["An' why would I text you, to say 'I'm cryin', that's weird, dude."

"You're crying right now," Neku pointed out.

"Huh."]

LOL

I loooove this. I love Beat. You do a great job with his voice, showing both his lighthearted side but also that emotional side he sometimes has. Yeah I imagine Beat wouldn’t cope with it so well I’d Rhyme was leaving. But I also like that you made it a little deeper and showed us Beat’s inner conflicts. The ending of TWEWY strongly implied that Neku would be more social and Shiki would be more self-accepting and pursue her sewing more, but Beat didn’t really show any indication of resolving his problems outside of rescuing Rhyme. So yeah it does seem that once Rhyme is safe and sound he’ll still struggle with that inferiority complex, his academics and his relationship with his parents. And it makes sense that it wouldn’t be so obvious, because Beat wouldn’t want to drag his friends down by bringing it up often, but of course his friends would want to help if they could. Anyway I rambled a lot already but this is great

Can I just say that it feels so fulfilling to read Dina work again? And for TWEWY no less? Much thanks for you gracing our wonderful T-Sauce with your presence and writing.

I know you mentioned in your authors notes that you feel out of practice, but I think you handled everything well from characters to themes. (I think I imagine post-Game Neku’s voice slightly differently than you have here, but since there’s no canon for that, and Neku still feels like Neku, it’s not OOC or anything.). You do really well with Neku’s inner voice and there’s the little side comments that give his narration that Neku zing without being distracting from the main ideas.

Which in this case is Beat! Aw, man, I really do love this interpretation of Post-Game Daisukenojo, since I think that’s something not a lot of fanfic writers touch on. Your piece has me thinking that Beat is someone who feels the need to play it tough, in part to be a good big bro for Rhyme, but mostly because if he doesn’t then he’ll feel the brunt of his parents disappointment and scorn head on, and so he doesn’t view vulnerability as something he can afford to do.

Except in the Game he gets beaten down to a low (Rhyme’s memories of him are gone, he tried to save her beforehand but they both died anyways, then Rhyme gets Erased to save *him*, and then he can’t even keep her Noise safe against Konoshi) that he doesn’t have much other choice than to *be* vulnerable with Neku so that they can share their burdens and come out stronger with each other’s support. All this to say that I feel like this point of Beat admitting his worries to Neku and crying in public without covering it up is a very natural endpoint of his experiences in the game that I hadn’t considered before, so thank you for the opportunity to reflect!

The final show of where this brings Beat and Neku together is in how they still resonate at the end, and I can’t put that into any better words than you already did with using their fusion quote, so I won’t even attempt to unpack that. Just know that I love it.

Bonus points for Rhyme getting a happy ending without having to struggle through more UG stuff that fanfics love to go through. Nice to know she gets a break in one of these multiverses.

(Also I'm sorry it took me literal days to realize where the number was in your title but I promise it’s very clever. There has never been a year where I want you to reach TWELVE more than I do this session, though, just to see what happens. No pressure.)

Again, thanks for the story, Dina. Hopefully there may be more to come this year,
-Avi

Awww yeah! That moment when a plot thread you've been pondering gets picked up and treated by someone you respect. I've always liked your take on Beat (his Sanctuary treatment is fantastic in how he gets to contribute without indulging his more physical inclinations) but the question of the future is something I've wrestled a lot with when trying to write him myself. Things like "what sort of job is Beat headed for?" or "what does Beat do after high school?" intrigue me because Beat has unique strengths that don't readily lend themselves to a traditional business environment (although I think he might make a good warehouse worker, as long as he doesn't have to deal with a persnickety label system). All that said, even if this is a more emotional than practical take on the matter, it still really works! Neku being willing to give an answer like that, an answer that leaves him open for a BUNCH of future inconvenience, is a great way to use their bond as the bridge to the future. So... yes! Great job building your point on strong character dynamics!

Nice work on your first shot, Misty! Wonderful to see you active again.
May the summer treat you well!
-CG

Good to see a new TWEWY one shot from you after quite some time. And don't worry, I've been reading over on Ao3 since some of the fandoms I am in aren't here. We're both disloyal. Course, if I know something I'm reading was crossposted, I'll read it over here on ffnet instead. I'd say you did pretty well in shaking off the rust, by the way. Keep up the great work.