#to discipline a child in front of his guardian

[sandontsengshou]

You're so real for being upset about the mischaracterization of JL.

Why people portray him as looking up to LWJ is beyond me. He's rude to Jiujiu!! Why would JL look up to that!

Even if a heavenly official came down to condemn Jiang Cheng, Jin Ling would tell them to fuck off. I don’t think he’d make an exception for some second jade or whatever lol.

And there’s also the silencing spell. I’d despise any adult that did that to me, “good” reason or not.

[irisintheafterglow]

kid megumi starts a fight. you and satoru finish it.

being fresh out of high school while simultaneously taking care of a second grader was an interesting experience, to say the least. today was no different.

"oh my god; he what? i'll be there in a second, fucking hell," you sputter as you all but shoot upward from your desk, sweeping the post-mission paperwork to the side and grabbing your car keys from the bedside table. the car makes strained vrooms while you impatiently pump the gas pedal, accelerating down the street like a bat out of hell. swerving into the nearest parking space you could find, you forcefully swing open the door to the front office to find satoru waiting in a plastic chair. he mutters an exasperated oh, thank god under his breath before standing and taking your hand, leading you down the hall to the principal's office.

"is he okay?"

"he's fine, i promise." you look at him skeptically, remembering all the times megumi was "fine" yet had scrapes that satoru didn't know how to clean up. "i'm serious. i saw it myself. the nurse cleaned up his nose and iced the hit on his face."

"he got hit in the fucking face?" your jaw drops in shock and you quiet your voice to a hushed whisper outside the principal's office door. "what the fuck happened that he got punched in the-"

"fushiguro's guardians, please come in. we're ready for you," an irritatingly nasally voice calls from inside and it takes all of your willpower not to blast the door open until it's shredded to pieces. megumi's principal sits behind an obtrusively large wooden desk, with the boy sitting by one end and two empty chairs at the other. you immediately drag one of the chairs over to sit by his side, but a wrinkled hand stops you. "please sit across from him, not beside him. he must receive proper punishment and that begins with accounting for his own actions," the principal instructs you and you catch satoru's jaw clench in restrained anger. he wanted to tear the principal's head off for telling you what to do, especially since it was regarding megumi.

"i'll decide where i want to sit, thank you," you reply with forced politeness, sliding the chair next to a defeated megumi. he scoots as close to you as he can and links his pinky finger in yours. it's small, but you know he's trying to manage his anxiety along with yours. satoru shrugs indifferently at the principal but shoots you a proud wink when no one is looking. "they cleaned you up, yeah?" you ask megumi softly and he nods, wincing slightly when your knuckles lightly brush the bruise on his cheek. "i'm sorry, baby-"

"fushiguro instigated a fight with three sixth grade students, all of them older than him. we believe he may have developed issues dealing with his emotions, specifically anger," the principal informs you and you make a great deal of effort to wipe the glower from your face. "student witnesses say that he struck first, and-"

"do you know why he started the fight in the first place?" your eyes narrow on the scrawny, shriveled man behind the oversized desk and he shrinks away slightly.

"no, b-but we believe that violence should not be-"

"violence or not, shouldn't you be responsible for understanding why this occurred outright?" your voice is strained and tense, slightly shaky with repressed anger. you stare daggers into the old man's sunken eyes and catch satoru watching the whole scene with pride. here was a man who knew nothing about a child you considered your own, trying to argue that he started a fight for no reason when you knew megumi would never harm a bee, even if it stung him. before you're able to start a physical fight with the idiot school official that probably saw more board meetings than actual students, satoru's voice cuts in.

"forgive me, but i don't appreciate your tone-"

"we'll be sure to properly discipline him at home, sir," he states emotionlessly, and you wordlessly thank him for wrapping the meeting up quickly. after a few more glares and aggressive signatures on paperwork waiving the school of any responsibility for megumi's injuries, you walk out of the office with satoru's arm around your shoulders and megumi's hand grasping yours. "alright, firecracker. you fizzled out yet or do we need to take you to a kickboxing class real quick?" he presses a tender kiss to the side of your head, clearly unbothered by the way you barreled through that ridiculous meeting.

"put me in an empty field away from people, and i'll make a kickboxing class look like a fucking knitting circle," you mutter vengefully as satoru chuckles under his breath.

"alright, megs. you gonna tell us what happened or are we actually going to need to get you a therapist?" megumi glances off to the side, irritated, but you squeeze his hand once in reassurance that, no matter what happened, you'd figure it out together.

"they were hurting tsumiki," he says quietly and both you and satoru freeze, looking at each other in careful understanding. "she was saying it was just a joke, but i caught her crying while we were walking home."

"so, you decided the best option was to fight them," you say slowly. satoru's hand rubs loving circles on your shoulder and you ask the question you've been holding onto since he called. "well, did you beat them?"

"i did, and that's why everyone is so angry," the boy shrugs and you huff a tired exhale. "are you mad at me?"

"no, megs. i'm glad you defended your sister, but i wish you'd told us what was going on before acting on your own."

"yeah, we could have helped you," your boyfriend whispers and you elbow his stomach lightly. not yet, you mouth to him. let's drop him off first.

"the kids said they were going to get my parents involved. is that why you're here?"

"yes and no," satoru says, opening the car door for you as you slide into the passenger seat. he could have warped back to the school, but he'd silently indicated that he wanted to drive all three of you back. "yeah, we're here to come get you; but, unfortunately for those shithead kids-" you turn to face him in the backseat, a conniving smile creeping onto your face.

"we're not your parents, and we're gonna need those kids' names."

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[zahri-melitor]

Dick isn't Damian's Parent

Thinking again about the push to see Dick as parental towards Damian and the reasons it does not land for me (and is not my reading of the Dick!Bats era):

There’re a few points I want to establish up front:

Not every person who cares for or supervises a child is their parent or guardian.

Having the ability to set boundaries and consequences for a child is more persuasive of parenting but not determinative.

My fundamental determination is the ability to make decisions on behalf of the child and about the child, including in respect to boundaries and consequences, is what places a person in a parental position to a child.

If you have ever spent any time around parenting groups or online parenting forums, you have heard the debate over “the dad is not ‘babysitting his kids’ he’s parenting”. (My apologies for everyone who just experienced immediate war flashbacks) But while this traditional devaluing of what is expected from fathers in relation to active parenting of their children, it’s a discussion that at its core has an important kernel of truth: when is the person supervising a child parenting the kid, and when are they a carer? And in traditional divisions of childrearing, fathers did not do a lot of the hands-on parenting, leading to the ‘babysitting the kids for the wife’ joke. Because the guts of parenting: setting boundaries; setting and enforcing consequences; the day to day ‘keeping a kid alive’ work of food and clothing and medical appointments; of supervising children; of teaching rules and emotional regulation; of making care decisions on their behalf? A lot of that fell on the mother. (Even in that awful dynamic of the consequence of bad behaviour being ‘wait til your father gets home (as he’ll belt you)’ from a mother, she’s still the one establishing the boundary that was broken, and setting the consequence – seeing the father for discipline).  

Fundamentally, the relationship between a superhero and their sidekick is not a necessarily parental one. It’s better framed as mentoring, particularly when there’s an adult-child dynamic in the relationship. Is Dick!Bats and Tim!Robin a parent-child relationship? No, even though Dick actually spends a chunk of their time teaching Tim skills and mentoring him (including housework! Actually a lot of housework! Dick cooks for Tim and gets him to help sweep and shows him how to do laundry).

‘Is Dick parenting Damian’ comes accompanied by a second question: is Alfred parenting Damian? Because I will happily argue that Alfred is doing the lion’s share of day to day childcare of Damian outside of costume.

If we define the period that Dick has effective custody of Damian as Battle for the Cowl to Flashpoint (given Bruce is only intermittently home between his return and Flashpoint), then we have a number on panel moments outside of things that are pure vigilante field decisions that should be considered in regards to ‘who is Damian’s parent’.

We have Alfred declaring that someone needs to take responsibility for Damian (as he won’t, step up Dick). However. Once Alfred has arranged the situation to his liking (aka he is not the Official Person In Charge of Damian), he…proceeds to act exactly like he always does in regards to anyone living in the Wayne household: he cooks their food, cleans their clothes, supervises underage members of the household during the day when other people aren’t around, tends their injuries, may send them to bed, is arguably educating Damian during this period if Damian is in fact receiving any formal education (Damian is not in school during Reborn), etc. This is actually a massive chunk of the day to day responsibilities of parenting. Now, that doesn’t make Alfred Damian’s parent: first of all there’s the ‘Alfred is paid to do this’ aspect of Alfred’s relationship with all the Waynes, which can never be overlooked, just like another family might hire a babysitter or an au pair or a nanny or a servant/’help’ to do a lot of the basic labour associated with raising a kid. Or that child might be in daycare or school where they are again under paid adult supervision. Secondly, Alfred very clearly is disclaiming his responsibility for making decisions on behalf of Damian. He is saying it is not his job to arrange education for Damian or to financially support him, or to set boundaries and consequences for Damian’s actions. He can and will enforce rules and boundaries others set, but he won’t decide what they should be.

Setting Boundaries and Consequences This is something I do agree Dick does somewhat, in regards to Damian. However I will point out he is…not great at it.

This is a major issue, as Damian is in desperate need of boundaries given his upbringing, even more than an average child his age, and his testing those boundaries is rarely reacted to in an adequate manner to make Damian feel safe while still enforcing consequences for bad behaviour. (This is a recurring problem for Damian as a character ever since his introduction, up to the present, actually).

There are a lot of children who have parents who are bad at setting boundaries and consequences. Ask any teacher or coach (or any parent about That Kid at playgroup). But it’s also a sign of someone who’s not actually parenting a child, particularly when there isn’t a more convincing argument for why that person is the ‘parent’ (such as legal responsibility as parent/guardian).

There are three prominent moments I can pick out around the early Dick and Damian relationship over Dick enforcing boundaries and consequences with Damian: the Red Robin #1 fight Dick breaks up between Tim and Damian; the Hit List fight in Red Robin #14 between Tim and Damian; and the War of the Robins situation in Batman & Robin (2011), particularly Dick’s reaction in #12.

In short: Dick is trying what’s commonly considered ‘gentle’ parenting, but fails to enforce any consequences for Damian’s actions. Let’s go through this.

Red Robin #1: this is the least parental and most big brother and ‘overwhelmed and just reacting’ of all three situations. In terms of what Dick does towards Damian’s actions: he tells Damian to ‘shut up’ after insulting Tim, twice; and grabs Tim to stop him punching Damian again. We don’t ever see whether Dick talks to Damian about his language or attitude (because it’s not a comic focused on Damian), but honestly this shouldn’t be considered parenting; Dick’s a frustrated older brother here breaking up a fight between two of his siblings. His focus is to the stop the fight and then attempt to continue the conversation he was having with Tim about the support Dick’s looking to get from Tim. The consequence of Damian’s behaviour is being told to shut up, which…eh. Unlikely to be effective in any way.

Red Robin #14: Again focusing on the situation that Dick walked into – he gets the story of what happened from Tim and Damian (we the readers know it wasn’t a full story, but Dick’s working with what they said). Dick then validates Damian’s feelings and sends him out of the room to recover while saying he’ll talk to Tim about this, and proceeds to work with Tim to stop the situation happening again (by talking through what Damian’s feeling with Tim, and then working with Tim to upgrade his password). Notably, while Damian has his hurt emotions recognised, Dick never points out to Damian that Tim should be able to expect for Damian not to snoop through a password protected computer file and it’s Damian’s own fault for looking and getting hurt. There are no shown consequences from Dick to Damian over ‘this is the result of you breaking a boundary (hacking Tim’s files)’. I again note this is in Red Robin, but that conversation does not say that Dick will come and talk to Damian once Damian’s cooled off. Dick’s actually managing to parent Tim better here on page than he does Damian.

The reason I’m not convinced there was any follow through from Dick to Damian in Red Robin #14? Batman & Robin #12 (2011).

Batman & Robin #12 (2011): in this issue we again see Dick stepping in to acknowledge Damian’s feelings, after Damian’s just declared ‘war’ on Dick, Jason and Tim to ‘defeat’ them and show his superiority as Robin (and take a trophy). They’ve just finished a boss fight and Damian offers to drive the other three back in the Batmobile. Tim and Jason extract themselves from this with the minimum level of politeness possible. Dick takes up the offer and at that point says to Damian: “you don’t need to try so hard, Damian. If you hadn’t noticed, kid, you’re already wearing the ‘R’ on your chest” and proceeds to hand Damian one of his escrima sticks as a ‘trophy’. This is again an example of Dick validating Damian’s emotions about a situation (feeling he needs to compete to be the best), but fails to provide Damian any boundary over his actions here. Damian gets to keep the ‘trophies’ he took from attacking his siblings without warning. He doesn’t get explained to him that this behaviour is unacceptable and why Jason and Tim have refused his offer to drive them home and left precipitously.  Dick doesn’t talk out the situation with Damian and work through what he should do next time when he feels hurt or overlooked, and about how he should respect Tim and Jason’s boundaries and spaces.

This is a common failure point seen in parents pursuing gentle parenting options in the modern era. They acknowledge the child’s emotions over the situation (good!) but provide no follow through on why the situation arose in the first place and how to avoid it happening again (and in the case of bad behaviour, some level of consequence/discipline, even if it is ‘and that’s why your friend doesn’t want to play with you’ or a time out or an apology).

Really, Dick’s not setting adequate boundaries for Damian’s behaviour, particularly in terms of family/civilian behaviour not vigilante behaviour. And he’s definitely not holding Damian to consequences (outside of outraged yells of ‘Damian!’ or ‘Robin!’ at bad behaviour in the field) for his actions.

Decision Making Power

The main evidence of Dick asserting the power to make decisions on behalf of Damian during this period is over Damian being Robin. He ‘gives’ the mantle to Damian and sanctions taking him out as Robin. He tells the Teen Titans to take Damian on the team. Dick also chooses that they will live at Wayne Tower not the Manor. He does not really make any other decisions on panel on behalf of Damian during this period, as an individual outside the mantle (and within the mantle Dick can choose these things anyway, as Batman, as the original Robin, and as someone with a lot of authority over what a Titans team is). He states or jokes to Damian that the position of Robin is conditional (“I can still offer Tim Drake his old job back”). He accepts responsibility for being a carer for Damian when Alfred pushes it on him, but is frequently reactive rather than active in terms of making decisions.

And he does not exercise decision making power, he actively defers to two people he sees as having more authority to make decisions on behalf of Damian: Bruce and Talia.

Dick doesn’t question Talia’s right to walk in and arrange medical treatment for Damian after he’s been shot and his back broken. He also accepts Bruce’s decision to leave Damian in Dick’s custody after his return and not initially take over care as a decision Bruce has the right to make on both their behalf.

I’m aware of the panels far later on when Dick tells Damian he considered fighting to adopt Damian, but alongside being writer metacommentary later on rather than textual back in 2010-2011, it’s simply not something that would have been possible; for Dick to adopt Damian would have been a fight given that he had two living parents who legally were still considered fit parents for Damian. A custody dispute resulting in “actually the 10 year old is going to live full time with his older brother, who will have legal guardianship” would be something that required legal sign off from a judge, who in that circumstance would have concluded that both Talia and Bruce were unfit to have custody of their child. Now whether or not Talia is a fit parent for Damian is obviously up in the air (if you know about the LOA), but at this point publicly, Bruce has cared for Damian adequately: he took Damian in in being informed of his existence, he provides and pays for all of Damian’s needs, he pays for home supervision of Damian when he’s away (Alfred), Damian’s living in one of Bruce’s houses (the Penthouse)… the family law system is probably only going to have an issue with Damian’s education situation, and that can be clarified by either on page confirmation he’s either enrolled at a school or is being homeschooled, but there is no evidence of any abuse or neglect that would have a judge decide to remove parental responsibility from Bruce, or make it supervised only.

Conclusion:

Dick caring for Damian does not make him Damian’s parent. There’s the possibility inherent in that if Bruce had never returned and Dick had eventually made the moves to have Bruce declared dead, he would have taken over legal guardianship of Damian and learned to act more as his parent, but in the circumstances we see on the page during Reborn and up to Damian’s death, particularly with Dick’s immediate deferral to Damian’s biological parents, he’s better described as a carer for Damian, or part of the village it takes to raise a child. He has a lot more responsibility than your average older sibling does, or even a mentor, but he’s not acting in a way that suggests Dick believes he has the right to make all the decisions about Damian’s care and on behalf of Damian.

