#c; the gosu gamer

[quickdeaths]

@bsqvad from here

He would have been surprised. In her experience, a lot of pro-gamers and streamers were agency-affiliated now. D.Va had done collaborations with other people because a sponsor she knew wanted her to work with an agency they partnered with, leading to her meeting her stream cohosts about a half hour before going live. That style was becoming more and more common. For all her endorsement deals, it was a point of pride and comfort that the only person who had final say on D.Va's projects was Hana.

D.Va laughed again, though not in a way intended to be mocking or unkind. "Hey, no need to thank me, Kenma. We're just two streamers doing some fun collabs, no need to bring honor into it." That was another thing that D.Va tried to bring to her persona. Sure, she was a world champion, a high-tier streamer, a crossover celebrity in her own country with TV deals and sponsorships, but that didn't mean she wanted a wall between herself and anyone. D.Va was approachable, and didn't want anyone to feel inferior around her. Well, unless she was in the middle of kicking their ass at StarCraft.

Peering into the fridge, her eyes lit up. "Oh, Nano Cola!" She grabbed one can, paused, and then snatched a second just in case. "I ate on the plane, but these will be good for keeping me fueled up. Thanks!" Honestly, she'd probably endorse them even if they weren't paying her. Way too many nights had been spent grinding out rank on her various games, picking at takeout food and as much Nano as she could drink without feeling sick.

"That works for me," she said with a nod, setting down the sodas as she pulled one of her suitcases into the room after Kenma. "I should be away from the windows, so no one can try to guess the location from the outside view." She'd started staggering her Instagram posts when she wasn't looking to be D.Va for other people, just for that reason. "If it's not a big deal, we could even move the desk space around so we're on opposite sides. No chance my camera would pick up anything, then."

At her core, Hana was a gearhead, and setting up her battle station was fun, if a bit time consuming. Still, that meant D.Va could talk to Kenma during the process. "It's fine either way, but did you mention that we'd be doing collabs on your streams or your socials?" She hadn't said anything to her fanbase about it ahead of time, just in case something hadn't worked out. Besides, with her following, guerilla streams always did good numbers. "Oh, and can I use your computer for a second? I have something to show you."

[quickdeaths]

@bsqvad

It was a relief not to step off the airplane and be confronted by huge video advertisements of her own face. The D.Va brand was everywhere in Busan, from billboards to park benches to the sides of buses. She’d just modeled for Nano Cola and done those TV spots for SBS’ World Cup coverage, and her recent win at Worlds kept her face plastered on the cover of just about every gaming and tech magazine in Korea. Pretty soon, those promotional videos she’d filmed with the military would be coming out too, which would hopefully keep Dae-hyun by her side, rather than pulled off and conscripted.

The other benefit, aside from not cringing around every corner at a 50x size picture of herself, was that people might not recognize her. With a hoodie and a baseball cap, low makeup and no face-pain, Hana wouldn’t consider herself too recognizable. Yeah, it was nice just to walk around the airport, struggling with her many bags until an airline worker offered her a cart, and getting a car without anyone asking for pictures or wondering how she’d pulled off the triple headshot at Worlds.

Eventually, Hana stuffed all her bags in the trunk of the car, thanking everyone for the help as best she could while still pretending not to speak Japanese, just so no one might try to strike up a conversation with her. She just showed her phone with the address on it to the driver, and then sat back in the back seat. With her headphones seated comfortably over her ears, blasting LOONA, she popped the top of a can of Nano and idly wondered how the upcoming meeting with Kodzuken would go.

Originally, the trip to Japan was supposed to be a break - an opportunity to eat junk food and go to arcades and shop for cool retro games. At most, she’d planned a guerilla meetup just in case she felt the need to be D.Va, an opportunity for her Japanese fans to meet her and take pictures or get autographs, and even then, only if she really felt bad about taking time off.

But, the more she thought about it, the more that the idea of being Hana Song for so long, with no breaks, started to sit poorly in her stomach. She could always see if Yuna wanted to stream together, or if Kyung-soo wanted to get publicly demolished in some practice games, but that felt like a waste, so she’d ended up looking into some Japanese streamers who might be interested instead.

She’d heard of Kodzuken before, and thinking about it, his more laid-back style and her sweaty tryhard energy could be a funny contrast that fans might enjoy. A collab request would come off more authentic, too, if she already knew the streamer. Doing something with a VTuber could be fun, too, and maybe push her reach further. Thankfully, he’d seemed excited about the chance to collab, and they’d exchanged a few messages back when she was still in Korea.

As the car pulled up to the address, Hana hopped out with a smile, already working on getting in-character as D.Va. It was easier with her jumpsuit, her gaming headphones, and her face-paint. Putting all of that on was like a powerup to turn ‘Hana Song’ into ‘D.Va,’ but she’d just have to do her best without them for now. Once the driver had helped with her bags, she grinned and handed him over the payment. “Thanks so much for all the help!” Immediately, her smile faltered as she stiffened, remembering that she’d pretended not to speak Japanese. “Uh, thanks again, bye!” Gathering up all her things, she practically bolted over to the house, forcing her perfect D.Va smile back on her lips as she rang the doorbell.