A new idea for my pop star au is instead of moonrise getting infected with a virus while at a little fan meet and greet.
SUNSET WILL GET INFECTED!!!
Warning! Self harm will be mentioned!!
So my idea is that sunset pre-virus was always presented herself as a joyful whimsical girl,but in reality is
actually deeply insecure,because of the pressure of being a pop star.She always was a people pleaser and tired to make everything perfect.
But sadly nothing was never perfect (in sunsets eyes anyway)
I would imagine that her manager offered to make her “perfect”.Sunset was very happy hearing this and excitedly waited for the new upgrades to make her “perfect”,but she couldn’t tell anyone about the upgrade.
On the day she was supposed to get her new update to make her “perfect”.she was excited for her new upgrades, unfortunately cording to sunset right after the update was done loading nothing was different about her.she didn’t asked why nothing about her really changed about her,sunset just said thank you and moved on with her life.
In the early stages of the virus effects first started as outburst (most violent) and little glitches that nobody besides moonrise really cared.
Sunset was aware that something was off inside her but didn’t know what.She sometimes picked at herself little but always stopped when moonrise and their manager would tell her to stop picking at herself.(wouldn’t stop her from doing it again tho)
Sunset would also begin later on to hear little whispers and the “little” glitches were starting to be more of a problem.Over time less and less employees came into work,which to moonrise was really weird.they also stopped having as much concert and events
Moonrise also noticed that that her sister sunrise started to lock herself in her room more and moon,over time.
Moonrise decided to go into her sisters room,because they were getting really worried for sunset.moonrise called out to her sister from her door,hoping she would answer.
Sadly she didn’t….so moonrise has no choice but to open the door.
Sunrise was bashing her head on a wall.Moonrise yelled at her to stop and asking her why she’s even banging her head on a wall.
Sunrise pounced on moonrise.Sunset pathetically begged with moonrise to stay with her, as she was glitching and crying.Moonrise was confused and panicked,while she was on the ground as her sister was grabbing onto her dress for dear life.moonrise was horrified at all the scars on her sister and her screaming and begging for her to stay with her. Moonrise didn’t know what to do besides stare at sunset,who was seemingly going insane.
After that encounter with sunset,moonrise couldn’t look at sunset anymore.Don’t get her wrong she loves her sister,but she was scared of her sister hurting her.You could always hear loud banging and screaming from sunsets room.Sunset was always mumbling things to her self for the pain to stop.
Moonrise had massive guilt for just letting her own sister suffer like that. Moonrise decided to see how her sister was doing and talk to her.
Moonrise knocked on sunset’s door for awhile hoping for sister to answer.there was no answer….so moonrise will have to go in.
When moonrise went into the room.The room was an absolute disaster,it looked like a wild animal was in it……..but no sunset..………..weird.
Moonrise decided to check the other parts of the building to finally see her sister.
After Moonrise walked around the building.She couldn’t find her still.
Moonrise was then jumped by……sunset!?
Moonrise was startled by her sister violent behavior,pinning her to the ground.
Sunset was glitching and was unintelligent screaming at moonrise.
Now I have two endings for this:
Bad ending:
Sunset rips moonrise apart while being under control by a virus.
Now she walks around as sunset is now forced to be in pain in her own head.Anytime she gets a little control,she will hurt herself so maybe one day she can finally die.
Good ending:
Moonrise escape from sunset and now she is somewhere else starting a new life.
Same with the bad ending for sunset.
Also I have an idea for the virus so get an exited for that
Okay so this is all of the random thoughts that have been floating around in my head….
1. A lot of the ponyboys having different nervous habits is something that I will never get over. Brody played with his hair. Eli loops his thumbs in his belt loops. Nolan pulls on his necklace. Idk if trevi or josh have nervous habits because I don’t watch them as much. Also Nolan shaking when he’s upset is heartbreaking. Actually I think about Nolan pony a whole lot.
2. I love the vast difference in all of the sodas… like Corbin is so so silly and carefree. Jason was wild. Dan was more tame but still a little goofy. Victor is really sarcastic and has a very dry sense of humor.
3. Okay so someone in one of the communities I’m in opened this particular can of worms….. I think that the newsies and the greasers would be friends. Cherry and Kathrine would definitely be friends but I don’t think that Kathrine would like the other Socs. I think two bit and race would be really good friends and would get into all kinds of shenanigans. And soda would definitely give crutchie a piggyback rides so he didn’t have to walk. And pony and Kathrine would definitely spend hours talking about writing. Davey and Darry would 100 percent sit and complain about their “children”. And Johnny and crutchie would definitely go and sit next to each other in silence while they watched the chaos. And I feel like jack and dally could be really good friends but they pretend like they absolutely hate each other. And Les and pony would definitely fall asleep and have to be carried home.
4. I saw a post about this the other day but I just need to add on to the idea. So pony says that he hates Darry but he always mentions him first. “Darry was on his way up in the world” “my brother could have been a football star” “Darry you’re the tuffest guy I know”. I feel like pony doesn’t hate Darry he just hates the fact that Darry has to be his “parent” not his brother. And I think that that’s why he likes soda so much. Because he never has to worry about soda parenting him. But I also think that he takes soda for granted.
5. Also I love the parallel of Darry having all of the physical responsibility and soda having all of the emotional responsibility. And how soda had just as much on his plate as Darry but no one noticed because emotional burdens are harder to see than physical burdens. Also cuz soda is a master at masking his emotions.
6. I really love male ace….. if you haven’t seen the bootleg with Jordan ace you need to go watch it now.
7. Okay on to the lost boys….. this is going to be really long and I apologize for that.
First off I love the way that they did the different story lines and how sometimes it’s like you’re watching three different shows. Like Sam’s storyline is about finding people that match your quirks and his storyline is super silly and fun. Michael’s storyline is about finding his place in the word and somewhere where he truly belongs and his storyline is much darker and heavier. And Lucy’s storyline is about how hard it is to recover from that level of trauma and how you can’t just snap your fingers and make everything better and her storyline reflects that by being an emotional roller coaster.
Okay next up is……. I really hate that they took brother out because that song is perfection and added so much to the story because it showed how much Sam and Michael love each other. But it also showed that the vampires love each other too and how they are a family. I understand why they took it out but I still maintain that it could have stayed. Adding to that I hate that they changed the song Lucy sings right before that because I think it really showed how bad things had gotten before they left and also because it really added to Lucy’s character and it showed how badly she wanted to be a family.
Belong to someone is seriously the best song ever and the lyrics have so so much meaning and potential for further exploration. The part where Michael sings someone make me feel like that and David sings I can make you feel like that is actually insane and I would just like to state for the record that he should have become a vampire. Also if anyone wondered what my life is like ummm I am Michael. So yeah.
