#Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment
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Product design and psychology: The Use of Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment in Video Game Design
Keywords: Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment, DDA, Video Gaming, Game Design, Player Behaviour

Abstract:
This paper delves into the mechanics of Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment (DDA) as a technique used in video game design. DDA serves as a sophisticated tool to subtly manipulate player behaviour and engagement. Through a close examination of case studies, we seek to provide an in-depth understanding of this technique's application and implications from a product design standpoint.
Introduction:
To maintain player engagement, the gaming industry often resorts to various psychological techniques. One such technique is Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment (DDA), a design practice that dynamically modifies the difficulty level of a game to match the player's skill level. This paper aims to explore the intricacies of DDA, emphasizing its application and potential implications within game design.
Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment in Gaming: Conceptualization and Design
DDA involves the automatic tuning of game difficulty based on the player's skill level, aiming to strike a balance between challenge and accessibility. By monitoring player performance and adjusting the game's difficulty in response, game designers can keep the game challenging enough to be engaging, but not so difficult as to be frustrating.
DDA can manifest in various forms, from adjusting enemy AI and modifying game parameters to altering resource availability or providing player assistance. These adjustments are typically made in the background, often unbeknownst to the player.
Case Study: Left 4 Dead
Valve's Left 4 Dead series offers a well-known example of DDA in action. The game features an AI "Director" that adjusts the difficulty and intensity of gameplay in real-time, based on the players' current situation, health, skill level, and pace. The Director can spawn more or fewer enemies, provide resources, or change environmental conditions, providing a tailored gaming experience to maintain player engagement.
Case Study: Candy Crush Saga
King's Candy Crush Saga leverages DDA by monitoring player progression and adjusting level difficulty. If a player is stuck on a level for an extended period, the game will subtly make the level easier, allowing the player to progress and thus maintaining their engagement with the game.
Implications for Game Design
While DDA is an effective tool for maintaining player engagement, its application must be handled delicately. It is crucial to preserve a game's challenge and player agency, avoiding scenarios where players feel their actions have little impact on the game outcome. Additionally, transparent communication about the use of DDA can help to avoid player frustration or confusion.
Conclusion
The application of Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment in video game design presents an intriguing method for guiding player behaviour and optimizing engagement. As the industry evolves, it will be insightful to observe how DDA and similar techniques will be refined and ethically integrated into game design, balancing player engagement with a fair and rewarding gaming experience.
References:
Alexander, L. (2014). Dynamic difficulty adjustment isn't cheating, it's proof you're doing well. Gamasutra. Retrieved from: https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/218460/Dynamic_difficulty_adjustment_isnt_cheating_its_proof_youre_doing_well.php
Andrade, G., Ramalho, G., Santana, H., & Corruble, V. (2005). Extending reinforcement learning to provide dynamic game balancing. In Workshop on Reasoning, Representation, and Learning in Computer Games (pp. 111-116).
Chen, J. (2007). Flow in games (and everything else). Communications of the ACM, 50(4), 31-34.
Hunicke, R. (2005). The case for dynamic difficulty adjustment in games. In Proceedings of the 2005 ACM SIGCHI International Conference on Advances in computer entertainment technology (pp. 429-433).
Lee, Y. H., & Wohn, D. Y. (2012). Are there cultural differences in how we play? Examining cultural effects on playing social network games. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(4), 1307-1314.
Missura, O., & Gärtner, T. (2009). Player modeling for intelligent difficulty adjustment. In 2009 12th International Conference on Discovery Science (pp. 197-211). Springer.
Sweetser, P., & Wyeth, P. (2005). GameFlow: a model for evaluating player enjoyment in games. Computers in Entertainment (CIE), 3(3), 3-3.
Zagal, J. P., Björk, S., & Lewis, C. (2013). Dark patterns in the design of games. In Foundations of Digital Games.
Zook, A., Riedl, M. O., Holden, H. K., Dahlgren, M., Sottosanti, P., & Harrison, B. (2012). Automated scenario adaptation in support of intelligent tutoring systems. In Twenty-Sixth AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence.
#Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment#DDA#Video Gaming#Game Design#Player Behaviour#product design#psychological manipulation#gaming#user experience#left 4 dead#candy crush
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asking them if they actually love you
fluffy angst, established relationships wriothesley, neuvillette, pantalone, capitano, dottore
Wriothesley
The duke was working at his desk in his private office when you walked in with no lively expression on your face. Wriothesley tore his eyes off from the cup of tea and saw you looking expressively exhausted.
“Wow, someone’s had a tough day”, he chuckled, “you look exhausted, babe.”
Ignoring his childish manner you asked him rather simply:
“Wrio, I have just one question. Do you even love me?”
Wriothesley choked on his tea.
“Love you? Of course I—I do.”
You did not have to question his frankness as Wriothesley has always been an explicitly blunt person. He would never lie in such occasions and certainly would tell you if he disliked something.
Having received his answer on the wobbly legs but with a contented smile, you lurked to his desk and hugged him from the side.
“Wrio, I’m just so tired and I’m in diiiire need of your cuddles.” You surprised him with a nice peck to his cheek.
Seeing you giving in to stress and overwhelmed all over Wriothesley could not help but started feeling upset too. He gently pulled your face close to him, his big gloved hand laid on your cheek in a loving way.
“Girl, someone has been working non-stop I see. Or should I say studying? M?”
He was clearly not happy with your sufferings. Being a workaholic himself Wriothesley knew how easy it is to overwhelm oneself. But he did not want this fate for you. Due to the sudden friction of you leaning to his chest to get sense of comfort, the work papers from Wriothesley’s desk had dropped onto the floor. You were lucky the ink remained still.
“Oops. Seems like you wanted to hug me so much you did not spare the poor sheets.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Wrio!”
“Ah, whatever.” He looked down indifferently. “Girl, I will not calm down until I make sure you’re in your bed, sleeping.”
“I’ll be fine. I can get home on my own.”
Wriothesley raised from his desk and discreetly walked you out of his office.
“I’m going to get you home and you’ll rest. That is unnegotiable.”
Neuvillette
Neuvillette was a closed, solitary man who experienced some difficulties when it came to relationship dynamics. Deep inside his heart he was, nonetheless, a pure romantic. He’d always come to your dates earlier, looking nothing but polished; and with incredibly serious (but polite) manner he would court you.
He was always a husband material and he let you know how important you are in his life any time he could. He was dedicated to you wholeheartedly, and even though at first time you were much scared off by his cold, aloof, professional-like appearance, later you found yourself falling in love with him too, until the both of you grew tightly attached to each other.
You knew you should not question or doubt his affections, but you had a terrible day and you only saw your world dark and hollow. It was when your shift ended that Neuvillette entered your office only to find you drowning in your work overtime. Or perhaps—no, it was your studies, your homework.
“Darling, were you doing your studies at work? I thought we’d agree that you would not overexert yourself.”
“I know…” you mumble, caffeine in you refusing to help anymore. “But at home I want to sleep. So when I finished my paperwork, I started doing my studies.”
“I see.” Neuvillette walked closely and took a look at your work sheets. “Dear, you have some mistakes here…But that’s not important now. I’ll give you a lift to home.”
You looked at Neuvillette bewildered.
“Home?”
“It’s evening already.”
“Neuvillette—” you asked him when he gently pulled you out from the desk by your hand. He gave you a surprised look. Judging by your face you were dead serious about asking something, so he kept quiet, letting you speak. “Do you like, love me?”
He was flustered at first, but only mildly. Neuvillette cleared his throat and adjusting his collar he answered with the equal seriousness:
“That I do. Why, have I made you doubt my affections?”
“No. I was just messing with you… I’m having a bad day.”
“I love you”, he said as if picking up your disappointed mood, he continued confessing to you in a frenzy: “I love you, I love you, I love you.” He smooched your cheek before leading you out of the office. “And I will make sure you won’t overwhelm yourself like today.”
Pantalone
“Do you even love me…” you wonder out loud, your chin laying on your arm as you’re doing the paper work.
“Love is a foolish concept for foolish people. It only softens your senses and makes you miserable. I cannot afford being miserable, vulnerable or weak”, Pantalone responds—his words a well-polished conviction he made himself believe in. Although, his looks is harsh on you and he states that in a rough manner, his gaze does not leave your exhausted image not for a moment of time.
Tired and exhausted, you are lying on the desk before the papers.
“So now you’re collapsing on my desk? Did no one teach you proper manners?” he inquires with a tone so ambiguous and indefinite that no one can truly guess if he’s fooling around or scolding you quite seriously.
“So you don’t”, you respond quietly. What were you even thinking… Of course a Harbinger—especially one of the oldest, probably no longer sensitive to feelings—Regrator would ever love you.
“There’s no point of me loving you, really. Love’s a poison, and I cannot let myself be poisoned, for there are many people who’d prefer me dead. I suffered too many assassination attempts to grow a sense of preservation in myself. Besides, where have you heard about love in business?” As always, the talkative man he is Pantalone would not stop blabbering a second. But seeing you close your eyes as he came closer, he whispered quietly, but audible enough for you to hear:
“I love you.”
Perhaps he did not even consider the words which slipped so fast from his lips. He wanted to cover his mouth shut to hide his embarrassment, but then he did not see a point in this.
“Thanks…” said the sleepy you, the next second falling asleep on the papers. “I … love you… too…”
“You’re an idiot. When will you stop mixing work and studies? Come, I’ll get you to bed.”
He gently pulled you into his arms and carried you through the dimly lit corridor. He placed you on your silky bed sheets, his hand moving to caress your cheek.
“You need to take better care of yourself. You can’t keep being so overwhelmed with both work and university. Now, sleep.”
He kisses your cheek, his lips linger for a few moments…
“I’m so exhausted.”
“I know. Sleep, my dear.”
He switched the lights off and slowly raised from the bed, afraid to do any friction that would tear you off from the sleepy state.
Capitano
“Capitano”, you called him from the middle of the living room, while you were studying near the fireplace.
He was just about to enter the room when you side eyed him and the familiar smell of spicy perfume seemed to fill the half of the air.
“Do you even love me, Capitano?”
He stood there, frozen at your question, not knowing what to respond because you usually would not have audacity to ask him something way too personal. It must have been a damn good reason for you to strike him so deeply.
“Hmph. What do you think?” He stopped in the frame of the entrance, his big arms crossed as he leaned onto the frame.
“I don't know, you tell me.” You did not tear your gaze of the book, as if taunting him. But he did not suspect that you were genuinely exhausted at that moment and sook to be comforted.
“Do you think I’d let you lurk in my house on weekends if I did not? Do you think I would ask my servants to prepare the finest meals for you, neatly accordingly to your allergies?” He grunts, unsatisfied and irritated. “Do you think I’d even let you talk to me so boldly if I did not want you by my side?”
You finally raised your head at him, leaving the book behind and gave him a satisfied but undoubtedly cunning smile.
“Capitano, my love, you’re so cute when you’re grumpy.”
“I just don't see a point in asking something so obvious.”
“You and your rational thinking. What if I just wanted to hear you sweet talking to me?”
Capitano was speechless. He knew how cunning you could be, but he did not even imagine that you would be taunting him so badly.
“I’ve had a difficult day. Too much studies, too little rest. I have not much time before exams so I am constantly stressing.”
“You don't have your deserved rest because you kept working even being a student. You need to choose one, woman.”
You sighed at Capitano. How many times did you have to explain to him?..
“I know, but I told you I want to have some cash of my own. I don't want to constantly ask you to buy something for me.”
“But your work kills you. You give so much effort for university, and you give as much to your work. This is unacceptable for your health.” His tone is cold with seriousness. You know he wouldn't change his mind just as you wouldn't change yours.
“Fine, perhaps I’ll work two days instead of three. But Capitano, stop standing there like a statue, sit down next to me. My mind is at peace when you are close.”
“Even if I am simply… sitting here? Doing nothing at all?”
“Even so. But I think you already know that you could hug me since I haven't seen you the whole day~.”
Dottore
“Do you even love me, Dottore?” you asked him plainly with no ceremonies. For a moment Dottore’s hand froze as he was holding the vial. He was standing there in his white medical gown as he mixed some fluids. After a few long moments he finally gave you an answer, his tone indifferent, but you could not see his expression behind the white safety mask.
“You know perfectly I only love science.”
“Guess I should have expected that ans—”
“But I love you. Perhaps, a little less than science, but I do. And I hope you know that”, he cleared his throat, “why’d you even ask that on the first place?”
You took a few steps closer to Dottore, silently lurking behind his back, fearing to ruin his test, but you could not escape his sharp senses.
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing. Continue with your experiment.”
“Uh-huh.” Dottore finally poured the fluids and mixed them properly. When the experiment finished he took his gloves off and you quickly wrapped your arms around his waist before he could run away from you.
“What’s wrong with you?” he asked, flustered enough to want his face hidden somewhere far from your eyes.
“I missed you, besides I’m very tired. If you don’t want to hug me back, then just stay like this and let me squeeze you.”
Nothing could express Dottore’s astonishment right now. He was most embarrassed, and he is not at all used to such extravagant signs of affections.
“Y/N you fool, careful with where you’re standing, my whole lab is not a playground.”
“I love you too, Dottore.” You delivered a peck to his cheek from behind. That action made Dottore boil immensely, and he finally turned around and leaned against his desk.
“Did something or someone upset you? You don’t usually act so rapidly.”
“Just a bad day in general. I’m exhausted and hungry too. But at least you told me you love me.”
Dottore sighed through teeth. He disliked a mere idea of you being stressed out. He wanted to cheer you up but his heart did not have capacity enough for much open affection.
“Okay, brat. How about we grab a dinner somewhere together? You wanna hot food?”
There were sudden sparkles in your eyes - the only offer from Dottore’s lips made you all shake with excitement and your frustration seemed to brush off.
“I would love to eat out with you right now, Dott.”
“Well in that case”, he glared at you and hissed, “let me finish my job properly. Wait in the vestibule.”
Grinning, you escaped his lab with fast pace, seeing Dottore roll his eyes at your childish excitement.
#anime x female reader#anime x reader#genshin x reader#genshin impact x reader#genshin impact angst#wriothesley x you#wriothesley x reader#wriothesley x y/n#neuvillette x reader#capitano x reader#pantalone x you#pantalone x reader#capitano x female reader#capitano x y/n#capitano x you#neuvillette x y/n#neuvillette x you#dottore x female reader#dottore x you#dottore x y/n#dottore x reader
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Love me not
Chishiya x fem!reader
Part 2
TW: Light smut, cursing.
Summary: You and Chishiya just fuck. Nothing more. You on the other hand, have to battle feelings.. when the executives say you might be useful, you and Chishiya’s dynamic starts to shift…

