#Call me strega

[genius11rare]

damn

suddenly struck with thoughts about the devastating concept of Jason Todd

because he was good. because he had a bleeding heart despite every reason not to. he loved school and was good at it. he was the first to be adopted, with little pretense of guardianship. he did everything he could to be a perfect Robin and live up to an impossible ideal. he only ever wanted Bruce and Dick to like him.

because he met Bruce in the same place and on the same day that Bruce's parents died--the single defining moment of Batman's existence. and he made Batman laugh. he hit the Dark Knight, Terror of Gotham, with a tire iron. he wasn't afraid of the man who turned fear into a weapon.

because he couldn't save his mother from herself, but he tried. because he was too good not to try and save the woman who gave him up. too good to play the Joker's game. the crowbar didn't kill him, the bomb did. he died knowing he wouldn't make it and tried anyway. he died a hero.

because other Robins have died, but none of them put an irrevocable tear in the mythos of Batman. because Jason Todd always dies, in every universe. he dies for the sins of his father. he was put to death by popular vote, sacrificed by the crowd. doomed by the narrative and doomed by the audience. the boy who only ever tried to prove he was good enough--wasn't good enough.

because he has every reason to be angry. because he didn't ask to be murdered, didn't ask to be brought back, and when he did everyone acted like he was better off dead. Bruce tried to kill him and nearly succeeded. he's blamed for his own death and blamed for his resurrection. he can never come home because the house is haunted by his own ghost.

because he's been the hero, the victim, and the villain. because his family and his writers and his universe don't know what to make of him. they don't know how to look his tragedy in the eye. and how can you?

it hurts to look at the hero who cannot be good enough, the victim who will only ever be angry, the villain who can sometimes be right. the audience hates to feel complicit and, in this exceptional case, they are.

[crescentfool]

some screenshots from the september 20th p3 reload trailer!

[missytwelve]

I. Got. A. Dog!!!!!!

[azuries]

SEES RYOJI MASTERPOST i hope you guys enjoy reading through it! i was heavily inspired by all the amazing art and content ive seen of the concept that i wanted to explore it too!

ART:

Moonlight Trio

Yukari and Ryoji going shopping (SEES!Ryoji winter clothes variations)

Ryoji accidentally hitting MC with his scythe

SEES!Ryoji sketch dump

SEES!Ryoji Theurgy splash

SEES!Ryoji Theurgy Storyboard

Ryomina in Tartarus

Ryomina in Tartarus P2

Ryomina in Tartarus P3

SEES!Ryomina Illustration

Cooking with Yukari

SEES!Ryoji Sprite edit

SEES!Ryoji fanmade P3RE screenshots

Ryomina SEES!Ryoji animatic

feral SEES!Ryoji

Clumsy SEES!Ryoji

Charmed Ryoji

All Out Attack Splash

SEES!Ryoji Cut In Splash

Comic

Ryoji learns about evokers

More SEES Ryoji sketches

Twitter post  

After Ryoji finds his resolve through the Hero, he offers to join his team. He gives him a choice to go through a better, yet harder way to get through Tartarus, a way only he can access. It features new bosses, content, and a new spin of the final fight with Strega.

Contains: Art, battle stats, Theurgy, combat dialogue, Tartarus dialogue and banter, and more!

Full post under the cut:

—-

This AU explores the idea that instead of Ryoji leaving for the last  month, he offers to join the team as a temporary team member to lend his power to help SEES reach the remaining floors of Tartarus before he merges with Nyx. More events happen that prolong the time you spend together. 

Ingame, it’s treated like a bonus mission and an addition to get to know Ryoji better during the aftermath of November. 

As a new addition to the team, he’ll join SEES in the dorm and have his own version of FTEs with plant tending, movie watching, book reading and cooking. He’ll have interactions with other party members. 

The player will also get to know more on his personal feelings as the Appriser. Through conversing with Ryoji, you learn in depth about Tartarus, and the player gets to see a more subdued side of him as he tries to come to terms with his identity. 

He uses an evoker to trigger his form as Thanatos instead of using it to summon a Persona.

The player can choose to go through this route, or play the game like how it was originally set. The ending remains the same.

Party Stats:

Level: Scaleable, 2 levels higher 

Element: Dark and Almighty

Weakness: None, reflects pierce damage 

Combat style: Prioritizes debuffing, tank 

Theurgy - Death’s Call: Deals massive almighty damage to all foes. Fears both enemies and allies. 

Theurgy condition: When Ryoji sees his friends suffer a lethal blow, he feels determined to take vengeance.

Theurgy Personality bonus:

Chance to grant Arcana Burst even without completing your Major Arcana stack.

+ More damage to weak foes. 

Intercepts an incoming lethal blow for a party member.

DIALOGUE:

Ryoji’s first Tartarus entrance dialogue: 

Ryoji: - So this is Tartarus.

I, I can feel her. She’s keeping an eye on us. On me.

Remember that I’m here to help. Tartarus is Nyx’s realm, but I should know a better way to help you get to the top. 

Keep in mind that I may not be as impenetrable while I’m here, and shadows will be a lot more hostile if we go this way. Are you sure you wanna do this?

MC:

> Nowhere to go but up.

> Let’s do this.

> Are you sure there’s no other way?

Don’t worry. Whatever‘s waiting for us, I won’t let anything happen to you. They’ll have to get through me first. 

First Summon dialogue: 

I have to do this. Everyone..I’m sorry for what you’re about to see. 

Get out here, Thanatos! 

Turning into Thanatos (Persona Summon) 

If this is what it takes.

Please look away.

Thanatos!  

Do what you must!

Combat 

Shift dialogue:

All up to you! 

We’re in this together!

Receiving end of shift dialogue: 

I’m on it! 

They’ll get what's coming to them.

Item use: 

This will help, right? 

Getting healed:

I don’t deserve this.

Death:

I-I hope it was enough. 

Sorry..

AILMENTS

Distress

It’s over.. Why do we still try?

Confuse 

Guys? What’s going on?!

Rage

Come on! Take me down if you can! 

Charm

So, how about dinner?~

Down

You’re kidding me! 

Shock

What is this?! 

AOA

Before All Out Attack:  

We’re going in! 

Before splash art: 

And that's how it's done! 

Splash art Caption: 

DEATH IS INEVITABLE

All Out Attack splash art line:

Pointless to deny your fate.

Basic victory dialogue: 

I hope it was worth it. 

Heh, how was that? 

Battle aftermath:

That was impressive. You’re all amazing!

Stairs discovery

Found the stairs. There’s no time to lose! 

Found the way up! You know best, leader.

Treasure

Ooh, something shiny! 

Hey, guys! Found something useful? Maybe?

SEES advantage: 

They never saw it coming! 

Ambush / enemy advantage: 

Leader, stay close to me!

Hit by crit: 

That’s impossible! 

SEES Tartarus dialogue w/Ryoji 

Junpei: Hey, so.. Ryoji… What’s with the long scarf? And how do you not slip from it when you run? 

Ryoji: I don’t think it’s that long! 

Yukari: Seriously? Out of all the questions you can ask him, that’s what you go with? 

—-

Mitsuru: For someone with no prior experience, you’ve been keeping up well, Ryoji-kun. 

Ryoji: I’m glad you think so, Kirijo-senpai.

Akihiko: Don’t push yourself, though, alright?

—-

Junpei: Ryoji! Now that you live with us, we have got to continue the game we were playing! 

Ryoji: I don’t think you’d want to…Didn’t I delete your save on accident?

Junpei: Eh, I wasn’t paying much attention to the story in the first place. 

—-

Ryoji: I never got to thank you before for helping me settle in, Fuuka. How about I take you out? 

Fuuka: Oh, of course! Let’s invite the others too!

Junpei: …Yikes, dude.

—-

Fuuka: I’ve always wanted to do karaoke with you all. You should join us, Ryoji-kun!

Ryoji: Oh, m-me...?

Junpei: Yeah, you’re always holed up in your room and we never know where you’re out at night! How about we sing our hearts out instead? 

Ryoji: Ahh.. haha..I… I’ll think about it. 

—-

Ryoji: *Humming Mass Destruction* 

Aigis: Ryoji-san. Were you the one making those sounds? 

Ryoji: Sorry! Makoto-kun and I were listening to some songs, and now I can’t get it out of my head. 

—-

Ryoji: Aigis..About what happened before. I feel like I should apologize one more time. 

Aigis: Instead of apologies, let’s make a promise. That we’ll see this through, together.

Ryoji: …Yeah. You’re right.  

—-

Aigis: It’s strange. In the real world, you’re impenetrable. But in Tartarus...

Ryoji: Until the promised day, I’m an obstacle to Nyx. I wouldn’t put it past her to limit my power. 

Mitsuru: So she was expecting this. Well, we just have to plan accordingly, then.

—-

Aigis: I decided to live, but…how do I even begin? How would I know? 

Ryoji: I already sense life within you, Aigis. You’re doing more than enough.

—-

Ryoji: Wandering Tartarus must feel repetitive. Maybe I can try something! I can add some arcade machines? 

Ryoji: Oh… but if I do that, Tartarus will just take it away again. *sigh* Nevermind, then.

Ken: Can.. Can you actually do that?!

Yukari: *sigh* Of course he can’t. 

—-

Akihiko: How are you holding up, Mochizuki? Think you can still keep up?

Ryoji: Heh, that’s not even a question, Senpai.

—-

Ryoji: I hope I’m not bringing you guys down. What do you think, Koromaru-san? 

Koromaru: *barks enthusiastically*

Fuuka: Hahaha. Koro-chan seems to enjoy your company!

—-

Yukari: Whew..! You guys notice the shadows have gotten…much more alert?

Akihiko: You’re right. It’s like we unlocked the deepest depths of Tartarus that Nyx didn’t want us to see.

—-

Junpei: Jeez Ryoji, you weren’t kidding. The shadows of this detour are a whole different monster! 

Ryoji: I’m sorry, Junpei. But I promise it’s just a little longer. 

Junpei: Who am I to back down from a challenge? This’ll be a piece of cake! 

—-

Mitsuru: Are you settling in the dorm well, Ryoji-kun?

Ryoji: Oh. I am, thank you. 

Mitsuru: Of course. Just let us know if you need anything.

—-

Ken: Did anyone hear footsteps in the boys’ dorm last night? 

Yukari: Must have been Aigis sneaking to Makoto’s room, even if I told her to not leave past curfew…

Aigis: It was not me. I was out for my monthly checkup. 

Yukari: Then… who was it?

Ryoji: It wasn’t me! 

Yukari: No one said it was you! 

—-

Ken: So, where have you been living before, well, all of this, Ryoji-senpai?

Ryoji: I-I actually don’t know. Anything outside of school and Makoto-kun becomes a blur.

Fuuka: Ryoji-kun…

—-

Ryoji: You’re amazing to lead such a capable team, Makoto-kun. You look good like this. 

—-

Yukari: Ryoji-kun and I went thrift shopping the other day. It was actually pretty fun!

Ryoji: Thanks for taking me out, Takeba-san. I wanted that jacket, though.. 

Yukari: Unless you wanna blind someone with that thing, there’s no good reason to wear it! 

Ryoji: *sighs sadly*

—-

Ryoji: There were so many couples on Paulownia Mall for Christmas Eve. It was lovely to see.

Junpei: Ooo, does our newest member have a special someone they have in mind?

Ryoji: I-I wouldn’t say that..

Junpei: Hahaha! You’re like a tomato right now, dude! 

Ryoji: Hey, knock it off!

