#this is the ONE part of his character that everyone misses

[insanescriptist]

Okay, let's see how long my internet lasts this time.... also, everyone is eavesdropping on everyone. They're all rather aware of it to some degree or another. So it's fun writing that!

Flip the Expectations

Dinah Lance was many things, but she was not an idiot. She had taken risks for friends and family, some worse than others. Maybe she had married one, but she had married a human man. Show her a person who wasn't an idiot sometimes.

She had never met Jason Todd, but she had heard a lot about him. How he was once a cute little Robin who'd seen too much darkness, from Oracle, reminiscing about her time as Batgirl. How he was cuter and quieter than Dick Grayson, unused to the Titans' more bombastic personalities, but still able to support Wonder Girl -Troia- as she struggled to lead the Titans on a diplomatic protection mission turned disaster, from Roy. How he was reckless and increasingly violent, how that got him killed from the later Batgirl-chatter. How he came back from death but was missing his moral compass. How he bombed Mia's school and ran drugs. How he saved Roy, who's mercenary work the Arrows had not agreed with -but he had needed to do for funds at the time- nearly lead to his death. How he'd given Roy a safe space. How he had returned Lian to him, the teleporting power from Chesire now no longer keeping father and daughter separated. How the Gotham Sirens spoke fondly of him.

No matter what was said about a person from other people, she liked to judge them herself. To help them, if she could. If they'd let her.

She'd been a rising rock star, a femme fatale of a superhero and was able to bring down a house and more, if she really pushed her vocal limits. She'd had plenty of ups and downs, ways to relate to others. Still, Dinah considered herself to be a good friend, so when Oracle had asked, she hadn't hesitated to get herself to Vegas and one of the Birds' safehouses with Roy. Lian and Mia were off having a girls' day out, Conner had Star and Dinah could make the time.

And it was only after she was there, in the little suburban house with a privacy fence that Dinah asked Oracle why she was there.

Stupid of her maybe, but she felt it spoke more to her character.

"Okay, O, why's he got Bat problems?"

"Beyond Batman's many issues?" Roy snorted behind her, as he settled in with some groceries, also tuned into one of the Bird's frequencies through his own tech. The coffee pot sounded like it had finished; it got started the moment they'd walked in, coffee pulled straight out of the grocery bag.

"Going off of what I can see in the casefiles? B thinks he's up to human trafficking," Oracle, in her all-knowing way paused long enough for Roy to say 'bullshit' in the background. "Which isn't impossible, but would be so wildly out of character that I'd suspect Hood to be a victim of coercion or mind-control first."

"Hardly call returning Lian human trafficking," Roy retorts, setting a cup of freshly brewed coffee on the coffee table, as he picks up his own laptop. Dinah's not sure if Oracle is going to send Roy the details, or Roy's going to hack them himself. Oracle might be all-seeing and all knowing but when Arsenal tried, he was no slouch either. "Human liberation and libation to all free from a life of captivity."

That last part sounded like a quote from somewhere. Maybe not though. Roy could be poetic.

"How is Jason?" Roy asked. "Before I call him up myself to ask, if I need to."

"Suspiciously honest." Oracle answered. "Going to play a clip; he's with a new, uh friend. Meta. Dan Nightingale, last name is an admitted alias. He's visiting too."

Another complication, Dinah thought. Roy chuckled.

"More stalker fruitloop family trouble?" A midwestern accent asked, deep polished voice. A little rasp.

Dinah took note on that. More likely to have a higher economic background.

"Got a friend to help run interference. Knows things are complicated."

And that would be Jason's voice. He sounded casual, in a way Dinah knew wasn't. Hard to get that anywhere accent. He sounded young.

"Complicated he says. As if the asshole in the cheese suit's vibes weren't of the controlling asshole type. Good friends with your trouble. That's even more trouble." "Friends of a sort." Jason hedges. "Rich people friends, where they're useful to each other and cover for each others for dubiously legal hobbies. Up to and including the potential abuse and exploitation of their charges. Bet he's got a weird basement of a man-cave."

Oracle, again in her blessed wisdom paused the audio clip. Because this Dan wasn't entirely wrong. And Roy really was laughing.

"So why so much interest in you? And not your siblings?" Jason heaved a heavy sigh. "It's a bit of a story. Local rich guy picked me up off the streets after his first adopted boy moved out. He was lonely and didn't wanna admit it, and I wanted a place to call home again. He wanted his older boy back, since that bridge was burnt at the time. Which was fine when I was smaller, we noticed that less, but I got to high school, took control of my education, was passing my accelerated courses, taking AP classes on most of my subjects and doing a few college classes on the side? All that school work and I still found time to help out in the community. Food pantries and such. Meanwhile, he's now somehow thinking I've got the reasoning capability and motivations of an eight year old child, because I had recently learned my biological father had passed on ages ago, so we're obviously arguing about seemingly everything. Patronizing as fuck." "While you're in high school and taking college level classes?" Dan asked in disbelief.

Academic achievement was one of the barometers for healthy childhood psyche; same with community involvement and support networks. High achievement was fine, but this had the framing of using academics as avoidance. People didn't want to disturb someone studying or working on a project or who was busy. Stay busy enough and they learn to not bother you at all.

"Exactly. Not just STEM classes but literature and philosophy. Rhetoric. Getting the gen eds over and done with. On track to graduate high school before seventeen and getting an undergrad degree before I'd be nineteen. It was less about my dad being dead and more about rich asshole not telling me that my dad was dead. For years. Followed by the patronizing shit, because he's suddenly acting like I'm a small grieving child, not a teenager who was a caretaker to his mom when she was in and out of the hospital before he was double digits. I know how to manage my grief. Especially that of a parent dying. Dad at least died quick. Caretaking means you get to see the decline up close and personal. It's a crash course in adulting and I took care of her, the apartment and the bills because she couldn't. Not physically, nor mentally by the end. No matter the medication or the drugs. Did it suck that he was dead? Yeah. Did I already know so and got my suspicions confirmed? Also yes. If I could survive on the streets after my mom's death, I could survive the confirmation that he's dead."

Actually, that was so, so many red flags. Dinah wasn't a child psychologist, but even so, any psychologist took classes on childhood psyche and development before getting their degree. In short, there was no way Jason Todd wasn't a little fucked in the head before he had been adopted by Bruce Wayne. Parentification alone usually did that, but add on living on the street? Dinah loved Mia, but there were lifelong marks left on her health from doing so. Dinah didn't really know much about Jason's personal life, but she wondered how many habits he and Mia shared. Did he always look around warily before eating? Did he cut into his fruit? Smell anything before he consumed it? Did he sleep better on any surface but a soft bed?

"Broken trust, and grieving that more than someone who defined your life more by his absence than his presence." Dan pointed out, carefully.

If Dan didn't have some psych training or coaching, Dinah was incapable of doing simple math. That was insightful.

"Bingo. So now I'm thinking about pulling what my now older brother did and moving out early, before local rich asshole kicks me out and cuts me off, but I've got less friends than he did and those I had all had circumstances of their own."

There's a brief pause, so Dinah used that time to think. Circumstances of their own, sounded much like "shitty home lives," and his own low self-esteem. An unwillingness to reach out for upsetting whatever peace they did have.

"My best option for space had just been traumatically paralyzed. My second best option was my adoptive older brother, who was traveling with friends. They all pitched in on a place and were in and out on trips when they could afford it. On one hand, empty place to myself when they weren't there and on the other, a number of people I wasn't close to would be in my space, watching the local rich guy's adopted child drama play out, the sequel. The third factor there was I was still fifteen." Another pause.

Dinah was taking mental notes. Flight risk. Planning. So the constant arguments meant Jason saw his living situation as precarious. Something he needed to be prepared to leave. Resources he accounted for in preparation. Money was a resource. How much money did it take to cushion a Robin's nest? How far could someone used to being homeless stretch however much money?

"Laws had changed a bit, so I had to consider that, factoring in that I was younger than his first boy when properly moving out, instead of just lots of sleepovers at friends. A flag that people ignored because the older boy was just that outgoing. There's further consideration because rich men always have the money to bend the law to their side. So it was a waiting game if I went that way. Which couch surfing, short term it's not the end of the world, but it's annoying and better than the streets. Which honestly, the streets weren't that bad but it's the loneliness that gets to you and I wanted to keep up with the friends I had. Be there when and if I can. At least be an ear to listen." Yet another pause. With the biggest sigh yet. "So the local rich guy and I get into our biggest argument yet and I take a walk, talk to old neighbors and such. Scout out what I'd need to prepare for if I decided to take to the streets once more, couch-surf or get kicked out; whichever happens first. Then I discover my biological mother's actually alive; that I had been raised by my father and step-mom. Both had perished before local rich asshole picked me up. Local child services was absolutely a shitshow and still is, so running to the streets was the better option than that. Since the arguments between me and the local rich guy are getting worse, I reach out to meet her. Travel all the way over to the refugee camp she was a volunteer doctor at, because local rich asshole hadn't cut me off yet, like he had my older brother at one point. I get to know her for all of a few hours before she gets murdered and I get seriously injured in a terrorist attack. Local rich guy obviously thinks I'm dead. Later, after some serious veg time, surgeries and healing, I reach back out and he's been freaking out ever since. Which purposeful. Somewhat. Got pissed at where I'd been 'laid to rest,' for reasons, and how he had taken in another kid that looked similar but from a better economic class than dirt-poor before even a year was up. More impressively fucked is that he blamed me for dying, used it as a cautionary tale for the other teenagers he's amassed around himself when the point of a terrorist attack is to promote fear through death and violence. So they don't you know, run off either."

