#but still goes through the same character development

[menacerie]

I am already seeing some wild takes (and some genuinely valid ones), so please consider:

Goth shouldn’t be associated with ‘badness’ or an indicator of an unwell or morally corrupt individual. Every style tells a story, and goth is a story of finding beauty in unconventional places. It goes to show that what might generally be viewed as grizzly, grimdark and cold can be beautiful, too. We shouldn’t limit our perception of beauty to what mainstream feeds us.

Marinette adapting a darker, more goth style while still maintaining her signature elements (pink, elegance, floral elements) makes sense for the world she is in. Marinette was shunned, rejected, and left with no sense of belonging. She didn’t have anyone stand up for her, so she decided to stand up for herself. Both her civilian look and supervillain look reflect that. It only makes sense that she would reject the world back— through fashion. This is, and always will be, peak Marinette.

Even if her makeover made sense storywise, it still presents a tragic image of Toxinelle removing her own unique sense of style (a style with a beautiful message, mind you) in favor of copying her more heroic counterpart. She decided that heroism should look like Ladybug, not Toxinelle. She decided that heroism should be clean, pristine, and bright. That the darkness and grittiness of her world must be washed off, not reinvented or embraced. The visuals are contradicting the script and rejecting the message it’s trying to deliver.

Don’t tell me it’s not possible for Toxinelle to keep dark make-up or black hair or black body suit. Griffe somehow got to keep his punk elements, and most of what made him stand out from Chat Noir (the hair, the jacket) while the only thing Toxinelle got to keep is…her hair streak? Really? That’s what you consider to be her signature design element?

Regardless of whether alternative styles are considered mainstream in the Re-verse, it’s still possible to give Toxi a new design that embraces the world she came from (as stated with Griffe) while simultaneously making a statement. It is possible to treat Toxi as a character of her own, and not just another Ladybug. A spinoff series (if there’s actually going to be one) with the same Ladybug and Chat Noir would be, frankly, dull.

I know this could leave an open spot for character development. I’m talking about the Paris Special independently of some spinoff series that may or may not be released, and my point still stands. This was not good visual storytelling.

if you make that female character less goth as a sign of her ~healing~ or ~improving her life~ I will kill you

make her MORE gloriously dark and over-the-top. she's growing into herself. she's getting comfortable being who she wants to be. do you see the vision. I am crying and throwing things

[sanctuary-sonic-au]

✨✨Randomly drops lore for you✨✨

Though keep in mind lore can change in the future as I develop this AU more (or when I inevitably add more characters! Or notice plot holes)

1, Considering Agent Stone owns the Mirage Express in the AU, it can be implied that he takes care of Barry.

2, Tom and Neo Metal have a co-worker kind of relationship… Doesn’t stop Sonic from getting unreasonably jealous about it though lmao.

3, Shadow and Amy surprisingly have many things in common! One though is their fear of loosing everything.

4, The animals can talk to eachother but the humans are unable to understand them… but Omega and Neo Metal can! Yes, It’s as chaotic as you’d imagine it being…

5, Big is considered a “therapy animal”. He is VERY good at helping other animals work through their issues.

6, Maddie and Tom take care of the Chaotix!

7, Infinite was given the Phantom Ruby in order to save his life!

8, Sage is very close with Nicole and Infinite (as well as many of the robots made by Dr. Eggman ofc)!

9, Caretakers are allowed to bring the animals back to Earth for a visit as long as they have supervision. Sonic (craving adventure like always) escapes Chris’ backpack one day and runs off. He eventually gets lost and soon (like canon) finds two foxes bullying Tails and chases them off. At first, Tails is scared of him, afraid Sonic was gonna run him off like he did his bullies. The usual stuff happens and the hedgehog bonds with the fox. Eventually Chris finally finds them with the help of his friends. Tails hides but Sonic gently reassures him and refuses to leave without him, knowing Tails would be loved greatly and finally have a loving home if he came with him. Like canon, they have a big and little brother relationship and are VERY close. Although it takes a long while, Tails really comes out of his shell when living on the ARK thanks to Sonic.

10, Maria was cured from her illness not long after Shadow’s creation! The reason for Maria being on the ARK and Shadow’s creation pretty much remains the same as canon. Maria was put on the ARK to keep her illness at bay and Shadow was created to cure Maria. Difference is that it actually works and the ARK’s function/purpose was soon changed, with Sonic, Manic, Sonia, and Longclaw being the ARK’s first rescues!

11, Everyone onboard the ARK can travel to Earth and back without problem by using either the rings seen from the Sonic Movies or by Warp Topaz. It’s how they get new recruits, supplies, and new animals so easily (Also Maria visits Earth often now that she’s been cured, but she pretty much lives on the ARK still because of how much she loves being around the animals).

12, Although his friends care about him, most of the animals on the ARK who don’t know him well are scared of/put off by Shadow, it does get to him occasionally but he hides it very well. Same goes for Eclipse but the difference is that Eclipse couldn’t give a damn about what the others thought of him tbh LOLOL.

13, There’s an underwater section in the ARK!

14, The ARK in this AU is probably MUCH bigger than the one you see in canon.

(IDEA IDK ABOUT JUST YET BUT KINDA WANNA EXPAND UPON LATER)

Surge, Kit, Extra Life, and Scourge were made by a rival company to the ARK. This company not only made animals, but cloned animals and experimented on them. Unfortunately… Surge, Kit, and Extra Life were seen as “failed” and thrown out and left to die until they were thankfully rescued. Starline was the pet of the leader of this company. EVENTUALLY, this place would be exposed for their cruelty and all the animals who where a part of the program would be put on the ARK. Not counting Surge, Kit, and Extra Life (who were rescued earlier), this would include Scourge, Infinite, Starline, and MANY more. This place is why Surge, Kit, and Infinite have so many issues… Scourge was seen as a “success” so he wasn’t treated nearly as bad.

[alligatorcarapace]

I always think it's interesting how many tropes that 03 Donny flips on it's head when it comes to filling the role as the "smart one", from his softer voice casting to his open empathy, there's many facets of him that breaks the tropes often associated with the role.

But the one that I want to talk about is his developing connection to the spiritual, and how when it comes to things of the esoteric and mystical he kinda ends up with a semi-specialization in it.

Cause I've read long posts about 03 Mikey and 03 Leo about it, and rightly so considering some of the canon events however, Donny-boy here is a bit neglected in this area.

So I want to be the change in the world I want to see and point out that the purple banded turtle does not have a struggle with things like those other two, nor has almost no interaction with such things like Raph does(Which that is a post for another day becuase I do think it says something about his character, most likely unintentionally as Raph got the shaft in the 03 series despite him being so well written in the first 5 seasons).

Because Leo clearly has more foundation in the teachings around it all, but he still struggles with chi-channeling in season 5 despite it all. If I had to shoot in the dark, I'd say it's becuase Leo thrives in outlined environments with clear rules.

Presumably, by the same logic, it's that internal belief that he's breaking the rules when he uses Gunshin that breaks him. Assuming the alluded connection the Tribunal made where chi and belief have a direct connection is true of course.

Mikey, on the other hand has consistency issues I don't see with Donny. He has some wild unexplained and spontaneous moments connected with his luck, from the underground visions, to his moment of chi channeling before his own bragging acted as the key to humbling instantly afterwards. Leading to this dynamic of Mikey being good at chi as long as he doesn't acknowledge it.

Basically he can only do it on accident/instinct and then suffers from performance anxiety the second he realizes it. If we go back to that chi to belief idea, I'd say it's connected to Mikey needing other's validation to help with his self-esteem thus having little actual belief in himself.(Probably doesn't help that my man's clearly a kinesthetic learner and he was sent to the library for his training's foundations. The Tribunal will forever be the greatest examples of how teaching is a skill separate from the skill you trying to teach and you need to be good at both for your students to get anywhere)

Meanwhile to contrast these two, there's an almost background arc and growth in Donny as the show goes on that makes him more and more better at doing and accepting such spiritual and supernatural phenomena.

From his own vision from the underground that drove them down there a second time, to his connecting to Splinter in the astral plane(Which could be read as Splinter's own mastery of the mystical arts, but when combined with everything else shows growth on Donny part), to quickly gaining and consistently maintain his chi channeling after just study in the library, we see Donny having a skill that he slowly works on.

If I had to guess, he most likely started learning after Mikey's underground dreaming and supernatural that sort of busted his own teasing skepticism Donny had during that first trip down under. Meaning this is something he's been looking into and developing long before the tribunal showed up, and as said with the Tricertons, it helped him.