—-

Ryoji: Wait, you’ve reached past the 200th floor?! Akihiko: All in a day’s work. Everyone has been putting in their all. 

—-

Akihiko: You’re hardly breaking a sweat. What’s your routine, Mochizuki?

Ken: I’m guessing it’s him not being human in the first place?

Akihiko: Ken, that’s not..!

Ryoji: It’s alright, I don’t mind. He has a point, though.

—-

Yukari: I won these chocolate bars, I brought them in case anyone wanted a snack. Want some? 

Ryoji: Oh, that’s okay. I don’t eat sweets that much. 

—-

Mitsuru: I have to say it was quite convenient for the Kirijo Group to have an extra weapon. 

Ken: Yeah, and what’re the odds it was a scythe too?

Ryoji: Hahaha…. I guess.

—-

Koromaru *bark*

Aigis: Koromaru-san is asking that if you’re Death, what will that make of the Reaper?

Junpei: I bet Ryoji here can take him down, no problem! 

Ryoji: I’d rather not stick around to find out. For your sakes.

—-

Ryoji: I was told you lost a close friend to the Dark Hour. I’m sorry for your loss.

Mitsuru: …Thank you, Ryoji-kun.

Akihiko: He’d want us to move forward. There’s no use dwelling in the past.

Ryoji: I guess you’re right. I’m here to help however I can. 

—-

Koromaru: *bark bark* 

Junpei: Hey… you think Koromaru sensed Ryoji’s true identity? 

Ken: Oh, do you mean because  of dogs’  intuition to ghosts and spirits? 

Fuuka: I don’t think Ryoji-kun’s just any ghost though..!

—-

Ryoji: Hey Takeba-san. Can I ask you something?

Yukari: I swear, if it’s you trying to ask me out again…

Ryoji: Oh, that’s not what I was gonna- Wait, do you want me to? Because-

Mitsuru: -I think I saw something important there, leader. Let’s check it out.

Ryoji: This feels too familiar.

—-

Junpei: Kyoto was so fun! School trips should happen more often. 

Yukari: *glare*

Junpei: Eep! 

Ryoji: Ah-! I-I swear, that wasn’t our intention! It was all a misunderstanding! Leader, tell her! 

—-

SP LOW: 

Mitsuru: Ryoji-kun. Make sure not to strain yourself. 

Ryoji: I’m fine, please don’t worry. I can’t let up in front of a pretty girl like you, now can I? 

—-

Fuuka: Leader… Ryoji seems tired. 

—-

If Makoto has low SP: 

Ryoji: You don’t look good…Please, pace yourself. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.

FTEs: (WIP)

Plant tending event

anddd thats it so far!! if this post ever needs updating, i definitely will!

thank you so much for reading! it really means a lot!

[katsona-the-katsequel]

Persona Fun Facts Pt. 2

Everyone seemed to like the last entry so here's the sequel. Reminder that all these facts were taken from Atlus' fanbooks and novels (and some even from the Persona Stalker Club).

Another reason Mitsuru worried about Minato was because he had a tight schedule, was pale, and never complained about anything nor mentioned if something was bothering him 🥺

Iwai likes to watch reruns of old Western films (I wonder what's his favorite movie).

Ryuji's mother has the personality of a loud, older sister.

Lisa knows how to snowboard.

The necktie Adachi is wearing is probably Dojima's.

Shiho is "drawn to what she doesn't have".

If he won 700 million yen, Akechi would travel the world.

Tatsuya's handwriting is shit.

In his briefcase, Akechi carries a set of student supplies, food, water, and free samples of sweets and cosmetics people give him.

Yu was the type of person who wanted to be seen as wise beyond his years and more of an adult than he really was. He grew out of it by the end of the game by becoming an actually mature person.

Chihaya redesigns clothes.

The first thing Ulala did after realizing her ex was scamming her was call Maya to a restaurant where they got drinks.

Yusuke would be okay with crossdressing if he felt it would help him discover the secret of beauty.

Junes wages are 690 yen per hour for high school students and 900 yen per hour for the rest.

Jin was the member of Strega in charge of raising funds and taking care of meals.

Maruki is aware of the relationship between food and mental health, so he always tries to eat a balanced diet (with cheap ingredients that won't affect his mental health by being a financial burden).

Yukari's mother, Risako, was financially blessed and came from a good family associated with the Kirijo Group.

The Shiroganes have a butler named Yakushiji who has served them for three generations. He, along with Grandpa Shirogane, was Naoto's main caretaker growing up.

The place where Ken's house used to be is now a parking lot.

Junpei's father failed in business.

Akechi's ideal type of lover is "someone who can give [him] space".

Dojima bought Nanako's clothes at Junes.

Maya always keeps a can of crab in her purse... that's her lunch at work. 😔

Futaba is more specific when it comes to her ideal lover. I'm just going to copy and paste here: "Their specs must be just as follows: must be more of an indoors person more than an outdoors one, won’t barge selfishly into people’s room to clean without the owner’s consent, old fashioned romantic and can sing all the theme songs of Neo Featherman."

Yosuke and Kanji aren't the only ones who dye their hair. Chie also dyes hers.

Kandori sealed his deal with Nyarly by strangling his lover/coworker, Mayo Miyashita, to death. He seemed kind of in a trance while he did so (a lot was from Mayo's POV), so it's up to you to decide how much agency he had in that murder.

Members of Strega don't even know their real names (this won't deter me from the "Chidori is Natsumi's daughter theory"). They also steal household goods and clothes during the night.

Elly has twin sisters.

I can't remember if I included this one in the last post, but here it goes again. After Makoto pointed out how difficult taking care of lobsters would be, Yusuke ate them with tears in his eyes.

[lorddocmarten]

🦇Tips for Dressing Goth on Low-Spoons Days🦇

Note: I am low-support needs disabled, and what works for me might not work for you. I am not a doctor and cannot offer medical advice!

Black hair, baby. I dye my roots with $1.25 men's beard dye from the 'tree now, so that's pretty cost-effective, and you don't have to do anything for your hair to look 'goth'. I wouldn't recommend a mohawk because for it to look maximum cool, you have to style it, and that can take a while. My haircut now is shaved on the sides with short bangs and it looks goth even if I don't style it. It requires minimum maintenance, too.

Pre-layered accessories. Many necklaces- especially ones marketed for 80s costumes- are pre-layered and you only have to work with one clasp. Maximum style for minimum effort. You can find layered necklaces on Amazon, at Halloween stores, and I've even seen them in the costume section of thrift stores. There are also bangle stacks that function the same way.

Strega Fashion and Lagenlook- this might work for wheelchair users, depending on how long your flowy elements are. Lots of tunics and skirts and sweaters and fancy hooded tops, etc. Think of a dark, witchy vibe. Very comfortable and can be easy to style with clothes-you-find-at-Wal-Mart, and relatively cheap.

Nails. I LOVE having long dark red nails for maximum 'spoiled vampire prince' vibes, but sometimes having acrylics or press-ons can be too expensive, impractical, or maybe too femme for you. Whatever the case, I have more recommendations than your standard black nail polish- there's silver nail polish that makes your nails look mirror-like, red nail polish of all shades, purples, etc. For a more masculine, deathrock look you could experiment with dark, zombie-esque greens, or even neon shades to stand out against your darker clothing. Painting my nails can be hard for me due to my coordination issues, so I keep Q-tips nearby and soak them in acetone to clean up the edges.

Eyeliner- they sell jumbo eyeliner sticks and you can basically roll that about your eyes, smudge with your finger, and call it done in about one minute. I have yet to find a sharpener to go with mine, which is unfortunate, but these would seemingly be the way to go when you don't have the spoons to pull out the white base and all that.

Shave your eyebrows. Not necessarily for everybody, but it gives a more alien or 'more human than human' vibe to your look without makeup and makes me look infinitely more goth even in jeans and a t-shirt. YMMV.

Piercings, if you want them, can get them, won't affect your job, etc.- these always look pretty alternative especially when combined with each other. These combined with the black hair will do the job for you, in my opinion. I currently only have my ears double pierced but plan on getting my septum done soon.

[hyperfixatedoncrimminalminds]

Hi! Hope your doing well!

I wanted to know if I could do a request with David Rossi? He has a daughter who has a higher IQ than Reid (it’s like 190 or 200?) has following in her father‘s footsteps and is high up in the FBI like higher than Strauss and he calls her down for a favor because Strauss is bothering Aaron and the team so she’s cracks down on Strauss and stuff?

David Rossi X Daughter Reader

Request: I wanted to know if I could do a request with David Rossi? He has a daughter who has a higher IQ than Reid (it’s like 190 or 200?) has following in her father‘s footsteps and is high up in the FBI like higher than Strauss and he calls her down for a favor because Strauss is bothering Aaron and the team so she’s cracks down on Strauss and stuff?

Third person pov...

Y/N Rossi was in her office in Quantico, she was in thr FBI, she had worked hard and was in a high position within it, Only being 18 she was making a good life of herself with an IQ of 200, it was a normal day she was in her office going over some files when she gets a call.

Wondering who was calling her she picks up. "Agent Rossi speaking" she answers, for work she uses 'Agent' as its easier. "Well hello Agent, this is your padre talking" come her Dad voice, this makes the adult laugh.

"papà non si era accorto che eri tu (1) "she laughs, the man chuckles lightly, she puts down her pen and spins around in her chair.

She looks out the window, her office being on one of the highest floors, a couple below the leader of the FBI. "allora perché chiami, c'è qualcosa che non va? (2) " she asks getting straight into business.

The man sighs wearly before answering

"It's Erin figlia (3) she going after Aaron and the tea. Again, can you do anything?" He askes, the man has just lost his wife a couple months ago.

Struass is pushing the man to leave the BAU, Y/N sighs once again Struass, the woman never knows when to shut up. "I'll see what I can do Papà (4) see you soom" she says, Rossi sighs he sounds less stressed out.

"Thank you piccolo" he says, Y/N sighs ans rubs her forehead looks like she's going to take a trip down to the BAUs floor tomorrow.

The next morning...

Strauss was taking over the case once again, the team gathered around the table, all with sullen looks as Struass looked around.

They were missing one person. "Has Agent Rossi not arrive yet?" She asks the silent room, even the evert rambling Spencer Reid didn't feel like talking to her.

Growing annoyed she goes to talk when a commotion starts in the bullpen, hearing it the team and Strauss stand up and walk out of the room, they are shocked to see Rossi standing with Agent Y/N F/N, one of the only Agents with ties to the chief of the Bureau.

"What is the meaning of this!" Exclaims Strauss, this made Y/N look at the woman, a glare on her young face. He the  looks at her Dad. "I guess that's Struass" he says, the man nods his head.

Y/N cracks her knuckles. "You know Struass if you paid more attention to ypur family than this family then maybe you wouldn't be hated as much" she says, this earns her gasps of shock from around the bullpen.

Struass opens her mouth to retort but the H/C girl is quick with more. "You better leave this team alone unless you want a certain fact of yours to come into conversation" Y/Ns ruthless.

Eventually Struass has enough andeaves the bullpen fuming with anger, Y/N smirks at the woman, She gets a smile of thanks from her Dad.

After everyone calms down Y/N gets to meet her Dad team. She looks at Hotch and waves. "Hello Uncle Aaron" she smiles.

The others stare at their boss in shock. "You know her!" Exclaims Derek and Emily, Hotch just gives them a look. "Of course he knows me !" Smiles Y/N.

Rossi soon saves the team from confusion, as he wraps an arm around his daughter pulling her in for a hug and kisses her forehead. "lavoro assolutamente meraviglioso, piccola, hai bruciato quella strega (5) "He says in Italian.