Okay but what's the deal with the demons in kpop demon hunters
!!!Spoilers for the whole movie ahead!!!
Overall I think K-pop Demon Hunters was a fun and good movie, and I'd describe it as very solid, not perfect, but solid.
I do however want to discuss my main issue with the film, that being the demons, which is an odd criticism since they are sort of a major aspect of the plot, and that sort of elevates this grievance.
This is pretty long winded so the rest is under the cut
Sorry for any spelling errors this mortal vessel struggles to keep up with my thoughts and autocorrect is not friendly to my musings
There is a TL;DR at the end of this for those who want it
It was very unclear by the end of the movie whether or not we are meant to sympathize with the demons as a whole.
The entire movie centers around Rumi learning to accept her demon side and therefore all of herself with the help of Jinu, who is fully demon. By empathizing with him, and seeing what is redeemable in him, she is able to better forgive herself and cast off her shame.
In this sense, being a demon is used as a metaphor/parallel to the things that we are ashamed of in our own lives, however I feel like some of the worldbuilding and narrative consequences muddle this theme.
From what I understand, Jinu became a demon because he made a deal with Gwi-Ma that allowed him to live a life of luxury through his music, but he abandoned his own family in the process. Was it the shame over abandoning his family that turned him into a demon, or was it a stipulation of the deal he made with Gwi-Ma (like a sell your soul type deal)?
Regardless in this scenario, Jinu becoming a demon is a byproduct of his actions and he lives with that shame for the rest of his life (minus his little redemption moment and his little duet with Rumi). In Jinu's case, being a demon is **something you are made into.**
On the other hand, we have Rumi. From what I saw in the movie, we are to believe she is half demon because her father was a demon, so in this case, her being a demon is genetic. It isn't something she was made into, **it is a natural part of who she is.**
I will say I do have a minor theory that the cause of Rumi's marks isn't because she is genetically half demon, but because Celine always shamed her for being a half demon. She developed those marks and became a demon because of that shame.
I personally do prefer the idea that shame turns you into a demon, rather than it being a genetic thing or Gwi-Ma turning people into demons.
The issue for me is, on a first watch it was unclear to me which of these answers are true or not. Now, it is fully possible that there are lots of different ways to become a demon, either being made into one or born into one, but the metaphorical significance of being a demon makes this question and answer more important to me.
First I want to break down what it means if you become a demon due to your shame, which is the cleaner interpretation in my opinion.
If all demons are made by shame, doesn’t that mean sealing away all of the demons is condemning them to live with their shame forever? Why is it that Rumi and Jinu are allowed sympathy by the narrative, but we are meant to see all the other demons as faceless goons who deserve to be locked up? Yes they feed off of humans, but they are people too, transformed into demons by their shame yes, but it is established that they have souls and humanity as well thanks to Rumi and Jinu. Dehumanizing and locking up the rest of the demons weakens the narrative of combating shame because it essentially says “Only some people are worthy of overcoming their shame, while others aren’t”
Another sticking point I have is that Rumi and Jinu are specifically more humanoid and conventionally attractive. Which is fine, but I also don’t like that the only two demons we’re meant to care for and empathize with are the ones who have the most human faces, like the less demonic they are, the more okay it is for us to let them go free. It sort of leans into the whole “one of the good ones” mentality which I don’t love.
Also, it seems as Rumi’s shame increases, her patterns and the effects of her being a demon start to grow. First it comes for her voice as the patterns reach her throat, and then when she’s revealed on stage at the awards show her patterns reach her face,one of her pupils is slit and her right hand becomes more clawed. The degree of her shame directly affects how physically demonic she is. (Though at the end when she is presumably free of shame she keeps her patterns and I take that as a sign of her acceptance but also a reminder of who she is and where she’s come from)
Now applying this concept more broadly, what does that mean for the demons who are completely transformed? The ones who have nearly no human traits? The degree of shame they must feel is enough to alter their bodies until they are unrecognizable.
Gwi-Ma likely makes this worse, as we’ve seen him berate the demons when they fail him and he is 100% willing to casually vaporize them. Maybe some of the demons were more like their past selves before, but Gwi-Ma punished and degraded them so much that their shame has only grown, but at the same time Gwi-Ma promises them freedom from the demon realm so they remain under his boot. We also see him mass mind control at least a whole city’s worth of people near the end by preying on their insecurities. It’s a classic situation where he sells the solution to a problem he created.
Now with that interpretation, the ending feels a bit less cathartic.
We get to watch Rumi and Jinu overcome their shame and accept who they are, but all the other demons are condemned to live in the demon realm until presumably the next time the Honmoon needs a recharge. Why aren’t they allowed a second chance?
And also I can’t help but notice that Jinu got vaporized, and I understand this is meant to be his moment of redemption, but also how come the only other “good” demon who could stay in the human realm got zapped out of existence? I don’t think it was done on purpose, but killing him sort of wipes away the need to think about demons switching over from the demon realm to the human realm. Now we are back to thinking “keep all of the demons out” by the end of the film, the only exception being Rumi, and she’s has a foothold in the sense that she’s perceived as “half-demon” and also she’s a hunter and is actively trying to push back the other demons. By the end of the movie the status quo is restored, other than the fact that Rumi now has better self esteem and is unashamed of being a demon.
There is no move to extend this second chance to anyone else, which, in my opinion, undermines the main conflicts and themes of the film which is acceptance. Why are only Rumi and Jinu offered this chance unquestioningly?
We even see Rumi question other demons when she begins doubting her beliefs, and it is one of the more monstrous demons, but it isn’t ever addressed again. We are never asked to sympathize with any other demons throughout the film.
All this to say, if having shame turns you into a demon, I really wish the film addressed the fates of the other demons, or whether or not they deserved redemption as well. Also im not saying sucking out peoples souls is a good thing either just to be clear. I’m just saying we can’t ignore the implications of the metaphor.
Now, if you thought we were done, we’re not!!!!
Because now I have to address the implications if being a demon is something you can be born as!
So if being a demon is something people are mostly born as, like a genetic trait, is their fate really their choice? Rumi didn’t ask for her father to be a demon, he just was, and she inherited that. This seems like a sins of the father situation, and maybe a bunch of other demons are in that position too. Are there just demons down there having kids who really socially, culturally and position wise have no other choice than to go along with Gwi-Ma’s plans? Being born into being a demon isn’t anyone’s fault, and it’s a crap place to be in.
Really the only people who sort of “chose” to be a demon in this scenario would be those who made similar deals with Gwi-Ma and even then, is that truly a fair deal?
Under this scenario trapping all the demons also seems like a not great ending because some of them could literally just be kids!!!!!! I also think if being a demon is a genetic thing it sort of lends to interpreting being a demon as a racial or ethnic group which also doesn’t bode well.