Going back to that shot in the dark thing that accidentally has taken over this post: if Chi=Belief is true, then Donny following his gut feelings a lot such as the curiosity that drive's to seek out answers and see what things do most likely plays a big factor in this. Because we see him with fancy mystical crystals, explore libraries, going through that portal that was drawn up a few weeks ago with an artist he just met, traveling to other dimensions with April via artifact found in her antique shop without telling anyone. Things that make his curiosity have almost a level of recklessness to them, that also displays his thirst for knowledge and quiet confidence in himself.

By the end of the series Donatello is equally into the proved hard sciences, as well as the esoteric unexplainable supernatural and general mystical aspects of his world. Experience with time and dimensional travel, both in a more sci-fi way and in a more magical "the staff was angry" kind of way.

A mutant mystical warrior if you will ;)

So yeah 03 Donny is very interestingly different from a lot of the other Donatello's in that by the end of the series, by a normal person's standards he's very superstitious and spiritual. Of course to Donny he's neither of those things considering the life he's lived and the unexplainable he's seen and craves to understand.

A funny counter to Rise!Donnie who struggles with the very same concepts due to the very same reasons. A very interesting parallel between the two(Meanwhile 2012 Donnie can revive the dead and became a vampire, and 87 Donatello just straight up is an eldritch horror in a way) that would be very interesting to explore.

It's funny how much people like to overstate Rise's characterization differences, but when it comes to Donnie, we've seen glimpses of that madness and bluntness in most of the others. 03 Donny is almost the odd man out. Almost. BatmanVsTmnt(The movie, I have not read the comics) Donatello manages to get those vibes as well, though tbh that entire iteration feels more like 03, outside of their Mikey, which makes me a little giddy with my obvious 03 biases.

So to close 03 Donatello is a gentle soul who's excitement comes from learning to the point of airheaded impulsiveness, and with the life he's lead opened his mind up to the possibilities giving him a more reliably consistent connection to the fantasy side of the show.

This to me makes him very interesting to me as he's more of a day dreamer who spends more time in his head than the lab in comparisons to characters in other media that tends fill the trope of the "smart one" with more cold feeling and emotional issues, most likely as a way to balance out the character's intelligence

[kpiuniverse]

Penelope had nothing on you

This fic has been inspired by @ultimate-marysue Odysseus/Penelope's prompt here.

Roy deserves to have a little Odysseus/Penelope moment and say "you need to be able to string my bow to date me". Cue to Jason suddenly increasing the weights in every machine he owns. He eventually manages but it's a struggle. Like, he's on the floor sweating and out of breath, but the bow is strung. He's so very pleased with himself, it's really pathetic. Roy thinks it's super hot (he likes a wretched creature), the Titans are begging him to get better taste.

It takes place in an alternate AU where Jason did not die, but the motherfucker still managed to get the same character development as the comics...

Written and edited in a day (which had not happened since Vigilante Chaos and Sleepless Nights). I hope you enjoy it!

Read it on AO3

It starts as a joke. 

Dick is at Titans Tower with his team, blowing off steam after a high-stakes mission. Naturally, alcohol is involved. Surprising absolutely no one, least of all Dick, the handful of unsupervised teenagers quickly spirals out of control. 

It starts with them trying to string Roy’s bow. Emphasis on ‘trying’. It’s late into the night, and only the core Titans (Donna, Wally, Dick and Roy) remain after everybody else either went to bed or passed out from drinking. Wally jokes about Roy’s archaic choice of weapons, Roy counters by pointing out that a bow is much more reliable than mechanical weapons. The discussion escalates toward the respective merits of arrowheads or bullets to hold tricks, culminating with Roy deciding that Wally’s inability to use a bow renders his opinion irrelevant anyway. 

It spirals down from there. Wally’s pride is picked, and he immediately snatches Roy’s bow from wherever his owner abandoned it earlier tonight. Posturing on top of their table, he loudly asks: “What’s in it for me, pretty boy?” 

Roy falls on the floor with laughter and promises Wally the date of his choice – no veto from Roy - if he manages to string the bow. Pumped by the idea to humiliate Roy, Wally tries to string the bow at once. And tries. And keeps trying, under Roy’s degrading comments and Donna’s loud Wally doesn’t succeed and finally puts down the weapon with a sheepish look. 

Roy’s trademark smirk is in place, and he offers the bow to Donna. Never one to shy away from a physical challenge, she gives it all she can. She can’t string it either and loudly curses Roy’s ancestors as well as his potential offspring with such colorful language that even Roy is impressed. 

Roy presents his weapon to Dick next, a single eyebrow raised in challenge. The thing is, Dick already knows he’s not able to string it. He's fully aware of his physical abilities, for starters. While the most acrobatic of them in the air, his shoulder and arm strength is nowhere near Roy’s. Dick also knows that all the Arrow’s bows have a hidden release button, as a security feature. It’s supposed to prevent anybody other than Roy or Oliver from using their weapons.   

Apparently, it also makes for a comical distraction among young, inebriated heroes.   

Without a word, Dick slowly takes the bow from Roy’s hands as his friend's whistle. He doesn’t take his eyes away from Roy’s as he skims the weapon's surface until he feels an almost imperceptible catch. He lets his finger linger there for a couple of seconds, savoring Roy’s blanching when his friend figures out that, of course, the Bats would know all about his and Oliver’s dirty little secrets.   

Still, even without the trick release, Dick is drunk out of his ass and nowhere near certain that he could actually string the weapon fully. He decides against risking making a fool of himself for the cheap price of parading Roy in lace panties and a cute dress all over Queen Enterprise - the man is shameless; he would probably enjoy it.  

Dick still makes a good show of trying his best, waiting until color returns to Roy's cheeks before handing him back the bow with a knowing grin.   

Roy recovers quickly and proudly announces. “Well, that settles it! Anybody that can string my bow can take me on the date of their choice and get a kiss from me. But I’m not holding my breath, losers!” 

The party withers away after that, and they all return to their quarters. The next morning, the story is shared, embellished and deformed to the point it becomes an inside joke for the Titans. Never one to stay out of a good laugh, even at his own expense, Roy goes the extra mile and sacrifices one of his older bows by putting it up the wall of the Tower lounge, so that anybody can try to string it. 

It becomes a fixed feature in their decoration and a good story to tell their new members. 

*** 

It becomes an innocent afterthought. 

Truth be told, Dick has a lot on his mind at this time. The bow running gag is far from any of his current concerns. That’s why he doesn't think anything of it when he returns to the Titans lounge, after updating Bruce on their outing with the Titans, and finds Garth vividly retailing the story of the bow and the unclaimed associated price to an impressionable young Jason in his new Robin’s colors. The boy – his young brother. God, Dick is never going to get used to it – is hanging on Garth’s lips, eyes wide and more focused than Dick ever saw him in the few weeks he has known him. 

Sure, Dick saw the look Jason sent toward Donna and Roy's direction whenever he was around them during the weekend. But a bit of a crush on any of them was to be expected anyway, and it’s not like it could lead to anything harmful, after all. Jason isn't even thirteen yet, and both Dick’s friends are well into their twenties, not the least interested in a kid, especially one under Batman’s protection. 

And if that night, back at the Manor, Jason shovels all the proteins onto his plate first and then goes over his usual shyness regarding food when asking Alfred for seconds, while grilling a bemused Bruce about the best diet to augment one’s muscle mass, well. The kid has a crush, that’s all. It’s kind of adorable. 

It’s not like a heavily proteic diet is going to have any adverse side effects on a growing vigilante kid. Not under Alfred's watch, at least. 

***   

It turns concerning after that. 

Jason's eating habits settle and become the new normal. Bruce and Alfred take it in stride and keep pushing high-protein meals toward him, never asking why. Dick doesn't let on that he has any insider information, because his relationship with Jason is still rocky at the best of times. Outing the kid’s crush isn't going to help anybody. 

There’s a moment, though, when Dick hesitates.   

Looking for Jason at Alfred's demand, he finds the boy in his room. Dick would not have thought anything of it if Jason's reaction to his unanticipated presence in his space hasn’t been that violent. Jason startles, pushes what he had in his hands under his comforter and quickly rushes Dick out of the room.   

His little brother’s behavior is so removed from his normal one that Dick’s detective senses tingle for the rest of the day. Ashamed and concerned all at once, he uses the time Jason spent in the shower that night after patrol to go through his room.   

