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daze4all · 2 months

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Yandere HSR Blade, Dan Heng, Jing Yuan Characterization, NSFW & Aftercare

Destructive!Yandere! Blade -Bruises and Bitemarks

A true Yandere/Yandere blade is.

Destructive!Yandere! Blade Careless. Rough, he may hurt darling accidental.h not intentionally physical or emotionally with his blunt manner but filled with want and need “ I need you”

Destructive!Yandere! Blade Mara struck Madness mara in his eyes not again….

Destructive!Yandere! Blade An all-consuming flame as he devour you hungrily like a man dying of thirst

You cannot go a drug that soothe his weary soul.

A short lived being stretched to limit of life you are the spark that remind him of is softness and fragility. All that he once was abd craves to be again.

Destructive!Yandere! Blade Fear and need to control this relationship to go his way so you stay by his side scars from old relationship gone wrong .

Destructive!Yandere! Blade fueling his bad habit to strike first so he won’t be hurt again…only you would be ruined by his own hands before he could be runed by you….not knowing he had already

Destructive!Yandere! Blade Holding you too tight…you may break but his madness keeps himself form seeing this…

As long as, you stay by Destructive!Yandere! Blade side and are his light to his madness his singular obsession by his side and do not stray, he is content for a while. Like the soothing trill you calm the mara by your presence.

Destructive!Yandere! Blade NSFW SEX

Destructive!Yandere! Blade Grasping touches too hard hold as he treat you like a plushies in bed pressing you to his chest and under him so you cannot leave. Focusing on you to drown out the bussing mara of past memories.

Destructive!Yandere! Blade Pain and pleasure intermix during intimate love bites and bruise mark, full chomp, interspersed with scraping teeth to neck and grasping hands presses so hard they might bruise.

He has a preference for sinking his teeth at the back of your shoulders to see you hunched defeated submissive. To avoid seeing faces of the past and to only

Destructive!Yandere! Blade likes to see your back laid out to claim and dominate to lean his weight on when taking from the back…to not see your tears how annoying reminding him of his sins…why cannot you just want this like him? He’ll make you scream for it

Destructive!Yandere! Blade Sex is a hard sharp quick staccato rhythm of hips pain pleasure a punishment reward in one not deserving of you and yet wanting you all the same an overindulgence that ruin you both.

Aftercare. After clumsy attempt to soothe tend to wound with sane wrapping he used but without word just long loo and linher touh /. Complex emotion pride same rembeerance in his dulled cadles like eyes but intense burning. May lick tears from eyes.

After cuddles, He leans into you stick to your side and still and steady as a stone. He is wrapped around caged you cannot leave a heavy weight as blade acts like a permanent weight blanket that lulls you to sleep if you can.

Escape? Anyone who tries take you surely end up a dead bloody pulp . A red smear and blood bath should ensue if you leave. & you don’t wat that right ? so stay in him arms he’ll protect you from all harm.

You must pay the price for making him like this…

Possessive! Delusional! Dragon! Yandere Dan Heng

You are his light, brighter than the sun.

Yandere! Guard! Dan Heng Maintains respectful distance. Is formal and blushes and is easy to tease. He does not show public affection often but for grasps hand, so you don’t stray. He keeps you in close proximity so you don’t escape..

Yandere! Guard! Dan Heng He claims to you by interjecting with calm assurance you are his wife whenever introduced. That you need to be each other side at all times like a lovestruck newlywed couple.

Yandere! Guard! Dan Heng “ah this is my wife, we need to be by each other at all times we had scare at one of the last planets we visited..” He says smoothly without explanation that the scare was you getting away…

Yandere! Guard! Dan Heng He lingers close by right behind you and may brush brief lingering touches to remind you of his presence out of others sight.

Yandere! Guard! Dan Heng After every fight he inspect you concerned and guards you.

Yandere! Guard! Dan Heng Cold rage simmers below a placid surface and he is quick and precise in taking out any enemy that so much as scratches you. He doesn’t like to see you fight or get hurt. “Stay in the back I’ll keep you safe.”

Yandere! Guard! Dan Heng Rarely he may corner you from time to time against a wall when urges act up or he is annoyed you are being reckless not protecting yourself. Enough! don’t you see he is worried why are you hiding from him? He is trying to protect you. You are his only light, his mate so stay be his side please.

“Tch again….This is why you shouldn’t fight. I’ll take care of it” Angry annoyed at any other claim than he is sure to replace it later with his in the bedroom….and patch it up so no one sees but him…

Soft Side of Yandere! Dan Heng

Soft! Yandere! Dan Heng leans briefly against you to sleep or dozes off in your cabin on your lap pillows. He is clingy possessive in sleep cuddles close a tail wrapped around you so you cannot even get up for water without waking him.

Soft! Yandere! Dan Heng. He courts you with small gestures picks up pretty shells,flower coandies you may like in and stares until you savor them in front of him. Watching your every move intently.

Yandere! Guard! Dan Heng. guard of the express that’s only normal to keep eyes on your safety at all time and if you try to escape… he might cut in if you show any sign of slipping the truth or artfully turn the conversation around so no one notices…

Soft! Yandere! Dan Heng. A subtle yandere only in private he keeps you in line. He sees you as his mate and part of his hoard driven by draconic instinct, he is sometimes ashamed of.

Soft! Yandere! Dan Heng. He always provide aftercare yet somehow cannot let you go although he knows its best. He makes up with presents and gestures apologies and guilt you into staying with him.

Yandere! Dragon! Dan Heng However if you resist it irritates his dominance as dragon to show you are his mate but always patches you up after.

Sex with Yandere! Dan Heng

He has a preference for your neck to claim ,mark, lick and nuzzle. Where the blood pulses and make his intact run wild in this moment he can let free his draconic high elder form freeing him from his human visage. In private, the dragon emerges possessive protective hungry for you.

Yandere! Dragon! Dan Heng

Settled in his cabin he may take liberties. Claiming bites, rutting heat.

He may keep you in there for days to satiate the beast playing with tail, talon and teeth.

Not gentle dragon during rut but overwhelmed with pain and pleasure you may bedridden by the ordeal. Not one cam mistake that you are his.

Nesting He has draconic nesting of breeding and though impossible his instincts cry to tie you to him even with child. Though he doesn’t really want them to take your attention from him. It’d be hard surely to travel with one. Though he thinks you being motherly sweet to the kids and domestic caring for their nest would so nice instead of fighting him…

Escape? hah don’t even think of it. he broke you long ago. He keeps an eye at all times as fellow guard of the express you are by his side. He may even get countermeasure like ipc gadget to track you with gps …. A necklace perhaps a collar hmm discreet enough but a claim nonetheless.

If you escape, He’d hunt you down throughout the galaxy as the hunt sings through his veins

Obsessive! Yandere Jing Yuan

Sugar Daddy! Yandere Jing Yuan: Big bear hugs suffocating softness and sweet. A yandere to cater to every need and then some.

Sugar Daddy! Yandere Jing Yuan The type who’d buy out store of jewelry or dresses for his sweetheart to sweep them off their feet.

Sugar Daddy! Yandere Jing Yuan Sweet teasing gestures begging for more hiding the pervert he is for you behind the dirty thoughts and how touch starved he is for you.

Sugar Daddy! Yandere Jing Yuan. He is a soft yandere he wants to protect, provide and keep you safe in his mansion cuddled up with him.

Yandere Jing Yuan He may manipulate circumstance so you cannot leave but subtly emotionally so you may be guilted into staying of your own violation.

Yanqing guilts you with puppy eyes to stay and spars with you too late so you miss your flight per the generals secret orders.

“Oh no now there are problems that came up with your starkiff so you cannot fly away…” Sugar Daddy! Yandere Jing Yuan says sadly with a smirk

Obsessive! Yandere Jing Yuan He is clingy coming ever closer leaning over hand over shoulder waist linger waiting to strike lean in closer touches ghosting your wrist or elbow.

Obsessive! Yandere Jing Yuan He’d like to do more but wait ease you into getting used to him like its natural and let the rumors fly.

Sugar Daddy! Yandere Jing Yuan with sly smile “of course dear you can stay another night forever even perhaps” he has all the time in world for you….

Obsessive! Yandere Jing Yuan. One day on the loufu you caught in compromising position with him. he doesn’t care reputation as long rumor involve you and him solidifying a relationship.

Sex with Yandere! Jing Yuan

Pervert! Yandere! Jing Yuan! Likes to tease you in public to be caught is the thrill to show you as his.

Pervert! Yandere! Jing Yuan! To coax you into compromising position where you might be caught to assert his dominance to whittle you down begging pleading mess to show he’s won.

Pervert! Yandere! Jing Yuan! He likes when you wear what he gets for you secretly under you clothes like treat or present to unwrap at home or in quickie in closet or under desk. If he cannot wait for his treat.

Escape? Yandere! Jing Yuan.

Any other competition he’s squash silently out of sight through power, wealth, and influence.

Try to escape or run away? He’d be devasted but muster up his forces he is general after all specialized to play the long game and send a fleet to find you.

Ah I do love it when you fight, he says amused it makes the game more interesting ~

Continuation of Yandere Jing Yuan in previous posts.

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soleminisanction · 7 months

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Okay this misconception keeps coming across my dash and it drives me nuts because it means people are lumping two very different versions of the DC universe under one disparaging banner. So let me just say this to get it off my chest because I'm this close to shaking somebody:

The New 52 ended seven years ago in 2016.

That started a section of DC's history called "Rebirth" in which they started bringing elements of the pre-Flashpoint continuity back into the timeline. The first changes came in a big burst called Convergence -- which is how Jon Kent effectively manifested fully formed at 10 years old -- while other reintroductions like Kon-El, Bart Allen, Cass Cain, etc. were more gradual.

The original plan, being forced through by King of Bad Decisions Dan Didio, was that after ~4-5 Rebirth would give way to another full reboot known as 5G. I could go into detail about the plans but they're honestly not important to this post because Didio was (thankfully, finally) ousted from his role as publisher early in 2020, along with something like 80% of the higher-level editorial staff. DC had a complete creative turn-over at the start of the pandemic and completely changed directions as a result. The material being developed for 5G was retooled into the hypothetical future event "Future State" to buy the new staff time to pull together their new direction.

