Rejected Apology / Fan Work

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Rejected Apologies in Fan Works.

• All For Luz:
  • When girl called Natasha tries to say sorry to Luz for not defending her from her bullies out of peer pressure when they tried to be friends back in middle school, Luz rejects it, saying an apology from her is not wanted or needed.
  • When her cousin Riley tries to apologise for trying to kill her on the Wittebanes' orders as she was about to surrender to the cops peacefully and explain why she did, Luz is having none of it. She blames Riley for the carnage that transpired today that arose from that betrayal, including her mother's murder, steals her Quirk and proceeds to kill her with it.
    Riley: Luz... I... I know y-you're probably very, very mad at me... but you have to understand that I w-wasn’t given a choice...
    Luz: Shut up. This is your fault... all of this. Everything that happened today... It was all on you. So do me a favour, and die.
• Black or White: When Riddle attempts to apologize to Yuu for how he'd nearly killed her in his overblot, she turns him down, reasoning that she's not the one he should be apologizing to. She also suspects that he's only apologizing out of a sense of obligation, not because he wants to. That said, Riddle took her response with his initial attempt to apologize to heart that when he tried to again two days after his initial attempt, Riddle coming to see her on his own accord along with an apology tart (albeit one that is made with oyster sauce) has Yuu accepting his second try to apologize, as Riddle's actions show that he genuinely wants to make amends with her.
• Bring Me To Life: Following a rather vicious argument, Buffy tries apologizing to Faith. Part of the reason why Faith rejects it is because Buffy herself admits that part of her didn't even want to apologize and that Angel talked her into trying.
• In God is Cruel👁 Image
  , Oliver uses Laurel as bait for Slade without her knowledge. Slade uses the setup to stab Laurel in the stomach, nearly killing her. A horrified Oliver tries to apologize to Dean, Laurel's husband, who will have none of it.
  Oliver: I'm sorry.
  Dean: [mockingly] You're sorry? You're sorry? You think that's enough? You think that's anywhere close to being enough? Sorry isn't going to save her life. Sorry isn't going to fix everything you've broken.
• Charles Manson vs the Teletubbies:
  Shin Charles Manson was breathing heavily now, the fight had clearly taken a lot out of him so the Teletubbies decided to end this now.
  "Wait, please don't kill me" pleaded Shin Charles Manson.
  He then reached into his pocket and pulled out the tubby custard that he stole.
  "You can have this back, just please let me go"
  Tinky Winky then stepped forward and said "you forfeited your right to live the very second you disrespected the sacred tubby custard." The other 3 Teletubbies nodded their heads in agreement.
  The Teletubbies then took their weapons and combined them into one mega weapon. They aimed it at Shin Charles Manson's stupid face.
  "TELETUBBY LAZER STRIKE" yelled the Teletubbies before a pink and blue beam exited from their weapon and set its sights on Shin Charles Manson.
  The laser hit Charles in the chest and created a huge fiery explosion with him at the very center of it all. Charles screamed in terror as his body was burned to a crisp and he turned to ashes.
  The tubby custard was still fine because tubby custard is the purest substance in Teletubby land and cannot be destroyed, only consumed.
  The Teletubbies then walked over to Charles burnt corpse and picked up their tubby custard from the flames.
  They then resumed eating their tasty snack knowing that all was right in Teletubby land once again.
• Icefected: Johnny shuts down all of Hugh's attempts at apologizing, mostly due to thinking he only pretends to care because he has to.
• Infinity Train: Branching Paths:
  • In Parker II, Parker refuses to accept that Yeardley's apology for how he bullied Chloe is sincere; after all, if he was capable of remorse, why would he have bullied her in the first place? UnChloe gets him to reconsider by asking Parker whether he'd regret it if his attempt to get revenge accidentally killed Yeardley, helping him recognize that it's fully possible for somebody to regret causing others unintended harm.
  • Downplayed during Ash V: While Ash never outright rejects Parker's apologies, he realizes that his volatile temper and the toxic environment that Vermillion has become convince him to leave the city.
• A rather common occurrence in The Night Unfurls.
  • During the Feoh/Ur Arc, Alicia surrendered to the Black Dogs and their army, allowing them to take over the fortresses. Among the victims are a number of nuns, including Lily. When the two meet in Chapter 9 and Alicia apologises for her actions, she receives a slap in the face from Lily, saying that she will never forgive Alicia for leaving her sisters to their fates.
  • Before that, she also apologised to Prim for the same thing, because those nuns were Prim's friends. This leads to a downplayed example where Prim patiently states that there is nothing to forgive, though she acknowledges that the Black Dogs have pressured her cousin to surrender.
  • Prior to the story, Olga sacrificed a city to the orcs to recruit them and augment her forces to fight Celestine, leading to Grace losing her home and husband. While Olga tries to make amends with Grace at the end of Chapter 20, Grace explicitly states that if she were Sir Kyril, she would not hesitate to kill her, and hopes that he would do the same if he knew what happened.
• Princess Tales: Near the end of "Massage of Friendship," Ariel demands an apology from Alonso for making her feel uncomfortable (he grinned while staring at her feet, said they were nice and lovely, and said it was an honor to be massaging them) while he was massaging her feet. He sincerely apologizes and asks for forgiveness. She simply glares at him before turning away.
• Raise Your Voice Against Liars:
  • When Lila publicly apologizes to Marinette, she calls her out on trying to ruin her life out of pettiness and spite, declaring that she will never forgive her.
  • She then rejects her classmates, asking whether they actually mean it or just want everything to go back to how it was. She points out how easily they could have debunked Lila's claims by simply looking into them; instead, they turned against her. If they want to be friends again, they'll have to rebuild their relationships over time, rather than expecting a few hollow words to magically fix everything.
  • She similarly rejects Adrien's apology, calling him out for claiming he was going to support her, only to turn a blind eye to everything that was happening.
• Screw the Rules, I have Escalation!: Taylor rejects Principal Blackwell's attempt to apologize for the "locker incident", giving him a "The Reason You Suck" Speech that spells out why he doesn't deserve her forgiveness.
• Spiders and Magic: Rise of Spider-Mane: Princess Celestia attempts to offer an olive branch to The Dazzlings; however, as she's apologizing for attempting a genocidal purge of their entire race, they reject her efforts.

