#i wore it during fall at japan once

[ryllen]

🍎⚡

[bebeyeyo]

can we have more of exhibitionist kink tzuyu!! I love your secret dorm meetings fic 🫶🫶🫶

note: yess! glad you enjoyed it!

cramped | tzuyu fic

genre: smut

pairing: tzuyu x tenthmember!reader

content warnings: exhibitionism kink, fingering

“dinner was delicious. i can’t wait to get back to the hotel rooms, though. today was exhausting.” jihyo says.

with nods of your heads all of your band members agree as the van continues to get closer to the hotel you’re staying in.

after tonight’s tour in japan that you swear was one of the best nights of your life, all you really wanted to do know was shower and get into bed from feeling damp from the rain that was falling during the concert. you truly wanted to relax. that’s all.

but a certain someone was making that harder for you.

from the corner of your eye, you see tzuyu looking out of the window since she has a window seat, while her hand is on your thigh, her fingertips lightly brushing across your skin.

you knew what she was doing and it was making you closer your legs tighter, especially with the way her fingers kept inching higher up your thighs.

your breath hitches before feeling the van come to a full stop.

“we’re finally here!” nayeon says excitedly before hopping out first.

tzuyu quickly withdraws her hand from your body, and helps you get out of the van.

as you all walk into the hotel you couldn’t help but glare at your lover, all while she just smiles innocently.

“seriously tzu?” you mumble enough for her to understand you.

she shrugs, “what babe?”

with the roll of your eyes, all ten of you step into the elevator where it was going to take you all to the ninth floor.

perfect, tzuyu thought.

the doors close and it begins to move upward.

while the chatter between the girls kept them distracted, tzuyu pretended that she dropped something, squatting down to pick what she dropped.

she smirks before her fingers stop at your ankle, and she slowly stands up, her hand slowly going up your thigh.

you remain silent not trusting your voice.

once your girlfriend fully stands back up, she inches her fingers toward the inside of your skirt you wore tonight, teasing your damp panties.

smirking with cockiness she continues her antics, moving your panties aside now running her fingers through your wet folds, causing you to still with a breath sucked in.

thank god you were both in the back of the elevator.

rubbing your clit you bite your lip at her teasing and slow movements.

you look down to hide your flushed face and nearly yelp once you feel three fingers plunge inside you with sudden speed.

tzuyu curls her fingers into your cunt, going in and out with slow motion so the girls wouldn’t be able to hear how wet you are.

“don’t cum.” she whispers in your ear as she slightly speeds up looking around to make sure her members are distracted enough.

you reach over, grabbing her arm tightly as your eyes close, mouth agape nearly drooling at the exhilarating feeling of being caught.

but you were close, so close to your climax.

you bite your lip with a small smile letting out a soft but quiet moan that couldn’t be heard from the chatter.

your legs slightly shake before hearing the ‘ding’ and the elevator comes to a stop.

you sigh clearing your throat and fixing yourself a little to stand up straighter while tzuyu’s fingers slowly pull out from your aching cunt.

nearly whining from the now emptiness with a pout looking at your girlfriend who smirks, her lips wrapped around her fingers.

the doors open and you sigh from relief, able to get out of the heated elevator.

after the exchange of hotel room numbers, you continue to walk down the hall to your room when you suddenly felt someone grab the belt loop of your skirt.

“you’ll get your reward when we get inside,” tzuyu’s voice husks making you shiver.

[icyhottodo178]

New Year’s Confession: Atsumu Miya X Female Reader

Description: You have been crushing on your best friend for some time so you decide to confess to him on New Years Eve before he goes abroad for a volleyball tournament with his team.

Contains: Fluff, cursing, adorable moments, love blossoming, romantic moments and confessions.

Word count: 1210

Note: Happy New Years to everyone and I hope you all have a great year in 2024. Thank you all so much for the love and support you’ve given me as I really appreciate it. I will continue to write a hate of different oneshots and possibly some series in the future so be sure to look forward to those. Anyways this is my first fluff oneshot so I hope you all enjoy.

Being best friends with Miya Atsumu since childhood has made you realise that you’ve been falling in love with him as the two of you got older and now that he was a professional volleyball player on the MSBY Black Jackals while you were a English teacher, you knew that you had to confess to him before it was too late otherwise you knew how much you’d regret it. Atsumu was a year older than you as he was 23 and you were 22 years old but you remembered when you two first met when you were younger.

He was an amazing person as he’s always looked out for you and you always helped him with his homework since he would sometimes struggle on subjects like maths or science. As the two of you grew older, you started to develop feelings for Atsumu as they became stronger in middle school but you never told him anything because you were scared of being rejected or your love being unrequited so you kept quiet about it.

Once you two had finished high school, you went to different places as Atsumu was invited to the All-Japan Youth Intensive Training Camp while you went off to university to study English and you both kept in touch but only when you two were free. After graduating from university, you went on to become an English teacher as you found out that Atsumu was apart of the MSBY Black Jackals when you saw the team playing on television once.

On New Year’s Eve, you were invited to a party by Oikawa as you decided to go in hopes of meeting Atsumu again since you really missed him and you got ready. You wore a simple dress along with your favourite shoes as you decided to get going since the party started at half past ten but you wanted to get there early. You decided to walk to Oikawa’s place since you didn’t want to drive in case you got drunk as you were glad that the place wasn’t too far away and it took you twenty minutes to get there.

You knocked on the front door as you tucked a strand of hair behind your ear and the door was opened by Oikawa who was happy to see you. You both greeted each other as he steps to the side to let you enter before closing the door behind you and you make your way inside. You saw some familiar faces as you were hoping to see Atsumu but you couldn’t see him anywhere until your eyes were covered by someone and you already knew who it was.

“Guess who?” Atsumu said to you as you smiled since you instantly knew who it was and he removes his hands from your eyes before he hugs you. You were so glad to see him again as you missed him so much and you knew that you had to confess to him soon. You pulled away from the hug as you smiled at Atsumu.

“It’s so good to see you again, Atsumu. How have you been lately? We haven’t talked in months and the last time we did was during the summer. I guess we’ve both been pretty busy with our lives but I’m so glad to see you again. I’ve missed you so much,” You told Atsumu as he could tell that you were glad to see him and he noticed how much you’ve changed.

“It’s good to see you again and I’ve been doing well. I’ve missed you too and I’m glad that we’re able to see each other but I’m going abroad tomorrow morning so let’s make this night memorable, alright?” Atsumu replied as you were surprised that he had to go abroad tomorrow and you knew that you had to confess to him before it was too late.

One hour passed as there was some time left until midnight since it was currently 11:30 and you had only two drinks of alcohol but didn’t drink anymore since you didn’t want to be too drunk when you confessed to Atsumu or make a complete fool of yourself. You were playing Truth Or Dare with Shoyo, Kuroo, Osamu, Bokuto, Oikawa and Ushijima as it was currently your turn so you decided to go for a dare.

“I date you to kiss the most attractive person here,” Oikawa said as you wanted to kiss Atsumu but he wasn’t playing right now so you kissed Bokuto on the cheek and you sighed in relief that you didn’t have to kiss him on the lips. The game continued for another ten minutes or so as you decided to go and see what Atsumu was doing. You saw him talking to Kenma, Iwaizumi and Akaashi as you went over to the group to join in their conversation.

“Hey guys. It’s so good to see you again. How have you all been?” You said to Kenma, Iwaizumi and Kenma as they smiled at you and gave you their own replies. You all talked for some time until it was announced by Oikawa that there was a few minutes left before the countdown as you had to speak to Atsumu on his own and you pulled him away from the group into a corner of the house.

“Woah! What’s going on? Is everything alright? I wasn’t excepting you to drag me like that,” Atsumu said to you as you sighed and let go of his hand before taking a deep breath. This was your chance to tell Atsumu your feelings towards him and you did.

“I love you so fucking much, Miya Atsumu ever since middle school but I never confessed earlier because I was scared that you didn’t feel the same way as I did so I kept my feelings all bottled up until this moment. I know it must so fucking pathetic that I did that but I had to do it because I was scared. You probably don’t love me the same way as I do but I’m letting you know now before it was too late and I never got another chance,” You told Atsumu as he was stunned by your confession and you waited for his answer.

“You love me? I love you too and I was also scared of confessing to you because I thought you were already in love with someone else but you’re not in love with anymore which I’m thankful that wasn’t the case. You’re not fucking pathetic for keeping your feelings bottled up and I understand that it must’ve taken some courage to confess so I’m proud of you,” Atsumu said as you teared up at his words before he pulls you closer and he kissed you on the lips.

You kissed him back as you heard the fireworks go off and you pulled away from the kiss. You hugged Atsumu as you were looking forward to your future with the person you love and you were hoping the new year would bring you two even closer than before. Dating Miya Atsumu was going to be interesting as you were glad to have finally confessed to him after so long and you couldn’t wait for start the new year together with him.

Note: I hope you all enjoyed this New Years themed fluff one-shot as this was my first time writing one so I hope that it turned out well. If you have any ideas on a oneshot then please let me know down below and I’ll try my best to write it. Anyways please make sure to comment and like this post as I would really appreciate it.

This is @icyhottodo178 signing off until next time!! Peace out!!

[sixminutestoriesblog]

peony

Well, November is upon us and the year is drawing to a close. Or another beginning depending on how you look at it. In the Northern Hemisphere the leaves are busy changing colors, the birds are halfway to their winter homes, the last butterfly cocoon is tucked in and hidden for the coming cold and November children are busy trying to fend off Christmas decorations long enough to celebrate their birthdays.

Let's talk about flowers to help with that.

November has two official flowers. The chrysanthemum and the peony. Happenstance I re-imagined a peony ghost story for Halloween so we're going to talk about that flower for this post.

The peony can either be a tree blossom or a more tradition herbaceous flower. Native to Asia, Europe and North America, most of the time when we think of peony flowers, we're thinking of the ones that were cultivated and rose to fame in China. From 618 to 907, the Tang dynasty was in power in China and while the previous Sui dynasty had seen a growing fascination with the peony, it was the Tang dynasty that solidified it as a symbol of China, filling the imperial gardens with them. The Song dynasty that followed saw the city of Luoyang becoming both the capitol of the dynasty and of peony cultivation, a distinction that the city still, peony at least, holds to this day. The Quing dynasty saw the city of He Ze, or Cáozhōu, becoming a second center for peony flowers. Cáozhōu is also still a center for peony exhibitions and state-funded research. The peony was the official flower of China until 1929. To this day it is still known as 'the King of the Flowers'.

The peony's fame didn't stay in China however. Japan saw the introduction of the flower sometime before the tenth century and fell in love with it as well, working the peony into their stories and folklore. In the nineteenth century, Europe went wild for the flower, especially in France and the United Kingdom where cultivators began experimenting with various strains, and the Netherlands became the largest exporter, a distinction they hold to this day with over 50 million stems sold each year. In a fun twist, Alaska is starting to show up as an exporter as well, with its long sunny days during the summer turning out to be prime for the flowers' growth.

The peony isn't just a pretty face either. Before it was celebrated for its beauty it was known as a medicinal plant. In China and Japan, the peony root was used to treat convulsions. To this day, people still use its petals in teas and salads. In England, children wore necklaces made of the root to help with teething and prevent seizures. The peony even, very early on, spread as far as regions of the Mediterranean were we got the standard english version of its name from Greek myths. In one, Apollo, to no one's surprise, is pursuing a nymph named Paeonia, who grew embarrassed when she realized Aphrodite was being a voyeur about it and, for that sin, Aphrodite turned her into a flower. In the other myth, there's a physician named Paeon, who used the root of the peony flower to cure Pluto. Paeon's mentor, the god of medicine Aesculapius, grew jealous of this feat and attempted to kill his student. Again a god fell back on the flower solution and Pluto (or Zeus in some versions) turned Paeon into a peony flower so everyone would praise him for being beautiful. Because - priorities.

As for superstitions about the peony - its considered dangerous to pick its seeds while a woodpecker is about. If it sees you, it will peck out your eyes! A peony bush full of flowers is good luck but once they start to wilt and fall off you should prepare for bad luck (given its natural for flowers to do this, gardeners apparently need to get picking). It's also bad luck to give or receive an odd number of peony flowers in a bouquet or to have an odd number bloom on your bush. Fairies are rumored to hide in a peony flower's petals. Thanks to Utagawa Kuniyoshi, a Japanese master ukiyo-e artist from the 1800s, who drew warriors with peony tattoos, the flower can symbolize, especially in tattoos, a masculine devil-may-care and 'damn the consequences' attitude. The red peony in Serbia is said to spring from the blood of the Serbian warriors who died in the Battle of Kosovo in 1389. It is the state flower of Indiana in the United States.

In the language of flowers, the peony can represent shame or bashfulness. The flower also symbolizes romance, wealth, honor, bravery, compassion and a happy relationship or happy marriage. It is also the flower given on the twelfth wedding anniversary.

[foxes-that-run]

In that pleasing tiktok which, he's wearing rings again which he hasn't been since the shows I think. Do you know if there's any significance to those specific rings?

It's also interesting they deleted the one using style fast which makes me wonder if some intern accidently did it otherwise makes no sense.

Hi Anon, thank you for the ask. :)

An account like Pleasing would probably have quite robust approvals for a TikTok, I'd say especially with Harry's hand, so I think that chaos was intended. Pleasing's Tik Tok has a clear soundscape that doesn't fit with. So I don't think intern, I do think HS knew and I think it was deleted because he's particular and cares about it being cohesive. Once it went viral they didn't need it the deletion adds to the mystery.

The rings he wore in the TikTok today are ones he wears quite often:

H&S are custom Gucci, he's worn them since 2019 and represent himself. An etched version is available for sale

Stevie Nicks gifted him the large pink stone ring in his first ever show at the Forum for Fine Line's launch in December 2019. He wore that in the Falling Music Video also.

The Ruby Ring is one he has had since May 2017 when his Debut Album came out, I think it is about his solo career, but it's a ruby...

The mosaic ring appeared in 2021 I don’t know the meaning but it’s so pretty! This posts thinks it could be about Robin. Alessandro has a similar ring

The pearl ring has a woman holding the pearl and also appeared in 2021. I have more detail on this here First seen at the Grammy's March 2021, Peace ring not seen much since.

And it looks like his Gucci lion on the end

He doesn't talk about them so we can only guess any meaning, also impossible to know if the first time we see a ring is when he got it, unless it changes hands like the Haylor one. The ones wonder if may be to do with Taylor are:

the Rose, he wore this 6 March 2017, just before his first solo album. He wore it all through the promo and was lost at an Ariana Grande Concert in August 2019 and he seemed worried. The reason I wonder if it could be connected to Taylor is the rose. He references roses in LOML Lyric video, she only uses roses in Lyrics, videos in connection to him and he got the rose tattoo while they dated. He wore it on the cover of Rolling Stone when he left the table when the interviewer brought her up.

Haylor Ring - it was hers, she gave it to him in 2014 when Style came out, he wore it up to 2017. It's in his last B&W Instagram in 2016 and on Carpool Karaoke in 2017.

