- Location
- USA
................And this why I voted for a velvet ending
[x] Izuku Midoriya.
started with izuku. End with izuku
[x] Izuku Midoriya.
started with izuku. End with izuku
Last edited:
Velvet Steel Elegy (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure/My Hero Academia Fusion)
unObservant
Just drifting along, really
- Location
- USA
[X] Izuku Midoriya.
Elegy Route Part 2: Elegy Ending Slave To Fate/Made In Heaven
[X] Izuku Midoriya.
Izuku steels himself and walks down the steps onto the beach. The others follow him, with Yaoyorozu and Mineta right at his heels, but something stops them where he continues walking. Only a few steps, enough to make him stand out.
"Johansen." He is surprised over how calm he sounds, counter to the swirling storm inside.
If Johansen notices, he doesn't draw attention to it. The caped catboy turns around, revealing that under the hood the lower part of his face is hidden by a purple cloth.
"Midoriya. And everyone. You-" His eyes widen, and Izuku doesn't have to turn around to know that Johansen just caught sight of Yaoyorozu. "-you are here."
For a few seconds there are no sounds but the crashing of the waves and the creaking of rusted appliances.
"Why?"
"Why what, Midoriya?" Snaps Johansen. "Why did I try to kill Momo? Why did I kill our teachers and fellow students? Why did I rampage across Tokyo?"
Izuku has no answer.
Johansen clicks his tongue impatiently. "I did it to purge myself of weakness and indecision."
Yaoyorozu stalks forward. "What kind of reason is that?!" She shakes with what can only be rage. "I loved you. I love you! And you…you-!"
Her Stand appears to back her up. "Well!?"
Johansen leans back from Yaoyorozu's yelling. When she is done he looks over his shoulder to face the setting sun.
"Is it not obvious, Momo? Out of everyone in this world, you, and only you,「Dared To Outshine This Sunset」."
He looks back at them. "I love you, even though I should not, though I knew that it would turn out like this!「Fate」made you fall in love with me, to tempt me into choosing「Velvet」! Into giving in!「Steel」will give way to「Velvet」! 「Stands」will give way to「Quirks」! And I can scream, I can cry, I can hold on with everything I have!"
His energy seems to leave him. "But if I do not do this, then it will all amount to nothing. I am so very scared, of meekly fading away…"
Caustic anger makes its home in Izuku's gut. "…that's it?! That is why?!"
In response Johansen decides to hiss at him. "I do not pretend to understand your sense of justice, Midoriya! Do not pretend to understand my sense of honor!"
"You found eighteen Stand Users in just our class, you idiot!" Counters Izuku, furiously gesticulating. "There is still Stand Users wherever you look!"
"Irrelevant. A fire burns the brightest right before it goes out." Johansen pauses before he raises his left hand to the sky. A golden sphere appears in it, quickly spinning up.
The world outside the beach glows before it shatters. The sunset remains locked in place even as the sun reverses its course across the sky. Slowly at first, but rapidly gaining speed. Behind them Mustafu becomes restored until it blurs into an indecipherable lightshow.
Johansen ignores their panic at the sight as he brandishes the golden sphere like a scepter. "Outside of this beach, time is unraveling! My『Requiem』will make it right! I will stop Quirks from ever being made, and bring back the「World Of Steel」! This eternal summit is mine alone!"
For the first time today does「Holy Diver Requiem」make its appearance. Far from the hazy mess that Izuku saw at Kamino, the Stand is as clear as day. It is clad in white armor, in slim chain and plate instead of the imposing black full plate that they are familiar with. A purple, unadorned tabard it the only other thing it is wearing. Its head is bare, revealing a pair of white cat ears atop a mop of same-colored hair, and eyes resembling Johansen's own stare mournfully out of a face of red marble.
Johansen's「Stand Arrow」rests in the middle of its forehead.
A hand clad in a fingerless glove, with a white place fused into the back, strokes the golden sphere. Johansen sighs at the display. "No, that is not right." He is whispering, but everyone can hear him. "A『Requiem』is a song sung to honor the departed. This…is an『Elegy』!"
"『Holy Diver Elegy!』"
Izuku tears his eyes away from the twisting nebula. "You're not doing this. We won't let you!"
"Then stop me!" Screams Johansen as he tears the cloth away from his face to reveal the desperation underneath. "Fight for your world, just like I will fight for mine!"
As one the nineteen of them ready themselves for battle. Stands are summoned, Quirks are manifested-
"You coward."
All eyes turn to Yaoyorozu.
"All this…because you are too much of a coward to decide!"
Izuku gapes at her in confusion before the pieces come together. "That's it, isn't it?" He seethes at Johansen. "All this, everything you've done today, is because you are scared of choosing! Of committing! You are so much of a coward that you are forcing the decision on us, just so that you won't have to be the one to choose!"
His outraged shouts are joined by the others. Johansen flinches from the abuse and takes a full step back, almost falling off the washing machine.
The catboy bares his teeth and rubs at his eyes. "Well what does it matter!? Once I have unraveled enough time, I will remake the world! Now come!"
And so they charge forth and die.
*
Kacchan is the first, blasting himself ahead of the others to get to grips with Johansen. Johansen kills him without even looking his way,「Holy Diver Elegy」lashing out with a blow that turns the left side of Kacchan's body into pulp.
「Africa」vanishes, only for it to immediately reappear to resume its charge, this time while cloaked in strange energy. Is Bakugou's dying curse giving it power?
However it is maintaining its existence it is enough to make Johansen reposition himself. Iida and Tsuyu are torn apart as he passes by them, his movements accompanied by telltale golden flashes from his right hand.
Even in here, he can alter the past.
Izuku and「Take On Me」rush forward, with Yaoyorozu at their heels, towards where Johansen is fighting. Jirou dies before they reach them, and the anguished Kaminari is not far behind.
"What is wrong with you?!" Demands Johansen. "Do you people want the world to-"「Africa」cuts him off, making jump right into a glowing pink lance of acid.
"Got him!" Cheers Ashido in grim satisfaction.
「Holy Diver Elegy」took the brunt of Ashido's attack, but for now Johansen's onslaught has been halted. 「Africa」is about to deliver the killing blow when a second golden sphere joins the first.
"「I saw that coming.」"
**********
Momo braces herself as the world shifts to follow the rewritten past. 「Africa」flies past her in pieces as she zeros in on Johan, who is weaving between the trash to avoid Ashido's acid beams. Her heart sinks for a moment when he slips into a shadow, confirming that attaining「Requiem」has done nothing to his original Stand Power.
Kirishima's scream of surprise as「Holy Diver」impales him on its arm brings her back to the present. Midoriya is already engaging Johan, and Mineta is right behind her.
"URARAKA!"
A blur flies past her to strike Mineta. The impact of the thing that used to be Uraraka picks him up and throws him back into a pile of rusted appliances, leaving Momo to back Midoriya up on her own.
Midoriya and「Take On Me」are crackling with green lightning as they assail Johan, their every punch carrying the power of Midoriya's Quirk with them. Entire mountains of trash are blown away by the shockwaves, but those flashes of golden light undo every hit that they manage to land.
Ashido helps out where she can, but with the way that the two of them and their Stands are fighting the opportunities to provide fire support are limited. As things are, up close is the way to go-
"「She takes the shot.」"
The world flashes again, and a stream of pressurized acid almost bisects Midoriya from behind.
Johan doesn't give her time to stare. She hefts her staff and waits for his tells as he approaches her. She knows how Johan fights. She can do this. She can win!
The world flashes, and Momo Yaoyorozu dies to the sound of…hooves?
**********
Minoru's hands tighten on the reigns of his horse, a「Something」born of ink and Uraraka's lifeblood, as he surveys the battle. The others are dead, or at least look the part. It is just him left now.
Just him. And Johan.
"A horse, Minoru?" Wonders Johan as he steps out from behind a refrigerator. "Why?"
The question, the matter-of-fact way it is asked, rankles. "Don't laugh! Uraraka spent her last moments giving this to me! And with this I can win!"
Johan answers by making「Holy Diver」throw the refrigerator at him.
The horse is made of ink and blood, held together by the dying vestiges of Uraraka's Stand, and as such it does not quite interact with the world like a normal horse: It leaps over the refrigerator faster than any normal horse could, gaining enough height in the process to land atop one of the great piles of garbage.
Johan doesn't follow him, choosing instead to hold up the spinning golden sphere in his left hand. Dread fills Minoru's stomach as it slows to a stop.
"That's two hundred years, Minoru! If you wanna do something, do it now!"
Minoru breathes heavily as he calls the Spin into his hand and pops off a purple ball. His mind races as it goes through every detail and theory he has wrung out of those translated Spin manuals, and resolves himself.
With this, he can win. He just needs to actually do it.
He cracks the reins and lets the horse carry him towards Johan. The horse is unaffected by the broken ground as it carries out its full frontal assault, leaving Minoru free to focus.
On the omnipresent「Golden Ratio」.
Through the horse's natural movements and into him, the power of the infinite golden rotation flows irresistibly. The garbage around them shifts as the local gravity is altered in the wake of this perfect pace.
Johan, wide-eyed, doesn't even try to get out of the way of Minoru's approach. "I do not believe it…"
Golden light fills the beach once more, but this time it radiates off someone who isn't Johan. A ghostly figure appears at Minoru's side.