And that was an entire mine field of red flags. Dinah knew the narrative was missing details and was biased, but it was far far more honest than she expected from any Bat. And yes, she had had her suspicions that all was not wholesome in the Bat-clan, but yikes.

"Sounds like a genuine fruitloop problem." Dan elaborates. "Rich stalker, poor boundaries since he can't back off, controlling tendencies and manipulative. Sounds like a fruitloop." "Fruitloop?" "Nuttier than a fruitcake, each psychosis feeding into each other like a mobius strip? A complete and utter creep that others are blinded to because of their wealth and charisma? Also past experiences where he was less of a creep, explained his sob story and because he passed that charisma check, everyone close gets a negative modifier for their perception checks of him. Those pretty rose color glasses making all the flags look just like flags. instead of warnings." "Sounds like experience on your end." "A little. Yours is still ongoing. But you said you had place to crash?" "Yeah. Gonna crash with the friend of a friend; let her lie to the asshole that I'm not there if he happens to ask." "That'll work?" "It's plan A." "And plan B?" "Got more than just that."

"Wow." Dinah remarked at the end of the clip. "Wow." Because it needed to get said again. She was going to want to listen to that in full again. She wanted to take notes, but she wouldn't. "Roy, your take?"

"We ought to get more prepared. Jason's a lot more scared than he's letting on. He's being honest without being pressed, so he's going to clamp up here. Not sure how he's going to do that; he's adaptable and also whimsical. Dan's perceptive, potentially some sort of empathetic power as well and I'm going to put him at closer on the Wonder Woman level of enhanced strength, instead of could probably bench a bus."

Wonder Woman level strength. Lovely. "Any particular reason for that?" Another person with 'could probably evenly fight a Kryptonian under Yellow Sun,' level strength. Lovely. The things she did for friends.

"Looking at the cams of the cafe, how careful he was with his chair and movements. How he grabbed his shake. He didn't always have perfect control of his powers, probably still doesn't going by the hair, but he's got good habits to prevent messes, accidents and embarrassment in public."

Dinah added that to her mental profile. "O?"

"I'm still running through various data bases trying to find his real identity, along with coordination and identification of those at the ritual site. So far he's clear of the national data bases." Which meant clear of any criminal charges. Or at least not arrested for them.

Roy snorted. "Probably won't find him. Jason likes him and trusts him and while that's gotten Jason burned before, he has a type."

"What's that?" Dinah asked. Type how?

"Survivors."

Ah. Just fucking lovely.

Flip the Table

Casually eavesdropping on what should be highly secure frequencies, Jason sipped his beer in a sleezy saloon style sports bar somewhere on the Vegas strip, nominally watching college(?) football; he's a hockey fan because baseball's boring as shit to watch and he's never got the appeal about American football. Football to the rest of the world was at least worth watching for the drama. Something had the Justice League in a tizzy and Zatanna -the one who normally covered Vegas when it came to the costumed crazies- was off world; Jason didn't have the details exactly but it sounded like Zatanna was dealing with some magical planar stuff and was not expected back for at least six more days. Assuming all went well.

So like any reasonable person who's going away for a time, she turned on her home security, had the alerts wired over to a friend -in this case Justice League Dark- gave a list of what was needed to be done and when -the pick up my mail and mow my lawn equivalants- went on her trip, trusting that the JLD were watching over her city and it wouldn't be on fire when she got back.

Such glorious hope.

And thus something happened so when Jason pulled into Vegas proper to investigate a desperate -read last hope- lead on a missing person's case, Jason happened to spy one of the lesser members of the JLD losing their shit in the sky. And so in a moment of civic duty, Jason started spying on them.

Magic was not something anyone trained by the Bat really ever got comfortable about, but chances were magic bullshit was going to intervene in his case. Justice League shit spilled over everything, all the time. Ghost cultists tripping Zatanna's necromancy alarms or whatever they were, was not Jason's business. Not unless the presumed cultists -those that had survived- had the person he was looking for.

No, he was looking at a missing person's case and his lead was 1. cold and 2. a longshot and 3. in a city full of tourists and catering staff, where "seen anything unusual lately" could be "there was this trio of tourists arguing how sex with your best friend doesn't count as cheating," or "someone having a meltdown over the delayed shipping of organic blueberries to the hotel," or "Sarah Maria got murdered a couple weeks ago on the job, but I haven't seen any notice about her funeral stuff on her social media, why yes, I do know she's dead, oh, she's dead and I'm an idiot for expecting someone dead to post on their socials their funeral deets."

Point was, he could look and ask all he wanted, beat feet for days, but the chances of this lead panning out were basically so minuscule that Jason could treat this more as a hobby case while on vacation. He still did his due diligence, asked the staff a few questions, called the guests on the same floor during the time period of their stay about how they found their stay, ran into the dead end of shitty business practices -they recorded over their own records every two weeks- and so unless Jason got the ability to do magic and do a "point me!" spell, the case would turn cold. It sucked when it happened but sometimes the evidence wasn't there. Or wasn't noticed or was destroyed before it could be collected. Sometimes people just didn't remember shit until three weeks later, which with some follow up digging gave him the lead to the hotel. Which got him nothing after that.

As Jason Todd didn't gain an innate ability to do magic that he was aware of that actually counted as magic bullshit magic instead of a couple cantrips, all he could do was get a beer and some food in a Vegas style Texas saloon bar. Which not his first choice, but it was full enough no one really paid attention to anyone. Technically a sport's bar but also very much was not. It was also busy enough that Jason ended up getting asked if someone could set with him at his table -which real Jason said hell no to, but cover Jason did agree to-

Oh. Meta. Jason realized quickly. Oh no, he's hot.

His hair is on fire!

How did the server miss that? Most metas don't casually out themselves like that! Too many people willing to target them for whatever power.

That hair was flaming, tied back in a low tail; Jason blinked and the hair flickered color, looked like normal hair -black- and then back to white fire, then black fire, some tv static abomination of color, white hair and then black hair. Another blink and it appeared to be black flames for hair and yeah, Jason closed his eyes. Pointedly ignored the hair thing. If the meta asked, Jason was judging him for the stupid little goatee.

The rest of the meta was built along the same lines as Jason himself, tall, broad and built. Packed with muscle, which was something to make note of; metas usually were more durable and could hit harder, so Jason casually made note to not get hit if a fight broke out.

Which it might, or probably would.

That's just how Jason's luck ran. To shit.

Said meta also ordered food and a beer, didn't even get asked for ID -unfair bias- and judging by the sound, turned in the seat to look at the American football screen that Jason had been ignoring. His hair had at least settled to black flames instead of the glitchy hair.

Of course as this was Vegas, people gambled on outcomes of games too. Which is how Jason learned the meta was rich enough to blow a couple grand -not expensive in the world of supers- but more than what the average person would be comfortable betting.

There were better ways to piss away money than gambling on sports. Like on over priced burgers and onion rings with an order of mozzerella sticks. The burger was good, admittedly Jason's had better and then some party of guys was yelling at the ref on a screen. And yup, that's some altercation with another table but the barman broke it up with a couple of words.

His tablemate muttered something about the ref having made the right call if one of the players wanted to continue a career professionally and Jason used that as social leverage to get a name -Dan, no last name given- and a bit more in-depth explanation on what stakes were going on; he's a hockey guy, not a football guy.

Some time later, Dan had caught him up on the football drama -nothing compared to the hockey drama- and conversation had drifted significantly from sports, lightly touched on family -Dan had siblings he shared little about other than they existed, which fair, they could also be metas and at risk- much like Jason did -he had siblings that existed, no further details- and parents weren't mentioned. Instead a lot of engineering talk, a slide into ethics -Dan's opinion on killing super villains was very much that some people needed Ended- and some small talk about how Dan's high school English teacher cursed in classical book titles.

Soon the easy joy of potential friendship ended when his phone rang; that was the Batman ringtone and Jason felt no guilt hanging up on him. And again. And again.

Then Dick rang and nope. He was not dealing with their shit. Dick would just sweeten up whatever shit B wanted to shovel.

And then Oracle's ringtone rang. Oh, now that was serious. Justice League shit spilling into his life again. No fucking doubt about it.

"Uh-huh, so what's up? Because I gotta say, I am a couple drinks in and the whole bar is waiting for one of the football teams to fumble or foul up their next play so they can throw down."

"Jay-" She started because much like Bruce, she would rather go straight into the mission, and Jason absolutely had wrong-footed her. Because instead of making excuses to leave, Jason had absolutely stayed. So now she had to rephrase things on the fly because who knows who might be listening in. "Hey, it's on the news that the Justice League is showing up in Vegas; something about investigating something magical showing up."

"Uh-huh, that's not a surprise. There was some magic ninny flying in a panic earlier. I decided it wasn't my business."