Gucci Lion - he has at least 3 Gucci lion rings, silver with a purple stone, which is a custom combination, gold with a black stone and gold with a purple stone. He got all 3 in 2018, first seen in silver in Japan in August 2018. Taylor wore the earrings from same collection in the lAWYMMD video 10 months before he wore the ring. Gold first seen here October 2018 when a fan found it at Coachella it has an inscription of 'second time's a charm'. Taylor wore one at Electric Lady Studios to the wrap party for 1989 TV in April 2023. Taylor also wore one at Zoe Kravitz birthday in maybe December 2021 or 22. Taylor & Gucci lion

Ruby ring, It's also on the Rolling Stone Cover from 2017, and at the Today Show when he played Stockholm Syndrome in May 2017. IDK - it's red, he refers to her as red in his songs (e.g. grapejuice) and they started dating in the Red era and I think it's his favourite album of hers, he refers to it a bit. But this and the Rose may just be about his solo career.

Grateful Dead ring it appeared while they dated in 2014, she referenced it in Delicate.

Peace Ring appeared while they dated in 2013, the timing and that he also wore it during the Falling Music Video along with the Ruby. I have a detailed post about this ring and why it is Haylor.

Other rings:

The Camille ring - an oval garnet he wore while they dated from July 2017-2018. Different to the square ruby.

Bear ring - not seen in a long time. From 2013

This round gold stone or diamond ring from September 2021

[watermelonsloth]

So... Sarada's Timeskip Design

First some positives:

The design works in both Haruno(choker, red) and Uchiha(earrings, black) elements. Even though they are few, I prefer it over the complete absence of both like we got in her last manga design

I like the somewhat unique choice in headband placement

The outfit is pretty fashionable and I can easily picture a teenager wearing it

Her earrings are a nice touch

Her haircut is really cute

Now the negatives(oh god are there negatives). I can't shorten this to simple bullet points so I hope you like the paragraph format. First, the obvious:

It Doesn't Look Practical In The Least

She's wearing big-ass heels, her leg warmers are loose enough to get caught under her feet, her shorts(the bottom half of her romper?) are short enough to give her a wedgie, she has pretty much no leg protection, the shuriken holster attached to her leg without bandages looks uncomfortable, the belt is completely useless, her jacket is baggy and unzipped and begging to fall off, her sleeves look like they'd get in the way during combat, her glasses feel noticeably fragile, and what woman in their right mind would wear a strapless bra into combat? (I can only let the last one slide because it's two men who're working on this manga) If not for the metal plate, shuriken holster, and open-toed shoes, I wouldn't even think she was a ninja(or from the Naruto franchise, for that matter). Lack of practicality doesn't tend to bother me since this is fantasy and every character wearing maximum practicality outfits would get boring, but Sarada looks like they didn't even make an attempt at making her look combat ready. Still, all of this would be fine if not for my next point.

This Doesn't Look Like Something Sarada Would Wear

If impracticality was in character or served a narrative purpose, it would be a point in the designs favor. Except, Sarada isn't the type of character to wear something so impractical. In the manga, she's the character that takes being a ninja the most seriously, she's one of the few with clear goals, and she's the resident team leader and smart one. What part of her design tells us any of that? Yes, manga Sarada is weirdly flirtatious. But that aspect of her personality already contradicts her otherwise disinterest in boys and romance, it doesn't mesh well with her portrayal in the anime(which is also supposed to be canon), it's already an inconsistent part of her personality, and there's already been so many complaints about it(even in Japan from what I can tell) that you'd think that Ikemoto wouldn't continue with it.

Why Does It Invoke So Much Akatsuki?

This might just be me, but I think the design has too many nods to the Akatsuki. The oversized jacket, the fabric around the bottom of her leg, and the black, red, and white/silver color scheme in similar ratios. I'm not saying you'll confuse her for an Akatsuki member by any means and there were certainly more things they could've done to make her resemble the Akatsuki if that was their goal. What I'm saying is that if I were trying to make nods towards the former villain organization in a character's design, I'd use similar design elements.

The worst part is that this was entirely avoidable. Even ignoring that they could've scrapped the more impractical aspects of her design to avoid this, her color palette didn't even have to be this way. Red isn't the only color that can invoke connections to Sakura; shades of pink, light green, and white are also colors of Sakura. Black isn't even the most common color that Uchiha's wear, shades of dark purple and blue are. Purples and blues would've also been a better nod to Sasuke. Maybe they wanted her to wear "Uchiha colors," but, once again, those aren't really Uchiha colors. Black is, but red has only appeared in Madara's armor, the sharingan, and the clan crest and white has also only appeared in the clan crest(I don't even remember an Uchiha that ever wore silver). If you wanna argue that Sarada's color is red, then I ask why wouldn't they just keep red as her primary color instead of making it an accent? Her last manga design had black and white as accents, I don't think keeping her color palette the same would've bothered anyone. I know that Kishimoto added black to Naruto's design to help make him look more mature, but Sarada's design doesn't invoke "mature" anyways and it certainly isn't a more mature version of her last design because, much like the majority of the two blue vortex designs, it looks nothing like her last design. It's even worse than when they started adding too much black to Naruto's design because now it reminds people(or at least me) of an organization that I doubt she's meant to be affiliated with. But who knows? Maybe like the metal plate of her headband being on an easily removeable jacket, this is all foreshadowing to something.

I don't blame anyone for thinking this is a nitpick, but it bothers me and I wanted to express it.

Conclusion

Sarada's design is the worst for the same reasons her last design was the worst plus it looking too much like she took inspiration from the Akatsuki's wardrobe. Forget needing a second draft, this design needs to be scrapped and replaced. Maybe the anime will find a way to fix it, maybe it won't. Only time will tell and it'll hopefully tell us good news.

(Side note: why is she constantly drawn with her feet pointed inwards? it makes her look insecure.)

[n0tananimegirl]

#skts | oversized pt 1

Kiyoomi hadn’t known what to expect his first year at the All Japan Youth Training camp. He made himself a name in the world of volleyball during his middle school years so it was an honor to be there.

Especially to be surrounded by talented players - Ushijima Wakatoshi being one of them. Mixed in with these bunch of talented players were also the Miya Twins. Atsumu and Osamu - forces of their own not to be trifled with - first years, just like him.

He discovers Osamu to be skilled as a spiker even when he wasn’t paired with his twin but he hated to admit that he often found his gaze drifting to the blond who was nearly always by his side.

Atsumu was an enigma on his own - unphased that he’s a first year and demanded perfection from everyone around him.

Including Kiyoomi.

Sakusa could admit he was attracted to the setter, piss blond hair and all - at least until Miya opened his fucking mouth.

“You’re setting it too high Miya.” He grits out after another failed attempt at spiking Atsumu’s set.

Atsumu lifted his shirt to wipe the sweat off his face - Kiyoomi’s eyes flickered to the exposed tanned skin “What’s the point of having those long ass arms if ya can’t reach high tosses?” He snarks.

Kiyoomi bristled “If you tossed where I could reach we wouldn’t have this problem.”

The blond tsks “If ya can’t hit my sets then get out of the way because there’s someone who can.” He looks over Kiyoomi’s shoulder where Osamu was watching them - glare pointed at Sakusa.

“Again.” Kiyoomi demands never one to be outdone.

They never spoke off the court - Atsumu sticking close to his twin while Sakusa found friendship in Ushijima. But Kiyoomi couldn’t seem to keep his attention off the setter.

Why?

Because of the stupid fucking clothes he wore when he wasn’t practicing.

Atsumu liked wearing oversized shirts and it was driving Sakusa crazy. He was particularly favoring a heather gray hoodie that nearly covered his shorts with sleeves that hung off his hands giving him sweater paws.

He learned the hoodie was Osamu’s - a small, small part of him had been relieved that it wasn’t a boyfriends.

“Stop wearing my shit ya scrub, ya got yer own clothes.” Osamu says annoyance evident on his face.

“Ya know this is my favorite Samu. And ya saw me pack it ya asshole!”

At first glance the twins didn’t look much different in size but if you look close enough - like Kiyoomi had - you could spot that Osamu was much broader than his twin, with wide shoulders strengthened by no doubt years of spiking.

While Atsumu was much leaner, flexible from the impressive sets he conjures up, thighs thick and muscular.

Similar but oh so different at the same time.

It didn’t stop with the hoodie - most of Atsumu’s t shirts never truly fit him usually large enough to fall off his shoulder revealing freckled skin that had Kiyoomi itching to reach out and touch.

Of course Sakusa did nothing but attempt to be subtle about his staring - if Miya noticed, he didn’t say anything. He couldn’t say the same about Osamu who watched him like a hawk.

Training camp came to an end without any other incidents. Miya continued driving him up the wall in more ways than one and he was desperate to return home where he didn’t have to see the golden boy in oversized clothes.

Sakusa was waiting outside the training center, waiting for his parents to come and pick him up when he hears that familiar kansai accent call out his name “Omi-Omi!”

He cringes at the nickname but turns anyways to Atsumu who’s approaching him wearing that fucking hoodie “See ya at Nationals?” He asks waving sweater paw hand, smile bright and sunshine like “Can’t wait to kick yer ass!”

Kiyoomi didn’t have time to respond when Osamu starts tugging his twin along “Let’s go idiot before we miss our bus.”

And just like that Atsumu is pulled away but not before glancing over his shoulder to smile once more at Kiyoomi.

Fuck.

[jaejoongbornfreeonekiss]

Yunjae analysis II

Their relationship after military service is difficult to undertand so i will try to analyze jaejoong first then Yunjae JJ after MS (military service) is another man, different from the one he was before MS. He is happy,in peace with himself, no emo tweet , no sad love songs,no crying on stage He is becoming more like his older self , the jj at the early days of TVXQ:cutipie,Shy,Happy pill He reconnected with hismeslf during his MS and understood that he must live his life since he is getting older. He was asked through the years if he wanted to go back to the past (which mean his days as tvxq included) and he has been consistent in his answers for the last 07 years, he always said that he is happy in the present and doesn't want to go back In his documentary on the road , he said there that after MS, he want to live his life day by day , he doesn't want the days to end and it scares him that the time passes fast Each person in their thirties have this thought, since in our twenties we don't care about time ,we believe that the youth is eternal but once you reach thirty, you want time to pass slower and want to enjoy each day As for yunjae, in 2017, people have said that the two were meeting, jj gives a lot of hints After 2 years of military service, they were probably missing each other and tried maybe to fix their relationship Disclaimer: i don't consider matching items etc as hints since they are probably gifts from fans so they wore them But starting from 2018, everything was different,so maybe something happened? (maybe they had an argument).JJ left korea for japan without hesitation and stayed there for almost two years and almost half a year each year afterwards and he stopped giving hints about yunjae (remember his hints in his pre-military era, he was always obvious) And yh renewed his contrat with SM so i believe they are not together I'm sur about this cause :

-If JJ was with the love of his life,he will share love songs and heart and roses each day.He can't hide his hapiness nor his sadness. -if JJ was still in love with yh like before his MS and can't be with him, you will see the emo jj he was back then but JJ is neither of the two, he is happy but doen't share much romantic posts etc… And for the future , i don't think they will ever be together They are in their late thirties, completed their MS, they had almost 10 years after MS, if they wanted their relatioship to work out,they would have find a way but their love is just impossible I really think that yh will get married in few years to a women and have kids like the society is expecting him to do however,jj will never get married because he had to find his other half to get married .He had to fall in love like he did with yh but that's not easy … Especially that Yunho was the one who taught him what love is

Their love story is just tragic

[taeyeonsb]

txt and twice 🥺

oohohh u have a crush on me >3<

txt <3

✦ my first bias: taehyun and soobin

✦ my current bias(es): ....ill let u figure that out babe

✦ my album and/or era ranking (or favorite of each): [screams] this is hard. the dream chapter: magic and minisode1 blour are definitely tied for first. tdc magic is just so important .. long hair taehyun..long hair hueningkai.....RUN AWAY ???????? angel or devil ........ magic island..cwjltma.. its literally full of the best songs ever made. blour was my first txt era so it will always be special<3 in addition to that . its a perfect album , like i can sit down and loop my blour cd for ten hours. i have done that. multiple times. like once a week. ghosting ..[falls to the floor] wishlist is pretty good<3

then ...... its basically neck and neck with all the others and i dont have the emotional capacity to pick <3 i would like to instead take this space to list some of my favorite txt songs in no particular order: wishlist , nap of a star , frost , eyes, wishlist , trust fund baby , cat&dog , ghosting , dear sputnik , eternally , anti romantic , no rules , cant you see me , wishlist , puma , loser lover , 0x1 lovesong , 0x1 lovesong jp ver. thamk u for ur time

✦ how i got into them: i found them in the [redacted] tag. and then kept seeing their early tiktoks on my pinterest page, namely soobin running into the metal pole and taehyun in the mirror. i think i watched both of them at least 30 times, hence the first bias situation. also i saw a gen z idol comp and yeonjun dropped the pasta and i think i screm laughed for like 30 mins straight at that

✦ which member would be my best friend: hueningkai and i know this for several reasons: first and foremost bc im obsessed with him and he'd adore that , second that i would sew him any plush he wanted , third that i make a million jokes a minute and he loves laughing

✦ something i associate with them (or with a bias/any member): cowboy hats and crocs. alexa play be the cowboy by mitski , i associate hueningkai with plushies and hoodies and laughter and marshmallows and headphones and pretty green grass and the >3< kissy face , and i associate soobin with da da da da da da da da da da 🐬. taehyun with tdc magic and all magic and sour patch kids and (ofc) cheese tteokbokki and cats and math :(

twiceeeeee

✦ my first bias: jihyo !!!!!! my first cb with them was dance the night away so i think everyone can understand me..that 1 stage where she wore a red dress..gn

✦ my current bias(es): chaeyoung + sana .. theyre just so beloved (read: unhinged) literallly wig group fighting

✦ my album and/or era ranking (or favorite of each): they have SO MANY ERAS BCVNCV so ill list some of my favorites <3 yes or yes, heart shaker, what is love, i can't stop me, like ooh-ahh , bdz . FAVE TITLE IS HEART SHAKER <3

shoutout to more& more for orange sana..gotta be one of my favorite genders🤞 fav albums overall are fancy you , yes or yes, and summer nights the bside game is absolutely insane !!!!!!!!!!! girls like us , after moon , shot thru the heart .................. they are so so so very important. also one in a million is [falls to the floor] every so often i will just watch their live performance in japan and cry

✦ how i got into them: during what is love era !! one of my bestfriends at the time would do twice dances across the room in compsci from me and we'd watch their mvs together hehe

✦ which member would be my best friend: probably nayeon .. i think we'd have a time making hilarious jokes and bothering everyone...also i want to hold her hands

✦ something i associate with them (or with a bias/any member): candy !!!!! their lightstick..candy..candy pop..nayeon candy floss.........i associate tzuyu with yoda ZXNCZ shes so cute and i associate sana with microwaves because shes insane .. or shall i call her .. insana😇

[snowmaniaph]

Friday Night drama “Nice Flight” Special Interview

"It’s a cycle of trial and error while trying to make Natsume’s character grow inside me."

This offer came to me just about when I was thinking that I wanted to experience the joy of acting in a drama or movie, that’s why I was so happy. It sounds cliché but I thought it was a prank (laughs). I tried on a lot of clothes during the costume fitting, and it got my tension up and made me think “As expected of a serial drama~!” I’m acting as Natsume Koudai, an air traffic controller at Haneda Airport. Without a uniform, his basic style is formal shirts and pants. I admired having ID cards, so I was really happy when I first wore them around my neck! Natsume is a certified weather forecaster, someone who returned to Japan after living abroad as a child, and a public servant! A super high-spec guy! (laughs). Most of the conversations with pilots are in English that’s why I started learning the language again at a school for English conversation. Even in normal conversations he suddenly blurts out his reactions in English. I wonder if there will be hand gestures? It’s a repeating cycle of trial and error while making Natsume’s character grow inside me.