That new direction is called INFINITE FRONTIER. It started in 2021 and THAT is the era of DC comics we're in now. Infinite Frontier is an active push to bring back the pre-Flashpoint characters, as well as some pre-Crisis ideas and characters, while also keeping the few elements of the New 52 that people actually liked (like Jason Todd's more heroic characterization) and actively pursuing diversity initiatives both in creative staff and in creations. And outside of the big events, they're making a real effort to keep these comics short and self contained in the hopes that that'll make them more accessible. So it's actually really easy, if you read comics pre-Flashpoint and dropped off, to just pick up a series and go with the flow. Anything confusing is just a Google away.

Please, please don't make the mistake of thinking modern comics are as bad as the New 52 just because some people are butthurt their ship isn't getting canonized. There have been some really good comics made in the last few years that you should totally try! Spirit World, Monkey Prince and the entire We Are Legends line has been genuinely fantastic. The new Birds of Prey is shaping up to be a ton of fun. Dark Knights of Steel is an entertaining Elseworld. Urban Legends and Brave & the Bold have done some really fun things with shorter anthology books. One Minute War was a really fun Flash family event and everything Stargirl's done recently is liable to make you cry.

I'm begging people to give these comics a chance. It's just really sad to see them being dismissed out of hand.

#dc comics #batman #bat family #superman #wonder woman #superheroes #idk man #the way people talk about comics sometimes just makes me sad #i love comics #i usually want to talk about how good they are #and I only talk about the ones that are bad because I want them to be better #i just hate so much to see the really good comics getting published today #being lumped in with the mean spirited mess that was the New 52

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kalims · 9 months

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ㅤamongst other things

premise. kisses w/ them, and random things?

featuring. dan heng, blade, jing yuan.

content. gender neutral.

cw. mentions of blood, murder for blade lol. he's just down bad for reader in a weird, blade way ig

note. this is ironic since my first genshin post was also about kisses (AKA me getting bored so I wondered why not get into star rail)

will add others soon ig.. I didn't compile all of them here cuz I honestly lack the characterization for them so woop

dan heng

short, abrupt kisses that rarely ever come by goes as quickly as it came. you'd assume that he's doing it on purpose, giving you the kiss that you've been waiting for all day. it shouldn't even be considered a kiss at all from how fleeting his apparent 'peck' is.

in short it's torture.

keyword: assume. cause as convinced as you are that this is just some form of twisted amusement dan heng gains, that's exactly the problem that it entails. as a person wholly, he's so serious to the point you doubt there's nothing that would entertain him besides books.

you learn he isn't much of a fan of those really long kisses, once you both bore witness to a couple eating each other's face in broad daylight and you spotted his weekly shift of expression, a quirk of few centimeters. in this case, a grimace and he looks away.

he, does not really give kisses a lot. as upset as you are, you do agree that when he does give you a kiss, albeit short. it makes it all the more.. amazing? such a mediocre word wouldn't be able to describe it.

basically when you're both left trying to fit in his small cushion (he could've atleast gotten a bed in all this space.) you also learn that he's a really private man.

you've only ever shared kisses in his room, embraces, everything else for that matter. when the door is locked he quite literally melts into you. if you happen to be sitting together he just leans on to you.

dan heng in public: 😶

dan heng in private: 😊

just doesn't show any affection in public, especially if march is around. that girl would make fun of him for hours end and even drag the trailblazer in on her antics of poking fun.

dan heng is indeed a private man.

march isn't the only factor as to why there hasn't been a lot of kisses out in public. if anything he probably wants to kiss you more than you would like.

he'd be lying if he said he wanted to just kiss you as long as those weird main characters of the romance shows march watches cause even though you might want that as well, dan heng won't ever do it.

cause it isn't him, what he is. is the type to get kisses done as soon as he can not because he doesn't enjoy them. it's because he can take a good look at you once he leans back, just like he does any other day.

to admire you.

and cause dan heng isn't the romantic type to kiss you senseless, but the one to give you looks you'd die for.

blade

if dan heng only gives you kisses a few times a day and you'd consider it torture, better get ready to lose your sanity cause you're lucky if blade even crumples at your hand to give you one.

it's not that he doesn't love you. he feels as though it's wrong to label whatever emotion in his chest as something as strong as love, he won't go that far. but he won't label you as something worthy of hatred either, you're.. tolerable?

if anything blade doesn't outright seek to give you his affection through the form of a kiss. his love language is in fact, not physical affection but destroying your enemies :). (if you have one, if not. then whoever bothers you will suffice.)

but if he does, when he does it's the most blade thing he can do. just grabbing your face with one hand as he gives you one of those rough, deep kisses. it's not really desperate or out of need, despite such a wordless action you could feel some emotion he's pouring into it.

better pray it's not hate cause.. 💀

funny thing cause as much as he hates being piled in the same sentence as dan heng, in a way they're rather similar. both just preferring to witness, given their life span.. maybe it's some type of response they're used to.

blade doesn't really do the 'oh I love you' or the random hugs. the fact that he'd even stand so close to you instead of isolating himself and looking all mysterious leaning on a pillar already spoke volumes of his fondness (if not admitted.)

he just.. watches you?

silver wolf comments about it when she's caught his eyes on you many times midst a conversation, behind your back, staring. "better watch out." she says, but even with her disturbed gaze never does he tear his eyes away.

well.

kafka does take it in more stride than her. as someone who's spent a hefty time with blade, even someone as analytical as her can't tell which things he likes, and hates. besides all the blood and pain (well usually for his opponents.)

she for one, tells you that he does indeed like you. cause she can control who blade murders 'for her own good'. but if there's even a single glimpse of drop from a wound he's going feral, and not even kafka or her spirit whisper can tame his rage.

AKA... just lots of murder?

'for your own good :)'.

blade wholly believes that he doesn't need to shower you in affection, or kisses at all. but if you're really so insistent on them he'll give into you, which is surprising cause he's a pretty stubborn man.

most affection you'd get in physical means is when he completely collapses into you, perhaps a sign of weakness. but also trust. one of the rare times he's exhausted himself in his mind to the point where he can't even do anything.

#icanfixhim.

jing yuan

a cheeky man, this one.

jing yuan could give you a load, barriage, arrows, whatever describes the endless assault of pecks he attacks your face with. emphasis on 'could', he has the ability, and the freedom but it doesn't mean he's going to :)

in short you have to work for it, he says.

you can't tell if he's trying to give you one of those motivational, slapping you back to reality lessons or messing with you. you're going to go for the latter since someone as bold as he is lazy.. even jing yuan would relate enough to not hit you with the lesson card.

in a way he's always dragging the time you've gone by without a kiss from him as long as he can just for the sole reason he can see your attempts to conceal your bothered face, even better when the expression of content is all but displayed to him once he gives in.

what? he can't resist you, you know?

you have a feeling he's teasing you again when he says that but it's better to not ponder upon it.

for someone who prefers to 'conserve' his energy. he's got a lot to spare when it comes to the repeated kisses pressed upon your lips, cheeks, eyelids, forehead.. whatever his own mouth can reach. (his favorite is the edges of your eyes..)

just for some reason, one he can't exactly name he ends up giving that particular area more love compared to the others. sometimes more lighter, feathery pecks when he's feeling playful. or the occasional longer, deep press of his lips when he's feeling rather sentimental about his feelings.

he doesn't deserve you.. but if not him, who else? ;)

gets mimi to help him into trapping you inside his office, jing yuan 'calls for your presence' but once you're inside rather than the pressing matters he apparently had to discuss with you (present in his message.) you're met with the man practically snuggling into you as he keeps you in his arms.

rather effortlessly if you might add!

and if you somehow managed to wriggle out his grip. you swore you saw him give the... big... cat a look and suddenly mimi is choosing to sleep right in front of the doors..

come back or you will not get kisses for two days (he's scamming u)

note. NOT PR... hi hsr fandom 🕳 posting in a new fandom makes me so nerviosity

#. . . (๑ᵔ⤙ᵔ๑)#hsr #honkai star rail #hsr x reader #honkai star rail x reader #dan heng x reader #blade x reader #jingyuan x reader #jing yuan x reader #star rail x reader #dan heng #blade #jing yuan #x gn reader

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moonsaver · 22 days

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ok this is not really a request, but what would yan!dan heng be like? i barely see any yan!dan heng content and thats probably because I don't even know how he would behave. Would he silently obsess over you? Would he not let you leave the archives, taking his life when he was young as an example, giving you books as your only respite? Would the astral express crew be in on it?

I feel like yan!dan heng would be like a pathetic wet cat about it, acting unfeelingly but then begs and begs for your affection in private, guilt tripping you without noticing and then finally giving up and taking what he wants whether you like it or not.

Hello anon!

I understand your frustration, and tbh even i struggle a bit with characterizing yan!dan heng, so i havent been able to push out any of his content.

He's not an exact favorite either, so i wasnt at all bothered by the lack of content but i understand you (sunday enjoyer here).

Honestly, i think one of the major reasons its hard to character yan!dan heng is kind of because hes actually a bit of a mellow character who's pretty cozy. Im not thorough with his backstory but it seems like he's always trying to be on the down-low, and never do things that warrant attention. Yan!dan heng would, as a result, not be so different in my opinion. However, a few of his aspects do seem to be interesting as a result.

As far as i know of his character, yan!dan heng would probably be extremely secretive as a result,kind of the stalker-ish type, who gets insecure easily and has to constantly keep grounding himself about you. But whenever you're within the vicinity, his patience wears thin. It grows dreadful to handle over time.

If his obsession gets strong enough, he'll only frequent his darling more and more through mysterious means, the kind that makes his darling more paranoid and as a result, seek out refuge in him about their "stalker", not realizing who they're actually talking to. Yan!dan heng would probably gauge out how much info his darling has about their "stalker", and if it's too much, he adapts and finds more hidden and unnoticeable means. The only time i can see him officially tie down his darling is if they take the initiative to investigate what's been going on and find out his entire archives worth of information on darling, and dan heng being confronted by it. In a bit of a panic, he'd take countermeasure and his patience finally snaps.

Another flip side of him is what you mentioned. Depending on how far within yan!dan heng's grasp you're in, he would be very starved for any form of affection. He's been constantly leaving behind everything, running away from things, to the point he probably seldom feels like anything in his life is permanent. So when darling comes along, yan!dan heng is so so desperate, he won't show it at first because he'll try to resist and give darling space, but it just constantly snaps taut strings inside of him, and he can't help but cling onto you. You'll thrash and scream and yell at him but he's so eerily quiet, gripping you and crushing you against his chest. He feels so guilty about it, but he's just so lonely. He does guilt trip you sometimes, and gets you to quiet down, but who knows how often that'll last? He can't get himself to "punish" you often either, so he just gives you strict warnings and scoldings from time to time, but then his insecurities get the best of him, and he can't help but cling to you even in your sleep, afraid you'll slip away like everything. He has self-doubt very often, and his main way would be just to seek you out, and force himself onto you in any physical form of affection, even if you grumble and protest about it.

