#...whether they exist or not

[note-boom]

Life and Death Parallels within the ADA

Someone in a tag said a while back to throw some of my tags of this post onto a post, and I meant to do it way back in February but kind of got lost to the timestream.

But I'm back and I really do have thoughts about the way the ADA is structured to really be, as Atsushi was told just before the Kamui revelation, a place where the members give the organisation unique strengths that cover each other's weaknesses. And I thought about how there's a sort of equal divide between the older generation (Ranpo, Yosano, Dazai, and Kunikida) and the younger generation (Kyouka, Kenji, Tanizaki, Atsushi) and how each of these characters have both a similar aged parallel to them in the agency as well as a minor-adult parallel.

I'll try to be as concise as possible (I failed), but hear me out...

We have Ranpo/Yosano, Dazai/Kunikida, Atsushi/Tanizaki, and Kyouka/Kenji as similar-aged parallel sets that pair a death-coded individual with a life-coded individual. On the the adult-minor side, you have Ranpo/Kenji, Yosano/Atsushi, Dazai/Kyouka, and Tanizaki/Kunikida as parallel sets in their story arcs rather than thematic ones.

So, to start with the first set.

Ranpo (life-coded) and Yosano (death-coded): I feel as if these two have sort of reached the most balanced level of thematic parallels than any of the other pairings. Ranpo's past was full of this enjoyment with life where his parents' occupations dealing with darker forces of the world were hidden from him. Meanwhile, Yosano's past was full of death and darkness that was not hidden from her. And in Yosano's backstory, she was called the angel of death; in Ranpo's Origins tale with Fukuzawa, he confronted an angel of death of a sort. Yosano was deteriorating into death while Ranpo was slowly thriving under Fukuzawa. And then they met...and Ranpo found someone to bring back to life, and a place in the ADA where he could use murders and death and the darkness of the world to spread light/life by literally shining light on the mysteries, while Yosano found a place where she could use death to bring life in the ADA.

Dazai (death-coded) and Kunikida (life-coded): I think this parallel of life/death manifests the most in their ideals...Dazai's ideal is sort of entrenched in death and trying to die a painless suicide while Kunikida is all about spreading life for himself and others no matter how much pain it brings him. What's so wrong with these two is that they also have inclinations towards their "opposite coding," so to speak. We constantly see people pointing out Kunikida's secret desire to die while we clearly see Dazai doing his uttermost to live a good life and carry on Oda's legacy. Life haunts Kunikida as much as death haunts Dazai, and yet death chases after Kunikida (all the people he's witnessed dying, RIP) as much as life comes after Dazai (all his failed suicide attempts, double RIP)

Atsushi (life-coded) and Tanizaki (death-coded): This is honestly pretty tricky because we barely know anything about Tanizaki. Even though Kunikida and Dazai's past-pasts are still pretty mysterious, we have a good grasp on their characters. But Tanizaki's personality dissonance and as-of-yet unknown past with his sister definitely contrasts with the way we're know Atsushi's past and values. Both, however, are incredibly protective, but the way Tanizaki and Atsushi approach it is pretty different; Tanizaki seems to have this mentality that he must kill the threat while Atsushi seems determined more to save the victim. (I also find that one throwaway about "wimp of the east (Tanizaki)/wimp of the west (Atsushi)" interesting because maybe it's just in western lit, but west denotes sunsets and death while east denotes sunrises and rising, except in Buddhism where the west is shown as a direction of enlightenment(info check?)...which provides another host of interesting parallels to Atsushi and his relation to the book but let's not go there). All in all, these two are a bit of a stretch, but it's interesting to see that Atsushi's mysteries lie more towards the future (usually associated with life) while Tanizaki's life more in the past.

Kenji (life-coded) and Kyouka (death-coded): This one's pretty straightforward, not just because they're the youngest members of the ADA. But you see their life philosophies and personalities lean towards what they're coded as, as well as their pasts (Kenji as a farmer, cultivating life, and Kyouka as an assassin, dealing death). And yet what drew each to the ADA....Kenji was drawn to the ADA after witnessing death after a lifetime of growing new life while Kyouka was drawn to the ADA after being given life after a long childhood of killing.

However, in the end, the Armed Detective Agency is a detective organisation devoted to saving people, and all of them end up choosing life for it. But the different ways they go about it just go to show that you can have any crazy skill and still spread some sort of life through it. All of them are haunted by death, anyway, and yet all of them choose to spread life regardless.

Now onto the second set, which I'll keep shorter by simply saying that the pairs - Ranpo/Kenji, Yosano/Atsushi, Dazai/Kyouka, and Tanizaki/Kunikida - just have similar story beats, in a sense.