You and Chishiya have been casually hooking up for a good couple weeks, or months… or years? Time in the Borderlands is a bitch, but it was a while. It was like a reoccurring dream; you’d get in your bed, let him rearrange your guts, the you’d wake up the next morning alone. Casual. No strings attached.
Just what you needed. Wanted. Nothing more.
Okay what the fuck are you thinking? You had a dumb crush on this man. A man who didn’t even stick around long enough for aftercare.
it’s not like he felt the same way, of course. Every time you came back from a game he was in your room, waiting for you. Sitting on your bed casually, hands in his pockets as he stared up at you with those eyes.
Oh those eyes.. they were beautiful to you. The eyes that pretty much made you break down in giggles every time they met yours.
He doesn’t let you stare for long before absolutely ruining you and then disappearing like it’s nothing the morning after.
This was one of those mornings.
You woke up, sighing deeply to another empty bed. Your legs felt like they could give out at any moment, but you ignored it as you got up with a heavy groan-like exhale and a slump of your shoulders.
Your clothes were strewn around the floor, and you picked them up, putting them on one by one.
The funny thing is, you didn’t really care if Chishiya felt the same way as you did. You just cared that you got to fuck with a hot blonde guy.
You put on some shoes, walking out of the hotel room and down the hallway. The noise of the Beach and partying almost never stopped. You went down there only once in a blue moon. It wasn’t your type of place.
You decided after going downstairs and into the lobby that you were going to play a game. Chishiya just got done with you, and you were bored. The games came easy to you anyways, since you were incredibly lucky. You don’t know why, it’s just that every time something bad should happen to you, it bounces off and goes to another person. So it was just fun.
————
The game arena was an abandoned high school. Several people gathered near the entrance, maybe twenty. You were kinda excited up until you saw Chishiya in the crowd.
Oh.
My..
GOD…
He stared at you. His gaze almost as if he was deciding what to do in that moment. His hood was on, hands in his pockets like usual. But his gaze was on you. It made you shift a bit on your feet. He nodded at you, as if to say hello. You awkwardly smiled and nodded back. That was all you could do to keep from breaking down into that giggling mess.
The fuck was happening??? It was just a stare. A stare that he did to everyone, at that.
Then why did it feel so good to have him stare at you?
All thoughts were interrupted by the familiar female robotic voice over the intercom explaining the rules:
GAME: FUSION FACTS
DIFFICULTY: FIVE OF DIAMONDS
Chishiya looked up at one of the intercoms, smirking softly and adjusting his posture, becoming more relaxed.
The voice spoke again..
RULES:
Players must go into one of the classrooms on the second and first floor in groups of two
Players must answer a series of 30 questions, like math, science, and language arts before the timer runs out.
If an incorrect answer is given more than 4 times, that player will be eliminated.
If only one of the two players answer questions, then the non-participating player will be eliminated.
The game will go on until three or four groups finish the questions.
You looked over at Chishiya then back down at the floor when you realized he was staring right back at you.
Groups of two? Shit shit shit shit shit shit-
“Want to team up?”
You looked up and saw Chishiya standing right next to you, his eyes piercing through yours. You gulped quietly, looking at him and standing up a bit more straight.
“I don’t see why not.”
Chishiya nodded, looking back at the doorway.
TIME LIMIT: 1 HOUR, 30 MINUTES
You softly sighed, jumping up and down a bit to get the blood flow going. This should be easy… right? Yeah. All you have to do is ignore the man beside you.. who is also your teammate… and fuck buddy. Easy.
Once the timer started, you ran into one of the classrooms, immediately looking around. You saw a camera in the corner of the classroom, and gave it a dirty look. You saw Chishiya loitering behind you. You went over and shut the door behind him. The classroom had a computer on the teachers desk.
5+2=?
“Easy. Seven.” You spoke aloud, simply typing out the answer on the keyboard. It glowed green before switching to another question.
The powerhouse of the cell is the ________.
“Mitochondria.” Chishiya spoke, leaning over to see the computer in front of you.
“These are fairly easy..” You mumbled, typing in another answer.
What is a hyperbole?
“An over-exaggeration..” You softly spoke as you felt Chishiya’s breath on your neck. You shifted slightly before typing in and getting the question right.
———
Once you and Chishiya finished the game, you both walked out of the high school. You stretched, “That was fairly easy, despite some of the science questions..” You smiled softly, turning around and walking backwards to look at Chishiya. He stared at you, his expression neutral. He followed close behind as you rambled.
You didn’t think he was listening, and he really wasn’t. He had other things on his mind, like how he had to get back in time for an executive meeting.
The Beach. Chishiya was back, and just in time, too. He walked to the executive room, hands in his pocket. He usually didn’t care about the meetings, but he had to attend them.
It was just Hatter rambling about how it was possible to maybe try to find the face cards based on the areas and arenas. Suddenly, Mira spoke up. “Have any of you noticed a girl here? She’s cleared every single game with ease, and has incredible luck. Perhaps she could, I don’t know, help us? Maybe become an executive?”
Chishiya looked up, looking at Mira. “You mean Y/N?” He spoke, narrowing his eyes slightly.
“Oh is that her name? Yes. Do you know her?” Mira perked up, smiling. The other executives kind of stayed silent. Even Niragi, surprisingly. Hatter looked between the two.
“If you do, tell her we’d like her to sit in on some of the meetings, Chishiya.” He ordered, not really leaving room for argument. Chishiya nodded, acknowledging the demand.
Fuck my life. Chishiya thought.
Chishiya walked to your room, opening the door after knocking some. “Y/N.” He stared at her, lying on the bed.
“Hm? Oh Chishiya. What’s up?” You asked. So innocently.. Chishiya wanted to ruin that. Oh so badly. He held himself back.
“For some reason, Hatter thinks you could help find the face cards. You’ll be sitting in on the meetings now.” He said, keeping himself from gritting his teeth.
You nodded. “Alright.. is that all?” You asked, putting down the book you were reading.
Chishiya stared at your legs, then his eyes crawled up your body slowly before staring into the eyes he made roll back so many times already.
“Is there something else to say?”
You softly chuckled, smiling and going back to your book. “Not that I know of.”
———
Of course he had to come back. Of course he did.. he just needed to come back so he could fuck out his little toy. Of course.
It wasn’t any different from the other times you fucked, but he stayed a little longer than normal. His breathing slowed down as you both came down from your high. You both went, what, three? Four? Maybe 7 rounds? But he went hard. Sweaty and honestly exhausted you turned to face the opposite wall away from him, trying to get comfortable.
You felt a hand wrap around your waist. He softly breathed against the nape of your neck, clinging to your body. This was.. new. Weird, but new.. the real question was why it was new. Why was Chishiya still here?
“Don’t expect this again.” Chishiya suddenly shot out, almost like he was nervous of how you’d react. It was quiet for a moment before he got up, got on his clothes and left without another word.
What
the
fuck.
You lied there, still in the same position as he left you, kind of surprised. You eventually got up and did the same, getting on your clothes. You decided to ignore the little gesture, but you couldn’t help but giggle a bit.
———
Chishiya walked down the hallway, suddenly stopping and leaning against the wall.
The fuck did he just do? He grips his chest with one hand, sighing softly to slow his heart beat..
Shit.
A/N: OKAY this is definitely going into multiple parts, expect more soon!!!
#chishiya shuntaro#chishiya x reader#chishiya smut#Chishiya#chishiya alice in borderland#chishiya x you#Smut#Tags 💔💔#alice in boderland x reader#alice in borderland#fanfic#fluff#part 1 love me not
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Could we please have a fic
Where Tim is still adjusting to being a lil bro and he's still a bit nervous around Jason because the RH incident and Jason is fully aware that his lil bro is scared of him, and then Dick, (very purposefully) tells Jason that Tim is ticklish. Jason decides to use this information.
editing? who's she? (aka i was too lazy to edit a 5.5K tickle fic i just wanted to post it jksdhsdjfh)
also, seeing as my life is consumed by DC/esp the Batfam right now i was compelled to actually do my research for this fic and i went and found teen titans volume 3 #29 and looked through their fight. and dont get me wrong i love a good titans tower fic, tim drake is The whumpable character ever, but it is SO FUNNY to me the way fandom has apparently blown this so out of proportion because skimming that fight between the two it was literally like. the vigilante equivalent of squaring up behind the Waffle House at 3am while Jason is wearing a Party City Robin outfit sdjfhdsfj it was so unserious, he was definitely a theater kid lol, Tim wasn't even busted up that bad the worst he had was a bloody nose and maybe a concussion from the final blow lol
so i leaned more into the canon energy of it (snarky Tim who held his own decently well) because i think the whole fanon "he-almost-murdered-me-and-i'm-traumatized-and-terrified" energy leans into a fear dynamic that i am not necessarily comfortable exploring in a fluffy tickle fic? so i hope that's alright and that you still enjoy this fic even though i didnt full lean into that "scared of jason" energy i think you were looking for!
_______________________
Brothers Forged in Laughter
Fandom: Batfamily (no specific source material/continuity -- though i do briefly reference Teen Titans volume 3 #29)
Ship(s): Gen!!! Platonic!! Familial!! No batcest here
Characters (lee/ler): Lee!Tim & Ler!Jason (plus a very brief Ler!Dick)
Word Count: 5623 words
Summary: Tim wasn’t Jason's little brother, not really. Just because they got taken in by the same rich asshole did not mean they were related. But, well, the kid was kind of asking for it at this point. Maybe getting tickled to tears on the training mats by your asshole predecessor would become a Robin right-of-passage.
[ao3 link]
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Developing an unspoken sort of truce with the Bats had not been on Jason’s to-do list when he returned to Gotham, especially after his little trip to Titan’s Tower or the explosive confrontation between him, Bruce, and the Joker. Really, Jason blamed Dick. He was like a leech, it was impossible to shake him once he got his teeth sunk in.
Still, it had its benefits. He didn’t have to worry about getting arrested and thrown in Arkham anymore, for one. Not to mention, the Bats left Crime Alley well alone now (bar an Arkham breakout), leaving the neighborhood to Jason’s expertise. But most of all: access to the Batcave.
Jason didn’t necessarily enjoy his visits to the Cave, but there were things that Bruce’s money could buy that Jason had difficulty getting his hands on. For instance, the state-of-the-art lab that was hooked up to the Batcomputer and all its insane processing speed.
With Batman publicly off on a JL mission and no risk of running into Bruce, Jason didn’t hesitate breaking into the Batcave (was it really breaking in if they never deactivated Jason’s codes in the first place? Jason liked to think so) to study a concoction from his latest Scarecrow copy-cat that thought Crime Alley made a great testing ground. It was just his luck that the little replacement Robin happened to be down in the Cave at the same time, drowning in an oversized hoodie and staring down one of the Batcomputer’s monitors with bloodshot eyes. One of his arms was in a sling, but Jason didn’t keep track of the Bats’ cases enough to know what had caused the injury. He was more wilted than the oregano plant Jason had forgotten at one of his lesser-used safehouses. And, more importantly, he was in Jason’s way.
“Pretty sure little birdies are meant to be resting when their wings get clipped,” Jason called out as he walked up the steps toward the Batcomputer.
The line of Tim’s shoulders went taught as his head snapped around to glare at Jason. “I’m pretty sure zombie crime lords are supposed to stick to Crime Alley.”
Jason held up his sample of knock-off toxin, shaking the liquid inside. “Wouldn’t exactly be here if I didn’t have to.”
Tim’s lips pressed into a thin line as he huffed a breath out through his nose. “Fine.”
Jason rolled his eyes as he turned toward the mass spectrometer, fumbling a bit to set it up properly. It’d been a while since he’d had to use one, and the one in the Cave was a lot newer than the one he’d used as Robin. It didn’t help that the back of his neck burned from the eyes boring into it.
“Don’t need a babysitter, y’know.”
“Like I’m leaving you in the Cave unsupervised.”
Jason scoffed. “What am I gonna do, poison your juice boxes?” The machine finally started running rounds of analysis, so Jason spun around to lean against it, locking his eyes onto Tim. And the stack of soda cans next to him. “Or your Zesti, apparently. Alfred lets you drink all that shit?”
Tim stayed silent, narrowing his eyes.
Jason lit up. “He doesn’t, does he?” He laughed, eyeing the pile of empty cans again. “Maybe we should call him down right now, what do you say?”
Jason started towards Tim and the Batcomputer, only meaning to ruffle his hair, maybe tease him a bit more about his serious sugar addiction, but he came up short as Tim slipped a hand against the underside of the Batcomputer’s desk, fingers subtly searching. Jason knew there was a panic button under there, even though he’d never had to use it during his time as Robin. It would send alerts to Alfred, to Dick, to every device of Bruce’s – hell, it might even send alerts to Clark or Diana at this point. Jason really didn’t need Superman busting in with a disgruntled Batman in his arms while he was trying to get work done.
So he backed off, raising his hands in mocking surrender as he leaned back against the machinery behind him, playing it off with a sarcastic, “Damn then, Boy Wonder, keep your secrets.”
The rest of Jason’s visit to the Cave was spent in tense silence, only broken in brief intervals to discuss the specifics of Jason’s case and the results of the toxin analysis. Turns out it was developed from an older strain of Crane’s – the most current fear toxin antidote could wipe it out no problem.
It didn’t leave him as satisfied as it should have, feeling all off-kilter as he mounted his motorcycle and started his drive back to Crime Alley. He couldn’t shake the hard look in Tim’s eyes as his fingers searched the bottom of the desk. It was fucking infuriating. What should he care if the newest little Robin was scared of him, after all? He and the Bats weren’t a team, and Robin certainly wasn’t his responsibility.
Maybe Jason had inhaled a little of the toxin when running the analysis. That was all.
* * *
Scared wasn’t really the right word, Jason realized over time. Because Tim was very obviously not afraid of him. He would poke and prod at Jason, even outright mock him sometimes. His glares were fierce and intense, his tone short and snappy. At times, he almost seemed to be seeking out a fight, like he wanted a rematch, to prove the words he said back at Titan’s Tower.
“Do you think you’re that good now? Do you really, Tim?”
“Yes.”
Wary seemed more accurate. He wasn’t frightened of Jason, but he was mostly certainly on edge. Even more so when Jason started visiting the Manor itself, finally giving in to Alfred and Dick’s invitations (though he still staunchly refused the invitations for family dinners – no way in hell he was being civil with Bruce for that long.). Tim would eye Jason like one would a particularly reactive dog – cautious and ready to act, but without any outright fear or anxiety.
And Jason… he could live with that. He didn’t particularly enjoy it, but it’s not like they were family or anything. Just because Bruce took in the kid didn’t make them brothers – and it wasn’t like Bruce was his father anymore, anyway. The itch that grew under Jason’s skin when Tim would look at him like that was purely from having eyes on him, that was all. And he didn’t feel guilty for making the kid feel like that, thank you very much – that lingering weight in his chest was just a perfectly normal reaction to Dick’s puppy-dog eyes every time he and Tim sniped at each other.
Seriously. No grown man should be able to make that expression. It was unnatural.
He was so used to Tim’s cold shoulders that when he arrived at the Cave one afternoon, he almost fell off his motorcycle at the bright, cackling laugh that echoed across the stone once he cut his engine. It was boyish, childish, happy – all the things Robin should be. For a moment, it made old bitterness crawl up the back of his throat like bile, but he just as quickly swallowed it back down. He’d already taken out enough on the kid.
The laughter grew louder as he climbed the stairs up to the Batcave’s main platform, growing squeakier or snortier or gigglier in various intervals. By the time he made it up the stairs, Jason had a pretty good idea of what was happening. Turning away from the Batcomputer and towards the training mats easily confirmed it.
Because there was the Boy Wonder, in all his red-faced glory, cackling up a storm as Dick tickled the absolute shit out of him.
At least Dick had someone besides Jason to take all that tickle-monster energy out on, now.
Dick’s head shot up as Jason’s boot scuffed across the stone, and he shot Jason a grin. “Hey, Little Wing!” Tim’s laughter lightened, growing more giggly. Probably Dick lightening up his attack in case he wanted to participate in the conversation. “What brings you here?”
“Came by to hack into the computer.” Jason jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. “Got some CCTV to look into, and the setup is better here than in any of my safehouses.”
Dick nodded, and Tim’s laughter jumped in pitch again.
“Jesus,” Jason said. “You trying to kill the kid?”
Dick laughed himself and finally let up, leaving Tim to roll onto his side and catch his breath.
“Nah – but I think I might’ve finally found someone more ticklish than you, Jay.” He gave Jason a meaningful look, winking when he was sure Tim wasn’t looking.
Jason scoffed. He would not be filing that information away for later, thank you very much, because Tim was not his baby brother. “Yeah, whatever. I grew out of that – Lazarus Pits and all.”
Dick narrowed his eyes, a disarming smile on his lips. “Oh, really? That’s too bad. I’m sure you wouldn’t mind, then, if I–”
Jason swiftly backed away from the mats. “Yeah, no. I’m busy – came here to work and all. Try to keep it down, will you?” He managed to catch Tim’s eye for a second. “Try his thighs,” he advised. “Or just under his ribs. Makes for great revenge.”
“Wha– Jason!”
Jason turned his back on them, not wanting to unpack the narrow-eyed look Tim gave him. Not even moments later he heard Dick yelp.
“Oh, no you don’t – you’ll regret that!”
And the Cave was quickly filled with laughter once more, two sets of it this time. Not exactly the quiet environment Jason had hoped for when he came by to work, but he would deal. The Batcomputer had high-quality headphones for a reason.
And, privately, Jason thought those two could use more opportunities to smile.
* * *
Over time, the uneasy truce settled into something more comfortable. There were times it still chafed, itching at Jason’s skin until he felt he needed to claw it off, but things were rarely so tense anymore that Jason expected to be cut off like a necrotic limb. Hood still handled Crime Alley, the Bats tackled the rest of Gotham, and sometimes, if the cards fell right, they were able to work cases together without any casualties.
Cases like this new up-and-coming gang. They’d spread outside of the Alley, maneuvering in areas where Hood didn’t have as much reach or authority, but they were still spreading through his own territory like slow-acting poison. There was only so much he could do, and so when Dick offered the Bats up to help, Jason agreed with only minimal bitching.
Which led him to this warehouse rooftop, going on three hours crouched uncomfortably next to Robin, the irritation of a failed stakeout grating against his ribs and skull. The established gang these newbies were trying to ally with hadn’t even shown, and even the newbies were starting to pack up shop, wanting to get back to base before dawn broke. The newest little Robin, however, didn’t seem to be getting the memo that this was a bust.
“Kid,” Hood all but growled. “Let’s go, there’s nothing more for us here.”