In any case, i feel yan!dan heng would be a luckily tolerable yandere.

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arliedraws · 7 days

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In the books, Sirius's devotion to Harry is of course very deep, but it never translates to something physical. He only shakes Harry's end when he leaves his bedside in book 4, and in book 5 there is something resembling a hug, like twice...? As a dog he stood up his hind legs and front paws on harry's shoulders and a half hug after Christmas. Idk it sort of drives me crazy, because in the movies Harry and Sirius are so affectionate! That first hug when Harry arrives in Grimmauld!! Gary and Dan had an amazing chemistry that other actors were jealous of, they mirrored the book characters, so it palpable on screen, the few scenes Gary is in at all at least.

So, what do you make of this? Do you in musing for art imagine a more affectionate relationship between Harry and Sirius? Maybe if Sirius survived the war? Molly's hug in book 4 was a poignant moment but imo that should have been a moment between Sirius and Harry. Sirius already says he expected something catastrophic to happen to Harry in the third task, that's what he stutters when Harry comes in with Dumblebore. So he is literally afraid of his godsons life and it still shows of course, Sirius staying at Harry's side was very beautifully written, like the devotion is clear, but I am foaming at the mouth for more affection between them in canon? Platonic, not shipping. So between the movies and the books Im just kinda torn what's better

It's more a rant than an ask, sorry lol, but if you have any input I'd he so stoked to read it. Not many peeps in the fandom even give Sirius and Harry any time of day, nvrmind even understand what they had (which also drives me kinda nuts but ok)

Ohhhh, anon, you’ve come to the right spot! Mostly because I love them. I would say that 80% of my fandom interest is just Sirius being a dad to Harry.

To your question, I don’t think one is better than the other. Each has their purpose. Let me share my thoughts:

1. I am soft for movie Sirius and Harry’s affectionate touching. However. The dynamics of their relationship were NOT mirrored from the books, which…is fine. Honestly, I just don’t think it was a priority for the filmmakers. This particular bit doesn’t bother me because the movies are not supposed to replace the source material—they are an interpretation. To me, watching the movies is like reading fic—fun to watch but not canon. Also, the filmmakers removed so much of their relationship in GoF that they HAD to make Sirius and Harry physically affectionate in order for movie audiences to see what losing Sirius would mean to Harry. Their complexity is completely unexplored in the films, and they had to do SOMETHING to get the audience to feel sad when Sirius died. This started in PoA when they really downplayed the context of their relationship. (Lol, see my rant on PoA. I really don’t like that movie hahahahaha.)

2. In the books, Harry and Sirius are not physically affectionate with each other despite their intense love for each other, and I think this is an effective way to show characterization. As I tell my students, this might have been intentional by the author, but it could have been an instinct that she followed (what feels right for the characters).

Here’s what I think: both are so terrified of losing the other that they won’t allow themselves to get too close, and, crucially, they both fear showing vulnerability. Touching someone and reaching out for a hug or comfort is an extremely vulnerable thing to do. If you reach out for a hug, you are showing your true feelings. To be rejected physically is sometimes more devastating than someone telling you to just “go away.” It’s a sign of trust to touch someone—you are trusting that they feel the same way about you, and you are trusting that they won’t pull away. Both Sirius and Harry understand rejection, and both avoid it. How do you avoid rejection? You distance yourself.

I’ll put the rest under a cut because I think this might get long…

Sirius and Harry, for all that they love each other, fall out of trusting each other by OotP. Part of this is trauma, but it is also miscommunication. Harry is worried that Sirius will do something stupid—either out of concern for Harry or because he wants to get out of number 12–but he’s worried he’ll lose Sirius. So by withholding affection (which I’m not sure if he knows how to give physically), Harry distances himself from Sirius which will, theoretically, keep Sirius safe (of course, it backfires). Sirius is…you know…going through stuff in OotP. He is already vulnerable—he perceives himself as being emasculated because he’s not allowed to leave his childhood home and he’s relegated to performing ‘uninteresting, domestic work’, and he must be inactive when he’s a man OF action.

When it comes to Goblet of Fire and the odd handshake… I think Sirius is reeeeeally holding back. Harry does NOT want him to go, and Sirius knows this. (Why DOES Dumbledore send him away? Literally anyone else could have “alerted the old crowd” and NOT the convicted murderer. This is clearly the author’s excuse to get Sirius away from Harry—and, I’ve spoken to this before, Sirius is too much of a miracle character—too smart, too loyal, too loving to support the story that the author wanted to tell.) Sirius, if he had stayed, would have been the emotional support that Harry needed. So if Sirius holds Harry, what if Harry doesn’t let go? What if Sirius himself can’t let go? A handshake will have to do.

So Sirius leaves Harry with that bizarre handshake. That Sirius leaves at all damages their relationship—it could have been repaired with time (if they’d been allowed time), but this moment makes Harry realize that he cannot rely on anyone, not even Sirius. This leaves Harry to be isolated in OotP, and it leaves him to feel like he cannot trust anyone. I’m not blaming Sirius for leaving, but I believe this action causes a rift between them that carries into the next book.

My point is, I HATE that they don’t touch but it is very important that they don’t, at least when it comes to the story that the author wanted to tell. I think it was the right move when we look at the story as a whole. Do I like it? NO! But it’s interesting, and it DOES feel right for them. Is it devastating? Yes!!!!!!!

TL;DR: I don’t think either interpretation is necessarily better than the other, but they both have their purpose. Both are effective!

Touch is…huge in HP. Consider Voldemort’s “I can touch him now” and causing Harry pain. Touch is a privilege, and to be touched without permission is a violation. Harry kills someone by touching them. He is only touched by his family when Dudley beats him up or he gets shoved in his cupboard.

Weirdly, one of my absolutely favorite moments when Sirius and Harry touch is in PoA when the Dementors are closing in on Sirius, Harry, and Hermione, and Harry, as he’s about to faint, reaches out to grab an unconscious Sirius by the arm, thinking something along the lines of “the dementors weren’t going to take him” and such. And this is about two seconds after Harry has accepted that Sirius is telling the truth! Harry physically tethers Sirius to him—this touch-starved teen reaches out to this man who is now everything to him, who is now his only real family, willing to risk death (or worse) to keep it. BUT THEY JUST MET!!!!! Devastating!!!

Also…another thought: the first time Sirius and Harry touch is the first time Sirius has been touched as a human in twelve years. And Harry is beating the absolute shit out of him…and then Sirius nearly strangles him…

Also, also, not to like…self-promote, but if you want some Sirius & Harry family feelings and a wee bit of affectionate touching, I wrote a one-shot where they talk about their feelings in OotP.

Anyway, this got longer than I thought. Thank you for the prompt!!

#if this sounds critical of sirius it’s not #he is a Very Good Character #if he were ‘perfect’ he’d be boring #i like his messy parts #and i like harry’s #i wish there had been more of them together #but i like that we can build the relationship outside of what we’re given #i love AUs #sirius black #harry potter #hp meta #long post #asks

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127luvr · 7 months

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My Love Mine All Mine

a ‘na jaemin x male reader’ smau!

na jaemin and y/n l/n have known each other for years. inseparable since they met—graduating school together—landing their first job together—quitting together. hell, they even had their first kiss with one another. but it’s never been like that—their relationship doesn’t go beyond platonic soulmate-ism. romantic feelings never seem to cross their minds even after years of their friends (and friends of friends) continuously asking whether or not they were dating. it isn’t until jaemin’s love life suddenly starts to pick up where y/n feels conflicted on his feelings.

- ͟͟͞☆ intro!

profiles ! ? #

TY ent information

LUNA cafe information

- ͟͟͞☆ start!

001 bug like an angel

002 buffalo replaced

003 heaven

004 i don’t like my mind

005 the deal

006 when memories snow

007 the frost

008 star

009 i’m your man

010 i love me after you

011 valentine, texas

012 working for the knife

013 stay soft

014 everyone

015 heat lightning

016 the only heartbreaker

017 love me more

018 there’s nothing left for you

019 should’ve been me

020 i guess

021 that’s our lamp

022 geyser

023 why didn't you stop me

024 old friend

025 a pearl

026 lonesome love

027 remember my name

028 me and my husband

029 come into the water

030 nobody

031 pink in the night

032 a horse named cold air

033 washing machine heart

034 blue light

035 two slow dancers

036 happy

037 dan the dancer

038 once more to see you

039 fireworks

040 your best american girl

041 i bet on losing dogs

042 my body's made of crushed little stars

043 thursday girl

044 a loving feeling

045 crack baby

046 a burning hill

047 texas reznikoff

048 townie

049 first love / late spring

—DISCLAIMERS although this includes real people, this work is pure fiction. the portrayal and characterization of the members are solely based on how i perceive their personalities based on content.

this work is not written in first person, it’ll be mostly focused on the reader’s perspective unless stated otherwise.

while this is a socmed au, there will be written parts included in the story.

—REMINDER to ignore all time stamps and any spelling mistakes that made their way into the final cut.

#nct #nct u #nct dream #nct 127 #wayv #aespa #riize #zerobaseone #na jaemin #na jaemin x male reader #nct x male reader #nct smau #kpop smau #x male reader #my love mine all mine #<3

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rotting-butterscotch · 1 month

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so uh i just rewatched community for the 3rd, and possibly the last, time, and I'm gonna rant about it, especially because it's being taken off Netflix this month.

Community is literally the #1 best fucking show on this planet (with Brooklyn 99 and The Good Place being a 2 and 3), and no one can tell me otherwise. The writing is so fucking beautiful (except the writing of the romantic entanglements within the group, but im sure the fandom knows that already), and can be so funny yet heartbreaking at the same time.

Let's take "Geothermal Escapism" for an example (which to point out how amazing the writing is, has never failed to make me cry at the end of it). The symbolism of the hot lava game, the fact that Troy had to play into the whole "clone" thing just for Abed to be able to cope with him leaving (which proves yet again how much Troy and Abed do for eachother, and yes that *is* one of the reasons I ship trobed, but let's not get off-track more than we already have lol), the group saying all their good-byes at the end, and the way those good-byes characterize them so perfectly, it's literally a masterpiece of an episode.

