(no subject)

[best_ended]

Okok. so I was going to essay on all three of my thusia characters but then my brain shut down like... sometimes while writing this large-ass essay. SO INSTEAD, YOU ALL GET IN-DEPTH OPINIONS OF CHARACTERIZATION OF THE TROLL FROM YOURS TRULY.


So the first thing I want to make clear is the most important thing about Izaya's characterization: HE IS HUMAN. Yes, this is the most important thing to remember when talking about one Orihara Izaya, because of all intents and purposes, he will make himself anything and everything and have people believe that he is more or less than what he is. But the fact of the matter remains that he's simply. Human. Kind of pitifully so. The thing with Izaya is that while he may have had antisocial behavioral patterns when he was younger, he was perfectly content with simply watching events happen around him rather than taking part himself. This of course all drastically changed when LOLOL STABBING INCIDENT IN JUNIOR HIGH happened.

And it's from that point that we actually see the Izaya that we all know and love today, a manipulative bastard that likes to see people in desperate situations to see what they will do. Instead of simply sitting back and watching the events around him, he very much has a hand in orchestrating the events that people find themselves in, actively nudging people in one direction rather than another to see what they will do (will they continue forward, will the circle back, will they go in an entirely unforeseeable direction?). All of this shows Izaya as leaning pretty heavily toward the sociopathic edge of the scale, acting like he thinks he's some god that can rule over humans.

The funny thing? IZAYA KNOWS HE ISN'T. And it's that fact that can drive him the most stir-crazy. If anything, the incident in Junior High essentially points Izaya to the truth that he is lamentably human. He cannot separate himself from that role, no matter what he builds himself into. He will never really be at the level of distance from world-events like someone, say, like Shinra? And this is something that Izaya has largely come to terms with in canon, though he is constantly dabbling in the super- and preternatural worlds. Going over theories and thinking about what happens after death--he is actually pretty mindful of his own limitations, though since he's human he can have the occasion where he miscalculates and-or is unable to predict what will happen next.

If anything, Izaya over the years perfected the art of coming in at the right or wrong time, saying the right or wrong thing, and then leaving at the right or wrong time in a way that makes him appear in control and having a hand in everything. Complete illusion to everyone but himself, except not really because people know that's what he's doing but then they have trouble knowing when he is doing that and when he is actually legit talking shit he knows and is factual. Kind of like those eerily accurate horoscopes people read on the occasion, he will say just enough correct information to make the vague parts of his statements fitting to the situation at hand. So while he may know a lot about the situations and threads of intrigue being woven around the humans he adores so much, he largely bullshits his way into manipulating the situation to go in the direction he can see it going.

But when something doesn't go the way he's thought it would? It goes one of two ways. 1) HE IS ECSTATIC. THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER. OMG YOU HUMANS ARE SO BRILLIANT AND I JUST CAN'T CONTAIN MY LOVE FOR YOU. YOU'RE SO PRECIOUS. ♥ or 2) he is annoyed and unhappy and scraps everything and starts over. He is a VERY methodical creature when it comes to these plots and intrigues, so woe to people who make him happy or displeased (see also: how he makes things worse for the protagonist-cast in the novels just because he was snubbed for hotpot). He never completely lets onto his schemes and he has so many names and identities and personalities that he displays for others that sometimes, it's hard to keep track of which is the real Orihara Izaya and which is something he's cultivated for show. Most people? Don't give a shit. He's the worst of the worst of people, why even bother with trying to figure out what's going on in that head of his. He really should just die.

And this is the sort of person that accepted the conditions of becoming an Ophiuchus, an enforcer for the Judges, in Sabra La Tau.

In Sabra, Izaya gets pretty much a fresh start. He's this excitable, talkative blank who is named Pecha and he generally pretty friendly and mostly exhibits kind of the childlike behavior of someone who pokes things to see what they will do. Headcanon for me says that Izaya was likely more like this with his siblings and family than he was with his classmates and peers when he was younger. Poking sister A gets X reaction, poking sister B gets Y reaction, etc etc. Which is pretty much why Izaya accepts responsibility for why his sisters turned out so weird. (The comment about how they are twins and therefore must be only half a person each also didn't help.) And it was very much a learning What Not To Do or What To Do with the blanks.

And, at first, the blanks were generally very forgiving! Because he's a new blank and he doesn't know better. So he got chided and scolded more often than not. Though there were exceptions with some teams when he would push too far. (Looking at Hydracula here.) After a while, most people were wary about but generally good-natured toward Pecha, if only because it was in their best interest to be so. The position of power and authority that being an Ophiuchus lent to that view that Pecha was at once together yet separated from the colored blanks of Sabra La Tau.

Hoooowever... Pecha was the first Ophiuchus to awaken in the coils of the Guardian. And this left a HUGE impression on him, throughout his time in Sabra and even now in Thusia. It was a very big, very real reminder that he is still very insignificant in stature and power and capability. He is a Servant of gods, he is a Tool for them to use, he is a powerless, mortal human who depends on the Judges for strength and power. And if he should go against them or their word, then his life could end and there would be nothing he could do to prevent that. THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS ALWAYS RUNNING AT THE BACK OF PECHA'S MIND. It's not even really a FEAR, but more this constant thought of "I am a warm body, a slab of meat that is replaceable and possibly very tasty to the giant snake downstairs. So no fucking it up."