This implication is also why I personally prefer the interpretation that deep shame can turn someone into a demon rather than it being a genetic thing, despite Rumi’s whole “half-demon because of my dad” deal.
A quick fix that doesn’t have to rework the whole structure of the movie is to have their final song be a magical “now you don’t feel shame because the music is so great!!!!!” and it could transform the demons to a state where they no longer need to feed off of human souls and hope because they now feel fulfilled by the power of music. Which I know is very “power of friendship” but I grew up on my little pony so “the power of friendship” can satisfy me in enough scenarios.
Other solutions would also require a broader deconstruction of the psyche of demons as a whole. I do also understand that this issue simply could’ve been unaddressed because of the time constraints that all animated movies have because animation is hard and time consuming, and making a 2 hour animated movie is simply not feasible in most cases.
I think on a small, interpersonal level the story really works and is compelling and effective (I may make a queer analysis of Rumi later because “why couldn’t you love me” “I do–” “all of me” wrenched my soul from my body and also it reminds me of ATSV. What is with sony and it’s queer coded characters absolutely destroying me). Genuinely I think this is the only plot hole that I take major issue with, and even then it could just be because of my own reputation and perspective.
Also by no means do I dislike the film. It was such a good time and what it did right it did right. I would just feel wrong raving about it across tumblr without addressing this issue I have with it.
Another note, there could be folklore that influenced the demons and their lore and so if anyone can enlighten me on any of that.
TL;DR: I feel as though the demons should have had some sort of redemption arc as a whole and they didn’t, and I feel like not extending the option for them to overcome shame weakens the narrative as a whole, but I liked the movie overall.
This gonna sound very harsh on the third part so I just want to laid it out that I did enjoy the third one, the magic tricks were fun that kept me clapping and giggling throughout the whole show; and the old casts getting back together healed my inner child.
But this is the part that those who like Now you see me, now you don't should stop reading. Especially the ones that adore the three new little addition to the Horsemen groups.
Personally, I don't like the third part as much as the first two.
Okay granted the magic was still fun and I still giggling to myself whenever those tricks come up to the screen because it was the reason I was there in the theater at 11PM on the first show day even though I just got back from a long day of work (oh wow how time flies), I wanted to have fun, I got the fun, I got back home at 2AM grinning and recommended people to go see the show because it was fun.
But a lot of the original elements of the first two were missing.
Daniel Atlas sounded off when he first appeared, I couldn't quite pinpoint on the 'why' since I didn't have time to rewatch the first two and the last time I did was in 2019 or something. I did after came back from the theater and spent the next day binging back the old movies.
Daniel Atlas sounded so normal, was the thing I realized. He did not have the jittery, the always moving, the AUTISM. There I said it. Yeah yeah times had passed and people changed and all of that but just let me mourn the autistic control-freak asshole Daniel Atlas okay.
I don't have much opinion on the other four Horsemen since they were pretty okay (Lula's appearance was fantastic prop to them they got her bloody disgusting whimsical part right on the bullseyes)
And then there is that whimsical part. I felt like there was not as much fooling around as the originals. Dylan got played (and let himself be played) like a fiddle toy in the first movie, Chase and Walter being little shits fucking around with the Horsemen in the second.
And then the third one just felt,,, too serious. Well, more serious than the other two. They felt more tense, less fooling around, yeah yeah the scene at the magic house was a thing yeah they were fooling around yeah they had fun so was I but It did not contribute to the plot or had any impact thus it did not feel that satisfaction or left that much of a impression afterward. (Before you all came to my head, Imma pointed out that Dylan getting played like a fool and Walter & Chase being little shits played a huge role for the final impact to hit)
Then, here comes my favorite part of any movies or shows, the dynamic.
I have always been a big fan of the found family trope, that was maybe one of the reasons why my 12(13?) self adore the Horsemen and their little "nothing like a family" going on. They don't have any other link with the outside world, Jack dropped dead and no one bothered to look into it, because no one was looking for him; Danny lived in an apartment by himself, doing trick to pick up ONS then shoo them away; Merritt got betrayed by his twin and it hit hard, he kept his skepticism throughout most of the first show about not wanting to work with other, not believing in whatever the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow; Henley despite being so successful, she did not tell anyone nor mention anything about her life and kept her ground staying with a man she wasn't fond of, a man she did not know that well and a (practically a child in her eyes due to how they all treated him) young pickpocket magician-wannabe she knew nothing of; Lula got a whole deal of her mom stabbed her dad in the neck (yeah Jack I agreed with you what the fuck); and Dylan surviving on 30 years of vengeance and hatred burning deep inside his being because of his dad's death.
That why the little gesture of affection between them always get me giggling and kicking my feet. They did a pretty solid job of giving us the "show don't tell" about their dynamic even if some of them got cut from the final. Or if they do tell (like with Dylan on the final of NYSM 2), it was revealed at the end, like how it had always been for the movie.
The three new additions kinda,,, lacking in that show don't tell. I felt like it was a bit force, that they kept repeating the same thing about how much they are importance for each other and how much of a family they are even if they aren't connected by blood.
Or maybe I'm just very bias and autistic and I did not like when things aren't what they were and my favorite little whimsical communists magical robin hoods got nerfed down so the new ones could shine shush.
There's also the final too. It.... didn't feel satisfied when the curtain fall and the truth was revealed. I think there were a lot of factors contributing to that.
Firstly the villain/antagonist. She was so normal, just your usual everyday smart, rich, ruthless villain. They didn't make her extremely smart like Walter and Chase and fooled around with that, or smug and arrogant like Thaddeus who think they knew they will always one steps ahead (which make the final very satisfied at how they all got taken down) or a complete fool like Dylan who apparently was not much of a fool but the real mastermind behind pulling the strings (god the twist was still insane even on the rewatch)
She also missed that whimsical (I am overusing it at this point but it was the whole point make NYSM as much fun as it were) She was serious, but to a normal amount, not like Dylan's out of the roof rage; She was sarcastic and also dance around, but did not fuck around like Walter and Chase since she did not have that luxury to.
The villain was just your every-show-villain and did not leave that much of an impression.
Oh almost forgot, there were more than two sides in the old two movies. The Horsemen >< The riches (Tressler), The Horsemen >< Thaddeus, The Horsemen >< Dylan and the FBI, and then the grand final being Dylan was the mastermind pulling the strings all along; Walter & Chase >< The Horsemen, Thaddeus >< Dylan (Horsemen), The FBI >< The Horsemen, and the final reveal being Thaddeus being the Eyes's leader and wanting to teach Dylan a lesson, a push, something for Dylan to understand the importance of the Horsemen to him. There were a lot of sides but they were all manageable and easy to follow.
