#he isn't a guardian angel to be clear that's the tag for the story to which he belongs

[isbergillustration]

Springtime Contemplation

[ppumeonae-bigvibe]

under his watchful gaze

↖ navigation: ateez masterlist || main masterlist 

pairing: mingi x gn! reader

↬ tags: implied that mingi and reader are childhood friends (about why they are roommates now the author herself isn't too sure just roll with it), you can assume reader and mingi are going to the same school, mingi is 3 years older than reader in this one

summary: you have a guardian angel that watches you while you sleep. that's mingi

word count: 807 words

a/n: can't put any labels on what mingi is to the reader because the agenda of this fic changed course MULTIPLE times, the bonus scene will explain a bit of the backstory (it was only added because the story wouldn't have made sense without the backstory)

a loud knock on mingi's door grabbed his attention and he swivels around in his chair to face you. he removes his headphones, game paused in the background. you stood shyly by his doorframe, greeting him all while clad in cozy sleepwear, "hey mingi, i'm not disturbing you right?"

he shakes his head, "no, what's up?" you waved your hands in front of you, "oh, uhm. i just wanted to tell you that if you're going to play games, could you tone it down a bit? i'm gonna head to bed now, i've got an early class tomorrow." you shoot him a half grimace half smile at the mention of your class.

unfortunately for him, his friends were counting on him to tank a match. he clears his throat and gave you a curt nod.

"yeah, i'll try. have a good rest." he bids you goodbye and his door closes with a whoosh, mechanism clicking shut. mingi tears his gaze away from the door and returns his focus back to the game.

"mingi what's taking you so long?!" he rolls his eyes at the way his gaming mates hollered at him.

"my bad. someone was talking to me. let's go for another round?" mingi cracks his knuckles, before poising them over his keyboard.

"that's the spirit! one more win!"

-----

"ah damn we almost got that team!" mingi groans, rubbing his eyes. "yeah no shot. we nearly got obliterated! if mingi didn't advise us to defend our base i think we would have lost more." his teammates chatter idly, agreeing to take a quick bio-break. mingi stretched his legs out, and wonders if you were asleep now.

picking up his phone, he notices that you sent him a message on social media just a second ago. a second chime signals a new message and he clicks on the notification.

just a bunch of animal reels from this evening...and wait, why were you online?

mingi shoots you a quick text, somewhat apologetic.

mingi: was i too loud?

a small grin appears on his face when he spots that familiar green dot beside your profile icon. you were still awake. awake and purposely avoiding his texts.

mingi: ahem.

mingi: excuse me, but i thought you said you were going to sleep 2 hours ago??

you: well uhm...i couldn't sleep ;-;

mingi: come to my room?

-----

a while later he hears his door open and he turns to look at your tired form, "you seriously need to sleep, like now." he knows you can't quip back at him for he had no classes the next day. he removes his headphones on one side to hear you better.

"well! i just can't, what about it?" you leaned against the ajar door, crossing your arms in front of you. mingi couldn't help but burst out laughing at how you were pouting, clearly annoyed for not being able to sleep.

"why didn't you just come and sleep in my bed, just like last time?" he pats the empty bed behind him and you flushed, sputtering, "i...i mean! it's not...it's not like we're kids again or whatever." you locked your hands behind you, averting your gaze.

"mingi? hey! we're gonna start another round." his friend's voice called out through his left ear and he unmutes himself to speak, "give me 5 minutes." in one swift motion, he gets out of his chair and drags you into his room, pushing you down onto his bed all while ignoring your protests.

you huffed, mumbling under your breath, "it's so embarrassing that you still have to coddle me to bed at this age." you surprisingly let mingi tuck you in, pulling the covers to your shoulders. he takes your phone from you, earning him yet another eye roll from you.

"can't stand you being grumpy the next day, so you better rest now. if your bed doesn't work, then my bed it is." he dims the bedside lamp, the only source of light being his monitor in the room. he squats down beside you and you flipped to your side to gaze at him. he locks eyes with you, a wry smile growing on his face.

