i love the entire score and soundtrack ???? it’s so hard to pick just One Favorite

Finally, give your opinion on the person who tagged you! @finnxwheeler - YOUR WRITING NEVER FAILS TO AMAZE ME WOW ??? i’m always in tears over how flawless your fics are like Whiskey and Broken Hearts destroyed me my dude like oh my goddddd i love your characterization of Mike and Will in all your fics :’) one of my favorite byeler blogs ♡ (also you’re super cool in general like wow what a Neat Person)

@jewishstanuris - I LOVE TALKING TO YOU !!! you’re so nice to me and understanding when i take ten years to reply LMAO also your writing is also super good ??? you should do it more often tbh like i swear you don’t do it enough bc i remember only seeing a few things written by you on here in the fandom buT LIKE THEY WERE SO GOOD AND LIKE ???? DO MORE OF THAT MAYBE ??? another rlly good blog apart of the byeler ship ♡ :’) 

OK SO I’M GONNA TAG THESE GOOFS - @telekineticeggos, @dadharbour, @baileytsample, @elevenknope, @nessa007, @theamiableanachronism, @eggo-my-leggo, and @ghost-grantaire ♡ (obviously you don’t have to do it if you’re not interested or if you’ve done it already!)

#thanks for the tag !!!!!! #im love u all #for fun

[nickdelo]

Recommended/Not Recommended -- Snowed In Edition

As Philadelphia was blanketed in a half-foot of solid ice, I stayed inside and watched a bunch of things.

The Last Man on Earth (Fox) 

This show gets overlooked, even by the gaggle of TV critics I follow on Twitter. That’s not too surprising. It’s odd, balancing a bleak, post-apocalyptic survivor tale with the absurd comedic stylings of creator/star Will Forte. While the show has always succeeded with its visual flare and calculated plotting, it suffered early in its run with some jarring tonal missteps, alienating many viewers in the process. Deep into its third season, however, The Last Man on Earth has hit its creative peak, artfully walking the tightrope between nihilism and optimism in a way that is unique by broadcast TV standards. Its ambition is contagious, most notably when it embraces its episodic format to create some of the best standalone 30-minute pull-away stories since Enlightened. RECOMMENDED

Crashing (HBO) 

Crashing gets a few benefit-of-the-doubt points for its decent premise: a struggling comedian tries to make it in New York while couch-surfing in the homes of/getting advice from more established standups. But most of that good will is nullified by the bland vanilla-ness of star Pete Holmes. Each episode meanders for 30 minutes on about six minutes worth of story, a staple of Judd Apatow productions that I’m growing more and more annoyed with (re: Netflix’s Love). Holmes isn’t an unfunny guy, so there are a handful of redeemable moments in each episode, but anyone who isn’t interested in the niche world of alt-comedy will find it a slog. NOT RECOMMENDED 

NOTE: Crashing is not to be confused with Crashing, the British comedy series from Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge about six kooky flatmates living in an abandoned hospital. It’s very silly but a lot more fun than this show.

Ghost in the Shell (not the Scarlett Johansson movie) 

Look, I get it. Lots of people love anime, and for good enough reasons. It was revolutionary in using animation as way to explore adult themes, and visually speaking it is often stunning, especially in its locations and grand set-pieces. These are some of the reasons to admire Ghost in the Shell, along with the surrealistic, existential tone and the obvious influence it’s made on contemporary sci-fi (The Matrix ripped off a bunch of it). That said, it was simply too convoluted for me to enjoy. Nearly every line of cheesy dialogue (delivered by stiff actors) is a piece of exposition attempting to explain this dystopian future and all its rules and characters. It’s easy to tell it’s part of an extended universe established during its Manga run, but as a standalone viewing experience, it’s narratively incoherent. NOT RECOMMENDED

Weiner (steaming on Showtime) 

Upon hearing about this movie, everyone has the exact same reaction: “Anthony Weiner? The congressman with the dick pics? I remember him! That didn’t happen too long ago. Do I really need to watch a documentary about it?” You might be surprised to hear that, yes, you should watch Weiner. (insert Weiner pun here. Maybe get on Weiner. I don’t know. The NY Post already took all the good ones). We’ll never know if all politicians are as egomaniacal as Anthony Weiner (probably, though), but Weiner’s compliance in this project, baring it all (*Weiner bares all!*) to spotlight the man behind the dong is an unprecedented maneuver. The film exposes (*Weiner exposed!*) how narcissism can, in equal measure, give someone the drive to fight for change in what they believe in, as well as the hubris to make the same damaging mistakes over and over again. The film has the breakneck pace of a great thriller while painting a portrait of a troubled guy who, in spite of everything, you can’t help but pull for. (*Pull for Weiner!*) RECOMMENDED

NOTE: Weiner is not to be confused with Wiener-Dog, streaming on Amazon Prime. I haven’t seen it, so there will be no sub-recommendation.

Life, Animated (streaming on Amazon Prime) 

Another ultra-specific documentary, Life, Animated is the story of an autistic man (Owen Suskind) who uses his love of Disney movies to help communicate and find meaning in the world. Like the films Owen holds so dear, Life, Animated is guilty of over-sentimentality, but god damn is it effective. His ability to take a passion and use it to help channel his emotions and creativity is inspiring as hell. Pop it on for a cathartic happy-cry. RECOMMENDED

SNOW DAY LIGHTNING ROUND 

- Making your own chili, RECOMMENDED. While a crockpot is not a suitable replacement for barbecue, it’s perfect for chili. The only skill needed for making crockpot chili is operating a can opener. - “Blowing the stink off,” RECOMMENDED. Basically, getting outside before Cabin Fever sets in. The phrase was coined by my girlfriend’s mom, “the stink” referring to a day’s worth of showerless inactivity. When venturing into a snowstorm, don’t forget to walk like a penguin. - Depending on a car in the city after a snowstorm, NOT RECOMMENDED. Digging yourself out and navigating the unplowed streets are the easy parts. The doozy is parking again once you get home with all the mounds of snow and ice piled up, along with assholes saving spots with cones and chairs. I’m so stressed about it I’m leaving work early every day this week to beat the rush.

#the last man on earth #Weiner #Anthony Weiner #life animated #Ghost in the shell #crashing #pete holmes #my writing