#he's going to make Diplomat *suffer* because he doesn't handle emotions well

[gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan]

Cato Sicarious you deserve this for being an utter bastard and a bully! Seethe, mald, suffer. Reader isn't yours. I love this rage-y dickhead so much. ><

I have another new idea for Cato Sicarius, so we’ve been talking about how Cato Sicarius bullies the reader and sends a truckload of mixed signals with each of their interactions. Now, Sicarius can afford to take this long and painful approach to ‘romancing?’ the reader because he’s doesn’t seem to have any active competition. But what if this wasn’t the case?

Just imagine it, Cato Sicarius sulking and stewing in a corner in rage, watching as another space marine compliments the baseline human and gets her blushing. Now because Sicarius is incapable of basic emotional awareness, he can’t understand that the reason he’s furious, is not because the human woman is wasting his time with frivolously bantering with another marine, but because this space marine is flirting with his human

Now as for the other space marine in this scenario, the obvious choice would be Titus. Because of his natural charisma and being quality husband material. However, you could also have it be a space marine from another legion, someone who’s on Ultramar to meet with Guilliman. Someone who would feasibly come across Guilliman’s favourite cute diplomat. A White Scar who being fun and flirty with the lovely human he just met. Or an Imperial Fist who’s genuinely impressed by the reader’s accomplishments and makes their interest known. Basically Sicarius looks on in envy as he cucked by his cousins

I love this lmao, any opportunity to make Sicarius cope and seethe is good in my books. I wrote this at like 4 in the morning while playing WUWA and keeping an eye on a very sick bird, so forgive any errors.

Warnings: Sicarius’ shitty attitude and being jealous, a dtf Astartes gets all flirty with you, the implication that Sicarius thinks you’re a little harlot for Astartes and really is he wrong?

The Ultramarine couldn’t stop his brother fast enough, speaking to Captain Sicarius through the vox channel connecting their helmets.

“This is going quite well.”

Both Ultramarines then suddenly freeze under the deathly stare of their captain, and they see his heartrates steadily rise in their helmet HUDs.

Higher and higher and higher it goes, as Sicarius’ helmet turns from them back to the scene in front of them. They’ve been tasked to stand guard for you as you greeted the guests aboard the ship, and stand in silence. At least the younger two marines do, the way Sicarius is boiling in his armor is anything but silent.

“Well little one, if you ever find yourself on Fenris, you’re in welcome company.”

A Space Wolf captain gives a wide, toothy smirk at you, and Sicarius turns up his nose at the nonstandard protocol on display at the marine’s red mane of hair. A mess waiting to happen- braids getting caught in armor, something to be grabbed.

“I’m glad to hear that!”

You smile back at him, completely wooed by the Wolf’s obnoxious boisterousness. He’s also massive; Sicarius can see plates of terminator armor blended in with the standard make Astartes armor. The three Space Wolves behind him are smaller, around his size.

The youngest Ultramarine that had nievely commented is visibly confused by his captain’s behavior, while the others, though also confused, have dealt with it for longer and stand in silence. None of them have the command to doubt Sicarius unless there are concerns of him breaching Ultramarine protocol or committing some form of heresy, and so they keep their mouths shut.

“Ahh, but we never realized that the Ultramarines kept such funny little maidens on their ships. Maybe they aren’t as stuck up as we all thought.”

Sicarius seethes; The disrespect on display against the Ultramarines, their primarch, and you! They didn’t even say your proper title, how dare they-

You laugh more, crossing your arms and conveniently accentuating your chest. Sicarius nearly fogs his visor from the heat of his breath. You smile, and the disgusting things that enter his mind at the thought of you and this Space Wolf sicken him. You’ve never displayed the female proclivity for idle chatter so much, he thinks.

Do you, like them? You never act like this in his company. Unless it’s Titus.

“They aren’t as bad as they seem I assure you, they just are very by the rules.” The massive Space Wolf chuckles, before tapping against the bottom of your chin with a knuckle. Sicarius’ heartrate makes a jump, watching you give the wolf a smile with gentle, lazy eyes. He would call them wanton.

Are there no Astartes safe from you? Titus, Helix, half of his men, and now this Space Wolf. He would utter what he thinks you are if he wasn’t dedicated to standing here in silence.

“Alas we should return to our ship. Fenris calls. But we’ll owe you and your Ultramarines a good deal for this assistance. We will not forget this, should you ever call on us for aid.”

Your Ultramarines?