[restinslices]

CAN U DO EITHER EARTH REALM GUYS OR LIN KUEI GUYS RAISING LIKE A VAMPIRE KID?! Like as a baby they were just dropped off in front of their doorstep

Ok so I kinda like this paragraph format so here’s what we’re gonna do from now on. You can choose between the usual headcanons or this paragraph style. Now obviously there’s like, one shots and drabbles but you know what I mean. This is a quick thing. You still get the same information and thoughts. It’s just formatted differently. Idk how accurate this is but I attempted it.

Bi-Han is a mix of confused and annoyed. He knows he has to have a child because the Lin Kuei needs a new Grandmaster but he’s been putting it off. When a random baby is dropped on his doorstep, he’s beyond confused. You don’t just find the Lin Kuei by accident. You have to actively look for them, so that means he was specifically targeted. Targeted or not, he initially does not want to keep this baby at all and wants Liu Kang to find out where this baby came from and to find them a new guardian because he’s certainly not doing it. A baby is one thing, but that little terms and conditions note that says “btw they’re a vampire”? Absolutely not.

Bi-Han does the bare minimum at first. Keeps them out the sun, gives them blood (don’t ask where he’s getting it), keeps them away from any other harmful objects, stuff like that. Bi-Han somehow manages to get attached though, so when Liu Kang finds a guardian he’s like “they’re attached to me already. It’s probably safer here”. He isn’t sure how or when he became so attached but it happened and he has to accept that.

Bi-Han is the most strict parent and his kid would have the best control over their thirst. He’d have a strict schedule with them aswell. Hunting is from this time to this time, no you can’t eat anyone apart of the Lin Kuei, only night school, etc. He would focus heavily on discipline because if his kid has an emotional outburst, bodies are dropping. He probably ends up raising the most stereotypical brooding vampire ever. This kid is definitely being raised as an assassin too because Lin Kuei shit and also their powers give them a boost above others.

Bi-Han would have his vampire child on a tight leash. He might literally get a leash if they keep acting out. I’m not saying he’s a helicopter parent but if he looks away for one second, ten people could die. He’s raising a vampire but he’d still manage to be intimidating to them. Honestly I think his kid would be very isolated for both their safety and everyone else’s. Bi-Han is very aware of the troubles this kid could cause and I think his need to make sure they know how to handle themselves and his need to keep them safe would cause him to teach them how to do all this training when it comes to their thirst and powers but would also keep them isolated so it’s kinda like “what did I learn all this for?”.

They have a mixed relationship. It’s not all peaches and cream but there is a sense of caring there.

Kuai Liang is equally as confused. Anyone would be. A baby was given to him specifically and he has no idea why this is happening and who did it. While Bi-Han is more irritated at first, I think Kuai Liang is frustrated for a different reason. It’s a mystery and who just drops a baby off? What if he didn’t see them in time and they died in the sun? Whoever the parent was didn’t care and that bothers him and he is not afraid to voice how frustrated he is by this.

Kuai Liang also asks Liu Kang to figure out who did this. He assumes Liu Kang has eyes everywhere so he’s confused when Liu Kang has no idea who it was and is having difficulty finding them. Well… he has a baby now… guess he gotta take care of it. He does his best but who in their right mind would actually know what to do? He takes the same precautions you would expect when it comes to things that would harm the baby and he is very watchful. Although this is a responsibility that he doesn’t necessarily want, he understands that this baby can’t really go anywhere. Anyone else could purposefully harm them and I don’t see him being ok with that so they locked in now.

Kuai Liang is not a perfect dad by any means but he’s trying to make sure they survive. He tries to draw as little attention as possible so they’re not targeted. I can see him buying brown contacts and slathering them in sunscreen hoping it does something. I think the main conflict him and this kid would have is Kuai Liang subconsciously trying to ignore the very big elephant in the room. He knows they’re a vampire but since it adds so many problems for both of them, he accidentally acts like it’s something that can be cured. And I can see people thinking this is a more Bi-Han thing but I don’t think so. Kuai Liang’s compassion can be smothering and can be damaging sometimes. In my head he is the mediator whenever there is a conflict and this mediating skill goes overboard and fucks things over.

Kuai Liang would continue to keep a watchful eye on them, even as they got older. Idk why but I feel like he would try to encourage them to stick to an animal only diet but he wouldn’t be upset if they slipped from time to time. He tries to teach them about their abilities as best as he can but tries to be extremely careful since fire can kill a vampire. He’d try to do demonstrations and hope that their powers can match each other if they’re the type of vampire that has telekinesis or something like that. Like I said, he’d try to raise this kid like it’s a regular baby which would only work for a certain amount of time.

Also a mixed bag of a relationship. His subconscious denial and trying to fix what’s not broken would fuck him over.

Tomas was orphaned later in life but he’d still be upset by this situation. He’s not happy at all about someone abandoning their baby and giving it to someone who honestly isn’t in the best situation to raise a baby. That’s where his irritation would mainly stem from. This scooby doo ass mystery would also annoy him. He’s not mad at this kid though because he knows that this baby is a victim. They didn’t ask for this and he can’t just give them away because who is gonna take care of a vampire baby? No one but him.

Tomas isn’t ready for a kid at all. The brothers aren’t either but as the oldest and the head of their own clan at some point, they know a kid has to happen. Tomas hasn’t really thought about kids at all. They’re there and maybe it’ll happen but he’s never had this “imma have to have kids for my clan” mentality. A kid is already difficult but a vampire? He’s completely lost and needs assistance. Certain quirks vampires have, like vampire children aging very slowly is draining this man. If you think it’d be the opposite and the kid would age rapidly, that’s confusing him too. Anything that’s not the normal when it comes to aging is making his head hurt. Plus the other complications.

Tomas becomes a helicopter parent. Bi-Han is maybe getting a leash but Tomas definitely is. All this helicopter shit comes from a place of concern but this kid can’t take a single step without Tomas on their heels worried about them. He ends up doing a lot of stuff for them and holding their hand through everything which isn’t good for any child but especially not good for a future murderer. All of this would cause a rebellious phase and this kicks his ass so bad. Normal kids become emo and role play on Amino. Vampires rebel by eating everything they see and now Tomas is chasing them through an alleyway trying to calm them down. This is probably one of the few times he regrets taking them in.

Tomas would have to learn to let them do them. They gotta figure out this vampire shit by themselves and get some assistance from him. Stepping away from this serious stuff, I can honestly see him dressing them in the most cliche shit ever because Johnny showed him a bunch of movies and now he assumes this is how it’s supposed to go. I mean it is the 21st century and he has this child in Victorian clothing. Other people have to tell him “Tomas… get that baby a t shirt and jeans”. Where is my proof? I don’t know. I just feel like after MK1 he’ll hang around the Earthrealm champions more and that’s not good.

Is that a helicopter? No that’s Tomas. He means well but movies and over worrying is this man’s downfall.

None of the brothers are perfect fathers and they’re definitely making mistakes if a vampire is involved. They have different feelings about this whole situation but they learn to accept this situation and do genuinely care for this kid.

[mania-sama]

gojo satoru's guide to being a good father: cheating is only tolerable if it happens in monopoly

Before He Cheats - Carrie Underwood

➼ information ❧ Jujutsu Kaisen ❧ Pairing: Fushiguro Megumi & Fushiguro Tsumiki & Gojo Satoru, Fushiguro Megumi & Gojo Satoru ❧ Additional Characters: Itadori Yuuji, Kugisaki Nobara ❧ Tags: implied/referenced cheating, no curses au, guardian-ward relationships, gojo satoru adopted the fushiguros, parental! gojo, protective! gojo, vandalism, threats of violence, father-son bonding via car vandalism: the fic ❧ Summary: In which Tsumiki gets cheated on and, really, Gojo has been waiting to destroy a bitch's Maserati. ❧ Word Count: 4,054 ❧ Cross-posted from Archive of Our Own ❧ Original post date: 1 January 2024 ❧ Now available as a podfic!

Gojo receives a text from Tsumiki saying that she’s coming home to visit for a couple of days, and two seconds later the front door slams open. A loud bang echoes in the house when it hits the wall. Oh, good. Megumi’s home.

“I’m going to kill that bastard,” he hears the boy fume, forcing the door shut with even more vigor. That poor abused door. Maybe Gojo should consider a therapist for it. “I’m going to chop his dick off and feed it to him.”

“Good afternoon to you, too,” Gojo greets cheerfully. Looking up from the living room couch, he sees his irate ward stalk to the kitchen and pilfer through the various sharp knives in the steel-colored knife block. Not good. He’s already picking out his murder weapon before taking off his backpack. “What’s going on?”

Megumi spares a side-eye so full of anger that Gojo doesn’t even have it in him to feel disrespected. “He cheated,” he says simply while drawing out the chef knife from the block. The noise it makes is a sharp shing, a telltale sign of crimes yet to come.

“Who cheat— oh.” That would explain the short, out-of-the-blue text message from Tsumiki. Suddenly Megumi’s fury seems a lot less irrational. Gojo has a short, beautiful vision of beating Tsumiki’s boyfriend to the point where even his mother wouldn’t recognize his face.

“Yeah.” Megumi holds the large blade out for a second, giving it a long, examining look. Apparently, it satisfies his criteria because he drops his arm by his side and starts heading for the door. Oh shit. He’s actually going to go chop his dick off.

Not that Gojo doesn’t want to either, it’s just that, well, he’s not supposed to indulge in body mutilation. Besides, if Megumi gets caught with that knife in his hand, he’ll get arrested, and Gojo really doesn’t want that to go on the boy’s permanent record. Satoru, unfortunately, cannot woo police officers out of prison sentences like he has for teachers to throw out Megumi’s detentions.

“Hey, hey, hold on!” Gojo jumps up and vaults over the couch in one swift movement, carefully sidestepping whenever Megumi carelessly turns around. The knife’s tip swipes where Gojo’s stomach had once been. “You cannot go around castrating people!”

Megumi glares at him with the heated fury of a thousand burning suns. His lips are pulled so far down into a scowl that Gojo’s unsure his facial muscles are ever going to let him smile again. “Oh, you’re going to start disciplining me now?”

Okay, wow, Gojo did not ask for commentary on his lack of proper child anger management.“I’ve disciplined you plenty,” Gojo insists, though Megumi looks unconvinced. “Listen. I know he deserves it. But do you even know where he is or how you’re gonna get there without anybody catching you with that knife?”

Satoru holds out his hand expectantly while Megumi stares at him hard, his nose scrunched up and green eyes alight with unrelenting ire. Eventually, he sighs hard and presses the handle of the chef knife into Gojo’s palm.

“You’re not seriously going to let him get away with this, are you?” Megumi asks, his voice marginally calmer and less accusatory than it was before. Deciding to be responsible, Gojo slides the chef knife back into its proper spot and stands firmly in front of the knife block. Just in case his ward makes another attempt at righteous vengeance.

At the question and Megumi’s impatiently crossed arms, Gojo has to think. Obviously, he isn’t going to let this go unpunished. To imagine that any man could think they could hurt his sweet Tsumiki who has never done anything wrong in her entire life — okay, there was that one time that she thought it was okay to spend three thousand dollars on Robux but she didn’t really mean to do that — and run away scot-free sends a violent shiver down Gojo’s spine. 

He never told Tsumiki this, but he doesn’t think her boyfriend is all that attractive or intelligent, emotionally or scholarly. What he did tell her was that as long as she was happy, he would be happy. Not before a talk with said boyfriend where he promised he would do much worse things to him if he ever dared make Gojo’s ward cry.

So, what could he do to a twenty-one-year-old university student without mutilating any body parts but still following through with his promise?

Gojo smiles at Megumi, whose eyebrows are raised in anticipation. “Megumi, you have a lot to learn about revenge. What is the one thing a self-absorbed, cheating man loves more than anything in the whole world?”

“His dick,” he responds confidently.

“No!” Satoru laughs and points a finger at Megumi’s nose, watching as he goes momentarily cross-eyed. “Good guess. I’d put that at number two. But Megumi, dear, you must understand. There is nothing he is more prideful of than his car.”

Noticing his ward’s skepticism, he brings his index finger upwards. He uses the rest of his fingers to list off with his words. “One: It’s hard to get away with castration. As much as I hate to admit it, no way you’re going to chop off his dick. Two: Cars are feminine. Men like him love to own anything they can call a she. Three: Cars are expensive and he is a broke college student. I imagine his parents paid for the one he owns now, which is a nice Maserati Ghibli. Four: He will be without a vehicle and have to own up to his parents that his car got destroyed, and the only correlating event that would lead up to such a tragedy would be his cheating. Do you understand now, Megumi?”

Truly, he doesn’t think he’s ever seen Megumi comprehend anything so well in his entire seventeen years of life. His ward gives him a short nod.

“Good. Unfortunately, we can’t enact our revenge today. We can’t show up wherever he is and destroy his car. No, we have to first get him to park in a secluded lot, then occupy him for a few hours,”  Gojo informs. Megumi listens intently, and, oh, it’s been so long since he’s gotten this boy to actually pay attention to everything he says. It makes Satoru feel all warm inside. “Got any friends that can help us with this?”

Megumi doesn’t hesitate to pull out his phone. “I bet that bastard likes them younger, too. Kugisaki can help.”

“When you’ve come up with a plan, tell me and we’ll review it.”

His ward nods and sends a text on his phone, presumably to Kugisaki Nobara. Gojo waits for Megumi to leave the kitchen to go to his room before he pries himself away from the counter. He chooses to stay in the living room in preparation for the scenario where Megumi decides that he can’t wait any longer and a castration must be performed. He also wants to be the first person to greet his older ward when she gets home.

—

The next three days are spent comforting Tsumiki while carefully planning the glorious demise of her ex-boyfriend’s car. She is too kind, even in mourning of her year-long relationship. She has barely a bad word to speak of that roach of a man. Instead, she cuddles with Gojo as they watch her favorite movies and comedy specials, eat all sorts of unhealthy food and home-cooked meals, and play various board games that Megumi reluctantly joins them in.

It’s the closest they’ve been since Tsumiki left for her second year at university while Megumi works on graduating high school. Gojo works at a different university about a mile away, so he’s nearby at all times. If he cancels a few classes, nobody says a word to him. It comes with being the most highly acclaimed physics professor in all of Japan.

It would be perfect if it weren’t for the weight of a cheating ex-boyfriend dampening the mood at all times. Gojo is happy to be with his kids — wards, technically. Wards — but one of them isn’t, and the other is too involved in a revenge plot to be fully invested in the time they are spending together. Whatever, he consoles himself. It’s the best he’ll get until summer.

In the midst of watching The Human Centipede 2, which, for the record, is a horrifying franchise and he doesn’t understand why Tsumiki likes it so much, he gets a horrid vision of both of his children away in university. Then them in apartments of their own, and they only get together again once or twice a year for holidays. He isn’t able to hold them close on his living room couch on a mundane Tuesday afternoon to watch a deranged scientist attach humans together via mouths to buttholes.

Gojo pulls Tsumiki a little tighter to his side and places a careful arm around Megumi’s shoulders. His son — ward — stiffens for a moment, then leans his cheek on Satoru’s bicep. While both of their eyes are fixated on the screen, he gives a small glance to both of the kids. He feels their steady breaths against his body.

It takes everything in Satoru to smother his smile.

Then the fated day finally arrives.

The plan consists of five participants, four willing (Gojo, Megumi, Nobara, Yuuji) and one unwilling (Tsumiki’s ex-boyfriend). Megumi and his two friends did all of the planning and arrangements while Gojo bought the necessary equipment: two Louisville sluggers, gloves, hats, brass knuckles, a box cutter, and the special edition Tokyo Monopoly. He also rented a sparkling silver BMW because Gojo refuses to be outclassed by a broke college student.

Oh, and they need it so his actual car won’t be recognized. That’s why everything he bought was either new or could hide their appearance, aside from the brass knuckles and board game; if the police catch them, Megumi will never forgive Gojo for not letting him perform a well-deserved castration.