Ranpo and Kenji raised fairly happy, rudely awakened by the world, and yet choosing to believe in continuing to keep up a positive attitude; I'd say, though, that Ranpo does it primarily through shutting his eyes to the world while unmasking it while Kenji does it through acknowledging its pain and refusing to let it bring him down.

Yosano and Atsushi both with honestly terrible childhoods spent witnessing some of the most cruel sides of human natures growing up to be champions of life, only Yosano has definitely developed more steel and walls while Atsushi's definitely softer and more open still (they're both crazy stubborn, though).

Then Dazai and Kyouka's past with the Port Mafia and a disillusionment in reality that was abruptly interrupted when they realised they had to do something about it as useless as it sounded; Dazai thanks to Oda dying and Kyouka thanks to Dazai telling her to save people anyway.

And again, Kunikida and Tanizaki's probably a stretch given we know nothing about their pasts, but I really really find it interesting that Kunikida was a former teacher and Atsushi first assumed Tanizaki and Naomi to be students; also, I've mentioned this in other posts but Kunikida and Tanizaki are paired together a lot and have...their moments. It's pretty interesting to perceive these two people with strong ideals that are almost the reversal of the other ("the world for one person" vs "myself (one person) for the world").

But yeah...that has been parallels within the ADA concerning themes of life and death and their character's narrative arcs.

Bonus? Fukuzawa and Naomi....a middle aged president and a teenaged clerk, both protective about the people they claim to be their own, smart in their own ways, with seemingly "support" roles.

[vaguely-concerned]

lucanis is a 'I could sit in our quiet kitchen on a grey tuesday afternoon drinking coffee and talking with you about nothing much in particular forever and be the happiest man who ever lived' romantic, not a 'classic tropes and grand gestures' romantic. this is a distinction and conceptual gap I personally feel is crucial to understanding what's going on with him when romanced. for all his almost painful sincerity and clear depth of feeling he's not a very effusive guy by nature, but in the history of time no one has ever, with their whole soul, chest and being, been so genuinely and openly happy to just do laundry and taxes with you.

[demigods-posts]

headcanon that percy and annabeth have a relationship contract they made after they got together once the war came to pass. they outlined it on paper in percy's bedroom. typed up a final draft using sally's laptop. and printed out and laminated it at the local library on their two month anniversary. and they abide by it like it's the law.

[strawberrie-jaem]

hmm orv au where gamer yjh fans vaguely spot kdj in the background and try to track him across social media.

they discover that he only exists on the internet across a bunch of random videos, almost ALL from famous celebrities and influencers. Everyone who knows someone can't figure out who this man is irl. But he has a nice voice and all his acquaintances seem to be some degree of obsessed with him.

[deikshen]

Now I think of the chronically ill Shen Yuan who has those moments when his body fails and he needs to sit down, drink water and control himself, and his family insists he have a service dog- And it's not that he doesn't find dogs adorable, they are!! But he doesn't have the time or desire to actually take care of a dog! It's a service animal, yes, but Shen Yuan doesn't want pets!

... Then Bingge comes into his life. The emperor, Luo Binghe, who suddenly begins to act like, literally, a service dog.

Sometimes he can't even feel the blood parasites. Sometimes, before Shen Yuan even starts to feel depressed and on the verge of fainting, Binghe can smell it. It's like, he knows something strange is happen- and many times that peculiar smell in the air next to his A-Yuan follows him practically fainting in his arms like a princess. Sometimes it's a complete faint, other times Shen Yuan just loses his strength, other times he just needs to sit down.

Luo Binghe casually comments on this when Shen Yuan says it's strange that he's always there to catch him before he falls. Because before Binghe, Shen Yuan could feel those episodes coming, but sometimes they were too abrupt and fast, and he actually ended up on the floor at least twice a week. And now he always falls into Binghe's arms!

And Luo Binghe might comment to him like: ah, the air around A-Yuan smells different before he fades away.

And Shen Yuan must feel humiliated in this fate thing because he didn't want a service dog!! But look at him now!! Binghe can sense that he is having an episode, he catches it, gives him water, medicine, sometimes injections if he really needs it. What was this?! A service boyfriend!? Even worse!!

... Well, Shen Yuan won't complain too much. Eh. At least Binghe can feed himself (and buy and get his own food and cook the best delicacies Shen Yuan ever tasted), and he doesn't have to take him out for walks every day... although if he buy him some, ahem, toys and collars in which Binghe has shown interest.

That... That's better than he expected. And, well, maybe his Binghe is like a huge puppy sometimes, but still!!!

[andstuffsketches]

Maybe not Impulse, But I think she would date Cissie

a glimpse into a possible future....