"What how do you know her!" Yells Penelope, the team stare at the two, wondering how close they were, looking at her Dad Y/N laughs.

"You haven't told them about me" she accuses making the old man blushes embarrassed.

Pulling away her him  Y/N straightens her suit of before talking, she looks around at the team smiling. "Nice to meet you all I'm Y/N Rossi, F/N is my Mothers last name, I use it so Papà and I are safe from people who wish to kill me or hurt him to get to me." She explains.

Everyone takes the nes well and welcomes Y/N into the family, they all thank her for what she did, Derek and Emily loving how she black mailed Struass into finally leaving them alone.

"It was no problem, Papà called about the old witch, of course I had to help him out"she says, Reid was surprised to meet someone who had a higher IQ than him but was happy when she actually listened to his ramblings about anything and could actually keep up with him.

As the day was coming to an end the team had gone home, apart from two,

Y/N and her Dad, the woman was waiting for him to finish up, once he was done the two walk to bus car.

"Thank you again piccolo, we couldn't of done it without you" he confessed. Y/n hugged the man, "it was nothing Papà, you can pay me back by cooking your famous pasta for dinner" she bargained.

This man the man laugh, of course as always she speaks with her stomache. "Pasta it is piccolo!" He announces making the girl laugh.

The end!

Italian translation

(1)

papà non si era accorto che eri tu - Dad didn't realize it was you

(2)

allora perché chiami, c'è qualcosa che non va? - so why are you calling, is there something wrong?

(3)

figlia - Daughter

(4)

Papà -Dad

(5)

lavoro assolutamente meraviglioso, piccola, hai bruciato quella strega -

Absolutely wonderful job, baby, you burned that witch

Hope you liked this oneshot! Sorry for the spelling and grammar mistakes.

Request are open!

Word count : 1040

[call-me-strega]

How to Become a Step-Dad in 5 Easy Steps: ch.3/5 of p.2

First, prev, next, lore, ao3

OK SO- I’ve been working on this for months and I was actually supposed to have it done like a month ago but my parents took me on the last minute vacation to another country to visit family and I didn’t have access to my laptop most of the time. But it’s okay bc the timing worked out! I wrote most of this on my phone actually and I’m posting it from there too so I hope the formatting isn’t weird. Our flight back is tonight and we’re in a different time zone so I really hope this is going up at the correct time. Anyways I tried to make this chapter longer so I hope it’s worth it. Thanks for sticking around to read this and I’ll let you start now.

-Strega p.s Happy 4th of July!

~~~

Chapter description:

Danny and Jason comfort each other after a rough night, Jason teams up with Duke to stop a villain, and Jason spends the 4th of July with the Nightingales.

~~~

Everything was hot. Someone was laughing. Someone was crying. It's all too loud but he can't hear a thing. It was so hot. He could taste the bitterness in the air. His face ached. It's too much. All the textures overwhelm him but he can’t feel a thing. It was too hot. All he can see is rows of black upon gray, but he can't really see anything at all. He couldn’t- he couldn’t breathe. His forehead was wet and sticky. Why was it wet and sticky? Why was it so goddamn hot?!

With a desperate gasp for air, Jason launched up into a sitting position on his bed. He supported his body with one hand and the other pushing back his white, sweat-soaked fringes out of his eyes. He sat there for a few moments, just panting, trying to regain some semblance of control over his breathing. He felt a warm sweat drip down his face and back. It made his skin crawl.

He looked around his dark room and then down at his messy sheets for a moment, before pulling off the blanket and flinging himself off the bed. He couldn't stand the idea of staying there a minute longer. Not right now.

He stalked out of his bedroom and into his living area. He didn't want to stay inside. The thought of being in an enclosed space right now gave him the hives, no matter how spacious the apartment might be. Even if it's bigger than a coffin. Even if it's smaller than a warehouse. He can't see the sky. He's closed in.

Instead, he pushes open his window and pulls himself out onto the fire escape. It's not particularly open, facing into an alley, but it offers privacy and is heaps better than being inside. He slumps down against the brick wall of the building, feet planted and knees bent. He looks up and takes a breath trying to calm himself. Even with all the smog and Gotham's perpetual cloud cover, Jason is grateful to see the sky. He half-wished it was a clear night so he could see the stars. The other half didn't. It didn't think he could handle seeing the stars peeking out through the smog. It would look too much like a night sky tainted with smoke and bad memories.

His mouth felt dry as he clenched and stretched his hands. He almost wished for a cigarette or a joint, (no he didn't, he didn't want to see the smoke, to feel the heat of the slow burn) but the thought made his lungs constrict and he felt bile rise in his throat. Instead, he alternated between closing his eyes and taking several deep breaths, and gazing at the lights and laundry lines. Even in the sticky city heat of a Gotham summer Jason shuddered from the cool night air.

Suddenly, he heard metal creaking and his eyes snapped open. His head jerked to the side where the sound had come from. A few feet away, on the adjacent fire escape, stood a figure slumped over the rail. They must have also sensed his presence because they turned to meet Jason's gaze.

Before him stood a haggard Danny Nightingale with dark circles under his eyes and a head of bed hair. He wore an old worn-out shirt for a band called Dumpty Humpty, and a pair of basketball shorts that came down to his knees. Faintly, Jason could make out a faded scar on his calf. (Not that Jason had been staring at his legs or anything!) Jason soon became aware of Danny's own eyes assessing him as well. He felt his face heat up and was grateful that he slept in sweats and a white tank tonight.

And the two of them stayed there for a while, on their fire escapes. Two souls in the haunted hours before morning, looking worse for wear, just staring at each other as the world continued on around them.

Then, Danny weakly gave Jason a wry grin and in a rough voice he said,

" Hey, neighbor."

" Hey," Jason replied hoarsely, with a small grin forming on his face. "Funny running into you here, huh?"

There was a brief pause where the two continued to stare at each other, suppressing the quickly growing urge to laugh.

Danny broke first.

" Pffffffft, you dork!"

The two of them burst out laughing and the atmosphere grew lighter. The ever-present smog and darkness seemed to lift and the shadows haunting them seemed to fade.

Danny bubbled up with giggles that rang in Jason’s ear like a familiar song coming on on the radio. Jason looked at him softly in quiet wonderment. Well, I guess that’s where Ellie got her laugh from.

Jason heaved himself off the ground and walked over to the railing closest to Danny, who was just coming down from his high. He leaned over, one arm on the railing and the other coming up to support his jaw. He gave Danny a tired smile.

“Hey,” he said once more.

“Hey yourself,” came Danny’s soft reply.

Then the two, now standing closer, took a moment to examine each other once more. Danny took note of Jason’s sweat and unsteadiness. Jason could now see that Danny’s hands shook lightly and were covered in faded, barely-there scars. They met each other’s eyes and both just felt like the other understood.

Tonight hadn’t been a good night for either of them. But they didn’t need to talk about it right now. No, for now the two could just bask in each others presence The air filling with a certain solidarity and what felt like a near-tangible sense of mutual comfort.

Jason turned away first, observing the way light and shadow danced across alley walls and how the clothes on clotheslines fluttered in the night breeze. Danny followed his gaze in suit, trying to identify what Jason saw out in the city.

“ Ya know for being such a hell-hole Gotham really does have a subtle beauty to it.”

Jason turned to look a Danny with mock offense.

“Hey! Gotham may be a hell-hole but it’s our hell-hole! Just ask any true Gothamite, the city has a way sinking itself into ya.”

Danny looked almost amused by this statement, but nodded in understanding.

“Yeah, I think I kinda get it. It really sucked back home, but it was still home, ya know? And I agree, Gotham does have her ways of making you feel like she’s a part of you. We’ve only been here bout a month or so but I already feel like Ell and I are well on our way to become city slickers through and through.”

Jason chuckled, shaking his head and bringing his arm down to stand up straight. He decide to pursue the opening Danny had left.

“Speaking of Ell, she the reason your up so late?”

“Naw,” Danny’s smile grew a bit strained. “My little spitfire may have a lotta energy but the girl sleeps like the dead.” He grew a more subdued, looking down at his hands.

“Nah, this was something else.”

“Nightmare?” He probed gently.

Danny nodded.

Taking a breath, Jason said “Me too,” in a show of vulnerability that he found came surprisingly easy. Danny glanced at him sympathetically.

“You wanna talk about it?”

“Kinda, but at the same time not really?”

Danny nodded as if he understood perfectly. Once more a comfortable silence overtook they began to shift closer. Even with the space between their fire escapes they felt impossibly close.

Danny interrupted the quiet with a light chuckle and Jason returned him a questioning glance. Danny shook his head,

“ Nothing I just think it’s kinda ironic we both came out to our fire escapes to escape our bad dreams.” He paused as his face clouded with confusion. “ Or at least I think it’s irony? Would you call it irony?”

“I think it might actually be symbolism but fuck if I know. I don’t have the mental capacity to figure which literary devices apply to our situation right now but remind me to come back to it later.”

Danny hummed in amusement before taking a deep breath.

“ I think I wanna talk about it.”

“Hmm?” Jason raised an eyebrow

“ I think I wanna talk about my dream.”

In a split second Jason makes a impulsive decision.

“Hold on,” he says, before climbing over the railing and extending his foot over to reach Danny’s fire escape.

“ What are you doing, ya maniac?!” Danny asked incredulously at Jason’s actions.

Jason stepped over onto the fire escape and shrugged as he walked over to Danny, “This felt like something I should be close for.”

The startled man seemed to loosen up and sunk to sit on the platform with his back to the railing. Jason joined him on the floor. They sat shoulder to shoulder, Danny staring at his trembling hand, and Jason, staring at him. Jason hand crept towards Danny’s, gentle taking it and interlacing the fingers.

Danny’s head swiveled to look at him and Jason returned him a gentle look and a squeezed his hand reassuringly. Faintly, the young man smiled and squeezed back. He took a deep breath and began.

" So you remember how you found my groceries in an alley the other day?”

Jason nodded.

“ Yeah well, the reason I left them there was because some mugger tried to kidnap Ellie. I ditched the groceries to grab her and get home.”

“ You did a smart thing,” Jason continued to nod as if he didn’t already know exactly what happened that day.

“ Mm I don’t doubt that, Ellie’s safety will always be my first priority. But the whole thing kinda brought up old fear. Some old … memories.”

A distant look grew on his face and Jason’s heart burned with sadness and anger for his friend.

“ The dream started out back in that alley. I had just pulled Ellie back into my arms but when I turned around it wasn’t the mugger standing there. It was Vlad.” Danny’s breath staggered before he continued.

“He started saying stuff about taking Ellie back since he’s the one who made her. The one who had wanted her originally, never mind that he’d lost interest after realizing she was a girl and not his perfect son. But he kept saying things about how he had more life experience and was better equipped to raise her. How he’d be able to do better than me and provide more for her. And for me, if I let him. I hated it. I hated him for leveraging his age and wealth to try to get into our lives again. I didn’t have many reservations about punching him in the face about it either.”

Danny tightened his grip around Jason’s hand. He squeezed back in what he hoped was a reassuring manner.

“I turned to leave but at the mouth the alley was a van. And not one of those stereotypical white vans they warn you kidnappers use. No. No, it was my parents’ van. They slid open the door and and I felt like I couldn’t move. I looked down and Ellie was gone. They-” the words started getting choked up in his throat. His eyes becoming glassy as he fought with his next words.

