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klausysworld · 1 year

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Hi I was wondering if you could make a Klaus Mikaelson Love one shot where the reader is Carolines twin sister and also Klauses mate but Klaus don't want her to get hurt by his enemies so he spends his time on Caroline and the reader is a vampire so she can feel the mate bond and doesn't understand why he hates her so much to ignore their mate bond so she goes into depression and doesn't eat or drink blood she doesn't leave her room and she is in pain all she wants is Klaus but she thinks that Klaus doesn't want her and Caroline starts worrying about her so she gets Bonnie to do a spell to see what's wrong with herand they figure its because of Klaus rejecting her.

ends in smut only if you want to it doesn't have to!!!

Resisting the truth

The concept of soulmates wasn’t something Klaus believed in. A ridiculous theory really.

And when people claimed to have had them he took pleasure in killing one just to watch the other crumble at the sight.

Even when Rebekah insisted that Marcel was hers, he wouldn’t let them be together. It was a stupid idea and he wouldn’t condone it.

He didn’t believe it in any respect.

So when he felt that odd pull, well he didn’t know how to respond.

Looking at her, he didn’t understand. She wad his type yes but from what he could tell she was only a vampire, she couldn’t have been a witch. So he didn’t know where the pull was coming from.

Even in Alarics body he could feel it. At first he thought the teachers body was attached to her but then he bumped into her in his own form and the attraction was even stronger.

Klaus didn’t like new things and didn’t like feeling things but he also knew if he killed her now then the bloody Salvatores would retaliate and most likely would grab their precious doppelgänger and run. So he left her be but kept a close eye on her.

Following her when he got the chance and learning things about her while trying to find out what kind of trick she was playing on him. She was meant to have been used for the sacrifice, first Caroline replaced her and then Jenna.

And then once he left Mystic Falls with his good friend Stefan, for whatever reason, all he could thing about was her.

Countless dreams haunted him and the urge to draw her face was driving him close to insanity. To begin with he thought perhaps killing her was the best option and then Stefan had to go find Klaus’ stash of sketches of his dear friend Y/n’s face and decided to tell Klaus all about her.

And somehow, hearing about her made him feel less crazy. He found himself asking pointless questions and listening to stories from Stefan. Until of course one of them realised that they were talking about her a little too much and they both awkwardly avoided the topic.

Having her walk straight into him yet again at senior prank night only made his thoughts worse. He loathed how his body reacted so quickly to her, just one inhale of her freshly washed hair and his dick was pressing up against his jeans. His hand grabbed both her arm and the doppelgänger’s before dragging them both back to the main hall. He proceeded with his plan as normal with minimal glances to the girl although he could feel her eyes on him the entire time.

He was entirely unaware she could feel the bond just as well. But she was less cautious about it, she was a teenager and experiencing new feelings. Ones she didn’t understand but she wasn’t a paranoid control freak so she leaned toward the feeling rather than away.

In fact she even followed him occasionally. When she had nothing better to do and wasn’t needed by the group, she tried to dig into his persona. But he was a difficult man to pick apart and she often just went back home when she got bored.

Sometimes she tried to talk to him, or just smile at him but he wasn’t the easiest to communicate with unless he was running the conversation. And she often felt like she was just annoying him so she tried to leave him alone but something just kept leading her back to him and she found it easier to go with it than resist it.

He found her a bit of a nuisance but at least she was a pretty one. And the more she was around him the more he warmed to her. The more beautiful he found her and the dirtier his dreams got.

Eventually he couldn’t handle the amount of time he was spending fucking his own hand and made his way to a witch formation. Only to be faced with the impossible truth.

And then he saw her in a different light. She had both a target on her own back and his back. So he did the one thing he knew how to do really well, push her away.

And god did he push hard. Ignored everything she did or said, avoided her like the plague.

He assumed she had a silly little crush on him and nothing more but he didn’t know she was taking the rejection of the bond so harshly.

Being a vampire it was massively increased and quite frankly it was soul destroying.

He didn’t see the way her skin was greying;the emptying of her eyes. He wasn’t there to see how her mother had to cradle her in bed like she were a small child again. The look in Caroline’s eyes as she tried to get her sister to be excited for their birthday.

What was even more cruel was Klaus coming over to her house to heal Caroline without even checking on her. Giving her twin sister a birthday present but not her? He never spoke to Caroline before, how could they possibly have formed a better friendship than them?

Had she entirely misread everything? Had he not smiled at her with that same look in his eye? Had he not initiated flirtatious interactions and inched closer to her?

She didn’t feel the hunger she used to feel for blood, almost as though it weren’t appetising at all any more. Repulsive even.

Caroline worried beyond relief as she witnessed her sister fading right before her. Stefan and Damon couldn’t get her to eat, Elena and Bonnie couldn’t entertain enough to get her out of bed, nothing was working.

Not until Bonnie offered to do a spell, with Liz’s reluctant permission she performed it to find what was wrong. And the answer both shocked the group and sort of made sense. They had all noticed at some point the strange need they had for each other. But through Damons research in the past when he believed Katherine was his soulmate, he knew what the ultimate result of a rejected mate could be. And as much as he hated Klaus, y/n was like a little sister to him and if she needed him for a little bit then he would push back his revenge for a moment. Plus it would put him in Elena’s good books and Liz’s.

So he let Caroline go and beg Klaus to save her sister.

Klaus wasn’t sure how to respond when Caroline came in with a white oak stake held to his chest while she yelled every offensive word she could at him. He had her by the throat quickly, throwing her off and to a wall but she was straight back at him. Screaming at him asking how he could have done this.

And after a very long back and forth argument, he realised what he was doing to the Forbes girl. But he wasn’t exactly sure how to react.

He knew he was no good for her, he would only be the cause of her death but apparently he would be that anyway. Which he found to be ridiculous but whatever.

But the second Elena let it slip to Rebekah that her brother had a soulmate, she had him by the hair dragging him to the Forbes residence and forcing him inside. Caroline and Liz left the house and Locke them in, despite Klaus being able to break it down.

While in there he couldn’t help but feel the forceful tug towards her room. Her heartbeat was so weak and her scent was fading. He tried to resist the pull like he had forced himself to for so long but hearing her pain filled whimpers as she shifted onto her side had his leg bouncing. Her dry coughs and groans had his teeth biting at the skin around his fingers and finally when she gave a cry out for her sister he got up to go and see her.

His heart hurt seeing her halfway desiccated and he reluctantly came to sit at the edge of the bed. Her eyes were heavy as she peeked up at him, her brows furrowing before a sadness filled her

“Are you here to kill me now?” She rasped and he frowned

“No my dear, no I won’t be killing you” he whispered, he felt bad now that hr had considered doing so in the past but better knowing that he no longer desired to.

“Why not?” She asked confused “you don’t want a soulmate…” she trailed but neither of them said anything because they both knew she was right, he never had wanted a soulmate.

She nodded weakly, sighed softly and relaxed back against the bed. He hesitantly shifted further into the bed, gently pulling her a little closer so her head lay on his lap.

Slowly he brought his fingers to her hair, just gently stroking her as he silently went over his options, wondering what was truly best for each of them in this scenario.

Would she really be better of with him as a soulmate?

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obsessive-valentine · 9 months

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Yandere!vampire x GN!Reader (HC’s)

Growing tired of a lonesome life he sets eyes on you but you can’t ever imagine yourself growing to love such a monster, he isn’t to worried believes you will come around at some point, he’s fine with waiting for a couple of centuries. For now he will just hang around and admire his first and only love; Possible Stockholm syndrome?

No one, not even you, will ever know why you were taken from your house in a beautiful but sleepy European town during dusk; but people came up with theory’s. Most agreed upon was you had been taken by the monster who’d been terrorising the village people for years now, and there was nothing they could do about it. So the case was closed, your loss mourned, then life went on thinking you were dead amongst the other random victims of the beast.

But to him you were anything but random or a victim for him to slaughter, only he knows ‘why you’. No one made it to the manor house, he resided in, alive not even him being dead himself; no one until you.

He’d kidnapped you fairly fuss-free, the only consequence was the nasty bump on the back of your head rendering you unconscious but manageable. He laid you in silks and vintage furs on a capacious bed with gold a painted frame and placed ice on your head in an attempt to soothe the ache in your skull.

You were scared into submission by the creature for the first few days - you could have mistaken it for the devil himself with red eyes that bored into your soul and sharp threatening teeth. He responded in short sentences, usually stern and held a disinterested expression that made his eyes look more menacing than he truly was. It was confusing to decipher what he wanted from you, he didn’t seem to want blood but neither to happy about your unwilling company.

“I wanted you, so I took you. Lets not complicate it”

You’d come to learn that he wasn’t unhappy with you at all that was just the sort of face he has, being isolated for uncountable years meant his emotional awareness and expressions had grown rusty to say the least. You’d learn he just liked to be in the same room as you, he didn’t toy with you or worse, he came to sit in the corner of your bed room one in a while and read or write while you busied yourself with one of the many things he gifted you (found laying around in a draw unused for many years) or slept.

In fact he let you get away with a lot like how you’d try everything from retaliating verbally or physically but he’d only respond with a scowl of disapproval or a strong grip around your wrist briefly to remind you just who he was. He knows all about the grieving process having been through it and seen people go through it over and over, so he’d let you grieve over your lost life but doesn’t appreciate when you get really rowdy; bringing you back to earth with tough-love.

...

At some point during the first year of being kidnapped you’d given into harsh-reality, noticing there was no chance of escape as he hears your every foot step, and that even if you did there would be nowhere to go. Seeing you become more obedient encouraged him to soften a bit more, to meet you in the middle, and you let him grow closer after noticing his intentions couldn’t be that bad since he had yet to hurt you or bite you.

There are still arguments, nights where it would all become to much for you and you’d blow up in a emotional rage, demanding you go home or ‘what his intentions are’ and why did it have to be you specifically. So he’d let you hit and shout until you grow tired and your throat sore, wordlessly he’d pull you into his chest where you’d be forced to stay for the next hour. Doesn’t really take anything to heart during these arguments, he knows -at most- a centuries time you will be happy and love him maybe as half as much as he loves you.

Other nights his frustrations get the best of him and he shouts back, demanding ‘you get used to it’ that your friends and family stopped looking for you long ago and he’s all you have now etc. You’d storm away to your bed and he’d sit frustrated in his chair for a while before quietly entering your room and joining you in your bed to hold you and whisper apology’s, making sure you fall into a peaceful sleep before he leaves.

Forced bonding through board and card games!

Of course he sleeps in a coffin, a luxurious one in the room next door to yours, and he wants nothing more than for you to sleep in there with him but wouldn’t bring it up until your inevitable turning where he make you a vampire just like him. You didn’t think he would let you die and leave him to wallow in heart break for the rest of eternity did you?

This man has had so much time on his hands that he’s messed around with most every hobby, most recently (almost a century) he’s taking a liking to the violin. Sometimes he plays while you sleep and no longer around to entertain him (downstairs, as far from your room to not bother you) and sometimes the muted melody wakes you up for a moment or weasels it’s way into the dream you are in. It comforts you a bit, chasing away the eerie silence followed by creaks and scratching of the old manor house that would make sleep harder to come by and even harder to keep.

#yandere vampire #x reader #yandere oc #yandere

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shadowshrike · 9 months

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The Curious Case of Halsin and Astarion's Ascension

For anyone who's occasionally poked around my stuff, you probably know that I found my Evil run of Baldur's Gate 3 (by which I mean my selfish run where I tried to gain as much power, wealth, and companion trust as I could) to be my most satisfying thus far. Part of that was the unique experience of having Halsin ask to join Tav and Astarion's relationship post-Ascension.

At the time, I said yes because it made sense for my character to "collect" an Archdruid. Out of character, I was tickled by the idea that Halsin confessed after Astarion became the new biggest bad in the land. Halsin was supposed to be a Good guy. Surely, either a possessive Astarion would be spitting mad about the arrangement, or Halsin would have second thoughts about Mr. Vampire Ascendent once he got a taste. I was ready for the drama.

It never came. In fact, the glimpses of their dynamic were so comfortable and playful that I was shocked.

Since then I've been doing a lot of thinking about Halsin and why he might act how he does throughout the Ascension storyline. I realize most of this can be handwaved with 'fanservicey romance writing.' That's true for parts of all romance paths, honestly, and I don't consider it a wholly bad thing given the game's goal to make you its center. However, I think being dismissive of the writing is not as much fun as building headcanons that work with any set of behaviors or lines you get.

So enjoy some theories pulled from datamined dialogue and my personal games. As always, this is completely hypothetical - I encourage everyone to write 'canon' in their personal playthroughs however they prefer.

Note: it's impossible to get all these lines in a single run due to some hinging on Astarion leaving and some may be bugged or near impossible to trigger. They're just being used to explore a character and dynamic that I don't see much of around fan spaces.

Halsin on the value of lives

To briefly set the stage, it's important to understand how Halsin views life and justice. He spells it out rather clearly if Kagha kills Arabella and her parents are also dead.