[sofipitch]

Souls are permeable-> The more you interact with a person the more it changes you. This is obvious when it's in friendship, and or it is a chosen change. But even if you don't want to change, knowing others will change you will regardless, in ways you may not be able to predict. That is the nature of all relationships, we are not static things. Yeah. That's it, just gonna think about this one all day

[thorough-witness-enjoyer]

This is definitely bouncing off of a post made by @eiramew about disability visibility in Destiny because I think having more disabled people that are an active and seen part of the story is essential.

Even with the idea that the light heals and remakes, I want to bring this comment Seth J. Dickinson made when someone asked if their disability could exist in Destiny’s power systems.

“The Traveler might need you the way you are” is actually so beautiful to me and I think protecting people others would consider “unworthy of the right to live” is what the Traveler champions against the philosophy of the darkness.

I could talk about this forever and I think I might soon.

[pleasureprose]

could’ve saved // could’ve killed

[thesummerstorms]

Annabeth Wayne Chase: *explains how she can't blame Bruce for not handling her existence well because she was created from her mother's mind and Bruce's DNA without his knowledge or consent, so it isn't unreasonable for him to have trouble accepting it.*

Annabeth: *isn't acknowledging her feelings whatsoever, because she doesn't have that kind of vulnerability with her mortal family, but clearly believes this to be a major reason for the strain between her and Bruce. Equally clear is the implication that she believes she is unwanted and is deeply hurt by this*

Tim Drake, who is MUCH better at pattern analysis than handling strangers' emotions: Uhh... So maybe I should introduce you to a friend of mine, Kon–

[astriddestelle]

Batman is so funny. Every time he tries to implement his whole no metas in my city rule this is how it goes without fail.

—————————

Batman: No metas in my city

Dick: Except for Wally he’s my best friend

Batman: Fine

Dick: Oh and Starfire my girlfriend, technically she’s an alien.

Batman: …..I suppose

Dick: And I guess the rest of the Titans when they come to visit.

Batman: ....

Dick: *grins* That’s it I swear.

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

Batman: No metas in my city except for the Teen Titans

Tim: What about Superboy he’s my best friend?

Batman: Fine

Tim: Oh and Bart he’s my other best friend

Batman: ......Alright

Tim: Wait, I can’t forgot Cassie and the rest of Young Justice

Batman: *scowls*

Tim: *puppy dog eyes*

Batman: *crosses arms* No metas in my city except the Teen Titans and Young Justice

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

Damien: *raises eyebrows*

Batman: And Irey West and Collin Wilkes, Or Ace West and Jon Kent (depending on continuity)

Damien: Thank you

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

Batman: *Looks at Jason*

Jason: *shrugs* Don’t look at me, I died at thirteen, I don’t have any friends.

Batman: That's concer-

Jason: Though Bizarro and Artemis were pretty cool…

Batman: *Adds them to the list*

—————————

Alfred: Aren’t you forgetting someone?

Batman: Who

Alfred: *Gestures to the entire Justice League most of who are the parental figures of the kids his kids have play dates with*

Batman: Clearly this rule isn’t working.

[sonknuxadow]

i know a lot of people like to headcanon that silver is the future child/descendant of some other existing character(s) but personally i like silver way more as some random kid who wasnt really anyone special but decided he was going to be the one to fix the destroyed world he was born into

[mwvwv-sims]

[hizerain]

2025.05.05

A mess of notebooks and papers. I've taken to organizing them in multiple piles across my floor. Somewhere slowly functionality over aesthetics has taken over life. My various fragile and beautiful fountain pens swapped for a sturdy indestructible rotring 600 ballpoint. Beautifully kept notebooks exchanged for loose sheets of paper flouncing around. To some extent, I do miss the enforced slowness of the other tools. At the same time, I've always had an aesthetic obsession which has often been suffocating. It has been nice to let go.

[starry-bi-sky]

"Stillborn? No, no, still born." -- DPXDC AU

Based off a comment I saw where Bruce knew about Talia's pregnancy in the earlier comivs, and was ecstatic to be a father. So much so that Talia feared he'd give up being Batman for it, so when she gave birth she put the baby (Damian) on a doorstep and (seemingly) told Bruce that the baby was stillborn.

Instead of Damian, that baby was Danny! Meet Daniel Brown, the 14 year old foster kid whose been living with the Fenton family for the last two years. He's about two years older than Damian.

His last name, "Brown", was a generic surname given to him because the note he came with didn't have one on it. It just had the name "Danyal" on it, but albeit 'Daniel' was the one that had been put into the system for, I'll be totally frank here, racism reasons.

(I looked it up to make sure, and it's generally not permissible for foster parents to change the names of their foster kids even if it's a permanent residency, and for that reason Danny doesn't have the last name "Fenton".)