Concern wins the match when Dick stumbles upon a bottle of prescription steroids that he knows for a fact Jason was not prescribed with. The screaming match that follows when Jason emerges from the bathroom and sees Dick sitting on his bed with the bottle clearly in sight, only stays at decent sound levels because neither of them wants Bruce involved. 

Jason’s reasons for that are obvious; after two years at the Manor, he is well accounted with Bruce's overprotective behavior and old enough that it starts to shaffle. Dick’s own reasons are a lot more selfish; somehow, he feels responsible for Jason’s crush on Roy and his subsequent behavior. 

They reach an understanding. Jason stays away from any pharmaceutical substances altogether - it was such an easy promise to extract from him that Dick doubts the kid really had any real intention of taking the pills in the first place - and Dick doesn’t share this misstep with Bruce. The compromise still involves telling Alfred, much to Jason’s chagrin, because Dick doesn’t live at the Manor, and his irregular visits aren’t frequent enough to really make sure that Jason keeps his word. 

For a couple of days, Dick regrets his decision and spends a good part of his day job hovering over the call button on Bruce’s contact. Until he decides to go back to the Manor without advance notice and finds Jason struggling through his usual training regimen. 

Dick breathes better after that. If he keeps his visits more frequent than he used to before the incident, well, only Alfred and Jason might figure out why. That’s good enough for him. 

***   

Then it gets ridiculous. 

Dick is using one of his sporadic visits at the Manor to make good use of the extensive gym on the third floor. The natural light coming through the large windows feels nice after the winter months spent in Blüdhaven.  

Distraction is the only reason Dick even takes his place on the weight bench without checking that’s already been put upon the bar.   

He takes out the bar absently and almost lets it topple upon his chest from the surprise. The weight it’s carrying is way more than anything even Bruce usually uses. It’s not unmanageable for Dick, but he still struggles to put the bar back without incident. 

Out of breath and shaking with leftover anxiety at the idea of what would have happened to him if he had to confess to Alfred his poor decision to train unspotted, he gets up and checks the leaded discs on the side. It is indeed a far cry from their usual regiment. He gets a look around the rest of the gym, and sure enough, all the machines are heavily loaded. 

At dinner, he tries to joke with Bruce about it, who does not react in the slightest. All it takes is seeing Jason's shoulders hunching and the tips of his ears blushing to understand that Bruce is not the one currently using the third-floor gym. 

Which, duh. The man has never once in his life exposed himself to sunlight if he could avoid it, and there’s a perfectly useable gym in the Cave. Dick is still reeling from the implication when Jason finds him right before he leaves and asks him to not rat him to their joined paternal figure. Dick makes him promise to not train alone with this kind of weight, going as far as assuring his regular presence at the Manor to help Jason train if that is what it takes. 

It kind of becomes their thing; Dick coming over every other day after work or whenever he can spare the time to help Jason slowly increase the weight on the machines and witnessing his once-upon-a-time malnourished little brother develop into a tank of a man before he reaches official adulthood.   

As it happens, regular exposure and forced trust do wonders for their relationship, above anything else Dick ever tried with Jason. The fact that Dick has to take a step back from the Titans' most time-consuming missions – space ones, for example - to be there for Jason on the regular doesn’t hurt either, to be honest. After the induced panic attack Dick gets when Jason one day calls him out of the blue, proudly announcing his intent to go to Ethiopia of all places to look for this birth mother, Dick comes to realize that without their closeness, Jason most likely would have faced the Joker alone in the damned warehouse where his mother lost her life. Dick never misses a session after that day. 

Dick has no doubts about why and who Jason is focused on reaching ridiculous bench press levels for. Dick is also a coward, because he never calls Jason out on it, but regularly shares his suspicions with his Titans friends, including Roy.   

Roy finds it funny, because it objectively is. He also assures Dick that Jason always has been and always will be Dick’s little brother above anything else. With what Roy is currently going through with his newfound sobriety and having to take care of an infant full-time, Dick wasn’t really concerned to start with. 

Still, Dick has known Roy for years, so any extra reassurance that his old friend has no interest in returning his little brother's crush is welcome. 

***   

At some point, Dick starts to get a little bit worried. 

Jason is only nineteen, for crying out loud! Dick is well aware that his little brother is built like a double fridge. He also knows why Jason first started to develop his musculature a few years ago. That’s why Dick is absolutely not amused by the way Roy starts looking back at Jason. 

After a couple of chance encounters in Gotham and on Titans business when Roy’s touch lingers a little too much on Jason for Dick’s taste, he corners his old friend for a chat. 

The next morning at breakfast, Roy makes a show of renewing the bow story while Jason’s there. He lays heavily on the ‘not interested in anything right now with everything I have going on’ and emphasizes that of course being able to string his bow will stay the only exception to his new ‘no dating’ rule.   

Jason looks crestfallen at Roy’s tirade. Dick lingers around after the meal, ready to be the supportive shoulder Jason could lay his young heart on. That’s the only reason he witnesses his brother glaring at the bow on the wall with renewed vigor. 

Unfortunately, the matter does not settle after Roy, deciding to go all in, brings Lian to the Tower to meet the Titans. If Dick was expecting Jason to realize that dating a vigilante single father was not the best usage of his teenage hormones, he is sorely mistaken. Jason is in awe of the little girl, spends his time entertaining her and becomes her favorite uncle in the span of the weekend, making Dick ferociously jealous.   

All in all, the operation of keeping Jason away from Roy is an astounding failure. Dick is going to cry. 

*** 

So, as the mature adult Dick pretends to be, he learns to live with it. Some moments are easier than others. 

Seeing Jason and Roy develop a tentative friendship based on a shared love of sarcasm, their tendency to stir trouble wherever they go, and repetitive babysitting emergencies is easy.   

Jason doesn't have a lot of friends, civilians or vigilantes. He tries the college thing at Gotham City University, and manages to stick to it despite their lifestyle, much to Bruce's delight and Dick's surprise. His impressive physique and pick-and-choose attitude toward classes isn’t conducive to building closeness with the other students, though.   

The Titans always have been Dick’s, and the Young Justice initiative the newest heroes started definitely has Tim’s dirty paw prints all over it. Somehow, Jason never manages to find his own hero team. He never complains about it, happy to focus on trying to make the City he grew up in a better place, whatever not-so-Bat-sanctioned methods it takes. 

Jason's controversial choice of moniker when he leaves the Robin colors to Tim doesn't help him maintain a healthy working relationship with Bruce either; not that Dick is judging him for rebelling at age nineteen and slamming the Manor door in Bruce’s face after a dispute. 

He isn't that much of a hypocrite. Choosing to name himself after one of the Joker's old names, on the other hand, it was maybe a bit too much of a slap in Batman’s face. But the rogue did kill Jason's biological mother in front of him, so if anybody is allowed to claim the ‘Red Hood’ name, it should be him. 

Roy’s sobriety comes and goes in unpredictable turns, until he loses Lian and... well, it’s not pretty. Jason is by his side throughout all of it, probably preventing Dick’s friend from using more fucked up coping mechanisms than his addictions. Dick might be bitter that Roy prefers Jason’s support over his, but he would never voice anything about that, since it might push Roy to stop seeking Jason’s help when he needs it. 

When Jason blows up everything and everybody to jump at Roy’s rescue in Qurac without any backup, it’s difficult. Seeing his not-so-little-anymore brother really heartbroken for the first time when Roy falls in bed with Kori in the aftermath is even worse. Then Kori leaves and the pair decide to start some kind of twisted vigilante-for-hire business, Dick is too worried to evaluate where it falls on the spectrum. 

It all goes up in flames, as per usual with them. For the first time ever, Jason walks away from Roy and cuts ties with everybody else. But the moment they find out Lian is alive, and a teenager now, Jason is back faster than a comic book retcons, playing uncle with her at Roy’s place every other weekend. 

Throughout it all, Dick knows Jason stays in love with Roy. Because after everything the two of them went through, there is no way both the heated looks his brother throws at the redhead when he thinks no one is looking and his fearful protectiveness over the Harpers are fueled by a childhood crush. But Jason never tells anyone, never makes a move other than wistfully looking at Roy’s bow whenever he comes by the Tower. 

Dick stays a coward, because he never pushes the issue with either Jason or Roy. He decides to stay out of it, fairly confident that his previous interventions on the matter made things harder for them. And if he keeps seeing the way Roy’s face dropped before hardening into resolve the day Dick all but threatened him to stay away from his brother, that’s nobody’s business but his own. 