And the third one were just the Horsemen >< Veronika (I HAD TO GOOGLE HER NAME GOD DAMN) and the mastermind being Charlie as Veronika's supposedly dead brother. The lack of sides and characters made it honestly too easy to guess who would be the one behind the whole scene.
I also think they didn't follow through with the misdirection (NYSM kept pointing toward Alma being the mastermind while Thadeus was still posed as an arrogant asshole in NYSM 2) but lean more toward the hinting and foreshadowing, which is understandable, but it lost the magician theme on there and turning it into a normal movie instead.
Magician worked with perception, they give you the information, a lot of informations for your sensation to pick up and for your brain to fill in the gap, a misdirection, a little trick to keep your brain on thinking you got them, you are following them, and you know exactly what they are doing. But you are not, they are letting you follow what they want you to follow, thinking what they want you to think and only knowing what they want you to know.
It felt more like a movie and less of a magic show in Now you see me, now you don't. It lacked the twist and the misdirection and the whimsical of a magic show. And I think that was they did such a good job on the first two parts. Always leaving you guessing yourself. I was rewatching NYSM 1 and 2 with my friend and neither of us could guess who's the one behind it all until right before the final.
But you had fun being fool, it was magic's whole point. And I didn't get the same feeling after finished Now you see me, now you don't, even if I did enjoy it despite all this whining and sulking.
What if instead of Il-Hwan getting stuck in a dungeon for 10 years, it was a teenage Jin-Woo?
Il-Hwan awakens as a S-Ranker but due to the rudimentary knowledge of hunters in general, he isn’t acknowledged for this and lives life pay check to pay check.
Around this time a 14 year old Jin-Woo is caught in an unmanned dungeon (either wonders into it or tries to save someone) and has to fight for survival in it.
On the verge of death, Jin-Woo is found and saved by the rulers who take interest in his will strength and determination. They offer him power in return for becoming their vessel and exercising their will. Out of desperation, Jin-Woo accepts the offer and becomes a ruler vessel.
While this is happening, Jin-Woo is reported missing after disappearing for 3 days. However, due to the high number of deaths and disappearances caused by the advent of gates, his disappearance is labelled as another tragedy caused by the gates.
Il-Hwan and Kyung-Hye are persistent and consistently search for Jin-Woo. They print posters, organise search parties, but no one is able to pin point where Jin-Woo went.
This causes stress on the Sung family. As Il-Hwan begins to obsess over finding Jin-Woo. Throwing himself completely into his working during the day and scouring the streets during the night.
One Dungeon raid, however, ends in tragedy. Due to Il-Hwan’s lack of sleep and overexertion of his body, he fumbles and ends up struggling to defeat the Dungeon boss. When he eventually does, his party is either dead or half dead.
While carrying their bodies out of the dungeon. The exhaustion, stress, grief and pain, catch up to him and his body gives out. He doesn’t have enough strength to get him to the end.
He gives up.
Days later he awakens in a hospital bed with his wife and daughter gathered around him. Shocked, Il-Hwan asks how they got out. Who saved them? But his party members say that he saved them. He carried them out of the dungeon.
He tries investigating more into it. But no one saw who did it. They shower him with praise but it only fills him with unease.
He loses more sleep. And one night, Jin-ah confronts him. She asks about Jin-Woo, about the dungeons, and the world that is changing around her. Il-Hwan quickly realises that in his pursuit of Jin-Woo, he has neglected his daughter.
Things settle. Il-Hwan is released from the hospital. Kyung-Hye asks him to stop hunting and he does.
months pass. A hunters association is formed along with a fancy new measuring system. Hunters are called to renew their licenses but Il-Hwan doesn’t bother. A special hunter appears. Some kind of S-rank? Il-Hwan doesn’t bother remembering his name. He keeps his head down and gets a job as a construction worker. He earns less than he did as a hunter but it’s safer and Kyung-Hye makes do. There’s less people to feed anyway.
The television is full of people talking about a gate. In America? Il-Hwan avoids the news but before long the newspapers are full of clippings aswell. It spreads; initially tucked in a small corner before spreading to take over the whole page.
”S-RANK GATE IN AMERICA” “THE FINAL ARMAGEDDON” “IS THIS THE FINAL WAVE?”
He hides them from Jin-ah.
A hurricane of disaster comes to him one day in the form of an old man: Go Gun-Hee. He approaches him while Il-Hwan’s on break asking for a talk. Il-Hwan tries to avoid the man by saying he’s on the clock, but his manager snaps like a pretzel under the weight of Go Gun-Hee’s influence.
Go Gun-Hee’s eyes are knowing when he stares at him. He asks about his refusal to renew his hunter license. Il-Hwan tells the truth (he doesn’t want to be a hunter anymore) but Go Gun-Hee stares at him as though he’s lying.
Go Gun-Hee hands him his business card; tells him to check to news sometime. And leaves.
Il-Hwan wants to throw it out. But he keeps it in spite of him self. Kyung-Hye catches him staring at it and eyes him warily.
At night, when he knows that Jin-ah and Kyung-Hye are asleep, he switches on the news.
Immediately, he is inundated with report after report. It’s all the same. Regardless of the channel. He turns it off in disgust and then turns it on again.
They talk of an end of all ends. The devastation. The fear. It switches to a video interviewing a young mother and her child. Il-Hwan switches it off.
The next day Il-Hwan follows the address on the card to an office building in the main city. Il-Hwan stares at it and thinks about what was there before it. Before the gates- he can’t remember.
Go Gun-Hee greets him at the front when he flashes his business card. It takes less than a minute for him to appear, eyes knowing and smile a genuine curve.
He asks if he would like to renew his license. Il-Hwan says yes and he’s guided to a seperate room where a large full body scanner is waiting for him.
They tell him to strip to his underwear. Il-Hwan flashes Go Gun-Hee a wary glance but does so anyway. He follows their orders and steps onto the scanner.
Go Gun-Hee and the managers vacate the room. A minute passes and Il-Hwan feels tingles across his skin as scanner pans over him. A second passes and then another. The machine makes a noise and abruptly explodes.
The room is wrecked but Il-Hwan is unharmed. He wonders how much he would have to pay them back for the machine. Go Gun-Hee appears at the doorway, smiling despite the wreck.
Il-Hwan is pronounced as a S-Rank. Koreas second (or technically the first). He leaves with a shiny new license and a request from Go Gun-Hee.
When he returns, Kyung-Hye is there waiting for him. She stares at him as though already aware so he tells her the truth. He tells her that he’s thinking of going to America.