"are you afraid i'm gonna let the whole world know that you can't sleep without me around? silly twerp. get some proper rest, not some half-assed 3 hour sleep on a school day." you reached out from under the covers to flick his forehead, accepting your fate. mingi knew you couldn't say no either.

"fine. goodnight mingi."

-----

mingi keeps one side of his headphones on, occasionally hearing you toss and turn in his bed. he mutes himself for the rest of the rounds, choosing to text his teammates in-game instead. mingi switches to the quieter keyboard and mouse to avoid waking you up. in the end he couldn't focus for long--not when you were in the same space as him-- and quits the game.

"i'll go off first. see you all same time tomorrow?" chimes of "sure thing" and "see you" came from his fellow gamers and he logged off. mingi ambles over to you, lying down beside you. he stares at you intently, every rise and fall of your chest under his covers made him happy knowing you were getting rest.

"look who's sound asleep now huh." he murmured under his breath, warm hand gingerly carding through your hair and you stirred from his touch. he hides his pleased chuckle behind his other hand when he realizes that you were nuzzling into his touch, seemingly unresponsive after that sudden movement.

"goodnight to you too."

-----

bonus:

10 year old mingi was shaken awake from his sleep and blearily he reaches out to switch on his bedside lamp.

"w-what..." mingi glances in your direction as you perched at the end of his bed, your half-lidded eyes meeting his barely opened ones. you fiddled with the ends of his blanket, "i can't sleep. mommy and daddy are talking loudly again."

he sighs, opening his blanket for you to crawl in. you slipped into the space beside him, and he drapes the blanket over you. "don't kick me or i'll push you off the bed." mingi threatens jokingly. he flicks off the light and the two of you lay down in silence, the hum of the ceiling fan the only things both of you could hear.

"i'm sorry." you whispered. even though mingi's eyes were closed shut, he can feel your intense stare through his lids. "what are you sorry for? auntie and uncle were nice enough to take care of me until my parents come back from their trip. so it is also my duty to take care of you when they can't." mingi doesn't know if you understood what that loaded statement meant, but you seemed satisfied at the fact that he was beside you and that was all that mattered to the 7 year old you.

he gently pats you, and you fell asleep under his care.

@ppumeonae-bigvibe 's work ; likes and reblogs are appreciated <3

[keshetchai]

Okay so loving the notes, tags etc except that one guy who lost his shit for no reason (blocked lol).

I don't want to direct post any tags when ppl said they might delete later BUT they are directly related to some things I didn't elaborate on in the above post but are my personal views on the matter. Also I wanted to respond to some other tags so yanno!

First:

For context I converted to Judaism as an adult, grew up with culturally xtian parents (my mom is like...a witchy lapsed mexican-catholic. Dad is a literal WASP, but also into paganism for awhile there. Idk.) Anyways my mom LOVES Christmas. So so much. She did grow up poor/lower working class. (My mom loves Xmas so much that she got married on December 23rd because the Catholic priest wouldn't do Dec 24th. ...Christmas got a little ruined for her when they divorced. I think it's finally getting better again many many years later.)

The point is, I Grew Up With Santa Is Real and Magical. 100%! And as a baby/little kid (under 7), my parents were still starting out, struggling with debt/student loans, making bad credit card decisions, etc. My mom worked fast food jobs.

but like, eventually, my dad stopped serving in the army, got an MBA on some of those loans he had, and went into managing computer engineers and with time, we became solidly middle class. I was about 7 when my parents bought their first house (instead of us living w/family or in apartments or army apartments), and then my parents divorced when I was about 14? 15? Then I got to live on the literal poverty line because divorce! Isn't that fun?

Anyways the point is that it was my mom, who grew up poor, that had the most investment in Santa. I was talking to a friend last night and she was like "yeah I mean, I eventually figured out people's handwriting so..." and I shook my head like. "No my mom always used her non-dominant hand as Santa. She changed her handwriting." My mom Believes in Santa, to be clear. Literally her philosophy is that Santa is real when we make him real, because Santa is a role — a thing parents can be/do, and the love and experience and wonder of childhood is all real, even if Kris Kringle, actual man from the North Pole is a fairy tale and made up." Her stance is that parents are "Santa's helpers" insofar as parents/guardians fulfilling Santa's role, passing on the story, etc all "help" Santa act, & that's not really a lie. It's a fairy tale, it's fiction, but Santa is just a collective belief that people take up and enact and that isn't a lie.