At precisely two thirty in the afternoon, Megumi and Satoru bid Tsumiki a hasty farewell. Gojo doesn’t trust either of them to lie well enough to her, so they don’t give her enough time to ask where they are going. Her shouted question is left as an unanswered echo behind the closed front door.

It takes them thirty minutes to arrive at the designated location, a hole-in-the-wall bar in the rundown part of Ueno. Predictably, there aren’t many people there on a Wednesday before happy hour. Most people had classes or work at this time, and besides, drinking at three in the afternoon without any good football or baseball games to watch is just sad.

Unless, of course, someone had good company with them. A group of friends or a date with a seventeen-year-old girl who insisted that the only time she could get with him was at three on Wednesday! Really! She’s busy the rest of the week and her parents are oh-so restricting…

Since Satoru is a responsible adult, he made sure that the bartenders were paid off in advance to pretend that they are serving alcohol to young Kugisaki. She will simply act like she is getting drunk off of sparkly orange and pink drinks. Then, when the time is right, the ex-boyfriend will lead her to his car to take her to his apartment with only the most pure of intentions. Obviously. But what he will find instead is a pile of mutilated metal and deflated rubber.

There were only two glaring holes in the plan when Megumi originally proposed it to him, which they patched up by including Yuuji. The first: Gojo knows Nobara can bench twice her weight and take down a man with a hairpin, but he needs to be one hundred percent sure she will be entirely safe. There’s no telling what an enraged pedophile may be able to achieve. Additionally, she needs a quick getaway. The second: A video of the man’s reaction is required, and nobody involved will be in a position to record.

So, Megumi kindly asked Itadori Yuuji to hang out in the parking lot in his car, inherited from his dearly departed grandfather, and be at the ready with both his phone and brass knuckles should the situation escalate so far. Gojo hopes it doesn’t because that would make for a terrible reaction video.

The parking lot is situated at the back of the bar, which has no windows for an unsuspecting cheater to look out of and witness a crime being committed on his prized possession. Gojo parks a couple of spots to the right of the pearly white Maserati, spotting Yuuji’s old red Nissan on the left. The windows are barely tinted, allowing them to make eye contact with each other. Or rather, Itadori looks at Gojo’s shades for a split second before waving enthusiastically to Megumi. His ward returns the gesture with a small wave of his own.

Before Gojo can say something that will undoubtedly embarrass Megumi and spoil the mood, he swings his orange-and-blue slugger over his shoulder and adjusts his black cap with a gloved hand. “I’m feeling generous,” he declares. “You take the first swing.”

Megumi looks up at him, gives him a malicious grin, and steps close to the right wing mirror. Instead of swinging it, he slams the butt of the bat into the glass. It takes one more shove to send the wing mirror crashing to the ground. Glass shatters on the asphalt. Luckily, Gojo made Megumi wear a jacket and a pair of designer shades that would protect him from spray shards.

Laughing at the broken display of vandalism, Gojo pats Megumi on the shoulder. “Hit a home run into his headlights! I’ll work on getting in the car.”

“Destroying the inside?” Megumi asks, already stepping around to the front of the car. He gets into a proper batting stance, just like how Gojo taught him when the boy was playing the sport in middle school. The sun reflects brightly on the black-and-yellow Louisville slugger.

“Can’t leave a job half-finished, can we?” Satoru grins. His ward knocks a clean hole into one headlight at the same time Gojo leaves a spiderweb of cracks in the driver’s window. When the glass shatters inwards, he’s able to reach into the car and press the unlock button. The Maserati Ghibli has a slight off-white leather interior. Gojo takes a second to run his hand over the seat, savoring the beauty he’s about to destroy.

It’s a morbid pleasure to slide open his box cutter and carve jagged lines into the clean interior. White scars are left behind when he pulls the blade from the leather. He takes special care to draw little broken hearts and a cat with a pair of sunglasses on. When he’s done with the front and back seats, he finds that Megumi has already made a full round with the car. Thin streaks were keyed into the car doors, and every inch of the once pristine Maserati is filled with deep dents.

Megumi admires the view with Gojo, his breath coming out in small pants. “Well?”

“It can be better. Go again,” he answers, even though the car is so beautifully destroyed that it makes his heart swell. The teacher who said his kid was destined for failure was sorely mistaken; this is a sign of great things to come.

Megumi nods and lifts his slugger to smash another dent into the back window. It was already shattered, but now the only indication glass was ever there in the first place are the shards lying scattered in the trunk.

Gojo could cry with how proud he is of his son. His ward. Son.

Pushing out the blade of the box cutter again, Gojo crouches and slashes a hole into the first of four tires. He watches in satisfaction as air rushes out to rejoin the natural atmosphere. It has the same impact as releasing a caged, rehabilitated animal back into the wild. Probably. Satoru hasn’t done that before but he figures this is pretty much the same thing.

He moves on to the next tire after golfing the fenders three times with his bat. Megumi meets back up with him on the last tire, and this time there’s sweat dripping from his face. It’s a decently hot day, Gojo can admit. A few straggling wisps of clouds drift lazily across the sky, leaving the sun to bake the creatures on Earth. His own neck is uncomfortably wet and sticky.

“Here,” he hands over the box cutter, a shade duller than it was before. “I’ll leave the final honor to you.”

Megumi holds the box cutter in his hand like it’s the Holy Grail. When he rips into the tire, Gojo hopes he’s imagining a dick being sliced off instead like Gojo is. It’s the closest they’re going to get until one brave woman decides that enough is enough.

They step back to admire their work. It should be displayed in a museum next to Winged Victory of Samothrace or Perseus with the Head of Medusa. The whole world should lay their eyes on the perfect mound of metal and rubber they have molded. It’s barely even recognizable. The dark inside machinery of the car is visible from the parts Megumi tore off with his hands or batted away with the slugger. It sits closer to the ground than before thanks to the tire deflation. Several holes fall open in the cracked windows.

Gojo wraps an arm around Megumi’s shoulder, tugging him to stand closer to his side. His ward doesn’t put up a fight against his guardian and even rests his head against Gojo’s collarbone.

No language has an accurate word to describe the feeling that courses through his body. It’s a concoction of every good and bad thing Gojo has done in his life; every misstep he’s taken in raising the Fushiguro kids, and every moment he’s experienced overwhelming pride, fear, and joy for them. It’s twelve years all at once, tucked away under his arm.

“Your sister is going to kill me when she finds out about this,” he says. Megumi snorts.

“It’ll be worth it.”

Megumi’s voice is low with fondness, the only kind that can be produced after a long rush of adrenaline.

A great amount of strength allows him to open his mouth. “We need to leave before they get out here,” he mutters. Slowly, as if reluctant, Megumi detaches himself from Gojo’s arm. The warmth of his son’s body is lost immediately, replaced by the distant uncaring sun.

They wave Yuuji farewell and hop into the car, blasting the air conditioner and the playlist containing both the perfect, glorious, angel choir songs Gojo likes and the obnoxiously emo songs Megumi listens to. About halfway through the drive, Satoru asks if Megumi’s hungry.

Megumi looks up at him from his phone, his eyes squinted with something mischievous. “Can we have—”

“We are not having KFC,” Gojo says firmly.

Instead of frowning, Megumi’s lips contort into a half-smile of some kind. Like he’s trying to hide the fact that he’s enjoying being in the car with Gojo. And Gojo — Gojo can’t help himself. This is his son. The prickly five-year-old he met in an alley is now seventeen years old, looking down at his lap with his face scrunched up in a failed attempt at keeping his composure. He’s not laughing only to maintain his image. Megumi is happy.

It’s not enough to get Gojo to go through a KFC drive-thru because some wounds will simply never heal, but he does pull into the parking lot of the next best thing: Subway.

“So, I was thinking tonight we’d play Monopoly,” he suggests as they gorge themselves on two foot-long sandwiches and a large bag of Doritos. Megumi tries to scowl, but his full cheeks make him look more like a chipmunk.

“No. You always cheat at Monopoly,” Megumi says after swallowing his food.

“I don’t! I play fair and square.”

“You always have to be a banker so you can steal money and give us incorrect payments,” he deadpans.

Gojo ignores him. It’s not his fault they won’t play by the objectively correct rules of Monopoly. “But it’s Tokyo Monopoly! You can own Shibuya Crossing!”

Megumi’s gaze is unimpressed, but he doesn’t retaliate anymore. Gojo doesn’t bother to hide his shit-eating grin. Another day, another victory for one Gojo Satoru.

—

Tsumiki is waiting for them when they get home. She’s leaning against the wall of the foyer, her gaze stupidly hard for someone who’s supposed to be grieving the end of a relationship. It takes them exactly two point three nanoseconds to see that she has them figured out.

“Where were you two?” She asks them as if she doesn’t know. The air cracks with tension.

Gojo smiles and shoves Megumi forward. “You know, Megumi has been dying to tell you!”

His son glares at him in disgust before fully facing his sister. “We, uh,” he clears his throat. “We vandalized your ex’s car.”

The house is silent for five whole seconds. Megumi stares at his sister with bated breath, waiting for his soul to be wiped out of the mortal plane in the form of an hour-long lecture. But Gojo knows better. He knows because this is his daughter.

She sags forward, a smile ghosting her lips. Her eyes carry heavy eyebags, but they shine with expectation. “Do you at least have a video?”

Of course, she wants to chop his dick off, too. And of course, she recognizes that the next best option is destroying his pearly white Maserati Ghibli. She was raised by Gojo Satoru, after all.

Before Gojo orders her DoorDash Subway, they watch the video Yuuji sent to Megumi’s phone — the contact photo for the young Itadori is hilariously cute in comparison to Nobara’s, making Satoru give his son a knowing shoulder bump — on the big screen.

His reaction is priceless, what with the screams and caressing of the broken angles of the car. He moves to furiously grab Nobara’s shoulders, but she digs her heel straight into his balls before he can lay a finger on her.

Yuuji lowers his phone as she gets in, kicking his car into reverse so they can peel out of there before he gets up off the ground. The video ends with the kids’ glorious laughter and Nobara shouting, “It worked! Go, Itadori! Go!” Tsumiki’s giggle gives Gojo more joy than the actual process of destroying the car.

Well. Okay. Her giggle is almost better than destroying a Maserati Ghibli. What can he say? It was the most fun he’s had since he decided to stop breaking the law to set a good example for his kids.

Later, when they sit down to play Tokyo Monopoly, he may or may not tone down his strict following of the rules. Perhaps he embezzles a little less, and perhaps he switches out Tsumiki’s house for a hotel when his kids aren’t paying attention. He still wins after five hours of playing but that’s beside the point.

The day ends with a hug from Tsumiki. He doesn’t fully hug his kids often. Even when they were young and missing both parental figures who should’ve been giving them hugs three times a day, Gojo didn’t let himself get close enough to them. Realistically, he knows it’d been a product of his own young age and inexperience. Growing up in a cold family didn’t help matters; his only model of parents were his own unfeeling ones and what he’d observed of other families from afar.

That doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt when he hesitates to hold his children, unsure if they would want to be touched by their legal guardian. It’s worse to see them withdraw from touching him, too, like they’re worried he’ll pull away in disgust.

So, this is nice, the hug from his daughter before she goes to bed. She smiles at him from the top of the staircase. She is happy.

Yeah, it’s certainly better than destroying a Maserati Ghibli.

… Well. Maybe not. Maybe nothing will be better than that. But he swears that Tsumiki’s happiness is a very, very close second.

[empressofthewind]

What if the successors were raised at a loving orphanage?

Thank you so much for the ask!! I am SO so sorry about the very long wait with this response; I ended up going way overboard with it and writing a long four-part analysis instead of the brief response I was initially planning to give. Sorry if that's not quite what you were looking for!

The big thing that tripped me up with this ask is the lack of canon information about Wammy's House, which made me worry that there wouldn't be enough evidence to state that it was an unambiguously bad place to grow up. There are several scenes that seem to lead to that conclusion, and if you factor in the spinoff material, it's spelled out pretty clearly. But from the manga alone, we don't really get to see too much of the institution itself so much as we do the products of it. Thus, I wasn't confident that I could meaningfully comment on the characters' upbringing and how it affected them - which isn't to say I think it was a loving orphanage, but I wasn't confident that the manga delved into it enough to decide that based on facts alone. So what I did was first analyse the scenes from Wammy's House to determine whether there were any clear deficits in the way the staff handle difficult situations (spoiler: there were), and then theorise about how certain outcomes might have changed if things had been handled differently. Disclaimer that I have some foundational knowledge about parenting styles and childhood development, but I am by no means an expert.

Part 1: Analysis of Roger & The Conditions at Wammy's House

The only guardian we ever see interacting with the successors is Roger, and our very first introduction to that dynamic is in this scene:

The way I have always interpreted this is that Mello is dragging a kid through the hallway by his hair, and Roger silently removes Mello's hand. I actually ran a poll quite a while ago to determine whether Mello was simply trying to play or if he was outright bullying the kid, and the responses were relatively mixed. However, the consensus was generally that regardless of Mello's intentions, he's clearly being rough here, and the kid in question looks pretty miserable. So, I'm inclined to say that if a more responsible adult witnessed this situation, they would most likely step in. This isn't really what we see from Roger. He does not say anything about it; he just moves Mello's hand and holds his arm so he can't go anywhere.

What this seems to show is that there aren't really consequences for Mello's behaviour. There's no attempt to discipline him or even acknowledge the fact that he's clearly upsetting this kid. This could possibly be the product of Roger grieving - he's just found out that L and Watari are dead, so perhaps he's not in the mood to try disciplining Mello when he ordinarily would. But there's one particular scene later on which, to me, suggests otherwise:

Mello grabs Roger - by the shirt with one hand, and the shoulder with the other - and the only thing Roger does to stop him is quietly say his name. It's Near tipping his puzzle out onto the floor that pulls Mello away from Roger, not any attempt to discourage this behaviour. The fact that Roger does not react to this outburst, and the fact that Mello even feels comfortable doing it in the first place, suggests that this is a precedent that has been set. Mello has no qualms about acting out in front of Roger because he knows there won't be any consequences.

There's also the fact that Roger lets Mello leave the orphanage without any clear attempt to stop him at all, which, in my opinion, is the most egregious example of extremely poor guardianship. Regardless of Roger's mental state at the time, allowing a 14-year-old child to freely walk out of his primary place of residence with no supervision, no knowledge of where he's planning to go and zero indication that he intends to return, is beyond irresponsible. Wammy's House may have tried to track him down after he left, but they clearly had no success in that endeavour - and the fact that he was even able to leave in the first place after very clearly stating that this was his plan is negligence at its finest.

Based on all of this evidence, it seems to me that the primary issue with Roger's style of guardianship is a lack of care. Coupled with the detail in Volume 13 that Roger dislikes children, this makes perfect sense, and further suggests a pattern of behaviour rather than a particularly off day. I'm still hesitant to confidently state that Wammy's House as a whole was not a loving institution because we don't get to see how any of the other staff members interact with the children. We don't know if Roger was the most involved in their lives, or if he was more like a figurehead who only dealt with the serious matters, more like a school principal than a parental figure of any kind. However, I absolutely can say from the evidence here that Roger himself was, at the best possible interpretation, a pretty poor influence, and at worst, outright neglectful.

Part 2: Analysis of Mello

This brings me to my analysis of how things would change if Roger had been a responsible guardian with the kids' best interests at heart. I'll start with Mello as he, in my opinion, is the most obviously screwed up as a result of his upbringing. I can think of three main issues with Mello that Wammy's House failed to address:

His inferiority complex as a result of being pitted against & ranked below Near

His tendency towards rough and/or aggressive behaviour when interacting with others, which appears to cause distress to those who are directly affected

The fact that he was allowed to walk out of the orphanage at age 14 with no observed attempts from staff to prevent this action

I'll answer these in reverse order, as the last point is both the easiest to answer and the one that likely would not have become an issue at all if the first two points had been addressed.