While Pecha is very much Izaya and Izaya is very much something of a high-functioning sociopath, these are still ideas that can effect him and his mood, temperament, mannerisms, behaviors, and beliefs. So, naturally, Pecha adapts to the situation he is in. He is not strong, but he is intelligent. Most of Ophiuchus decided not to rely on the information they are given from the start choosing to meet with the blanks themselves in order to gain and understanding for them; Pecha dives right in to the information, he asks people opinions on the teams, on the games, and anything and everything. He takes extensive notes and makes sure to mark down any sort of visible pattern or construct. He builds relationships with the blanks less from friendliness but from benevolence and trade. The blanks are naturally suspicious of most Ophiuchus so Pecha always ensured that they would have that fall back of "This is purely trade/business." It was all very subtle but noticeable manipulation of the system already in place.

And because of this, Pecha often traded more with the blanks than had them do missions. As this was the case, he didn't win back very many memories at all, because he figured "I'm likely the same person I always was and my memories won't change that much at all". (This proved to be untrue, but we're not there yet.) So he focused more on information. More on networking. More on getting to know and understanding the situation of Sabra La Tau and using it to his advantage when he could. This was how he ended up being the first Ophiuchus to take on a patron. He'd heard of colored blank teams having patrons, so when there was a Judge-thing that seemed entirely like the kind of thing he would like, Pecha asked if it were possible. And so it went.

THIS OPENED PECHA UP TO A WEALTH OF INFORMATION AT THE DROP OF A HAT. So much so that Pecha then ended up being more and more like Izaya's younger self of simply sitting back and watching how things played out. King sends Ophiuchus out to stop the blanks from running to the Pillar? Pecha gets "lost in the caves". King sends Ophiuchus out to find out more about that cave? Pecha subtly warns the blanks for being too obvious. Queen orders Ophiuchus to find something for her? Pecha and Tack fuck off and wander around aimlessly, claiming to "look around". So it went, UNTIL Pecha became very very aware of the movement behind the scenes and the power play Queen was making--largely in part thanks to Tack being very informative.

Here is where Pecha really stops being idle. And really, as much as he says it was for the blanks, that is really the most secondary thing. The primary issue that he had and acted on--was simply that he LOATHED Queen. He hated her, he hated what she represented. He despised everything she would and could do if she had gotten her hands on Messenger's keystone. The only problem was that throwback to knowing his limits and knowing that if anything should go wrong, he would be dead. Completely. And there would be nothing he could do to stop that. So, of course, he sought out allies and made some schemes and threw it all away at the drop of a hat and somehow IT ALL WORKED.

It's primarily thanks to all the information he had gathered from the beginning, the whole thing with Surgeon and the memories of the past, Tack's intel, Messenger sealing his name and thus King's influence upon him, and what limited cooperation he had from the blanks who basically did a DO NOT WANT the whole time that Pecha was even able to pull off the scheme. And it was thanks to all the work of Listening and Recording and Interacting that Pecha then aside Delphinus the tasks that would later be instrumental in ensuring things would go well (that Delphinus was the one that Queen showed her wrath too, that Hydracula would be the ones to guard the keystone until it was the right time, that the idea of where he would be hiding was completely up in the air...). Not just that but his movements and loud rebellion woke the rest of Ophiuchus up to the on-goings on Sabra La Tau and thus began the great exodus where-in Ophiuchus was steadily untangled from their vows and hid away with the blanks (really, it all started thanks to Pecha sending Parrot off as a messenger to Hydra because Hydracula had already been working covertly with Caduceus to release them from King's vow but eh...).

So Pecha bided his time until Queen's influence was removed from him and then he bailed. AND SURVIVED. SOMEHOW. ESCAPED SABRA LA TAU. WITH ONLY FIVE MEMORIES TO HIM.

This was... monumental in how Pecha perceives himself. The biggest difference between Izaya and Pecha is that Izaya was NEVER the type to get THAT involved in a plot of scheme. Izaya does involve himself more than once, but normally it is without too conspicuous an action. He stands out from a crowd, as he is warned later on in the novels, so when he does act as part of a plot, it's noticeable. PECHA, on the other hand, was largely someone who slipped under the radar of a lot of eyes and ears. He was pretty much someone with ease of movement in a crowd and was able to not only heavily involve himself in a plot but, after the statement from Red to "get his hands dirty"--Pecha does this! And he would do so again! But hopefully not, because being Queen-crazy sucked a lot.

He wasn't able to know how much good his actions and set-up would be and he would not be able to see the end result, but ah well... even an insignificant mere mortal tool of a human was able to piss off a very powerful god and make them fear the power the blanks could have over her. Made the gods start to fear the blanks--most of whom were simple mortals and humans and could do little else against the gods. And fear is a very strong power. BEST. THING. EVER. So, of course, Pecha could only think that things would either could completely right or horrifically wrong. He left it all in the hands of Fate at that point.

And then, traversing the multiverse to get to the Enterprise, Pecha was largely looking just to get home and start again. He figured he stashed information about himself somewhere, just on the off-chance that something would happen to him. (I mean, really? Who wouldn't?) Except then his "accident" happened and Pecha died in the vacuum of space. How terrible.