I suspect my mom is actually more sad that if I had children I don't want to do Santa than like she cares about me currently being like "I don't believe Jesus was a Messiah even a little bit."

Like. When I was maybe 3? My grandpa dressed as Santa to show up to the Christmas party for myself and my cousins/my mom's baby cousins. Picture the most adorable Mexican abuelito in the FULL mall Santa get up with a GIANT red sack for all the little kids and also his face was powered white so y'know. I was three. I didn't see under the massive white beard and wig I knew him. I met Santa and he was DEFINITELY real. We didn't have a lot of money yet but also this was the 90's and it's not like three year olds could even expect a $300 tablet or whatever.

My parents financial situation improving did mean "Santa" gifts could be a bigger deal as I got older, but they also imposed a 1 Santa gift limit more or less. Again, probably because my mom grew up poor and did not want me to feel better than other kids who got less but were just as "good." I was a very skeptical child so I'm not really sure how long I bought into Santa for, but I definitely Did Not Bring It Up even though I was fairly certain Santa was Mom for years. I mean, if Santa is real, then why do we go and buy angel/Santa gifts for other families and kids? So it's not hard to figure out. Especially since kids inevitably compare everything from gift value to "the rules of how Santa works at my house."

And when we'd finally confirmed I did indeed, Know The Truth (and wouldn't spoil it for my 8 years younger brother) I would be tasked with helping wrap the gifts we bought for other kids as Santa. I still remember helping my uncle do a Santa run to deliver the gifts we'd got to a single working mom cried in the parking lot when we helped her load up her car with presents.

And while I think that's lovely and we should absolutely give charity and help others in need and even just give charity that isn't only practical but instead includes stuff that is valued by joy and delight — I think Santa doesn't have to be the way to do that, and I also think that with the advent of highly expensive digital toys and gifts (above and beyond a barbie dreamhouse), "Santa" is now fully unable to escape capitalist and classist limitations.

Santa used to bring maybe a small toy and then maybe some "sweets" like some oranges, candy canes, etc in stockings, to most kids. But the divide between kids gets bigger and bigger, and the morality of kids gets tied to how much money their parents can afford to spend in fulfilling Santa and that's so deeply shitty to me.

As an adult, I am utterly disillusioned by Santa. Not the joy of parents participating, not kids who get toys they wanted. Not even because parents are lying, because big whoop. But because the fantasy is less and less feasible for kids whose parents don't have money. Because I worked for a bank financial assistance dept trying to help people for awhile, and when you see hundreds of people who go thousands of dollars into debt to maintain Christmas, it sucks!

It's a literal cycle SO MANY Americans go through btw, like to the point where banks/creditors all *know* to account for it. Debt goes up in Nov/Dec for Christmas, people struggle financially in Dec/January, and then Feb-April is when folks try to recover with their tax returns (because a lot of people gamble they will receive enough return in order to pay off or down the debt they couldn't afford). And when your job is "helping people who are financially struggling with getting out of the hole, understanding their budget better," lemme tell you, no one wants to be told: "look, you can't afford this kind of Christmas. It's setting you up to start the new year underwater financially, every single year. It makes you stressed and miserable, and you can't always manage to catch up with your tax return. This is unsustainable and is something you have the power to completely change in order to achieve way more stability for you and your family. It won't fix everything but wow is this gonna help!"

So you don't say that directly. You talk generally about cutting down unnecessary expenses (people rarely willingly consider their Christmas spending as unnecessary), about the plan after the tax return comes in, about how to cut costs of the expenses you do still have.

