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hopefull-mindset · 3 months

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Lately I've been thinking about the current progression of the story, obviously we are nowhere near the ending, however, what are your thoughts towards how the main story is going to end?

Based on what we know so far how do you think what do you think the climax and the resolution the story is going to be? Because so far it seems like it's going to be something related to the book, but there's so many plot points and characters that we haven't even really touched on yet and I'm wondering if we ever will (for example the order of the clock tower was this just a one and done thing or are we getting more on that Asagiri????)

I am SO sorry. I got sick on the weekend I was thinking of answering this. Then I got completely stuck on what I wanted to say because honestly I have no idea where this series is going besides a few things I know Kafka Asagiri wouldn't leave behind. I have faith in him and I feel like him pulling along Nathaniel Hawthorn for this long into the story and knowing when Fitzgerald would have involvement proves he doesn't forget about his previous storylines.

I see complaints sometimes about how Steinback’s side plot with the Guild is never touched on again and it's like?? Because there's already so much going on already?? I'm personally impressed with how Asagiri handles this bunch of characters and that's why I'm not impressed with complaints about the female characters getting “no” screentime. I think some of you really need to reread the manga because, of course, it would feel that way if you needed to split it between all these characters and have a smaller amount of female characters compared to guys.

It's an ongoing story so treat it like an ongoing story. Some criticisms I see of BSD really feel like they're in bad faith and don't give it any grace. To me, that's really depressing. I don't know what some of you even want from him. I'll move on now to your actual question.

This is a character-driven story with hmm, well I shouldn't say it doesn’t have a clear plotline because the antagonists have a clear goal for The Book, but it's not a story where the protagonist is driven to do anything besides overcome himself. I have ideas on what future plotlines would look like, but not all of them.

There are things that are absolutely going to be followed up on. Like how 55 Minutes’s story was left on a mystery to be explored in a future arc. 55 Minutes was very involved in the Great War and Europe, so I’m guessing some of that will be explored in due time. I’m not very good at guessing so I’m not the best to be asked on theorizing that far into the future.

How about I just speak on the present arc? I think that will be easier and it's good to work with the pieces we have. The ending is much too far into the future for me to come up with anything, really. This series is much too technical with its reference and motivations to say anything other than, “We should expect this stuff in the light novels to play into the story later.”

Since I gave myself some time to think this over, there are some things I am completely sure of having a critical role in the present and future of this story—besides the obvious lasting effects of the Great War and the storm Verlaine mentioned waiting for very much having to do with the Clock Tower’s eventual involvement.

I’ve been thinking about them a lot and I hadn’t realized this was my chance until now! So exciting! I mean these two tend to cross over for me.

55 Minutes is the 4th light novel in this series. Anyone who has read it loves it because of the focus on world building and getting to follow Atsushi for once in novel form. I went into it thinking that it was going to be a quick, self-contained story that happens a bit after the guild arc, but I was shocked to see that there were so many questions unanswered! On purpose obviously to set up a plot line for the future, but man.

While I am excited for many things from the light novels to be answered in the main story, I want to bring attention to the main antagonist. The living ability of Jules Gabriel Verne AKA Gab. Verne was a part of The Seven Traitors, a group that committed itself to stopping the war by any means necessary. They were what the Armed Detective Agency is to Atsushi for him. His ability (The Mysterious Island) absorbed other users’ abilities, so long as they were on an island he claimed as his domain.

By the time the war had ended, he was alone again and the rest of the members were either dead and disappeared. Verne decided to stay and maintain the Standard Island so his friends had a place to come back to. Fourteen years pass and a deadly weapon called Annihilation and it's maker, H.G. Wells, came onto the island. Annihilation had been stolen from her and Verne agreed to help her get it back from the terrorists under the name “Gab”. The terrorist in question being the colonel, not to be confused with the character of the same title who was an executive to the Port Mafia.