***  

Everything comes down to it with a bang. A real one. 

There’s an unusual number of Titans – current and previous ones – at the Tower that day. They are loudly celebrating Tim's eighteenth birthday, much to his dismay. Roy is there, having tagged along with Jason. Or Jason tagged along with Roy, nobody’s sure and nobody really cares. The two of them almost live in each other's pockets these days.   

Of course, with Tim’s luck and his uncanny ability to piss off powerful beings, the party is rudely interrupted by a stressing amount of assassins from the League Of Assassins bypassing the Tower’s security system and falling upon them all. Between the genuine surprise – because targeting the Titans in their own living room, really? - and the packed room, it takes Dick’s fellow heroes a distressing delay to deal with Ra’s inappropriate birthday gift. 

It comes to the point where Dick worries that collateral damage is inevitable. Most of the Titans are meta-humans or aliens or something, so unlike the Bats and the Arrows in the room, they aren't under-equipped or weaponless. But they aren't used to working together, and the lack of clear leadership shows. 

One of their opponents passes both Roy and Jason's defensive positions around Lian and gets his hands on her. The teenage girl holds her own, of course, but Roy panics and launches himself at the man gripping his daughter by the throat with only his bare hands. Suffice it to say, when Dick catches sight of the situation through the global mess, he realizes there is a good chance Roy is going to be the collateral damage. 

Before he can react or shout at Wally and Donna to go help Roy, Jason has all but ripped Roy’s old bow from the wall, clenched the emergency arrow embedded in the frame and strung it with a grunt so loud it covers the battling sound surrounding him. He releases the arrow right where the ninja's head is hovering over a fallen Roy, taking care of the threat. Roy freezes on the floor when the arrow passes him, gets rid of the body that fell onto him and launches at Lian to check her for injuries in the same breath. 

Having one of them almost get killed seems to be the trick to organize the present Titans into something resembling a functional team. They make good work of the rest of the League’s assassins, sending them back to Ra’s Al Ghul in a handful of minutes. 

Afterward, it’s business as usual, all of them still high on adrenaline. Roy and Lian are huddled together in a corner, Jason quietly speaking to them with a hand on Roy's trembling shoulder. Wally sees them getting out of cleaning duty and decides to act jealous, ignoring Dick’s signal to shut his mouth. 

“So...” he announces to the room at large. He waits until everybody is looking at him, the asshole, before pointing at Roy’s bow, discarded on the floor next to where Jason is crouching. “Are we going to address that?” He adds. 

The entire present company looks at him with various degrees of bewilderment. Some of them don’t realize, of course, because they are in the aftermath of a battle that almost cost the life of one of their own and don’t immediately understand what he is talking about. The ones that understand what Wally is referring to are still taken aback, because they are in the aftermath of a battle that almost cost the life of one of their own. 

In addition to being in the second category, Dick is also reeling from the disaster that this has been. Suffice it to say, his temper is as short as his tone when he cuts whatever retort Jason was trying to get out from under his blush. 

“Shut up, Walls!” Dick takes a deep breath and opens the eyes he closed on reflex while trying to center himself. He is met with concerned looks he does not care for. What he does care for, however, is Roy’s single eyebrow raised in surprise and Jason’s frown.  

Before he can apologize and explain himself, Jason shoulders his way out of the room under Roy’s desperate expression. 

He was right, Dick suddenly realizes. No intervention he ever made into Roy and Jason’s relationship has ever failed to worsen the situation. 

***   

It ends like it started all those years ago. With a joke. 

The beginning of the end is when Jason corners Dick a couple of hours later and lashes out at him. “What the fuck is your problem with me and Roy, huh?” Jason asks while pushing him to the wall.   

Dick somehow doubts a shouting match with his brother over Roy’s honor in one of the Tower corridors while the better part of every hero that was ever a Titan is in attendance is the best way to handle this. 

“I’m talking to you, Dickface!” Jason escalates in the spare seconds it takes Dick to find his target. Without a word, Dick takes Jason by the wrist and all but shoves him through a not-so-random door. 

They find themselves in one of the Tower cupboards. Jason raises an eyebrow at him, but Dick quickly shuts him up with a pointed remark about their weight difference and how Dick never would have been able to manhandle him here if the younger one did not allow it. Jason concedes the point and takes pointed inspiration, ready to resume his shouting. 

“I don’t have a problem with you and Roy,” Dick cuts Jason before he can alert the entire Tower about his obvious feelings for a certain redhead. 

Jason startles, clearly not expecting Dick’s answer to his questioning. He gets over it quickly and retorts. “Well, that’s new, for starters. Care to share what your little outburst was about, then?” 

Dick shakes his head and counters. “Please, you can’t tell me that having Wally publicly grill you over your feelings for Roy felt appropriate. Roy was shaken; we all were.”   

He looks directly at Jason and delivers what feels like a long-overdue apology. “I’m sorry about that, though. And I’m sorry about any part I have played in keeping you from telling Roy how you feel about him.” 

On cue, the deep dive into emotional territory takes Jason off balance. He scratches his head, a nervous tick, and avoids looking at Dick when he answers. “’s okay. It’s not like I didn't always know how you felt about me going after Roy, ever since I was just the street rat Bruce brought home. And it’s not like I became a catch ever since.”   

Then it’s Dick's turn to struggle. What? All those years, Jason kept his feelings for Roy hidden because of Dick? No way. No way? 

“Jason,” he asks slowly, approaching the situation the same way he would approach a cornered predator cornered. Which is not so far from the reality of the situation, really. “Why did you never tell Roy how you feel about him?” 

Jason looks over Dick’s shoulder and explains. “Look, I know I’m not good enough for him, okay? And he’s your friend. And you’re my brother. And...” He hesitates and concludes. “It’s not worth endangering that, that’s all.” 

Dick places both hands on his little brother’s shoulders and waits for Jason to look back at him.  “Jason, you are worthy of anybody that catches your interest. Why would you let what I think keep you from going after something that makes you happy?” 

Judging by the odd look Jason gives him, Dick may have dialed too much on the melodramatic here. Time to back-pedal to more comfortable zones. He tries for humor. “If anything, it’s Roy that isn’t worthy of you!” 

Jason defaults to his comfort zone as well. Except, for him, it’s anger. “Oh yeah? Then why did you do everything you could to keep me from landing Roy when I was younger?” He accuses. 

Dick gasps audibly. “Because you were a child! A child with a crush on a man a decade older than you. Can you see how it could have been seen as concerning back then?” 

Jason huffs and crosses his arms in front of his torso, making himself even bigger than he already is. His posture adding to the choleric vibes coming from him have Dick’s reptilian brain screaming ‘danger’. 

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Jason retorts. “We’re only 8 eight years apart.” 

Dick prays for patience and pinches the bridge of his nose to display that fact to the present company. “An eight-year gap is concerning when one of the parties involved is so young any relation between them falls under statutory rape!” He takes a deep breath and adds. “You were a child back then. But you haven’t been a child for a long time, Jason. And if I have kept being your brother all throughout the insanity that passes as your teenage crisis, you dating Roy is not going to change that fact.” 

Their discussion ends with a hug and a joint agreement that neither of them is equipped to handle more emotionally charged conversation.  

Dick figures the conversation was worth it the next day during breakfast. Roy and Jason emerge together, hand in hand. Roy sports a grin that could illuminate the state of New Jersey during New Year's Eve while Jason darts a nervous look toward Lian the moment they pass the door. The kid flashes him a toothy smile as reassuring as it is threatening – she is Jade's daughter, as much as they tend to forget it – and gives him a thumbs up for good measure. Jason visibly relaxes after that and courteously accepts the banter all the Titans present rain on the two of them. 

Dick waits until the catcalls and the unsubtle innuendos recess before sitting next to them. “There’s still one thing I don't understand,” he asks, gaining their attention. “If you always knew how to string the bow, why didn’t you do it when you were younger?” He directs the question at Jason, because Dick is a known masochist who wants to imagine his underage brother dating one of his best friends. 

Jason looks at him like he sprouted another head during the night. “Because I physically couldn’t, Dickiebird. You would know, you were there.” Roy, bless him, stays silent and keeps smiling. Dick insists. “No, what I meant is when did you figure it out?” 

“Figure what out?” Wally asks over his shoulder. Jason doesn’t look like he has any clue about what Dick is talking about, which is infuriating, to say the least. Dick hesitates and catches Roy's eye. His friend shrugs noncommittedly, as to convey he doesn’t have any stake in the game anymore. Which, fair. Dick guesses the joke went on long enough as it is. 