Now, this isn't a completely terrible thing. Because 1) while he was living under the thread of dying via giant snake noms, Pecha never really thought about what would happened when he died. It was just one of those things where you live in a murdercave full of gods and if they wanted you dead, you would die and stay dead and thus there would be no more "you" and so 2) HE ENDED UP ARRIVING IN THUSIA. :'D

Pecha is... completely elated to discover this sort of afterlife. Not only is he able to find out what happened in Sabra La Tau since he escaped, but he can watch people struggle to rebuild, survive, and prosper. Something completely the opposite in nature from Sabra La Tau which was all about trying to get the world to end as it should have so long ago. Pecha doesn't even think about how he dies again after the first few days and he quickly adapts into Thusia's way of things, digging around for information and whatnot.

The problem here... is that Pecha was so caught up in the Sabra people. He completely was fascinated by them and got sidetracked from the broader picture. Again: HUMAN FAILINGS. Pecha was a product of Sabra La Tau and therefore his focus was shifted onto them. Even though he was heavily interested in how Thusia would turn out and the new arrivals, Pecha's primary focus was on them. And that is something that is also very different from Izaya. For Izaya, pretty much all humans are the same to him--he loves them all. For Pecha, the blanks of Sabra La Tau have a special little area all of there own, just above Everyone Else. And this will prove to be something that effects his mannerisms later.

Primarily, when he gets his name back.

Since Ptou the Messenger still had the power of King from the Sabra Good End timeline, when Ptou gave back Pecha his name of Orihara Izaya, all of Izaya's memories came back to Pecha. Not only did this mean a massive migraine for a while, but it also meant a different perspective on... well, pretty much everything. But it wasn't something he sorted out for himself, at first. Instead, it would take getting taken by spiders and being nommed on for a month and being rescued from that that would enable Izaya to slow down enough to have the time to reevaluate everything. So it's really here that Izaya acknowledges that he's actually quite different from how he used to be and he DOES have a bias for the people of Sabra.

It's also here that Pecha comes out of his Watch Only state and begins to have more of a hand in things around him. So far, pretty small, things like taking in Robin and giving her the name Roku, despite Allen's protests that that is a horrible thing, why would you do that? Subtle things like telling one person one thing and then turning around and saying the opposite to another--i.e. claiming to still have only five memories vs revealing that he has regained them all. And more importantly, he does this with his names--giving the name Orihara Izaya to some, simply Pecha to others. It's not even really anything precise or thought out. It's most like Izaya is throwing spaghetti at a wall and see if the noodles stick or just leave messy, gooey substances on the paint.

In other words, while Izaya has come out of the Watch Only state of Thusia, he is still very much feeling out the state of affairs and is actively keeping an eye on the people around him. This shows also in his mannerisms with various people--with the Sabra people, he very much purposefully defaults to his familiar role as That Ophiuchus, friendly in his completely terrible way and very childish. He accepts the former-blanks' ire and all the knowledge and experience that comes with having been a fellow Sabran. With people outside of that circle, however, he does the same thing as with information--randomly goes with whatever feels proper at the time. Sometimes subdued and quiet, sometimes purposefully revealing himself (as in the case of Robin), sometimes simply letting other people draw their own conclusions from what they've heard and witnessed and following along with that.

In short: Izaya is very much doing as he has canonly done and is burying the truth of himself under the roles he assigns himself. That's not to say he's not at all honest with the people he speaks to, but he IS often lying through his teeth and-or purposefully giving out falsehoods about how he views things. In actuality, the people who see Izaya as most "himself" would be Red and Allen. And sometimes, this annoys Izaya. Because, as we stated way up at the top of this long essay, the one thing that Izaya hates the most is the fact that he is mired by his own humanity. It's something he will never really break away from no matter what role he assigns himself, and it is something he is re-accepting in a way. So while he plays the Dubious Terrible Friend or the Terrible Villain Responsible For Queen Rampage or the Ophiuchus Who Set Queen Up To Die And Fucking Walked the Fuck Out of Sabra La Tau, very simply, Izaya is a human with very little power and very little stance in the arena he's in. It's not something he's afraid of, but it's something that he can and will use to his advantage.

Though, after all of this, Izaya very much someone who knows he is not someone to underestimate or cross. He acknowledges his own temperamentalness and his own deeds and plots. So when people threaten him, when people who clearly are stronger than him, more powerful than him, has more pull than he does, has a larger network than he does--when these people get in his face and tell him they will kill him. He just. Laughs. Because. Wooooow. Haven't I heard these words before? Wouldn't it be nice if things were always so cut and dry? Come and try, I like to see how messy things can get. And, with a dash of Pecha, "why not see how dirty these hands can get"?

So really, where he goes from here is pretty much in the air, but to him, things are already taking a VERY interesting direction. :')



And now that that's done--QUESTION MEME.

Applies for Izaya, Prussia, and Kiritsugu @ Thusia and Cheshire/Kyou @ Decollage

Comments

[fishpanties]

Cheshire's thoughts on the first game and how it escalated?

[catastrophies]

CHESHIRE HATES EVERYONE IN THE GAME WHO KEPT UPPING THE STAKES.

It was like a really bad sense of dread and foreshadowing. He is now pretty terrified of that being something that will happen in a later game and he and his team won't have a choice in how to handle it. When Celeste made the offer of another team's eye, Canary was just full of "... what the FUCK, you guys?" and when Byzantium answered with their thing in the next round, Cheshire and Rabbit freaked out a bit. Cheshire was pretty much ready to go "NO. FUCK NO. FUCK ALL OF THIS, NO." King was pretty much the only reason the two of them didn't just flip tables and walk.