Halsin doesn't consider himself to be an arbiter of good and evil, only a steward of nature and its Balance. He highly values life. However, it's not him, the leader of the Grove, who is ultimately responsible for deciding Kagha's fate; it's the wronged parties or, barring that, nature itself who should decide her true punishment.

Halsin: As for the idol? It's nothing compared to a life. A mere object, next to one of nature's creations. I cannot absolve you, even if you are repentant. The girl's parents should have decided your fate, but they perished. Instead, nature will judge you. You are banished from this place - banished from everywhere the Oak Father's creations thrive.

But valuing the sanctity of life doesn't mean he doesn't also understand the importance of sacrifice. For example, if Wyll chooses his freedom over his father, Halsin counsels that it's a necessity to sacrifice to grow at times, no matter how unpleasant.

Halsin: You made a hard choice, Wyll. But not one that is unknown in nature. At times, a seedling must strangle the very tree that bore it, if it is to survive.

The price of 7000

So, Halsin's not a big fan of sacrificing life, yet understands that sometimes, people need to die for others to thrive.

But what about 7000 lives? A whole village worth?

That level of sacrifice sounds an awful lot like the day his life was destroyed by Ketheric and the Shadow Curse. A horrible event that haunted his every thought and deed for the next 100 years.

Within this context, it makes sense that all of his responses during the Ascension, whether Astarion does it or not, are focused on the price being paid. He usually emphasizes the sheer number of people affected and never discusses Astarion's potential evil (more on that later) or the undead nature of those lives.

Halsin: Stay your hand, Astarion. To sacrifice so many is a tyrant's ambition.

Halsin: All those lives snuffed out, just to grasp some power. That was craven - unnatural.

Halsin: Astarion resisted the allure of Cazador's would-be powers - and I am glad of it. Whatever he would have gained would have come at a great price.

The interesting part about this is, as an Archdruid of Silvanus, those undead lives should be considered an abomination. The Oath of Ancients oath break if you free the spawn reminds us of this. So Halsin's advice to save the spawn is not necessarily druidic advice - it is a personal opinion wrapped in flimsy druidic justifications.

He even recognizes undead as unnatural when you enter Cazador's home:

Halsin: A lair of undeath - most unnatural. We must tread carefully.

Yet about the spawn, who are undead and an intimate part of that unnaturalness, he says this about releasing them:

Halsin: Good - they deserve a chance at life. Nature will handle their fates from here.

Mercy for all monsters?

This is interesting to compare to another encounter with a smaller version of an eerily similar choice in Act III. The mindflayer in the Windmill - a person turned into a monster, much like a spawn. Allow it to live, and it may devour a family. In that case, Halsin says:

Halsin: We allowed this unnatural thing to live - now a whole family's worth of blood is on our hands.

He joins a host of other Good companions who curse themselves for showing mercy where it wasn't warranted. These are largely the same companions who would also save the spawn.

Karlach: This is our fault. These people died because of us. What were we thinking?

Wyll: Justice does not entail granting mercy to monsters. We should not have let this abomination go free.

Gale: A cruel conclusion to the mercy we showed, but hardly an unpredictable one. As long as it lives, so will its appetite.

The contradictory perspective taken during these two storylines shows the importance of emotional context in how we make decisions. For most, their traveling companion, who also has a tadpole, is the first vampire spawn they've ever met, while mindflayers have generally been the big evil this entire time. This could lead them to feel as though a horde of spawn may have enough humanity to need a chance, while a newborn Mindflayer should be exterminated on sight. Also, most of the other Good companions are relatively young and idealistic, so it makes sense that some may make foolhardy, heroic decisions.

But this encounter also begs the question: if these heroes are so distraught by having the blood of one family on their hands due to a single hungry mindflayer they saved, how could they justify letting 7000 starving monsters with unquenchable bloodlust free? Are they simply kind-hearted and short-sighted? Or maybe they're only optimistic about the hunger of vampire spawn, despite having personal examples of both a spawn and a mindflayer who manage their hunger equally ethically - by feeding on enemies and criminals.

Their naivety is driven home by Jaheira not being moved by the mindflayer or the spawn due to her extensive life experience. She believes in both cases that the greater mercy is to kill the creatures now.

(About the spawn) Jaheira: And what of the living they'll feast on, should they not prove as admirable as Astarion? They deserve a chance, too.

(About mindflayer) Jaheira: Look well. Our stupidity. Our price to pay.

Halsin is even older. He's a devout druid. He recognizes undead as unnatural. By all accounts, he should be on the same page as Jaheira to preserve the Balance. Yet in the face of that, he still advises to give the spawn a chance to live free, likely wreaking havoc wherever they need to feed.

I like to think this strange blind spot in his doctrine is due to a combination of Astarion's presence humanizing the unknown spawn, therefore making their unlives worthy of protection, and his own history as a genocide survivor creating an emotional reaction strong enough to override his usual wisdom. The price of a village is simply too devastating and personal for him to condone. No matter what letting 7000 ravenous undead free may mean.

Making the price worth it

Once you've ascended Astarion, you may be surprised that Halsin - generally a good man - is now steadfastly on Astarion's side. His reactions to the Gur conflict highlight this. If you side with Astarion against them, he's not happy, but resolute.

Halsin: An unfortunate battle... but I must stand by those I count as allies.

And if you decide Astarion is evil now and side with the Gur, Halsin doesn't seem to care about what Astarion has become, only that you allowed the sacrifice to happen and then let it go to waste:

Halsin: We allowed Astarion to sacrifice so many, only to just turn on him soon after? We should have stopped him sooner.

In contrast, many other companions call Ascended Astarion a monster, evil, or maniacal if you turn on him. They believe killing him at that point was the only right answer.

Karlach: It's done. It had to be done. Astarion was... out of control. Gods dammit. Look, he was an evil leech, but he was ours. I thought he'd changed. I was wrong. I always am these days.

Minsc: Do not mourn Astarion. The Gur are known to be a just and righteous people among the Rashemaar. They named Astarion monster, and so monster he was. Yes, Boo - even if he sometimes seemed a friend.

Gale: That's one scourge eliminated. A vampire with that much power would be a death sentence for this city. A pity Astarion didn't understand that. Or rather, didn't care.

Lae'zel: Astarion proved himself no less maniacal than his master. His death was a favour - to him, to us, and to the city.

Wyll: Hunt the monsters of the Sword Coast, protect the people - that was my promise. Killing Astarion was the right thing to do. I have to believe that. But I'm not proud of it. Not after... all this.

Ignoring Astarion's evil and telling you that you shouldn't have betrayed him may seem odd for a character who usually has a strong moral compass. Especially since Halsin doesn't tell you that you shouldn't have betrayed Shadowheart if you choose that path, though he's wary of that decision since you're handing her over to Sharrans. However, if Halsin's focus is on the 7000 lives and not on Astarion's personal kindness or cruelty, it makes more sense.

The people are gone. There is no taking back all those lost. So he's left with the need to make their sacrifice something other than a meaningless slaughter. The power for his companion must be worth it.

Halsin on Evil Astarion

You may be thinking, "Okay, but even if it's all about the mass sacrifice mimicking his own horrific past, shouldn't he still care about Astarion being Evil? He doesn't like evil acts at all!"

That's mostly true. Halsin certainly hates Shar for personal reasons and can get upset when you do cruel things. However, he's also potentially had a bit of a soft spot for Astarion since Act I, when you can decide the vampire spawn is evil and kill him or kick him out of camp.

His lines for this are actually shared with Karlach, Wyll, and Jaheira, according to the data. The uniqueness is primarily in his distraught line delivery.

If you kill Astarion, Halsin admits that he liked the guy even though he was a killer:

Halsin: Rest in peace, Astarion. You may have been a blood-thirsty murderer, but I liked you all the same.

And if you send him away, Halsin says this about Astarion being alone in the woods:

Halsin: He's someone else's problem now, anyway. Woods are full of boars. Maybe he'll learn his lesson and start hunting something that won't miss him when he goes.

His camp reactions immediately after Ascension mirror this attitude of concern rather than condemnation of evil. If Halsin speaks directly to Astarion, he sounds exasperated (the way Halsin says his name always makes me snicker) while Halsin once again brings up the idea of the price being paid.

Halsin: Astarion... you have ascended amongst the ranks of the undead. I can only hope that you do not come to regret the price that you paid.

However, the almost identical line if he's talking to another player character is delivered differently, particularly in how he says Astarion's name. It's more concerned than judgmental, implying that his frustration with Astarion is coming from a place of worry rather than pure anger.

Halsin: Astarion... he has ascended amongst the ranks of the undead. I can only hope that he does not come to regret the price that he paid.

This is particularly notable because it's in contrast to Shadowheart, who has a very similar line after her evil choice, but the emotion behind both sounds more similar to my ear.

After that initial comment, Halsin can banter with Ascended Astarion about how he's turned the player into a vampire spawn if there's a player romance. Unlike most of the other companions who can comment, such as Wyll and Gale, he expresses worry for both of them, not just the player. He also explicitly explains he has no intention of kink-shaming them, just warns about how dangerous having a master/thrall relationship can be if made real.

Halsin: To give oneself wholly, and to have a lover totally in your thrall...? A harmless game, until it becomes real. I worry for the two of you, Astarion. For your sake, I hope some of it is just a fantasy, deep in your heart.

But perhaps the most blatantly accepting we see him of Ascended Astarion is if they go to the Drow twins together. There are always some playful lines with one another if they're both present, but one is unique to Ascension if the player bites Halsin as a spawn during the scene. Halsin's response is light and delighted, acknowledging Astarion's role as not just a vampire, but the lead in your new relationship.

Halsin: Ha - tickles. See what a bad influence you are, Astarion?

Combine with Halsin's direct propositioning of Astarion if Astarion teases him about his night with the player, and there's a case for long-held attraction as well, regardless of alignment.

Astarion: I hear things got wild between you two. I hope no one was too badly mauled. Halsin: We're all in one piece. Perhaps you'll join us next time. Astarion: It's bad enough having one person with fangs trying to keep control of themselves. Two of us could be dangerous.

All these lines, taken together during times when others label Astarion a monster, suggest that Halsin accepts Astarion as a whole. He doesn't believe in trying to change people's nature, so maybe he sees any distasteful deeds as part of Astarion's, the same as an owlbear cub eating its mother might disgust some though it is completely natural.

It makes sense, then, that Halsin might be proud of Astarion for choosing morality or personal growth, but he isn't too bothered if that doesn't happen either. What line Astarion would have to cross to earn Halsin's true ire is unknown. The reverse is a much more complicated question (mostly because it's plausible that many of Astarion's lines are rooted in deception) that I may delve into another time.

Is this whole relationship a little ironic given that Halsin is The Selfless Good Druid and Astarion is The Selfish Evil Undead? Absolutely. But that's the fun of it, in my opinion. It adds depth to these characters in ways that rarely shine through during a singular playthrough, especially since very few will do the crazy thing I did with an Ascended Astarion + Halsin romance.

It sure makes for narrative fun, though.

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #halsin #ascended astarion #halstarion #analysis

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loousir · 1 year

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[Vampire] The Two of Us

Vampire Male x Hunter Male Reader

Abel - Part 2

Notes/Warnings: The book Abel is reading is not real, In the universe all my stories are based in basically all the theories about monsters exist so some Vampires can blush and some can't blush it just varies vamp to vamp, kisses and cuddling

Part 1

If you like my work, please consider reblogging!

The night came and went. You woke up with a jolt upon hearing movement in your house. You grabbed a blade you kept nearby, ready to defend your home only to see Abel. You had forgotten that he appeared on your doorsteps the night before. "Bastard, I told you to rest." You said, calming down a bit. Abel rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Sorry, that room is just boring. You don't have any books in there." He said, holding one from your collection. You sighed and got up, walking over to him. "How about you go lay back down and I'll get you books to read." You said, ushering him back into the room. He kept the one he had grabbed and quietly made his way back. You picked out a few you figured would keep him busy for a while, not really remembering what they were about. "Here." You said, tossing them onto the bed. He jumped and looked up to you, a weirdly innocent look in his eyes. "Since I'm awake, I'm going out. Don't leave. I'll be back." Abel nodded as you grabbed clothes to get dressed and do your shopping early, picking up a few extra things for Abel as was promised.

Once you were ready, you headed out. Your trip was kept short and you only grabbed what was needed. Not all Vampires were bad and most had integrated into society nicely, stores offering blood substitutes or donated blood. Though you kept it on the down low that you were purchasing things as most knew you were a hunter. The trip back was quick and uneventful. Upon reentering the house, you saw that Abel had moved back to the living room but was laying down on the couch, relaxing and reading.

You sighed and he turned back to look at you, apparently not having heard you come back. "Oh uh... Wel-welcome back." He said, shyly looking away from your frame. "Please stop moving around, I know your a vampire and heal quicker but fuck dude." You said with another sigh, taking the things you bought to the kitchen. "Um, did you grab th-" "Yes, just stay there. I'll bring you one." You cut him off, already knowing what he would ask. Once you put your things up, you put the rest of the blood bags in the fridge, taking him one. "Here." You handed it to him. He smiled and thanked you, quickly opening and drinking it. You watched as the red liquid practically disappeared. "Gods..." He said, panting softly once he pulled the empty bag from his mouth. "Thank you, I can't tell you how hungry I was." He said softly, holding on to the empty plastic like it was something dear to him.