"I hadn't heard that," -bullshit, she just hadn't double-checked that herself yet- "but what I did hear that some cult might have succeeded in bringing something over."

"Uh-huh. Well, no one's praying to Cthulu yet, there's been no troublemaking beyond the usual human malice and nothing's on fire."

"We were just concer-" And Jason hung up on Oracle.

He'd pay for that later, but petty was satisfying now.

"Sounded important."

"Was bullshit."

"So an entity summoned by a cult that tripped a bunch of magicians into a tizzy-"

Yeah, those sharp ears were not for show. Enhanced hearing check. "That's a bunch of incompetents panicking." Time for his good guess to hit or miss. "You're not going to decide to destroy Vegas, are you?"

"Done it before, doing it again seems pointlessly petty." Statements Jason wasn't going to prod further right now.

"And what if Wisconson University loses?"

"Might flip the table." Dan shrugged.

"More beer?" Jason asked.

"Sure."

[meritksi]

equally yours • kinich x gn!reader

With Kinich, everyone gets what they deserve. You can either name your price or accept what Kinich offers in return, and no matter which option you choose, you won't be shortchanged—ever. That’s just how he is.

However, you are an exception. No matter which choice you make, you always end up being shortchanged—at least that’s what he believes.

This annoys him. He tries to make things equal while you insist on giving him more. Sometimes, it makes him wonder if you have ulterior motives. Yet, deep down, he knows that being nice is simply in your nature, just as he has his own tendencies.

But it really, really annoys him.

He dislikes being indebted to others, and he doesn’t like when others owe him either. He might be able to tolerate the latter, but the first thought truly bothers him to the point that he finds himself lying in bed, thinking about how to repay you in the middle of the night as he stares at the ceiling while Ajaw murmurs about how he is going to rule the world when he takes over Kinich's body.

And that -the first thought- always seems to be the case with you.

So when he spotted you sleeping in one of the trees near the Children of Echoes with your saurian companion, as some Saurian hunters approached you two, he acted without thinking—which was out of character for him—and dealt with them in an instant.

Looking back at you, who was still asleep while cuddling with the said companion, he let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

It seemed like you two were equal now.

That was good. You weren't aware of it so you weren't going to do something about it too. Perfect.

From that day on, Kinich never accepted jobs from you, fearing that if he did, you’d do something so in character of you that would leave him empty-handed again.

Now it was your turn to feel annoyed.

Whenever you caught a glimpse of Kinich, he vanished at the moment you blinked. Everytime!

He still interacted with Mualani, Kachina, Chasca—anyone, really!—except you, of course.

You thought Kinich and you were getting along just fine. Since he was always taking jobs from you and you were helping him out every time he did that too. He was desperate to repay the kindness, that was the reason behind the upcoming requests of taking jobs from you. But you didn't know that.

This new approach(could it even be called approach if he didn't approach at all?) made you feel lonely. And he didn’t know that, too.

Kinich felt restless. No matter how much he tried to avoid you, his mind wouldn’t cooperate. He found himself thinking about you more—it was not just at midnight anymore. It reached the point where he would lock his gaze to somewhere far away while his customer talked, trying to rid himself of thoughts of you by repeating, “We are equal now, equal. Equal. Equal.”

He even almost called Mualani by your name. Whenever that memory came to his mind, his ears burned bright red.

He missed your voice.

Wait, what?

Who said that???

Kinich felt himself blush furiously. The worst part? He was in the middle of a conversation with Mauvika, the literal Pyro Archon. He excused himself, and Mauvika gladly let him go.

But Ajaw wasn’t having it.

“Do you have a fever? Please die in silence so I, the great Dragonlord K'uhul Ajaw, can—”

He couldn’t finish his sentence because Kinich put him on a timeout.

He didn’t even know how that happened, but when he came to his senses, he realized he was standing in front of your house.

At that point, he didn't mind owing you; in fact, he felt like he was already indebted to you (especially considering he still felt like you were shortchanged even after the previous encounter, he thought you deserved so much more).

He just wanted to see you.

And maybe, you also wanted to see him too. Given how tight you hugged him when you two finally made up.

He was empty-handed. It felt weird, he doesn't remember coming here like this in what felt like forever.

But now thinking about it, he didn't feel empty-handed at all. Especially when his fingers brushed against yours, intertwining them with such care, he thought he could get used to this.

Through the embrace of you, he felt his eyes soften when he realized there was no such thing as being indebted between the two of you. Whatever you had was his, just as whatever he had was yours.

Because he belonged to you, just as you belonged to him.

Equally.

𖤐⭒๋࣭ ⭑ notes!

☆ not proofread; it was just a thought that came to my mind while I was trying to sleep, and now it's 3 am lol

☆ i might rewrite this, who knows

[kroommii]

If I Say I Love You

characters: Xavier x y/n genre: fluff

It all began last year’s Winter-Fest. It was yet the biggest celebration Xavier had ever seen and of course he would be helping his town to make it successful. The preparation was grueling, stressful with many revisions and re-checks but it was all worth it. Because of the preparation, the town’s income from the Winter-Fest would double last year’s according to the town’s treasurer and that’s great news to Xavier and the townsfolk.

Winter-Fest is a week-long celebration so the townsfolk would take turns in supervising the celebration, especially the town’s snowball field which is an absolute warzone. Tourists and townsfolk alike take part in the exhilarating snowball fight, where nobody is an ally and everyone’s open to fire. On this particular day, Xavier got the short end of the stick and was in charge of keeping the area injury-free.

Amidst the chaos of flying snowballs (and getting hit with some snowball himself), his attention falls onto a particular person. A young woman around his age, with mesmerizing eyes and flawless beauty. Instantly his attention zeroed in on you. It was like his mind was pulled towards you, ridding anything unimportant (everything but you) and filling his brain with you, you, you.

In that moment, he couldn’t feel anything but his beating heart, his fogging breath and your soft voice. Your cheerful face, the bounce on your step as you evade and run away from your friends who were throwing snowballs at you. Your bright laughter as you yourself throw snowballs at them. It was a scene he had seen countless times, but it just felt different when he saw you doing those gestures. It looks like a scene straight out of a fairy tale. A tale in which an angel from heaven (you) went down to earth and graced him with your ethereal presence.

He was so mesmerised that he didn’t pay attention to his surroundings when a ‘thud’ hit his face right on his cheek and it instantly froze him and brought him back from cloud nine.

“Hey bunny boy! Whatcha thinkin about that got you so out of it, huh?” Grandpa Howard’s voice shouted some meter away from him. He was probably the one who threw the snowball towards him.

“Oh Howard, don’t bother the poor boy. He’s already worked enough to be handling your noisy nose!” Grandma Julie, Grandpa Howard’s wife scolds him. “Xavier, darling, don’t pay him any attention. I’m sure you’ve had a hard time with us oldies, why don’t you go have some fun yourself, we’ll watch the crowd for you.”

Grandma Julie is always so kind to the youngsters around her. Xavier smiles, “No need Grandma Julie. I was just a bit distracted. I can go have fun later. Now, why don’t you and Grandpa Howard have fun? I see the others are waiting for you,” Xavier points out to the other seniors who’re looking at them.

“Oh such a sweet boy you are. Good luck on your job and don’t hesitate to tell us when you’re tired of it, don’t want you going down on us now would we, Howard?” Grandma Julie nudges Grandpa Howard.

“Sure, sure. Keep up the good work bunny boy!” He hollered to Xavier.

Watching the couple go back to their friends, Xavier had momentarily forgotten about you, the girl he fell head over heels with. Whipping around his face, his eyes frantically search for your figure. Alas, you have gone away, presumably with your friends, to continue your busy agenda in Winter-Fest. Xavier could only sigh as he already misses you, his eyes dropping and the cheer that was in his face diminished just a tad bit. He guessed he could see you more in the following days of Winter-Fest. It wasn’t a big town and it was just the second day of the celebration, you two would definitely meet again.

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

Except you didn’t.

Somehow, in the small area of Xavier’s town, he couldn’t even catch a glimpse of you at all. It didn’t make sense to him. In what chance would the world have for you two to not meet again for the rest of the week? Xavier already visited each stand everyday, loitering around the town when he’s not on duty and yet he still didn’t see even a strand of your hair. It was truly a slap from reality for Xavier. He knew you were not from around here (he had some info gathering) and you could leave any day, but when it was the end of the week and he hadn't met you at all, it really felt like a wake up call to him who wished too much (you).

Now, under the spring sky and the spring breeze dancin around his face, he couldn’t help but be gloomy about the circumstances of his love life. His hands unmotivated arranged the season’s flower into a pretty arrangement, but not as pretty as he would usually do. Usually, all the stems would be cut to a precision and the leaves are systematically cut and presented, but now the stems are cut neatly, not as precise and the leaves are more free and wild than what he usually presented. He was on a new low energy no doubt.

“If you’re keeping that up better for you to mess around in the garden rather than the station,” A warm voice and hand took the arrangement from his hands and distanced it from him.

“Ah… Jeremiah, welcome to the shop,” Xavier answered with the most bored voice ever.