Robin scoffed, still laying on his stomach and not bothering to drop the binoculars to have a conversation with Hood. “Something might still happen. I’m not going to drop this just because you’re getting impatient.”
A flash of irritation bubbled up in Hood’s chest, frustration coiling hot in his stomach. The gang was leaving, Hood was starving, his knees ached from crouching on this roof all night, and he really should’ve told Dick no when Robin was offered up to help with the stakeout. But of course, the Bat himself was too busy with some last-minute JL business, and Nightwing had his own problems in Bludhaven to deal with. The worst part was that Robin was right, something could still happen, but Hood sincerely doubted it. They hadn’t gotten any new or relevant info in the past two hours, and Hood was ready to stuff his face with some greasy fast food and pass out for the next six hours.
And so as the newbies finished loading up their vehicles and driving off, Hood reached over to snatch the binoculars from Robin. Somehow, even with his face buried behind the plastic, he knew Hood was coming and shifted out of the way, thrusting a foot into Hood’s chest to try and hold him back. Hood’s height was an advantage here, but Robin still refused to let go of the binoculars, staring after the newbies’ vehicles as if they held the answers to the universe.
And Hood, overtired and ready to be out of all this goddamned armor and in bed, let his instincts take over again. He jabbed one hand up under Robin’s arm, poking and prodding at the softer spot in the armor designed for mobility. Robin made an awkward squawking sound, his arm shooting down to protect the vulnerable spot and cutting the grip he had on the binoculars by half. Hood easily wrenched them from his hand after that, tucking them into an inner pocket in his leather jacket.
“Come on,” Hood said, standing and brushing himself off like nothing happened. “Batburger, I’m buying.”
Robin scowled at him, eyes unreadable behind the white-out lenses of the domino, and slowly rose to his feet. “Fine. But I want Jokerized fries, and I don’t care how you feel about it.”
* * *
Jason had to wonder if the kid ever slept. Every time he came by the Cave, Tim was there too – training, running samples, working cases on the Batcomputer – no matter what absurd hour he arrived. Jason let out a loud, long, obnoxious sigh as he cleared the stairs to the main platform of the Batcave, and Tim immediately whipped around and glared at him over the back of the desk chair.
“Can I help you?” Tim snapped.
“I need the computer.” Jason kicked the base of the desk chair as he approached, propelling it several inches to the left.
Tim’s scowl deepened, and he rolled the chair back into position. “Well you can wait. I’m busy with a case.”
Instead of arguing further, Jason opted for the quickest route of success. He grabbed the back of the desk chair, spun it around so Tim was no longer facing the desk, and unceremoniously dumped him out of the seat. Tim squawked as he stumbled out of the chair, but regained his footing quickly and immediately trying to bolt back into the seat. Jason smirked and yanked it away, sending it rolling a few feet behind him.
“Whoops.”
Tim pursed his lips. “Real mature.”
Jason laid a hand over his heart and cocked his head to the side. “Ouch. You wound me. Truly.”
Tim glared at him, but his eyes flicked towards the desk chair behind Jason. They burst into motion at the same time – Tim lunging towards the chair, and Jason lunging towards Tim. After a brief tussle, Jason yanked Tim into a headlock, and for a brief second the two of them went eerily still. Jason loosened his grip, making the hold easy to break, but didn’t let go. Tim stayed frozen for a moment longer before tilting his head up, giving Jason a challenging look.
Jason’s mind warred with itself for a few moments. Not my little brother, one side of his brain said. Isn’t he, though? another replied. He had, unfortunately, filed away that information Dick had given him, as much as he tried to ignore it. And, well, it wouldn’t be the first time, would it? He didn’t think he’d even given Tim back his Bat-noculars.
A moment passed, and Jason suddenly lunged, latching his free hand onto Tim’s side and squeezing away. Tim jerked in his grip, squealing as a smile forced its way onto his face. One hand went towards prying Jason’s off his side, while the other came and clutched at the forearm around his throat for stability. Jason grinned and allowed the hand to crawl up Tim’s side, carefully keeping his headlock loose so that Tim wouldn’t really feel trapped. The second Jason’s fingers touched his ribs and a real laugh jumped out from Tim’s throat, he was out of Jason’s grip in seconds. Tim stood across from him, giving him another one of those uncomfortably calculating looks, though the blush rushing to his cheeks diminished it slightly.
“Fine,” Tim said eventually. “I should head up and get a snack anyways.”
Jason raised an eyebrow.
“But I’m coming back down in two hours, and I will be getting back to my case. Whether you’re done on the computer or not.”
Jason snorted. “Yeah, sure thing, Timberly. Whatever you say.”
* * *
Jason was at the Manor for family dinner.
His skin itched at the thought as he sped into the Cave on his motorcycle – he never entered through the Manor proper, not in all these months, something about that just made it too real, too raw – and threw his riding gear off. Bruce was going to be there – not Batman, Bruce, and he hadn’t really interacted with the man outside the mask since he came back – but so were Dick and Alfred. And so was Tim.
Bit by bit, the kid had been relaxing around him. They worked cases together (and with Nightwing) when Hood needed a Bat, or when the birds needed his help instead. He didn’t tense whenever Jason came through the Cave anymore, didn’t eye Jason with suspicion when they crossed paths on patrol. He still stared a lot, but it’s not like Jason could blame him. He had attacked the kid, and even if he didn’t leave him with more than a concussion and some bruises (and Jason with a grudging sense of respect for the brat, as he walked away with his own array of bruising and a busted nose), the kid was well within his rights to keep his eyes on Jason’s movements.
But still, the progress they had made was, well, nice.
Speak of the devil — the Cave wasn’t empty. Tim was in the training area, dressed in basketball shorts and a t-shirt, running his bo staff drills with a single-minded focus that could rival even Bruce. Jason almost would’ve thought that Tim didn’t realize he was there, but Tim’s eyes flicked his direction as he approached the edge of the training mats. Tim ran through the move he was doing a few more times, making minute posture changes each time until his form was perfect, before dropping out of his stance and facing Jason.
“Not bad,” Jason said.
Tim ticked up an eyebrow. “Thanks.” His gaze trailed over to the stairs. “Alfred’s still making dinner, and Bruce is up there brooding and fussing over everything until it’s perfect. You probably wanna stay down here until the food’s ready.”
The skin around Jason’s eyes tightened as he suppressed a wince. “Yeah, thanks. Where’s Golden Boy?”
The corner of Tim’s mouth twitched up. “He got saddled with ‘distract Bruce’ duty.”
Jason matched Tim’s half-smile. They lapsed into an awkward silence. Jason shoved his hands in his pockets to resist the urge to fidget. Tim stared.
“Let’s spar,” Tim said suddenly, turning on his heel to set aside his bo staff.
Jason stared at him, incredulous. “What?”
“Spar. You and me.”
“Are you sure about that, kid?”
Tim shot him one of those calculating looks over his shoulder. “Do you have anything better to do?”
Jason pursed his lips. “No.”
“Then let’s spar.”
Palms sweating, Jason kicked off his boots, shucked his leather jacket, and set aside the weapons he’d hidden on his person. He set himself up opposite of Tim, lowering his body into a fighting stance.
“Ready?” Tim asked.
“Yup.”
The word was barely out of Jason’s mouth before Tim lunged, immediately going in for a grapple. Jason almost laughed — he far outclassed the little Robin in both weight and strength — and quickly sent the kid sprawling to the mats before backing away. Tim was scowling when he stood up.
“Don’t go easy on me.”
“Don’t worry, Boy Wonder. I’m just getting warmed up.”
Tim lunged first again, feinting left before trying to circle around to Jason’s back on the right. Jason whipped around and blocked the incoming blows, jabs that would’ve left his arms numb and tingling for hours had they landed. On one block, he snagged Tim’s wrist and used it to twirl him halfway around. He shoved Tim forward, harder than he meant to, and let him stumble a few feet as he retreated again.
The spar went on like this for a while, Tim attacking and Jason blocking and retreating. Tim’s scowl got deeper and deeper, and the careful control he usually held in his movements started slipping more and more. After the tenth time Jason knocked Tim’s attack away and retreated, Tim finally snapped.
“Stop babying me! I can take it!”
“Tim—“
“No.” Tim fell back into a ready stance, face red and splotchy from frustration and exertion. “I know what it looks like when you’re fighting for real. So fight me.”
Jason pressed his lips into a thin line. “Fine.”
Jason rushed first this time, and Tim met him in the middle. They exchanged a series of blows (though Jason pulled his punches — this was a spar not a brawl, and he kinda thought Tim had enough of Jason punching his lights out by now), and Tim held his own well. He’d gotten some good hits in during their confrontation at Titan’s Tower, but it was clear he had improved since losing to Jason back then. If Tim had been in a better state, he might’ve been able to hold out against Jason’s onslaught for a while.
As it was, Tim had clearly been training for a while before Jason had come in and had already been fatigued, and his lingering frustration from Jason’s kid-gloves was obviously making him sloppy. With Jason’s bulk and sheer strength, he had Tim pinned to the ground in minutes. Tim grunted and growled and struggled under him, trying to free himself, but Jason had both his arms pinned above his head and had settled his bulk over Tim’s thighs so he couldn’t flip their positions or kick Jason off.
“Satisfied?” Jason asked dryly.
Tim didn’t reply, twisting his wrists to test Jason’s grip.
“Ready to hit the showers? Alfred probably won’t be happy if we come to dinner all drenched in sweat.”
Tim twisted his hips, trying to throw Jason off but unable to get the leverage to move his considerable weight. “No, fuck you.”
Jason’s eyebrows shot up. “Damn, Timber, you kiss Alfred with that mouth?”
Tim paid him no mind, continuing to hiss and spit under him. Honestly, it reminded Jason a lot of when he was Robin. Whenever Dick beat him in a spar, he would hiss and spit and carry on, trying to break the hold until Dick got sick of his whining and—
Ah. So that was why Dick had been tickling the kid to tears the other month.
Jason gave Tim a considering look. For a moment, he wondered if he really had the right. Tim wasn’t his little brother, not really. Just because they got taken in by the same rich asshole did not mean they were related. He’d been telling himself so for months, even if there were moments of doubt. But, well, wasn’t Tim his little brother? They snarked and tussled over the computer and helped each other on cases, and Jason was here to eat family dinner with him for God’s sake.
And hey, maybe getting tickled to tears on the training mats by your asshole predecessor would become a Robin right-of-passage.
Amidst Tim’s struggling, Jason managed to wrangle both his wrists into one hand and pin them firmly above his head. Then, making sure Tim was watching, he hovered a hand over Tim’s stomach and slowly started wiggling his fingers.
Tim gasped and froze. Then, just as quickly, his struggles started up again with a new desperation.
“You wouldn’t.”
Jason grinned, lowering his wiggling fingers another inch. “Say uncle, Timmy.”
Tim narrowed his eyes, dragging his eyes away from the ticklish threat to meet Jason’s own. “Do your worst.”
Tim’s mouth clamped shut tight just as Jason’s lowered his hand and touched down on Tim’s stomach. Tim squeezed his eyes shut and squirmed, going pink in the face as he tried not to laugh.
Jason laughed for him. “Come on, TimTam, we both know you’re ticklish as shit. No point in not laughing.”
Tim shook his head, trying unsuccessfully to worm away to the left as Jason’s hand traveled to his right side.
“No, it doesn’t tickle? Are you sure?”
Even though his eyes were still closed, Tim turned his face away from Jason, trying to hide behind one of his biceps. Jason grinned wider and jumped his hand over to Tim’s other side, delivering a series of nibbling pinches without warning. Tim squeaked, like the little baby bird he was, and jolted to the right to try and get away.
“I dunno, Baby Bird. Seems like it might tickle.”
Tim made a growling noise in the back of his throat, and Jason couldn’t help but laugh again.
“No? Maybe we should make sure all your nerves are working right, then.”
Tim’s eyes snapped open at that, glassy and watery from the effort of holding back his laughter. Jason made sure to grin at him, smug and toothy and all evil-big-brother, just like Dick used to do to him.
“Tell me, can you feel this?”
His hand shot up and skittered calloused fingertips and blunt fingernails against the exposed side of Tim’s neck. Tim’s head snapped to that side with a muffled squeal, his smile fighting to become open-mouthed and toothy, forcing Tim to bite down on his lip to keep his reactions at bay.
“Hmm, seems promising. How ‘bout here, can you feel that?”
Jason shot back down and vibrated his hand into the center of Tim’s belly. Tim tried to jackknife to protect himself, but with his wrists firmly pinned and Jason’s considerable weight on his thighs, he was forced to stay flat against the mats. He chose to toss his head back against the mats instead, shaking it back and forth furiously.
“No?” Jason asked, voice dripping with faux-concern. “You can’t feel it?”
Tim let an annoyed little groan, but quickly cut it off as it started to take on a giggly tone. Jason was being deliberately unhelpful in the matter, poking his index finger into various spots of Tim’s stomach and vibrating it.
“Right here, can you feel this? What about over here? And here? Come on Timbit, work with me here.”
Tim flinched and twitched at every prod, trembling with suppressed giggles. Jason’s own cheeks hurt from smiling — he could definitely see why Dick tickled the snot out of him so often when he was a kid. This was adorable and hilarious. But he still had yet to make the kid break, which was kinda annoying. Like, hello, how was Jason supposed to tickle the snot out of him if he wouldn’t even laugh? Jason paused for a moment, letting Tim catch his breath as he planned his next attack. Now where was it that made Tim shoot out of his arms the other week…
Oh, that’s right.
Jason put on a mournful look, shaking his head. “Starting to get real concerned here, Timbourine. Maybe we oughtta do a full injury check.” Jason rested his fingers on Tim’s lower ribs. “What do you say?”
Tim gasped, shuffling as far away from Jason’s hand as he could, but Jason followed the movement easily.
“Jason—“ Tim started, but cut himself off, pressing his lips together again.
“What is it you said to me, again? Do my worst, was that it?”
“Jason, I’ll— I’ll buffer Bruce for you tonight. I’ll take on your caseload. I’ll clean your motorcycle, I—“
“As tempting as that all sounds,” Jason had to raise his voice to be heard over Tim’s rambling. “You know what I wanna hear. Admit you lost.”
Tim’s mouth clamped shut. Of course. How could the latest model not come with that patented stubborn Robin pride?
Jason shrugged, tapping his fingers threateningly against Tim’s ribs, making him squirm. “Suit yourself.”
Jason wasn’t the greatest at picking apart Tim’s expressions, but he’d say the smile forcing its way across Tim’s face was almost giddy.
He started off with a typical injury-check touch, a light press and slide against the individual ribs, just to really play into the game he had set up. Tim’s face scrunched up instantly, obviously trying to hold back his reactions, and his body started squirming with a new fervor.
“Nerves working here, Timmers?” Jason tickled his middle ribs a bit more deliberately, making Tim’s face spasm. “Seems to me like you might be feeling something. Does it tickle?”
Tim shook his head. Jason sighed.
“You leave me no choice.”
Jason released Tim’s wrists and latched onto either side of his ribs with both hands, tickling mercilessly. Tim’s eyes bugged out of his head as he let out a laugh bordering on a scream. His legs scrambled on the mats behind Jason, searching for leverage or freedom. As Tim’s laughter fell into desperate cackles, Jason couldn’t help but laugh along with him.
“Jason! Jay!”
“You know how to make it stop, Timmy.”
Even with his hands free, Jason was discovering that Tim was absolutely useless when he was tickled. Jason attacked lower on his ribcage and Tim’s hands latched onto Jason’s wrists in a feeble, laughter-weakened attempt to pry him off. That only opened up the rest of his ribcage and armpits to attack, which Jason took great advantage of. Tim’s laughter would get more panicky, more shrill, the higher Jason went, but his brain didn’t seem to know how to defend itself — seeing as his hands stayed latched onto Jason’s to try and pull him off.
“Jesus Christ, Baby Bird — how do you even live when you’re this ticklish?”
“Asshole!”
Jason raised an eyebrow, though he wasn’t sure Tim could see it through his squinted, teary eyes. “Be nice. I could make this so much worse.”
“No, no!”
“That’s what I thought.”
Of course, Jason still made it worse anyway. There was a particular spot towards the back of Tim’s ribs, right between the top two on either side, that sent Tim spasming like he’d been electrocuted. Jason laughed as he prodded at the weak points one at a time, watching Tim toss himself in the opposite direction of the ticklish jolts. Finally, he gave Tim a breather, resting his fingers against those spots on his ribs just to keep him giggly and twitchy.
“Last chance for mercy,” Jason said, just barely twitching his fingers to watch Tim jump. “Alfred’ll send someone down soon.”
Tim’s teary eyes went wide. “Wait, Jason, come on–”
“Damn stubborn little Robin.”
Jason dug his fingers in, torturing those little tickle spots as best he could.
“Fuck!” Tim practically screamed before breaking into laughter that would give even the Joker a run for his money. Surprisingly, the hysterical tone of it didn’t even make Jason’s skin crawl. “Uncle!” Tim cried out, and his laughter went silent.
Jason eased up, redirecting his attack lower on Tim’s ribs, though still vibrating his fingers into the nerves mercilessly. “Hm? What was that?”
“You win! Uncle, you win! Jason, come on!”
With a chuckle, Jason heaved himself off of Tim to sit on the mats next to him, ruffling his hair as he caught his breath.
“Fuck you,” Tim said, closing his eyes and relaxing bonelessly into the mats.
“Hey.” Jason raised his hands in surrender. “You could’ve stopped that at any time. Not my fault you’re a stubborn little bitch.”
“I’ll get you for this.”
Jason raised an eyebrow. “I’ve got, like, a hundred pounds on you and I’m twice your height. How do you think you’re accomplishing that, shrimp?”
Tim peeled one eye open to glare at him. “I’ve got Dick.”
Jason froze. Oh, shit.
“That he does,” a cheerful voice chimed in from the direction of the stairs. Dick strode towards them, a slightly feral smile on his face. “And I would be more than happy to help. We never did test your claim about the Lazarus Pit taking away your ticklishness.”
Oh, fuck, actually. Maybe he shouldn’t have told Tim about Dick’s thighs that one time.
Dick’s smile shifted from feral to innocent in the blink of an eye. “But maybe later. Alfred sent me to get you for dinner – and I know he wouldn’t appreciate your B.O. stinking up the dinner table. Hit the showers.”
Jason groaned as he got up, pretending to crack his back even though he wasn’t the slightest bit sore from their sparring or impromptu tickle attack. Then, he reached down and hauled Tim to his feet, shoving him in the direction of the Cave’s locker room ahead of himself. Just as he went to follow, a hand on his shoulder stopped him.
“Good job, big brother,” Dick said, his voice low enough that it wouldn’t travel through the echoing cave. He gave Jason’s shoulder a squeeze.
Jason looked away and scoffed. “Yeah, whatever. Little shit was asking for it.”
Dick laughed and dropped his hand, shoving Jason toward the locker room much like Jason had shoved Tim. He tried not to think about it too hard, instead focusing on how carefully he’d have to watch his back in the future.
No way he was letting Timmy and Dickhead take him down without a fight.
#tickle fic#my writing#dc tickling#batfam tickling#lee!tim drake#ler!jason todd#ler!dick grayson#(briefly)#ticklish!tim drake#dc#batfam#tim drake#jason todd#dick grayson
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THE ULTIMATE SPORTS & HOBBIES SCRIPTING PACK ꒰ 01 ꒱ .☘︎ ݁˖
❝ It’s not even fair how good they are at everything.❞


