#talking with kids with similar interests

[enigmaris]

Damians 12th birthday is coming up and Dick knows just what to get his stabby baby bat. Damian has been obsessed with Purple Back Gorillas for months, first because he learnt that the two last known members of the species were male thus dooming the species and then his interest exploded because it was discovered that one of the last gorillas was actually female. Dick was not the only member of the family to have to listen to Damians very, very long lectures about the gorillas.

Dick had not only organized a party at the elmerton zoo where the two gorillas were being held, but he got in contact with the teen who Damian had actually complimented for discovering the female gorilla was actually female.

Danny wasnt sure why dick grayson was offering him an obscene amount of money to come to a kids birthday party but he wasnt about to say no. The guy had made it seem so easy, show up and hang out for an hour or two to talk to the kid about Delilah and her upcoming baby. He had even paid half up front, giving him more cash than he had ever seen in his life. Even Sam had been impressed.

So on the day of the party he flew over to the Elmerton Zoo and met Damian Wayne.

Five minutes in, and Danny knew Dick was underpaying him. The kid couldn't stop sneering if his life depended on it. He was snooty, snobby, snotty, you name it. Danny was questioned on everything to do with Delilah, and nothing he said met the rich kid's annoying standards. Danny was very tempted to literally ghost the brat.

At least until Damian literally judo flipped a guy who had attempted to pick pocket him.

Danny: you know how to fight?

Damian: Tcht, i have trained since i could walk.

Danny, who has only been fighting for a few months and would sort of like to stop getting his ass handed to him has an idea.

Danny: look, i have a deal for you.

Damian: What could you possibly offer me?

Danny: i can teach you the sign language delilah and her mate use. If you learn it fast enough i can introduce you to her and help you gain her trust. Maybe even in time to hold her baby when its born.

Damian, very very tempted: and how much money would you require for these lessons?

Danny: no money. I want to be able to do that. Teach me to fight and i'll teach you the ways of the purple back gorilla.

Damian: i will not be a gentle teacher. If you wish to learn i will expect perfection.

Danny: thats fine. Do we have a deal, Wayne?

Damian: we have a deal, Fenton.

For the next several months, Danny sees Damian every other saturday for a few hours. Damian was a brutal tutor in martial arts, insisting that danny train during his free time. Danny improves in his ghost fighting in leaps and bounds. In return Danny introduces Damian to Delilah and the teaches the guy how to talk to her.

Danny learns to sort of like Damian, even if he was still snobby. They're almost, but not quite, friends.

Its all going great until there is a ghost invasion in gotham and Danny has to leave Amity to save the day. He runs into Robin and helps him fight off some ghosts. Upon the both of them seeing each others suspiciously familiar fighting styles there is only one reasonable reaction:

[jujutsustraycats]

BABY KARASU BABY KARASU BABY KARASU BABY KARASU I MIGHT CRY

This hurt my heart

Sweets I love you so much

Also this panel gives me deja vu cause remember that one Kaiser panel?

Yeah.

[skeletalheartattack]

have you posted about gelato before :o ?

honestly, every mention ive made of Gelato in the past month or so has just been through the tags of some posts ive reblogged on here, it's only been until now that ive gotten around to showing him off!

this is Gelato, a Flamingo/Secretarybird mix that my friend @meetthehelper put together!

for a while, i've been wanting to figure out a bird fursona for myself, and i wanted one that had a similar silhouette to that of Scratch (i.e. Scratch & Grounder), and the bird that seemed to make the most sense to me was a flamingo. it was Helper's idea to mix him with another bird species, and i really like what she ended up with :)!

[cuteniaarts]

Hey 🗑️🔥 gang (@katkastrofa @rokurookajima @shadelorde)…

Heard you guys like feral women 😏😏😏

[longagoitwastuesday]

I keep thinking that this Gojo is just like Sukuna. I truly don't see much of a difference between them beyond the human/curse point of view

[loveandthings11]

BREAKING NEWS:

Jeremy says he thinks that Kendall could find purchase in life again after being saved by Colin!!!!!