Cheshire was actually reeeeaaally unhappy with the way things were going, but he was also kind of hoping something would sort itself out, but then Shell placed that bet and... yeah. Nothing good happened in that game.

And then AFTER the game, Canary decided to have Team Meeting about how to handle future games like this--and Cheshire couldn't talk! He couldn't say anything, he couldn't explain why he was so against what everyone was saying. The only one who really even seemed close to what he was thinking was Rabbit, and even then, it felt like they were being talked down to a bit. Cheshire especially hates how King basically goes, "Fine, be wusses and let the adults handle the tough calls involving murder"--because that's not what he was trying to do at all! He couldn't even voice what the hell he thought about the whole situation and so it just kind of sucked and he felt that leaving the discussion was the better option.

Cheshire definitely knows that Canary will try their best to avoid that kind of thing--because I mean, you don't just go an invite people over to crash on your couches only to plot to murder them behind their backs. That's just. No. What the hell? NO.

So overall, Cheshire kind of... pensive and quiet (lol mute) and is scared of ending up in a game where it's kill or be killed. He really, really doesn't want that sort of thing to happen, but after the escalation in the FIRST ROUND OF THE FIRST GAME, it's very obviously something that will come up eventually. And he just... doesn't know how to handle that or who to talk to about it--not that he CAN right now, which is even more frustrating!

Basically, in short: Cheshire thinks his old-self was a fucking idiot--WHO THE HELL WOULD GO THROUGH THIS SORT OF THING?

Coco on Cheshire and Canary or other teams in general?

[fishpanties]

Cheshire
Coco likes Cheshire a lot! He seems like a good guy. Quieter than her, yes, and a bit more awkward but easy to talk to and responsive. She's a lllllittle worried because she knows how forward she can be and she doesn't want to scare anybody off, but she does genuinely want to befriend him and get to know him better. Especially after she noticed his sane responses to that mess of a game.

Other Teams
She doesn't have ttttoo much of a concept of other teams, because for the most part she's very much thinking of people as individuals who are part of a team. This is why, while she's wary of Celeste and annoyed with Shell, she'll still give chances and will respond to individuals on an individual basis. AS FOR CANARY specifically, that is a team she'd like to meet more people from. His description of them when they first met made her curious, but so far she's only interacted with Cheshire and Alice. She aaaalso wonders a bit about Sage. . . mostly 'cuz of Apple, who seems very Unsure about them.

Byzantium is a team that makes her go 8|a a lot. Because. NEIGHBOURS. Neighbours who were nice to us when we moeball mobbed them right after being let out! B-But then they got into that escalation war during the game, and suddenly Coco has to wonder what they're capable of. She doesn't dislike them, however; they really did make a good first impression.

Reverrrsseee.

[catastrophies]

Coco
He... likes her okay? He knows he's not very um. Sociable--considering how many people harass him and he's like WHY ARE YOU HARASSING ME?! so he's always kinda surprised when people want to talk to him and stuff like that. But overall, Coco actually comes across on the cooler side of the scale--i.e. not always IN HIS BASE and not always YELLING or GIVING HIM DUMB NICKNAMES, so she's already in his "can approach and talk to easily" list. He was just kind of awkward and didn't know what to talk about when they first met and now it's like... well, they're both mute? S-so... but yeah, overall, he thinks she's okay, and Teal seems like a pretty squishy and nice team so would hang around them.

Other Teams
Unlike a lot of other amnesiacs, Cheshire actually pretty much keeps track of the colors people wear. He started doing this because when he was with Canary, he was pretty much in the mindset of "yellow means people who are okay and will work with me in competitions". This is basically because Alice told him stuff about how they would be competing against other teams, so likely they would be in different colors. Soooo... he does see people in the whole team aspect!

But he has met A LOOOOT of individuals from different teams, and Vodka on Cardinal was actually the one who basically went, "Well, that's kind of a limited way of viewing it, don't you think?" and made Cheshire feel kind of bad about it. But in a good way where he'll keep in mind that individuals =/= team. Buuuuut...

Then there was that game, and it was pretty clear which teams were pretty much STAY AWAY FROM and which teams were pretty okay and-or squishy. He doesn't know Cardinal at all aside from Vodka, but he thinks if Vodka's okay, the rest of Cardinal has to be (especially since they dropped out earlyish too). From Sage, he knew Apple and he ran into Godslayer, so he was kind of uuuunsure with that second guy, but they dropped out too. Lilac, Cheshire knows TOO WELL by this point and knows they're just ridiculous but well-meaning people for the most part (Rize is still a jerk). Teal is really squishy and nice and probably needs protection from bullies sometimes. (I-it's just the impression they have given him so far.) Shell, he only knows the two idiots in the game and he's pretty annoyed at them but willing to forgive because apparently they really are idiots. Saffron, he only really knows Leo and he knows he's one of those jerks that likes to tease him. Fawn, he has no real opinion on but he IS side-eyeing them after that game. Byzantium, Cheshire kind of liked them even though they were annoying but then t-that escalation WHY. And Celeste is just plain unsafe except for Jackal and Heath '-'

... I think I got all the teams there.

Coco's opinion on her own team?

[empathyforthedevil]

Hey Pecha hey :)

[best_ended]

PECHA IS KIND OF GROSSED OUT BY ROKU-CHAN. 8D

That's pretty much it.

