Line #24 Fanfic/ImTooSoberForThis


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2022_12_24_at_64553_pm.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[PerpetualFrowner Issei]] [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness smiling?]] He ''must'' be drunk.]]
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4	''I'm Too Sober For This'' is a ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight''/''Literature/HighSchoolDXD'' crossover written by [[https://www.fanfiction.net/u/8390234/Masked-Spider Masked Spider]] and beta read by [[https://www.fanfiction.net/u/15484966/Steeler-Steelix Steeler Steelix]] and [[https://www.fanfiction.net/u/2360529/Pyromania101 Pyromania101]]. To be more specific, it is a crossover between [[https://www.fanfiction.net/u/4141631/Fahad09 Fahad09']] ''[[Fanfic/ADemonLordsHero A Demon Lord's Hero]]'' and [[https://www.fanfiction.net/u/1983129/Third-Fang Third Fang's]] ''[[Fanfic/GoAwayImWatchingPorn Go Away! I'm Watching Porn]]'', the [[Fanfic/IHaveNoSympathyForEitherOfYou second]] crossover between these two stories, in fact. During the writing of Chapter 2, Third Fang accepted a request from Steelix to help edit Issei's dialogue, and has also helped with the editing of other scenes.
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6	The story begins at Chapter 16 of ''ADLH'' and the aftermath of Chapter 14 of ''GAIWP'', with Serafall being asked to use a simple water spell by her mother. She manages to do so, but in the process opens a portal that drops Issei, who is busy watching porn on his phone, right in front of them. After a bizarre introduction, Issei is allowed to stay at the Sitri Manor while they try to figure out a way to send him home. But Issei won't be able to hide for long, and the coming trials will push him ever closer to the one person whom he feels won't backstab him: Serafall's Queen, Shirou Emiya.
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8	Currently at 20 chapters, it can be read [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14181002/1/I-m-Too-Sober-For-This here.]]
9	!!This fanfic contains examples of:
10	* AbortedArc: In-universe. Issei pulls the plug on whatever Zekram Bael was planning for Shirou via intimidation on Shirou's request.
11	* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: ADLH!Issei was explicitly stated to share his canon self's background, with the exception of having Karasuba for a sister and Twice Critical instead of the Boosted Gear as his Sacred Gear. In this story, it's mentioned that she once brutally beat him up when they were children, and throughout their childhood would try to one-up him in whatever hobby he tried if he didn't treat it as competitively as she did, killing his enjoyment of anything he tried.
12	** Chapter 18 has Irina give a possible explanation for this: following her failed attempt to control Ddraig when she was a child (which led to their dad getting mauled), Karasuba felt she ''needed'' her brother to be stronger than her just in case she went off the deep end again, so she tried to toughen him up, but her methods were flawed and there was realistically no chance of that happening; but rather than acknowledge that, she dismissed him as lazy and unmotivated.
13	* AdaptationalBadass: An in-universe example. In GAIWP, it took the combined might of all four Maous, Azazel, and the Archangels to overtake Issei, and it's implied that he was toying with them the entire time and could have stomped them if he really felt like it (the fact that they knew his fighting style likely helped, as well). By contrast, the ADLH!Maous are able to hold their own against him without Azazel or the Archangels, and without any prior knowledge about him. They actually do so well against him that he becomes desperate (and/or angry) enough to unleash Ghost, though Shirou intervenes before he can.
14	* AdaptationalExpansion: The identity of the Noble Phantasm Xenovia wields was kept ambiguous in [=ADLH=]. Here, it's explicitly Mordred's sword, Clarent.
15	* AdaptationalIntelligence: Also in-universe. Issei notes that ADLH!Sona is smarter than her GAIWP counterpart, having repeatedly tried to get the Perverted Trio expelled (Rias always blocks her efforts) and sanitizing and closing up the hole in the wall in the girl's locker room. He concludes that Shirou's presence is the reason for this, but Shirou denies it.
16	* AdaptationalVillainy: Karasuba is made to look more like a thuggish bully towards her brother than she was in [=ADLH=], at least from the [[UnreliableNarrator point-of-view]] of both Isseis.
17	* AndImTheQueenOfSheba: Sona refuses to believe that Issei doesn't masturbate, responding with this trope... which turns out to be a confession.
18	* AntiMagic: Falbium can negate many of Issei's spells.
19	* ArmorPiercingQuestion:
20	** Karasuba mockingly asks if Issei thought he could defy fate. He gives a cheesy response and tries to intimidate her, and when that fails, he stuffs her in a box--though he tellingly fails to answer her question, something she rubs in later.
21	** Issei cuts off Zekram Bael's point about every major major conflict being treated as different than any before it (justifying his attempts to [[OpportunisticBastard take advantage of the current crisis in the process]]) by asking when the last time ''Ophis'' got involved in one. Even the old devil can't refute the point.
22	* ArmorPiercingSlap: PlayedForHorror when Ophis starts slapping Shirou in Chapter 16 for [[spoiler:dissolving UBW before she was done basking in it]]. It might seem comical on the surface, but given her infinite strength, Shirou is all too aware that each slap could ''kill'' him if Ophis puts enough strength behind it.
23	* AssShove: During his fight with Vali, Issei trips over a rock and smashes face-first into Vali's derriere, to their mutual embarrassment.
24	* AtLeastIAdmitIt: Deconstructed with Issei. He is perfectly aware of his faults, and makes no attempt to deny them when others bring them up... which pisses people off ''even more'' since he still has no issue criticizing others for failing to work on ''their'' issues [[{{Hypocrite}} while failing to address the more obvious ones he sees in himself]].
25	* AttemptedRape: Tiamat tries to rape Issei in Chapter 11.
26	* AwesomeByAnalysis: The Maous quickly deduce that Issei's fighting style emphasizes maneuverability, so they focus on boxing him in and messing with his Boosts. Serafall even correctly labels him as a CombatMedic, prompting her colleagues to adapt on the fly. This is even more impressive when you consider their counterparts took ''years'' to figure out how he fights and had the help of Azazel and the Archangels, and yet were unable to exploit this knowledge effectively.