“Roy’s bow.” He explains to his suddenly attentive surrounding audience. “It’s not about being strong enough. There’s a hidden release in it. That’s why nobody ever managed to string it. It’s a trick.” 

Wally cries outrage all over the place, Donna grumbles about how she always knew, because of course she should have been able to do it otherwise, and the others have a good laugh. All of them, except Jason, who seems star-struck in his seat. “What?” He finally asks. “What do you mean, it’s a trick?”   

Everybody sobers up. A good part of the present company, Roy included, have heard Dick rant about the herculean tales of his little brother over the bow. Present company also has been in the field with the Red Hood and knows from first-hand account the kind of violence he is capable of when pushed. 

There is an audible gulp in the room. Lian retrieves the bow from his usual place on the wall and shows Jason the small dentition that releases it, then effortlessly strings it with her only four feet and a half body. Jason stays notably silents during the demonstration.   

“Wait a minute,” Wally suddenly says. “If you didn’t know about the trick,” he gesticulates at Jason, “how did you do it?” 

Roy slowly turns toward his new boyfriend. Dick has known him for more than a decade at this point. He knows Roy, and he knows that look.   

“I...” Jason hesitates. “Adrenaline, I guess?” He tries, because he might be a proud man, but he is not one to flash any type of superiority over Wonder Woman or any other Amazon. He’s a gentleman like that. 

Jason grimaces and turns to Roy, as to apologize for having put his precious bow under duress. He must recognize the look in Roy’s eyes as well, because he turns redder than Dick ever saw him – first encounter with Wonder Woman included - in a handful of seconds. Without a word, Roy gets up and grips Jason's elbow to make him follow him. 

The room erupts in laughs and catcalls until they disappear toward Jason’s room and Dick takes a second to appreciate their choice. Roy’s room is next to his, and there are definitely things about his little brother and his friend’s relationship he does not need to know about. 

Find my other works here.

[kpiuniverse]

There it is!

Hope you like it as much as I enjoyed writing it! The title is still a work in progress, feel free to share ideas.

Thanks again for the prompt @ultimate-marysue

Roy deserves to have a little Odysseus/Penelope moment and say "you need to be able to string my bow to date me". Cue to Jason suddenly increasing the weights in every machine he owns.

He eventually manages but it's a struggle. Like, he's on the floor sweating and out of breath, but the bow is strung. He's so very pleased with himself, it's really pathetic. Roy thinks it's super hot (he likes a wretched creature), the Titans are begging him to get better taste.

[greyedian]

MAN I'm seriously so sad about season 2. Bc I wish act 2 had the same emotional impact on me as it appears to have on so many others. But rn I'm just somewhere between unable to care and actively annoyed by some of those writing decisions. Seriously the more I think about it the less I like it.

[mayo-productions]

good evening tumblr (it's literally midnight..)

I'm back in the Miguel trenches and I just saw this and I just about fell to the floor in tears because this is literally what's gonna happen to Mateo..

(incoming nonsense rant in tags, sighh)

[jade-len]

luo binghe better than me fr i think i would've gone fucking apeshit if the person i loved with my entire soul pretty much said "fuck you" because of my race and pushed me down into literal hell for me to suffer for years

i've said it before and i'll say it again, i really don't think we give binghe enough credit. that man was on concerning levels of forgiving all the way from the start

[sysig]

*chanting* Second pet, second pet, second pet! (Patreon)

[nonsensechemicals]

crying whenever i talk about Cookie9 because all my friends have these interesting and unique theories on them while i take everything too literally and they all just stare at me like “dude… uuugh we r TIRED” <-they dont actually say this they are very kind to me but i can Feel It

[smile-files]

i continue to find ii3 baffling. why did they make it (this isn't to hate on the season, i'm genuinely curious)

[danielnelsen]

im rereading asunder and keep having to remind myself that all these characters have french accents fml

[demilypyro]

So I've seen a few too many people on twitter talking about The Kiss Scene from the new Scott Pilgrim anime. People saying it's fetishistic and indulgent, people calling it male gazey, etc. And while the kiss itself is certainly a bit exaggerated, I felt like writing a bit about why I disagree, and why context is important, like it always is. But it basically turned into an extended analysis on the metatextual treatment of Roxie Richter. So bear with me. It's a long post.

What really matters about this scene is not the kiss itself, but what precedes it. Not even just the fight scene just before it, but what precedes the whole anime series, really. And that's the Scott Pilgrim comic book, and the live action movie. Because in both, Roxie is a punchline.

She's a joke. Her character starts and ends with "one of the exes is actually a girl, I bet you didn't expect that." Jokes are made about Ramona's latent bisexuality, the movie especially treating it as funny and absurd, and her validity as a romantic interest is entirely written off by Ramona as being "just a phase." There's a fight scene, she's defeated by a man giving her an orgasm which implicitly calls her sexuality into question (come on), and the movie just moves on. It sucks. It really, really sucks.

The comic fares a little better. It never veers into outright homophobia like the movie does, and while the line about Ramona having gone through a phase remains, Roxie actually gets one over on Scott when Ramona briefly gets back with Roxie. But Roxie is still only barely a character. Like all the other evil exes, she's just a stepping stone towards the male protagonist's development. She barely even gets any screentime before she's defeated by Scott's "power of love." But Roxie stands out, since she's the only villain who is queer, or at least had been confirmed queer at that point (hi Todd). In a series that champions multiple gay men in the supporting cast, the single undeniable lesbian in the story is a villain. She's labeled as evil, made fun of, pushed aside in favor of the men, and then discarded. Her screentime was never about her, or her feelings for Ramona. It was about the straight, male protagonist needing to overcome her. And that was Roxie Richter. An unfortunate victim of the 2010s.

Fast forward to current year, and the new anime series is announced. Everybody sits down to watch the new series expecting another retelling of the same story, and.... hang on, that straight male protagonist I mentioned just died in the first episode. And now it's humanizing the villains from the original story. And there's Roxie, introduced alongside the other evil exes in the second episode, and she's being played entirely straight, without a punchline in sight. No jokes are made about her gender, no questions are made of her validity as one of Ramona's romantic interests. The narrative considers her important. In one episode, she already gets more respect than she did in either of the previous iterations of Scott Pilgrim. And this isn't even her focus episode yet... which happens to be the very next one.

The anime series goes to great lengths to flesh out the original story's villains and to have Ramona reconcile with them. And I don't think it's a coincidence that Roxie gets to go first. While Matthew Patel gets his development in episode 2, Roxie is the first to directly confront Ramona, now our main protagonist. This is notable too because it's the only time the exes are encountered out of order. Roxie is supposed to be number 4, but she's first in line, and later on you realize that she's the only one who's out of sequence. She's the one who sets the precedent for the villains being redeemed. She's the most important character for Ramona to reconcile with.

What follows is probably the most extensive, elaborate 1 on 1 fight scene in the whole show. Roxie fights like a wounded animal, her motions are desperate and pained. Ramona can only barely fight back against her onslaught. Different set-pieces fly by at breakneck speed as Roxie relentlessly lays her feelings at Ramona's feet through her attacks and her distraught shouts. And unlike the comic or the movie, Ramona acknowledges them, and sincerely apologizes. And the two end up just laying there, exhausted, reminiscing about when they were together.

Only after this, after all of this, does the kiss scene happen. Roxie has been vindicated, she has reconciled with the person who hurt her, the narrative has deemed that her anger is justified and has redeemed her character. And she gets her victory lap by making the nearest other hot girl question her heterosexuality, sharing a sloppy kiss with her as the music triumphantly crescendos.

It's... a little self-congratulatory, honestly. But it's good. It's redemption for a character who had been mistreated for over a decade. And she punctuates the moment by being very, very gay where everyone can see it, no men anywhere in sight. Because this is her moment. And then she leaves the plot, on her own accord this time, while humming the hampster dance. What a legend. How could anything be wrong with this.

[fragmentedblade]

"Quite the story, Master Gongshu"

Jing Yuan at the end of the Seven Arbiter-Generals short video

[pineconepie]

CHARACTERS: Lux, you/reader

WARNINGS/TAGS: Cults, plane crash, vague religious themes (not to any religion in particular), parental yandere, isolation, false idols, death, blood, gender neutral reader, infantilization, developing stockholm syndrome, manipulation

WORD COUNT: 4.5k

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This one was a popular request! While not one of my favorite yandads, I really did enjoy writing a scenario like this, probably one of my more unique ones so far! Let me know if I forgot any warnings or if you'd like one to be added! I'm pretty sure its obvious I hardly proofread this past a brief look-over ^^;

It all happened so very quickly; one moment, you're just scrolling through your phone with your headphones in and listening to music, occasionally glancing outside of the plane's window to admire the view of the forestry below you.