She’s quiet. She tells him to stay. But she knows who he is. Who she married. Il-Hwan thinks of the gate. He thinks of the future. He thinks of Jin-ah and his family. He thinks of Jin-Woo.
He’s on the phone with Go Gun-Hee the next morning and boarding the ship to America not a month later. Kyung-Hye is quiet and Jin-ah refuses to speak to him in protest. Go Gun-Hee promises to keep them safe.
Korea makes a show of his departure. They drape him in silk and gold. Parade him around as a warrior hero. A family man, they describe him. A hero who pulled his half dead teammates out of a gate.
America is different from anywhere he’s been. There’s hunters everywhere from all over the world. They scoff at each other heads held high with pride. Il-Hwan keeps to himself until the day of the raid.
Kamish is a blur. Many die. It was a catastrophe that Il-Hwan never saw coming. A dragon, bathed in a bloody red had pierced the sky and brought about an end of times. Except the world didn’t end. Somehow they had defeated it, though Il-Hwan would always forget how exactly they had done it.
At the end of the expedition. Of the 100 S-Rank hunters, 6 had remained. Il-Hwan was the oldest. There was a large American and a smaller American whose names he had forgotten. The indian hunter was a soft-spoken man who spoke politely and the Chinese hunter was a boisterous young man. Though most seemed dull after the raid. Il-Hwan just wanted to go home.
Il-Hwan was very busy after the raid. He made it back to Korea a week later and returned to a country that worshipped him like a God. Upon his return, they held a celebration in the streets. He was asked to appear in interviews, conferences, and reality TV shows. But Il-Hwan politely declined all of the invitations. He returned to his family and told Go Gun-Hee he wanted to be left alone.
And he was. Korea still talked about him. But the invitations stopped and many seemed to realise that he was devoting himself to his family. On occasion he would glance at TV channels and online forums about himself and find polarising views about his decision. But he didn’t care.
Time passed like that. He didn’t work but the money paid by the American government was more than enough for any living expenses. They lived mostly the same. They never moved out of their dingy apartment. Just in case. Jin-ah grew up. Il-Hwan asked Go Gun-Hee about Jin-Woo but nothing came of the investigation.
Rumours spread about his runaway son and his reason for his early retirement. While many expressed sympathy for his lost son many also called him abusive or neglectful. Siting his inability as a father that led to Jin-Woo’s disappearance.
Korea changed. As did the world. His fellow national-ranked hunters grew and evolved. Some tried inviting him to their guilds and others tried fighting him. But most left him to his own devices. One year he was asked to appear at a world conference for hunters, the Korean government had begged him to represent them and Il-Hwan had only conceded when Go Gun-Hee said he could bring his family.
The big American was the first to greet him- Thomas Andre was his name. His voice was loud and happy, he gave him a handshake with abit too much pressure. Il-Hwan didn’t budge and Thomas only smiled wider. The American was very opportunistic, he draped an arm around Il-Hwan and promised him the world if he joined America, he tried baiting him with his family but Il-Hwan shut him up quick with a glare.
The conference was boring. Hunters avoided him. They stared at him with a mix of awe and fear. The ones that did approach would stutter and freeze up. His fellow national ranked hunters kept their distance as well, staying within their guild parties.
The one outlier was the Chinese hunter, Liu Zhigang. He had approached him, head held high in provocation. The translator with him had stuttered and paled as she translated his words. He wanted to fight him.
Il-Hwan had known about the Chinese hunters bloodlust, apparently he had went on a month long trip across the world to fight all of the national-Ranked hunters and was stopped due to geopolitical turmoil caused from it. But when Il-Hwan stared at the boisterous young man he couldn’t help but wonder about Jin-Woo. Unwilling to entertain the idea of fighting him, Il-Hwan had scared him off by flexing his powers abit. He wasn’t sure how well it worked because the one to break them up was actually Thomas Andre.
Il-Hwan returned to Korea exhausted and promising himself that he would never go to another conference again.
More S-Ranks appeared. First was a sleezy looking man. After that a large burly man. A young man with transformation powers who froze up whenever he spoke to him. A healer. And an assassin.
Il-Hwan kept his distance. Most of the hunters left him alone. There was one, though. A young man with a rebellious personality named Hwang Dong-Su who tried to stir trouble with him. When Il-Hwan looked at him, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of pain. Jin-Woo would’ve been the same age. He left for America later that year.
Disaster struck again in the form of another S-Rank raid. The media wasn’t worried, after all they had 5 S-Rankers but Go Gun-Hee came to him one day and spoke to him in a hushed tone. It was much more dire than they were making it seem.
Il-Hwan listened and he thought for a long time. Jin-ah was in middle-school now, a nice private one. His life was good, calm. But when he thought about the disaster caused by the Kamish raid, he couldn’t help but falter.
When Il-Hwan told Kyung-Hye this. She had stared at him for a long time before saying that he should do it, much to his surprised. She told him that she trusted him to do the right thing.
Il-Hwan participates in the raid. There’s media coverage from all over the world. The gate is full of mutated ant monsters. It’s weird fighting alongside people after all this time but the group settles into an easy rhythm with his leadership. The dungeon boss is a queen ant which Il-Hwan easily kills. It’s nothing like Kamish. He leaves relieved.
When he returns Kyung-Hye is in the hospital. Jin-ah is crying. There’s a grim look on Go Gun-Hee’s face when he approaches him.
Kyung-Hye has fallen into an eternal slumber.
Il-Hwan tries everything. He travels across the world, speaks to the best doctors, physicians, healers. Nothing works. People look at him with pity, and in some forums people say it was the extended exposure to his mana that caused it. Some days Il-Hwan believes them.
He moves Jin-ah into a boarding school in America.
Thomas Andre takes one look at him and offers to introduce him to woman. Some kind of fortune teller. Il-Hwan distantly wonders how a fortune teller will bring his wife back. He goes anyway.
Norma Selener is unusually calm. She doesn’t seem particularly star-struck by him. But when she takes his hand, she jerks back as if she’s been burned. There’s something watching over him, she says. Something terrible.
Il-Hwan leaves frustrated. Just another looney.
Time passes. A new S-Ranker appears. A young woman. The first female S-Ranker.
She’s young and naive, her eyes still shine with admiration when she looks at him and her back straightens slightly as though to look taller. Il-Hwan can’t help but think of Jin-ah, alone in America. Safe from him.
He pats her on the head. And vows to look out for this young girl whose hair seems brown under just the right lighting. Jin-Woo would be her age. He wonders if they would’ve been friends.
Il-Hwan spends most of his time looking for cures for Kyung-Hye. He basically lives in the hospital. After the first few times, the starstruck eyes of the doctors and nurses quickly soften with pity.
