#v ae ray

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Your fingers tentatively brushed against the raised and abrasive skin of his burn scar and although he didn’t flinch away from you, there was the smallest tremor to Ray’s body that told you that he was wary of people touching it. He hadn’t had the strength to talk to you about it, apart from how he felt ashamed of himself for subjecting you to hearing his phone go dead after the blast. 

He never wanted to hurt you. 

Just as you never wanted him to get hurt, but he was just learning that. Back then it had been difficult for him to take things seriously, or even realize that there was more going on then what his Savior was telling him. Still, he leaned into your touch a if hoping that it was meant for him. 

“Does it hurt?” 

He inhaled, and shook his head. It was better to be honest with you. “Not as much as it used to.” 

“Could I... try something, Ray?” there was an uncertain look that flashed in your eyes but he could never say no to you. Anything that you wanted, he was sure would be something that he wanted. “It’s okay if you aren’t comfortable with that, I just...” 

“I don’t mind,” he said, automatically. 

You offered a small smile in return. Your hand left his face and pressed against his unmarked shoulder as you leaned closer, gently pressing your lips against his cheek. It was a small gesture, nothing huge, but you doubted that he had ever been told that kisses could help. 

His face began to warm underneath you. You tried to pull away but he caught you as you started to move, his mint eyes were wide and his lips were parted as he tried to think of something to say. You merely kept that look on your face to reassure him.

“They say that a kiss can make things feel better,” You said. “I know it can’t heal anything but...” 

Ray looked like he was on the brink of tears as they fluttered against his eyelashes once again. “It helps,” he managed. “Thank you, Y/N.”

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stock.

fl. bonds of affection ; you will always be beautiful to me

also known as gillyflower, tenweeks, hoary, brompton, or vintage stock

ft. v AE saeran ; reader is mc

an. i will never be happy with v’s route bc of the total disregard shown to ray’s feelings(v i still give u uwus even tho u made some bad calls). additionally the ae is horribly biased towards the obviously wrong choice of disregarding everything rika did mental illness or not(please do not jump to the conclusion i am ignorant to the significance of mental illness but rika is beyond mere clouded judgment). v route saeran deserved more than this. ;-;

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jihyun’s surprise revealing of saeran had brought little less than wholehearted sobs to your body. the desperate cries of seven doing little to easy the surreal situation.

you remembered everything.

receiving that final call, seeing the true intention of it before it was even halfway finished. running tirelessly through the woods covering the mic to disguise your heavy breathing and countless falls that caused numerous stinging lacerations, all unnoticed as you desperately clung to every word ray conveyed to you through the phone. only to arrive to magenta desperate and aching as ray said his final good-bye you crying out only to be met with a dead line and the image of the massive building bursting into flames in a large blast.

your ceaseless cries drowned out in the roaring flames not even stopping when seven and vanderwood had arrived to drag you back to the cabin unable to speak upon arrival from your severely abused vocal cords. mourning had not been a kind process and even less kind was the grating smiles you were forced to deliver to seven’s clueless form.

to see a person whomst you have spent numerous hours replaying the audio formatted suicide note of and losing sleep lest you close your eyes and be greeted by the view of treacherous flames of their demise was enough to send someone over the edge.

in a way you supposed it did, a small laugh slipping from your lips as you stride across the room. seven was quick to read the dissociative look on your face and stepped away from his brother leaving you to make direct eye contact with a color you never thought you’d see again despite the mindless mixing of paints you’d desperately attempted.

“...ray?” your voice was small as if any noise would break the fragile reality in which you’d been placed. ray, now saeran, swiftly avoids your gaze turning his head so that his left side was promptly obscured from view. your name falls from his lips timidly as he finally meets your gaze although still turned away. your hands shake violently as you reach for his face though your right hand never reaches its destination and is instead caught in saeran’s cold grasp.

“it’s better if you don’t… i was never much but…” his voice is small and you tentatively pull your wrist from him only to place it on the now marred skin and turn him to look at you full in the face as he winces eyes closed in fear of your disapproval.

“ray… saeran… you will always be beautiful to me…” your voice wavers and tears spill in fresh waves. his eyes fly open in wonder to be met with your ardent tear stained smile.

he really was so beautiful.

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Hey! I wanted to ask you about how you interpret JihyunAE!Saeran's personality. Since he didn't receive official therapy, would he be more like GE!Saeran or SE!Saeran? I personally think he'd be closer to GE!Saeran, perhaps a more demure version. They didn't wait for the elixir to wear off in the SE so I suppose he won't be as dismissive. I'd really like to hear your opinion about this. Thanks :)

This is just how I see it, but I know there are a million ways to read into this. 