“ They wanted to take her too. They said they still loved me even though I was different and that they could fix me.” His voice grew frantic and shaky. “They thought they could ‘fix me’ but that Ellie’s existence was unnatural. That it’d be better if they took her and tried to raise in a ‘normal’ environment, especially if she showed signs of being unnatural too!”

Danny turned his face into Jason’s shoulder, trying to fight back tears.

“ And I know they don’t actually think like that- that I need to be fixed, at least not anymore. But, the idea that they’d try to take her from me? Raise her better than I could? It tore me up inside. How could they want to raise her when the barely raised me and my sister? When my sister raised me more than they did? How could I trust them not to get her involved in experiments when they still store chemical samples the same fridge as our food? How could I trust them when I told them I didn’t want to be around Vlad and they still let him into our house? Because ‘We’ve know good ol’ Vladdie since college! Nothing to worry about with him!’ even though I told them I-!”

He paused trying to catch his breath. Jason lifted his other arm to wrap around the crying young man, tucking him under his chin. Danny shifted, now shuddering into his chest. Jason could feel the Pits ignite a fire in soul. His blood boiled and a voice cried out for blood in recompense for his friend’s pain.

‘What type of shitty parents-! No. Later’ he tried to reign in the voice. ‘Being here for him now is more important.’ He held the other even closer.

Finally, Danny calmed himself enough to continue, “ I know they don’t think that now. I know that they love me and, and Ellie too- and I still love them too and I know that they want to be better. But they just don’t get it. That there’s a lot of reasons I don’t want to be around them anymore. Reasons I don’t bring Ellie around if I can help it. Even though it was just a dream I couldn’t handle the idea that they- that anyone might try to take Ellie from me.”

Jason tilted his head slightly to press a soft, comforting, kiss on the top of Danny’s head. He rubbed small circles on his back and murmured gently in his ear,

“It’s okay Danny. It’s okay to be mad and upset and scared. From the sounds of it you have ever right to be. It’s okay for you to worry. I have a friend ya know. He’s a recovered addict, started getting extra serious about staying sober when his ex dropped a daughter off on his doorstep because he was worried at every turn that if he slipped up or relapsed someone would take her away. I know that it’s not the same but I think every parent is entitled to worrying over losing their kid. And it sounds like your own parents haven’t done you too many favors in minimizing the worry. But you don’t have to hold yourself back from being afraid. You’re allowed to be afraid, or upset or whatever else you might be feeling.”

He finally let go of Danny’s hand in order to hold him properly, once again shifting their positions. Now, they sat perpendicularly, with Danny partway into his lap, pressed against his chest. After a while Danny wiped his tears, whispering out a thanks to Jason and allowed himself to be comforted.

They sat in delicate silence until Jason finally worked up the nerve to speak.

“So you probably know who I am right?”

Danny lifted his head from Jason’s chest to give him a confused eyebrow raise. “Yeah I think I’d know whose lap I’m on right now?”

“Not like that,” Jason blushed. “ I mean since you asked about volunteering you must know who I am in a larger context right?”

“ You mean do I know you’re beloved Gotham celebrity and non-profit worker: Jason Todd-Wayne? Because I do. I did research this city before moving here, believe it or not. Actually I remember seeing a bunch of articles about how one of Gotham’s beloved sons had returned home with your picture around that time?”

Jason touched the back of his neck, glancing away in embarrassment.

“Uh yeah that, so you’ve probably hear about my- uuh, ‘resurrection’, huh?”

Danny’s expression sobered up. His eyes darkened and his voice got all quiet, likely due to the serious nature of the discussion.

“Yeah, I did. The media claimed you had been in a kidnapping turned terrorist attack slash hostage situation? And that you had managed to survive and were taken in by family who help you recover and reconnect with your dad once you were ready?” Danny recounted the cover story they’d given to the public. There was something in his tone that made Jason think there was more he wasn’t mentioning but it was likely all speculation or more sensitive details.

“Was-… was that what your dream was about?”

Jason bowed his head into Danny’s shoulder, not having it in him to say it to his face.

“Yeah,” he mumbled. “It was.”

“Oh.”

Now it was Danny’s turn to hold Jason tight, one arm one his back and the other coming up to pet his hair, gently pressing the larger man further into his shoulder. It felt like something cracked open inside him. Suddenly, words came tumbling out before he could even think about them.

“ I was back in that warehouse. Laying on the ground, injured. I could hear someone crying. And- *gulp* -and his laughter before the explosion. It was … so hot. And when I woke up I couldn’t stand the thought of being trapped inside. The same way I was trapped … during some of the worst moments of my life. And I know I’m not there anymore but I’m still terrified by the memory! Sometimes I still get scared the man who took me the first time will find me again and I just-!”

He choked on a sob as Danny held him even tighter, as if trying to melt him into his skin.

“I just hated feeling that way so much!” He whimpered.

“It’s okay Jay, I’m here big guy. You can let it out.”

And for the first time in a long while Jason allowed himself to cry freely, sobbing into his neighbor’s shoulder. Danny continued to stroke his hair, rocking gentle as one would when comforting a child. But maybe that sort of gentleness was what Jason needed.

Once he heard Jason’s sobs subside Danny took a deep breath and spoke.

“You know what?”

“What?” Jason asked lifting his head to gaze into Danny’s icy blue eyes.

“I’m kinda glad I ended up out here tonight. I mean the nightmare sucked but at least I got to be here for you.” He smiled softly, “I’m in your corner if you ever need me.”

Jason couldn’t help the soft smile that worked it’s way onto his face.

“Yeah, me too. I’ll be there if you ever need help, with anything: Ellie, Vlad, your parents, your groceries.”

Danny giggled at that last part, knowing Jason was sincere. With a sigh he rested his cheek on Jason’s chest. Jason reach down to hold his hand again and the two enjoyed the feeling of holding someone who held them back.

With a sigh, Danny lifted his gaze from their hands to Jason’s face. Jason gave him a closed-mouth smile, his eyes asking if something was wrong.

“It’s the 4th of July in a few days.” He stated.

“Yes, it is.” Jason said back.

“If it’s not too short notice, Ellie and I would love to have you over again. We were gonna have barbecue and ice cream and then come out here and see if we could catch the fireworks. She’d love it if you could join us, and … and, well I would too.”

Jason swore Danny was looking at him with the biggest, roundest, most earnest eyes he’d ever seen, save for his daughter’s.

“ I’ll be there.”

Danny flushed at his quick response.

“Don’t wanna check your schedule first?”

“Doesn’t matter. I didn’t have anything else planned so I’ll do my best to be there.” He made sure the shorter man’s eyes met his as he said his next words. “Besides, I like spending time with the two of you too.”

‘His ears are pink, he’s just adorable.’ He thought to himself as Danny seemed brighten in a shy glow. He shifted in Jason’s lap, probably getting ready to get up when he did something that cause Jason to blue screen.

Danny tilted his head up planting a quick peck on his cheek before squeaking out a “see you then” and fleeing back into his apartment, leaving a wide-eyed Jason on the floor of his fire escape.

Jason sat there stunned, before a furious blush over took his face and decided to hurry back into his own apartment. The voice in his head came back to give its routine comments: ‘His lips are so soft, the stuff of dreams’

He somehow managed to blush even more violently. ‘Damn it’ he thought, shoving his head under his pillow, unable to tell whether he actually wanted to dream about Danny’s lips or not. ‘It’s actually embarrassing how worked I’m getting over a fleeting kiss on the cheek from a friend.’

~

~Bzzt~ “Calling for back up! Firefly decided to start his annual firework show early this year!” ~Bzzt~ Signal called through the emergency comms.

Jason cursed his luck, of course Firefly would attack just as he got off work! Now he might be late to dinner! He sighed and tried to look on the bright-side: If they dealt with this now that meant it was less likely for any of the other rouges to try anything later. Then, the comm crackled back to life.

~Bzzt~ “I could have got him by now but he keeps lightin’ more shit on fire! By the time I get the first fires under control and punch him in the face, he’s started 20 more! Normally I’d be able to handle it, but there’s a lot of civilians around right now and fires take priority. I just need someone to help me keep the guy down long enough to make the arrest.” ~Bzzt~

Jason started ducking through alleys trying to get to his near safe house in order to grab his gear. Hey called back to Duke over the comms.

“Signal, heard! I just got off work. See if you can herd him towards the Alley. It’ll give the Red Hood an excuse to show up and beat the shit outa him while you make sure nothing actually gets damaged. I’m heading to the safe house near the Catherine Johnson Rec Center. Try to get him at least two blocks away!”

~Bzzt~ “Heard!” ~Bzzt~

Jason tossed the comm to the side and started strapping into his body armor. He started fastening his helmet when felt something in the air change. Then the comms buzzed to life once more.

~Bzzt~ “Hood, I’ve got Firefly coming your way! He’s heading up Delancy Ave.!” ~Bzzt~

Hood readied his grapple on shot.

“Good, keep him there! I’ll see you in 5, Narrows!”

~Bzzt~ “On it! I’ll be waiting Alley!” ~Bzzt~

Jason swung through the rooftops, heading in the direction of the fires that kept spontaneously appearing and subsequently being extinguished.

When he arrived Hood found Signal split between stopping fires and engaging Firefly in combat. The madman was so absorbed in antagonizing Signal that he hadn’t noticed Hood’s approach. Signal was handling him pretty well but being unable to focus solely on the villain lowered his efficiency. Jason’s mind wandered back to his friend, who had wanted to see him tonight, and decided he’d end this quickly.

You see for all his bulk and bullheadedness Jason was still a highly trained and intelligent individual. Maintaining the element of surprise he approached in the shadows silently looking down from his perch on an adjacent building. He made subtle gestures for Signal to move the guy into place, which he returned with the slightest of nods. Signal moved Firefly over to the side of the building closest to Jason’s position. Jason got ready took make use of his high ground, tapping into what he learned from Dick.

With a deep breath Jason runs up and launches himself into a triple forward somersault, building up power and momentum. In midair he took account of his bearings, aiming his feet at Firefly’s back.

Firefly goes down like he’s been hit by a semi.

“AND THATS WHY YOU STAY OUTA THE ALLEY FUCKER!” Jason shouts, crouching over the rouge who was quickly losing consciousness. Even though it’d been his plan to lure him here Jason was still protective of what was his. And Crime Alley? Crime Alley was his territory.

He stands up and gives Signal a celebratory high five.

“Nice going, ya tank! I thought he’d never go down!”

“No problem, Dayshift! Nice work handling him, you’d have gotten him eventually. I just sped up the process.”

“Thanks Hood, I ‘preciate it.”

“Soooo, you good here oorrr…?”

“Yeah, I’ve got it. Get outa here before the cops show up and arrest you,” Signal dismissed him.

Jason gave him a quick, two-finger salute before running off to change before he was late to dinner.

~

Jason arrives at the Nightingales’ red faced and out of breath. His hair is a windswept mess and his clothes slightly messy from his quick change. He knocks on the door desperately trying to tame his hair and adjust his t-shirt and jeans.

Jason feels a burst of cool air as the door opens and he’s greeted by a smiling Danny and a surprised Ellie. He smiles at the two but Danny speaks before he’s got the chance.

“ Surprise! It’s Jason!” He says with some mild jazz hands.

To which seem to Ellie explode in glee. Jason swears she’s vibrating with how fast she’s bouncing.

“The secret surprise guest was Mr. Jason! Awesome!”

And just like that there is small child attached to his leg. He looks down at her, then up at Danny, who’s holding in laughter, then back at Ellie. Then he bursts out laughing. He bends down down to scoop the young girl up into his arms and she lets out a small “whoa!” Jason follows Danny into the apartment, Ellie resting on his hip.