When Il-Hwan does go home. He sleeps alone. The apartment is empty. Sometimes he wakes up in a cold sweat, haunted by nightmares of red dragons and a small cold body in his arms, and the only thing that can calm him down is curling up in the cold empty sheets of Jin-Woo’s old bedroom.
Il-Hwan leaves it the same even after 10 years.
Thomas Andre has wanted Il-Hwan since the moment he met him during the Kamish raid. He admires him. More than he has ever admired someone. It’s more than physical admiration, it’s mental and spiritual. Laura says it’s he has daddy issues. But Thomas doesn’t care.
He’ll do anything. When Il-Hwan’s daughter is sent to America, he tries everything to get her to like him. But she only stares at him with the same despondent eyes as her father. As though fatigued by the very act of living.
The only daughter of Korea’s National Hunter is a bit of a superstar in America. None of the other National rank hunters have children, so she’s treated as some kind of rare extinct animal. After all, it’s much easier to get to the father by getting the approval of the daughter. But even more than that there’s…
Yes, there’s also the son. Il-Hwan’s oldest. The whole world knows him, even more so after Go Gun-Hee’s nation wide manhunt. Even Thomas has tried to look for the boy in hopes of gaining Il-Hwan’s favour, he’s not the only one with the same idea either, everyone has tried it atleast once. Finding the missing son of Il-Hwan would be better than winning the lottery.
But it seems that it’s also way harder than winning the lottery. Thomas remembers reading posts of theorising whether this ‘Jin-Woo’ even exists. It’s like he completely fell of the side of the earth, he’s a complete non person. In recent years he’s become somewhat of a criptid; perhaps he turned into a dungeon monster, maybe Il-Hwan actually killed him and Go Gun-Hee covered it up, or maybe, he got sucked into a dungeon portal.
That one seems the most plausible.
It’s late when Thomas gets the call, Hwang Dong-Su is in the hospital. That in and of itself is startling, but it’s made worse by the recounts of what happened.
A young man had come out of the dungeon speaking Korean. He had dark black hair and eyes that shone a piercing gold.
Hi, about the Jonathan Sims Jane Prentiss post. Elaborate.
Omgomgomg someone asking me to talk about the Magnus Archives!! Thank you thank you so much!!
Sorry, this took a while, I knew I wouldn’t be able to get out all of my thoughts on my phone, so I had to look for my laptop :)
While listening to the absolutely incredible MAG 032 – Hive, I felt that there was a strong connection between Jon and Jane’s stories (obligatory mention on how similar their names are because it feels weird in my brain).
One of the main things that really stood out to me was during Jane’s desperate recollection of her memories, Jane tries to figure out when she first heard the song of the hive, she starts with when she saw the webs in the corners of the attics entrance (which she mentions having a “different song to the hive”, I love this detail!!) to as far back as her childhood, being told by her classmate about blackheads, which she says “that image lodged in my mind forever”, she mentions as a child, she used to watch the worms climb to surface after the rain.
I think she was hearing the song then, it was hard to come to that as a definite belief for me due to her muddled her perspective from already going through the process of becoming what we would see her become, as she seems to switching from “Jane” to “The Hive” in the statement. But my belief of it comes from her breakdown over the ant infestation at her job, I want to link this to Jon’s fear of spiders, because well obliviously you don’t get such intense breakdowns over a thing that brings you comfort, so intense she was fired. Both of them gained intense fears from their childhood, Jane must’ve been terrified from that reaction, but I think if Jane experienced something on the same scale as Jon, the Hive, which we already know could dizzy her memories, could suppress that, maybe giving her relief as a manipulation tactic?
Bringing this back to Jon, there is his experience from A Guest for Mr. Spider, which we know gave him a massive fear of spiders (and very not-dooming guilt), his reaction after reading Jane’s statement is.. Well bad. I think that it is because of the similarity from Jane’s damning since childhood to his own is what causes him to admit he KNOWS it’s not natural, he can’t will up the denial that he hides behind, he even needs to lie down after it.
BUT here’s the thing that drives me up the wall about these two! I think it’s not the similarity in their stories that connects them, it is their fates. Imagine if, you are behind five, maybe six, walls of denial and logic, to keep yourself safe from your guilt and your fears, hearing a story so close to what is your own and she turns into a monster.
Mr. Jonathan “I don’t want to a mystery” Sims, who has spent a while hunting down her story to solve her mystery, only to find that.
Jane’s fears from her childhood found her and used her body to kill and terrorise.
Jon must’ve been terrified, we’ve heard about two people dying from the worms Jane spreads and it now becomes clear she has basically become possessed. She literally has that noted as one of what seems to be one of her last true actions, before she is used as a tool. Something I want to point out now because I see so many people forget this, Jon cares about others so much. The most clear example being in Colony, when after getting Martin’s statement, he lets him stay in the archives, even saying he’d asked Elias for extra security, he doesn’t turn away from the truth (that he KNOWS) and scoff at the man he is currently trying to intimidate. No, he helps him because one of the main traits of Jonathan Sims is he really cares, no matter how scared he is. The idea that he could be turned into a monster and used to kill and terrorise people as well to be turned into something he’s not (sorry, that is a hunger games reference.) is horrific, especially as he was currently being attacked by the person who’s story he can so strongly relate to.
And then when he does inevitably turn into a monster, just like him and Jane were always going to, what should be horrifying him (just like Jane’s song and the fact it made her feel loved despite it all) felt so right.
It was always going to end like this for Jon, for Jane, and Carlos Vittery from Arachnophobia but there’s less to say about him (sorry).
In short, I say Jane’s memory haunted Jon for a long time, I think his breakdown in season 2 makes a lot of sense for a lot of reasons, but also because of the fear that he could be turned into a monster just like her, and that chance were going up higher every day, since he was eight.