To be clear, I think that I should preface this by saying that I personally believe the VAE boy o be Ray. I don’t think he’s a fusion of Suit Saeran and Ray, in the sense that GE Saeran is. I sincerely think he’s Ray. 

There’s nothing in the game to say that he isn’t Ray, or that he is. It’s just what I see and feel. Part of the reason why he’s taken away by V in the first place is that his mental headspace is not safe for him. He could hurt himself or hurt Saeyoung.

He already hurt himself once with the bomb and the volatile actions that he and Suit Saeran both can take against others aren’t safe. I really don’t think that he and Saeran worked it out because there was no way for them to do that. V is there for them, but—

You can’t unpack trauma and shame easily, it can take years for someone to be able to find their heart again or learn what went wrong. Saeran and Ray both are going to deal with a lot. Just because they’re able to work out things with Jihyun in this ending doesn’t mean that it’s going to be easy with Saeyoung. He is this walking trigger for Ray. 

Everything about his twin is supposed to set off alarms and scare him, and that is why when you see him at the end of the After Ending, he is staring with wide-eyes and surprise on his face. He likely spent months trying to learn and really rationalize that Saeyoung wouldn’t hurt him, and Ray has the tendency to show his fear in a way that Suit doesn’t. 

He’ll break down and cry about things and Suit will lash out to protect himself before he cries. Ray might’ve been able to start the process with help from V but he’s going to need to be with his brother in a tangible way to make anything just work out properly. I think that Suit Saeran is still holding onto the anger and the shame.

So, when they're around Saeyoung again, it’s going to be messy. He may not say or do the right things. Saeran himself is going to have moments where he’s not able to stomach him. He’s going to need to work on being around Saeyoung and they’re going to have to talk a lot. So, it’s going to be dangerous and kind of heartbreaking at times. 

Recovery is a lifelong circumstance but it can get better. 

So, they both have a long way to go. Ray is the host of the body. He is at the front the most often and his voice is the most present. So, when I talk about this ending, I’m mainly talking about Ray himself. He is more withdrawn, quiet, and it feels like he’s going to shatter if you touch him. He won’t, but he’s very much a vulnerable person. 

He’s skittish and he’s not good at talking to people. He tends to keep to his own devices. He’s not inherently cruel or malicious, he’s just... stiff. It’s different in the way that you see with SE Saeran because SE is a lot more sullen and broken at his lack of convention and choice. Ray has the same problem, but he just deals with it in a different way. 

Ray doesn’t know how to interact with other people and honestly, he won’t let himself try. It pains him to see the MC because he loves them so much but they don’t love him the same way. He’s happy that they’re happy, though, and he is wishing them a happy future. He keeps to himself, he likely tends to a garden of his own design and he’s working on himself.

Every day is a struggle.

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Btw I agree with V's AE Saeran being Ray! I kind of think of him to be like...like how SE Saeran is the same alter that Unknown is but SE is just after some time, the same way V's AE Saeran is Ray after figuring out some things too. I also agree that Unknown, Suit, whoever the other alter we see on V's route is - whom I once called the fetus Unknown thanks to him using that name while being younger than THE Unknown from OS - he also still exists in V's AE. No clue what exactly he's up to though. Maybe if he also had some time to think about his relationship with Saeyoung (and V) and Mint Eye's brainwashing, he might be a little like SE Saeran is, who knows. He'll definitely have to sort some things out though.

I think GE Saeran is something that can really only "become a thing" on his own route, after everything they go through with MC and all.

On another note, I also like to headcanon that on his own route or more like after that, Ray and Suit are still there and present in his system instead of GE quite literally being them at the same time or/and being a merged alter. Like I tend to think that those two can still front sometimes, and GE is someone who was born into the system as a third alter alongside them. A big portion of my headcanoning is based on how GE keeps referring to them both as still being present (like in the AE, and on day 10 of his route he refers to both of them thinking/saying something to him or just being there).

Though I acknowledge that in the end this is just my HC. To me who also headcanons that he has DID, it feels more realistic than him suddenly having just one alter, because it'd make it seem like his DID is magically "cured" and it doesn't really work like that, so I like to think that the one we know as GE or Saeray is just an entirely new alter who has some traits from both Ray and Suit, as well as the new host👉👈

Haha, see and I don’t see Suit Saeran and Unknown as the same person. I know that’s just me in most cases, but I’ve always treated them differently because their actions are so sharply different. 

