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phoenixcatch7 · 8 months

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Kintsukuroi

'What if I put a clock pendulum in my torso' was the sort of question Bruce had come to expect when visiting Oracle.

"Pendulums are dependant on a stable base," he replied, because the last time he'd assumed they were being unserious Tim had tried to fit a chemistry test lab in his mouth and accidentally leaked the fumes through his mask.

"It'd be so aesthetic though," said Barbara, not looking up from the dozen screens she was surrounded by. "Listen. It would look so cool - Spoiler, robbery on fifth and main - Especially if I put a clock face over my heart."

"I thought you were trying to fit a super computer in it?"

"I was, but progress is slow. It's hard to fit it and enough padding to protect it plus leave enough room for ventilation. If I add the pendulum I might at least get inspiration." She gave a heavy sigh and pushed away from the desk, gliding in her chair to where her doll body was resting on a table, the glue separating the two halves of the smashed torso still glistening. Bruce followed, peering over her at the many scanners and wires hooked into it, flashing and beeping.

"Any luck?" he asked, and they both knew he wasn't talking about the computer anymore.

"Nothing."

He squeezed her shoulder, and she leant into it. They stayed there for a long moment.

"I just don't understand!" Barbara finally burst out, hands clenching on her chair arms. "I glued nearly every single piece back together! I made sure every splinter I could find went exactly where it should! I know the contract is still there. She's worked with more missing pieces before. But she's just not responding!"

"It's not you," Bruce soothed. "You've more than enough determination and strength to puppet, and we know the human body's state doesn't affect performance."

"That's the thing!" Barbara threw her hands up angrily, nearly smacking Bruce in the face. There was a chatter over comms, and both reached for their own. "One second," she said tightly, and wheeled back into the glow of the monitors. "Copy. BW, you're nearest? Thanks. Try and avoid the sniper this time. Wing, backup is in five."

She muted again and spun around, pinning Bruce with a heavy stare. "Is there anything, anything you can think of? We've - nothing I've tried has worked."

"Well...." He trailed off, one hand coming up to rub at the chin of his mask - a quiet night meant the opportunity to forgo the practical but muffling gas mask for his favoured plain black.

It was far from the first time a doll had been horrifically damaged. The incident with Bane came to mind - Batman had been in a very similar condition, body shorn clean in two and tossed to opposite corners. It was an awful memory, but the expression on Bane and the audience's faces as his bloodless body fell apart like a rotting tree trunk and then kept moving was a silver lining he'd always treasure.

But he'd been repaired and back on his feet in weeks, if bearing the incandescent fury of the doll for several more. It had been months for Barbara, and still nothing was happening.

"There's something we're missing, and I doubt it's on your side."

"I know THAT-"

"Listen," he demanded, and her jaw clicked shut mutinously. "There's something we're not seeing. Batgirl is in no shape to demand it herself, it seems. So its inaction is something we can't fully rely on."

"You've got the most experience with the dolls of all of us. Can you.. I don't know, sense anything?"

"Nothing more than the usual, with the Patriarch Doll, but we might get more if we return to the doll house -"

"No." Barbara interrupted again, but Bruce did not take offence. "She's not going anywhere. She doesn't want to head back to the cave."

Oh?

"She doesn't want to, or she doesn't care to?"

"I say she doesn't."

Interesting. This was likely a case of the doll exerting its will. The bats were well versed in avoiding the few lines their wooden bodies drew in the sand, treating them with the wary respect one would give a favorite blade or a highly trained attack dog. They could work together, share the highs and lows of life with them, but never get complacent. The dolls were forever a foreign, inhuman presence, and as with all wild creatures they would never be so arrogant as to assume full understanding. For Barbara to so strongly decide for the doll meant she was most likely not the only one deciding.

Which meant the solution would not be found in the cave.

"Perhaps there are upgrades she wishes to have?"

Oracle paused.

"Maybe," she conceded. "But there's practically a limitless amount of things I could do, and I wouldn't know where to start. And I could more easily do them when she's up and walking."

Not that then. If the doll wanted something to change but not receive upgrades or heal, than what?