"Yeeah ah... Sure." You said, taking the bag from him to throw away. "You good for now?" You asked him, coming back in from the kitchen. "Yes. Also, I didn't know you were into these kinds of books." He said, showing off one called *The Demon King's Soul*. Your eyes widened slightly when you realized what he was reading. "Its almost relatable. I'm just not a demon king." He said, laughing softly as he kept reading. "Yeah well... It's hard being isolated from everyone just because of the position you were born into." You said softly, joining him on the couch and turning on the TV. "Are you not going to read?" He ask, surprised by the fact you chose TV over books. "I've read all of them. Need some new ones." You said, flicking through channels, trying to find something you liked. Once you landed on a survivor style show, you stopped.

"Do you ever get lonely?" Abel asked suddenly, looking over to you with a solem expression. You furrowed your brows and looked over to him as well. "I mean... Sometimes." You said, turning to focus back on the TV. Abel nods and goes back to reading, not saying anything about it again. That question sort of stuck with you. You'd never been asked if you were lonely until then and it never really crossed your mind. You looked over to Abel who was entranced by the book. He had a slim yet muscular frame with long, brown hair from what you could assume was years of not cutting it. He wore the loose clothing you gave him, bandages visible on some parts and the one over his face not seeming to bug him at all. "Do you ever got lonely?" You asked, reversing the question back at Abel.

Abel looks up to you, a slightly surprised expression. "Well yeah... Of course I do..." He pauses for a moment and looks away. "All the time." He said softly, locking his eyes on to the book he had in his hands. You tilt your head, looking over his expression. It looked like he was about to cry which had you confused. You scooted a bit closer to him, not good with comforting others. "We could be lonely together..?" You said, slightly questioning. He looks up to you again and inches closer on his own this time. Abel, being the more confident of you two, rests his head on your shoulder. "I'd like that..." He whispered, closing the book before closing his eyes for a moment.

You weren't sure what it was but, you felt like you could trust him. After being trained like mad, engraving into your head that he was the biggest threat to humans as you know it, you would think that when he first showed up you would have killed him instantly. But, there was something about him that just seemed, different, and you couldn't help but put a little bit of trust into him. You hesitantly wrapped an arm around him and he almost naturally snuggled closer to you. Both of you stayed quiet, you watching the TV as Abel took in your warmth. After some time of silence Abel spoke up. "How long do you think I can stay with you?" He asked, looking up to you through his thick lashes. You shrugged but didn't look back down to him. "How ever long until they forget or til I can get you somewhere safe." You said, hand resting on his stomach, pulling him a little closer than before.

Abel looked up to you with an expression you couldn't quite read. Before you knew it, he caught your lips in a kiss. You didn't kiss back at first, not really expecting it. When he pulled away, you could only stare at him as he also stared back. "What was that for?" You asked, leaning down a bit to be eye level with him. Abel suddenly got nervous and pulled away but you kept him close, still having your arm wrapped around him. "S-sorry I uh- I just... I dont know..." He couldn't really seem to find the words he wanted and kept stuttering. You watched his expression for a moment before giving him a gentle kiss. "Listen. I dont really date people I don't know so let's just take it slow ok?" You said softly, a very small smile crossing your lips. Abel's cheeks were a bright red as he covered his face with his hands.

You smiled a little more, moving the arm around his waist to pull his head back against you. "You're awful cute for a alleged mass murder." You teased, chuckling when he playfully hit your leg, whining about bringing it up. "Like I said though. Let's get to know each other first before we go any farther than this." You said softly, hand migrating back down to rub his side gently. Abel nodded and just stayed quiet, eyes glued to the TV as the two of you cuddled on the couch.

#monster male #monster x male reader #exophilia #m4m #male monster x reader #x male reader #male reader #monster lover #monster male x male reader #mxm #vampire x reader #vampire male x male reader #vampire x male reader

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fyodcrs · 10 months

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BSD 111.5: A Complaint (again)

All right. So.

I have criticized the S5 finale extensively, and now that the manga is following the same storyline almost exactly, I feel I want to air my grievances one last time, because it's just so bad. At least in my humble yet correct opinion (to quote Fyodor from the BSD dub). And it only gets worse the more I think about it.

The writing here is...not good. I’m talking about the big “Chuuya was never a vampire to begin with” reveal, the retconned hand injury and what absolute contrived nonsense that is - and most of all, I’m talking about Dazai’s speech about why he “won” the "game," and how it makes no actual sense because what he says happened is not what actually happened.

All of this is stuff I've talked about in other posts (I'll be repeating myself a lot here), but I really want to focus on Dazai's speech and why I just. Don't like it.

"You don't trust anything you can't control," Dazai tells Fyodor.

This is supposed to be the reason Dazai "wins": because he trusts people, and Fyodor does not. He relies on others he considers friends; Fyodor just uses others that he considers pawns.

And this is fine in theory. Indeed, it's been heavily foreshadowed. Personally, I think "Dazai wins because he has friends, Fyodor loses because he doesn't" is a super boring way to go with both Fyodor's character and with the conflict between him and Dazai, but whatever, we all knew something like this would be the reason for the ADA's victory over the DOA. Theoretically, it makes sense.

Except, it doesn't actually work the way they did it. It doesn't work because Fyodor's plan apparently hinges on the vampires, and Fyodor does not actually have control over the vampires.

In fact, Fyodor does not have direct control over any aspect of the Decay of Angels plot.

Fukuchi does.

First of all, the Decay of Angels plot doesn't begin until after Fyodor is already in prison. Fyodor is not the one who writes on the Page, and Fyodor is not the one in possession of the Page. Fyodor is also not the one who is in possession of Bram. All of this falls to Fukuchi.

Now, there is one interesting scene where Fyodor tells Dazai that he "added a line to the page":

But - unless I have my timeline mixed up - since the Page was not stolen and used until after Fyodor was sent to prison, this only suggests he told Fukuchi what to write. There is still no point where he actually had possession of the Page himself.

Fyodor is the one who set up the entire plot and arranged for all the pieces to be in place, but once it actually starts to unfold, he is no longer in a position to directly manipulate his pawns, because he's locked up underground thousands of miles away.

Of course, this does not mean he has been removed from play entirely; he is still communicating with the outside, and he is still able to manipulate the course of events to some extent, as we see when he (somehow; it's never explained) killed the pilots so Fukuchi could get his hands on the One Order:

But how is this any different from what Dazai is doing? Dazai lets himself be captured and locked away, too, to keep an eye on Fyodor and read his moves as things unfold on the outside. He is also in communication with his allies, and he is also able to do some string-pulling, as we see when he stops Fyodor's assassination attempt on Fitzgerald and the neutralization of the Eyes of God:

Basically, both Fyodor and Dazai have the same level of control over what is happening.

Dazai being superior to Fyodor because he "simply had faith" in Ranpo (and the rest of the ADA) implies that Fyodor did not have faith in Fukuchi. But that implies that Fyodor had some means of direct control over Fukuchi throughout the unfolding of the DOA plan and therefore did not have to leave anything solely in Fukuchi's hands. Or it implies that Fyodor had a plan independent of Fukuchi. Except he didn't. On both accounts. At least not that we know of.

In fact, in the anime (which I assume will be repeated in the manga in later chapters), Fukuchi says that Fyodor didn't have any direct control. Fukuchi tells Fukuzawa that he had Fyodor sent to prison for the purpose of preventing him from interfering in Fukuchi's actual plan. And Fyodor agreed to this. He got himself arrested on purpose. The reason he does this is suggested to be that the prison is essentially the safest hideout in the world. Except Fukuchi tells us that this action also severely hindered - though not outright neutralized - Fyodor's ability to influence events.

And I'm not trying to downplay Fyodor as the spider at the center of a complex web of manipulation, not at all. I'm simply pointing out that: a) Dazai is exactly the same, and is countering Fyodor move-for-move, and b) the plan still heavily relies on Fukuchi's independent actions.

As I mentioned, the DOA plot doesn't begin until after Fyodor is arrested and sent to Meursault. Fyodor was using vampires planted as guards as his means of communication (which doesn't even make sense itself, because when exactly would this have happened? When does Fyodor communicate with these vamps? Why did Dazai not notice this?), but Fyodor himself is not controlling those guards, Fukuchi is. Because Fukuchi is the one in control of Bram, and the vampires can only be controlled through Bram. It is certainly conceivable that Fyodor might have had these guards planted before his arrest, but the vampires are only usable as pawns as long as Fukuchi has control of Bram, or at least as long as Bram isn't in control of himself.

Using Chuuya as a pawn also requires Fukuchi to be in control of Bram. Therefore, Fyodor's entire escape plan relies on Fukuchi.

Fyodor literally cannot do anything with the vampires without Fukuchi. And if his entire plan rested on the vampires, that means his entire plan rested on Fukuchi.

In other words, Fyodor's entire plan rests on him having faith in Fukuchi.

It doesn't matter that Fyodor and Fukuchi are not "friends"; it doesn't matter that Fyodor thinks of Fukuchi as a "pawn" instead of an "ally" (although I should note we've been given no evidence of this, because we have never actually seen them interact and we don't know their relationship; we're just meant to assume this). The point is that Fyodor structured this plan of his to be centered around the actions of someone else. This is no different from Dazai. In fact, this is how the both of them usually operate. They just tend to have different ways of going about manipulating their "pawns"/"allies."

Then there's the "hand full of uncertainties" line:

How, exactly, was Dazai's hand "full of uncertainties" in a way that Fyodor's wasn't? How exactly did Fyodor have "the world in the palm of his hand" in a way that Dazai didn't? How exactly was Fyodor in more control of what was happening than Dazai was? As I've already pointed out, what we've been shown suggests they both had equal measures of influence on the outside, and therefore equal levels of manipulative power and equal amounts of uncertainties.

In fact, if we are to believe that Fyodor was surprised by Nikolai and Sigma, that was a whole hell of a lot of uncertainties being thrown at him. And just like Dazai, he just ran with it.

And the reality is that Dazai actually had a whole hell of a lot less uncertainties than Fyodor did, and a whole hell of a lot more control, because Chuuya was never a vampire to begin with. The moment Chuuya arrived, Dazai had the upper hand. It's not like he was ever in any actual danger from the point Chuuya showed up. He was in full control of the situation from that point on.

And you can say that's the whole point, Dazai was in control because he had an ally, but the point I'm making is that the only control Fyodor thought he had over the situation was also because of an ally that he believed he had. If he believed he was controlling Chuuya, he also had to believe that Fukuchi still had Bram and was still on his side. He was operating on faith in pretty much the exact same way Dazai was.

You can also argue that Chuuya showing up was proof for Fyodor that Fukuchi was still in control of Bram (even though he wasn't by that point) and that things were going according to plan. But I'd counter-argue that if at any point before Fyodor managed to escape Bram had had his will restored, Fyodor would have been fucked (had Chuuya actually been a vampire). The very act of using Chuuya as a pawn was a huge act of faith on Fyodor's part.

It's important to stress here that Fukuchi was not under Fyodor's "control" at any point, at least not so far as we've been shown. He is not brainwashed like Nathaniel. He is also not a throwaway piece. He is vital to the plan. And he has his own motivations. We aren't quite there yet in the manga, but we know from the anime what Fukuchi actually wanted, and we also know from the anime that Fyodor approached Fukuchi and propositioned him. They made a deal. Of course, Fyodor always had his own plan, but he knew what Fukuchi's real motivations were. Even so, he trusted that Fukuchi would carry out the plan as he instructed, at least so far as we've been shown.

The argument can be made that Fyodor doesn’t actually have any trust in Fukuchi, he simply trusts that he knows exactly how Fukuchi will act and that everything will go as he predicted. But how is that any different from Dazai? Ranpo negotiating with Bram and Bram ordering the vampires to attack Fyodor might not have been something Dazai and Ranpo set up beforehand, but it is certainly something Dazai planned for, because he purposefully set Fyodor up to be in a vulnerable position, anticipating that exact scenario. Again, they are both operating in the same exact way: not directly controlling their allies, but assuming that their allies will act as they expect. The only difference is that Fyodor’s “allies” did not meet his expectations and Dazai’s did.

I get that the point of this is supposed to be that Fyodor is undone by his cruel manipulation of others and his ruthless attempts to impose his own order upon the world. And that's fine. It's good, even!

The problem is...that's not what happened. Fyodor lost because he relied on something that was outside of his direct control: the vampires. Fyodor lost because he put too much control in the hands of Fukuchi.