Could easily have happened after the final cut. So I can sleep at night! Kendall girls rejoice! 🥳

This section starts at about 34:00:

xoxoxoxo

[ganondoodle]

(this went on to be a longer ramble, talking about shrines and the abilities in totk i had more thoughts about the overworld repetition but im putting this into a separate post)

something i havent seen anyone mention before is also that it is a problem that you can skip nearly any puzzle in the totk "temples", some of which just by climbing walls ... and that wasnt possible in botw bc the titans were made of the same material as the shrines and prevented you from climbing on them, which feels like they knew making them climable would reduce the amount of puzzle you had to do and make it even less impactful, surely there are some glitches or movement tech that can make it easier, but at least you had to think about it a little?

but i guess that went against their newly adopted "more freedom equals better" way of thinking .. but then ..

the thing that i find confusing is that the shrines interior in totk are once again, NOT climable, but similar sonau buildings in the overworld ARE climable, they even restrict how you can use the tech in shrines, so ... they arent actually against restrictions? but then dont restrict anything else? not even in the main dungeons?? its kinda inconsistent and conflicting (like everything else lmao)

and that kinda extends to the abilities too, both the ceiling jump and ultrahand make alot of puzzles obsolete bc theres always a way easier way to skip everything; i know they kidna based it around people doing crazy thigns in botw, but there it felt like you were actually kinda missusing the mechanic of stasis for example in a smart way, YOU came up with that and it felt rewarding creating your own solution to shrine puzzles bc there were multiple ways to do it in this engine (like isntead of aligning blocks to lead electritiy to one end to the other you put out your weapons and place them there instead, and it WORKS) it felt more non intended, even if they had thoguht about it, it still FELT like you just came up with that, and sometimes it really was the only way your mind worked with and everyone had their own way of thinking

while in totk, they kinda tried to encourage that way of thinking, but it doesnt feel like your own idea anymore really, and, while its not every single one, in alot of totk shrines .. or even overworld puzzles you were just .. literally given the puzzle pieces for you to put together, but the pieces were like .. in parts of 6 at most so putting together the picture was both obvious and also kinda boring, like you were treated like you are a 4 year old and they were giving you 4 piece puzzles over and over- and fine you CAN just glue the two fans together and stand on them to fly high enough to just glide over to the end instead of building the flying thing they gave you the pieces for BUT its still .. expected, like you dont feel like you are working on it your way but seeing what the devs obviously planned for and then knowingly circumventing it i dont think its good either that in combination with the ceiling jump you really can just skip almost anything, take out a fly thing and fly near the end to spam the jump until it works, instead of using the building blocks they gave you for the obvious solution you build some platform and just ceiling jump to it, theres a rocket here? fuse it to your shield and fly high enough to glide to the end, its both too easy and obvious for the intented way and then you can even entirely skip that too, and you dont even feel smart about it bc it doesnt feel like you came up with it on your own and instead feel like a child that is way too old for the toys its given and the adults giving them to you stare at you while they wait for you to solve the puzzle- and alot of the solutions were either build something with these three pieces or fight something with these pieces-

i still remember that one (or more?) botw shrines were it lead you to a button to press and once you stand on it the wall slides open and reveals some fun and unexpected challenge, over and over- there was a hallway you had to glide through but there were big moving spiky metal balls hanging from the ceiling, maybe one has a normal rope on it and you can shoot it down if you notice it but the others dont so what do you do, stasis them so you can avoid it in time, grab it with magnesis to make it swing harder and then hope for the best as you fly there or dont do anything of that and just jump in- the one were a spiked wall was chasing you and as you run more obstables are put in your way right before you get to it, you stand on a button and the wall opens greeting you with an immediate guardian laser to the face? it felt more creative and fun to me, tho granted i havent done all shrines in totk bc i grew too tired of the everything to play more