Arrowverse

• In Echoes of the past👁 Image
  , Oliver tries to apologize to Laurel for his terrible treatment of her. However, she cuts him off and tells him that if he needed to be told how much he hurt her and is going to continue to treat her terribly, he shouldn't bother. So he doesn't apologize, which really wasn't what she wanted to happen. Later she repeats this to him, and he does apologize. But by that point, it's too late.
• moral of the story (Nyame): After being resurrected, Laurel rejects Oliver's attempts to make amends, as he not only caused her to commit suicide but also caused her to lose her sister again, as her death caused Sara to sell herself back to the League of Assassins just for the opportunity to use the Lazarus Pit to bring Laurel back to life. Instead, she opts to throw him out of her life permanently and leave Starling altogether to start afresh in Gotham.
• What it Takes:
  • At the end of the story, Quentin tries to apologize for his actions to Laurel. Seeing as these actions include outing her as the Black Canary, hunting her down with his officers, and issuing a shoot-on-sight order on her in order to please an international terrorist (whom Laurel, Oliver, and even Sara told him not to trust), in addition to the years of emotional abuse and heartbreak he's already put her through, she understandably does not accept his apology, and cuts him out of her life for good.
  • Subverted with Oliver and Laurel. While Laurel does accept his apology for his previous bad treatment of her, she doesn't accept his apology for leaving, because she doesn't begrudge him for taking his chance at a relationship with Felicity (who everyone, even him, thought he was in love with at the time) and because he probably did need the break after everything that happened the past year.

Avatar: The Last Airbender

• Towards the Sun: After the Agni Kai and ousting Zuko from the position of Fire Lord, Iroh gets on his knees and begs for Zuko's forgiveness. Zuko doesn't remotely forgive Iroh for undermining him, undoing his efforts as Fire Lord, and making him relive his worst trauma. He doesn't even think that Iroh is being sincere.

Codename: Kids Next Door

• Cold Reception: Abby reveals to Nigel that after she was "decommissioned", Cree tried to reach out to her and reconcile their relationship. It didn't work, as Abby could never be certain whether or not her sister was sincerely sorry for everything she did or just saw her chance to have a relationship with Abby again now that she had "forgotten" all the terrible things Cree had done.

Danganronpa

• Blackened Skies: After Kaede's plan to draw out the culprit during the first trial nearly causes the group to falsely convict Tsumugi instead, the seamstress is naturally among those who reject her apology. Kaede tries to make amends, hoping to mend fences quickly, only for Tsumugi to call her out on it, pointing out that she's not giving her time to process what happened, and the pushiness isn't helping her case any.
• Danganronpa: Losers Reunion:
  • During the third trial, it's revealed that Gundam accidentally killed Kiyotaka while attempting to assassinate Celeste. After the trial is resolved, Gundam attempts to apologize to Mondo, who makes clear he's not interested in hearing it:
    Gundam: Words cannot describe my failure...
    Mondo: [turning away] Keep them to yourself then.
  • After the third trial, Sayaka confesses to Tenko that she'd considered smothering her in her sleep during a Moment of Weakness. Her tearful apologies don't stop Tenko from regarding her with utter horror, then excusing herself without saying another word or even looking back at Sayaka.
• Danganronpa 2/3 Redux: Return Unto Death: One of the motives Monokuma reveals in Chapter 3 involves a False Rape Accusation against Kazuichi's father. When the participant involved in this incident attempts to apologize to the other student involved, they reject it entirely.
• Picture Perfect!: After learning too late that their actions were All for Nothing, the second culprit attempts to apologize to several other students whom they'd personally betrayed with their actions. The first refuses to dignify their apology with a response; the other three shut them down, one by one.
• In Where Talent Goes to Die, when Kaori Miura, the protagonist, is being considered for admission to Talent High School (a school very similar to Hope's Peak Academy), she's pitted against Shiro Kurogane, the Ultimate Shogi Player in a shogi match and, thanks to her talent, defeats him despite never having played before. Kurogane is quite bitter about the humiliation he suffered and refuses to accept Miura's apology when they're trapped in the school together. This results in Kurogane being murdered, and his killer trying to frame Miura for his death. Averted in Kurogane's Free Time Events, though, in which he does eventually accept Miura's apology, and admit that he's been unfair to her.
• In Where Talent Goes on Vacation, Chiyuri Nagato and Yuichi Asakura had never gotten along, since Asakura hates Nagato for getting the same title as him, but Nagato mostly keeps her disdain for Asakura to herself. However, in Chapter V, after Asakura insults Nagato's dead best friend Akira Azuki, Nagato loses her temper and punches Asakura, leading to a fistfight. Nagato is overwhelmed with remorse when she comes to her senses, and on her mother's request, writes an apology letter to Asakura. Asakura takes Nagato's letter and proceeds to burn it. The surviving classmates' sympathies lie with Nagato, both because Nagato is more popular than the universally disliked Asakura, and because Nagato was the only one who tried to make amends after the fight.