"Come forth…"
"「Ball Breaker!」"
One of the benefits of having a magical horse is that all its movements are completely natural to it. A burst of speed brings Minoru and Johan together while not losing a single mote of Spin.
To tap into the Golden Spin allows one to access the infinite power of the Golden Rotation, which is closely associated with gravity. And gravity is a force that influences space.
And「Time!」
"「Ball Breaker」! Pierce his chronobarrier!"
The two Stands clash, exchanging apocalyptic punch rushes. And between them their Users collide. Johan barely has time to summon another golden sphere in his free hand to protect him Minoru's Golden Spin. Infinite Rotation meets Infinite Counterrotation.
And is pushed back.
Disbelieving laughter bubbles out from Johan's lips as he lifts the clashing forces away from him. "See this, Minoru?"
「Ball Breaker」falters, just for a moment, but it is enough for「Holy Diver」to capitalize on. A flicker of its claws opens Minoru from shoulder to hip.
"I win!"
Johan's wrist snaps. Minoru falls forward.
And the Golden Spin hits home.
Minoru lies transfixed as Johan ages before his eyes, sixty years rolling by in but a second as that spinning purple ball tales its toll.
"That was…amazing, Minoru." He wheezes, awestruck even as he falls backwards onto the sand. "I-I…"
Minoru is sobbing beside him, halfway between blubbering and laughing as he desperately tries to keep his insides from spilling forth between his fingers. "I-I won. I didn't think I'd win…"
**********
It is just the two of them when Izuku forces himself to transfer his injuries to one of his comrades, but Johansen doesn't seem to be long for the world. The rapid aging was not just a trick of the light: Johansen is lying flat on his back, milky eyes looking sightlessly out from under a wrinkled brow, his body too frail to move.
「Holy Diver Elegy」is sitting beside its User, its expression unreadable as it watches Izuku approach.
"「Izuku Midoriya.」" It says calmly, almost submissively, as he comes closer. "「Be Not Afraid. You Have Won.」"
"Y-you can talk?"
It nods. "「Yes. But You Must Hurry. There Is Not Much Time.」"
"Time for what?" Asks Izuku as「Holy Diver Elegy」gently takes the golden sphere from Johansen's hand.
The Stand doesn't seem to have heard him.
"「All Requiem Powers Come From The User's Wish. Even Johan Johansen, Who Controls Me, Does Not Comprehend The Full Extent Of My Abilities. He Only Sees The Power That Would Fulfill His Wish.」"
Izuku almost slaps the sphere out of its hand. "What does that have to do with anything?" He hesitates when the frustration he feels becomes obvious, but he pushes on. "What are you talking about?! What happens now?!"
The Stand waits for him to finish, showcasing the patience of the statue it so resembles, before it answers. "「The Sphere Is Ready To Be Used.」" Izuku swallows nervously as it holds the sphere out for him to take. "「Two Hundred Years Have Been Unraveled, And Are Waiting For A Wish To Give Them Form. The Possibilities Are Endless: You Can Heal All Might, Give Your Father A Job Here In Japan, Repair Your Friendship With Bakugou, Engineer The Downfall Of The League, Make Yourself Able To Confess To Uraraka, Or Ensure That Johan Johansen Dies That Night In The Warehouse.」"
"「And All That Is Just What Directly Affects You.」" It looks expectantly at him, only for Izuku to reach out and nudge its hand away.
"I-I don't want-"
「Holy Diver Elegy」fixes Izuku with a chiding look, as if it is disappointed in him.
"「If No Wish Is Made, Then The Unraveled World Will Reassert Itself. This Beach Will Become Reality.」" The Stand firmly pushes the golden sphere into Izuku's chest until the accepts the little beacon from it. Just touching it imparts the knowledge of the enormity of the power in his hands, the power to completely alter the past two hundred years of history, to shape the world however he sees fit.
Izuku's eyes widen as the white Stand begins to crumble, but he stills when he realizes what it means:
Johansen is dead.
A plain sigh, almost inaudible, leaves「Holy Diver Elegy's」mouth before Izuku's disintegrating companion whispers its final words. "「Make Your Wish, Izuku Midoriya.」"
And then it is gone, leaving Izuku alone on the beach.
"「It Is All In Your Hands.」"
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 7: Velvet Steel Elegy.
Elegy Ending. Slave To Fate/Made In Heaven.
I'm taking my ride with destiny
Willing to play my part
Living with painful memories
Loving with all my heart
Made in heaven, made in heaven
It was all meant to be, yeah
Made in heaven, made in heaven
That's what they say
Can't you see
That's what everybody says to me
Can't you see
Oh I know, I know, I know that it's true
Yes it's really meant to be
Deep in my heart
I'm having to learn to pay the price
They're turning me upside down
Waiting for possibilities
Don't see too many around
Made in heaven, made in heaven
It's for all to see
Made in heaven, made in heaven
That's what everybody says
Everybody says to me
It was really meant to be
Oh can't you see
Yeah everybody, everybody says
Yes it was meant to be
Yeah yeah
When stormy weather comes around
It was made in heaven
When sunny skies break through behind the clouds
I wish it could last forever, yeah
Wish it could last forever, forever
Made in heaven
I'm playing my role in history
Looking to find my goal
Taking in all this misery
But giving it all my soul
Made in heaven, made in heaven
It was all meant to be
Made in heaven, made in heaven
That's what everybody says
Wait and see, it was really meant to be
So plain to see
Yeah, everybody, everybody, everybody tells me so
Yes it was plain to see, yes it was meant to be
Written in the stars
Written in the stars
Written in the stars
Izuku steels himself and walks down the steps onto the beach. The others follow him, with Yaoyorozu and Mineta right at his heels, but something stops them where he continues walking. Only a few steps, enough to make him stand out.
"Johansen." He is surprised over how calm he sounds, counter to the swirling storm inside.
If Johansen notices, he doesn't draw attention to it. The caped catboy turns around, revealing that under the hood the lower part of his face is hidden by a purple cloth.
"Midoriya. And everyone. You-" His eyes widen, and Izuku doesn't have to turn around to know that Johansen just caught sight of Yaoyorozu. "-you are here."
For a few seconds there are no sounds but the crashing of the waves and the creaking of rusted appliances.
"Why?"
"Why what, Midoriya?" Snaps Johansen. "Why did I try to kill Momo? Why did I kill our teachers and fellow students? Why did I rampage across Tokyo?"
Izuku has no answer.
Johansen clicks his tongue impatiently. "I did it to purge myself of weakness and indecision."
Yaoyorozu stalks forward. "What kind of reason is that?!" She shakes with what can only be rage. "I loved you. I love you! And you…you-!"
Her Stand appears to back her up. "Well!?"
Johansen leans back from Yaoyorozu's yelling. When she is done he looks over his shoulder to face the setting sun.
"Is it not obvious, Momo? Out of everyone in this world, you, and only you,「Dared To Outshine This Sunset」."
He looks back at them. "I love you, even though I should not, though I knew that it would turn out like this!「Fate」made you fall in love with me, to tempt me into choosing「Velvet」! Into giving in!「Steel」will give way to「Velvet」! 「Stands」will give way to「Quirks」! And I can scream, I can cry, I can hold on with everything I have!"
His energy seems to leave him. "But if I do not do this, then it will all amount to nothing. I am so very scared, of meekly fading away…"
Caustic anger makes its home in Izuku's gut. "…that's it?! That is why?!"
In response Johansen decides to hiss at him. "I do not pretend to understand your sense of justice, Midoriya! Do not pretend to understand my sense of honor!"
"You found eighteen Stand Users in just our class, you idiot!" Counters Izuku, furiously gesticulating. "There is still Stand Users wherever you look!"
"Irrelevant. A fire burns the brightest right before it goes out." Johansen pauses before he raises his left hand to the sky. A golden sphere appears in it, quickly spinning up.
The world outside the beach glows before it shatters. The sunset remains locked in place even as the sun reverses its course across the sky. Slowly at first, but rapidly gaining speed. Behind them Mustafu becomes restored until it blurs into an indecipherable lightshow.
Johansen ignores their panic at the sight as he brandishes the golden sphere like a scepter. "Outside of this beach, time is unraveling! My『Requiem』will make it right! I will stop Quirks from ever being made, and bring back the「World Of Steel」! This eternal summit is mine alone!"
For the first time today does「Holy Diver Requiem」make its appearance. Far from the hazy mess that Izuku saw at Kamino, the Stand is as clear as day. It is clad in white armor, in slim chain and plate instead of the imposing black full plate that they are familiar with. A purple, unadorned tabard it the only other thing it is wearing. Its head is bare, revealing a pair of white cat ears atop a mop of same-colored hair, and eyes resembling Johansen's own stare mournfully out of a face of red marble.
Johansen's「Stand Arrow」rests in the middle of its forehead.
A hand clad in a fingerless glove, with a white place fused into the back, strokes the golden sphere. Johansen sighs at the display. "No, that is not right." He is whispering, but everyone can hear him. "A『Requiem』is a song sung to honor the departed. This…is an『Elegy』!"
"『Holy Diver Elegy!』"
Izuku tears his eyes away from the twisting nebula. "You're not doing this. We won't let you!"