Part 2.1: Allowing Mello to leave the orphanage

I ended up doing a fair bit of research to address this point, as I was curious about what protocol actual orphanages would have had to follow in a situation like this. What I found was mostly case studies/anecdotes from people with relevant lived experiences, and given that orphanages don't exist anymore (at least in the US, UK and Australia - I didn't do any research outside of those three countries), these mostly described either orphanages from the mid-20th century or present day foster care and group homes. According to the few resources I found on orphanages, it wasn't at all uncommon for kids between the ages of 14-17 to leave of their own accord, and the staff didn't really do much to prevent it. In the present day, the general first course of action for carers would be to alert the authorities upon learning that a child has run away from their place of residence.

In the panel where Mello is shown walking away, the sky is noticeably much darker than it was in earlier scenes from the same day, and this fact coupled with Mello's backpack and jacket - which he did not have when he first entered Roger's office - leads to the assumption that some length of time passed between leaving Roger's office and leaving the orphanage. This means that even if Roger was unable to stop Mello from walking out of his office, he should have taken extra precautions to prevent Mello from being able to exit the premises entirely. Possible steps to take would be to ensure the front gate is locked, alert other staff members, have him closely monitored until the staff could be sure that he's calmed down, or have him speak to a therapist or counsellor if possible to address the issue that prompted him to try and leave in the first place. If Mello did manage to get away despite all of this, the orphanage should have taken every possible measure to search for him and ensure his safe return.

Of course, Mello is a genius and very resourceful, so it's entirely possible that he could outsmart the staff and get away regardless, but with specific reference to how things might have changed if Roger were a more caring and responsible guardian, he would have absolutely pulled out all the stops. I suppose, technically speaking, we don't have any clear evidence that he didn't, but the behaviour we see from him in his office scene does not fill me with confidence.

Part 2.2: Rough and aggressive behaviour

This is specifically in reference to Mello kicking a ball at someone's head, dragging a child through the hallway by his hair, and his outburst in Roger's office that resulted in him grabbing Roger by the shirt. The fact that Mello goes on to join the mafia and canonically kill Soichiro Yagami and an unnamed mafia boss himself, as well as orchestrate the kidnapping and murder of many others, suggests that this is a pattern of behaviour that should have been addressed long before it reached criminal levels.

In my opinion, the absolute best-case scenario for Mello would be to see a therapist. Disciplining him might be temporarily effective, and it's something I definitely think a more well-meaning guardian would do, but ultimately it wouldn't address the core of the issue, and may simply result in Mello focusing on trying not to be caught rather than eliminating this behaviour entirely. There is a possibility that these tendencies are indicative of a deeper psychological concern, which is something that should be explored - and even if they aren't, I still think there's a lot Mello could potentially gain from therapy. Ideally, Wammy's House would have already had an on-site therapist available for the kids to visit (this is another case in which we don't have enough evidence to say that they didn't, but the mental state of the kids we see does not paint a very healthy picture). However, in the instance that they didn't, sending Mello to see an independent therapist would be the best course of action to take. Like anything on this list, I cannot state with any certainty that this would have changed matters, but it's the step I imagine a caring and responsible adult would take in Roger's position.

Part 2.3: Inferiority complex

This point is simultaneously the easiest to comment on, based on the abundant evidence that Mello's inferiority complex was very much a permanent and destructive force in his life, and the hardest to address. Unless we assume that Mello was raised at a different orphanage entirely, I suspect it would be incredibly difficult to run the successor program in such a way that Mello would not feel at least a little inferior to Near. His insecurities are the product of a systemic issue, and even if therapy might also help a little, he's never going to be satisfied as long as the competition is ongoing, the goal of becoming L is perceived as highly valuable, and Near outranks him in the running for it.

What we DO know is that Mello and Near are designed to function as the two sides of L; they have different strengths and weaknesses, and these are complementary to one another. We also know that Roger is aware of this to some extent, given that he suggested Mello and Near work together rather than attempting to choose one of them. Thus, if Roger had cared at all about improving Mello's mental state, the best course of action I can think of is for him to promote collaboration between Mello and Near, and potentially other students in the program as well. The fact that Mello asks "which of us did L pick" (or at least, he does the anime - technically in the manga this line is cut off, but this is the implied meaning) and then proceeds to look utterly horrified at the inference that he and Near might have to collaborate on the task suggests that he was taught to see L as a solo role. This is a very unhealthy mentality. Even though L was quite solitary and drove his investigations, he did not work entirely alone - he had Watari as his assistant, he needed the cooperation of the task force for the Kira case, and he also had Wedy and Aiber on standby to assist with more hands-on tasks, which suggests that the Kira case was not the first time he had used their help.

With this in mind, the program should not have been designed to raise one single capable successor to L, but rather as an educational program designed to teach kids about the realities of detective work and raise a new generation of capable detectives, with L as an inspiration rather than a goal. Using a ranking system, setting an incredibly lofty goal and enforcing the idea that only one kid would someday achieve said goal fosters a hostile environment that is more likely to contribute to problems like the deep-rooted and lifelong insecurities that affected every decision Mello made right up until his death. A more humane program would not have used competition as a driving force, but instead encouraged students to work together and combine their strengths, motivating them through challenging work and the desire to improve upon their own skillset.

Part 3: Analysis of Near

Near is a very tricky one to analyse, because none of his character flaws, to me, can be easily attributed to poor treatment in childhood. The one major flaw we see from him is complacency, which is what almost gets him killed at the end of the series. He is confident enough in his plan to miss the possibility that the notebook he tampered with is fake, and this would have been his downfall if Mello's kidnapping of Takada hadn't revealed the true location of the Death Note. I suppose you could argue that his confidence is the product of a system that raised him to believe he was superior to everyone else, but to me, he doesn't seem particularly smug or vain, especially compared to L and Light; it just seems like he became complacent and didn't think things through as well as he should have. And specifically in terms of the poor guardianship exhibited by Roger, overconfidence isn't generally an adverse outcome of neglect anyway. The only other character flaw I can really think of for him is that he has a tendency to be judgemental towards those with lower intelligences than himself, but again, I don't think this is really a product of poor parenting so much as it is just a product of him having grown up among peers with a similar intellect.

Additionally, Near is, in my opinion, extremely likely to be autistic. Many other, more knowledgeable people have talked about Near's autism at length and I don't think I have anything of value to contribute to the discussion myself, so I won't go into detail about it (although if you're interested in reading more, I highly recommend this very insightful post that breaks it down really well). My point in raising this is that autism isn't a product of trauma or neglect in childhood (nor is it a flaw or something that can be "fixed"), so we can't make any claims about the way Near was treated as a child based on the presence of behaviours that might, in a neurotypical child, be considered maladaptive. For example, neglected children can often have social challenges due to insecurities and feelings of worthlessness. However, despite lacking any close friends, this doesn't appear to be the case for Near. Based on the brief scene we see of him interacting with his peers at Wammy's House, he simply does not show any interest in socialising or conforming to social norms. He shows no signs of self-doubt or loathing, nor does he seem negatively affected by this lack of social closeness. So while a less negligent guardian absolutely would have been ideal in supporting his needs, I can't imagine we'd see any major difference in Near's core personality traits or behaviours given that many of them were likely not shaped by his upbringing in the first place.

One thing I CAN say, though, is that Near's future might have looked different if Wammy's House had been more loving. If we assume that the successor program is still a part of it, there is no chance that a caring guardian would have thrown a 13-year-old into the deep end on a case that killed the world's most proficient detective, who had 12 years of age and about 15 years of experience on Near. I don't know what this would have meant for the Kira case. Going by the LABB novel, a more loving orphanage might not have screwed up the previous generations and thus could have had older successors who could take the case instead. Otherwise, they could have just waited until Near was 18, and allowed him to take the case if a) Kira was still active which, given that no one else managed to solve the case during the 5-year timeskip, I presume he would be, and b) Near made the independent decision that he wanted to investigate it. Either way, he shouldn't have been put in such a high-risk position at such a young age, with so many factors at play that made him particularly vulnerable.

Alternatively, I suppose they could have allowed him to research the case from Wammy's House until he was 18, with restrictions on any activity that might have put his life in danger, and then let him move to New York to conduct a more hands-on investigation as an adult if this was the path he wished to take. This is pretty close to what happened in canon, but he established the SPK at age 17, so this would have just pushed the timeline forward by a few months. Still, taking measures to minimise (if not eliminate) the risks as long as he was still underage and in the care of Wammy's House should have been non-negotiable.

Part 4: Analysis of Other Wammy's House Alumni

L - we know even less about his past than we do Mello and Near's. Given that Watari found L and took him in and catered to his requests, it's implied that he did actually care about L to some extent, which is more than we can say about Roger "Hates Kids" Ruvie. I'm also inclined to say that the care he displayed for L wasn't purely driven by his potential to generate income (at least at first), since he already had many orphanages by this point that weren't set up like twisted science labs, and he most likely wouldn't have known when he first took L in that he would end up being so successful. The Wammy's House oneshot does give some interesting insight though, if we choose to take it as canon, and my main comment from that would be much the same as with Near; a different guardian might not have allowed L to enter such a high-risk career at age 10. The fact that Watari felt the need to establish a program to raise potential successors to a literal child suggests that he was very aware of the threat to L's life, so it was, perhaps, not the best move to venture into that endeavour.

A and B - TW for several suicide mentions here. I generally don't take the LABB novel as canon, but given these two characters only exist in the novel, I will consider it for the sake of this analysis. Like L, Watari was the primary guardian responsible for A and B, rather than Roger, but it goes without saying that he did a terrible job of caring for them. A more loving guardian obviously would not have created conditions that placed such immense pressure on the children involved that one felt the only way out was to take their own life. Similarly, B would not have been motivated by the desire to intellectually challenge L via several murders and a suicide, even if he had still gone down a path of crime anyway. The fact that B had the Shinigami eyes makes me think that he was pretty screwed up either way, but much like Mello, a more caring orphanage would have made an earnest effort to set him on an upward trajectory rather than encouraging his downward spiral.

Matt - I don't really have much to say about Matt, but the fact that he supports and assists Mello in his crimes further suggests that the kids at Wammy's House were taught very skewed morals. Thus, at a more loving (and morally reasonable) orphanage, Matt might have followed a different path.

[symphonyofsilence]

honestly, jiang cheng is more respectful than lan wangji

By a wide margin!

Few things can be more disrespectful than disciplining a child in front of their guardian (by forcefully silencing them because you don't like their guardian, no less), and beating your friend's family member in front of your friend in their own home, in their own ancestral hall that you've entered without permission while the host was holding a formal meeting somewhere else (and you haven't even said hi to the host or acknowledged their existence in any way) because the said friend and THEIR OWN sibling started fighting over a family matter after meeting each other after 16 years! And then beating the said family member in front of your friend and their nephew again when they've endangered their life to come to rescue you and got wounded shielding you from a sword and are trying to talk to their brother about another family matter that really needs talking about, reopening their wound. And then going to do it again!

And even then JC is not rude to Lan Wangji. He even thanks him for saving Jin Ling.

While the rudest thing we see from Jiang Cheng is him yelling at his brother for good reason (but who is polite to their sibling? The ruder you are, the closer you are), and being harsh to Wen Ning, who as far as JC knows has killed his brother-in-law.

[elinilinxfoot]

Darktide Squadron: CR1- PT1D5

So my friend @mangaka-neko-chan, my boyfriend and I have been enjoying the Darktide characters and interactions so much that we made our own squadron named after our friend group called the Cryptids. This relationship map and following bio’s are a small culmination of the headcanons and world building ideas we've been playing around with over the past few months. If you would like to know more about any character there are short bio's under the read more tab. Now somebody kick me so I can actually start writing the fan fiction that's been rotting away at my brain cells.

Harken, Moggy, Tilly, Harald, and Ben are @mangaka-neko-chan Elini, Garius, Theina, Rizo and Bab’s are Mine Ashur, Tiolach, Adraan and Gar are my Boyfriend’s

Veterans

Ove Harken Professional - Cadia - 43 - Dereliction of Duty Harken grew up working in the weapons factorum and quickly got enlisted for the Astra Militarum. Defending Cadia each day he trained hard to become a tactician and squad leader for many leading to his promotion to NCO. He was liked by his peers for his discipline, calm-headedness and fair leadership. Despite hardships and many deaths, he refused to break. Right before Cadia’s fall, his superior decided to run away, taking his regiment and Harken with them. Harken watched Cadia fall right before his eyes as he could do nothing, guilt and regret forever haunting him. Later he would be arrested with this superior and their regimen for abandoning his home world. With skills obtained through his past he proved himself quickly on the Mourningstar and now tries to redeem himself somewhat by leading the various undisciplined rejects.

Ashur Vaul Cutthroat - Cadia - 32 - Insubordination Learning to use a lasgun as a child is normal as a Cadian, and Ashur was no different. Falling into a gang when he was young, a gang war Ashur was a part of was ended by the Cadian guard and they gave him an ultimatum “be executed now or serve on the front lines”. Ashur was found to be a true warrior in battle and quickly rose through the ranks eventually joining the Kasrkin. For his efforts he was sent to be a bodyguard for a noble aboard their personal ship, it was when he was trapped on this vessel that Cadia was besieged. Hearing of his comrades fate he did everything in his power to join the fight but he was quickly arrested, rage and wanting for vengeance forever burning in his heart.       

Elini Vicker Loose Cannon - Messelina Gloriana - 37 - Insubordination As a pilgrim guardian for the Cult of Messelina, Elini was blessed to have a Messelinan griffon as her mount and companion for her duties. In her youth, she was sent with her cult as reinforcements to a war against tyranids, when her fellow cultists martyred themselves in battle Elini quickly fell in line with the fighting guardsmen. Returning home, Elini accused a fellow soldier of being a tyranid cultist and called an Honor Duel. She was victorious and correct in her judgement, but lost her griffon companion in the fight. During the siege of Cadia Elini defended her home planet from a Nurgle invasion using guerilla warfare against the heretics. Years after that victory she was arrested for being drunk on duty; ranting that she shouldn’t have to be tithed for a third time, she had served long enough and should be allowed to raise her daughter.         

Zealots

Garius Leveaque Fanatic - Cadia - 50 - Dereliction of Duty Tutored by the Schola Progenium in religious teachings, he was later adopted by a high ranking Cadian officer. Garius spent his youth fighting in the astra militarum, as he aged he left to go on a personal Pilgrimage to the other Moebian worlds. During the siege of Caida he found himself on Messelina Gloriana and helped defend it from a Nurgle invasion. While fighting for the shrine world he reclaimed a sacred relic, that of a preserved Terran Oak leaf. After its fall, Garius now preaches that all citizens of the imperium must learn to fight as Cadians less such a tragedy dare repeat. Years after the war Garius was arrested for not showing up for duty for the astra militarum. Garius claimed he never rejoined the astra militarum and that his “commanding officer” was using subterfuge to get soldiers to follow them.

Tilly Agitator - Pavane - 42 - Dereliction of Duty Part of a community of religious farmers scouting for usable land on Pavane, Tilly grew up taking care of children and the elderly while learning the skills necessary to serve her people and the God Emperor like everyone else. After a dreadful encounter with the planet's fauna, Tilly lost the youngest of the children she guarded, along with one of her eyes in a fight with the creature. This traumatic experience left her with voices that her community deemed as the voice of the Emperor, making Tilly a chosen emissary in their eyes. She was sent on a long pilgrimage to be nurtured into her new role, learning to hate the different, the way she should speak and behave. Her arrest followed after she abandoned her post, killing multiple citizens which she wrongfully assumed to be involved in heresy.

Moggy Karkkia Fanatic - Crucis - 28 - Insubordination Moggy grew up as a Saint Polisher in a ragtag group of children and teens, cleaning high towers and statues on Crucis. This simple life was destroyed when Moggy and her family found themselves caught in the crossfire of two death cults in the lower hives. Both sides were ruthless, any who didn’t join where slaughtered, Moggy and her kin were forced into hiding as they were picked off one by one until Moggy alone remained. Seeking absolution she joined a commune of Zealots who managed to decimate most of the threat in the name of the Throne. Through such trials Moggy became a splendid survivalist and wrathful fighter devoted to the God Emperor. However her stubborn individualism and leniency for a more open-minded approach led her to be arrested for disobeying orders. 