Okok more seriously.

While being kind of weirdly grossed out (IT'S WEIRD BECAUSE THIS NEVER HAPPENS. GOSH. WHAT A NEW THING. DISGUSTING. IDK WHAT.), Pecha still like Roku-chan as much as he does anyone else--which is not. Saying much since Pecha liek everyone. HOWEVER, he does regard her less. Because, technically, she is not human. She WAS human at some point and she's wearing the meatsuit of a human, but not human. And this is where Pecha's flexibility when it comes to defining "humanity" that he picked up in Sabra La Tau really kind of kicks in.

Basically, when he first picked up Robin, it was purely on a whim. It was one of those "This is an interesting thing I found so why not keep it and see where it goes?" kind of thing. Which is. Pretty much why Pecha refers to Robin as his pet to Allen. BECAUSE BASICALLY THAT'S WHAT SHE HAS BEEN TO HIM? Like, humans in general he sees as some kind of... hm... I don't want to say "toys" but sort of but not quite. More like pets and zoo animals and the like--something he can play with but just as easily toss back wherever when he's done and more often than not they continue on with their lives and such. While he is still very fond of them. Robin kind of fell into that usual area for Izaya at first. I mean, yeah, the similarity with Allen was fully part of the LOLZ sensation at randomly taking this person home but he could have easily taken or left her there in the hall.

But with this revelation, Izaya is completely intrigued in where this will go. His experience with the super- and preternatural has been pretty consistent in a lot of ways, so it doesn't take him off-guard that such a thing exists (I mean, he's know the DGray cast for quite some time now), but more that he inadvertently picked it up on a whim is what kind of astounds him. In truth, he probably would have gotten bored of Robin eventually and would have started setting things up to make things a little more entertaining. With this reveal, though, he's going to be a lot more interested in how dear little Roku-chan will develop, especially in light of the clear sibling-dependency issues that surrounds her tragedy.

Beyond this, his affection for Roku-chan is still about the same as it is with any other person--possibly a bit lower because she's clearly just plain WRONG. And yet that's fascinating and yet pitiable and disgusting.

So he's been pretty honest and straightforward in his reaction, largely because he's been running with a straightforward routine with her in the start and. Well. That's largely because it's an Allen lookalike. Clearly Allen would know about it and therefore care about it and therefore Allen would make all the faces if something were to happen to it. Which is funny because Izaya totally wants to make Allen make all the faces but going about it this way means that Roku-chan makes all the calls in when to move forward (such as out of E-9 or elsewhere). He leaves it entirely in her hands, which he lets Allen know which means Allen has to make sure Roku-chan knows wtf is what with this troll and then things might get more fun.

Outside of all of this, Pecha just sometimes really enjoys that Roku-chan indulges him and his whims. He figures she's just doing it because she's one of those chill types to go with the flow--and let's be honest, DGray and not-DGray world has way worse things than someone like him. Haha. :'D

REVERSE.

[empathyforthedevil]

Robin is sort of oddly fond of Pecha. She knows he's terrible, even if not quite the extent, but it's a kind of terrible she can live with. She's certainly dealt with worse, yes :'D Even if she's aware that everything he's done is for his own reasons and recognises him as a very selfish person, she appreciates that he has done a lot to help her, and Pecha has been consistently upfront about his motivations and desires, so to an extent she trusts him. It's a cautious, hesitant type of trust, because he is sleazy and all, but she's come to expect a level of honesty from him. Some of the things he says unnerve her with how candid he is and really he's very concerning, but she enjoys his company. He's upbeat and enthusiastic and she finds that kind of behaviour endearing. His reckless behaviour also triggers her big sister instinct, gosh she can't leave this guy alone he's going to get into so much trouble, hence why she lectures him sometimes. His stories and way of sharing information don't help, P-Pecha your attitude is so worrying, but she's getting used to that. Overall he's left a positive if unsettling impression on her.

So it stung a little when he acted so grossed out upon the akuma reveal :( WHICH. ISN'T SURPRISING, REALLY, she knows the origin story is truly awful and was aware that his love is for humans, which she isn't anymore. Honestly she was expecting worse, definitely not for him to still keep an interest so THAT was surprising when he said it was even more of one. She'd misread him. Lowered affection she was ready for though, and it's not something she's particularly looking forward to, Robin is a little on edge about how this is going to play out. She doesn't regret telling him, she's not ashamed of being an akuma even if she prefers not to advertise it, but with him going 'you are making me want to be sick for the first time ever with how gross you are', it's hard not to feel put down. If he keeps it up, which she is worried he will, she'll eventually tell him to just yes okay shut up now. An adjustment period is fine, longterm disgust for akuma is not. WE'RE PEOPLE TOO. And she will be pretty annoyed that she went and talked to Allen about it, oi, don't tell people about my stuff!! Stupid informant, should've made sure you didn't spread that information (oh no putting too much trust in Pecha).

What was the lolol stabbing incident in junior high?

[best_ended]

lololol trusting Pecha :'D

And it was only Allen. /handwaves, handwaves

THE STABBING INCIDENT IN JUNIOR HIGH--ah, well. It's hilarious. It's mentioned in a couple of places in the novels--Shinra actually threatens Izaya that he will tell everyone the truth of it when Izaya was in the hospital after getting shanked and was bored so he was blowing up Shinra's phone when Shinra was trying to have a date-thing with Celty. (Only it turned out Izaya had given the PD Shinra's phone number, so Shinra was actually yelling at the PD... and then after that, he accidentally yelled at Celty because Celty then called Shinra's phone, haha, it's a cute scene!) But we're left going "...??? what incident?" for a good while.