"Then stop me!" Screams Johansen as he tears the cloth away from his face to reveal the desperation underneath. "Fight for your world, just like I will fight for mine!"
As one the nineteen of them ready themselves for battle. Stands are summoned, Quirks are manifested-
"You coward."
All eyes turn to Yaoyorozu.
"All this…because you are too much of a coward to decide!"
Izuku gapes at her in confusion before the pieces come together. "That's it, isn't it?" He seethes at Johansen. "All this, everything you've done today, is because you are scared of choosing! Of committing! You are so much of a coward that you are forcing the decision on us, just so that you won't have to be the one to choose!"
His outraged shouts are joined by the others. Johansen flinches from the abuse and takes a full step back, almost falling off the washing machine.
The catboy bares his teeth and rubs at his eyes. "Well what does it matter!? Once I have unraveled enough time, I will remake the world! Now come!"
And so they charge forth and die.
*
Kacchan is the first, blasting himself ahead of the others to get to grips with Johansen. Johansen kills him without even looking his way,「Holy Diver Elegy」lashing out with a blow that turns the left side of Kacchan's body into pulp.
「Africa」vanishes, only for it to immediately reappear to resume its charge, this time while cloaked in strange energy. Is Bakugou's dying curse giving it power?
However it is maintaining its existence it is enough to make Johansen reposition himself. Iida and Tsuyu are torn apart as he passes by them, his movements accompanied by telltale golden flashes from his right hand.
Even in here, he can alter the past.
Izuku and「Take On Me」rush forward, with Yaoyorozu at their heels, towards where Johansen is fighting. Jirou dies before they reach them, and the anguished Kaminari is not far behind.
"What is wrong with you?!" Demands Johansen. "Do you people want the world to-"「Africa」cuts him off, making jump right into a glowing pink lance of acid.
"Got him!" Cheers Ashido in grim satisfaction.
「Holy Diver Elegy」took the brunt of Ashido's attack, but for now Johansen's onslaught has been halted. 「Africa」is about to deliver the killing blow when a second golden sphere joins the first.
"「I saw that coming.」"
**********
Momo braces herself as the world shifts to follow the rewritten past. 「Africa」flies past her in pieces as she zeros in on Johan, who is weaving between the trash to avoid Ashido's acid beams. Her heart sinks for a moment when he slips into a shadow, confirming that attaining「Requiem」has done nothing to his original Stand Power.
Kirishima's scream of surprise as「Holy Diver」impales him on its arm brings her back to the present. Midoriya is already engaging Johan, and Mineta is right behind her.
"URARAKA!"
A blur flies past her to strike Mineta. The impact of the thing that used to be Uraraka picks him up and throws him back into a pile of rusted appliances, leaving Momo to back Midoriya up on her own.
Midoriya and「Take On Me」are crackling with green lightning as they assail Johan, their every punch carrying the power of Midoriya's Quirk with them. Entire mountains of trash are blown away by the shockwaves, but those flashes of golden light undo every hit that they manage to land.
Ashido helps out where she can, but with the way that the two of them and their Stands are fighting the opportunities to provide fire support are limited. As things are, up close is the way to go-
"「She takes the shot.」"
The world flashes again, and a stream of pressurized acid almost bisects Midoriya from behind.
Johan doesn't give her time to stare. She hefts her staff and waits for his tells as he approaches her. She knows how Johan fights. She can do this. She can win!
The world flashes, and Momo Yaoyorozu dies to the sound of…hooves?
**********
Minoru's hands tighten on the reigns of his horse, a「Something」born of ink and Uraraka's lifeblood, as he surveys the battle. The others are dead, or at least look the part. It is just him left now.
Just him. And Johan.
"A horse, Minoru?" Wonders Johan as he steps out from behind a refrigerator. "Why?"
The question, the matter-of-fact way it is asked, rankles. "Don't laugh! Uraraka spent her last moments giving this to me! And with this I can win!"
Johan answers by making「Holy Diver」throw the refrigerator at him.
The horse is made of ink and blood, held together by the dying vestiges of Uraraka's Stand, and as such it does not quite interact with the world like a normal horse: It leaps over the refrigerator faster than any normal horse could, gaining enough height in the process to land atop one of the great piles of garbage.
Johan doesn't follow him, choosing instead to hold up the spinning golden sphere in his left hand. Dread fills Minoru's stomach as it slows to a stop.
"That's two hundred years, Minoru! If you wanna do something, do it now!"
Minoru breathes heavily as he calls the Spin into his hand and pops off a purple ball. His mind races as it goes through every detail and theory he has wrung out of those translated Spin manuals, and resolves himself.
With this, he can win. He just needs to actually do it.
He cracks the reins and lets the horse carry him towards Johan. The horse is unaffected by the broken ground as it carries out its full frontal assault, leaving Minoru free to focus.
On the omnipresent「Golden Ratio」.
Through the horse's natural movements and into him, the power of the infinite golden rotation flows irresistibly. The garbage around them shifts as the local gravity is altered in the wake of this perfect pace.
Johan, wide-eyed, doesn't even try to get out of the way of Minoru's approach. "I do not believe it…"
Golden light fills the beach once more, but this time it radiates off someone who isn't Johan. A ghostly figure appears at Minoru's side.
"Come forth…"
"「Ball Breaker!」"
One of the benefits of having a magical horse is that all its movements are completely natural to it. A burst of speed brings Minoru and Johan together while not losing a single mote of Spin.
To tap into the Golden Spin allows one to access the infinite power of the Golden Rotation, which is closely associated with gravity. And gravity is a force that influences space.
And「Time!」
"「Ball Breaker」! Pierce his chronobarrier!"
The two Stands clash, exchanging apocalyptic punch rushes. And between them their Users collide. Johan barely has time to summon another golden sphere in his free hand to protect him Minoru's Golden Spin. Infinite Rotation meets Infinite Counterrotation.
And is pushed back.
Disbelieving laughter bubbles out from Johan's lips as he lifts the clashing forces away from him. "See this, Minoru?"
「Ball Breaker」falters, just for a moment, but it is enough for「Holy Diver」to capitalize on. A flicker of its claws opens Minoru from shoulder to hip.
"I win!"
Johan's wrist snaps. Minoru falls forward.
And the Golden Spin hits home.
Minoru lies transfixed as Johan ages before his eyes, sixty years rolling by in but a second as that spinning purple ball tales its toll.
"That was…amazing, Minoru." He wheezes, awestruck even as he falls backwards onto the sand. "I-I…"
Minoru is sobbing beside him, halfway between blubbering and laughing as he desperately tries to keep his insides from spilling forth between his fingers. "I-I won. I didn't think I'd win…"
**********
It is just the two of them when Izuku forces himself to transfer his injuries to one of his comrades, but Johansen doesn't seem to be long for the world. The rapid aging was not just a trick of the light: Johansen is lying flat on his back, milky eyes looking sightlessly out from under a wrinkled brow, his body too frail to move.
「Holy Diver Elegy」is sitting beside its User, its expression unreadable as it watches Izuku approach.
"「Izuku Midoriya.」" It says calmly, almost submissively, as he comes closer. "「Be Not Afraid. You Have Won.」"
"Y-you can talk?"
It nods. "「Yes. But You Must Hurry. There Is Not Much Time.」"
"Time for what?" Asks Izuku as「Holy Diver Elegy」gently takes the golden sphere from Johansen's hand.
The Stand doesn't seem to have heard him.
"「All Requiem Powers Come From The User's Wish. Even Johan Johansen, Who Controls Me, Does Not Comprehend The Full Extent Of My Abilities. He Only Sees The Power That Would Fulfill His Wish.」"
Izuku almost slaps the sphere out of its hand. "What does that have to do with anything?" He hesitates when the frustration he feels becomes obvious, but he pushes on. "What are you talking about?! What happens now?!"
The Stand waits for him to finish, showcasing the patience of the statue it so resembles, before it answers. "「The Sphere Is Ready To Be Used.」" Izuku swallows nervously as it holds the sphere out for him to take. "「Two Hundred Years Have Been Unraveled, And Are Waiting For A Wish To Give Them Form. The Possibilities Are Endless: You Can Heal All Might, Give Your Father A Job Here In Japan, Repair Your Friendship With Bakugou, Engineer The Downfall Of The League, Make Yourself Able To Confess To Uraraka, Or Ensure That Johan Johansen Dies That Night In The Warehouse.」"
"「And All That Is Just What Directly Affects You.」" It looks expectantly at him, only for Izuku to reach out and nudge its hand away.
"I-I don't want-"
「Holy Diver Elegy」fixes Izuku with a chiding look, as if it is disappointed in him.
"「If No Wish Is Made, Then The Unraveled World Will Reassert Itself. This Beach Will Become Reality.」" The Stand firmly pushes the golden sphere into Izuku's chest until the accepts the little beacon from it. Just touching it imparts the knowledge of the enormity of the power in his hands, the power to completely alter the past two hundred years of history, to shape the world however he sees fit.
Izuku's eyes widen as the white Stand begins to crumble, but he stills when he realizes what it means:
Johansen is dead.