Danny Phantom

• Phantom Pains: In "Bullies Turned Buddies," the A-listers sincerely apologize to Jermaine for their bullying of him. Jermaine doesn't accept the apology because of how severe said bullying was.

The Fairly OddParents!

• Hybridized!👁 Image
  : Even after 20 odd years have past, Brandy refuses to forgive his birth parents for being emotionally neglected of him. Chapter 18 proves it when his birth father visits him and tries to reconcile, but Brandy made it abundantly clear he had his chance and he blew it.

Fire Emblem

• In Corrin in Peril, Corrin ends up being captured and enslaved by her Nohrian siblings and their retainers, who have become cartoonishly evil in this fic. When Corrin talks back to Charlotte, she summons Leo, Odin and Laslow, who proceed to beat Corrin up after she tries to apologize, with Leo saying "SORRY DOESN'T CUT IT!" At the end of the fic, when Corrin's Hoshidan siblings come to her rescue, Laslow, who is at Ryoma's mercy, tries to apologize, only for Ryoma to tell him, "Sorry doesn't cut it, scum!" Ryoma stabs Laslow with Raijinto and Takumi finishes him off.

Fullmetal Alchemist

• In Phylactery, Greed refuses to forgive Envy for an incident hundreds of years ago where Envy accidentally killed one of Greed's friends while disguised as Greed. Greed took Envy's theft of one of his "possessions" really hard, and Envy, who'd previously looked up to Greed, masked his confusion and hurt at being rejected with anger and scorn; it's the reason behind their constant fighting. Justified, since Envy never sincerely apologized or even felt bad for stabbing Greed's friend. He just expected to be forgiven. Because a stupid human couldn't really be that important to Greed,could she?

Girls und Panzer

• In Girls und Panzer - International War Games👁 Image
  , Hisao visits his son Kenji, the main Original Character, trying to get Kenji to stop blaming himself for a past incident (presumably when Kenji accidentally killed his sister). Hisao admits that he was too hard on Kenji, something that also applies to Kenji's older brother, but Kenji doesn't believe it. Unusually for this trope, Hisao turns far less conciliatory and calls Kenji out on not accepting his apology.

Harry Potter

• In Brutal Harry👁 Image
  , Dumbledore tries to apologize to Harry for leaving him with the Dursleys and Harry won't hear any of it, as the subsequent abuse he underwent at their hands goes beyond anything that could be forgiven within reason. Moreover, Harry also calls out Dumbledore on being a hypocrite for apologizing for the abuse Harry went through, yet still enabling the exact same environment to occur in Hogwarts via turning a blind eye to the bullying problems and corrupt staff plaguing the school. The sequel, Hero Harry, reveals that Harry still hasn't forgiven the man and likely never will.
• A Cadmean Victory: Harry does this twice, rejecting Ron's attempt to apologize for turning his back on him when he mistakenly believed that Harry had put his name in the Goblet of Fire, and Hermoine's apology for accidentally breaking his wand.
• In Meridian Sinister, Ophelia rejects Armand's attempt to apologize for something that happened during their school years. It's eventually revealed that she wasn't the one he needed to apologize to.
• The Peace Not Promised: After Snape proves his loyalty and commitment to the cause, James and Remus attempt to reconcile their differences, only to find that Snape's not interested. The only reason he treats them with anything resembling civility is due to Lily's influence.
• you've got the antidote for me: Draco tries to make amends with Harry for his actions before and during the war. Harry quickly rejects him and tells him he wants nothing to do with him.

Hellaverse

• Maybe Then He'll Chill Again👁 Image
  : Vox refused to accept Velvette and Valentino's apology for making him stay at the Hazbin Hotel in lieu of therapy and turning his experience into a documentary series focusing on his "redemption and recovery" as part of their plan to help him regain his reputation and status. In fact, he's so mad at them, he decides to redeem himself for real so he can get into Heaven and not deal with them anymore.
• In Saving Blitzo, nobody accepts Stella's attempts to apologize for their past misdeeds. Least of all those who bore the brunt of their actions, namely Stolas and Octavia.