The next thing you know, there's an explosion coming from the airplane engine. Everything starts shaking rapidly, people screaming as they quickly put on their seatbelts and look for oxygen masks—yourself included.

However, it is no use. The airplane makes a loud nose-dive towards the ground, and before you could even process what was happening, everything goes black.

...

You feel like death warmed over.

When you awake, there is an immediate burning sensation that fills your entire body, particularly your left arm. It feels broken. In fact, all of you feels broken. You feel as if your body has been run over by several trucks. Your face is throbbing.

What the hell happened?

You manage to lift your head. There's blood and bodies everywhere, some of the blood is definitely your own. No one else seems awake, or even alive.

There are small fires surrounding you that provide light in the dark forest. One wing of the plane was blown completely off, but it looks like you're still close to where most of the plane is gathered.

Even if it hurts like hell, you manage to somehow get up on your own two feet.

With the little amount of strength you have, you stumble out of the plane and collapse on the dirt floor outside of the area.

You are panting heavily, looking around at your surroundings. Your entire body screams with agony, every time you breathe, you're inhaling ash.

Despite having just woken up, you already feel yourself about to pass out again from the pain. You stumble as far away as you can from the plane, looking for any other survivors. Surely it can't just be you, right?

Wrong.

No matter how much you look, you don't see anyone even close to being conscious. Not one.

That's when it hits you like a bus—you're going to die.

You fall to your knees, clutching your chest in terror. All that you were able to process before the crash happened was the explosion. Now, all you know is that you're stranded, possibly hundreds of miles away from any sort of civilization.

What makes it worse is the fact that your arm is probably broken, meaning that there is no way for you to defend yourself from anything that lurks in this godforsaken place.

But knowing how doomed you are, is there really any use in that, anyway?

No... The best option would just be to curl into a ball and give up on life right here, right now. You lay on the grass, clutching one of your many wounds, shutting your eyes.

The sound of footsteps and horses galloping makes them snap back open.

Your head immediately whips to where the source of the sound is coming from. Your first thought is other survivors of the crash who woke up the same way you did.

That idea is crushed, however, when you look closer only to find that these people are clothed weirdly—in odd dark green robes with some kind of golden symbol engraved on it.

It doesn't take a genius to realize that these people aren't survivors like yourself.

These people must've been waiting for someone in this forest.

And even if their faces are hidden beneath the cloak, you know their eyes are all glued to you.

Your blood turns ice cold. You try to stand back up, but the searing pain prevents you from doing so, which only results in you falling down to the grass again.

Now, you regret not giving up on life earlier.

These people are getting closer, making a circle around your bloody state.

"Look, Father!" One of them speaks. Their voice is muffled behind the hood over his mouth. "I told you! We heard an explosion nearby!"

Father?

All of a sudden, a taller figure emerges from the group. His attire is slightly different than the rest—the robe appears lighter colored with more intricate designs on it.

He lifts his hood off of his head, revealing a man in his mid to late-forties staring down at you with a grin on his face. He has long blond hair tied in a low ponytail and green eyes that glow in the light of the flames from the crashed plane.

The man's expression turns from neutral to glee. "My dream was correct!" he cheers, causing everyone else surrounding him to do the same. "The Gods have blessed me with a child!"

A what now? You try crawling backwards away from them, shaking your head frantically. You attempt to open your mouth to say something, anything, but your vocal cords don't seem to be working after screaming bloody murder during the crash. Instead, your thoughts come out as coughs from smoke inhalation.

"Oh, my baby," he croons, kneeling beside your injured body. "Don't be afraid, little one. Papa's here now."

"They're injured, Father Lux," one of them states the obvious.

Despite that being obvious from one glance, it seems this man, Lux, was too happy to even realize until it was pointed out. His expression turns concerned, looking over your tattered self.

You try backing up from him again, but a few cultists gather around behind you so that you have nowhere to escape to.

"Poor thing, you must've been so scared." He tuts, grabbing you by your intact arm gently, examining all of your wounds. "Those burns are going to need treatment. And..." His hand hovers over your broken limb. "This will certainly need medical attention as well."

"Should we carry them back?" another follower asks.

He thinks about it. "I'll bring them on my horse back to camp. Opal, you follow, just in case." She nods. "The rest of you salvage the airplane for any useful parts."

"And if there's other survivors?" one of them asks.

Lux smiles eerily, shooting a glare in the direction of the plane.

"There are none," he tells them firmly. "But if there are, put them out of their misery quickly. They were not in the prophecy." His eyes turn to you, softening immensely. "Let us get you somewhere safe and sound, shall we?" He kisses your bloody forehead. "Welcome home, little one."

Without another word, he scoops you into his arms and carries you bridal-style towards his tan horse. The entire time, he coos at you sweetly.

It's a miracle you've even stayed conscious for so long. Finally, you black out with Lux stroking your face with his fingers as your head rests against his chest.

...

You wake up yet again feeling like death itself.

Although this time, instead of the sounds of screams filling the air, it's replaced by silence accompanied by chirping birds and crickets outside. The burning hot sensation still remains on your skin, but it has decreased significantly from earlier. Your body is covered in bandages all over, and your arm is now in a secure cast.

Even better, you're no longer laying down on grass or dirt, but rather on a comfortable mattress. As your vision becomes less fuzzy, you can see that the room around you isn't familiar either—it's furnished with various paintings and candles.

It's very clean.

You also find that your outfit has changed—you're no longer wearing your bloodied clothes, but rather an oversized cloak similar to the one Lux was wearing.

At this realization, memories of last night's events flood into your mind.

Oh, no. The airplane, the crash, the green robed-cult people—

You notice that your throat is dry. There's a glass of water placed nearby. Despite how painful it is to lift your arm, you muster enough strength to sip the glass and hydrate yourself.

As soon as you place the cup down, however, a new figure enters the room through the door. One you recognize.

"There you are, my baby." The tall man from before approaches you. He's not wearing his cloak this time, but what resembles more of a surcoat. "How was your nap?"

You swallow your own spit in attempt to soothe your dry throat. "What is going on?" is all you can rasp.

"Aww," he coos, walking closer and sitting at your bedside. He strokes your cheek with the tip of his index finger. "Don't you remember, little one? Your airplane crashed last night, and you were nearly torn to shreds."

Torn to shreds is quite the exaggeration, but okay.

"Okay, but," you practically cough out, "who are you? Where am I?"

Lux chuckles. "Everyone here calls me Father Lux, as I am the founder and prophet of this society." His smile grows wider. "As for who I am to you, that would be 'Papa.'"

"I... I have no idea what you mean," you state honestly.

He keeps that smile that you could only describe as eerie. "Despite my followers calling me 'Father', I never viewed them as my actual children. I always longed for a child of my own. Every night, I prayed to the Gods for one. So imagine my surprise when they informed me in a dream of your arrival. When you would come falling from the skies!" He places a kiss on your head. "Oh, I am so very grateful. Even if it weren't in the prophecy, I would have adopted you on the spot regardless, sweetheart. But alas, destiny spoke and gave you to me." He holds both of your hands in his with a loving stare.

You pull away from him immediately, hissing from the pain of your burns and broken bones as a result. "I'm not your child!" you cry out.

Lux's cheerful expression suddenly morphs into a firm scowl. "That wasn't very nice," he says sternly.

"You don't understand," you croak. "I need to get home. Please."

"Honey..." he places a hand on your cheek. "Home is where I am."

Your heart sinks. This guy is insane, you conclude.

And unfortunately for you, insane people aren't exactly reasonable.

Still, you try. "I'm not even a child! Look at me, I'm an adult!"

He just coos at you. "The outside world really corrupted you, didn't it? They fail to acknowledge not all adults are fully developed mentally. And when it is acknowledged, its only to bring shame." Lux shakes his head disapprovingly. "Little ones should not be ostracized in society. Everyone develops at their own pace. Some will mature slower than others. There's no harm in embracing being younger than you are."

You shake your head back and forth. "This is absurd," you tell him desperately.

"Even if I were to let you go, where would you go to?" he asks.

