#I feel like I'm being treated like a high-class criminal.

[darkeunology]

♡ Love is the Warmest Colour ♡

Word Count: 3228 (I'm amazed it's this long)

Pairing: Derek Morgan x Reader

Warnings: Mentions of gunshot injuries, normal Criminal Minds violence, kidnapping, torture mentions (No explicit details)

Summary: In a world where soulmates feel each other's pain, you and Derek seem to be oblivious to each other's pains.

Not proof read. Not sure how I feel about this one tbh.

Soulmate: Noun: A person ideally suited to another as a close friend or romantic partner. 

Everyone in the world had someone who was destined to be their soulmate. It was a tale told to every child as a bedtime story, the exact way soulmates were known to each other. Shared pain - all soulmates in the world feel each other’s pain, Every scratch, punch or bump, soulmates feel it all but are never left with the physical marks from the injuries. 

Maybe not so surprisingly, a lot of people never actually found their soulmates, getting injured close enough to your soulmate so that both of you would realise anything was quite rare a feat, most people gave up trying to find their soulmate by their 20s, not wanting to waste their life trying to find the person suited best for them. Including you, once you’d hit 25, you’d given up - you thought it would be great if you did ever find them, but you weren’t holding out hope for it anymore, you’d now just ignore any of the pains you’d ever felt from your soulmate, which annoyingly for you, was a very common occurrence. 

—---------

As a child, a common question that was asked during class was ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’ Everyone else in the class would always have an answer to this, Vet, Astronaut, Writer, Fireman, to name a few, but you never once had an answer, never a clear one anyway, you had no idea what you actually wanted to do in life, and even once you’d finished high school, you chose to not go to college, instead choosing to unfortunately bounce between jobs, starting out at retail, before moving to waitressing until eventually moving to the job you were in now, a barista at your local coffee shop. 

It wasn’t quite the life you or your parents had ever imagined for you, but you were happy enough; sure, you were living paycheck to paycheck, and you weren’t really able to treat yourself as much as you’d wished to, but it worked for you, and now, being in your 20s, you weren’t really sure how you could do anything else with your life. 

It wasn’t until the day you very nearly died when you decided you wanted to do something different. 

You’d just finished a lunchtime shift at the coffee shop, planning to go to the store quickly before you went back to your apartment, a good friend of yours coming round to have a girls night together after a long week at work. You never managed to make it home that night. Whilst walking to the store, a van stopped next to you, a young man poking his head out the window, asking you how to get to the highway from where he was. After quickly telling him where to drive, you turned your back to the van, about to start walking again when you felt yourself be grabbed from behind, a large hand covering your mouth to stop a scream from escaping - no matter how hard you tried to fight off the hands on you, nothing would loosen his grip as he pulled you into the back of the van, landing a quick, hard punch to your head, knocking you out immediately. 

When you finally woke up, you were tied up on what felt like a dentist’s chair. All your clothes except for your underwear missing from your body. A shiver ran through your body from the chill in the room you were in, the chill getting worse when the men who kidnapped you walked into the room you were in, menacing smirks lining their faces. 

Once your friend hadn’t been able to get in contact with you after you’d failed to get back to your apartment after work, they called the police, knowing that you would never be late coming home without letting her know beforehand, she knew deep down something had happened to you, especially with the news recently of young women being kidnapped and murdered in the are you lived in. She’d seen on the news that the FBI had already been called in after the last murder after seeing the press conference on the news the other night, she told them everything they needed to know and hoped that they’d be able to find you in time. 

Unsure of just how much time it had been since you’d been kidnapped, all you could focus on was the pain running through your body from the hours of torture you’d had to endure. It felt like you’d been here for days when in reality it had only been a few hours. The only thing that had kept you going the whole time was the hope that your friend called someone when you never showed up to meet her at your apartment. That hope finally coming true when a tall, dark skinned man jogged into the room, FBI vest on his body and a gun held firmly in his hands, “I’ve got the victim.” he spoke into his comms before placing his gun back into his holster, walking up to you, a gentle smile on his face, “Hey, sweetheart. I’m agent Derek Morgan with the FBI. You’re safe now alright. Medics are on their way down.” he spoke gently, his hands moving to carefully untie you from the chair. 

Derek stuck by your side every moment until they put you in the back of the ambulance, keeping you comfortable as everything buzzed around you, only leaving you when the ambulance left for the hospital.

He was the one good thing you tried to focus on whenever you had nightmares about the kidnapping. It took months of therapy, months of being scared to leave your house alone again before you were finally ready and able to do something about your life. You guess it’s because of what you went through, but you decided that you wanted to do what was done for you, you wanted to help people in the worst moments of their lives; so you went back to school, studying criminal profiling and psychology, graduating 3 years later before luckily managing to get a position in the BAU, the same unit who saved you nearly 4 years previously.  

—--------

Derek remembered when he was told about soulmates by his parents, his sisters told him afterwards that they all had the same talk when they were the same age. He was told one night as he was being put to bed, his parents telling him that there was one special person in the world who was a perfect fit for him, a person who he might never find but someone that would never be better for him. He was told that was how his parents met each other, his dad being hurt during a police job with his mother luckily being close enough to him that they knew almost in that moment they were meant for each other. He was told that any physical pains he would ever have would be felt by his soulmate and any pains his soulmate had would have, he would feel himself. 

As Derek grew older, he never really put much thought into soulmates, he knew how unlikely it actually was that he’d ever meet his true soulmate, with just how big America was, and the fact they might not even be American. He just figured that if he was going to find his soulmate, it would happen naturally - so, like most people, he dated anyone he wanted to, not caring, nor worrying if they weren’t his soulmate. 

At night sometimes, as much as he would never tell people, he would often imagine what life might be like with his soulmate, or just exactly how he would meet them. He mildly envied the people who had actually managed to find their soulmate, wondering how they got so lucky with how large the world is. 

Sometimes Derek would think he didn’t even have a soulmate, he often wouldn’t feel any random pains, only sometimes getting a pain in his foot, almost like his soulmate had just stubbed their toe somewhere - or sometimes a harsh pain in his arm, maybe a needle injection or someone hitting their shoulder too hard as they walked past them. 

So, even as Derek was for some reason in a lot more pain than he normally was, he didn’t really think too much of it. He was used to pain from his job so it didn’t really feel like much to him, he thought you were just going through a bad day. 

He never connected the pieces, even after his pain stopped once you’d been rescued. 

—-------

Nervous was an understatement as you stood in the elevator going up to the BAU office, you hid it behind a gentle smile as the doors opened, asking the first person you saw how to find Aaron Hotchner’s office. 

After getting your directions, you headed through the glass doors into the main office, walking up to Hotchner’s office to the curious looks of the other members of the team. You knocked on the door, walking in once you’d heard a ‘come in’ from the other side of the door. 

“Hi. Aaron Hotchner?” you asked, a smile on your face as you held your box full of your things in your hands, 

The man nodded behind his desk, standing and walking round the other side to be able to shake your hand, something you were just able to do with the box you were balancing. “Hi, yes. You must be Y/N,” he spoke, waiting for your nod of acknowledgement before he continued, “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Everyone else has just gone into the meeting room. I’ll show you your desk then we’ll go up to meet everyone.” he explained, a small smile on his face the whole time, before he led you out of his office, quickly showing you your desk so you could place the box down before leading you up to the meeting room, walking in before you, “Everyone, meet our new agent, this is Y/N L/N.” he spoke to the team, 

It took a moment for everyone to introduce themselves, Derek was the last to speak, “You seem familiar,” he spoke after he’d said his name. Everyone else took that to mean something different, since they all knew what Derek was like most of the time, so they were surprised when they heard Spencer speak, “Yeah, he’s right.” Causing the rest of the team to try and remember why two of their team knew your face. 

Sighing lightly, you glanced at Aaron, who already knew of your past, he nodded gently, signalling that you can tell them if you wanted to, “I must just have a familiar face.” you spoke, shrugging your shoulders. 

Thankfully for you, the team dropped it. Derek still giving you looks every so often, trying to figure out where he knew you from. 

—----

It had been a few weeks of working in the BAU, you’d managed to fit into the team really well. Already going on many girls nights with JJ, Emily and Garcia. You got on with the males in your team as well, but nowhere near as well as the girls. Garcia being the one you told everything to, including the day you were kidnapped and rescued by the BAU, and opening up to her about the small feelings you had for a certain Derek Morgan.

You’d also had a lot more pains from your soulmate in the past few weeks, nothing too bad, just some hard hits every so often, one being a nasty hit on your ribs one day at the end of a case, you standing with Emily and practically doubling over in the sudden pain that shot through your abdomen, “You good?” Emily asked, concern laced through her voice, 

“Yeah.” you gasped out, “I don’t know what happened, that just really hurt for a moment.”

“Must be your soulmate.” Emily spoke, you nodded in response, 

“Yeah, it must be.”

When you and Emily found out that Derek had been shot in his abdomen, luckily only causing a harsh bruise due to his vest, Emily was the only one who connected the dots about the pain you felt that day, deciding not to tell anyone else about her thoughts. 

—-----

“You alright sugar?” Garcia spoke when she saw Derek, noticing the obvious look of discomfort on his face, 

“Yeah, baby girl. Just got an awful headache, I took painkillers ages ago and it just hasn’t done anything.” he spoke, rubbing his temples, he knew from the fact that painkillers hadn’t worked that it would be a soulmate pain, 

“Soulmate maybe?” Garcia spoke, 

“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.” He spoke, smiling at Garcia before getting back to work. 

It wasn’t until he sat down at his desk and saw you taking some painkillers when something clicked, “You good Y/N?” Derek asked, grabbing your attention and the attention of Emily who was sitting nearby at her desk. 

“Really bad headache. Painkillers are only helping a small amount.” you sighed. 

Emily was only looking towards Derek, a knowing look on her face, watching as Derek looked towards her, realisation slowly showing on his face, “Let me know if I can do anything to help.” he spoke, before turning back around, his only thought being that his soulmate was potentially his colleague. 

—----------

Oftentimes when you’d come into work, you’d go into Garcia’s bat cave, getting her some coffee and having a little chat before the work began.

A knock on the door interrupted you and Garcia this morning, “We’re meeting now. We have a new case.” JJ spoke as she poked her head in, her face looking grim. Both of you stood, grabbing your coffee mugs and heading over to the meeting room, being the last two to come in,

“We’re going to Florida.” JJ spoke, turning on the TV on the wall, “There’s been a series of murders, all women in their late 20s, all being found dumped in remote areas.” 

“Any sexual assault?” Derek asked.

“All of them had signs of sexual assault, yes.” JJ answered. “Newest victim is Stephanie Leigh, she was kidnapped yesterday evening after a night out at a local club.”

“All of these women were killed two days after they were kidnapped, meaning we have under 48 hours to find her alive.” Hotch spoke, his face serious like always, “Wheels up in 20.” he finished, getting up from his seat first as everyone else followed. 

—--------

You and Derek were in the car driving to the club where the recent victim was taken from, 

“I think I figured out where I remember you from.” Derek spoke, filling the silence that had surrounded you both for a while, 

“Oh yeah.” you spoke, knowing that Derek probably had, and dreading having to tell him he was right. 

“I think around 4 years ago, maybe more, we were called out to a local kidnapping case, the local cops were investigating someone kidnapping local young females and murdering them after torturing them for a few days, normally 2, but he’d accelerated his timeline on the last victim. We’d found the last body then a few hours later we were told of someone else being kidnapped - it was you.” He turned to look at you for a moment before putting his eyes back on the road,

“You were the one that found me first.” you spoke. Silence filled the car again for a moment, “I never told any of you purely because I just wanted to try and forget about it. I figured some of you might recognise me, but I hoped that you’d rescued so many people that you wouldn't necessarily remember one person you’d helped. Clearly though, you knew, and I think so does Spencer.” you looked towards Derek, “I’ll tell everyone else eventually” 

“I’m sorry for bringing it up,” he spoke quietly, 

“Don’t be.” You shook your head, “I needed to thank you anyway. All of you really. But you stayed by my side from the moment you found me until the ambulance left,” you paused, looking back at Derek, “I don’t think you realise how much I appreciated that.” you finished quietly, a sad tone in your voice. 

Derek turned and nodded gently at you, not saying anything else until you guys arrived at the club, continuing on with the case you were working. 

—--------

“I think we found our guy.” Hotch spoke after Garcia had finished her round of research she was given, the team headed out, finding the warehouse where the unsub should be holding the missing girl, rushing to get there before he murdered her just like the others. 

Spencer and you went round the back together along with some swat agents and other cops, checking each room until you saw the unsub running from you both, alerting the agents who were left outside, Derek being one of them. 

“We found the victim, she’s alive.” Emily spoke into the comms, just before Hotch spoke, 

“Offender running on foot northwest, me and Derek are in pursuit.” Spencer, you, Emily and Rossi all ran out of the warehouse, knowing the victim was safe with the rest of the police and the medics, hopping in one of the SUVs and going out to find Hotch and Derek. 

All in one moment, the most intense pain you’d felt before rang through your shoulder and your leg, causing you to yelp out in pain, making everyone else in the car jump, “Y/N!” Spence exclaimed, being the one sitting next to you in the back, “You okay?” he asked, at the same time Hotch spoke on the radio, 

“Shots fired, Agent down. I need medics to my location.” he practically shouted, the message finishing just as the SUV turned the corner to the alley they were in, Derek on the floor with Hotch knelt next to him. 

Confusion rung through you, the realisation never actually hitting you due to the pain in your body distracting you too much to think straight, “I can’t believe you’re a profiler and you haven’t figured it out yet.” Emily chuckled lightly, looking towards you with disbelief. 

“What?” you asked dumbly, 

“Get out the car and go to your damn soulmate.” she spoke again. You didn’t even think twice once the realisation hit you in the face, you jumped out the car, kneeling on the other side of Derek, one hand cupping his face, 

“Hey sweetheart.” he spoke, a small smile on his face even through the pain of the wounds. 

“Hey soulmate.” you smiled, “That hurt quite a lot you know?” finishing with a chuckle, Derek also chuckling before groaning in pain. “Sorry.” you whispered, noticing the pain he was in. 

“I’m taking you on a date once I’m better.” Derek told you, one of his hands coming to hold yours which was still on his face. 

“You better.” chuckling, you leant down and laid a small kiss on Derek’s forehead as the rest of the team watched on, smiles on their faces, relieved that the two of you finally figured it all out, even if you needed Emily to spell it out for you to realise.

[heavy-is-the-crown-if]

I was interested in the IF at first but then noticed you used AI to create "art" and was immediately disappointed. I know people will see this and disagree or act like I'm overreacting or whatever but as an illustrator it just really sucks seeing that. I'm not telling you what to do or what decisions to make but seriously reconsider using AI. Maybe research and see what artists, including authors and other creators of IFs, are saying about AI and how it negatively affects artists.

I understand that you may not approve of the fact that I used AI to generate the portraits of some of my characters once, but is this a reason to condemn me and my work immediately?

I'll say it again, I used it once, just once, out of curiosity, because I can't draw and I don't have enough income to live on and commission someone to create something for my If. I had no intention of reusing artificial intelligence, because yes I did my research.

I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings but I believe that everyone makes mistakes and those mistakes shouldn't condemn people especially since I've gained nothing over it.

[stylesharrys]

special brownies [weedrry]

summary: harry and y/n accidentally eat their roommates special brownies.

warnings: mentions and use of weed (edibles), being high, swearing, kissing, biting, unprotected sex, bit of dirty talk.

word count: 2,396

a/n: i came up with this idea very randomly and i have written it as fast as i possibly could lmao anyway, the whole thing is about accidentally getting stoned, so if that makes you uncomfortable, please don't read! if it doesn't, enjoy <333

//

It’s been a long week and Y/N is feeling it. Between classes and shifts at the cafe, her feet are sore and her mind is tired. She wants nothing more than to cuddle up on the sofa with a good tv show and pass the fuck out.

And tonight is supposed to be her lucky night. Tom has a night shift and Harry has a hot date. No boys, no roommates, no interruptions.

There’s just something about knowing she’s got the flat to herself all night long, and she can lounge about like the lazy girlie her heart yearns to be.

She starts with a long, relaxing her aching body in the hot soapy water until her skin begins to prune. Y/N takes extra time to moisturise her body and brush her hair. Even treats herself to a face mask while she does so.

When she leaves the bathroom, it’s almost 7 p.m. and Tom has already left for work. The apartment is clean, and most importantly, quiet.

She’s a bit too excited in her movement to the sofa, a squeal slipping from her lips. Too caught up in her head, she doesn’t notice Harry leaning against his bedroom door, arms folded across his chest.

It’s not until he clears his throat that Y/N jumps out of her little happy dance with a scream. A smirk sits on his lips, amused by the way she scowls at him.

“What the hell are you doing here! You’re supposed to be out on a date!”

Her tone is accusing, pointer finger jabbing at the air in his direction. She notices his attire; grey shorts and a white hoodie. Y/N’s shoulders slump.

“You have got to be kidding me,” she huffs.

“What? I thought you liked hanging out with me?” Harry follows her to the sofa, sitting on  the opposite end of her.

Y/N crosses her arms furiously. “I do! But I was so excited to have the flat to myself for just one night.”

Harry’s brows are raised suggestively, that sick fucking smirk on his lips again. Y/N lunges a pillow at his face. “Not for those reasons, you perv.”

He barks out a laugh, hugging the pillow close to his chest as he props his feet up and on Y/N’s lap. He watches how her bottom lip pouts out and his face softens.

“Look, if you want me to fuck off out for the evening, I can.” Harry offers.

She scoffs. “That is what you were supposed to be doing.” A moment of silence passes and she sighs. “Sorry, that came out rude. I'm not about to kick you out of your own flat – though I am going to force you to watch the last three episodes of The Rookie with me.”

Harry makes no attempt to hide the groan that follows her words. It’s not that he doesn’t like the show, it’s that he hates the show. He’ll never understand Y/N’s weird obsession with emergency services.

First, it was Criminal Minds, then a month later she binge watched 9-1-1 Lone Star in six days. Now she’s on the newest season of The Rookie and he’s sure she only started season one at the beginning of the month?

“Do we have to?” he grumbles.

Y/N throws another pillow at him. “Yes. You’re the one interrupting my night, you could at least do it quietly… and with snacks.”

Her voice trails off at the end of her sentence and Harry has to bite back a grin. She could never be mad at Harry, she loves him and his company far too much. Tom, on the other hand… yeah, she would definitely be mad if it was him crashing her lazy girl night.

Harry stands from the sofa, wandering through to the kitchen. He grabs two bottles of water in one hand and scans his eyes through the cupboards in search for a suitable snack.

They’ve not been shopping for a few days, so there’s only some dry crackers, a half-eaten bag of cashew nuts (ew, Tom), and granola. Harry contemplates ubering some cookies and milkshakes when his eyes land on a bakery box on top of the microwave.

He squints as he reads the writing on the top of the box.

Tom’s. DO NOT EAT!

Harry flips the lid, six thick slices of dewey chocolate brownies. They’re like fucking slabs… he’s sure Tom won’t mind if he and Y/N share just one between them.

He pops a (massive) slice on a plate and toddles back to the kitchen. The show is paused on the opening scene, Y/N shuffled to get comfortable on the sofa. She raises a brow at the snack in question.

“We’re sharing a brownie?”

Harry huffs as he sits. “S’all we’ve got in the kitchen, and they’re Tom’s. Didn’t wanna take the piss when his little sticky note clearly says DO NOT TOUCH!”

Y/N snorts, breaking the brownie in half and handing Harry the bigger slice. She takes a bite, face screwing slightly.

“These taste a little funny… nutmeg, maybe?”

She turns to Harry who doesn’t say anything and still hasn’t taken the brownie. The look on his face irks her. She huffs, swallowing. “I feel bad that your date cancelled on you.”

His eyebrows almost raise to his hairline. “And what makes you think she was the one to cancel?”

“Was she?” Y/N asks.

Harry takes the brownie with a sigh. “Yeah.”

//

They can’t stop fucking giggling.

The show is long forgotten about, has been for the past thirty minutes. They’re both feeling warm. Harry stripped from his jumper and Y/N changed into some little shorts and one of Harry’s baggy t-shirts.

Neither of them know where this amusement came from, but there is absolutely no calming either of them down. They’re sneakily sharing a second slice of Tom’s brownies; eyes on the door in case for some reason, he comes home an hour after his shift has started.

“They taste so weird, but I can’t stop eating it.”

Harry chokes out a laugh, eyes welling with tears because he just finds Y/N so fucking funny tonight.

She’s a mess too, eyes squinted and shoulders hunched as she laughs uncontrollably. They’re both crossed-legged on the living room floor, knees knocking gently.

The more she chews, the more she begins to recognise that unfamiliar taste… the way it lingers on her tongue. Her laughter slows for a moment, as if realisation is beginning to dawn on her.

She stares at Harry with wide eyes and parted lips, mouth still full.

“Oh, my god.”

“What?”

“They’re fucking weed brownies!”

Harry can’t breathe, struggles to look away from the fear and shock on Y/N’s face. His whole body begins to shake with laughter and Y/N finds herself following.

“Harry, it’s not funny!” she shrieks. “This is so bad, Harry.”

She’s laughing through her words. Even she can’t take herself seriously in this state.

“D’you wanna play Just Dance?”

Harry’s words only make her laugh harder. The remainder of her brownie is thrown at his naked torso. Harry wastes no time to tackle her to the ground, hovering between her legs as he tickles her sides.

He's blowing raspberries on her neck, eliciting loud cackles from her mouth. Y/N tugs at his hair, her legs flailing around his hips when he nips at the skin on her throat.

They don’t say anything. She continues to chuckle, and Harry continues to bite.

Their laughter has fizzled out into breathy giggles. Neither of them are sure when Harry’s bites turned into kisses. When their fingers became intertwined. When her legs closed around his middle.

And neither of them say a fucking thing about it.

Harry’s lips travel up her neck and across her jaw. She finds his mouth feverishly, nothing but tongue and teeth but to the pair of them, it’s the best kiss they’ve ever had.

They’re needy, hot and wanton all of a sudden. Like a switch has been flipped and they’re clinging to one another like lifelines.

Harry holds her hands above her head, fingers tangled. He’s hard, rock hard. Pressing into Y/N’s tiny fucking shorts so much he’s sure he can feel her arousal through both of their clothes.

He ruts against her, testing the waters. The moan he receives sends all blood down south. He’s always known sex to be incredible when you’re high. The thought of him sharing it with her? God, he could bust there and then.

He releases her hands so he can feel up her thighs, skin hot and smooth. Their lips don’t separate, not once. She lets her hands fall into his curls, nails scratching at his scalp and she tugs at the roots.

Harry’s moaning into her mouth, eager and desperate for more. He takes her shorts off quickly and strategically. So quickly that she doesn’t notice until she feels a cool breeze between her thighs.

Y/N’s eyes roll to the back of her head, more than ready for whatever the fuck he wants to do to her.

They haven’t hesitated, not once. Not until Harry's hands are at the waistband of his shorts and he wonders if he should grab a condom or just go down on her. He knows she’s on the pill, just like they both know they’re both clean.

Harry gets tested once a month and Y/N doesn’t sleep around.

She answers his inner turmoil for him and tugs his shorts down the best she can. Harry breaks the kiss for a split second to tug his shorts to his knees. He’s back to kissing her as quickly as he pulled away, tongue against hers. Hot and messy.

Y/N feels his tip twitch against her clit, an airy sigh echoing into Harry’s mouth. He lets his fingers swirl around her wetness, smearing it across her smooth cunt and coating his thick shaft in her arousal.

They’re panting messes, eager, desperate and horny.

When he lines himself at her entrance, she locks her legs around his waist. Harry bumps forward, a shrill cry slipping from between their lips at the sensation of one another.

Harry wants to give her a moment to adjust, but Y/N doesn’t. She wants it hot and hard. She wants the pain. She wants to feel every fucking inch of him.

She probably should’ve warned Harry how she gets when she’s high. How much of a whiny, cock-hungry whore she can become. Then again, how was she supposed to know they’d accidentally eat their roommates special brownies?

“Jesus fucking Christ.” Harry chokes as he bottoms out.

Y/N’s struggling to catch her breath but she’s never loved the burn in her lungs more. “Fuck me, H.”

He twitches inside her. “Fuck me hard.”

His hips begin to roll, cock nuzzling itself deep inside her. He can feel everything. Every bump, dip, swell. God, she’s fucking soaked, leaking down to the floor but neither of them care.

Harry slowly begins to quicken his pace, arms bent at the elbows either side of Y/N’s head to prop himself up. She doesn’t loosen her legs around his hips. She needs him as close as he can possibly get.