27	* AxCrazy: ADLH!Ddraig is batshit insane.
28	* BaitAndSwitch:
29	** [[spoiler:Rias's mysterious new Pawn, Bennia, turns out to be her second ''Knight'']].
30	** [[spoiler:Bennia]] eavesdrops on a conversation between ADLH!Issei and Irina, and concludes that, based on their dialogue, Irina is allowing Issei to touch her breasts. She's actually letting him touch her Angel wings.
31	* BatmanGambit: Karasuba challenges Issei to a fight, both to satiate her bloodlust and get Shirou's attention. She loses the fight pretty handily, but got exactly what she wanted in the end.
32	* BeachEpisode: The second half of Chapter 9 serves as this.
33	* TheBerserker: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] with Karasuba. She seems like one at first glance and Illya joyfully labels her as such, but Issei notes that she ''can'' put some thought into her attacks and she ''is'' a highly skilled swordswoman.
34	** She is called out on this behavior in Chapter 19, as her mindset has her continually push situations without a clear plan for handling the consequences. Both in fighting Issei specifically and in underestimating the Khaos Brigade's tactics.
35	* {{BFS}}: Shirou ''smashes'' the Axe-Sword of Hercules between Issei and the Maous in order to call their fight to a halt.
36	* BigBrotherInstinct:
37	** Issei explicitly asks if Shirou possesses this trope towards "strange and potentially homicidal little girls". Shirou replies he has it [[FriendToAllChildren towards kids in general.]]
38	** Issei seems to be developing this towards Shirou (despite being younger), as he swiftly gets in front of Shirou "like a guard dog" when he hears the latter give a frightened shriek.
39	* BigDamnHero: Just as Ophis is about to kill Issei, Shirou shows up, grabs the boy, and gets Sona to teleport them away.
40	* BigNo: Issei gives one ("WRONG!") when Shirou asks if the visual novel about him is explicitly pornographic, then goes on to explain why it isn't.
41	* BigWhat: Shirou does this when Issei explains the different routes to him, especially the idea of him having sex with Sakura.
42	* BorrowedCatchphrase: Kiba uses the first line of Shirou's aria during the Rating Game against Riser Phenex, much to Shirou's fury. Koneko whacks him on the head for it later.
43	* BothSidesHaveAPoint:
44	** When Issei is teleported to the Gathering arena, he has every right to be angry about it, and he had no way of knowing it was an accident; and given his negative history with the Maous from his world, he has little reason to trust them. However, his knee-jerk reaction to it rightly frightens the Maous into taking action against him, which is only further justified by his extreme hostility towards them--for reasons he refuses to elaborate upon--when they try to settle the matter nonviolently.
45	** When arguing with Karasuba, Issei states there's more to life for a Red Dragon Emperor than just fighting Albion. Karasuba fires back that Sacred Gear wielders, especially dragon emperors, will always have to fend off wannabe power-grabbers, so she might as well enjoy it, and that they aren't meant to have comfortable, happy lives.
46	** During another argument between Issei and Karasuba, both hurl the book at one another: Issei is right in that Karasuba lecturing him about his problems when she doesn’t even know the context or extent of them is both insulting and hypocritical given she nearly performed SuicideByCop, while Karasuba echoes plenty of the readers of [=GAIWP=] in that Issei doesn’t seem to bother addressing his issues and does himself no favours with how cagey he is--which ''forces'' others to make judgments about him based on what they see--or how quickly he resorts to threats despite ostensibly hating violence (which she chalks up as him being so used to getting his way that having to use force is foreign to, and thereby uncomfortable for, him).
47	** When Kuroka reveals that the Khaos Faction bugged Shirou's house, Issei berates Shirou for not checking the house's security after the renovations (during which the bugs were installed) were finished. Shirou knows he's right, but counters that he had a lot of other affairs that distracted him from considering that, and after he lists them off one by one, Issei retracts his criticism--before asking Illya why ''she'' didn't check the house for bugs.
48	** When Shirou and Issei get into a heated debate about Karasuba in Chapter 10, both bring up good arguments: Issei argues that Shirou, as Kara's King, has a responsibility to deal with her issues; while Shirou bluntly points out that Issei does much of the same crap that Kara gets up to--largely for the same reasons--and is just as unapologetic about it as she is--and therefore is a total hypocrite who has no business judging her.
49	** From the same discussion, Issei's opinion of Karasuba condemning his counterpart for failing to stop Rias from altering their mothers memories. He points out the boy had ''just'' learned about the supernatural, been ''killed'' the night prior, and was made an underling of the devil in question, who also outclassed him in every manner imaginable, leaving him in an understandable state of shock and helplessness. He promptly concedes Karasuba's anger was understandable when rather than use any of the above arguments, his counterpart said [[OpenMouthInsertFoot "there were boobs"]].
50	* BullyingADragon:
51	** Pun aside, Karasuba does this by relentlessly provoking Issei. She's too fearless to care, and there ''is'' a [[BatmanGambit reason]] behind it.
52	** Diodora Astaroth tries to intimidate Shirou into surrendering Asia to him. Shirou tells him bluntly and to his face that he isn't even a ''small'' matter, with Issei (whom Diodora also tries to act dismissive towards) treating him with equal derision. When he starts making threats towards Asia directly, Shirou is just about to butcher him, and Diodora's life is only saved by Issei using his phone trick to give him a splitting headache--not because he doesn't think the little shit deserves to die, but because killing him would cause problems for Ajuka (Diodora's older brother), whom Shirou is on good terms with and whose help Issei is counting on to get back to his world.
53	** Koneko has gotten into a tussle with ''Serafall'' at least twice. Over ''Shirou''. Were it not for Shirou's brotherly affection for Koneko, Serafall would have squashed her like a bug in an instant.