Tiolach O’Rhiain Judge - Messelina Gloriana - 45 - Misplaced Faith Born loyal to the cult of Saint Messelina Tiolach diligently trained to become a warrior monk for its Shrine Guard. While visiting a remote shrine deep in his planet's wilderness Tiolach encountered heretics defiling the sacred place. Quick to act he killed them himself and followed evidence left behind that revealed a growing cult. Rallying fellow monk’s to his side he took up his Saint’s call to righteous duty and slaughtered the heretics before their influence could spread. After the ordeal he began to speak against the authorities and ecclesiarchy that didn't take action against the heretics, for daring to question his better’s he was arrested.  

Psykers

Adraan Mousavi Savant - Incron - 36 - Sedition Like many on Incron, Adraan was conscripted into the Imperial Navy and got to see many other worlds while working in the galley of a ship. Adraan always had uncanny talents; being able to remain a mere shadow in a crowd and a way of speaking that would make others obey. During a return trip to his home planet he was informed of the cause of such talents when the Scholastia Psykana took him aboard a Black Ship. Quick to learn, Adraan became sanctioned and began to work with enforcers, his skills as investigator were invaluable. While working with a group of arbites investigating a high ranking administrator for corruption, Adraan’s team were suddenly and violently arrested for sedition, ironically confirming their suspicions. 

Harald von Dyssalis Loner - Branx Magna - 35 - Sedition Working in the factorum since a young age, Harald was always by his mother’s side until his psychic powers awakened and visions of the future began to appear. Wanting to earn more money, he sold his talents in the streets until Witch Seekers caught the rumour of a psyker in the area. In order to protect him, Harald’s mother turned herself in and got killed in the process. Now constantly on the run Harald was met with disappointment after disappointment in the people around him, ending up only relying on himself and his abilities which he honed each day. He successfully managed to learn truths of the Imperium and evade danger until one day another worker overheard him complaining about the taste of corpse starch which led to enforcers being called, cornering him and arresting him after a showcase of his psychic powers in panic. 

Theina Noman Loner - Mornax - 19 - Misplaced Faith During her waking hours Theina worked as a tunnel sentry, but asleep she would dream of wild impossible lands and even stranger monsters. One day her mother approached her while she was working saying that the enforcers were coming for her as they had declared her a witch. Running away into the wastes the pair was always running from trouble, whether it was arbites or gangs. Theina’s mother forced her to use her powers to survive, Theina would protest, but her mother always overpowered her. Eventually they were cornered by the enforcers and in that moment Theina saw her mother for the mutant thing she always was. Crushing her mothers head with her mind she was arrested moments after for being a runaway Psyker and trusting in the wrong authority.    

Rizo Dianimus Seer - Crucis - 37 - Sedition Trained while he was very young by the Scholastia Psykana, Rizo was sanctioned and went on to live a boring life. Hired by a fellow high ranking militarum Psyker, Rizo grinded out days on end behind a scribes desk as his mistress’s bookkeeper. As time marched on Rizo began to see divine truth in the words he wrote, realities made and unmade with words. In its beauty he saw the greatest force behind it all, the reflection of humanity itself, his Beloved. With new insight, Rizo took this knowledge to his mistress, but she would constantly dismiss his ramblings. Rizo persisted but his mistress eventually grew frustrated with him and had him arrested under false charges of Sedition.      

Ogryn

“MeeMaw” Babs Brawler - Incron - 56 - Sedition Growing up in an isolated ganger community that survived on the open ocean, Bab’s was renowned as a cook. Marrying their communities leader Bab’s became the matriarch of the band of roving pirates. While her husband and children fought and pillaged she maintained the supplies and health of the community. After one particularly horrible fight with a rival pirate gang Bab’s husband was killed and their ship nearly destroyed. For months her community was stranded, and barely able to survive, until they were found by imperial militarum recruiters. They were told they could join the astra militarum or be arrested, Bab’s didn’t trust them but her children advised her otherwise and they accepted the offer. It didn’t last long for Bab’s as she was quick to complain about eating corpse starch compared to her own food and was arrested for her noncompliance.          

Benn Farron Bully - Mornax - 29 - Misplaced Faith Benn worked as a miner until his coming of age which led him to be recruited to work as a strong arm due to his formidable physicality. Notorious for his unstoppable strength and joy for any opportunity of a fight, the planet’s militia enlisted him and he became a useful and worthy recruit of the Astra Militarum. Not many tried to irk or bother him, as they were aware of his still growing, brutal strength and short fused temper. Before he could rise further in rank he got arrested for questioning the lavish lifestyle of a higher up which branded him as unfaithful. 

Gar the Red Bodyguard - Incron - 50 - Dereliction of Duty On the hive shores of Incron Gar trawled great sea beasts from the ocean and protected local merchants from gangs as an enforcer. Gar’s strength didn’t go unnoticed and he was conscripted into the militarum navy. On route to his first war his ship hit a warp storm where they were trapped for years. Many died amidst the madness having to fight demons and their own crewmates, yet Gar survived fighting with a smile on his face all the while. The ship eventually returned back to Incron to recover and Gar believed he was free to return home; he was promptly arrested for leaving his post.

[astrxthesiai]

Meta + Parents ((OOC: bc I know how she feels about either parents is different, figured this would be a good topic for Sarina))

  SARINA HEADCANONS: PARENTS

Sarina is not sure she will be a good mother for the next generation.  So, I think she would probably prefer to teach the next generation what she knows before fucking off.  If she does have children they would be taught how to do things once they reach an age.  However, before that they will be protected and have a good childhood away from the bloodshed if she could.  She has no choice but to remain in the mafia along with her child, so there is no way in hell there will be freedom for them both.

She might feel resentment towards her child if they become the next boss for the Guerrieri family.  Though, I think she would want her daughter to be the next boss as a ‘fuck you’ to her father and the traditional way of the mafia.  There is no way in hell she would let another man like her father run the family she worked hard to cleanse.

(( dark themes under read more. Nothing explicit just informative. ))

Her Mother

The concept of a mother is supposed to be loving, nurturing, but also strict when it comes to discipline.  The concept of a mother is to guide and care for the family, rather than destroy it.  That is something her mother tried to do.

She was assassinated in front of Sarina as a little girl.  Before that, Sarina had a relatively normal childhood thanks to her mother.  Even though her mother was the only one available to her.  Her father was always away at work.  Her mother sacrificed a great deal for Sarina to grow up healthy and happy.  Sarina could see the bruises and cuts on her mother.  She never questioned it, she only touched her mother’s face and thanked her.  She made sure to give her mother a kiss on the cheek every night, because she was scared one day her mother might not be there for her anymore.

She was unfortunately right.  Agnese would no longer be there for Sarina.

Her Father

The concept of a father is supposed to be loving, nurturing, but strict when it comes to discipline.  The concept of a father is to guide and protect the family, rather than destroy it.  And that is what Alesso Guerriera did to the family.  He destroyed it.

He assassinated her mother, and right in front of his one child, Sarina.  The environment darkened around her.  The once clear blue sky was shrouded with storm clouds.  Sarina was biding her time.  All she had to do was survive her father’s brutal training, the verbal abuse, and the dash of child neglect.  As she grew older she had to deal with her father’s misogynistic views, and understood she would probably never become the boss of the Guerrieri family at that rate.  Even when she tried on the ring and it accepted her.  Embraced her even like a mother would.  She wondered how she would succeed against her father.

She knew no one would take her, because she had a darkness within her.  A darkness that would never satisfy until she assassinated her predecessor.  She had no teacher.  She had no tutor.  She only had the cruelty of her father’s words and to survive his abuse.  She came to school in bruises and bandages.  She laughed off the jokes from her friends, people she promised she would get the Guerrieri family’s guardian rings for.  She struggled but she believed one day she would be free from the shackles of her father.

She was the one embraced by the Guerrieri family’s Sky ring.  The one that will redeem herself and her family.

[anthonybialy]

The Courage of Hunter Biden’s Convictions

The case is cracked.  Rock cocaine aficionado Hunter Biden put Delaware on the map by engaging in the family business.  The real victim is the commander-in-chief’s aggrieved child who never got his sweetheart deal because kvetchers pointed out that evading discipline resembled impropriety.  Does this mean the laptop’s real?

Democrats are thrilled they can pretend to care about law and order.�� Using an the president’s shameful offspring as evidence of their unflinching willingness to prosecute wrongdoers neglects how he’s the only one.  You need three for a trend.  But that’s a start.  The sacrifice of a trial is for the party’s benefit, which the example surely appreciates.

The jury inadvertently voted to facilitate moral equivalency.  Emboldened unhinged Biden defenders can smugly gesture to their enemy after noting someone on their side has to face a judge following being found naughty.  The difference between Donald Trump and Hunter is that the latter actually committed a crime.  I’m reliably informed that his father’s foe paying off his side piece porn star from the wrong pile is the worst transgression possible.

Aside from facts, the situations are identical.  Patient observers must keep explaining the distinction to Democrats just like we must once again review that gun crimes occur uncannily frequently in places that restrict ownership of same devices.

As for a violator of the party’s preferred restrictions on shooties, Hunter’s offensive gun offense upset authorities just like how his side wants.  Ignoring the rules in order to acquire a sentient crime-causing weapon of hate stands in direct defiance of their belief that laws stop criminals, which is his real infraction.

The simultaneous condemnation of Democratic policy shows why they don’t trust anyone with firearms.  Subjecting him to his beloved party’s own stringent restrictions is only fair.  I’d love for the Second Amendment to be absolute as intended, but I respect the wishes of the Party of Biden in the name of bipartisanship.

The party of projection thinks you’re a guilty schmuck.  Democrats presume everyone else also disregards troublesome statutes like they’re basic economics.  Yet some dissidents insist upon obeying laws while creating value.  Such blatant mockery of exploiting power for personal gain is very embarrassing for the incumbent.

How was he supposed to make money: work?  Hunter sets a dangerous precedent for fellow faction members who think the only way to get rich is by grifting.  Uselessness isn’t bad enough on its own: the Bidens figure productive humans are the same, too.  Thinking anyone else doing okay must’ve exploited their way to wealth is why Democrats are singularly devoted to taxing the stuffing out of success.

The Bidens are not a typical crime family: they can’t run a company.  Every real account and fictional depiction of relatives in rackets features managerial competence.  The government faced trouble prosecuting mafia families who cannily employed thriving pizzerias as fronts.  Mafiosi should feel ashamed of embodying two stereotypes.  Irish Joe strives to break them.

Impugn genetics or upbringing.  Either way, Joe fails.  A descendant may not necessarily embody parentage.  Guardians can strive to raise children right and still see them go astray.  But nobody can see how the patriarch conducts himself on days he remembers who he is and think he taught his contemptuous adult brat the right lessons.  Go ahead and judge: the judge did.

It’s easy to spot unfortunate trends over generations.  A particularly lousy president’s scoundrel kid bypasses statues for which he doesn’t care in the same way Dad buys votes by making taxpayers fund sociology degrees.

The felon is hooked on helping.  If that’s a violation, then convict away.  The shady nefariousness that envelops the First Son certainly doesn’t conceal the family scheme, which is terrific news for those who feared all those right-wing Twitter account holders were perceptive.  They’re the same conspiracists who risibly claim the economy’s bad just because nobody can afford anything.

The Bidens embody selflessness if you count the one who got caught.  As punishment for not founding the company, Hunter acted as the front man so the chief wouldn’t have to get his hands dirty.  Like the rest of this presidency, there’s no greater priority than spreading attribution.

The verdict is satisfying even though it isn’t.  Hunter’s passionate dedication to dodging taxes is an even bigger display of liberal hypocrisy.  Prosecutors hope you’re satisfied enough about the verdict on the least appalling thing the defendant did to overlook how they thought soliciting bribes wasn’t even worse.  No one is above the law, claim liberals referring to the president’s son facing justice for the least of his misdeeds.

It’s not a crime to turn people against Ukraine by treating a war against an invading brute as an opportunity to fill a political slush fund, but it is a feat in its own appalling way.  The bagman by birth certainly wouldn’t send a vig from untoward shady global contributions to the boss who happens to share an identical last name, so escort such cynical thoughts from your mind.

Sure, the president is corrupt.  But at least everything’s awful.  It’s not like we get a scumbag scammer executive who manages to force prosperity in existence.  The trains are certainly not running on time.

This term is an Intervention episode.  The president struggles to read his letter.  It’s tough to feel compassion for a criminal crackhead who justifies his passion for consumption on wanting to have endless heedless fun while lawbreaking.  Hunter thanks those blaming his appalling disdain for the law and decency on addiction.  A true embodiment of privilege can use all the excuses enablers can muster.  You know you’ve really misbehaved if you’re prosecuted for a token sin during the Biden era. 

[linnoya-writes]

It just occurred to me:

In “The Headband” episode, the Headmaster tells Aang to bring in his parents for a meeting.  Aang has no idea how to handle this, since he doesn’t have actual parents.  

This episode occurred in season 3, after the Gaang had spent a good amount of time together to establish dynamics.

Does Aang know what “parents” means, at this point?  If not, I’m sure that’s the first thing Katara or Sokka would’ve explained:  The person who gives birth to you, or coddles you, or raises you, or disciplines you as your guardian until you’re old enough to take care of yourself.

With the outcome of what we got in that Headmaster’s Office scene -- and the full understanding of how Aang already feels about Katara -- and the assumption that Aang himself understood the concept of “parents...” my thought is that the scene building up to the Headmaster’s Office could’ve gone two different ways:

Aang: “Sokka!  Katara!  I need you to be my Mom and Dad and go to the Headmaster’s office with me for a meeting!”  

Katara: “Oh... um...” (blushes) “Are you sure you want me to play your--”

Sokka: “Yeah-- I’m not sure how I feel about being married to my--”

Aang: “Guys, please!  I need to look like I have real parents.”

Katara: (blushes) “Right, Aang, but how about Sokka goes, as your Dad?  I can just--”

Aang: “Oh!  Katara-- can you make yourself look pregnant?  Like the nice lady from the Serpant’s Pass?  That way you’ll look old enough to be my mom!” 

Katara: “....!”

Sokka: “....?��

OR...

Aang: “Sokka!  I need you to be my Dad and go to the Headmaster’s office with me for a meeting!”  

Sokka: “No problem-- I can wear a fake mustache and be manly.  Sweet.”

Katara: “Wait, Aang-- maybe it’s better if I come, too.  As your mother.”

Aang: (blushes) “...What?”

Sokka: (stunned) “Yeah. ... what?”

Katara: “It’ll be more believable this way.”

Aang: “Oh.” (blushes) “That’s okay.  I really don’t think-- 

Katara: “And I can pretend to be pregnant, in case the headmaster doesn’t believe Sokka and I look old enough to be your parents.”

Sokka: “....!”

Aang: “....?”

Katara: “Great!  I’ll go get my belly ready.”

So... either Aang was totally fine seeing his crush as his mother, or Katara was totally comfortable seeing her potential boyfriend as not just a child, but as her own son (in front of her brother and an adult stranger, so it’s not exactly discreet...).

Whatever floats their boat, I guess.

[robininthelabyrinth]

LXC is the legal guardian and adopter for LSZ or LJY, and NMJ has questions.

part 2 of the LJY-adopted-by-LQR fic (now also on ao3)

-

“So, did I knock you up before I went to war or something?” Nie Mingjue asked. “Because I feel like you should’ve mentioned it if that was the case. Possibly in a letter.”

Lan Xichen was so tired that it took him a solid minute to parse what was wrong with that sentence and how to respond, and it was not by following his first instinct to apologize that he should’ve written better letters.

“Stop making fun of me,” he said instead, groping towards some measure of dignity.

Sadly, dignity was in very short supply when you were taking care of babies. Multiple babies. Well, one baby and one toddler, which was somehow worse?

Lan Xichen was pretty sure they’d figured out how to time their crying off each other.

“I would never,” Nie Mingjue said, like a liar, and then he picked up little Jingyi and – Lan Xichen simply cannot find another way to put it – shook him, in a manner not unlike testing a melon for freshness.

For some reason, this made Lan Jingyi stop crying and start making snuffling little giggles instead.

“How did you do that?” Lan Xichen asked, eyes wide.

“Do what?” Nie Mingjue tucked the baby into the crook of his arm and scooped up some food off the table, offering it to him, and Lan Jingy actually ate it. “Xichen, are you feeling all right?”