This colonel had actually been the former leader of the group who had called themselves Mimic after being abandoned by their country and had heard his men drifted to Yokohama, only to die there in vain. I wonder if that connects to anything that happened in another light novel, wink wink.

It wasn’t hard for Verne to find where it was hidden, but next he had to come up with a way to get it back without using his ability. He decided to join the thieves that had snuck onto the island by turning himself into a teenager and asking to be the pupil of the boss so he could borrow his ability to go through walls. It had worked as planned, until Wells was hit by a stray bullet and died. He was devastated that he couldn't save this one woman.

His solution to save her was to absorb her ability (Time Machine) to go back 55 minutes in time to reverse what had happened. That worked, but then he thought of another thing: if he absorbed her ability again, couldn't he go further back in time to get a better result? Wells’s ability has the condition that it could only send a person back in time once, but by absorbing it again, he can ignore it as if he were using it for the first time. He regretted how many of the colonel's soldiers had died and he never learned his motivations in the end.

He was right, but creating the perfect future is almost impossible because of how someone always gets hurt in the process. Every time he succeeded, there was only the “what if?” hanging over him that this wasn't enough. The more he used the ability, the further he could go into the past. Even larger ideas had come into his head. What if he could reunite with his friends? What if he could prevent the entire war from happening? He hadn't realized just as Wells's ability evolved, something else would too: Gab, the island and the boy he posed as.

It overtook him and left to reside inside his own flesh as an echo of his own self, at the very corner of his mind. He died and Gab had been birthed from it. Gab is an unstable creation and even so, his humanity still urges him to keep living no matter what. So instead of being motivated to repeat time to save others, he keeps living to save himself so he doesn't fall back into the darkness of an unknown waiting for him.

I could keep going and talk about how he's pretty much the embodiment of the themes present in BSD, his resemblance to Atsushi that the narrative points out so graciously, and the nature of what he is supposed to be in the grand scheme of BSD, but this isn't why I brought him up.

55 Minutes has aspects that have appeared in the main story ever since the Decay of Angels have taken their place in the manga as antagonists. Dazai’s ability to control his heartbeat, time travel, Akutagawa calling Atsushi his “trial” and fighting out at sea, and the Great War being the source of the conflict. Now what if I propose my idea of what had happened to Fukuchi to be similar to what had happened to Verne when he had used Wells’s ability?

This is Fukuchi’s corpse reanimated, I think we all know it. While it’s possible Fyodor must've put a safeguard to put the condition for this to have happened or that this is a Fukuchi from another universe, I think what had happened altogether, in the end, was the consequence of using Amenogozen so freely to the point he was messing with the state of the timeline and creating paradoxes. The backlash of this divine blade had either created a divine being or let one reside in him.

It's not only 55 Minutes that has parallels/foreshadows what's to come, but Untold Origins as well. I do like noticing how Kafka Asagiri adds things so they fit more snuggly into what's to come later in the season or make the connection more obvious, like Fukuchi having a feature when Fukuzawa is visiting Oda behind bars and Fyodor appearing on the roof when Fukuzawa monologues about “V”.

I think I've been seeing some people notice this too, but I think the play featured is incredibly important. Like really, really important. I mean beyond any resemblance people saw in the visuals used in the anime background that looked like Fyodor being crucified. I feel unprepared to talk about it, so I hope I make some sort of sense.

“The Living World Is a Dream. The Nocturnal Dream is Reality” is a real quote from Ranpo Edogawa and is used as the name for this play. Twelve fallen angels gather in an old theater to earn god’s forgiveness. They had disobeyed god in the past by wanting to coexist with human beings and were shunned after the fact. During this, they are killed off one by one without the killer ever being seen. The killer, as the script follows, is a supposed angel of judgment, but it's hard to tell for the others if it really was an angel imparting their judgment or a serial killer because of how common the methods seemed to be. That is their mystery to be solved.