And this in itself is a problem, because Fyodor should not have so heavily relied on Fukuchi. All of this would work for me just fine if everything didn't revolve around the goddamn vampires. You cannot have Fyodor's entire fucking plan hinge on the vampires, over which only Bram and the person who has possession of Bram have any control, and then try and tell me that Fyodor lost because he didn't have faith in people. Why would he use the vampires at all if he had no faith in Fukuchi?? Why would he get into a helicopter with the vampires piloting if he had no faith Fukuchi was still his ally and Bram was still under Fukuchi's control?? Why would he have agreed to go to prison in the first place if he had no trust in Fukuchi????? It doesn't make any sense.

And don’t try to tell me, “Well, Fyodor’s just arrogant.” That is the laziest fucking excuse you could possibly give to justify why Fyodor’s IQ points have been cut in half this arc. And, for the thousandth time I ask—how is this any different from Dazai, who also just assumed everything would go his way? Why is it "faith" when it's Dazai but it's arrogance when it's Fyodor?

Personally, I think BSD made a massive narrative mistake in putting Fyodor and Dazai in Meursault in the first place. It's over-complicated things.

Also, one thing that really bothers me about all this is that it's supposed to be a big character moment for Dazai, but...I don't see how this is any different from how he usually operates. Hell, this ruse Dazai and Chuuya set up is even something that SKK did before when they were a team in the Mafia. We've seen Dazai do this shit a thousand times. What's supposed to be the big deal here? The fact that he made a friendship speech this time?

It's just fallen really flat to me, and that's a bummer because I think Dazai is one of the most well-written and interesting characters I've ever come across, and I want to see great character development for him.

I've complained endlessly about Chuuya being in a Halloween costume the entire time so I'll just say here that it's really fucking dumb that Fyodor just. Didn't notice. That he was fooled by fake fangs and contact lenses. Dazai would have noticed, if their roles were reversed. Ranpo would have noticed. It really is just a case of Fyodor being made stupid out of nowhere so Dazai could win.

The retconned hand injury is also incredibly dumb, because first of all, in the manga it didn't exist until the last two chapters when it needed to exist. And second of all, the hand is clearly shown to be usable after the incident that is supposed to have injured it so severely that Fyodor needs the vampires - who, again, are not under his direct control - to pilot the helicopter so he can escape, and this is true for both the manga and the anime. It conveniently only becomes a problem when Dazai needs it to. Because plot, I guess. Because the universe is chaos unless Dazai is pulling another deus ex machina.

I really hate being so critical and so negative, especially about BSD, because it's been my favorite series for years now. But ever since the S5 finale I've been finding more and more things about this arc and it's conclusion (?) that make no sense to me. And considering that Fyodor and Dazai are my favorite characters and a large part of the reason I'm invested in this story, to see them both so poorly handled has left a very bad taste in my mouth.

In conclusion:

#bsd spoilers #Bungou Stray Dogs #y'all can disagree with me that's okay SDFGHGH #maybe I'm just missing the point idk #I swear though this'll be the last time I complain #I just wanted to talk about Dazai's speech and why I viscerally HATE IT

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nelkcats · 2 years

Text

Hood Assistant

Prompt Part 1 Part 5 Part 6 Ao3 Next

Part 7

-----

To be fond of dancing is a certain step towards falling in love.

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

"I see, thanks for confirming Jay" Danny forced a smile as he continued to look around the room.

The apartment yelled Red Hood in a unique way, but it also yelled Jay and that had him extremely confused, although it made sense if he took into account that the two of them were dating each other.

Since at least three of Bill's bizarre theories made sense, then most of them must be true, and Danny couldn't deny that anymore.

Jason was dating Red Hood

A reality that made his head spin and his heart ache, what was he supposed to do now with his silly crush? It was not easy to stop an illusioned heart

Though if he read all the signs correctly then Jay was enjoying his company,and maybe just for a couple of days he could fool himself into thinking he had a chance. Even if the current situation was just to help him face his own fears.

"So when will your roommate come back?" Danny asked worriedly, if the vigilante would return soon, there was no point in getting his hopes up.

"He's on a trip with his team, so definitely not anytime soon" Jason apologized, if the cute boy in front of him had already swallowed the lie that he was living with Red Hood then nothing could be worse. There would be no consequences for him, not at all.

Jason steadfastly refused to acknowledge the endless number of books that were precisely about avoiding lying to others because lies could collapse like a house of cards in the face of a strong wind.

It's for his own good, and this will not bring me any consequences at all.

Maybe if he repeated it to himself enough times it would come true, no matter how much his conscience was screaming at him. Damn charming boy who decided to make him feel things in his own home!

"Well, we're officially glued to each other for at least a couple of days" Danny stated a little brighter, it wouldn't hurt to follow Johnny's advice and allow himself to be happy for a couple of days. A bit risky, but it had enough advantages to consider it.

"It seems so, but we already had breakfast" Jason perked up when he saw that Danny had put the subject of his roommate aside.

He realized that the boy was right, if it was a new formula and Danny was the only human being affected then the bats would take a little longer to create a cure, although staying stuck with him for a few days didn't sound bad. His company was fun, he made him laugh and his stupid heart pounded every time he was around him.

His treacherous heart had not understood that he couldn't fall in love, not now or ever, no matter how much his head recited the entire book of Pride and Prejudice from head to toe, he was not in love, he couldn't be.

Even if the boy was cute, and talked about Disney rats as if they were a fact, or looked at him in admiration when he did something as simple as cook and enjoyed his food as if it had fallen from heaven.

"There's a lot to do besides eat breakfast Jay" Danny smiled as he pulled his hand to follow him, to which Jason didn't put up much resistance.

He definitely noticed the little fang sticking out of Danny's lip, and how the boy was biting his lower lip as if it were bothering him, but he decided not to comment on it yet.

Danny was avoiding with all his might not to bite Jason at that moment, his hunger for ectoplasm was more active than ever, but Jason had no ectoplasm on his body, he tried to remind his head.

He was obviously failing at it, because his new vampiric tendencies wanted to sink his fangs in and sip his crush like juice. But that was wrong, very wrong. And he wasn't a vampire! he winced internally for comparing himself to Vlad for a minute.

“Do you know what I like to do when I'm bored?” Danny asked, swinging his feet from side to side, trying to drive the taste of the ectoplasm out of his mind and diverte the energy meant for biting into the continuous movement of his feet.

"Mutilate fruits and vegetables beyond recognition?" Jason teased, if he had noticed his sudden nervousness he didn't show it.

"Besides that smart ass" Danny rolled his eyes at the comment.

"I have no idea, but it doesn't look like you can stay still for long" Jason pointed out curiously.

"You're right, I don't like sitting still" Danny agreed with him "that made my older sister really desperate, so she taught me something"

Jason had no idea he had a sister, so he decided not to mention it. He would definitely bring up the subject at another time.

"Did she taught you how to swing on expensive chandeliers and a little gymnastics?" Jason asked, if that was the case then it would be a complete coincidence because that was precisely what Dick had taught him when he was a child.

Unfortunately they didn't have the same amount of energy and Jason didn't find funny being dropped off buildings to "learn how to fly", he'd broken his arm once!

"I don't think she knows how to do that," Danny muttered to himself "but no, she taught me how to dance"

"You? Dancing?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

It's not that he believed it impossible, it's just that dancing required a lot of patience even if it was mostly about movement; Danny was definitely not the definition of patience.

"Yes, I like to dance, it's quite relaxing and it helps drain energy" Danny smiled, he had figured out how to divert his new energy "but let me ask you a few questions first"

"I don't see how that's relevant, but as you wish Doll" Jason agreed easily. He had no reason not to trust him with dance questions

"Have you ever danced with Death?" Danny offered his hand in invitation. It was a last minute decision, and the question probably sounded strange but he couldn't help it.

"One time, it wasn't a pleasant experience." Jason took the offered hand. Thinking about death wasn't very satisfying but he was curious where the boy was going with those questions.

"Would you like to try again?" Danny pulled him to the center of the room with a smile "I promise I'll do better"

"I didn't picture you as a grim reaper," Jason teased as he followed him into the center of the room, trying to ignore all the implications.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not" Danny said cryptically, although it was obvious he was joking "Anyway, I promise to treat you better than she did"

"Okay, but we're going to need some music" Jason commented, reaching over to take his phone.

"I have it solved, pretty boy" Danny hit the play button on his phone as a song began to play. Did he have his phone the whole time? Jason wondered.

I used to hear a simple song, that was until you came along

The song didn't sound familiar to Jason, but the melody relaxed him, and he began to follow in Danny's footsteps. Which seemed to be looking at him with a smile on his face as he gently swayed across the living room.

Now in its place is something new

Jason recalled the happy moments after getting out of Ra's contaminated pit. When he thought that he would be listed as a villain but instead the inhabitants of Crime Alley began to follow him, considering him their protector. When he was greeted with a hug instead of a frown, so similar but different from when he was a child.

I hear it when I look at you

Danny continued to take careful steps as he moved around the room. He liked being with Jason, it made him feel free in a way his family never could.

Jazz had been his only salvation, the only escape he could allow himself, and yet when she left Amity he didn't feel bad; just empty, a little sad. Maybe it was because he knew he was stopping his sister, one way or another.

Danny was aware that Jazz had never been able to afford a normal childhood because of him, that their parents meant well but their intentions were not good to take care of something more than themselves

With simple songs I wanted more, perfection is so quick to bore

Jason remembered his family nights, when they were all together. Or at least pretending to be; The times when they got together to watch Cass's dance recitals. The moment the whole family hosted a small dinner to celebrate Tim's promotion to CEO.

When everyone was a normal family instead of reluctant allies, when his family showed love to each other without words, which never worked for them anyway. And he remembered hating having to come out of the perfect picture.

He remembered how much he'd missed Dick's little pranks, having to force Tim to get some sleep, cooking for Cass, even having an afternoon explaining Damian about art history.

But he didn't belong in that painting. The moment he died he was banned from Bruce Wayne's beautiful family, the boy who was welcome in that loving home was left underground.

He returned to life worse than ever and without the right to return home, the small moments in which they seemed to accept him were only fantasies and he felt like crying or shouting at the world for that injustice.

I'm Jason Todd, and as much as you screw me up, I'm still standing.

He just didn't know where he was standing.

You are more beautiful by far

Danny watched a series of complicated expressions pass over Jason's face and decided to help, he turned him around as they talked "Don't think about it, even if it causes you pain, you must remember that you are still standing"

Danny knew a lot about having complicated emotions on different situations, and maybe he wasn't the best at giving advice but it didn't hurt to try "sometimes, it's better to accept that acting is the best solution"

Jason knew they weren't on the same line of conversation but answered anyway "No, leaving means dying."

Leaving meant going back to his family, meant waiting for acceptance where he had no right. Exposing them to danger out of a selfish desire to have someone to depend on again.

Leaving meant going back to being the scared little boy inside an explosion that led to his death. It meant talking about how he felt even if no one was willing to listen to his words. Jason was tired of being the one to get scared, the one to protect others, but what choice did he have? There was no choice but to face the world head on, get angry, and do something about it where no one else was.

Danny looked at him a little confused but remembered what Jazz had told him "On the contrary, leaving means living before you die"

He would know, he had died because of his parents desire for knowledge, he forced himself to be there for others even when there was no one for him. He refused to accept that there was someone other than him to solve the world's problems, no matter how heavy they were. The city blamed all its problems on the recently dead boy, and he did nothing to contradict them.

Sam and Tucker knew it, they had tried so many times to get the city to leave him alone, but they were just kids. None of them could see an alternative, a different way to act, a way to save themselves as well as the others. Danny gave up because no one had saved him, and maybe no one would ever come to save him.

He gave up to such an extent that he forgot that it was possible to save himself. That he could learn how to swim in the sea that was drowning him. That respirators existed for those who could not breathe.

He chained himself to a duty that was not his and lost everything he cared about, until his home felt like a death trap, his parents like enemies, and his city like a prison. But over the years he got it, he didn't have to be there, he had to act fast, move, leave.

The reason he came to Gotham was because he needed to live again, he needed to remember that he was as alive as he was dead.

"Jason, it's okay to wish others well, to wish them to be perfectly happy, but just like everyone else, you must also allow yourself to be happy in the same way" The halfa decided to say as he continued the dance.

Maybe it was a pointless comment, and it had nothing to do with what Jay was thinking, but he needed to let him know, for his own sake as well as his.

Our flaws are who we really are

Jason allowed himself to think on his words for a moment. Danny had no idea of his identity as Red Hood, would he still say the same after finding out? It was unlikely, but he liked to believe so.

"What makes you so sure it's the best solution?" He asked quietly, when Danny talked about acting he thought maybe he should act in response to his own fears.Take action and leave them behind.

"You don't know, I think that's the thrill of living" Danny smiled as he increased the speed of his steps "sometimes you have to take risks hoping for the best"

One thing he learned after he died was that fear of taking risks was unnecessary. If something was going to happen it would, even if you tried to avoid it in every possible way. It was just the way fate worked. What people used to forget is that they were in control of their own fate.

"Taking risks could get you killed," Jason stated with a frown, following his movements a little more robotically than he intended.