“Shhh!” Lan Xichen hissed, eyes fixed on the baby, which was neither spitting up everything nor wailing as if his heart was broken. “No unnecessary noise during meals.”

Nie Mingjue snorted in amusement. “Sure,” he said amiably, in the tone Lan Xichen had long ago learned meant ‘nice rules you’ve got there, it’d be an awful shame if someone found a loophole in them’. “This isn’t a meal, though; it’s just a snack.”

Lan Xichen eyed the still-not-crying Lan Jingyi and decided that now was not the time for a spirited debate on the virtues of discipline and fulfilling the merits rather than the word of a rule.

“Where’s monster number one gone?” Nie Mingjue asked abruptly. “He must be very good at hiding, because I looked away for a blink of an eye and he was gone.”

Lan Xichen’s eyes slowly dropped down to where a cloth-covered lump was not-so-sneakily edging towards Nie Mingjue’s foot.

Nie Mingjue was one of the foremost front line fighters of their generation, and possibly the previous one as well. His physical ability was matched only by his incredibly keen senses.

There was no way he was not aware of the lump.

“It’s a real shame, too,” Nie Mingjue continued. “I was planning on doing a test of how far you can throw children, but I think monster two here’s a bit too small to make the test worthwhile. But I guess it just wasn’t meant to be –”

You can’t throw children, Lan Xichen was about to say, except Lan Sizhui was tearing off the tablecloth and jumping up in excitement, shouting, “Here! Here! I’m here! I’m big enough! You can throw me!”

“Why does he want to be thrown,” Lan Xichen murmured, bewildered. He’d never wanted to be thrown around as a child. Had he?

In fairness, he wasn’t sure. No one had ever offered.

Apparently, though, Lan Sizhui did very much want to be thrown around, and Lan Jingyi even condescended to allow Lan Xichen to hold him while he watched.

“Higher! Higher!” Lan Sizhui shouted.

“Really? Is this high enough?” Nie Mingjue held him up at eye level.

“Higher!”

“Like this?” Above his head.

“Higher!”

“You sure?”

“Yes!”

“All right. How about –” Baxia slithered out from her place by the door, zipping over until she was right in front of Nie Mingjue, allowing him to step onto her like a stair, and then zipping upwards to about hip-height, lifting Nie Mingjue and Lan Sizhui with her. They very nearly hit a tree branch with their heads. “– this?”

Lan Sizhui shrieked with laughter.  

“It’s too early to introduce them to flying,” Lan Xichen objected, because it was. “Mingjue-xiong…”

Nie Mingjue hopped down with a laugh. “All right, one last toss,” he told Lan Sizhui. “Then you nap. Okay?”

“Okay!” Lan Sizhui, who had never once willingly succumbed to naptime in the entirety of the time that Lan Xichen had known him, promised earnestly.

Back into the pile of soft grass he went, giggling the entire time, and amazingly enough he really did fall asleep afterwards. Lan Jingyi, too, had fallen asleep at some point.

“I’ve decided that your brother needs more experience running a sect,” Lan Xichen told Nie Mingjue, who raised his eyebrows. “Starting immediately. I promise to allow you to leave when Jingyi is, oh, shall we say five years old..?”

You could reason with a five year old. 

Nie Mingjue laughed.

It was a type of laugh that suggested that he thought Lan Xichen was making a joke. This was incorrect.

“You’d be amazed at how serious I am,” Lan Xichen told him threateningly, “I’m sect leader here, this is my territory, I can have you arrested any time –” but by that point Nie Mingjue was already bundling him off to bed, too, combing out his hair and plying him with snacks and –

This was not helping his argument that Lan Xichen should be allowing him to leave rather than keep him trapped in the Cloud Recesses as a babysitter-slash-love-slave. 

Well, he wouldn’t really do that, of course. He’d let him go. Eventually.

It’d probably be good for Nie Mingjue’s stress levels, honestly.

“Seriously, though, how did you do that?” he asked, his head on Nie Mingjue’s lap. “They didn’t cry once.”

“I’m good with kids,” Nie Mingjue said, his fingers digging into Lan Xichen’s scalp in just the right way. “Now can you explain to me how exactly you ended up with them? Two, no less?”

Lan Xichen groaned and covered his eyes with a hand. “Sizhui’s Wangji’s,” he explained. “Not biologically, but he’s put his name down in the family register under his own. But, you know…”

“I know.”

Lan Xichen appreciated that he didn’t need to go into it. The doctors had estimated that Lan Wangji would regain full mobility within three years, so that was the period the elders had mandated for his so-called ‘seclusion’, but with Lan Wangji being locked away like that – even with visitors, even though he was trying his hardest to care for the child from where he was – meant that someone had to care for the child’s day-to-day life until his brother was ready to resume the role.

“Jingyi is a cousin, I think,” he continued. “His parents are dead, and uncle accepted guardianship for him…I think he’s going to adopt him, actually.”

“Then why is he with you?”

“I volunteered.”

“Xichen, I say this with a full heart of affection and tremendous respect for your capabilities,” Nie Mingjue said. “But why in the world would you go and do a stupid thing like that?”

Lan Xichen sighed. The worst part was, he couldn’t even argue that it wasn’t stupid – he was, quite obviously, terrible with children.

“Uncle’s still injured from the war,” he admitted. In fact, his injury was probably even older than the war, dating as far back as the burning of the Cloud Recesses – his uncle had never been much of a fighter, his impressive cultivation strength stemming almost entirely from gentler arts like music and learning and meditation, but when his home and his family and his students were at risk, he’d fought, while Lan Xichen ran. Not just fought; he’d kept fighting long past the point that his body allowed. It only made sense for the bill to need to be paid. “He had a recurrence of an old complaint, not long ago; he started coughing up blood. The doctors insisted that he try to avoid anything that might cause him  stress.”

“Stress. Like, say, a rowdy infant?”

“Exactly like a rowdy infant,” Lan Xichen agreed, glad that Nie Mingjue did not mention that what had happened with Lan Wangji was also likely a source of stress. At least the two of them had slowly started to repair their relationship recently – the heartbreak would kill their uncle sooner than anything else, and Lan Xichen might be weak, but he really couldn’t tolerate the idea of suffering any more loss.

And also, if Lan Wangji could see his way to forgiving their uncle, he might one day agree to forgive Lan Xichen, too.

“I see. So you ended up with the little one, too.”

“Yes. And they hate me.” Nie Mingjue coughed a little. “No, don’t deny it. They clearly hate me. They always cry and spit and yell -”

“They’re children, Xichen,” Nie Mingjue said. “Traumatized children. They do that.”

Lan Xichen didn’t need to open his eyes to know that Nie Mingjue was frowning in memory of pain long past. Lan Xichen remembered, with painful clarity, how young Nie Huaisang had been when Lao Nie had died, how badly he had taken it.

There’d been a lot of crying and vomiting and yelling there as well.

“You’re good with kids,” Lan Xichen said instead of commenting, trading delicacy for delicacy; he would not touch Nie Mingjue’s still-bleeding wounds just as Nie Mingjue avoided his own. “Very good.”

“Well, I like to think so, anyway.”

They remained in blissful, comfortable silence for a while.

“How would it have even worked?” Lan Xichen finally asked. His eyes were still closed, Nie Mingjue’s fingers running through his hair; he never wanted to move again.

“Hmm?”

“If you knocked me up before you went to war. I mean, they’re not even the same age.”

“Well, one of them’s from the affair, obviously.”

“I’m sorry, am I cheating on you now?” Lan Xichen opened an eye and pinned Nie Mingjue with a fierce look that instructed his lover to reconsider.

“Of course not,” Nie Mingjue said, mock-solemnly. His eyes were dancing. “You were so distraught after receiving incorrect news of my untimely demise that you conducted a ghost marriage with my spirit, and then went and had a child to continue my name.”

“…they’re both surnamed Lan.”

“So what? Are you saying I’m not good enough to marry into your sect, is that it?”

Lan Xichen’s cheeks were hurting from trying not to laugh. “I wouldn’t dream of implying such a thing.”

“There you go, then.”

“Can I ask why I felt the need to have a child to continue your name if I had one already?”

“…well, fuck,” Nie Mingjue said. “I’ve got nothing.”

Lan Xichen burst out laughing.

[atruththatyoudeny]

Happy 28th! Here are all the fics I read this month. Check them out and leave a little love for the authors ♥

Party Lines | nonsensedarling | phone sex - dirty talk - 25k Louis works for a phone-sex operating company, collecting credit card information and transferring calls to different operators. On a particularly busy night, everyone is booked up, and one caller has been patiently waiting for more than a few minutes. In a split second decision –one he’s probably going to regret– Louis picks up the call himself. * Or Louis accidentally becomes a phone sex operator.

Milk Kinship | jaerie | a/b/o - breastfeeding - male lactation - lactation kink - strangers to lovers - 21k Harry had aspired to become a wet nurse since first learning about the honored and respected tradition when he was a teenager. The first documentary he’d seen had been detailed and brutally honest and Harry had still fallen in love with the idea. It’s origins were rooted in highly regarded positions of the royal staff and were credited in playing a role in the lives of some of the most famous children in history. There were medically trained wet nurses and other milk services for mothers unable to feed their babies, but true wet nurse nannies could only be afforded by the rich and famous. The glamorous life appealed to Harry even if his understanding of his role changed to a more realistic view over time. As a starry eyed kid, that was where he wanted to be. Or Harry is a wet nurse and isn't allowed to have an alpha. He may or may not break his vows.

In the Heat Where You Lay | Marchessa | a/b/o - established relationship - nesting - minor injuries - domestic fluff - 5k Louis has a hard time figuring out why his mate, Harry, acts strangely. What shady things the omega does behind his back? Why does he lie in his face when he is asking him about it? Or the one where Louis tries to balance work life and his marriage while he also has to protect Harry from himself since the omega is danger walking on two marvellously long legs at the best of times.

Everything I Didn't Say | denisemuriel | famous/not famous - mpreg - angst - miscommunication - One Night Stands - 25k "I'm going on tour soon and won't be here for most of the year and I think that's just not fair to you." Harry swallowed and brushed a loose curl out of his face. "That's why this won't happen again." Louis had to suppress a sob because he didn't want to cry in front of Harry. "Okay, I understand. It's probably better this way." Harry got up from his seat and walked over to Louis, who also got up. Slowly Harry raised his hand, giving Louis a chance to move away from him, but he allowed Harry to cup his face in his hand and press his forehead against his own. "I know you feel the same connection I do." Harry murmured softly against Louis' lips. "And I wish things were different. I know that if I stayed, I would fall in love with you." He admitted. ✩ Or the one where they meet at the wrong time and when Louis finds out he's pregnant the story gets sold out.

Searching For Lost Time | DuchessKitty16 | ballet - Hip Hop - pining - 16k Harry is a ballet dancer with special talents and a determination to make his dreams come true. Louis is a hip hop b-boy from Manchester who’s been given a chance to attend the prestigious Royal Academy of Dance in London. Louis feels like he has something to prove and show the rest of the dance world that hip hop is just as important an art form as anything other dance discipline. Harry and Louis clash at first and then learn that collaborating makes them stronger. Based on this prompt that I was given: Louis and Harry study at a dance academy. Harry studies ballet and Louis studies hip-hop. They both stay behind after classes to practice and they leave the doors of the rooms open. With their classes across each other, their music is loud and it annoys the other. After a few weeks, Harry and Louis discover that maybe ballet and hip-hop don't sound too bad together. AKA; the one where two types of dancing fit unexpectedly well together, much like Harry and Louis themselves.

Only You (Blue Always Stays True) | BeautifulWisdom | a/b/o - regency - Girl Direction - mutual pining - friends to lovers - 11k Regency AU. Lady Harriet falls for her sister's best friend the elusive Alpha Lady Louise who couldn't possibly return her tender feelings. Or could she?

you and all of heaven's other wonders | devilinmybrain (venomedveins) | Guardian Angel - supernatural elements - 25k "Louis Tomlinson." He starts, the deep voice dipping just a little in the seriousness of his tone. "As a child of the Most Holy, Heaven has seen your struggle on this earth and heard your cry. My name is - " At this point, he does something complicated with his throat, a sound much like a screeching bird and bells combined together before he continues. "and I have been sent here to be your guiding light. Fear not for the Lord is with you." "What?" Louis' accent comes out thicker in his disbelief, dropping consonants as he blinks up at the man. "I'm your-" The man shifts his weight, hesitantly bringing his hands together in front of him. It's an endearingly nervous habit. "I'm your guardian angel."

Lightning Strikes The Heart | Bekita and fournipplesau | a/b/o - Bridgerton AU - enemies to friends to lovers - fake/pretend relationship . regency - angst - fluff - smut - mpreg - 130k Shrewsbury, 1814 Dearest reader, I present to you your new bulletin of news regarding Shrewsbury citizen's activities. My name is Lady Merriweather and I will be in charge of the updates. I will make sure you are to know all the important details of what is to happen this season. You must know that you do not know who I am and you never shall. But be forewarned; I certainly do know you. I advise you to be on your best behaviour, lest you want the whole town to be privy of your business. As expected every year, the Lockhart House hosts the season’s opening ball, and its invitation is the motive of the hustle in town, and every family hopes for the invitation. This year is no different, but this year everyone's attention is focused on the new Duke of Montgomery, His Grace Harry Edward Styles, and whether he will attend it. All the omegas will be in their best manner, behaviour and clothes as it is expected. And here, dear reader is where we will find out which young omega might succeed at securing a match, hoping to not become a spinster. Place your bets.

Glitter in the sky, glitter in our eyes | softfonds | a/b/o - historical - strangers to lovers - fake/pretend relationship - hurt/comfort - mpreg - 59k What happens when a Duke who will only marry for love and a courtesan who only sells it create a public ruse? Well, nothing boring for sure. An Edwardian AU.

Maybe You'll Like the Way I Am | lululawrence | a/b/o - fake/pretend relationship - panic attacks - anxiety - PTSD - heart disease - hurt/comfort - friends to lovers - no smut - angst - 56k Harry stood on his doorstep, waving a little as he shuffled his feet. “Hi, I brought you some cookies.” Louis finally realized Harry was holding a plate with at least a dozen chocolate chip cookies. “How’d you know chocolate chip was my favorite?” Harry scrunched his nose. “I, uh, they’re actually peanut butter chocolate chunk, so I really hope you don’t have a peanut allergy. There’s a lot of peanut butter and chocolate in these. But also, I just hoped that was something you liked because I actually have a favor to ask?” When Louis' alpha neighbor asks him to pretend to be his omega for a week, Louis immediately says no. He has too much he's dealing with on his own, and he swore to himself he'd never get that close to an alpha again. Unable to hold to that resolve once guilt sets in, Louis finds that maybe fumbling his way through a fake relationship for a week was exactly what he needed to finally be able to move on.

Hint: I want to be yours | bluegreenish | a/b/o - friends with benefits to lovers - pining - 11k Thinking back to Harry’s rut, Louis shivers, needing to put effort into keeping other bodily reactions at bay. “Are you cold?” While Niall’s been commenting through the entire film, Harry had stayed mostly quiet, so it’s a surprise when he speaks up, eyes zeroed in on the omega. “Uh, yeah. It’s a bit chilly, innit?” Niall shrugs, dressed in a sleeveless t-shirt and seemingly unbothered by the room temperature. Harry doesn’t ask for an explanation though. “You can have my hoodie, wait, here.” Before Louis can counter, Harry’s pulling the light grey piece of clothing over his head and handing it to the omega. or, the one where Harry unconsciously starts acting like Louis' alpha after they spend his rut together and Louis finds ways to make sure Harry's affection doesn't en

Always a Bridesmaid | kingsofeverything | age difference - weddings - sneaking around - secret relationship - fluff - 30k While Harry’s friends are all getting engaged or married, he’s nowhere near walking down the aisle to his own happily ever after. The night before his best friend’s wedding, Harry falls into bed with a silver haired stranger who makes him wonder what his own forever might look like.

[fictionalabyss]

All who enter must fight.

Pairings : Alpha!Winchesters x Sister!Omega!Reader

Word count : 1,136

Written for : @spnabobingo​

Square : Holy Omega

Warning : Worshipped Omegas, Violence, fight to the death, decapitation, partial shifting,  claiming a blood sibling for a mate, implication of incestuous relationship to follow but none depicted.

