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TL;CR MEME
1. Comment with your character.
2. Receive comments from others.
3. Reply to their comments with long ballads and explanations of your characters' relationship throughout the game.
4. Suffer as we have suffered over your CR.
1. Comment with your character.
2. Receive comments from others.
3. Reply to their comments with long ballads and explanations of your characters' relationship throughout the game.
4. Suffer as we have suffered over your CR.
no subject
Anyway! This was the week where Ochako put her own plan into motion to try to generate nova from positive emotionsā¦ with the spa party!! And to be honest that didnāt really go as planned because it was just supposed to be the ladies, leaders, and Chinese gays (because theyāre her faves, why wouldnāt she invite them? hello?) but obviously it became a free-for-all since not a single one of us knows a little thing called restraint. But thatās fine. It meant that everyone was having a good time, which was honestly the most important part! And then the ball happened, too, which made the week even better! She saw the dance that Hua Cheng and Xie Lian shared, and she was so delighted to see them having a good time, too! By curfew time on Thursday, week five was rated a solid 10/10, best week in the Realm so far, and not a small part of it was due to the proximity to Xie Lian, because just being around him made Ochako pretty happy.
Then it all tanked when the investigation results were announced on Friday, and it turned into the worst week in the Realm so far, actually, at least, for Ochako. It was the first time sheād lost someone she was really close to - I mean, there was Bucky, but they werenāt nearly as close as she and Mob were, and losing Mob just utterly devastated her. Elsa, too, because she was in on that one, but again - they werenāt as close as she was to Mob. And you know, Ochako had really tried to be strong by the time she made it back to their room that day. Sheād already cried, and she didnāt want to put another of her burdens onto Xie Lianās shoulders. He was always helping her, after all, so she thought there should be one thing she didnāt have to lean on him for. She figured that she could be strong, like he was when Hikaru had died. But when they both got back to their room, which as I said had already become something of a safe space for her, Xie Lian just - hugged her, and didnāt say a single word, and in that moment, something inside of her just shattered. It was safe there, in their room where only Xie Lian would know, so she just. Fell apart, and cried and cried until she couldnāt cry anymore. Mob had become her best friend since theyād all arrived in the Realm, and the first member of her team theyād lost, so it was a heavy blow on multiple fronts, even knowing that heād, apparently, been splintering. So basically - sheād lost a lot of people who were important to her within the past two weeks.
But. Xie Lian was still there.
Besides the fact that he was on Goatās team and therefore in danger if their team took another hit, with Mob gone, there was no one in the game that she cared more about than Xie Lian. So when she needed something to hold onto, she really clung to the knowledge that he was still there, and refused to let go. And yeah, she felt guilty about having to rely on him again, but in that moment, she was just a girl who needed someone, and that someone justā¦ always happened to be Xie Lian, who was always kind, who always knew exactly what she needed to hear, who always made her feel safe.
She wanted to be stronger than this, to not fall apart again - not just for herself, but for Xie Lian. That was just one of the things that led her to volunteer in her team meeting following that weekās execution. There were other factors, too, but with what Rabbit had remembered, she was worried about Xie Lian in particular - because his team was the one that everyone knew was in danger, but did they all know exactly who they needed to protect from that fate? As far as Ochako was concerned, the obvious solution was to volunteer as the next weekās victim, to guarantee the most minimal risk possible. Sure, people would still die, but Rabbitās team had only lost one person so far. Even if all of their volunteers were chosen, they would be in the clear for revival, as long as the quota was met by the remaining teams. And if this was the only way that Ochako could help ensure their victory, she didnāt mind being the one to take the fall.
Of course, there was no way she could do it without telling Xie Lian. The last thing she wanted was to upset him and make his time in the Realm harderā¦ but Ochako thought that not saying something would hurt him even more, in the end. There were a few other people sheād considered telling, too, but obviously Xie Lian didnāt take it well, so she refrained, and clung to the possibility that it wouldnāt actually be her, because to be fair, she didnāt know! But she thought that, at least with a warning, Xie Lian would have the chance to emotionally prepare for losing someone else that he cared about, you know? It wouldnāt make it better, of course, but at least it wouldnāt be so much of a shock.