— VOLLEYBALL
♫ ㆍ Your inner clock adjusts to match the rhythm of every match—so you never mistime a jump, hit too early, or react too slow.
♫ ㆍ Your arms and hands never sting or swell after a hard dig or block, no matter how intense the play.
♫ ㆍ No matter the lighting or gym, your depth perception stays crystal clear.
♫ ㆍ You can instantly spot weak points in any team’s formation after one rotation.
♫ ㆍ Your intuition about out balls is always right. No hesitation when letting a deep shot go—you just know when not to touch it.
♫ ㆍ You’re naturally synced with your setter—even if you’ve never played together, you feel their rhythm instantly.
♫ ㆍ Your serves are never accidentally out—you’re free to risk jump serves, floaters, or short serves.
♫ ㆍ Tape never peels, pads never slip; everything you put on stays in place without needing constant adjustments.

— DRAWING/PAINTING
♫ ㆍ Even at the most detailed and intricate strokes, your hand maintains perfect precision, removing the need for rulers or corrections.
♫ ㆍ Your brushes never wear out or fray, they always stay in perfect condition.
♫ ㆍ Without trial and error, you mix your paints knowing instinctively the exact color combination to achieve any shade.
♫ ㆍ You can draw or paint in complete darkness—your muscular memory and spatial awareness allow you to create impeccable pieces.
♫ ㆍ You have an intuitive understanding of anatomy and proportions. Everything and anything looks realistic and dynamic, regardless of perspective.
♫ ㆍ When something doesn't look right, your eye immediately identifies the problem, and you know how to correct it without starting from scratch.
♫ ㆍ References appear in your mind like flashcards—if you’ve seen it once you can mentally flip back to it when sketching.
♫ ㆍ You’re not sure why, but your favorite pen seems to stretch for extra pages, your paint tubes never dry out, and your erasers don’t crumble.

— ICE SKATING
♫ ㆍ Your blades never need sharpening—they’re always at their optimal state.
♫ ㆍ Even on cold trails, you maintain flexibility and warmth, eliminating the risk of stiffness or injury.
♫ ㆍ You never forget your choreography mid-routine—your muscles narrate the performance before your brain even finishes thinking.
♫ ㆍ Your spins are always perfectly centered—your balance is so impeccable that your spins look flawless.
♫ ㆍ Even the most intricate routines are fixed in your mind after seeing them just once.
♫ ㆍ Your body mechanics are so finely tuned that high-difficulty steps become your signature moves.
♫ ㆍ After you fall, your clothes never get soaked or uncomfortable. You bounce up, and it’s like nothing touched you.
♫ ㆍ Your costume/outfit never tears, rides up, or itches.

— WRITING
♫ ㆍ Every time you reread your work, the mistakes or awkward parts stand out just enough to catch, but not enough to make you spiral.
♫ ㆍ You never forget that one specific word you’re looking for, it bubbles up exactly when you need it.
♫ ㆍ You're so good at describing a feeling or detail, that readers often say “I’ve never seen it written like that before” because it’s deeply accurate.
♫ ㆍ You never lose the initial feeling that made you want to write something in the first place.
♫ ㆍ You keep what matters without over-polishing—you know which edits would please a reader and which would dilute your voice.
♫ ㆍ Your notebooks/docs never lose structure, even if you’re jumping between ideas.
♫ ㆍ When you need inspiration, you always “randomly” stumble upon the right book, show, or quote.
♫ ㆍ Your back never hurts from long writing sessions; you shift naturally and stretch intuitively between sessions.