54	* CallBack:
55	** Issei asks Shirou a series of probing questions to confirm his identity, similar to the ones he asked Kiba when the latter displayed similarities to Shirou.
56	** Issei calls Sona "Enabler 2.0", which is [[IronicNickname ironic]] since she's very much ''not'' an enabler here.
57	** Issei is not allowed to celebrate Christmas because Ghost roughed up Santa Claus one year.
58	** Shirou's frequent problem with [[DeliberateValuesDissonance Devil culture]] is directly pointed out by Issei.
59	** Issei's paranoid fear of Asia comes back with a vengeance in Chapter 4.
60	** Issei's insistence that he doesn't masturbate.
61	** Sona doing a goofy pelvic thrust dance when alone.
62	** Shirou bribing Shirone into getting off him with food.
63	** Issei using a pre-recorded reading of the Bible by Archangel Gabriel to give Diodora Astaroth a migraine.
64	* ChangingTheUncomfortableSubject:
65	** Shirou does this whenever Issei starts rambling about porn.
66	** Issei does this, too, particularly when someone broaches subjects that bring up bad memories.
67	* CombatMedic: Issei's fighting style invokes this, and Serafall [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] it, much to his annoyance.
68	* CombatPragmatist: Vali, having watched Issei's fight with the Maous, ensures that his own fight with Issei takes place in a warehouse with tight spacing in order to limit Issei's maneuverability. It's not enough for him to win outright, but he puts up a better struggle than Karasuba did, something Issei admits.
69	* TheComicallySerious: Shirou's Pawns rattle off a bunch of swear words with utterly flat expressions.
70	* ContinuitySnarl: Serafall's first meeting with Shirou has the former behave somewhat casually from the get-go. In the original story, she behaves very icily until Shirou agrees to sell his soul without hesitation, whereupon she started laughing.
71	* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: Vali once tried to say "no" to Ophis. She promptly bit him in the ass so hard that it left scars, which ends up suppressing his ass fetish.
72	* CoolOldGuy: GAIWP!Ddraig is ever-patient and reasonable. He even chides Issei for overestimating his counterpart and urges him to apologize to Shirou in Chapter 11.
73	* CoolTeacher: Sun Wukong is Karasuba's combat instructor, and though she finds him annoying, she still respects him. Issei also treats him cordially.
74	* CowardiceCallout: Issei and Karasuba do this to one another in Chapter 7. Issei comes off as slightly worse due to his cagey demeanor and giving off the implication that he doesn't ''want'' to get over his issues, though he claims that said accusations are based on ignorance--while refusing to explain why.
75	* CurbStompBattle:
76	** Chapter 5 gives us two:
77	*** Issei one-shots Karasuba after Boosting himself adequately, though she [[CurbStompCushion does catch him off-guard at first,]] then stuffs her in a box.
78	*** While this is going on, Shirou effortlessly defeats three members of the Hero Brigade--specifically because he senses the above battle and wants to step in before things get nasty.
79	** Chapter 8 also gives us two:
80	*** Issei handily defeats Vali, though like Kara, Vali doesn't go down effortlessly. Issei even admits that the White Dragon Emperor made him work for it, and compliments him a few times.
81	*** And then Ophis shows up and sends Issei crashing through several walls with nothing more than a ''finger poke''. Issei doesn't even ''try'' to fight back, preferring to simply bolster his defenses while trying to think of a way to escape or talk her down.
82	** In Chapter 15:
83	*** Issei defeats Jeanne with a Dress Break while casually chugging a beer.
84	*** Karasuba crushes Heracles' skull like a grape.
85	*** The Maous easily fend off the members of the Old Satan Faction.
86	* CurbStompCushion: The outcome of Karasuba's fight with Issei in Chapter 19 was never in doubt, but Kara actually manages to surprise Issei a couple times and he admits afterward that she earned a solid "B", which is even more impressive when you consider he only ''just'' told her of other ways she can use Boosts.
87	* CuteKitten: Shirone's familiar is a white kitten named Shiro. Karasuba immediately starts gushing over him.
88	* DanceBattler: Issei's movements during his fight with Vali are explicitly based off dancing.
89	* DarkAndTroubledPast: Issei, as expected. He hasn't gone into much detail yet, but the bags under his eyes are enough for Shirou to figure out that ''something'' happened to him.
90	* DeconstructionCrossover:
91	** Since the Maous from ADLH don't know Issei nor did they play a part in what happened to him, they do not feel beholden to him at all and treat him as a potential threat. Sirzechs even explicitly demands that Issei be kept away from his sister, whereas GAIWP!Sirzechs pushed her towards him.
92	** Issei has no money, no spy network, and no friends in high (or low) places (other than Ghost, depending on the circumstances) to protect him should he cause an incident and since everyone is both stronger and smarter than the versions of them he is acquainted with, they could (with ''extreme'' difficulty) kill him and suffer (almost) no consequences for it.
93	** Issei and Karasuba cannot intimidate one another into submission, and even after Issei overpowers her, he fails to adequately answer a number of her questions, for which she mocks him.
94	** Issei's moody demeanor is depicted as less justified than in the parent story, with Karasuba viciously pointing out that Issei's lot in life is actually pretty good, and yet he refuses to appreciate that.
95	** Issei's habit of [[ChangingTheUncomfortableSubject changing topics]] and refusal to discuss his past is portrayed as rather cowardly here, particularly his refusal to even try to disprove any criticism hurled against his behavior and actions (which only makes him look worse) in favor of acting petulant about getting put in his place.
96	** The AdaptationalVillainy of the dragons in ADLH (especially Ddraig) is noted to be extremely unusual by Issei, who discovers that ''something'' inherent in the universe steadily drives them more and more feral.