Soā¦ yeah, she told him. And with that came one of their most significant conversations about heroes - you know the one! By that point, Ochako had forgotten she was a hero at all, so sheād been feeling uncomfortable with anyone telling her she was one up to now, but even more so when Xie Lian said as much during this conversation. He said she was brave, and selfless, and maybe that was true, but something about having that heroic part of her removed made it easier for her to see the way that heroes could hurt people, too - i.e. that one line, āI think... that heroes forget sometimes, that they aren't the only ones who are affected by their sacrifices.ā She had no idea the effect those words had on Xie Lian, but she did know that her own death wouldnāt be insignificant. Sheād even argued with her own team about whether it was worth it, so the matter was fresh in her mind. And she genuinely hated that it would hurt anyone, especially Xie Lian - but as heād told her before, sometimes people have to do things they wouldnāt otherwise for the good of the whole, and that to try to help at least one person is what made someone a hero. Those were both heavy on her mind as she made this choice, and stood by it even if it did mean hurting the ones she cared about.
And when he sort of indirectly offered to protect herā¦ stares into the void. So she didnāt get what Xie Lian meant immediately, which obviously would have been the point given how that power worked. But the way he worded it kind of horrified her a little? Like, why on earth would she ask for someone to take her place? If sheād understood what he was getting at, and what was at stake, she would have argued even harder against it - see above re: Goatās team being in the danger zone. But also, she justā¦ felt so sorry for him, once he revealed the role and power. She could hardly begin to imagine the toll it must have taken on him? But also, she figured he must be used to that kind of thing, that it must have fed into the advice heād given her before, because the way he spoke always seemed veryā¦ weary? Like heād seen too much, and just wanted to rest, but couldnāt even dream of stopping when there was even the chance of helping.
But this time, he couldnāt help her. He actually chose not to, because it wasnāt what she wanted. She was unbelievably grateful for that. Not just because it meant he wouldnāt be in danger, though that was huge - but also because she wouldnāt have expected anyone else to actually listen to her request to let her die for the sake of everyone else. That meant he was, willingly or not, going to stand aside and let Ochako do what she needed to. It meant that for once, she could finally help him, too.
So! As the next week carried on, she tried to stay positive, both for herself and for Xie Lianās sakes. It was a fun week? And very funny? The carnival was great, the curses were hilarious (she was particularly invested in wingmanning for Hua Cheng lmao). But when Thursday rolled around, Ochako couldnāt really pretend she wasnāt afraid anymore. So, as always, the first person she turned to wasā¦ surprise, Xie Lian! What she wanted more than anything was to spend what little time she had left with people she cared about, and Xie Lian was always at the top of the list. She was extremely grateful to him for allowing her to join him for curfew, and absolutely delighted to introduce him to sāmores and bonfire parties!
Thenā¦ she died, after all! And to be honest, she felt terrible for cursing him (and even worse when she found out that Xie Lian was the one who found her, yikes), but sheād felt that if anyone would understand what the plan was supposed to be, it would be Xie Lian, especially after heād told her about the role he held. Obviously that didnāt work quite as planned, and once she saw Dorothy in the graveyard, Ochako worried a little about how Xie Lian must have taken it? She remembered how heavy his voice had sounded when heād told her that he hadnāt been successful yet, soā¦ she hoped he was doing okay.
And also - Certain People in the graveyard had her a bit concerned about how they would treat him when they made it back to the living. Not. That she could stop it. But she worried nonetheless, because Xie Lian tried so hard to save people and he did not deserve to be treated badly for it just because he missed or saved the āwrongā people!
Anyway, when they all made it back, Xie Lian was the first person that she wanted to see to make sure that he was doing alright, so she ran straight for him! And because sheād accepted her fate right alongside the knowledge of how it would affect the people who cared for her, she apologized up front for hurting him - because knowing about it wouldnāt have made it any easier to bear. In fact, knowing how Xie Lian held the things that bothered him so close to his chest, it might have been worse. She also had to apologize for the RSVP? Becauseā¦ haha. She hated doing it even if it was meant to help someone in the end. But more than anything, she was just glad to be back! And absolutely delighted to fight alongside him during the trial, and put all the things he and Hua Cheng had taught her to good use! Two jocks finally got their monster punching bags, and by god, did they punch them!
All in all? Xie Lian was, quite honestly, one of her favorite people in the Realm. She looked up to him, and wanted to be like him, and she desperately wanted to be able to help ease his burdens somehow. By the end of the game, heād really become her favorite hero, and once she goes home, sheās going to strive to make him proud as a rescue hero herself. Sheās not quite there yet, but sheāll never forget any of the things heās told her, because his words were always the ones she held onto the hardest when life (and death) in the Realm got more difficult. She loves Xie Lian a lot, and plans to visit him often in the following year to help him like heād helped her (hello, our psl), and once Hua Cheng returns, sheāll keep coming when her schedule allows. He is one of the people she wouldāve hated to lose the most, so now that her wish has been turned into reality, she wonāt let him go.