There is an “azatoi smile” written in the script but Natsume really is someone with a good personality. The considerate protagonist played by Tamamori (Yuta)-kun is also a really good person. I agree with his tasteful line “A flight is part of a pilot’s everyday job, but it might be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for a passenger”. Snow Man’s live performances and stages might also be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the person watching us. Natsume also thinks in the same thoughtful way, and also has his own feelings towards pilots. I think it’s also an air traffic controller’s job to take away the pilots’ uncertainties during takeoff and landing through our voice and guidance. Natsume is in the control tower, but he wishes to be someone who makes the pilots feel like he is there with them in the airplane. This drama starts because of Mayu, played by Nakamura An, whose voice makes the protagonist fall in love at first listen. Her voice is really convincing (for the role). It would be nice if there are also people who would fall in love the first time they hear my character Natsume’s voice (laughs).

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

Q. What is something that you always bring with you to the filming location?

Jelly drink. I have a set time for meals but there are times when I get hungry before those set times. Also, I use my brain a lot in the filming location for stuff like memorizing my lines so it’s important to prepare sweets or something that I can quickly fill my stomach with.

Q. Natsume has a lot of lines expressing appreciation. What words would make you (Abe) happy?

Words that were actually said to me that made me happy were when Raul said “You’re interesting, Abe-chan!” while innocently laughing. I’m simply happy that Raul complimented me. Natsume thinks that it’s also his job to make an environment where it’s easy for everyone to share their opinion at work so that is probably why he expresses his gratitude a lot.

Source: Potato 09/2022

[transhawks]

On Favorite Foods

Let's talk about how the smallest of details can show just how well Horikoshi can craft his characters. In this case just how much work he's put into creating Shimura Tenko.

Food is often used symbolically in media to convey something other than it's base nature, mostly because food does that outside of media. The food we eat and how we prepare it often has class, religious, and ethnic connotations; and to look at food historically is to traverse thousands of years of war, politics, and culture.

I'll use a small example first. We know Momo is wealthy because so many things about her are markers of wealth. Even more interestingly, compared to the traditional wealth of the Todoroki family, Momo's wealth is very much Westernized and that can be seen in how she interacts with tea. Her method and preference of tea is very different than the traditional love of matcha and tea ceremonies that some Japanese schoolchildren can take as extracurriculars. No, the way she drinks tea is very British-style, and this is bolstered by Gentle's mutual obsession with the same tea brands - he has a fixation over Anglo versions of gentility, as seen in his design. Momo then comes off as a 'lady'-like character. Not a traditional Yamato Nadeshiko, a term for the ideal 'Japanese' woman, but.. a Lady.

That's the more obvious stuff! But it's in throwaway things that I see Horikoshi's ingenuity.

This is Tomura's maternal grandfather serving him Ohagi. Tomura's been shown once or twice consuming sweets, so it makes sense that a five year -old version of him liked sweets the best. In this case he's fond of a very traditional sweet named Ohagi, or Botamochi.

Ohagi is a sweet, sticky rice cake made by steaming and pounding rice flour and adding things like red bean paste to it (which according to color is what we see in this image). It's traditionally associated and eaten the most during the Spring and Autumnal equinoxes during a weeklong Japanese Busshist holiday named "Ohigan". This is a holiday primarily concerned with remembering ancestors and visiting memorials. Ohagi itself is bit more associated with the fall equinox than Botamochi.

So, as a food associated with Ohigan, what this means is that often Ohagi is offered as an offering to the dead on that week, and is eaten in memory of those who have passed.

Tomura Shigaraki is a character created of grief, death, and mourning. He literally wears/wore those he mourns throughout the manga. Don't forget that AFO bestowed the name Tomura out of the verb Tomurau; 'To Mourn For'. Shigaraki also contains death (Shi), while the Shi in Shimura is a homophone.

Digging deeper, Tomura's given birthday (if it's real) is 4/4. Most casual Western watchers might recall that four is considered a 'cursed' number in Japan because it can be pronounced 'Shi'. Thus his birthday, 4/4 is very much a reminder of death.

The dates of the Ohigan vary, but it's usually associated with the Chinese calendar and specifically a period of time named Chunfen (Shunbun in Japanese) that starts around March 20 and ends on the 4th of April, with the 5th usually being the first day of the new fiscal year as well. Endings, deaths - it's likely very few details are over looked when Horikoshi comes up something for a character close to his heart.

Just from a small dessert, we have such richness in seeing how Tomura was created as a character. So much of his concept and design revolve around mourning and death that even a small throwaway line of a favorite childhood sweet has meaning and characterization. This is where Horikoshi shines the most - in small details that end up giving a character so much depth.

[kaiyonohime]

The Blockening!  It’s like The Quickening, but without swords or a kick ass soundtrack.

Lace generally needs to be blocked out once a year, especially if it gets used during the year, so that it can stretch out and be pretty.  But it needs good weather conditions to do that (Japan doesn’t have central air in homes, so if it’s really rainy the walls are practically dripping with humidity and blocking is impossible, and if it’s cold, well, it’ll never dry, just freeze).  I usually wait until last August or September to do the yearly blocking because there’s usually plenty of hot, sunny, 30+ degree days to be had (gonna average 35 all next week).

So yes, here’s is lace piece number one, my wedding shawl.  Literally, it’s the shawl I wore at my wedding.  Which I can’t really post photos of because you can’t see the shawl against the backdrop of the hand embroidered white silk kimono I wore (my husband is Japanese and we live in Japan, we got married at a local shinto shrine).  And, for anyone asking, the current wedding culture in Japan is that you rent your wedding clothes, you don’t buy them, so no, I do not own a hand embroidered white wedding kimono set, or the more colorful and less fancy kimono that I wore at the reception.  I do own several yukata (lightweight, informal summer kimono, popular to wear to summer festivals.  Of which there have been none to wear them to for two years now) though, so those may show up in photos here one day the next time I get around to wearing one.

But yep, this is lace.  And, while blocking, I discovered a thread had snapped in the leaf pattern and one in the tooth pattern.  I also discovered that, for all that I can knit lace, I have absolutely no clue how to actually repair it.  So I knotted off the ends to prevent more unraveling and called it a day.  Lace, it’s fragile and eventually it just falls apart in your hands.  Although this one did that a few decades before I thought it would.

[dumbbitchenergy17]

Bringer of Chaos

With the reveal of you as the UA traitor, 1-A and the Pro Heroes now have to face the war coming to them. By the Bringer of Chaos.

Words- 6.6K

UA!Traitor x MHA, Tomura Shigaraki x Reader (Sibling Relationship)

Warnings: MAJOR Character death, violence, death, Stockholm syndrome, angst, and lots of sadness

A/N: For the readers quirk it’s chaos magic just like Scarlet Witch as well as hero costume. This isn’t a crossover making the reader Scarlet Witch, just that that quirk works for the story and I couldn’t think of any other villain costume. Anyways hope you all enjoy.

Was it fear that she felt.

All their eyes on her.

Heroes think they were in the right but how many people died by their hands. Why say you're a hero if you can’t save them all right?

You had always had a dangerous quirk when you were younger, both your parents were quirkless but when they had you, you had one. Chaos Magic is what they called it the ability to tap into and utilizes the chaotic forces of the universe, capable of warping, manipulating and/or reconstructing reality and probability as well as the very fabric of existence. They had no clue where it came from and from which side of the family passed it down. Two quirkless parents raising a child with a strong quirk, they had no clue what to do.

You were pulled out of school after your quirk had manifested and you made a stuffed animal bear come to life, scaring the class and teacher and forcing you to transform it back to a regular toy. With such a strong quirk your parents were afraid that you could hurt someone when your quirk grew stronger and you were homeschooled for the safety of you but mostly the safety of others.

Society deemed people without quirks useless and not successful, if you had one you better hope it was powerful and flashy or you wouldn’t be going anywhere with your life. When you were younger you looked up to heroes, they saved the day and kept everyone safe from the bad guys. You remembered sitting on the couch with your parents watching the news and seeing the heroes save the day and you would stand up and turn to your parents saying you would become a hero and save everyone. They would smile and tell you if you worked hard enough you would be the next number one hero. With your childhood you were happy everyone was safe, until they weren’t.

The police and heroes said there was nothing they could have done to save them, it was a break-in. They had shown up and slaughtered your parents leaving you there sitting in between their bleeding bodies alone. That was when you knew heroes couldn’t save everyone, the society they live among is corrupt. Heroes looking after popularity votes and looks instead of actually saving lives. Ironically there were others they had similar ideals as you did. You were passed around from foster home to foster home but, no one wanted to deal with a child whose quirk was too dangerous; they didn’t want a villain-like kid.

You were six when you ran away after another foster family sent you back after you had made the dog they had got as a welcoming gift disappear never to return. You kept running until your legs wouldn’t let you move anymore and that’s when he found you.

A portal had opened in the alleyway you had collapsed in and out came a man followed by a boy. The man wore a some sort of ventilator mask that covered the entire of his face and neck, next to him was a boy who had a disembodied hand covering his face. The man never told you his name just holding his hand telling you that you would be able to get revenge on the heroes. You grew to see him as your new father and the boy who told you his name was Tomura as a brother. He was a few years older than you but the time you spent together was when you were meeting father or him watching you train your quirk. Another person in your life when you joined what was now the League of Villains was Kurogiri, father was rarely around so he watched after you and Tomura, he taught you everything you would need to know.

When you joined UA you main goal was to bring down the hero society following after Tomura’s lead, him always reminding you that you would get your revenge. You played your part well not holding back when in fights against villains during the USJ, Kamino Ward, everything fell into place. With talk about the UA traitor within the teachers no one suspected the girl who seemed to have little hold on her quirk, but how wrong they were. All this led to now your former friends looking at you in fear and horror, when it was revealed you were the traitor.

You were completely surrounded by her former teachers standing around you ready to take you down and you kept your gaze on your class.

“Y/n don’t make this harder than it is, please just surrender.” Mr. Aizawa held his scarf in both hands ready to attack if you made any sudden moves.

“And if I don’t? Can you really stop me?” You glance at your teacher and he faltered slightly in his stance.

“You’re completely surrounded by pro heroes, so we can take you down.” Present Mic said making you smirk they have only seen what you showed at progression with your quirk. UA only knows the most you could do is change the integrity of a few objects, nothing on a large scale. They barely gave you time to react with Mr. Aizawa sends his capture weapon towards you to wrap it around you, activating his quirk making his hair rise up and float. The weapon goes straight to you half of it landing on the ground behind you.

You look at him with a bored expression, finding humor in him and the others' shocked expression. “Did you think it would be that easy?” You knelt grabbing the end of his capture weapon and he tries to use it but it doesn’t affect you. “What would a simple cloth feel like if it weighed more than that.” A red haze covers the cloth leading up to his neck and slams into the ground, the weight of the scarf alone slowly starts to suffocate him. Present Mic and Midnight rush to him trying to pry the scarf off him.

“Mr. Aizawa!” Class 1-A yells seeing their teacher struggle. Dropping the scarf from your end you look around at your teachers who know they can’t stop you and your classmates.

“Don’t think this is over,” You hear an explosion and someone running towards you, “You bastard get back here!” Bakugo yells, holding his hand out sending a huge explosion. The smoke clears and there is Bakugo panting out of breath looking around for you, but you’re nowhere to be found. The red haze surrounding Aizawa’s scarf disappears, sending him shooting upwards, throwing it off him as he coughs and wheezes. The 1-A and the Pros look to where you once stood, if that was just some of your power, they had no clue what was in store for them if you came back.

In an abandoned warehouse the league hears footsteps heading towards the room they were in. Each of them ready to fight and kill the intruder, the footsteps getting louder until it was right in front of the room.

“That’s funny thinking your quirks could stop me.” A familiar voice calls out through the door as they open it. You stand in front of them and they relax welcoming you in. Standing away from them was Tomura Shigaraki, he was scratching his neck frantically but stopped when he heard your voice. You walked closer to the man you saw as a mentor, as a brother. You stood next to him as he looked out the warehouse window showing the vast city that was part of Japan.

“Tomura...it’s time.”

With your reveal as the UA traitor the school was put on lockdown immediately once you left in fear you would return but not alone. Your face was plaster across the news worldwide ranking you as national alert. News articles found everything about you with your parent’s death, your disappearance from the orphanage to your life at UA. They speculated that you could be in correlation to the league which made you more of a threat, if you had connections to All for One or Tomura Shigaraki.

“Funny how one moment you were just a UA student, now you’re public enemy number one.” Spinner smirks, tossing you the latest newspaper that talked about you. You smirked as you made the newspaper disappear before it could hit you and reappear behind Spinner hitting him in the back of the head.

“They say the same crap as always, not my fault heroes don’t know how to do their jobs.” You go back to laying on the couch closing your eyes, blocking out the noise of the villains around you. You hear the door open and footsteps bounding towards you jumping on the couch crushing you under their weight. 

“Y/nnnnnn I missed you so much when you were gone. It’s boring being the only girl here with Mange gone and you always at UA.” Toga wraps her arms around you squeezing the living life out of you.

“Toga if you don’t let me go, I swear I will turn you into a bug.” You open one eye glaring at her and she sighs getting off you mumbling under her breath.

“How much longer do we have to keep waiting we’ve been in this stupid warehouse for the past week.” Dabi said, kicking a can away from where he was standing.

“Yeah I wanna fight, no let’s relax.” Twice responses, god they were annoying as hell.

You huff sitting up look at them, “When Tomura says he’s ready we’ll go until then shut up and let me rest.”

“And why should we listen to what you have to say, you’re younger than any of us.” Dabi gets up in your face and you clench your jaw waiting for him to do something.

“You should watch what you say next, we know who could win in this fight.” You stand both of you up in each other's face.

“Yeah what are you gonna do about it, huh” He smirks and he goes to speak again but his breath hitches as he grabs his throat.

“What’s the problem Dabi? Have something to say?” He falls to his knees as he tries to breath but is unable to. “You feel that right your lungs are failing on you, do you know how easy it is to kill you right now.” You squat in front of him grabbing his face, your hand covered in a red haze when you use your quirk. 

“You made your point Y/n stop it.” Toga grabs your shoulder.

“No, he seems like he has something to say right, Dabi.” Tears fill his eyes as he is practically blue in the face.

“That’s enough Y/n.” Tomura calls out and you stop using your quirk as him and Mr. Compress enter the room. Dabi sucks in air coughing profusely Twice, Toga, and Spinner goes to his aid as he regulates his breath lightheaded from the rush of new oxygen. “You all act like children.” Tomura says walking past you all going to the window looking out to the city.

“Whatever.” You roll your eyes sitting back on the couch. “The Nomus are ready, my army is ready.” He turns to look at you all. “You all know what you have to do, so get to it.” He says and they all leave, Dabi walking past you glaring at you with you glaring back. Leaving only the two of you left in the room, you stand next to him as you both look at the calm city that will be thrown into chaos. 

“Father would be proud of you Tomura.” You place your hand on his shoulder and he nods.

“You know what to do, you are the biggest piece in the puzzle. You know UA in and out, give them hell.” You nod looking at the man you see as family, the calm before the storm.

“I’ll see you on the other side Tomura.”

The van you were in stopped a few blocks away and you climbed out of it looking back at the villains sitting in it. “Don’t fuck it up Y/n.” Dabi says and you smirk. “You just do your job.” The clothes you were wearing transform into your old school uniform. The league drives away leaving you to walk the rest to UA, they would have no clue what hit them.