But, that’s for another theory post that I’ve written a dozen times before. I just feel like Unknown was a split with Suit Saeran that occurred during the time-gap between AS and SE. That’s just because I’m a loon that connects a chunk of Another Story events to the Deep and Casual Routes. 

I do know that Suit does exist within the confines of V’s AE, it’s just that it’s hit or miss with what he must be feeling in that timeline. I know that he’s angrier and will need Saeyoung to prove himself, and I know that he would need Jihyun to prove himself, too. That’s not going to be easy. I love exploring that idea, tbh, as he needs more foundation than Ray does sometimes. I’d love to write more about that. 

And, yeah, Unknown and SE Saeran are the same person, just pre-and-post their actions. I can’t believe how many times I’ve had to explain that one to some people. 

It wasn’t magically “cured” but I can understand how it reads that way to some people, for sure. The events of the game happen over 11 days, and realistically, if it were happening over the course of a few months, it would make a lot more in the way of sense that occurs with how fusion and integration can work. 

For a lot of systems, integration is not the goal, nor is fusion. There will be times when it can happen all of a sudden like this, or when it’s mutual in terms of the agreement from both parties that connect and interlock over time. There’s no right or wrong way to read into the system, that’s for sure. 

I appreciate hearing people who view it a little differently than myself because I’m always interested in learning how they came to that conclusion. Like, I see how you came to that conclusion and I’m like, “Huh. I read that and interpreted that a bit differently. Interesting.” 

For example, the reason why I’m someone in the camp of saying that Saeray is who he is stems from the fact similarly from his confrontation of Rika and the talk that we have from in the garden. That post is where I sort of go over how I feel about Saeray and how I came to the conclusion that he is a fusion, using what we get in the AE as well. 

When Saeray comes to rescue you on the 10th Day, you can ask, “Saeran?” or “Ray?” or like [Panic.] I pick Saeran each time because that was the last person that we spoke to and we have no way of knowing who is in the front at that time so it was the easiest gauge, but when you say “Saeran?”

Saeray simply says: That’s right. And, I’m also Ray.

He accepts being called either name. He’s a budding fusion and he’s struggling to know who he is because there’s a flood of memories from both sides all of a sudden. This disconnection that he once felt for his own health was suddenly all gone and he’s been given a lot of memories and experiences. He can’t feel quite where Ray begins or where Suit Saeran ends. He just knows that he’s not going to stay in Mint Eye any more and that he loves you. That he wants to live freely with you. 

The fusion occurred when they were sleeping and came to an agreement that they would be stronger together, and it just sort of happened. Fusion can be like that, believe it or not. It doesn’t mean that Ray is gone, or Suit Saeran is gone and I know the idea that they’re not “There” can really seem sad, but they’re not really gone, at least, in my opinion here given I stand with the fusion theory, they both became Saeray and are the person that you love tenfold. 

I’m no expert, haha, but I’ve spent a lot of time researching and putting care into how I characterize Saeran, Ray, Suit, Unknown, and even SE Saeran. It’s for my writing, as well as the fact that I want to be a good partner for my fiancé cause’ he has DID as well and made sure that his system and everyone that I love over there knows that I care for them and that I’m doing my best even if I have a few hiccups now and again means a lot. 

I just enjoy hearing different perspectives about, frankly. It’s interesting to see this!

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do Ray and Suit Saeran also merge in V's AE? or at the end of it, is it just Ray after a timeskip? I thought it was them merged together since we see him lashing out like Suit Saeran would during the AE but...I'm not so sure? What are your thoughts?

It depends on your personal opinion and how you feel about the way that V’s AE was played out. There’s no right or wrong answer but there’s only so much you can infer from the chat that V had with him during the AE about working on their health and trying their best to move forward in spite of feeling low. 

I sincerely hope none of you think that Ray = Good or Suit Saeran = Evil because that’s not how this works. Neither is inherently perfect and neither is inherently evil. They’re both here for a reason and they both very well serve a purpose in ensuring that they survive the hell that is Mint Eye and everything that came before. Ray is capable of wrong-doing. Suit Saeran is capable of kindness. Vice versa. 

I always have to point that out because most people in fanon tend to think that that is the way that things are, but it’s an insult to the depth that Ray has and that Suit Saeran has to think in terms of black and white morality when there’s a lot of themes here that back on monsters, cruelty, kindness, and more. Another Story has a lot of that. Either way, just felt the need to point that one out given what I’m used to seeing and tired of when it comes to the characterization of either one of them. 