Even his cock buried to the brim in her cunt isn’t enough. She needs his soul touching hers.

“You’re so fucking tight.”

“Yeah?” she breathes. “You gonna fuck my tight cunt, baby? Fuck me like you own me.”

He can’t believe his fucking ears. He’s always found Y/N attractive, but never in his wildest fucking dreams did he expect her to be this goddamn filthy.

Harry loves it.

His thrusts grow harsher. She has no time to catch her breath between hits, her mouth in a constant state of slack – eyes rolled back and eyebrows pinched.

“My perfect little cunt.” Harry seethes.

The noises of her pussy are like electric waves in Harry’s ears. He feels them in his soul, like sparks and jolts. He’s never felt more alive.

He’s fucking into her manically. Behind closed eyes all he can see shapes and colours of need and desire. Sex has always been good, always been great high. But this? Fuck, he’s never felt something so otherwordly.

He never wants it to end, wants to spend the rest of his life fucking her like a whore. She’s tugging his hair, likely making his scalp bleed but he loves it. He’d bleed a fucking river just to feel her cunt around him again.

“I’m gonna come!”

Her words awaken something animalistic within Harry. Like his life depends on feeling her release around him – like it’s what he was born to experience.

He chases her high, nipping and suckling on her neck, fucking into her cunt as fast as his restrained hips will allow. Y/N’s a blubbering mess, a sight Harry never wants to forget.

Fuck, he doesn’t think he could if he tried. This will forever be etched into his mind – her face, her body, her perfect cunt. Jesus, he’s never been so into sex in his life.

Her body begins to tremble uncontrollably, legs locked tight around his middle as she cries his name and pours over him.

Harry’s gruff and desperate moans mix with hers. She’s impossibly tighter, squeezing him; begging him to never let her feel anything but full ever again.

Harry wants to die buried in her cunt.

It takes every single fucking ounce of willpower he has to pull out and release across her thighs – painting the filthiest picture anyone could imagine.

It’s a struggle for either of them to catch their breaths. Hot and heavy panting that soon turns into light laughter, that even sooner, turns into contagious giggles.

Their bodies shake with every chuckle, Harry’s mouth ghosting hers until he nips on her bottom lip.

“We are never to talk about this, understood?”

He grins widely. “Whatever you want, Princess.”

She hums, eyes full of lust. Harry’s still achingly hard, despite coming more than he ever has before. He dips his head to her neck, sucking at her soft skin. His cock twitches against her thigh and she breathes deeply, blinks slowly.

“You wanna go again?” his voice is muffled by her neck.

She grins, legs wrapping back around his middle.

“Whatever you want, baby.”

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

Hajime Hinata VS Izuku Midoriya [Danganronpa Survivor VS My Hero Academia]

Hifumi: Hajime Hinata, the Ultimate Hope from Hope's Peak Academy.

Leona: Izuku Midoriya, the Symbol of Hope from U.A Academy!

Uchui: The masses need a savior when the world is in danger. In a society that consistently held them back, these incredible heroes began life with nothing and developed the charm, fortitude, compassion, and drive to defend the people they care about.

Hifumi: However, which one of them will prevail when everything is on the line?

Leona: He's Hifumi, I'm Leona and THAT'S Uchui! 

Hifumi: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, talents and skills, to see who will win a DEATH BATTLE!

Leona: So we've decided to have Uchui come back for another major role in an episode, and in case you're wondering why...This. This is why.

Uchui: Yes. After all, I happen to have quite a unique attachment to our combatant today.

Leona: Everyone strap in, because we are about to talk about one of the most convoluted and batshit crazy backstories in all Danganronpa lore...and yes, I ACTUALLY mean that this time.

Hifumi: To start with, let's once again go over Hope's Peak Academy, since it actually plays a pretty heavy role in this story, even more so than compared to our other combatants. There are definitely a lot of talented people in our world who have extraordinary skills that make them appear superior to others. People swarm to these gifted individuals, referring to them as prodigies, savants, or even geniuses.

Leona: And Hope's Peak is a school that focuses on these people, giving them Ultimate titles. Like the 77th Class of Ultimate Students, which were freshmen around the same time this story starts. They included characters like the Ultimate Gamer, Gymnast, Team Manager, Mechanic, Photographer...even Princess and Yakuza!

Uchui: Hope's Peak Academy and it's staff did not care about who you were or where you were from. Be you a poor slum dweller with barely any cash or power to your name, or the heir to a powerful empire with a criminal underbelly, it didn't matter. So long as you were the most talented high schooler in your respective field, you could be invited to attend Hope's Peak's main course as an Ultimate.

Hifumi: Emphasis on the "invite" part. Unlike most Japanese high schools, Hope's Peak Academy does not have an entrance exam, at least it didn't at the time. Modern Hope's Peak under the guide of Makoto Naegi is different and more welcoming, but back in the old days, you had to actively be scouted by the academy itself in order for a chance to attend.

Uchui: There WAS, however, more to this. In the year that Class 77-B enrolled, the Reserve Course was launched by the Academy runners. It was designed for students without talent who could attend classes for a hefty fee. Reserve Course attendance was required, and students were treated like regular students, in contrast to Ultimate students who could choose to attend classes or not. Only three Reserve Course students are currently recognized by name, but the most significant by far...was Hajime Hinata.

Hifumi: Like many of his kind, Mr Hinata had always admired Hope's Peak Academy and hoped to attend since he was a young child. It was a lofty ambition of his, comparable to becoming a superhero or celebrity. Being a part of something greater than himself would allow him to overcome his self-consciousness and grow into a person he could be proud of. Being a talentless person, he thought his life was boring, and that he himself was worthless.

Leona: But thanks to the Reserve Course, Hajime got to attend his dream school, lived a happy life, and enjoyed his studies to the fullest, right? Right?

Uchui: Not by a LONG shot. Even as a Reserve student with no talent, Hajime continued to feel inadequate. He was so resentful of his own limitations that it drove him to want to enroll in the Main Course, not be some backup student. And frankly, the Academy itself and the twisted bastards that ran it, the Steering Committee, did NOT help with this. In fact, they only ADDED to the emotional damage!

Hifumi: In the eyes of the academy runners, having talent was the key to success in life; without it, one can only lead a life of mediocrity and meaninglessness. The Reserve Course Students were despised as merely affluent children who gained admission to the Academy of Hope by buying their way in. 

Leona: Oh...Well...That's ok! 'Cause he made a friend! A friend in the form of a really cute and chubby main-course student, Chiaki Nanami! The Ultimate Gamer! They met on the first day of school and met at the fountain to play video games together on a regular basis. She once consoled him after he was upset about not having a talent, telling him that there is more to life than that and that spending time with others is was important.

Uchui: While I can get behind that, and while Hajime was happy to have her company, his obsession with being something greater did not lessen. In fact, the longer he stayed at Hope's Peak, the worse things got, especially when one of his fellow Reserve Course students was murdered by another, and the academy not only refused to do anything about it, but they actively COVERED IT UP to avoid backlash from the public.

Hifumi: When he tried to confront the academy about it, he was swiftly...beaten to the curb. It was here that whatever self-confidence he once had left his body entirely. He wasn't even HUMAN in the eyes of his heroes, just a money-bank! At least...that's what he thought.

Uchui: Truth be told, Hajime had caught the interest of some...suspicious individuals working on an experiment with the Steering Committee...This was the Hope Cultivation Plan, otherwise known as the Izuru Kamukura Project.

Leona: With this being the last straw, Hajime signed up for the project, where he, a young skinny kid, received superpowers to become CAPTAIN AMERICAAAA-This is the wrong script, isn't it?

Hifumi: Well, it DOES share some similarities, but the actual outcome could not have been more drastically different. This is the part you should explain Mr Porosen, assuming you're alright with it...

Uchui: It's perfectly fine. It's why I came on the show today after all...Ahem...Truth be told, the original plan for the Izuru Kamukura Project was proposed by Ryuichi Kamukura, a descendent of Izuru Kamukura; the original founder of Hope's Peak...He's also...my Father...

Leona: If you think that's a yowch, it'll hurt more to know that in spite of Izuru reportedly being a rather humble man, his descendants were anything BUT! The family is basically the Danganronpa equivalent of Umbrella Corp. reputed for their secretly evil and ruthless nature, sacrificing anyone and anything in their quest to achieve perfection. The only exception, and the only one of them who actually had a fucking conscience, was Uchui here.

Uchui: And the Hope Cultivation Plan was supposed to be my father's pièce de résistance. The purpose of the experiment that my father designed, oversaw, and received funding for from The Steering Committee, was to produce artificial hope in talentless students and create the "Ultimate Hope," a student possessing every talent Hope's Peak Academy has ever studied. In actuality, my father implanted pieces of artificial talents into me, making me a test subject who first demonstrated that it was possible. Hope's Peak was sought after by him because he believed that high school age was the ideal age, since I was still a child and my body was not suitable for it. B-But this isn't about me! Since Hajime on the other hand, they deemed was the perfect candidate. 

Hifumi: As you may have surmised, in order to accomplish this goal, immoralities such as human experimentation were needed. For this reason, the Steering Committee concealed the project from everyone, including Principal Jin Kirigiri and the other Hope's Peak Faculty members. As a matter of fact, the Kamukura Project was primarily funded by the Reserve Course, with the majority of students' tuition fees going toward it, and the project had enough money to start the human testing phase before the freshman year of Class 77-B.

Uchui: And for better or worse, the experiment was a SUCCESS! Hajime took this offer because he was so desperate for talent, and in the end he acquired every talent known to man. And so the "Ultimate Hope" came into being—the one and only human being who is flawless and whose abundance of gifts is intended to give others hope.

Leona: Great! So now he can basically do everything! And it's not just a matter of being as great as every Ultimate Student! Hajime actually EXCEEDS all of them in their latent abilities by a MILE!

Uchui: Ultimate Hope is the most powerful talent that our universe has ever known from how it culminates every ability. It includes the powers of Ultimate Analyst, Ultimate Clairvoyant, Ultimate Imposter, Ultimate Lucky Student, Ultimate Martial Artist, Ultimate Secret Agent, Ultimate Soldier, Ultimate Assassin, Ultimate Neurologist, Ultimate Detective, Ultimate Team Manager, Ultimate Gymnast, Ultimate Photographer, Ultimate Cook, Ultimate Animator, Ultimate Programmer, Ultimate Mechanic, Ultimate Musician, Ultimate Pharmacist, Ultimate Gambler, Ultimate Confectioner, Ultimate Blacksmith, Ultimate Pyrotechnician, Ultimate Nurse, Ultimate-

Leona: Stop! STOP! STOOOP! Are you seriously listing EVERYTHING!?

Uchui: Uh...yeah? Is that not the idea?

Leona: We will literally be here FOREVER if you list of EVERY skill he has, you nerd!

Uchui: Oh...I...Sorry...I got a bit carried away there...As dastardly as the circumstances are, I cannot help but marvel at the results.

Hifumi: Well, we DO have to at least explain SOME of them, otherwise our audience won't have much to work with. Why don't we go over the one's that are most notable and important; i.e. the one's that would help him in combat? Then we can elaborate on them and explain feats.

Uchui: Oh, I see! Well in that case, let's start with some basic combative talents like Ultimate Soldier. Because of his talents, Hajime is above superhuman in terms of physical strength, reflexes, and speed. This gives him Mukuro Ikusaba's talent, but to a much larger extent, so he should be able to accomplish all of her achievements and feats as well. Speaking of Ms. Ikusaba, he actually launched her with a backhand move not long after he unlocked his abilities. He can effortlessly dodge bullets like her too.

Leona: That's right! Remember that super badass and almost unbeatable Ultimate Soldier that has incredible instincts that we talked about in Round 2? Hajime was standing RIGHT in front of her, hit her with an attack that she DIDN'T SEE COMING, and ONE-SHOT HER! Holy shit! Where was your Ultra Instinct THAT time Mukuro!?

Hifumi: Speaking of strong characters and matching feats, Mr. Hinata is knowledgeable about and skilled in every martial art, just like Mrs. Sakura Ogami, and he is swift and strong enough to defeat the Monokuma that Junko Enoshima was using in the first Killing Game, whereas SHE could match it.

Leona: With his talents, Hajime should realistically be able to do everything the likes that Genocide Jill, Akane Owari and Nekomaru Nidai; other powerful characters in the series, some of which we've already gone over!

Hifumi: Remember how, without using any climbing equipment, Ms. Owari climbed the Hope's Peak building with ease, detected the smell of cooking meat while on the roof, and survived the fall from the roof to the ground? He can do that too!

Uchui: Remember how Genocide Jill used a pair of scissors to cut through robots the size of small houses, leaped from the ground to a monorail several stories above, shattered glass windows without a running start, cut through a steel door, and deflected blows from a robot the size of a skyscraper? He can do that too!

Leona: Remember how Nekomaru took a shit so hard that it carved a hole through a forest and screamed so hard that he generated three explosions the size of Hope's Peak Academy? He can do that too!

Uchui: Uuuuh...Yes! Yes he can! As much as I loathe to be reminded of that...!

Hifumi: As with Ms. Komaru Naegi, who we've already mentioned has an excellent eye and accuracy, Mr. Hinata also possesses marksman abilities and ought to be the world's greatest marksman. More importantly, he should outclass Kiyoka Maki, the ACTUAL Ultimate Marksman, in terms of dexterity and proficiency with a gun.

Leona: But of course, there's more to fight than just being able to move and punch super fast and hard. You also have to consider skill, tactics, and of course, bullshit. And BOY does he have some BULL-SHIT!

Hifumi: Ironically what may be Izuru's two most useful abilities originally come from less-than-desirable people. His eventual arch-enemy, Junko Enoshima, and his arch-rival, Nagito Komaeda. These talents of course being Ultimate Analytical Prowess and Ultimate Lucky Student respectively.

Uchui: Hajime's analytical abilities are nearly unopposed, much like Junko's, possessing a startlingly high degree of accuracy and speed in his prediction abilities. Additionally, he has the ability to read people the moment he meets them. He also has the talent Ultimate Lie Detector and has stated himself that he can detect dishonesty in others, which renders any attempt to deceive him futile.

Hifumi: Furthermore, he's demonstrated an overabundance of good fortune with the Ultimate Lucky Student talent, to the extent that it can rival that of Nagito Komaeda. He is among the very few individuals who are shielded from Komaeda's extreme bad luck as a result. The best example of this is when Komaeda pointed a gun at Enoshima not long after their first meeting. When he attempts to fire the at the Ultimate Hope, Mr. Hinata's good fortune overrides Komaeda's, causing the gun to jam.

Leona: Ok, but...wait a second...I think I get how this hypothetically COULD be possible. I mean, for performance enhancing and combat powers, you can fiddle with his brain, fuck with his genes or mess with his muscles and skeletal structure. I GET that. But how in the ever-loving fuck do you gift somebody LUCK!? Luck isn't a substance! It's an immaterial thing that has no conclusive sway, so...how is he able to do this?

Uchui: Good question! NEXT QUESTION...!

Leona: Um...alrighty then! So, at the end of the day, Hajime got his wish and then some! He had gone from being a nobody to being the icon that Hope's Peak's morals were grounded on! A symbol of Hope for the future of all mankind! And he was loving every second of it!

Uchui: I'm sure he would...if he had been around to see it...

Leona: I really need to stop jinxing myself...Ok, what happened this time?

Hifumi: Truth be told, a lot of the feats that we've just listed were, technically, not achieved by Mr. Hinata himself. As it turns out, the Steering Committee and the Cultivation Team, as they did VERY OFTEN, DECIEVED Mr. Hinata. In addition to being endowed with an abundance of abilities and boundless potential for greatness, he was also lobotomized in order to eliminate any memories, personality, or other emotional functions that might have impeded the development of talent. Not that they told HIM that.

Leona: Those dirty...FUCKING...BASTARDS!

Uchui: Quite right. Hajime was used as a lab rat by the very people he spent his whole life looking up to, who took advantage of his talent and feelings of admiration for hope. They eliminated every sense, feeling, thought, and pastime that would have impeded the development of talent. His memories of the past, including those of his best friend Chiaki, were all pushed deep into the back of his mind by force. The academy changed Hajime into an entirely different person whose specialty is talent itself by directly interfering with his brain. He was supposed to be the result of all the research done by the faculty at Hope's Peak Academy, a genius among geniuses with a variety of skills. He became an empty shell of a human stuffed with nothing but talent...He became...Izuru Kamukura...!

Leona: He became your granddad?

Uchui: No, he was named after my granddad, silly! Ryuichi wanted to make sure that our "family legacy" was recognized as such, so he and the Hope's Peak Steering Committee named him after the academy founder.

Leona: Ugh this is all...so fucked! How can this get any worse?

Hifumi: Well, three words...Junko...! Fucking...! Enoshima...!

Leona: UUUUUUUUUGH GAAAWWWD! What did she do THIS time!?

Uchui: At first, it seemed as though she was trying to kill him because he was the Ultimate Hope, but Junko's true goal was to attack him knowing she couldn't win in order to demonstrate Despair's unpredictable nature, peaking what little curiosity Izuru had. By forcing him to witness the student council members' mutual murder and many other forms of humanity at their worst, Junko coerced Izuru into leading the Remnants of Despair—a group made up of Chiaki's brainwashed classmates—and causing the Tragedy. Izuru changed his title from "Ultimate Hope" to "Ultimate Despair" after siding with Despair and leading to the total destruction of Hope's Peak and the world.

Leona: On the one hand...this guy is one of the main reasons why the Tragedy happened...But on the other, SWEET TASTY KARMA for the fuckboys at Hope's Peak! It's so REFRESHING MMM!

Hifumi: That's...weirdly psychotic of you...But I suppose it makes sense?

Leona: Ok, but to be fair, putting my lust for vengeance aside, this doesn't sound great...The Ultimate Hope is evil and Hajime is dead! ...OR IS HE!? Later on down the line, Izuru Kamukura got confronted by the Future Foundation and he and his cronies in the Remnants of Despair were placed in the Neo World Program, a program designed to undo Junko's brainwashing after her death.

Hifumi: Following Izuru's entry into the Neo World Program, Hajime's memories were recovered and his former personality was recreated using historical data, essentially resurrecting Hajime from his near-total erasure.

Leona: Awesome! Hajime's alive again, he and his friends are getting...questionable therapy, Junko's dead and everything's back to normal! ...I just did it again, didn't I?

Hifumi: It turns out that Izuru predicted in advance, likely using his analyst and clairvoyance talents, that the Future Foundation would attempt to go this route. He even knew in advance that Hajime would be brought back through these means. However, following Junko's passing, Kamukura devised a scheme to use the Neo World Program to enable Alter Ego Junko to take control of their bodies, with the help of the other Remnants of Despair. Junko's AI infiltrated the program and kickstarted the Jabberwock Island Killing Game!

Leona: Oh GREAAAAT! How the hell does the Future Foundation even contend with that!? The most powerful, intelligent and unstoppable person completely destroyed their master plan, and now nothing is going to stop them! ...Did I just jinx it again?

Uchui: In a positive spin this time, yes! It turns out that in spite of being responsible for Junko's presence in the program, Izuru's intentions DIDN'T align with hers. At least...not completely...

Leona: How so?

Uchui: Well, one interesting thing that many people forget about Izuru Kamukura is that in spite of his unmatched prowess of predictions and insight, he doesn't know EVERYTHING. In fact, Junko was actually able to surprise him by showing him the unpredictability of Despair during the slaughter of the student council. Izuru almost got shot in the face and didn't see it coming due to Despair's unpredictability. However, at the same time, he found out that Hope could be equally as unpredictable...When Junko masterminded the death of Chiaki Nanami, Hajime's best friend, and the main catalyst in brainwashing her classmates.

Leona: Aw, she died!? How could they be so...*sniff*...HEARTLESS!?

Hifumi: That's Junko Enoshima for you...But the real surprise was that when Izuru witnessed Chiaki's final moments...he cried. Something that he never expected he could feel. And it was here that Izuru really figured out what needed to happen. What he needed to do.

Uchui: Ultimately unable to make up his mind between Hope and Despair, he had chosen to sit back and watch the other members of Ultimate Despair. This was to determine if it would be in his best interest to pursue Junko's Despair or Chiaki's Hope. His personal objective, which even Junko was unaware of, was to watch the conflict between hopelessness and optimism and ultimately decide which side to support by uploading the AI into the program and seeing how things played out. To which Hajime found his hope again through Chiaki's AI counterpart, and was able to retake control of his mind, body, and very being.

Leona: And...he ACTUALLY came back this time, right? Like ACTUALLY? I don't want to jinx it again.

Uchui: Yep, he came back as himself finally. However, even though Hajime returned, Izuru didn't exactly leave. It turns out that Izuru and Hajime's identities merged into one by the time they arrived to save the Future Foundation with the revived Remnants following the Final Killing Game, as he recalled his memories before the project. Additionally, Izuru continued to exist in Hajime's mind for a while as a ghostly illusion, resembling a second personality that lurked in the shadows.

Leona: But Hajime still came back, and he got to live a happy life fighting for the future he believed in with his friends on Jabberwock Island; and he lived out his days in peace...

Uchui: At least until he almost died and Izuru automatically took over his body again...

Leona: OH COME ON!

Hifumi: We will likely be here forever if we break down everything Mr. Hinata has accomplished or what he's been through, but we should definitely get to breaking down feats and general stats as we always do.

Uchui: We've already kind of broken down some powers and the things that Hajime is capable of, but let's talk about some feats. Let's start with general strength.

Leona: Hajizuru is stronger, faster, tougher and smarter than every other Danganronpa character, including people who can fight skyscraper sized robots, dodge machine gun bullets, elbow drop the floor to make it collapse and survive the fall with no injuries, hold onto a vehicle moving at escape velocity, survive a barrage of missile hitting them with no damage and survive the roof of a building falling on them with no permanent damage. That's pretty neat!

Uchui: Now might be a good time to mention that Hajime is actually one of three people (not including Makoto Naegi because his is different) that holds the title Ultimate Hope, and is the first of three who have received these powers; though the other two did so through Organization Zetsubou's Hope Serum, a concoction that gives them a pseudo-powerful version of Hajime's overpowered abilities. These two are Ayumu Fujimori, a young man in a similar shitty situation to a young Hajime, who he sensed a kindred spirit in, and Nagito Komaeda, Hajime's long running arch-rival, who gained the powers to be on equal footing with him...Which turned out to not have been the case at all.

Hifumi: During his fight with both Ultimate Hope's, Mr. Hinata seemed to be even with them, but as it turns out, once Kamukura took control of his body again, he revealed that Mr. Hinata had been holding back...MASSIVELY. And the following beatdown on Komaeda, he proved this.

Leona: Starting with Ayumu, even though he only had his powers for a few days, after being forced to watch Komaeda kill his closest companion...yeah things are really awkward between these three like that...purely out of rage, he let out a huge burst of energy that levelled a small town! So how does Hajime scale to that? Surprise! Turns out he's a NUKE waiting to happen!

Hifumi: To be more specific, after his fight with Komaeda in the city of Kyoto, when Kamukura took over, Chiaki Nanami stated that Izuru's natural potency has the potential to level ALL OF KYOTO, resulting in the destruction of many homes and facilities, and the potential deaths of tens of thousands. If we take this literally, it puts Mr. Hinata's natural power on the same level, if not slightly higher, as the Little Boy bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. That's about 15 Kilotons of TNT by the way.

Uchui: And he can recreate this explosion just...letting out all the power that's inside him! He doesn't even need to MOVE to do that! In that same fight against Nagito, his opponent tossed the top half of a skyscraper at him...And Izuru responded by COMPLETELY OBLITERATING the projectile and grinding it to dust...by simply FLICKING A PEBBLE AT IT. And in reality, we KNOW that Izuru is FAR stronger than this! He FAR surpasses some of the strongest feats of strength in Danganronpa, and right now, the most powerful calculable feat of strength Big Bang Monokuma's head being rocketed up so high, it blasted a hole through the clouds. This was briefly discussed in Komaru's episode, but scaling Hajime to that, it would increase his attack potency from 15 Kilotons to AT LEAST 173 Kilotons of TNT.

Hifumi: But by far his most potent feat is his latest and greatest. In the middle of a standoff with Matta Gyalusetsu, Izuru Kamukura, for the first time in his life, got MAD, and with it, kind of serious. And he pounded the ground so hard with his foot, that it sent a TREMOR ACROSS ALL OF JAPAN.

Uchui: With our current scaling, that bumps Izuru's raw strength aaaallll the way up! To absolutely IMPOSSIBLE levels at that!