A plain sigh, almost inaudible, leaves「Holy Diver Elegy's」mouth before Izuku's disintegrating companion whispers its final words. "「Make Your Wish, Izuku Midoriya.」"
And then it is gone, leaving Izuku alone on the beach.
"「It Is All In Your Hands.」"
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 7: Velvet Steel Elegy.
Elegy Ending. Slave To Fate/Made In Heaven.
I'm taking my ride with destiny
Willing to play my part
Living with painful memories
Loving with all my heart
Made in heaven, made in heaven
It was all meant to be, yeah
Made in heaven, made in heaven
That's what they say
Can't you see
That's what everybody says to me
Can't you see
Oh I know, I know, I know that it's true
Yes it's really meant to be
Deep in my heart
I'm having to learn to pay the price
They're turning me upside down
Waiting for possibilities
Don't see too many around
Made in heaven, made in heaven
It's for all to see
Made in heaven, made in heaven
That's what everybody says
Everybody says to me
It was really meant to be
Oh can't you see
Yeah everybody, everybody says
Yes it was meant to be
Yeah yeah
When stormy weather comes around
It was made in heaven
When sunny skies break through behind the clouds
I wish it could last forever, yeah
Wish it could last forever, forever
Made in heaven
I'm playing my role in history
Looking to find my goal
Taking in all this misery
But giving it all my soul
Made in heaven, made in heaven
It was all meant to be
Made in heaven, made in heaven
That's what everybody says
Wait and see, it was really meant to be
So plain to see
Yeah, everybody, everybody, everybody tells me so
Yes it was plain to see, yes it was meant to be
Written in the stars
Written in the stars
Written in the stars
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Lovnag
Clumsy little penguin
- Location
- Antarctica
...
Wow, now that was a ride. Well, I guess it is all in Izuku's hands now to make things right. At the very least there is little to doubt in his sense of justice. Though maybe with Momo it would be a little happier personally for Johan? Hard to say.
If this is it, well, then I gotta say, thank you Iceblocks for bringing this into being. Wonderful storytelling, great ideas for different Stands, your superb ability to foreshadow things and make references - it all really comes together into something truly marvellous.
To comment more on the ending - I think this is the first time I have seen a JoJo be the antagonist of their own story. I mean, Johan has all of the characteristics - charisma, some sort of a mental problem (which his indecision driven to its logical conclusion represents) and a scary and seemingly unbeatable power over time and space. And yet still it is his journey, his friends fighting and dying in the ultimate battle - only it is Johan himself who stands against them.
Once again, very well done. I guess looking at it this way, I can see how this is the true ending, albeit quite a sad one.
Wow, now that was a ride. Well, I guess it is all in Izuku's hands now to make things right. At the very least there is little to doubt in his sense of justice. Though maybe with Momo it would be a little happier personally for Johan? Hard to say.
If this is it, well, then I gotta say, thank you Iceblocks for bringing this into being. Wonderful storytelling, great ideas for different Stands, your superb ability to foreshadow things and make references - it all really comes together into something truly marvellous.
To comment more on the ending - I think this is the first time I have seen a JoJo be the antagonist of their own story. I mean, Johan has all of the characteristics - charisma, some sort of a mental problem (which his indecision driven to its logical conclusion represents) and a scary and seemingly unbeatable power over time and space. And yet still it is his journey, his friends fighting and dying in the ultimate battle - only it is Johan himself who stands against them.
Once again, very well done. I guess looking at it this way, I can see how this is the true ending, albeit quite a sad one.
- Location
- USA
This has been an amazing ride!
Never seen a Jojo antagonist before.
Haven't read past Part 5 of Jojo, but the Spin from what I have learned, seems to be just as broken, if not more, than Golden Experience Requiem.
I am slightly confused though; did Minoru die? Because it seems like he won, only to have Deku standing over a dying Johan.
Or were they both fighting different versions of Johan?
Or was Deku fighting the stand, while Mineta fought Johan, and then Mineta and Johan both died, leaving only Izuku.
Either way, this was one hell of a ride, and I really want to know what Deku's choice will be.
Maybe something like, Stands and Quirks can exist in harmony? Like, One For All directly works together with his stand, Take On Me.
Just alter the world, so that the world is now VELVET STEEL.
Have people have a 80% chance to gain Quirks.
And also have a % chance to gain a Stand. (no deaths from having incompatible stands)
IF that happens, everyone gets what they want.
Hell, Izuku might not even suffer as a kid, because he would have had Take On Me, his entire life.
And Johan would never have to make that terrible decision, leaving him free to love Momo.
.......
[X] VELVET STEEL ENDING
?
Really hope to see more fics from you in the near future. Any ideas on settings?
If you don't have any in mind, I recommend One Piece.
Jojo x Bleach would be interesting too. Ichigo vs. Stands? Using his spirit body to punch other people's souls?
Never seen a Jojo antagonist before.
Haven't read past Part 5 of Jojo, but the Spin from what I have learned, seems to be just as broken, if not more, than Golden Experience Requiem.
I am slightly confused though; did Minoru die? Because it seems like he won, only to have Deku standing over a dying Johan.
Or were they both fighting different versions of Johan?
Or was Deku fighting the stand, while Mineta fought Johan, and then Mineta and Johan both died, leaving only Izuku.
Either way, this was one hell of a ride, and I really want to know what Deku's choice will be.
Maybe something like, Stands and Quirks can exist in harmony? Like, One For All directly works together with his stand, Take On Me.
Just alter the world, so that the world is now VELVET STEEL.
Have people have a 80% chance to gain Quirks.
And also have a % chance to gain a Stand. (no deaths from having incompatible stands)
IF that happens, everyone gets what they want.
Hell, Izuku might not even suffer as a kid, because he would have had Take On Me, his entire life.
And Johan would never have to make that terrible decision, leaving him free to love Momo.
.......
[X] VELVET STEEL ENDING
?
Really hope to see more fics from you in the near future. Any ideas on settings?
If you don't have any in mind, I recommend One Piece.
Jojo x Bleach would be interesting too. Ichigo vs. Stands? Using his spirit body to punch other people's souls?
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I will get to some of your points later, but I want to clear something up: Elegy is not the true ending, it is a bad ending. It is a Despair Ending, but even more so. The difference is that in the Depair Ending, Johan fails, but in the Elegy Ending Johan falls.
I'll be making an afterword of sorts over the next day or two. A bunch of posts where I go over creative decisions, references, foils, stuff we never got to, stuff that got cut, etc.
Deku was busy tryin not to die from shock so that he could transfer his injury while Mineta fought Johan and HDE. The secuence of events happened like this:
Ball Breaker held off HDE while Mineta went directly for Johan, but Johan managed to hold off Mineta's Golden Spin with HDE's power. Mineta's confidence faltered for a moment, which weakened Ball Breaker enough that HDE could take a moment to gut Mineta. At this second Johan's damaged wrist broke, unable to bear the strain, and the force of gravity pulled Mineta into him.
Lovnag
Clumsy little penguin
- Location
- Antarctica
I see. I was under the impression that it was kind of intended in this fashion. I guess mainly because I've made those connections with main JoJo villains and thought that was it. Oh well, I mean, it is not like it wasn't really interesting.
I'm eagerly waiting. I have a feeling I missed a lot of stuff here, but then again, I'm not the most attentive reader.
Afterword: Creative Decisions.
Let us start with the original draft of the story. I was originally playing with an SI/OC story, with the newcomer using Five Iron Frenzy (All for One's Stand) or Couch Potato (Ojiro's Stand). In this original draft the Elegy Ending and an epilogue (more on this later) was the intended ending. Velvet and Steel were not concepts at the time.
IIRC, the reason I decided to change it up so much was the realization that I was effectively writing a story about a school shooter.
Moving on, there is the issue of Mineta. For those of you who haven't watched MHA, Mineta is a controversial character whose main gimmick in canon is making inappropriate comments and sexually harassing his female classmates. As a result, he is often shoved out of the way in fan works, either by being expelled or by just never appearing. I took a liking to some fanfics that decided to do more with him, either by downpaying his sex pest side and focusing on the other aspects of his character that the barely get to see in canon, or by making him otherwise rethink his behaviour.
The plan was to do something similar, especially when the players decided to give Momo a Stand early in the story. In that decision, the one who wasn't chosen to get a Stand would get the Spin. While having him and Johan befriend each other over the mystical, whether Stand or Spin, Mineta having the Spin (as he did in one of the draft snippets I posted on SB over a year ago) tied into the Elegy/original ending.
The title 'Velvet Steel Elegy' is a reference on multiple layers, so I will get to that in the next afterword. The some goes for reason I call the MHA world Velvet and JJBA for Steel. The idea of Velvet and Steel, as well as Johan's fear of comitting to either, began as a desire to avoid the whole 'the main character is a school shooter/self-radicalized terrorist' thing before it gradually crystalized into its current form.
Momo and her romantic subplot, while considered for the original draft, was actually completely optional. More on this later.
EDIT: I decided early on to stick to the POV of characters who weren't Johan. I considered never writing from his POV, but I found myself in situations where I didn't have anyone else in the scene so I scrapped that thought.
Johan's dislike of lecturing people is an artifact of this originally being a SI/OC story. I despise the constant lectures endemic to the genre, to the point where the early draft was titled 'I am not here to give any lectures'.