And the fact that the viewers as a whole were supposed to just forget all of that the next episode baffles me, like make up your mind Dan Harmon, are you gonna make the best show of all time or ruin it by shoving jeffannie down our throats at the last episode???? (sorry, went off track)

Anyways, back to the writing: it's beautiful, but can be so dumb at the same time. Like, another example: "Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television", a.k.a. the finale, which not only kind of does a call-back to s1 Jeff and Abed (Abed being ready to let go and embrace the future, and Jeff being so against it), but omggg the symbolism towards the end, where Jeff has driven Abed and Annie to the airport, and he's hugging them good-bye, and Jeff goes in for a second hug, because yet again he's afraid of change, and you can tell Abed is confused, but he goes with it anyways, because he gets it (actually I'm making this point based off of a comment under a compilation of Jeff and Abed, but whatever).

Jeff and Abed in s6 is literally Abed and Jeff in s1, and not only then, but literally everywhere in the series, you can tell how alike they are, how their traumas and troubles are so alike, yet they dealt with it differently, one with acceptance and one with denial.

And another point about how the writing can be so dumb sometimes: how can you literally point to jeffannie being an illogical and impossible ship, and literally have both members of this ship finally realize how unhealthy it in the *same* episode as is that ship's kiss scene?!?! Like, how does that make sense.

Anyways, my conclusion to this rant is: there's no conclusion lol, I just wanted to barf out all of my thoughts on this show onto here (and these aren't even all my thoughts on this show lol), as incoherent as they are. I'll miss this show so bad😭😭.

#community #community nbc #rant post #jeff winger #abed nadir #annie edison #troy barnes #community fandom #thanks for coming to my rant #trobed #i love this show #Spotify

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chthonic-cassandra · 1 month

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Hello friend, I was thinking about the Mina-as-a-reincarnated-love-of-Dracula's plot element from the 90's movie and once more wondering where the hell it came from. Do you have any idea if the germ of that element was present in some other vampire/dracula-related media?

Hello my friend! This is an excellent question that others have sought to answer over the years. This is my best recollection right now without consulting all my sources; if others (@atundratoadstool, @forthegothicheroine, anyone else?) remember something I'm forgetting here, feel free to jump in.

The Coppola film was not, properly speaking, the first Dracula adaptation to include a reincarnated wife plotline; that dubious honor goes to the 1974 Dan Curtis adaptation starring Jack Palance, though there the reincarnated wife is Lucy rather than Mina, and also takes much less of the attention and runtime than it does in the Coppola. Blacula, made around the same time as the Curtis film, also has a reincarnation plotline, though there it's of course not involving the characters of Stoker's novel directly.

Dan Curtis was previously the creator of the long-running vampire soap opera Dark Shadows, which I have not myself seen but which I understand has a prominent 'vampire finds the reincarnation of his love' story, and really popularized it as a trope.

Most people trace the origins of the trope to a different undead narrative - the 1932 The Mummy, directed by Karl Freund (cinematographer on Tod Browning's Dracula) and starring Boris Karloff. The Mummy, which I finally watched for the first time a few years ago, is a strikingly compelling though unambiguously orientalist film, and there's a lot in it from which I think subsequent Dracula adaptations have pulled.

The relationship between the undead Imhotep and Helen, who recovers memories of their tragic past life together, is in many ways persuasive. Like the occult opportunist Kay in Son of Dracula to whom I think Helen is rather akin, Helen seems stifled in the modern world (in her case the impression is exacerbated by the hints we get of racism she experiences as a half-Egyptian woman), and it's a rather direct line from her characterization to Lucy Seward in the Badham Dracula, Mina in the Coppola, and ultimately Vanessa Ives. Helen and Imhotep's love cannot succeed because he has the unfortunate impression that he has to kill her and resurrect her as a mummy so they can be together, but the sense the movie conveys of her connecting with her whole self when she recovers her earlier memories, and especially of her devotion to Isis, is quite moving.

Stepping back from the specificity of Dracula as a story, I actually think the reincarnation plotline makes a lot of sense as something that comes into play when you're dealing with immortality and undeath. One of the things that I think makes the way that the Dracula adaptations use it so weird and awkward, aside from the pure arbitrariness, is that they're divorcing the trope from the spiritualist connotations it clearly has in The Mummy, leaving it flat and metaphysically inexplicable. The Mummy is a text with clear origins in the spiritualist movements of its time, with their attendant orientalism - questions about reincarnation are all over those.

I played once myself with trying to recuperate the reincarnated wife trope in a Dracula fic, though I didn't touch the spiritualism stuff. I've been thinking about it, though, because I'm trying to work on Penny Dreadful fic and it's all over that canon (and also because I've been reading some Dion Fortune). I'll keep thinking about it.

#dracula #child-of-hurin

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picturejasper20 · 8 months

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Danny Phantom A Glitch in Time- Dan Phantom character analysis

Dan Phantom, also known as Dark Danny, returns as main antagonist in the "A Glitch in Time" graphic novel. He is a lot more powerful than last time Danny faced him, and he is capable of going so far as destroying the time itself to be able to accomplish his goals.

Dan's Origins

Introduced first (and only time) in "The Ultimate Enemy" special, Dan was presented as a evil and destructive future version of Danny. In the same episode it was revealed that he was the product of a experiment gone wrong when Vlad was trying to separate Danny from his ghost half. This resulted in Phantom fusing with ghost Plasmius and getting consumed by "the evil that was insidr Plasmius", turning himself into Dan.

Dan was later defeated and captured inside a fenton thermos by Danny, where he spent all his time trapped in there under Clockwork's watch until the events of "A Glitch In Time".

"The Ultimate Enemy" established Dan a combination of both Phantom and Plasmius, in result his personality and goals come from both ghosts. However, Phantom/Danny is clearly the "dominant" personality, and he is refered as Danny's evil future self within the show and outside of it by the DP crew and fans.

While "The Ultimate Enemy" gave a good idea of what drove Dan into a dark path, a lot of his characterization for years remained pure fan speculation. "A Glitch in Time" explores and develops his character in multiple ways, showing new sides of him that weren't explored in detail in the series, making him a more complex character than he already was.

In the story he gets introduced after he accidentally gets freed from the thermos thanks to a clash of powers between Clockwork and Plasmius. When Vlad confuses Dan for Danny, Dan corrects him by explaning to him that he "isn't Danny" and he is a fusion fron Phantom and Plasmius from another timeline. Another interesting detail is how he mentions that he is ¨all phantom now¨, hinting that he doesn't see himself as human, only a ghost.

Dan doesn't take time in beating up Clockwork and fuses with him, realizing that it could become ¨unstoppable¨ with the time guardian's powers under his hands. He doesn't seem to care that this could put him and the timeline in danger, as long as he can't get defeated.

Some of Dan's lines show him resenting Clockwork for erasing his timeline ( ¨And I'm not part of this timeline. You made sure of that¨) and some fear of being trapped inside the thermos again (¨I can't let you use this (the time staff). Not again¨). Overall, Dan feels certain loss for getting his own timeline erased and doesn't want some similar happen to him again.

Being on Denial

If there is one word to describe Dan's character in ¨A Glitch in Time¨ that would be ¨denial¨. Throughout the story, Dan shows to be in denial both of his own emotions, past/trauma and even his own past self as Danny Phantom. Everytime someone mentions that he is still Danny or that a part of Danny is still inside him, he answers with how he ¨isn't Danny anymore¨ and how he has grew past his own humanity.

Dan sees himself a above human emotions, seeing them as a weakness. He sees himself almost as he was a divine entity that is beyond ghosts and humans. This could explain one of the reasons of why he fused with someone like Clockwork since he is able to control time itself.

A good example of this denial is when Jazz tries to remind him that ¨they are family¨, trying to reach out to ¨Danny's part¨ of Dan. Dan replies to this with how ¨losing them (his own family) in his timeline make him stronger¨, which contradicts how alternate! Danny was shown to be emotionally devastated when he lost his own family and friends after the Nasty Burger explosion. Dan has been hinted to be a product of that Danny's own trauma from the loss of his family and friends and him blaming himself for not being able to save them.

A similar scenario repeats when Danny gives Dan the option to step down, reminding to Dan that Amity Park used to be his home once and that he is still ¨Danny¨. Dan is clearly upset when Danny reminds him of his own past self, showing how he hates being reminded of that. Dan answers Danny with ¨You forget I'm more than that now¨, with this idea of how he is beyond human emotions now.

Dan has a desire to get rid of Danny in the story. It is the reason of why he showed up in Amity Park, to look for Danny and beat him up. While part of it could be seen as him trying to get revenge on the teen, it could be also be read as him trying to get rid of the person that represented his past self, showing how far is able to go erase anything that has to do with is own past.

Self-destruction

Another important aspect of Dan in ¨A Glitch of Time¨ is how self-destructive he is. He doesn't seem to care about how he puts the timeline itself in trouble as long as he is ¨able to win¨.

Dan has an obsession with being the strongest. It doesn't matter if this search for power ends up with him hurting himself as long as he is able to accomplish his goals. In the novel Dan is seen ¨glitching¨ multiple times since he is not able to hold the fusion of him and Clockwork together. These time glitches cause him great pain and leave him very exhausted as result. Later, in the final confrontation, the characters bring up how Dan is spending a lot of energy trying to keep the fusion up and how that's hurting himself.

When asked by Danny why he is doing this and how he could get himself erased by glitching the timeline, Dan expresses how he doesn't care about that as long as he is able to defeat Vlad and Danny. He doesn't seem to care about anything than winning against the other two halfas.

This obsession with power shares some parallels to Vlad's villain arc in the series, except the execution is different. In Vlad's case he ends up getting more desperate to achieve his goals over time, choosing more extreme methods to do so. It resulted in him losing everything he had and pushing everyone that cared about him away. With Dan, it is not caring about how this power ends up destroying everything, himself included. It becomes more about ignoring how he is hurting himself instead of pushing others away like Vlad did.

Facing one's self

In the final battle, Danny tries reminding Dan of his old self, something that he fails in the first attempt. He keeps asking Dan why he is choosing to keep the fusion together when he is putting the timeline and himself in danger.

At one point, when Dan is about to end Danny, Danny asks him ¨Why are you so angry?¨ and brings up how ghosts are driven by human emotions or emotions in general. Dan answers to that with ¨I've long since transended you human weakness¨, which is ironic since he is a full ghost, and just like every other ghost, he is driven by emotion.