Leona: Now I know what you're thinking. Something like that shouldn't be possible, right? And you're right! Anyway, aside from that, he also defeated a fleet of approximately 41 ships from the Future Foundation seemingly single-handedly, and then later in the same day took down 5 elite Future Foundation personnel single-handedly, apparently by himself and without sustaining any damage.

Hifumi: He is far superior to people like Sakura Ogami, Nekomaru Nidai, and Mukuro Ikusaba—whose destructive potential we have already spoken about at length—as the Ultimate Hope. Furthermore, Kamukura gave incredibly sloppy performances with little to no purpose for each of his shows of power. However, Mr. Hinata DOES possess that drive, so just think of the incredible feats of strength HE could accomplish with that ability!

Uchui: Hajime would have the ability to defeat armies and bring about the end of the world on his own if he didn't restrict himself to make sure he doesn't unintentionally cause wanton destruction or overwhelm his peers with his sheer power and talent.

Leona: But strength isn't everything. Let's talk speed!

Uchui: As we previously discussed, Hajime is significantly faster than Mukuro and was able to overwhelm her in their first meeting. In addition, he has avoided blasts from the FF Hacking Gun in the past and has managed to avoid a bullet that he was only just able to see coming, demonstrating that he is at least faster than light.

Hifumi: We can't exactly lock down an exact unit of Mr. Hinata's speed, but we know that it at least has to be above relativistic. Scaling him with his allies and creatures of his own caliber like the Monokuma's, we know he at least has to be Mach 23. However, we know that this is even higher, because Izuru has, on multiple occasions, moved so fast that it appears time is not moving around him, like he did when he shot Komaeda after their first meeting. This results in a speed that is just straight up incalculable, so we can only make estimations.

Leona: And, just for good measure, he possesses literally every talent known to man; and there are many talents that necessitate peak human reflexes and reaction time, as well as other brain-to-body reactions and coordination.

Uchui: Defense and durability is even harder to calculate, but he's been thrown through buildings and tossed around like a ragdoll with barely any scratches or signs of fatigue. But the BIG calculation that we can scale him to is the time that Akira Tsuchiya dropped an FF satellite on Jabberwock Island and completely DESTROYED it. Of which, Hajime was basically at the epicenter of.

Leona: Holy shit, WHAT!?

Hifumi: We don't know for sure just how big or how wide Jabberwock Island is, but assuming we take a look at the zoomed out map and scale 1 pixel to about...1 mile. That would make Jabberwock Island's full scale 828 miles wide and 408 miles tall, giving it a total area of 337,824 miles squared. And if we assume that the satellite is roughly medium sized, as it is depicted in the image of the chapter, that would put it's mass at about 2500kg maximum. Quantifiably, that would make the Jabberwock Island explosion tantamount to...21 Kilotons of TNT!

Leona: Holy...Fucking...Shit...

Uchui: This is all VERY subjective though. Without knowing the actual size of Jabberwock Island, force of the explosion, or what Hajime actually did to shield himself from the blast, since like I said, he can move faster than time permits, which would give him plenty of time to get to safety, we can't definitely say that this is his ACTUAL defensive ability. Hajime usually resorts to dodging attacks instead of tanking them, and even in situations where his speed and defensive talents don't work out, he can always fall back on his luck, which again, outlucks even Nagito Komaeda's.

Leona: But it is an INDESPUTABLE FACT that Hajime was ON THE ISLAND when it blew up. Besides, 21 Kilotons scales well with his Little Boy output equivalent. Really makes me wonder how someone this overpowered could ever hope to lose?

Hifumi: Well, it's not like Mr. Hinata doesn't have his limits. Though more motivated than Kamukura, he rarely ever has to push himself when it comes to fights, so when he DOES get caught of guard, he gets caught off-guard BADLY. Like he did against Fujimori and Komaeda when he first found out about their powers.

Leona: I guess in that regard, Hajime's greatest weakness may be his power itself. Not only does he have a shitload of baggage to carry as a result of his powers, but because almost nothing can threaten him, he is frequently vulnerable to being caught off guard and lacks a surefire solution to any opponents who may be stronger than him. But even so, can you BLAME him!? With his superhuman abilities and talents combined with his sheer prediction ability and intellect? How could you NOT get a little cocky like that.

Hifumi: I wouldn't say "cocky" Actually, in spite of how he's factually better than everyone, Mr.  Hinata has a tendency to hold back so that others can take the spotlight over him. In that regard, I don't think there's anyone more humble?

Uchui: That's why he's the Ultimate Hope. There is no title greater for someone like Hajime Hinata.

Leona: You know, sometimes I really do think we're living out a sci-fi drama every day of our lives guys. And it makes me laugh because I think the world of My Hero Academia is pretty normal by comparison.

Uchui: You probably don't realize how much you're exaggerating. The world of My Hero Academia, or Boku No Hero Academia (if you're annoying) is anything from normal, since 80% of humanity have developed supernatural abilities known as "Quirks". 

Hifumi: Formerly known as meta-abilities, Quirks are decided and gained by a person's genetic makeup, giving them superhuman abilities. They aren't just specific to each user either; they fall into several categories as well. Additionally, Quirk users can typically only develop one ability; as a result, they cannot naturally acquire any other powers besides the one they're born with.

Leona: And Heroes are people who have been granted permission to use their special abilities to defend the public against Villains who use their powers for evil, natural disasters, and other threats. Heroes are people who make their profession out of being heroic; the World Heroes Association overseeing all hero activity worldwide. That's right! Being a superhero is literally a way to make a living here!

Uchui: And it's because of the revolution of Quirks and the industry of heroes that places like U.A. High School, and many other schools like it, popped up. 

Hifumi: U.A. is regarded as Japan's best Hero Academy and is the top-ranked high school for heroics. Its teachers are free to conduct their classes in any way they see fit, and it does not follow conventional school procedures. In fact, All Might, the world's greatest pro hero, widely known as the Symbol of Peace, is just one of the many heroes that U.A. is known for having trained and produced.

Uchui: With his dramatic flair and charismatic smile, All Might naturally gained many fans who wanted to grow up to be like him one day: A hero who's presence could bring smiles to even the most tragic situations. One of those fans, arguably his all time biggest...Was Izuku Midoriya, AKA: Deku.

Leona: "Deku", by the way, is a pun on the Japanese word "Dekunobou", which means "good for nothing". A nickname "lovingly" given to him by his "best friend since childhood" Katsuki Bakugou.

Hifumi: And while not very nice, made sense as a nickname. Midoriya was originally born as one of the 20% of the population who did not possess a quirk, in spite of his parents both having one of their own. Because of this, he was initially tormented and bullied throughout much of his younger life.

Uchui: It struck particularly hard because Deku was such a huge fan of All Might and aspired to be just like him. Imagine being told that you are utterly incapable of becoming like your idol by almost everyone, including your own family, because you were born with a certain birth defect. I've been there, and trust me, that shit stings.

Leona: In spite of being a basic bitch, Deku didn't want to give up on his dreams. Even after that bitch Bakugou told him to swan dive off the school building's roof, Deku continued to reflect upon how he had come to his aspirations in the first place...WHOOPS, SLIME VILLAIN ATTACK WATCH OUT!

Uchui: While Deku very nearly lost his life, it all worked out in the end when he was saved from the slime villain by none other than All Might himself. Izuku asked if he could become a hero without having his own quirk when he had the opportunity to speak with him. All Might, however, went on to tell Deku that experts had to risk everything to save the day, so they couldn't honestly state whether or not a hero could exist without a quirk.

Leona: Damn...Even his idol is telling him to give up on his dreams...This kid's life sucks ass!

Hifumi: But the tides can change very quickly, and in this case the winds blew the other direction. Deku was thinking about giving up on his goals while strolling home when he approached the location of a villain attack. His body moved on its own when he realized Bakugou was the victim, possessed by the same villain who had attacked him earlier. Having looked at his old friend's pleading eyes, Deku rushed towards the villain, attempting to save Bakugou despite being Quirkless. Inspired by the boy's action, All Might appeared and stopped the Sludge Villain before he could harm Deku.

Leona: This was where the life of the Quirkless wimp that was Izuku Midoriya did a full 180. As it turns out, All Might's body was slowly decaying as a result of a grievous injury he suffered at the hands of his arch-nemesis, All Might needed someone that he could pass his legacy onto. Someone who could become the new Symbol of Peace after his time was up.

Hifumi: Moreover, All Might desired no ordinary person. There were a lot of people looking for fame and wealth in the hero world. To save someone, All Might desired a person whose body moved on its own. He chose to take on young Midoriya as a pupil after realizing that he possessed those qualities.

Leona: And surprise surprise, his legacy wasn't the only thing he was passing on. He ALSO gifted Deku his QUIRK. Wait, but I thought Quirks were genetic. How did All Might pass his quirk on? What's the story behind that?

Uchui: A long time ago, a villain by the name of All For One, a man with the ability to transfer other people's quirks to himself, forced his younger brother Youichi Shigaraki, who didn't seem to have any quirks at all, to have one; a Quirk that allowed him to accumulate power inside his body and increase his strength. But neither of them realized that Yoichi already possessed a Quirk; one where it's only ability was that it could be transferred to another individual through his DNA. A new, all-powerful Quirk was created when the transference quirk and the power stockpiling quirk united...The almighty One For All.

Hifumi: All Might himself was actually the 8th user of One For All, inheriting the power from his mentor, Nana Shimura. And once All Might transferred his power over, Deku became the 9th. Deku eventually enrolled in his dream school, UA High, and joined Class 1-A, the same as his now rival, Bakugou, thanks to All Might's support and extensive training. Along the way, he made some friends and partners for life, including Ochako Uraraka, Tsuyu Asui, and Tenya Iida.

Uchui: It feels good to see Izuku get this opportunity to fulfill his dream of becoming a hero after he was denied it for a full 14 years. It really makes you want to support him, doesn't it?

Leona: Yeah, for real! And when time came to establish his own mark as a hero, he turned the name Deku, a title that had only ever been used to make fun of him, into his own Hero name. Turns out "Deku" can ALSO be an abbreviation for "Dekiru", someone who can do anything. Ironic, right?

Hifumi: It's not all sunshine and rainbows of course. You have to be prepared to face off against a wide range of thugs and villains in order to be a hero. Some of these bad guys are capable of shattering buildings like they're made of twigs! Thankfully, it appears that Deku has far more potential with One For All than even All Might initially realized.

Uchui: All For One is unquestionably one of the most powerful quirks in the world of MHA, which is what allowed All Might to gain the prestige that he has. Deku was given the ability to control a vast reservoir of potent energy when he inherited it, and can stockpile that energy to gain  momentary superhuman strength at destructive levels, increased agility, increased hearing, and superhuman speed. In fact, when he first used this quirk, he was able to move faster than the human eye and defeat a massive villain bot with a single blow. However, One For All has a VERY notable drawback with it's use.

Leona: It FUCKING HURTS!

Hifumi: "Hurts" doesn't even BEGIN to describe it. A new user's body is not as naturally adapted to One For All's transfer as it would be if they had a Quirk from birth. For instance, it would be ineffective if a fire-breathing person burned their mouth while using their power. 

Leona: In addition, One For All is a lot to handle. If your body can't take the power, then you might as well kiss it goodbye! It's because of this, the successor must undergo intense and rigorous physical training to hone their body to make room for the quirk, which is why Deku had to buff himself up and go from lad to chad, just so he could contain it.

Uchui: Even then, it takes time for the new user to get used to One For All and figure out how to use it properly. It took Izuku ten months to prepare for the entrance exam of U.A. High, and, despite training his body to be a suitable vessel for the quirk, going anywhere above 20% of his max power can cause the recoil of his punch to shatter all the bones in his arm. The physical backlash at the time prevented Izuku from being able to fight properly or compete with his peers on an even playing field, and it even caused irreparable damage to his arms and hands. Of course, as things stand now, he's gotten leagues stronger and can handle the quirk more, but the weakness is evidently still there, since it happened to All Might at one point too.

Hifumi: The GOOD news is that Izuku happens to be VERY intelligent and observant. 

Leona: Yuh-huh! Deku's greatest asset prior to receiving his quirk was his vast knowledge of fundamental hero skills and tactics. He's been a Pro Hero nerd for years and is able to apply that knowledge during crisis situations in a practical manner. He even has a notebook studying people's quirks! 

Uchui: Thus, even with One For All's severe disadvantages, Izuku's cunning gives him ways to wield his power that are still useful in combat. He also has some basic knowledge of hand-to-hand combat and can still act instinctively based on his notes. Deku can even compete head-to-head with Katsuki Bakugou and Shoto Todoroki, two of Class 1-A's strongest students, by using those skills appropriately.

Leona: And one of the big ways he's learned to counter the weaknesses of his quirk is by using his big brain to develop new fighting styles and upgrades to his equipment. For example...Full Cowl!

Hifumi: Midoriya gained better control over his Quirk and was able to unlock this stage of his power thanks to his training with Gran Torino, one of All Might's old mentors. By allowing the power to flow through him rather than concentrate in one place, Midoriya is able to use a portion of the full power of One For All throughout his body.

Uchui: He gains incredible strength, speed, mobility, and agility when he uses this technique. Additionally, when he attacks, it keeps his bones from breaking. However, by dispersing the power throughout his body rather than concentrating it in one spot, Izuku spreads the power throughout his body, which lowers the damage of his attacks. This let's him use powerful punches like his signature Detroit Smash, and can even attack with pressurized air with his  Delaware Smash.

Leona: And yes, they're all named after American States. At this point in time, Deku is capable of bringing out about 30% of his maximum potential, 45% if he really wants to push it, without utterly destroying his body. Even then, 30% was combined with Melissa Shield's Full Gauntlet, which negated any disadvantages of using One For All at higher percentages. As a result, it is unknown how this state affects Deku's body under normal circumstances. Deku was able to easily blow away security bots with vast amounts of wind pressure created by the punch with 30%. Of course, if his back is against the wall, he can still access 100% of his power at the risk of breaking whichever body part he attacks with. 

Hifumi: When Midoriya reaches his maximum power, he can perform the 1,000,000% Delaware Detroit Smash, the strongest smash move in his repertoire. This move entails him using all of his energy to activate One For All at 100% before unleashing a full-swing attack on his opponent. Midoriya executes the move by first landing a full-handed Delaware Smash before unleashing a devastating Detroit Smash. In the pivotal moment of his fight with Muscular, he defeated the Villain by punching and propelling his enhanced opponent with enough force to leave an impact crater in solid rock with a single blow.

Leona: Furthermore, he possesses the renowned "United States Of The World Smash!" Izuku's rendition of All Might's "United States of Smash." Izuku starts this Ultimate Move by using Full Cowl at 100% to increase his power levels. Then, he launches a forceful barrage of punches. Subsequently, he maneuvers around his adversary, gaining speed and intensifying his lunge prior to unleashing a devastating kick. Originally, this was used to defeat Flect Turn.

Leona: Wait, we're counting the movies here!?

Uchui: Hell yeah we are! I mean, since we're counting Survivor, it's only fair we introduce Deku at his peak, right? Anyway, though Full Cowl was pretty revolutionary in terms of helping Deku grow with his quirk, it wasn't gonna be enough. Thanks to All Might's advice, Deku realized that he was trying too hard to imitate his hero, and so Full Cowl eventually evolved into a unique fighting style that Deku gained with the help of his friend Iida...Full Cowl SHOOT STYLE!

Leona: Because if punching with his arms was getting to be too much, why not just punch with your legs instead!?

Hifumi: Um...I'm fairly certain that is what we call..."kicking?

Leona: Hmph! I'm just quoting the show...

Uchui: Human leg muscles are inherently stronger than human arm muscles, and the Shoot Style fighting style takes advantage of this by emphasizing kicks. Izuku gains much more power and stability by focusing One for All: Full Cowl's effects on his torso and legs as opposed to his arms. Greatly aided by the distinctive Iron Soles that became a part of his outfit.

Hifumi: Originally designed by Mei Hatsume, Deku's Iron Armor Soles are fastened to his iconic red shoes. The impact strength of his kicks is increased when he kicks something because his soles absorb the impact and re-distribute the kinetic energy. 

Leona: Speaking of gear and best girl, she also invented Deku's Air Force Gloves, another vital tool on his hero costume. Remember how Uchui dropped that little tidbit of Deku being able to fire pressurized air by flicking his fingers? These gloves allow him to focus, build up and aim these pressurized bursts to deal devastating ranged attacks! Still though...

Hifumi: What?

Leona: I bet what a lot of people are thinking now is that in spite of it's sheer power, One For All seems a little bit of a one-trick pony, right? I mean, sure, it's strong, and he can break shit down with it, and launching bursts of air is cool and all, but...

Uchui: Well, prepare to be surprised. Remember how Hifumi said earlier that there's more potential in Deku than even All Might predicted? Well, it all started during a training match with Class 1-B, 1-A's rivals, when Deku's quirk went berserk, and started shooting black tendrils everywhere!

Leona: Black tendrils? What kind of power is that?

Uchui: As a matter of fact, it's a different quirk known as Blackwhip, which was originally possessed by Daigoro Banjo, the fifth user of One For All. With this quirk, the user can shoot dark energy tendrils that help with grappling from a distance and improve mobility. Izuku can use it to create incredibly powerful and long energy tendrils that he can use to tie up opponents and swing around the city, like Spider-Man, or, like Tsuyu, shoot one out of his mouth.

Leona: So he just straight up got ANOTHER quirk!? So he has two now!?

Hifumi: Actually, he has ALL of the previous users Quirks. Because One For All accumulates power, the Quirk Factors of all of its former users combined with its core have grown stronger over time. Even All Might was unaware of this, and Deku became the first person to be able to access the Quirks of earlier users.

Uchui: He has even more options in combat because he can utilize multiple of these integrated quirks at once. In addition to Blackwhip, there's Float, Gearshift, Fa Jin, Danger Sense, and Smokescreen.

Hifumi: Let's dissect these. The seventh user and All Might's late mentor, Nana Shimura, granted him the quirk Float. Due to this quirk, Midoriya is able to take flight and suspend himself in midair.

Uchui: The second user, Kudo's quirk is Gearshift. Izuku can alter the velocity and/or speed of any object he touches, including himself, thanks to this quirk. This enables him to significantly increase the impact force of his own blows and accelerate both his own and his target's velocities. Gearshift is now so strong that Deku only ever uses it as a last resort due to its unusual nature, which has developed over the years from being empowered within One For All.

Leona: Danger Sense is...It's literally Spider-Sense! It originally belonged to the fourth user, Hikage Shinomori, and it basically sends a sharp tingle through his head whenever he's about to be attacked. What, was Spider-Man one of the OFA users? I feel like Horikoshi might just be plucking powers from the web-slinger.

Hifumi: Not that outlandish. Kohei Horikoshi, My Hero's Mangaka, is famously a very big fan of Spider-Man. Deku's character writing is actually primarily based on Peter Parker himself. Even Blackwhip bares similarities to Spider-Man's web swinging.

Uchui: Bruce, the third user, gifts the Quirk Fa Jin. This Quirk enables Deku to accumulate and store kinetic energy through repetitive movement. He can then unleash this stored energy in the form of an explosive burst of speed and power. Combined with his other quirks, this can yield some deadly results.

Hifumi: Lastly, Smokescreen, the sixth user En's Quirk, is quite simple. This Quirk enables Deku to emit a dense cloud of purple smoke from his body. This smoke can cover a large area and impair people's vision.

Leona: And these quirks, once he mastered them at least, gave Deku WAY more combat options, and a new handful of Ultimate moves at his disposal! Like...OVERDURIVUUUU!

Hifumi: We already HAD the JoJo episode!

Uchui: This is obviously not some Hamon ability. Using Overdrive, Deku applies Gearshift and Fa Jin to himself, enhancing his strength and speed to overtake adversaries and launch devastating blows at them. In fact, the force he unleashes is characterized like One For All at 120%.

Leona: Talk about going Plus Ultra!

Uchui: He also possesses moves like Blackchain, which is a combination of Blackwhip and Fa Jin that launches and ensnares opponents far into the air. Additionally, there is Transmission, in which he charges at his opponent and hits them multiple times, increasing Gearshift's speed with each strike.

Leona: With all these powers at his disposal, Deku really had what it took to become Number 1 and carry on his retired mentor's legacy, and with him now on the field fighting villains, the world was a much safer place because of it...Is what I WOULD be saying, but I'm not about to jinx it again. 

Hifumi: The truth is that All Might was not the only person who was passing his legacy onto a protégé. All For One was secretly doing the same thing to Nana Shimura's secret grandchild, Tenko.

Leona: Tenko?

Hifumi: Not THAT Tenko! Taking on the name Tomura Shigaraki, he rose to prominence as the head of the League of Villains, and the Paranormal Liberation Front, with the ultimate objective of emerging as Japan's most formidable villain and obliterating any obstacle in his path.

Uchui: In many ways, Shigaraki's story parodied Deku's own. Both of them relied too much on their teachers at the beginning of their stories and lacked a clear conviction or path to their objectives. However, through One For All and All For One, they both acquired numerous powers and developed into each other's greatest adversaries as heroes and villains respectively.

Leona: But shit really hit the fan when they first unleashed these powers in a war that resulted in a lot of death, and hero society itself to fall apart at the seams. It became clear to Deku that even though All Might had only ever shown him love and encouragement, he was always under an unbearably intense amount of pressure. Especially since Shigaraki could track him and know his every move.

Hifumi: Midoriya became more aloof and cold toward people as a result of the trauma he had endured from the war, witnessing innumerable innocent people have their lives destroyed by the now broken status quo of Hero Society, having All For One and Shigaraki constantly target him because of his Quirk, and having to take on the duty of defending his friends. He grew more and more afraid of the harm he would do to people around him after All For One threatened to break him both mentally and physically, and thanks to his extreme stress and burden, he rushed into battles, leaving All Might, his classmates and the other Heroes behind so no one else would be harmed.

Leona: But...and trust me, I'm saying this from experience...running away from home leaving just a note NEVER goes down well.

Uchui: Izuki had become completely monstrous in his appearance by the time Class 1-A found him, covered in blood and filth from all the non-stop fighting he had put himself through. Thus came probably the hardest challenge he'd faced that entire night.

Hifumi: Even the classically trained bully Bakugou was determined to help his childhood friend, and his classmates weren't about to take no for an answer. They were even willing to use force to bring their friend home, but thankfully, everything turned out okay in the end.

Uchui: Izuku was able to be brought back to reality by Class 1-A, despite his best efforts to flee, and they informed him that although his decisions were sound, he was no longer able to manage things on his own. He knew that his friends would be there for him in times of need, and that the only way to defeat All Might was for everyone to work together to defend their school and the civilian population.

Leona: Friendship is magic baby!

Hifumi: We did My Little Pony already too! Stop making references to past episodes!

Leona: As we often do, let's end this by breaking down a few of Midoriya's feats, starting with strength. Now going by the original DB analysis brought up a rather notable one, so let's get that out of the way first and...why it's kinda bullshit, but also pretty impressive!

Uchui: Izuku's most powerful feat is when he passed the power of One For All to Bakugou in the second movie, and they combined their powers to split an absolutely huge cloud formation above them. We can calculate their dispersion over 63 trillion kilograms of water by sizing the island and comparing it to the clouds above. That is equivalent to the mass of 12,000 Great Pyramids of Giza, meaning that each blow would have needed almost 80 Teratons of TNT. However, we'll cover that in more detail in the post-analysis. It is somewhat complicated.

Leona: The power of One For All allows Deku to take down buildings just with his punches, launch himself hundreds of meters into the air, and tank point-blank explosions. Despite being inferior to both, he managed to send a Full-Power Muscular flying with a single blow and injure the Incomplete Shigaraki's stomach with a kick.

Uchui: And when combined with his other Quirks, these can be even stronger. The combined power of his Detroit Smash Quintuple and Fa Jin results in a release of energy that is at least five times more potent than usual. Deku can increase his power even further by using Gearshift to unleash his Overdrive technique, which was strong enough to punch a hole in Shigaraki's torso, who in his complete form is way stronger than All Might in his prime.

Hifumi: Now let's talk speed. The explosive detonation velocities table indicates that Bakugou can detonate explosives at velocities of Mach 20 or more, a speed that Deku has demonstrated he can at least avoid. On top of that, he reacted to Nine's attacks—another Villain with multiple quirks—and sidestepped a laser with a higher percentage of power. In addition, he has the ability to move and respond to Lady Nagant's bullets, which have a velocity of 5884420.20 m/s.

Uchui: And again, he managed to maintain a pace with Complete Shigaraki, whose velocity is comparable to Prime All Might, who is said to be able to travel more than 200 kilometers in an instant. And with Gear Shift, he quickly and easily defeated Shigaraki before he even realized what had happened.