This isn't the fault of the concept of Santa, but like, Santa is part of this cycle now. And people are MISERABLE doing this debt cycle. Lots of people hate that they feel they HAVE to rack up all this debt to buy big presents and then even more santa presents and they often don't even believe in this holiday religiously! Sure, thoughtful presents are nice, but if everyone was like "actually I can't afford $2,000 in debt this year to make a big Christmas." Most people would feel a lot better! Depression due to Christmas holiday stress is real and measurable and people who know that and hate how it makes them feel STILL keep doing all of it.

So it sucks, Christmas's commercialization and Santa's accidental classism is just...truly awful.

I hate tying morality to class, and I hate making poor kids feel unworthy, I hate that people feel obligated to prepare to drop hundreds or thousands of dollars.

...parents lying to kids about Santa or the tooth fairy doesn't bother me, but like. Santa's elves probably aren't even unionized! Terrible

Do you ever just get obsessed with how cultural Christians (esp atheist or agnostic ones) often openly choose to maintain Santa Claus for their kids?

Like think about this with me:

A group of people who don't actively align themselves with religious life, religious institutions (churches) or other traditions, and may even be total atheists STILL sometimes choose to do Santa Claus for their children, because THEY had Santa Claus as children.

The parents give their child a folk demigod (lesser deity?) of outsized importance to children SPECIFICALLY, and teach them the demigod is definitely totally real. They maintain this active belief as long as possible through childhood. They may encourage and actively engage in this belief with their children moreso than anything else involving the religion it comes from (aside from perhaps, the easter bunny). They know Santa isn't real, does not exist, and is a fiction.

They know their children will learn this demigod is a lie. Subconsciously or consciously, the child then learns that Santa Claus is really only as real as the parent intention to make him real, and the child belief in that truth. The child grows up. Knows Santa is a fiction. And then they make Santa for their children too, because that's the only real thing about Santa — parents knowing it's a fiction and then passing it on anyways.

I just like...am deeply fascinated by this unique cultural training of accepting that the Santa deity isn't dead or anything so extreme, and even though he's made up, he is still extremely important and the fiction gets passed on while explicitly knowing and acting upon the fiction. Parents have to be Santa, they can't just encourage belief and sit back. No no, they must actively CREATE Santa's existence for the belief to work. And they do this willingly!

It's not that I think believing in a myth is unusual in any religion (like we don't need to believe hundreds of thousands of Israelites fled Egypt all at once to observe passover or even to think some Hebrews did flee Egypt and the legend developed from there, or w/e), so much as like, this is an incredibly obvious and well known one that every adult Knows 100% is Not Real, not even based on any kind of reality or possible actual legend, Santa doesn't have all those powers, he does not come to your house or get your wishlist (prayers).

No adult has a pure and genuine belief that Santa is a real being who visits and brings children gifts.

I just want to study everyone who actively is like "I don't believe in God or go to church but like, I'll obviously still do Santa for the kids, that's fun."

(Regina George voice: so you agree? Religion doesn't need to be grounded in imperial facts of science in order to provide substantial benefits to people, foster positive emotions and connections within communities, and for people to derive meaning from it? It doesn't matter if God is real, if you yourself make the benefits of God being real happen for yourself and others?")

[aziraphales-library]

Can you rec some fics where Aziraphale is an unexpectedly calm, clever, and strong badass? I feel like he gets put in the damsel spot way too often and it’s really nice to read a fic that reminds you how strong he is in the right situation

Let me introduce you to our #bamf aziraphale tag, which has loads of fics featuring a smart, strong, kick-arse Aziraphale. But here are a few more fics to add to our collection...

Unexpected Company: Or, A Sanctuary Is Only As Good As Its Guardian by Sodium_Azide (T)

A decade after the averted Apocalypse, Aziraphale and Crowley have unexpected company in the South Downs. They are not friendly.

For Thou Art With Me by EdosianOrchids901 (T)

Crowley is summoned by powerful cultists who are determined to bend him to their will. He tries to contact Aziraphale, but isn't sure if the cry for help succeeded, or if Aziraphale will even come. Aziraphale storms into action to rescue his friend.