One of the fallen angels claims that an angel would use a divine blade to purge them and not methods like these, while another begs the question of why a fellow sinner would go after them and that an angel would have a real motive to have them killed. Their reason to going to this old theater is because they were searching for an ability user. In this fictionalized story, ability users are angels who had fallen but were able to atone and given a portion of their power back. Their hope is that when they encounter the ability user, they will gain atonement as well.

Suddenly, Murakami (the lead performer) is stabbed by a blade that came from nowhere. Completing the promised threat of an organization named “V”:

“An angel shall bring death, in the truest sense of the word, to the performer.”

So, what happened?

As he takes his newfound identity as an “ability user” in pride on stage and claims himself to be the savior of all, Ranpo explains that the angel that the play refers to is the audience watching it. A metaphor to how the audience is invisible to the characters on stage and knew almost every that had happened, but Ranpo also says that because the audience couldn't have laid a finger on the them, it means the angel couldn't have been the killer.

The “angel” was more the victim than anything and the so-called judgment imposed was the show of what was originally regarded as another victim. The switching of roles. The same thing has also applied to this murder. While Murakami was regarded the victim, the accused killer the police suspected was a man under a fake name who has randomly disappeared. Tied up behind the currents, the man had been here all along. The true victim of this case.

Which makes Murakami the real culprit of his own “murder”, but he's only a piece of the picture. After getting arrested, he speaks about how he had planned with the playwright about this but has no clue what capturing the older man was for. Not even after saying this, a detective rushes in saying that the playwright had been impaled with no weapon to be found.

Again, after an officer who had worked for the mysterious group “V” and tried to kill Ranpo after refusing to join them had been arrested, he was also killed the same way as the playwright. I feel like I don't even need to say that this “V” group is obviously the Decay of Angels after laying that out. The same motivations as Fyodor (”rid all evil of this world”) and the sword business is Fukuchi silencing people.

What was the purpose of the play though?

Besides capturing Natsume Soseki (if you haven't read it), it was foreshadowing for what was to come. Let's abandon the idea that skill users are redeemed angels for a second. Just a second, I promise. Have you ever looked up what Kaumi (神威) even means?

While one of the first results you get will refer you to gods themselves, you should be focusing on a more literal translation. That being “God’s Authority” or greater divine power, making Fukuchi function basically as Fyodor’s own angel of judgment. Let's say that ability users are the sinners and Fukuchi (or Fyodor) is the one imposing their judgment, even if they should've been in the same boat.

Just like the play, they swap the victim (Armed Detective Agency) and the killer (The Decay of Angels) for the public‘s unknowing view. This play is filled with Fyodor’s personal bias and I think the irony of their searching for the “ability user” in the play is that to Fyodor, there's no such thing as a redeemed ability user. There is only salvation of death for this great evil and that is exactly what happens to the characters from the play.

Ranpo filps this narrative on its head and forcefully changes the ending of the fallen angel. He wasn't a part of the story, he forcefully shoved through its bullcrap to create something much more ideal. Something much less miserable. It's a little fun that two people he goes out of his way to help out (Yosano & Mushitaro) both have the title of “angel of death/murder” as that's how the angel of the play is also referred to. Save the killer that was actually a victim…

With that, I really shouldn't abandon how ability users get referred to with titles like angel and demon right? Chuuya had an angelic allusion in Storm Bringer when he activated corruption for the first time, and hell, look at my buddy Gab and his mechanical wings. The further they transcend themselves of their humanity, the more angelic or demonic they become. There really is no true difference between them though.

This should've been about the trajectory of bsd…. Then it became me wanting to talk about DOA crap….

Well, I really don't know much. I connected dots that were there for me, but nothing to say for the future of BSD. I understand what is happening, but not enough to be psychic haha. I mostly went on about that because I didn't want our conversation about what is currently happening to be pushed aside because there's always more to say. Maybe if I read more of the authors involved, maybe I'd know.