Leona: Durability's nothing to scoff at either. Even though the recoil of One For All tears his body apart, Deku still keeps on fighting and throwing punches even when his bones are all cracked! And he's capable of taking brutal blows from the likes of Shigaraki and Overhaul at max power, both of whom can easily level a city block on their own.

Hifumi: His extraordinary endurance has only increased as he worked to finish One For All. He has demonstrated levels of stamina comparable to his mentor in his heyday, defeating villains and traveling the entire nation for several weeks, if not a month, without stopping while maintaining Full Cowl activated. These feats occurred following the events of the All-Out War.

Uchui: Even when exhausted to the point of collapse, he was still stronger than all of Class 1-A put together. His extreme pain tolerance has increased even more, to the point where multiple broken bones hardly seem to stop him from fighting. Additionally, he has survived the agony of bullet wounds for roughly a month.

Leona: Deku is an analytical wizard in his own right, since he is well-versed in Quirks and constantly assesses their advantages and disadvantages during combat. But even with all these crazy ass powers and abilities under his belt, Deku's true strength lies in  the teamwork between himself and his friends.

Uchui: And with their assistance, Deku will undoubtedly grow into the ray of hope he always imagined himself to be.

Hifumi: The Symbol of Hope...All For One...and One For All...

Hifumi: Alright, the combatants are set! Let's end this debate once and for all!

Leona & Uchui: IT'S TIME FOR A DEEAAATH BAAATTLLLLLLEEE!

Two lightning-fast individuals are seen flying across the screen and parkouring their way over the horizons of an uninhabited island archipelago in the middle of the ocean.

Hajime Hinata, the leader of the Remnants of Despair and the Ultimate Hope, is one of these individuals. The other is Izuku Midoriya, the head of Class 1-A and the Hero, Deku.

When they come into contact with the rocky, mountainous terrain of the archipelago, both heroes come to a grinding stop. As they take their positions on opposite hilltops, Hajime turns to look at Deku, his expression halfway between excited and stern.

Hajime: Alright. We should be far enough away from any civilization or infrastructure that we could risk damaging.

Deku: Yes! Thank you again for agreeing to let me spar with you! I hope to learn a lot!

Hajime: Don't get your hopes up. Really, I'm just a regular guy in the grand scheme of things...

Deku: I'm not sure I believe that! I think you'll make for a great opponent!

Deku drops into a fighting stance with a smile on his face.

Deku: You'd better not hold back! Because I know I won't!

Hajime: Heh...Whatever you say, kid...

As Hajime adopts a fighting stance of his own, Deku lunges forward to land a blow. Even though the punch is light, Hajime is pleasantly surprised to feel its sheer power as he catches it with his hands.

He acknowledges the strength of his opponent with a smile before snatching his arm, turning, and flinging him into the hills, where he crashes into the top of a crag. After that, he runs after Deku, creating a dust cloud in his wake.

Deku: Heh...!

Deku's Iron Soles grind him to a stop, but his smile stays broad even after he's sent flying. When he recovers, he sees Hajime flying in his direction, trying to hit him with a strong haymaker. Deku counters by activating Full Cowl at 8% and delivering his own haymaker back.

The mountainous terrain around them crumbles as their fists collide. At a breakneck pace, they continue punching without missing their target until the very last moment of their combination, when they land a blow so strong it knocks the other person flying backwards.

Deku: Delaware...SMASH!

Hajime: Think again...!

Deku, charging in to take up arms, launches a cloud of compressed air from a distance. In response to the attack, Hajime appears to catch and deflect the air.

Hajime: Funny...I know someone else who's used similar techniques before...Oh, that's right! ME! 

Hajime gestures with his fingers as though he is brandishing a gun at Deku. He launches his own pressurized air blasts at the rising Hero, surprising Deku, who is only able to avoid with the help of his Danger Sense.

Deku: Woah!? Delaware Smash Air Force!

Taken off guard, but thoroughly impressed, Deku ups the ante. He fires a burst of compressed air at his opponent using his special gloves. The blast has enough concussive force to completely shatter the ground beneath Hajime, even though he can see it coming from a mile away and easily avoids it.

Deku looks up in awe as Hajime perches atop another cliff. He looks back, also impressed.

Deku: Incredible! How about we take it up a notch!?

The Ultimate Hope is about to be struck by the Symbol of Peace, who cocks his fist back, but Hajime effortlessly deflects it with a casual wave of his hand.

The Hero launches another attack, taken aback by how easily his first one was parried. Hajime repays the favor by sending Deku hurtling over a different cliff, where he uses Blackwhip to stop himself.

Hajime: Fine by me...! I was beginning to get bored already!

Deku: You're...surprisingly fickle...AH-!?

Hajime: HYAAGH!

Deku: UUGH!

Without even a moment to think, Deku is met with an uppercut and a barrage of punches from the Ultimate Hope's fist. Hajime quickly brings Deku back down after sending him skyward by grabbing and pulling on his Blackwhip. He swings him around like a throwing hammer, and flings him across the mountain range, landing him on a different island with a forest landscape!

Deku crawls back to his feet, but Hajime moves like a bolt of lightning, and is already standing over him by the time he does.

Hajime: Disappointing...Excuse my rudeness...

Deku; Trust me...I'm just getting started...! FA JIN!

Hajime: Guh!?

Deku activates the third users' quirk and erupts with the kinetic energy stored up from his and Hajime's attacks, powerful enough to blast the Ultimate Hope back. Hajime stumbles through the forest, but Deku is fast to react, landing another blow before an uppercut launches the former Reserve Course student skyward!

Deku: One For All...! Full Cowl...! SHOOT STYLE!

The Hero outcast then leaps toward him and kicks Hajime back to the ground with a Manchester Smash while wearing Iron Soles. Even though the impact blows away several trees and craters the forest, Hajime gets up and gets ready to go again.

*CRUNCH!* 

Hajime: Hold THIS!

Hajime then lifts a big tree out of the ground, leap several feet into the air, and slams its trunk into Deku. With ease, the Symbol of Hope breaks the makeshift weapon and flies in Hajime's direction, grabbing him and sending the two of them plummeting back towards the earth.

Deku: Wyoming SMASH!

Deku uses another one of his trademark attacks, giving his opponent a powerful shockwave by spiking him on the head. Hajime is propelled downward, but he catches himself with a display of acrobatics and lands coolly, smirking and scratching his nose.

Deku: You're amazing...! It's like you're not even trying yet!

Hajime: I gotta admit, this is more than I was expecting...Still, hardly a challenge...

Deku only smirks in response to this taunt.

Deku: Then LET LOOSE! TEXAS SMASH!

*WHA-BOOOOM!*

As Hajime ducks under Deku's attack, the forest behind him is completely destroyed by a blast of wind pressure. Without breaking a sweat, he starts hitting Deku with a barrage of punches and kicks, repeatedly knocking All Might's student into a tree with enough force to uproot it. Then, in the middle of flying, Hajime grabs the tree, stops, and tosses it in Deku's direction. Deku is knocked backward by the tree, but he bounces back quickly.

Deku: Give me EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT!

Hajime rushes after Deku as he falls back to the ground, and the battle rages throughout the forest. Following a brief exchange of blows, Hajime gains the upper hand and knocks Deku back with a forceful blow. Hajime then tries to follow through, but Deku stops him.

Deku: Go beyond! PLUS ULTRA!

Much like he once did to his rival Bakugou, Deku shoulder-throws Hajime, smacking him into the ground and sending him rolling through the trees. Hajime brushes off the pain, the dirt, and Deku's concerns.

Hajime: Give me something exciting to work with...and maybe I'll consider it...!

He is able to support his claim by leaping ahead and casually punching Deku all the way to the island's coast through the forest. The Hero prodigy's body crackles with energy as he builds even more power, and he floats in the air to avoid colliding with the ocean.

Deku: If you say so...! ONE FOR ALL! FULL COWL 45%

He barely avoids the next blow from Hajime and kicks him into the water, then reels back and uses Texas Smash once more. But the attack and the pressure it releases are FAR more powerful, to the point where it manages to smash into Hajime and split the coast of the ocean.

But shortly after the attack, Hajime leaps out of the water, blasts away the ocean surrounding him, and sprints back towards the island along the water.

They fight across the ocean, exchanging quick blows until they come into contact with yet another island, where they end up locking arms with one another. This island is more barren and flat, made of solid rock and stone with few mountains and cliffs. 

Hajime: Now THIS is more like it...! THINK FAST!

Admittedly having at least a little bit of fun, Hajime picks a pebble up with his foot kicks it into the air, and flicks it with his thumb. Midoriya barely manages to avoid the pebble's railgun-like blast, and he just stares in wonder at its power.

Deku: Fast? I can do that...! GEARSHIFT!

Deku uses Gearshift on himself to quickly outrun the Ultimate Hope and kick him in the stomach. He then uses Transmission to quickly take Hajime down a peg with a series of punches that are made more powerful and swift by Gearshift.

Hajime: Hah! Not bad! That one actually hurt a bit!

Deku: There's more where that came from! St. Louis Smash Air Force!

Hajime: Why do all these attacks...? Eh, whatever...! HRUUGH!

Now that he is farther away, Deku fires a powerful vertical roundhouse kick while arching his leg back and releasing a massive burst of compressed air. But Hajime's own supersonic air punch manages to dissolve it. Deku counterattacks by soaring into the air and parrying a second blow.

Deku: SMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSHH!!!

*WHOOOOOOMM!*

He strikes down towards Hajime with a powerful punch, launching multiple enormous flaming fists at him in an overwhelming display of force, similar to the attack that destroyed Overhaul.

Hajime: Hm...Hoo...RRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!!!

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!*

As he sees the massive flaming fist hurtling towards him, Hajime clenches his fists, stiffens his body, and lets out all of his energy at once, accompanied by a supersonic scream! Deku's attack and the pressure from his body collide, causing a catastrophic nuclear explosion that engulfs the island, resulting in it's complete and total destruction!

There is a pause in the fight as the ocean collapses into the area where the island once was. A large burst of water rises up suddenly near the coast of another island, as Hajime leaps out and drops and rolls onto the sandy beach of the fourth island, gasping for air and pounding his chest to steady his breathing. Deku meanwhile, swings down with Blackwhip and lands on the sand, awkwardly chuckling.

Deku: Well...it's a good thing we decided to take the fight out here, right?

Hajime: Yeah...out here...Wait...Hang on a second...How did we even get out here without a boat?

Struggling to recall the circumstances, Hajime looks back towards the slowly filling crater. But then, he spots something...What appears to be a crack in reality with lines of code fraying off of it like strings.

Hajime: Oh...that's right...Now I remember...

He stands up with a smirk and dusts himself off.

Hajime: Hey, Deku? You wanted to see me go all out, right?

Deku: No! I want you to go BEYOND that! Surpass your limits! Plus Ultra!

Hajime laughs as Deku confidently thrusts a fist towards him. He then ducks down and clenches his own.

Hajime: Well, I can promise I'll try...! Let me show you how powerful I can be!

Red bio-electricity starts to radiate Hajime's body, and his red eye starts to glow, matching Deku's own green electric aura. 

Deku beams with anticipation but is instantly struck in the face with a blow so forceful that it tears apart reality once more. And then another, and another, and another, as Hajime, fighting with at least half his strength now to match Deku's, begins to destroy him with every move he can think of, slowly but surely shattering the digital world around them.

After dealing Deku a powerful blow, Hajime appears to teleport there as he moves so quickly. Deku is sent flying. He tries to strike back, but Hajime appears to pause his blow before launching another terrible strike that shatters the world even more.

Deku charges forward, his costume beginning to come apart from the constant attacks. He creates a Blackchain with Blackwhip, which Hajime collides with and is thrown back by. Then, in order to get some hits and knock Hajime into a canyon, he uses Gearshift and Fa Jin. Hajime retaliates, exchanging blows with Deku until the latter throws him into the air.

Hajime counterattacks, sending Midoriya back down to Earth with a devastating axe handle as Deku flies upwards to continue his attack. As Hajime dive bombs to pursue Deku after he lands in the canyon, he crashes into the earth, pushing pebbles out of the ground due to the pressure and aura surrounding him.

Deku then uses Air Force before smashing Hajime once more before the two engage in a fierce fight that ends in an explosion, further widening the fissure. Then they begin to trade blows, with Hajime coming out on top. He unleashes a lethal combo on him that includes some extremely powerful punches to his face that cause the surrounding area to collapse. Hajime then grabs Deku, leaps out of the canyon as everything comes crashing down, and tosses him into a rock formation. Deku is exhausted and drops out of One For All 45% as he faceplants into the ground.

Even under his mid-gauntlets, Deku's bones seem to be slightly fractured from the constant fighting. Hajime decides to talk to him now as he stands up gasping.

Hajime: Well? Is that "Plus Ultra" enough for you?

Deku: Amazing...! You're AMAZING! This has gotta be the most incredible superpower I've ever seen!

Hajime: O-Oh...um...thank...thank you...

Hajime becomes bashful in the wake of Deku's earnest enthusiasm and compliments, as the young Hero himself pulls a notebook and pen out of his tattered costume.

Deku: U-Um...I-If you don't mind, could you explain to me how your Quirk works? I'd like to take notes so I can apply your techniques in my future battles!

Hajime: Huh? Y-You're sure? Well...alright then.

The camera pans out and the fight awkwardly pauses as Hajime quickly explains the logistics of his Talent to Deku, and how Talents and Quirks are slightly different. Deku excitedly scribbles down notes next to a hastily drawn diagram of Hajime. By the time he's finished, he exhales an ecstatic breath, smiling like an innocent child.

Deku: Wow...! It's so...incredible...!

Hajime: Thank you...Still, I really hope it doesn't deter you from trying to reach the top or anything...

Deku: Haha...Of course not...

With a solemn smile, Deku pockets his notebook, straightens his posture, and furrows his brow at Hajime.

Deku: After all...I know just what I need to do to defeat you now...!

Hajime: Oh...?

Deku: One For All...ONE HUNDRED PERCENT!

Hajime: Guh!?

Deciding to risk it all out of nothing but respect for his opponent, Deku pushes past his limits, uses his Quirk at 100% of it's full power, and the sheer force of his presence blasts Hajime back!

Now emitting a green aura and crackling with lightning, Hajime can barely stand to look at Deku when suddenly, Deku stamps on the ground so hard, the ground beneath his feet erupts, throwing him up into the air!

*WHOOSH!* *BANG!*

Hajime: Gugh! GRAGH!

Deku: HUUUUAAAGH!

*WHAM!* *WHAM!* *WHAM!* *WHAM!**WHAM!* *WHAM!*

Deku: I want you to SMILE! 

Hajime: GRRGH!

Deku unleashes a multitude of punches that slowly but surely cause his own bones to break apart, and yet despite that, he doesn't even slightly relent! He gives everything he has into battling Hajime, beating him at 100%, and even adding the effects of Gearshift and Fa Jin on top of it, increasing his power even further beyond!

And yet, despite facing the brunt of the biggest thrashing he's faced in his life...Hajime grins ear to ear...

Hajime (internally): When was the last time...I felt this much pain?

Deku: UNITED STATES...!

Hajime (internally): My muscles are killing me...That punch hurt like hell...If I get hit with something stronger than that, it might kill me...! So why...?

Deku: OF THE WORLD...!

Hajime (internally): Why am I...so HAPPY right now...!?

Deku: SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSHHHHH!

Hajime breaks out of his bliss when Deku unleashes one of his best Ultimate Moves, with enough force that not one, but TWO of the archipelago islands are completely and utterly destroyed by it! Hajime however, withstands it, even though he suffers several broken ribs and torn muscles. Deku for his part is also gradually falling apart, but regardless...neither smiles are broken.

Hajime: LET'S GOOOOO!

Deku: YEAH!

Hajime also decides to put his full weight into the fight; his body glowing a white aura. To Hajime's delight, Deku manages to stay ahead of him despite him reaching his maximum and evade his blows, unleashing even more powerful counterattacks.

Hajime's aura only intensifies as he and 100% Deku trade blows all over the archipelago at blinding speeds, gradually tearing apart what's left of the islands. His clothes are torn, and he is now taking the fight more seriously.

Hajime finally hits Deku hard with a punch that hurts him a lot, but it doesn't upset him. Deku catches Hajime's fist and punches him to the side as he tries to follow up. To the point where their latent energies are released and begin to rip the world apart at the seams, Deku and Hajime throw as many attacks at each other as they can, repeatedly countering, blocking, and dodging each other's blows.

Hajime: Wait...that's right...! This is the digital world...! Then...Haha...I wonder how far I can take this...!?

Deku is surprised as Hajime suddenly leaps high up into the sky, silhouetted by the virtual sun. The Ultimate Hope looks beyond the endless horizon, and then up at the sky above him. The silhouette of his best friend, Chiaki Nanami, wearing her Hope's Peak uniform hovers in the air above him. She reaches out her hand, and Hajime takes it...

From Deku's perspective, Hajime's the scene is honestly, somewhat haunting. It appears as though Hajime's presence alone has the power to destroy the world as his body glows and his hair stands on end, causing the waves surrounding him to become restless and red lightning to strike everywhere. Eventually, his body flashes white, his hair turns whitish-gold, and both of his eyes turn a piercing red as he screams with will and power. But, Deku only notices Hajime's mouth when he looks down from above, ignoring every other feature on his face.

Hajime: YOU WANTED MY BEST?!?! HERE IT IS!!! 

Deku: Now THAT'S a smile...! ONE FOR ALL!!

Hajime: I'll never let myself be bored again...!

Deku: ONE MILLION PERCENT!

Hajime: I'll never let anyone CHOOSE AGAIN...!

Deku: DELAWARE...! 

Hajime: I am NOT Izuru Kamukura!

Deku: DETROIT!

Hajime: I AM HAJIME HINNAAATAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

Deku: SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSHHH!!!

Deku soars through the sky while Hajime soars back down! He unleashes the strongest SMASH he has while Hajime uses all of his strength-related abilities to deliver his devastating blow!

Both characters understand that they must go above and beyond PLUS ULTRA if they hope to succeed! So they both give it their all one last time, screaming as their fists finally make contact!

The impact alone proves to be so powerful that what remains of the archipelago is straight up DELETED! Despite Deku increasing the power of his attacks even further with his other quirks, Hajime is still able to endure it as he pushes forward! Neither of them want to let up, not necessarily out of a drive to win, but a desire to show their opponent the respect they well and truly deserve!

Their two unstoppable powerhouses collide in a way that destroys the digital world entirely, shrouding everything in darkness until reality cracks open and emits a brilliant white light...And at that point, the godly clash finally ends, and the game shuts down entirely...

...When Deku's arm finally gives way...

------------------------------------------------------------------

Deku: AGH!?

Deku suddenly lurches awake, looking around in a panic as he realizes he's not on the archipelago anymore. He sits in a round-shaped pod and looks down at his arms to see that they're still intact. He then looks above him to see the pod he's sitting in connected to a large computer in the center, with a bluescreen on the monitor.

Hajime: Heh...Chihiro's gonna kill me...

Deku looks up to see Hajime, now back to normal, leaning on his pod. They both look up towards the computer.

Hajime: It's called the Neo World Program. Future Foundation modified it so that we could use our full strength without the risk of causing any lasting damage or hurting anyone. 

Deku: Hahaha...You weren't kidding about being careful. I almost forgot I even got in this pod...Still, I guess this means I lost, huh?

Hajime: Well...

Hajime crosses his legs and sits comfortably.

Hajime: If you want me to be honest...You are the most powerful person I've ever had the pleasure of fighting...And that was the most fun I've had ever since I got these powers. Even if I'm "perfect," you're smart, strong...kind...and you're not done growing yet...

Deku: Meaning, what?

Hajime: I'm saying...I can't wait for the rematch...!

Hajime raises his hand for a fist bump...

Deku: Haha! Me neither!

...And Deku returns it...

Leona: And THERE WE HAVE IT! We have PEAKED PEOPLE!

Uchui: I have to agree! That was nothing if not glorious! Though I guess we're gonna have to use the backup simulator for the final battle...This one got totalled...

Hifumi: Given the vast array of skills and abilities that these two fighters have, there are a lot of ways that this fight could turn out. Factors such as the environment, circumstances, timing, and continuity have the potential to significantly alter the outcome of this battle. So let's analyze each category to take into account when it comes to Death Battles and determine our winner. Strength is the first and most evident.

Uchui: There is a fair bit to consider when scaling their individual powers here. First of all, while Deku at his maximum power, and Hajime/Izuru at theirs has done similar things, like the time Deku disintegrated a gigantic block of solid matter or destroyed an entire building with one of his strongest smashes, while Izuru disintegrated a skyscraper that Nagito Komaeda threw at him by using a pebble as a bullet. 

Leona: Let's start with Deku, whose most notable feat is actually the one that was calculated in his canonical Death Battle episode; parting the clouds with Bakugou. At the time, Death Battle calculated this feat would require a force of 80 Teratons of TNT. And we're willing to stick by them on that one. In contrast, Izuru struck the ground during his brief, but powerful clash with Matta Gyalusetsu so hard, it caused earthquakes across all of Japan! So how big a gap is that?

Hifumi: Calculating it from Deku's canon Death Battle episode, Deku VS Asta, Death Battle calculated that Asta could dish out a power equal to about 480 Teratons of TNT, because he scaled to an attack that could wipe out the Clover Kingdom, which is about half the size of Great Britain. Japan is approximately 1.6 times bigger than the entire united kingdom, so doubling up and scaling that calculated result from Death Battle's analysis, it puts Izuru on the level of 1536 Teratons, or 1.54 Petatons of TNT!

Leona: That's 15 Zeroes by the way! Basically, that would mean Izuru is about 19 times stronger than Deku, so he undoubtedly takes the win in terms of strength!

Uchui: Well...not EXACTLY...Unfortunately, it's near impossible to lock down just how powerful Hajime is as his maximum potential, since he rarely ever uses his full strength in a fight. Unlike Deku, who can be scaled to other One For All users like All Might, as well as his classmates like Bakugou, Hajime is above and beyond every powerful feat in Danganronpa, and can't even be properly scaled to the other two Ultimate Hope's. Plus, at the time of that cloud-splitting feat, Deku didn't have Fa Jin or Gearshift, so who knows how much power he would have on his own if he had applied those at the time?

Hifumi: Izuru confirmed that during his fight with Komaeda that Hajime was massively holding back the entire time they were fighting, and even Izuru seemed to merely be toying with him at first. While an exact unit hasn't been given, the fact that he was able to throw Komaeda around like a ragdoll and completely undermine him in spite of how he was able to defeat every other member of the Remnant's of Despair means it's far greater than that, and he must have been using NOTHING on Fujimori!

Uchui: Makes sense. They were fighting on a cruise liner filled with hostages and Hajime didn't want to hurt Ayumu either. So of course he was holding back. But even without a total number, Deku achieved that cloud feat with 100% of his power, AND coupled with Bakugou who was using the same thing. Using quirks like Gearshift and Fa Jin means Deku has likely gotten even stronger since then, being able to bring out 120% of his Quirk's full capability, and he's not done growing yet.

Leona: Even if Izuru is multiple times stronger, it probably won't be long before Deku finds a way to properly catch up with him. Our safest bet for this analysis is to say that they tie in strength.

Hifumi: In that case, we move onto speed. This stat on the other hand, is fairly clear cut. Deku would have a reaction time close to lightspeed if he could scale to Shigaraki. In addition, he has reacted to Lady Nagant's bullets caught them, and avoided lasers and if he applies Gearshift, he can accelerate even further.

Uchui: In contrast, Hajime is casually able to move so fast that it feels like the flow of time itself has stopped. And it's not that ridiculous in context. Characters like Mukuro Ikusaba and Sakura Ogami have done the same thing, even without Ultimate Hope powers; and Hajime is leagues beyond both of them.

Leona: For sure! Even without the whole time-stoppy BS, Izuru would just be leagues faster. Deku is able to respond to Bakugou's explosions of Nitroglycerin, but that Mach 20 is far less than Sakura Ogami's feat, which places her at Mach 26,475, which is easily Sub-Relativistic! In fact, it even beats the powerhouses like All For One and All Might! Izuru CLEANS in speed, and even with Deku's keen battle instincts and reactions, it's unlikely even Danger Sense would be enough to save him!

Uchui: Deku and Hajime do have very similar styles of fighting though, so they should both realistically know how to react to each other's attacks and abilities. The next thing to go over is durability. 