IN VOLUME 9, which is basically AAAAALLL about Izaya, the incident is laid out.

Essentially, Izaya was just as I stated at the beginning of the essay. He just sat back and watched the people around him and was perfectly content doing so. Enter Shinra. Shinra demands that he start a Biology Club with him. Izaya is full of, "... who is this weirdo and why is he bugging me?" feelings but Shinra IS INSISTENT because his honey commented that he needed a hobby like a club after school or something stupid like that and Izaya seemed like an interesting guy since he introduced himself to the class as someone whose hobby is people or something like that.

Izaya basically goes, "... no. gtf away."

Shinra is sad.

Shinra continues to pester Izaya until Izaya eventually agrees to being vice president of the Biology Club (SIGH).

As vice president, he ends up doing something as shady as running a gambling circle in the clubhouse room. Shinra constantly, half-heartedly keeps telling Izaya NOT to do such shady things, especially in the clubhouse (half-heartedly because really, he didn't care he just knew it was something Celty would want him to say and it was morally right but he never really did anything to prevent Izaya from running the gambling circle, either).

So it went until some guy who made a bad bet came in demanding Izaya hand back over his money. Izaya flippantly tells the guy to accept his loss and if he's having such monetary trouble, he should stop making stupid bets or something like that. SHINRA IS THERE THE WHOLE TIME WATCHING--and decides to throw himself in front of Izaya when the loser-guy goes in with a knife for a shank-attempt at Izaya.

Izaya, understandably, is completely stunned.

He knows that Shinra doesn't care about protecting him. He did something THAT stupid because he thought Celty would think it was impressive. It had nothing to do with the world around him--this guy was completely in his own little world and he didn't care about the people around him and basically risked his life for some insane, out of this world reason that Izaya can barely wrap his head around the idea of it!

Loser-guy flees the scene of the crime and Izaya gets ready to call the hospital, but pauses, because Shinra is explaining why he did such a stupid thing and there's this feel. This really weird feel that is cropping up and Izaya's not sure what to do with it, so (in a small voice), he asks Shinra if they could say he was the one that responsible. (Shinra is confused and losing blood and who the hell thinks up something like that when someone's practically bleeding out in front of them?)

Izaya swears to Shinra that he'd make sure that loser-guy Nakura would pay for what he did.

10 years later... Izaya is still making Nakura's life a living hell, having bought his name to use for his own means and starting shit like gambling and drug rings with the guy in university and then later bailing him out when the big bad yakuza look like they're going to hunt Nakura down. Nakura's life and well-being is COMPLETELY in Izaya's hands and Nakura was the one who made it that way. :'D

Oh, and that weird feel Izaya had during the incident? He was--is JEALOUS of Shinra. He has been so for some time because Shinra is at a level sooooo far beyond Izaya that it's simply... hmmm... UNFAIR. :'D And this is why Shinra is his only friend and why he has feels later on in the novels when he comes to the understanding that he'll do something that Shinra will hate him for and thus lose him as a friend, probably :'D;

Explain Julia-Robin's canon to me!

[acemagician]

THOUGHTS ON LILAC, CHESSHY?

[catastrophies]

IT'S CHESHIRE!

AND I MENTIONED IT IN THE THREAD WITH RE:

Basically, he thinks they're all dumb, frivolous, and silly. Except Cleo. Who is okay and chill. He doesn't dislike him but it's not like he likes them or anything (Rize is still a jeeeerk okok). He does appreciate that they are one of the sensible teams when it comes to the competitions and whatnot, though. And okay, so maybe he would be concerned if something happened to them.

But generally, he just finds them annoying, loud, teasing, and whatnot.

... but not in a. completely bad way.

THOUGHTS ON CHESHIRE?

[acemagician]

So basically what you're saying is Cheshire is a tsundere.

TRUCY LIKES CHESHIRE A LOT. Canary in general is probably her favorite non-Lilac team because they are bros, and everyone she's met has been extremely personable so far (YES EVEN YOU MISTER GRUMPY PANTS). She definitely picks up on Cheshire's grumpy skittishness, but since she doesn't think it's malicious in any way, and because she's pretty immune to that kind of grumpiness, she presses on with her overly cheery friendliness despite it. And he hasn't yelled at her or told her to leave him alone because of it, so that must be a good sign! She is chugging full throttle ahead into trying to befriend him along with the rest of canary and also she thinks his color scheme is pretty awesome :U

Cheshire's thoughts on Mary after she ran that auction?

[catastrophies]

Well, yes, of course he's a tsundere. He's the Cat. Though tbh, he's more like one of those startled cats that is kind of "o_o what. what is this. who are you. no put me down. why you do tha--... '-' oh. I guess it's okay... I'll totally allow you to do that" in his skittishness. Kind of like this cat when it comes to his surroundings right now.

But yes--CHESHIRE DOES NOT LIKE MARY. It's really less to do with the escalation and more that she didn't think through people offering up certain things, and that sort of thing enabled what Shell did so it's really her fault everyone got slammed with all these shitty things. He thinks she's spacey and not at all safe--ESPECIALLY BECAUSE OF THAT DOG-WOLF THING. SO UNSAFE.