Either way, I’m in the personal camp of I believe that V’s AE version is simply Ray. His expression is much stronger in the sense of Ray. 

His wide eyes and strong uncertainty, the way you hear his voice crack at that moment he says his brother’s name... it sounds more like Ray in comparison to Saeray or Suit Saeran to me, and I’m just saying that because his voice actor put in the work to ensure that they all sound different from each other. That’s how it should be as they’re not the same person. I’ve always believed that it is Ray given what happened. 

The bomb was traumatizing and to awake after thinking you were dying to see the man that you felt like caused everything, well, the desperation and pain in his heart are very strong. He hits rock bottom. Suit Saeran has said himself that Ray is like a weed. He’s the only one of the two of them that even with all of the rage they have, still wants to believe that V isn’t cruel and that Saeyoung didn’t leave them behind. Yes, he’s angry too, but there’s a part of him that has doubts about everything. 

That’s why you note in Ray Route, Ray is willing to turn against Rika’s orders for you even though he shouldn’t. Yes, he is also capable of taking you as his cute assistant just as Unknown does, and he will not hesitate if you don’t call the cops on him. 

But, he is also capable of shielding you from elixir that is what he must do. Ray is the last-case-scenario option when it comes to cruelty, at least with the player. He doesn’t want to be cruel, but if push comes to shove, he may have to have a stronger hand. If it comes to V or Seven? He will not hesitate to mess them up.

I mean, Ray is the one that lashed out at V with the elixir. That was not Suit Saeran who forced V to drink it. That was Ray. I’ve always assumed that Ray was the one that was awake in V’s AE and he learned, grew, and tried to come to terms with what happened to him over those two years as he tried to focus on himself and his life. He’s got the only hope they have so... he’s clutching onto it with the hope that maybe V is good. 

Suit Saeran is still around, don’t get me wrong, but his triggers would still be Saeyoung. He might have been able to interact with V himself and deal with that on his own terms during those two years, but he has not dealt with Saeyoung and that will be something dangerous. It’s one thing to work on yourself in the present time, but it’s another thing to be face to face with a trigger that makes it hard to breathe. So, I do imagine that there’s a lot they’re going to have to deal with in the future. 

Saeyoung and Ray have each other, but Suit Saeran still will need some time to come to terms with everything himself. Ray himself is even going to have quite a hard time with him. He’s dealing with all of this too. It’s possible that they maybe could come together and integrate someday, but I personally have a harder time seeing it happen in V’s AE. 

This is just me, though. There’s no canon confirmation either way. They say Saeran but the body’s name is Saeran and at the end of the day, most of this system just responds to that, whether it gives them whiplash or makes them upset. Most of them don’t even pick names, Ray’s was given to him, Suit Saeran just accepts Saeran as a thing, and even Unknown just lets himself be Unknown to avoid hearing that stupid birth name that enrages him now. 

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Ray reuniting with MC in V's route continuation plz? It was so good im literally crying lolol

Actually, Anon. I did that do that! < Is a continuation of this post. 

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Ray felt her hand tremble in his grasp. It was a small tremor but it was a nervous tic all the same that he couldn't ignore.

She had always been not all that excited at the prospect of facing anyone, especially the RFA as she abandoned all of them at the last second to go and find the hacker and disappeared without a trace. It wasn't like she'd chosen to leave Mint Eye with them, they didn't give her the choice.

She had tried to convince them to save Ray, but they didn't have the time, and she struggled with that guilt, even though she felt like she made the right choice in going back for him. Even though it had seemingly damned the two of them to some significant wounds in the process, she had been okay with that.

Her fingers had dug into the fabric of her coat as they spoke, seemingly for the last time, and then everything went up in smoke. Ray couldn't at all remember the time when he slipped in and out of consciousness but he could remember the fear in his heart when he couldn't feel her warmth by him anymore and he found himself staring deep into Mint eyes that had damned them in the first place.

His voice had been gone, but he felt his body and mind scream in anguish as he seemingly tried to figure out if he was in Hell, or Heaven. Was he to live being in adulterated agony, seeing the rubble moved from his form by the person that had just caused him to hit the switch.

Let me die, let me die, let me die, I'd rather be dead then stuck with this monster. Is this my hell for damning my angel? His mind thought with a frantic unease.