Masterlist • Patreon • Ko-fi.

SPN A/B/O Bingo Round 5 Masterlist.

You stood on the dais in the crowd, watching with an emotionless face as the men below fought for the right to mate with you. The second you had presented as a child, you had been whisked away, ripped from your family to be raised in seclusion, surrounded by priestesses.

Omega’s were rare. Very rare. Only a handful born in a generation. To mate with one, was an honor you had to fight for. Be willing to die for. And people from all over the world were willing to come and die just for the chance.

Your long white flowing dress, signifying your status as both a Omega and a virgin, was a stark contrast to your surroundings. It was dim, dirty and blood was everywhere. Dark stone walls and a dirt floor made the arena they fought in below you. This was a sacred and holy place, despite what went on here. Despite how many men died here.

You watched as another man was cut down, not even a wince as his throat was ripped out by a pair of claws. Another got his neck snapped. And another ripped apart with pure brute strength. Shifting in the area was forbidden. Animal forms were seen as a cheat, but tapping into your wolf's power, that was perfectly allowed. It showed strength and discipline, traits said to be favored by the moon goddess, and if she favored you, you would win. Your claws, your fangs, those were okay, but as soon as fur was seen, a muzzle, everyone stopped their attacks on each other and cut the offender down. And every time this area was filled, someone would shift in a last ditch effort for survival, and every time it would seal their fate.

Today was no different. 100 warriors dropped down to 50 quicker than you had expected it to. That number dropped further still. One by one, they fell. It was somewhere around 30 that they started to show signs of getting tired. When a cornered and injured man tried to fight a shift and lost. Before his fur had fully sprouted from his skin, he was dead. A massive man had come, seemingly out of nowhere, and snapped his neck quickly, then gently lay the body down, mumbling something over it, something you couldn’t hear from that far away, but you’d seen the goddess prayer enough times to know it just by the movement of the lips. It was a prayer of peace. You found yourself smiling softly. This one had a gentle hand and a forgiving heart. You found yourself almost hoping he would be the victor.

Cheers erupted through the crowd as another man met his bloody end. Families cried as their loved ones died, their sobs drowned out by the crowd. One woman wailed as her son was cut down, threw herself into the arena and ran for his body. Your breath caught in your throat as you watched her run with wide eyes. “Get her out of there.” you told the priestess next to you, your first words uttered since arriving. “Get her out!”

“All who enter the arena must fight.” The priestess told you.

You shot the priestess a look, then snapped your head back to the area. She was going to die. She was going to die for daring to mourn her son.  Why did she jump in? Why didn’t she wait until the end?

The giant man was back, running towards her. But he wasn’t looking at her. You followed his gaze and some someone else with their claws out, ready to attack. The giant reached her first, arm going around her waist and pulling her back. He ran her back to the wall in front of your dais and hoisted her up. “Climb.” you urged her with a whisper, trying to will her to do it. “Climb, please. Climb.” When you saw her hand reaching over the top of the wall, you called out to anyone close by. “Lift her out! Now! Go!” Thank god these people worshiped Omega's as if they were goddesses themselves, four servants rushed forward and helped pull her up.

The gentle giant was being stalked now, with his attention distracted by getting the poor woman out, he didn’t see the attack from behind coming. It was the perfect opportunity to take him out, if someone didn’t now, he very well could win. It made sense, it made perfect sense, but it felt unfair.

The woman finally cleared the wall, but it was almost too late for the man who’d helped her. But it seemed he had a guardian angel of his own. In a flash, someone else was there, and a piercing roar filled the arena as he snapped the man's neck, ripping it clean off his shoulders.

The crowd cheered, it was deafeningly loud, but your eyes were glued to him.

And he looked up at you, meeting the gaze.

He looked familiar. Very familiar. A memory from your past that you couldn’t remember, but it was there, tugging at you, begging you to know him. He turned, continued to fight, bringing down adversaries without ever stopping. He was covered in blood, but he just kept moving. Killing. It reminded you of a man desperate to protect something. But what?

It took a long time, but then it was down to two. The giant, and the man who’d helped him. They were both covered in blood, standing there, eyes on each other. Neither moved. They both just stood there, breathing heavily.

You watched them, eyes going between them. Minor similarities in facial features, in mannerisms. They held themselves the same. Moved the same. You’d been watching them both for hours, they were in sync. Brothers. They had to be. But why was one so familiar?

“You must fight to the death.” The priestess next to you reminded them. Neither moved still. “Kill him!”

“No.”

You looked to the other, tilting your head and taking a good long look at him. He was familiar too, very familiar.

“Brothers..” you whispered, realization hitting.

“KILL HIM OR DIE!”  she screamed.

“No!” you rushed forward before anyone could grab you, ran as fast as you could down into the arena and threw yourself between them and the Templars that had spears and swords aimed, arms out in protection. “No!”

“They must fight or die!” the priestess yelled down. “It is the way!”

“They are my brothers!” you screamed back.

“You have no brothers, no family! You are an omega! You will mate the winner.”

“Then I take two mates!” A shocked murmur spread through the crowd. “I will take two mates.” you said it more firmly, daring them to protest.

“Good to see you again, kid.” your eldest brother smirked. “Nice of you to join us.”

*If you like this, please consider supporting my work*

Tagging :  Demons -  @iflostreturntosteverogers​ @deanandsamsbitch​ @mrswhozeewhatsis​ @holyfuckloueh​ @winchesterprincessbride​  @adoptdontshoppets​ @maddiepants​  @onethirstyunicorn​  @notyourtypicalrose​    @littlemiddlefoxbabe @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo​ @amandamdiehl​

[tazanna-blythe]

Done

Chapter 5

~Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie~

"Wellcome ladies so how's school?" Sabine said with a motherly smile smile then placing a freshly baked Croissants on the table.

"Where fine, just another day at the clown house, I swear that our classmates have no brain cells not one of them "Chloe said while spreading butter on her croissant then without any hesitation she ate it.

"I beg to differ dear but i think they still have one connecting brain cell,seeing as they are one and no one can break their bond"Mari and she also ate the croissant happily

"So Dumb,Dumber,Dumbest then? or all equally dumb?" Chloe mumble (she took another bite on her food)

"No it's like they all have an on and off button for their reasoning and common sense and Liela has the button" Mari

"And She uses her sausage her as an antenna the give them signals hahahahahahahhaha"Chloe

"Ladies that's not nice besides everyone has their own preference or style that they think is fashionable ... all though i wanna know who told her having a sausage as an inspiration for a hairstyle especially when she moves her head she looks like a paddle ball a had when i was a kid" Sabine

both Chloe and Marinette bust into laughter

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Collège Françoise Dupont Clinic

*Bell *

Adrien is still sleeping soundly and the kind nurse doesn't want to wake him up and clearly from how pale his face is and how dark his eye bags are and how bone to skin he is, she made a decision to call his guardians to pick him up and have him take a proper rest and some good soul food too judging by how boney he is. this child is a model she understands this but this is to much and it has a medical term called MALNUTRITION so she's not gonna stand by and do nothing.

So she quietly and gentle as she can took photos and notes on Adrien body. because he is wearing a plain white T-shirt and a loose pants all she has to do is hold some of the cloth of the T-shirt to make it tight to show how small and boney he is and she all so did the same thing to the pants. His wearing a T-shirt so his some of is upper arm is shone so the nurse took a measuring tape and measure his arms and leg. And lastly because of the akuma attacks the School funds for the clinic doubled and because of this most of their equipments are brand new and the latest model so the bed has a scale built in it so she took his weight and height. and all of this is recorded in the clinic's CCTV camera she made sure of it.

After all that is done she neatly filed this info on her computer and flash drive then she called his guardians. fortunately for him his father and his assistant is so busy that they cannot answer their phone so it was Gorilla who was called to pick him up.

When Gorilla arrived the nurse was so scared of him she almost scream in fear when he suddenly appeared in front of her luckily she didn't.

"Hello Sir. how can i help you" Nurse

"Hi my name is SImon and I'm here to pick up Adrien" Gorilla (HIS NAME IS SIMON OH MY GOSH I JUST FOUND OUT TODAY!!!)

"Hi my name is Katty and I'm the school nurse nice to meet you"

"Likewise"

"Im sorry but before I hand over Adrien to you i need to see your IDs please"

"Sure"

"Ok it seems that everything is in order then you may take him home, and also my advice is to keep him stress free, eat and sleep more cause we don't want him to suddenly collapse now do we"

"Yes ma'am"

Then Gorilla slowly and Gently picked up Adrien like a porcelain princess and took his backpack/sling bag and went home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Collège Françoise Dupont Gym

"Ok class since Adrien is sick we need to still proceed to class. Now, I want all of you to make two lines.One for boys and one for the girls CHOP ChOP!!! " Gym teacher

“Um Sir. What about lila??” Rose

“What about her?“

“Lila Sprained her risk and ankle so she cant stand very long“ Alya

“Ok then Who’s Lila, Raise your good arm“

“Sir. I’m Lila Rossi“ Liela replied with a small smile and leaning into her left foot for effect

The Teacher saw her and slowly walk towards her while inspecting her body for injuries

“Which foot is sprained and which arm?“

“My right foot and arm sir “Liela said weakly.

“Can i check your arm and foot?“ The Teacher ask nicely

“Yes of course“ 

So someone brought a chair for her to sit while the Gym Teacher inspect her injuries

“Awww, Aw aw aw awaaa that hurts“ Liela cries dramatically like a spoiled dog. While the Teacher was just holding her arm not doing anything other than carrying it like a sausage

“Ok then Lila where's your medical note seeing as this is a “BIG INJURY” your parents shouldn't have let you go to school?“ The Teacher looking and talking to her like a person would to a two year old

“My Dad left us since i was young and my Mom is so busy that she’d forgotten about me“ Liela said sadly trying to make her tears drop not realizing that the teacher don't buy it

“Hush now don't cry dear I’m sure your mom is just tired now why don't you sit here and be quiet while all of us start the class,O.K“

“Yes sir“ with a final fake sob she smile at the Teacher.

“Ok,now two lines people, great now everybody just jog 20 laps then you are dismissed.But remember do not break your line and JOG NOT RUN OK ALIX AND KIM! if i see any of you break your line or run i’ll make everyone do 15 jumping jacks then additional 10 laps. Am I Clear! “

“Yes,Sir!!“ the Students then do as they were told while lila stayed seated smiling at her small victory and proceeds play on her phone and to search for more things to lie to make her even more popular.

While everybody was busy doing their task no one noticed the Gym Teacher also take’s his phone and contacted the School Nurse asking for Lila’s medical records and telling her what happen today.

Faking an injury to a teacher who was an athlete himself was a big No No but he cant just outed the child right then and there because she’ll get emotional and he doesn't want to cause another akuma.He’ll just do it the old fashion way... Making the parents discipline their own child. but first he needed her records. 

“Did you just see what i just witness?“ Chloe while looking at her exhausted classmates after they finished 20 laps.

“What?“ Mari while handling her a bottle of cold water

“You really didn’t see that?,Thanks“

“You mean Liela’s ridiculous lie then yeah and so?“

“So? So?, Mari she just gotten away with it and it wasn’t even a good lie and acting“

“No, I don’t think she did“

“Huh?! Would her majesty care to explain?“

“Our gym Teacher is an Athlete who won medals in his time. He out of everyone here would have known just by looking at someone if they have any physical injuries“