97	** In the aftermath of their rematch, Issei takes apart Karasuba's status as an AxCrazy BloodKnight, and the reasons she continues the persona. Not only does her fighting style make her a nightmare in terms of teamwork (many of her attacks being just as likely to his friend as foe) but also guarantees ''massive'' collateral damage, making her unsuited to combat in any location with civilians. While she insists that said fighting style contributes to her status as TheDreaded, he counters that it is scarily easily for savvy enemies to exploit by putting her loved ones in the crossfire, and leaving her devastated in the aftermath. He even brushes off her insistence that her status as TheDreaded protects them, pointing out that joining Shirou means she's no longer a WildCard, and that anyone going against her new boss is long past the point where death threats (no matter how painful) hold any more significance than the litany of others they'd be subjected to.
98	* DidNotSeeThatComing: Goes both ways between Issei and the entire Underworld in Chapter 3. Nobody in the Underworld expected Issei's sudden appearance, and Issei is utterly shocked to realize that the Maous he confronts are ''a lot'' tougher than the ones he knows.
99	-->'''Issei:''' What the absolute dildo-swinging, reverse cowgirl, horseshit fuck is going on?
100	* DisappointedByTheMotive: Tossed both ways by Issei and Karasuba. Issei is unimpressed with Kara's BloodKnight tendencies, while Kara is dismissive towards Issei's harem obsession.
101	* DisappointedInYou: Shirou is ''not'' happy to find out that Issei and Karasuba got into an argument that nearly escalated to violence against his specific instructions. He sends Issei to the grocery store with Illya and reads Kara the riot act, though she stands firm. While outwardly apathetic, Issei is deeply upset that his only friend in the [=ADLH=] world is displeased with him.
102	* DistractedByTheSexy: ADLH!Issei and Saji spend the entire BeachEpisode staring at girls in bikinis.
103	* DopeSlap: Sun Wukong whacks Issei and Karasuba with his staff when their heated argument is just about to lead to a fight.
104	* TheDreaded:
105	** Issei becomes this to the Underworld at large after his fight with the Maous.
106	** The mere sight of Asia causes Issei to freak out and hide behind a sofa.
107	** Sona is feared by everyone at Kuoh Academy, including the teachers, much to Issei's surprise.
108	** Ophis is one of the few beings that Issei simply cannot take on in a straight-up fight. When she appears before him, Issei pales, and his fear of her is ''not'' PlayedForLaughs.
109	* DynamicEntry: An unintended example, but Sona summons Issei by accident during the Gathering, and his fear of being in crowds kick-starts a fight between him and the Maous.
110	* EmbarrassingNickname:
111	** Issei calls Sona "Enabler 2.0", even though she isn't one. She pointedly ignores it.
112	** He still calls Koneko/Shirone "Jaibait", but decides to stop doing so in Shirou's presence, as it makes the latter uncomfortable.
113	* EntertaininglyWrong: Issei assumes that he was summoned deliberately so that Serafall can force him to cosplay for her, because apparently the one he knows did that at least once.
114	* EnragedByIdiocy: After Shirou pulls off a risky rescue in Chapter 8, Issei bitterly sympathizes with Rin Tohsaka's own exasperation with Shirou's antics. Illya promptly suggests that Issei should dress up like Rin, even openly hypothesizing that Serafall has a wig and stockings in her closet.
115	* EveryoneHasStandards:
116	** GAIWP!Issei is an unrepentant pervert and breast fetishist, but unlike his counterpart, he's no peeping Tom and firmly believes that the Perverted Trio should have been expelled long ago for their actions.
117	** When his counterpart asks if Issei's backstory involves him doing something similar to [[Anime/SchoolDays Makoto Iito]], Issei freaks out and vehemently denies this.
118	** Issei also makes it clear that, despite his quirky behavior, he is ''very'' grateful to Shirou for taking him in and is all too happy to get rid of people who are pestering his host.
119	** Neither Issei nor Ddraig are impressed to discover that ADLH!Ddraig tried to get Karasuba to act like an Evil Dragon instead of a Dragon Emperor, which explains why she's so cynical and not as powerful as she could be.
120	* ExplainExplainOhCrap: When asked about the Irina from his world, Issei starts talking about "him", then slowly realizes that Irina was a girl all along. He calmly excuses himself from the room, then unleashes [[ClusterFBomb a torrent of swears]] at this realization.
121	* {{Fanboy}}: A more subdued one, but Issei asks for Shirou's autograph after confirming his identity, and declares him to be one of the most well-developed protagonists of the Type-Moon franchise.
122	* FluffyTheTerrible: Miss Peanut Wigglebutt, Asia's familiar, is a massive, vicious, nine-headed, rum ham-stealing hydra.
123	* {{Foil}}: Issei to Karasuba. Both are dragon emperors with mental issues that make them difficult to be around, both are very blunt and sharp-tongued, and both are devoted to their parents. However, Issei was provided with multiple teachers, has a sane Ddraig, and prefers to mope about his rotten luck while giving the many people whom have the means and the willingness to help him the cold shoulder (though it should be noted that some of those trying to help him are also desiring to utilize him and have not been forthright with him such as Ajuka and Sirzechs); Kara had only ''one'' teacher (albeit an ungodly powerful one), her Ddraig is batshit insane and keeps trying to dominate her, and yet she tries to take the initiative and confront her problems head-on while also being utterly (and openly) devoted to the very small number of people (her parents) who tried to help her. This also extends to when they get into an argument: Issei tellingly does not refute any criticism leveled towards him, preferring to change the subject or say clichéd lines; Kara is actually willing to answer any claims made against her before firing back, and prefers to stay on-topic.
124	* FoodAsBribe: [[spoiler:After Shirou manages to enrage Ophis by dissolving UBW before she was done relaxing in it ''and'' getting her hopes up by showing her Excalibur, she demands that he make it up to her for her now greatly increased homesickness. He sheepishly offers to take her to the nearest (intact) kitchen and whip up a meal for her, but Serafall intervenes before she can respond.]]