How's Bella dealing with being stuck in the Gallery?

[witheyesofgold]

How we doin' former douchemaster.

[no_hero]

ANOTHER POINT TO THE MORTIFICATION TALLY.

But this actually isn't a TERRIBLE thing.

And that's probably the thing that freaks Kiritsugu out most about the situation. Well, no. That would be the SABER HAS BEEN INSIDE HIS HEAD AND IT WAS APPARENTLY REALLY TERRIBLE AND YET SHE SAYS IT WAS VERY EDUCATIONAL AND SOMETHING SHE MAY HAVE NEEDED AND THERE IS SOMETHING VERY WRONG WITH THAT.

Once he sobers up from the whole pollen thing, he will realize what he just did by checking up on Saber after that battle has opened up a huuuuge can of worms in regarding to their relationship AND THERE ARE NO TAKE-BACKS. He's... pretty much at that point of resignation where it's like... fuck, I give a damn. FUCK, I give more than a damn. Goddamn everything. /HEADINHANDS

Because that was exactly the sort of thing he had tried to avoid during the Grail War and was very successful at, thank you very much. He knows his relationship with Saber has been bad since then and he knows that nothing he can do will really make anything better for either of them--BUT FOR SOME REASON SABER'S BEEN INFILTRATING HIS DEFENSES??? AND A LOT OF IT IS THUSIA'S FAULT.

He's just not... really sure... what to do and how to go about dealing with that. He's not even sure how he will handle talking about the whole SHE WAS IN MY HEAD AND IT WAS TERRIBLE thing, but apparently... this is a thing that is going to happen and it's something he's going to let happen because... well. There's just. No point in preventing it otherwise. Mostly, he's going to brace himself for a lot of terrible and talking about things that he really never wanted to talk about with Saber... pretty much ever. He's pretty sure he's just going to fuck things up and hurt Saber worse (h-haha... like if she finds out he only did certain things because he was effected in a way that prevented him from double-thinking and questioning himself), but... well. Something something.

tl;dr UNSURE WHAT TO DO WITH SABER. Kind of fishhandsing really hard.

REVERSE?

[unwieldyfate]

hahahaha WELP

It all started around the KIRITSUGU FED ME ;;;;; episode, as you may remember, which more or less overlapped with the flowers and Archer more or less topping her with feelings, telling her that what she was doing was dumb and Kiritsugu was being dumb too and they should get along. And on some level Saber could acknowledge that yes, this was stupid, but she still had no real wish to reach out because Kiritsugu obviously just wanted to stay as far away from her as humanly possible and she didn't see any reason to not... respect this.

And then unconscious happened which was just :') :') SHE DID THINK IT WAS SOME KIND OF NIGHTMARE, which is why she just kept quiet about it for so long, but also why she was quietly more willing to be at peace with him. Asking how he was and if he needed anything, etc. And she was kind of really quietsad with Kerry because WOW KIRITSUGU YOU WERE SUCH A CUTE KID, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU—wait no, I know, don't answer that.

But the final blow was basically learning that the unconscious thing was actually... yes, Kiritsugu's mind and its monsters. It's not so much that she didn't expect to see those things, but the levels at which Kiritsugu blames himself for everything—that last room with the corpses and the utter resignation.

Those are things Saber can relate to, completely, and when she said she needed to see that she means it in a sense that she has now stood on the other side of things. She now understands how the rest of the world (or at least Shirou and other people who know about her past) feel about her. It's somewhat hypocritical because she still blames herself for all her failures, but at the same time she doesn't want Kiritsugu to blame himself like that. It made her look at herself, look at her choices, and start wondering if it isn't time to try and move on, to forgive herself, or at least accept that she did the best she could have at the time and there is no point in dwelling on it forever.

And... she wants Kiritsugu to do the same. Becaus even if he was a huge ass during the 4th War, she has started being able to understand him. She knows he is not a bad person and she knows how much his family loves him (and viceversa), she thinks he should get a second chance at happinesss in Thusia and she will quietly do anything she can to help make this possible. For Shirou, for Iri, for herself... and for Kiritsugu himself.

DOES KIRITSUGU HAVE ANY FEELINGS ON SHIROU BEING SABER'S MASTER AFTER HIM?

[no_hero]

THAT SORT OF THING GOES HAND IN HAND WITH THE "... WELL. I GUESS... LEAVING AVALON IMPLANTED IN SHIROU WAS SORT OF A REALLY TERRIBLE IDEA."

But at the same time, it's kind of a relief? It was surprising to hear that that was the case--or not surprising so much as something he just didn't think about, largely because he hadn't been expecting the war to kickstart that soon. He had really wanted Shirou to not be involved in that sort of thing, but on the other hand, he probably had the feeling the Shirou was likely to get caught up in something if only because he took on the name Emiya and Kiritsugu took him in and clearly whatever Kiritsugu cares about ends up in terrible situations.

The relief of it would be that... well. Shirou himself is not a magus. He is not someone trained in battle tactics, nor is he someone who understands the world of magi and how things work in the Grail War. That someone like Saber was his Servant was reassuring because Saber is one of the more powerful Servants and not only is she familiar with battle but she is very much familiar with the Grail War. Saber is also fiercely loyal to those she chooses to serve, so that is just extra protection for Shirou all around. Except Shirou is also not that bright and gets into troublesome situations (E-Emiya family trait...), so someone like Saber would also temper Shirou's impulsiveness. Hopefully...