“Seriously, what is wrong with you right now?” He nudges Xavier’s forehead with his index finger, causing Xavier to stumble back a bit. “You’ve been off since the Winter-Fest. Any news I’m supposed to hear about?”

Xavier huffs, “No. No news you need to be aware of.”

“Cut the crap. You’re clearly down from something and it’s dragging your performance down too. I need my assistant to be in tip top shape, so speak up, what got your heart all tangled up?” Jeremiah impatiently claps his hand and busy it with another arrangement.

Xavier huffs again and rests his arm on the counter to hold his head. He really doesn't want to share his little heartbreak-crush with his boss. Sure Jeremiah is his friend but he’s his boss right now and it makes him feel very weird about sharing his love life with his boss.

“You know I’ll wait here all day if you don’t spit it out soon. The sooner the better xavi. Also I’m sure you’re just itching to arrange another bouquet, don’t think I don’t see your hand playing with the scissor.” Jeremiah chipped in while focusing on his own arrangement.

“Fineeeee. I’ll tell you about my little thing, but just so you know it’s really weird to be talking about it with your boss.”

“Nothing’s weird. I’m your friend first and foremost. Being your boss is just a bonus so I can tell you to do things I don’t want to,” He smiles.

Xavier could only groan to the confession of his friend-boss. Still, he couldn’t hide the smile blooming on his face. His fondness for his friend-boss Jeremiah. A friend who had been there since they were little boys and a caring boss who teaches him everything he needs to know.

“If you’re really that curious, I just saw this pretty girl last Winter-Fest and couldn’t even introduce myself to her.”

And with that, the snipping that was rhythmic from Jeremiah stops. A couple of seconds later he chipped in, “So… you met a pretty girl and didn’t introduce yourself?” He said confused.

“No, no, no, it’s worse,” Xavier now fully hides his head behind his arms. “I just saw her. Didn’t even interact with her at all!”

While Xavier is lamenting his poor love life, Jeremiah was stifling a laughter behind the big flowers he’s arranging.

“Are you seriously laughing right now? I am heartbroken here. I couldn’t speak to the love of my life! It’s tragic Jeremiah! Not comedic!”

Jeremiah laughs more louder. “It’s just- it’s just so stupid!” He turned his head down, having trouble with containing his laughter. “You just saw her and didn’t say anything?”

“It’s not that I didn’t say anything. I saw her while I was on duty and before I could talk to her I was handling something and the next thing I know I couldn’t find her at all over Winter-Fest!” Xavier is now more animated than before, feeling strangely offended at Jeremiah laughing at his predicament.

“Oh, my man. You are a comedic genius, truly.” Jeremiah patted Xavier’s shoulder after calming himself down which was returned with a glare.

“Sure you weren’t able to talk to her then and couldn’t find her for the rest of the week, but you are really falling hard for this mysterious pretty girl aren’t you.”

“She is the love of my life, you don’t understand. She’s not from here and the only reason she was here was because her friend who was interested in Winter-Fest. She’s from the big city and there’s just no guarantee I would ever see her again in my entire life! It was a one in a million chance and I let it go.” he sulked.

Jeremiah groaned, “You can’t be serious Xav. You met her, what? One time and suddenly you’re soulmates? Honestly I thought you were more logical than romantic.”

“But she is my soulmate! I’m telling you, I have to find her again or I will never be able to live with myself ever again!”

“Then find her.”

The sudden statement snapped Xavier up from his rant. He looked at Jeremiah with big eyes and a confused look. “I will go to the city to find her?”

“No you dumbass,” Jeremiah sighed, hands itching to pinch the boy’s cheek. “She was here for the Winter-Fest right? Then wait until it’s Winter-Fest again and then try to find her.”

“But what if she’s not coming!? Again, she’s not from here and the only reason she was here was because of her friend.”

“Then hope she comes again.” Jeremiah concluded, before looking at Xavier. “Look Xavi, I’m really glad you finally have a crush, but it can’t derail you from your life. How about this, next Winter-Fest you won’t be a staff member? You’ll be a normal person enjoying the Winter-Fest just like her. That way, you can try to find her for a full week without any interruption, that good?”

Xavier stares at Jeremiah with hopeful eyes, “You promise that? But what about the labour? I know you can’t handle them all, even with the elders' help.”

Then, Jeremiah flashed a smirk, “That’s what the kids are for. I’ve been waiting for a chance to work them out. They’re too energetic for their own good. I mean, they were destroying all of my flowers all year round! Don’t think they can get away scot free from me.”

With that, Xavier relaxed his stance, his mind no longer running a thousand miles per hour. He can finally think clearly with the crashness of Jeremiah and he finally doesn’t feel like he’s running out of time to find you. “Thank you Jeremiah, you’re a real good friend.”

“That I am,” Jeremiah nodded. “But now, we have a shop to run, orders to process, and flowers to trim, so get your game in loverboy before I take back my words.”

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

Days turn to weeks and weeks turn to months. Within a blink of an eye, it’s once again Winter-Fest and the town is flocked with visitors from the pasts and new ones.

All the time away from you had given Xavier all kinds of ideas in his mind on how to approach you when you meet again. From flower arranging to making a full on song, Xavier had done it all. However, it was never the perfect gift from his perspective. You were his one in a million and he wouldn’t be content with giving you such normal gifts when you finally come back to him. The song he made was the best he could think of giving you and although he put a lot of time and all his efforts into it, he put it as plan b if he doesn’t come up with a better idea.

With Winter-Fest around the corner, he had no more time to think and he already ran out of ideas. Pacing around the shop, he brainstorms for another ten minute before Jeremiah shooing him out of the store. In his words, ‘Better be out there to see her than miss her in here. I do not need a year of your heartbreak’.

Amidst the white and blue hues of the snow, Jeremiah’s flower shop stands out with vibrant colourful flowers lining the front. Purple, yellow and pink are dominant as they are the freshest flowers in season. He gently cradles the flower heads, feeling their soft cold petals on his fingertips, caressing them as his mind was taken off from the anxiety of an imperfect first meeting.

Thud, a snowball came for Xavier’s head before crumbling onto his coat. He turned his head onto the source and found kids, teenagers, and adults playing in the snow field, specifically the ‘war area’. Every year the town would dedicate an area for snowball fights where all kinds of covers — battalions and base — are available. Xavier skimmed over the faces present in the field, all faces of joy. Some smiling, some grinning, some laughing maniacally as they hit another person right on their face, and some grimacing at the impact of the cleverly thrown snowball. Snowball fight might just be the most distinct part

“Hey you idiots! Don’t throw the snowballs here dammit! Stay in the war area for that!” Jeremiah’s booming voice called out to the kids in the war area who had thrown the snowball towards Xavier. His shouts were met with giggling from kids and some apologies from their guardians.

Reaching for the yellow flower that he was holding, he poked Jeremiah, “Hey, can I get some of these flowers.”

“Huh? Well you can buy it, sure.”

“How much do i need to be able to win a girl?”

“That,, why the hell are you asking me that???”

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

It took Xavier a couple of tries but thankfully he managed to do it before all his flowers were used. Xavier holds in his hands three snowballs that are just bigger than your normal ones. He sits on a bench away from the hectic festival life with discarded flower stems scattered around him on the bench. Also around him are crumbling snowballs and half made snowballs with a ruined yellow flower in them. He stares sadly at the ruined flower-snowball before gathering them to throw to the side of the road.

Now, the only thing he needs to do is to find you. His perfect gifts for the perfect first encounter is already in his hands, cradled carefully from the roughness of the world. He began his walk slowly to a more crowded area while also carefully maintaining his distance from other people in favour of protecting the snowballs filled with flowers he painstakingly made.

A couple of roads and areas later, he had not found you yet. He sadly had apparently lost one of the special snowballs when someone bumped into him and made him drop one of them. He started to think that maybe his thinking was just a delusion. You were an uptown girl, you went here once, why would you come here again. His spirits are truly in the down low now. He drags his feet as he circles around the war area, trying his best keeping his snowballs safe.

Just as he is ready to let you go and discard the special snowballs, he heard it. Your laughter, your voice, your magical spirit that just lights him up in an instant. He can see you now, more clearly than before thanks to your bright voice. There you are, standing in the war area, laughing while dodging snowballs and creating your own snowballs from the abundant snow around the area. You who are so happy throwing snowballs at each other with what he assumes are your friends, unaware of the boy who had yearned for her for the last year.

In an instant, without any thinking, he steps into the war area. His body doing its own thinking, moving his legs faster than he would normally, running through the area in hopes to get to you. His senses were like on fire, suddenly aware of everything around him, the coldness of the winter wind hitting his face, the soft snow under his boots slowly sinking under his weights, the whizzing air that follows after a snowball is thrown. His two hands tried their best at keeping the special snowballs intact.

Suddenly, he moves like a track and field athlete, cleverly dodging snowballs, leaping over fallen kids and makeshift barriers, ducking over an outstretched arm that is reaching or blocking a snowball from hitting their body. In the end, he is breathless, realising he doesn’t usually do much cardio while working in the flower shop. He is painfully aware of how pathetic he looks, hair and clothes messy because of his recklessness in crossing over the war zone, his hands that are now just holding one of his special snowball, the other one had been lost somewhere when he was rushing over, his erratic breaths trying to get oxygen in his lungs.