125	* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: Issei and Karasuba invoke this trope towards one another, with Issei regarding Kara as a cowardly "murder hobo" who can't get her story straight; while Kara regards Issei as a pretentious, cowardly, unmotivated hypocrite who takes his remarkably comfortable situation and the people who want to help him (of which there are many--far more than those whom were willing to help ''her'') for granted. The issue gets more heated in Chapter 10, with Issei once again refusing to show her any sympathy even after getting more details about her backstory, all while being a ''massive'' hypocrite the entire time. Shirou calls him out on it, and Issei simply redirects the subject and continues to insult her. Sona lampshades this in the next chapter, pointing out how Issei holds others to a higher standard than ''he'' is willing to live, and thus, his criticisms toward Shirou are meaningless.
126	* FromBadToWorse: A character example, in that Karasuba finds this new Issei to be ''worse'' than the one she knows, largely because he ''has'' the power to improve his lot in life ''and'' said lot is pretty damned good already, but he just sits on his ass watching porn while bemoaning how shitty his life supposedly is, just like her brother.
127	* GodzillaThreshold: The Maous are so strong, smart, and creative that Issei very nearly summons Ghost to deal with them.
128	* GracefulLoser:
129	** Karasuba takes her loss to Issei, and her subsequently being stuffed in a box, in stride, declaring that her combat instructor did that all the time.
130	** Vali reacts pretty much the same way, even chatting a bit with Issei after the latter realizes he can't stuff Vali into a box and mail him anywhere.
131	* HatesBeingTouched: Issei doesn't like physical contact. The fact that Shirou can touch him without setting him off is enough for Issei to decide that he is trustworthy.
132	* HiddenDepths: When Serafall declares that things have changed drastically since Shirou's arrival (in a good way), Issei looks a little hurt for an instant. He also, despite occasional acts of trolling, does consider Shirou a friend and doesn't want to upset him.
133	* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Issei concludes that Karasuba flip-flops between being a psychopath and a sociopath. She is, in fact, neither of these things and Shirou is quick to point this out. Not that it prevents him from continuing to drop bricks on her.
134	* {{Hypocrite}}: Issei insults Serafall for having a "shoot first, ask questions later" mindset, but her actions were triggered by his own knee-jerk reaction to being in a crowded arena, and even then, ''he'' chose to escalate the situation when the Maous tried to be diplomatic and get him to back down. She even calls him out on this.
135	** He later dubs Karasuba a coward for trying to get herself killed just to get rid of Ddraig. [[ShutUpHannibal Kara is having none of it.]] After refuting his claims, she bluntly states that he's in no position to call someone a coward, since he prefers to sit on his ass, watch porn, and wallow in self-pity rather than even ''try'' to do something about his problems, despite being capable of doing so, ''and'' being much more well-off than his behavior would suggest. He responds by pettily claiming that none of her supposed accomplishments were really made by her, but this rings hollow, too, as he had multiple people from various factions to help him along the way--and, as Kara later points out, would ''gladly'' try to help him with his current problems if he would just ''let'' them, but he doesn't and treats them shabbily. [[NotHelpingYourCase Oh, and he doesn't even bother to refute any of her accusations,]] which further proves her point.
136	** In Chapter 10, Issei labels Karasuba as one for being a judgmental bully who refuses to apologize for treating others like trash while hiding behind her FreudianExcuse to justify her mean-spirited behavior. The irony isn't lost on Shirou, who calls Issei out on this, with Issei making no attempt to deny it while still hurling verbal refuse at Karasuba and those whom he holds responsible for enabling her behavior (including Shirou himself). The argument ends badly, with Shirou punching Issei in the face for pushing his buttons and Issei walking off, the issue unresolved and Issei having once again diverted the subject to evade being forced to address the bare fact that he has no business judging Kara for things ''he'' does just as often for the same reasons.
137	* HypocriteHasAPoint: Issei really has no business judging Karasuba's behavior, but he's not wrong that her many, ''many'' issues need to be addressed. This is [[DownplayedTrope dampened somewhat]] by his being called out on his hypocrisy and simply refusing to address it.
138	* {{Irony}}: Karasuba's Familiar, a shoebill chick named Yume, was bullied and nearly starved to death by her older sibling. Kara took pity on the creature and took her in. This isn't lost on Issei or Shirou, both of whom figure it's best not to discuss it.
139	* IChooseToStay: [[AvertedTrope Averted.]] Issei internally notes that the [=ADLH=] world has its pros--such as no Carnelian Bael and being inhabited by people who are smart and strong enough to deal with their own problems rather than constantly ask him for help--but he also feels that he can't abandon his mother nor his remaining supporters.
140	* INeedAFreakingDrink: Given the situation they find themselves in, Shirou and Issei are ''not'' going to want to stay sober. Issei outright declares this at the end of Chapter 3, giving the story its title, and that image at the top confirms that they're going to get habitually wasted in the future.
141	** Come the next chapter, and they do get drinks, courtesy of Asia. They all get drunk and shoot the breeze until they pass out.
142	* InSpiteOfANail: Karasuba still kills Heracles by crushing his skull.
143	* JerkassHasAPoint: Karasuba starts a heated argument with Issei against Shirou's explicit instructions. When Shirou angrily confronts her about it after sending Issei away, she stands her ground and refutes every argument he makes in Issei's defense: to Shirou's claim that Issei isn't a jerk, Kara responds that Issei is nice to ''him'', but is a complete prick to everyone else unless they just go along with everything he says or can kick his ass; when Shirou points out that Kara had people to help her get through tragic events, Kara says that Issei had even more people to support him than she did (including a ''sane'' Ddraig), but he utterly refuses to show them gratitude and acts like his lot in life is worse than it really is; she finishes up by declaring that Issei has to ''want'' to get better, and his behavior suggests that he doesn't. Shirou can't refute her words.
144	* JerkassToOne: [[InvertedTrope Inverted.]] Issei is abrasive and snarky to everybody, but he's slightly more civil to Shirou, calling him by name rather than a mocking nickname and asking for an autograph after confirming his identity.