Thy Demon Doth Grow Cold by wick_de_la_vela (T)

Crowley and Aziraphale, married for several years by now, take a much deserved holiday.

Then Crowley goes missing.

Lead Us (Not) Into Temptation, But Deliver Us From Evil by OtterFi (T)

“So… that’s it? We’re just… an angel and demon, following our orders then?” Aziraphale asks quietly, dazed by how the pleasant conversation turned so contentious so quickly.

Crowley turns to walk away. “‘S what we’ve always been, hasn’t it?”

“So, ah, I suppose I’ll, I’ll see you out there then?”

This causes them to pause as the implications sink in. Aziraphale isn’t just going to be witnessing the destruction of a city. He is going to be witnessing the how… and by whom.

“Pray that you don’t…” they mutter as they go. And if they were talking to Aziraphale or to themself, it isn't clear.

In 33AD in Rome, a demon sports a new haircut and an angel (to both their surprises) invites them to lunch.

But this is not that story. This story takes place a few years before, where finally after 4000 years of paths crossing, the two finally intersect. But such an event is not a small one, and takes no small event for it to happen.

A True Guardian by AmayasAngel (T)

If you asked most people they would tell you that Aziraphale is a kind, gentle, peaceful person. Someone who wouldn't hurt a fly, let alone a person. Other angels, and many demons, would add other words to that. Soft, weak, useless. But these people tend to forget one important thing. Aziraphale is a Principality. A Guardian. A Protector. The original Guardian Angel. It's easy to forget. Except for the times it isn't.

Or

Five times Aziraphale protected without his blade and one time he proved that not wanting to fight is not the same thing as not being able to.

Lift Me Up, O Lord by CopperBeech (E)

Aziraphale Fell’s maintained a string of weightlifting victories, a strained relationship with his family, and his grandfather’s waistcoat right into his fifties. His personal life is little more than an album of brief and pleasant memories. It’s safer that way.

Distance runner Anthony Crowley’s spent the last decade watching his racing career recede in the rearview, but it doesn’t stop him running, literally, away from his feelings. And now he’s fallen, equally literally, from grace.

Someone’s about to lift him up.

- Mod D

[tinkdw]

most of the meta i read is fairly dean- or destiel-centric, but i was wondering if you have any meta thoughts on castiel's character arc? i haven't found too much material out there that isn't entirely about destiel. obviously dean plays a HUGE role in cas' arc, with cas rebelling against the angels because he's "in love with humanity" (dean), but i feel like there's more to him than falling in love with dean and leaving the angels. do you have any thoughts?

What is Castiels character ark cause we already know Deans and Sam’s but I don’t know Castiels

Hi both :)

I’m so annoyed I just wrote a super long post about this and then somehow managed to delete it. OK here goes… here is my personal POV.

So in this post I talked about how Destiel is just a part of Cas and Dean’s own endgames, how they are not each other’s endgames in themselves but that they help and enable each other to get to their own endgame, this is how any good romance story works.

Think Pride and Prejudice as a great example. Darcy’s endgame is to lose his pride and Lizzie’s is to lose her prejudice. They teach and help each other get to their endgames and end up happy because they have done this and then their reward is to end up together and happy. That is how it works.

Dean’s endgame is to let go of the ghosts from his past, accept himself fully, all sides of himself and to like himself, to value himself and have self worth.

Cas’ endgame is to find himself, to learn who he is, what he wants and to embrace it. 

For me Cas’ wants and desires are mainly:

- being Human and enjoying the life that he can have as a Human, living alongside people and as a part of humanity

- helping people, probably helping the Angels with Heaven, although he has kind of already done that by ridding them of the corrupt Archangels / high tier of Angels and leading to Hannah setting up their new democracy, ‘fixing’ the things he thinks he did wrong in the past, eg. Lucifer and continuing to help people on Earth, not because it is a duty but because he wants to (eg. when he was Godstiel it showed his personal wants and priorities here)

- being with Dean and feeling a sense of belonging in the Winchester family

“Saving People, Hunting Things, The Family Business” 

is EXACTLY what Cas wants for his endgame.