(at least thats how i felt like, like i was treated like i was stupid for alot of totk, not just in the shrines sometimes .. which were one of the more enjoyable things in it, but also in the story .. like you dont have to think at all to get everything before its said to your face over and over)

and that thing with the abilities and the tech also makes the world less like a world and more like a playground bc you can just skip to every point of interest, you dont have to walk or climb or fight your way anywhere really bc you can just go up and fly to whereever you want, the new weird ass towers only make it worse bc .. of course youd make use of them to get everywhere even quicker, its also kinda in the combat, they might give you the tools to be creative (with arguably very simple things .. like a wheel, a rocket a fan and flamethrower arent realyl that interesting to begin with) why would you build a laser firing tank maschine to fight some bokblins you can just .. clobber like you usually do way quicker and easier

i do like the abilities in botw more than in totk too, but its got multiple reasons, like the world felt built around it without putting it into your face all the time, and the shrines were more built around giving you fun challenges, or just .. a fun experience, with often more subtle puzzles and not always forcing you to make use of the shiekah stone runes, plus the totk abilities feel more like the same thing .. or less interesting? fuse and ultrahand really are one and the same thing but separated into two for .. some reason, the time reversal is like stasis but with less ways to apply and use it (and kinda clunky how everything freezes in place when you prime it), and both it and the ceiling jump are a skip button from one location to the next (even tho we already have the fast travel) so you dont even need to climb, like those weird towers in the underground i thoguht looked cool and interesting when i first saw them only to realize its just a way to get to the surface via ceiling jump and nothing more .. you could fast travel up with the same amount of loading time, and more often than not it wasnt even in an interesting spot or somewhere you couldnt get to otherwise; the autobuild too even lets you skip building!! the thing thats the supposedly focus! i know its annoying to build something for a long time with its clunky function but isnt it yet another skip button

... another random ramble, much more incoherent too, again i want to mention im not trying to hate on everything, jsut kinda communicate or ... spill out my thoughts and feelings; i do absolutely agree that ultrahand is a very impressive mechanic and i did have fun with all the abilities for a while ..... i still like botws more bc its more diverse and is more restricted (which i LIKE) while also having more ways to use them

[puppppppppy]

who up seeing their disorder in a fictional character but feel like its not their place to put a name on it

[batsplat]

a lot of dramatic irony in the fact that vale's attempt at an act of erasure is what truly tied their legacies together. i mean, first of all, in my opinion, vale has a bigger chance at winning his tenth if he doesn't make that accusation public, even if he believes it. but secondly, it is that claim of sabotage that means no one ever can forget that marc and vale were part of each others careers, nor can their intrinsic similarities and differences be denied

valentino's low-key quite quirky with legacy management in general, like there's a different ask in my drafts about this but it's sooooo funny how he keeps talking down biaggi/gibernau because. y'know. why would you do that, they were your main opponents in your prime... it's in your interest to talk them up! you want people to think they were super strong and tough to beat! also you did struggle with them you twat. with jorge/casey it's just kind of interesting how little he's concerned with arguing his case, y'know? jorge and casey, especially the latter, are quite actively concerned with Selling their sides of that rivalries, reexamining various controversies quite regularly - which is fun and interesting because it's kinda unintentionally revealing about what's going on in their own brains where valentino is concerned, how they want to be perceived etc... it'd probably be a bit undignified if valentino started getting petty in the press about it, but that didn't need to stop him... he really just has taken a general 'ah isn't nostalgia lovely' approach to discussing these rivalries, he's really not doing much of his own pr in that regard

obviously makes it interesting that he still kinda gets into it with marc when you catch him in the right mood and idk host a podcast. but even there, is that really legacy management? is that really pr? honestly, I kinda think that's just the stuff that feels a bit more compulsive... it's a bit confessional vibes, where usually when he's asked about marc he can be quite sensible about the whole thing and keep it to relatively bland + uncontroversial statements. on the rare occasion where you get more out of him (and it really is pretty rare, that podcast was a bit out of nowhere when you're following this stuff on a rolling basis over the years), it's less selling his story and more just needing to have a bit of a rant? kinda the urge to be a bit cruel with it where he usually knows it's not really in his interest? basically from at latest mid-2016 onwards, he was aware of this dynamic and tried to starve that rivalry of oxygen more often than not... but sometimes he's slipped up. quite memorably so, on one or two occasions, still clearly a slip up

anyway I'm sure it is kinda frustrating how closely they are linked, which, yeah it's fun! marc and valentino were always going to end up linked just because of how bloody good they both are and how they did have a decent bit of overlap in their competitive windows... but! now it's a story! it's the rivalries everyone remembers, and they've managed to tell the most memorable one of them all. I still think in a way, y'know, the deed was done because he did still manage to cut that interpersonal link... it's not like most fans of either of them these days would really see the two blokes as particularly similar. kind of the natural result of the polarisation that's taken place, but it is a narrative that's gradually changed... obviously more neutral fans are generally still aware of it lol - but I wouldn't say the similarities can't be denied... a lot of people seem to be doing just fine at that. still, even the fans can't deny the importance of the enemy in their guy's story, kinda beautiful in a way. everyone's trapped forever and ever