145	* ManipulativeBastard: ADLH!Ddraig convinced Karasuba that Dragon Emperors are supposed to be nihilistic, anti-social destroyers in order to isolate, and therefore have more control over, her. Issei bluntly declares that such behavior is reserved for ''Evil Dragons''.
146	* MoodWhiplash: [[spoiler:Shirou pulls Ophis into his Reality Marble in the hopes of getting her to back down with an endless supply of anti-dragon weapons. Instead, Ophis is overjoyed because, being "unlimited", the realm feels almost exactly like the Dimensional Gap she was evicted from, thus allowing her to relax for the first time in millenia. She even throws a childish tantrum when he dissolves it.]]
147	* MookChivalry: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] when Issei fights the Maous. They come at him all at once and do ''not'' let up, working to box him in. This actually poses a problem for Issei as his fighting style emphasizes maneuverability.
148	* MythologyGag: Like in Third Fang's original story, Issei uses a pre-recorded reading of the Bible by Gabriel to incapacitate Diodora Astaroth. Ironically, he did this to ''prevent'' the stupid little shit from getting chopped to pieces by Shirou.
149	* NeverMyFault: Tossed both ways by Issei and Serafall. Issei claims that Serafall started the fight at the arena; Serafall fires back that Issei flaring his Presence posed a threat to her sister's safety; Issei says that he already warned her about his aversion to crowded areas, but his summoning to the arena was ''not'' intentional, his reaction to this occurrence was knee-jerk, and he immediately acted hostile towards the Maous for reasons he refused to elaborate upon, which comes off as even worse here since three of them didn't even know who he was and actually tried to talk things out with him. Shirou gently elaborates on Serafall's mindset (and confirms that she didn't summon Issei) in the following chapter, and Issei drops the subject.
150	** When the incident is brought up in Chapter 7, Serafall lays the blame for it squarely on Issei--and quickly adds that he's got no business trying to throw the blame around, as it was ''his'' impulsive action in response to a confirmed accident that forced the Maous. Issei actually shuts up and, again, changes the subject.
151	* NoNonsenseNemesis: When Ophis shows up, she wastes little time establishing her dominance over Issei, gives him only the barest of chances to explain himself, and is just about to finish him off when Shirou arrives and bails him out.
152	* NoSell:
153	** Shirou, like in [=ADLH=] proper, is immune to everything holy. As shown in Chapter 12, this includes Issei's phone trick, much to the latter's surprise.
154	** Shirou uses at least ''three'' Noble Phantasms against [[spoiler:Ophis]], including Excalibur, and they don't inflict any damage whatsoever.
155	* NoSympathy: Issei and Karasuba are thoroughly unsympathetic towards one another, and their shameless willingness to engage in heated verbal spars nearly leads to violence in Chapter 7. Even after getting more details about Kara's backstory, Issei is still unsympathetic and insulting towards her, leading to a very heated argument with an exasperated Shirou in Chapter 10.
156	* NotSoStoic:
157	** Pushing Issei's TraumaButton will cause him to openly panic. He also screams and hides behind a sofa at the sight of Asia.
158	** Shirou's Pawns are normally emotionless, to the point of which Issei wonders aloud what could break them. Shirou calmly reveals that comparing them to the Ninja Turtles would do the trick, much to Issei's amusement.
159	* OhCrap:
160	** Issei freaks out when he finds himself surrounded by an arena audience. He gets another one when he realizes that the Maous are tougher than he expected, and then he totally flips out when he sees Asia.
161	** Sona is horrified when she comes face-to-face with Karasuba, inadvertently summoning Issei as a result.
162	** Shirou becomes genuinely afraid when he realizes he'll have to carry Karasuba to her parents' house after her mother invites him over for dinner.
163	** Shirou gets another one when Issei compares Xenovia to a ''Monty Python'' character, though mercifully she doesn't get the reference. He still viciously swears to make Issei pay dearly for it, to which Issei simply chuckles.
164	** Issei is horrified when Xenovia reveals that Shirou gave her Clarent. He keeps it together outwardly, but the expressions he and Shirou exchange make it clear that he is frightened ''and'' angry.
165	** Issei becomes absolutely terrified when he comes face-to-face with Ophis, one of the few beings who can overpower him. He gets another one when she announces her intent to kill him.
166	** Issei has another one when he realizes that Irina is a girl. And his voice rises in pitch when she introduces him to [[spoiler:Fou]].
167	* OneManArmy: Issei manages to hold off all four Maous working together. They ultimately manage to box him in, however, and make him decide to unleash Ghost, though Shirou puts a stop to that.
168	* OnlyFriend: As of Chapter 3's ending, Issei seems to trust Shirou enough to want him around. He even grabs Shirou's wrist when the latter attempts to leave the room they are in, silently indicating that he needs Shirou close to him right now. He later calls Shirou a "bro", further signifying his high opinion of the guy.
169	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness:
170	** Issei is astonished to learn that ADLH!Sona was convinced to wear a tracksuit and go through physical training under Shirou, as the one back in his world would never do that. Judging by his expression, Shirou quickly deduces that Issei intends to change that once he is sent home.
171	** Shirou, likely due to being drunk, finally begins to lose his patience with Issei in Chapter 11--''not'' because he finds Issei's behavior annoying (he does, but he can tolerate it because Issei makes a point to treat him civilly), but because his new friend simply refuses to help himself because he thinks he doesn't ''deserve'' it. He very bluntly states that Issei ''does'' have people whom are willing to help him, despite everything, and that he needs to stop cursing his own existence and ''let'' others give him what he needs.
172	** ADLH Issei quickly deduces that something horrible happened to his counterpart based on the simple fact that despite being just as perverted as him, said counterpart hasn't so much as uttered a word about harems.