“It’s nice to see you to princess!”

“Mr. Jason! You’re not wearing any red!”

“Huh?”

He looks down to see the young girl scrutinizing his plain white shirt and blue jeans and looks questioningly at Danny. The young man takes pity on him and explains.

“Ellie really wanted to wear red, white and blue for the 4th of July,” gesturing to his own outfit: a pair of blue jeans, a white shirt with a logo for a band called Fifth World Raga, and a lightweight red flannel wit the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

“That’s right! I have a white skirt and socks, and a blue top and tiara, and my cardigan, my sneakers and beanie are all red!” She showed off. Then she pointed at Jason.

“You’ve gotta white shirt and blue jeans but no red!” Then she gasped, “Oooooh! I have an idea! Wait here!” She said, scrambling off to her room.

Jason looked at Danny who smiled and shrugged helplessly in a “eh, whadda ya gonna do” sort a fashion. To which Jason just huffed in amusement.

That’s when Ellie rushed back in, holding something behind her back. She patted Jason’s thigh indicating for him to bend down, to which he obliged by crouching down to her level.

“Close your eyes!”

Jason shut his eyes. He felt something being placed around his neck and on his head.

“Open them!”

Jason found himself looking into a small purple hand held mirror. Ellie had placed a cheap red-beaded party necklace around his neck and a silver tiara with red gems on his head, one to match her own silver and blue one.

“I have lotsa tiaras so you can borrow this one so that you can have red! And you can even keep the necklace!”

Jason’s internal monologue nearly burst into tears. ‘She’s an angel! She’s bestowed such a wonderful gift Must. Protect. At All Costs!’

He heard Danny burst into laughter but focused his attention on the grinning girl in front of him.

“Thank you so much Princess! I love it! Just what I needed! I’m honored to receive such a thoughtful gift!

“Yeah Ellie, it looks great on him!” Danny chimed in between chuckles.

“That’s great daddy b’cause I found a white one for you! Now we can all match!”

Danny stopped laughing and Jason returned him a wicked grin.

“Yeah, your highness! We can all match! Besides, what’s a king without his crown!”

Danny sighed, placing the tiara on his head.

“Thanks Ell, I love it.”

“Your welcome daddy!”

“Alright, now go wash your hands for dinner!”

“Okay!”

And the girl scurried off to wash her hands. Jason grinned at the interaction. He waited till the girl was gone before turning to Danny.

“Looking good your highness,” he teased.

“Oh, hush you!” Danny flushed. “Come help me set the table. It’s not a traditional barbecue but I made some chili, hotdogs, veggie skewers, and some coleslaw. We’ve also got fruit salad and some soda pop in the fridge. Ellie wanted to do a homemade version of chili dogs and I had to insist on some fruits and veggies in there. Ancients knows she needs her nutrients! If you could be a dear and grab some plates off the drying rack that’d be great!”

“Of course, your highness! You had me at chili,” Jason said following Danny into the kitchen.

~

Later that evening after finishing up with dinner. Danny herded them all onto the fire escape with some frozen treats. Ellie had drumstick ice cream cone, Jason an ice cream bar, and Danny an orange popsicle.

“I don’t know if we’ll be able to see the fireworks from here but fingers crossed we do. Just don’t be too disappointed if you can’t see them alright Ell?” Danny told his daughter.

“It’s okay daddy! Even if I don’t see the fireworks I still have you and Mr. Jason and my ice cream!”

Jason and Danny looked at each other sharing the same thoughts: ‘She’s so precious!!!!’

Then the tell tale boom of fireworks started and the trio turned their attention to the sky. A streak of red danced across the sky before it burst into a shower of ruby colored sparks. Then came gold, and green and blue and white. One after another in a barrage of sound and color. And they were just able to see it above the end of the alley.

Ellie let out an awed “Whooooaaaa” as she watched the colors dance across the sky. She turned back to her dad tugging on his sleeve and point up at the sky. He chuckled, picking her up to give her a better view pointing at the sky with her saying, “Look at that one!”

It was near enough to make Jason’s own heart burst.

“Beautiful.”

“I know right!” Danny said, glancing back at him, talking about the fireworks. Silently, Jason thought about the way both of the Nightingales’ glossy black hair reflected the fireworks colors in their sheen.

Then Danny turned to hand his phone to Jason.

“Would you mind taking a picture of us?” He asked. “I never had many growing up and I want this to be something she’ll remember.” Looking back down at the child on his hip.

“Of course I can,” he said, taking the phone in his hand. “Smile!”

Jason looked down at the photo he snapped when he saw something that made his heart stall. It was a good photo, both Danny and Ellie smiling at the camera while the remains of a fireworks fell behind them in a shower of fading light. What stopped him in his tracks was the soft look on his own reflection in the window of the apartment staring at Danny and Ellie.

And he realized, ‘Oh. I like Danny’

And he doesn’t know when he zoned out and missed Danny taking his phone back, but he zones right back in when two arms are thrown over his shoulders and suddenly he’s in a selfie sandwich. Both Nightingales press close, Ellie throwing up a peace sign while Danny snaps the photo.

The two laugh at his startled face and he can’t help the laugh that bursts out of him.

“Hey! I wanna redo!”

~

That night Jason tosses and turns in bed while his brain replays images of Danny: his smile, his lips, his laugh, the way he licks an ice pop. If he hadn’t realized earlier then he definitely knows now.