[deadbeandrop]

oh it is truly is a Squirrel Scout brainstorming day today (wipes a tear from my eye

i'm still thinking about patsy rn. to me she's a little girl who had to grow up and take on way too much way too fast, she's had so much on her shoulders and continues to keep stacking it all on herself at any opportunity cus she's always on the go go go. and, see, you'd think it'd be easy for gretchen to be the one with a complex about being "strong/tough enough" but i think gretchen is an IDGAFer tbh. her issues are unrelated to that. to me it's patsy with a tragic backstory and hoo-ha for a dad over here

[milimeters-morales]

(NOT ATSV) my ideal miguel and miles friendship (bordering on enemies) dynamic is where Miles is sort of a Mean Girls figure where he’ll say the worst things to Miguel, who actually has no problems dishing that shit right back out, is usually too fed up or somewhere else mentally to reply. They fight a lot, more physically than verbally, usually in a slapstick comedy type of way. Miles is banned from Nueva York once a month and got a restraining order against Miguel in his own dimension. His parents fucking hate him and Miguel hates them right back. Rio has tried and failed to poison him via food and Jeff is considering hiring a hitman. Gabriel is beloved by them. Miles takes Miguel’s money at least twice a week to go spend it just because he can. Miguel has tried (and succeeded once) to get Miles sick with a future illness because he figured out the lesbian bar Miguel liked to perform at in drag. Miles has cried at least once in every room of Miguel’s apartment and Miguel has been confused on what to do each time besides an awkward hug and pat on the back. People are rightfully worried for Miles’s safety at least 80% of the time but when they aren’t they’re shaking their heads at the two’s antics. They need to be separated until they have a healthy “this is a grown ass man / this is stupid little girl i don’t like at work” relationship and it’ll take an act of god for either of them to realize their current one isn’t healthy at all and has extremely negative impacts on their mental state.

[fiendishartist2]

guilty of your innocence– mp100

“It’s very nice to finally meet you, Ms. Serizawa!”

The man on her doorstep was holding out a very sweaty hand. When she took it, she was treated to the clammiest handshake she had ever experienced.

Her boy– lovely, sweet, naive Katsuya– was smiling at her, eyes wide and imploring. Despite the grin pulling at his lips, his hands were shaking where they were clasped in front of his chest. Poor Katsuya looked like he was on the brink of collapse. The nervous tilt of his eyebrows were screaming at her to accept the man.

She didn’t know whether to spare his feelings or tell the truth.

Katsuya had called her earlier in the day, asking if she was free for a visit after work. For her son, she would always be free, she told him– but she accepted anyway. Despite their previously strained relationship, Katsuya was one of her favourite people. She loved when he swung by her residential area, coming for lunch or dinner whenever he made time in his busy schedule.

He told her he had a surprise for her– someone he wanted her to meet. She was ecstatic, of course; still overwhelmingly proud of her son for getting out into the world. And now, he was meeting people and making friends! She baked snacks with vigour, fueled by the need to impress whoever their guest would be.

Now she wished she hadn’t broken her back over those little cakes.

The man Katsuya presented her with was incredibly underwhelming– if not downright concerning. He spoke with a certain degree of smarminess, like he was trying to sell her something. His smile glinted– sharp and intelligent, but much too disarming. The man’s arms pinwheeled around as he spoke at a mile a minute; the lack of self-awareness was another red-flag raised with the others. Adding to his persona, the man’s hair was an unnatural shade of blond, the colour of box bleach done in the middle of the night in a cramped bathroom. On his strung-out frame, he wore an oversized– yet puzzlingly too-small– suit. It crinkled, thin fabric bunching up around his waist and shoulders. The pant legs didn’t quite reach his ankles, revealing unprofessional magenta socks. He was trying to distract her with his big, showy smiles and empty niceties– and she was already suspicious.