A lump forms in your throat. That's a good question, actually. You have absolutely no idea where you're currently located or how to get anywhere from here.

"Let me tell you something," Lux continues. "We're in dense mountains, deep within forests and surrounded by animals who won't hesitate to devour you alive in an instant. Not to mention, the nearest civilization from here is miles away. I know, because that's the exact reason I chose this place." He strokes your cheek, looking at you with faux concern. "So why don't you take a second to rethink your options here?"

There's a tight knot forming in your chest.

He's right. You literally have no other choice but to stay here.

"What does this cult even believe in?" you challenge, but there's no more anger to your tone. Primarily defeat.

"Cult?" Lux tilts his head to the side. "Oh, silly, this is not a 'cult.' A cult implies we are some sort of strange, extremist religion."

You furrow your eyebrows.

"This," he motions his hands in the air, "is simply a sanctuary. A community." Lux pauses to look down at you. "As for our beliefs, well, everyone is free to believe their own thing, because everyone has a different interpretation of the Gods."

"Then what's your point in being here?" you ask, exasperated.

"Well, there's something we do all collectively believe in. Peace, love, acceptance." He brushes a strand of your hair behind your ear. "Something that you, little one, are very unfamiliar with. I'm here to help everyone else—including you—to escape from all that chaos and destruction."

"From the sounds of it, you're just making yourself out to be a god, talking about dreams and prophecies," you retort. "It seems all these people believe you."

Lux nods. "I suppose that's another thing all my followers can agree on; I'm simply a messenger, someone chosen to lead them in the right direction. But I am no God, sweetheart." He kisses your forehead once more. "Just a vessel of sorts."

You want to tell him he's insane. That this entire place is a complete madhouse.

However, that doesn't seem like the greatest idea at this point. For all you know, this man may be capable of things far worse than death.

Not that you'd have much of an option, anyway. All you can do is sit in this bed as your wounds heal painfully slowly.

"Listen, sweetheart," he whispers. "I promise, you're going to love it here. There are many others your age for you to play with. Here, you don't have to worry about a single thing in life aside from living, breathing, and being loved every moment."

You gulp at that.

"But you don't even know me," you whisper back shakily. "None of you know me."

"On the contrary," he argues. "While you rested, I asked some of my followers to gather identification documents of other victims to bury along with their bodies." Lux pulls out a piece of paper that turns out to be your ID card. "(Y/n) (L/n)," he reads, grinning. "Though, now I suppose that'd be (Y/n) Sampson. My surname, if you weren't aware. It's your surname now as well."

All of a sudden, tears begin pricking your eyes. You can't even wipe them with your injured arm.

Lux quickly uses his own thumbs to brush them away from your cheeks.

"It'll be okay," he coos, pulling your fragile self into an embrace. "You're going to thrive here. I'll make sure of it."

If anything is true, it's that you definitely won't be thriving. Or keeping your sanity, for that matter.

...

For the first few weeks, you remain bedridden, with only minimal ability to walk around due to your injuries.

The house you both reside in is bigger than all the other's houses, you assume. It's a cabin-style cottage made of logs. It appears to have several bedrooms and other amenities such as running water.

Yet no phones, televisions, radios—basically anything related to communicating with the outside world. No form of entertainment.

Well, there's Lux, but you'd hardly call him entertaining.

On the plus side, the area surrounding this small commune is incredibly gorgeous.

There's an endless array of forestry, hills, mountains, and wildlife. There are even certain areas where wildflowers grow. And that isn't to mention the incredible views of sunrises and sunsets every day, even if only outside of your window.

Sure, most of the time, the scenery is blocked by high trees. But it's better than nothing.

Occasionally, Lux will allow you to step outside the house with him and accompany him in strolls around the perimeter.

Today is one of those days.

"This is the best part of living out here, if you ask me," he tells you as the two of you stroll through the gardens. "Look around, angel. Beautiful flowers bloom everywhere, every single day. Gods truly are magnificent beings. You can see their artistry shining through everything." His hand finds yours, locking together.

The only thing that prevents you from recoiling from the touch is the fact that you know it's a losing battle.

Since that fateful night, you've learned quite a lot about this place.

Firstly, you have a bedtime that cannot be broken for any reason whatsoever.

Secondly, Lux does indeed consider himself your father, but gets upset if you do call him "Father". That's something only for his followers, as he genuinely believes you are more than that—his actual kid. Or "baby" as he prefers to refer to you as sometimes.

Lastly, there is absolutely no way of escaping. You're hundreds of miles away from anything remotely close to civilization, and even then, Lux has eyes practically everywhere, making sneaking off impossible. Especially when everyone in the entire village is in constant awe and praise towards you.

There's no doubt in your mind that anyone would snitch on you immediately should they spot you trying to make a run for it.

So in short, you're stuck here until your untimely demise.

"Why are you so quiet, sunshine?" Lux suddenly asks.

His voice snaps you from your thoughts. You blink a few times.

"I'm thinking," you shrug.

"Mhm." Lux hums disbelievingly. "About what?"

"About my family and friends who must be worried about me." It's the only thing you have been thinking about lately. "They probably think I'm dead." Just like everyone else.

Lux drags out a long sigh. "Good. Let them think that."

Ouch.

"Do you not understand?" He stops in place. "You and I were destined to meet. It was fate that brought you into my arms that night. All of it happened for a reason." He cups your face in his large palms, tilting your head up to look into his green eyes. "Do you really think its a coincidence that not only did you survive a plane crash where most died, but that it had to crash in these mountains? In this location of all places?" He clicks his tongue. "Nothing happens unintentionally."

You narrow your eyes at him, ready to give him a snarky remark in response, but think about his words. "'Most'? So you're saying some did?"

"Hm?"

"You said most died."

He stiffens momentarily, almost as if debating on telling you the truth. "Some did live after the fall," he admits eventually. "Not everyone, of course. Only a few. But they were in pain. Too much pain that could be helped. The medic only has so many supplies, all that should be used on you."

You freeze, giving him a wide-eyed gaze.

"Lux," you barely choke out the name, "are you saying that you killed them? When they were still alive?"

"'Papa'," he corrects. "And it was mercy kills. It was better this way, honey. Imagine having survived an airplane crash, but in agony with limited medical care."

"So if I weren't in your stupid prophecy, you would've killed me too?"

"No." Lux says it with absolute certainty. "Whether you were or weren't, you would be right here, with me." He presses a kiss to your temple. "Even when they are dead, the outside world still wishes to tear our bond... now no more talk of that dreadful place and situation. We're supposed to be enjoying this beautiful evening together."

...

More days pass, though you aren't sure how many. It feels like its been forever, but its likely only been three weeks at most.

Either way, you miss the outside world. A lot. Never did you think you'd be saying that.

You miss your family. Your friends. Technology. Entertainment.

But alas, none of that can happen out here, in this stupid mountain cult society with their insane leader.

Their insane leader that wants to adopt you as his own child, apparently.

You're allowed to go outside more often now, but he always appoints someone to watch over you and supervise every move you make. After all, you're supposedly the equivalent of a toddler, so you need constant supervision. Like toddlers often do.

The people your age or older get to choose if they still wish to be treated as children or like adults. You don't mind that, but you wish you got the same option of choice they did. You're often forced to play with them outside.

From the looks of it, it'll be hard to escape. Not only are you doomed from a geographical standpoint, but there are always guards, even at nighttime.

Yet perhaps luck will be on your side. Maybe if you get out of here, you can find the crash site. All planes have some kind of way to track them, right? Maybe they are looking for you. You know they'll likely assume you're dead if they don't find you at the wreckage.

Even then, its not like you're on an island. Maybe you'll find hikers, or someone who isn't insane who lives here.

You decide its worth trying only after you're more physically healed.

"Stargazing?" Lux asks you suddenly.

He's standing nearby on the porch of your shared cottage home, sipping some hot beverage. Probably tea. Its chilly, and there's a blanket wrapped around his shoulders.

You nod wordlessly. You have to admit that its probably prettier than the view back where you live. Less smog and air pollution blocking everything.

Lux smiles, putting his cup down to join you. He wraps one arm around you to keep you close.

"These mountains provide us with such peace," he states. "Away from cities and towns full of chaos, where we can bask in nature without the stresses of society plaguing us. I think you're already healing because of it."

"Healing," you echo bitterly.

"Indeed." He tilts his head upwards towards the starry sky. "Isn't this so much better than looking at your phone? Than hearing traffic noises at ungodly hours of the night? No stressful paperwork, no worries about working nine to five just to have a roof over your head or decent living conditions?"