Vlad Masters decides to intervine and talks about how Dan is part Plasmius, meaning that one part of him is driven by the emotion of fear. While fighting against Dan, Vlad admits that his own fear of others leaving him and being alone made him become obsessed with being in control and always looking for more power. Meaning that Dan has a similar fear that leads him to always be more powerful and being in control.

During this confrontation Dan is faced with the idea that even himself can't escape from his own emotions and that he is a ¨normal ghost¨ as everyone else in the Ghost Zone. He isn't above others as he thought he was. He is able to feel lost and pain like anyone else.

After getting a extreme beat down from Danny and Vlad and becoming separated from Clockwork, Dan has a mental breakdown from losing again. He talks about how he is ¨always losing¨, how he lost ¨this battle, his own timeline and his family¨, the latest being brought up by Danny himself.

This reveals that Dan was always looking to be stronger than he already was so he never have to lose something again. It came from Danny's own trauma of not being able to save his family from the accident, which drove Dan to get obsessed with looking for more power.

To put this in simple words: Dan is the combination of the worst most toxic aspects of both Danny and Vlad, thus created a powerhungry entity who causes destruction, maybe as a way to distract himself from his own pain.

What it is more, it's heavily implied that leaving Dan trapped in the thermos only made things worse for him, as pointed out by Danny. When asked by his parents to capture Dan inside the thermos, Danny looks how Dan glitches out and for a moment he looks like his young self, making Danny refusing to put Dan inside the thermos.

There some jealousy from Dan too, about how he has lost everything in comparison to his younger counterpart and he doesn't understand why this happened. Danny feels sorry for Dan, sympathizing with how having lost his own family and timeline must have been terrible for him.

When Dan starts to destabilize, the expresses fear of losing his own body and begs Danny to not put him inside the thermos since ¨he doesn't want to be alone again¨. This line could come from both Phantom and Plasmius, but it seems to lean more to Plasmius' half, considering that fear of being alone is what always drove Vlad's selfish actions.

After hearing this, Vlad offers his body as a temporary vessel for Dan to use until they are able to find another one. Vlad apologizes to both Danny and Dan for hurting them and offers Dan a ¨second chance¨, to which Dan accepts and uses Masters' body as a host.

Dan is last seen ¨fusing¨ himself with one of Danny's clones. Clockwork explains to Vlad that now he is in charge of Dan, thus giving Dan a new opportunity to be a teenager again and live the normal life he could have had in his own timeline.

Conclusion

Dan's arc in ¨A Glitch in Time¨ is about him having to face his own emotions and humanity and how he isn't above them as he believes himself to be. The novel shows a more self destructive side of him, not caring about how he puts reality and himself in danger for fusing with Clockwork. While Dan expresses certain regret from his actions and desire to stop destroying everything in his path because he accepts the ¨second chance¨ Vlad offers to him, i would argue that his arc isn't so much of a redemption as it is more about accepting that his own issues and accepting that he needs help, something that Vlad gives to him.

In the end Dan gets his own ¨happy ending¨ since he gets a chance to have a normal life (and maybe a new family) again, represented by how he ends up fusing with one of Danny's clones, which resemble the person he used to be once.

#danny phantom #danny phantom a glitch in time #dan phantom #danny fenton #Vlad masters #dp analysis

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zahri-melitor · 7 months

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hi hello if it's not too much trouble, what comics would you recommend for someone trying to study the batfamily characters and dynamics for a project? I don't know which writers to avoid or which runs are considered bad characterization. I know this varies with opinion but you seem super familiar with the differences between fanon and canon stuff. don't worry about keeping the list short or anything, I don't have a problem with reading a lot

Honestly, this is a ‘how long is a piece of string’ question, but I can give you some pointers.

Which 'family' characters are you looking at, and which dynamics do you want? Because the thing is, this varies significantly over time. What I can do for you is roughly discuss a bunch of different eras, and what's good content to look at in each of them.

A shortcut - you're often well served by looking at a Gotham-wide Event during the period you're interested in. Sure, people often have some objections to some of the characterisation, but if you're looking at how characters interact, they're the best place to see lots of variations.

In addition 'bad characterisation' is largely in the eye of the beholder. There's actually less agreement on what is and isn't 'bad characterisation' than you might think - it depends on who you're talking to and what stories they like. Characterisation with comics characters is best thought of as a sliding spectrum - there's a range that most people will accept, and when characters go outside it people start getting unhappy. I'll try to note major shifts or universe resets or retcons along the way though.

Pre-Crisis:

Look there is very little in pre-crisis you need to look at for this. Sometimes people will pull stuff forward for Dick and Jason as Robin or Barbara as Batgirl, but largely things stand without this.

Post-Crisis:

I'm happy to walk you through post-crisis up to 2011. I'm still getting a handle on 2011 to present myself.

The Early Days: Bruce as Batman, Dick as Robin, Barbara as Batgirl

In the beginning, there was Batman. One day he went to Haly's Circus where he saw two acrobats falling and their devastated son...you know how this one goes.

Pretty much everything set in this period is flashback stories, so they frequently retread the same ground over and over. Want to see the Graysons fall? You're in luck! Choose one of the more than a dozen versions! (I'm not going to list them all even though I like many)

Quality stories looking at this period include:-

Batman Year One (1986) - Batman #404-407. I am recommending this, yes, even though it's Frank Miller, because it gets referenced a lot. It's a decent retelling and the best work Miller's ever done for the Bat books by a long shot. Bruce's origin story.

Robin: Year One (2000) - Chuck Dixon and Scott Beatty. This is probably my preferred version of early Bruce and Dick stories, and it's conveniently got a sequel in...

Batgirl: Year One (2003) - Chuck Dixon and Scott Beatty. Barbara's origin as Batgirl and the only one worth reading. These two update the Dick and Barbara as Robin and Batgirl dynamics into post-Crisis.

Batman Chronicles: The Gauntlet (1997) - Bruce Canwell. This is a single issue about the 'final exam' test Dick took to become Robin. I really enjoy it.

Robin & Batman (2021) - Jeff Lemire. A very recent update of early Dick as Robin. If you want something recent and quick, this is the pick. The characterisation is good but I have a bunch of quibbles with the details.

World's Finest: Batman/Superman (2022) - Mark Waid & Dan Mora. Here's a current ongoing for you! A rarity in that is set reasonably late Dick's time as Robin, and it also doesn't repeat identical beats to those above. Lots of Bruce and Dick, strong Silver Age vibes in relationships, and a lot of fun. A great intro to the wider DC simultaneously too.

Robin II: Bruce as Batman, Dick as Nightwing, Jason as Robin, Barbara as...around

Honestly this is a period I'm weaker on. Jason's post-crisis run as Robin is pretty compact: Batman #401-428 and 'Tec #568-582. Jim Starlin's the writer who wanted to kill Jason off.

Batman #408-411 (1987) - Max Collins. The original post-Crisis 'Dick Becomes Nightwing' and 'Jason becomes Robin' story.

The Diplomat's Son - Batman #424 (1988) - Jim Starlin. This is the issue everyone talks about, where Felipe Garzonas dies. You should read it just to understand the debate, if nothing else.

A Death in the Family - Batman #426-428 (1988) - Jim Starlin. Jason's death.You should read this if you want to understand the dynamics surrounding these events and what actually happened.

The New Teen Titans - look I can't get my head around the numbering of NTT, but if you want to go into this there are eleventy million guides. NTT is very popular. This is Dick as Nightwing during this period, Marv Wolfman and George Perez working together, and considered by people who like Nightwing during this period as the definitive version. Jason appears in a few issues.

Nightwing Year One (2005) - Nightwing #101-106, Chuck Dixon. Now this is going to be extremely controversial, but I do actually recommend people read Nightwing Year One. It's a retcon, but it's an important retcon because it lays out the dynamics of Jason's time as Robin as comics writers have changed them to be following his death. If you want to see how comics writes Jason as the 'angry' and 'risky' Robin following his death, this is the most compact way to see how the narrative changed.

Batgirl Special #1 (1988) - Barbara Randall. Barbara's last appearance as Batgirl. Randall is Barbara's best contemporary Batgirl writer, and this is a loving sendoff for a character who was about to get shredded.

The Killing Joke (1988) - Alan Moore. You should probably read it. Barbara is shot in the spine. However if you want to skip it that's completely fine as the relevant beats have been retold almost as many times as the Graysons have fallen.

Gotham Knights #43-45 (2003) - Scott Beatty. This is probably the best telling of the fallout of Jason's death on the family, particularly Barbara's reaction. If you want Batfam dynamics this is what you should look at.

New Beginnings: Bruce as Batman, Dick as Nightwing, Tim as Robin, Barbara as Oracle, Helena as Huntress, Steph as Spoiler

This is an interesting period in that it's the first threads of what we now call the Batfamily, but they're only just starting to come together as Tim picks each one up. (No, seriously. This era is 'Tim meets people and works with them')

Also as will be the case for a while from here on, at least 50% of all content is written by Chuck Dixon. Now Dixon has his downsides - he's notoriously a conservative homophobe and his views can be seen in the text quite frequently, but he is really good at writing relationships between characters, and he loves a crossover. If you love the modern Batfam, you do have to acknowledge Dixon for his work.

A Lonely Place of Dying (1989) Batman #440-442, New Titans #60-61 - Marv Wolfman & George Perez. Tim's origin story. Very clear on the outset dynamics between Bruce and Dick.

Identity Crisis (1990) Batman #455-457 - Alan Grant. Tim's first night out as Robin in his own costume, plus early dynamics between Bruce & Tim. A tear jerker.

To the Father I Never Knew (1992) Batman #480 - Alan Grant. If you want to actually understand the foundation of Jack and Tim's relationship and how he contrasts it with his relationship with Bruce - look no further.

Robin III (1992) - Chuck Dixon. A very early Tim team-up with Huntress. This is a good place to start for how her relationship with the other Bats evolves in Gotham.

'Tec #647-649 (1992) - Chuck Dixon. Steph's original time out as Spoiler. Again foundational dynamics.

Oracle Year One (1996) Batman Chronicles #5, John Ostrander and Kim Yale. The story of how Barbara became Oracle. Stunning. Essential.