*wow, I’m shocked*

The rest is under the cut as it got a little long :)

In terms of being human, for me it is clear that this is what he wants, just search my tag #human!cas for that, but basically everything he has done since season 9 shows that this is what he wants but his sense of duty and not knowing how he would fit in stops him. He ‘dies’ when he takes back his grace, he doesn’t say anything when Dean asks him if he’s happy with it, his deflection is extremely revealing, he talks about being human wistfully. 

The deleted scene with Crowley from season 9 which is SO blatant that he wants to be human and a part of this is because of DEAN. Where Crowley says “who wants to be a stupid stinking emotional pile of meat…” then Dean walks in and they both share a look between them… I mean COME ON!!

What he needs is to throw off the shackles of duty (re: the Angels and being the Winchesters’ guardian) and feel a sense of belonging in the Winchester family.

This is why season 12 is so key to exposing that this, for me, is definitely on the cards now moving forwards as we have seen both of these be addressed.

We have seen the Angels disowning Cas in season 11 and then in season 12 Cas telling the Winchesters that they are his family and he is CHANGED. 

This whole speech I just... it’s TEXTUALISING that he has changed, that he has fallen, that he is going to change further in terms of accepting this change now and that he will hopefully get this and MORE.

We have seen that he didn’t quite feel he belonged in 12x02 but by 12x12 he is starting to get there and in 12x23 Dean tells him that he is NOT their babysitter, which is a reference to his sense of duty. 

It’s just a matter of time and a ‘new beginning’ for me that these will both become much stronger and textual and at the same time I also believe this about Dean and Cas’ relationship being stronger and more romantic.

Therefore, yes, Destiel is often mentioned when I talk about Cas’ arc and Dean’s arc because it is a part of it, but it definitely is not the crux of it, it’s just a component of their endgame, but they definitely do have an impact on getting them each to their individual endgames as their stories and arcs are so interlinked.

Dean has helped Cas realise his own sense of free will which is a huge part of his self realisation story, he also has shown Cas many times that Cas is different to the other Angels and is special, that he is worth fighting for (and so has Sam). They have forgiven him for his past errors in judgement, allowed him to try and fix things, accepted him into their lives and their family, given him a purpose as their guardian but now moving forwards this will evolve into an EQUAL position within their family, where he is not needed as a tool but wanted as a brother and lover.

We have had an “I need you”, which is all well and good, and anyone else knows that this is romantic and means want and love, not need in the technical or tool sense (we have had it between other canon romantic couples on the show, so it IS obvious) except to CAS, because CAS sees this as him being a tool, because of his own past and arc. It is vitally important as this will help him with all 3 of his endgame components.

Cas has helped Dean realise his own sense of self worth, that he deserves to be saved and also his bisexuality because, well, he is in a male vessel and Dean is in love with him, so it kind of has to be addressed, but also back to the first part about his self worth being based on self acceptance, acceptance of his whole self, including the parts that he used to think needed to be sublimated.

So yeah, for me Cas’ arc has always been about rebelling against Heaven, not because he doesn’t want to be an Angel as such but because of the fact that they brainwashed him, used him as a tool and he never really felt like he belonged.

His arc of free will, belonging and humanity is what I believe is his endgame and it seems to me to all be pointing in that direction.

[senotsuri]

I realise from reading the tags that I missed out on the internal resistance interactions, and technically the rest of vestal.

Hydron wasn't afraid, despite the fact that a human calculator and an assassin-ninja hybrid were in the room, and his opposition, and while that's on brand for Hydron, it makes no sense in terms of the culture he had to have been raised in. If he hadn't been raised in it, would he have even captured the guardian bakugan that aren't Drago? Likely no.

The Dark ironic because they use haos Angels weren't afraid of Shun, although he was disguised. He reveals his identity halfway through the battle, and while he hasn't been an impressive brawler although Ace really wasn't helping, shouldn't one of them have realised who they were fighting? Shouldn't the whole stadium?

As for the Resistance interactions, Ace is canonically so similar to Dan that it's brought up to his face, and he doesn't deny it, so his complete "I'm better than you!" spiel when he's introduced makes sense.