Y/n is 15 in this and started being a magical girl at 10
I don’t read the comics so the timeline is likely fucked along with some characters maybe being out of character. I don’t care tho cause this took a long ass time to write and I had fun writing this. So please enjoy
Part 2 Part 3 part 4
3302 word count lol
Becoming a magical girl like in the cartoons you watched as a young girl initially seemed like a dream come true
A wish wrapped in a big pink sparkly bow that when unwrapped opened Pandora’s box to the amount of responsibilities that would be carried over to you
You were naive back then, but after years of being one your much mature now
That initially girly sense of joy soon fading away as the glitter and glam could no longer shield your eyes from the weight of something bigger than yourself was voluntarily placed on your shoulders
Doesn’t matter much in the end. there's no turning back time no matter how you longed to reset its hands
You hunt shadow-like creatures you had nicknamed shadowmites. Entities from a different realm that feed themselves off of traits like greed and anger before sucking out its targets life
You hunt shadow-like creatures you had nicknamed shadowmites. Entities from a different realm that feed themselves off of traits like greed and anger before sucking out its targets life
You hunt shadow-like creatures you had nicknamed shadowmites. Entities from a different realm that feed themselves off of traits like greed and anger before sucking out its targets life
You hunt shadow-like creatures you had nicknamed shadowmites. Entities from a different realm that feed themselves off of traits like greed and anger before sucking out its targets life
You hunt shadow-like creatures you had nicknamed shadowmites. Entities from a different realm that feed themselves off of traits like greed and anger before sucking out its targets life
You hunt shadow-like creatures you had nicknamed shadowmites. Entities from a different realm that feed themselves off of traits like greed and anger before sucking out its targets life
It’s no surprise that they ended up gravitating towards earth. Even more so Gotham, a breeding ground for the worst of the worst
Their mindless creatures. Just feeding and taking over entire universe’s to suck them dry until moving to the next
You used to feel sympathy for them, how horrific it would be to one of them. but now you feel nothing for them. 5 Years of watching them shrivel into nothing and hurt others made that go away though
Their screeches of pain becoming background noise along with their snarls of hunger.
You're now desensitised to it all. The loneliness and sadness at watching others you age enjoys their lives oblivious to everything.
Sometimes it makes you smile though. Knowing that because of your actions those same girls can live their lives, happy and full of joy.
At least you're not truly alone though. Your mentor/companion/eldritch-type being in the form of a ferret named Rigel.
They're an odd company. A being of seemingly endless knowledge and power, one that traversed through countless dimensions and universes, something that could end the world with a single thought…in the body of a adorable ferret that curls around your neck and perched on your shoulder
Rigel is stern but caring. A mentor who pushes you to your limits but knows when to stop and when you need a break despite how much you protest.
Someone/something that cares for you despite the fact that compared to them you're a single dim star in an entire cosmos of brighter shining ones.
As a Gothamite you know the streets well, and its people even better. Giving you the advantage at tracking down and stopping shadowmites as the midnight hour ticks onwards
You usually get rid of around 7-16 a night. Most being weaker varieties but occasionally having to toughen up to defeat the strong ones who had found a particular rageful host.
During the 5 years you had been doing this ever since your 10th birthday you surprisingly (and luckily) hadn’t had the chance to meet Batman face to face
Sure, they had been times you saw him off in the distance but you hadn’t fully talked to him by a stroke of chance
His enemy’s on the other hand, oh boy do you know them well
You had saved quite a few of them.
The goal was to eliminate the shadowmites, it didn't matter who you saved in the process…unless it’s Joker.
Even Rigel would allow you to let Joker be sucked dry like a cool-aid packet lol
Anyways
Because of you saving a ton of them you're on their good lists. A metaphorical safe card given to you as you spend your nights saving more people
After saving Penguin the older man allowed you free use to the iceberg despite your complaints of not wanting anything
You have your own little private table set up.
Mr.Cobblepot insists you don’t need to pay but you do so anyway
The food is much better than the McDonald’s you buy on a daily basis. It deserves the money you insist to spend on it
Most of His goons now know you. Sometimes joking you when off duty to talk while you eat
Most are pretty nice (to you anyways), often times rambling about their day or talking about their families
Some have kids your age. Some of them you even recognize from Gotham academy
The waitresses are also nice. Most of them very pretty and always fawning over how cute you look.
Penguin himself occasionally joins you in his spare time. Making causal talk, asking of your hunting and how your life has been
It’s….nice?. Kinda weird to be having a mob boss ask about your day but it’s a change of pace from your relatively lonely life
Kinda reminds you of some rich uncle who swoops by every now or then. Spoiling you before being whisked off on a new endeavor
He tells you that you're welcome during closing hours as well. This place serving as a safe haven of sorts if you should need it
Riddler is another though you see him less than Penguin
It’s the occasional blink and you see it kinda encounters but their amusing
The green clad man finds it fun to bitch about how the Gotham time’s riddles are too easy or how Batman is a dick
He (of course) also tells riddles. Seemingly getting a ride out of watching you try to figure them out
He also seems weirdly protective. Warning that if the bat gave you trouble then come to him
He’s not the only one to say that to you but you appreciate the sentiment
Seems oddly worried that if your in school and if your getting a good education
You tell him you are but don’t specify where just in case
He’s satisfied with that answer though. Even offers to help with math and or science homework
Gloats a lot and talks even more. Seems to appreciate that you actually listen to him and his ramblings
At one point he suggests making your colour scheme to match his
You politely decline saying you couldn’t pull it off like he did which makes his ego expand
Sometimes he hacks into security cameras or large screens to give you a riddle cause he’s bored
May or may not slip Rigel a 20 for you to have some spare change that you desperately need
Harley, Ivy and Catwoman fucking love you
You had initially only saved Harley but after that the two just joined in with her on basically becoming your honorary aunts
You end up running into them a lot during your long nights. Usually stopping by Ivy’s and Harley’s apartment for small breaks
They patch you up as best they can, ivy fixing you a cup of tea as Harley’s hyena’s curl up near your lap
Catwoman usually stops by during these breaks. Sometimes with a box of kittens whom she has you name
All of them are worried for you both mentally and physically so they make you a deal. On Saturdays after 12am unless super urgent you have a girls night with them, in return you have their help in patching up your wounds
They prep popcorn, drinks and the whole 9 yards to give you a break. They play a movie (usually a chick flick) and just let you rewind
If they hadn’t made this deal you probably wouldn’t have taken any breaks
Their all silently impressed that you’ve not only survived this long but also somehow ended up befriending half the villains in this damn city
You say that their just acquaintances but Ivy argues that Mr.Cobblepot is a cheapskate who wouldn’t give you a basically lifetime pass to his lounge for nothing
Harley warns you to stay away from Joker no matter what. And that if he even walks 10 metres near you he’s getting a lifetime trip to deadsville
Red Hood is the first of the bats that you run into. During his whole escapade to take over the underworld something that was kinda considered a myth to the rest of Gotham but was confirmed by the many people you saved
The meeting was ok…but then derailed when you noticed the black clawed tendrils clinging into his shoulders
His shadowmite that feed off his rage was fucking hard to beat. It took a lot out of you, almost killed you and left you hobbling to Harley’s for help before passing out
You woke up in a warehouse, patched up by him personally before he began to question you
Like usual you gave him the rundown of things. The entities that feed off negative emotions, eventually drained their life force, your the only one who can stop them with your magical powers etc etc
What catches you off guard though is when he asks if your parents know
The silence answers his question. One that feels deafening to his ears as he realizes that your basically alone in this
Pitted against a cruel world with no one but yourself and the kindness of literal criminals to accomplish an impossible task
It seems to shake something in him, something that’s not your business to ask about but makes him seem fragile in that moment
It’s not a word you’d associate with him yet that’s the only thing you can describe him as in the moment
The dim blue glow of his helmet’s eyes seeming now less intimidating to your smaller shaking form
He then asks how you got away with this so long without the bat (he says it with a certain poison in his voice) didn’t stop this
You just answer that you were just lucky in evading his notice. You were careful not to gain public attention and just focused on your job (his fists tightened a bit at this wording)
He helps you after this, dropping you off at Harley and Ivy’s
He seems hesitant in letting you go but trusts your decision enough once he sees the two fuss over you from a distance
He appears commonly to you after that. Inviting you to sit atop the old Gotham library with a bag of Dairy Queen in hand
It makes you wonder if he has younger siblings, if this is how it felt to be cared for by a older brother
You used to wonder what that felt like along with having parents. It makes your normally hollow chest feel warm and fuzzy
Couple months later he ends up working with batman. Whatever disagreement with the man now resolved as his uniform now has a red bat added to his chest
Your initially nervous until he promises not to “rat you out to the old man” as he put it
He opens up a bit more during your talks with him. Talking of how he grew up in the slums, had to rely on himself to survive just as you do
It’s kinda comical to see the gun wielding, motorcycle driving, leather jacket clad vigilante talk about Jane Austen but it certainly becomes a fun pastime as you work on an english essay
Just like the Gotham Sirens he worries. But even more than they do
He suggests tagging along with you on some of your hunts but you decline. Appreciating the sentiment but making a clear line in what you are comfortable with.