You now notice him, Xavier standing at arms-length from you. Your eyes wash over him like a blessing, lifting him spirits the more you see him. He knows this is far from the perfect first encounter he imagined but at this point he will take anything the world (you) will give him. Slowly, his hands stretch to show you the snowball. He slowly and carefully nudged the snow little by little until the petals of the yellow petal peek over the snow it was buried over. The yellow is like a splash of colour before the monochromatic cold tone around him. He smiles and your hand goes to receive the flower.

He opens his mouth to introduce himself…

[end.]

[wisteria-lodge]

why is Dramione so popular and do you think it's problematic?

I. PROBLEMATIC SHIPS

(scroll down if you just want to read about Dramione)

First thing is, I don't think any ships are problematic.

There are lots of ships I don't *like.* There are ships that squick me, or mischaracterize one of the characters in a way that annoys me, or that I think are boring. But saying something is "problematic" implies that I have an issue with it's existence, and don't think that anyone should ship it ever. And that's just not ever going to be the case for me.

Like okay. I have a really strong dislike of any relationship where Character A is "saving" or "fixing" Character B. (In my head I call them Life Coach ships.) I think that's an unhealthy dynamic that breeds resentment and also doesn't work. You can support people, but in the end they gotta fix themselves. BUT. I'm ALSO aware that fixing/saving the bad boy is power fantasy, and power fantasies are fun, and cathartic, and important. Maybe it's nice to read about Lucius Malfoy or whoever responding to that sort of attention the way you wish your father or partner responded in real life. People are messy, and complicated.

To take an extreme example, I know that some people who've been raped stay away even from sex pollen and fake dating, and others actively seek out non-con, even romanticized non-con, as a way to process and deal. Basically, I think people tend to seek out media that is good for them (or at least comforting) and backspace out of media that actively hurts them. You probably have a second of disgust where you're like, ugh that's a thing? But you're not going to read a whole Snape/Hermione fic if the premise upsets you.

I bring up Snape/Hermione because teacher/student is a huge squick of mine. Doesn't matter if they're both adults, or if it's more of an apprentice thing. It's a scenario and a power dynamic that I do not like. BUT. I understand the appeal. The premise of a lot of Snamione fics is... okay, here's this powerful, intelligent, well-dressed guy who is extremely buttoned up and repressed, who doesn't give anyone the time of day. But there's something about YOU (not your prettier friends/classmates) that gets under his skin, and now he's obsessed, wrapped around your little finger. Oh and he's damaged, so he *needs* you. That's a power fantasy. And like, irl you're generally pretty powerless as a 17 year old girl, especially when interacting with men in positions of authority.

Also, like, historically? A lot of fantasies have operated under the heading of "I know it's wrong, but I still can't resist." The fact that something is wrong, is a societal taboo, well - that's a very easy, safe way to get an adrenaline rush, and up the intensity of the fantasy situation. Even the stuff people always bring up when they talk about problematic ships - underage, incest, slavery au but it's framed like it's hot, idk. They're forbidden societal taboos for really good reasons, but I don't think it's crazy to be interested in the big red button that says DO NOT PUSH.

Like how about this. In my experience, actors who play villains tend to be the sweetest, loveliest people you've ever met in your life. And I've always wondered if it's because they kind of have to unpack all the dark, sticky, destructive, perverse parts of themselves on a fairly regular basis (and then have a good outlet for those same feelings.) Everyone has parts of themselves that are not "nice" and not "proper." I think fiction is a fantastic place to air those out.

II. DRAMIONE

I am absolutely not surprised that Dramione is so popular. First, Hermione gets shipped with everyone - for a long time she was the character everyone projected on, and while that's less the case now... she's still the most important female character, and she's a *good* character. She's intense, and goes a little extreme with the problem solving. She's good at observing people but not great with people. She misses social cues. She's compensating like crazy. That's good (relatable!) stuff.

And Draco? He slots into the worldbuilding in an interesting way, he's got a *great* backstory, he's arch and a little bit of a shit, but he's also sensitive and squeamish about violence. I also think he taps into that "oh shit I was WRONG" feeling that is such an important part of adulthood. Hermione is also just going to be the walking embodiment of that feeling for Draco, so he's going to feel some kind of interesting way about her.

I think Draco is fun to ship with any of the Golden Trio, because they've all got that martyr streak and Draco is a survivor, so they clash in interesting ways and end up balancing each other out. Draco and Hermione especially are both very politically orientated people, so they're a good ship for exploring worldbuilding, wizard world reform, or pureblood politics. I also think Hermione has a feminine, girly side that she feels a little guilty about exploring - and spending five minutes around aesthetic, fashion-conscious Draco is going to give her permission to do that. They both have a streak of practical ruthlessness that I think they would respect in each other. Draco can be... a little lazy, so passionate driven people are good for him. But then I think he would be a nice control for Hermione's workaholic tendencies. Ultimately I think they're actually very compatible.

(also like. Hermione likes quidditch players. and if her crush on Lockhart is anything to go by... she also likes pretty blonde men who dress all snappy.)

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Hi ! I hope I'm not bothering you. I tried looking through your blog and I didn't find an answer to this question, though I'm à bit new to Tumblr so I hope I didn't just miss it! But I was wondering if you had a headcanon/idea on Harry's reaction if he were to meet his parents/Sirius back in time. You know, like these stories where he is sent back after the war/when he dies and wake up in the 70s/80s ? (Also, your blog is just sooo interesting! I love your ideas)

Hello 👋

And no, i dont think i talked about this before.

Like, this is fic territory, so you can go a lot of ways with this, honestly. It also highly depends on when in the 70s/80s he goes back to. Like, is James still the bully from SWM? Are we going for later in the period toward his death and are generous in his character interpretation? Is the war raging full force already, or is it the first years when no one really knows what it's going to become yet? Is Lily still friends with Snape? After or before Sirius ran away from home?

There are just a lot of details regarding the exact point in the timeline we chose that can really affect Harry's reaction. Similarly, when Harry goes back in time, it can be just as important. During OotP, Harry stops idolizing his father as much, so it would definitely affect how he sees him. Also, if say, it's a Harry in early PoA who goes back in time, he'd be sympathetic to Peter and think Sirius is the traitor. After GoF, I think Harry would react really badly to Peter, etc.

But we're talking post-war Harry (as you mentioned), who, let's say, meets his parents and Sirius at the same age he is, so all of them are recent Hogwarts graduates and full-time Order members who live on James' money in his house. Peter and Remus are also part of the Order, but not living with the Potters and Sirius trio.

I mentioned in the past I think Harry looks like a decent mix of his parents, but the combination of his hair + glasses makes everyone see him more as James. Point is, he looks very obviously like James and Lily's kid. And James, Lily, and Sirius aren't stupid. They're gonna be able to tell it's weird. Especially if Harry appears out of nowhere in front of them.

Honestly, I think Harry would cry a little seeing them alive and well. Post-war Harry would have some concerns about messing with time, but then he'd look at them again and go "to hell with it" and warn them about everything, I think. Like, I think he would just tell them. Especially if it's not post-war Harry, but one at the moment of his death. If he just appears next to a living James, Lily, and Sirius I think he'd have a little breakdown.

I mean, he is tired. He is traumatized, in pain, he just got the courage to walk to his death to save everyone, and here are the people who should've been there to protect him and make sure none of it would happen. The people who died so he wouldn't, and then he had to die anyway.

Like, that's gonna be emotional. It's gonna be painful and joyous. I think he'd think he's dead at first, that this is the afterlife, but when none of them really knows him or what's going on, that would be a pretty big clue he traveled in time (unless he knew he was traveling in time, of course, but that really depends on the fic).

Now, this Harry knows about the Horcruxes, and he knows exactly where all of them are. He's gonna speed run this killing Voldemort business, that would be like, a high priority of his. But I think he'd hesitate about walking to his death again after getting to know his parents and Sirius. At the same time, he'd wonder if he does it, if he dies again, he would return to his own time and Ron and Hermione. Becouse he loves his parents and Sirius, but he also loves his friends from his own time he left behind. The living ones who might now have a better life for what he changed in the past.

Basically, plenty of space for this sort of angst if you want it.

I think he'd end up really weirded out by James, in a way. Becouse, while James would treat him like family (therefore great, James was clearly loyal and treated the people he cared about really well), he would probably not act how Harry always imagined him to. Not that they wouldn't get along, but I feel like they'd have more tension in their dynamic. Becouse Harry knows about the bullying that he even lied to Lily about, but he also just really wants to love his dad. I think, if James really did grow up and become a little less arrogant with war and loss, they would get along better. I think though, even with a younger James, Harry would find him funny when he isn't being too obnoxious.

Lily would also not be who Harry imagined her as, not exactly, but I think they'd get along great. I think they just operate on a similar wavelength and have a similar sense of humor. Harry’s definitely gonna ask her about Snape, too (because he saw his memories already), and I think Lily would really not know what to think of Snape with what Harry tells her (though, you know Harry's gonna sugarcoat it becouse it's his mom and he doesn't want her to be upset).