173	* OtherMeAnnoysMe: Zigzagged with Issei regarding his ADLH counterpart. Despite expressing reluctance to interact with him, once he does the two bond over their shared love of harems and porn. He even expresses sympathy with said counterpart having to grow up with [[AxCrazy Karasuba]] as a sister, and teaches him several ways to use Twice Critical more effectively. That said, he's greatly annoyed by his counterparts [[OpenMouthInsertFoot tendency to say the worst thing]], as well as his general lack of common sense. Also has shades of IHatePastMe given how long it's been since his teachers knocked those traits out of him.
174	* PetTheDog:
175	** When Issei learns that Kiba is trying to learn about porn, he disposes of the "amateur" material loaned to the Knight by his counterpart and decides to oversee his porn education personally, without prompting.
176	** Despite not being very fond of Issei, Sona gives him some sound advice about dealing with his issues, even using herself as an example.
177	** Despite expressing reluctance to so much as interact with his counterpart, Issei gives his counterpart plenty of tips on how to improve and is quite patient while explaining the mechanics behind them.
178	* PintSizedPowerhouse: Ophis is an adorable little lolita... and an unstoppable monster who can crush Issei like a tin can with ''one finger''.
179	* PoorCommunicationKills: What led to the poor relationship of ADLH!Issei and Karasuba, according to Irina. After Ddraig's episode cost their father an arm, Karasuba wanted to make sure her brother was strong enough to stop her if that ever happened again, and so decided to push him into improving himself. Unfortunately, said methods boiled down to fiercely competing with him in ''anything'' he took an interest in, killing his enjoyment, and thus motivation to continue. This culminated in her beating him up in frustration, and her current apathy towards him; while cementing his belief that his sister just enjoys bullying him, porn being the one escape he had.
180	* PopCulturalOsmosisFailure: When Issei calls Gasper "Dio", nobody gets the reference. Confused, Issei checks the internet, and is horrified to discover that the ''[=JoJo=]'' manga doesn't exist in the [=ADLH=] world.
181	* PhysicalGod: Ophis, the Ouroboros Dragon. Even Issei can't stand up to her.
182	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The Maous do try to talk a hopping mad Issei down before things get nasty. Even in the midst of the fight, Sirzechs keeps trying to reason with him.
183	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech:
184	** Deconstructed. Issei and Karasuba give these to one another, but the combination of them being perceptive enough to hone in on one another's flaws and not having much of the context behind why they developed them in the first place means all they do is piss each other off rather than any kind of emotional breakthrough. In each case it causes the situation to rapidly deteriorate into violence.
185	** Sona gives Shirou a polite but firm one in Chapter 11, pointing out that Shirou's main strengths are fighting, training others, cooking, etc.; ''not'' verbal debates. This allowed Issei to get around Shirou's (correct) accusations of hypocrisy and make it look like the Wrought Iron Hero left his counterpart out to dry when, in fact, looking after the other Issei was never Shirou's responsibility in the first place; and even if it was, he has so many other things to deal with that, objectively, are more important.
186	** Issei and GAIWP!Ddraig give one to ADLH!Ddraig in the aftermath of the formers rematch with Karasuba, noting that his sense of pride has no basis given he's been sealed away for millennia, and his greatest achievements during that time have boiled down to torturing whatever poor sap ends up saddled with him. They even point out his insistence on being an AxCrazy lunatic has actually ''hindered'' his current host, despite her immense potential, and left his reputation as something akin to a rabid dog rather than the mighty dragon he once was.
187	* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Lily, Shirou's familiar, looks like a mini-Saber in cute lion pajamas.
188	* SacredHospitality: Issei does not make a good first impression on the Sitris, but they still give him a bedroom (with [=WiFi=]) as an apology for accidentally summoning him.
189	* SanitySlippage: ''Something'' is causing the Dragons to become increasingly feral, with even Ophis beginning to suffer the effects. Issei deduces the cause in Chapter 16, but hasn't offered anymore details yet.
190	* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Issei does, as demonstrated in Chapter 11.
191	* SecurityBlanket: Shirou puts a literal one over Issei's shoulders before escorting him out of the arena.
192	* SentimentalDrunk:
193	** In Chapter 4, Issei becomes more chatty with Shirou and Asia after getting hammered, though Shirou notes this chattiness is better described as ranting. They even manage to get a few laughs out of him, though he doesn't smile while doing so.
194	** The same thing happens again in Chapter 11, though this time Issei talks more about his past.
195	* ShipSinking: Sirzechs is adamant that Issei be kept away from Rias, and Issei has no interest in meeting her, either.
196	* ShoutOut:
197	** Issei dubs Xenovia "Patsy" and [[Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail gives her two halves of a coconut shell]], instructing her to clack them together while walking behind Shirou until he can get an actual mount.
198	** Issei compares Shirou's Pawns to the [[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles Ninja Turtles,]] and laughs when they bitterly inform him that he's not the first one to do so.
199	* ShowWithinAShow: Shirou assumes that Issei watched the show Sera created about him, but Issei reveals that Shirou is a fictional character where he comes from. He even talks about the different routes, much to Shirou's surprise.
200	* ShutUpHannibal:
201	** GAIWP!Ddraig bluntly mocks his counterpart for being an AxCrazy BloodKnight.
202	** Karasuba dismisses one of Issei's typical rants as "bitching", and when he later tries to intimidate her with his Presence after she makes a guess about his past, she concludes that said guess was accurate and tells him to cut the theatrics.
203	* SingleStrokeBattle: Ophis casually defeats Sairaiorg, Regulus, and Xenovia with nothing more than a ''finger poke''.
204	* SmarterThanYouLook:
205	** Asia may be a hard-drinking ditz, but she's pretty sharp. Notably, she can tell when injuries are self-inflicted, thus Diodora Astaroth's attempt to get her excommunicated by healing an injury he inflicted upon himself--and therefore giving him the chance to forcefully add her to his Peerage--didn't work.
206	** Karasuba is an AxCrazy BloodKnight, but even when [[TheBerserker completely enraged]] she retains enough presence of mind to set up a WoundedGazelleGambit, and picks up on the tricks Issei teaches her rather fast.