If this is disappointing, oh well! It has taken me so long to think of something to say that the new chapter has already come out. Kafka Assgiri always leaves me with more questions than answers.

What even are abilities anyway?

#bsd #bungou stray dogs #bsd meta #bsd analysis #fukuchi ouchi #bsd fukuchi #bsd 55 minutes #bsd untold origins #ranpo edogawa #bsd fyodor #the decay of angels #i should stop narrating the stories of the novels #i was going to say more #but I'm tired #the best I can say is to think of the questions bsd offers you and reread the series at any chance #you'll get more information each time and come up with more ideas for the future of BSD

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aspec-manga-snom · 8 months

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Oshi no Ko: Lies & Love. Aromantic Coded Narratives

I'm going to edit this more, but I'm pushing it out to feel better.

This post is an incredibly cut down and curated version of a longer academic style paper on this topic. If there are any confusing bits or inaccuracies, let me know. A lot of this is rewritten for a more digestible format.

This post is going to talk about spoilers for a majority of the Oshi no Ko manga,the short story, "45510" and the song it inspired "Idol" by Yoasobi. I will also discuss relationships with power imbalances and the sexual relationships between two minors, as Ai Hoshino was 16 when she had children. There will not be explicit detail but it is important to keep in mind the conditions of Ai's relationships.

There will be major spoilers so if you are waiting for Season 2 of the anime, don't read on. I highly encourage everyone to read the manga if you can. If you haven't started it and have just found it through this post, start by watching the anime if it is available, it is excellently produced.

Some Background:

Oshi no Ko was written by Aka Akasaka, known author of Kaguya-Sama Love is War & Renai Daikou. A lot of his work is introspective on the nature of relationships and love, Oshi no Ko being no different.

Oshi no Ko follows the story of two twin siblings, Aqua and Ruby Hoshino reincarnated fans of their new mother, Ai Hoshino. Ai Hoshino was the famous main idol of the idol group B-Komachi. The two of them previously new eachother as a doctor and patient before the latter passed away from Anaplastic astrocytoma, a form of brain cancer, and the other stabbed by Ai's stalker.

The two of them live a regular life as Ai's children until she is murdered by the same stalker that killed Aqua in his past life. After her passing they follow in the footsteps of their mother and enter the world of Japanese Entertainment in pursuit of getting revenge on their unknown father who they blame everything on.

Both of them have a very pragmatic view of the world, but they aren't the focus. Lets talk about Ai.

Ai Hoshino, 45510 & Idol:

The main point of this post is to argue that Ai lies somewhere on the Aromantic spectrum. There are some light pieces of evidence for her also being asexual, but not nearly as defintive as her aro-ness.

Ai Hoshino is the driving force of the narrative despite her story only making up around 10% of the manga. The main reason I want to talk about her is how she is displayed in Idol and "45510". For this I'll be using a fan translation by u/64990022 on Reddit the link for which can be found here.

The short story follows another member of B-Komachi looking back on Ai's popularity with jealousy.

In this we get to see an old interview of Ai's which holds her perspective on love: "I think affection comes from trust. What was it, payback? Like, to return affection with affection. But I'm a coward. I can’t believe in the words “like,” “love,” or “affection” very much. I don’t know, I’ve never really fallen in love with someone before.” This is the core of Ai's identity as an idol and how she performs. She doesn't understand love and how to be affectionate towards other people. Additionally, she doesn't seem to understand the point of marriage: “I can’t imagine it at all. Marriage? Me? Even if you say you want to marry me, how much of that is true? I can understand when people want to be with someone they like, but why marriage? Is it an expression of love? To prove that you would stay forever with that person? If that’s it then maybe I understand a little.��

Personally, I think that this rings true as an aro perspective on love and affection, not understanding the conventions of love and instead coming up with her own. Without being told that its normal to not have the ability to fall in love, Ai has given her feelings its own definition in an objective sense.