... Not heal.

Batman hurried to the table. Oracle watched him with hawk eyes, but another call on the comms turned her away with a final warning glance.

Recovering every single splinter from a damaged wooden object and perfectly reattaching it was nigh impossible on a good day, never mind in the dead of night with a moving target. The dolls always returned to the cave to regenerate scratches and nicks they couldn't buff out, or accepted plaster to transmute with whatever supernatural power guided them.

The batgirl on the table, divested of all covering and armour, was still as chipped and scuffed as the day nightwing recovered last splinter.

The pieces fell into place.

"She doesn't want to be perfectly rebuilt," he realised. "She doesn't want the damage to disappear as it normally does... She wants it to remain visible. A different type of repair, then."

Oracle spun in her wheelchair to face him.

"Why?" she asked, something sharp in her eyes. Bruce chose his next words carefully.

"Perhaps she thinks such damage doesn't need to be hidden away," he said, slowly, and didn't comment when she turned away. Though she put on a strong face, and the doctors had recently released her full time, it would be a long time until the young hero was able to truly heal her mind.

"She doesn't need to do that for me. She's just causing me trouble."

"I don't think she is," he tried. "Dolls tend to reflect their puppeteer even after they accept us. You can't deny your trajectory has been changed."

They both sent a significant look to the enormous super computer taking up the wall.

"You've said you almost feel better able to protect Gotham now, with your reach and skills. Do you really feel that way?"

"I - I don't -" her mouth worked silently, and Bruce waited. "I mean I guess... But a part of me always assumed it'd be temporary, you know? Once I fixed batgirl.. It'd all return to normal." Her voice wobbled, and Bruce didn't hesitate to crouch before her, wrapping her in a long armed hug. She buried herself in his chest, regardless of the chilled metal.

"It's okay if you don't," he whispered into her hair, and held her as she shook. "I'm just throwing ideas around."

"I do though," she rasped. "I think I do feel that way. There's so much that can't be solved by violence, and it feels good to be out there but... I think I can help even more people, this way."

"That's good," he praised, "that's good. You can do whatever you set your mind to."

"You stole that from a parenting book verbatim."

"It's applicable to the current situation."

"Fine," she sighed, and pushed him away to roughly scrub at her eyes. "I'll give the doll another chance. Find some glitter glue or something, I don't know."

"Any materials you need will be provided," he promised. "I wouldn't recommend glitter glue or our usual tar."

He moved to pat her on the hair as the emotions of the moment faded, making sure to keep his unsheathed claws out of her hair.

"Once you fix her, though, I would recommend you puppet the doll during night hours still," he told her. "It wouldn't be good to put your body through twenty hour days."

"I've got a good system set up for now, but thank, B-man."

The computer dinged with another alert, and oracle spun to squint at it with a muffled curse, typing furiously. Batman escaped to the other side of the room, where the folders he'd originally come looking for lay. She waved, distracted, as he left, and although the doll could not smile, he could feel it on his face all the same.

@puppetmaster13u I summon thee dear mutual ^^

#I don't know which of us came up with the kintsukuroi idea but it worked brilliantly #Unexpected discussion of clinging to the idea of normality as something that can be returned to despite thinking you're okay with your #Life altering chronic condition diagnosis 🫠#Off screen nightwing is just not having a good time #I'm still testing out my characterisation of b but I'm pretty happy with him. Good dad b but also pre/no Ethiopia so he's healthier as it i #Oh btw the dolls don't have gender being inanimate the bats are anthropomorphising them #In the same way sailors call their boats she or my mum decided the roomba is a he #Some world building! I stuffed a lot in lol #I like the idea of the bats having different masks. Like the gas mask is for arkham breakouts or gas villains or ivy so it's the famous one #But they also use plain cloth masks or ceramic ones or decorative ones when the occasion calls. They've got scuba ones too #long post #batman #world building #worldbuilding #bruce wayne #possessed doll au #haunted doll #cryptid batman #cryptid batfam #batman au #dc oracle #barbara gordon #batgirl #I'm trying to keep the dolls as mindless but watchful as possible #Like they don't have opinions or ideas or anything. You could do literally whatever you wanted as long as you follow The Rules #I don't think the bats really know about the contracts. I think b has inferred something. But it's more trial and error #One idea I had is that the dolls are powered by the life force of past users mutated into... Whatever tf from all the curses.#So by entering the contract you lose a significant chunk of your ability to enter the afterlife.#Yes this would only be noticed by the jl going to the future and trying to find the souls of everyone or smth for whatever reason #And the bats don't have much of anything. Leading to the further impression that they aren't remotely human