And I low-key think a time-traveling Harry who meets a 19-year-old (he was born in 1979, he's a November baby) Sirius would have a little crush on Sirius. Like, the fic doesn't have to go that way, but Harry is likley going to be waxing poetic about Sirius Black’s haughty looks, silver eyes, and elegant black hair throughout the whole story becouse that's just realistic and how Harry is.

Sirius is also the one in this group Harry is closest to (yes, he knows Remus, but he wasn't as close to him as to Sirius, and if Harry met 18-year-old Peter he just might kill him on impulse or ensure he can't betray them again some other way). So Harry would probably still feel closest to him. I also think he misses him the most. I mean, he missed James and Lily all his life, he never really knew them — missing the concept of them is par for the course for him. Sirius and Remus, on the other hand, these griefs are new and so much more painful.

Personally, I like sending Harry back when the Mauraders (and him) are still at school. For more tension with James and so he wouldn't have the solution for the war already in his hands. Also, it could be really fun if he goes back in HBP, so it's after Sirius dies and after SWM. Also, he'd get to meet Snape (the prince) as he writes in the potions book and have a little breakdown over that too, so like, that could be fun.

It's not the most organized, becouse you can take this premise in many ways, but these are some of my thoughts. Obviously, Harry's reactions really depend on the exact circumstances and what kind of story you want to write.

[the-bee-graveyard]

Yellowjackets S3 theories

I've been wanting to make a post on this for a while so instead of making a bunch of little ones I've decided to just make one big one. I don't necessarily believe all of these to be true but I think they're all very interesting and I wanted to talk about them all. They're in this order:

Queen Card Theory (Alternating Antler Queens)

Pit Girl Theory

Woman In Trailer

Coach Ben is alive

Split Theory

I'd be really interested in discussing these or hearing any other theories!

Queen Card Theory (Alternating Antler Queens)

This is the first theory that really captured my attention when I watched Yellowjackets, and it's basically that there will be four antler queens throughout their time in the wilderness, each representing a different one of the missing queen cards. Natalie is obviously the queen of hearts, but there would also be a queen of spades, queen of diamonds, and queen of clubs.

I've gone away from this theory for the most part since the season 3 trailer, since there's obviously been a significant time jump and I'm not sure if they have enough time in the woods left for there to be three more different antler queens. I do however think the remaining three queen cards will become a significant plot point at some point in the show, and that they will be uncovered.

Pit Girl Theory

I don't have much to say on this one, other then I think that the Pit Girl will be there last kill in the wilderness. I do believe in to be Mari, and I don't think they're hunting her in the scenes from the trailer. The parallels in those scenes though confirmed it for me.

For side characters I think will die this season, I think because Melissa is getting a larger role in the trailer, she's most likely to die. Which brings me to my next theory.

Woman in Trailer

I know a lot of people think that the woman in the trailer is adult Melissa, I personally do not think this. I don't think she's any of the Yellowjackets, really based on one line she says "you really are crazy" (or something like that). If it was one of the Yellowjackets I feel like she would know this.

More likely I think she's a private investigator, or a family member of one of the deceased Yellowjackets, poking around in the Yellowjackets investigation. I think both Travis and Natalie's death happening in such close proximity to each other would seem highly suspicious to anyone who's been following the Yellowjackets, and could get them some attention.

I saw a really interesting theory on tiktok that she's hired by Paul, who is trying to find out what happened to Ben, which I'm not going to cover in this post but I thought it was really compelling and would love to explore more.

I do believe all of the living Yellowjackets have been revealed. In the trailer Van says, "everyone who knows about this is us or dead", which could be said after the eighth survivor is revealed, but I don't think so. I think the eighth survivor is either already dead in the adult timeline or...

Coach Ben Is Alive

This one is a longshot I know but I've been obsessed with it for a while. I originally was a Javi is alive truther, but since that obviously is not the case, I've turned my attention to Coach Ben being the eighth survivor. I just feel like him dying is too obvious.

It's assumed from the trailer that Natalie is protecting Coach Ben from the Yellowjackets, maybe even helping him. I think the trial shown in the trailer is not for him, but for Natalie, for helping him.

Somehow Ben makes it back, whether he is rescued with the girls or on his own. For whatever reason the girls either do not know he was rescued, or believe him to be dead.

The "somebody wants us dead" in the trailer in this case would be referring to Ben, who, after learning about Travis and Natalie's deaths, could believe the Yellowjackets are up to their old tricks again.

Split Theory

This theory follows the Lord of the Flies parallels in Yellowjackets, which I simply had to talk about because I love the book. Basically sometime during their time in the wilderness, the girls split into two separate factions.

Based on the path the end of season two and season three seem to be following, I believe the group will split in half, half of them following Natalie (who represents Ralph in Lord of the Flies, righteous, "chosen leader") and Shauna (who represents Jack in LOTF, more violent and careless)

I believe the groups will split like this

Natalie's group: Travis (obvious reasons), Lottie (she believes Natalie is the rightful leader), Mari (follows Lottie loyally, also if she's Pit Girl her death could represent Piggy's in LOTF)

Shauna's group: Taissa (follows Shauna, pictured with her a few times in the S3 trailer), Van (follows Tai), Akilah (again, close with Tai, not very invested in Lottie's spiritual stuff)

Unsure: Melissa, Gen, any new characters

I'm also on the fence with Misty. Although she does seem very devoted to Natalie in the adult timeline, if we're following Lord of the Flies imagery, I could see Misty falling into the role of Roger, who does side with Jack. I also believe Misty could possibly switch sides to protect herself if she sees Natalie losing support.

Either way I think the groups come together at some point before the death of the pit girl.

[sufferu]

This isn't really an ask, and more of a way to compliment your works, but I want to say that I really like the way you're approaching your RBD reveal fics, mainly Dogshow and no Refunds, particularly because of the way you've managed to capture the casts very messy and complicated emotions in regard to the situation and the new earth shattering revelations they've just had dropped on them out of nowhere. These people are having their understanding of themselves and their relationships entirely recontextualized, in one of the most fucked up ways possible, and they're acting accordingly to that. Characters opinions of not just Subaru change, but also their views of themselves and each other change. Nobody feels like they have the same opinion or perspective. Things aren't just brushed over or put to the side, things don't go back to normal as if nothing happened, and you've managed to show the seriousness of the situation in a way that feels new and refreshing.

Speaking of brushing over, that's another thing I really like: the characters actions in past loops aren't forgotten, and neither is the severity of some of the things they've done. Neither by themselves or the other characters, and that's something I appreciate a lot. Because it's always been weird to me, the insane double standard you often see sometimes in this fandom, for people completely and unironically, to defend some of the shit that the other characters did and act like they were right for it. Just as Subaru isn't right or correct when he acts badly due to his accumulated trauma, even if it may or may not be understandable at times, neither are the other characters (who have done waaay worse things than he has) when they act out or do bad things due to their bad experiences. It's one thing to like the characters or forgive them, it's another to act like they were in the right. Even the characters themselves wouldn't defend the things they did.

Also, the ''what the fuck'' reactions to Subaru, not only for RBD, but also who he is as a person, are the best. One of the things I like reading about the most.

This is really nice to hear, thank you! And I’ll say it: that exact criticism is pretty much WHY I decided to go and write my own react fic, lol. I feel like a lot of those types of fics in this fandom are a little too concerned with maintaining the likability of the characters being shown and/or maintaining the status quo to some degree, and that leads to a lot of implications, actions, and reveals being downplayed significantly more than I feel I would like. Even aside from feeling…a little unrealistic, I honestly see it as a missed opportunity. There’s so much potential drama to be dug up there and we’re NOT going for it?? C’mon.

And it’s even funnier when, like, they’re being as hard/nearly as hard on Subaru as the narrative is (especially in early Arc 3) and — Ram murdered someone in cold blood to keep her sister’s conscience clean. Garfiel kidnapped a guy and held him hostage in a cave for three days straight. Rem TORTURED that same guy for literal hours, fueled at least in part by a sadistic desire to see him suffer as penance for a past crime he ended up being not even remotely involved in. Meanwhile, Subaru’s worst sin is being a brat, and HE gets all the heat?? It makes sense when he’s the protagonist and therefore the main focus of the narrative, but in a react fic when everyone’s seeing him alongside everyone else it just doesn’t fit lmao.

Anyway — glad you’re enjoying it! I hope you continue liking it lmao, hoping to have more out very soon!

[iamthemaestro]

so. after a lot of Internal Deliberation I figure it is about time that I introduce to tumblr the Guys who take up approximately 40% of my brain space at any given moment of the day now that I have really made the jump into Tumblr OCposting as of late. this will be a bit of a long post so…. buckle in!

Percy and Sydney are part of a project @neon-sunsets and I started back in 2022 and essentially have not stopped thinking about since. there are over 500 pages of writing for these guys and most of it will not stand up to serious editing but in the future it’s a story we hope to put out into the world, and Percy and Sydney are only half of it, with Nebula’s characters Esther and Atarah constituting the other two members of the Protagonist Party, but I will let them do their own talking about the Disaster Lesbians (though I love them dearly). I don't intend to talk much about the story itself since that is perpetually being worked on but I do feel it's appropriate to give some background to these very dear characters of mine.