IIRC, the reason I decided to change it up so much was the realization that I was effectively writing a story about a school shooter.
Moving on, there is the issue of Mineta. For those of you who haven't watched MHA, Mineta is a controversial character whose main gimmick in canon is making inappropriate comments and sexually harassing his female classmates. As a result, he is often shoved out of the way in fan works, either by being expelled or by just never appearing. I took a liking to some fanfics that decided to do more with him, either by downpaying his sex pest side and focusing on the other aspects of his character that the barely get to see in canon, or by making him otherwise rethink his behaviour.
The plan was to do something similar, especially when the players decided to give Momo a Stand early in the story. In that decision, the one who wasn't chosen to get a Stand would get the Spin. While having him and Johan befriend each other over the mystical, whether Stand or Spin, Mineta having the Spin (as he did in one of the draft snippets I posted on SB over a year ago) tied into the Elegy/original ending.
The title 'Velvet Steel Elegy' is a reference on multiple layers, so I will get to that in the next afterword. The some goes for reason I call the MHA world Velvet and JJBA for Steel. The idea of Velvet and Steel, as well as Johan's fear of comitting to either, began as a desire to avoid the whole 'the main character is a school shooter/self-radicalized terrorist' thing before it gradually crystalized into its current form.
Momo and her romantic subplot, while considered for the original draft, was actually completely optional. More on this later.
EDIT: I decided early on to stick to the POV of characters who weren't Johan. I considered never writing from his POV, but I found myself in situations where I didn't have anyone else in the scene so I scrapped that thought.
Johan's dislike of lecturing people is an artifact of this originally being a SI/OC story. I despise the constant lectures endemic to the genre, to the point where the early draft was titled 'I am not here to give any lectures'.
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Afterword: Endings.
There were four ways in which this story could have ended: Velvet, Steel, Elegy, and Despair.
You got a Velvet Ending around two thirds through this quest, but it was watered down due to coming before certain revelations. True Velvet would have been Johan accepting that the world has changed, and that the time of Stands have passed. He would have had the same conversation with Nedzu as he did in the ending you got, but after that there would have been a lot more content. The mainpiece being using HDR to alter Velvet enough that it would neither completely snuff other magic out of existence nor prevent the world from changing state again. Though Stands and their Users might never be dominant again, Johan would be confident enough to face the new world head on.
UA's Culture Festival would continue as normal, with Class 1-A looking confidently towards the future.
Whether or not Johan would keep HDR is up in the air, but unlikely. Requiem Stands do not last long once the wish has been fulfilled.
True Steel would, like most of this Quest, be written through the POV of other characters. Johan would go on his walk, vanishing from the UA campus. Later during the day, much to the surprise of the students, a panicking Principal Nedzu would be asking around about him. Izuku, after visiting his mother back in Mustafu, would find Johan at Dagobah Beach with HDR at his side. The world would vanish in golden light, and a black-haired Izuku would call out to Johan, free of cat features, in the docking section of Mustafu Space Port, a holding of the Yuuei Alliance. The World of Steel has been restored, and with no Quirk Wars to destroy civillization humanity has started to explore space.
Johan, Izuku, UA, as well as people Johan like and/or respect, are part of the Yuuei Alliance, a body of Stand User clans that act as this world's Illuminati. The scene closes out with Johan laughing at his total victory before he hugs Izuku and leads him further into the station to meet with the others. To receive their positions in the organization and take on the challenges of the restored old world.
Elegy was always planned to go as it did, being the original ending intended and all that, but with its demotion to what is effectively a True Despair Ending it underwent some changes. Most significant of these would be the removal of the Epilogue, which I am leaving for the Cut Content update.
The normal Despair Ending is less of a classical tragedy than the Elegy Ending and more of a straight up downer. Johan, having lost his Stand power following his complete loss of confidence in himself, cuts all contact with his friends in Japan and leaves for Norway. While he is back in Oslo being a small-time Villain the others slowly forget about him as the Velvet completely smothers the world, until the day they wake up without their Stands and think nothing of it. I had some variations on this Ending planned, but that is for the Cut Content update.
You got a Velvet Ending around two thirds through this quest, but it was watered down due to coming before certain revelations. True Velvet would have been Johan accepting that the world has changed, and that the time of Stands have passed. He would have had the same conversation with Nedzu as he did in the ending you got, but after that there would have been a lot more content. The mainpiece being using HDR to alter Velvet enough that it would neither completely snuff other magic out of existence nor prevent the world from changing state again. Though Stands and their Users might never be dominant again, Johan would be confident enough to face the new world head on.
UA's Culture Festival would continue as normal, with Class 1-A looking confidently towards the future.
Whether or not Johan would keep HDR is up in the air, but unlikely. Requiem Stands do not last long once the wish has been fulfilled.
True Steel would, like most of this Quest, be written through the POV of other characters. Johan would go on his walk, vanishing from the UA campus. Later during the day, much to the surprise of the students, a panicking Principal Nedzu would be asking around about him. Izuku, after visiting his mother back in Mustafu, would find Johan at Dagobah Beach with HDR at his side. The world would vanish in golden light, and a black-haired Izuku would call out to Johan, free of cat features, in the docking section of Mustafu Space Port, a holding of the Yuuei Alliance. The World of Steel has been restored, and with no Quirk Wars to destroy civillization humanity has started to explore space.
Johan, Izuku, UA, as well as people Johan like and/or respect, are part of the Yuuei Alliance, a body of Stand User clans that act as this world's Illuminati. The scene closes out with Johan laughing at his total victory before he hugs Izuku and leads him further into the station to meet with the others. To receive their positions in the organization and take on the challenges of the restored old world.
Elegy was always planned to go as it did, being the original ending intended and all that, but with its demotion to what is effectively a True Despair Ending it underwent some changes. Most significant of these would be the removal of the Epilogue, which I am leaving for the Cut Content update.
The normal Despair Ending is less of a classical tragedy than the Elegy Ending and more of a straight up downer. Johan, having lost his Stand power following his complete loss of confidence in himself, cuts all contact with his friends in Japan and leaves for Norway. While he is back in Oslo being a small-time Villain the others slowly forget about him as the Velvet completely smothers the world, until the day they wake up without their Stands and think nothing of it. I had some variations on this Ending planned, but that is for the Cut Content update.
- Location
- USA
Damn, I would really prefer if we had went down the route of True Steel. At least Johan would have had all his friends, and wouldn't have to go insane killing them all.
Space station stand battles in the world of MHA sounds amazing. Especially if a crossover sequel was to occur.
Say, we go the True Steel Ending, and then suddenly: The Yuuei Alliance discovers a Relay in space. (Mass Effect)
Stand Users vs Krogans and Asari Biotics!
Holy Diver tearing apart Thresher Maws?
Mineta spins a relay so hard, a portal is opened to _____
Space station stand battles in the world of MHA sounds amazing. Especially if a crossover sequel was to occur.
Say, we go the True Steel Ending, and then suddenly: The Yuuei Alliance discovers a Relay in space. (Mass Effect)
Stand Users vs Krogans and Asari Biotics!
Holy Diver tearing apart Thresher Maws?
Mineta spins a relay so hard, a portal is opened to _____
Lovnag
Clumsy little penguin
- Location
- Antarctica
True Steel actually sounds extremely great, as in being Johan's actual victory. Rip Nedzu though, but, I guess, it is not that bad if he never existed in the first place? Besides, I guess humanity gets to be better off without Velvet.
Maybe some races with Quirks, and some with Stands? Since both came from a meteor.
Also Ultimate Kars vs The Reapers. Now that would be a fight for all the marbles, as they say.
Maybe some races with Quirks, and some with Stands? Since both came from a meteor.
Also Ultimate Kars vs The Reapers. Now that would be a fight for all the marbles, as they say.
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Afterword: References.
There is a bunch of these, but the majority are in throwaway lines that i would have to comb through the entire story to remember, so I will stick to the significant ones. Most notably in the title Velvet Steel Elegy. It was originally a reference to a line in the song Holy Diver:
But it became, by complete accident, a multiple reference to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: This is this timeline's version of Part 7: Steel Ball Run. It also fits with the naming theme that JJBA titles kept from Stardust Crusaders until Steel Ball Run, where the Part or the Stand of the JoJo is named for a metal or something hard. Velvet, being soft, served to emphasize how the MHA world is a departure from what came before.
A lot of Johan's dialogue when talking about Velvet and Steel are references, mostly to Solas from Dragon Age Inquisition and Aldia from Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin. One of his lines in the Elegy Ending is also lifted from Berserk's Griffith during the Eclipse. It started unconsciously, but while writing Draft!Johan I realized "Hang on, this is just Solas."
The boyband/rap part of the timeskip was lifted wholesale from an early 2000's Norwegian newspaper strip.
Holy Diver said:
But it became, by complete accident, a multiple reference to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: This is this timeline's version of Part 7: Steel Ball Run. It also fits with the naming theme that JJBA titles kept from Stardust Crusaders until Steel Ball Run, where the Part or the Stand of the JoJo is named for a metal or something hard. Velvet, being soft, served to emphasize how the MHA world is a departure from what came before.