With your disappearance UA had been hesitant but continued school as normal, with the dorms they had up campus security and included a strict curfew for the safety of the students. Many students were surprised when they heard  that you were the traitor while others found it ironic that someone from 1-A the hero course was actually a villain. 1-A atmosphere had definitely change since the reveal, some were easier at coming to peace that who they thought was their friend was actually a traitor while others still couldn’t believe it. The class seemed dull with you gone. You had put on a convincing performance, actually forming friendships with your classmates some seeing you as family which broke them even more. Midoriya lost some sort of sparkle since you had left, he saw you as one of his closest friends and felt like this seemed like his fault why didn’t he see the signs. Your curiosity for everyone’s quirk specifically his, you seemed to have a love for heroes and he had shown you his notebook with list upon list of everyone with their quirks and their strength and weakness. He let her get exactly what she needed that would affect heroes and the students because he saw her as a friend.

Mr. Aizawa went on about the lesson but Izuku drowned out most of his talking his gaze to the window showing the walkway to the front of the school. Every few minutes he could see cars driving past the entrance, but what caught his eye was someone walking down the path that led to the building. From this distance he couldn’t make out a face but they were a student from the uniform, but why were they there? It was already the middle of the school day and they should be in class. As if his questions were answered an alarm went off shocking the students

“Intruder alert! Please evacuate the building. Intruder alert!” The intercoms repeat as the alarm continues.

Everyone is grabbing their bags, “It’s probably just the press like last time.” Kirishima says as they get ready to leave, but Midoriya is still locked onto the figure walking to the building, they had no school bag and didn’t seem like they were in a hurry as they got closer. Whoever was walking looked up towards the building and Midoriya felt ice enter his veins seeing their face.

“Hey Deku come on we have to go.” Uraraka grabs his arm to pull him away from the window but he is frozen in shock and fear. His classmates look at him confused at his unnaturally pale face.

“Deku you idiot we have to leave.” Bakugo yells at him standing at the door where Mr. Aizawa was waiting impatiently as they needed to evacuate as a group.

“She’s here.” Midoriya said, and the class had a pretty good idea who “she” was. 

“None of you leave this classroom, you got it.” Mr. Aizawa pushed them back in, closing the door, locking it and rushing to go to the other teachers leaving 1-A locked in the class unable to do anything but watch out the window.

“This is crazy, why is she back?” Kaminari said as they all tried to look out the window to see you.

“Whatever reason the Pros will stop her.” Ida said having faith in the heroes. 

“You saw what she did last time she was here she almost killed Mr. Aizawa!” Mineta cried out.

“If it’s a fight that’s coming I’m not gonna sit around and wait for her to get here. Where’s the button to open our lockers” Bakugo yelled, going to Mr. Aizawa's desk looking for the button so they could get their hero costumes.

“That isn’t smart Kacchan we thought she wasn’t that advanced with her quirk but if she is that strong and involved with the league of villains we are ants compared to her.” Midoriya tried to reason with him.

“I think Bakugo is right,” Momo said which shocked most of the class, “We need to be logical with this, she’s back here for a reason, she wouldn't be coming back if she didn’t have a plan or someone specific she’s after. She is not our friend anymore right now she’s the enemy and if we want any chance of surviving this we can’t be on a lower level than her.” With Momo’s speech their thoughts were decided, they would have to prepare to fight if they wanted to come out of this alive.

You knew the Pros would be here any minute after you heard the alarm go off. You stood in front of the fountain waiting for them to arrive, you knew that this fight some people wouldn’t make it out but the heroes need to get the punishment they deserve. The loud screech from Present Mic when using his quirk could bring anyone down caused you to press your hands against your ears. You could endure this if it meant saving up energy for your quirk. You felt the capture weapon surround your body and the screaming stop and you collapsed to the ground.

“Ms. Y/n we weren’t expecting you to show up but it seems that we were still able to take you down.” You knew you couldn’t use your quirk unlike last time when that had been an illusion you just needed to wait.

“Funny Nezu you always think you're one step ahead.” You smirk looking up at the principal, “I know I’m always one step ahead.” You could smell the fire and there it was the blue flames growing from the forest.

“It’s the League of Villains!” Midnight gasped coming out of the forest were hordes of Nomus each with different quirks.

“You're sure you’re one step ahead?” You smirk and they knew you were just a decoy. The teachers outside had no choice but to deal with the Nomus heading towards the school and to where you were.

Leaving just Aizawa and Nezu to deal with you, “You are much smarter than I expected.” You shrugged and Aizawa tightened his weapon making you laugh

“I was told to give them hell.” With that you swept your foot out from under Nezu and Aizawa causing them both to jump back, with the split second it that Aizawa eyes closed you vanished from his binds. “Truly wonderful time seeing you again, but the fight has barely begun.” Aizawa doesn’t have time to fight you as he is attacked by a Nomu.

Nezu studies you and you stare back at him, “I don’t understand why you’ve done this but we will stop you.”

You grin “You heroes say that but we both know how this ends.” You disappeared from the battle leaving the teachers fighting the Nomus and the students inside defenseless against you.

“Where did she go?!” Sero said seeing you disappear from their view. With the doors locked they couldn’t leave so they stood in the classroom in their hero costumes waiting for the fight to come to them.

“We know that she’s with the league for all we know they could be in the building already and with the teachers outside we would open for an attack.” Midoriya said seeing you easily get captured only for you to be a decoy for the league to appear, it was genius.

“Midoriya, always thinking about the correct things, that was something I liked about you.” You said making the class turn from the window to where you were sitting on top of your desk in the back. “Great to see you all again.” You smiled and your classmates grimaced at you.

“You're a bitch you know that.” Bakugo hissed, making you frown.

“That hurts my feeling, Kacchan.” You hopped off your desk walking towards them, none of them moving  when you stood in front of your classmates.

“You guys are smart putting on your costumes, cause out there seems like the final battle, but this is the beginning of the war.” You said and conveniently when you finished rumbling when through the building and loud explosions went off. 

Out the window the view showed buildings away from UA erupting into flames explosions happening every few blocks. 1-A watched in horror that this is what she meant by war not just UA and the league, the entirety of villains and heroes battling it out; utter chaos. “With that we sadly won’t be needing you all. I say this as your former classmate and friend, stay the hell out of my way I don’t wanna hurt you.” The class doesn’t have time to fight back or anything when it feels like the ground is taking out from under them and they are warped away.

The teachers outside are struggling with Nomus keep showing up, suddenly they all freeze and walk away from the heroes heading to the building stopping in front of it as if they were guarding it. Aizawa wipes away the blood from his face “What the hell is this.” He sighs.

“Mr. Aizawa!” He hears his students yell out to him and sees them running towards him.

“What are you all doing here I told you to stay inside.” He scolds them

Ida steps up from the group, “It was Y/n she appeared in the class and then warped us all away, there were other students as well. I believe everyone in the building is now outside.” Aizawa looked back to the building that was guarded by Nomus.

“We don’t know why they would take the building but remove the students but we need to take headcount to see if everyone is actually outside. With what is happening in the city and here heroes are spread thin. This is exactly what they had planned but why go after UA and how is Y/n involved in all this.” The teachers didn’t deal with any problems with the league or Nomu they all just seemed to stop after the students were outside. Part of the forest that was destroyed by the flames was used as a base for heroes and students, everyone was outside not a single student was missing. Which put out the question of what they were after.

“Not a single student is missing, heroes from outside of Musutafu are coming in, but even then we don’t know how many villains or Nomus they might have.” Midnight told Nezu. Some of the teachers were together discussing their next plan while others were watching the students.

“We can assume that the League is in the building, we need to figure out a plan to fight them but also keep the students safe.” Aizawa said, looking over to where his class was.

“The only two people that have a decent amount of info on the league would be Aizawa and All Might.” Nezu said, “You had Y/n as a student though she never showed us the full potential of her quirk, you know her as a student. Whether her personality she showed to everyone was a lie, lies are built on truth. We need to remember she is still a child she could be manipulated to believe what she’s doing is right.” The teachers nodded, you were just a child that could be forced in the middle of this war, “Does anyone know where All Might we need some more information on the League.” The teachers looked at each other, no one had seen All Might at all. With him becoming quirkless because of Kamino he wasn’t outside when the heroes fought the Nomus. Then it hit the heroes, that’s what they were after.

“You think they figured out you are gone yet? All Might.” You asked, turning away from the window to where All Might sat tied up. “Think the new Symbol of Peace is going to be able to stop this.” You walked over to where he was and sat down in front of him.

“Y/n I don’t know why you’ve done this, but being with the League of Villains will not help you get what you want.” He tries to reason with you.

“What I want you can’t give, the next best thing is getting revenge on those who failed to save them.” You looked at the frail man sitting in front of you. “Do you know what it’s like losing everyone in your life? My parents died because you heroes failed to protect them. You call yourself a hero but you still fail to help those in need. I wanted to become a hero but my quirk was too dangerous for the public. I had no one when they died, no one wanted the girl whose quirk was literally chaos. They found me, took me in and raised me, they were the only ones who actually cared for me.” You said, tears forming in your eyes recalling your horrible childhood.

“They took you in because they saw your quirk. All for One only saw you as a pawn in his game, Shigaraki “raised” you so you would fight alongside him instead of against him.” All Might explained and you stood up, the chair behind you slamming against the floor.

“You’re wrong..they care for me.” You point your finger at him proving to him but he could see that you were doubting yourself.

“They’re using you Y/n what you are doing is leading you down a path that you can’t turn back from.” You turned away from him looking out the window seeing the Pros standing on the pathway, waiting for the fight to begin. 

You could see heroes all around Japan here ready to fight, you could also see UA students ready to fight including 1-A. “Those idiots.” You mumbled. “This is the end for heroes All Might, I will get my revenge.” You exit the room walking down the hallway to the main conference room where the League was waiting as well as villains from all over Japan.

Tomura looks at you and you nod telling him you're ready, “Our time for hiding in the shadows is over, the reign of heroes will end today.” The villains cheer rushing out going to fight the heroes. You don’t move as villains pass by you including members of the League leaving as well. You feel a hand on your shoulder making you look up, “Are you alright?” Tomura asks and you nod, the sick feeling still in your stomach from what All Might said to you.

“Tomura...I’m not a pawn in all this.” You knew that you were needed in getting your revenge that’s what father told you, but were you expendable if need be. 

“You are the one that is going to change the future, a bringer of chaos, Master will be proud of us both.” Tomura said and you felt the tension in you loosen a bit, “You be safe okay Tomura.” He doesn’t say anything just nodded and left you alone. What you were doing was right, the path you were following was dark but was the right one.

The showdown between villains and heroes as they stood on opposite sides neither moving yet. “We have visuals on Shigaraki and other members of the League, no visual of Y/l/n.” Aizawa heard through the comm links everyone was given, there were four squads made, squad 1 deals with underground villains, squad 2 deals with the Nomus surrounding the building, squad 3 will deal with the League and Y/n if she shows up on the field, and squad 4 will being helping in the rescue of All Might. Most of the top Pros were involved in squad 2 and 3 while lesser heroes dealt with the lesser villains and the All Might rescue.

“How long are they going to keep standing here, either fight or surrender.” Endeavor said looking at the villains standing there waiting.

“Everyone behind us!” The heroes turned and there was Y/n with villains behind her as well as a few Nomus.

“It’s an ambush!” Aizawa yells and the villains on both sides rush to attack the heroes in the middle. The thundering footsteps rush past you as they attack heroes in front of you, with your entrance on the field you disappear appearing back in the room where All Might was in.

From the window you could see Villains and heroes fought for their lives, many getting injured, some fatally wounded. “You see this All Might, heroes and villains together fighting for their lives, where’s the peace now. There is only chaos.” You glanced behind you looking at the former Pro before turning back to watch the fight.

“I’m sorry.” You hear All Might say, “I’m sorry we couldn’t save your parents, you don’t deserve to have all this hate and sadness in your life.”

You froze staring down watching your comrades and allies being hurt and your former friends and mentors dying due to your goals. “I wanted to help people. I wanted to be the kind of hero that saves everyone so no one is alone in their life. You can’t save me All Might you said so yourself I’m too far down this path to be saved.” You turn to him and he sees glimpses of the person you were in school, a curious girl with a strong quirk ready to help anyone in her class. You were just a child but you have had more problems than anyone has dealt with in a lifetime. 

“We can help you, just help us stop this, we can get you the life you always wanted.” All Might pulled against the restraints pleading to you.

“We both know how this fight ends, I’m never going to get that happy ending.” You turned around to look back at the fight when you saw the door entering the room was slightly open. “Smart All Might, distract me with some sappy excuse so the heroes could get in and save you. Who’s here, someone who could be invisible, Hagakure or Asui I know you were working on camouflage with your quirk.” You call out a red haze surrounding your hands ready to fight the intruder. You have no time to react when the window you were standing in front of shatters due to an explosion, another being sent to you sending you flying across the room. You hit the wall, denting it slightly, looking up to see Bakugo, Midoriya, Todoroki, as well some heroes and other students from other classes. “You’re all so good, coming to save him it’s pathetic.” You spit out blood that pooled in your mouth.

“Fight then, though a school uniform wouldn’t be the best suited for this.” Bakugo smirks looking at the uniform you were still in. You smirk getting up groaning slightly from how hard you hit the wall.

“Let’s change into something more suitable.” You slowly walk to them your outfit changing as a red haze starts from your feet changing your clothes. You now wore a red chestplate with angular faulds extending into an ankle-length skirt, elbow-length red fingerless gloves, black trousers and thigh-high boots, and an intricate red crown.

“You had to ask.” Todoroki looks over to Bakugo. Bakugo rushes towards you sending an explosion at your face but it fazes right through you.

“Gonna have to try harder then that.” You laugh now on the other side of the room holding All Might in your grasp blasting the people by him away. A blast of ice is sent to you but you dodge out of the way, with the ice distracting you. Midoriya punches you in the gut sending you flying out of the building down to where the fight was. Bakugo jumps out of the building grabbing onto you using his other hand to send an explosion sending you both shooting straight into the ground making a small crater.

Bakugo hears a groan and smirks, “Not that quick are you..” The dust clears out and Bakugo is shocked to see Midoriya underneath him instead of you. “How the hell did she.” He gets up pulling up Midoriya who holds his ribs in pain. “Where the hell did she go.” He looks around at the fighting around him not given much time to think as villains attack him.

You smirk running through the fight trying to find Tomura even if they were able to rescue All Might the heroes had just as many casualties then you did. You see Tomura disintegrate someone's arm pushing them away, but you could see he was getting overwhelmed with many Pros after him. You rush towards him but a wall of orange flames blocks you from reaching him. You turn to see who sent the flames and there was the number one hero Endeavor.

“You killed innocent people.” He says making his way towards you.

“I’m reshaping the future” You get ready to fight and Endeavor sends a blast of fire towards you and you could feel the heat from the blast. Before it could hit you blue flames appear blocking the attack.

“Go we both have our jobs.” You see Dabi standing in front of you, the flames growing in both men’s hands, both him and Endeavor ready to fight. You nodded running off to Tomura, Dabi can handle himself, like he said we each had our own jobs. You see Snipe aiming his gun towards Tomura and you stand in front of him. The bullets float in midair and you send them flying back in different directions. Some hitting heroes, others hitting villains you couldn’t care as long as Tomura was safe.

“They got All Might, what now.” You stand back to back with him using your quirk to break heroes bones, sending people flying across the field.