Overall, when Kiritsugu heard that Saber was Shirou's Servant... there was just this quiet relief, especially since Saber spoke well of Shirou. He does wonder how she felt about the whole thing and how she took to being the Servant to the boy that Kiritsugu had taken in after the war, but mostly, thinks it better not to ask.

Basically, Kiritsugu knows that Shirou was probably a better fit with Saber than he ever was as a Master.

Saber's feels about Zexion as her Master?

[gemuine]

FATE/AUS YOU WOULD PLAY WITH AJ!!!!!!!!!!

[no_hero]

ALL THE FATE/AUS.

[gemuine]

Maybe I should have been more specific

[thevineintervention]

Aerta offers to reopen his magic circuits. She admits it will be extremely painful and that she can hear fate mongling him in the corners. WHAT DO?

[no_hero]

KIRITSUGU ISN'T SURE HE EVEN WANTS TO REACTIVATE HIS MAGIC CIRCUITS.

Largely, he had this sort of discussion with Yukari after the whole deaging thing. She was bugging him about his magic (what sort it was, whether he wanted it back or not, etc...) and he basically had to lay it out: the only time he could see himself getting back his magic was if he found no reason to look after his own life. Because the way he engineering his family's time magic to work for him was to effect himself only (when originally it was made to effect their surroundings and leave the person alone). But when you double or triple speed-up the body's functions, you damage it. The same thing with slowing it down.

The end-fight with Kirei is an excellent example of what happens when he uses that a lot. Anime didn't show it much, but in the novels, it describes how basically he was literally tearing himself to pieces pushing his body to that extreme and he only survived the battle at all because Avalon was insta-healing him as he fought.

IN THUSIA, HE DOES NOT HAVE AVALON.

So mostly, he thinks about those consequences and has been deliberately not looking into getting that working again because... Iri's here. Archer's here. Archer depends on him being alive and well in order to keep from going back to the never-ending slaughter that being a Counter-Guardian pretty much is. And with Iri here, Kiritsugu has a reason to live because here, she is able to live, she's able to be happy and they can be together and bad things don't have to happen (h-haha, he tries so hard to believe this IT NEVER WORKS). Sooo... yeah. Unless he somehow lost both Iri and Archer, he currently has too much to live for and too much to jeopardize with that sort of magic. Not only that, but Kiritsugu frankly just really dislikes magic on principle (... Dead Island does that to a person).

Soooo... as unsettling as it would be to hear that Fate is mongling him in the corner, he'd probably abstain. He wouldn't say no, exactly. Because... if he did lose these reasons for living, he might just go with it and would want to keep that option open.

AERTA THOUGHTS ON WHERE TO GO FROM HERE NOW THAT DRAGON THING HAS HAPPENED?

[thevineintervention]

MAN SHE HASN'T EVEN REMOTELY PROCESSED THE DRAGON THING. Like she knows about berserkers and skin-changers and priests of Dinache but like. Her view of herself is as such a passive thing, not just a tool, but a tool for healing and. So. Like she's not outwardly denying it, but it's hard for her to really actually in her bones believe that she could be some big wrathful thing that tore up HQ. Does Not Compute. Right now she can barely get to "there was a dragon and it was my fault," which is aways away from "there was a dragon and it was me." It's going to take a little more getting out and interacting with people actually involved in the incident before she ever remotely knows what to think about it.

MAKE UP A GOOD END SCENARIO FOR KERRY IN THUSIA and also make a bad end. Be as creative as you like with either.

[unmaskedlizard]

Does Pecha have any PLANS for Allen? Does he let his guard down at all? What are unique things you get to play there =|a

[best_ended]

Izaya doesn't let his guard down for anyone.

Toooo be hooonest, Izaya doesn't have much plans in place aside for getting more information. And in reality, Izaya only schemes when he's looking for something to benefit him and-or he has a specific goal in mind for a person. Which Allen, he doesn't really have a specific goal. Allen is mostly... that person that he watches to see what he will do, see how he develops, that sort of thing.

Hooooweeever... the fact that Allen react so strongly about Izaya taking in and handling Roku-chan the way he is means that Izaya will likely be prodding around in that direction. Currently, it's more still feeling out what is what because things HAVE shifted and changed while he was gone.

While Izaya is mostly himself around Allen, it's still more of him acting out as Pecha than anything else. Allen has the sort of habit Shinra did of scolding him but not really DOING anything to stop Izaya from what he's saying or doing. I.e. all the scolding but none of the discipline. Not to say that Izaya doesn't believe Allen would do what was necessary should it become necessary, but it does mean he will toe the line sooooo very often. Maybe even cross it a few times.

But yeah, no current plans! But a constant want to make Allen make faces and seeing Allen have feels and see how he deals with his situation. He remembers when they first arrived in Thusia, Allen was a complete and utter mess of a thing. That Allen's so much more stable and still persevering is very cheering to Izaya because it means that there's more to play with when it comes to Allen. And really, it's not like he wants to be terrible or anything, he just wants to see what Allen would do with certain things. And it's not as though Izaya could ever really do anything worse to Allen that hasn't already been done, right? It would be silly to think otherwise.

Allen's feels about Pecha? Going from like the rescue to now. Or even before. I want to heaaar thiiings.

[deretsune]

Prussia and Cheshire's thoughts on Natsume/Mochi? :|a