Hifumi: Both Hinata and Midoriya have taken the full brunt of some DEVASTATING attacks, especially Hinata's feat of surviving the nuclear explosion of Jabberwock Island. Deku surviving attacks from terrifying villains like Shigaraki, Overhaul and more also implies unbreakable defenses, and yet despite all of that, we still have to give this point to Mr. Hinata.

Leona: The reason being that while Deku has trained to suit himself for it, as things stand now, he can't even bare the brunt of his OWN ATTACKS! Every time he attacks with 100% of his max power, he ends up breaking his bones, almost to the point of destroying the use of his arms and legs entirely.

Uchui: Hajime on the other hand shares absolutely no such weakness. He's more than capable of unleashing the full capability of his talents with no serious drawbacks. In fact, his only weakness is his mentality, something that Hope's Peak knew would get in the way, thus removed upon Izuru's creation. All in all, Deku's most glaring weakness is the only thing that makes him lose this particular comparison, but removing it, they're actually dead even, just like strength.

Leona: The same cannot be said in terms of stamina, where Hajime just completely outclasses him. After the events of the All-Out War, Deku demonstrated that he is capable of taking down villains and touring the country for a few weeks, if not a month, without taking a break while keeping Full Cowl activated at all times. Despite being completely exhausted, he was able to repel Class 1-A's combined efforts, and while his broken bones are undeniably a weakness, they rarely ever significantly impair his fighting prowess.

Hifumi: On the other hand, with all of his athletic prowess, Mr. Hinata ought to be even more resilient than Genocide Jack, who, in contrast to her other half, never seems to tire and can take on a great deal of Monokumas with ease. In fact, even without his powers, Nekomaru Nidai mentioned that he had the makings of an athlete, despite his seemingly slender appearance. He is surprisingly muscular when he isn't wearing a shirt, and he's able to run a great distance around Jabberwock Island without seeming to get tired.

Leona: Now let's talk intelligence! This one's also pretty straightforward.

Uchui: Deku is unquestionably a GENIUS when it comes to both academics and combat. On top of studying famous heroes quirks and analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of people's powers his whole life, in his few months at U.A. High, he has fought several different villains, which has given him invaluable experience. His prognostication abilities are so advanced that, even in the dark and during torrential rain, he could discern Lady Nagant's movement patterns and pinpoint her location based only on the trajectory of her bullets. And despite only having used Fa Jin for a few minutes, he quickly became proficient with it in combat. He has also demonstrated the capacity to carry out several mental tasks concurrently, or multitasking, an ability that is thought to be beyond human capability.

Hifumi: But as impressive as all that is, it's NOTHING compared to Hajime Hinata. Mr. Hinata was a successful student in his own right even though he was enrolled in the Reserve Course. He demonstrated his skill as an amateur sleuth during the Neo World Program Killing Game by leading the charge to solve every murder case, even the ones that involved devious tactics and scant evidence, just as Makoto Naegi had done before him.

Leona: And that's not even mentioning the fatass Elephant in the Room that is the talent of Ultimate Analytical Prowess.

Uchui: Junko Enoshima's Ultimate Analytical Prowess talent bestowed upon her monstrous analytical abilities, rendering it remarkably effortless for her to forecast events and expeditiously acquire the proficiencies of other talent holders. For example, she was able to produce brainwashing videos by merely observing Ryota Mitarai at work, learned how to perform neurosurgery to lobotomize and/or erase others' memories by perusing Yasuke Matsuda's research, and acquire programming knowledge by looking at Chihiro Fujisaki's programs. And Hajime, having this talent, is just as capable of doing all that, if not moreso.

Leona: Deku may have more on-field combat experience, but with Ultimate Hope that just automatically gives you the power to do everything, who really needs all that crap? Hajime's uncanny ability to analyze even allows him to easily see through most of Deku's attacks, as well as easily identifying his weaknesses like his bone-breaking punches.

Hifumi: Which ultimately leads us with one more, glaringly obvious category to go into...Powers!

Leona: One For All, Gearshift, Fa Jin, Danger Sense, Float, Blackwhip, Smokescreen, all those United States of Smash attacks, Full Cowl, Shoot Style, Air Force...Deku's got so many awesome and powerful attacks, techniques, powers, gear and moves under his belt, it's honestly amazing to think he doesn't win with any of them!

Uchui: It doesn't matter. Deku may have a handful of superhuman attacks and feats, but he's facing an opponent who is essentially unstoppable and can do EVERYTHING! And not just on a human level! Something FAR ABOVE even that! Hajime was endowed with every human talent by the experiment that transformed him into Izuru Kamakura. Imagine battling an opponent who possesses almost any skill. Do you believe you could succeed?

Hifumi: That's not even taking into account the more ridiculous powers like Ultimate Luck, which is shown to make him virtually untouchable. Mr. Hinata has extraordinary luck, which allows him to quickly influence most situations to his advantage, particularly those involving conflict. For example, the gun was perfectly working moments before Komaeda tried to shoot Kamukura, but it jammed.

Uchui: Nagito and Hajime engaged in another battle in which the former used a ball to knock out all of the nuts and bolts that held up the building, bringing it to an entirely new level. However, Izuru was unharmed by pure luck. Additionally, he should have better luck than Makoto, who even people like Junko Enoshima find unpredictable due to his special luck pattern that enables him to survive near-death experiences.

Leona: And if JUNKO couldn't figure out how to work around Izuru's luck, then DEKU certainly couldn't!

Uchui: And again, Deku can't unleash his most powerful attacks without severely hurting himself in the process. And that concludes our discussion! Hajime gains the upper hand in power because he has an excessive number of counters and hacks, and in the end, he prevails!

Leona: Well, I think there's something else...If you really think about it, both Hajime and Deku's powers involve them using percentages of their full power. But the difference is that Deku multiplies his strength to get stronger, while Hajime DIVIDES his to get weaker, especially since there aren't many people in the world of Danganronpa who can actually touch him. At the end of the day, this fight isn't about who would win, but about finding someone who can bring out the best in each other, even if it's through bloody battling. And I think Deku had everything he needed to bring that excitement and joy back to Hajime's life. Saving him with a smile and bringing one back to his face.

Hifumi: In that regard...I suppose Midoriya DOES win.

Uchui: Well, if that's not the pinnacle of Death Battle, I don't know what is...

Uchui casually fist-bumps Leona.

Hifumi: Izuku Midoriya proved to be a worthy heir to the title of Symbol of Hope, as his cunning strategy and unwavering determination gave his opponent the fight of his life. However, Hajime Hinata's unmatched strength, immense abilities, and boundless potential proved to be too much for All Might's student to overcome.

Leona: Deku gave it his All, but he simply couldn't Hope to compete with Hajime, the pinnacle of humanity!

THE WINNER IS HAJIME HINATA!

[kachikirby]

GranEssex Chronicles: Chapter 1 - Unmasked Origins

It was supposed to be another standard-issued mission: Head to a planet known for its high crime rate and eliminate a notable criminal group. What Kurabe wasn't expecting to find was that her target was already eliminated, by, of all things, a child. The child was clearly a Star Warrior just from appearances alone. He was dark blue in color, had piercing white eyes and was wielding a stick with a stone tied to it.

"This gang was a class-A planetary-level threat. Did he seriously defeat all of them by himself?" Kurabe thought to herself as she approached this unknown person.

"My name is Kurabe. I'm with The Organization. I was sent here to deal with this group, but I see you already dealt with them." She said diplomatically.

The child just stared at her.

"I'll need to take you in for questioning. Come along peacefully and-"

Kurabe was cut off as the child dashed at her, swinging his makeshift club. She quickly blocked it with her left sword, Rubis, but was surprised by how powerful the attack was, even being pushed back a bit by the force. Though she noticed one thing: he had very little skill in combat and most of his attacks were slow and sloppy. Still, he had incredible potential. Potential that excited her. Just as she had that thought, her other sword, Grenat, was knocked out of her hand by another blow. Thinking fast, Kurabe quickly traced a rune and teleported behind the child, knocking him out with one quick karate chop to the head.

"I'm sorry, but this was the only way." She whispered as she wrapped the child in her cape and began to carry him back to her battleship.

As she stopped to pick up the sword Grenat, Kurabe noticed he was covered in cuts and bruises. Most likely from the fight with the gang. None of the injuries seemed fatal but they would need to be treated quickly to prevent a potential infection.

"Should I have Bukiset...? No, it would probably be better if I treated him myself..." She thought.

There's no doubt that the child would be intimidated if too many people crowded around him at once, making him much more difficult to deal with.

---------

Soon they reached the ship and was greeted by the GranEssex's vice captain, Mercury.

"Welcome back, captain. How did the mission...go? What's with the kid? Are they alright?" The woman uttered in surprise upon seeing the bundle.

"Outside of a few cuts and bruises, he's fine. Actually, he's the one who eliminated the mission targets, so you can submit it as completed."

Mercury just looked at her in shock, but quickly regained her normal expression. "I'll get the med kit."

"Yes, please do. And take it to my room."

As her subordinate began to leave, Kurabe began to think back on the emotions she felt from the child while fighting and carrying him back. At first glance, it was a mismatch of unsure feelings, but she could now pick out a single one: fear.

"Who would leave a child on a planet like this?" She wondered. She could always ask him when he awoke, but she doubted that would be much help.

Kurabe walked to her room and set the child down in one of her chairs. Mercury quickly arrived with the med kit in hand.

"Do you want me to handle it, Captain?"

"No, I can handle it. Besides, I think having too many people around him will make it more difficult to talk to him."

"Understood, I'll leave you to it then." The woman said and left, leaving Kurabe alone with her thoughts and the child. Quickly she walked over to the sink and filled a bowl with water.

"...alright, first is to clean the area with mild soap and water to prevent infection..." She thought, attempting to recall what she remembered about first aid.

---------

While cleaning him up, Kurabe felt... off for lack of a better term. Why was she so concerned for this child? Sure, she didn't like seeing children hurt, but this was different. Could it be because they were the same species? Her mentor had once told her about how Star Warriors tend to feel a certain closeness to each other. Before she could question that feeling more, the child began to wake up.

"Good morning." Kurabe said as kindly as she could.

The child's eyes widened in fear, likely due to not knowing where he was. Then his eyes focused on Kurabe, and they became sharp again.

"Calm down, there's no need for any of that." She said with a glare, causing the child to loosen up, but still on guard.

"Where am I?" He asked.

Kurabe was caught off guard by his jaded tone.

"A child shouldn't sound like that..." She thought and then cleared her throat.

"You are on my battleship, the GranEssex. I brought you back here to treat your wounds and ask you a few questions."

There was a brief moment of silence.

"And you are?"

"Kurabe. I doubt you've heard me. And what's your name?"

He was hesitant to reply to her for a moment, but then decided to give in.

"...Meta." The child quietly replied.

"Meta..." Kurabe repeated with a slight hum.

"The name suits him..." She thought to herself as she began to put away the med kit.

"What were you doing on this planet, Meta? I sincerely doubt it was by choice." She then asked in a soothing voice.

He gave a questioning gaze towards her. "I live here."

"What about family?" She asked, dreading the obvious answer.

"...what's that?"

"You mean you don't have any parents? Not even a guardian of some kind?"

The child shook his head after thinking for a moment. "...I don't know. I live on my own."

"Then he's an orphan..." She thought with a slight sigh.

"Let's change topics then. Meta, why were you fighting those men and why did you attack me?"

"...they attacked me first and I didn't want to die. And you looked like you would hurt me, too..."

"Well, I wasn't going to."

The child slightly gritted his teeth before speaking. "I've heard that before. My entire life I've struggled to stay alive. Many people have pretended to be kind just to hurt me."

Hearing that broke the warrior's heart. Gently, she took one of his stubs in her hand, as if to comfort him. Then, she removed the visor that covered her eyes, showing a gentle, sympathetic expression.

"I'm sorry to hear that. What about now? Do you feel like I'm threatening now?"

She began to feel a warm, trusting feeling in her hand as he looked at her silently.

"No, but why? I attacked you. Why are you being kind to me? Do you just pity me?"

Admittedly, even Kurabe didn't have an exact answer for that.

"It's because I saw potential in you as a warrior."

"What does that mean?" He asked, all of his previously shown hostility replaced with confusion.

"I am one of the greatest warriors in the galaxy. The fact that you impressed me with your strength says enough."

Despite those words coming out of her mouth, Kurabe knew there was more to it than that. There was this other, alien feeling she was starting to develop, and she didn't know why.

"...I could tell you were powerful when we clashed." Meta admitted. "Stronger than me."

The warrior gave a nod in understanding. "Meta, do you wish to become stronger?"

"I need to become stronger. Living on this planet taught me one thing: only the strongest thrive. That's why I named myself Meta. To be strong and durable like metal."

"But even metal can break and bend without reinforcement, no?" Kurabe responded quickly.

The child became silent upon hearing this, as if acknowledging that she was right.

"And my training would be the reinforcement to your metal."

There was a moment of silence.

"Can... I have time to think, please?" Meta asked, quietly.

Kurabe was pleasantly surprised by the sudden politeness.

"Take as much time as you need to think." She replied with a smile.

Then she heard a slight growl coming from the blue puff, whose cheeks seemed to redden in embarrassment.

"You must be starving. Wait right here." Kurabe said, leaving to grab something for the child to eat.

Meta looked around at the room he was in. It alone was nicer than anything else on this planet. Could he obtain something like this if he stayed with Kurabe?

"Do you like sweets?" The warrior suddenly asked.

Meta looked at her curiously. "Sweets? Is that like jerky?"

"No, it's quite the opposite of jerky, actually. It's... well... try it for yourself." She placed a plate in front of him at the table.

While Kurabe knew it was chocolate fondant, the child clearly had no idea what it was. Meta took a hesitant bite and his eyes widened. It was without a doubt the best thing he'd ever eaten. Almost immediately, he began to scarf down the rest of it quickly... by inhaling it. Kurabe chuckled at this.

"So, I take it you enjoyed it?"

She received an enthusiastic nod in response. Kurabe smiled. Underneath the initial antagonism was a sweet kid, though it pained her to know that such a kid was abandoned in the first place. Maybe... even if he didn't want her to train him, he could still stay here. At least he would be safe on the GranEssex. Then her thoughts turned back to what she was thinking about earlier. Why exactly was she acting like this? While yes, she was interested in Meta's potential as a warrior, but that doesn't explain all of her actions. Usually, she would just drop them into training instead of doing everything she just did.

"Miss Kurabe..." Meta said snapping her out of her thoughts.

"I think I would like to stay here. If that's fine with you..." He uttered, averting his gaze shyly after asking that.

"Of course." She simply replied.

It was then that a thought crossed her mind: did she want to be his mother? No, that can't be it. That's when she noticed something: Meta was crying. However, it wasn't out of sadness, rather it was tears of joy. Acting completely on instinct, Kurabe wrapped him up in a hug.

"...Miss... Kurabe...?" The child uttered in confusion.

"Not "Miss". It's "sensei" … and think of this as me welcoming you into my family."

The blue puff managed to wipe away a few of his tears while in her grip.

"Sensei, is this... what family is?"

"That's something you'll need to decide for yourself, Meta. But, I'd like to try being your family."

The child became silent for a few minutes.

"I don't know what family is but... ok..."

The warrior gave a slight sigh. "To put it simply, a family is a group of people that trusts, supports, and loves each other."

"But what is love?"

Admittedly, Kurabe didn't really know how to answer that at first. How would you explain something as complex as that to a child? That was when she thought of it.

"Love is... something that's different for everyone, Meta. It's not something that can be taught. Only learned in time."

The child only pouted.

"For someone who's really powerful, you're awfully clueless about a lot of things..."

Meta then felt Kurabe tighten her grip and quickly looked at her eyes in response. She was still smiling but her eyes were promising something else. Something very painful.

"What was that, Meta?" She asked in a sweet but deadly tone.

The child shrank back with fear. "N-nothing..."

"That's what I thought." She said, loosening up her grip.

"She's really nice, but she's also really scary when she's angry..." He thought to himself.

---------

For the next few hours, Kurabe showed Meta around her room. While she didn't have many things for the child to play with, there were a lot of things he seemed to be interested in looking at. Her desk. The various photos on the walls. Even the soft, cushiony sofa. But the thing that seemed to interest him the most was the large bookcase.

"It's probably because he never saw anything here on that planet..." She thought as Meta admired the wall of books before immediately pulling him away when he attempted to climb it.

"It's dangerous to climb that, Meta. If you're interested in reading something, I'd be happy to grab it for you."

It hadn't crossed her mind until now. Was he even able to read?

"Meta, not to be rude, but can you read?"

The child shook his head in response. "No. Never learned how, never saw a need for it."

She should've known.

"Would you like to learn how?"

Admittedly, there was probably no real choice in the matter if he wanted to become her student. The Organization wouldn't want an illiterate warrior on the battlefield.

"I'd rather not bother you, sensei."

"You say that, but you want me to teach you, don't you?"

Hearing that made the child avert his eyes as a slight blush appeared on his face.

"Y... yes..." He squeaked.

The warrior gave him a pat on the head.

"We'll start after dinner then."

The child gave a nod in understanding.

As Kurabe began to make dinner, she felt Meta silently watching her from the table. It appeared that he had mellowed out quite a bit since they first arrived on the ship, but his guard still seemed very much up.

"What's wrong?" She asked, getting a slight jump from the child in response. He then said... something. It was more of a mumble than anything.

"Please don't mumble. I can't understand you otherwise." The warrior gave a sigh.

A moment of silence.

"Sensei... what is family to you?" The puff asked.

"This crew for starters. Especially my second in command, Mercury. We've had each other's backs for a long time. Then there's my mentor, who is like a father to me. Even if he's a stubborn old fool. I guess in simple terms, family is the people I refuse to let go of. People I wish to protect."

Meta nodded in understanding. "Then what is love to you?"

"Love is when you'll do anything for the person you love. Regardless of if it's romantic or platonic. You'll understand more when you're older."

Her student then pouted at that. "But how do I know if I feel love? This is really hard..."

"Love is a complicated feeling, Meta, and it's something that just doesn't happen overnight. Trust me, when you feel love you'll know what it is."

After hearing that, the child seemed to understand. Then there was a knock at the door.

"I'll be right back." She said while opening the door. "What is it, Mercury?"

"I just came to check in on you. How's the kid?" The woman asked, looking into the room.

"He's doing fine. In fact, he's my new student." She said with a strange sense of pride.

"What? He agreed to becoming your student already?" She then gave a slight whistle. "That was quick. So, anyway, what's for dinner?"

"Actually, if you don't mind, Mercury, could you-"

"Give you some space? Yeah, I figured. I'll just eat with the Bukisets." The woman gave an understanding nod.

"Thank you." Kurabe replied with a smile.

"No problem. I'll check up on you two later. You two have fun then!"

With that, Mercury walked away.

"Was that the Mercury person you mentioned?" Meta asked.

"Yes, that was her."

"I see." He said, clearly curious about the silver woman.

Kurabe gave a smile. "I'll introduce her to you another time. For now, I should finish making dinner."

The child nodded, excited to see what food she was making. Hopefully, it was as good as what she made for him before.

---------

A half hour later, Kurabe placed a plate in front of Meta.

"Sensei, what is this?" He questioned after sniffing it.

"It's called chicken parmesan."

He then picked up the long noodles on the side and stared at them in curiosity.

"And that's spaghetti. I hope you enjoy it."

She then sat down at the table and began to eat her own plate of food, noting that the child was now staring at her. He then took two of the utensils and began to copy her movements with them to eat. As Kurabe watched Meta eat, she noticed he was on edge, like he was used to being on high alert. While it would be useful for the missions he'll no doubt take, it didn't make it any less sad.

"Meta, you can relax. This ship is incredibly safe, so please relax just a little."

Upon hearing that, the child seemed to understand, as he began to loosen up a bit. Then, to her own surprise, he inhaled the rest of the food on his plate.

"...Meta, I'm glad that you seem to enjoy my cooking, but please use utensils and take your time when you're eating." She said with a sigh.

"...can't you inhale, too, sensei?"

"I can, but I prefer not to. I'll have to teach you about table manners it seems." She said in amusement.

The child nodded and continued to do his best to copy her movements while eating.

Then, he seemed to speak up again. "That red sword you have..."

"Interested in swordplay, are you? Don't you worry, Meta, I'll be teaching you in the art of swordplay."

His eyes instantly lit up upon hearing that. "Really!?"

"Of course. You are my student now. It's my duty to make you as strong as I can. Both in body and mind."

"Thank you so-" The puff cut himself off, as if realizing something.

"Wait, I didn't I say I would think about becoming your student?"

"You agreed to it already, haven't you?" She replied with a slight smirk.

There was silence, as if Meta was thinking about everything that had been said and retracing every conversation. Suddenly, his cheeks began to turn red again in embarrassment.

"Can... can you really teach me about swords, sensei...?" He uttered shyly.

"I won't just teach you about swords. I'll teach you everything."

The child tilted his head in curiosity. "Everything?"

"Everything."

Before he could make a response, she spoke up again. "Well, we should probably make this a formal decision. However, I'll warn you about this now, Meta. My training can get pretty intense. Some of my previous students quit because of it. A few have even died. Are you sure you would like to become my student?"

The child seemed to hesitate.

"Don't worry. You can still live on this ship if you have second thoughts."

After hearing Kurabe say that, he then became quiet once again.

"You said that I'll become even stronger after your training, right?" He asked. "I've lived on this horrible planet long enough. I'm sure that nothing you throw at me can make me quit."

The warrior replied with a chuckle. "Brave words. But something tells me you'll be able to back them up. Well then, Meta, allow me to formally make you a member of my crew. Welcome to your new home."

The child gave a smile, the biggest that Kurabe had ever seen up to this point. "Thank you so much, sensei!"

"You're welcome, Meta." She replied warmly, noticing that Meta was now struggling to stay awake.

"Perhaps we should start our lessons tomorrow. Let me go set up a bed for you."

Seeing a nod, she hopped down from her chair and began to clear off the table.

"I believe we have an open room next to mine. I'll let him stay there..." She mused as she headed towards the room. "It's usually reserved for guests, but I think he can keep it..."

---------

When Kurabe returned, she saw that Meta was already asleep. Not having the heart to wake him, she picked him up and carried him to the bed she set up in the room next to her personal cabin. Though when she tried to walk away after placing him down and pulling a blanket over him, he unconsciously grabbed her.

"Don't want me to leave, do you?" She uttered with a slight chuckle. "Alright then, I guess I'll stay here with you for a bit."

Kurabe removed her eye visor and laid down in bed with Meta, making sure not to disturb him.

"Good night, little knight."

There was no verbal response, but the quiet, satisfied sigh was all she needed to hear as the child leaned closer to her.

---------

A short time later, Mercury was looking for her superior. She was slightly worried due to not finding her in her personal cabin like she said she would be. Then, she noted the extra room positioned close to said cabin. It looked like the door was unlocked.

"Hey, captain, are you in here?" She asked quietly while opening the door.

The only thing Mercury could hear was the soft breathing of the sleeping Kurabe and Meta. Opening the door a bit more, she noticed that the child was curled up close to her superior, who had laid an arm over him as if to reassure and protect him. At first, Mercury was surprised at this scene. But then, she gave a slight smile.

"Never in a million years would I think that she of all people would have something like a motherly instinct..."

Quickly, she grabbed an extra blanket from the closet and laid it over them with a slightly excited humming.

"Things are definitely going to get more interesting around here..."

---------

Extra: Character Toyhouse Pages

Kurabe

Mercury

[maxwell-grant]

Sooo... The Penguin: One Bad Day?

...Honestly?

Considering the genuinely abysmal precedent set by the prior two One Bad Day stories? I'm just glad this didn't push Penguin absurdly far into complete monster territory. I'm glad it didn't assassinate the character, like the other one that should go unnamed. I wasn't even gonna touch it until you dropped this ask. I kept reading the entire issue waiting for the other shoe to drop with some twist like, oh he's gonna kill all his associates in the end because he doesn't care for them or, oh he's gonna have some awful new detail added to his backstory like they did for Joker's Asylum or Pain and Prejudice but, no.

I did like a fair deal of how it depicted Oswald, I was rather shocked by it. It passes my "I can hear Paul Williams reading this" test and that's pretty damn high praise coming from. I did like spending some time with Penguin at his lowest and how this does the "Oswald claws his way to the top" set-up but without violence being his biggest asset, more so his ability to negotiate and manipulate and even beg his way into assembling just enough of a crew and just enough firepower to scrape by. I kinda liked Tiny Homeless Trash King Penguin as a concept (I figure Spamton fans who are also Penguin fans might get a kick out of this story).