"I'll teach you something that someone important to me taught me" Danny stated, remembering one of Clockwork's lessons.

I used to hear a simple song

"What will you tell me? That there is no point in fearing death because there is so much to live for? Someone gave me that talk a long time ago" and he had died for having listened to it, for throwing himself without precautions like his father had taught him.

"No Jay, nobody wants to die," Danny assured, recalling his own experience "even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there"

"So?" Jason frowned, not quite understanding.

"However, we all end up dying right?" Danny smiled sadly "some sooner than others, but no one escapes it"

"This isn't making me feel any better, Doll" Jason said.

"I didn't mean to make you feel better, just to tell you that there's no point in being afraid to act because death will always be there, it will still do it if you decide not to act, you know?" Danny said as he pulled him closer to himself, even if he was a little short he could lead the dance.

Jason sighed accepting the point as he tried to relax. Maybe Danny was right and he should stop being so cautious around what he loved.

But he had spent so much time being afraid of hurting them that he didn't know how to stop. Maybe things will get better now. Even if most of his siblings backed away from him out of caution, it was the best he'd been in a long time.

That was until you came along

Jason noticed at that moment that the pits weren't acting, he wasn't angry. He was sad, desperate, maybe a little heartbroken but definitely not angry. For some reason Danny helped with that, something in that carefree boy with cooking problems made him feel better.

Neither of the two boys noticed how Danny was slowly feeding on the corrupted ectoplasm the longer they maintained contact. How his fangs were getting smaller and his urge to bite lessened. The halfa assumed it was just a positive effect of dancing.

Jason just felt better overall as he continued with the dance. He attributed it to his growing feelings for the cute boy. Something about that goofy boy, who had a problem with taking care of himself and a lot of mysteries wrapped around just appealed to him. Maybe it was time to start accepting it, at least until the effects of the gas wore off and they both had to go back to the real world far from the apartment.

You took my broken melody

Jason closed his eyes, letting himself be carried away by the song. He felt broken, the pits made him feel like a damaged product but it would be hypocritical of him to say that because he told Danny that people couldn't be defective right? It was time to start believing his own words.

Humans weren't born defective, and radioactive pits weren't going to change that. He just had to keep repeating that long enough for him to gain the courage to act on his words. Until the moment he allowed himself to return to the side of the family and recognize that he deserved love too, the love that many of them were willing to give him.

Danny also closed his eyes, letting himself go, a little guilty for having to teach Jay such a bittersweet lesson, Clockwork wasn't the best with feelings, nor how to express them. Clockwork was time, time was honest in every way and did not embellish the truth.

Clockwork was his mentor and yet they had met because he was destined to die. Apparently when time doesn't like the fate you're taking he decides it is better to let you know. Danny wondered if Clocky would yell at him if falling for Jason was a bad idea.

And now I hear a symphony

When they both opened their eyes, they were smiling. By some miracle neither of them had tripped over something in the room, or maybe it was just fate acting but they felt a little better.

They finished the song tired, with their hair completely tousled but feeling lighter than they had ever felt before. Who would have thought that a dance could free so much of what you have trapped? And make you think about the situation a little more.

Maybe ignoring the world for a couple of days while staying inside the apartment wasn't such a bad idea after all. Perhaps it was the best idea either of them had ever come up with.

Danny pointed at his phone again and Jason nodded. It was morning and they had a lot of time to waste, so dancing a little more was not a bad idea.

"Love" sang the little crow watching them from the couch, for some reason he had stopped speaking during the entire exchange, maybe he understood the scene, or he was just tired.

───────────────

"No, no, no, no, I refuse" Johnny said as he pushed Amorpho out of the apartment.

The moment Danny had walked through that door with red eyes, he knew that was definitely not his usual roomie but an impostor.

"No refunds, until Danny gets back from the alleged kidnapping this is a roomie swap" Amorpho sneered as he pushed Johnny into the apartment again "Move over, a new star has come to town"

"But that could take DAYS" Johnny grumbled. He was glad that Danny was with his crush, maybe making some headway. What he didn't like was an intruder in his temporary haunt.

"It's good than I'm replacing him at school then" Amorpho scoffed, stealing Johnny's spot on the couch, Johnny dramatically inhaled and pointed at him in offense.

"MY COUCH" The motorcyclist complained. It had been his couch since the day he'd arrived, which might not sound like much, but by now Johnny had already claimed the couch as his own. His place.

"Our couch" Amorpho corrected him.

He was well aware that the ghost didn't like his company, but he needed a place to stay since he had been dragged to Gotham anyway.

Besides, now that he had new friends and had joined the drama club to star in Beauty and the Beast then he had to stay until the production was over.

If he was completely honest, even if Danny was bounding back out that door in a matter of minutes he'd deny him from going back to college for a long time. He had already put enough effort into attending that supposed advanced physics class for all his efforts to be despised.

Shadow simply sighed as they peeked out of Johnny's shadow to see the new temporary resident and went back into hiding, they weren't going to deal with that.

On the other hand, Cujo woke up and began to bark at the two ghosts until they paid attention to him.

"What's wrong Cujo?" Johnny asked, preferring to pay more attention to the pup than to the couch usurping ghost.

Cujo grunted as he held up a very particular can of soup, to which Johnny cocked his head in confusion.

"That's Danny's ectoplasm" the motorcyclist stated before realizing the problem "DANNY LEFT WITHOUT HIS ECTOPLASM"

"Is that a bad thing?" Amorpho asked curiously looking at the can, honestly it only brought back bad memories "Gotham has enough ectoplasm for him"

"Sure, but Danny's been feeding on pure ectoplasm instead of human food for a while, do you know what that means?" Johnny put his hands on Amorpho's shoulders and started to shake him "he'll have a reaction!"

"How bad can it be?" Amorpho snorted.

"He'll start biting the floor" Johnny said seriously, remembering Lunch's story of the first time she had to deliver emergency ectoplasm to Danny's new haunt because the halfa had run out of reserves "his body will look for the nearest ectoplasm and I'm sorry if I I don't want to become a teether toy for halfas"

"Danny is far from here" Amorpho brushed off the concern.

"But we're the purest ectoplasm in the area," Johnny stated, shaking the can.

"Okay, let's go find him and give him his silly ectoplasm," Amorpho grumbled, "where is he though?"

Cujo groaned as he lay down on the floor, his new caretakers were useless and he wished Danny would come back soon.

Oblivious to the ghosts, Gotham had a perfectly accessible source of ectoplasm below the city, and a slightly impure source right next to the halfa.

───────────────

After a morning in which they both danced their hearts out, Danny and Jason had decided to take a nap, they never let go of each other's hand. Of course, when Jason woke up he didn't expect to see a suspicious shadow moving through his kitchen. The crow was happily sleeping next to the window.

"What are you doing in my house?" Jason questioned absently before noticing that indeed, there was someone there "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE?"

"I want waffle fries" Dick came out of the darkness with an empty plate, looking at his brother with a pleading face.

"I'm not going to cook for you right now" Jason said offended "What am I, your personal chef?"

"Since you're the only one who can cook, yes" Dick nodded, offering his empty plate again.

"That's a complete lie, you could have asked Alfie and you know it" Jason pointed at him accusingly.

Before the two began arguing among themselves, the halfa decided it was better if they noticed him, he assumed Jay had forgotten he was in the room.

"Um, Jay?" Danny tugged at Jason's nightshirt, hiding himself from the sight of the guy who randomly walked into the house "Who is he?"

Danny was lucky to decide not to attack the sudden threat, because the two of them seemed pretty close to each other, however, who walks into someone else's house randomly to order fries?

"Oh, you had a guest" Dick said stupidly.

"Yes, I have a guest," Jason growled in annoyance "Would you mind explaining to him what you're doing here, officer fries?"

Jason and Dick had a staring contest, challenging the other to speak first. However, Dick lost first because Jason nodded towards his empty plate and he took the cue.

If I talk I'm not going to cook anything for you

"I'm sorry, I'm officer Richard Grayson, I usually contact this young man to give him the details of the cases in which he is involved" Dick said clearing his throat, it seemed that being a police officer had served him well.

"Do you get into a lot of trouble?" Danny looked at Jason, concerned, dating Hood must really put him in danger.

"Yes, as Hood's assistant" he said emphasizing the title while looking at the officer "I'm usually the one who talks to the police and stuff, so we're very familiar with each other"

Officer Grayson nodded but Danny looked at the empty plate with a raised eyebrow, he didn't quite believe them.

"Still totally a Dick move, mate" Danny pointed at the officer, who tried to cover his laughter at the comment with a cough "you don't go into other people's houses and demand food"

"And yet I'm going to cook his dumb fries." Jason rolled his eyes as he snatched the empty plate from Dick's hands "come on Danny."

"I was informed that you were involved in Scarecrow's attack" Dick said curiously "is that why you guys are so close?"

Inwardly, Dick wondered if the union was really due to Scarecrow's attack and not his brother's new crush. Maybe it could be both, considering Jason “Pitter” Todd looked so possessive of the civilian when he took him away.

"You're a very nosy police officer" Jason shot him a stink-eye "we found the effects wear off for him with physical contact"

"You should probably inform the bats," Dick said offhandedly, though the message was obvious. I'll tell the bats.

"Bats are very nosy, they don't need more information about it" Jason refused. Don't you dare.

"However, it might be useful for them to have more information to combat the gas" Dick replied. They need to know.

"It's irrelevant information, they don't need to know" Jason said. They don't need to know about Danny.

Danny just watched the discussion not knowing if he should interrupt. He felt he was missing something but he was never good at reading between the lines.

"Excuse me, why would it help to tell the bats?" Danny asked the officer, frowning "I know they're fascinating animals, but I don't see how they can be of any help,"

"You don't know who the bats are?" Dick questioned in shock, if the guy worked for Hood he should know.

"He's not from Gotham," Jason hastened to clarify "The Bats are a group of vigilantes who dress up as bats to fight crime"

"So, furries?" Danny cocked his head considering the new information.

"If you say it like that it sounds horrible" Dick grimaced, although if you looked at it from another angle they really did

"There's nothing wrong with that, my friend Tucker is one, it's a matter of taste I think" Danny shrugged.

"Wait, didn't you say you've been living in Gotham for a few months?" Jason raised an eyebrow. "How come you've never heard of the Bats or even Crane?"

"Well, I think I did but…" Danny thought about his first days in Gotham.

───────────────

Danny was tired, after running away from Amity he needed a place to stay but why did it have to be in New Jersey? Something bad always happens in New Jersey! According to Sam.

He looked at the city sign that said "Welcome to Gotham City, the worst place to live" and even though the latter was written in graffiti he smiled, well at least it felt like home..

However, the smile faded from his face as soon as he saw a clown laughing at a guy in a bat costume while he enrolled in his new university; he wasn't going to judge their clothing choices, but why a clown?

He found out later that the madman was called "Joker", (some self-assigned nickname, perhaps?) and caused a lot of destruction, to the point where the city had something called "Joker insurance", apparently the furry also had "Batman insurance" for property damage.

The halfa decided to classify them as rogues of the city. Amity had a lot of them before the portal closed, and perhaps they were in competition with each other to see who had the most control in Gotham.

So when his classmate Amy mentioned that Batman had destroyed her house to catch Dr. Freeze he frowned.

Batman must be very possessive of Gotham's control.

As he explored the city in search of an apartment he met some very colorful people: a bat man, a crocodile man, a woman dressed as plants, more clowns and even two cats!

Maybe Gotham just dressed so extravagantly out of habit, and it wasn't really a weird thing, they were just all weird by default, or a lot of cosplayers.

Then when he visualized a boy with bat ears he shrugged. He must be part of a theme band, or maybe he's a fan of that Bat-man guy.

When he "borrowed" his apartment in Crime Alley he decided to relax and ignore all the rumors. Soon after, his university was destroyed by this "Joker" guy and he had to take online classes for a while.

The Goons sometimes talked about people he didn't understand "Poison Ivy" "Catwoman" "Harley Quinn" he guessed they were code-speaking by nicknames; he decided to ignore it and ask someone later, he didn't want to be nosy and he doubted it would affect him in the near future.

By the time face-to-face classes returned, he noticed that many of his classmates were whispering about a Scarecrow man, which he considered rude so he shut down the rumors. You shouldn't talk behind others' backs after all.

───────────────

"I heard of Batman, but I thought he was a very possessive rogue, I had no idea he was a vigilante" Danny shrugged "or had an entourage."

"It's not an entourage!" Dick exclaimed "it's camaraderie and mutual respect"

"Yes, an entourage of bats" the halfa nodded as he followed Jason into the kitchen.

"No wait, you thought Batman was a villain?" Jason smiled broadly, he needed to share that with his other siblings.

"Fights with others, causes property damage, he's possessive of the city" Danny began to count on his fingers "Yeah, it seemed like villainous behavior"

"But he also donates to the city, fights the real villains and keeps the streets safe" Dick replied.

"No, from what I heard Bruce Wayne donates to the city, even though fighting bad guys is a good reason I thought he was doing it out of possessiveness" Danny clarified.