With narrowed eyes, she sized him up. She instilled as much distrust into her glare as her 5’3” stature could manage. Judging by the beads of sweat gathering under his bangs, the man was rightfully intimidated.

Katsuya led them into the house, passing by his mother to plant the man in her living room. He left him alone with a squeeze of his shoulder. The man looked like he was trying desperately to not throw up on her carpet. He smiled around his clear nausea– she wanted to laugh at the way his face was nearly green, like a cartoon character, but alarms were going off in her ears. She didn't like this disingenuous man who had swept up her Katsuya at all.

As Katsuya puttered around the kitchen, collecting mugs and tea bags as he set water boiling in the kettle with his powers, she sat on the armchair opposite the man, cornering him.

She levelled him with another icy look, crossing her arms. The man straightened, steeling himself like he was getting ready for an argument.

"Who are you?" She asked bluntly. He barely faltered, crossing his legs and leaning in. He still had that sickly-sweet customer service smile plastered on his face.

"Reigen Arataka," he stopped, like he was about to continue that sentence, but decided against it at the last minute. Pink dusted his cheeks and he cleared his throat, "I'm Katsuya's… business partner. It's nice to meet you Ms…?" He reiterated. She didn't return the sentiment.

She hummed, brushing him off, "And how do you know my son?"

Clanging sounded from the kitchen, causing her to startle– Katsuya must have dropped something. Concern flashed across Reigen's face as he peered into the kitchen, eyebrows drawn in a look that conveyed worry where she expected fear. It had been a long time since the sound of something hitting the floor in her home was cause for light concern instead of anxiety. Reigen relaxed when a bright "I'm okay!" floated in from the kitchen.

"Well, that's actually a funny story," he started, uncrossing and crossing his legs again the opposite way. It was like he couldn't stop moving, "Katsuya and I actually met at his old uh– 'job'."

Her heart stopped beating.

The last time a man in a suit with a fake smile and hollow words took her Katsuya, she lost him for three years. To hear that they met through the abusive man her son had just barely escaped from was a punch to the gut.

Already, Reigen was trying to explain himself. His hands flailed around like restless hummingbirds and if she hadn't been lost in her own fear and anger, she would want to bat them away.

"Not- I mean, it was after his old boss was arrested and- and I am not part of Claw or anything like that-!" He swiped a sweaty hand across his sweaty face, laughing shrilly, "You see, my kids– well, they're not really my kids but- but anyways!"

Was Katsuya in a bad place again?

It seemed like he was getting better– he had his own apartment that he paid for with his own money. She thought he had a real job, since he earned a consistent wage and spoke highly of his new boss– even quite affectionately at times. Katsuya went to school, he had friends; he was finally experiencing the world in a way she never thought possible. Nothing like the closed off, frightened boy she had known his whole life.

But, had he just been passed from one controlling force to another? Did she fail to see her son was struggling again?

Katsuya returned from the kitchen. His bubbly presence cut off Reigen's flustered ramblings, attention drawn solely to him. In his hands, Katsuya carried two steaming mugs of tea; behind him, a third cup bobbed lazily in the air, suspended in a shimmering cloud of magenta and black. She tried not to stare at the obvious and carefree display of psychic powers– but after so many years of it being just a depressing background hum in her home, it was still surprising to see it expressed so openly.

He handed them each a mug, sitting next to Reigen and letting his own settle gracefully into his cupped hands.

"Watch out, it's still hot," he murmured, earning an unimpressed pout from Reigen. Katsuya giggled into his tea and she nearly choked on her own– it had to have been years since she heard him sound so happy.

"So, what were you guys talking about?" Katsuya asked innocently. Reigen winced, turning away and rubbing the back of his neck.

"Just- ah… how we met." He confessed sullenly. In the tense silence, Reigen sipped his tea at an obnoxious volume. He set it down seconds later with a yelp.

Katsuya pursed his lips, carefully avoiding eye contact with his mother.

"Oh."