But he does that spiel to Dan.

Dan may be one of the least scary brawlers at the time he's as scary as a puppy, but he did fight Naga, one to one, for quite some time (even if it was Drago who was doing the fighting, remember that bakugan in the first season rarely self activate their abilities; Dan is the one who activates Drago's abilities in that fight). Surely it would've crossed Ace's mind that he's not going to be easy, or potentially possible, to beat.

The fact that they fight to a standstill definitely cements Ace as a strong brawler, and determined as all hell, but if it did cross his mind, then his confidence would've grown after this.

His confidence doesn't grow, though. What does grow is how much of an asshole he is.

He treats Shun similarly, despite how much easier he is to work with than Dan, in Ace's case. He only treats Shun like he's worthy of his full attention after the dimension controller gets broken.

He doesn't really treat Marucho as bad, although I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that that's because Marucho is less of a fighter and more of an engineer (case in point, the interspace).

Baron gets starry eyed at the battle brawlers in general, so I can skip over him. Although I will note that Maron (as someone who speaks Welsh, her name looks like our word for the colour brown...) is much tamer in reaction to the battle brawlers, i.e. doesn't immediately go starry eyed.

Mira's a lot less easy to talk about in regards to how little her people's culture is used in her character, but given she canonically has some amount of feelings for Dan, I assume that's partially due to stories of grandeur, rather than only because of Dan as a person. It's not clear to me if Keith, before Spectra, was a pyrus user, or even battled at all, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was, and that because of it, Dan would've been a comforting presence by attribute-based association.

But, I don't think she uses her connections with the Battle Brawlers to help with Resistance based progress, or convincing the people of Vestal that the crown was being horrific; if the grand heroes of Earth and Bakugan are on the side of the Resistance, culturally that makes it logical to assume the Resistance are telling the truth and are heroes. And it'd only be cemented by the crown leaving Vestal so they're not punished for what they di- oh, wait, no, they did leave Vestal for that exact reason (albeit without Mira adding on the grand heroes part).

Part of me wonders if it ever crossed Hydron's mind to make the brawlers themselves into statues, along with their guardians, if they're so reverred... That sounds like angsty fanfic fuel.

It just seems weird it isn't used as often as it really should've been.

You know what? I don't think the fact that the battle brawlers are part of Vestal culture is used for character interaction enough.

These guys fought off Naga, Masquerade, Naga's hybrid gatekeepers (I'll come back to one of them in a bit), the six legendary warriors, anyone Masquerade tricked, and if you really want to stretch it out to the console game during season 1, Marduk and Vladitor.

The brawlers are no joke in terms of power, even when seperated and fighting alongside people who aren't battle brawlers, and may I add that they went to the doom dimension and left alive.

That makes them scary enough to have as an opponent.

Three of them are active members of the resistance during NV.

You cannot tell me that someone in the vexos saw one of them, found out their name and put 2 and 2 together, and didn't freak out.

The guys who stopped an ultimate bakugan from becoming too strong to stop, who are lauded as heroes and are, if anything, massively inspirational to the public, are on the opposing side to you? That's horrifying.

Of course, the point can be made that they couldn't care because they're the vexos, there's nothing to worry about!

You know how I said I'd get back to Naga's gatekeepers? Guns didn't work on them. But you know what did? A very specific human.

This is gentle reminder that Shun, at 13, kicked one of them and damaged them when a gun couldn't. That's when he was 13, mind you. He's 16 in NV, and so he's been able to train since.

Can you imagine having to fight a guy, who's movements are silent and as fast as a bullet train, and could physically snap your arms? Could physically hurt this massive monster that you send out against him, even if he doesn't have his own to retaliate with?

A guy who's pissed with you, because you're an obstacle in freeing his mother figure, and the rest of the bakugan by extention?

Tl;Dr. I find the fact that not one of the vexos is scared at first of the battle brawlers, especially considering what some of them can do, and it makes the whole "battle brawlers story are part of our culture" thing less interesting because it wasn't as utilised.