I like that it establishes that Oswald's relation with his henchmen is that he thinks he treats them significantly less shitty ways than he actually does, which still makes him several tiers better than most other Gotham rogues even if not, great, and in the end he will in fact try to make amends. I like that it establishes Oswald's history with being lonely and ostracized as a reason why he treats his goons a little better and why he employs people that would be otherwise discarded, and this is ultimately why he wins (you can argue that this comic represents said people poorly and, you'd be right, but, it's a Batman comic, if you're in too deep in those, at some point you kinda have to settle for the less-abysmal depictions of mental illness / physical deformity / race / gender / etc when given such)

It didn't shy away from showing many of Oswald's character faults, but it also played straight the idea that, overall, he is indeed a better class of criminal and significantly better than your average mobster, if nothing else it also gets major points with me also for the lengths it went to avoid the misogynistic Penguin cliches others default to. It even goes so far as to state that Penguin played a significant hand at both ensuring Gotham's rogues had the tools necessary, as well as secretly kneecapping them so that the game between them and Batman would never escalate too far, to the extent that Penguin thinks of Batman as "a piece in his conglomerate". Honestly? I'm still not sure this is an idea that works, but I don't hate it? In fact it's kind of something I always wanted to see explored, even something I'd toyed with on my personal Batman or superhero-related ideas?

If nothing else, this does go someway towards explaining why Batman tolerates Penguin to the extent he does. Not because Penguin's good at looking legitimate or because he makes for good intel, but because Batman pretty much always has someone or something worse than Penguin to stop, and because wasting time with Penguin inevitably means turning his back on worse problems happening at Gotham (I feel like the Reeves film continuity is kinda heading in this direction as well). And Batman hates it, he hates that Oswald knows this, but this story also points out what happens when Penguin's removed from the picture to be inevitably replaced by some far worse scumbag with no interest in theater or balance. This idea wouldn't work for any other character in Batman's Rogues Gallery, except for Penguin. Granted, this also kinda means that Oswald's purposefully kneecapping himself but, at least it acknowledges this as part of the set-up required to make mob boss Penguin work.

Even the fact that Penguin resolves the battle by going full beast / Returns, I don't mind that much here, it's played for contrast of Penguin spending the entire issue powerless or being played as a gentleman (if a deluded, cutthroat criminal one) for most of the issue. Honestly? I like this as a display of monstrousness way more than "ruins your life for coughing within earshot", I'd have little to complain if Penguin tearing out the throats of mob bosses with his teeth was the lowest he'd be willing to go, in fact I think he should do that more often. I do like some savagery in him.

I mean, yeah, the whole reocurring animal thing, and it culminating with him thanking his former bully for instilling the idea on him that he's just "a little animal", has some whiff of that "the bullies get it right" awfulness from Frank Tieri's one-shot but, it's not going that far. There's some issues in this story and especially from a plotting perspective but, I'm not sure how much I liked this because it was a good Penguin story that utilized the character in an interesting way or even a good story in general, or how much I liked this because it wasn't as aggressively dogshit as I was expecting and how much better it was than so many other modern Penguin stories but, I'm pretty lenient on this, I liked most of it well enough.

I don't know how this relates to the current continuity that I'm not reading, and I don't care either, but between this, what little I've seen of other recent Penguin moments and the upcoming show, I'm feeling pretty good. It's kinda seeming like the character's getting some of his groove back. I'm pleasantly happy with it.

[kimisnthere]

Book Review: 'Okay for Now' by Gary D. Schmidt

★ there will be spoilers from the books here !!!

★ my opinion ofc

Google Summary:

"Okay For Now explores another seemingly improbable alliance, this one between new outsider in town Doug Swieteck and Lil Spicer, the savvy spitfire daughter of his deli owner boss. With her challenging assistance, Doug discovers new sides of himself."

Review:

The book is a good read, in my opinion. I've read it many times whenever I'm bored or want to read the story and find new details that I haven't seen before.

Doug's Father

One plot line that I really loved because of how sad it was was his father's behavior. The reason is that in the book, Doug's father isn't the typical nice father that many would see in books. His father is an alcoholic and has a friend, Ernie Eco, who made him go out to drink every night.

Not only is Doug's father rude to him and his brother, which is worth mentioning that he does hit the boys, he also yells at their mother who works hard to make sure the boys are able to eat.

Many times throughout the book, his father has shown signs of not wanting to take care of the kids, but towards the end of the book, he starts to change. After Doug found out Ernie Eco had stolen his jacket, his father seemed to be sad and started to distant himself.

In the end, he ends up being able to find his way back and starts to make changes to his behavior and starts to show some love to his family.

Lucas

Lucas' plot line was also an interesting one. He had came back from serving in the army and had been struggling to find a job.

It's interesting because it shows the difficulty that soldiers have had when coming home. It is during the Vietnamese war, meaning that there are protests in the book. With both legs missing and being a soldier, Lucas is being held against his job and is barely given a chance to work.

He's only ever had three jobs, and two out of three of them, he had been fired from. One is at a gas station and the other from a restocking position. The third one he had been an accountant but eventually lost his cool because of some lady and just left the building.

It's hard to read sometimes. Reading that someone couldn't even work for what they had done is something people might struggle with.

His last job makes the book the more happier. He gets a job as an assistant coach at the high school Doug goes to. Go figure.

High school, in general

It's sad to read Doug's journey in his new school.

He gets held against what his brother, Christopher, has been accused of and isn't allowed to pull no funny business. And the teachers mean it.

The only teacher who sees him as himself is his science teacher, who makes sure he feels like himself in his class. He is reminded that even though he is related to Chris, it doesn't mean that he is just like his brother.

Principal Peetie is a shit principle until the end. He makes Doug seem like he is a criminal himself.

Coach Reed eventually turns around and gives Doug the respect he deserves after treating him differently.

Final Review:

The book is a solid 9/10. It's great, and I love the plot lines spread around, and the characters are so interesting to read about and can have the saddest stories within themselves.

There's so much more I could talk about. I didn't write them all, but it mostly sounded like a book plot line summary than review.

Most plot lines were given a happy ending, which is good, don't get me wrong, but I feel as though some could have ended badly.

If you have the time, read the book.

:)

[undyingembers]

Hooray! 2, 3, 10, 16 and 18 for Len please?

2. Companions: your OC’s favorite person to torment?

Well, Len isn't much of the tormenting type, but s/he is highly critical of pretty much everyone and anyone. S/he and Daeran snark at each other a lot, and s/he gives pretty harsh performance reviews to those under his/her command. But s/he doesn't go out of his/her way to make people's lives particularly uncomfortable.

3. Companions: your OC’s platonic best friend?

It's a toss up between Woljif and Lann. I did not expect Lenarius to get along with Woljif as well as s/he did. The two of them are such polar opposites with Woljif being an urchin and a criminal from the streets and Len being very high-class and stodgy about rules and laws. There was a bit of tension in the beginning. Len really didn't want to involve him/herself with whatever Woljif was getting involved in, and Woljif (perhaps rightly) believed that Len looked down on him and thought Len was trying to be one of "the good tieflings". They warmed up to each other a lot. It definitely took a lot of growth, and Len was grateful to meet another tiefling s/he could connect with, and Len ended the game feeling very close and protective of Woljif. Woljif even became the best man for Len's and Daeran's wedding.

Here's a fic I wrote on the progression of Len's and Woljif's friendship.

Len and Lann's friendship is also very interesting for similar reasons. Len comes from an upper-class noble family and, despite his/her difficulties, s/he did live somewhat luxuriously. Meanwhile Lann lived in the caves and had to hunt and work to survive. However, the two of them also have a lot in common: they both faced difficulty because of how they were born, and they are both very orderly and honest. There is a deep trust and respect between the two of them, and while Lann will still rib on Len for being all delicate and fancy, he liked the way Len handled everything and, well, at least Lenarius isn't as bad as Daeran.

10. Thoughts on Queen Galfrey?

When I created Lenarius, I thought for certain that s/he would be romancing Galfrey. Len was going to be Galfrey's most faithful companion: frankly honest and strict with feedback and criticism, but also understanding and loyal. At the same time, Len was going to show Galfrey how to live again. S/he was going to wow Galfrey with grand courtly gestures and wonderful ballroom dances. Lady and knight. Alas, Daeran came along and ruined all my plans :P

With the way things actually ended up happening, I'm going to say that Lenarius had a crush on Galfrey at first. Growing up in a Mendevian household, it was hard for Len not to have gotten swept away in the tales of her beauty and heroism, though s/he always knew at the back of her head from the way Inquisitors treated witches and tieflings that Galfrey wasn't as perfect as the stories had claimed. Meeting her in person dispelled a lot of the illusions, but it also showed Len a facet of Galfrey that s/he would find equally as intriguing: that of a flawed human who had lived so long as a symbol that she had forgotten what it's like to be a person, someone who could have done much better with the power and position she was in, but who was also doing her best. Len spent so much of their time together trying to get to know Galfrey better, and, if Daeran hadn't snatched Len up first, perhaps something more could have blossomed between them.

Leonosa does wish that Galfrey would do more for tieflings and rein in the Inquisition. A romanced Len would push Galfrey to do just that while passing other reforms in Mendev while also being a source of comfort and comraderie for the queen. Galfrey in turn, would also start to see Len as less of a symbol of the crusades and more of a person as well: a vibrant and passionate wo/man who has been so much and needs comfort just as much as s/he can be a great source of comfort as well.

Typing all this made me sad. As much as I love Lenarius/Daeran, I always keep thinking about what might have been. Lenarius/Galfrey would have been very touching and beautiful. Also, Leonosa would have looked absolutely fabulous dressed in one of his/her ballgowns and walking in on Galfrey's arm while the queen wore her best ceremonial armor.

16. Your OC’s favorite ability / spell?

Hellfire. Ray. Full stop. S/he was crazy powerful with that. Combined with Ascendant Element: fire, she was doing a ridiculous amount of damage with that.

Len's main role was crowd control, though. Some other of his/her favorites include: Hold Monster (Mass), Icy Prison (Mass), Dominate Person, Dominate Monster, the Sleep and Restless Slumber hexes, the Evil Eye hex, Sirocco, Pharasmal Web, and Web and Grease in the early levels. His/her favorite schools of magic are Enchantment and Evocation.

18. Your OC’s low point?

Finding out that the source of his/her mythic power came from his/her soul being corrupted by the Abyss. His/her whole life, s/he had been told over and over that s/he was a taint, that s/he would never be capable of doing good. Getting his/her Aeon powers and leading the Crusades made Len finally start to feel that his/her family had been wrong about him/her, that s/he was not tainted and not evil. Now, though...it all made him/her start to question him/herself. What did being one of Areelu's experiments mean? Did s/he taint everything she touched? S/he needed a lot of comfort and reassurance from Daeran that s/he was not tainted and that s/he was the best thing that has ever happened to the Crusades.

[saphirafoxgirlspost1]

Haunted memories and Inner demons...

It was Dark and Stormy night...I was sitting in my bedroom..lowering my head down...waiting for my followers to reply..and asking me alot..My dreams to become a tumblr famous was Turn to ashes...as i turn..i saw my mirror..but i saw Annthewanderer in it..and i turn away and i said it coldly... Me: You've got Some nerve Showing up in my mind..do you have any idea what you've Done to me?....

*Turns and looked at annthewanderer sitting on the bed as i chuckle and thought i lost my mind*

You And Your "Friends"..Broke me..and I..have lost.."everything"..You, geniemod, everyone else who hated me so much and left me alone...You've Ruined a Person's life... Then annthewanderer Spoke Annthewanderer: I thought you'll be Sick of tumblr... *I snapped and Slammed the Fist on the wall* Me: YOUR THE ONE WHO'S SICK!! YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE IS SICK! BECAUSE THEY HATED ME SO MUCH BECAUSE I'VE DONE SOMETHING SO STUPID AND NOBODY HELPED ME!!! Except my One friend...Who Helped me get me out from the Darkness..Without any Critism Like you "High-class" people! Now thanks to you and everyone else I'm Ruined!...Ever Since the Purge i had to start from scratch...and NO ONE! No One Ever asked me For Rp JUST BECAUSE OF WHAT I;VE DONE IN THE PAST! i'M RUINED BECAUSE OF YOU ANNMOD! IT's all you!...You Shouldn't post our conservation! But no! You Blackmail me and threaten me to post a conservation if I Didn't Do it Your way! Its all your fault! You and Foxymods fault! I cannot Forgive anyone Who did THIS TO ME!...You Made me a Monster!...a "Misunderstood" Monster...I've been through My Loss alot...And you Never had the guts to Apoligize to me! But Instead! You run away like a coward! and Never came back! I'll Never Forgive you annmod! Never!...You Ruined me! Now My Blog Is Now a Wasteland Because of you!...I lost my Followers and my friends Because of you and everyone Who hated me so much!...I DESERVE BETTER THAN THIS!! I DESERVE TO BE TREATED LIKE A HUMAN BEING!! NOT A CRIMINAL!..... I got slandered because of you! That Nipple-the-echilnda guy, slanders me saying that I'm doing the same shit! HE SHOULD APOLIGIZE TOO AS WELL But he;s a COWARD! jUST LIKE YOU!!! *Pants*... I Don't Deserve this Kind of Drama! I Didn't Deserve it at all! Now thanks to you...I'm rp-rupt...I got little bit of followers who was less wanted to rp with me...I'm ruined because of you....Not only that...Your fan did the most unthinkable thing to Saphira! THIS IS ALL YOU! WHO DO YOU THINK WHO STARTED THIS ALL DRAMA! IT'S NOT ME ANYMORE!! IT'S YOU! IT'S ALWAYS YOU!! You "Maybe" Gone! But My "Memories" and All of those "Shits" Was still there in my mind...you Never had the Audacity to say i'm Sorry! You And everyone else except Foxymod!, I maybe free from you..but my heart and feelings and scarred memory..is Not...its like Prison to me.....All i ever did to you is to be kind and nice to you...but what did you do...you treated me like garbage! And then you went that far to ruined someone elses life without even thinking twice.....I wasn't Interacting with other blogs Because of you! and Bunch of Once-lers blog! I Blamed you! Genie mod! Nipples, and Foxymod For ALL THIS!...let me give you a Question, Who's the person who started with all this Drama To a person who wanted to ask Someone to help?...And Sure hell is Not ME! I growls and began to punch the mirror out of anger and punching annthewanderer on the face in the mirror in rage and anger...i don't give a damn if i get hurt and all..but after the mirror is shattered..i trashed my room like an angry person..hearing alot of bad voices and critisism and cruel words..and after that...i slipped on the ground slowly..and i began to cry softly...and lower my head..and i Said in rasby and teary words... Me: "When......When Did I Fucked up so much?.....Why Did i deserve this Kind of Drama?...." Then I lower my head crying while my hands is bleeding the punches onto the mirror... and listening the rain and thunder going by...

[dismalhasu]

I don't know why but I feel I should just vent about my mental illness issues and circumstances.

Being horn premature and then quickly diagnosed with a social disorder before at age 4 before my personality even developed and being told to just avoid people and not be in groups and such and then being diagnosed with adhd practically 8 months to a year later and then only ever treated for adhd. Despite lots of research, saying you should also be dosing against anxiety and depression because adhd can give symptoms similar to those, especially when I had multiple behavioral doctor visits because of my acting out they still never recommended I be treated for depression and anxiety especially.

Then being bullied throughout my elementary school time (grades 1 through 8) and despite speaking out about it the boy's mother had cancer and I wasn't exactly a well behaved kid due to my mental disorders/illnesses and you know how they just say let boys do whatever when they have outside issues. Being told to always leave the bully alone despite being physically verbally and mentally abused by the kid. Then constantly being told by teachers that my opinions are wrong and my dreams for life and the direction i want to take it is stupid.

Always being told by my parents that older people are right and I should always take what they say as truth. Really fucked me over for motivation despite barely having any to begin with.

Constantly getting in trouble due to the actions of others because I couldn't regulate emotions due to the adhd and then the people that instigate me never getting into trouble.

Its really hard not to blame the teachers and doctors who literally couldn't even do their jobs. Instead of dismissing me and ignoring my issues. Always saying that I'm lying or exaggerating.

Honestly, college was better despite some teachers again manipulating, practically everyone. Using their personal opinions of people to grade their work instead of the actual work itself and then also the weird system they have towards what classes one can take and not even mentioning they needed previous years advance courses for years later subject centered courses. (I needed grade 10 advance sciences to do grade 12 basic astrology/space science.) Which was a large hit to my motivation and interests.

And with the odd cases of bullying in high school, despite bullying being made a criminal offense, it surprises me how many people don't give a fuck.

I even was trying to be helped by a company who assists youths with job finding and skill classes and such and still couldn't find a job outside family connections and still get fired from.said jobs because I can't keep up.

Also had lots of times throughout my life where asthma was evident but never thought to be investigated at doctors if I was asthmatic at all. Till I had a huge asthma attack around 23. Because I was under the impression after 16 that my asthma attacks were simply panic attacks.

Now here I am disability money, no job despite looking and still growing my skills. Overweight due to eating disorder from being bullied. Probably some brain damage from abuse, ptsd, severe anxiety, severe depression, still have the social disorder and have agoraphobia from the anxiety.

All the relationships I've been in haven't even lasted 2 months at most, because I take to long to get attached. Probably because whenever I would get attached quickly that was too much. So like what can one do. That's just the straws life handed out. I'm fine to be "suffering" if someone else doesn't have to deal with this shit.

TLDR; mental illness stinky. Bullying bad. Vent.

[celamoon]

Warnings: Angst (as I always start off writing for a fandom with angst), MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH, body is still treated like shit after death

Summary: You knew Vyn would never look twice in your way yet you had hoped that maybe... just maybe he would... once...

Notes in advance: That's right I'm writing for tears of Themis now bc I am addicted so send in those requests babe <33

Vyn Richter is a lot of things to you. He's your childhood friend, a psychiatrist, calculated, noble, and most importantly, logical.

That's what you told yourself when you found out you had feelings for him. Might as well break the fall before you die from it.

He didn't do love unless he was positive of it. He was never uncertain, each step of his was calculated, strong, with the very best outcome for himself and those around him.

You also learned more about him.

How he liked his tea, how he only drank one specific type of wine, how he liked his eggs in the morning.

Needless to say, you knew more about him than he did about you.

It wasn't that he wasn't able to read you, it had just been that he had never bothered reading you. Which you assumed was either because he trusted you since he grew up with you, or that he just didn't think of you as significant enough.

Vyn as a child had been cold, had been neglected. His father was a foreigner, his mother... he had no memory of, his cousins, always aloof and acting harshly because he was a mixed child.

It was no different from growing up in an exaggerated tv drama.

But you, the little child next door, had always thrown plushes over the fence to his backyard. You threw one over on accident while playing with it, but when Vyn picked one up, and you had watched him hug the toy for a second, before letting it drop. The slightest pain on his face before it had straightened up again. You had hardened your resolve to make that boy next door feel better.

When elementary school started, you befriended Vyn immediately. You started off by asking for help, before eventually sticking with him during recess. He had gotten laughed at and bullied quite a bit for having foreign features, and you were having none of that. You beat them up with your bare fists.

When middle school came, both of you dove into your studies. Stellis city was the top in education, and being a resident there of an upper class family, neither of you had the chance of ever slacking off. It would bring dishonour, and then both of you would get berated.

Then came high school. Vyn finding that he was invested in criminal psychology, and you still not knowing what you wanted to be. You were torn for days over this. Everyone else knew what they wanted to be, what they wanted to do, yet you were slowly being left behind. So you hardened your resolve and told yourself that until Vyn had someone who could take care of him, you would stay by his side.

You got into the same university as Vyn.

You cried, without telling him, about the news, and while he nagged at you for neglecting your health for your college exam, you knew he felt relieved when you made it in as well.

University was never any easier than it should've been. Both of you dove deeper into your studies with Vyn going into criminal psychology and you into behavioural psychology. You needed to learn to read people and protect yourself... and Vyn.

Then after both of you getting your doctorate, you became coworkers. You had thought you had a chance. But that was diminished very quickly. Vyn had started to grow distant after a phone call, and you pretended that it was alright.

You didn't let that stop the routine though. Breakfast at his place, lunch in his office, the other staff had joked that you two were pretty much a married couple. but you knew that he never thought of you that way.

Then he met someone new. A mysterious girl who was different to you in so many ways. She was confident, elegant, intelligent. Working at Themis law, became famous for winning a case for the Pax group's son.

Vyn was enamoured by her.

So were you.

She was everything you could've only hoped to be.

While Vyn spoke to you about how wonderful she was, you found yourself offering help in being around her. You befriended her, and you knew exactly why she was loved by all, she just had that personality and character.

When the PUA victim ran to Vyn for help, you told him that you'd be resting for a bit. You would've been a big help, but you felt as though you'd be third wheeling on them.

So while Vyn tracked down the PUA group with her, you found yourself slowly letting go. It began with the messages, then the meetings, eventually the meals together.

It was slow, and Vyn would have probably not realized it at all if one of the patients hadn't spoken up about it.

"Dr. Richter... where's your assistant Y/n?"

Then Vyn realized that he hadn't seen you in the last weeks. It was like you disappeared.

He didn't think much of it until he felt empty.

"Y/n can you-" You're not there anymore.

"I have these files Y/n can you-"

"Y/n did-"

Then he receives news that you had left the hospital. Rumors of you two getting into a fight circulated and Vyn found himself irked.

That was when he realized something.

He grows more irritated without you. There's no one to lighten up his day in the morning or remind him to stop scratching himself when he feels uneasy.

No one was there to tell him that he should really stop pulling on his hair, to stop downing 4 espressos a day.

Meanwhile you had met a woman named Jasmine. A woman who was investigating Opaline village, and needed the help of a psychiatrist. A woman who had a little child, whom received help from the girl that Vyn loved.

You two were driving back from gathering evidence when the car swerved.

The last thing you saw was a white light.

Vyn is baffled when your name appears in a NXX file.

What were you doing there?

You had gotten into a murder disguised as an accident.

You died.

You died and somehow it was related to the drug they were researching on.

Then for the first time, the organization watched him lose his composure and break down.

The only person who had stuck by his side his entire life had left forever.

He tried to find your grave, but your family never held a funeral for you. You had betrayed them by becoming a psychiatrist while all of them were deeply religious. They cursed you, saying that this was how the heavens were punishing you. Your body got donated to scientists for research. Vyn never got to send you off or give you a flower, all he had left of you was that faltering smile the last time you met up with him.

You had left him with nothing.

Nothing except those whispered words the last time you met up.

"I hope I'd be your favourite crime"

[honeykaes]

Hello dear! I've been reading your posts for some days now and I'm completely in love! That's why I feel like I MUST drop this one idea that has been sitting with me into your capable hands as a suggestion. I apologize in advance if I said anything wrong or made you uncomfortable in any way.

Although it's kinda bold of me in the beginning. I was thinking of a courtesan reader x characters.

Especially "orians" in Japanese culture being a high class courtesan unlike the lower class being known as yūjos.

So maybe the characters going to relax to this borthel where the reader was at. And I shall leave the freedom to you to debate over this tiny idea if you desire.

Honestly I'd like to see itto in this as well. The beefy man stole my heart and I wonder how his himbo self would react.

Thank you so much for reading this and I hope you're having a gorgeous day/night. Sending lots of love.

warning: angst, fem!reader, reader is a sex worker, smut, 18+ content

minors do not interact

Although yes I do see Itto partaking in an Orian, but I feel like the biggest culprit is Kazuha.

Just consider this. Kazuha is a wondering samurai who loves observing nature. As a noblement who did commissions, he would find himself in orians quite often with his fellow samurai like Tomo. His favorite, you of course. He’d shower you in gifts and attention—autumn eyes gently and loving towards you. You were always his sweet treat to indulge in, if he had the extra funds.

After Tomo died and he was considered a criminal in his homeland before he managed to get to the Crux, he would feel empty.

On one particular stormy night, the flashes of lightning and thunder booming out left him no choice but to knock on the door of the orion, his last Mora in his palms. The women gasped, recognizing the once nobleman ushering him in. With a new set of dry clothing and a bottle of sake for what he’s done for them in the past, he would get to see you again—the only glimpse of sunshine in this dark storm of his life.

Although it may be his last time with you, he would savor every moment of it. His lips gently pressing against your skin, his snow white hair long and free from the confines of a ponytail. His thrust and movement would be slow wanting your timid moans to drown out the chill of the thunder outside.

For even if he would be dead tomorrow…at least he spent one last good night with you.

[haleviyah]

A Hispanic/ Latino Perspective: Border Clarification

This is one of the rare times I’m going to get somewhat political here, but these comments spread by the media are hitting to way close to home for me, so here I go.