"You have no idea about villains or vigilantes but you know exactly who Bruce Wayne is?" Jason raised an eyebrow, taking out the materials to cook the potatoes.

"Well, I had to know who to run from, obviously" Danny said, rolling his eyes.

"Why would you run from Bruce Wayne?" Dick asked feeling doubtful "he's just a playboy with a lot of kids"

"I don't like millionaires" Danny narrowed his eyes "and I remember reading that he had a son named Richard, just like you"

"Okay, you got me, he's my dad" Dick sighed, there was no point in denying it if the boy was paranoid with millionaires.

Although neither of the other two knew about it, Danny was very paranoid about people with money and big houses. He investigated Bruce Wayne to get out of his way, just like Lex Luthor and Oliver Queen, Vlad had left him a bad experience that he didn't plan to repeat.

"I'm sorry for your loss" Danny patted Dick's shoulder solemnly.

"I'm not dead" Dick said, offended.

"If you're not offended, why don't you go back to the mansion and have Alfred cook your fries, eh?" Jason smirked as he pointed at Dick with a knife.

"You're scary when you have a knife in your hand," Dick pointed out, though he didn't seem threatened at all "But I didn't want to upset Alfie, I moved a long time ago"

"Or you didn't want to see Bruce, you probably got into a fight with him again," Jason pointed out as he went back to his task of cutting potatoes with one hand.

The halfa tried to help him by cutting another part of the potatoes, but most of his potato pieces were jagged. So he frowned and tried to do a little better.

"Again, sorry for your loss" Danny repeated "millionaires can't be trusted, I get it officer"

Every millionaire has a secret basement and something to hide. The halfa refrained from saying out loud, it would be impolite to speak ill of the father of the non-guest.

Dick rolled his eyes, even if Jason wasn't wrong and he had fought with Bruce, he wouldn't let him know. It was quite obvious that the family had some problems with each other.

"Oh, who's Alfie?" Danny asked remembering the name "The only thing I understood is that he could cook"

"He's a cat," Jason said nonchalantly, taking the jagged potato wedges Danny made along with his own and starting to cook them.

"No, he's my butler" Dick corrected his younger brother before Danny had any ideas. He already had weird theories with millionaires, surely he didn't need fuel to theorize about butlers too.

"But it's also a cat" Jason said again. It was quite easy to tease his older brother at the moment, and since his roles were usually opposite, he was having fun.

"He's a butler cat who can cook?" Danny asked, more and more confused. The mental image of a small white cat with a frying pan flashed into his mind and he chuckled. He reminded him of one of the videos he had seen online.

"Alfred is a Wayne family butler" the policeman said with a sigh "but yes, we also have a cat named Alfred"

Dick congratulated himself for not saying ours throughout the conversation, he was doing a good job of keeping Jason's cover. Even if the two people in front of him were getting a bit infuriating.

Maybe he shouldn't have randomly interrupted Jason after he faced a Scarecrow attack, but he had a huge craving for waffle fries, and both Alfred and Jason were the only ones who knew how to make them correctly.

"Doesn't that get confusing quickly?" Danny said, feeling a bit queasy from all the going back and forth, the rich really did have weird traditions.

"Probably, my little brother loved Alfred the butler and decided to name the cat after him" Dick shrugged, there was nothing that could be done when Damian decided to name his new pets after something, and as long as Alfred didn't get offended by it, it was fine.

"Rich people really do have weird hobbies" Danny whispered to Jason as he handed over more of the potato wedges.

"Yeah, I don't know how they handle all the luxury" Jason whispered back with a grin.

He was well aware that his older brother was listening to him perfectly, but he didn't care. He really didn't know how they managed to bear all the luxury and details that the mansion had, there were times when it was too much.

Deciding not to mention their conversation, Dick began to evaluate them. They seemed quite comfortable with each other, even if Danny really needed the physical contact he thought Jason would be more reluctant to accept.

Could it be that his brother was in love?

"Here are your waffle fries Dick" Jason put the perfectly done fries in front of the police officer, who looked at them with stars in his eyes.

"You're a kitchen angel!" Dick exclaimed as he began to eat them, they tasted as good as he remembered.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Jason huffed as he put another two batches of fries in front of him and Danny, they were more irregular in shape and indistinct, but Jason didn't seem bothered about it.

Danny's heart raced as he realized Jason was specifically eating the potatoes he'd cut up, even if they didn't look like they should. He couldn't help but smile as he stole a few.

"Hey Doll, don't be a thief" Jason slapped the hand who was stealing from him as he pushed the fries away from the halfa's reach.

"I'm not the one insulting a police officer" Danny grumbled under his breath as he decided to stick with his perfectly cooked slice of waffle fries that Jason had handed him. They were very well made but he wanted the effort of both of them.

Jason ignored the pleading face Danny was sending him as he ate the misshapen fries, he didn't know why he felt possessive towards them but he did.

"But he wasn't insulting me" said Dick, confused by the comment, although it was a bit unintelligible due to the amount of fries he had in his mouth at that moment.

"He called you Dick and multiple variants of it a couple of times" Danny pointed out in confusion, that was obviously an insult.

"Besides, don't be an animal and swallow before you speak" Jason scolded.

"You read that my name was Richard but you don't know that my nickname is Dick?" The policeman said in disbelief, maybe the boy was bad at investigation.

"Did any of your friends hate you? Or did your parents?" Danny asked with concern, surely no one would choose that nickname voluntarily.

"I have no idea what you're implying, I had a very good family, and my friends loved me very much" Dick replied, narrowing his eyes.

"Did you choose that nickname willingly?" The halfa told him worried "Did you know what you were getting yourself into?"

"I'm not from this country, I came in a circus" Dick rolled his eyes "and my nickname is beautiful, thank you very much"

"Beautiful for a big Di-" Danny tried to say but was stopped by Jason putting a hand over his mouth and shaking his head. Well, he supposed he'd let the circus boy go for once.

"Anyway, I'm here to report that Nightwing will visit later to update you on the cure" Dick informed.

"Nightwing must be a nosy vigilante" Jason scoffed as he finished his fries.

"And how do you know about him? Is it some Bruce Wayne secret?" Danny asked suspiciously, communication with those bats (glorified furries) was weird.

"No, it's because I work in Blüdhaven with him" The police officer quickly denied, the less this paranoid boy knew the better.

"Uh, but if you work there, why do you come here to ask Jason about Hood? He shouldn't be part of your jurisdiction." Danny narrowed his eyes, catching a hint of a lie.

"Oh, it's just that I found out they had a close relationship" Dick tried to fix the problem "and since I'm familiar with Gotham because I lived here, the cops send me every time they have a problem"

Jason knew that everything his older brother was saying at that moment was nonsense. He simply hoped that Danny would buy it without commenting too much.

"I understand what you mean" Danny nodded understanding the situation, he assumed that the police had found out about Jason's relationship with Hood, so they sent an outside officer to confirm if the rumors were true.

"Yes, totally" although he was surprised that Danny believed his words, Dick accepted it, even if he had a feeling he was feeding another bizarre theory.

Everyone already knew about their relationship or is Gotham very gossipy? Danny wondered

"Thank you very much for the fries, Chef Jay" Dick nodded, waving his empty plate "it was delicious as always."

"Sadly I can't get rid of you if I don't feed you," Jason grumbled as he leaned back on Danny's head.

"Although I'm glad your coexistence is going well, I still have to inform the bats so" The policeman pointed to the door "wait for a visit very soon, bye!"

With that said, the officer ran out of the apartment, though Danny swore he was holding back the urge to jump buildings. But that made no sense, not everyone in Gotham had to be weird.

"You have very strange friends" the halfa commented to Jason once the policeman was out of sight.

"Friends who don't even know how to lock the door" Jason complained looking at how he had turned out his apartment "Don't stay too comfortable, one of the bats is going to come here later"

"One of the furries? I think I can handle it" Danny sneered, he had lived with Tucker all his life, another furry shouldn't be a problem.

"I don't think you understand, they're very nosy Doll" Jason frowned worriedly, stroking his hand "they'll want to know everything"

"Well, all we're going to tell them is that you're making me fat like the witch from Hansel and Gretel" Danny replied with a smirk.

"I'm much prettier than the witch in a story" Jason sneered with a smile on his face.

"Of course, you're much sexier, and comfortable," Danny said, though he regretted speaking "I mean, compared to the witch who's probably totally wrinkled and toothless"

"Don't try to improve it, the beginning was fine" Jason smiled shaking his head, amused "but my food is so much better than some cheap candy"

"Sure, your fabulous five star food that none of us poor mortals are worthy of" Danny said dramatically, pretending to faint.

"You really enjoy my food, don't you?" Jason said happily. Something inside of him felt irrefutably glad that both Dick and Danny were enjoying everything he made, even if it was simple things "lunch could be better though, you need more than potatoes."

"I don't think so, I usually eat very little, I think that if you keep feeding me I won't be able to stand it" the halfa said sadly.

Since his food was usually combined with a lot of ectoplasm, he didn't need to eat that often. But since he wouldn't be taking his daily dose with Johnny it was unlikely his stomach would get used to so much food all at once.

Even if he loved Jason's cooking he couldn't handle more than small meals, the pancakes and potatoes were fine, even if they were heavy they were in small quantities, but he couldn't handle anything more than that. Perhaps dinner.

"What do you mean? Your friend makes sure you eat, right?" Jason asked worriedly, he knew very well how to adjust to an eating rhythm when you weren't used to it, but he thought it wasn't Danny's case.

"My friend has only been here a short time," Danny hastened to explain, a little embarrassed, "just like my…neighbor, she's the one who sends me food."

The halfa didn't know how to correctly explain her relationship with ghosts; they were technically friends, but they were enemies at one point, and some still feuded with him on a regular basis.

Even if they had explained to him that fighting was a way for the ghosts to unite, he was still a bit annoyed that no one had explained it to him in the first place, so yes, his relationship with them was quite complicated. Since they were from a nearby dimension, he guessed that neighbors was the correct term. Lunch could also be called a friend, but it felt a bit weird.

"What? I thought he cooked your meals, or you did" Jason said, growing increasingly worried by the endless number of new revelations.

"Neither of us knows how to cook" Danny denied "our mutual neighbor brings us some food from our hometown to get us through the week, my friend just makes sure I really eat it"

"Isn't that dangerous? What if she starts avoiding Gotham? This place isn't bees and flowers, it's normal for tourists to refuse to visit" Jason asked, stroking the halfa's hand to comfort himself.

"I don't think that's the case," Danny said after thinking about it for a moment. He doubted any of the ghosts were scared of Gotham. They were almost impossible to kill and the blood flowers had long since been extinct.

Unless Gotham has an excellent groundskeeper, they have nothing to fear here.

That just added to Jason's worries, Danny was confident that someone else would enter Gotham on a monthly basis to bring him some food.

"I'm going to teach you how to cook, there is no other alternative" the vigilante declared suddenly "but moving on to the next topic, how much do you eat a day?"

Jason needed to adjust his rations according to the response he gave him. He'd been cooking carelessly, having fun, that he'd forgotten that Danny might have some dietary need, or some special need.

"It's okay Jay" Danny assured him, tightening his grip on his hands "most of my allergies are covered, and I only eat small amounts but it's pretty normal, you shouldn't worry."

"I was speaking out loud, wasn't I?" Jason wailed when he noticed his mistake.

"Sure, but you were just worried" Danny comforted him "it's normal Jay, if it makes you feel better I'll tell you what I usually eat"

Jason wasn't thrilled to find out Danny just forgot to eat, but he drank his "green tea" daily, which apparently wasn't a tea he could get his hands on since it was originally from his hometown, which he deeply refused to talk about.

Given the amount of trouble Babs had been having getting into his city network, he could understand the caution a bit. Even if it was extremely rare.

Jason wondered if he should use the gas excuse to kidnap him for a couple of days. After all, the universities within Gotham had plenty of policies to make up fouls for Rogue attacks

Danny wouldn't mind staying at his house for a couple of days, would he?

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

Annd tag time, this update is a bit longer than normal but I love the number and needed to go for it, supposedly this is 7777 from Chapter 7 so welcome to the Jackptot! I hope you liked it!

I'll dig into the fangs later, but yeah, a part of Danny is very hungry and Jason is unconsciously feeding it, although it's kind of mutual since he's healing him so it's okay.