A lot of Johan's dialogue when talking about Velvet and Steel are references, mostly to Solas from Dragon Age Inquisition and Aldia from Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin. One of his lines in the Elegy Ending is also lifted from Berserk's Griffith during the Eclipse. It started unconsciously, but while writing Draft!Johan I realized "Hang on, this is just Solas."
The boyband/rap part of the timeskip was lifted wholesale from an early 2000's Norwegian newspaper strip.
Afterword: Foils.
Johan was intentionally written as a foil to several canon MHA characters. As MHA is the setting the story is set in I did not deliberately write any foils to JJBA characters. A lot of this would have become clearer if you had hung out with these characters more, but that is for the What Could Have Been update.
Izuku & Bakugou.
-Johan shares a lot with Bakugou when it comes to how they are foils to Izuku. They both started out as powerful where Izuku started out as powerless, they both feel entitled to have the world cater to them, and they both worship their personal heroes for their power. Now Johan, like Izuku, also wants to uphold the ideals and causes of their personal heroes, but where Johan differs from both is that his Steel side makes him want to force everyone else to adhere to those ideas as well. Another thing that sets Johan apart is that being a Hero doesn't matter to him, not for either of the reasons of the other two, but his fear of comittment demanded that he give Velvet a chance and he is too proud for Villainy.
Iida & Todoroki.
-Johan is a foil to both IIda and Todoroki much for the same reasons that they are foils to each other. All three of them come from established families based aroud the use of supernatural power, but the devil is in the details. Iida loves his supportive family, which has been Pro Heroes for generations, and is immensely proud of its legacy while desiring to live up to it. Todoroki's household is (AFAIK) New Money, and he hates his father and his legacy for being built on a foundation of human trafficking, maritial rape, and child abuse. Johan, on the other hand, is also proud of the family legacy, but he also despises his living family for not living up to it despite them never doing anything to him.
Johan & Momo.
-Perhaps the most obvious one. Both Momo and Johan were born into ancient families that held vast power of their countries. The difference, of course, being that while the Yaoyorozus no longer rule parts of Japan, they still maintain their grip on economic power. The Johansens, on the other hand, are a small group of criminals clinging to their territory in Oslo. In the beginning there was a lot of conflicted resentment from Johan towards Momo, disguised by Momo's POV, but it faded quickly.
Johan & Cactus.
-Up there with Izuku as the most important foil, even if me getting burned out on this story made me rush their interactions. Cactus and Johan are Stand Users who value the past more than anything, who see the Velvet world as an aberration to be opposed, something fake. Both of them are also driven by loneliness and a fundamental feeling that they did not belong in the world. When Cactus is first introduced he is still holding out hope for his own Steel Ending, where Quirks gradually fade away so that Stand can resume their position at the top, but off screen he gives up on that dream. In his second encounter in Kamino he is trying to use AfO to bring about his variant of the Velvet Ending, where Stands endure by becoming a subtype of Quirk.
Cactus is what Johan might become if he had more time, and in the Elegy Ending he does become like Cactus.
Izuku & Bakugou.
-Johan shares a lot with Bakugou when it comes to how they are foils to Izuku. They both started out as powerful where Izuku started out as powerless, they both feel entitled to have the world cater to them, and they both worship their personal heroes for their power. Now Johan, like Izuku, also wants to uphold the ideals and causes of their personal heroes, but where Johan differs from both is that his Steel side makes him want to force everyone else to adhere to those ideas as well. Another thing that sets Johan apart is that being a Hero doesn't matter to him, not for either of the reasons of the other two, but his fear of comittment demanded that he give Velvet a chance and he is too proud for Villainy.
Iida & Todoroki.
-Johan is a foil to both IIda and Todoroki much for the same reasons that they are foils to each other. All three of them come from established families based aroud the use of supernatural power, but the devil is in the details. Iida loves his supportive family, which has been Pro Heroes for generations, and is immensely proud of its legacy while desiring to live up to it. Todoroki's household is (AFAIK) New Money, and he hates his father and his legacy for being built on a foundation of human trafficking, maritial rape, and child abuse. Johan, on the other hand, is also proud of the family legacy, but he also despises his living family for not living up to it despite them never doing anything to him.
Johan & Momo.
-Perhaps the most obvious one. Both Momo and Johan were born into ancient families that held vast power of their countries. The difference, of course, being that while the Yaoyorozus no longer rule parts of Japan, they still maintain their grip on economic power. The Johansens, on the other hand, are a small group of criminals clinging to their territory in Oslo. In the beginning there was a lot of conflicted resentment from Johan towards Momo, disguised by Momo's POV, but it faded quickly.
Johan & Cactus.
-Up there with Izuku as the most important foil, even if me getting burned out on this story made me rush their interactions. Cactus and Johan are Stand Users who value the past more than anything, who see the Velvet world as an aberration to be opposed, something fake. Both of them are also driven by loneliness and a fundamental feeling that they did not belong in the world. When Cactus is first introduced he is still holding out hope for his own Steel Ending, where Quirks gradually fade away so that Stand can resume their position at the top, but off screen he gives up on that dream. In his second encounter in Kamino he is trying to use AfO to bring about his variant of the Velvet Ending, where Stands endure by becoming a subtype of Quirk.
Cactus is what Johan might become if he had more time, and in the Elegy Ending he does become like Cactus.
Afterword: What Could Have Been.
To begin with, any of the people who Johan could have been paired with in the Heroes VS Villains exercise early in the Quest would have become the second person to be given a Stand after Izuku. The third one, as stated in another Afterword, would be either Momo or Mineta, with the one not chosen being given the Spin. Like in the draft, the players chose to give Momo a Stand and to give Mineta the Spin. Mineta's Stand is an issue I struggled with, much like the Stands of Mina and Uraraka. Options considered were Constellations (Swarm Stand made of thirteen burning apparitions) and Centerfold (Ability Stand that can split any object into two identical, smaller, versions with half the original's mass each), but I eventually settled on Girls On Film.
Girls On Film is a top-heavy humanoid about half again as tall as Mineta. The Stand itself is bone white, but its clothes are black and purple with a cloth that completely covers the top half of its face. Its power is to alter Mineta's purple balls, giving them powerful sensory organs once thrown by it or Mineta himself.
Mineta having a Stand would change his relationship with Johan. Without the demands for focus and training that the Spin demands, he would be more in line with his canon self. The close relationship they had in this story, with him being Johan's best friend, would not be out of the question, but it would require more time investment. And in this quest most of that went to Momo.
What I think is the most important thing that the players missed is Johan's mentor subplot with Izuku, and how he is a corruptive influence of MHA's hero. Johan was always intended to be a mentor figure, as he was whenever it was time to awaken more of his classmates' Stands, but him being Izuku's evil mentor had to be downplayed because the players were more interested in other characters. I say 'evil' and 'corruptive', but that is mostly in comparison to Izuku's canon mentor, All Might. Johan would play to Izuku's Stand User side to bring him closer to his own point of view, teaching agression, ruthlessness, and all the other Steely things that come with being a Stand User. He would not succeed, Izuku worships All Might after all, but as Izuku started to master Take On Me Johan's teachings would make more and more sense to him. This is, perhaps, best displayed in Take On Me itself.
Take On Me is a symbol of Johan's corruptive influence on Izuku: It is a thing of Steel, intruding on Izuku's otherwise completely heroic and selfless nature with selfishness, irresponsibility and brutality. Aizawa touches on this when Izuku first reveals his Stand, warning him against using it to push the consequences of his bad decisions on others. Izuku settles into using his Stand how Johan would have liked it, as a weapon and a way to heal others at the expense of 'enemies'. In this regard, Take On Me is also a symbol of the villain that Izuku could become should he discard both All Might's righteousness and Johan's pride.
It culiminates the attack on the training camp, when Izuku murders a defeated enemy to heal people on his side.
Tsuyu and Mina were considered as alternative love interests, the Birds of a Feather and Opposites Attract to Momo's Mutual Admiration,
Girls On Film is a top-heavy humanoid about half again as tall as Mineta. The Stand itself is bone white, but its clothes are black and purple with a cloth that completely covers the top half of its face. Its power is to alter Mineta's purple balls, giving them powerful sensory organs once thrown by it or Mineta himself.
Mineta having a Stand would change his relationship with Johan. Without the demands for focus and training that the Spin demands, he would be more in line with his canon self. The close relationship they had in this story, with him being Johan's best friend, would not be out of the question, but it would require more time investment. And in this quest most of that went to Momo.
What I think is the most important thing that the players missed is Johan's mentor subplot with Izuku, and how he is a corruptive influence of MHA's hero. Johan was always intended to be a mentor figure, as he was whenever it was time to awaken more of his classmates' Stands, but him being Izuku's evil mentor had to be downplayed because the players were more interested in other characters. I say 'evil' and 'corruptive', but that is mostly in comparison to Izuku's canon mentor, All Might. Johan would play to Izuku's Stand User side to bring him closer to his own point of view, teaching agression, ruthlessness, and all the other Steely things that come with being a Stand User. He would not succeed, Izuku worships All Might after all, but as Izuku started to master Take On Me Johan's teachings would make more and more sense to him. This is, perhaps, best displayed in Take On Me itself.