“So he just let her go?“

“No. I don't think he would so let's just watch and see what he'll do, besides if he really fell for it then his just another idiot who needs to be replaced” Marinette said as she and Chloe backed their bags and left.

~~~~~~~~

“Hey Nino do you have any info about Adrien??“ Alix

“Yeah Nino what happen to him?, you were the last person we saw with him?“ Alya

“Well he looked sick so i send him to the clinic, I didn't know that he was that sick“ Nino

“Well I Just hope he gets better“ Alix

“So has anyone gotten started researching yet??“Alya

“Nope we were just hoping that will do it together like in a slumber party?“ Rose

“Actually that’s not bad soo who's house are we going?“Juleka

“What are you guys talking about? and where are we going?“ Liela walked to them when she saw her minions talking without her and of course she was escorted by the ever loyal dog Kim

“I umm“ Juleka

“Yeah where are we going?“ Kim 

Everyone was looking at each other knowing that they can fool kim but not Lila.

“Well-“ Alya

“We were planning on a slumber party tonight but we haven't decided where will be staying?“Juleka

“Oh!! why don't we stay at my place my parents arent how so i have are house all to myself and you guys don't have to bring anything with you because and my parents just went to the supermarket yesterday“ Rose

“Really that's great so it's settled will head home pack then will go directly to Rose’s house“ Alya

“Great I can't wait to spend time with my very BEST FRIENDS! but aren't we gonna invite Marinette and Chloe?“ Liela 

“No need they’ll just destroy and ruined the party. So what are we waiting for let GOOOOOO!!!“ Alya

After that everyone started packing their bags and left to their respective homes with a smile on their faces.

***************

It's been so long since I Uploaded something and i hope you guys liked it....        If you guys have any suggestion i’ll be happy to read and maybe include them in my next work.

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[lovelivingmydreams]

My king au headcannon Part two

So this is the follow up to this post  Which is a headcanon for this au created by @rondoel Enjoy!

Something to think about The king was meditating. He was trying to familiarize himself with the mindscape again, get a better feeling of it and see what his halves had done since the split. He was sorely disappointed. There were pages upon pages of ideas, but he found no evidence of them in the fantasy realm. No traces of the epic quests the ‘light’ half had envisioned, despite how well worked out they appeared. An ‘Ultimate Storytime’ should have left traces in the kingdom. Remus at least lived out his ideas even if they were only ever half formed and lacked substance beyond the initial impulse that brought them about. The results of these outbursts weren’t all that impressive either. He didn’t examine the ideas too closely. Obviously his perfectionistic half had abandoned them for a reason and so they weren’t worth his time. The one named Roman had spent some time in the fantasy realm, but he didn’t considered it his main duty. Instead he’d wasted time on crafting ‘ideas’ and ‘bonding’ with the others. Even the impulsive Remus had prioritized interacting with Deceit over expressing himself. Disgusting. Not that he could truly fault either of his halves. Other than his purpose every trace of him had been purged from their minds during the split. They hadn’t known to distrust the others the way he knew they should’ve. Obviously the others were to blame for all this.

As he thought of them he could feel his minister’s energy surging and subsiding in subtle burst and raging waves. One of Roman’s nickname for him ‘Stormy Knight’ seemed to suit the boy quite well at the moment. The minister was mostly alone, aside from morality. Someone had to babysit him he supposed. Suddenly he became aware of music… something strange yet familiar. “Disney. Medley.” A faint memory offered him. He remembered Disney. It was his aspiration to create worlds and adventures just as amazing for Thomas to escape to when the real world inevitably bored him. Clearly he hadn’t been gone long enough for that to change. Though he didn’t recognize the melody that was currently playing, even though he could tell that it wasn’t something obscure and nearly forgotten to Thomas. The entire imagination responded to the melody as if it was an old friend. Almost as if it was born here even. There were voices singing, a magnificent harmony. Powerful and foreboding. He followed the sound of the voices and soon saw a structure appear. As he approached he found it was a massive statue expertly carved from marble. Center stage stood a figure he recognized as Thomas holding his hands in front of him to form a heart. A brilliant smile on his face. It was heartwarming to see his boy like that. To Thomas’ left stood grown Morality with one arm thrown over his shoulder and another pulling the hooded side, Anxiety, his minister, into the group. The young side allowed it with a small smirk and gentle eyes directed at their protégé. On Thomas’ right stood Logic, a steady hand on the boy’s shoulder as he adjusted his glasses, which did not conceal the fond look on the man’s face. On Logic’s right stood Deceit, his back slightly turned to the rest and adjusting his hat, but also with a soft, caring expression gracing his features. Then right behind Thomas, standing slightly taller than they would have in reality, seemingly standing on a stage behind the group, but close enough to still be part of the ensemble, was him. Or the two sides that had been him for a while. Roman looked regal and was posing as though he had not a care in the world, his eyes proudly overseeing his subjects. Not minding the presence of Remus who was hanging of his ‘brother’s’ shoulders and making a face. It was an idyllic picture that never was and now never could be. There was beauty in it’s tragic impossibility. At the feet of the stone depictions were stone letters. Fam in cursive and then in big bold lines ILY. And leaning against the L was the minister, singing the song that had lured King away from his meditation. The shadows around him were aiding in his musical endeavor drifting around him and the statue. King took in the marvel once more, wondering how the nervous side had managed to create such a blessing with what should’ve been a cruel curse for at least a few more days before King would grant the young one his council and guidance. He hadn’t enjoyed being cruel to him. Not entirely. Sure, he had opposed creativity in the past and deserved to be disciplined. But king also knew how integral he was to the process. Roman’s discoveries regarding that weren’t lost to him. He couldn’t silence Anxiety completely. He would not get Thomas to go on adventures at all if he did so. But he had to teach him his place now, before he got any ideas of fighting him. The minister had been about to try just that and might have been successful too if he’d gone all out at once. But luckily he seemed unaware of his own abilities, or at least unwilling to use them on what he still thought to be the twins he’d known all his life. Alas he’d never get the opportunity again. “It all can be sold!” the shadows chorused around the teen-like side, captivating baby Morality with their movements as the little one clutched to the dark uniform and distracting King from his musings. “As a specimen yes I’m intimidating!” One voice continued, drifting around the side who was swaying to the music playing in his headphones with his eyes closed, holding onto Morality and then the dark clad side sang himself. “You can blame my friends on the ooootheeeer siiiiiiiiiide.” And just like that the shadows dispersed. Mostly anyway. They still swirled around the minister, but they were more of a dark aura than when they originally manifested. Anxiety seemed to be in better spirits than when he came to offer his ridiculous apology to Roman. King barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the memory. What a waste of time. Still it had been sincere, at least it seemed to be. And King wasn’t completely insensitive. He could understand that it would be hard for this young one to let go of his halves when he had never known them as one. Perhaps, King could cut him a little slack. Though he would have to remain vigilant… Hmmm, why did that word feel so odd when thinking about… Right, Virgil. Everyone had names now. Not that he cared much for those. Names were too… Names were for friends, allies. He didn’t need a name, nor did his subjects. Lest any of them forget who was in charge. King wouldn’t. Never again. The infant noticed that they were no longer alone in the room and tugged at Anxiety’s hair to get his attention. In response Thomas’ guardian pulled off his headphones and looked down at the heart. “What’s wrong popstar… or… Well, doesn’t really fit right now I guess,” Anxiety chuckled a little sadly. “Guess I’m more the dad now than you, huh?” he mused. “When this is all over, I promise I’ll never complain about you treating me like your kid again.” There was an uneasiness forming in King’s stomach. Anxiety was close with Morality, both Roman and Remus remembered that. But… how close was Morality with Anxiety? King knew that their ‘moral compass’ could be as two faced as Deceit. No, this could be part of an elaborate plan to gain his trust, he’d fallen for it once before. And of course they’d send Anxiety to do their dirty work now that all of them had already shown him their true colors. Little Morality pointed at King and Anxiety looked up, curious at first and then his eyes widened in fear. He put the child behind him and stood in a strange mixture of a respectful bow and a defensive stance. Arms slightly spread to shield his friend and head raised so he didn’t quite let his eyes leave King’s frame. “I…I’m sorry if I was too loud,” Anxiety offered with trembling voice, assuming he’d angered his king someway. Good. King approached, not sure if he was in the mood to scold or to praise just yet, but stopped about three steps in front of Anxiety as his foot hit something. He looked down and saw that the floor surrounding his minister was covered in sketches. He looked up at Anxiety with a raised brow, curious to hear what had brought on this little storm of creativity. And he found him staring at the sketches around them in horror. Then he seemingly felt the structure behind him, he turned and looked up in horror, trembling even harder. He looked back at King with wide eyes. “I…I didn’t mean to…” he started. “Then I look forward to see what you create for me when you intend to do so young one,” King mutters calmly, as he bids one of the drawings to come to his hand. As far as he can tell it’s two children playing in a forest. “Tell me about this one boy,” he instructs as he shows Anxiety the drawing. The side takes the sketch with a frown and looks at it for a moment before a small smile of recognition appears on his face. “I’d manifested for about two months. Remus felt it was about time I came on an adventure,” he starts explaining, and as he does the drawing rises up and gains colors and details that weren’t there before. Anxiety didn’t seem to notice, too captivated by his own memory as he described how freaked out he was by the forest and all its creepy creatures. Remus never let a single one touch him though. Still, it was stressful for him and he didn’t come along as often as Remus would like. The painting showed two preteens, Remus and Anxiety, the later clutching a comfort item, pillow or blanket, King wasn’t sure, maybe it was a stuffed animal. They were running around and laughing. But in their shadows Anxiety was curled up in a ball and Remus was making a gesture as if he’d just popped out and screamed ‘boo’. A lovely memory with a shadow side. But that was the nicest thing Anxiety could create with the power King had granted. Once the story was done and the painting finished, King snapped his fingers and conjured a dark wooden frame with a vine pattern around it and hung it on a non-existent wall. “I’m sorry, I know you said to get rid of the feelings, but I… I can’t… I always mess up like this please I…” Anxiety flinched when King reached out for him. Curling into himself, expecting another curse or some other punishment perhaps. Which is probably why his posture relaxed and his face was overcome with confused surprise when all he received was a brief pat on his hair. “You may not have gotten rid of those feelings but you did something even better,” King laid a hand on Anxiety’s shoulder and looked down on him. “You made something out of them. I am very pleased with you,” he informed his disciple. Anxiety looked up at him confused. “Really?” he asked, his voice breaking over the single word. Before King could answer, a displeased cooing pulled Anxiety’s attention away. He turned around and picked up the infant who immediately latched onto his neck and stared at King over his shoulder. Clearly the infant retained enough of Morality’s adult thoughts to be wary of him. Good it wouldn’t be a proper curse if the traitor wasn’t aware of the danger King posed to him and his precious family. King grinned menacingly at Morality, hoping it’d confirm the child’s worst fears about his intentions for who he apparently considered a son. What could be worse than agonizing over the fact that your sins would result in an innocent paying for them? For that innocent to be your child of course. “Please Pat, behave alright?” Anxiety muttered as he got up and turned back to the king. “Sorry… Your majesty. He’s a bit clingy,” the young man offered nervously. “Not your fault. I don’t quite understand why Logic and Deceit would leave the care for such a fussy child to their youngest.” Not quite true, King could perfectly see how they thought they had to concentrate on finding a weapon against him that they hadn’t tried already. But still. One would think that the two oldest should be in charge of protecting both their young ones, instead of letting them wander off into the territory of their enemy. If Anxiety had failed to entertain him with his tale, who knows what he would’ve done to amuse himself during this second visit? Maybe he’d put morality in a bit of a dilemma… He might still do so if he ever needed for Anxiety to see that his ‘dad’ didn’t love him as much as he always claimed. “Taking care of him keeps my mind occupied. I don’t want to give Thomas nightmares or anxiety attacks. He doesn’t deserve to suffer for our messes,” Anxiety explained. King might be mistaken, but that almost sounded accusatory. He elected to ignore it. Once his rule was properly reestablished, he could revisit the subject if at all necessary, which he doubted. “Well, creating art seems to do the trick just as well,” he mused as he called forth another picture. Anxiety guessed what he wanted, looked at the picture and started to talk about the movie night and a popcorn fight, then a duel with cardboard swords and laughing about memories of middle school. The colors once again revealed a pleasant day, with a shadow of self-doubt and fear of abandonment. The shadows showed Anxiety pleading on his knees while Roman threatened him with a sword. This time the frame King made was golden and held roses. “C…Can I ask something milord,” Anxiety asked timidly. “Questions are always welcomed in the realm of creativity,” King decreed. Questions created possibilities. “What happened? Before the split I mean? The other’s won’t ever tell me.” That surprised King. And from the way Morality stiffened, he had to assume it was the truth. They’d really not taken the chance to sway Anxiety’s opinion in their favor? For a moment he considers spinning a grand tale of betrayal and heartbreak, but he found the very thought of recalling the details of the events leading up to the split… unpleasant. “I trusted them and they turned against me because they disagreed with my vision for Thomas,” he informed Anxiety calmly, hoping it was enough for now. “I’m sorry. That… That is terrible,” he whispered hugging Morality closer. The young minister couldn’t see it but there were tears in Morality’s eyes. Which pleased King. Let the bespectacled traitor be afraid this may end up being the last hug he’ll ever receive from his precious Anxiety. Was this why they didn’t tell him? Because they knew that there was no spin they could give to their deeds that wouldn’t destroy the trust they’d built with the one among them who already feared being betrayed. “I… It was a long time ago. I think… Logan seemed very ashamed of what happened. Even Janus seems to feel bad. I’m sure… can’t we all…” Anxiety struggled to express his desires, but a new drawing showed what he wanted. King and Logic shaking hands amidst the others, all back to normal and smiling relieved. Faint shadows of Roman and Remus with an arm around one another’s shoulders right behind King. The fact that his minister’s powers had conjured it showed that the desire felt impossible. King dismissed this drawing in favor of another. Anxiety sighed, accepting that the subject was finished, and continued to regale him with stories of the twins. Sometimes it was a sad memory where the shadows revealed his care and worry for them both. Like a fight over a failed audition where shadow Anxiety was trying to patch up shadow Roman. Or a fight about a nightmare where the shadow of Anxiety was embracing Remus. Then memories of the other’s came. A debate about negative thoughts where shadow Logic laid a hand on shadow Anxiety’s shoulder as a gesture of pride. A staring match with Deceit but their shadows were reaching for each other. One memory had no shadows. The ‘lights’ were in Anxiety’s domain and reaching out for him as he sat huddled in on himself on the ground. The image was conflicted enough on it’s own. Then King picked up a drawing of Morality. “That’s the first time you came to talk to me remember Pat?” Virgil coed to the child who’d been rather quiet during the creation of this gallery. Anxiety recalled how he’d been upset about another fight with Roman and he’d come over and sat with him in silence. Then he’d offered him one of his cookies. It had surprised Anxiety, he knew how much Morality loved his cookies. Sharing one was his standard gesture of love and appreciation. But Anxiety felt like he didn’t deserve either at the time. He felt trapped in a role he didn’t want to play. And because of Morality talking to him that day, for the first time, he thought that maybe he didn’t have to be. Anxiety talked more about how the thought was quickly dismissed as unrealistic but King found that it was hard to focus. The colors revealed a painting of a side being offered a hand by Morality. He didn’t even notice the shadows this time. It was like he was trapped in his own memories. Then suddenly, he was back in the present and heard something beside him. A wailing child and someone gasping for air like they’d ran a marathon at full speed. He looked down and found Anxiety curled up in a ball, rocking back and forth with a crying Morality sitting next to him clutching onto his arm. Before he could wonder what had happened he could feel the others approaching at high speed. He stepped back, not wanting to be found too close to the distressed side. He could not allow them to think for even a moment, that he felt a second of worry for the minister. He didn’t, but he didn’t need the implications of such a show of weakness to bring his strength into question. “Patton! Virgil!” Deceit called out, causing Morality to calm down and just let out a few more sniffles. King set up a disinterested mask and turned to the approaching sides. “Oh good, deal with this. They bore me,” he drawled calmly as he stepped aside. He was barely acknowledged which he normally would take offense in, but he’d let it slide until he knew what had happened just now. And if it had anything to do with that terrible feeling that had struck him when he saw Anxiety’s drawing. Logic kneeled next to Anxiety and Deceit spoke with Logic’s voice. “Virgil, can you hear us?” The boy nodded. “May we touch you?” Another nod and Logic placed his hands on the side’s shoulders. “Breath Virgil, in for 4, hold for 7 out for 8, you can do it.” One more nod and the side started to follow the rhythm that was tapped on his shoulders, stuttering trough the 4th count of holding his breath. “That’s alright, try again.” King observed as the two patiently helped Anxiety to breathe normally again. Somewhere along the line the troubled side started to whisper ‘sorry,’ and ‘so stupid’. “You are not stupid, your feelings are valid and we are here to help you with them. We shouldn’t have left you on your own. Especially not with him around,” Deceit growled, now in his own voice, before turning to King. “I don’t care what you do to me, but leave Virgil out of this! He has nothing to do with this.” Before king could retort. Claim the responsibility and remind Deceit that he’ll play with his minister however he likes, the boy spoke up himself. “Not his fault. Just, random attack,” he muttered. Deceit and King looked down and found Anxiety holding onto Logic with Morality trying his best to stand on wobbly legs while holding onto the purple sash adorning the minster uniform. Logic and Morality were staring at him accusatory, but Anxiety was pleading with Deceit. “You don’t have to defend him Virgil. We know what he’s like… And we’ll do a better job at protecting you now. I swear. Let us look out for you for once, please,” Deceit pleaded. So interesting. For all Anxiety’s fears of being abandoned and betrayed, the others seemed to fear for his safety before their own. Had they changed? Or had Anxiety not yet given them sufficient reason to be muzzled? Or was it his drastic decision of muzzling himself that had made them cautious of messing with his part of their duties? “I’m not. Jan look at me. You’d know if I was lying. He was just listening to me. He didn’t do anything bad. I promise.” Deceit frowned confused. “He didn’t do this to harm you? To cause you to create…” Finally Deceit really looked at what King and Anxiety had been working on and the statue Anxiety had done all by himself. “Virgil what…” “I don’t know, I was listening to music and all this just sort of happened. His majesty was helping me finish some drawings,” he explained, confusing King. Was he… what’s the term? Covering for him? Then Anxiety got up, picking up Morality and looking at Logic who followed his movements, hands hovering around him. As if he were afraid that the younger side would fall apart at any moment. “Please, just go back alright, I’ll be fine. Thanks for helping but you should focus on making sure Thomas is alright,” Anxiety explained bravely, not quite looking at the others. Had recalling all his doubts and fears made him suspicious of the others? This could benefit King greatly. “Run along now. And take Morality. I have matters to discuss with my minister. In private,” King informed Logic and Deceit. Anxiety looked from King back to his tutor and confidant and offered him Morality. Logic shook his head with wide eyes. “Logan, it’s alright. You look after Pat for a minute. I’ll be back soon. Just… Please trust me?” Logic hesitated, sighed in defeat and took the child. He moved to leave, but paused. He turned and laid a hand on Anxiety’s shoulder, a moment passed while the two held each other’s gaze. Anxiety nodded and patted Logic’s hand. “I will be safe. When am I ever not?” Something that would have been a chuckle rippled through Logic’s chest as he stepped away and started walking back to the commons, glancing back every ten steps or so. “Virgil… I…” Deceit started, unable to finish the thought. “I know. I’ll be okay.” And with that final assurance and a distrustful look towards King the last of the traitors left. “Why?” King wondered. It seemed obvious to him that whatever Anxiety just went through was actually meant for him. And not only had he taken the hit, he had covered for him as well. “I’m anxiety, taking on the insecurities and fears of the others is part of my job. I don’t take it all, just the really bad bits when I can take it. And… it took me forever to open up to the others about my own attacks. It wasn’t my place to share about yours. It’s nothing personal. Just me being professional I guess,” he shrugged casually. King allowed himself a small smirk and once again reached out to pat Anxiety’s hair. Once more the boy’s first instinct was to flinch, but he still let him do as he pleased. “Well done my boy. You have potential,” he told him before returning his attention to another drawing, leaving the one of Morality frameless. Later he might tell the little one a bit more about the betrayal. But first. He needed to get to know him better. “Now how about this one.”Being petted like a dog was degrading, humiliating. Trying to not just be civil towards him but formal and respectful was torture. But it was better than what he feared would happen every time the King moved his hand towards him. Virgil didn’t like being changed against his will and this king would do as he pleased with him. Which is why he had to keep him happy and away from the others. He ignored the urge to smile every time he received the king’s praise. He is not going to develop Stockholm Syndrome just because off a few half-baked complements. This guy is still a threat to Thomas… Even if the others, maybe made a mistake in the past and have a hard time owning up to that right now. Fact remained that Virgil’s job was to keep everyone safe. That meant making them not want to decapitate the king over an anxiety attack he hadn’t triggered on purpose. Still… What had triggered the attack?