She cut in with a stern tone, "Katsuya," worry settled just under her words, "I thought you were done with that whole organisation. Are you…" She cleared her throat, but her voice still came out as nothing more than a whisper, "Do you need help, sweetheart?"

Her son looked absolutely stricken.

"Wh- Mama, what do you mean? Of course I'm not part of Claw anymore. I told you, they disbanded," his hands hugged his cup tighter as they started trembling, "A-and… um, I like where I am now."

His free hand wrapped around Reigen's arm, wrinkling the cheap fabric. A blotchy red blush spread across Reigen's entire face– just the sight of it gave her second hand embarrassment. Then her son's words caught up with her.

This is the man her son chose? This annoying, two-faced, car-salesman-esque man? A man who had power over him as his boss– and wasn't that just like his old 'employer'? Wasn't Suzuki just another person with too much control over her Katsuya– her poor son who would flock to anyone who could point him in the direction of normalcy–

Beeping filled the air; her cakes were done in the oven.

She set her mug down harshly. Tea splashed over the edges, staining her nearly spotless coffee table.

Ms. Serizawa stomped into her kitchen, breathing angrily through the tightness in her chest. Her heart spasmed with each intake, sending her head spinning. She propped herself up against the counter.

She balled her fists at her sides; her shoulders hunched as she squeezed her eyes shut. The tightness in her chest spread to her throat.

She failed again. Katsuya was going to be taken away from her again and it would be her fault for not noticing again. What was wrong with her? How could she be such a horrible mother? Was she just that negligent that he felt like he couldn't come to her for help? Was she not reaching out enough? It had to be her– there had to be a reason that her Katsuya kept falling into the hands of so many controlling men– it was a clear pattern and all signs pointed to her failure as a parent.

Soft footsteps shuffled up to her. He held his breath in anticipation, but didn't try to start the conversation.

"Why?" She mumbled, voice strangled. Katsuya sighed, shuffling closer to her side. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted him lift his arm– as if he was going to snake it around her shoulders– and then let it drop as he averted his eyes.

"Is it me?" She asked, again with no explanation, "Am I a bad mother, Katsuya?"

He startled, looking up from his feet to stare at her in disbelief.

"What? Why would you say that, of course you're- what makes you think that?" He stumbled over his words but she could see the genuine worry on his face. She could have laughed at how relieved that made her. Katsuya believed in everyone in his life, despite the ways he had been burned by that same trust. Whether anyone actually deserved that earnest support, though, was something she often doubted.

The green number on the digital display of her oven flashed '0:00' over and over. Every few seconds, it let out a piercing shriek, reminding her that her cakes would be ruined soon if she didn't do something about it. She didn't move turn the oven off.

"I let all of this happen to you and now look!" He tensed, "You're being taken advantage of again-"

"I am not being taken advantage of." The low rumble of his voice made her finally look up at him. Her son's face was set into a disillusioned scowl; eyebrows set low and mouth puckered into a frown.

Some part of her– buried deep down since her son left for Claw– wanted to hide from that angry face. Anger meant powers and powers always meant bad things in her home.

She could never be afraid of her lovely Katsuya, but psychic powers? Her stomach roiled for the first time in a while.

Slowly, his face smoothed back into worry. A wry smile pulled at his lips.

"I'm not as naive as you think I am," he chuckled without any humour, gaze fixed on his hands as he picked at his thumbnail, "Is that what you're worried about?"

She couldn't bring herself answer him. Shame flooded her stomach.

"Reigen is nothing like Suzuki," he continued resolutely. Fondness creased his eyes, "He's helped me become someone I can be proud of. I'm grateful for all of the opportunities he's given me, but…"

Katsuya looked up at her, face sharp with determination.

"But, I'm also helping myself. Reigen is different because– well, because he makes me feel different," she wanted to argue with him, but he steamrolled over her in a way she never would have expected, "I have my own life– I set boundaries and have friends outside of the office. Suzuki…" Katsuya blinked rapidly, face darkening again, "He didn't want me going to school or-or seeing you like I do now. He didn't want me to know anything except what he told me."

"I like when Reigen's proud of me," he admitted, hand finding a perch on his neck as he smiled abashedly, "But I don't need his approval like I needed Suzuki's. I don't need him to make me feel… uhm– feel like I'm worth something."