Take On Me is a symbol of Johan's corruptive influence on Izuku: It is a thing of Steel, intruding on Izuku's otherwise completely heroic and selfless nature with selfishness, irresponsibility and brutality. Aizawa touches on this when Izuku first reveals his Stand, warning him against using it to push the consequences of his bad decisions on others. Izuku settles into using his Stand how Johan would have liked it, as a weapon and a way to heal others at the expense of 'enemies'. In this regard, Take On Me is also a symbol of the villain that Izuku could become should he discard both All Might's righteousness and Johan's pride.
It culiminates the attack on the training camp, when Izuku murders a defeated enemy to heal people on his side.
Tsuyu and Mina were considered as alternative love interests, the Birds of a Feather and Opposites Attract to Momo's Mutual Admiration,
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Afterword: Cut Content.
Most of the cut content takes place during the Timeskip, and mostly concerns the canon events that Izuku was going through while Johan was pursuing Cactus. For starters there would be a proper introduction of Sir Nighteye's Stand, Loadsamoney, but it would also be radically changed because Eri would escape thanks to her Stand. Eri's Stand, Burn My Dread, is a towering juggernaut that attacks everything that Eri is afraid of or, when nothing specific is within sight, anything that moves in Eri's field of vision while she is afraid. Burn My Dread is an Act Stand, a Stand born from an undeveloped soul that changes form and powers as the User grows. Act 1 is an automatic Stand that Eri has no control over, while Act 2, at the end of the Arc, would have the power to project the edge of its sword in waving unpredictable patterns.
Its theoretical Act 3 form would not appear because the story would end before it came up.
Sero's Stand, Stratovarius, was also supposed to be an Act Stand, but he had so little screentime that nothing came of it.
A subplot that was discarded early on was one that would have taken place during the timeskip. It was supposed to be a dramedy of errors where the UA faculty start to suspect that Johan's LI is pressuring him for sex, but I thought better of it. I still think that I lack the writing chops to pull that one off.
The Despair Ending originally had two variations, decided by a vote at the end of its first part. Defeat is the one that I ended up going with, while Spite has Johan commit suicide rather than live in the Velvet world.
And finally there is the Epilogue. There were two versions, with the difference being a scene at the beginning in which Izuku screams at Fate for things getting to this point, forcing it to look away, before he makes his wish on HDE's power. The second version, the one I intended to use, cuts this first scene.
We open in class the next day, with Class 1-A sans Johan agreeing that they will perform a song and dance number as their contribution to the Culture Festival and to cheer up Eri. Everyone, Aizawa included, go silent as a haggard Johan stumbles into the room, revealing that they all remember the events of the Elegy Ending. Johan goes straight to Izuku's desk and demands to know why he is still here, to which Izuku leads him out of class and up to the roof.
They run into more of the faculty on the way, and Izuku explains that nobody outside UA remembers anything. When they get to the roof he explains further as to how he has changed the world: Simply put, Izuku has brought about a Velvet Ending, except that in this one all of the magic will return, not just Stands. From now on, nothing will ever be replaced again.
Izuku tells Johan that while he doesn't know if he can ever forgive him, he thinks he can live with him if he commits to being a Hero. And with that Izuku, now the master, leaves his former mentor crying on the roof.
True Ending: Velvet Steel Elegy.
Its theoretical Act 3 form would not appear because the story would end before it came up.
Sero's Stand, Stratovarius, was also supposed to be an Act Stand, but he had so little screentime that nothing came of it.
A subplot that was discarded early on was one that would have taken place during the timeskip. It was supposed to be a dramedy of errors where the UA faculty start to suspect that Johan's LI is pressuring him for sex, but I thought better of it. I still think that I lack the writing chops to pull that one off.
The Despair Ending originally had two variations, decided by a vote at the end of its first part. Defeat is the one that I ended up going with, while Spite has Johan commit suicide rather than live in the Velvet world.
And finally there is the Epilogue. There were two versions, with the difference being a scene at the beginning in which Izuku screams at Fate for things getting to this point, forcing it to look away, before he makes his wish on HDE's power. The second version, the one I intended to use, cuts this first scene.
We open in class the next day, with Class 1-A sans Johan agreeing that they will perform a song and dance number as their contribution to the Culture Festival and to cheer up Eri. Everyone, Aizawa included, go silent as a haggard Johan stumbles into the room, revealing that they all remember the events of the Elegy Ending. Johan goes straight to Izuku's desk and demands to know why he is still here, to which Izuku leads him out of class and up to the roof.
They run into more of the faculty on the way, and Izuku explains that nobody outside UA remembers anything. When they get to the roof he explains further as to how he has changed the world: Simply put, Izuku has brought about a Velvet Ending, except that in this one all of the magic will return, not just Stands. From now on, nothing will ever be replaced again.
Izuku tells Johan that while he doesn't know if he can ever forgive him, he thinks he can live with him if he commits to being a Hero. And with that Izuku, now the master, leaves his former mentor crying on the roof.
True Ending: Velvet Steel Elegy.
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Afterword: Stand Symbolism.
I write in an earlier afterword that Izuku's Take On Me is a symbol of Johan's corrupting influence, but he is hardly the only one with a Stand that is symbolic of something.
To start from the beginning: Johan feels like he doesn't belong to the world, and as such he has a Stand that lets him disappear from it. But only he can exist in Holy Diver's Midnight Sea, and he can never truly leave the real world behind.
Tokoyami's Black Hole Sun is mostly a joke with little intended symbolism.
Momo's Technologic mostly reflects her Quirk and how she has the drive and intelligence to make it work as well as it does.
Mineta's unseen Girls On Film, however, reflects his own perversions and lack of respect for other people's boundaries.
Bakugou's Africa, despite how unfitting it seems at first glance, is one of the more symbolic ones. Bakugou is defined by his desire to climb to the top, to be the next Number 1 Hero, and he quite likes hiking, both of which are reflected in Africa's power. The Hero part is important, and as he grows as a person after the debacle in Kamino Africa awakens the power to heal people over a large area.
Ojiro's Couch Potato is just a reference to him being mind controlled during the Sports Festival.
Jirou's Disturbed is much the same, a counter to her love of music and an example of poor Stand/Quirk synergy rather than a reflection of Jirou herself.
Tsuyu's Let It Go is in the same box as Disturbed.
Uraraka had a bunch of Stands planned out for her. She was another candidate for the unused Constellations, but other possibilities included Starlight Brigade (an Object Stand that is a size-changing spaceship) and Ocean Blue. Crazy Something Normal is really just an idea I thought was neat.
Todoroki's Prime Mover is just a play on his own dualism.
Aoyama's Century Color is one half reference to Colors Must Go On and one half reflection of his own vanity.
Iida's Notorious B.I.G doesn't fit him, and that is the point because it isn't his. It only latched onto him because he was angry at the time and it needed a new power source.
Mina's Ocean Blue is just a perfect fit for her Quirk. Her Stand is also one of the few in Class 1-A that can hit harder than Holy Diver.
Sero's Stratovarious was supposed to be an Act Stand, but he had his Stand awakened so late that nothing came of it. I thought it was a good fit with his Quirk.
Shouji was originally going to get a modified version of Hip 2 Be Square from 7th Stand User 2, but I eventually decided on Alice Chains(Alice In Chains) instead. No real symbolism intended.
Hagakure is in the same boat with the Girls Of Summer(Boys Of Summer).
Kaminari's DMX is mostly a playful contrast of physical main(snail mail) with his electrification Quirk (email). Beyond that its purpose, had it been introduced earlier/gotten more screentime, would have been to show a Stand that the User isn't up to use properly. DMX would be terrifying if Kaminari understood that it is not restricted to picking up solid objects.
Kouda's Otherworld is a Stand that is a perfect fit for his Quirk, but also a horrible fit for the person that his Quirk has made him. Granted, the willingness to use his Stand and Quirk together to their fullest would make him a horrifying Villain, so that might be for the best. Otherworld is the second Stand that can hit harder than Holy Diver, and when not weakened by Kouda's hatred of it Otherworld is the physically strongest Stand in this story.
Kirishima's Isolated is another Stand that doesn't fit its User very well, but at this point I had already discarded or already given out the other Stands he could have gotten. It is up there with DMX and Otherworld in that they are Stands that the User is not cunning enough/too moral to use properly. There is also the softness of Isolated's body to Kirishima's hardnening Quirk, I suppose.
Ball Breaker comes with Super Spin/Golden Spin, and is more indicative of the User's mastery of the Spin than anything about themselves.
To start from the beginning: Johan feels like he doesn't belong to the world, and as such he has a Stand that lets him disappear from it. But only he can exist in Holy Diver's Midnight Sea, and he can never truly leave the real world behind.
Tokoyami's Black Hole Sun is mostly a joke with little intended symbolism.
Momo's Technologic mostly reflects her Quirk and how she has the drive and intelligence to make it work as well as it does.
Mineta's unseen Girls On Film, however, reflects his own perversions and lack of respect for other people's boundaries.
Bakugou's Africa, despite how unfitting it seems at first glance, is one of the more symbolic ones. Bakugou is defined by his desire to climb to the top, to be the next Number 1 Hero, and he quite likes hiking, both of which are reflected in Africa's power. The Hero part is important, and as he grows as a person after the debacle in Kamino Africa awakens the power to heal people over a large area.