He accepts but there’s still a sense of worry that seems to claw at him everytime he finds you with cuts, bruises and dried blood caking your elaborate uniform
Eventually during your meetups with him your talk of pride and prejudice is interrupted by Nightwing
It’s kinda awkward sitting there eating ice cream with Rigel as the two grown men bicker like brothers about you
You end up leaving midway though to hunt again
But then the blue wearing hero ends up finding you much to your displeasure of just wanting to get back to work
He’s much more cheery and charismatic compared to Red hood. More of a people person by how he easily seems to break down your hesitation to talk to him
Like hood he’s definitely worried for you but seems to hide it a bit better with humour and general polite talk
You notice he does acrobatics a lot, leading to you asking him him about it
He kinda ends up being your teacher and you now know how to cartwheel and a few other tricks
Like hood he promises not to tell Batman he even jokes that at this point he should get red Robin and Robin so Batman is the last to know
He talks about a variety of subjects but kinda focuses in on how you have a healthy way to relive the stress you have
Doesn’t exactly approve of you stopping by the Gotham sirens for that but he relents after red hood calls him out on also being friends with villains before (an apparently more than friends in some cases?)
Both he and Red hood argue quite a bit but it’s funny especially when it has both grown men throwing fries at one another like 10 year olds
He has you swear not to drink coffee cause apparently red Robin is addicted to that shit and he doesn’t need another coffee adict
Briefly mentions how he has a friend named Raven whom you should meet
Y’all have mock battles cause he wants to see you in battle. Safe to say he likes the sparkles and the glamour of it all
He finds it interesting that your magical girl weapon can change depending on the situation and still looks cute
Those once cold and lonely nights that you spent fighting evil shadow creatures has changed seemingly for the better
Despite the fact that frost nips at your fingertips through your gloves, attempting to suck the warmth from your flesh you feel oddly warm inside
During the day your a seemingly normal 15 year old student at Gotham academy. Someone who blends into the Background, someone who no one really knows about but doesn’t question why
The only really noticeable thing about you is your above average grades and quiet nature
You're just known as that one seemingly nice student. That’s really the only thing people can label you as, you don’t really mind.
It was your goal to be unnoticeable, to just be another face to everyone.
It kinda becomes a bit complicated though as through your normal school year you notice the infamous Damien Wayne seemingly gaining an interest in you?
Odd. You never really interacted with him other than polite hello’s and the occasional moment you’d sit near somewhat near him in the library for lunch
Hell he wasn’t even in the same grade as you. He was 13, you never even had a project or something that led you to actually talk to him.
And now for some reason he decided to have a curiosity in you. The one thing you didn’t want happening.
During lunch you end up eating in random places. Randomly Rotating between areas and locations like the courtyard, library, empty classrooms and the gym
He’s smart though, scarily so. Almost as if he was experienced in tracking people down. Leaving you light on your toes as you dance to weave past and try to outsmart and outlast him until the bell rings
It doesn’t get any better when you leave for the end of the though. He waits for a few minutes by the front of the school, limo ready to take him home yet he still tries to spot you as you leave.
Eventually you up and ask him why he's been stalking you for the past 2 weeks, turns out Damien saw Rigel and wanted to pet them plus his older brothers encouraged him to make a friend
Safe to say he got to pet Rigel who crawled out your bag and scurried up his arm
The friend bit is a bit more complicated
You never had a friend your age after gaining your abilities. Being so busy had deterred people at the orphanage before you ran off, faked some paperwork and found yourself an apartment who didn’t ask questions as long as you paid for rent.
You had purposefully made yourself invisible to everyone, to avoid becoming gaining attention and becoming attached knowing they’d leave you for being so busy
You know you should say no but…your heart tugs at the somewhat nervous look he has in his eyes despite how much he tries to hide it along with the feeling of joy clawing at your heart
For the first time at school you smile genuinely as you nod. His eyes light up with joy, a small somewhat prideful smile painting his face
Your days at school after this are much more eventful, less of a cycle like it was before
Due to your new friendship with the elusive and loner wayne it causes some stir but the young boy quickly silences all hushed talking with his infamous glare
He’s actually quite fun to be around, always talking about his pets or how his step-brothers were a pain in the ass
He still sometimes has an attitude but you got to eventually see past that. To see the real Damien who nerded out over random animal facts or had his dog as his screensaver
It took a long time to get to this point but you don’t find yourself regretting the decision because of the fact he’s understanding of you being busy or having a far off look in your eyes that looked eternally tired.
His are the same sometimes, drained and empty of colour and life
You asked him one day while you both ate lunch in the courtyard, laying down on the dark green grass, why he decided out of all people to befriend you. The wallflower, the name without a face, the kid whom everyone just knew as nice and that’s it
He said it's because of your eyes. How they reminded him of himself, not in personality per say but in the fact they held untold secrets and a weight that no one else but you would understand.
That day he invited you to his home. The glorious wayne manor as to finally meet his canine friend Titus
It feels kinda out of nowhere but with some hesitance you agree, hopping into the limo that picked him up everyday as a old butler greeted you with a surprised smile
Damien greets him with the same fondness he seemed to hold for you, introducing the older british man as Alfred