(I will be sticking the rest of this under a readmore for everyone’s sanity)

the story takes place in a world a lot like ours but slightly to the left, during their universe's golden age of piracy. Captain Percival Arlington Winchester II is a highly respected, notoriously strict, and unbearably professional officer for the in-universe equivalent of the british navy, with a bad sleep schedule, an inflexible moral code understood only by him, and a first lieutenant who inexplicably hates him. he’s descended from a long line of naval war heroes, only he's been biding his time for a long while waiting for his chance to prove himself in war... which may present itself soon. in the meantime, he settles for being the navy’s number one pirate hunter, which at least earns him a good name among the public.

there are a lot of things I could say about percy. he’s autistic. he’s a redhead. he has daddy issues. he’s been married for 12 years and is still somehow a virgin. not that he has any particular desire to change that at the moment, really, because it’s not like he’s ever been particularly attracted to the fairer sex. but still, apart from that, he seems to have everything a successful 18th century military man could want: a good name, a decent marriage, and a commission with all the respect and wealth that comes with it—all that’s missing is an honorable death, preferably in naval combat, and he’s made it. at least, that’s what his late father would have said.

and yet his story only truly begins when he receives a mysterious letter from the Rogue Marauder—one of the sea’s most notorious pirates, who inexplicably vanished from the scene several years ago after a sudden separation from his speculated-sibling and partner-in-crime, the Eel Queen. the letter is innocuous enough, if ambiguous: there’s no way to know what, precisely, the Rogue Marauder wants from him, only that he has valuable information, and thus by necessity must be desiring something in return. everything points to this correspondence being against protocol… but still, it’s a way to keep the Marauder close, Percy thinks—perhaps close enough to catch him, at last. so he writes back.

the Rogue Marauder is a man called Sydney Law, a fact Percy will only find out much later. Sydney, too, is a lot of things: incessantly charming, unabashedly flirtatious, and absolutely unafraid of consequences. the Marauder is a combination of robin-hood-turned-pirate-turned-femme-fatale, with a past reputation for seducing high-ranking naval officers seemingly just for his own enjoyment, and keeping almost nothing for himself of the vast amounts of gold he manages to weasel out of them in the process. on top of this, he’s in a weird perpetual state of gender flux, regards his adopted sister with a near god-like reverence, and is strangely obsessed with the idea of his own death. needless to say, the idea that he would ever willingly throw himself at the navy’s most prestigious captain does not bode well for either of them. indeed, at the beginning of the story it happens to be that he is already well past the point of no return in an extremely convoluted and precarious plan that, in all likelihood, will get him killed and very possibly start an all-out war. but of course, no one but him knows this yet. or at least so he thinks.

but they keep writing. despite all this, it turns out they’re far more alike than they seem. and what starts as a tentative mind-game with ambiguously sinister intentions turns into a conversation—the longest and most genuine one either of them have had in years. perhaps, though Percy will not admit it, they’ve even grown rather fond of each other.

the Marauder, however, understands this far before the Captain does. which is unfortunate, considering, at this rate—a fact which he regards as unfortunately necessary, for reasons understood only by him—he is almost definitely hurtling toward his death, at the hand of the man whom he has come to adore.

what he cannot know, however, is that he will not die. he cannot know yet that at some point, he will save Captain Winchester’s life. and then an entirely new story will begin—one that neither of them could have ever imagined. but I won’t spoil that part.

what I will spoil, however, is that Percy is absolutely not the person he thinks he is, and it is only through Sydney that he is able to discover that. underneath all the naval decorum and neurotic obsession with his own presentation, he’s a huge sweetheart with a passion for cartography and a case of ocd. he likes dressing well and exploring uncharted islands and going aloft like he hasn’t in years… and Sydney, very much.

and of course, like I mentioned, their story is only half of what the full story is about… but this post is long enough, and Nebula deserves to be the one to talk about their own characters and their Lesbian Situationship Of All Time, which you should definitely tune in to. however that’s the gist for Percy and Sydney lol. there is Far more I could say but for everyone’s sanity I am simply going to stop here for now. these guys have been so important to me over the past couple years and they have already been met with so much positivity from people and it makes me so happy. I love and appreciate you dearly if you read this far <3

[0nsyu]

To share a quote from the tattoo artist:

Shisa and Hibiscus This, like Rikiya's, is a design that brings the essence of Okinawa to the forefront. It resembles the standard karajishi seen in irezumi, but the way its ears stand up, among other things, differs subtly. — Horitomo

Taking into account the rest of Horitomo's commentary on his designs (featured in the 10th and 15th anniversary books), as well as commentary from Yokoyama, there is for sure a wealth of evidence for the idea the tattoos are meant to represent the characters in question! I've always felt Yakuza 3's are particularly well-thought out and Nakahara's is no exception, coinciding with Yokoyama's estimation that his writing got a lot tighter overall from that game on.

Lot of good points brought up here, and there are a few things that come to mind about the origins and cultural context surrounding the shisa I'd like to add.

Firstly, shisa are not considered a form of komainu. The two are thought to have evolved separately from the shishi/karajishi at different times. "Shisa" is the Okinawan pronunciation of "shishi," and they're called "shiishii" in Yaeyaman. "Komainu," on the other hand, is chiefly thought to suggest the idea was brought to Japan via Goryeo/Koma, or perhaps more broadly the area around mainland China according to some.

Komainu came to be some time after shishi were brought to Japan from China. Shishi originally came in symmetrical, open-mouthed pairs, but thanks to Japanese sensibilities favoring asymmetry, "shishi-komainu" pairs (with an open-mouthed shishi on the right and a close-mouthed komainu on the left) became popular.

They have other differences, of course: komainu may or may not have horns while shishi never do, among other things, but a number of their features have become muddled in meaning and difficult to distinguish. The term "shishi-komainu" for the pair has in a sense become just "shishi" or "komainu" colloquially because of this, with the distinction between shishi and komainu only being made if they physically differ from one another in a way that's recognized. If you see one with a beribboned ball (like the one pictured in your post above, actually) and one with a cub, though, that's a male and female shishi/komainu respectively.

Shisa were brought to Okinawa from China around the time (or shortly after) the asymmetry between male and female was established, which may be why the open-mouthed and close-mouthed variants came to denote gender instead of species, but that one's entirely speculation on my part. Another difference between shisa and shishi-komainu is that they actually don't come in pairs as often as the game suggests; more often, sure, but there are plenty of examples of lone shisa.

This relates to the final difference I want to highlight for this post, which is that while shishi-komainu guard the emperor and the divine, shisa guard villages and homes; lone shisa were often erected to guard against fires, while pairs were erected to ward off evil. Famously, the lone Tomori shisa, the oldest recorded stone shisa in Okinawa, was used as a shield by US military forces spying on Japanese military forces during WWII. Today, the bullet holes that mark its surface have faded considerably.

So I do think it's interesting that Nakahara has a lone shisa. Shisa are, after all, often tattooed in pairs, on both sides of the chest or on the arms. Where that leads me personally, though, isn't that Kiryu represents the missing half of the pair. With regard to Saki, Kiryu doesn't say a word to her outside of Premium Adventure, and he leaves her care to Rikiya and Mikio, Haruka who volunteers, even the other orphanage kids—everyone but himself, essentially. And she's only staying at the Morning Glory for a week or less before Nakahara gets better, most of which Kiryu is in Kamurocho for. The oryu, like the shishi-komainu, is loyal to the emperor (in this case, Daigo as sixth chairman, a reading Mine's tattoo reinforces) and leaves his responsibilities behind to attend to him.

But it's not specific to Kiryu. To me, no one person represents the missing half of the pair, because there is no missing half of the pair. Nakahara is the lone shisa that guards not just his daughter and his men but his community, a community that loves him and his men and his daughter in return, in stark contrast to most other yakuza organizations in the series. And like the lone Tomori shisa, with its bullet holes from a conflict Nakahara is not even one generation removed from, his must have faded by now too.

Shigeru Nakahara's tattoo being a shīsā (J. シーサー), a regional form of the komainu (J. 狛犬), is actually really cute, and I like how it's surrounded by an Okinawan floral motif.

Shīsā are these iconic Buddhist creatures that you can find in a lot of Japanese shrines and other sacred sites. They're supposed to be protectors that almost always come in pairs. Earlier, you can encounter a substory with a married couple looking for the partner of a shīsā statue that they bought alone that introduces the player to this concept.

What I like about Nakahara's shīsā is that it's alone, he only has one on his back, but as a character he's defined by two particularly strong bonds. One is with Saki, his adoptive daughter, the character he is protecting and whom the desire to protect acts as a power up here, and the other with Kiryu, who is implicitly, in my nerd headcanon here, being positioned as the counterpart guardian during this storyline.

I may be totally off here but I want to believe this is the case because it is more evidence to my growing Yakuza Tattoos Are Advanced Fursonas Theory.

I also just think it's a really cute design for a fat old Okinawa jiji to have.