Ojiro's Couch Potato is just a reference to him being mind controlled during the Sports Festival.
Jirou's Disturbed is much the same, a counter to her love of music and an example of poor Stand/Quirk synergy rather than a reflection of Jirou herself.
Tsuyu's Let It Go is in the same box as Disturbed.
Uraraka had a bunch of Stands planned out for her. She was another candidate for the unused Constellations, but other possibilities included Starlight Brigade (an Object Stand that is a size-changing spaceship) and Ocean Blue. Crazy Something Normal is really just an idea I thought was neat.
Todoroki's Prime Mover is just a play on his own dualism.
Aoyama's Century Color is one half reference to Colors Must Go On and one half reflection of his own vanity.
Iida's Notorious B.I.G doesn't fit him, and that is the point because it isn't his. It only latched onto him because he was angry at the time and it needed a new power source.
Mina's Ocean Blue is just a perfect fit for her Quirk. Her Stand is also one of the few in Class 1-A that can hit harder than Holy Diver.
Sero's Stratovarious was supposed to be an Act Stand, but he had his Stand awakened so late that nothing came of it. I thought it was a good fit with his Quirk.
Shouji was originally going to get a modified version of Hip 2 Be Square from 7th Stand User 2, but I eventually decided on Alice Chains(Alice In Chains) instead. No real symbolism intended.
Hagakure is in the same boat with the Girls Of Summer(Boys Of Summer).
Kaminari's DMX is mostly a playful contrast of physical main(snail mail) with his electrification Quirk (email). Beyond that its purpose, had it been introduced earlier/gotten more screentime, would have been to show a Stand that the User isn't up to use properly. DMX would be terrifying if Kaminari understood that it is not restricted to picking up solid objects.
Kouda's Otherworld is a Stand that is a perfect fit for his Quirk, but also a horrible fit for the person that his Quirk has made him. Granted, the willingness to use his Stand and Quirk together to their fullest would make him a horrifying Villain, so that might be for the best. Otherworld is the second Stand that can hit harder than Holy Diver, and when not weakened by Kouda's hatred of it Otherworld is the physically strongest Stand in this story.
Kirishima's Isolated is another Stand that doesn't fit its User very well, but at this point I had already discarded or already given out the other Stands he could have gotten. It is up there with DMX and Otherworld in that they are Stands that the User is not cunning enough/too moral to use properly. There is also the softness of Isolated's body to Kirishima's hardnening Quirk, I suppose.
Ball Breaker comes with Super Spin/Golden Spin, and is more indicative of the User's mastery of the Spin than anything about themselves.
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Afterword: Misc.
One thing that I completely forgot to mention is Johan and Aizawa. Aizawa's Quirk Assessment Test and the expulsion threats that come with it are a divisive subject, and the retcon that he has never actually expelled anyone didn't come until the halfway point of this story. As such, I went for an approach that a lot of fanfics do and quietly turn it into a bluff to scare the students into giving their all. Some of this is lost by never showing Aizawa's POV.
As to how this relates to Johan's caustic attitude towards his homeroom teacher, Aizawa's comment(which he genuinely regretted the moment he said it) towards Johan after he stood up for Izuku during the test dumped gasoline on the glowering resentment the expulsion threat had already caused. Johan was about to escalate when Aizawa revealed it was a bluff, which Johan took as Aizawa being afraid of him and backing down. Johan never let go of this bad first impression, and let it color his and Aizawa's relationship through the entire story.
Aizawa, on the other hand, saw a troubled kid with considerable power and a strong sense of right that he didn't know what to do with yet, and resolved to teach him the right way. A desire to stay at UA might have kept Johan from rebelling over everything Aizawa did, but the teacher's attempts at reaching Johan would always be frustrated by Johan's pride and utter lack of trust in him.
Early in the draft version of this story, Johan was supposed to go on a big rant about how he shouldn't be class rep, but it was cut for being ooc and for violating my 'no lectures' rule.
A lot of Johan's philosophy was lost with the loss of the meat of his mentor subplot, but it can be summed up as such:
"The weak seek victims, the strong seek challenges, and the truly mighty feel no need to prove their strength."
It is a philosophy with more holes than swiss cheese, and is immensely self-serving and egotistical, but was can you expect from a 15 year old trying to rationalize why destroying the world is a good idea?
Johan not speaking in contractions is a deliberate choice to show that he is not completely fluent in Japanese yet. When he is supposed to be speaking in Norwegian, English, or German, he uses contractions.
As to how this relates to Johan's caustic attitude towards his homeroom teacher, Aizawa's comment(which he genuinely regretted the moment he said it) towards Johan after he stood up for Izuku during the test dumped gasoline on the glowering resentment the expulsion threat had already caused. Johan was about to escalate when Aizawa revealed it was a bluff, which Johan took as Aizawa being afraid of him and backing down. Johan never let go of this bad first impression, and let it color his and Aizawa's relationship through the entire story.
Aizawa, on the other hand, saw a troubled kid with considerable power and a strong sense of right that he didn't know what to do with yet, and resolved to teach him the right way. A desire to stay at UA might have kept Johan from rebelling over everything Aizawa did, but the teacher's attempts at reaching Johan would always be frustrated by Johan's pride and utter lack of trust in him.
Early in the draft version of this story, Johan was supposed to go on a big rant about how he shouldn't be class rep, but it was cut for being ooc and for violating my 'no lectures' rule.
A lot of Johan's philosophy was lost with the loss of the meat of his mentor subplot, but it can be summed up as such:
"The weak seek victims, the strong seek challenges, and the truly mighty feel no need to prove their strength."
It is a philosophy with more holes than swiss cheese, and is immensely self-serving and egotistical, but was can you expect from a 15 year old trying to rationalize why destroying the world is a good idea?
Johan not speaking in contractions is a deliberate choice to show that he is not completely fluent in Japanese yet. When he is supposed to be speaking in Norwegian, English, or German, he uses contractions.
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Afterword: Misc 2.
I forgot to mention it in the first one, but I suddenly remembered where I got the idea for Johan to be the ultimate villain of the story.
During some optional banter between party members in Dragon Age Inquisition has one of the characters, who is an author in universe, tell another that their favorite villains are those who "were the guy beside you all along". And that got me thinking of the only game(AFAIK) brave enough to have the non POV main lead character be a villain all along: Baten Kaitos.
This element was downplayed because of the aforementioned demotion of the Elegy Ending from canon to bad end and the removal of the mentor plot, but it is still an important part of this story's origin.
During some optional banter between party members in Dragon Age Inquisition has one of the characters, who is an author in universe, tell another that their favorite villains are those who "were the guy beside you all along". And that got me thinking of the only game(AFAIK) brave enough to have the non POV main lead character be a villain all along: Baten Kaitos.
This element was downplayed because of the aforementioned demotion of the Elegy Ending from canon to bad end and the removal of the mentor plot, but it is still an important part of this story's origin.
Stand Data: HDR
This contains spoilers until the end of the story.
Johan Johansen's Holy Diver Requiem
Stats:
Destructive Power = N/A
Speed = N/A
Range = N/A
Durability = N/A
Precision = N/A
Development Potential = N/A
Abilities:
-Claws: Much like Johan himself, Holy Diver's fingers can become sharp claws to increase cutting and penetrative power at the cost of Precision.
-The Midnight Sea: Holy Diver can touch shadows to turn them into portals that it and its User can enter. These portals lead to a dimension of darkness called the Midnight Sea. Shadows in the real world appear as windows of light that the User can look through and even use to manifest Holy Diver in the real world while staying in the Midnight Sea. The windows of light can be turned into portals back to the real world. If the User strays too far from a window of light they are subjected to immense pressure.
-Holy Diver Requiem: Holy Diver Requiem can unravel time, reducing it to a state of uncertainty and possibility, before weaving it together according to the User's wish. The more time is unraveled, the more changes can be made. While time is unraveling, the original course of history becomes completely known to the User, but most of this knowledge vanishes once the wish is made. Other people who witness the changes made lose their memories of the previous history after a few minutes. This ability has no range limit, and can affect the entire universe.
Appearance:
I couldn't find any fitting pictures.
Stats:
Destructive Power = N/A
Speed = N/A
Range = N/A
Durability = N/A
Precision = N/A
Development Potential = N/A
Abilities:
-Claws: Much like Johan himself, Holy Diver's fingers can become sharp claws to increase cutting and penetrative power at the cost of Precision.
-The Midnight Sea: Holy Diver can touch shadows to turn them into portals that it and its User can enter. These portals lead to a dimension of darkness called the Midnight Sea. Shadows in the real world appear as windows of light that the User can look through and even use to manifest Holy Diver in the real world while staying in the Midnight Sea. The windows of light can be turned into portals back to the real world. If the User strays too far from a window of light they are subjected to immense pressure.
-Holy Diver Requiem: Holy Diver Requiem can unravel time, reducing it to a state of uncertainty and possibility, before weaving it together according to the User's wish. The more time is unraveled, the more changes can be made. While time is unraveling, the original course of history becomes completely known to the User, but most of this knowledge vanishes once the wish is made. Other people who witness the changes made lose their memories of the previous history after a few minutes. This ability has no range limit, and can affect the entire universe.
Appearance:
I couldn't find any fitting pictures.