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cod-dump · 11 months

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Everytime Graves goes to Price or Nik to complain about Soap being mean to him. Soap reminds them the "HE SHOT AH FCKING TANK AT ME!!??"

If that doesn't work he goes to, or Ghost who will then follow Graves around while glaring at him a whole day.

Or Laswell who then spoils him, and Gaz, while telling Price and Nik that she can't believe they're treating the sergeants like that, after everything they've gone through. Laswell is extremely disappointed. This will make both of the men feel upset, because no one wants Laswell to be disappointed in them.

Selfish

Graves centric, PriceGravesNik

TW: angst

(my friend called me an emotional masochist for this lol)

___

It felt like everyone was against him. He couldn't blame them with the shit he pulled, but Graves felt like he earned a tiny bit of leeway by this point. Hasn't he proven himself to the others by now? Nik and Price keep telling him they're proud about how much he's changed but judging by how everyone else treats him... he doesn't feel like he's changed at all.

Soap was always fucking him over, getting Nik and Price to turn their backs to Graves (normally only for a few seconds but it still hurt). If Soap didn't succeed in getting Nik and Price on his side, he turned to Ghost. And Ghost never passed up on a opportunity to fuck over Graves. He never physically hurt him, but that man was a master in verbal abuse and had a glare that could kill a god.

It didn't take much for Gaz to get on the Graves hate train and it happened very suddenly. Graves had three against him and felt like he couldn't turn to Nik or Price about it. He was afraid if he said anything that they would realize that everyone was right. That Graves wasn't worth it, that they could do so much better, that him trying to change was laughable and he will never be more than what Shepherd had him do.

He will always be that person, no matter what. It was only a matter of time until they realized it. Graves could hear the clock ticking, there was a constant countdown in his head. Every time Soap said something to them, every time Ghost said something to Graves and berated him, every time Gaz went along with whatever was being said about Graves--

It felt like the countdown sped up, like it would drastically jump to lower numbers.

Graves felt on edge the entire time. Felt like everyone was looking at him, waiting. It was too much. It made his head spin, his heart race, made him lose his breath. Graves kept thinking about what Shepherd told him, that he was nothing more than a walking plague, infecting those around them all while wearing a grin.

He hadn't spoken or seen Shepherd in a long time now but those words were becoming more prominent in Graves' head. He was starting to think he was right. He was a walking plague and he was infecting Nik and Price because they stood too close to him. He was hurting them. Hurting their relationship with everyone. They were taking a leap of faith with him, trusting him to prove to everyone that he has changed and was trying to do good.

It was only a matter of time before that faith and trust blew up in their faces.

Graves couldn't talk to them about it, to anyone. He didn't need to, he knew already. This was a mess waiting to happen, and Graves wasn't sure if he could handle watching it. He was clinging onto the blindly given love and affection from Nik and Price. Their addictive trust, their warm hugs, sweet kisses--

He was being selfish by sticking around as long as he has.

Graves knew he had to leave after overhearing what Laswell told them. He knew Nik and Price cared about her and valued her opinion. They were very close friends, practically family. Graves had always tried to avoid her, he knew she didn't like him and will probably never go beyond tolerating him for Nik and Price's sake.

"You're throwing away your relationship with the boys over him."

Graves heard the venom in her voice, it made him feel sick. He didn't mean to eavesdrop and had stumbled by at the wrong time.

"Kate-"

"No, John. I don't want to hear it. You both have been acting like lovesick teenagers, caring more about a temporary fling than the more important relationships in your lives! Every day I get calls from Soap. Texts from Ghost. Guess what they're both saying?"