Sicarius swallows a knot in his throat. You do not own him; If anything, Primarch Guilliman owns you, though Sicarius doesn’t understand still why his primarch deems it so valuable. Have you wooed him all the same?

No; His primarch would never fall for such a cheap display of whorish charm. Never. He will not falter either, unlike Titus.

You smile warmly again, face warm at the wolf’s tender touch.

“Then we wish you all safe travels on your return to Fenris.” The space wolves leave, and you turn around to face them all, including Sicarius. You’re much more composed now, smile much smaller and contained. Proper and respectful, unlike moments before.

“That went well. I should report all of this to Guilliman.”

Sicarius doesn’t say anything more than an irritated grunt, turning away.

[bitimdrake]

Interesting discussion I would add that each kid suffered from and was affected differently by neglect which is a complex type of abuse which can be emotional and physical. Take Jason, he may have had the best parent form of Bruce but as robin he seemed to suffer the most from Bruce's emotional distance. He was obviously suffering a mental crisis when he was benched and ran away Even before then there were clear signs he was traumatized (I suspect CPTSD from his childhood).p1

But even though Bruce knew something was wrong he still put the mission first and went after Joker. He also never actually engaged with Jason about his trauma. He took actions like removing him from Robin to give the boy physical distance from triggering cases and events like the diplomat's son case or the abusive pimps. But neglected the mental/emotional part if healing and just let the boy wander around and runaway. p3

Compare this to Cass who he also kept at an emotional arms length but for her this was actually helpful as it gave her the space to feel safe and find herself after her childhood of constant control and monitoring by Kane. In Cass' story unlike Jason's the possibility of having the child talk to a therapist is brought up and Bruce notes that Cass' situation is so unique this could unfortunately cause more harm than good and it might be better to let Cass engage with them on her own terms. p3

I think I'm with you on Jason, but largely disagree about Cass, so obviously I'm going to ramble about both for hundreds of words here--

jason

Not sure if you mean to say that Jason suffered from Bruce's emotional distance more than any other facet of Bruce's parenting, or that Jason suffered from it the most of all the kids--agree with the former, disagree with the latter (in that I would not classify any of the kids as suffering the most; they all just suffered).

I say Robin!Jason had some of the best Bruce parenting on an overall vibe--his era tends to be lighter and softer, Bruce hadn't really solidified as a grumpy distant emotionless man yet imo, and he's the only adoptive kid who as far as I recall was still always and consistently treated as Bruce's son.

However! That doesn't mean Bruce was a flawless parent to Robin!Jason either, and a lot (but not all) of those flaws are grouped together right at the end: the outright suspicion and judgment he has for Jason after the Garzonas case, the complete prioritization of the Joker case over his missing son in DitF (wtf Bruce), and the acknowledgement that he hasn't been addressing Jason's pre-existing trauma--in that era, mostly meaning his mother's death--as well as he should have.

imo the last is the most forgivable on Bruce's part, because it's clear he's been...trying at least? It's clear he cares about Jason, and pre-Garzonas he's been emotionally open with Jason (though doesn't directly address Jason's issues), and when he realizes Jason has been struggling with old traumas more than he realized, he regrets how he handled it and intends to change. (Though...obviously does not get a chance.) It reads to me as Bruce genuinely thinking not bringing it up and giving him other outlets is best for Jason--but still recognizing when that tactic is wrong and regretting it.

ymmv, but to me, that feels in direct contrast with points later on where Bruce leaves, say, Dick or Cass to their own trauma, but now has the vibe that he expects them to Handle It and refuses to have any doubt in himself. Idk, but I feel like he was actually putting in the effort and trying with Jason, however flawed.

Of course, that aspect being arguably more understandable on Bruce's part doesn't make it any less hard for Jason. (Or negate his other failures.) And before all the "Jason was just inherently bad" retcons, that lack of emotional support is exactly his struggle! The narrative doesn't point fingers about it, but DitF and comics just after it are trying to show that, though Jason got well-meaning support from people who loved him (Alfred, and mostly Bruce), he ultimately needed more than what he had.

(Though there is a wild heteronormative angle to a lot of it that strongly pushes the idea what Jason really needed was "a mother." A child therapist probably would be the better bet, but honestly I imagine the lack of that owes a lot to the era, not just the characters. Esp because therapy seemingly is brought up once we reach the modern era:)

Way later, when Jason is being Murder Batman in Battle for the Cowl and getting the villain treatment, some aspect of the old "Jason needed more support" message (vs "Jason is just bad") carries through. Bruce admits in his posthumous message to Jason that he shouldn't have tried to handle Jason's trauma on his own--and mostly via a crime fighting outlet--but should have helped him find proper healing (and tries to recommend him a doctor). Which like. Yeah! For once Bruce is pretty spot on in his parenting flaws! Now if only he didn't say it in the worst most insulting way possible!

cass

On the flip side, I actually think the emotional distance was really bad for Cass as well. While her childhood involved constant monitoring and control, by the time she meets Bruce, she's been surviving on her own for more than half her life.