Hetalia: Axis Powers

• Happens twice in What a Way to Fall👁 Image
  (itself a a fan-written sequel to the infamous Financial Crisis Gangbang). First is when North Italy tries to apologize to America and Canada for his involvement in the incident^note Canada shoots it down because he feels N. Italy has no right to apologize when the latter was being an Extreme Doormat. Second is when England tries to kidnap the new America personification with the intention of turning the little girl into a Replacement Goldfish^note given England not only participated in the gang rape and refused to believe he did anything wrong until America's suicide and then had the nerve to accuse Canada of being an unfit caretaker without any evidence, it's hard to fault Canada for rejecting this apology. The chapter is even titled "Sorry Is Not Good Enough".
  • Another fan-written sequel to the Financial Crisis Gangbang (from the same author) is Parting Sentiments👁 Image
    , where England tries to apologize to America years after the rape, only to be harshly rejected as America gives him a thorough "The Reason You Suck" Speech and making it clear that he will never forgive or trust England (or any of his other attackers) again for what he did.

The Loud House

• In Losing Him, Lincoln rejects his family's attempt to apologize for kicking him out of the house and selling his things, as their casual cruelty wound up getting him shot.
• A Night To Forget: After Luna, Luan, Lynn, and Lucy all arrange four different dates for their brother to take to the Sadie Hawkins dance, they guilt-trip him into trying to juggle all four without anyone finding out. When this completely ruins the night and his reputation, with all of the girls and Ronnie Anne convinced he was stringing them all along, Lincoln angrily rejects Luna's attempt to apologize. It doesn't help that Lynn pushed him past his Rage Breaking Point by accusing him of bailing when he first got home, failing to notice that he'd been beaten to heck and back.
• No Such Luck, No Such Love:
  • When Luna first attempts to apologize to Lincoln, he's still too angry to acknowledge her remorse, let alone accept her apology.
  • When Lynn finally apologizes to Lincoln about blaming him for her loss, she unintentionally makes clear that she doesn't really get what the problem was. Lincoln slaps her face in order to make a point about how saying "I'm sorry" doesn't magically erase the hurt.
  • Discussed when Luna gets a drawing tablet for Lincoln, as she's worried that he'll see the gift as an attempt to bribe him into forgiving her. To this end, she tries to figure out a way to give it to him without triggering an automatic rejection.
• Syngenesophobia: Considering the severity of the sisters' crimes, this trope comes about.
  • Played With; when the sisters visited Lincoln in Chapter 8 to apologize, Lincoln reacted with fear than actual anger. Earlier, this was Discussed earlier about what if Lincoln refuses to forgive them.
  • This is Downplayed in Chapter 38, despite Becky and Mandee acknowledging Leni's remorse. Leni still sent Lincoln to the hospital, and neither of the two wishes to hang out with her. They would only forgive Leni if Lincoln forgives her, however, Leni doesn't know if Lincoln wants to forgive.
• What is a Person Worth?:
  • Downplayed, Lincoln points out to Lucy that considering everything she and the rest of the family put him through since the whole bad luck fiasco started, a mere "sorry" isn't good enough. To specify, he refuses to just hand over his family forgiveness on a silver platter and wants to have them earn his forgiveness, and must be to his satisfaction, not theirs. Chapter 10 reveals he's forgiving Lana and in Chapter 16, he finally forgives Leni, Luna, and Luan. Chapter 19 sees Lori making progress and as of Chapter 20, both the Loud parents have made big strides, though Rita's first steps were in chapter 18.
  • Lynn's nightmare in Chapter 15 plays this to an extreme where she's the only person Lincoln will never forgive. She takes it badly, even after she realizes it was just a bad dream. And despite standing up for Lincoln in Chapter 22 when Ronnie believes Lincoln's cheating on her, Lynn seems to fully believe Lincoln's never going to forgive her.

Love Hina

• Entering The Love Hina World: After Tsuruko forces Motoko to have a Jerkass Realization about how she treated Keitaro and Anthony, Motoko attempts to apologize, only for them to assume that she was ordered to do so by her sister. Once they learn she's sincere, the boys make clear that while they might forgive her for how she hurt them, they can't forgive the way she's treated others, while Faye simply rejects her efforts outright and declares that everything she's done is completely unforgivable.
• For His Own Sake:
  • At the beginning, Keitaro refuses to accept any of the apologies from the Hinata Inn girls who actually have the decency to feel bad for the way they treated him. This is shown to be more than justified, as he knows if he accepts any of their apologies right away they won't actually do anything to change their behavior. When Shinobu, Kitsune, and later Motoko all make the effort to show they've learned why their past behavior was wrong, Keitaro does accept their apologies.
  • After overhearing a man playfully teasing his wife over being bad at fighting games, Naru assumes the worst and promptly assaults him. Though she's forced to apologize, this doesn't stop the couple from pressing charges, which gets her expelled from Tokyo University. When Naru protests, the wife makes clear that she'd never accepted her apology; after all, not only was Naru forced to make it, she clearly still believes she was justified and keeps Blaming the Victim.