Knightfall: Bruce as Batman, JPV as Azrael and Batman, Dick as Nightwing and Batman, Tim as Robin, everyone else keeping out the way

Knightfall is huge and messy and all over the place but there is magic in here. You just have to dig. Parts I particularly like for family dynamics:-

Batman: Sword of Azrael (1992) - Dennis O'Neil. This is an excellent intro to John-Paul Valley, and get comfortable, because this is what Denny's going to write for the next 10 years.

Batman #488 (1993) - Doug Moench. JPV starts working at Wayne Corp. Tim is assigned to teach him the ropes as a crimefighter in Gotham.

Batman #500 (1993) - Doug Moench. JPV becomes Batman. Dick turns up to complain to Tim about Bruce being insufferable. It's all here.

Bloodbath #1 (1993) - Dan Raspler. This is a terrible comic BUT it also contains some gold dynamics between JPV, Dick and Tim.

Knightsend (1994) - team written. Bruce, Dick and Tim work together to help Bruce rehab from his injury and take down JPV. Legends of the Dark Knight #63 in particular is stunning.

Prodigal (1994) - team written. Dick as Batman and Tim as his Robin. The final issue, Robin #13, has Bruce and Dick's reconciliation over both the fight when Dick became Nightwing AND their fight after Jason died. Essential.

Welcome to the Family: Bruce as Batman, Dick as Nightwing, Tim as Robin, JPV as Azrael, Barbara as Oracle, Helena as Huntress, Steph as Spoiler

I will fight to convince you that this is the first true 'Batfam'. Everything prior to this is Bruce and his Robin, with occasional associates. This is where it goes from the Dynamic Duo to a network who intersect constantly.

Writers: It's a lot of Doug Moench and Chuck Dixon still.

Nightwing: Alfred's Return and Batman #521 (1995) - Alan Grant & Doug Moench. Alfred quit during Knightfall due to what Bruce was doing to himself. This is how Dick got him to come home, and the reunion.

Contagion (1996) - team written. The Event where Gotham gets the Clench (aka Ebola). Massive teamup storyline featuring Bruce, Dick, Tim, JPV, Helena, Selina, and Barbara.

Legacy (1997) - team written. Oh no, it's the Clench Round Two. Here we go again. Basically the same team, but JPV doesn't get invited after he proved he'd forgotten was a fax machine was last event, and Helena gets a more significant role.

Robin important family issues during this period: #17 (with Helena), #29-30 (with Barbara), #34 (with Helena), #35 (with Steph), #45 (with Jack Drake), #47 (with Dick)

Nightwing important family issues during this period: #6 (with Tim), #7 (with Babs), #13-14 (with Bruce), #16 (with Babs)

Birds of Prey important family issues during this period: Birds of Prey Manhunt, as it sets the tone for Barbara and Helena's relationship for a WHILE.

No Man's Land: Bruce as Batman, Dick as Nightwing, Tim as Robin, JPV as Azrael, Helena as Huntress and the Bat, Barbara as Oracle, Steph as Spoiler, Cass as Batgirl

The earthquake where everything goes wrong. The most notable addition to the writing pool is Greg Rucka. Honestly this is a 'so many parts of this are worthwhile, read it all' sort of period, but to help navigate there's a handful of really important points:-

Nightwing #20 (1998) - Chuck Dixon. The Dick, Babs and Tim reunion issue during Cataclysm. The world's fallen apart but they're back together.

Nightwing #25 (1998) - Chuck Dixon. Dick takes Tim trainsurfing

Brotherhood of the Fist (1998) - Chuck Dixon. This is a teamup with Connor Hawke involving Bruce, Dick and Tim. I love the dynamics here.

Huntress/Spoiler Special - Blunt Trauma (1998) - Chuck Dixon. The one Helena and Steph team up during Cataclysm. Get a dynamic you won't see anywhere else.

'Tec #725 (1998) - Chuck Dixon. Dick tells Bruce that he's going to become a cop.

'Tec #727 (1998) - Chuck Dixon. Another Dick, Babs and Tim teamup to take on Firefly.

Mark of Cain (1999) - Kelley Puckett. Cass's intro story.

Birds of Prey #8 (1999) - Chuck Dixon. Dick and Babs visit Haly's Circus

Robin #67 (1999) - Chuck Dixon. Tim and Dick break into No Man's Land.

Legends of the Dark Knight #120 (1999) - Greg Rucka. Team reunion in NML at the Clocktower.

Nightwing #38-39 (1999) - Chuck Dixon - Babs looks after an injured Dick in the Clocktower.

Legends of the Dark Knight #125 (1999) - Greg Rucka. Bruce and Jim finally discuss their issues. Barbara and Tim wait upstairs.

Endgame (1999) - various. Whole team works to track down Joker and some kidnapped babies on Christmas Eve.

A New City, A New Team: Bruce as Batman, Dick as Nightwing, Tim as Robin, JPV as Azrael, Barbara as Oracle, Helena as Huntress, Cass as Batgirl, Steph as Spoiler

This is the final Chuck Dixon era, the Rucka & Brubaker run on Batman and 'Tec, Devin Grayson on Gotham Knights, and probably my favourite era of comics ever. It's hit after hit after hit. Pick up any comic here. You won't be disappointed.

Major highlights not to miss:

Gotham Knights #1-12 (2000) - Devin Grayson. GK is my favourite Bat anthology book ever, but this run includes Transference. The overarching plot is Bruce analysing his team in a series of case notes. Unmissable.

Hunt for Oracle (2000) - Chuck Dixon. The US government tries to track Oracle down. Babs, Dick and Dinah make sure they fail.

Officer Down (2001) - various. Jim Gordon is shot. This is the consequences as people search for his attacker.

Joker Last Laugh (2001) - various. Joker thinks he is about to die and breaks out of the Slab. Chaos ensues. This is the one where everyone thinks Croc kills Tim, and reacts accordingly.

Bruce Wayne: Murderer/Fugitive (2002) - various. Bruce has been pushing everyone away for a while, so when he's accused of murder, they must ask the question, did he do it? Everyone tries to solve the mystery of who killed Vesper Fairchild, and Bruce goes through one of his 'am I Bruce or am I Batman' periods.

Batgirl #18 & #20 (2001) - Kelley Puckett. Cass' first team ups with Tim and Steph respectively.

Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood (2000) - Greg Rucka. THE definitive Batfam Huntress book.

Hush It Looks Like War: Bruce as Batman, Dick as Nightwing, Tim as Robin, Barbara as Oracle, Helena as Huntress, Cass as Batgirl, Steph as Spoiler and Robin

Among the drama of Murderer/Fugitive, almost every single book gets a new writer. Jon Lewis takes Robin followed by Bill Willingham, Devin Grayson takes Nightwing, Birds of Prey gets fills until Gail Simone picks it up, Dylan Horrocks takes over Batgirl, Jeph Loeb writes Hush on Batman, Scott Beatty takes Gotham Knights. Personally I endorse basically all these runs but Grayson on Nightwing is controversial.

Hush (2003) Batman #608-619 - Jeph Loeb. Famous for a reason, this is a Bruce story that touches on his relationships with almost EVERY major character in his life (Cass and Steph miss out).

Gotham Knights - Scott Beatty. I don't know what to pick here but #47-49 is a team story of Bruce, Dick, Tim and Cass following Bane to a Kobra stronghold which shows off the developed family-like relationship between the 4 at this point.

Robin - Jon Lewis. Your highlights here are Tim and Steph on a date together (#111), and the 16th Birthday Story (#116-120) because it's essential to understanding where Tim and Bruce are at.

Robin - Bill Willingham. Jack finds out Tim is Robin. Tim quits. Steph becomes Robin. It's an essential arc.

Nightwing - Grayson. This is widely disliked but #81 is a great Dick, Bruce and Cass issue.

Birds of Prey - Simone. Helena joins Barbara on the Birds of Prey. They very, very slowly work through their issues with each other.

Batgirl - Horrocks. #38, Steph and Cass play tag. #45, Cass tries on Barbara's old costume. #50, Bruce drugs himself and Cass with Soul and they fight. #54, Barbara and Cass argue over her reading ability.

And then lurking in the background...War Games hits and tears the Batfam apart, with a doubletap from Identity Crisis.

Leaving Gotham: Bruce as Batman, Dick out of costume, Tim as Robin, Cass as Batgirl, Barbara as Oracle, Helena as Huntress annnnd Jason as Red Hood

Steph is dead. Barbara and Helena leave Gotham for Metropolis. Tim and Cass move to Bludhaven. Dick runs off to join the mob. And in Gotham, Red Hood appears.

Writers: Well we've added Judd Winick on Batman, and now have Andersen Gabrynch on Batgirl. Gotham Knights is now mostly A.J. Lieberman and no longer a good Batfam book (it's now a Hush book). 'Tec honestly isn't worth it during this period. Willingham on Robin has a handful of decent issues to start out then increasingly gets weirdly conservative with some very odd plotlines.

Fresh Blood (2005) Robin #132-133, Batgirl #58-59 - Willingham & Gabrynch. This is a Tim and Cass team up as they move to Bludhaven and mourn together.

Under the Red Hood (2005) - Batman #635-650. You know what this is. It's the Jason returns story.

Nightwing - Grayson. #100 - a strong reflection on Dick's past plus the most heartbreaking part of the Dick/Babs breakup as Dick just runs from all his problems. #110. Tim and Dick meet in Bludhaven and fail to tell each other all the bad things happening in their lives. #112. Dick and Helena run into each other both undercover in the mob. #117. Dick finally talks to Bruce about Blockbuster, and proposes to Babs.

Robin - Willingham. #134 is the pick of the bunch - Bruce offers to adopt Tim and Tim reflects on his time as Robin, though it's a solid little story out to #138 as the truth about Uncle Eddie comes out.

Birds of Prey - Simone. #76, the Babs side of the breakup. #83-84, Helena with the mob and encountering Dick. #90, Helena gives Bruce the new compiled mob data handbook and Bruce compliments her.

Batgirl - Gabrynch. This is a strong well loved run for the build up to Cass' final fight with Shiva, but for Batfam you can't go past #67, when Cass reunites with Babs. Also Cass hallucinates Steph twice in this run (#61 & #72).

Then Infinite Crisis arrives and we all move a year into the future.

One Year Later: Bruce is Batman, Dick is Nightwing, Tim is Robin, Jason is Red Hood, Damian arrives, Cass eventually returns to Batgirl

At this point Barbara and Helena are largely doing their own thing with the Birds of Prey and won't return to the Batfam until Reborn.