Cass didn't need to be watched and controlled, but she was lonely and she did need consistent emotional support. Barbara gives her some of that--leading to Cass eventually saying she is like a mother--but Bruce leans towards a more 'commanding officer' treatment and it's...bad for her. It's not good! Bruce refusing to be emotionally open with Cass or give her space to do the same is a bad thing! She needs support far more than she needs space!

(Side note, I've been talking a lot about Bruce, so I've been criticizing Bruce's treatment of Cass a lot recently. But I wanna be clear that Batgirl shows that Barbara--Bruce's foil in Cass's narrative--is also flawed in her treatment of Cass. Bruce understands Cass in a lot of ways, but only wants her to be Batgirl. And Barbara is the opposite, recognizing that she needs a life and emotional support, but sometimes failing to understand how important being Batgirl is to Cass, or trying to push her into normative experiences she doesn't want. They are the two extremes Cass is torn between. That's the point. Anyway, back to Bruce.)

And when Bruce and Cass get in their big soul-drugged-fueled fight, emotional distance is imo a lot of the issue that Cass calls him out for. Not talking to her and just fighting it out and keeping her at arm's length, all under the excuse of 'speaking in her language' are..bad things that hurt her.

tldr: care about your kids' emotions more. didn't think i had to spell that one out for you, bruceman.

[alwayshaveneverholdd]

Alex who in ateez could be the next Hokage and why

The question I've been waiting for.

Before we determine who in ATEEZ COULD be the next Hokage, we need to assess WHAT a Hokage is, what kind of traits they must possess, and what they have done for the village in the past.

What is a Hokage?

The simplest definition of a Hokage would be "the strongest shinobi in the Land of Fire".

However, it is much more complicated than that. A Hokage must possess the following traits:

Undying loyalty to the village and its people (The Will of Fire)

Passion to drive the village to be its best

The ability to carry positive diplomatic relations

The ability to lead an entire village toward a common positive goal

The desire to protect the village/The Land of Fire at all costs

It is clear that many Hokage have not possessed every single trait listed here, but I will be selecting candidates who would make THE BEST Hokage for the village. This means that drama and villains are bad, bc this is not for an entertaining show, but for the best interest of The Leaf. Taking into account the amount of time spent as a Hokage, I think an ideal Hokage would not have family or children so that they can dedicate the needed amount of attention to the village without hurting anyone.

wE DO NOT WANT a repeat of the following Hokages:

Tobirama Senju, 2nd Hokage: Bred fear and hatred among the Senju and Uchiha, pitting them against each other and eventually confining the Uchiha to a certain part of the village, essentially segregating and isolating them from the rest of society (which eventually led to The Uchiha Massacre)

Hiruzen Sarutobi, 3rd Hokage: He was a very kind, strong, and loyal leader, but he was too soft, and his weakness led to one of the most dangerous shinobi, Orochimaru, honing his skills to become a creepy ass snake daddy hybrid human thing whose forbidden jutsu would cause copious amounts of trouble for The Leaf & Co. for years and years to come

The other Hokages did dumb shit too but not on such a large scale, Hashirama Senju (the 1st Hokage) imo did not CAUSE tensions between the Uchiha and the Senju, rather that was brought on by years and years of war that started before he and Madara Uchiha were born, and Madara is the one who stirred shit up ultimately and then Tobirama put the nail in the coffin.

Minato Namikaze, the 4th Hokage, was a great Hokage, but who in their right mind would seal the spirit of a fox demon in their infant child's body? *tHaT's WhAt ThE sHoW iS AbOuT* FUCK YOU NARUTO WAS A CHILD AND HAVING KURAMA INSIDE HIM WAS SO DIFFICULT FOR HIM, HE STRUGGLED AND SUFFERED MORE THAN ANY CHILD SHOULD HAVE TO THERE'S NO JUSTIFICATION FOR IT.

Naruto Uzumaki, the 7th Hokage, completely ignored the needs of his family because of his job, seemingly forgetting the absence of parents in his own life and how it f*cked him up. This is not directly affecting the village negatively, but. It's f*cked up dude.