Miraculous Ladybug

• Commonly seen in post-"Chameleon" Salt Fics, such as this unnamed piece👁 Image
  by ChaoticNeutral. Having had her warnings brushed off and dismissed, Marinette is unwilling to accept an apology that rings hollow — much less one that her classmates clearly expect her to accept, no questions asked, and without any of them evaluating how they behaved.
• BURN THE WITCH:
  • Lila expects a few Crocodile Tears and a flimsy excuse will be enough to sway the soft-hearted Rose, even after she was akumatized into Witch Hunter.
  • Downplayed with Adrien, who during the course of the story has a Jerkass Realization about how badly he let his friends down by failing to warn anyone about Lila. Unlike Lila, he accepts that a simple apology won't be enough and he'll have to put in work to make amends. His classmates decide this is acceptable and leave the exact conditions up to Rose, since she suffered the most from Lila's manipulations.
• Burning Bridges, Building Confidence: After Nino approaches Marinette and her Girl Posse to apologize, they hear him out, even offering advice on how to handle breaking up with Alya; however, they also make clear that he hasn't been fully forgiven, and that they're watching and waiting to see whether or not he's actually learned anything and is going to make any effort to change before they start truly forgiving him.
• Couturiere: After recovering from being transformed into the titular akuma, Marinette takes a box of éclairs to Lila's place as an attempt to apologize for what she put her through. Lila stomps the box flat before slamming the door in her face.
• Exposed: During The Surrender, Gabriel asks Nooroo and Duusu if his Wish had ever been achievable in the first place. After Nooroo confirms that it never would have worked out, as Emilie would have been changed, Gabriel thanks them and apologizes. Frustrated by the knowledge that everything could've been avoided if Gabriel had thought to ask before starting his reign of terror, Nooroo responds harshly:
  Gabriel: Thank you. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry.
  Nooroo: [with his teeth bared] It means less than nothing.
• In Hollow Wedding: Reactions and Aftermath, Alya has a delayed Jerkass Realization over how she'd let her shipping agenda blind her to all of Adrien's faults and issues, to the point that she'd been pushing Marinette to object at his wedding. Marinette refuses to immediately forgive her, noting that her "bestie" has a bad habit of ignoring her boundaries.
• How about... No!: After finally realizing that Lila was a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing, Alya and the rest of the class attempt to reconcile with Marinette by rearranging the seating order back to how it was before Lila used her "tinnitus" to manipulate them into pushing Marinette to the back. Marinette's unimpressed, especially since none of them asked what they wanted and Alya is trying to pin all the blame on Lila. Marinette and the others return to the back while making clear to the others that they're uninterested in Crossing the Burnt Bridge:
  Alya: Girl, didn't you hear us? We're sorry!
  Marinette: Oh I know you're sorry. I just don't know why you think that matters.
• I See What You Do Behind Closed Doors: After Lila's true nature is revealed, Mylène is the first to try apologizing to Marinette, claiming that there was no way she could've known the truth. Marinette blandly reminds her and everyone else that she warned them. When the class then doubles down on insisting they're not to blame, Marinette decides that they're not worth forgiving — not while they're not only refusing to admit what they did wrong but are trying to convince her that it's her fault they dismissed her warnings as being fueled by petty jealousy.
• The Karma of Lies has this happen left and right when Marinette finally realizes that the way her classmates are treating her is not okay and puts her foot down. When her classmates try to apologize, she rejects their apologies and calls them out for obviously just wanting to get back on her good side now that everyone knows she's Ladybug rather than really being sorry for how they acted. Notably, Marinette is willing to work with those who actually understand and admit what they were doing wrong and are putting in the work to change their behavior, even if she doesn't fully trust them yet. She only rejects apologies from people who obviously haven't learned anything and expect to be Easily Forgiven.
• Miraculous Ladybug Salt-Shots:
  • In Emotionless, Marinette coldly shuts down Alya's attempt to apologize after Lila is exposed, calling her and the rest of the class out for how they'd dismissed her warnings as "petty jealousy".
  • "Being A Good Example Isn't So Easy, Is It?": After discovering just how much she relied upon Marinette to keep her classmates in line, Caline Bustier begs her to transfer back into her class and take up her old duties again. Marinette makes clear that won't be happening and tells her how disappointed she is that her ex-teacher can't follow her own advice.
  • Adrien betrays Marinette in A Price to Pay, helping his father make a Wish that rewrites reality and kills her dad. After learning that she remembers the original reality, he offers her a Backhanded Apology that boils down to insisting she has to help him "fix" things so that he gets everything he wanted. Naturally, she tells him to piss off.
• The One to Make It Stay: During All the Laughs We Had in the Past, Chloé gets akumatized and is responsible for the Black Cat Ring falling into Hawkmoth's hands. When she gets restored and learns what she's done, it's enough to spur the usually unapologetic girl into expressing remorse. However, Ladybug and the other heroes aren't in the mood to hear her out:
  Chloé: Ladybug, I'm—