You want to disagree, but you can't. Because technically, he isn't wrong. It is nice. Even if you'd prefer your other life to this.

But maybe you can change the topic to something useful.

"Do hikers come by a lot? Or outsiders, in general?" you ask.

He shakes his head. "I know what you're thinking. And no, sorry to disappoint you. The last outsider we had was about two or so years ago."

You grimace, looking down at the dirt.

"Your home is here," Lux continues, kissing your temple. "You have no responsibilities here. You can play all the games you want, make all the friends you desire, enjoy the beauty of the outdoors every morning until nightfall. And most importantly, you're safe, cherished, and adored. How could you ever wish for anything else? Do you think you have a family out there that loves you more than I do?"

"You don't love me. Besides knowing my name, you don't know anything about me," you mutter.

Lux gives a light smile. "I've been urging you to tell me more about myself, it isn't my fault you little ones are so stubborn; but I don't need to know everything about you to know that this is what you need. Here, you have a warm bed to sleep on every night. Plenty of food to eat. Fresh, clean air, a caring father, and lots of friends."

"I don't even know them," you reply curtly.

"You will in due time." Lux runs his hand up and down your back comfortingly. "You shouldn't think so much. Leave those matters to me, all right?"

...

Its been about a month and a half when you're feeling much better physically.

Mentally, well... you'd rather not think about that.

Every few days, the cult has some kind of celebration. Everyone is singing, dancing, eating, laughing. There are bonfires, flower arrangements, all of it.

You never participate, despite all the coaxing. But given you plan to escape tonight, you might as well. Maybe you can give Lux the false notion that you're beginning to enjoy it here.

Then, when everyone is having a good time, you can just slip away and pray the guards are too distracted to notice you.

As soon as Lux sees you shuffle outside to the event, he lights up.

"(Y/n)!" he exclaims happily. He's wearing a much more bright robe, as the rest of the people are, as well as a flower crown out of sunflowers resting upon his head. He takes a glass of grape juice and offers it to you, which you accept.

"How lovely it is to see you joining us!" he continues.

"Just felt like being social today," you lie with a shrug.

He claps his hands together giddily. "Oh! I knew you would adjust!" Lux brings you into an unexpected embrace that crushes your bones.

You force yourself not to wince or recoil, and instead lightly hug back.

Lux proudly shows you off to everyone. They all greet you excitedly. You respond, though with far less enthusiasm. The entire time, your eyes scan every inch of the area, trying to find out the best route to run away through, and where all the guards are located.

At some point, you don't even feel as if you're faking your enjoyment.

Everyone is so eager to hear what you have to say, and the food is delicious. You even end up wearing one of the flower crowns one of the other little ones (as they are referred to by Lux), put on your head.

Unfortunately, before you can even slip away from everyone, you end up exhausted, plopping yourself onto Lux's lap while he eats by one of the bonfires.

He seems shocked at this, and you are as well by your own actions, but he wraps his strong arms around you and pulls you closer to his chest.

"Oh, look how tired my sweet baby is," he coos. "Looks like it's past your bedtime."

Despite everything, you sigh contentedly and lean against him.

Maybe just this once is fine. After all, you haven't done this since you were actually a child. Plus, you're exhausted.

Tomorrow is another day, and this definitely isn't the last celebration they'll be having.

"It was so wonderful to see you smiling and laughing tonight," he tells you, brushing the hair out of your face. "And the other little ones were so happy to see you. I think you have the entire community wrapped around your finger." He boops your nose. "Including myself, of course."

"Is (Y/n) tired? I was gonna show them the kites we were making earlier today!" one of the littles exclaims to Lux.

He smiles. "Sorry, little one, it appears so. I think it's not far off from your bedtimes too." He helps you up, keeping a firm hand around you to support you and your sleepy state.

Once you get home, he tucks you in your bed, gently removing the flower crown to place on your nightstand.

"Sweet dreams, sunshine. Thank you for spending the day with us, it meant the world to everyone. Especially Papa." He leans down to kiss the top of your head. "I love you so, so very much."

With that, he blows out the candles and closes the door behind him.

You'll escape, you're still sure of it. Just... not tonight.

[cryinggirlnamedhelen]

“blue lock is just a manga about soccer” “blue lock is fruity and nothing else” i think nagi's character writing alone can immediately shut down all of these accusations. so now that chapter 302 has finally been released, let's have a (not so) quick discussion about nagi's character.

let's start from the beginning, during nagi's childhood. we've never seen a flashback in the official manga of nagi's backstory, nor do we see one in episode nagi, but there are numerous hints that lead us towards what might be nagi's childhood. in the egoist bible, it's said that nagi was raised with a very hands off style. in episode nagi, nagi says that his parents once told him “don't die before we do”.

so there's a lot to unravel there. for one, we can safely assume that nagi's parents likely weren't extremely involved in his life. judging from the way that nagi goes to an elite prep school and can live on his own with a consistent amount of food and lots of furniture, nagi is well off. judging from these factors, i wouldn't be surprised if nagi's parents were people who had to go on business trips often.

now, about the thing that they had told nagi. for one, nagi is seventeen when reo first meets him. a parent probably should say these sorts of things to their child in the first place, but for the argument's sake, let's just say that his parents are extremely inexperienced and not good with social cues. we can see that nagi is clearly emotionally stunted, likely from a lack of parental guidance or warmth as a child.

a parent telling their child about dying at such a young age is already alarming. yes, i know that there are warm and loving implications. that the parents wouldn't be able to live without nagi. but at the same time, considering how there are some people who are extreme pessimists, wouldn't that also imply that the parents should die before the kid?

and i'd also like to bring up another point. when nagi goes back “home”, he goes back to his dorm at school, not his parents’ house. i know that nagi still has to go to school, but does he not even bother to go to see his parents? do his parents not care enough to go and visit their son, who they watched fall from grace?

but i digress. basically what i'm saying is that from all of the hints we recieve throughout the story and additional media, nagi was likely emotionally neglected as a child due to his parents.

now let's talk about his relationship with reo. you can interpret their relationship in any way your want, though i personally see them as romantic. i think kaneshiro wrote them as soulmates, considering how they're both opposites and the same. reo recieved a suffocating amount of love in his childhood because his parents were so involved in his life. at least, that's how it is at face value. although, like nagi's parents, i have no doubt that they surely love reo, reo's parents definitely view reo as an heir to the corporation sometimes rather than their own son.

reo is seemingly always emotionally mature and calm, but that's not the case. we see numerous times throughout the series that reo has seemingly “grew” and that he has gotten over nagi or that he can do everything by himself from now on. but the momnt that something happens between him and nagi again, his development always end up shattering. reo is emotionally immature when it comes to nagi. i don’t think there's any other way to put that.

i think that nagi began to care more about everything after meeting reo. but at the same time, i also think that nagi is the type of person who cares too much. he cares so much that he pretends that he's just some nonchalant guy. in chapter 302, we see nagi walk by the stairs that he first met reo on and reminicing the time he met reo. but he continues to deny his love and desperation for soccer, until the end of the chapter, when he breaks down in tears.

nagi reminds me of a parent in a way. the type who continuously puts their child through hardship and always making their child do so many extracurriculars and sports, and the child just htes them, but when the child ends up being a successful adult due to the extracurriculars, the child finally realizes that the parent was just trying to thelp them all along but wasn't good enough at communication to tell them. i think that was reo and nagi’s relationship during the second selection, though nagi isn't reo's parent in any way shape or form.

i think nagi was originally just suppoed to be the stereotypical lazy relatable lovable genius character who would get blue lock more popularity, and i think reo was originally supposed to just be some annoying little brat who only saw nagi as a dog. and during the first selection in the original blue lock manga, before episode nagi released, i do believe that's how it was.

but i digress, i'm reaching too far there. so now let's talk about isagi and how isagi shaped more of nagi's characterization.

reo was the reason why nagi ever played soccer in the first place, isagi was the reason nagi continued, and reo was the reason why nagi kept on playing soccer to the end and why nagi couldn't play soccer anymore.

i think that isagi, similar to reo, serves as an opposite to nagi. but unlike reo, who still shares many similarties with nagi, isagi is completely different to nagi. i think that's the real reason why nagi chose isagi's team during the second selection, and not actually because of isagi's goal during the team v vs team z match.

so yeah, sorry for the yap session again. basically nagi is someone who pretends to be nonchalant but secretely cares too much lmao.