She reached the conclusion that lying was the greatest form of love, all stemming from her experience as an idol and observing the world of fans. To her, idols expressed their love to their fans all the time in their words, but none of them truly meant their words. While this is most likely true, we can see how this came to a head in the construction of the stage persona of Ai in the lyrics of "Idol" by Yoasobi;

" That "I love you" again Now, everybody is lured and captivated by you The pupil that you got The words you vocalize Even when untrue, it's your perfected Ai "

Every expression of love is a lie to captivate the audience, but to Ai, even if its untrue, its an expression of care and appreciation.

" So strong, it's you, unrivalled idol There cannot be weaknesses to find The brightest star is residing in you The gaps and shortcomings, don't show 'em Dammit, dammit Parts nobody wants to know should remain hidden One and only If it's different, no way, no way Such a true love, it's the realest Ai "

Despite not knowing how to love, Ai believe she'd give her fans the most appreciation she could by lying to them. Things like this aren't uncommon in the lives of young aros, claiming to have a crush or to love someone to fit in with the expectations people have for them. Despite all of this, she did hope that one day she would feel a 'true' love towards someone, which ended up being her children right before her death.

The Father

This is where the spoilers actually begin. Despite Ai being in a relationship with someone, there isn't much proof that this relationship was anything within the realm of healthy if not completely manipulative.

The twins' father and Ai's ex-boyfriend was Hikaru Kamiki. He was a child actor the same age as Ai, 15, and shortly after the two of them meet Ai becomes pregnant and gives birth at the age of 16. At this point Hikaru Kamiki has had multiple of these relationships and, to the reader, is known to be a serial killer of women in the entertainment industry, luring them in before killing them. He is suspected to, if not almost fully confirmed to have leaked the address of Ai to her stalker as well as which hospital she was staying in.

Needless to say, their relationship is incredibly brief and ends as soon as Ai becomes pregnant and is forced into hiding. The entirety of their relationship is shown as being based around meeting up around hotels and lacks an air of romance commonly seen in teen romances. He most likely manipulated Ai into a relationship with the intent of murdering her but there is some evidence to him actually being in love with her as he brings flowers to her grave on the anniversary of her death.

At time of posting, we don't know enough about him or their relationship to draw many conclusions but as he is the only partner Ai has every had, omitting their relationship felt disingenuous.

TLDR;

Ai's treatment of love as a whole relates greatly to an aro lens of love and the institutions of love in society. Lying about love is not uncommon among aro experiences. Idol is a bop no matter the language and its a really good aro song.

#aromantic #asexuality #manga rec #aspec coded character #ai hoshino #oshi no ko #this isn't done #but i'm tired #read Oshi no Ko #its so good #idol yoasobi #45510

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fishtre · 2 years

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Why do you not like Jason as a crime lord? I don't think I've met any fans who don't. You don't have to answer this if you don't want to. Thanks.

Thanks. Loaded question but who reads DC comics and doesn’t love to rant once in a while?

People who want Jason to be a crime lord are a mixed bag, anon. From my experience, some are nostalgic of when Jason was a villain; they want this to be the hill on which Jason fights Bruce & co (and dies on). Some are just severely naive fans. Some are fans who want Jason to stars in gangster stories, etc... Nothing that interest me.

1. I'm okay with Jason killing traffickers and dealers, but not him becoming one. That’s an actual deal-breaker for me.

2. I don't want to see Jason becomes what he hates for no reasons.

Beating dealers and crime lords, making them afraid to deal drug to kids... Jason achieves nothing as a glorified drug dealer that he can't accomplish as a vigilant. Affiliating RH to organized crime is more of a dead weight and a moral liability to his character than anything else.

Also, anyone who think Jason is an actual crime lord in UTRH is basically telling me they don’t have enough reading comprehension to read/watch UTRH or a dictionary at this point. (More about that below the cut if you care.)