Before you pounce on me, let me explain this: I am a moderate. I favor no sides, I don’t treat people by their titles but rather I prefer to judge by character even though I am not the best at it, admittedly. I favour and respect those who keep their word and own their mistakes. In short, if you do what you promise to do, you have my approval whereas if not, you will bear the brunt of my blunt rebukes and sarcastic remarks.

I am also from South Texas, specifically the Rio Grande Valley, and am a descendent of two humble Mexican families who since the Mexican Border War have made Texas their great escape and home.

Bit of a geographical reference, if you don’t know here where the Rio Grande Valley is. Look at the state of Texas, there is a bulge of state going in each direction that makes it look like a fat, lower-case ”t” : El Paso is the most West of the state, the Panhandle (Amarillo) the Northmost, Texarkana the most Eastward followed by Houston, and WAAAAAAY at the bottom is Brownsville and the Southernmost tip of Texas.

And for those of you too lazy to Google or "DuckDuckGo" the map yourself I've attached it:

The four counties: Hidalgo, Cameron, Starr and Willacy county make up the Rio Grande Valley. This is the region I grew up, the place where I experienced the best of a community and the worst of politics and failed promises.

For a bit of background: I have a parent working on the Border and they have been for many years (since I was a kid). Pretty much worked from a security officer to trooper within the span of a decade which is quite impressive and rare considering they never took bribes or anything to get where they were currently. They have told me off and on what their job is like. It’s crazy and boring some days, but also they have admitted somethings that may be fascinating. One of which is, yes, they do own horses and the reason why is so the Troopers can maneuver around tough terrain vehicles cannot go through (such as high water or narrow foot paths in brush). HOWEVER, they DO NOT OWN WHIPS. They don’t even own lassos, according to my Border Agent parent.

The only weapons agents on horse back have is a Glock, ammo, a taser, cuffs, and sometimes shot guns (but they prefer to carry light for the horses and themselves to be more flexible). They mainly carry items that would slow a person down or prevent them from hurting other people, officer or civilian; not for killing. So a whip is absolutely redundant or even absurd to have.

Those long ropes the Troopers are holding are called reins, and they are designed for steering a horse (horses cannot move opposite of the direction of their head; where their head is pointed they move in that direction). They are not made for whipping people, but rather made to get the horse’s attention. That’s it.

I took the liberty of highlighting the reins in red for you all as well as their arms and legs in blue and yellow in contrast to the reins and saddle.

It's clear from a Texan's or horse-riders perspective this Trooper almost fell off catching the other fellow and was holding onto the left rein for dear life hence why the horse looked distressed and its cheek was pulled back.

I'm not joking, you fucking try it if you're so damn horse-smart.

Now, let's look at a more relaxed position.

In short, if you haven't ridden a horse, I advise to keep your comments to yourself on this part. I have and it's way harder than it looks (horses can get cocky).

Second thing, the migrants.

Personally, I don’t know why they were so squirrelly that day. Perhaps they were spooked because they’ve never expected horse back riders to show up, maybe they had some bad experiences back home.

I don’t know!

But it’s clear there appears to be a lack of communication. Perhaps it’s the language barrier given that these guys came from Haiti, African countries and Brazil. English they probably know, but they probably don’t speak a lick of Spanish (Which both languages are mandatory for the Border Patrol).

(Again, I don't know...)

So the reasons why they started running circles around the Troopers’ horses is not for me to speculate, it’s not for YOU to defend blindly, nor is it up for the media to interpret and evangelize.

That should be left to the people to explain. No one else.

(Update: September 29th. I received a tip from a source that the Haitian immigrants (mainly) are not running from anything, they aren’t seeking asylum nor were in poverty as the media claims. They have admitted upon interview they were what we consider middle-low class and had no issues finding jobs before they decided to migrate northward. They’re just coming because they were told to come by “you-know-who”… that’s all. I know, I’m taken aback and scratching my head, too… but anyway. I digress, but do take note.)

Now, another bit of feedback I want to share: When it comes to dealing with Troopers (again, must I remind you this is a Border Patrol agent’s kid speaking), big rule:

DO NOT RUN nor MAKE THREATENING MOVEMENTS. Be calm.

It’s a simple rule, if you’re cool with the Troopers they’ll be cool with you. That’s it. Please respectfully keep in mind, these guys are trained to be safe rather than sorry. So patience and understanding with them is a must. Trust me, I’ve met my parent’s co-workers, they may look stoic and scary or condescending, but they can not let personal emotions interfere their work otherwise they risk safety.

They’re not “paranoid” or “harsh” they just have a job they cannot afford to fuck up otherwise the whole region is FUCKED. They’re the front line of defense, and do keep that in mind.

(Another footnote: I have seen Border Patrol offices, and without giving away how they function it’s not like CIA or Langley level of clean or fancy, so don’t think their offices are high tech and have marble floors with comfy lounges that cost a lot of money. Upon first glance you won’t expect the building to be an office. Border Patrol work with what they have available which isn’t a lot thanks to the ’00, ’04, ’08, ’12 and current administrations. That’s all I can give out.)

I’m going to come clean here and say the citizens in the Rio Grande Valley and the rest of Texas DO NOT FEEL SAFE with a border this wide open and no regulation is applied. Especially the Hispanic/Latino communities. So the pressure is on - and I mean REALLY on! Despite these guys working the Border are overwhelmed, they keep those emotions and opinions on lockdown when on the field. Like I said: If they fuck up, the region is fucked.

Bit of a history lesson: the Border issues on the Rio Grande are not new. Matter of factly, this problem has been happening for decades (The popular peak was during the 80s when cocaine was being distributed), but it was more than just cocaine and pot: Kids were going missing, people getting killed, women were used as mules and sold for sex, etc.

If you watched “Narcos” or “Sicario” you have a brief, dramatized taste of how the cartels function and what life is like for us Latinos. However, coming from someone who grew up there, the parts of watching your back, the abductions and even the gruesome murders are legit. To this day I remember seeing local news coverage (not CNN or MSNBC, our own stations down in the McAllen/Brownsville area) of beheadings, child murders and bodies being found in pieces… It’s something I hope my children won’t have to grow up hearing almost weekly like I did. Now it’s daily… and no one cares. And that hurts.

In the grand scheme of things, at least know this: South Texas has been part of the Cartel battle grounds and it’s obvious we’ve seen shit. Constantly being ignored is the payment we get for being front lines in the Drug War. So don’t blame us for being jumpy, or skeptical, nor even try convince us that the current surplus of immigrants is a good thing.

You can’t argue with our own experiences and history. The way things work down here is simple: You fight along side us, we fight along side you.

It’s called building trust, practicing faith. But we’ve been forgotten and lied to too many times by celebrities and politicians and social movements alike. And those who actually were going to help us are either shut down or unfortunately killed.

We just can’t trust anyone anymore. We are resorting to fending for ourselves basically, speaking up for ourselves… and so far it’s making progress in the mean time.

This level of “doing things on your own” bleeds into why our Troopers are trained they way they are trained - to expect the worst case scenario. To prepare themselves for the corpses, when a criminal pounces, the drugs being hid, for when they find a child with an adult they don’t know, or even a woman who was violated. They just genuinely don’t want to take chances and you just read why. Even my in-laws up in the Northern Midwest are disturbed.

So, considering the case of what happened a few days ago in Del Rio, Texas (as of writing this on September 25th 2021): If you run from a Trooper the first thing they are going to think is either two things:

You did something bad upon coming in to the country or

You don’t want your former government to find you because you did crimes in your home country or the country you were hiding in.

This is protocol, not biased opinions.

If, however, a Trooper commits any form of irresponsibility (such as abusing their power, unreasonable search and seizures etc.) it’s “kiss your badge good-bye” and DEMOTED or FIRED. The stakes of keeping your job in the Border Patrol are HIGH, so they are trained not to act out of line. Even a minor slip up in paper work from being fatigued gets you in SEVERE trouble with the Higher Ups and the County (Yes, that does happen and has happened). But you have to KNOW Border Patrol standards before you accuse them of anything.

With that being said, what’s floating around is not a constructive argument; it’s a distraction. How the public is demanding the trooper in the photo to be fired, tells us Latinos loud and clear that - once again - no one cares about our livelihood; no one is willing to brave enough to face the real hell going on. We are ignored or low-key demonized for simply defending ourselves.

(Now, you guys are seeing why I relate to my Jewish husband and the Israeli’ citizens - Arab and Jew - more; we’re pretty much in the same boat in the case of being ignored. But I digress.)

Before I come to a conclusion, here are other demographic facts to keep in mind that way it’ll help draw conclusions:

86.6% of the Border Patrol is HISPANIC/LATINO in the State of Texas alone.

A majority of children stolen from their families or molested are HISPANIC/LATINO.

A majority of the women violated immigrants on the border are mainly HISPANIC/LATINO.

Latin America collectively (Mexico down to Colombia and Venezuela) has the highest rates of femicide in the world.

So for you or anyone to get angry at Border Patrol agents in an unjust manner, not only are you getting mad at Hispanics and Latinos in UNIFORM for fighting to keep their communities safe, but you are actively contributing to the hell our families go through every day.

When you protest in demand for our cops or even troopers to be defunded, and fired for petty things, YOU are actively contributing to the problem of human trafficking, rape, kidnappings and murder that happens on the border. You are contributing to the Hispanic and Latino communities being dismantled and disintegrated by people who potentially want to kill us or hate us for money’s sake.

Take all of that into consideration before you get angry at anyone here.

In short:

I’ll only consider the accusations if you yourselves have been there and know the burdens we bear.

I’ll only consider your judgement if you genuinely are in law enforcement and know how to ride a horse and try to stop someone from running while riding the beast.

I’ll only consider your feedback if you don’t rely heavily on news like CNN, Telemundo and Tumblr for your information.

Until you grab a gun and fight the cartel yourself, and figure out a way to end this war on human trafficking, don’t come to us Latinos and express that you care and appreciate us.

Because frankly if you GENUINELY did, you’d bring to light what I just said and be slamming the desks at D.C. and DEMANDING the Border to be CLOSED by now.

Regardless of your political and personal beliefs, this is what is REALLY going on, and we’re going to keep fighting. Like the Israeli’s we don’t give a fuck if you hate us. We’re not radicals, we’re not blood-thirsty heathens, we’re not white supremacists (80+% of our population is of Latino Mexican descent) we’re just fed up with running away and being taken advantage of or taken for granted by people who value money over the lives of our neighbors.

If this were California, fine! Rail all you want, cuss us out as much as you want; hold us to those to California standards you keep yourself. But we’re not California.

We’re not D.C., nor Chicago, nor L.A., or New York, Florida, Canada, Mexico or whatever. We are SOUTH TEXAS so treat us as SOUTH TEXAS.

Honor us for who we are and hold us to the standards of what is SOUTH TEXAS, what is The United States Constitution, and the Texas Constitution; nothing more and nothing less. Don’t tear us down for what we’re not nor hold us accountable to an opinion or law we never agreed to nor knew existed.

That’s all I ask: If you’re not willing to honour our community and help us while holding us to our standards on a cultural, State or Federal level, back the fuck off. Generations we’ve dealt with the pressure from both the cartel and corrupt government from both the U.S. and Mexico, and the last thing we need is pampered kids living in the high rises or going to university on loans from school or your parents' paychecks, telling us how to deal with our issues.

You are FAR from a place to tell us how to function and resolve our war.

I’m not trying nor want to start a fight or otherwise, but I’m simply, humbly asking: when did we ever genuinely ask you “social justice advocates” to be our hero?

When did we ever ask you to fight for us or talk about what you think is wrong with us? Because last I checked we don’t want to drag anyone into our battles.

Also, we only know one messiah, but we never asked you to be him nor for him to act like you.

Did you start throwing punches because you wanted to find something to excuse your anger and outbursts, or is your good intentions married with ignorance?

Either case… it’s extremely unhealthy of you, and please just stop before another person gets hurt. We don’t want that. This is no different from the Crusades our ancestors took part in, and it will only end in more carnage than already sown.

So, just please, stop and take a step back for a moment. We don’t need anymore vehement evangelical-like people who just think with their ideals and not take a moment to have a healthy discussion with the One who created us, or let alone divorce their lust for a fight for ten seconds.

To close this off, even though I haven’t been home in a while, I know the spirit and the struggles the Rio Grande Valley goes through. I have met people on the run from the cartel first hand, and I have met people who may have ties with the cartel. I have seen some creepy shit, I have grown frustrated over the Protestant Baptist church doing nothing, and I have even been feeling the pressure my parent goes through with these apathetic riots threatening their job as a Border Patrol agent.

But aside from the pain, I am tremendously blessed that people and my family are still very optimistic despite the craziness and how bleak things are.

The family-oriented culture of the Rio Grande Valley is what is keeping it together… not trends, not clout and neither these guys in D.C. or Hollywood who are playing G-d.

It's the family-oriented connection. Our faith, that's keeping us going.

And even though I may not be the best voice of that region to speak up, I am blessed to have been there and I do plan on coming back soon.

I am planning on giving a more fun journal featuring the culture of the Rio Grande Valley in the future to finish this month off, but for the sake of this “Hispanic Heritage Month” I wanted to share our REAL issues we deal with rather than the made up ones that media likes to mainstream for money and clout.

In a way, I hope this offers clarity and a level of empathy. Again, I’m not sharing this to start fights or get sympathy - we don’t want it. We just want to know if our fights are not ignored, we just want to know we are heard.

That’s all.

[forkanna]

[AO3] [WATTPAD]

NOTE: Here we go. Little bit of a shift in this chapter... you'll see. Thanks for keeping up with this fic and all your comments!

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Everything was rather quiet for a couple of days. Rise threw herself into practicing her vocals with every spare moment, meeting with her manager and conferencing with her record label over the phone. She needed the distraction. Without any clear course of action with Ai, she had decided to let that matter fade into the background. Maybe something would come to her eventually.

On Sunday, she and the gang decided to go fishing, since that was one of Narukami's favourite activities and they were all missing him lately. For most of them, it simply meant getting to wave around poles and wade into the water, splashing each other. Kanji and Naoto resented this because they were much more serious about the matter, but the others didn't pay them too much mind.

"Hey, why didn't you invite Ai?" Chie suddenly asked as they re-baited their hooks. "She too snobby to get down here in the river with us?"

Rise laughed. "You're kidding, right?"

"Yeah," she responded, giggling right along. "No way would she be caught dead touching a fish that's not cooked."

"No… I meant that she wouldn't want to hang out with me anymore."

"Why not?" Yukiko asked. "I thought you were becoming sort of close with her."

Wow, how oblivious could they be? "Not anymore."

Once she had explained properly, which took the better part of half an hour, most of the joy had been sucked out of their springtime activity. Rise did feel a little bad about that, but it was as much their fault as hers, so she didn't spend too much mental energy on sympathy for her friends.

"Gosh, that is so sad," Teddie said with a pronounced pout. He really did seem genuinely disappointed not to have another friend. "I know you guys didn't really mean to hurt her feelings."

"Guess I thought he'd be over that by now," Chie confessed quietly.

"Yeah," Yosuke added. "Like, as long as he stays away from my butt, I don't really care what he does with his time. And man, he looks way better in drag than even Teddie did, so…"

While Teddie was harrumphing as if genuinely offended, Kanji chuckled harshly as he twitched his line in the water the tiniest bit. "What is it with you and that gay panic, bro? I'm surprised your Shadow didn't look more like mine."

"H-hey, I'm just a healthy, red-blooded Japanese male! I like girls who are actually girls! Is that a crime?"

"I'll buy you a butt-protector to keep all the dicks out," Chie cackled bemusedly. Yosuke just grimaced.

"I'm… starting to get why she didn't want this getting out," Rise sighed.

"Hm?" Yukiko said as she turned back in her direction. "What is it?"

"Nothing."

"No, that sounded important. I wouldn't want to hurt anyone's feelings…"

Which she appreciated. Even if the others were a little oblivious sometimes, Yukiko genuinely meant well all the time. Every minute of every day. "It's just… I'm no big expert on this subject, but you guys can see how much work she put into being taken seriously as a woman. Because she looks like one! Nobody could tell! And I think I haven't paid much attention to how hard that must have been for her… I'm… wow. And I really did almost ruin her life."

Not that she had been unaware of that before. She thought she understood, and she did — better than her friends did, for sure. But listening to them casually treat her like a drag act, a joke, a source of anxiety for Yosuke's extra-fragile masculinity, peeled back just enough of the curtain. Now she knew that she really didn't know anything at all.

"Don't be so dramatic," Chie sighed. "Like you said, he was able to play it off, and he's giving you a lot more shit now than is necessary compared to what you did on accident. Like, scales balanced. If he wants to keep being a dick then that's on him."

Rise shrugged helplessly as she tossed her fishing pole back onto the shore. "You're not wrong about that part. I'm not saying her trying to get revenge on me is right. I'm just saying I understand why she feels so betrayed. Didn't really get it before, but…"

"I still don't get it now," Yosuke grunted. "The whole thing makes me super uncomfortable. But it sounds like he already had the surgery, so… doesn't that mean he's a girl anyway?"

"What? No, it's… nevermind that part." She had been about to insist that Ai did not have "The Surgery" yet, even though she had probably undergone several other minor procedures. But that was the kind of detail that would get her even deeper in trouble than she already was, so she cut herself off.

"Well, I'm with Chie," Yukiko said cautiously. "You have apologized for hurting her, you didn't intend to in the first place. If she were a true friend, she would accept your apology."

"I'm not sure it's that simple."

They all turned to look at Naoto, not having expected her to speak. The girl was wearing a very thoughtful expression underneath her newsboy-casquette cap. "What isn't?" Teddie finally prompted when everybody had been quiet for a little too long.

"This situation with Ebihara-san. She's living her life as transgender, and you have jeopardized that life. Even if on accident, I can see how she would interpret that as an attack."

"Come on," Chie sighed. "Any idiot knows the difference between on accident and on purpose."

"Not necessarily. In law, there is such a thing as 'gross criminal negligence'. This means that even if it's an accident, even if you did nothing with the premeditated intent to do harm, you can still cause harm and be held accountable for it. At least, partially."

"So you're saying it's okay that this asshole is trying to frame our friend for cheating?!" Yosuke burst out.

"Hm? Oh, no, not at all," Naoto insisted, a slight crease in her brow. "But this is a matter of criminal pathology. Even if Ebihara-san is not a criminal, she is perpetrating criminal acts; understanding them requires the same skill set. Motive. Means. Opportunity. We already know the last two, more or less; security isn't especially tight at Yasogami High. I'm sure it was a simple matter for her to sneak into the classroom and pilfer the answer key, then sneak it into Rise's bag when no one was looking. So all that's left is… why?"

"Because he's a petty jerk," Chie provided immediately.

"It's not that simple."

"No, it really is. Maybe you guys get something about how serious us gossiping about him was that I don't, but I don't care. You don't treat a friend like that. Period! Even if he's really pissed at Rise, she did apologize, she's trying to make it right. He's not acting like a friend at all. So I say, screw him! Just let him self-destruct and be alone. And if he won't stop being a jerk to you, we will be jerks right back. I'm not going to sit around while he drags you down for something you didn't even do on purpose."

Rise felt a rush of affection toward Chie Satonaka. Even if she couldn't completely agree with everything she was saying, it was nice to know her friends had her back — that these were true blue friendships that had lasted beyond being part of the same Investigation Team. The passion with which she spoke, and the anger she clearly felt toward Ebihara because she was attacking her friend, made the existence of those bonds unmistakable.

However… she also couldn't ignore the way Naoto's brow furrowed further. Kanji also rested a hand on her shoulder. Was she simply upset about losing an argument, or was there more to that?

"I can't disagree with what you say. I was merely trying to point out that in Ebihara-san's estimation, Rise may deserve vengeance more than she does in any of our estimation. She is viewing the situation differently than we are."

"Well his 'estimation' sucks," Chie grumbled.

"Maybe," Rise finally cut in with a discomfited sigh. "But can you guys… can you promise me you won't do anything mean to her without asking me? At least that? I know she's being a jerk, but it's because I messed up. Huge. So this has to be between her and me."

None of them looked too thrilled with that. Yukiko nodded immediately, seemingly satisfied right away that she was doing what was asked of her by her friend. The others were a little slower to agree but they still all did at some point or another, dissatisfied as they were.

"Thanks. And I'm so happy you have my back, I can't express that enough. But I have to figure this out on my own."

"You got it," Kanji grunted as he started reeling in a fish. "Shit… it's a big one… but I'm not gonna forget how you looked when that old bag accused you of cheating. That ain't right. Ebihara better make it right eventually, or his ass is grass."

What an ominous threat. Well-meaning, but ominous. Rise knew she would have to sort this matter out post haste — before she had to find out just how far her friends were willing to go to come to her aid.

                                          ~ o ~

All of this gave birth to a very determined Rise Kujikawa, and this was the one who walked into school on a foggy Monday morning. Ai had done enough damage; she had to forge ahead as if everything was fine. Her new tactic had to be not to let the bullying get to her, because she better understood it was just her friend being hurt by her own actions. And if she wouldn't accept her apology… there was nothing more she could do.

But she didn't have it in her to give up. That option was stricken off the list. Rise was no quitter.

Everything was fine until her second-to-last class of the day. Rise had mostly focused on schoolwork and chatting with her other friends, taking her mind off more depressing matters. Gearing up for a promotional video she was supposed to shoot soon; that would be a first step toward reestablishing herself as an artist, even if she still didn't intend to go back to singing full-time until she graduated. And the class with Ms. Sofue was fine in and of itself… for the first ten minutes or so.

That was when she noticed the smell. At first, she was looking around the room to try and figure out who had lost control of their bowels in such close proximity to other students. Maybe it was something they had for lunch?

A brief investigation ten minutes later revealed the true culprit, once everyone was looking at her like she was being most unladylike. Deep in the recesses of her desk, which she never used to keep anything since she would just have to move it again after class, someone had stuffed an old sandwich. Unless she missed her guess, there was natto and egg on it, among other things. But there was too much mold growing inside the sandwich bag for her to be certain.

"Oh GOOD GOD!" cried one of the boys nearby, covering his face with his arm. "What's in that thing?!"

Waving at the air with her crooked heka, the teacher coughed and demanded, "Please dispose of your lunch in a proper manner from now on, Miss Kujikawa! Make no mistake, even I have no interest in mummified food!"

A few of them were able to wrap it in some paper and drag it to the trash can, amid Rise's protests that she had never seen it before. Nobody believed her, because the natto tended to make it seem obvious that it had come from Marukyu — even though their speciality was tofu, not other soybean offerings. A lot of bickering back and forth broke out until the teacher banged her cane on her desk.

"Enough! Miss Kujikawa has technically broken no rule, even if it was her sandwich. So we'll say no more about it. Please, open your books again and turn to page…"

But the entire class period, Rise couldn't stop thinking about the sandwich. She already knew who it was; only one person at that school was stupid enough to actively mess with a famous pop idol. The instant the bell rang, she pelted out of class so fast that quite a few students gasped. By now, she knew what class Ai was supposed to be in around this time… and where she could find her.

                                          ~ o ~

"Oh!" gasped one of the girls in the locker room when Rise barged past her. "Do you even have this class? What are you doing in the-"

"Ebihara?" she asked. Some girl with a towel wrapped around her hair pointed further into the room. Rise stormed over there to find a towel-clad Ai preening at the mirror hanging on the inside of her locker, running the brush through her hair over and over. "Thanks for your present."

Smirking a little, the girl didn't even glance over. "I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Yeah? You don't recognise it?"

Everyone gasped when she threw it onto the bench nearest Ebihara. That was nothing compared to the chorus of disgusted noises that followed once its foul stench began to pervade the air within the steamy room. Even still wrapped in the plastic bag, it was horrendous.

"Oh, GOD," Ai joined in, though she was chuckling just a little. "Why would you be carrying that thing around? Just to throw at me like that?"

"Why?" she demanded. "This has crossed the line from mean to just… weird! What's the point of stinking up the classroom?"

Full of false innocence, she pressed a hand to her chest as she said, "Why, I don't know. Sounds to me like someone just forgot to throw away her lunch. Maybe you should be a little less wasteful. Then again, as rich and famous as you are, I bet you don't care at all."

A ripple of murmurs spread throughout the room. Rise knew that they didn't really care about the sandwich, or about wastefulness, but they were highly concerned with this argument between two students playing out right in front of them. Gossip fodder. So she decided not to give them any more ammunition.

"Okay. We'll just throw it away." She snatched it off the bench and flashed Ai a poisonous smile. "Have a lovely day, Ebi-chan."

"Don't you mean Ebi-kun?"