207	* SmugSnake: Diodora Astaroth is a thoroughly pompous imbecile who tries to bully Shirou, the Queen piece of a ''Maou'' who came within a hair's breadth of killing ''Sirzechs'', into surrendering a member of his Peerage. Issei using his phone trick to incapacitate him is the only thing that prevents Shirou from brutally killing him.
208	* SpannerInTheWorks: Issei very nearly unleashes Ghost during his fight with the Maous, which ends up putting him on Ophis's radar. When he realizes this, cue FacePalm.
209	* StealthExpert: Shirou's Pawns. Issei even admits that, while he can sense their presence, he can't pinpoint their exact location.
210	* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: Sun Wukong has no issues keeping pace with several of Issei's tangents, agreeing with him on the usefulness of stuffing people in boxes and saying "good man" upon hearing the format he used for writing a document full of the ways a single Boost can kill a person.
211	* StupidEvil: Issei and Ddraig's opinion of the latter's ADLH counterpart, noting his insistence on his hosts acting as he does, i.e., an AxCrazy maniac willing to kill anything and anyone who so much as inconveniences him, and eroding their sanity until they comply makes them significantly ''less'' effective than allowing them to develop naturally. They consider Karasuba to have grown as strong as she has ''in spite'' of him rather than because of him.
212	* SupremeChef: Shirou. Even Issei doesn't hesitate to compliment his cooking skills. Ophis is so awed by his cooking skills that she decides to abduct him.
213	* SweetTooth: Ophis likes chocolate. After tasting some homemade chocolates made my Shirou, she decides to kidnap him and make him her personal chef.
214	* ThanksForTheMammaries: In Chapter 4, Shirou passes out after a few rounds of binge-drinking, and wakes up to find Serafall has grabbed one of his hands and placed it on one of her breasts, to his thorough embarrassment. Both Serafall and Issei consider him lucky.
215	* ThisCannotBe:
216	** Issei's reaction to finding out that ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' doesn't exist in the [=ADLH=] world. He freaks out, produces multiple volumes, and demands that they be published.
217	** Issei has a similar reaction to the revelation that, unlike his [=GAIWP=] counterpart, ADLH!Riser Phenex ''doesn't'' refer to himself in [[ThirdPersonPerson third-person.]] He immediately concludes that this world's Riser must be an imposter, and insists that Shirou check for a "sad potato" birthmark.
218	* ThisIsUnforgivable: Issei reacts casually to Miss Peanut Wigglebutt's presence... until she stealthily eats the run ham Shirou was cooking, then the gloves come off.
219	* TitleDrop: Issei says the story's title word-for-word at the end of Chapter 3.
220	* TraumaButton:
221	** Thinking about women's asses causes the scars on Vali's own ass to throb, so he has to suppress his burgeoning ass fetish.
222	** ADLH!Issei shows PTSD symptoms at the mere sight of Angel wings, as shown in Chapter 18.
223	* {{Troll}}:
224	** Serafall pretends to be angry with Shirou after Issei discloses her Queen's sexual exploits in the various routes from the visual novel, and then reveals she knows Shirou never did any of that because she looked through his memories after obtaining his soul.
225	** While Issei is somewhat more polite to Shirou, he still calls Illya a "murder loli" to his face with a thumbs-up and BishieSparkle just to annoy him. He also calls Stheno Sitri a Mall Santa, though he's apparently not the first one to mistake the Sitri patriarch for Santa Claus.
226	* UnfriendlyFire: Karasuba is such a bloodthirsty, mentally damaged sadist that she would be a hindrance to anyone trying to aid her (or is at least on the same side as her) in combat. Issei is asked to fix that problem, since she's now part of a Peerage and needs to learn about teamwork.
227	* UngratefulBastard: Karasuba accuses Issei of being this, as everything he's been willing to say about his life clearly shows that he's got ''a lot'' to be thankful for, but he prefers to mope and act like his life is in the shitter.
228	* TheWorfEffect: Issei holds his own against the Maous and stomps both Karasuba and Vali. And then Ophis shows up and proceeds to wreck him with nothing more than a finger poke.
229	* WorfHadTheFlu: [[PlayingWithATrope Maybe.]] When Issei actually finds himself struggling against the Maous, he concludes that either his powers are easier to counter because he's in a different world; he's gotten rusty after almost half a decade of being a shut-in ''hikikomori''; these Maous are stronger than the ones he knows (they are); or a combination of the three.
230	* WontTakeYesForAnAnswer: Shirou assumes that Issei will be reluctant to get Zekram Bael off his back and has a list of things he's prepared to do in return for Issei doing so. To his surprise, Issei immediately agrees to do it because he considers Shirou a friend ''and'' he hates Zekram's guts, regardless of which version of Zekram it is.
231	* XanatosGambit: Issei deduces that Zekram's placing Shirou in the Rating Games is designed to kill Sona's dream of opening a school for Reincarnates regardless of Shirou's performance: if he loses, it'll be brushed off as not worth the effort; if he wins, he'll be put on a pedestal that few, if any, Reincarnates would be able to reach, so supporting the project would be pointless.
232	* YouCantFightFate: Karasuba believes that Sacred Gear wielders, especially dragon emperors, are destined to be [[CosmicPlaything Cosmic Playthings,]] and deduces that Issei tried to defy this anyway and suffered terribly for it. He gets angry and tries to intimidate her, but she [[ShutUpHannibal simply mocks him.]]
233	* YouDoNotWantToKnow:
234	** Issei mentions having a friend who probably could cross dimensions and take him back to his world, but said person would be an absolute last resort and would likely make things worse. He refuses to elaborate further, insisting that Shirou is better off not knowing anymore than that.
235	** Later, when introduced to Lily, Issei references ''Anime/CarnivalPhantasm'', and when Shirou asks for details, Issei responds with this trope.

Context Fanfic / ImTooSoberForThis