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Hero
[heer-oh]

noun, plural heroes;

1. a person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for their brave deeds and noble qualities.
2. a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal.

There are a great many heroic types among the imPort population, and this is probably a rather tired question, but indulge my curiosity if you would.

What is it the elevates a person from simply well-intentioned, to someone worthy of such a distinguished title?

Deeds? Bravery? Strength? Capability? Righteousness? Nobility? All of the above, or some combination thereof?

Or is it simply that there's one person in the world that believes it?

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a hero is someone who helps people
and yeah, you can totally be a hero to just one person

[When he'd first made the decision to retire in his world, hadn't he decided on that as a way to still keep his promise to Tomoe? That he would carry it on by becoming Kaede's hero instead?]

it doesnt have to be your lifes work or anything
protecting just one person means something, yknow?
it means a hell of a lot to them and the people they wont hafta leave behind

Edited 2015-11-14 08:53 (UTC)

Personally helps people, or incidentally helps people?

And if you're protecting that one person at the expense of others?

[Way to go straight for the jugular with that second question, Hermann. He'll address the first...well, first.]

depends on how you mean
like if you just waxed a floor in a bank that a robber then trips on an hour later which allows him to get arrested, that probably doesnt count

but if youre doing stuff like, making armor for people who would go out there personally saving people, or researching medical stuff, then that totally counts, even if youre not rushing into some burning building yourself or something

...as for the second, its complicated
like, i mean, heroes are still only human
lotta us have families of our own, all of us have people we care about
its not...wrong, to worry about those people first

[Though god knows if his family ever arrived here? He'd be so torn and conflicted about how to protect them and how to protect the public at the same time. At the very least, he'd tell them never to go to the Swear-Ins, but even that could only protect them so much.]

if anyone could be that neutral about stuff i dont think theyd take a job protecting people in the first place
and the thing is
we can only be in one place at one time
did you um
ever hear about the bombings in sofia and orlando last year?
they happened at the same time
like, literally at the same exact time
and there were no imports in bulgaria
so no matter where you went, it meant there were people you were actively choosing not to help

[It tore him the fuck up inside, but it's not like he had any way to get to Bulgaria. So he saved whoever he could get to in Orlando, and when the ashes settled, he had to find some way to make peace with his decision. Oh, and get drunk. So, so very drunk.]

so in the end its more about
doing the best you can really

No, I hadn't heard. That is tragic. On a scale like that, it is an impossible choice. I am sorry.

In the face of that sort of situation, heroism sounds like little more than an arbitrary title.

its not
being a hero sometimes means tough decisions
its not easy and youre not gonna always make the right ones, if there even are any
but its not the point
the point is making the decisions in the first place, you know?
throwing yourself out there to do what you can to help people

its not something thats for everyone
and thats totally okay
but it means something
it means something to fight for what you believe in
even if youre not actually fighting
to help people when theyre scared, when theyre alone, when they need someone
its never gonna be perfect
but without em a lot more people would suffer
thats why we can never give up
even when awful shit like that happens

[This is, of course, a lot easier for him to say when he's not actually in the thick of the guilt and self-doubt from not being able to save someone. But he does believe these things, from the bottom of his heart. If he didn't, he'd never have been able to be Wild Tiger for over a decade.]

Very inspiring.

[Nope, that doesn't sound like something he's very suited for. Gonna take 'in the loosest sense of the word' for 200, please]

That is a considerable amount of weight to carry.

[Is that sarcasm? He's not sure if that's sarcasm or not. But he'll give you the benefit of the doubt and move on. :B]

eh
it is what it is

[Hero work comes with sacrifices; Kotetsu of all people definitely knows that. But it's also given his life meaning and purpose. It's who he is, at the end of the day--something even he's not fully aware of. When he goes home, he'll retire--running away, to some degree, from his worries about not being relevant to the hero world anymore, not being able to save people like he used to--but he'll be back, in a year's time.]

you just gotta decide if its something for you, or not
dont worry too much, yeah?
youll know your own answer when it comes down to it

[Probably should have added a few more words there to convey that, but oh well. It is inspiring, just probably moreso to someone that doesn't fully grasp the weight of the world. Hermann's nearly broken under it before, but it's men like Stacker and Kotetsu that walk with unfailing will and determination. Whereas it had been everything he could do just to keep from being crushed beneath it]

Yes, I imagine you're correct.

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