#shifters#shifting diary#shifttok#reality shifter#shifting community#shiftblr#reality shifting#desired self#desired reality#kpop shifting#reality shifting community#shifting#shifting antis dni#shifting help#shifting blog#shifting realities#shifting reality#realityshifting#scripting#dr scripting#shifting script
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It seems like both Nolan's Batman trilogy and The Batman (2022) are attempting to interrogate/deconstruct/reconstruct/whatever the inherent problems with the Batman character, but (imo) these depictions don't go nearly far enough. Do you agree? If you could make a Batman movie how would you go about it?
It's been a very long time since I've watched it, but my read on the The Nolan Trilogy is that to the extent that it's interrogating anything about Batman Specifically- vs trying to make some high-falutin' Nolanian point about the nature of Myth and Heroism Yadda yadda yadda- it's interrogating the difficulty in getting audiences to take the character seriously, with the long shadow of Adam West, Tim Burton and the 90s Cartoon hanging over the property- the cocktail of camp and dreamlike otherworldly stylization that all previous installments used to carry the character over the finish line of believability. The result is 21st-century Batman (derogatory), all tacticool body armor and ripped-from-the-headlines surveillance state gizmos and military-industrial surplus tank-cars and antagonists who're laundered through the anxieties of the post-9/11 zeitgeist of the Foreign Anarcho-Orientalist cultists Out To Destroy Our Way Of Life, For Reasons. It's still irreducibly a story about a guy dressed as a bat beating the shit out of a clown, but it's the least about that that it can get away with being. And from an engineering perspective, it clearly worked- it was an incredibly popular installment, even before we'd crossed the cultural rubicon of superheroes being truly mainstreamed. But it's pretty obvious from my tone that I've soured on the project pretty thoroughly.
The Batman (along with it's companion piece The Penguin) is actually much, much closer to being a deliberate mediation on the core dynamic of the character and the implications thereof, in a way I personally found extremely satisfying; it manages to strike a balance between portraying Being Batman as a fundamentally juvenile and half-baked response to the problems that he's attempting to address (real) and portraying Being Batman as fundamentally really really really really cool. Any time he's shown doing Batman Shit it's framed as genuinely awesome; it falls into a vaguely similar zone as Nolan, except instead of feeling like it's trying to be as little like a comic book as it can get away with, it's trying to feel as much like a comic book as it can get away with without having someone like Clayface or Solomon Grundy show up. At the same time the story is adamant in its thesis that even if it works, you would have to be an incredibly weird person to think of, and then commit to, Being Batman. This six-foot weirdo in body armor is the biggest freak in any room that doesn't also contain The Riddler. Everyone is a little on edge when he's in the room, and consequentially a lot of the film reads like an extremely deadpan comedy- the polar opposite of the camp of Batman 66, where everyone treating this guy as perfectly normal is part of the gag. Of course, this comes back around thematically in that Bruce is afforded his eccentricities because he's incredibly rich- nobody else could get away with ignoring their own finances (and the massive graft at play) in order to go ride a motorcycle around attacking muggers, and he only solves the last puzzle because a cop who happens to be in the room has a blue-collar brother who works with a flooring tool that Bruce (who spent an extended sequence vandalizing the incredibly expensive floor of his penthouse!) can't even recognize. If you can't tell from my tone, I like this movie a lot! Anyway, In terms of how I'd do it, I think the currently unexplored option is a live-action film where due to the cranked-up four-color peak-comic-book insanity of the world around him, Batman comes across as the only sane one, despite the fact that he's dressed as a bat. This would a story about a relatively well-adjusted if somewhat taciturn and subdued guy doing a thankless job, except the thankless job is Being Batman. He'd have the same ridiculous Bat-everything overpreparation as Batman 66, deployed with significantly less verbal fanfare but without ever missing a beat. The first scene in the movie would be him getting bodied out a second story window by one of the genuinely superhuman bruisers like Grundy or Clayface before regaining his footing and squaring up, and the rest of the opening would be a montage covering a Day in the Life of Batman. Kevin Conroy's deadpan, matter-of-fact characterization translated into live action. Do You See My Vision
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𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐈𝐬 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟓
𝐕𝐢𝐤𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫
✰⍣..𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐕𝐢𝐤𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲--𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞.
<𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭>



Living with Viktor was… easy.
That was the strangest part of it all.
You had expected some level of difficulty. After all, moving in with someone—even temporarily—was supposed to come with challenges. You thought there would be awkwardness. Adjustment. Maybe even a few arguments about dishes in the sink or toothpaste caps.
But there was none of that.
Instead, you slipped into a rhythm with Viktor so effortlessly, it felt as though you’d always lived this way. Like you’d always woken to the sound of his voice murmuring your name in the morning, always fallen asleep to the subtle rustle of his pages turning in bed, always shared the in-between hours with the quiet companionship of a man who didn’t need to say much to make you feel known.
The first few weeks had felt like an experiment—two independent people testing how to orbit each other in a shared space. But somewhere between your mismatched mugs in the kitchen cabinet and the quiet moments spent folding laundry together in silence, the experiment turned into routine.
You learned things about him in passing—small, gentle truths that didn’t feel important until you realized how much they’d come to matter. He liked his tea strong and slightly bitter, brewed exactly three minutes, no more. He hated the sharp screech of metal on ceramic. He had a habit of pausing mid-thought to hum a few bars of a tune he never seemed to finish.
And every night, before bed, no matter how exhausted he was, Viktor double-checked the door locks twice.
You’d never asked why. You just started checking them for him when he forgot.
Your morning routine became quietly synchronized. You always woke first and padded into the kitchen to start the coffee. Viktor lingered under the blankets, not quite asleep, not quite awake, waiting until the smell of tea—or the sound of you humming over the stove—pulled him out of bed. Sometimes he wandered in with sleep still clinging to the corners of his eyes, wrapped in a sweater far too big for him, muttering a soft, “Good morning, draga,” like it wasn’t the highlight of your entire day.
And then there was Harvey.
Of course, Harvey.
The true master of the household.
He ruled the apartment like a spoiled little prince, utterly unbothered by the shifting dynamics between the humans who shared his space. He chose his spots with intention—your lap during the afternoons, Viktor’s during quiet evenings, your shared bed every night. If there was warmth, he’d find it. If there was affection, he expected it.
You once joked, offhandedly, that Harvey had clearly chosen Viktor as his favorite.
Viktor had raised an eyebrow, utterly smug, and said, “Naturally. He has good taste.”
You’d retaliated by pelting him with a balled-up napkin, which Harvey had then stolen and carried off like a prize.
But the most unexpected part wasn’t Harvey’s favoritism or Viktor’s sudden fluency in feline affection. It was what people assumed about the three of you.
It started small.
A barista you’d seen maybe three times asked how Viktor was doing—not as a formal inquiry, but with casual warmth, like she already knew you were close.
You hadn’t even thought before answering. “He’s fine. Busy with lab work. I made his favorite for dinner last night, so he’s less grumpy than usual.”
She beamed. “That’s sweet. He’s lucky to have you.”
You smiled, thanked her, walked out the door—and only realized halfway down the street that she had thought you were a couple.
And you hadn’t corrected her.
Worse, when you told Viktor later, expecting him to laugh or make a dry comment, he just hummed and stirred his tea like it was the most natural thing in the world.
As if being mistaken for your partner was accurate.
From there, it snowballed.
There was the time you were at the lab, hovering near the door while Viktor wrapped up a conversation with Jayce.
You weren’t really paying attention until you heard Viktor say, “I must go— y/n is waiting for me.”
Not “I have plans.” Not “Someone’s expecting me.”
Just— yn is waiting for me.
As if that alone was reason enough to drop everything.
No one questioned it. No one raised an eyebrow. They just nodded.
And then came the vet visit.
Harvey needed a check-up, and Viktor insisted on coming with you. He said it was only fair—“We share custody of him, do we not?”
You hadn’t thought much of it until you reached the front desk.
The receptionist glanced at the form you filled out, then smiled brightly between the two of you.
“So, just to confirm—Harvey is both of yours?”
You opened your mouth to explain—well, no, technically he’s mine, but before you could get the words out, Viktor said, without hesitation, “Yes.”
The receptionist’s smile softened into something warm, almost wistful.
“That’s adorable,” she said. “A lot of couples have trouble with shared pet responsibilities, but you two seem to have it all figured out.”
You froze. You wanted to correct her, really. But Viktor, again, spoke first—light and unbothered.
“I suppose we do.”
He scratched behind Harvey’s ears like nothing was amiss, while you stood there, spiraling.
She handed you the paperwork. Harvey purred.
You suffered.
The worst part?
You weren’t even sure it wasn’t true.
You had been raising him together. You fed him on alternating days, scheduled vet appointments around Viktor’s lab hours, argued over which food brand made him more obnoxiously energetic. He had his own spot in the bed—wedged between the two of you like a chubby, spoiled child.
You didn’t mean to give people the wrong idea.
But what if it wasn’t the wrong idea at all?
The walk home after the vet was quiet.
Too quiet.
You were still stewing when you finally blurted, “Did you hear what she said?”
Viktor tilted his head slightly, ever unhurried. “I did.”
“She thought we were—”
“Together? Married?” he supplied calmly.
You nearly tripped over the sidewalk. “Don’t say it like that!”
“Like what?”
“Like it’s normal.”
He offered a small, crooked smile. “You are the one who made dinner for me three nights this week. Including your famous roast. That felt rather spousal.”
You made a strangled noise in your throat. “That’s not the point.”
He stopped walking for a moment, looking down at you—not teasing, not smug, just… thoughtful.
“Does it bother you?” he asked softly.
You hesitated.
“It’s not that it bothers me,” you said slowly. “It’s just—we’re not…” You trailed off. “We never talked about it.”
“No,” he agreed, “we didn’t.”
He looked back toward Harvey, who had trotted ahead a few feet, tail high in the air.
“But I like living with you,” he added, almost absently. “It is the easiest thing I have ever done. I would not mind if people assumed we were more than friends.”
Your heart twisted painfully.
He turned back to you then, one brow arched. “Would you?”
You opened your mouth. Closed it. Tried again, but no words came out.
“Well, like I said” he said lightly ,,it does not bother me”
Your breath caught.
He wasn’t looking at you. He was watching Harvey, his gaze distant, thoughtful. The words had been spoken so simply, as if they had meant nothing at all.
But they did.
And later that night, as you curled into Viktor’s warmth, your heart ached with something you couldn’t name.
Something terrifyingly close to love.
—
You kept telling yourself it was temporary.
A handful of weeks, you said. Just long enough for the contractors to finish the renovations—tear out that moldy bathroom ceiling, repaint the walls, replace the creaking floorboards that had been bothering you since you moved in. That was it. Temporary. You’d go home, pick up your life where you left off. Viktor would return to his own routine. Harvey would curl up in your lap again. Everything would fall back into place.
But the problem was: everything already had fallen into place.
Not in your apartment. Not in the life you’d had before. But here. With him.
Living with Viktor hadn’t just been convenient. It hadn’t just been a kindness. It had become a rhythm—your rhythm. A slow, quiet melody that wove through the days without any formal arrangement, and somehow felt like it had always existed. Waking up with him beside you. Brewing coffee while he brewed tea. Harvey winding between both your legs as you moved around the kitchen in sleepy silence. Him grumbling at the news on the radio, you humming under your breath when you folded laundry. A dance you’d never learned but knew perfectly by heart.
It was easy.
And now it had to end.
The sun slanted through the windows in lazy golden strips, catching on dust motes and the edge of Harvey’s tail as he lounged across the couch. You stood in the middle of the room surrounded by half-filled boxes, trying to fold a sweater without looking like you were mourning it. Your fingers were clumsy. The fabric caught on the cardboard flap. You didn’t look up until you heard his voice.
“I do not understand why you are packing.”
You turned your head toward him. He was seated in his usual spot, legs crossed, cane resting nearby. Harvey was curled up in his lap like he owned the place—and maybe he did. Viktor’s fingers moved gently through the cat’s orange fur, but his eyes were fixed on you, sharp and knowing.
“My apartment’s almost done” you said simply, resuming your folding.
He hummed. Not disapproving. Not surprised. Just… assessing.
“So?” he asked.
“So I need to be ready to move back” you replied, not bothering to meet his eyes.
A pause. You could feel it—the air shifting, weight gathering.
“Do you?”
That was what made you freeze. The quiet sincerity in his voice. The way he didn’t challenge you, just offered the question, like he was holding it out in his palm and waiting to see if you’d take it.
You turned slowly to face him. “What?”
Viktor didn’t blink. “Do you really need to leave?”
You laughed, but it cracked on the edges. “Viktor. Come on. I’ve been here for months. I was never supposed to stay this long.”
“And yet” he said mildly, “you did.”
You stared at him. He wasn’t being sarcastic. He wasn’t being clever. He wasn’t teasing you.
He was just… stating a fact.
“I can’t just move in, Viktor.”
“Why not?” he asked, genuinely puzzled.
“Because—because that’s not how this works!” You gestured around the room. “This was a favor. It wasn’t supposed to—we weren’t supposed to—”
“To what?” he asked, and the question landed in your stomach like a stone.
You shook your head. “I can’t live here forever.”
“Why?” he asked again, calm and even. “You are comfortable here. You are happier. Harvey has adjusted. So have I.”
Your breath caught. “You’ve adjusted?”
“Yes.”
That simple.
No hesitation. No drama. Just yes.
You swallowed. “You’d really want me to stay here? Just like that?”
He looked down, gently adjusting Harvey, who had shifted his weight with a sleepy mrrp. “I do not believe I am as accustomed to solitude as I once thought. And…” He paused, then lifted his gaze to yours. “You make this place feel alive.”
You blinked. Something warm surged in your chest, unexpected and frightening.
“Viktor…”
“I am not asking you to decide now,” he added quickly, holding up a hand. “But I do not think you should force yourself to leave simply because it is what you planned to do. Plans change. People change.”
You hesitated. “I just don’t want to overstep.”
“You are not,” he said immediately. “You never have.”
And god, you wanted to believe that.
You wanted to believe that this place—his space—could be yours, too. That he wasn’t just tolerating you. That maybe, just maybe, he wanted you there as much as you wanted to stay.
But you needed time.
To figure out if what you felt was real, or if it was just comfort disguised as something deeper.
To understand why the idea of leaving felt like someone had pressed a fist to your sternum and refused to let go.
So you nodded slowly and said, “Just give me a little time.”
Viktor inclined his head. “As much as you need.”
He didn’t say anything more, but when you turned back to your packing, you could feel the silence pressing in around you, and you knew—he didn’t want you to go.
And, truthfully, neither did you.
—
Moving out didn’t feel like a relief. It’s felt like a loss.
Your apartment was done. The contractors handed you the keys with a proud smile, walked you through the freshly painted hallways, pointed out the gleaming new tiles in the bathroom and the newly installed windows that didn’t creak when you opened them.
You smiled. You nodded. You said thank you.
But something in you was already beginning to ache.
Viktor came with you. Of course he did. He insisted on helping carry your boxes, despite your objections, despite the quiet strain you saw flash across his face when he lifted anything too heavy. He stood quietly as you unlocked the door and stepped into the space that was, technically, yours.
It was clean. Bright. Fresh.
And completely lifeless.
Harvey trotted in and stopped cold, staring around at the unfamiliar space. He sniffed the edges of the baseboard, the couch, the corner by the radiator where he used to nap. But everything smelled different now. Looked different. Felt different.
You set him down on the windowsill and watched as his tail flicked once. Then again.
He did not purr.
You turned and found Viktor leaning on his cane just inside the doorway, watching quietly. He didn’t say anything.
“…Thanks for helping me carry all this,” you said, your voice quieter than intended.
He nodded once. “Of course.”
You shifted awkwardly. “You should get some rest.”
Viktor nodded again. “Yes. I should.”
You didn’t want him to leave.
But you couldn’t ask him to stay. Not yet. Not when you were the one who had insisted on returning here in the first place.
“I’ll see you soon” you said.
“Whenever you like.”
You waited for him to linger.
He didn’t.
The door clicked shut behind him, and just like that, he was gone.
The apartment swallowed the silence like it had been waiting for it.
—
A week passed.
You went through the motions. You made coffee. You fed Harvey. You did laundry. You went to the lab.
But something was missing.
The mornings were too quiet without the sound of Viktor’s cane tapping down the hall. You kept making too much tea. Your second mug sat untouched every time.
You caught yourself reaching across the bed in the middle of the night, expecting warmth where there was none. Harvey never curled against you the same way he had with Viktor. The little orange traitor had picked his favorite, and it wasn’t you.
Even worse, Viktor wasn’t you around as much.
He returned to the lab like he was trying to reset himself. As if distancing himself from you would make the ache easier to carry. But it only made the hollow in your chest worse.
You tried not to think about it.
You tried not to replay his voice saying, “You make this place feel alive.”
But you did.
Over. And over. And over again.
Until finally, it broke you.
—
One week and one night later you showed up at his door. 
It was late. Probably too late. But you didn’t care.
You barely remembered the walk. You weren’t even sure how you’d built up the courage. But suddenly you were standing outside his apartment, heart hammering, knuckles frozen just inches from the door.
You knocked.
The door opened faster than you expected.
He looked surprised. Tired. Beautiful.
His voice was soft. “Is something wrong?”
You opened your mouth.
Nothing came out.
So you tried again.
“I miss you.”
The words fell out all at once, fragile and honest and impossible to take back.
Viktor didn’t speak right away.
His eyes searched your face like he was trying to make sure this was real.
Then—finally—his expression shifted, and the tension melted from his shoulders like a string had been cut.
“…I missed you too.”
And that was it.
You stepped forward.
He opened his arms.
You fell into them.
He held you like something precious. Like something returned. Like he didn’t know how to let go and didn’t want to learn.
Harvey meowed from somewhere, as if to say, about time.
Neither of you moved.
Not for a long, long time.
Because finally, finally—you were home again.
#✰⍣ 𝐡𝐲𝟔𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐧#arcane x reader#x reader#arcane#arcane viktor x reader#arcane viktor#viktor arcane#viktor x reader#viktor x you#viktor reader#arcane viktor x female reader#arcane viktor x you
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Technology and Astrology: How Your Birth Chart Affects Your Personal Development, Social Media Presence, and Glow Up:
With Uranus frequently tied to innovation and astrological shifts, the planets in our astrology are frequently associated with technology. Mercury, on the other hand, is associated with speed, intelligence, and communication—all of which are closely related to contemporary technology.
According to astrology, you can encourage "glowing up" in your appearance by utilizing your moon nakshatra (lunar constellation) and rising sign (Ascendant). The moon nakshatra represents your emotional and mental state, while the rising sign controls your fashion, demeanor, and general look. Studying famous people who share your moon nakshatra might help you come out as assured, charming, and genuine. For instance, if Leo is your rising sign, you may find inspiration in Lady Gaga or Beyoncé. By adopting these characteristics, one can develop an empowered and genuine persona, boost self-esteem, and get the proverbial "glow up."
Squares in a natal chart stand for conflicts between the outer and personal planets. Personal planets that relate with personality, emotions, and behavior include the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Mars. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are examples of outer planets that symbolize generational forces and shared experiences. Relationship disputes, miscommunications, and power difficulties can result from these squares. People can grow personally and acquire stronger coping mechanisms as they get older.
Placements like Pluto and Mars in the natal chart are frequently associated with strong vibes and energy sensitivity, which can lead to jealously and discomfort. Some people adopt protective behaviors, such as dressing in black and keeping their privacy, to protect themselves. According to astrology, people with harsh aspects of Chiron, strong Scorpio or Leo placements, or Pluto or Mars aspects may produce powerful auras that result in conflict or resistance.
Known for their optimism, passion, and genuineness, mutable signs such as Sagittarius, Pisces, Virgo, and Gemini—ruled by Jupiter, Neptune, Mercury, and Gemini, respectively—are characterized by these traits. These signals' engagement, flexibility, adaptability, and curiosity in variety make them ideal for social media. They stand out in the constantly evolving online landscape because of their ability to engage with a large audience, adjust to trends, and deliver relatable or motivational content.
Known for their emotional sensitivity and empathy, Pisces Moons are known for their unsaid compassion and deeds of kindness. They become sympathetic friends, spouses, and caretakers because of their reputation for unwavering love, compassion, and forgiving. They foster emotional healing and provide a stable haven for individuals in need because they welcome emotions, have faith in intuition, and believe in compassion.
Because of its physical presence, optimism, and self-assurance, Jupiter in the first or eleventh house can bring luck and blessings. It controls alliances and social ties, drawing allies and friends who are supportive. Jupiter's placement in harmony with benevolent planets such as the Sun, Venus, or Mars can improve social success, personal development, and a feeling of timing.
In astrology, the fourth house stands for the family, home, roots, and emotional base. Cancer is in charge of it, and the Moon, which controls feelings, intuition, and personal safety, is also its natural ruler. Identity, emotional support, ancestry, private life, mother and maternal influence, and planets are important issues. The Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are among the major themes. The 4th House's ruling planet sheds light on how people interact with their homes, families, and emotional core. While a tough 4th House could suggest issues with family dynamics or emotional security, a strong one suggests emotional stability.
In astrology, friendships, social networks, long-term objectives, community, collective awareness, hopes, desires, and aspirations are all associated with the 11th House. It regulates interpersonal interactions, participation in broader social movements, and contributions to society. Uranus, the planet of invention, advancement, and revolt, is the house's natural ruler while Aquarius is its ruler. Friendships, social networks, technology, collective consciousness, social issues, humanitarian endeavors, and innovation are important themes. Individuals with strong 11th House placements frequently flourish in cooperative initiatives and group environments. The Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are among the planets in this house.
According to astrology, Rahu, the Moon's North Node, symbolizes the phases of life in which we are meant to develop and flourish. It inspires us to work hard and relentlessly toward our goals, but occasionally its intensity can make us feel unduly fixated or compulsive. Rahu instructs us to pursue the proper goals in a balanced manner in order to attain them. Rahu's position in a certain house of our birth chart indicates regions where we are most likely to undergo extreme attention, obsession, and growth. Self-image, monetary riches, communication, emotional stability, creative expression, goals connected to work and health, relationships, transformation, job success, and acknowledging Rahu's shadow side are just a few of the ways it might show up.
#astrologyandtech#glow up journey#astrologyinspiration#social media stars#personalgrowthastrology#astrologyinsights#astrology#astro community#astro notes#astro observations#zodiac#cosmicconnection#astrology blog#astrologywisdom 🌠#leo placements
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Dragon Age™: The Veilguard - Accessibility Resources - (Accessibility Portal information)
"In Dragon Age: The Veilguard, players are encouraged to be who they want to be and play how they want to play. This manifests in all sorts of ways, from our character classes to the dialogue choices. But delivering on this promise requires more than providing a variety of gameplay options; it also requires us to break down any barriers our players may be experiencing. For that reason, we incorporated accessibility considerations into our design documentation from very early in the game’s development, making the thoughtful and deliberate implementation of accessibility a foundational component of The Veilguard’s design. On first launch, players are provided a curated list of settings for UI text size options, subtitle options, controller options, and various display options. Upon starting a new game, players can use our Customizable Difficulty system to choose the level of challenge they want to experience. By selecting from a list of modular combat presets, they’ll be able to individually adjust a number of granular factors, including enemy aggression, enemy resistances, and combat timing. Similarly, our exploration presets allow players to modify on-screen guidance, such as markings that assist with way-finding and the distance at which interactable objects become highlighted. While we’re particularly proud of and excited about Customizable Difficulty, we encourage players to browse through all the settings and review the accessible design considerations outlined in this guide. And as always, accessibility is a continuous journey and we are actively listening to feedback from the community. Thank you."
"Noteworthy Features - Visual - Audio - Controls - Gameplay"
(The rest of this post is under a cut due to length.)
"VISUAL Subtitles - Subtitles can be set to Never, Conversations Only (excludes ambient NPC dialogue), or Always (all audible dialogue). By design, captions are embedded into subtitles to convey non-verbal sounds that progress the story or add additional context to some story beats and spoken words. - Advanced Subtitles Options are available, where size can be adjusted between three options, speaker names can be turned On/Off, background opacity can be scaled from 0% to 100%, and name colors can be adjusted for Rook and NPCs."