Jason Todd has an undeniable, unequivocal crush on Daniel Nightingale.

~~~ I tried with that fight scene but I don’t have a lotta experience there. I know this is a fluff fic so sorry to angst you but it’s necessary for hurt/comfort. Have some “Jason accepts his feelings” to make up for it. Sorry if it’s too clunky or dialogue heavy. I’m open to constructive criticism so let me know what you think.

Fifth World Raga is a real band in the DCU their a rock band and their music is described as quote “spiritual in nature” so I feel like it fit Danny’s vibe.

[puppetmaster13u]

Tagged by @call-me-strega Rules of the challenge are: In a new post, show the last line you wrote or drew, then tag as many people as there are words Which, I'll be honest, I don't particularly enjoy doing that much tagging of people, makes me feel like I'm spamming so I'll do less, hope that's okay :> @radiance1 @golden-buddle @phoenixcatch7 @hdgnj @f4nd0m-fun @mkarchin713 (Hope that's enough)

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“Oh fuck me,” Bruce muttered under his breath when he blinked the spots from his vision. If this woman tried to sacrifice the baby in her arms he’s going to start a riot.

[gemsofgreece]

Can you tell me about a vrykolakas?

The vrykólakas is the Greek equivalent of the vampire. While nowadays it is a perfect synonym (we call "vrykólakas" anything from Dracula to Lestat to that glimmering dude from Twilight) historically this was not exactly the case.

Ancient Greeks believed in undead creatures who could return and feed on human flesh. Ancient burials have been discovered where the dead had their members nailed or bound or the tomb had extra walls and obstacles to prevent the corpse from rising. Such a case has been found in the ancient mausoleum of Síkinos island, the burial place of a noble woman dating to 200 AD, who although was clearly buried with love, it was also obvious her relatives thought she could return in the form of such a creature. I had actually talked about her in an old post but I can't seem to find it no matter what key words I try - sometimes tumblr gets a stroke when you add too many tags and it can't locate the post. Here's the prototype link from the article in Greek based on which I made the post. Her case is described in bullet #8 .

From the 16th to 18th century when such information is more easily accessible we can tell that the ancient undead creature eating human flesh was pretty much syncretized with the nearby strong Slavic beliefs for the vampir. The Greek name vrykólakas, sometimes in idiomatic Greek also vorvólakas comes etymlogically from the Bulgarian varkolak or the Slavic vukodlak or vurdulak or any of these several variations. A version that seems to have taken a very similar etymological path as the Greek one is the Lithuanian vilkolakis. (Those words however do not describe 100% the type of creature vrykólakas is.) There have been numerous examples of such mythological syncretisms in (South)eastern Europe. Another example is an also ghoulish creature, a vampiric witch, the strega of the Italians, shtriga of the Albanians, striga of the Romanians and strzyga of the Polish which comes from the Ancient Greek strix or striggla, who even though she was an owl-like creature of the night, she was originally (prior to 300 BC) not considered a demonic man-eating creature. This was more likely the later influence of the Romans and their dark perception of the striggla was adopted anew by the Greeks of late antiquity (and the ancestors of all other aforementioned nations).

Back to Vrykólakas, it was not imagined in the way western vampires have been imagined since the late 18th century. It is not tall, thin, lustful and incredibly sexy. In fact, it usually had the appearance of a swollen, bloated corpse (like corpses are medically known to do in the process of decomposition, apparently people were trying to explain this) and sometimes it was described having red, glowing eyes. It was not sophisticated or self-restrained at the times it was well fed. It is usually described as having a rabid-like behaviour and is mostly incapable of normal human communication. However, there have been significant deviations from this, an example being the folk song of the Dead Brother, where the brother who is an undead is described as pale, skinny, hairless, dead or severely ill looking but is capable of normal communication. (More on this in a link I attach later.)

The vrykolakes were believed to be created if the dead was excommunicated in life, had a foul, very corrupt lifestyle or was cursed by somebody else (even unfairly). Sometimes the rising and arrival of a vrykolakas was heralded by owl hoots and screeches, a continuation of the ancient myth of the strix, unlike the Slavic connection of vampires to bats.

A Vrykolakas is not technically drinking blood. I believe this is a more Slavic or Western European version. Like its ancient counterpart, the vrykolakas feeds on flesh, intestines and particularly liver. The vrykolakes would often attack livestock when they couldn't find humans. They would knock on a door and call the owner’s name and if nobody answered it, they could not get in (famous traditional vampire trope). If a person was attacked by a vrykolakas, they would either get killed on the spot or in a few days and then become undead too. The vrykolakes were also believed to spread famine and illnesses by attacking the livestock and contaminating the waters. The longer a vrykolakas “survived”, the more powerful and destructive it became. While unusual, they could appear in daylight.

The way a vrykolakas was confronted and defeated has many similarities with the ancient undead and the traditional vampires of Eastern Europe. The corpses who were believed to be vrykolakes were dismembered, immobilized with thick silver nails, they would have wine poured on them by a priest, have crosses placed on them, they would be cremated, they would be impaled with a stake in their heart or mouth, they would be buried uspide down, sometimes they would be beheaded or cut into many small pieces.

Here is a FANTASTIC post by @wordsmithic compiling several folk legends and documented incidences in which Greeks believed a corpse to be a vrykolakas. Since you are interested in this topic, do not skip it by any means.

As you will notice in it, there has been a considerable number of western Europeans writing about the Greek vrykolakes of the 17th and 18th century. As I was searching for additional potentially important info in Wikipedia, I found that at the time the Greek vrykolakes were more researched and known than the Slavic vampires, however the latter soon kicked our ass especially due to Stoker’s inspiration from the Wallachian Vlad Tepes (Dracula). But the first novel of romanticised vampiric fiction is the Vampyre (1817) by John Williams Polidori and the novel largely takes place in Greece. Maybe this has to do with the fact that even though Polidori was half British - half Italian, he was perhaps aware of distant Greek paternal ancestry (his surname Polidori is etymologically Greek but his grandfather is also described as a native of Tuscany so the potential Greek ancestry goes way back in time, early or mid- 17th century at the latest, so I can’t tell if he knew or felt any connection) or maybe because the raging Philhellene Lord Byron assigned him to write this (NEWSFLASH: several intellectuals and artists of the 17-19th centuries appreciated MODERN Greece even while it was conquered and desolate, not like now that we are treated worse than rubbish even when we fair a lot better). My point is, for this to happen, during those centuries the beliefs surrounding the Vrykólakes must have been particularly notable and present in the Greek society. The fabulous link I added above says more about this novel as well, among many other things. Enjoy!

[docsfallfromgrace]

fighting my inner demons rn

[someone said something about strega that i so badly want to correct but i know it'll come off as mean and pretentious bc im not good with tone and i dont feel like arguing on insta]

anyways. chidori was still with strega and complicit with murder. she isn't suddenly completely different and separate from takaya n jin. remember she was an antag too and i love her for that

THIS IS NOT A JAB AT CHIDORI BTW. i mean this as in like she isn't suddenly an owo innocent character just bc she left strega. it frustrates me when people completely disconnect her from takaya n jin and call them evil but say she's fine

i love chidori to bits but pls im WAAAA

[tea-potato-gt]

Kæmpe Stør’s life part 4:

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4.5

Welcome to High School Stør!

Puberty is hitting Stør like a train. He’s also growing rapidly now. Ah yes… the awkward teenage phase! Stør still has a baby face COVERED in acne. He’s very self-conscious about his acne because one pimple about the size of a human fist👊 and hard to miss.

The bullying has increased in the last few years, with people realizing Stor is just a big push over. Literally. He would never retaliate or raise a hand to anyone who mistreats him. Both out of worry he might accidentally hurt them and because Stør doesn’t have it in him to hurt anyone on purpose.

Thankfully, Stør has Yilan to stick up for him, and he does. Constantly. (Strega can’t do much, she’s still in middle school.)

By now, Yilan’s father ran out on them, he sends money, but they haven’t been in contact in a few years. Yilan HATES his mom’s new dead beat boyfriend, so he stays away from home. Yilan practically moves in with Stør, staying after school and on weekends. Luckily for Yilan, Stør has two dads who love Yilan.

——————————————————————————

It’s in his freshman year of High school that Stør meets Mizu Rivers for the first time…

She was in his 3rd period English Lit class. At first Mizu didn't stand out from the rest of the class, she stared at Stør or acted nervous when he was near. Not an unusual reaction, Stør tries to not take it personally, he can only imagine how intimidating he looks to others. But it still hurts. A lot.

----------

It's not until Stør gets (reluctantly) assigned to a group project with Mizu and her two "Friends" Nero (A water nymph & Mizu's cousin) and Lilith (a Succubus), that Stør finally interacts with Mizu.

Nero and Lilith slack off on their work and largely ignore Stør as he's trying to get the group on track to write their paper on the book "Gulliver's Travel's." Mizu doesn't make eye contact or talk to Stør so he's left at a loss for what to do.

Stør: H-hey, maybe we should actually start working on the project like the teacher said…

Nero: If you want it done so bad, do it YOURSELF. You’re a big boy…

Nero: (looks down) …literally…

Stør: 😟😵‍💫😧

Nero: Whatever. Let's go girls. 🙄

Nero stands up and leaves the classroom. While poor Stør is left red in the face and realing.

In his shock he looked at the other girls at the window. Lilith dgaf and just walked after Nero. And Mizu--- did... is Mizu making direct eye contact with Stør for the first time?

He could have imagined it, in fact he probably did, but she held fast. She quietly mouths the words "I'm sorry," and quickly runs after her friends.

Stør was left sitting alone, dumbfounded, and at a loss of what just happened and what to do next.

—————————————————————————

That night, Stør contemplates telling the teacher of his peers unwillingness to do the assignment, when he gets an email from Mizu:

"Hey Store, Story, Stor? (However you spell it, idk ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

sorry about Nero and Lilith today, they never want to do their work. But don't worry about the assignment! ;D I'll type My part and their parts. Just worry about yours!

See you tomorrow!"

Stør quickly messaged back:

"Hi M. Rivers,

Thanks for reaching out, and explaining the situation, I really appreciate it!

I think it might be better if we split the assignment between the two of us?

I can write Lilith's part and you can do Nero's?

I don't want you to get overwhelmed with extra work!

See you tomorrow,

PS. My name is spelled "Stør""

A little later, Stør receives this email:

"That would be lovely!

Thank you, Stør!

Ps. just call me "Mizu" ;)"

---------------------------------------------------------

4.5 here

More about “The Biggest Heart” world here

[taitavva]

yaldabaoth couldn't help but make his whole team overpowered huh ... how are the phantom thieves supposed to survive ?? "oh noo akechi ur so hot haha .. please don't kill me" brilliant strategy pego (entire ask under cut)

[ACTUALLY UR PUTFITS WERE SO ON POINT. I HAVE 2 OUTFIT IDEAS 4 HIFUMI & SHIHO (MINUS MASKS) & 1 mask idea for yuuki but idk what else. i was thinking for the leaders it would def be chaotic but goro has most metaverse experience so hes the leader. ken kinda acts like mona in giving useful tips abt personas etc and hifumi takes on the role of makoto where she gives out different strategies (her, ken, & goro debate over these tips & strategies but usually end up doing them anyway). I have an urge to show u these outfits omg. i can ramble abt these outfits & their personas for forever .. i chose jormungandr for yuuki, skadi for shiho hela for hifumi, and persephone for eiko. ik its not very in the literacy scene for them to all have deities as personas but... goro breaks it with loki anyway, so ..

explainations:: hela & jormungandr are 2/6 of loki's kids in norse mythology, aiding him in the ragnarok/end of the world, and hela is sentenced down to the underworld to be the goddess of that realm since she was born half alive half dead, and she's sentenced to it by odin (basically. kinda the zeus of norse mythology, like the "king" of all of them) because she's the daughter of loki & all this other stuff .. chose her for hifumi because hifumi's mom basically forces her to be a shoji star after hifumi's dad and yeah. jormungandr i chose because hes kinda just a sleepy little guy: in norse mythology he's known as "the World Serpent" and he wraps around the entire ocean with his tail in his mouth kind of in a constant sleep until the ragnarok (all of loki's kids --aside from 2, one being dead & the other being a gift to odin-- including loki himself, are kinda trapped somewhere before the ragnarok happens) and he's not talked about a lot but he aids in so much and he's important (like how yuuki is kind of ignored by the pts, the dialogue options being horrid, despite him aiding in them. also yuuki is the bm's navi in the au & he runs a "revenge site" like how Strega/takaya sakaki, jin shirato, & chidori yoshino do in p3-- strega also does death calling cards , mainly shown in the novels which is p cool.. first ppl to use mental shutdowns despite not beinf called that then either. i love strega sorry. they all agreed to it because shiho wanted to deal with more people like kamoshida, goro wanted to deal with more people like shido, hifumi wanted to deal w more people like her mom, etc).. i chose persephone for eiko because in greek mythology, persephone is (most commonly accepted form of the myth) kidnapped by hades and forced into marriage with him by eating a pomegranate out of the underworld .. point blank, persephone reminds me of eiko being trapped and persephone's shown to overcome it , ( honestly eventually making the underworld & hades her Bitch. she kills the goddess/nymph of mints and creates the mint plant because she got too handsy with hades).. also hifumi and eiko are a little gay for eachother so why not have their personas be, too? anyway. SHIHO!! i chose skadi for her because skadi , in norse mythology , is both jotunn (giant) and a god like how loki is, but she's an accepted form of it because she was given over to the gods as a peace treaty, and thats pretty important to norse mythology i'd say (like how rooftop scene is important to kamoshida arc), and skadi claws up the aesir (council of gods) thru both her marriage (ann? ann. hehe.) and her own sheer will (shiho's recovery and goro's ..... questionable aid.) and skadi just fits. the goddess of mountains and winter? sign me the FUCK UP.