Johnny and Amorpho are going to get into a lot of trouble in the next chapter, and here comes the big brother! Danny is too distracted when he wants to lol

@skulld3mort-1fan@sorryiwonnoob@idfk-man10@avelnfear@criticaloverthinker@confusedandghostly @lunadoll36 @spidey29phangirl @suppengott @yjfk@apointlessbox@mimilikey@thegatorsgoose@jaggedheart11@dyinggirldied@pyramaniac@akikkobara@thedragonqueen1998@lostlightandfoundcrazy@xye-chan@saltyladynightmare @ashleysmshly @thewondersoflebanon@illusionwolfwriter24r8@littlefeather345@asphyxia778@amercurio@leftmiraclechaos @dixiwoods @satoshy12@lyra689@meira-3919@quietlyscared@plotwholls @kyrianclawraith @blacksea21090@basilf1res @flowers-n-fauna @8-29pm@phantom-dc@luer-mirin@taniaundertaleau@cloriform@readerkayden@oddlydrawnpuppets@basementloser@little-green-asparagus@echoednonny@yummy-yummy-mmmbones@confusionchaos@ectoplasm024@autumnwulf@666deaddash999@redhoneysugarorange@blue-avis@sailor-goddess@satanicrutialspecialist

#dpxdc #dc x dp #dead on main #Hood assistant #dp x dc #Red hood #the goonion #This is angst #but there is fluff too #Dick was not in my plans #but he wanted waffle fries ig #jason todd x danny fenton

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ca-suffit · 3 months

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How do you rationalize the violence of the characters on this show? Imo, it's easier when it's self defense or when they're just killing to feed, specially the latter since most are just extras and we don't get to know or be attached to those characters. But there are more complicated cases, including physical and psychological abuse and literally everybody has been the abused and the abuser at some point. Not to/with each other, but definitely other people. There is power imbalance in all of the dynamics. Some may forget that since they keep jumping through timelines where things are perfectly okay or they're closer to making amends and making up. And also because the actors are friends and have chemistry on screen (speaking about the whole cast, not any duo in particular). But technically all main characters have abused each other. Nobody is "safe". So, where to draw the line? Psychological abuse? Physical abuse? The severity of the action (like continuously torturing someone who can't respond or match your strength is definitely worse than one punch, for example)? The frequency of the action, like, as long as it happened once it's okay? When a character is still redeemable/forgivable giving the fact they are immortals, so, in theory, they have eternity to better themselves and see if they can make it work? Or should they all be narratively punished (end up alone, suffering, locked up, dead etc)? What are your thoughts? Btw, I'm genuinely asking. I've become obsessed with this show recently and I haven't been able to talk about it with a lot of people, but I have these questions in my mind. Personally, the more I think about it, the less I know, tbh. It's part of why I love the show and I'm asking, btw. I want to see if I reach some conclusion lol. P.S. I understand if you can't/don't want to answer and I'm sorry this got too long. And if you do answer, feel free to make it long as well if you want, even if you want to make comparisons, add interviews etc. I love reading people's takes hehe. Anywa, thanks!

I don't try to rationalize it tbh. I think that's a goal of the show and the original books as well. What are u supposed to do if u have to "endure" each other forever? What still holds meaning if ur all immortal, how do u have relationships, hobbies, not get bored? Especially when everyone is born from trauma and sometimes that trauma was yesterday and sometimes it was 1000 years ago or 5000 years ago from a society u don't understand at all. How do u bring together so many ppl like that and not erupt on each other?

Trauma and mental illness and whatever else is not always pretty. Violent reactions to things are common and, at least in a society where punitive justice is the norm, we get used to putting these things in these boxes. "u did this bad thing so now ur going to jail / hell." The eternal question of the VC books is where do vampires belong, anyway? Where do they go when they die and for what reasons? Anne Rice never gives a v clear answer on this and it's not just bcuz she wasn't a good writer, the point rly is to just ask the questions. We don't have these answers as humans now, we can't confirm or deny if there's an afterlife and whether these things we do matter for a "soul" or not. We create social rules for many reasons but even those are not actually built on the back of "justice" the way ppl are made to think they are.

I don't think these stories are asking u to find a true "good" or "bad" character or characters. I think we're just meant to watch their choices and reflect on them, reflect on our reactions to them. The fandom's desire for Louis to have done something to "deserve" the drop is all about racism and nothing else. They blame Claudia for "manipulating" Louis into killing Lestat bcuz a black girl is never allowed to be a victim either. She's not even a girl to them anyway, adultification of black girls is another angle they use all the time ("she doesn't look 14 to me!"). They'll say look what Louis did to goad Lestat into fighting him more but they'll never say look what Lestat did to hurt Claudia and push her to that point, as someone who was acting as her parent for most of their lives together. That's always "ooc Lestat." What's happening on screen is a rorschach test for us as the audience and as individuals.

Like I wrote, I don't believe in punitive justice, so I don't think long term these stories are going to focus on that much. The trial was a sham to begin with and Lestat was never "rly" dead or meant to be gone forever. They're going to hurt each other and isolate each other in different ways, but if the show wants to focus on any real character growth, it needs to focus on ways the characters can learn to understand each other instead of banishing / killing each other. Relationships take real work like this too. Anne Rice could never write any of this but I'm hoping the show does. Seeing Lestat have awareness of the pain he caused Louis and the reasons he did it fr was a step in the direction I was hoping the show would go. The big question *is* how does a relationship recover from that? For immortals? How will it make others feel too, particularly Armand, if Louis and Lestat get back together? Will Armand reflect on his own abuse too? They all have a lot in common and they all want to be loved. If that's brought out into the open and treated with kindness and understanding, then the desire to maim and kill each other will greatly diminish tbh. Everything these vampires do to each other originates from a place of personal pain, feeling unlovable. "love is a monster" is one of the taglines for a reason.

#asks #interview with the vampire #amc interview with the vampire #interview with the vampire amc #iwtv amc #amc iwtv #iwtv 2022

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inevitable-pretty-words · 10 months

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I got inspired by this post (link), so I decided to write something with those characters!!

The vampire here uses they/them pronouns only; the angel uses any pronouns.

They're both arospec, although the angel is questioning and the vampire mainly feels aesthetic attraction.

Content – hm, nothing, just vampire and angel spending time together

"HOW DO YOU BLEND IN WITH THE CROWD?" the angel asked, curious, tilting their head slightly to the side.

They were both sitting at a table outside the café. The angel ordered espresso, the only acceptable coffee to them, when the vampire pretended to drink a soy latte with whipped cream and caramel topping. They had told him earlier that they would like the angel to try something new, and the angel, of course, agreed.

"Generally, I spend a lot of time in clubs" the vampire responded, a bit embarassed by their behavior, so unsuitable for a thousands years old being. "You know, I usually try to observe their behavior and act likewise. Although it's starting to get boring after so many centuries. People tend not to change."

The angel nodded and took a few sips of his coffee. She seemed subdued and irritated at the same time, but the vampire had no idea what could have made her feel that way.

"I DISLIKE CLUBS. PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS STARING AT ME. AND IT ALWAYS MAKES ME FEEL NERVOUS."

The angel looked around, only confirming her words by the fact that she had actually caught a glance with a few passers-by. She bit her lips, even more annoyed now.

The vampire silently agreed with him. They noticed this too, but they tried to ignore the intrusive stares as one ignores the buzzing insects that fly stubbornly around a human.

They deliberately chose a place far away from the city center, a small local café that only insiders knew about. They made sure to meet the angel at a time when most humans were busy with work. And yet, still, whenever someone passed by, they began to look at their precious angel. They may not have been the gaze of predators looking for prey, but the vampire claimed they were too alike. People looked as if they wanted to make the angel their property. It was truly unacceptable.

"DO YOU THINK THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH MY APPEARANCE??" the angel said, suddenly looking at the vampire's eyes again, this time with more panic.

The vampire simply shook their head.

Looking at the angel, they could never say that suns appearance was wrong, they would rather say that it was too perfect for this world. The angel's brown skin seemed to glisten and suns braided hair reflected the sunlight through the small ornaments woven into them. Even their dark brown eyes seemed to emanate an inner glow. Their body looked like a masterpiece, like a painting that should be exhibited in a gallery. And yet, the angel didn't look like as if sun was noticing the obvious fact – that sun was beautiful.

"No, I don't think so." The vampire sighed. "Maybe the humans are somehow aware that you're not from there. Maybe it's like sixth sense feeling and they can't help but stare, knowing that something is wrong, unaware of the source of these feelings" they shared their impulsively invented theory, which could be right, although the vampire mainly wanted to hide something more logical than that under their words.

"BUT THEY NEVER LOOK AT YOU LIKE THAT. HUMANS LOVE YOU," the angel frowned and stared even more intensively at the vampire.

The vampire looked down, unable to continue the eye contact.

"I don't know, I'm charming? People have always been drawn to vampires. Not that I'm complaining, but it's the fact. And angels? They're quite unusual, darling."

The angel took a few more sips of voids coffee, pure confusion on voids face.

"WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?"

"That vampires are popular and angels are quite rare?"

"NO, NOT THAT. THE WORD."

Now the vampire seemed surprised.

"What, you don't know what does 'darling' mean?"

The silence told them everything.

"It's a sweet word, an adjective used commonly by lovers" the vampire calmly explained.

"LOVERS" the angel said the word as if they wanted to see how it would taste.

"ARE WE LOVERS THEN?"

"I wouldn't say so, I just used it, because I love using pretty words for pretty people I'm close with" the vampire smiled, showing their fangs.

"I DON'T UNDERSTAND. LOVE. I STUDIED HUMAN EMOTIONS FOR SO LONG, BUT THEY'RE STILL TOO... DIFFICULT."

The angel stared at his empty cup of coffee with confusion, too lost in thoughts. He almost forgot about the vampire sitting just in front of him, so when they suddenly spoke, he shivered.

"Do you think I understand it?" their voice was gentle, they were almost whispering as if they didn't want to scare the angel.

"I THOUGHT YOU DO."

The vampire smiled.

"Unfortunately... or maybe fortunately? I don't. But that's alright."

"I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT ARE YOU SAYING RIGHT NOW."

"Ahh, don't worry. You will figure everything out, eventually."

The angel bit their lip in frustration. The vampire, for some weird reason, seemed excited.

"WHY WON'T YOU TELL ME NOW?"

"Because I don't want to rush it. We have plenty of time, the whole centuries ahead of us. And it's yours thing to discover, not mine. I can only guide you. And I can do that perfectly."

The angel analyzed their words in silence until she nodded.

"ALRIGHT. LET'S SAY I BELIEVE YOU. BUT LET'S GET OUT OF HERE NOW. HUMANS ARE STARING." The angel stood up.

The vampire couldn't be more happy.

Soon they both left the café, completely forgetting about vampire's untouched sweet coffee.

#writing #writing snippet #fantasy writing #urban fantasy #angels #vampires #queer writing #writeblr #writers on tumblr #our writing

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snowangeldotmp3 · 2 years

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here, have a part two to this.

Robin can’t focus on anything that’s not the small vampire across from her. They’re supposed to be looking for one of Nancy’s necklaces, made from pure silver, to test one of Dustin’s stupid theories about what works against vampires and what doesn’t. But Robin can’t tear her eyes away from the brunette curls tucked behind Nancy’s ears.

“Stop staring at me,” she says, not looking up from her vanity.

Robin sputters, “Wha—I’m not—fine. I’m sorry.” Nancy looks at Robin’s reflection through the mirror on her vanity, red eyes playfully scanning Robin. Or sizing her up. Robin may never truly know if Nancy considers her food or not.

(Honestly, she’s okay with that.)

“It’s just…” Robin trails off. Nancy spins around, head cocked to the side.

“Just…what?”

“You have, like, cute little pointy ears now.” Robin smiles. Nancy’s expression turns deadly, but Robin knows there’s no bite behind it.

“I could kill you, you know,” she states, strolling up to Robin. Robin crosses her arms, an easy smile tugging at her lips.

“You could. But you won’t.” She watches Nancy’s face contort, fighting back her own smirk.

Nancy has to look up to fully meet Robin’s eye, challenging her. Do you really want to find out?

And then there’s the warm, funny feeling that Robin gets. Truthfully she felt it way before this happened, but something about Nancy’s situation pushed them together further. Robin would’ve done anything (and would still do anything) for Nancy because that’s just who Robin is and what friends do. She’s been reprimanded for it before, throwing herself into reckless abandon just for the sake of someone else, with little to no regard for her own life.

(If you had known Robin before, you would know that she’d be surprised that she’d made it this far. She’d gotten so bored with life, especially in Hawkins, that she genuinely didn’t know what else would come from it. Add that with the fact that she’d often felt like her whole life was one big error, a spirit placed--trapped--in the wrong place at the wrong time, and now she suffered the consequences. And then Starcourt happened. And while it was scary as hell, she thanked whatever deity was listening that something interesting was happening in Hawkins. Even if she did get drugged by Russians in the process. She’s glad she has made it this far; where else would she get to see vampires?)

But now…now Robin can’t imagine her life without Nancy. Without her wit, her sharp tongue, her competitiveness, and the way she’s the only one who can hold an intellectual conversation with Robin. The way Nancy is perhaps the kindest person she knows; even though Nancy denies this, Robin’s seen how she joins Holly, playing with the dolls in the dollhouse and her stuffed animals. She’s seen her old “costumes” from when she dressed up for Mike’s Dungeons and Dragons nights. (Robin has tried to convince her to do it again, only if she can relish in the adorable nerdiness that is Nancy Wheeler.)

Robin’s heartbeat picks up at the thought, and she hopes that Nancy can’t hear—or at least will ignore—the slight uptick in her heart.