3. Jason being turned into a crime lord is not going to magically solve how DC portray him.

DC will never let a crime lord be the solution to crime their heroes can’t be, or imply that what Gotham need is a "good crime lord", or that such concept even exists... That shit is irl harmful. Such direction can only validate DC when they'll portray him as a scumbag or a cautionary tale; "he who fights monsters become the monster" and "Batman was right about Jason being a bad apple all along".

I hope this delayed answer clear things, anon.

A crime lord is someone who run and lead a criminal organization for profits. It’s the literal definition. Aside when Jason shortly takes over Penguin’s club during Rebirth RHATO, calling him a crime lord is a misconception or simply an informed attribute. UTRH never refers to Jason as being a crime lord. The flanderization happens after UTRH and my best guess is that DC went there to mark a distinction for their readers. So, they do not confuse RH (a vigilant but also a full-fledged villain for the rest of post-crisis continuity) and the ideal(ized) vigilantes Batman & co, whom readers should root for.

So, yeah... Jason isn't a crime lord in UTRH.

The only thing Jason leads there is his own operation, much like any vigilant. He blackmails actual kingpins into paying him so they stop working for BM. A "subscribe to my protection and policy or die" sort of deal. Then he kills and arsons underlines and stocks of the traffickers he didn't rope in. The goal is to weaken Black Mask’s empire, N°1 crime lord in Gotham and it's not to overtakes him.

RH has no hands in the drugs operations or business. He never touches that. He has no plans for some expansion or unification too. The actual crime lords in the story regards him as a madman, a big bully and a thug. He would have let that kingpin he roped in by force get burned alive by BM’s men if he didn’t have to pretends and keep BM’s manpower divided.

I can't remember or care to check if the whole "regulate the drug market to control it” is fanon or also a direction that pop-up later in post-crisis. But UTRH!Jason isn’t leading a criminal organization. He’s leading a scorched-earth policy. There's no regulation of anything aside the "no child rule", and RH never claims such. He’s stirring shits in Gotham’s underworld, pocking at a hornet's nest, to get Batman's attention. UTRH is the story of a ghost coming back to haunt Bruce/Gotham.

If you go with the movie version, Jason also stirs things so BM pulls Joker out of prison and get his hands on the clown. Potentially, this is why Jason use the moniker of RH. If BM goes to Joker for help, it’s because he thinks Joker may know who RH is, or is behind all this, since the clown once used that alias himself.

RH has no regard for any criminals involved, while actual crime lord Jason entails that Jason employs and works with a bunch of people who makes a living of smuggling and selling drugs. That he makes a profit over addictions and trafficking and he feeds that industry on some level. Regardless of how you justify this choice or not, he becomes an active wench in poisoning society and not just the underworld.

That's a BIG side-step from what RH does in UTRH, and worse, in complete contradiction with his character or motives prior to his death.

Drugs, thugs, dealers destroyed his childhood, his mother's life and jeopardized his by proxy. Jason doesn't idealize criminals or heroes. He doesn’t see anything moral about being a vigilant and thus don’t see a point in Bats’ “being better than them” mantra. Moral =/ Justice. His whole schism with Bruce steams from that.

So no, I’m not enthusiast about seeing Jason work with people he loathes, or turn into something he hates. For no real gain, again because he can do the same as a vigilant not affiliated to the drug business.To be clear, DC will never let him solve crime, obviously, but if turning Jason into a "he who fights monsters become the monster" villain so the moral can be "Bruce was right all along" isn't the point, going back to UTRH or crime lord Jason is not a viable direction.

That's about cover my thoughts on the subject. :p

#reply #jason todd #didn’t plan to answer this at first #but i'm tired

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introspectivememories · 1 year

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“Bear, you’re hands are shaking.” Tim says abruptly.

“Hmm?” Bernard hums noncommittally, “Must be from the cold.”

“Bear,” Tim says with a little more force, “your hands are shaking.”

The entire family has stopped to watch them now.

Bernard smiles, tense around the edges, “I know. It must be from the cold.”