  Ladybug: It's a bit too late for your apologies, Chloé. Maybe you should have given them out sooner.
• Throughout the Queen of Mean AU, Marinette rejects all of her former friends' efforts to reconcile with her. While she claims to accept their apologies, she also makes clear that they don't change anything — there's a difference between accepting their apologies and forgiving them, especially since she's convinced the only reason why they want to mend fences now is because her modeling career is taking off and they want to leech off her newfound fame.
• Tattered Remains of Broken Dreams (Yours, not Mine): After tearing apart Marinette's sketchbook, her classmates learn that it was filled with the designs and notes for a massive amount of projects she was working on for her friends. When Adrien and Chloé offer a rough estimate of how much all those projects would have been worth if she was getting paid properly for them, Rose apologizes, and is immediately brushed off. She's more successful at the end, as she's the only one of the culprits who makes sincere efforts to reconcile.
• Truth is Subjective: While Alya initially blames Marinette for how she and the rest of the class refused to believe any of her efforts to warn them about Lila, they have a collective Heel Realization when Marinette reminds them of how they repaid her efforts by bullying and harassing her. She apologizes, only for Marinette to softly reply "Sorry's not always enough. There's another truth for you."
• Wolves don't Party with Sheep: Thanks to an akuma that exposes what her victims really think of whomever they're addressing, Lila's followers learn that not only was she lying to them all along, but that she saw them as Gullible Lemmings. Their attempt to mend fences with Marinette are hampered by how they'd also learned that their former friend has lots of celebrity connections, to the point that her birthday party has practically become a red carpet-level event. Only one of them actually says the words "We're really sorry"; the rest are too busy trying to talk their way into being reinvited, or into getting to tag along for her summer plans. Naturally, Marinette makes clear that there's no Crossing the Burnt Bridge now.
• Yeah, I'm Done: After Lila's mother reveals she was deceiving the whole class, they realize that they Easily Condemned Marinette for nothing and apologize... eventually. After Adrien reminds them of her existence. Marinette simply says "Okay," returning to her sketchbook; when Adrien and the others insist that things can go back to normal now, she bluntly informs them that they aren't her friends, have been nothing but cruel to her, and she has no interest in returning to their former All Take and No Give dynamic.
  Marinette: You hurt me. Things will not go back to the way they were. I don't trust you. We are not friends. And we will never be friends again. No amount of apologies will change that.
  Alya: Girl, we're—
  Marinette: Just move on. I have.
• Your Wish is my Command has a variation: when Lila apologizes to Felix for badgering him about his Backstory and causing his akumatization, he accepts it, but makes clear that he's not actually forgiving her. Lila then tries Playing the Victim Card and accusing him of being "unfair", only to get called out on how she's not helping her case.
• This story👁 Image
  has Adrien reject Marinette's Anguished Declaration of Love because he doesn't like her efforts to warn the others about Lila. In the sequel👁 Image
  , he tries turning the whole class against her by Playing the Victim Card, only for Felix to reveal how he'd injured Marinette with a Possessive Wrist Grab. Afterwards, Adrien tries convincing Felix that the whole debacle isn't his fault, then tries to mend fences with an insincere apology that Felix promptly shuts down:
  Adrien: Look, I'm sorry—
  Felix: I don't think I am really the one you should be apologizing to right now.
  Adrien: But you're the only one still here. I know I upset you—
  Felix: Upset? No, Agreste. 'Upset' is nowhere near an adequate descriptor for what I feel for you right now. What I feel just by looking at you... Disgust, certainly. Anger, definitely. And I wish I could say I was disappointed, but that would require anything you did to actually come as a surprise to me. And you... Well, I had already known you were capable of such cowardice, but at least now everyone else knows it, as well.
  Adrien: I had no choice!
  Felix: No choice? Don't be absurd. All you had to do at any point to help your friends was tell the truth. Or simply apologize and tell Marinette you wouldn't help. But that would require you to take a side and stay there. And you couldn't even do that much. On the positive side, if your previous disastrous rejection wasn't enough to kill Marinette's crush on you, this surely has.
  Adrien: I didn't want to hurt her!
  Felix: But you had no problem when it was Rossi hurting her. Or Bourgeois. It was okay by you that she was hurt, as long as you didn't have to feel guilty about it. This is why you are a poor friend.
  • A follow-up👁 Image
    takes this further, as Adrien finds himself subjected to Karmic Shunning by his classmates. His efforts to apologize are heavily hindered by how he refuses to actually acknowledge his mistakes, offering nothing but excuses and trying to explain to them why it isn't his fault, actually. The only ones willing to hear him out are Chloé (which works against him due to her own poor reputation) and Nino (who tries to help him understand what he's doing wrong).
    Nino: Dude, I get that you don't know much about how real life works. I know it can't be easy for you, with your old man being who he is... but Adrien. Bro. What you did was seriously not cool. Maybe you didn't mean to hurt anyone, but you still did. And it's honestly kinda frustrating that you don't seem to get that.

