their lives revolve around each other 

[starts sweating already] o god here we go 

[immediately opens daredevil wiki because i haven’t watched it whoops] 

see i only know the MCU so this is going to be a team effort, okay guys? when you see an allusion to a DC/superhero show that i don’t catch you need to make it known, alright y’all??

alright now that that’s clear let’s take a look at two details: (1) title of the fic and (2) title of the chapter

if i’m never your hero i can never let you down

we are already seeing some katsuki yuuri low self-esteem vibes here y’all. this is so yuuri. this is so yuuri we’re not even gonna question why i’ve already assumed this is yuuri speaking. we were all thinking this 

‘for what i’m about to do’ is not, in fact, a line off of ‘explode’ nor is it a daredevil episode title. so what does this mean??? let’s break it down:

[blank] for what i’m about to do. 

possible fill-ins: ‘i apologize’ for what i’m about to do? ‘prepare yourself’ for what i’m about to do?? a precursory glance at the chapter tells us this is victor’s pov, so is this chapter title victor speaking??? 

(wow we haven’t even delved into the chapter yet. i just --)

so let’s actually dig into the chapter shall we??? we’ll return to this chapter title situation in a jiffy 

EXT. ROOFTOP IN NEW YORK CITY — NIGHT

already we are seeing a slight divergence from braveten’s writing style what with how she is setting up the scene much like one would in a comic book. the superhero vibes are settling in already. and we’re in new york city, no less -- y’all seen that post about how new york city is always the first city to fall whenever there’s an apocalypse in movies?? so we already know it’s about to go down. new york city; the perfect backdrop for a vigilante. 

also, also. on the topic of the apocalypse. let’s go back to that patrick stump song and ohohoho. what do we have here? the opening lines are: 

HMMM... REAL INTERESTING YES YES... REAL INTERESTING... 

another thing of note: the sirens. sirens are incredibly important to Young Victor.

He hears sirens, sometimes, and starts writing about those. What could be happening across town, if somebody’s hurt, if a life is being saved. He wonders if his father is there, since Yakov had just gotten a job as the chief of police. Whenever he hears those sirens, he’ll grip his favorite book just a little bit tighter. (from scene 1) 

Victor stands and dusts off his knees, but then hears a siren go off. It’s nearby. He steps closer to the edge of the roof, and hears Yakov call his name again, with concern thick in his tone, this time. Victor squints to get a better look and can only see ambulances gathering a few blocks away. (from scene 1)

Yakov assumes that Victor is the same unruly teenager who had wanted to look out over rooftops and daydream about sirens with a child’s naivety. (from scene 2) 

sirens also appear in stump song right after the line from which the title of the fic is taken

REAL INTERESTING... things the sirens could mean: danger, crime, someone in need, someone being rescued... in any case we’re filing away this info for later

INT. HISTORY MAKER TRIBUNE BUILDING — DAY

victor is a journalist! a Very Serious one!! he chases around stories with seemingly no regard for his safety!!!!! ahhhh 

(But the fact of the matter is, as everyone knows, that the intimate details and photos he’d gotten have lead to the exact type of article needed to revamp the newspaper’s business. One dangerous expedition at a time, Victor is saving not only his own job, but dozens of jobs.)

ohohoho and now we have a lil snippet of a subplot: perhaps in the future victor will need to make a decision between unmasking a certain vigilante and saving the paper??? 

Just because Yakov is the chief of police doesn’t grant Victor immunity from bullets, blades, and crime—he knows that.

and here we have our first allusion to a superhero show other than daredevil!!!! like barry allen in the flash, victor’s adopted father is the chief of police. 

(unlike barry allen, victor is not in love with his adopted sibling) 

[Celestino] understands that what Victor is doing isn’t storytelling—it’s an unconventional method of catharsis.

another noteworthy piece of victor’s character 

what could his work -- his desire to take note of everything, his keen attention to detail -- be emotionally relieving him of?