Anyway . this was long I apologise]

[revclver-jesus]

How do you feel when people say that Takaya is just using Jin and Chidori?

{{ You mean like that one hot take that drove me up the wall? lmao I am going to give you the full blown dissertation here i go-- let's call this essay

The Most Commonly Misunderstood Thing About Takaya's Character: or Why Team Strega Is Not Literally A Cult lol

When people say that Takaya is just 'using" Jin and Chidori, what they're implying in most contexts is that Takaya is incapable of forming attachments and his motivations are fairly shallow-- essentially Takaya is not a complex villain and should be dismissed as purely selfishly motivated and malicious. He's a "simple" villain.

Now I realize....... that I might be biased as that girly that's written him on a dedicated blog for multiple years now, but purely objectively speaking, removing all my own headcanons, using only the information provided to use in canon? It's just thoroughly false, tbh!

First I'll go into why he isn't purely selfishly motivated and then I'll explain his relationship with Strega because I can prove the motivation with just Reload as an example, let alone the novel. Takaya, in Reload especially but even in the original game, I would argue has a full blown character arc off screen. At the start of the game he does appear to be more selfish, he has no real motivation and is just living out the last of his life doing underhanded assassin work-- nothing's really challenging him. But as the story progresses, Takaya begins to express a meaningful ideology-- he develops a greater concern for the world around him and expresses a full blown motivation. He says, in protest to the choices of the protagonist in one of his social events, and I quote: " Choosing to turn a blind eye towards your own power, to the grief of the fallen, to the unchosen and the unloved." Its clear he is not talking about himself here, as he mentions grief for the fallen. Takaya is expressing that he feels grief for something-- he is sorry about something that has happened to someone else, and it bothers him enough to nearly scream about it.

I think, often times, people dismiss what Takaya says as insincere almost automatically without any indication that he doesn't mean the words he's saying besides perhaps being vain and dishonest in other scenes, but these social event scenes are clearly meant to be interpreted as him being unusually earnest. By the end, Takaya is not just trying to keep his own power, but, as he says " this is not just my will but the will of all people. " which all culminates into Takaya's final character arc moment, where, in his final boss, he says the line " I will throw away my pride! " before using an evoker instead of trying to summon without help, implying that he is finally sacrificing his ego to better fight for what he believes in. If he was fighting for a positive cause, this would be a heroic moment, but it is still concrete evidence that his motivation is no longer meant to be seen as purely selfish. He is now fighting for " the will of all people ". He cares about the " the fallen, the unchosen and the unloved."

So what about Jin and Chidori? To put it simply, Takaya is not some puppet master that breaks them down emotionally and treats them like tools. They're his friends, and he happens to have a leader's personality, so they follow him, much like the protagonist he is designed to mirror. Its a lot easier to guess how he feels about them when you don't assume the worst and look at all his canon interactions with them. And even easier to tell if you can manage to read any english translated pages of their strega-focused novel ( which we can assume is fairly canon since Reload references it with the child turned into a large shadow ).

In the novel, as far as I've seen ( its only partially translated ), team Strega is extremely informal and lighthearted around each other. There is no sign that they fear Takaya, as they are willing to tease each other and disagree. The opening scenes of the book quickly establish a sort of family-like dynamic, with Takaya having an older brother-like role. He teases Chidori ( in a bit of heavy handed foreshadowing ) that she will understand why people fall in love when she's older-- of which Chidori sort of says gross and "as if" and rolls her eyes at him. Jin, being the narrator perspective, shows no sign of intimidation when around Takaya, something that would bleed through into their every interaction-- especially the establishing scene introducing the cast-- if that were the case. I feel, even if the novel is not canon, the writer would be instructed not to write Takaya so friendly if he was meant to be a heartless manipulator regardless.

In the game, the most manipulative thing he ever does to either is when Chidori is pulled back into Strega. Takaya tells her that there is nowhere else she can go and reminds her that death is not to be feared in a way that sounds like he's repeated this mantra often enough he knows she can guess it. This seems spooky, but the tension is immediately alleviated by the flippant and kind of sassy way that Chidori assures them she remembers Takaya's advice. This is not how you talk to your cult leader and this is not a cult, this is something closer to a gang or a club-- at worst, a coven of witches ( considering their team name is "witch" in italian.). They simply have an in-group and out-group sort of mentality, a shared since of identity, and a shared view of the world to go with it, which is to be expected when you've been openly shunned and mocked by the average person ( as seen at the start of the first scene with Shinji ) But this scene, when compared to all their mundane and lighthearted interactions, doesn't imply anything more severe than the leader of your misfit club reminding you why we don't hang out with the normies. You're "one of us" and a level of loyalty and commitment is expected when you otherwise always act as a group.

Yes, he is very cold and indifferent to the sight of his team members getting hurt-- or hurting themselves, for that matter, but the reason for this is obvious. In Reload, Takaya plainly expresses that he is feeling attachment ( for the protag at the moment ) but is avoiding his own capability for attachment intentionally. That scene was meant to establish that he can feel attachment, that he isn't as cold as he pretends to be, to encourage the viewer to see him with a little more nuance. What causes a man to force himself to be colder than he really is? What can cause an avoidance toward emotional attachment? Maybe...... watching 100 children die after being orphaned and stolen away to live underground for years? lmao

And so, when Takaya watches Chidori do self harm or literally sacrifice her life, for one-- he's not going to parent her, they don't have that kind of relationship, and he would be a hypocrite if he tried to encourage her not to do what she wants to to her dying body-- and two, of course he doesn't mind if Chidori dies, he's expecting that to happen anyways. His one greatest gift is his uncanny ability to accept death and the death of others. Mourning you openly is not how he expresses emotion. Especially when he sincerely believes death is a blessing. Its just the way she died that he's a little annoyed by. ( And why shouldn't he be honestly-- the girl threw her life away on the first nice guy she met at the mall just to make his work harder from his perspective, lmao ) BUT. In the comic version of that scene, Takaya does let himself be cut across the chest purely because he hesitated to shoot when he saw Chidori's spirit protecting Junpei. So... that might imply something.

However, if there is any greater evidence against any who claim that Takaya does not care about Jin especially... Takaya's final words, in multiple renditions of the story including the movies and Reload, are to say that he wishes Jin was with him as he died. If there is anyone that Takaya cared for, at least one single character in the entire game, it is above all Jin Shirato.

In the movies its very obvious, with the sad closeup shot of him looking beaten and washed up as he wishes Jin could be here to see it all end with him. I have the scene as an icon ! Look at how emotional the framing is !

So yeah, that's how I feel, it just drives me crazy when people remember Takaya as just Some Asshole lmao-- he IS an asshole! But he's no Chairman Ikutsuki, he has a lot of complexity to him beyond being the guy who killed Shinji, and not everything he does is black and white. There is highly plausible reason to believe Takaya cared for both of them in his own way, but the ever loyal, best friend, Jin Shirato, especially so. }}

[katsona-the-katsequel]

Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad Activity Report

Part 7

11/10 (Tue) - Reporter: Yukari Takeba

Wh, wh, wh... J, Junpei! What's with the smell of love?! Don't make such random accusations! I'll kick you away! Ah... It's Takeba... Ahahaha.

Ahem. Well, today, Kirijo-senpai finally came back. As expected, she seemed to be more worn out than I expected, and even though she had come home, I could hardly talk to her...

Also, I'm a bit worried about Sanada-senpai. He seemed really calm while Kirijo-senpai was away, so maybe he was pushing himself too hard. Seeing Kirijo-senpai trapped, Sanada-senpai also felt depressed, just like she was...

For now, we think the best we can do is to not cause trouble for our seniors. So, the second-year students of Gekkoukan Academy, Amada-kun representing the elementary school, and Koro-chan representing the animals will be doing their best to support the two of them.

11/16 (Mon) - Reporter: Mitsuru Kirijo

Sanada-senpai and Kirijo-senpai, if there's anything we can do for you, please let us know. Junpei will take full responsibility and fulfill his mission. So, Junpei, please take care of them. This was Takeba.

11/11 (Wed) - Reporter: Fuuka Yamagishi

Good evening, this is Yamagishi.

Yukari-chan, you're overreacting... So it's obvious even if it's not Junpei-kun? But Junpei-kun, do I smell love too? Hmm, that's a no-go. Unfortunately, I don't think I'm connected to anyone like that yet.

Speaking of love, the transfer student Ryoji-kun is somehow interesting, isn't he? Oh, I'm not saying anything about him... but don't you like Aigis' reaction when she first met him? It was the first time I've seen such an intense reaction as "No way!"

He seems to be very popular with girls, but even without that, it's a little strange. Am I overthinking it?

By the way... or rather, this is the main topic, but is Kirijo-senpai okay? We're currently exploring Tartarus again, little by little. With the school trip approaching, the Student Council work must be busy, so please leave it to us and relax for a while.

11/12 (Thu) - Reporter: Aigis

A school trip...a ​​very interesting event. I've learned quite a bit about school life, but sleeping in the same room as my classmates is a rare experience.

Now that I think about it, I would have called it a "special mission" school trip in the past, but now I'm pretty much a high school girl, so a school trip is not a special mission. It's a major event. I'm welcome!

But Ryoji-san, that's a no-no. Field leader, please be careful not to let your emotions get the better of you in an extraordinary environment like a school trip and deepen your relationship with Ryoji-san.

11/13 (Fri) - Reporter: Ken Amada

School trip... In high school, we're going to Kyoto. Yukari-san looked strange when she heard it was Kyoto, so maybe she doesn't like it? In my case, I hardly ever had the chance to travel, so I'm just jealous that you can go out somewhere.

For now, I've requested souvenirs from the field leader, but if you can give me something else, I'll have no complaints.

Oh, Junpei-san. I'll tell you now, wooden swords are a no-no. Also, anything that says "love," "friendship," or "effort" is a no-no.

By the way, speaking of Junpei-san, did you go to the hospital today? I wonder how Chidori-san is doing. Did you get to see her? You see, everyone except Chidori-san from Strega lost the battle during the last operation... She's having a hard time too. It may be strange for me to say this, but please be sure to stay with her.

11/14 (Sat) - Reporter: Mitsuru Kirijo

It's Kirijo.

Phew... It's been a while since I've been in this room.

I'm sorry for causing trouble to everyone. I'm not sure if I can be a valuable fighting force, but I'm finally feeling motivated.

...For now, I still haven't found the purpose of the battle, but there's no doubt that the number of people suffering from Apathy Syndrome due to the shadows' damage is increasing. In that case, we have no choice but to hunt shadows, even if it's only a symptomatic treatment.

It may be a little lonely with a captain like this, but I intend to come up with a plan soon. Please stay like this for a while...I'm counting on you.

Now for the school trip...

11/15 (Sun) - Reporter: Yukari Takeba

Well, it's Takeba.

Kirijo-senpai, you still seem tired... But I think it's understandable considering the situation. You suddenly lost your goal.

I don't know if this will help, but before we joined SEES, when the large Shadows hadn't appeared yet, you had no idea how to make the Dark Hour disappear, right?

But you, Kirijo-senpai, started the squad on your own five years ago and survived the seemingly endless battles with Sanada-senpai and Aragaki-senpai. Is it unreasonable to think that even if you lose sight of your goal, you've just gone back to that time...?

…Hmm, sorry. I may have been a bit pushy without considering the feelings of the senpais. To be honest, I'm also at a loss as to what to do from now on. Anyway, if you need anything, please let me know anytime. This was Takeba...

It's Kirijo.

Takeba, you've been a big help with the other day's activity report and today's work. I've also been a nuisance to everyone else because of my incompetence. I'm really sorry.

To tell the truth, I've been a lot of trouble to the Student Council. Today, because I disappeared without a trace, even the general students were hunted down and searched for. I hope no one in this dorm was involved.

Anyway, both the shadow fighting and the Student Council are scheduled to be fully restored from today. I'll be counting on you.

By the way... should I ask Iori or Takeba? Um, who is this transfer student called Mochizuki? He seems to have transferred while I was away, but is he the son of some company CEO or something?

I was suddenly invited to a meal at a hotel today. I have had meals with clients and business partners in the Kirijo Group before, but this was the first time I had met them face to face, so I was a bit hesitant. Was I being rude?

11/17 (Tue) - Reporter: Ken Amada

Mitsuru-san... If you're serious about that, I think you should learn a bit about your awareness of danger as a woman. I hope you haven't gotten caught up in some weird pick-up scheme in Kyoto. I wonder if you'll be okay...

So, starting today, everyone is on a school trip. Only Koromaru and I are in the dorm. It would be a problem if we lived in a normal dormitory with just one elementary school student and one dog, but we are still members of SEES. At least in terms of crime prevention, it's completely safe. Please feel sorry for the thief.

Well, I'm looking forward to the souvenirs.

11/18 (Wed) - Reporter: Ken Amada

It's the second day since you all left.

I'm not lonely, but... I think the distance between Koromaru and I is starting to get a bit tense when we're alone together. I wish I could understand Koromaru's words like Aigis does.