Tim turns towards his family, “Can you guys wait outside for a little? I need to talk to my husband over here.”

The family exchanges slow glances with each other and surprisingly it’s Jason who agrees first.

“Well, c’mon.” Jason says, when he sees that the rest of them haven’t moved, “They’re having a domestic squabble and they asked us to leave. Get moving.”

Quietly, the family exits out the hospital room, Bruce shutting the door behind him. The minute they’re all in the hallway, the family breaks out into hushed whispers.

“What do you think they’re arguing about?” says Steph.

“Dunno, seemed important.” Duke responds.

“Yeah, no shit.” Jason says smirking, “That’s why I bugged their room.”

“Jason,” Bruce admonishes but there’s no real rebuke behind it.

Jason pulls out his mini Bat-Tablet and starts fiddling with the frequencies. After a few short minutes, the static fades into recognizable words.

“...Bear tell me the truth.” Tim says, “Did you-”

“Lets not do this today, okay baby? You’re tired.” Bernard says.

“Ooooh, already starting off wrong.” Dick mutters.

“Don’t ‘baby’ me Bear. Tell me the truth. Did you-”

“Stop.” Bernard says, “You’re whole family is listening in.”

Jason nearly drops the Bat-Tablet, “What the fuck? How’d he know?”

“Do you really want this to be the way they find out?”

“About what?” Bruce mutters, fists clenching beside him.

“I don’t care! Tell me the truth!” Tim shouts, “Did you kill him?”

Silence falls over the hallway, the family trying process what they heard.

“What the fuck does that mean?” Steph asks.

“Duke, do you know anything about this?” Bruce asks, “You’re the only one who knew about Bernard before this whole incident. Any of this ringing a bell?”

Duke shrugs, “Not a clue, Uncle B. All I knew was that they were married, nothing else.”

“Tim, baby, don’t do this.” Bernard pleads, “Ask me anything else.”

"Answer my question, did. you. kill. him?"

Bernard is quiet for long enough that they think the connection fizzled out.

"He wasn't a good person." Bernard says quietly.

"Was he a bad person?" Tim counters.

"...No." Bernard admits.

"So just average then. Not good and not bad."

"He didn't have anyone waiting for him."

"Weird justification, still murder." Duke murmurs.

"Did you kill him, Bear?" Tim asks tiredly. "Answer me or I will call Nikhil."

"Tim, baby, you're the smartest person I know. You already have an answer to your question."

"He wants to hear it from you," Cass whispers.

"I want to hear it from you." Tim says, unknowingly mimicking Cass.

Bernard says nothing and Tim sighs, "Alright then. Call Nikhil here."

There's rustling on the other side, presumably Bernard pulling out his phone. Someone says something but it's too faint to properly understand.

"He'll be here in a few." Bernard says and the feed lapses back into silence.

The family looks at each other.

"Okay Tim talks about Bernard killing like it's something he regularly does. Is Bernard some kind of hitman? Mercenary? Assassin?" Dick asks.

"No," Damian says, startling everyone, "He does not act like one."

("When did you wake up?" Jason asks.

"When you started playing the feed," Damian says.)

"Okay but nevermind what Bernard is, who did he kill?" Duke asks.

"It sounds like a regular person," Steph says, "But I don't think Bernard would kill a regular person. He doesn't seem like it."

"You don't know him." Bruce says, "We met him 3 weeks ago."

Their theorizing is interrupted by an Indian man walking towards them.

"How did you get here?" Bruce growls out, "This is a private floor."

"Hello, Sir. My name is Nikhil. I was sent for."

Bruce looks like he's going to keep interrogating the man so Dick pushes him aside and says, "Of course! They're in the first room on the right."

Nikhil bows his head briefly, "Thank you." And walks into the room.

Jason turns up the volume on the Bat-Tablet.

"Nikhil," Tim says tiredly, "It's so good to see you again. Sorry about cancelling dinner last month."