Graves leaned heavily on the wall, heart pounding and ache spreading through his chest.

"You're prioritizing a relationship that is going to end in flames. People are going to get hurt and I want you to guess who those people are."

He couldn't stick around. He just started walking. The silence from Nik and Price was loud, suffocating. It said everything that Graves had been telling himself was going to happen: They were finally opening their eyes. The countdown had reached the end and Graves needed to leave. He couldn't bear facing Nik and Price telling him to fuck off, it hurt to think about it. But he knew that they were done with him. After that talk from Laswell? Keeping him around afterwards would be stupid.

Graves could feel everyone's eyes on him. It was too much. He couldn't look up, he didn't want to meet anyone's gaze. He just focused on the floor and walked, trying to keep the ache in his chest from being too much. But that was hard when everything was too much. People talking, their gazes, their very presence made him feel on edge, under attack. Graves needed to leave, needed to disappear.

Graves accidentally ran into someone.

"Fuck- Graves?"

He wanted to scream at Gaz's voice. He couldn't look at him as it became harder to breathe.

"Phillip?"

He bolted. Ran as fast as he could. He couldn't find a door, an exit into the outside world. He found a window instead and climbed out it. He took off after hitting the ground, not caring anymore. He had to leave. Had to run before Nik and Price found him and got rid of him in a more forceful manner. Graves just ran, managing to get off base. He was surprised how far and long he managed to run with how fucked up his lungs were after the tank accident. No, not accident. Soap tried to kill him but failed. Graves was wishing he didn't fail.

Finally, he couldn't run anymore. He collapsed to the ground, breathing hard. His lungs were screaming and he felt even more panicked by his inability to catch his breath. Graves was told to not push himself too hard, that his lungs couldn't handle it anymore. Nik and Price usually watched him, kept an eye on him and made sure he didn't overwork himself. Well, no one was here looking out for him and now he was on the ground, wheezing with black edging into his vision.

He was kneeling on the ground, trying to breathe. He felt himself tip and fall onto his side, staring ahead of him. Sound became muffled, everything started to slow down. He heard something attempt to push against the barrier. He felt someone grab him but he couldn't understand what was being said. He couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't breathe--

Graves felt himself drift in and out of consciousness, unable to focus on anything, not even a thought. He felt himself be moved, a pressure going up and down his back. Graves felt air slip into his lungs, little by little. After some time he could feel himself breathe better, hear better. He had his eyes shut because the sun was too much. He didn't know where he was or who was with him, but they were trying to keep him alive.

"-to be okay. Breath in... and out..."

Graves slowly followed their instructions, still unable to determine who it was. It couldn't be anyone that knew him, they would've left him to die. Graves felt himself tilt and the person leans against him, a hand going up and down his back, matching his breathing. Sound was returning and Graves could hear the person, a man, speaking calmly in his ear. Though there was a panic behind the calmness, his voice was soothing.

The sound of a vehicle pulling up, rushing footsteps--

"Fuck, what happened to him?"

Soap.

Graves feels panic wash over him again, trying to move away. The man holds him, cursing before he tries to get Graves to stand.

"We have to get him to medical!"

Graves was hauled into the vehicle, the person who saved him holding him while Soap drove (he assumes Soap was driving, unless there was a third, silent, person there at the wheel). Graves felt exhaustion hit him like a truck and he just leans heavily on the man holding him upright. Graves couldn't bother to react to the voices that were maybe talking to him. Didn't react when some grabbed him, held his face. He felt himself get picked up and get carried somewhere. And that's when he finally lost consciousness.

And while he was having difficulty holding onto a coherent thought, he did manage to have one thought that he could actually understand.

I hope I don't wake up.

And just like that, everything stopped being too much.