Weeding Out The Weak

The members of ATEEZ who I think just flat-out would not be able to handle the sheer responsibility of being Hokage are

Yeosang, a Gemini: Just look at him in any social situation. Yeah imagine that but his company is x1000. He doesn't have the charisma or people skills to be a Hokage.

Wooyoung, a Sagittarius: Look at this dude, he doesn't even want to be responsible for his next lay, what in God's name makes you think he would be capable of, or especially have the desire to lead a village of ninja supposed to protect an entire nation?

Hongjoong, a Scorpio; Seonghwa, an Aries: There is a reason Hongjoong and Seonghwa go so well together and are the "mom and dad" of the group. That is this: Hongjoong struggles with expressing his feelings and is much better just being a disciplinary figure who can get angry and scold effectively as well as give tough-love motivational speeches. Seonghwa is more adept with his emotions, able to comfort and inspire people through nurturing, and also is capable of being firm. They would be great as co-Hokages, but unfortunately, that's not a thing. Seonghwa is, in my opinion, too emotional and free-spirited for such a job, while Hongjoong is too short-tempered and impulsive. I will say, however, that Hongjoong and Seonghwa would be my candidates for the next Shadow Hokage (Title currently held by Sasuke Uchiha).

San, a Cancer: I love San, and I think he is very open, accepting, loving, kind, and loyal. However, he is not level-headed nor does he possess the kind of maturity or leadership skills a Hokage needs. He is still very much on an emotional and spiritual journey to find himself and his happiness (aren't we all, but his is a bit more tumultuous and self-deprecating) and that is not something I think is appropriate for being the Hokage. San would make a great Ninja Academy teacher, like Iruka.

Who are the Candidates for Hokage?

This leaves us with Yunho, Mingi, and Jongho.

Yunho, an Aries and an ENFJ: Coming from a rich yet supportive and loving family, Yunho learned what it means to be both a leader as well as a caring and kind person from his parents. Yunho's family dynamic was clearly very good, as he only has positive things to say about his childhood, and has outstanding self-control. This is contrasted by his anger issues, intensity, and darkness that he keeps very controlled and does not let it out for the public to see. Yunho, in my eyes, is the only true Leader among these three candidates, but because of his internal struggles, the responsibility of Hokage might be too much, and he could crack under the pressure. Being a very competitive person, this would in turn damage his pride and ego, and only Papa Smurf knows what he would do then. There is also a possibility that Yunho would take the stress of being Hokage in a stride, letting his passion and competitive nature drive him to be a true force to be reckoned with.

Mingi, a Leo and an ENTP: There are still many people who are fooled by Mingi's self-proclaimed "dumb" persona. This persona is easy for him to put on because, as a Leo, he is a natural performer. However, Mingi has stated multiple times that he doesn't like this persona and has asked the staff to stop requesting he do that. It was only a matter of time, because ENTP's are actually the most calculating, sharp, and at times cold, extroverts in the MBTI. Mingi could be an outgoing Shikamaru with people skills, and that would make an outstanding Hokage. The downsides to this are that Mingi can get a little too logical at times, disregarding the feelings of others for the sake of what is "correct" or "logical". He could become the sort of leader that goes ahead with difficult decisions that could negatively impact a portion of the village as long as the greater good is kept intact (could potentially give way to a situation like The Uchiha Massacre, which Danzo thought would protect The Leaf's government and spare them a Coup d'etat). Alternatively, Mingi could also become one of the sharpest Hokages, making battle strategy and diplomatic relations the best they've ever been.

Jongho, a Libra and an ESFJ: Libras are truly people people, and so are ESFJs. They enjoy being attentive and taking care of others, being involved in their communities, and harmonious connections with others. By this definition, Jongho would truly be a "by the people, for the people" Hokage. He is the most mature member of ATEEZ with an extremely level head and temperament. Jongho is the type of Hokage to sit back and see what happens before taking action. This can be either very good or very bad depending on the situation. Jongho may become too chill, and unintentionally put the village, the Land of Fire, or himself at risk. While he is no weakling, Jongho would struggle to make difficult decisions, especially those that would result in loss of life, even if they were the best decision for the village. However, he is also incredibly good at keeping a straight face, and Jongho could turn out to be the kind of Hokage who is able to set personal feelings aside and call upon them when needed. If this is the case, Jongho could be a steady, strong-minded, powerful, loyal, and compassionate Hokage; loved and trusted equally by the people and other Kage's.

Three men stand before me, but I only have one portrait in my hand.

Who will be The Next Hokage?