She ignores how Nancy’s pupils look just a touch wider than they did a moment ago.

“Oh my god,” she says, Nancy’s stare still burning into her own, “are you trying to use thrall on me?”

Nancy laughs, “What? No!”

Robin struggles to keep her face firm, “Mhm. Mhm. Sounds like something someone trying to use thrall would say. Unless you’re just trying to get a good look at my eyes, Wheeler,” she finishes with a wink before dissolving into her own giggles.

Nancy smiles this time. It’s a real, full smile that shows her dimples and her fangs and makes her eyes sparkle. Not the closed-mouth ones she’d used to hide her fangs. Robin thinks that it’s gorgeous; she could stare at it forever.

The words spill out of Robin’s mouth before she can stop them, “I’ve missed that smile, Wheeler.”

Nancy stills. The smile—the beautiful, radiant, brilliant smile—drops from her face. Robin watches as Nancy fights the frown, lips quivering, trying to hold it together in front of Robin.

#my writing #my fics #not really a fic tho. but u know #stranger things #ronance #robin buckley #nancy wheeler #vamp nancy au #vampire nancy wheeler #i also perhaps have a third part to this but. we'll see.#feel free to reblog too! please.

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t4llhum4n · 1 year

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Hey! I'm bored as hell, so I'm gonna talk about one of my favorite Redacted theories that I've had for a while!

Theory (and major spoilers for the Imperium and, like, everything) is under the cut :)

So. Seers.

I've shared this theory on Patreon, but that was months ago, and while I still agree with the some of big points I made, recent lore reveals have challenged some of the details (looking at you, Channelversary stream and Hush).

My main point was this: Seers and the Sovereigns are intrinsically connected. My reasoning for this was the fact that Seers don't exist in the Imperium and that Seers awaken to their powers by seeing their death unless they're Obscured.

Seers not existing in the Imperium was my first hint that they might be connected to the Sovereigns. When that was revealed, I started listing the big differences between the Imperium and the Prime universe, and I found that almost all of those differences came back to the aftermath of the Cacophony. The Sovereigns were kept in Aria. That's why Deathwalkers don't exist in the Imperium, and it's why D(a)emons are practically a myth on Elegy. So why can't it also be the reason why Seers don't exist?

In the Prime universe, we know that the Sovereigns are kept in Death. We also know that Deathwalkers are actually Serenity Daemons that were sent there to feed off of the Sovereigns until they were nothing, but over time they forgot their purpose (which feeds into one of my theories about Brachium and the other Deathwalkers, but this isn't about them). I believe that Death is far very removed from Aria. Aria and D(a)emons are infinite, so there would be no need for it to be closely connected to a plane of existence that is associated with ending. On the other hand, I believe that Elegy and Death are very closely connected. I mean, humans die all the time, and it's been said that Elegy is not an infinite plane of existence. It's why Vega is so driven in his mission to free D(a)emonkind from having to depend on Elegy and humans to survive. But what does this have to do with Seers?

We know that the Sovereigns are most likely not in their prime. Even if the Serenity Daemons forgot their purpose, they were most likely fed on for thousands of years beforehand. So, if the Sovereigns wanted to make an impact on a plane of reality beyond Death, they'd have to reach closer. They'd have to reach Elegy. So, they did. Seers are rare, Morgan said so himself, but no one knows why that is. If the Sovereigns are as drained as I'm assuming they are, then they wouldn't have the strength to connect to Elegy all the time. Meaning that those connections, and physical proof of them, would be rare as well.

I believe that the connections that the Sovereigns may be making to Elegy have been coming in the form of Seers awakening to their powers. That's why their first visions are their deaths; because that's where the connection is coming from. I also think this explains why Seers can learn any magic at a specialized level and have their auras read as anything they choose. Seers are the most powerful form of empowered humans, and I think this theory explains why.

In my original theory on Patreon, I explained my reasoning for this by comparing it to Vampires. So when it was revealed in the Channelversary stream that Vampires and Seers are connected, I got super pumped. Basically, I claimed that the magic that the ancient humans got straight from the Sovereigns was the strongest, and that it got watered down little by little throughout the years. I compared this to how old blood Vampires, like William, are much stronger than newborns and their Progeny. I also mentioned that it was revealed through Vincent that newborns turned by old blood are stronger than newborns turned by younger Vamps. If we apply that logic to the Sovereigns and empowered humans, then an ancient Freelancer would probably be viewed as a magic user who has equal access to all magic at a specialized level because of how strong their magic is. Seers, I think, have the same power as ancient Freelancers, just with the added gift of the Sight as well.

So what does this mean? I originally said that this meant that Seers are the Sovereigns' eyes into Elegy, which is where their Sight comes from. While that might be a possibility, I'm not so sure anymore. If you took the time to read this brain vomit, I would love to know your thoughts! Also, if I missed anything or there are any glaring holes in this theory, please let me know. I know I mentioned Hush at the beginning of this, but this is already super long, so I might rant about him and his antics later. I hope you all enjoyed my ramblings!

#am i making sense?? probably not #redacted audio #redacted asmr #redactedverse #redacted theories #can't wait for this all to be proven wrong in the next lore push we get #all that carpal tunnel for nothing smh #my thumbs hurt

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i-am-the-balancing-point · 1 year

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Zip’s Newsletter

I know you think I’m crazy. Most people do, but I’m not. I’m not one of these crazy conspiracy theory guys screamin’ about big foots, flat earth, and fake moon landings. I’m not some sad lonely guy who lives such a boring life he needs to make up a fantastical reality. I don’t deal in conspiracy theory, I deal in conspiracy fact. Everything I say is the gods to honest truth. With actual evidence to support it. Which is why when I say, Eden’s Gate is a plot of a globalist cabal of demonic interdimensional goblin vampires to erode the belief in Christianity and God to usher in the apocalypse. You know it’s the truth.

A note, found on a shed at Whitetail Mountains Rail Bridge. ❇︎ Notes of Hope County

#Zip Kupka #Notes of Hope County #Far Cry 5 #mine #only queue can make all this world seem right

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hexonthepeach · 2 years

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i just love lore so is there any background info or heacanons about the ncta organization you think is cool and would like the share with the class?

i obviously really love this kind of ask because i can unleash my headcanons like they aren't the deeply intricated stuff i have written stressing me out so thank you for asking!

(here's my notes i made on my phone over the last few weeks, some vague spoilers for wips and future works)

i have a pet theory it's been normalized that most modern spy works outside of hyperfictionalized superhero-adjacent stuff like Bourne, Bond, and M:I return to this era because our current media has an easier time talking about Russia and communism being the greatest evil rather than reflecting on Western imperialist and colonialist devastation in the global south

background/inspo/setting

the timeline in this AU is nebulous and jumps around a bit and no one really ages (maybe they're vampires?) but i'm keeping it limited to alternate versions of the 60s-90s based on the fact that this was the time of peak cold war era spy fiction and that's what i know best

other inspirational texts besides Mission: Impossible and the wide range of spy fiction and old school TV are Venture Bros., Ed Brubaker's work on Captain America (Marvel's attempts at spy stuff in general really), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015), Atomic Blonde (2017), and a few more

the NCTA building is located somewhere in the Virginia side of the DMV. most of the agents have permanent residency in these areas or adjacent to them. the institutional cover is Neotech Industries which specializes in government-contracted tech advancement projects and has a full legal wing dedicated to institutional reform and emerging markets. many of the employees have no idea what they do but it's very dry and boring in a pre-internet age way and of course allows them special access to US intelligence networks. like the IMF in Mission: Impossible they're a multinational project mostly working against rich, evil, and powerful influences in global politics with a fierce interest in minimizing human costs and bettering the world in secret. aka the author wishes to make this spy fantasy not a spy fact

pretty much all SM groups exist in this AU and the original NCTA was started by my favorite 2nd gen group who you'll probably be able to guess easily but will be introduced in the Yuta installment. they're a shadow organization now that 127 has taken over but are still very much active. they're already name-dropped in some of my wips but expect to hear about Diamante, Exile, Artemis, and a few others.

section V

fun fact: the NCTA lacks fem agents because they are all actively recruited by Artemis, a rival/reluctant ally org of all-women agents. Black Widow but based because I love ggs. it's common knowledge they've infiltrated the agency but it's allowed to both supply counter-intel (Section V's responsibility) as well as keep the peace. one (or maybe more?) of the neos gets a dedicated romance with a rival agent in their installment and I'm looking forward to giving a peek inside that institution, especially wrt aespa's role/lore

speaking of future WIPs I think the one I'm looking forward to the most is Section V. I wanted to make an A-Team style ragtag group of misfits who also happen to be incredibly good at what they do. They're an independent wing of the NCTA who run counterintelligence and agency security and go out in the field as a team or as counsel with other agents for high-stakes operations

In lieu of any details here's their trope alignments and what I've constructed based on their existing personas:

Kun [Diplomacy] - as mentioned in D&S is Director of Internal Security so 2nd in command to the Director. He provides operational oversight but like Taeyong is an experienced active field agent that will participate in missions as an Ace Pilot/Mentor. Perpetually sighing at everyone but especially his team. I will write y/n with him eventually as he deserves but Ten will have to be involved in some capacity

Ten [Stealth] is the agency's top spy and responsible for NCTA training protocol. He's a Black Widow type with a troubled past but also The Heart/Team Mom of the group. Most likely to use lethal force in combat so rightly feared by everyone in the team and the agency with the exception of the Directors. Trained Johnny and a few of the other agents (amongst other things) and never lets them forget it

Winwin [Diplomacy] is the Face of the group and the one most in the public eye. He's there to provide cover/legitimacy for operations needing access to elite institutions or to play roles such as a wealthy buyer. Very shy and reserved when he's not playing a part but intelligent and knowledgeable and worldly. Also in the vein of Mr. T absolutely terrified of flying.

Xiaojun [Stealth] is Kun's right hand and the Brains of the op and computing/cryptography expert. He's expected to do more field ops as part of the younger trio and is fully capable but is more dedicated to eye-in-the-sky technology and providing direction and information. The Lancer to Yangyang's Hero, he tries to keep the impulsivity of the younger agents in check while constantly being steamrolled by them.

Hendery [Combat] is the technical/weapons/demolitions expert of the group. Goofy, sweet personality but most likely to do the most damage in the shortest amount of time, by accident or not. Acts as The Heavy with a heart of gold and Yangyang's field partner and is the glue keeping the younger trio together. Comic relief as usual but also extremely reliable and kind and gets along well with non-Section agents. Most often deployed as Winwin's bodyguard in public-facing ops but absolutely useless with women (in a fun way)

As regards sub-units I have a personal comfort hardline policy on writing certain Dream members T-rated-only (Renjun, Chenle, Jisung) so future wips are a bit out except for them working with older agents. however my next big WIP in the vein of D&S is the story of how Mark gets recruited into the agency by Haechan's partner and ruins his life (literally) before they eventually become best frenemys. I'm not going to let on who wins y/n's heart in that one except that the love triangle in this one will not end with an OT3 (unlike a few others) and the loser will get his own one-shot to make up for it

Yangyang [combat] is Ten's understudy/apprentice and the group wildcard. If this were a TV show he'd be the main character/new guy (yeah you know my bias now) who is always getting into trouble and somehow slipping out of it. Wants badly to be an international man of mystery but no one takes him seriously. Personality quirk is always saying what no one else in their right mind would say aloud, and usually at the wrong time.

Didi line will have their own dedicated series because I love them and their chaotic gamer energy and would like to throw them against an enemy spy or spies that would toy with them with a comedy angle while the older agents have to help them find their groove

Project: DREAM

You'll meet more Dream members but they're all apprenticed to older agents or working specialized roles within the agency at current writing. Their program is important because they're NCTA's attempt to build agents from the ground up, providing advanced covers while crosstraining them in intelligence roles. so I've approached them more like child superheroes than the others with double lives within double lives. For 5Dream specifically:

Jaemin is Doyoung’s intern learning legal and financial (corporate espionage)

Jisung is Taeyong's leadership intern and personal assistant/bodyguard

Renjun is the Q character supporting Research under Section V oversight and working directly with field agents to provide weaponry and spytech

Chenle is working in medical which is a part of Research along with Renjun, doubling as a combat medic and agent health assessor

Jeno is partnered with Chenle currently (you'll meet him in D&S follow-up) but has been cycled through multiple roles and trainings previously for field agent advancement under Mark and Haechan

They've all survived placements with semi-retired agents and agents (getting paired with mentors to put the fear of God into them), as well as working with newer recruits in basic field training.

rookies

i have plans for the Rookies even though I've made Sungtaro into the surveillance team, but definitely will find a place for them once I actually have time to watch their content on Viki and especially if they debut. What can I say, Shohei has my attention as a big ol' goth boi with a government assigned eagle persona. He better be in NCT 2023 (hopefully later rather than sooner with this fucked up winter schedule) and I need more interactions with him and Johnny stat

thanks again for the ask and hope you have an excellent holiday break and new year

#hex peach answers #hex peach updates #future wips #ncta au

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