My Hero Academia

• Apotheosis: All Might repeatedly attempts to apologize to Midoriya for telling him that he couldn't be a hero. Izuku rejects these efforts, believing that he's only apologizing because he became such a dangerous villain; if he hadn't done so, he doubts All Might would have spared him any further.
• Deku in Class 1-B: Mineta gropes Pony during their practical exam. After getting into serious trouble for the incident, with his parents reaming him out, he tries apologizing to her, but she tells him to shove it.
• Mastermind: Rise of Anarchy: Almost everyone Inko meets hates her for being Mastermind's mother. When she visits the families of Izuku's victims to apologize for what he did, most refuse to even open their doors, and the ones that do cuss her out or throw things at her. The only person who actually hears her out is Rei, who doesn't think Inko should be apologizing at all.
• Mean Rabbit: After they both survive the League's assault on the USJ, Jirou approaches Izuku and apologizes for how she nearly left him to die and treating him like shit. Izuku cynically questions if she sincerely regrets it, or if she's only apologizing because she knows the matter is being investigated and hopes he'll cover for her. Jirou's response hardly helps; while she insists that she does regret how unheroically she acted, she also snaps that he's hard to apologize to because he's just so hateable. That said, when Izuku gives his own account to Aizawa, he frames it in a way that doesn't throw her under the bus, unlike Mineta and Kaminari, and Jirou ends up with probation for the rest of the year while the other two get expelled.
• Pro Hero Metal Bat: By the time All Might finally has a chance to apologize to Izuku for crushing his dreams, Izuku can't bring himself to accept it, as he's been hurt too much by others' words and has been telling himself that nobody else's opinions matter — especially not All Might. All Might resolves to prove himself through his actions by being the best teacher possible for Izuku.
• Sleeper Hit AU:
  • Ochako's first attempt to reconnect with Midoriya goes poorly, as he assumes that she's only 'apologizing' since he performed so well in the Hero Rankings. He eventually realises that he's misjudged her, as well as the other former classmates who've tried to reach out to him, and when they meet again on the beach that evening he tells her there's nothing to forgive.
  • Once he learns the full truth of why Aizawa expelled him and how he rigged the test against him, Izuku admits that he's not ready to forgive him yet and needs more time to process everything. He does forgive him a month later, going so far as to invite him to his wedding to Mei (albeit mainly because he wants Eri there as their flowergirl), having recognised that holding grudges is exhausting.
  • When Imari, one of Midoriya's bullies from Aldera Middle School, gets a chance to try and apologize to Midoriya after a chance meeting, he immediately rejects him, assuming that he's only apologizing because of Midoriya's newfound status as Sleeper Hit. Again, he changes his mind by the end of the chapter, reiterating that he doesn't want to hold grudges anymore, and acknowledging that Imari has grown up more than Bakugou did.
  • Played with when Mina apologises to Sleeper Hit for getting him expelled, believing that she inspired Aizawa's threat with her comment that the quirk test looked like fun. At first Izuku seems to include her in his rejection of Ochako's apology, but before leaving he makes a point of telling her that he doesn't hold her responsible for Aizawa's action. Given that it's mentioned later that Izuku had believed Alien Queen only saw heroics as a game as a result of their initial encounter, this seems to imply that he's already starting to rethink that assumption and that her apology meant more to him than he let on.
• Think Before You Speak: After Katsuki injured Tenya during their first training exercise together, Aizawa tricked Tensei into believing Izuku was responsible so that he'd publicly condemn him. In Chapter 5 of Words May Hurt, Tenya reveals that while his big brother has apologized to both him and his parents, he's not ready to forgive him yet... especially since Tensei has yet to apologize to Izuku or the Midoriyas, the people who were hurt most by his Malicious Slander.
• Venality: During their final battle, Endeavor attempts to apologize to Touya and Shouto for all his years of abuse, only to find that neither one will accept his words or back down.

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

• Bitter Tears: An Anon-A-Miss Fic: After the CMC are outed as the ones behind Anon-A-Miss, Apple Bloom attempts to apologize to Sunset for the Frame-Up. Sunset turns her down flat:
  Sunset: Save it. I don't know why you did this, and frankly, I don't really care. All I know is, I certainly hope it was worth it.
• Bitterness revolves around Twilight deciding that she doesn't actually accept Applejack's causal, off-handed apology about how she and the others rejected her Cassandra Truth during the Canterlot wedding. The more she thinks about it, the angrier she gets, accusing Princess Celestia, Shining Armor, and her friends of being All Take and No Give and questioning whether they would've let her attend the wedding if she had been wrong.
• Project Sunflower: After finding out Erin's secret, Meadowlark rejects her apology, mostly out of shock at realizing she allowed an alien to look after her daughter. Rainbow Dash also takes a bit longer than the rest of her friends to forgive Erin, only doing so after learning that Velchiek stopped her from coming clean earlier by using drugs and the Override.
• Through the Eyes of Anon-a-Miss: While Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle back up Apple Bloom when she confronts the students hounding Sunset, they still haven't forgiven her for their confrontation at the playground.

Naruto

• Androgyninja's A Drop of Poison:
  • After Sakura accidentally overhears Hiashi's discussion with Neji, she advises him against forgiving his uncle; while it's true that Neji didn't know the whole story about what happened to his father, that doesn't change all the other ways that Hiashi mistreated Neji and everyone else in the Branch House. Shortly afterwards, Hiashi's treatment of Neji during the Konoha Crush attempt leaves Neji convinced that his uncle's apology wasn't sincere.
  • When Naruto finally learns about Sakura's body count, he berates her for the Crime of Self-Defense. Later, he attempts to apologize before leaving Konoha for a training trip with Jiraiya; Sakura flatly tells him he has sixty seconds, counting down as he fumbles through his words before finally cutting him off and walking away.

Odd Squad

• If You're Alone Onstage: While most of those involved regret blaming Otis for his father breaking into Headquarters, Otis himself doesn't believe that they're being sincere.
  Otis: I- I guess I never thought Odd Squad was really sorry for what they did. I just thought they only wanted me back because I was the only one who could find my father. So, when Ms. O tried to apologize, I shut her out, because I thought she didn't mean it.

Pokémon

• Failure Hero (2012): Ash refuses to forgive Cilan for bombing the Pewter City Gym and sending his mom into a coma.
• A nonverbal one appears in Pokémon Strangled Red. Steven never says this outright, but his actions make it clear that he doesn't forgive his brother, Mike, for the death of his Charizard, Miki.