Today, after school, I took Koromaru for a walk. However, I was a little late with the planning and forgot about Koromaru's walking route. We crossed Moonlight Bridge on foot, went to Port Island, and returned to the dormitory...

I just had dinner and I'm going to bed now. Good night.

11/19 (Thu) - Reporter: Ken Amada

Third day of the school trip.

Where will everyone be today? I'm sure most of you will have visited the standard tourist spots of Kiyomizu-dera Temple and the Kyoto Imperial Palace on the first day of the school trip, but maybe you'll go a little further and visit Kinkaku-ji Temple or Ginkaku-ji Temple?

Maybe you think you know a lot about it even though you've never been there? Hehehe. Actually, I was just using the terminal here to look at some Kyoto tourism websites.

Kyoto seems like a nice place... Oh, I'm not saying that I want to go there. I'm just impressed by the beautiful scenery. Oh, if someone is interested in going again, I might be happy if they invite me too... The open-air baths would be great.

…No, I'm not urging you or anything. If you want to go, you can go by yourself. Please come back early tomorrow. Be careful on the way back.

11/20 (Fri) - Reporter: Akihiko Sanada

It may sound cliché, but to be honest, I feel like I'm the best. Yes, I feel like I've finally found the teleportation device in Tartarus and escaped to the entrance...

Ah, it seems like Amada has been very lonely. Well, I'll invite him on a trip sometime. As for the open-air bath... well, someday...

11/21 (Sat) - Reporter: Junpei Iori

Hi, Junpei here. Amada, it seems like you had a really hard time staying home alone. So why aren't you accepting the souvenir I went to the trouble of buying for you? It was really hard to find, the ornament from Kinkakuji that says "All-out attack." No, I never imagined something like this would be serious either.

I don't want anything with words like "love," "friendship," or "effort" written on it, so I wondered if there were any words that would make Amada happy. I want to be paid for my labor!

Oh, now that I think about work, I remembered. I have a hands-on study session starting the day after tomorrow... This school doesn't allow part-time job.

I've lived my life avoiding work to the point where I'm glad there's a school rule that prohibits part-time jobs, so why do I have to go through the trouble of doing it in class?

What's more, I wish they'd picked a job that looked at least a bit interesting, but from what I've heard from my seniors, it's either unloading, carrying, or shouldering luggage, which are all the same!

Kirijo-senpai, do you have any secret tricks to use the Kirijo group's powers to give everyone in the dorm the easy work?

For now, my hopes are that there will be 20 minute breaks every hour, I won't have to lift anything heavier than a rice bowl, and it would be nice if there were cute girls working with me, would that be okay?

11/22 (Sun) - Reporter: Mitsuru Kirijo

It's Kirijo. Junpei Iori... Don't be so selfish, you idiot!

I thought someone had gone all the way to the head of the Kirijo family's household to talk about work and had returned tired, but to be greeted with such a pointless report is beyond anger; it makes me dumbfounded.

To begin with, the Kirijo Group has nothing to do with experiential learning. If you send students from the school Kirijo runs to Kirijo's company, they'll have an easy time, that's for sure. That would defeat the purpose of off-campus training!

Well... I guess it's not possible this year, but next year I might be able to get you into a company that's a good fit for you. I heard recently that the president of the mail-order company, Tanaka's Amazing Commodities, heard about our off-campus internship and asked me if I would like to have some students attend. That place is famous for its harsh working environment, with 24-hour full-time work. For people like you who have little motivation to work, they make you work even if you don't say anything. What do you think? They make you work really hard, so it's a good place to work, isn't it?

…Yeah, it feels like I'm really getting back to normal. I guess this is how I should be. Iori, your silly story seems to have cheered me up just now. Thank you. Well, I guess I'll rest before the Dark Hour today.

11/23 (Mon) - Reporter: Fuuka Yamagishi

Something sad... happened. It was during the Dark Hour last night...

Uh... uh...

Wait...

I guess I shouldn't push myself after all. Oh, it's nothing.

It looks like it's tough for Fuuka, so I'll start recording from here. Um... where should I start? Yes, it was yesterday's Dark Hour.

Fuuka caught Strega's presence before Tartarus, and it was that Chidori, Junpei's precious one.

Actually, she was supposed to be hospitalized, but I found out today... there was an attack on the hospital, and she went missing at the time. And then, that Chidori suddenly attacked Junpei... she was really in love with Junpei, but she didn't know what her feelings were, and she said it was her fault because Junpei was there... what an idiot, that girl. She was tempted by that perverted Strega guy! Y-Yes. After that, two men from Strega appeared and shot Junpei...

I'm sorry, but I don't remember that part very well. I'll leave out the details, but Junpei was close to death once. But that girl's Persona... I think she was called Medea. With the power of that Persona, she gave Junpei life... Medea's power is the exact opposite of Fuuka's Juno's; it's not the power to sense life, but the power to release one's own life. And so, even though she was weak from fighting us before, she gave all her remaining life to Junpei...

I'm sorry. I'm still confused and can't put it into words well. It's not something that can be said so easily, I want more...more...!

Yukari-chan...

I'm fine now. Let's take over. Right?

This is Yamagishi. I'll take over. Chidori-san has passed away. She gave her life, and Junpei-kun is safe. However, I allowed Takaya and Jin, the two who call themselves Strega, to escape.

As of today, Junpei-kun has gone somewhere and is gone. I'm very worried, but I don't think the worst will happen. Junpei knew very well that Chidori gave him his life. So, I think it will be okay.

Chidori's body has now been moved to Kirijo. They need to identify her... I wonder what they'll do about the funeral.

Anyway, we're waiting for Junpei to return. I'm sure he'll be fine.

11/24 (Tue) - Reporter: Akihiko Sanada

Today, the second-year students came home exhausted from their field trip. I didn't go to their rooms to check, but I think they were so tired that they fell asleep around 10 o'clock. Well, that's what happened. I'm sure they were grateful in a way for being so tired that they didn't have time to think about anything.

However, Junpei still hasn't come back to the dorms, and he hasn't participated in the field trip. I'm sure he'll come back, but... it's too heavy for one person to carry. It's several times heavier than the baggage you carry on a field trip. When I was there, there was Amada, who felt the same way. We shared it between the two of us, and somehow we managed to carry it all.

…Junpei, come back soon.

The only way to rise from sadness is to stand on your own two feet. But when you can't stand on your own, someone will hold your hand. The people in this dorm are all good-natured, so there will be plenty of arms outstretched to help you. You know that, don't you?

I'm sure she's waiting for that too.

11/25 (Wed) - Reporter: Mitsuru Kirijo

It's Kirijo. The second-year students are going on an experiential learning session today. Even to begin with, everyone is quiet.

Furthermore, the number of people has decreased, so the dormitory is so quiet it feels like no one is living there... Iori hasn't returned yet.

Akihiko says he's fine, but when I think of my mental state when I lost my father, I can't fully relax.

Well, I have no choice but to believe him... Regarding the girl named Chidori, I'd like to report what Kirijo's lab has learned. When the results of the tests from when she was hospitalized were revealed, it was a side effect of the suppressor, and even if this incident hadn't happened, she would have had about two years to live.

Nothing about her identity remains a mystery. It's doubtful whether her last name, or even the name Chidori, was real. If we could find out the true identity of the mastermind who turned the Strega into Persona Users, we could investigate, but there is no information on that either. For now, I have instructed them to continue the investigation.

That's all we know. The guys at the lab were interested in the artificial Persona Users, and some even insisted on an autopsy, but I stopped them from doing so. That's all for now.

11/26 (Thu) - Reporter: Aigis

The third day of the experience program has ended. Everyone except for me seems to be exhausted.

Junpei-san has still not returned. Where is he?

Chidori gave her life with a will that went beyond biological instinct. Junpei, who inherited her will, will inevitably return. I'm sure of it.

11/27 (Fri) - Reporter: Yukari Takeba

Well, this is Takeba. I've finally finished my hands-on learning. My arms are sore, my back is sore, my eyes are droopy, and I feel like I've aged all at once. I'm sure the others are feeling the same way. Oh, except for Aigis. She was working silently, saying she was good at this kind of thing.

And then...Junpei finally returned home.

Seriously, that idiot caused me so much worry...

Although he's safe, he looks more depressed and weak than I've ever seen him before... But I'll wait. The guy I know is the kind of guy who always bounces back even when he's down.

I'm watching closely, Junpei.

11/28 (Sat) - Reporter: Junpei Iori

…Hehe, it's Junpei. I'm so sorry for worrying everyone. Well, I just heard about the activities while I was away. I don't know, but I feel sorry, but I'm also grateful... I'm really touched, I guess. Well, I've finally come back, so I'll do a report on my activities to celebrate my return. It's a matter of settling things, a matter of settling things.

...a...matter of...

Oh, no, I'm not going senile, I just realized that I've never really made a proper report in the first place, hahahaha.

Wow, so this is to celebrate my return and my first report? That's pretty fancy, isn't it?

Anyway, there was only one thing that related to SEES today. I'll just give you a quick report.

Well, should I start by saying that Tatsumi Memorial Hospital... has delivered Chidori's belongings to Kirijo-senpai. Well, when I say belongings, it was just one sketchbook.

But I was a little surprised by the contents of that sketchbook...

The pictures of Chidori that I know are kind of unintelligible, like avant-garde art, surreal, rare...Real Madrid...no. They're just messy pictures like that.

But...the drawing on the last page was an amazingly good one, I was amazed that she could draw something like that...

...Well, to be honest, it was a really handsome portrait of Iori Junpei-sama!

However, when the details are made to that extent, it's really embarrassing, or rather, I get a little embarrassed.

…So that’s why I’m here talking to you like this right now.

Okay, the report is over! I'll be back working hard starting tomorrow, so please keep me company!

11/29 (Sun) - Reporter: Fuuka Yamagishi

Good evening, this is Yamagishi.

I'm glad you're feeling better, Junpei...and once again...welcome back.

It feels like it's been a while since we've been able to report on our activities in a normal atmosphere. However, it seems like everyone is still tired from all the hard work that's been going on, so there's nothing special to do today...

Ah, there was! That's right, something special.

Someone other than SEES showed up as a guest at the Iwatodai dormitory.

That person was actually the much talked about transfer student from Class F, Ryoji Mochizuki. Apparently, he became friends with Junpei on the school trip, and they were chatting for quite a long time in the room. Ah, but apparently I just didn't notice, and he'd already been here before, although I'm not sure if it was before or after the field trip.

It's kind of an unexpected combination, isn't it? Ryoji is fashionable, flawless and popular, and Junpei is, um, a bit of a different type. I wonder what they had in common?

11/30 (Mon) - Reporter: Ken Amada

Tonight, the atmosphere was a little different than usual. Well, I know the reason why. Everyone except for me, Aigis, and Koromaru has been holed up in their rooms studying all day. ...And Junpei too!

When I asked Aigis, she said that the final exams are coming up in two weeks, so I think they're studying for those exams. But with a normal exam, Yukari would start to push herself about a week or two before, and then Sanada would start nagging Junpei, who never seems to start studying, and then Mitsuru would motivate everyone. But this time it's different...

I guess it's just a result of you all growing up through a lot of things, right?

Still, it's surprising that Junpei is starting to study at this time of year... And what's more, I've been watching him for over an hour and he hasn't even come out to the break room... People can change all they want. Good luck to everyone.

12/1 (Tue) - Reporter: Akihiko Sanada

It seems like all the members are studying hard on their own for this final term. As a mother-in-law, I feel like there isn't enough for them to do.

…Just kidding.

But Junpei really started studying on his own. I'm not joking, it looks like it's going to rain or snow here. Well, do your best.

…Actually, there's something that's been bothering me today. What on earth happened to Aigis? Has she always shown such a sad expression? Maybe you should be a little more careful and considerate of her. I know this sounds strange, but she just seemed like a normal scared girl. Is she okay...?

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[theostrophywife]

Reader getting her favorite drink EVER LIKE SHES OBSESSED WITH IT AND SHE FINALLY GOT HER FAVORITE THING A PUMKIN SPICE LATTE and it’s just super cute and fluffy and Mattheo or Theodore x Reader and he really is in love with the reader and she’s in love with him and they haven’t confessed and the reader says how she loves pumpkin spice lattes so so so much and she eventually calls him her pumpkin spice latte and she jokingly tells him that her future husband someday better write down in his vows to get her one every day of the year and he confesses to her and it’s super fluffy and cute? (Idk I probs made it WAYY to specific.

hi love, wow this is such a cute request! i might write a little blurb about it later on, but for now i thought you'd appreciate a sneak peek from a theo fic i'm working on that captures the pumpkin spice latte essence.

All that hard work disappeared before your eyes as Theo devoured the muffin in seconds. The bloody git had the audacity to swipe your thermos off the table and tipped its contents directly into his mouth, crumbs and all. 

His face immediately contorted into disgust. “What in the bloody hell is this?” 

“Pumpkin spice latte.” 

“Pumpkin what?” 

“It’s a muggle thing.” 

“It’s an abomination, is what it is.” 

You snatched the thermos back. “No one told you to drink it. Do you even know how long it took for me to collect enough instant coffee packets to last the whole term? And here you are wasting it.” 

Theo looked properly scandalized. “Why on Godric’s green earth would anyone drink coffee from a packet? You don’t have one of those—what do you call them—expression machines?” 

“Espresso,” you corrected. “No, Theodore, I do not have an espresso machine because that would require electricity, which doesn’t really fit this castle’s medieval aesthetic.” You paused. “How do you even know about those?” 

“I’m half Italian. How would I not know about espresso?” 

“You called it expression.” 

“Yeah, well, my nonna doesn’t have all of her teeth so sorry for pronouncing things incorrectly. If you don’t like it, take it up with that crazy old strega.”