*the komainu are themselves a regional form of a broader East Asian concept, and I'm pretty sure but not certain that "komainu" itself is a portmanteau meaning "Korean dog," and they're also sometimes referred to as karajishi, meaning "Chinese lion." This is not to say that the symbolism and narratives associated with them are universal!! It's kind of like how gumiho (K. 구미호) foxes in Korean mythology tend to be real assholes who turn into hot women to eat your guts, while their role in Japanese mythology is influenced by the Inari Ōkami (J. 稲荷大神) fox religion.

Shīsā specifically have a lot of Ryukyuan religious influence, and tend to be gendered, with the male having his mouth closed to keep evil out and the female having her mouth open to let good in, though I've heard the reverse. Shīsā can be found in Okinawa on gateposts to non-religious buildings just like Morning Glory, and have been built for a variety of reasons like warding off fires. According to Ryukyuan legend, they were even used to ward off dragons.

Mythology and culture are super complex living things and I'm being very very very broad here. I apologize if I'm incorrect, I am just a student. Please be nice to me.

[nightmare-foundation]

Ozpin is straight up the funniest character in rwby I don't care what ANYONE says

Dude delivers a heartfelt graduation speech and is immediately like "now get out of here"

Not to mention all the Other Shit. Like immediately embarrassing Oscar, giving Ironwood hot chocolate from a tea kettle (and not blinking when Ironwood spikes it), his stupid chair, his dumb ass glasses, the fact that he's dressed for winter in the summer, the fact he throws his students off of cliffs, the sass

Like sir. Who are you

Literally no one talks about how fucking funny Ozpin is and it's so sad

[knifetomeatu]

still devastated abt chop top but i LOVE bones so at least things worked out😭❤

[hauntingblue]

Ace...?? they cloned my beautiful wife...

[mizukagami-takamagahara]

LOVE YOUR WORK.

Further related thoughts in no particular order;

Rachel being a relatively powerless woman forced to watch and suffer through the loops, I'd argue, HEAVILY parallels the plight of the Origin, and the "trapped princess" theming it carries. From there, Ragna retains the same role he has in said dynamic with the Origin- simultaneously the monster that dooms them all and the knight fighting for her freedom.

The point above leads to obvious romantic coding, but can also be spun for further tragedy. Rachel is very aware of the situation everyone is in and is also clearly very familiar with story/genre tropes given the way she speaks- she MUST know that despite her yearning, She Is Not The Princess. She knows that the Origin is the one Ragna will save. She knows there's no room for a second princess. She knows if Ragna succeeds, he will save her, but she will have no right to stand by his side in the epilogue. She's an audience member, not part of the cast alongside him.

Grander themes aside, their entire dynamic is set up to fuel this miserable, one-sided attachment and the pain it leads to. Maybe in early loops she genuinely disliked him, maybe she truly found him annoying then, but after spending 700+ entire lifetimes with someone it just isn't that easy to stay distant. Especially as he is the one most able to match her wit, most able to make her laugh. most able to challenge her; he has a very special place in her life that no other character comes close to.

As Cloudy says up there, Rachel's personality already makes her difficult to handle. Her status as this 'noble creature outside of and above humanity' already makes equality difficult for her to wrap her head around.

Add all of that to the timeloop situation; she can't NOT be invested in Ragna because she needs to work with him for any hope of freedom, but he's insufferably "stupid"- but maybe in an endearing way, 10 or 20 loops in. Maybe in a reliable and stress relieving way. But as she gets closer and closer, more familiar with him and more comfortable, as she watches him go through every high and every low and retains memories between loops of what little jokes he told or what little secrets he confessed this time-

HE. FORGETS. Every time she has to restart that relationship. To return to my earlier point of how both her personality and life situation make Normal Functional Relationships difficult, this addition makes them damn near impossible. She can't get too close because even if she could overcome her internal issues and take that risk, there would be no benefit.

If it worked out, it would be rendered pointless once 2199 hit. It would also damn her to another layer of her personal hell; okay, what, you accept your feelings for this guy, you maybe even have the talk with him... and then you have to face the fact that even WITH your love, you can't help or protect him, because if you do you will lose all your powers to defend him in the future (Onlooker Rules) and there's a 99.99999% chance it won't matter anyway and you, him, and the whole world will be doomed forever thanks to your self-indulgent risk.

IDK these are just messy ranting thoughts but like. Personally I find the Rachel-Ragna dynamic to be a great example of how BlazBlue's character writing is WONDERFUL and has incredible depth to it. Everything in Rachel's life, everything in her and Ragna's personalities, everything in the entire fucking setting is working together to make Rachel the character she is; one full of regrets and agony that she masks with childish cruelty, a sense of powerlessness she buries under snobbery, and a complete inability to face her own desires because of the EVERYTHING.

And Ragna is the face of every hope she can still cling to and every peaceful, stupid, inconsequential moment of reprieve she gets where she doesn't have to think about the weight of the entire world on her shoulders. It would be insane (and a horribly missed opportunity, from a writing standpoint) if she DIDN'T have some kind of attachment to him.

Kinda want to address something that what is is what I feel a lot of people don’t quite get. That being “Why does Rachel have feelings for Ragna?” This isn’t about how whether it’s a good ship or not but more a delve into Rachel’s character. So to get to the meat of things why does Rachel pine for Ragna? That’s pretty simple really. It’s his will to continuously stand up again and fight even against insurmountable odds.

Rachel was the Onlooker her role to observe the events of the world as a bystander. She’s seen the same song and dance the world’s been stuck in so many times she’s almost apathetic to it all. Despite that there’s still something she’s vested. One man who she knows what his doom is (the Black Beast) and the kinda hero he could become (Bloodedge). She’s seen that despite being in the worst state possible he still wants to get back up and fight and this is what enchants her to him.

Rachel loves that belligerence and audaciousness of his (to an extent where it isn’t destructive). She lives for that back and forth where they snark at each other. If Ragna were to ever become submissive to her she’d hate it. He’d stop being the man she loves if he became submissive. Hell the moment that he got her to break the haughty princess act and act like a bashful girl was when he picked her up and gave her a hug. That’s what Rachel wants out of him.

Now with the ‘Why’ explained I’m gonna go into a new section about “Rachel, her role in the world, her personality, and how her relationship with Ragna is like Sideshow Bob in a field of rakes.” This is more about her relationship with Ragna and how she shoots herself in the foot when it comes to having a healthy standing with him. Because as much as she loves him she has a poor way of showing it for a few reasons. Namely due to her role as Onlooker and Head of the Alucard Family and her domineering personality being a poor combination.

Her status as Onlooker means she can’t be direct and her haughtiness means when she is talking to someone who doesn’t meet her ridiculously high standards she will heavily talk down to them. It leaves much of her interactions with Ragna as one sided and aggravating affairs for him. She’ll appear at her whim, belittle him because she can, and at her whim she may tell him something important or not at all and there was little Ragna could do about it for much of his life. Rachel was less a compatriot for Ragna to rely upon and more someone he had to go to when he needed something because he had no one else. The result of this imbalance made for a strained relationship between the two.

That it became less strained overtime was less due to them becoming closer and more circumstances and other people enabled the situations where they are working together better. Ragna became a better person due to the influences of Celica and Noel becoming someone who was more willing to work with others and Rachel became less haughty because she was losing power and things were getting more out of hand that necessitated her taking more direct action if possible. It's not that she's against getting involved but for her there has to be a time and place for it.

How she decides that is when it's most suitable to comes back to her status as Onlooker and Head of the Alucard family. She's essentially a backer to the Six Heroes and those who are trying to stop Terumi and his cohort's plans. And due to how a bulk of her power that came from being the Onlooker works she has to be miserly with her involvement. She can never be the impetus for change but she can point in a direction and add to the push when necessary. Rachel has an acute understanding of the world and the potential fate of others but she's limited in where she can use that knowledge in both how and where she can use it. It makes her and her feelings to Ragna a bit of a tragic affair.

Knowing his fate but never being able to change anything. Knowing him better than most but being unable to connect. Being there to watch his journey but never being able to really be by his side. A pitiful fate that's both by necessity and self imposed. A self sabotaging one sided love that leaves her only able to watch should his path means he must embrace oblivion. For despite that love she has her roles and her responsibilities that must come before her own desires.

[jamiethebee]

I don't know what to think, but of the League who made it to the second half of the manga, Spinner is the only one who's family backstory/circumstances we never hear of.

Dabi is a Todoroki

Toga's parents rejected her

Twice's died

Compress has his family legacy

Shigaraki is a Shimura

Spinner is ??? Does he have siblings?? Parents? Grandparents? Anyone? No one? An orphan? We get nothing about him specifically, nothing that can't be related (or parallels drawn) with other characters.

And with the weakest quirk of the League, he's left alive? Like he's not even a threat to the heroes as himself? The complete lack of care that he's given in the story is...

[giddlygoat]

my brother can make me laugh without moving at all. he can make me laugh on command, just by existing, and there is no physical tell or indication that it is about to happen. it’s like he can will me to laugh and i will. of course we’re not telepathic, but we do speak in unison sometimes. we improvise like no one’s business. we could fool anyone into believing we are psychically linked. when i try to explain it, i sound silly saying it out loud, but i really CAN tell what he’s thinking. we exchange so much information just with a look. he can make me cry laughing and he doesn’t even have to move

[navii-blaze]

listen to my vision boy