New writers all around! Adam Beechen and Fabian Nicieza on Robin, Marv Wolfman and Peter Tomasi on Nightwing, Adam Beechen on Batgirl, Grant Morrison on Batman and Paul Dini on Detective Comics.

Face the Face (2006) Batman #651-654, 'Tec #817-820 - James Robinson. The Bruce and Tim story that set up Tim's adoption.

Batman and Son (2006) Batman #655-658 - Grant Morrison. Damian's introduction to the family.

Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul (2008) - various. Ra's tries to kidnap Damian to steal his body. Bruce, Dick and Tim go to rescue him. Dick and Tim's subplot involves the highest point of their brotherhood as Dick talks Tim out of trying resurrect his lost dead.

Robin - Beechen. #156, the suicide prevention issue, for Tim and Dick. #163, Tim and Bruce on their first Father's Day. #165, Tim and Bruce working on a car together.

Robin - Nicieza. Steph's return as Spoiler. #177, where Jason thinks he can recruit Tim (and fails miserably).

Nightwing - Wolfman. You know what? #117-122, the 'Jason dresses as Nightwing and harasses Dick and turns into a tentacle monster' saga. Does everyone like to say it's out of character? Yes. Is it Jason being just as annoying as he will proceed to be all the way to 2011? Also yes. That's Jason's post-Crisis character.

Nightwing - Tomasi. Freefall, #140-146. This is just a beautiful encapsulation of Dick's many connections, of his teamwork with Bruce and Tim, and of what makes him tick.

Heart of Hush (2008) 'Tec #846-850 - Paul Dini. The premise is ridiculous, but it's about Bruce and Selina, and about Dick and Tim helping track down Hush.

Batgirl (2008) - Adam Beechen. Beechen after squiffing it with the Evil Cass saga, gets to undo the damage to Cass's character and return her to the family. I think it's a pretty successful job, despite Dick spending the entire book holding the idiot ball so someone can be unsupportive. Cass gets adopted. Tim and Barbara never lose their faith in her.

Battle for the Cowl: EVERYONE IS FREEFORM

Everyone will tell you this is all horribly out of character. They're wrong. Come for Fabian Nicieza doing hard work to actually set up characters in the places they need to be for Reborn.

Battle for the Cowl: the Network (2009) - Fabian Nicieza. Oracle and the Birds of Prey have returned to Gotham but for reasons they're not calling themselves the Birds of Prey, so it's the Network.

Oracle The Cure (2009) - Kevin VanHook. Early set up for Wendy Harris' future plot. Babs gets the mentoring itch again.

Azrael: Death's Dark Knight (2009) - Fabian Nicieza. A new Azrael for a splinter faction of the Order of St Dumas appears. Dick and Babs are immediately suspicious (and Dick has to be talked out of immediately kicking the Azrael's butt just on the SUSPICION it might be JPV).

Also the main event books happen and everyone yells at each other a lot about who should be Batman.

Batman Reborn: Bruce is missing, Dick is Batman, Tim is Red Robin, Damian is Robin, Jason is Red Hood, Barbara is Oracle, Steph is Batgirl, Cass is Black Bat

New titles! New writers! Things all over the place! People who like Jason are going to claim all of Jason's appearances are once again out of character, but Jason fans claim that about every time Jason breathes outside of UTRH, Lost Days and a small handful of very select stories after Flashpoint. I'm just saying, villain Jason is pretty consistently irritating between 2007 and 2011.

Red Robin #1-12 (2009) - Chris Yost. Not only Tim's new costume arc, but a great look at Tim's centrality as a character to the Batfam in the number of contacts he calls in at the end of the run.

Red Robin #17 & #25 (2010) - Fabian Nicieza. Tim and Cass working together as siblings and backing each other up.

Batman & Robin #20-22 (2011) - Peter Tomasi. I would strongly argue this is the best arc in B&R with the best characterisation.

Batman & Robin (2009) - Grant Morrison. Look, a lot of people like the foundation of Dick and Damian's relationship found here. Also Jason shows up to be a pain.

Streets of Gotham (2009) - Paul Dini. There's a bunch of good storylines in this anthology book, but #5-6 with Dick, Helena and Kirk Langstrom is one I particularly like.

Batman #703 (2010) - Fabian Nicieza. The best Dick, Damian and Tim team-up issue of Reborn.

Gates of Gotham (2011) - Scott Snyder. The masterpiece of Batfamily content. Dick, Tick, Damian and Cass all feature in this and all 6 possible relationships are shown in different parts.

Batgirl #3-5, #17 (2009) - Bryan Q. Miller. Damian and Steph team ups, plus a look into the tension in the Dick and Barbara relationship at the time.

Birds of Prey #10 (2011) - Gail Simone. Barbara discusses her new realignment of how she's working as Oracle and focusing on the Bats.

The Black Mirror (2010) 'Tec #871-881 - Scott Snyder. Some of the best writing of Dick as Batman during this period, and a look into his relationships with Jim Gordon, Barbara, and Tim particularly.

The Return Home (2010) - various. Bruce comes back to Gotham after his 'death' and checks in on everyone.

#reading list recs #dc #wow that took a while #here's the batfamily

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kurim-chis · 8 months

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Just read a Yingxing/Blade x Reader fic in the CN platform 晋江 where the main plot centers around the comedy and a ambiguously happy ending for Ying Xing, who in the main plot manages to have a family and is very, very content with his lot in life despite the war against Abundance.

Author rn is writing a “what-if” branch of where Ying Xing became Blade, its an AU and some things are different from HSR because “you” existed, and Author makes it clear that we can see it as an AU and consider the Ying Xing main plot as a HE or as a story that snowballed into a tragedy for Ying Xing’s life. It’s, of course, an AU since there’s not much known yet about the past of the High Cloud Quintet.

And I’m wkdkksnJDKFKKDKDJE BECAUSE the first half with Ying Xing is so fluffy, so light, it’s very comedic too because Ying Xing is such a ROCK and so rude and obsessed with smithing, there’s a lot of people who had chased after him even tho he’s a short lived species but he’s so obsessed with weapons and so RUDE that they eventually back off lmao. It’s so bad that the “reader” gets over their initial miffed feelings pretty quickly and feels a bit sorry for their “rival”.

AND THEN AND THEN!!! Blade in the branch/AU/second part of the story is written so nicely, he’s passive and cold and ruthless, but in a more numb way and the tragedy of his family with “you” (which is still unknown since Author just began to write the Blade branch) seems to have shattered his mental state even further than canon. He gave me the feeling he was like a machine or an animal.

The Author describes Blade in a way that just hits all my Moe Points! The guy who will violently murder someone with an emotionless expression (no hard feelings, literally) but in the story, even with a muddled consciousness and a shattered sense of self and half amnesia - it’s very clear his personality was warped and shattered when compared to the Ying Xing in the first half - he still recognizes “you”, and has a vague recognition that you are an existence precious to him.

You are like a fragile dream of a past long gone. If he blinks even once, you will disappear like the foams in the ocean, and he feels like he will go even more mad if that happens.

He is clearly very obsessed but in a muddled, not quite there way. In the latest chapter instead of being overtaken by Mara and needing to get his memories erased by Kafka, he pinpoints you and basically kidnaps you while the Nameless fight against Phantilya and you wake up as they watch the fight. Phantilya’s petals fly all over the place and some of them shoot towards you and Blade, and though Blade grabs you and retreats, he wordlessly picks up an abandoned lance on the ground and throws it towards Phantilya. Very petty and vengeful, even tho Kafka mentions Elio never said they’d join the fight. ETC ETC ETC.

He speaks even less than canon, and ever since he saw “you”, he’s been wordlessly sticking to you like sticky rice, with the only time having been at the beginning where you arrived with Dan Heng and Blade went on to beat the living shit out of Dan Heng. He abandons his vendetta with Dan Heng and shoots towards you when he noticed one of those resuscitating mobs trying to grab your leg.

It’s just. My heart. One of the latest scene he’s written as just raising his arm and hovering it over the small of your back, staring at you with an unblinking, blank and hazy gaze, his actions treating you like glass, as if you were a very precious, very fragile dream that will disappear if he so much as touches you.

I LOVE THIS KIND OF CHARACTERIZATION FOR BLADE!!! Cold and tragic and ruthless, but has this very special soft spot for certain people.

#honkai star rail #hsr #hsr blade #blade x reader #I hope more and more fanfics appear in JinJiang #that are HSR fanfics #HAHAHAHA the story started out as a comedy slice of life #and Blade Part is half comedy and half hurt/comfort #author hasn’t written very far off into it

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nomazee · 1 year

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the sun told me so

dan heng + march 7th x reader

word count: 2.4k

summary: It must be something in the heat. Your head swirls with feelings and temperatures and the rush of ocean water pushing and pulling against your feet is giving you vertigo. Or maybe it’s the looks that March and Dan Heng are giving you.

content: beach day, unrequited feelings, a little bittersweet, mostly just sweet though, crushes, developing relationships, dan heng is a closed door and march is an open book, vague love triangle maybe

notes: hi guys i started playing honkai star rail and my brain is ROTTING and i love dan heng but i also love march and this was supposed to take a different plot but then i was like no i LOVE march and so it became this... no i don’t know how to characterize either of them (i never know how to characterize anyone ever) but i hope this is GOOD okay love u all bye bye

<><><><><>

“Dan Heng,” you say. “The beach.”

It’s simple enough. Just a statement, with an underlying pleading tone as you stand in front of him. There’s a good gap between you both. A safety buffer. An airbag of comfort as you shift your weight from side to side and shuffle your feet. March is somewhere behind you, shoving miscellaneous beach items in an oversized tote bag and humming to herself, unaware of the staredown you’re having with Dan Heng.

It’s a very one-sided staredown. You’re trying to dig into his soul through his corneas and he’s looking in every direction except yours. You sigh. Obviously, you have some very one-sided feelings between you both, as well.

“I have work,” he finally says. “I need to organize the archives.” Which is probably a lie. Sure, you barely know how the archives work or where everything comes from, but you really doubt that whatever new entries Dan Heng has are so urgent that he can’t go to the beach with you and March.

It’s always like this. Excuse and excuse. You know you should stop trying by now.

You like Dan Heng, you really do. And he at least tolerates you, but it’s that one bit of decency that makes you cling onto some imaginary hope that maybe he’ll like you as much as you like him. It’s really not a fun mix of things. Sometimes you wish he’d just deny you outright so that you wouldn’t keep clinging onto your wishful thinking, over and over and over.