Danny's got ✨~issues!~✨ He's been through a handful of homes growing up, most of them terrible for a variety of reasons. Which has, as a result, left lasting scars. He's generally a very sweet kid, just very distrustful and jumpy. He's got the signs of a kid suffering from PTSD, and a handful of other issues including attachment and insomnia. His inferiority complex could rival Damian's, and that's going to make for an interesting mutual hatred for when they finally meet.

(something I'll get into later)

He still has the blanket he was found in. It's made of a very high quality material and is a beautiful emerald green with little golden thread accents, it's high quality as a result has Danny clinging onto a desperate hope that his bio family might be out there, and the only reason they gave him up was because of some outside factor. It's been taken a few times in old foster homes, and he's flipped out each time.

While he still calls Jack and Maddie by their names, he likes them well enough. The bar isn't that high though, and while they're some of the better foster parents he's had, "better" doesn't equal "safest". Their laboratory malpractice. Basically, C- Fenton Parents. They're negligent by virtue of being engrossed in their work, but they do care equally about Jazz and Danny. So he doesn't hold it against them that much.

He kinda prefers it that way, their loud affection is overwhelming and Danny doesn't know what to do with their attention, even if he craves it. It's a bit of a complicated situation.

They took in Danny because they genuinely wanted another child, but didn't want a big age gap between them and Jazz. It was actually Jack's idea to foster, and they discussed it with Jazz beforehand. She was all for the idea. Thus, a handful of weeks later, a ton of paperwork, and inspection later, and Daniel Brown entered their household with a trash bag in one hand and eyes like shards of stained glass.

His relationship with Jazz is kinda strained, but that's by virtue of her constant psychoanalyzing and helicoptering. Like with the parents, Danny's overwhelmed by the attention and also just, straight up doesn't like the fact that she's telling him that there's something wrong with him. He knows that, thank you. He pushes her away when she does this.

Other than that though? When Jazz isn't smothering him and is acting like an actual sibling and not a third parent, they're pretty close, and Danny really likes her. They've hung out a few times on their own volition, and Jazz showed him how to take better care of his long hair.

His school situation,, pretty similar to canon with the bullying, albeit with a few more instances of him blowing a fuse and lashing out against his attackers. He's a rather angry kid, but it's quiet. It builds up, piles on top of itself, until eventually, like a volcano, it erupts and burns everyone within radius.

Danny's got a fire core, not an ice core. Phantom's hair is made of white magma; thick and heavy, setting itself on fire when his anger runs hot. When he gets angry, his skin begins to char and split open to reveal pulsating lava underneath, and he crackles and pops like a raging forest fire.

I haven't decided yet on how he meets the batfam -- i've got two ideas but they're both in opposition to each other, and drastically alter how the rest of the plot goes. But I do know that him and Damian hate each other in the beginning. And it has nothing to do with inheritance or "being the blood son" -- although their blood relation absolutely plays the major role in their disdain for each other.

Simply put, they're jealous of each other for the same thing: thinking that the other was wanted.

Damian hates Danny because, unlike Damian, Bruce knew about Danny since conception and wanted him from the moment he heard about him. He had a whole nursery set up, and still does. He never took it down -- just locked the door. Damian was thrust upon Bruce without warning, and he feels like he forced himself into the family. And while on some level Damian knows and understands that Bruce wants him and loves him as much as his other children, that doubt and feeling of inferiority still remains. He looks at Danny and sees him with what Damian always feels he needs reaffirmed.

Meanwhile, Danny hates Damian because he looks at him and sees him with everything Danny's ever wanted. He hates him because Damian grew up knowing both of their parents, with one of them for most of his life, and then moved over to the other. There was never a moment where Damian was (seemingly) left to doubt his place within the family. Damian was raised with the very same woman who left Danny on a doorstep, with no clue to his identity beyond a little green blanket and a note with only a first name. Damian was wanted everywhere, and Danny was wanted nowhere. Damian is Danny's replacement in his eyes.

(It's the little revelation that Damian grew up with their mother that elevates Danny from being quietly envious of Damian to downright despising him. What did Damian do, that Danny didn't? He could live with Damian living with Bruce -- Bruce didn't know Danny was even alive. But him living with their mom? Are you fucking kidding him?)

Damian never outright attacks Danny physically, but it's not like he hides that he didn't like Danny. Meanwhile, Danny, in all his repressive anger, quietly despised him from a distance until finally one wrong snide side-comment has him blowing up and it becomes a screaming match. They're both just enough similar to each other that when they look at each other they really just see a mirror.

They'll work it out together, eventually. But it'll be ugly and cruel and explosive, and they'll start mending the bridge to become brothers in more than just blood relation in the end.

But yeah, stillborn Danny has... a lot going for him.