“Get the league here we leave now.” He answers, pressing his hand on a hero's face instantly disintegrating them. You spread your hands out closing your eyes, getting a picture of each member on the field and warping them to your location. 

“That was a weird feeling.” Toga giggles, throwing a knife into someone’s leg. 

“Time to go now.” Tomura says.

You hold your hands out and a portal opens up in front of you. Villains that are close to the portal rush to it as they don’t want to be left behind, and the heroes see this and rush to stop you all.

“You guys go, I can handle them.” You sent a wave of energy towards the heroes nearby, sending them back. “See I got thi-”

You heard it before you felt it. In all the noise and chaos happening around you it’s funny how this small noise from far away you heard. Maybe your quirk knew what was going to happen and in some sick way warned you knowing you wouldn’t be fast enough to stop it. Two sharp pains went through your body and you jolted a bit when they hit you. Why did it suddenly feel like everything was in slow motion, why was it hard to breath, god why is everything so quiet.

You look over at the League and you see Toga screaming but being held back by Mr. Compress, Spinner was standing there shocked looking at you, and Twice and Dabi were holding Tomura back as he struggled in their grasp screaming your name. All this was happening but it was quiet. You look down at your costume and you see two bullet holes blood staining it, one in your chest where your heart is the other in your stomach. Time sped up and the noise returned as you fell to your knees coughing out blood.

“Y/N! NO LET ME GO!” You hear Tomura scream, you hold out your hand.

“Go!” You wheeze, grabbing your chest as you cough up more blood. You look at each of them taking in an image of them as Mr. Compress pulls Toga through the portal, Spinner following after him, you see Tomura still struggling trying to get to you. You make eye contact with Dabi and just nod and he gives you a solemn one back using all his and Twice’s strength to pull Tomura through. You look at Tomura and smile, you would see each other some day.

“Tomura you look after me just like a big brother does! That’s what Kurogiri told me when I asked him.” A younger version of you smiles up to Tomura and he looks at you kneeling down to your height.

“I’ll always be with you and protect you.” He placed his hand on your head making sure to keep one finger up. You smile and giggle hugging him tightly burying your face in your chest.

“Thanks Tomura.”

With the last amount of strength left in you, you wave your hand closing the portal once Tomura has completely disappeared. You feel your weight shift unable to keep yourself up on your knees and fall to the ground. You saw green lightning and they caught you before you hit the ground. You see Midoriya’s face above you yelling out to someone but you're focused on the sky and how you could see the colors change as it almost reaches sunset.

“Hey come on stay awake help is on the way just stay awake.” You see his tear filled eyes stare down at you.

“Why..I’m a bad guy.” You wheeze and he laughs, tears filling his eyes.

“No one is ever truly bad.” You smile looking back towards the sky, “Hey come on don’t give up on me.”

You hear footsteps run up and it’s Aizawa and All Might. “Come on Midoriya.” Aizawa goes to pull him away but you grab Izuku’s arm.

“Please don’t leave me.” You whimper, tears filling your eyes. Izuku nods with tears in his eyes falling. “You heroes...always see the good.. in others...it’s nice.” You smile looking up at the sky and a tear slides down your face, and you wince feeling the sharpness in your chest. “I don’t wanna die.” You cry and that breaks the heroes standing in front of you.

“Your not going to help is going to be here any minute.” Aizawa reassures you and nods.

“The sky it’s pretty…tell them I’m sorry.” You cough your breathing getting more shallow and faint and you could swear you saw two figures standing above you. “momma... papa.”

She felt fear at first but it was inner peace as you saw a bright light.

Midoriya looks down ready to comfort you to tell you that help is coming, but stops when he sees you. Your gaze is on the sky, your eyes blank, a small smile on your face finally at peace.

Izuku lets out an anguish cry when he sees your chest not rising anymore. He cries for many reasons, the pain you went through to make you a villain, the hate you must have felt fighting your former friends, and him and all the heroes failing you.

The battlefield was silent as they looked at the young boy holding her body, many heroes felt guilt ebb at them for letting a misguided child die due to this life. Students from UA are lost at words from the loss of a former friend and student, they never expected this to come this far. Students from 1-A cry, seeing their classmate hold the body of their former classmate. Teachers and heroes that knew her look away not wanting to see her body in fear they would fall apart or cry in front of others.

This day would be remembered for years to come as the day the heroes failed at saving one girl that needed the most saving.

[authorkun]

𝓒𝓾𝓽! 𝓣𝓱𝓪𝓽'𝓼 𝓪 𝓦𝓻𝓪𝓹!

"Good Morning everyone! How are you doing this fine morning?"

The crowd roared into cheers and shouts. The moderator waved at a few audience members. "Today, we have a few special guests with us! You might have seen before on your own tv. Please welcome the cast members of Jujutsu Kaisen, L/n, Kugisaki, Itadori, and Fushiguro!" The audience cheered again seeing the actors walk out from backstage. 

The four took a seat on the pristine couches, waving and smiling at the cameras. Their outfits seemed to match the colors of blue and white. Yuuji wore baggy denim jeans, a white hoodie, and a matching denim vest, and converse. A Fannypack slung around his chest. Nobara wore similar attire of a cropped zipped hoodie, loose jeans, and combat boots. 

M/n squished in between the two wore a loose button down with newspaper like designs, bleach patched jeans, and sneakers. Megumi, sitting at the other end of the couch wore an oversized blue and white jacket with a white t shirt underneath, black skinny jeans, and Nike shoes.

M/n sent a dashing smile towards the crowd earning an uproar of cheers. When the four had sat down the audience calmed down. 

"Alrighty then! How are you guys? It's great to finally have you on the show!" The host greeted warmly shifting slightly in her chair. "Ah I think I can speak for all of us, we're doing great! It's such a pleasure being here today!" L/n spoke taking the lead. A wide grin plastered on his face. 

"As you may know, Jujutsu Kaisen is a new uprising show. Popular among many young adults this year. Ranked number 2 in the shows most watched. Taking the cake as one of the fastest to gain audience grossing. So, how is staring in one of the most popular shows in Japan?" Small clips of the show played while the hostess talked.

The screen fading back to the four. "It's amazing, being apart of a show like this. It's almost scary seeing yourself on tv." Itadori explained, M/n chuckled at the small twinkle in his eye. "It's like a dream come true. Really, the director is one of the nicest person you could meet." Kugisaki added. "If I'm not wrong, your twin plays as Sukuna?" The attention adverted towards Itadori. 

"Uh, yeah. Actually when we auditioned, we tried out for the opposing role. Although we look alike his voice is a bit different. But the voice he uses in the show is purposely rougher." The memory of the shocked face of the director seeing the two. "Initially they were going to use one actor and mix the scenes together. But right before filming the idea had gone out the window." A picture of the two on set played on the tv. 

"This show was both of your big breaks. It was also one of L/n's and Fushiguro's major roles. Before you guys had starred in smaller productions right?" The hostess leaned her chin on her hand. "Yeah, I was in a few smaller films before an old friend suggested auditioning. That's actually a funny story of how I got the part. Do you guys want to hear it?" The audience cheered. "An old friend knocked on my door and shoved the script into my hands. 

It looked like he ran a marathon, as he basically slumped over in exhaustion. Standing in front of me he frantically starts yelling bits of sentences. He looked at me and was like," M/n had put his arm out panting slightly imitating the guy's stature. "Role....*pant*..... Big break *pant*....Audition for main role...*pant*." The crowd laughed at his portrayal.  "First, I actually auditioned for the main role, but then the twins came along and blew it out of the water." He playfully sent a glare towards his friend who sat next to him.

 "Your part is as a second-year with Zenin, Inumaki, and Kouichi (Panda) . But it seems your character has a lot of screen time." The hostess leaned in a little more interested. 

"Yeah my character likes to hang out with the first-years a lot more. Not that the other second-years are bad. Zenin is like my sister."

A soft smile never leaving his lips. "Speaking about cast relationships, what's the dynamics  with you guys?" Kugisaki, Itadori, and L/n gave each other looks before cracking up. Megumi rolled his eyes playfully at the three. "We're all pretty close, but ask anyone who works with us and they'll say these three are joined by the hip." Fushiguro explained with a small smile at the others. "Could you expand more on that?"

"At the beginning before the table read, the producers and director thought it was a good idea for us plus Shinji (Sukuna) to 'bond'...in response to that Gojo, shoved us into a room, locked it, and told us to 'get along." The audience laughed at the male's expression.

 "After like 5 minutes of silence these three start dying of laughter. After i think, two hours, Gojo comes back and slams open the door. By the time he did that we were already pretty close. He looked out of breath, and had this frightened look on his face. Then he tells us, he had forgotten that he locked us in the cramped room..." the audience laughed again as the raven head shifted in his seat.

"See they went on break for about an hour and a half, when they had gotten ready to continue, they realized we weren't there. Don't tell anyone this but, Gojo has a horrible memory. He said they looked for us for a half an hour and were about to call security, because none of them had our phone numbers. Anyways in summary, after those two hours these idiots come out attached at the hip, and became everyone's pain in the ass." He sent a sarcastic glare towards his friends.

The crowd was roaring in laughter at the story. "We actually have some bloopers and videos you guys have posted. Do you mind if we play some?" The audience cheered in a 'yes'. "Sure, why not?" M/n answered.

On the same tv they started playing the small compilation of videos. The first one qued was one Itadori had posted on his story. It showed him with his costume on. 

'So, just started filming today and this dumbass hurts himself doing absolutely nothing.' Yuuji had showed M/n holding a ice pack to his forehead with sunglasses on. The male shot up a peace sign towards the camera. The audience chuckled at the current L/n's embarrassment. 'This stupid f*cker made us redo the scene, because somehow he doesn't know how to stand. Randomly during the shot he's shown trying to lean on an invisible force and falls flat on his face.' 

The next video shown was the actual footage that Itadori explained. In the video it was zoomed in on M/n, who like he said was standing and leaned to his left. You could see the horror in his eyes as he fell. The caption being, 'This dumb bitch🥰'. Another fit of laughter came from the crowd. 

The next video that played was in the POV of M/n as the camera flipped showing the back side of Shinji with Sukuna's famous tattoos. He ran up and slapped a pie tin with just whipped cream in his face. "What the hell! Get back here you bitch!" You could hear M/n's laugh while the feed was a bit blurry. Karma seemed to hit has the male tripped and fell onto the concrete. 

The video ended with a blurry picture. The studio was filled in laughter as the male in the video sat embarrassingly between his friends who were also dying. Yuuji  was slumped over his friend, wheezing.

Timeskip

"Well as great as this has been, we have to say goodbye to these amazing actors."

The hostess said with a smile. The audience boo'ed at the statement. "It was such a pleasure to be here. Hopefully we'll get to be on here again in the future." With that, M/n sent a wink and signature dashing smile towards the crowd before walking off with the others. Getting off the stage he sighed out in relief. "Oí those interviews are exhausting."

"You can say that again." Yuuji smiled. "I'm starved who else wants to get out of here?" Nobara complained swiping through her phone. "How about that diner down the street. The ratings are pretty good." The (h/c) haired male suggested. "Yeah sure. I'm pretty sure we're off the hook anyways." Fushiguro said grabbing a water bottle from the table. 

 "I think the driver's waiting out back. I'm gonna leave, cause I'm not waiting on you slowpokes." Kugisaki snickered. "Hey! We're coming too!" Itadori yelled chasing after her with the two others trailing behind. Before M/n could walk out the exit a hand had tapped his shoulder. Turning back, it was the hostess with a innocent smile. "Can I help you?" The brunette had twirled a piece of hair between her index finger and thumb. "Would you perhaps want to go out sometime?" A confident smirk played on her face. "Ah, sorry most of my schedule is booked up with filming and interviews. If I would I could." He shyly scratched his neck sending an awkward smile towards the girl.

"I bet you could make time~" she persisted. "Sorry I-." "Oi n/n we're waiting on your slow ass!" M/n silently thanked Kugisaki for interrupting the girl's persistent flirting. "My friends calling, I've got to go. It was nice to meet you though!" He sent one last smile before running off to the car his friends were waiting in. "What took you so long?" Itadori whined. "The hostess insisted on going out with me." He shivered at the thought. "Yikes. I swear you always get hit on anywhere we go." Megumi groaned. "Hey it's not my fault I'm hot." M/n stuck his tongue out. A light blush dusted across Fushiguro's face.

"Aye stop flirting with each other. We're heading for the diner across 9th." Nobara once again interrupted, giving instructions to the driver.

"Next stop, food!"

To be continued

[renegadewangs]

Van Zieks - the Examination, part 11

Warnings: SPOILERS for The Great Ace Attorney: Chronicles. Additional warning for racist sentiments uttered by fictional characters (and screencaps to show these sentiments).

Disclaimer: (see Part 1 for the more detailed disclaimer.) - These posts are not meant to be taken as fact. Everything I’m outlining stems from my own views and experiences. If you believe that I’ve missed or misinterpreted something, please let me know so I can edit the post accordingly. -The purpose of these posts is an analysis, nothing more. Please do not come into these posts expecting me to either defend Barok van Zieks from haters, nor expecting me to encourage the hatred. - I’m using the Western release of The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles for these posts, but may refer to the original Japanese dialogue of Dai Gyakuten Saiban if needed to compare what’s said. This also means I’m using the localized names and localized romanization of the names to stay consistent. -It doesn’t matter one bit to me whether you like Barok van Zieks or dislike him. However, I will ask that everyone who comments refrains from attacking real, actual people.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10

Bring on the game's credits! BRING IT! The Resolve of Ryunosuke Naruhodo part 2 is here!

Episode 2-5: The Resolve of Ryunosuke Naruhodo, part 2

This is the first time in a while that I actually want to try other options to see what happens. The 'accusation' leads to some witty banter with a frustrated Stronghart, but 'report' is one that gets a reaction from Van Zieks himself. Ryu theorizes that 'since Klint was a well-bred and fastidious man, and knowing the end was near, he might have wanted to tie up some loose ends in all of his outstanding business'. Van Zieks immediately replies that his brother had no outstanding business.

DID I JUST GET PENALIZED BY THE DEFENDANT??? Just for implying his brother might've had some loose ends to tie up? Van Zieks really hates it when people show his brother even the slightest bit of disrespect, huh? Well, it's about to get a whole lot worse. Let's go for the confession option! Van Zieks definitely doesn't take kindly to this one.

“What are you saying? Do you even realise?! A confession...about the true identity of the Professor... That, that would mean...”

He fumbled his speech, there. We've never heard him do that before. And he's gone back to that bobbing, unsteady animation halfway into the above dialogue. Ryu insists it's the only explanation that fits. The man who murdered those members of the aristocracy wasn't Genshin Asogi at all, it was the one believed to be the fifth victim, Klint van Zieks himself.

Welp. We broke him. Stronghart remarks that Pandora's box has opened at last, making it clear he already knew what we just revealed. The gallery is outraged.

We've gone from well-bred to thoroughbred, have we? Susato feels very bad for Van Zieks, but Ryu asks himself whether such a brilliant prosecutor never suspected “what his older brother really was”. To clear up doubt further, he asks whether Klint Van Zieks owned a dog. Barok doesn't intend to dodge the facts of the situation, it seems.