Dinner? Last month? Duke mouths.

"Young Master Bernard, Young Master Tim." Nikhil says.

Even Bruce looks confused now. Young Master?

"It's not a problem," Nikhil continues, "You weren't feeling well. We'll just have to have two dinners this month to make up for it."

“Of course, of course!” Tim says, “Can you answer a question for me Nikhil?”

“Of course.”

“Did Bernard kill Matthew Nicholls?”

Bruce sighs, the tension leaving his shoulders, “The man who shot Tim in the throat.”

“Oh my god,” Steph whispers.

Nikhil doesn’t respond right away.

“Go ahead, Nikhil. Tell him.”

Nikhil clears his throat, “Yes.”

Tim sucks in a breath.

“Three days ago, Young Master Bernard, Luka, and me, killed him.” Nikhil speaks as if he’s reading the weather forecast, “Luka and I, were on lookout. Young Master Bernard shot him.”

(Jason pointedly tries not to think about the fact that, Tim’s husband will kill someone for shooting Tim in throat but Bruce won’t even think about harsher sentences for the fucking Joker.

Whatever he’s not mad.)

“God fucking damnit, Bear. What the hell were you thinking?” Tim breathes out.

“And you, Nikhil, how could you let him do this?”

“NIkhil, didn’t make me do anything Tim. I chose it. I did it. I put the bullet in his head.”

“Bear, you’re a doctor! You can’t just fuckin’ kill people!”

“Young Master Tim,” Nikhil states sharply, “He was the head of the mob long before he was doctor. And even if that wasn’t the case, the Aquista mob does not take lightly to their members being targeted.”

“The Aquista mob?” Steph says, “But I thought that they died out during the gang wars...”

“Shows how much you know.” snorts Jason, “They’re one of the only few mobs that don’t work directly under me. But there’s no way Bernard’s the head. I met with them, once, when I was still on my, y’know.”

“Your murder spree, you mean?” Dick asks dryly.

“Yeah that. Anyway, when I met with them, they took me to their head. He was definitely not blonde, or young. It was some middle-aged man.”

“Must have been a decoy.” Bruce says, “Do they cause any trouble?”

“Not at all. They stick to themselves.”

“If you fools could be quiet, I’d be able to hear what Drake and Dowd are saying.”

They all tune back in.

“You said you understood.” Bernard says quietly, “When we got married, you said you understood. That it wasn’t gonna come between us.”

“And it isn’t!” Tim responds frustratedly, “But you can’t just go around killing people who hurt me.”

“And I don’t.” Bernard says, “Because if I did, half of the Gotham’s villains would be dead. But you don’t like it when I kill so I don’t do it.”

“Because I do everything you ask. You told me you didn’t want me becoming an EMT in Gotham, so I stayed in the military. You told me not to kill, so I do it as sparsely as I can. You gave yourself to me and asked me to put you back together, and so I did. As carefully as I could I put you back together.”

“You can’t blame me for killing Matthew Nicholls. You can’t.”

“Bear,” Tim starts.

“Do you know what the doctors told me when I finally arrived?” Bernard interrupts, “They said your heart stopped twice. That is was a miracle the bullet hit nothing vital. They said you had lost too much blood, that they were worried you weren’t gonna make it.”

“Was that you plan Tim? To make me a widower? To leave me behind?”

Bernard continues, voice thick with emotion, “There is no me without you. It’s too late for that. If I had came back and you were dead, I would’ve returned to Ebria that day and thrown myself on a live grenade.”

“Before anything else, Tim, I am your husband. Remember that. Before being the head of the mob, before being a Marine, before anything else, I am your husband. Remember that.”

“Bear,” Tim chokes out.

“God, fuck. I can’t do this right now.”

“Bear, wait!”

They hear the sound of the door closing and they all rush to look inconspicuous. Bernard walks past them without a second glance, wiping at his eyes.

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