The Smurfs

• This is Played With in the Empath: The Luckiest Smurf novel, as after Papa Smurf saves himself, Empath, and Brainy from falling into the lava pool within the volcano, Empath apologizes to Papa Smurf for having nearly endangered Baby Smurf just to get Papa Smurf to feel sorry for leaving his only begotten son in Psychelia. At first, Papa Smurf is too angry to forgive Empath, but when he sees Empath bowing down and humbling himself before the village leader as if he was the Psyche Master, Papa Smurf also bows down with Empath and forgives him, promising that he will never leave Empath like that ever again.

A Song of Ice and Fire

• In storm surge👁 Image
  , Lucerys genuinely wants to apologise to Aemond for slashing his eye out and to make things right, but Aemond isn't having it at first. It takes Luke saving his life for things to get better between them.

Sonic the Hedgehog

• In Light of Hope 2: New Horizons👁 Image
  , a now reformed Infinite is approached by Richard, the father of his best friend Levi, a Gambling Addict who abused his son for many years and finally molested him, all when Levi was only a child. This follows: (It turns out that Richard was just faking his reformation.)
  Richard: Look, I know I did some terrible things and I can't any of it back, but I just want to start over and try to be a better person and father. So what do you say? Will you give me a chance?
  Infinite: I'm sorry but you wasted your chance when you put your hands on Levi in a place no child should ever be touched. I appreciate that you've at least come to terms with your horrid behavior and are trying to clean up your act, but bringing you around Levi would only damage him even more. So... goodbye.

Spec Ops: The Line

• Afterglow (Unfaithful): When Walker tries to apologize for causing Lugo's death, along with running their mission into the ground, Lugo brushes it if off, bluntly telling Walker to kill himself.
  Lugo: Just saying, you already killed off most of the city. Might as well pick up the spare.

Static Shock

• Jimmy's Visit With Dr. Franklin: Subverted; while Nick Connor initially refuses to forgive Jimmy for trying to show him his dad's gun, he accepts his later apology while waiting to see Dr. Franklin, admitting that while Jimmy had made him uncomfortable, he still recognized that he was a good person deep down.

Steven Universe

• Gift of A Diamond: Steven/Rhodonite's relationship with the Crystal Gems is severely strained by their reluctance to accept how he's changed during his time on Homeworld. When Pearl attempts to "fix" everything by using the Hourglass to alter the past, he rejects their apologies, pointing out all of the positive things he's accomplished with Homeworld.
• Old Scars👁 Image
  , a work where Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond is Spared by the Adaptation, has the members of the Diamond Authority trying to apologize to the gem in question. This is since they still view her as Pink Diamond, and they want to talk to her and apologize for their thousands of years of being Abusive Parents. She tells them that Pink Diamond is dead and then tells them all to Get Out!.
• Rose Redemption AU: When White Diamond attempts to apologize to Rose, Rose acknowledges that she is genuinely sorry, but also makes it clear that she has no intention of forgiving her.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

• Downplayed in Raphael's Big Mistake: Taylor doesn't accept Raph's first attempt at apologizing because she genuinely doesn't know what to say or do in response. While it's clear that he's sincerely remorseful, she's also not quite ready to forgive him yet.

Thomas the Tank Engine

• In The Brother's Grimm👁 Image
  , David and Bernard initially refuse to forgive the Grumpy Passenger for the horrible things he did throughout the story. They only do so after he reveals just how badly he's suffered since becoming homeless and penniless, and that he's realised just how awful he is.
• In A Cracked Ruby👁 Image
  , Emily laughs at Molly for pulling empty trucks, only to regret it. Following Thomas's failed attempt to make Molly's truck seem special, Emily seeks Molly out to apologise to her, but Molly refuses to forgive her (of course, the fact that James lied about Emily's personality doesn't help matters).

Total Drama

• Total Drama Ultimate (TheDrama100): Duncan tries to apologize to Sammy for how he didn't help her against Amy and dated her in the first place, saying that he hopes they can leave things in the past between them now that they've both been mistreated by her. Sammy does not accept this though and gives Duncan a "The Reason You Suck" Speech about how he's comparing the two of them when she was abused by Amy her whole life, which includes giving her trauma and getting disowned by her own family, while Duncan willingly chose to date Amy, helped her bully her, and only broke up with her because she was starting to boss him around. Duncan admits in a confessional afterwards that she's not wrong.

Transformers: Animated

• wires and cloth: After revealing that he was the spy in the Autobot Academy, Shockwave apologizes to Bumblebee for not trying harder to keep him from leaving the Academy. Bumblebee has numerous reasons to reject the apology, all of them justified:
  • Shockwave didn't apologize for being the spy all along and manipulating Bumblebee into framing an innocent bot.
  • Shockwave still took part in the Decepticons' hostile takeover of Cybertron (with no remorse).
  • Shockwave is keeping Bee hostage because he desperately wants Bee as his ward (not caring that he's keeping Bee hostage and preventing him from finding his friends).
  • The reason why Shockwave apologized at all is because he wants Bee to like/want to stay with him, and he's more apologizing to himself because he's obsessed with Bee.

Worm

• Earning Her Stripes: While Taylor recognizes that Emma and Madison are sincerely remorseful for how horrifically they treated her, having had a Heel Realization about their actions, she also makes it expressly clear that she is far from forgiving them for any of it.