Not what the concept art says, but it's possible Klint owned a different, smaller dog before Balmung. Van Zieks talks about how loyal the dog was and how it wore a jewel-studded collar which was stolen from the house “some years ago now”. This implies it was less than ten years ago, and must've been kept in the house as a keepsake even after Balmung passed away. Ryu and Susato bring up that they've seen such a collar; it was Selden's loot in case 2-2. They note the fancy B emblem on it, and this is the first time we find out that Klint van Zieks was a married man. His widow's maiden name was Baskerville. It's a little odd to me that for someone who thought so highly of his brother, Van Zieks never mentioned his sister in law before now. Conveniently, it never came up for the sake of a twist, I suppose. Either way, the emblem confirms the collar they saw was Balmung's. Ryu notes there was a considerable amount of blood on the collar (nobody washed this thing?) and while it could've come from typical hunting trips, it could just as well have been human blood. With that, the gallery begins to lean towards the truth that Klint van Zieks really was the Professor himself. Stronghart seems to have realized there's no way out of this now and announces that 'they may have the truth'.

Here comes that 'true nature' thing again, just worded a bit differently. Van Zieks doesn't intend to shirk away from it, though. He's open to the insinuation that his brother was, in truth, something truly horrible. Stronghart explains that Klint attempted to fight the growing darkness in London, only to end up being consumed by it. He also admits that after the fourth victim fell, Genshin showed up at his office, putting forth the accusation that Klint was the Professor. He didn't have any evidence and needed a warrant to get some, but Stronghart refused to anger the aristocracy based on the accusation of a visiting student, so he sent Genshin away. As a result, the man headed over to the Van Zieks mansion and Klint perished. Stronghart continues to admit that he was responsible for pinning the Professor's crimes on Genshin, right down to ordering Gregson to fabricate evidence. Sure enough, the late inspector's earlier claims ring true: it seems he did genuinely believe Genshin to be the killer, but was reluctant to falsify anything until Stronghart strong-armed him into it. The jailbreak agreement was also part of Stronghart's plan; he manipulated Genshin into agreeing by proverbially dangling his 14 year old son in front of him. Van Zieks brings up one more point: that Stronghart was the mastermind behind the Reaper organization. Not only does he admit to it, he calls it a “brilliant idea” and even takes credit for how his “minions” worked tirelessly to ensure Van Zieks was never accused of being the Reaper himself. What a smarmy bumhole. He insists it was all for the preservation of law and order across the empire, and the gallery is actually suckered into falling for this ploy. It seems as if he's going to get away with his masterminding without decent consequences. Kazuma now has one more question for Van Zieks, and it's the exact one Ryu asked himself earlier; did he never have any doubts about his brother?

“My brother's sense of justice was extremely strong. Perhaps...too strong, I observed. […] During the time of the Professor killings, my brother did not appear to be himself. But it was only once. Not more. Klint wasn't the culprit. That was my conclusion at the time. And I still believe that now. […] The third victim...was the Lord Chief Justice at the time. It was he who had recognized my brother's potential and trained him as a prosecutor. No matter what the circumstances, it's unthinkable that my brother could have killed his friend and mentor!”

So here, we learn that Klint wasn't an infallible paragon of virtue in his brother's eyes. Simply by saying that his sense of justice was “perhaps too strong”, a flaw is being brought to light. Younger Barok saw that Klint's need to ensure justice was overpowering him, and he also saw that during the time of the killings, something was off about his behavior. Enough to have the younger Van Zieks consider, for a brief time, that perhaps the Professor was him. However, the death of the third victim was like a lifeline to him, a flotation device keep him from going under- or perhaps more like a straw to grasp. It offered a sort of justification to him; a firm belief that Klint would never kill his own mentor and therefore he couldn't possibly be the Professor, and Barok was wrong to ever doubt him. However, it was just a very meager excuse to put his suspicions at ease and blind him to the truth. There are, after all, plenty of reasons why Klint would kill that Lord Chief Justice if indeed he were the Professor.

So Stronghart now tries to wrap everything up with a neat little bow, saying that's all the truth they'll be able to get from this trial and he'll present himself at the Ministry of Justice for whatever sanctions are deemed necessary. Since he's the Lord Chief Justice, I can't imagine the Ministry of Justice will give him more than a slap on the wrist. However, he says just a bit too much in his closing statement and Ryu jumps on that immediately. A third page of Genshin's will was hidden from everyone! Turns out, it was a personal message to Kazuma that they never bothered to send to Japan. Governor Caidin conveniently brought it with him and the contents are read aloud after some pressuring. With this last secret message left behind by Genshin, Ryu manages to find Klint's last will and testament hidden inside the Asogi clan's sword. GASP.

Oblivious to the shenanigans playing out in the Court Record section of the game, Stronghart once again tries to end the trial and even goes so far as to say Klint was basically insane when he took his mentor's life (to which Van Zieks objects fiercely). Ryu interjects, saying he has one more piece of evidence to present. When Stronghart calls the very notion absurd, Van Zieks once again raises an objection, pointing out that “this gentleman has an uncanny habit of producing evidence at the final hour that had escaped everyone else's attention.” Which, y'know, is true. That's how Ace Attorney works. I do want to draw attention to the fact that he said “this gentleman” as opposed to “this Nipponese” or even something like “this barrister”. He considers Ryu a gentleman now! So with that, Ryu has the opportunity to shove Klint's will in everyone's face and things escalate very quickly.

Ooh, his speech faltered again. He is shook! And it gets even better when he gets a closer look at the document.

Stronghart panics and demands Ryu hands the document over to him at once. When that fails, he even tries to forcibly adjourn the trial and get everyone to clear the courtroom. If that isn't suspicious, we don't know what is. It sure is satisfying to watch him squirm. Naturally, he can't actually put an end to the trial now- not with so many people watching, so the document is read aloud. It's revealed that Genshin challenged Klint to a duel, so that he might “depart this world with honor”. Klint goes on to write that he finds himself undeserving of this honor and that “the Japanese are a truly merciful people”. So here, already, we get the final nail in the coffin for Van Zieks's entire motivation for racial prejudice and for hating Genshin in particular. Klint never thought ill of Genshin, not even in his final moments. If anything, he was grateful for being put out of his misery and being allowed to 'depart the world with honor'. Genshin's actions were not betrayal; not ever. They were merciful. (COOL MOTIVE, STILL MURDER.) What we also learn is that while Klint did indeed take the life of the first victim on his own accord, he was then immediately identified as the culprit and blackmailed into the next three killings by someone else. You guessed it, it was Stronghart! Despite his earlier panic, he now has a myriad of justification ready, talking about how sacrifices have to be made for the sake of justice and whatnot. He also explains that he was the one who pressured Jigoku into shooting Genshin in the graveyard when Drebber showed up there. He acts like Jigoku is the only one to blame, but considering Stronghart was basically screaming in Jigoku's ear, I wouldn't be surprised if this poor man pulled the trigger by accident simply because he was startled by the shouting. Stronghart was the one who decided that Genshin needed to die and forced Jigoku to act, so Stronghart is the one ultimately responsible. Naturally, Ryu and Kazuma both attempt to argue Stronghart's justifications into the ground. At one point, Stronghart plays the victim card and asks them to acknowledge his 'struggle', but Kazuma insists that this jerk has done nothing and:

WELL. Okay. Looks like we've finally convinced Kazuma that Van Zieks is a victim in this whole ordeal, as well as someone who 'acts justly'. That's a wonderful way forward. With all this out in the open, though, Stronghart offers a literal round of applause. It's true; he's “done nothing” and “merely been surrounded by fools who've acted very rashly indeed”, which means he can't be charged with any crimes. We can't even prove he threatened anyone into doing his bidding, as he says it might as well have been “bargaining”. Thing is, bargaining with someone to end a third party's life is known as “contract killing” and is, in fact, illegal. I can't find any sources to verify whether it was already illegal in 1900 England, but I can only assume so, or people would've gotten away with murders very easily. I guess the bottom line here is that we can't prove Stronghart really did extort or pay anyone to take a life, since there's no material evidence for that sort of thing, nor anyone who can testify on it. Stronghart claims that the minutes of the trial will be heavily redacted to remove matters not related to Gregson's death, in the interest of preserving law and order, as well as to protect the queen. The gallery has now turned against us as well, chanting Stronghart's name.

Here we have a singular opportunity to deviate into the closest thing to a bad ending this game series has. Anyone who remembers the iconic 'the miracle never happen' ending in AA2, or even the bad endings in AA5 where either Trucy or Athena is implied to be killed by Aura, will be sorely disappointed by this one. First, to compare... In the standard ending, no matter how far along you've gotten in the trial- including proving that Stronghart was the Reaper- Van Zieks will still be found guilty. Stronghart will utter the words that he “would like to think however misguided, [Van Zieks] acted out of a sense of justice nonetheless”, and then pronounces the poor man guilty of crimes we've already proven were never committed by him. Now, in this slightly different ending, if you run out of all your penalty points because you fail to present Harely, the dialogue is tweaked. Stronghart declares that for the sake of justice, “the only correct course of action has been unanimously acknowledged by the clear majority here present. All mention of that which has been discussed in this courtroom today will be struck from the records. Barok van Zieks – Or should I say, Reaper of the Bailey... The heinous crimes committed by your brother, Klint van Zieks, will be lost in obscurity, this time forever. May you also find peace now as you join your sibling in the eternal darkness.”

And then, just as in the standard ending, Van Zieks is pronounced guilty and the doors slam shut. So effectively, the only real difference here is that Stronghart really rubs it in our faces that Van Zieks is taking the fall as the Reaper in the eyes of the public. He knows Van Zieks isn't the Reaper- everyone present in the courtroom knows it. However, since the entirely gallery is siding with the real mastermind, the minutes of the trial will be confiscated and destroyed so that the truth will be lost forever. Neither Kazuma nor Ryu reacts to this turn of events on-screen, which is a shame. Van Zieks doesn't fight the adjudication either, he simply accepts the verdict in silence- Hang on, where have we heard that before? Genshin? And didn't Van Zieks say that so long as his death served a purpose, he wouldn't mind dying over being called the Reaper? Stronghart certainly seems to feel that Van Zieks ought to be thrown under the omnibus and sent to the gallows for the sake of minimizing crime in London.

But we're not going to let the true antagonist of this game get away with his bullshit! Time to pull Harely's ears! Cue another (S)Holmeus Ex-Machina where it turns out the entire secret trial has been livestreamed to the Queen of England through holograms. By royal decree, Stronghart is stripped of his title and will be prosecuted for his crimes at a later time. FINAL BOSS, DEFEATED.

With Stronghart out of the way, Van Zieks has some closing sentiments to offer.

“Is that my brother left this world without a word to me.”

I can see why that might bug him. Van Zieks always looked up to his brother and shielded him from disrespect even a decade after his death, but Klint in turn didn't seem to want to leave any parting sentiments for him, not even a simple farewell. That's not the case, though! Susato points out there's actually more to Klint's will than was read aloud, so let's hear it now.

“Barok, you have always looked up to me, and now, you follow in my footsteps to become a prosecutor. It is my fervent wish that my unspeakable deeds should not hinder your advancement. I ask not for understanding, for none could understand my depravity. I ask only for forgiveness. Asogi is a fine detective, and a hunter worthy of respect. He has agreed to honour my final two wishes. The first is that this document survives. The second... I cannot commit to paper. I have confessed my sins to my wife. May she find resolution in my death. With my eternal gratitude to my Japanese friend, I rest my quill.”

Imagine how different things would've ended if the will had found its way to Van Zieks shortly after Klint's death. It would've prevented so much grief and so much prejudice, because if Van Zieks had learned that Klint still regarded Genshin with so much respect and gratitude even in this situation, he would never have blamed him for Klint's death nor considered it too great a betrayal. Everything that happened was in line with Klint's wishes. As it stands now, the words in Klint's will basically serve to scold Van Zieks for his attitude and hatred these past ten years.

Yep, there we go. The final straw. He's been truly, utterly embarrassed and made to confront his mistakes. When Stronghart explains how his ambition to become Attorney General is what prompted him to silence people like Watson and Gregson. Van Zieks asks him whether he ever bothered to count the number of brilliant people he had killed. Kind of a questionable remark, since Stronghart mostly had criminals killed. We don't even know for sure whether Watson was a good person or not; he comes across as a cowardly skeeve. I guess Van Zieks is mostly talking about Genshin, but even that is... Uh...

I received an Ask a while back, bringing up the matter that Genshin appears to be exonerated of any wrongdoing when the truth of Klint's death is revealed. That despite duels being outlawed and it being literal murder, Kazuma seems to take this truth as his father's name being cleared. Indeed, going over everything we've learned so far, it feels as if the narrative has set up both Klint and Genshin, and even characters like Jigoku and Gregson, as victims of Stronghart's manipulation. The thing is, though... Both Genshin and Klint took at least one life of their own free will, Jigoku pulled a trigger twice for the sake of his own career (and recruited someone into an assassin plot), Gregson conspired with a notorious assassin to commit over a dozen murders just because his boss told him it was the right thing to do... Feeling bad about murder or resorting to it because 'the other person is even worse and needs to be stopped' doesn't change that it's murder. It doesn't seem as if Kazuma or anyone else outright says their loved ones are absolved of any responsibility/their names are cleared, but it does really come across as if the narrative wants you to forgive them. So uh... Yes. This is something the game should have properly addressed, instead of just going 'oh, these poor people, all used as puppets by the final boss'.

Anyway, (S)Holmes takes the time to remind Van Zieks that he's the defendant in this case, not the prosecutor. Our old friend Santa Judge returns for the adjudication! Turns out, he was in the gallery all along. (Was he chanting Stronghart's name too?) He talks about how the darkness of the past ten years has lifted, in part thanks to a bright young star from the East. Awww, we've completely won over the judge! Van Zieks now also has something to add.

“I had the faintest of intimations. That if British justice, so warped and twisted over its long history, was finally to know change... This might just be the man to do it. But at the time, I wouldn't allow myself to acknowledge the possibility. I couldn't overcome my hatred of the Japanese, after the circumstances of my brother's death. Mr. Naruhodo...”

He takes a flourishing bow here, an acknowledgment that Ryu is worthy of his respect and perhaps even that Ryu is superior to him, then stands up straight again for the final whammy.

Ryu is shocked and Susato is brought to tears. We did it, y'all. We've secured the full, heartfelt apology. I'm not sure there's really anything to add to this, nor anything we could want from it at this point in time. Ryu doesn't say he forgives Van Zieks for his discourtesies, but considering how hard he worked to get this guy cleared of murder, that would feel kind of out of place. The forgiveness happened long before Van Zieks apologized, or so is the implication. (Is that the correct narrative path? Not at all, but I'll get back to that in the conclusion.) So after some more closing words from Ryu, Van Zieks gets his not-guilty verdict and court is adjourned.

In the defendant's lobby, Ryu feels a bit conflicted about how this whole thing went down. Susato tries to cheer him up by saying that everything will seem much better once he sees Van Zieks's smiling face. Indeed, in most other Ace Attorney games, this would be the point where at last, an emotionally distant defendant/witness drops their walls and allows themselves to smile (or cry). Just think of Gina, Lana Skye or even Athena Cykes when she cries tears of joy during AA5's ending. Hilariously enough, Van Zieks is not one of those characters.

This is a really fun subversion of expectations and Ace Attorney tropes. And I still believe his face got frozen like that. Even so, he's got something heartfelt to say.

“For you to have risen to the level of excellence you demonstrated today... Well, it's quite remarkable.”