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poisonousquinzel · 9 months

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i will never emotionally get over how we could have a serious, mature r rated animated show focused around Harley and how it could have really shown the horrific and traumatizing aspects of her character/journey that the films didn't, could have shown her struggle with hearing voices and seeing lil Harleen, could have shown her growth as she recovers and deals with the PTSD she would have after being with him

and instead we got.... an offensive, problematic parody show that's essentially redeemed her abuser so he could be made into just another humourous reoccurring character instead of treating his actions like the serious, traumatic vile actions they were, that treats sa victims like drama queen objects to be commented about and gawked at, and then kills them (???) They fucking killed Nightwing and made it so they buried him on his stomach so his coffin could have an ass outline ITS VILE WHAT THE FUCK

#harley quinn #harleen quinzel #dc comics #i watched the last two episodes cause i wanted to see if nightwing was actually dead #cause I only saw like a couple of people talking about it #and just....#god this is bad #the pr team feels So homophobic wtf #and why is ivy so stupid?!?!??? just change your stupid passwords and pin 💀💀💀💀 why didnt her idk trainees?? tell her to do that????#WHY DID SHE SMACK HARLEY WITH HER FJCMING PONYTAIL #just...#like some of the newer characters are interesting and cool but thats it..#the teething ''joke'' when Barbara was angry at her dad for not even calling when nightwing died #?!?!??? bro #this is so weird #i know i know its a comedy show but ... what part of this is funny? they've had like 2 things that've made me Exhale in amusement #its just actual cringe #the animation feels off too #why did Harley stop Barbara from attacking Joker when she was LITERALLY SUPPORTING HER ATTACKING EVERYONE ELSE !?!?!#LITERALLY WHY WOULD SHE DO THAT?!?!#HE SAID HE KILLED NIGHTWING FUCKING LET BARBARA HURT HIM THATS THE WHOLE REASON SHE WAS FIGHTING IN THE FIRST PLACE

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panharmonium · 1 year

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this is the most scorchingly accurate burn anyone’s ever delivered

#lmao i LOVE killer bee and i especially love him when he's smacking sasuke with a rolled up newspaper #this entire confrontation is iconic...bee tells sasuke to call him 'lord jinchuuriki SIR' and then kicks his entire ass #and then pretends to lose and sends sasuke home with a tiny piece of gyuki's tentacle disguised as his whole body #AND THEN casually uses this as an opportunity to escape from the Cloud and skip off to pursue his music career #ICONIC #like how EMBARRASSING is it for the akatsuki to waste all this time 'extracting' what they thought was the 8-tails #and then find out they've all been had #it makes sasuke look like a total fool #which i really appreciate #i love sasuke to death but he deserved what he got here #naruto #pan watches naruto (again)#team taka #*

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cuntwrap--supreme · 2 months

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I've been doing a lot of grocery delivery in the country lately, so I ordered myself a nice bumper sticker so I fit in with everyone else's stuff :)

I've seen a lot of these lately, but they were all of a pride flag I don't recognize. Not sure which gender/sexuality has the red and white stripes with the blue with white stars in the corner, but I guess it's an ok design. The rainbow is the traditional LGBT flag, though, so I feel it symbolizes the collective queer community a little better and will be a little more noticeable/recognizable than niche flags, like this stars and stripes guy.

#queer #pride #rainbow #flag #gay #lgbt #fr tho I've seen so many q-anon and trump stickers that i feel like this'll either be really funny or I'll get my windows smashed in #for some reason the country here isn't just chill people eeking out a living doing what they can #it's all super well off people who immigrated from elsewhere in the us and are incredibly aggressive #I'm from the middle of nowhere. country folk are typically very kind even if they're a little ignorant to shit like being gay or trans.#but this is the kind of people where i got called a dyke twice just walking through kroger #i had the person behind me at mcdonalds yelling about my sticker that says i don't break for kids #anyone i know who has lived in that area for a long time hates all these new people #they've driven up housing prices to be just as much as in the city. they're all republicans who fled California or Illinois...#...and they brought with them their more radical views and hateful big-city attitudes #like yeah. this wasn't a place to be comfortably out as gay beforehand. now it's actively hostile instead of you get weird stares kinda shit