The person that had damned him and damned the person that he loved the most. The longer he was forced to stare at V, the longer he came to the realization that he hadn't died, and that the pain he suffered was real.

He couldn't move, and he panicked, thinking why, why couldn't he just die and why was he forced to see this man? The anguish as he pleaded for the suffering to end and for V to stop haunting him did nothing to quell the misery.

Ray did not want to relive that day. But, he could remember when he found use of his weak voice, and demanded to know where she was, where in the world had Lila gone, she had just been there with him, in his arms, and now he could feel not a thing.

And, he remembered, that grim look in V's eyes, as he looked to the right and Ray forced his head to move in spite of the screaming, burning, the pain was blinding-

"Ray?"

He was shaken from his thoughts, pulled from his memory as her voice called out to him. Ray looked to the voice and saw Lila, peering up at him with the eye that wasn't covered by a cloth patch. That would be his fault too, as well as the lingering burns that covered her back, and part of her neck to her cheek, covered mostly by her shirt. Not that anyone would know about those other than himself or V.

Normally, she would have hidden such things behind her hair but most of it had... it had slowly grown back, anyway. Now the curls puffed out below her ears, just enough that she could hide behind her locks if she wanted but she hadn't done that in such a long time.

"You look nervous," she murmured. Her fingers tentatively brushing against his unmarked cheek with her thumb. "Is everything okay?"

She was worried about him and yet he knew that she was just as incredibly nervous and uneasy about the rest of the day. After all, it had been two years since everything happened had went down and there was no telling how it would go knowing that they would be showing their face to everyone.

V thought that it was time, and while Ray agreed to some degree, there was a pit in his stomach when he thought about it. Thought about the RFA and what they would think when they knew what Lila had gone back for in the first place and how Saeyoung would react.

Guilt.

As well as some other things. Even though he had been able to work on a lot of those feelings and he had been able to understand what had been done to him and what was wrong, it did not wipe away the pain or the weight of what he did for Mint Eye.

Seeing her was a reminder of that and yet, he had to admit that he didn't want to forget. It was better that he didn't forget because he never wanted to fall for something like that ever again.

He feared if he forgot he may make a mistake again.

He never wanted to do that.

"I could ask you the same thing, you know," he said, simply. "You're trembling."

"Am I?" She looked down at their hands. "I guess I am. It's just a lot to think about... I don't know if I can... I mean. So much has changed and I kind of left without telling them... I guess I don't want to think they felt guilty for this. I was the one who choose to..."

Go back.

"Its okay," even if it wasn't. "We've talked about this. So much of this was... out of our control, you know?"

"I know," she gripped him tighter then. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know if I'm ready to see him," he said, carefully.

"We can wait," Lila answered. It was feather light and almost inaudible. They both glanced at the building that V had entered first to go and greet everyone and prepare them mentally for what was about to happen. It was also good to let him breathe and talk to Jumin. "I mean, what's five minutes to two years anyway?"

Ray cracked a weak smile, but it was a smile all the same.

Lila managed a weak laugh. It made his heart feel less strained. She nudged her face against his shoulder and sighed. "And you know what, call me greedy but I like being able to be with you alone like this. You're handsome all dressed up like this."

His cheeks felt the heat return. Wow, it had been some time since she made him feel stunned and at a loss for words. He couldn't help but to look at her too, see her way that she seemed more at ease in a sweater and skirt instead of sweats and stolen sweaters.

"Y-You too," he muttered.

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Bellis Perennis

Summary:

The desperation in his eyes as the alarm blared around them warned him that if nothing changed soon, they would both be damned to the same fate. He had to do something to save her, and yet, all he could think about at that moment was how no matter much he fought to stop it, it had been designed to be unstoppable.

Based on V's After Ending. A standalone fic that can read without reading any of the other stories in the series.

Relationship:  Choi Saeran/Original Female Character(s)

Word Count: 

7674

[Read on AO3]

Preview: 

“You… you can’t be here—”

His voice is panicked, drawn back only by the ticking counter behind him that warns him that there’s not much time left. There was no one else left here in the building, he had made sure of that, but he never thought that Lila would be able to make her way to him.

He hadn’t thought she would. She had been up and taken away from him. Ray still wasn’t sure if she had done it because she wanted to get away from him or if they had taken her away from him. It was the fear and notion that she had left him because she secretly couldn’t stand him and she had pitied him this entire time that made him…

Well, it made him listen to his Savior’s orders and hit the switch.

It also made him stay.