Sounds like a hatchet job of a compliment at first glance, but the sentiment is there. It is extremely remarkable for a foreign exchange student who's only been in the country for about 9 months- and who only spent like 2 of those as an active lawyer- to rise to such a level that he not only uncovers the truth of the current case, but of a cold case from 10 years prior, which was part of a huge cover-up. Ryu points out that he exposed a most 'unpalatable truth' in court and that he feels as if he robbed Van Zieks of something precious. Van Zieks doesn't seem to agree. He reminisces on Stronghart's words.

“But that... That was just the feeble excuse of a coward. Only those with a steadfast eye for the truth have what it takes to fight the dark forces of crime. You made fine work of establishing that fact in court today.”

So once again, he's complimenting Ryu's courtroom performance. Not only that, but he's acknowledging (in different words) the earlier sentiment that the truth needs to come out, no matter how painful. Perhaps, indirectly, he's calling himself a feeble coward as well. Ryu and Susato are proud of Van Zieks's growth, with Susato saying that surely Kazuma would be smiling if he were here. Naturally, when he shows up at that very second, he isn't smiling at all. Like mentor, like disciple! Kazuma takes a polite bow before Van Zieks and congratulates him on his acquittal. Naturally, after watching Kazuma prosecute so ferociously for two whole episodes, that doesn't feel sincere. Van Zieks asks him whether he doesn't instead want to curse him. Kazuma apologizes for his earlier behavior, which does feel 100% sincere.

“Your father, Genshin... If I had been stronger, then perhaps... I made an unforgivable error of judgment. … I can offer no excuse.”

One more apology to add to the pile! And here we once again reach that question of whether the narrative is acting like Genshin should be absolved of all blame. In a technical sense, Van Zieks wasn't wrong to prosecute Genshin, since he did seriously murder Klint. That alone is already warranting of the death penalty, so the added crimes of the Professor on top of that don't change too much. However, I don't think Van Zieks's lines truly relate to the Professor trial itself. The error of judgment, in my eyes, can also be seen as the blind acceptance that Genshin betrayed him (as well as Klint) when there was actually far more at play. This notion that Genshin was a horrid traitor who abused their trust and hospitality was then allowed to grow into an irrational hatred which festered for a decade. Regardless of whether Genshin killed Klint, the insistence that the man's true nature was that of a monster was wrong, and I think that's what he's apologizing for. To be clear, he's not apologizing for racist sentiments uttered towards Kazuma or anyone else from Japan with these lines. This purely relates to his treatment of Genshin. However, he already apologized for his many discourtesies back in the courtroom and I think the racist outbursts were part of those discourtesies.

Kazuma says he can offer no forgiveness, which is totally fair. Kazuma isn't obligated to forgive this man. He does, however, admit that he has respect for Van Zieks, since he “fought for justice and the truth”.

Awww! Remember how in my very first 'strong thought about Barok' post, I pointed out that Barok almost appears to have been designed to be Kazuma's rival prosecutor instead of Ryu's? Yeah. Here we see it very clearly. The reconciliation conversation between these two feels like a much better resolution than the conversation between Van Zieks and Ryu.

So now Kazuma brings up that Genshin promised to do two things for Klint, but the second wasn't mentioned in the will. Mikotoba shows up to share a very heartbreaking tale about Klint's unnamed widow, the lady Zieks-Baskerville, who was hiding out in Dartmoor and passed away from childbirth very shortly after Genshin was executed. The newborn baby girl survived, though! Van Zieks blurts out that that makes no sense. “Why on Earth wouldn't Klint have entrusted the child to my care in that case?!” And that alone is already kind of tragic, but what really packs a wallop is this:

This means Klint and his wife deliberately kept the pregnancy from him. It's never explained why. Genshin showed up at the manor in the spur of the moment and Klint died that very same night, when his wife must've already been around 8 or 9 months pregnant. (she gives birth about a week or two later, after all.) Klint says that he 'confessed his sins to his wife', but that also must've been very recent, if not that very same night, since Stronghart was threatening to tell Klint's wife and brother of his misdeeds. Stronghart's hold on Klint would've weakened if he'd told her the truth months ago, which in turn implies the both of them decided not to tell Barok while she herself was still oblivious to the Professor truth. Honestly, it all feels like a vague plotconvenience.

What is explained is why the newborn baby wasn't entrusted to Van Zieks. It isn't because Klint had the amazing foresight to know his younger brother would become a salty, loner alcoholic; it's because he and his wife feared the truth of the Professor might come out. Heck, if Genshin had never been arrested for Klint's death, perhaps it would've come out for certain. “The girl would be forever branded as the daughter of the infamous mass murderer.” So the baby girl was distanced from the Van Zieks family as much as possible, with all of London unaware of her existence. This girl is, of course, Iris.

Right on cue, the Harely plushie activates to receive a call from (S)Holmes and Iris. She invites everyone over to 221B for a feast and makes sure to invite “Mr. Reaper” too. He very awkwardly declines the offer.

Humanization? Humanization! He does, however, give Iris his word that he'll present himself at 221B in the near future to express his gratitude. I think a big part of why he declined the offer was because he wouldn't feel at home during the big celebration when a whole group of people is there. He'd much rather visit Iris during a more quiet, private moment and that's sweet too. Plus, I don't think he's in the mood for a celebration, considering all the horrible truths he's learned in a single day.

So now Kazuma prepares to leave and asks Van Zieks to accompany him. The wording of “would you care to-” makes it very clear this isn't a demand, it's a very soft request that Van Zieks is free to decline. Not that he hesitates for even a second. Here's some more parting words.

“I believe... You saved my life.”

He takes a deep, flourishing bow and honestly I've lost track of how many times he's praised/thanked Ryu by now. More than Edgeworth thanked Phoenix, most likely. The prosecutor duo prepares to walk away, but Ryu calls after Van Zieks, asking him to wait. Which he does. Ryu asks him what he intends to do now.

... “Prosecutor van Zieks chooses death”??? In a way, he's thinking of pulling a similar move. He intends to publicize the full truth of the Professor, and I can only imagine that includes Stronghart's involvement in what went down 10 years ago. Maybe he'll even share the truth of the Reaper who's haunted the courtroom all these years. He believes that “once that's done, the Van Zieks family will be ostracised completely from London society.” (I don't think he means living family members, but rather, the legacy of the Van Zieks name and the rights associated with it.) So because of that, he intends to leave the capital as soon as he's free of his employment. Considering how easily this man took a five year sabbatical and adding in the fact that the Lord Chief Justice just got arrested, I expect his resignation could be as easy as packing his desk and leaving his office without saying a word. Kazuma, however, calls him a fool and a coward. He basically dares Van Zieks to keep going now that he's finally freed from the pseudonym of the Reaper. Van Zieks neither agrees with the sentiment nor shoots it down, instead saying it's unexpected to hear those words from Kazuma of all people. With that out in the open, they leave for realsies.

Just as Van Zieks doesn't attend the Baker Street party, he isn't there when Ryu's at the docks to return to Japan. I like to think Kazuma did bother to tell Van Zieks that Ryu is leaving the country, because withholding that information seems like a bit of a jerk move, but... Well. Not showing up at the docks to say some final farewells is even more of a jerk move on Van Zieks's part. Though it's possible he felt he wasn't wanted there, and may eventually ask for Ryu's address so he can write a letter (which is far less imposing than invading a heartfelt farewell with a scowling face). It's a shame, though. I would've liked to hear his thoughts on Ryu's departure.

We learn that Kazuma will “stay in Lord van Zieks's tutelage for the time being” to become a full-fledged prosecutor. Which is fine, I guess. It doesn't matter whether he's a defense attorney or a prosecutor; all that matters is the pursuit of the truth. What catches my interest is that even with all that bad blood and refusal to forgive Van Zieks, Kazuma still agrees to keep studying as his disciple. This implies to me that he sincerely doesn't believe Van Zieks to be a bad person anymore, and acknowledges he can learn a lot from this man. Which is not the same thing as being on friendly terms with him, but at the very least he's giving Van Zieks the benefit of the doubt when it comes to improving their... Well, their dynamic, I suppose I should call it.

On to the credits scenes we go! This time, Van Zieks legit does get a scene of his own, but before we address this one, I want to skip ahead real quick to Albert Harebrayne's scene.

“He sent me a very nice letter saying he'd like to show me around now that everything was settled. B-But what have I done? I was so excited, I picked this splendid hotel and now I can't afford the bill! Oh Barok! Come to my rescue again, please! I, I wish I could just vanish into thin air sometimes!”

Several things of note can be taken out of this little scene. First of all, with the Reaper nonsense behind them, Van Zieks seems to have wasted very little time with asking his best buddy to return to London for that sightseeing that was promised. Presumably, he even paid for the trip (again), since Albert still seems to be very low on money. This, coupled with the fact that Van Zieks was reading that letter with quite a bit of dedication in his jail cell, indicates to me that he's longing for the good old days, when he could smile and have friends. He's trying to return to a sense of normalcy and since Albert is still considered his closest friend, it makes sense he'd reach out to him instead of a relative stranger like Kazuma. Baby steps. Now, the fact that Albert says “come to my rescue again” sets the very clear tone that this guy believes Van Zieks has helped him before- during the trial, of course. It's another reinforcement of the notion that Albert is thankful Van Zieks chose the role of prosecutor in order to defend the teleportation theory, even if it meant that he himself would be branded a murderer. Despite his gruff exterior and blunt words, Albert thinks of Van Zieks as a sort of knight in shining armor who will come save him. … With cold hard cash, in this case, but it's the gesture that counts. Van Zieks might allow Albert to stay in his mansion instead, but it depends how high the risk of assassination is at this point in time. People are probably hating on the Van Zieks family now that the truth of the Professor is out.

On to credits scene of Van Zieks himself! We have confirmation by now that he hasn't retired as a prosecutor, since Kazuma already expressed his intent to keep studying under him. So we see Van Zieks in his office, addressing Klint's painting.

“In those days, when I was known as the Reaper, I felt your presence at my side. Once, unable to bear the burden of that grim pseudonym, I even retired from the courtroom. Despite everything, I still wear your prosecutor's badge with pride. But the darkness that beset me is no more. As you, too... Are no more.”

The first two sentences of this bit feel very disjointed and barely related to me, so I had a quick look at some fan translations. First is the sub translation on Youtube: “I could feel you standing by my side through the days in which I was called the Reaper. Yet there were times I could not bear the burden of that name, and left the courtroom far behind me.” The “yet” is very crucial, since it makes the insinuation that feeling his brother's presence was very important to Van Zieks, but the burden became so overwhelming that he retired anyway. Taisa the Gamer's script doesn't have a “yet” in it, nor any equivalent, but the sentence structure still flows well enough not to cast doubt on how he felt about Klint's supposed presence. Contrasting that, the localization's wording with “even” almost makes it seem like feeling Klint's presence was a negative thing- that he was overwhelmed by it and that this was the burden associated with the Reaper name, as opposed to the killings. Which can't possibly be right; he already admitted to us that the idea of his brother's ghost helping him was one of the main reasons he kept on being the Reaper. So long story short, the localization's take on these first two lines is a little off.

The prosecutor's badge thing, however, is spot on. Despite everything- despite the 'true nature' of Klint now exposed, Van Zieks still wears the badge with pride. We know the badge is symbolical, of course. He still believes in Klint's sense of justice and he's still going to openly admit to being Klint's brother- to being a Van Zieks. That's sweet. He goes on to say that the darkness within him is no more. To really grasp what that means, let's go back to the end of case 2-3 for a second. There, Van Zieks says that after his brother's death, he found himself in “a very dark place indeed”. In case 2-4, he mentions that he refuses to trust others to protect himself against betrayal, but has now sunk into a proverbial mire which makes it impossible to breathe. All of that is the same darkness he's referring to now, I'm sure. I don't believe depression can lift this easily; there's no way that darkness is no more. However, I think what he means to say is that it no longer has such a strong hold on him that it manifests in paranoia and irrational hatred. He has a chance now to start fresh and that's what he intends to do. He's striding away from that darkness, towards a brighter future. In order for a person to change for the better, they themselves have to want to change, and it looks like Van Zieks is all for that. Which at last brings us to the conclusion of this essay series! The conclusion, which looks back on the original query posed in Part 1, will once again include a load of screencaps. To keep the post size lighter, I'm going to put it in a separate post. I hope you'll look forward to it!

[sorryimanon]

Character: Shouto Todoroki

Long distance isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Your boyfriend, Shouto, goes overseas on a special mission in America. Back home, you try to take advantage of the distance with a couple of pictures.

Warnings: 18+, phone sex

Word count: 4k

-

Shouto watched with somber eyes as you packed the last remaining suitcase into the trunk of the car, back still turned against him so he couldn't see your tears. Bakugou and Izuku insisted on driving to the airport together, taking into consideration that they were all traveling overseas to the same destination. The night before, you were being a stubborn brat, not liking the idea of sending Shouto off at the crack of dawn. He showered you with affection afterward, his body never leaving your touch. Making love didn't cross both of your minds. It would've hurt in the after glow knowing the distance that'll be between you for the months to come. The two of you decided to just lay lifelessly in each other's arms, limbs interlocking, fingers carefully tracing skin, and hearts beating in unison. Moments like that is what truly captured the relationship as a whole.

With your back still turned, Shouto saunters over and wraps his arms around your torso, along with his head resting on top of yours. You hummed at his subtle touch. Eyes drawn to a close, you ruffled his split colored hair, already imagining the smile forming on his stern face. It was always a miracle when you manage to witness Shouto genuinely smile without forcing it.

You turned on your heel and reposition Shouto's hands on your hips. "Call me as soon as you touch down in America. Okay?" you didn't care at how needy you sounded, anything involving Shouto and hero work gave you anxiety.

The arm holding onto your hip soon reached the bottom of your chin, tilting it slightly so your eyes can formally meet. His dark irises became glossy as you stared harder, trying to capture every feature before he leaves in case within those months you forgot what he looks like. Even though you had a separate album on your phone filled to the brim with selfies and funny pictures of him, mostly taking up your storage space.

"I promise sweetheart. Remember, this will be the shortest 6 months you'll endure. I'll be home quicker than you can say All Might," he said, tucking a loose strand of your hair behind your ear. The action made you blush and giddy, referring back to the ways he'd make you feel during U.A.

Subconsciously, you both lean in against each other, waiting patiently for who's making the next move.  Your lips hovered over his, unsure if he wants to kiss goodbye or stay wrapped in your arms. A minute has gone by and you two stayed cemented in the same position. Fuck it, you thought. Who cares if it'll make you miss each other more. You harshly grabbed his face and leaned forward, preparing your lips to come into contact. But the loud beep emitting from the car made you both jump out of each other's grasp, knocking you backwards onto the cold surface.

Bakugou's head popped out comically from one of the windows, eyes gleaming with rage.

"Oi! Hurry up you dumbasses! We were supposed to leave 5 minutes ago!" he hollered, spit spraying out from this mouth.

You overheard Izuku, who was in the passengers seat, trying to calm down the explosive blonde. A pair of calloused hands slipped behind the back of your neck, crashing your lips to mount another. There's no hunger in the kiss. No teeth or tongue battling it out. Just pure passion burning within the languish kiss. Feeling satisfied, Shouto released himself from your mouth, leaving you breathlessly staring back at him in awe. With one last romantic gesture, your boyfriend rubbed the outer part of your cheek and pinched it between his fingers, smiling at your reddened reaction and shuffled towards the side door of the car.

"I love you y/n," was all he said before sliding the door shut.

You mumbled the exact sentiment as the car revved up and maneuvered out of your driveway. Shortly after wiping away some dried up tears, the car soon disappears from your line of vision, leaving you all alone on the driveway.