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sunflowermp4 · 6 days

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karma's gotta come for all of us

i just hope she comes for you first

#the ignacio varga and lalo salamanca thesis. yes i will be taking questions at this time #they make me sick!!!#bcs #nacho varga #ignacio varga #lalo salamanca #better call saul #edit #my edits #te vas a morir. i like it when you're pissed off fucked up in the head it makes me feel a little less crazy. don't think i don't see you.#i see you. i do. everyone is bad. so why are you a pacifist? to sleep. and those who need it. to sleep. i'm living in a horror film.#i'm gonna break you down. slow like mold in the vents in the walls. ignacio varga. eres un chingon. just like a stray animal.#you keep feeding me scraps. nachito come over here eh don't be shy! ignacio it's your call. everyone is a bad guy.#do you want me to take care of it? i'm at the foot of your bed. waiting for you to throw a fist. to sleep. te vas a morir.#they've been making me sick for TWO YEARS.

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redrockbutch · 4 months

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I think there should be a taskforce mobilized every time someone gives a character a stutter solely to communicate that they're timid and have Challenges To Overcome that finds the lazy writers who use disability for shorthands and stuffs them in a box so that their surroundings are more aligned with their minds

#GET IN THE FUCKING BOX #'but they overcome the stutter to show they've grown' BOX TIME #'But we can't have a main character stutter it would be so distracting' WHERE'D THAT BOX GET TO #ableism #cassidy.txt #this was inspired by moffat making Donna's dream husband stutter #I just knowwwwww he was jerking himself off about how clever it was that he couldn't call out to her #you're a lazy hack moffat !

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pttucker · 6 months

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Fei Hu glared at the uninvited guest Han Sooyoung with unhappy eyes. Jung Heewon alternated her gaze between him and Kim Dokja on her back and a nice idea suddenly popped up in her head. "My liege!" As if she was re-enacting the 'Flag Contest', she quickly embraced Kim Dokja and shouted out in an impassioned voice. "My liege, are you alright??" His pale Incarnation Body sagged limply in her arms and shook around a little. "Oh, my king!" Everyone was now looking at her. Lee Jihye's jaw dropped slightly, while Han Sooyoung looked dumbfounded. As for Fei Hu… "Ah…" He looked as if he understood everything now. "I see, Incarnation Jung Heewon. So, that's how it was…" His gaze shifted from Jung Heewon, Han Sooyoung and to Lee Jihye, before eventually landing on Kim Dokja's face next. He sneakily bit his lip. Like a tragic extra feeling envious of the chosen protagonist, he slowly lowered his head and turned around to leave.

Heewon!

...Well that's one use for an annoying, passed out squid man who tried to sacrifice himself again.

(AND WHO JUST GOT HIMSELF KIDNAPPED! AGAIN! BY THE SAME FREAKING GUY! ARE YOU KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW? KIM DOKJA!!!)

Ahhhhhh and the narration calling Dokja the chosen protagonist!!!! And this other guy is just some tragic extra. COULD WE BE ANY MORE META?

Oh man and the way Sooyoung just shoves Fei Hu all "get tf outta my way where is Kim Dokja?" 😂

And Uriel is over there about to be all "catch these hands" and restart an entire war. 😂 How dare you flirt with her precious Heewon! She will kill you.

Wait until Dokja gets back and flirt with him instead. You're a pretty boy so Uriel will probably forgive you.

...Though Sooyoung may not...

And Joonghyuk... well... Joonghyuk seems like maybe he needs a nap right about now.

And Hyunsung is a sword.

#meanwhile Jihye is like 'he ain't Joonghyuk beautiful but...'#kdj #kdj crew #jhw #orv #orv liveblog #omniscient reader's viewpoint #orv spoilers #orv novel chapter 449 #great so secretive plotter has run off with dokja #again #hmmmmm #sangah doesn't seem too worried about it so maybe he's calmed down by now?#the last chapter did end on SP just kind of watching all of dokja's companions rejoicing #and yjh already called him out on wanting to see the conclusion of this story so I'm going to say that he's going to act very yjh about thi #and soften up to dokja now that they've had their big blowout fight #...yjh is gonna be SO PISSED when he regains his wits

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