Comment on Nine Lives

  1. Msty on Chapter 1 Wed 04 Jan 2023 04:16PM UTC

    Aizawa wakes up all left.

    First of all: how dare you?

    Second of all: why am I cackling?

    I know it's not part of the story but it's great (not great?). Am I going to hell for laughing at that?

    You know things are sad in a fic when it started with Shirakumo. I think that small scene at the beginning sets the mood for the whole fic really well. I have no idea if this Shirakumo we see is a ghost thing or a subconscious thing, but either way - I'm crying. There won't be a time when there's this cloud boi and I'm not sad, especially if he shows up bleeding and already dead (dead? does this count as him being dead?)

    “Have you been here all night?” he asks. The Socratic method isn’t just for his students.

    Yamada smiles sadly. “I had to make sure you were okay. I didn’t…” he hesitates, gently taking his hand into his own. “I didn’t want to lose another friend today.”

    I mean... I know Aizawa was the one on the hospital bed but I really feel bad for Yamada in this part ;w; I always thought that it must've been terrible for him. Like, when he still didn't know if Aizawa would make it or not, he was the only one in their friends group left unharmed.

    “News?” he asks.

    Yamada looks up from his phone grimly. “Tartarus was breached last night. And several other prisons. Shigaraki and the rest of the League are still at large.” He grimaces. "Yeah. Also..." he pauses, taking a moment to steel himself, "...Kayama is dead."

    His heart sinks. You've been shying away from what really matters. No wonder Yamada had been so worried earlier. The two of them are all that's left of their ragtag rooftop gang now. Speaking of which—"The kids?"

    To be honest, at first I thought this part about Kayama's death was a bit too abrupt. But on second read I don't think it was? I imagine Yamada to be the type of person who wouldn't sugarcoat things so I guess it was not out of character. It's just... my heart couldn't take it TwT Yep. It was me all along.

    Yoshino gestures at a button on a cable dangling over the bed rail: "This button allows you to control the amount of pain relief you get. When the button is green, you can press it and this machine here," he gestures at a machine on the IV stand, "will dispense medication directly into your IV. This allows you to control when you get pain relief, but also allows us to wean you off gradually over the next couple of days so you don't get dependent on it."

    The button is green. He is well familiar with the magic of morphine after recovering from his injuries at USJ. He will press it the next time Yamada leaves.

    Then

    He hunches in on himself, hugging his good leg to his chest with his left hand while still holding Yamada's hand with his right. He takes another shuddering deep breath. "I'm tired," he says.

    "Then you should rest," Yamada replies, pushing the button on the bed to make it go back down as he tries to make himself comfortable. "Do you want some sleepytime juice?" he asks, pointing at the morphine button.

    He's too tired to lie to Yamada and everything hurts so he just nods. Yamada reaches over and hits the button and he's out within seconds.

    He didn't want to let Yamada know he's hurting but then he's too tired and he let Yamada know and AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
    HUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
    NGUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
    NGAEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
    (That's just me screaming with specific sounds because I don't know how to explain my feelings, and yes the sound of my screaming is very important to the message. It is very crucial to correctly convey my thoughts.)

    Alternative comment for this part:
    Aizawa, very much hurting and wanting to press that button so bad but can't let his friend knows how much he wants it because who does that?: I feel fine. I don't need that.
    Yamada, five minutes later: Yo, you want this?
    Also Aizawa: Why do you ask? Just hit it already, will you?

    Not blaming him though. A lot of new information during those five minutes.

    All in all, a very promising first chapter!

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    1. machiroads on Chapter 1 Thu 05 Jan 2023 04:04PM UTC

      I'm fairly sure I borrowed that All Left joke from Arrested Development haha. JUST SETTING THE TONE HERE RIGHT OFF THE BAT.

      I am leaving the Shirakumo is a dream/hallucination vs him doing some funky quirk astral projection shit up to the interpretation of the reader 😌 (because I'm still on the fence whether it's one or the other. It can be whatever you think it is!)

      RE: EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION: there's a 2-pronged answer here, which is A) I really struggled with writing exposition (especially at the beginning of this story when everyone is trying to figure out what happened). It's a necessary evil but I didn't enjoy writing it because the aftermath of what the characters do with that information is far more interesting to explore for me. And 2) I firmly believe there's a lopsided relationship with information here, where Aizawa wants everyone to tell him the truth all the time and Yamada indulges that for him even if it's hard, but Aizawa himself holds his cards very close to his chest and he lies to children for fun.

      aNYWAYS. Sleepytime juice good, QED

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      1. Msty on Chapter 1 Sat 07 Jan 2023 02:23AM UTC

        I’m not answering myself for the Shirakumo puzzle either. Some questions were not meant to be answered and all that xD

        That makes sense. Even more reasons for me to roll up in my bed and scream because THEY KNOW EACH OTHER SO WELL and also why not?

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