Rise stopped dead in her tracks. She actually looked around for what assholes had said it, determined to give them a dressing down. Even if they were fighting, nobody got to talk about her friend like that. But she realized it had come from Ai herself. "What?"

"You were one of the people that started the rumour, right?" She looked so haughty, arms folded over her chest and hip cocked to one side. "So I'm surprised you let it go that easy."

Deciding to play along, she smirked and shot back, "I heard you showed off the goods to some other girls and it proved it was false."

"Yeah. But since when do people like you care about facts? You would much rather be right than the truth prevail."

"People like- okay. Whatever this is, whatever you want from me, I'm done with it. I thought we could try to be adults and move on, but all you want to do is start a war — one I'm not interested in fighting. Just leave me alone if you really can't stand me this bad, okay?"

Ai laughed and took a step forward. "Rise-Risette, the gossip-monger. And now, the cheater! What terrible thing are you going to do next?"

"I didn't do anything in the first place!"

"You know you did." The smile disappeared for a second, leaving her friend's features full of cold fury. But it was so brief that most of the other girls probably wouldn't have noticed; then she was smiling like rainbows were shooting out of her ass again. "And hey, if you want to try to blame me for all of it, go ahead. You might as well."

"No, that's not necessary. Maybe it's just a series of tragic coincidences."

"Uh huh. Or maybe you're just a self-destructive pop idol, a little brat who couldn't hack it in the entertainment industry, and now that you're stuck in boring old Inaba, you want attention again. Don't you see you're going about it all the wrong ways?"

So that was her game. Now Rise could see this for what it was: it wasn't just any one incident meant to slander her and give her a bad name. All of them together were supposed to paint a picture of a celebrity spiraling out of control. Rise was going to turn into the Japanese Britney Spears if Ai Ebihara had anything to do with it.

"You really want to destroy me that badly?" she hissed now that they were so close their noses were almost touching. All the girls around them were whispering and chattering, watching the drama intently. The rub was, they were gossiping so much about what they were saying that they couldn't even actually hear what they were saying.

"You can bet on it. I told you I was going to, unless you destroy me first. And I think you will. I think you are exactly the kind of person who will shoot in self-defense."

"That isn't me," she breathed, glancing down at Ai's body. It was so close to her own… she couldn't help looking, couldn't help feeling flustered even though they were fighting right now. "We both know that. You're just mad I messed up, and you won't let me apologize, and you won't leave it alone. There's nothing else I can do."

"Yes there is." Then she hiked an eyebrow slightly, lowering her voice to barely a whisper. "What? What are you looking at?"

"Nothing. Just… trying to figure out what to-"

"You were trying to figure out if you could see my dick. Weren't you?" As Rise felt her brow furrow, Ai chuckled and pressed on, "Do it. Go looking."

She could feel her temper flaring hotter. It was getting hard to control. "Stop being so gross. I wouldn't do that, I haven't done that, and I'm not going to do that."

"Why not? Come on… all you have to do is rip this towel off me. Show the world. Maybe I'm tucking again, maybe I'm not. But wouldn't that be great if you exposed a scandal in the women's locker room? Risette the Hero, saving all these poor girls from the freak."

"You know — you know I have never once in my life called you a freak, why do you want me to hurt you so badly? What do you get out of it? Are you some kind of psycho masochist?!"

"Sure! Go with that. Even more reason to save everyone. Do it." No movement. "Clock's ticking. The longer you wait, the weirder it's going to be that we're standing here whispering to each other."

But Rise's mind was racing. She still had no idea really why she was pushing so hard for her to attack, to be so vicious. She thought back to the revelation she had when walking home — about Ai, about what these attacks meant for their relationship. And when she thought of it that way…

Everything came together. Of course, nothing was for certain until she heard it straight from the horse's mouth, but now Rise thought she understood the reason her former friend was trying so hard to get her to treat her like vermin.

"No," she whispered with a small smile.

"No? Aww, I guess the games continue then," Ai said with a fake, exaggerated pout. "You're going to have to be a lot tougher than that to make it as a star."

"Actually… let's play a new game. Unless you want to give up now?" Her pleading face returned. "Please, please just stop. I'll leave you alone if that's what you want, or we can go back to being friends and… try to put this behind us. But I'm not giving up, not going away. So…? Maybe?"

Ai shook her head. "This isn't your game, you don't get to change the rules, princess. So nice try."

"Fine," she sighed… before sliding her arms tightly around Ai.

"H-hey!" she burst out. Then a little louder, "Oh my GOD, now Risette is trying to molest me!"

Before the gasps really had a chance to deepen, Rise sobbed, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you, I just… I just love you so much Ai, a-and when you… when you pulled away, I didn't know what to do! Can't you forgive me?"

Even the girls who weren't watching before were glued to this scene now. And even though she could tell Ai didn't like losing control of the situation — hated might have been more apropos — she still drew back to gape at her.

"What… did you just say?"

"I asked you to forgive-"

"Cut the bullSHIT!" she snapped loudly enough that one smaller girl yelped and fell back on her ass, scrabbling for the nearest bench. "You can't mean that. Not in front of all these people, you… they'll know you're- if you say how you feel, that's…"

"I don't care about them! I love you, Ai, I… I didn't mean for us to end up this way!" Her bottom lip wobbled hard as she took a shaky breath. "But if you really can't forgive me, I'll understand! I just… I can't go on with us hurting each other like this!"

"Oh, this is so not going to work," she scoffed… until she saw a few of the girls putting their hands on Rise's shoulders, comforting her as the big fat tears rolled down her cheeks. Offering tissues, petting her hair. "Are you- wow, you guys can't be buying this! It's an act!"

"Hey, don't be so mean!" said some girl with bobbed hair; Rise thought her name was Matsunaga, but she couldn't remember at the moment. The moment Ai's gaze was on her, she said much more quietly, "S-sorry."

"Oh my GOD. Fine. Whatever, I'm out of here."

But a wall of girls blocked her way. They were all glowering at her now, looking ready to throw down; they would never have challenged alone but there was safety in numbers. Ai's eyebrows shot up, unimpressed… but the more she looked at all of them, the more anxious she appeared. Not frightened, just uneasy from the attention. The constant attention, while wearing a towel… prospect of a fight… she backed into a corner and they started to advance on her. This would get seriously out of hand if someone didn't step in.

Someone stepped in.

"Please, just give me another chance," Rise provided smoothly as she slid forward through the throng of girls, taking up Ai's hand — which was immediately yanked out of reach. Her voice was taut with emotion as she pleaded, "That's all! I'll show you I can be a better friend, a-and those pranks? Forgotten! And I won't ever tell another lie about you again, I promise!"

Ai took another good look around at the student body standing in opposition against her. The wheels were turning behind her eyes. Then she glared down at Rise with a shake of her head. "You… conniving… snake," she muttered.

Some of the girls heard it, and looked more scandalised. And because now everyone else was behind her… Rise felt comfortable allowing a smug, triumphant smirk to take over her features. Just for an instant. She even mouthed a few choice words:

"You only have one way out."

Oh, she had never seen Ai look that angry before. This wasn't just annoyance or rage. She looked murderous. But it only lasted a second before she sighed, shut her eyes, took a breath.

"Rise… fine. I know… I went too far. Can you forgive me?"

"Wow, really sounds authentic," one of the others closest to the lockers scoffed.

"No, really." When Ai opened her eyes again, she was smiling weakly. "I have missed you. I just didn't know… I was so angry when you started that nasty rumour."

"I know. It was a stupid mistake! And I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you, if you just… take me back! That's all you have to do." She took both of her hands, ignoring the way nails were digging into her own. Petty little revenges were par for the course now. "Just be with me."

One could hear a pin drop in that locker room. Ai pulled her close and whispered softly, "You want to play this game? We're playing it on a national level."

"Bring it on," she replied in kind, smirking again — even while her heart pounded in her throat from the closeness. "But c'mon, I beat you this round."

"Shut up."

Such a chorus of "WHOOOOO" went up when they kissed that it felt like they were shaking the foundation of Yasogami High. Probably because, metaphorically as well as literally, they were. Game-changer indeed.

                                          To Be Continued…

[idkwhoiamanymorebutwtf]

“Lady In Waiting”

We all know that Cassandra is Rapunzel’s Lady In Waiting, and most people have a...basic understanding of what that entails. (take care of the person they serve, duh). However a lot of what it means to be in this position can explain some of Cass’s behaviors. We need to answer some questions about the job, though.

1.) What exactly does a Lady In Waiting do anyway?

Well we don’t really need to look at what they would historically do for answers to this one, I mean we see Cass perform her duties in show.

We see Cassandra do things such as sewing, washing clothing, and just generally cleaning up the place. Now I found this a bit odd since, from what i’e a Lady In Waiting is generally supposed to solely take care of, from what i’ve gathered at least, one member of a royal family, and while Cassandra is the one person on the staff who does take care of Rapunzel, she also seems to serve everyone else around too. She’s been shown sewing and cleaning dresses that clearly don’t belong to Rapunzel- or even Arianna for that matter- and she cleans up after everyone in the castle as well. It's pretty clear that she’s not only Rapunzel’s personal Lady In Waiting, but kinda just a handmaiden in general who serves the whole royal family and maybe even some other people too. Cassandra not only cleans and sews and brushes Rapunzel’s hair and get’s her ready for things, etc, but she also serves as a personal confidant for Rapunzel. Of course that could just because of their friendship, but with her responsibilities and all, taking time to help Rapunzel with things that probably aren’t in her job description, as well as offering advice....well dealing with Rapunzel’s personal problems probably add to her workload tbh. 

2.) Where In Society Does The Princess’s Lady In Waiting Rank?

Well, the truth is, from what I've gathered, the Lady In Waiting of a princess tends to be a noble woman. However I have to think that Cassandra may be an exception to that. First off, just look at her parentage. Yes, she’s the daughter of the Captain Of The Royal Guards, which I could say would raise her ranking, except for the fact that Tangled is clearly based on Germany, and while the exact year isn’t clear, and I've seen numbers ranging from 1780-1840, you have to realize, in Germany actual adoption wasn’t actually a thing until the year 1900. Well, adult adoption and simple adoption, that is. Full child adoption was not a thing until 1970, which is certainly outside of our time range by quite a long time. Which means it’s highly likely that Cassandra wouldn’t be legally recognized as the daughter of the captain, but as an illegitimate bastard orphan with her only known biological parent being a known and hated criminal. So basically, there’s no chance Cassandra could possibly be considered nobility. In fact, her being considered an illegitimate child and an orphan could very well be how she wound up as a servant in the first place. Many orphans around this time period in Europe were only legally cared for by an orphanage (or a foster parent if they’re lucky, which would not have given them any legal recognition as having a parent, btw, so being fostered won’t stop you from being labeled a bastard. So while I do not doubt Cass could have been one of the lucky kids who were actually fostered since of course the Captain loves her as any parent loves their kid, legally speaking it does not make a difference, and so it would not make a difference class wise either.) until around twelve years old, and after that many of them were made to be servants wherever a servant is needed. Which could very well explain how Cass wound up as a handmaiden, since it doesn’t feel like the type of job she’d pick for herself, but it could very well have been chosen for her. Legally, in some areas of Germany, it was possible to adopt adults around the time Tangled could take place, however even if we say that somehow the stars aligned and Cassie was a very, very unlikely circumstance where she managed to get legally adopted by her dad and have all the benefits a legitimate ‘natural’ daughter would have (which is, by the way, very unlikely), she still wouldn’t be considered nobility. Royal guards aren’t nobility and their families certainly aren’t either. And there are only two types of servants I've heard of. The types that are just barely below their boss class-wise, the the types that are at the very bottom of the social hierarchy. Cassandra is, again, legally an illegitimate bastard orphan servant girl, so it’s just not looking good for her. And the people around her seem to agree.

Yes, neither of these are people within Corona, however they seem to use her title as Lady In Waiting to mock her. They’re warriors, and nobles are typically above warriors, so just this alone should solidify that Cassandra’s not the high class type of Lady In Waiting. She’s servant class all the way through. In fact, she’s lower than most people. Even back in season one her title is used to mock her, during Challenge of the Brave, people laugh at her for being nothing more than the princess’s servant and talk down to her. Cassandra is very clearly at the bottom the the social hierarchy. 

3.) How much is a Lady In Waiting paid? Are they paid?

All my sources say they don’t make money. At all. Room and board are normally covered by their ‘employers’, but the sad truth is that they don’t actually have salary’s or wages...at all. At least in real life they don’t. And you could argue that maybe it’s different in Corona, since it’s only based on a real place, and doesn’t have to follow strictly the history of said place. However there’s literally no evidence that Cassandra is paid..anything. Not even a passing comment. I don’t think I've ever even seen her use money, to be completely honest? And she’s definitely not being paid during season two, even if she were in season one, which again, I doubt it.

Now anyone who thinks Cass turning against Rapunzel and the other’s, consider her other options. Continue to be an unpaid servant for the rest of her life or go move into a convent (there weren’t many places willing to hire bastard orphans who had a treasonous kidnapper as a mother). Tell me either of those were okay options right now. Neither was turning ‘evil’ but literally what did you want her to do? And she’s only doing bad things because she’s been coerced by someone taking advantage of her in her weakest, traumatized, confused state and manipulating her completely, which seriously, she’s so damaged that of course she’s an easy target for manipulation.

(People have been pointing out in the comments that these things aren't necessarily the same in Corona as in actual Germany since it's a fantasy show with a setting based off of Germany, and yes, as I said in the post, you can argue that things could be different in Corona, however most of these points are backed up, especially Cassandra being low class, when you really analyze the small scenes of the show and what they mean on a larger scale. I'm also inclined to believe Cassandra is paid like a normal lady in waiting (i.e not at all) since she lives in the castle and they were given room and board, just not actual wages, and since Cass is getting room and board and we don't see her get paid or ever hear it mentioned....one can only assume she's treated like any real life handmaiden would be)

[nekumiko]

Colors

Fandom: Daiya no Ace

Genre: Romance

Rated: T

Words: 2, 032

Chapters: 1 | 2

Summary:  She’s fascinated with his hair. Just his hair. But Ryousuke finds it invasive, and of course he won’t let her off that easily.

Chapter Two: Not even an acquaintance, but a nuisance

Snickers.

She hears snickers. From the people passing them by, and a certain distinct one.

"What did I even do wrong?” she asks distractedly. “I just made a mistake."

"Exactly."

That chuckling continues. She wants to cry. Out of humiliation and relief at the same time.

"Huh?" She blinks, then realizes, her eyes widening before settling back to a small frown. "I mean, there's nothing wrong with being friends with someone who just happened to be your brother." Her brown eyes now locks gazes with familiar ones of the same color, hidden behind thick black glasses. Help me. Please.

The source of the annoying, mocking chuckles straightens up, but his eyes still laugh. Not for free, right?

 You're unbelievable.

"Are you even friends?" Kominato pulls her back to attention, away from the three-second conversation of eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe you're just forcing it on him. Or you've been targeting him next."

"Stop treating me like some criminal."

"Ryou-san!"

She is pulled back by the scruff of her collar, her feet lifting off the ground a bit, as someone's broad back fills her vision. "Ack!" she almost chokes.

Their interrupter starts talking to the senior, allowing her to step further behind him to hide from eyes she couldn't even see. That's when a school bag is deliberately dropped on her feet.

She groans, but has to take it with her.

"Oh?" she hears Kominato as she steps onto the stairs. "So that's why she doesn't grow. Your girlfriend."

"Geh," both second-years gag.

Leaving the usual denial up to her savior, she slips away as they easily slip into baseball talk, the school bags on each hand keeping her from running up the stairs. Reaching 2-B's classroom, the bag almost flies out the window, the way it bumped into the sill before it landed on the desk behind the one she'd chosen for herself. She then hunches over on her own desk, making fake sobbing noises.

Black.

Interacting with Kominato Ryousuke, which she tries so hard not to do, always leaves her feeling dark and gloomy.

She's used to non-friendly banters, but this is something else. He'd always manage to work her up with just one word from him. And she ends up spouting unintelligible things that would put her into more of a disadvantage.

What was she even thinking? Even back at the train station. What could have happened if ever she had encountered the older Kominato back then?

So much for wanting to advance to the 'friends' category.

"Bop." A light tap on the back of her head.

Almost instantly, she turns with both arms outstretched. "You-!"

"Not the glasses, no marks on skin," the male brunette warns, which temporarily halts her actions until he sits down.

"Ka-zu-yaaa!" She settles on pulling his bangs with every syllable before flopping face-down again, now on his desk. "Kazuya," she groans, "I'm so stupid."

Black. That's all she can see right now.

How wonderful would it be to sink in darkness and stay there forever.

"I'd be lonely," she hears Miyuki say.

So she said that out loud. "Ew, Kazuya. Please listen to yourself."

But if only she'd stop seeing color—no, if she'd only stop seeing that pink, she'd stop approaching it like a moth to a flame.

She buries her face into the blackness, wishing for a black hole to swallow her up.

"Stop hugging that, it's not him." Miyuki carefully pulls his bag out from under her, replacing the black she's seeing with the beige desk.

She remains unmoving.

"Did you throw this? I have a packed lunch in here."

"I don't care because it's not true."

"My contacts and goggles are—"

"You have them back at the dorm."

"As expected of a stalker, huh?"

"As if."

Miyuki laughs. "Now what was that all about earlier?"

She groans again.

"I thought you've been avoiding direct interactions with Ryou-san? And now you do a surprise attack?"

"You mean you saw everything?" She shoots up, prompting Miyuki to lean back on his chair for she almost hit his chin.

"Of course." He grins.

"Then why...?"

He shrugs. "I was wondering what you're up to."

She sighs and looks out the window. "I thought he's Haruichi."

"Haruichi?"

"Ah!" She looks back at him. "Kazuya, why didn't you tell me Kominato-san has a little brother?"

He holds up both hands to chest-level. "Trust me, this is the first time I'm hearing this."

"He just joined the team! You met the new members last week, right?"

"Do you really expect me to remember every single new face?"

"But... but he has pink hair too! That'd be hard to miss!"

"What do you think do we do in the field? Gawk at each other and gossip?"

"Hmph." She crosses her arms. Then she lights up. "Aha! Maybe you got punished for being late!"

He chuckles. "All-seeing eye."

"Spot on!" She giggles. "So that's why you didn't have time to observe?"

"Don't be silly. Practice lasted for the whole day, we all ate in the same cafeteria, and live in the same dorm. It's just, for someone to be remembered, they should do something remarkable first. Or be a miserable failure." Miyuki glances out the window with a smirk.

Click.

"Whoops, forgot to turn that off." She lowers her phone to see Miyuki raising an eyebrow at her. "Sorry, I need money."

"Since when did the little princess need money, huh?" he asks. "My face practically fills up your phone memory. How come you won't just take Ryou-san's pictures too? That way, chances of interaction are lowered." He leans forward. "Or do you just like looking at him in person?"

"I-I wouldn't deny that, but it's really not how you make it sound like. Besides, taking someone's picture attracts more attention. He'd really call the police."

"You think I wouldn't anytime soon?"

She laughs and pokes his cheek. "Of course you wouldn't! Kazuya loves me!"

"Listen to yourself, Aya."

"This is why you two are mistaken as a couple," a voice says beside them.

"Eh? Mochi's our classmate again?" she says monotonously, turning to the voice.

"Nice to see you again too, Aya." Kuramochi puts his bag down on his chair. "Wait, haven't you seen me in the opening ceremony earlier?"

"Of course she didn't," Miyuki butts in. "Her eyes are over to the third—"

"I was just kidding, Mochi!" she cuts off, waving her hand left and right, smacking lightly on Miyuki's cheek. "Don't take it to heart!"

"I thought so, actually," Kuramochi looks back and forth at them.

"And besides," Miyuki's at it again, "she wouldn't be mean to her strongest link to Ryou-san."

"I don't need to be linked to him! I'd cut off all ties you'd ever create between us two!"

"Woah, there!" Kuramochi laughs. "Maybe you should stop for now, Miyuki."

"What do you mean, ‘for now?’”

It's so unfair.

'I work and live for the aesthetic. It's only natural for me to get attracted to what I think is beautiful,' she'd say. Or used to say.

Apparently it had only solidified the misunderstanding.

"You won't drop by practice?" Miyuki notices her heading the other direction after class.

"Aww, Kazuya, do you miss me that much?" she says sweetly as a joke. At Miyuki's deadpan expression, Aya continues walking. "It's recruitment day. I'm—I mean, my drawings—are Art Club's front liner."

"Oh. The double play drawing?"

She sighs. "And more."

The more she draws, the more she needs to observe. The more she needs inspiration, the more she gets teased.

"For Ryou-san's birthday?" she hears Kuramochi overhead.

She'd been sitting outside, a ways bit under a window. "Nah, an order. Miyuki Kazuya #5. I finished one of you, would you like to see…?" She looks up. "Really? It's his birthday?"

"I'm really more concerned now with how you make money."

"At least you know you have fangirls~"

"Huh." He leans out the window. "So do you accept commissions requesting Ryou-san too?"

"Why wouldn't I? It's money."

He shrugs. "I just thought you'd want to keep him for yourself."

Aya squints. "Shoo, Mochi, shoo."

"I'll request one for his birthday, with your full name and signature at the bottom. It has to have a huge 'Happy Birthday' in it."

"That's really sweet of you, to get a birthday gift for your beloved senior. But requests are closed. Go get a gift using your own effort."

Kuramochi laughs his usual. "I'd pay you double if you give it to him personally."

"…I-ignoring you." She picks her pencil up again.

The more she denies, the more she gets misunderstood.

"Makoto-san!" Someone taps her shoulder.

Aya turns around to find the three Seidou managers, plus a younger-looking girl wearing a similar jacket to them.

Sachiko's pigtails seem to bounce as she continues, "I knew you'd be here!"

Aya grins. "Of course! I love supporting the team!"

"And him?" Yui, the short-haired manager, smirks.

"And Kazuya." She beams proudly, despite noticing the two exchanging glances. "He's amazing, right? Three-run homer, man!"

"We know!" both second-year managers, somehow brought back to the excitement of the game with that, chorus.

She then turns to the youngest girl. "Hi!" She waves. "New manager?"

"Y-yes! My name's Yoshikawa Haruno, the first-year manager. Nice to meet you!" The girl bows.

She returns the bow. "Makoto Aya. I'm... a mere audience."

"She's Art Club's pride!" Sachiko says. "You might have seen her drawings of the team on recruitment day."

"U-uh..."

"She's also designed official banners for the team last year," Yui adds.

"W-well-"

"Really?" Yoshikawa faces her fully. "I did see those drawings! They're awesome!"

"T-thank you!" Aya laughs nervously.

"Oh, oh, since you've seen her drawings, have you seen that double play one?" Sachiko asks. "That one of-"

"Stop!"

"Back to the game, you four." Takako, the third-year beauty, smiles, which effectively hushes them.

It's the spring tournament. Seidou High is playing against Ichidai Third, with the former back to the top of the batting lineup.

Kuramochi, as they had all hoped, gets on base.

As the second batter steps up to the box, she tightens her hold on her sketchbook.

Black.

It's also how the surroundings seem to dim whenever he moves in the field. Like there's a spotlight. A pink spotlight, that is. His hair's the spotlight itself.

It's also something she does not want the field to look like for her after he graduates.

Kuramochi successfully steals a base almost at the same time Kominato hits, getting the latter on base as well.

Top of the second, no outs, runners on first and third.

Those two's teamwork has really gotten better since she had first drawn them. And it's a big credit to Kominato's strict training (and harsh words) that had inspired Kuramochi to improve.

"Aaaaand Makoto gets her pencil ready~"

Aya is startled by Yui's face on her shoulder. Even without anything on it yet, she holds the sketchbook to her chest as she turns to the four girls behind her—three of them grinning and one confused.

Everyone who knows about her quest for inspiration—basically the first-stringers, team managers, and the Art Club—would always interpret it as a cute crush on the pink-haired baseman.

Why? Just… why?

Well, she does lurk by the field almost everyday, she pauses to stare at him for a few seconds in the halls, and drawings of him fill her sketchbook and pile up under her study desk.

Man, she's creepy.

Maybe that's why Kominato hates her.

She's surprised she isn't banned from the field.

But really, she just likes looking at him.

He actually looks kind. Just don't let him talk. And he's so cool when he plays. She would dare say Kominato has made her like baseball again more than her cousin could ever influence her.

But that's it. He's just easy on the eyes. She doesn't see it necessary to have feelings for him. It is perfectly possible to simply admire someone without getting romantically involved, but these people wouldn't believe it.

If only she had not messed up just once—or rather twice—she wouldn't be marked as Kominato Ryousuke's number one fangirl.

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