"User Interface - UI Text has two size options and uses a simple font. - Full-screen Colorblind filters are available for Protanopia, Deuteranopia, and Tritanopia. - Persistent Dot is available to display a small dot at the center of the screen. - Hiding HUD Elements is available for the Objective Tracker, Mini Map, Combat Text, Advanced Combat Text, Player Health, and Abilities."


"Visual Design & Assists - Melee Threat Indicator provides a halo around the player character’s head to warn of incoming melee attacks. - Ranged Threat Indicator provides a visual line to show the direction of incoming ranged attacks. - Visual cues are present during combat and exploration, where no game-critical information needed to progress is conveyed through sound alone. See Customizable Exploration Presets for more."



"Visual Effects - Motion Blur can be turned On/Off. - Camera Shake can be set between 0 (Off) and 100 (Max). Does not extend to cinematics. - Depth of Field can be set to On for cinematics only, On for gameplay only, On for both, or Off. Being On causes some elements of the scene to be in focus, and others to be out of focus. - Vignette can be turned On/Off. Being On creates a subtle darkening of the image towards the edge of the screen during cinematic and gameplay to enhance the atmosphere of scenes. - Low Health Screen Effect can be turned On/Off. Being On creates a blurry, desaturated effect across the screen during gameplay to emphasize low health."



"AUDIO Audio Settings - Volume sliders for Global, Music, Speech, Sound Effects, Ambient, and Menu. - Speaker type for Wide Dynamic, Narrow Dynamic, Night Mode, and Headphones. - 3D Audio is available. Requires compatible hardware. - Mono Audio is available alongside a mono audio planning option between left and right outputs."


"Sound Design & Assists - Accessibility SFX is available and has a volume slider. Audio cues provide additional feedback for some visual mechanics. Includes an incoming attack indicator, target lock-on, and conversation wheels. - Glint Ping SFX is available where spatialized SFX will play at object locations when UP on the d-pad is pressed. Note: Depending on the Exploration Preset selected, players may need to adjust the Object Glint Visibility, and Object Marker Visibility settings to Pulse (Short), for this functionality to work."

"CONTROLS Input Settings - Input Remapping for basic gameplay controls. Movement actions can only be remapped between analog sticks. - Invert Axis of X and Y can be individually adjusted for both controller and mouse. - Vertical and Horizontal Sensitivity sliders for both Cameras and Aiming. - Swap between Left and Right Sticks for Movement (left) and Look (right). - Stick Deadzones sliders for the Look and Movement sticks. - Trigger Deadzone slider for triggers on controllers. - Vibration Intensity slider for Global, Gameplay, Environment, and Cinematic."




"Button Holds - Disable UI Hold Inputs can be set to Hold or Tap. When Tap is selected, various UI interactions that require an input be held for a set period of time can be activated with a single tap instead. Does not apply to gameplay actions. - Ability Wheel Controller Activation Type can be set to Hold or Tap. When set to Tap, the ability wheel will remain on screen without requiring any persistent input. - Blocking and Aiming require sustained holds. Aiming without holds is possible if the persistent dot is enabled, which can be used as an alternative to the aim-down-sights reticle."


"Combat & Gameplay Controls - No QTES (quick time events) are present by design. - Rapid input sequences are present for certain attack combos during melee combat, if used. - Simultaneous inputs are present for ultimate ability, or if using the ability shortcut menu. - Quick and precise timing is not required for progression. Finisher moves, which are optional and hasten the end of combat, may require faster reactions. - Combat Assists are available in the Combat Presets to further simplify inputs during combat. Includes Aim Assist, Aim Snap, Combat Timing, and more."


"GAMEPLAY Combat Customization Choose between presets of Storyteller, Keeper, Adventure, Underdog, Nightmare, or Custom: - Aim Assist can be set to Off, Low, Medium, and High. - Aim Snap can be turned On/Off to snap to targets. - Prevent Death can be turned On/Off. Available only in the Storyteller preset. - Enemy Damage has five options to adjust the strength of incoming attacks. - Enemy Health has five options to adjust the amount for enemy health. - Enemy Aggression has five options to adjust how aggressive enemies are during combat by changing how often they attack and how difficult they are to stagger. - Enemy Resistances has three options to adjust how much enemies can resist incoming damage. This will not affect the natural resistances some enemies have based on their faction though. - Enemy Vulnerability has three options to adjust how weak enemies are to incoming damage. This will not affect the natural weaknesses some enemies have based on their faction though. - Combat Timing has three options to adjust the timing windows for executing Dodge, Parry, and Perfect Defend actions."


"Exploration Customization Choose between presets of No Assists, Pulse Only, Standard, Directed, or Custom: - Object Glint Visibility can be set to Off, Pulse (Short), Pulse (Long), Always to change the visibility of the glint highlight on interactable objects. - Object Glint Distance can be set to Close, Standard, and Far to change the distance of where glint highlights on interactive objects will appear. - Objective Marker Visibility can be set to Off, Pulse (Short), Pulse (Long), and Always to change the visibility of objective markers. - Waypoint Visibility can be turned On/Off to toggle the visibility of navigation waypoints leading to your quest objective."


"Guidance & Progression - A Library is available for players to access at any point to help recall information. Here, players can browse the Codex to review stories and information discovered during progression, re-read letters from companions and others within the Missives, and reference the Glossary for explanations of terminology specific to Dragon Age Lore. - Tutorials teach gameplay mechanics as new inputs, skills, or actions surface. - World and Local Maps are available for wayfinding and can be referenced at any point. - Waypoint Visibility can be turned On/Off to help with progression. - Objective Marker Visibility can be adjusted between Off, Pulse (Short), Pulse (Long), and Always. - Pausable gameplay is available by design. - Saving is robust, where auto–save is frequent and players can manually save any time outside of combat, cinematics, and dialogue cutscenes."