He stared down at her, eyes glittering with untapped emotion. Hope danced between the gentle tilt of his eyebrows and pooled in the upturned corners of his mouth. All she could do was nod her head in acknowledgement.

He spoke softer now, pressing a light hand on her back, "I can take care of myself now. You don't have to worry so much about me, Mama."

"Yes I do!" She choked out, tears springing to her eyes. He wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back consolingly.

"Trust me? Please?" He asked, meeker than his grandiose speech, but just as earnest. She shook her head.

"I don't know how to do that…" She admitted into his shoulder, speaking so softly she couldn't be sure he heard her. She didn't know if she wanted him to.

He pulled away and her heart twisted.

"Why not start now?" Another voice joined from the doorway. Reigen waved at her ruefully. Quickly, she dried her damp cheeks on a tea towel.

Katsuya huffed out a content laugh, shaking his head at Reigen's incredibly well-timed (and definitely calculated) entrance. She joined in, a little hysterically, after a while. She shook with the weight of her tumultuous emotions, anchoring herself with a hand on Katsuya's shoulder.

The oven timer beeped again and she jumped out of her skin.

"My cakes!" She shouted, horror wiping away all traces of the sorrow that had made its home in the creases of her face.

Armed with a pair of oven mitts and two men trying to mask their mirth with sympathy, she fished out the mini cakes she spent all afternoon baking.

They were blackened with char.

She ran a hand through her hair, tossing them out swiftly before her guest could get a good look at them. Katsuya rubbed her shoulder, still chucking a little under his breath.

"It's okay, Mama, don't worry about it." He smiled reassuringly.

"Thank you, honey, it's just… I don't have anything else to give you two other than tea."

"Oh!" Reigen dashed out of the room, rustling around the front hall. He came back with a sheepish smile on his face, brandishing a plate of cookies to her.

"They're not perfect, but I wanted to make something for you– and y'know, Teru really needed help with this baking assignment so I thought, why not, right? You don't have to take them, obviously, I made them at like midnight yesterday– and they probably have all kinds of grubby kid germs since Teru couldn't stop tasting the frosting no matter how many times I–"

"God, does this one ever shut up? Give those here." She swiped at her eyes subtly, taking the plate from a dumbstruck Reigen.

Katsuya laughed the hardest she had ever heard him.

[shrinkthisviolet]

Barry for the character ask game.

Similarities: –Devotion to family above all else –Strong sense of justice (and a bleeding heart) –We both have science-related careers! (A bonus fourth because why not: time blindness 😅)

Differences: –He tends to be reckless. I very much am not 😅 –He has super speed. I wish 😭 I could sure use the time buffer smh –He is sadly an only child canonically 😔 I meanwhile am the oldest of three kids

character ask game!

[4giorno]

someone has to physically restrain me im taking too many screenshots i love everything abt this scene

AAAAAAAAAAAAA

[fellhellion]

Granted, the Doylist reason for this is likely just that PAD doesn’t often develop/have characters speak on how they conceptualise their cultural identity, but from a Watsonian perspective idk. I think a lot about the stuff that goes unsaid when it comes to 90s run Miguel’s relationship with his heritage. In that, it seems like it's something he has an emotional investment in even if he doesn't really speak on it.

Like, buying such an expensive thing as a costume for dia de los muertos made from unstable molecular fabric, but just claiming you only did so because your clothes would get totalled otherwise. Idk, to me that implies more investment and interest than the casual front Miguel projects about it, especially when like, there are less costly solutions to that issue.

Or the way Miguel openly rebuffs people anglicising his name, leading me to think at least that him (as the character lmao) not speaking a lot to his relationship to his heritage doesn't come from a place of not wanting to be associated with it.

And like, given the context of this being a guy who has enough trouble fumbling general emotional vulernability with his family and friends (and in general is pretty emotionally isolated), I think it's plausible that for all that he may want/consider reconnecting with his roots, he wouldn't really be someone to seek out a community to facilitate that.

[pestercide]

Sudden urge to drop off the face of the Earth (have zero online presence) and just focus on my art and myself then suddenly come back like nothin happened but now my art looks super different and I'm prolly mentally better too