Aside from that, the beach—the beach is a special thing. March told you it’s been a while since they’ve seen a beach through their journeys on the Astral Express, and so passing through this planet for something-or-other and seeing an open shore was a pleasant surprise. It’s no kidding that you all jumped at the chance to take a trip and relax in the sand. Even Welt was easy to convince.

Dan Heng. Oh, Dan Heng. What an enigma to you. You snap back to awareness and remind yourself where you are right now. Standing in front of this unnervingly quiet man and waiting for him to have a change of heart. It won’t happen. But you stand for a few extra seconds, waiting. Waiting. Shifting your feet. Waiting.

You feel a hand close around yours and turn your head to see March. She has her overstuffed tote bag slung over her shoulder, a camera looped around her neck, and a sorry glimmer in her eyes. You return it, and soften from the almost defensive stance you had taken against Dan Heng. She looks into you for a moment, the way you tried looking into Dan Heng, before she turns to face the aforementioned man.

“Well, if you’re gonna be so lame—then take care of the Express while we’re gone! We’re heading out now,” she quips, and her fingers lock into yours. There’s a frigidity to them, something that would normally be disturbing but right now it serves to cool you down from the heat pouring into the Express through the open doors as Himeko and Welt beckon you to hurry up. “Bye, Dan Heng!”

“Goodbye,” you hear quietly behind you, and you don’t bother saying bye to him because March already said it—and, yeah, maybe because you’re still bitter, too. It’s the beach. Who doesn’t want to go to a beach after living on an intergalactic train for months?!

Well, whatever. The squeeze of March’s hand around yours grounds you and eases the tense look on your face. She lets out a heavy sigh through her nose and glances at you through the corner of her eye.

She knows. She has to know, but you’re fairly certain you’d explode if she ever mentioned it.

Despite her somewhat silly demeanor, March is more emotionally intelligent than she first lets on. Really, within the first week of living on the Express, you realized how wrong your first impression of her was. She’s smart—overwhelmingly so. There’s no doubt in your mind that she’s already well-aware of what your feelings towards Dan Heng are.

You feel ridiculous the further you walk with March. There’s a stirring in your chest that’s something parallel to heartache, but not quite. Something like embarrassment. You’re being childish. The Express was kind enough to give you a home with them and you can’t let that be ruined by some awkward feelings. By a crush. That would be so embarrassing.

Before you know it, you’re at the shore, and March’s fingers are still trapped between yours. You can’t seem to mind it. Himeko and Welt are a ways ahead of you, shoes loosely hanging from their hands as they walk through the sand barefoot and go towards the water. Welt is shouldering a large beach umbrella and Himeko has a bag of large towels, so you’re sure they’ll be fine setting up a spot to sit in while you and March hang back for a minute.

As you both trail along the sand in your open flip flops (yours a dark gray purchased from one of the shops in the urban part of town, and hers a bright pink from her own dusty collection), March turns to look at you one more time before opening her mouth.

“He’s not… He doesn’t mean to be so closed off,” she tells you earnestly. “Dan Heng, I mean. If he comes off as mean, he doesn’t mean it.”

“I know,” you say. And you really do know. “I’m not upset or anything. I think I was just… hoping. I always hope, with him.”

And it’s too honest. You’re being too honest, and it’s not that you distrust March with all the soft, tender, icky adoration in your heart, but it’s getting painful to say all these things. You want to just let it simmer out like any schoolkid crush, and you can’t do that if you keep talking about it—whether it’s to yourself or to March.

You clear your throat. It’s beach day. You’re not gonna be upset during beach day.

“Hey…” you start again, an amused tone creeping up your voice. “Do you even know how to swim?” A side glance at her confirms the growing blush along her neck—one that’s certainly not caused by the sun rays beaming down on the both of you.

“Well… I think being trapped in ice is like, basically swimming. I probably adapted to it or something.”

“That’s totally not how it works.”

“Says who!” March makes a disgruntled face, rolling her eyes and letting out a big groan. It’s endearing. She’s endearing.

Eventually, you both catch up with Welt and Himeko, and they’ve already set up the towels neatly and planted the umbrella between them. Himeko brought her own beach chair to lay on and you can’t help but be jealous as you shimmy onto a towel to perch yourself perfectly underneath the shade of the umbrella. March follows suit, laying beside you with half her body in the sun and the rest under the shade.

“You’re gonna get a sick tan line if you lay down like that, you know.”

“I’m not staying here forever! Just waiting for your slow butt to get in the water.”

Your cheeks pull up as you smile at her. Endearing endearing endearing. The stirring in your chest comes back but it’s much different this time. You try not to think too hard about it.

You sit up and hit her shoulder with your hand lightly. “Awe, you just love me soooo much that you’re willing to wait like that? So sweet!” Your voice takes on a lighthearted mocking tone as you tilt your head at her. “Then, let’s go. I won’t make you wait anymore. I know how impatient you get.

She follows you as you stand up and head over to the water. The air gets cooler the closer you get and the smell of salt starts to permeate your senses. “I’m not that impatient! Only about the important things.”

The important things. You think for a moment, and then will yourself to stop.

Your feet touch cold water and you look down to see yours and March’s feet submerged in the blue-green waves of the ocean. A big sigh reverberates through your chest as you feel the tension leave your body. March’s toenails are painted a light blue and pink to match her nails. Cute. You suddenly feel inadequate with your very unpainted nails. Maybe you should ask her to paint them for you when you get back.

It’s hot. So hot. You’d put on sunscreen before leaving the Express but you’re starting to think the sun has melted it off already. A rustle sounds from next to you, and it takes you a minute to even process the noise before you hear the sound of a camera shutter going off and suddenly your head snaps to face March and her stupid, mischievous grin and the sound of laughter bubbling in her chest.

“You did not!”

“Yes I did!”

“March! No way, delete that! I didn't know you were taking a picture!”

You lunge to take the camera away from her, which is a fruitless effort considering it’s still looped around her neck by the strap and she’s much too agile to get caught in your attempts to take it away from her. She lets out an evil laugh and you consider drowning her in the water and telling Welt and Himeko she disappeared in the ocean.

“That’s the point,” she says incredulously, “it’s called a candid, you know.”

“Candid-my-ass! There’s still sunscreen all over my face, I didn't blend it out right, delete that picture! I probably look pasty, oh my god March—”

“No way!” And now she’s looking down at the screen of the camera, probably looking at the horrific picture she just took of you—but she’s smiling. And not in her silly scheming kind of way. She’s smiling and she’s soft and the corners of her eyes crinkle and she’s avoiding looking at you in front of her, but her eyes are locked on you in her camera.

“It looks nice. You really look nice.” She looks up at you, now, finally, and you look at her and you can’t look anywhere else. “I mean it.”

With purpose. There is a purpose in her voice and in her eyes, and she’s looking into you again. You’re trying to close yourself away from her, but you can’t. Not when she’s like this. When she’s opening herself up in the way she looks at you—you can’t just avoid that.

So you soften. Your shoulders droop in a mix of contentment and purpose and you are suddenly lost. You’re suddenly back to being woken up by a maroon-haired woman and wondering where you’ll go, wondering what it’s all for, wondering who you are. The feeling repeats in your lungs over and over and you take a breath.

March says, “Hey,” with a tender smile that’s unlike anything you’ve seen before. You say, “Hey,” and your voice breaks at the end as you struggle to choke it out. She’s close. You didn't notice her feet shuffling closer to you and the depleting space between the both of you.

“Hey.”

And. The voice isn’t March’s. It’s not yours either, you’re sure of that. You turn to the side, and— It’s Dan Heng. In a ridiculous bright floral unbuttoned shirt and cargo shorts, both of which you’re sure are new items because there’s no way he’s owned those before.

It registers in your head after a moment. Dan Heng is at the beach. He’s at the beach, in front of you, in a newly bought summer outfit and the remnants of sunscreen on the tips of his ears.

“Dan Heng.” Now it’s March, and her voice is slightly strained and the flush on her neck has already crawled up to her ears. She backs up from you, and you’re warm now—in a bad way. In the worst way possible. Her hand has unlinked from yours a while ago and your stomach feels empty.

“Hi,” Dan Heng says again, oblivious to you and March’s internal discords. “Sorry. I finished updating the archives early and thought I would join you both. I had to buy new clothes.”

“I see that,” you smile, giving his outfit another once-over with a teasing tone. “The whole neon-florals thing is really going for you.”

A tint of amusement colors his eyes and his mouth twitches with it, too. “This wasn’t exactly my first choice of an outfit. I’m good at adapting to my environment, though.”

March has gone awfully quiet beside you and you resist the urge to reach out. To touch her palm to yours and lock your fingers together again. You don't know what’s happening to you, and you really really don’t want to think about it anymore. It’s beach day. Stop it.

“Sure you are,” you say with sarcasm, and that’s enough to get a hint of a laugh out of March and suddenly you’re easing up again and your limbs are loose. “March just took an awful photo of me, so I think I might jump her. Are you in, or what?”

“Wh— Hey!” The girl exclaims in protest, suddenly clutching onto her camera for dear life as she backs away from you with a mock-horrified look in her eyes. “You didn't say you were jumping me! I didn't do anything wrong! I’m totally innocent!”

Loose. You’re loose, and your hands are loose and your smile is tinting your face in warmth and when you jokingly step closer and lunge at March, you’re cooling down again. It’s a mix of sensations and you’re dizzy from the heat and from goofing around with March and from Dan Heng’s eyes trailing yours. Loose.

“You’re totally not.”

“Dan Heng!” She looks to him for defense, and finds none. “Seriously! Back me up, here.”

He does not. His expression is doused in mirth in his own subtle way and you feel yourself starting to smile—with teeth. You clamp your mouth shut.

“I don’t know, March… You’re not making a good case for yourself.” “Jerk!”

And you push March around and laugh in her face and feel the cold of her skin brush against yours as you chase each other along the shoreline, Dan Heng following close behind you and letting out short laughs as he watches you both. You lunge at March and run across the water with her and the ocean is cold, almost frigid, and the beating of the sun heats up your blood and you use that as the excuse for why your forehead is so warm when March brushes her fingers against your face.

Excuses and excuses. It’s always that way with you, isn’t it.

#honkai star rail #hsr #dan heng x reader #march 7th x reader #honkai #honkai star rail x reader #hsr x reader #honkai x reader #march 7 x reader #honkai star rail fanfiction #dan heng #march 7th #march x reader

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