"Additional Information For more information about the game, patch notes, and news, visit the official website. Please note that this information is based on the US, English version for PC and consoles."
[source]
#dragon age: the veilguard#dragon age: the veilguard spoilers#dragon age: dreadwolf#dragon age 4#the dread wolf rises#da4#dragon age#bioware#video games#long post#longpost#solas
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Haikyuu Boys X Fem! Volleyball Player Reader.
a/n : I've always imagined y/n joining Karasuno's team as a female player.. and the general dynamics between her and teammates <3
Pure fluff 🍰
Characters: Kageyama - Nishinoya - Oikawa - Kuroo.
PLOT: Y/n transferred to karasuno High school as a second year student. She couldn't find a girls volleyball team in Karasuno, so she did everything she could to join the boys volleyball team. Proving her skills and abilities, she's now the only female Wing Spiker in Karasuno's boys volleyball team.
Kageyama Tobio:
Basically you're like fire and ice, constantly bickering.
Would find a difficulty to adjust to you at first concerning his tosses.
Both of you would fight a lot.
You always end up getting scolded by Daichi.
When the two of you are angry with each other he refuses to toss the ball to you and toss it to the others instead.
Tsukki always calls Kageyma king of the court and he calls you queen of the court, in am offensive way of course.
“It's not that high y/n, you're just short”
“Ugh boke y/n boke”
“KAGYEMA I'M YOUR SENPAI”.
It makes you fuel with anger, you would hit him with a ball.
When you finally perfected your harmony on the court, you became a powerful duo, unbeatable literally beating the shit out of your opponents.
Enjoying the art of playing together. Spending a lot of time practicing together he developed a subtle crush on you.
But hell no he won't admit it.
The tsundere in him fiercely guarded his actions towards you.
He couldn't help the small cute gestures towards you, leaking his feelings out.
He enjoys drinking milk so so he would buy you some before or after practice.
Makes sure you're eating well when the coach treats you to lunch/ dinner.
“Eat more rice y/n”.
Everyone else in your team noticed his shift in action towards you, and how he softens when he talks to you.
When one of your opponents hits on you he'd give them his famous death glare.
Scares them away with his strong, terrifying aura.
Watches you with a smirk and heart eyes when you jump in the air and forcefully hit the ball over the net.
Would look at you proudly, whenever you score, he's always secretly admired your volleyball skills.
Would attempt to compliment you “nn-nff-nice”.
Starts a fight with Oikawa if he flirts with you, getting a lot of teasing in return.
Nishinoya Yū:
Aside from being teammates, both of you are classmates as well.
You have the best dynamics in the whole team.
Always sitting next to each other in class.
You end up in detention because you can't shut up in class and always has something to laugh or talk about.
Treats you to ice cream every single day after practice turning you into a sweet tooth.
Bestfriends for life, literally inseparable.
Teaches you the Rolling Thunder move.
Helps you master your receives, if you help him with school work.
Your number one supporter, literally in everything.
Comes over to your house a lot, mainly because he's struggling with homework or exam revision.
You joke around a lot, and laugh really loudly, Daichi gets mad at you all the time.
Hypes you up the most on court when you score.
“THATS MY BESTIE”.
Offers a lot of high fives and big hugs to celebrate your victory.
Very protective over you, especially during tournaments.
Along side with Ryu, they would literally jump on anyone who tries to get your number or flirts with you.
Him and Ryu are your protectors, personal bodyguards.
Has all of your secrets ( knows about the crush you have on Kags).
He's the type to be very obvious when your crush is around.
He's the type to look at person in the eyes right after you said “don't look”.
Oikawa Tooru:
The moment he saw you walking his direction he thought you were one of his obsessed fangirls.
Puts on a flirty expression
“Wanna take a picture with me cutie? wanna take my sign- huh?”.
But you'd walk past him, totally ignoring him.
“come on don't be shy.. are you a fan of the best setter in the world?”
“Yeah right, I'm a fan of Sugawara- senpai and Kageyama”.
Boy's face would drop, you did not just casually mention that Kageyama is the best setter in front of Oikawa Tooru.
In court, he would be left dumbfounded when he saw you in Karasuno's uniform.
Couldn't believe his eyes when he saw you're the only girl in Karasuno's boys team.
“YOU?”
His eyes would be glued on you the whole game and even between sets.
Shows off his strong serves
“This is for you y/n!”
You'd totally crush his ego when you perfectly received his powerful serve.
Would praise you shamelessly “Sugoi”.
Astonished when the ball passed inches away from his head but he couldn't stop it, too stunned by your spike.
“I won't lose next time y/n, put that in mind” .
A tension grows between him and Kageyama over you.
Seeing you a power duo with Kageyama stirred jealousy inside him.
Very flirty at any given opportunity resulting in him getting smacked by Iwaizumi.
“I'll teach you how to serve, even though you're already serving- Ack! what the hell Iwa-chan?!”.
Tries to analyze all the techniques and moves you use while playing.
You impress him every time.
Kuroo Tetsuroo:
He saw you for the first time when Karasuno went to Tokyo for the practice match against Nekoma.
He thought you were a manager so he didn't give it any importance.
He's not the type to go crazy over a girl.
Would say hi to your team, including you.
He would be extremely polite and welcoming.
Chuckles to himself when you and Noya screamed “IS THAT SKYTREE?!” to a normal power transmitter.
He thought it was funny, cute and adorable how you're all excited and happy to be in Tokyo.
The moment he saw you in the court in Karasuno's shirt and shorts, stretching before the match his jaw would drop.
His coach told him that you're a wing spiker and it hooked him up.
“A w-wing spiker?”
His surprise would quickly shift into respect, on how being the only girl in a boys' team didn't stop you or bother you as long as you're achieving your dream.
He became very curious as he watched your tricks and the quicks you did with Kageyama.
“Impressive!!”.
Your agility, accuracy and strategic plays made him take an interest in you.
During breaks, between sets he acknowledges your skills in front of his team.
Warning his teammates and pointing out that you're a formidable opponent and they should watch your moves.
Loves challenges, he would ask you for another practice match just to get to play against you again.
When you have time, he would practice spikes and blocks with you and Bokuto.
“Damn, you're really good at spiking”.
You would become good friends quickly and even exchange phone numbers so you can text each other when you go back to Miyagi.
Would introduce you to Kenma, his bestfriend.
Would surprise you and take you to Skytree and spoils you for the rest of the day.
Since he's the captain he would give you a lot of advice.
#haikyuu x reader#haikyuu imagines#haikyuu headcanons#haikyuu#haikyuu x you#haikyuu x y/n#haikyuu oneshot#kuroo oneshots#kuroo tetsuro headcanons#kuroo x reader#kageyama x reader#kageyama headcanons#kageyama oneshots#kageyama imagines#kageyama x you#kageyama x y/n#oikawa x reader#oikawa tooru imagines#oikawa headcanons#oikawa oneshots#oikawa x you#oikawa x y/n#oikawa tooru#hq x reader#haikyuu masterlist#hq fluff#hq masterlist#bokuto oneshots#bokuto headcanons#bokuto x reader
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Hello!! I know that you’re probably very busy with your outside life and art requests and such so feel free to ignore this ask if it’s too much botherrr, but I just wanted to ask you a quick question because you’re like THE Sam Look Outside person to me and I think your response would be very well thought out :D
Soooo you established in your headcanon post that Sam largely didn’t leave his apartment after his most recent unemployment, which makes a lot of sense! Buttt considering that the whole apocalypse thing and that he has TONS of people moving in with him for basically two weeks, how do you think he adjusts? Because like even between those whose presence kinda demands his attention (the kids, Leigh, Dan, Xaria and Monty) and those who might not be as loud but are certainly still THERE (Hellen, Morton, Roaches, Ernest, Papineau), I imagine that it’s a lot to handle, end of the world or not.
Sorry if this was too much text or confusingly worded! I hope you have a great day!!
Hi! Thanks for sending the ask and trust this was not a lot of words, I'm, unfortunately, an absolute yapper about this game🥲 I still do find it crazy that people like my hcs about this game, I fr just think that I'm yapping without any substance or adding nothing new to the conversation so it's nice to know that at least for some that not the case. Also it's not a bother at all to send an ask, I'm genuinely just really so slow to answer asks. But I do love receiving them, really I do :) And I actually hope YOU have a great day! Yeah I'm flipping this one on you. Your day is gonna be goddamn amazing and there's nothing you can do about it, the vibes have been sent.
But uhhh yapping under the cut with a TLDR at the very end:
But to answer your question, I think there would be an initial period of difficulty adjusting to such a large influx of people. Apocalypse or not such a drastic shift in what he'd considered to be his normal would mess with him. I already headcanon him as being an introverted person but not too introverted if you get what I mean. Like he doesn't mind having company, in fact I believe he enjoys having company over considering how quickly you can get the loneliness status in game. Our unemployed king absolutely misses those quick conversations with Clint and some of his neighbours 😔✊
But how Sam responds and adjusts to this living arrangement would definitely be dependent on the rate at which he gets new recruits/ friends and which friends show up. Like if in a run Sam were to get Hellen in the first few days, then Joel then the Rat Baby, it'd be chill. He'd have to adjust to each individual person first before he can even think about understanding the personality of the next person so the order in which he meets and houses these people are important for his reaction. Like Hellen is a very private person so she wouldn't bother him and she'd look after the Rat Baby if Sam ever needed to run errands. Joel is surprisingly self-sufficient, he'd just mind his business and play with the Rat Baby from time to time. Rat Baby already has the other two so it'd be okay too. Sam would just need to cook for them, clean the baby and take care of himself. He'd be okay if not a bit tired from the uptick in responsibility. It would be a comfortable slog through those 15 days as it would be similar to how his life was like previously but with people who would respect his boundaries and provide him with pleasant company. But that's only one party/ friend combination and honestly one of the better ones. There are somewhere between 20 to 140/150 potential party combinations with specific dynamics, interactivity and reactions dependent on the number of party members Sam's housing and how he'd react to all those people.
But that's just an example of the way in which Sam would adjust to a more controlled number of recuits/ friends. The way in which I see it is that dependent on which order he recruits people, that adjustment and acceptance period would fluctuate for all 12 companions (I'm including Rat Baby for this). Since there really isn't a concrete companion recruitment for the game, I'm just gonna use the recruitment rate that's popular in the community. In order of recruitment that's Joel; Rat Baby; Hellen; Leigh; Sophie; Dan; Xaria and Monty; Papineau; Morton; Roaches and Ernest.
I'm not gonna list Sam's reaction to every single one because then this post would just become impossibly long and I'm already gonna post a really long post for another topic so I'll just do the ones that stand out to me.
That prior order of recruitment wouldn't be too overwhelming initially but it'd definitely have Sam beyond exhausted. Xaria and Monty would absolutely have Sam doubting whether or not even letting a single person in was a good idea, I can see him having quite a few mental spirals about them alone, that loss of privacy and comfort in his room would do numbers to his psyche and moral. The kids (Rat Baby included) would have him extremely tired, his sleeping arrangements are crappy enough because of Xaria and Monty, now he needs to be at 110% just to keep Joel from accidentally cutting up Sophie whenever they get into fights. The Roaches would definitely be the most peaceful out of all of the companions because they stay completely out of the way and provide a greater incentive by occasionally giving gifts. They'd definitely be a breather for him in terms of just dealing with more difficult companions as they don't need much and aren't a bother, a nice contrast to the constant chaos and confusion of the other companions. But Sam would absolutely be on high alert 24/7, making his anxiety skyrocket and worsening my headcanoned OCD. That spiral would be inevitable but at least while that happens, the others like Hellen and Papineau would support him through that. At least while Sam spirals, doubting himself and wondering whether or not he should just give up on everything, he'd have a safety net.
It'd definitely be like a hostel/ shelter (I think that's the word in English still not the best at this) situation. They are a found family but they are still individual people with individual needs that need to be met. I headcanon that, despite what the game shows, they all do take turns cooking food from time to time. They rotate chores frequently and even sleeping arrangements are rotated frequently. Which is to say that Sam wouldn't have to deal with the total upkeep of up to 11 (12 if you include Rat Baby) different people with clashing personalities alone. The adults at least seem mature enough to recognise that.
But yeah he'd be tired, he'd be overwhelmed, he'd question whether or not it was a good idea to even let any of them in. His mental and physical health would absolutely decline because he'd be overwhelmed will all of these responsibilities that he'd forget about his own well being. But Sam would recognise that ultimately, as exhausting as it is, he'd love it anyways. He would get better at juggling this. Even when he spirals, his friends would pull him out of that. But his energy levels would be at an all time low but he'd be happy.
Tldr: Depending on the order in which Sam befriends people, Sam's adjustment to them varies. With the total friend/ companion count, that would have Sam constantly tired but appreciative of them although he's constantly on high alert.
#long post#tldr at the end#look outside#look outside game#ask answered#hopefully this was a good enough answer this is how ive always expected Sam to react to all these people#i didn't include obvious reactions and adjustments like Dan and Leigh because those have been talked about to death#and i agree with the general interpretation of Sam's dynamics with them and others like them#so i would just be treading old ground if i were go into that and my post would be 10 000 words lol don't want that#but yes i like this ask i always like the asks you send :)#Who Let Soup Outside?
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Kitty leaves Xavier's part 1

One fine day at Xavier's, Chuck gets a letter from Kitty's parents informing him they're withdrawing her from the school. The primary reason is due to there being no students her own age (fair.)

Kitty is devastated, of course. I've been writing a bit about this very subject recently, but upon rereading I realised that I was in Kitty's position once. I was a 'gifted child' and didn't have much use for kids my own age. Whether that was a healthy thing for me is hard to say, but I do understand where she's coming from. Nevertheless, this should have been a wake up call for Xavier. He has the resources to take on as many students as he wishes - even if Kitty leaves for good the next child mutant will have the same issue. Ororo tries to comfort her but she's inconsolable.

Kitty is the one who figures out she's being sent to a school where The White Queen is headmistress. Ororo definitely remembers her and is concerned. Kitty displays both perceptiveness and a childish aversion to change. If nothing else, she needs more support than she's getting.

After saying her farewells to the X-Men, some more appropriate than others (what the fuck Pete?) she's ready to go. Ororo is going to drive her up there. It's nice to see how close Kitty and Ororo are, but their dynamic highlights just how young she is. It feels more like a parental relationship than that of siblings.

The two discuss how evil Emma is, and while Kitty receives orientation Emma reminds us.

'Ororo' says her goodbyes and after driving a few miles from the school drops a classic Emma Frost/Hellfire line - 'in this, as in all things, my pleasure will not be denied.' Emma body swapped with Ororo. WTF!

Emma is loving using Ororo's powers while quoting Shakespeare but goes a little too far. She realises how much concentration and control is required to not cause ecological disasters.

She calls 19th century Robber Baron and complete shithead, Sebastian Shaw, for some mutual gloating. Meanwhile, Ororo wakes up back at the Massachusetts Academy and feels super weird. She looks in the mirror and sees Emma's mug staring back at her.