“All Might...” you whisper to no one in particular.

-

About 3 months into the trial of long distance, you were already experiencing the symptoms of postpartum-boyfriend-syndrome. Constantly crying yourself to sleep? Check. Going through his Instagram to make sure he didn’t delete any of your pictures together? Check. Texting him every hour on any given day to see how fast he’d respond? Check. Also, the inevitable weight gain from stress eating? Double check.

A couple of your friends noticed the sudden mood change when Shouto arrived in America that first initial month of separation. Momo for example, confronted you in the locker room at the agency one day, spewing about how you almost got yourself decapitated by a villain when your guard was down.

“I’m sorry Momo. My mind has been in the gutter lately. Shouto hasn’t texted me all day since this morning. I’m just worried this whole long distance thing is going to ruin our relationship,” you admitted , wincing at how incredibly clingy you sounded.

Momo began undressing herself, her lips caught between her teeth, clearly taking in what you said. Once she shimmied our from her hero costume, a devilish smirk rested upon her face.

“If you feel like your relationship is going grey, maybe try to spice things up a little. Ya know? Use the distance to your advantage.”

Your hands stopped themselves from unzipping your tight suit. “Hah? What do you mean by that?”

Momo chuckled, amused by how innocent you were acting.

“Come on, you know what I mean y/n,” she slipped on her everyday attire and closed the locker. “You know what they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.” With that she gave you a wink and left the room.

A picture huh?

Across from you was a massive mirror. Each end reaching the edge of the room, everything being showcased, including you. Sometimes you’d walk in catching a few of the prohero girls taking selfies. They all had one thing in common, confidence. Something you had before Shouto’s departure. It felt as if someone used an ice pick to cut away the very little self esteem you had left, leaving you with barely anything to offer anymore. You couldn’t help to compare yourself to the proheros Shouto has been working alongside with since being in America. American girls were a different breed. Everyone over there looks exactly the same but different somehow. You tried not to think too much as you resumed on unzipping your hero costume. Today you wore a plain black bra set underneath. You hardly put on anything skimpy or sexy since you’re practically on patrol everyday, resorting to your trusty sport bras.

You caught a quick glimpse of yourself in the horizontal mirror, gaping at the added fat in your chest area. All thanks to the weight gain, your boobs looked delicious in the bra. The lower half of your body was nothing to ignore either. Your ass filled up the small undergarments, cheeks teasingly spilling out.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Momo’s words enticed you enough to grab your cellphone from the pocket of your duffel bag. Work hours was over for everyone in the building, so you weren’t worried about someone walking in on this compromising state.

You tried to mimic the poses you witnessed from the times you watched the girls do it. One hand on the hip, the other behind your head, along with angling your ass to the side. The pose was uncomfortable. How did they manage to hold this stance for longer than ten seconds? You took some pictures anyway, ignoring how awkward you presented yourself in the mirror.

Each picture you swiped through didn’t meet the criteria. Were these even good enough to send off to Shouto? He loves you no matter what, he reminded you everyday in fact, but your stomach dropped of the thought of him being revolted at these images. You quickly deleted all of the them and sighed in defeat. One more try.

Dropping down to your knees, you held the camera above your head, showing off every part of your body. You spread your legs a couple of inches, your cloth slit on full display. To add even more, you leaned forward a little bit to have your boobs almost spilling out from your tight bra. Through the camera lens, the top part of your nipples were visible. Surly Shouto wasn’t dense to not notice.

Your mouth was agape as you stared at the pictures you recently took. This person in the frame didn’t look anything like you. If you were to show this to Momo she’d be a proud mother.

Without hesitation, you sent a couple of the pictures to Shouto, leaving a cute little message at the bottom once they finally delivered.

Missing you extra today :) xoxo

You didn’t wait for his reply and started packing up everything in your area. Hopefully Shouto won’t be angry at your sudden bluntness, but he left you no choice. An acute noise came from your duffle bag. The blood rushing through your veins suddenly became very cold. It must be a message from Shoto, it has to be. You waited till you arrived safely home to check what he responded with. To your dismay, it was a reminder for next weeks meeting. You shuffled out from your car and headed straight to your shared apartment, a pout currently prominent on your face due to the failed mission.

On the other side, Shouto sat stoic in a plush chair listening attentively to one of the leaders reporting about the current mission. Next to him was a grouchy looking Bakugou, who was currently falling in and out of sleep in his seat. By no surprise Izuku was the only one in the group wide awake and full of energy. The trio has been traveling across the nation helping out with smaller hero agencies in hopes for there to be a stronger allegiance between the USA and Japan. So far it’s been excruciatingly draining on not just their bodies but minds as well. All Shoto wants is to feel the familiar warmth of your body pressed against his. His touch starving tendencies wandered into his personal life when Bakugou caught him snuggling the hotel pillows one night, mumbling your name over and over again. Pathetic as it is, he misses you so much. Although, he wouldn’t admit that out loud, he tried to keep you updated on everything that’s been happening. He has a hard time expressing his feelings, especially when it comes to you. So when he felt his bottom pocket vibrate, he half expected it to be a goodnight message from you, since you’re a couple of hours ahead of him. Nothing prepared him for the promiscuous photo you shared of yourself plastered on his screen, looking back at him with dilated eyes and flushed cheeks.

Blood rushed to the lower region of his pants as he pinched the screen to get a better inspection of you. He thought you looked absolutely beautiful in this vulnerable state, not to mention how your body perfectly clings to his favorite pair of underwear, every curve and beauty mark showcasing before him. Below the plethora of lewdness, a short message from you was attached.

Missing you a extra today :) xoxo

Stifling a groan, he began to type out a reply, stumbling on his words even in text. Before he could press send, someone slapped Shouto’s shoulder and dragged him to his feet.

“Come on half cold bastard the meeting is over. We’re free to go,” Bakugou grumbled as he pushes Shouto out of the cramped room, having Midoriya to follow suit. Bakugou shifted his gaze to Shouto’s phone, gazing at the gross nickname for you on the screen. Shouto angles his phone away from Bakugou’s peripheral vision, praying that he didn’t see your half naked body.

Shouto stuffed his cellular device into his back pocket again, awaiting for the right moment to text you back. Knowing the dynamic of the relationship, his silence is nothing out of the ordinary, so maybe you weren’t thinking too much into this.

Hours later and still no reply from Shouto. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, you figured he probably hasn’t seen it yet, but the “read at ___” has your heart twisting in a knot. You knew he was a couple of hours behind, but would it take for him to at least send a well thought out compliment. Maybe he’s in the midst of an intense battle? Or worse, hooking up with one of the American colleagues. No, Shoto isn’t like that. Being unfaithful is uncharacteristically unlike Shouto. You mentally slap yourself for painting your loyal boyfriend in a different light, all because of some stupid pictures.

Clearing your mind from anymore self sabotage, you did your nightly routine to get ready for bed. As you tucked yourself in, the bright light from your phone flashed, indicating a notification. Everyone in your contact list has already gone to sleep. Everyone excluding Shouto. Frantically, you reached over to grab the phone, swiping across the screen to view his message. The following text shot daggers through your chest.

Call me now

No mention of the photos you sent hours ago. It took him this long just to conjure up a cryptic message. Although, you were curious to see what he'll say to you once he picks up. You pressed the phone icon on his profile and waited, the ringing making you sweat with anticipation. He answered on the third ring.

There was an uncommon silence hanging in the air. On the other end of the call, you can hear the faint acute breathing coming from your boyfriend. You laid frozen in bed, cowardly holding in your breath to prevent any noise.

Shouto broke the silence and said, "I'm sorry for not texting you all day. There was an immediate emergency that lasted longer than we expected."

You nodded your head, but then caught yourself after realizing he can't see your movement over the phone, and let out a grunt instead.

"So..."

"So?" It came out more aggressive than you wanted it to be, but the constant cat and mouse game of today set you over.

"Are you mad at me?" He asked.

No. Not in a million years could you ever be angry at him. Yes, sometimes there's things he did that you wish he'd do better, like expressing himself instead of sheltering back in his shell. Or the way how you envied the relationships your coworkers had, their partners showing them off like it was second nature. Not once did Shouto verbally express his sexual desires. As selfish as it is, you wanted to explore more with him than just regular mundane vanilla sex. Sadly you knew his response was probably going to be lackluster. But no, you weren't mad, just jealous.

"I'm not mad Shouto. Just...very disappointed in you."

In the background, the definite click of a lock from a door rattled your ears. He's in his hotel room, you thought.

"Is this about what happened earlier today?" he started, dragging his tired feet to the hotel bed. "You know, the pictures-"

"Right, the only pictures I put any effort into just for them to be completely ignored by my own boyfriend."

The line went silent again. Even though he isn't here, if he was, he'd be glaring at you with his intense stare, those bi-colored eyes never wavering away from yours.

"You really want to know how I truly felt about those pictures you sent?" His voice dropped a lower octave, sounding as though he dipped himself in pure molasses. Rich as it is, his sudden change of tone aroused you, sending an involuntary wave of pleasure through your body, tipping to the peak of your sex. The only time you heard him sound like this was either when he's livid to the core or about to completely wreck your shit. Both would coincide with each other on special occasions.

He didn't give you enough time to answer, figuring you were too stubborn to reply, and voiced his inner thoughts.

"The fact that you even think I didn't appreciate the photo's is quite silly sweetheart. In fact," you can hear the clanking of metal on the other end. "It makes me sad that I'm not there to worship every inch of that body. Was that your plan all along? To get me worked up by how much I miss your touch?" Shouto struggled removing his pants, the tent forming beneath them restricting him to smoothly slip them off.

You tried to keep your excitement down by squeezing your legs together, almost to the point where they crossed. Soon your breathing became sporadic. Just picturing Shouto touching himself while you both were on call gave you an adrenaline rush. Knowing you couldn't touch him but just yourself intensified your arousal even more. Slowly, you dragged a lazy finger from your sternum to the area around your belly button, tracing small circles on the skin.

"What would you have done to me if you caught me in that moment? Taking those pictures," your sultry tone boomed through his speakers, almost taken back by your approach.

Shouto raised his hips and shimmed out from his tight work pants and started palming himself through his briefs. "Sweetheart, id do nothing but ravish you. Taking my sweet time with you....fuck...I miss you so much," he couldn't hold back the whine he trapped in his throat as soon as his finger swiped over his clothed slit. The sound alone triggered a warm sensation spreading down below, already feeling the wetness coating your panties. By now, Shouto’s fingers would be disappearing inside of you, scissoring and messaging your velvety walls till you broke out screaming, but you had to make do and resort to playfully teasing yourself.

"Ngh...I miss you too...S-Shoto."

"Are you touching yourself love?"

Both of you were far too gone in arousal, there was no point in holding back your sexual pleas.

"Y-Yes, but I wish it was your fingers instead."

Hearing those words coming from your lips encouraged him to shove his entire hand down his boxers, gripping the base of his cock with ease. A small gasp left his lips feeling the crisp, cold air of the hotel room hit his exposed member. He shifted his hand vertically, giving light tugs to it before pumping it vigorously. The sensation strained him to close his eyes, seeing nothing but you doing the work for him. Late nights in the various hotel rooms consisted of him getting off to memories of all the intimate moments you two shared together. Of course it was lonely, but he never resorted to surfing the internet of lewd videos of random girls. They just weren't you. But tonight, he could finally relieve himself to the sweet ambiance of your moans. And he definitely wasn't going to regret it in the morning like usual.

"Listen to me, go faster for me baby," Shouto instructed, "Imagine it's me touching you."

Your cheeks turned a deeper shade of red, fully coaxing your face in heat. You followed through and dipped your fingers into your sex, feeling the warm texture of your walls petting them. All those months without any sexual relief built up so much tension that the tightness within you restricted from anymore movements. After a few strokes, you loosen and manage to reach in far enough to the peak of your knuckles.

Meanwhile, Shouto's hand never grew tired at the tedious strokes, pre cum dripping till it reached his inner thighs. Your name kept spewing out from his throat like a mantra, like you were the only thing he prayed for at night. Despite his lack of moaning, he grunted with each pump, the built up causing him to breathe heavy as well. Generously, he held the phone close enough for you to hear the continuous slapping of skin, along with the combination of wetness. You didn't restrain yourself from moaning though. Every whimper, moan, and groan reverberated across his empty hotel room.

"You wanna know something?" He tried to keep his breathing at a normal pace, but he hastily kept pumping at quick speed. "Everytime I go to one of those dull meetings, I can't help but to imagine you riding me in front of everyone...ngh!"

The confession elicited a moan from you, along with your legs shaking due to the stimulation. Your head flew back and hit the pile of pillows, mouth agape as you added in another finger.

"I miss the feeling of being inside you. So...fucking...bad,” he was beginning to lose his voice , sounding as though he was in constant pain. Poor boy.

"I never took you as being so up front Shouto, what happened?" You challenged him through the phone.

"I guess you really don't know me baby," Shouto shot up from the bed and bent over, not once removing his hand from his member. "Fuck fuck fuck...I can't wait till I come home, so I can finally taste you."

The coil within you was beginning to snap. Snaking your fingers underneath your shirt, you started flicking your thumb over one of your perked nipples, still immersed into the idea that he's actually the one touching you instead. Toes curling and arms bunching up the sheets, you knew you were about to climax. Just by hearing his speech pattern, you can conclude he was close as well.

"I'm about- I'm about to cum S-Shouto!" You pathetically whine.

"Cum with me baby. I've been holding off for you."

Even during intense moments like this, Shouto's gentleman persona didn't fade away over the course the relationship. With the knowledge you have now, knowing he's been on the verge of relief, you pumped your fingers in sheer brutality, never once missing the g-stop. Throwing his head back, Shouto was now on his knees pleading for mercy from the pleasurable pain shooting up through his member. He let out an exasperated whine.

"Now baby, cum for me."

Then you felt it, the knotted tension within you disappearing. Everything around you looked white, like someone snuck in and painted your room a different color. You can faintly hear Shouto orgasming on the other end of the phone as you calm down from yours. He's heard you climax many times before, but hearing your angelic screams over the speaker made him cum harder.

A few minutes later and you two were now recuperating from the intoxicating session, harsh breathing overlapping each other. It felt like years later when he detached his hand, now coated in his own fluids and cramped up. You loosened yourself and removed the two fingers finally. They glistened with your fluid as well, giving off the impression it was just sweat.

"Y/N? Are you still there?" Shouto's voice alerted you awake, almost forgetting you didn't manifest him to finish you off. You grab the phone after cleaning your drenched fingers and propped it on the pillow next to your shoulder.

"Wow that was-."

"Amazing?" He finishes.

"Took the words right out of my mouth."

He mischievously chuckled, "I know. I heard it loud and clear a minute ago."

You audibly groan loud enough for him to hear while snatching the nearest pillow to smother yourself with.

"So, are you planning on sending any more pictures like that during these last 3 months?"

His innocent inquiry made you break out into a grin that stretched from ear to ear. Those pictures sprouted a future of appraisal from your boyfriend, who you thought would never voice his inner thoughts till the day he dies. You two also found a secretive kink to phone sex as you continue to explore with him during these periods of loneliness. Once he arrives home, he assures none of that is just a “phase” as you two kept venturing beyond to sext each other during important events.

A picture really is worth a thousand words.

-

(Truthfully, honestly, this is possibly the worst thing I wrote but someone asked for a cute little passionate session with Shoto specifically. I hope you enjoyed (?)