For some reason Shaw sends Sentinels to attack Xavier's just as Emma is arriving. I always thought that one poking its head in at Chuck was cute. The fight isn't going too well so Kurt teleports to the armory and grabs some C4. He does a pretty damn good job of blowing up the Sentinels with it.

Just as everyone is recovering from the battle, Emma electrocutes TF out of them. Ororo is having difficulty adjusting to Emma's body and the onslaught of telepathic chatter, but she still manages to escape some Hellfire Club goons.
Next time - what TF is this plan? What's the creepiest thing Emma can do in Ororo's body? Will Kitty ever return to Xavier's? (Yes, obviously, but how soon?)
This arc is so messed up.
#x comics#uncanny x men#x men#ororo munroe#kitty pryde#emma frost#hellfire club#charles xavier#cyclops#nightcrawler#colossus#marvel#comics#wolverine#tw csa mention#sebastian shaw
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Hey anyone who likes Pokemon, we highly recommend checking out the romhack Pokemon Odyssey its a complete fangame that changes the story into one like Etrian Odyssey or Made in Abyss where you are diving deeper into ruins of an ancient dungeon world with an absolutely gorgeous art style.
We're just past the second of eight(?) levels and are loving it. Cool features include:
Beautiful artstyle, with expressive portraits for dialogue and cutscenes
Three different difficulty levels, which can be adjusted during playthrough
Trainer battles are doubles and wild pokemon are singles, which leads to really interesting battles and team dynamics
Exp share and a level all candy that allows you to instantly level your team up to one under the cap if you don't want to grind
Pokemon stats and moves are rebalanced to give weak pokemon and lines uses. There's a lot more pokemon to choose from and despite doubles being a harder format we are having way more fun with early game 'mons then ever
New regional forms for pokemon
Access to the move relearner and name rater for free in the hub area from the start of the game
An unlockable fast travel system
And more! It genuinely an amazing game and we really recommend checking it out
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very possible youve done this before but…. can u come up with some hcs about how the party connects with nille? in a post canon hypothetical
(youve probably talked a lot about nille before but just!! general ideas. maybe silly ideas. anything u wanna share you havent talked about before. etc :])
Ok this is all minor spoilers for my currently unposted Nille fanfic and major spoilers for my currently unwritten post-canon fanfic but I don't care if you don't, let's go.
People usually write Nille as quite overprotective of Bonnie, and I do too, but I also write her as unsure that she's good enough to protect them! So her big reaction to meeting the party is "I failed to keep Bonnie safe, of course I failed, I was always doomed to fail. And these people succeeded!! Who am I next to the Saviors of Vaugarde??"
So she kinda feels like shit, personally. And she has no idea how to act around the party, because there's the way she acts around strangers, and there's the way she acts around people she trusts, and it is understandably bizarre for those circles to overlap. Since she can't be suspicious or friendly, and she's feeling somewhat useless, I think her instinct is to kinda just... fade back..? Which is upsetting to her in itself, which feeds back into the problems. But! Everyone is very determined to connect with her, and "we love the same kid" is a great way to bond, and Nille still has her usual Bambouche support system to help her sort out her feelings, and the party have been working on their communication skills. So they figure it out!
Her exact first impression of Siffrin probably depends a lot on how he's coping at that point post-canon, which isn't something I've decided yet... But it's some sort of strange mix of "I owe you my life" and "Wowww do you need my therapist's number" and "#Relatable /neg /pos". Siffrin meanwhile is anxious as fuck because he's not just meeting the most important person in Bonnie's life, she also has the power to break apart the family he nearly destroyed the world to keep together! So it's a little awkwardly intense on both sides.
Then once they get to know each other better, there's some emotional difficulty in how similar they are; it's hard not to compare what's worse, remembering shitty parents or not remembering any family, being alone or having to take care of a young child. So there's some pity and guilty jealousy on both sides. But also commiseration and understanding! But also they're liable to trigger each other's issues occasionally, what with Siffrin still having a rather poor handle on their own emotions and Nille disrupting the party dynamics. But they don't really hold it against each other; it would be hypocritical, and none of that matters compared to the fact that they've both nearly died for Bonnie. They like to go fishing together, sometimes Nille helps explain things that Siffrin only knows through muscle memory. And Nille does end up passing on some therapy tips!
Nille is a little star-struck by Mirabelle, who is the Chosen Savior of Vaugarde and only a couple years older than her and so heroic and nice and well-adjusted! Mirabelle is on a similar but less extreme wavelength, excited to meet Bonnie's sister who she's heard so intriguingly little about, but who must be so brave and cool! Once they get to know each other more it's kind of a confidence boost for Nille to realize that even Mirabelle has anxiety and imposter syndrome and is just some girl who found herself in the position to do something and she did her best to do it. And Mirabelle thinks Nille is just as cool as she imagined!
They end up taking some small classes together for fun at various Houses while they travel. When Mirabelle figures out that Nille isn't very good at reading, she reads books to her sometimes, and recommends her books that aren't too hard but also aren't too kiddie. One more for the girl's night book club! They have some good convos too about the balance of protecting and caring for a child vs giving them space to grow confident and independent, since Mira's parents were quite stifling; it's easier to find the acceptable middle range when you know what both failure modes look like, instead of just the one horrible extreme.
Isabeau is very friendly, and used to working with strangers and projecting an aura of safety, so he's got the chillest dynamic with Nille to start. He's the one who notices that her easy acceptance of the group was a little too easy and actually has some difficult feelings behind it. And he's been working on being braver, so he consults with his friends and then talks to Nille about it! I think it's a scary conversation but helpful in the long run, it's the start of establishing actual personal trust rather than just assumptions and idealization.
Since that precedent has been set, Isabeau becomes Nille's first choice if she needs to bring something up to the group. Doesn't hurt that he reminds her of one of the first people she met in Bambouche, too! On Isabeau's side, he likes having the opportunity to get to know someone new while he's figuring out his new self. And he's so delighted when she joins the war on puns as a whole new front: dad jokes. She wasn't even particularly into them before, she just wanted to shake up the battlefield. Nille and Isabeau also spar sometimes, because she hates how poorly she did at defending Bonnie, and Isabeau has the most formal/practical training in self-defense to pass on. (And he's the most willing to do physically-demanding activities for fun after already walking all day.)
Nille finds Odile intimidating. She's not sweet like Mira, or exuberant like Isa, or, uh, whatever the fuck Siffrin has going on. She's a full generation older than Nille and hard to read! Scary! But Bonnie adores her, and she's been making an effort to be more reassuring to Siffrin lately which shows, and Isabeau starts being more teasing-rude to Odile (the way she is to him) to prove that he can annoy her without repercussion which is really funny. So it doesn't take all too long for Nille to come down from high alert for the most part! And Odile respects Nille hardcore for raising Bonnie and takes her very seriously, which she appreciates.
Odile takes point on tutoring Bonnie, because she has some formal teaching experience and they're most likely to sit and listen for her anyway, but the others will give lessons on this or that. But Odile soon realizes from the way Nille hovers but doesn't help that she is actually further behind in schooling than Bonnie, and makes it her mission to rectify that. It's kinda rocky at first because Nille is both self-conscious of and resigned to her lack of education, but once she starts getting into it she really gets into it! This brings Odile and Nille a lot closer and Nille ends up admiring her a lot, especially as she catches hints of wild Odile lore.
Loop really likes getting to know Nille, since she never knew pre-loops Siffrin but she's still connected to their family. Not a stranger, not a copy, best of both worlds! Nille also appreciates having another person there who feels out of place in the party dynamics. She thinks Loop is funny, but also worrying, but they have enough people worried about them that she decides to goof off with them and enable them instead. Like yes it's probably bad for their mental health to make this kind of joke but it's worse to have everyone constantly analyzing their jokes' healthiness, yknow? Ironically, this (along with her newcomer status) means that Loop takes her worry more seriously and is more likely to listen to her than anyone else (except maybe Siffrin but only maybe).
Sometimes Loop gets a little too frantically irrational and it freaks Nille out because it reminds her of her and her mom's manic episodes. But she can disengage and tag someone else in, and see from afar that it all turns out okay! Loop gets some therapy tips from her too, but not necessarily the same ones as Siffrin. And they give her super shitty advice in return, in that way where it makes you realize how shitty it is and commit yourself to doing the opposite. They like to do silly things together that Nille never got the chance to do as a child and Loop doesn't remember doing, like rolling around in mud puddles and staying up all night just to watch the sunrise. Nille doesn't feel as self-conscious about acting juvenile because Loop is like a billion years old, but she also doesn't have to be in charge the way she is when playing with Bonnie! And Loop gets to make brand new memories with someone who has no old ones to compare them to!
Bonnie is super happy to see Nille for like, a day, and then they get really mad at her more often than not for like a week (because now that they're home with her it's safe to be distraught and uncooperative), and then they settle back into a more consistent dynamic. But it takes a while longer for them to be able to comfortably get any farther away from each other than maybe a room over; Bonnie confidently heads off and then suddenly comes running back, and Nille is so brave about separating and bravely panics the entire time. Oh well! The first time around it only took her a couple years to get to be okay with Bonnie being away from her, she'll figure it out again eventually!
There's no rush.
#isat spoilers#isat nille#nille#ask meme answers#why do i even bother writing fanfiction tbh summarizing character dynamics is sooo fun cheap and easy#still gonna write the fic eventually though... and look now i have my first level of outline for act 2 done!#s.siffrin#s.isabeau#s.mirabelle#s.odile#s.bonnie#s.loop#s.nille#party#s.party#rb.isat
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Connor RK800 x Goth GN reader headcanons!
I haven't seen any Connor x goth/punk reader so I decided to do it myself. I feel like it would be an interesting dynamic since Connor works for the police lmao 😭
I definitely didn't forget to write this thing 😃👍
You can read this regardless of what style of the subculture you are, it is never specified! <3
Fandom: Detroit become human
Character: Connor RK800 (deviant connor)
Fluff
Warning: Bones/teeth mention, and connor being the cinnamonroll he is
Sumo mention ofc


You met one day when Connor was walking Sumo near a music store, and he saw you coming out of the store. Connor was surprised to see you. Your makeup and clothes were nothing he had ever seen before
Connor kept running into you from time to time, and you always gave him a little wave. One day, he decided to ask you why you wore that makeup and clothes, and you explained that you were part of the goth subculture
You two became fast friends! He likes to ask you about bands, ideologies, and styles within the subculture. He's excited to learn about it :)
Connor would ask you to do his makeup <3
He is delighted with the idea of accompanying you to a concert! He asks you to dress him for the occasion
If you have difficulty adjusting your hair when you do a bat nest, Connor would help you adjusting it and set it with hairspray
You two have movie nights watching Tim Burton and more subculture movies
He helps you with your makeup if it’s difficult to you ^^
If you collect bones, teeth, or anything like that, Connor wouldn't judge you, he'd just be curious. He'd ask if you use them for anything or if it's just decoration (I collect teeth, don't judge me)
Connor admires how you are able to express yourself without caring if others judge you, he constantly reminds you that you are special because of that and that most humans are too worried about what others think to express themselves like that 🩵

Idk if this is too short, srry, maybe I'll edit it later haha 😭 I honestly had no idea how to do this, I swear the connor x punk reader will be better
special shout out to my moot, who has a goth oc x connor :)
#canon x reader#dbh#detroit become human#gn reader#connor detroit become human#connor rk800#connor x reader#dbh connor#dbh rk800#goth reader#connor rk800 x goth reader#connor x goth reader#connor x GN reader#dbh headcanons
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testing a new border thing for future posts, so uhhhhh have a sneak peak of something with Jon
tw suicide mention, but it's in the past
You continue to smile, waiting patiently for him to begin with the typical questions. When you think back to the person you were when you first came here, you're filled with pride. Pride because you made it this far. With Dr. Crane' help, you've managed to pull yourself from the depths of despair to become stronger and gain an understanding of yourself. You've grown. And you're sure that Dr. Crane knows this and is just as proud of yourself.
In a weird way, you’ve grown fond of this place. The routine, the library, the comfort of having someone else make decisions for you. Though, you’ve never been to the maximum-security wing, so you don’t know whether the horror stories from there are true. You’ve had the luxury of enjoying a relatively relaxed stay for the past few months.
"Well then," he clears his throat and adjusts his glasses. He seems a little fidgety today. Surely, he's just as excited about your discharge from Arkham as you are.
"Do you still have thoughts of suicidal ideation? Any feelings that you'd want to disappear or that people would be better off without you?"
"No. None of the above," you reply with certainty, and you straighten your posture a little. The weight that was resting on your shoulders lifted a while ago, and you feel emotionally lighter. "I'm looking forward to life. Forward to the mundane and even the annoying. I... please don't laugh, but I even miss standing in line to pay for groceries."
"Good. Good...," he murmurs, glancing up from his notes for a moment, and the corners of his lips twitch upwards into a smile. "Because those dark thoughts wouldn't be rooted in reality, anyway. I am very glad that you're around. That you're still here despite everything."
Your eyes light up, and you miss how Crane's hand tightens around his pen. You wouldn't know, but his heart jumped beneath his ribs. The feeling almost makes him nauseous.
Oh God, you're leaving tomorrow.
And then you're gone. Gone from his life, gone from his clutches that he so desperately tried to trap you within.
Unlike you, he's failed spectacularly at keeping his professional distance. Unlike you, he's unfulfilled with this therapist-patient dynamic. He despises himself for the thought, but he wishes you were back to square one.
Broken and hollow like a cracked porcelain doll he was allowed to put back together and breathe new life into. He likes your wit and personality. But back then, you were miserable and easy to impress. And you were here. At the start of a 6-month long stay.
He realizes he's staring.
"Pardon." He reels himself in with much difficulty, writing down a few words while he continues.
"And how about those issues concerning social isolation? You’ve made a lot of progress in terms of coping with your depression and anxiety. But how about meaningful connections.”
"I've worked out a few strategies with Dr. Young during the little 'life prep' course she organized not too long ago,” you explain, recalling the hours you’ve spent on the library computer while the other doctor helped you with finding a new apartment and a job along with new coping mechanisms to make your return to the wild jungles of Gotham easier.
“I have a few job interviews lined up for next week. I think that’ll help to ease me back into having a social life. So, I think I'm set."
“Life prep,” he echoes, popping the ‘P’. Suddenly, it’s as if Crane’s mood soured considerably. His blue eyes narrow the tiniest bit as he stares down at his notes. “Hmm.”
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