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clowningaroundmars · 22 days

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morales twins vigilantes: getting found out pt 2

okayyyy this part's a slight bit longer but hopefully, uh, worth it lol

kinda made myself tear up a lil at the end ahahaha

also pls don't ask when this takes place, like either in between istv and atsv or atsv and btsv.... idk bro LMFAO this is technically a whole other au in and of itself soooo yuh

disclaimer: i'm a whole ass anarchist, however miles and milo are two teenage boys who've grown up with a cop dad and they play a lil lip service to the police force during their big speech so... yeah i don't support the existence of the police force, but it is what it is. characters don't reflect author's beliefs and all that

>1st part here<

Jeff happened to be lucky enough to be pardoned for the rest of the night, and he also opted to use some PTO on this very very important occasion, so he sped off in the squad car with his sons in the back immediately after visiting the police department and signing off on some papers. He did not utter a word until they all got back home safely.

In the car, it was eerily silent as Jeff fumed in the front. Miles practiced what he was going to say over and over in his head, picking at his suit and avoiding his twin brother’s eyes. Milo held what remained of his mask in his hands, gauntlets off and tucked between his feet on the floor of the car. They both hung their heads low, counting down the minutes until they got back home and had to face their inevitable death sentence.

They were in so much trouble. Yikes. This was exactly what Miles dreaded for so damn long now, and it almost felt like a dream the way it happened so quickly.

Back home, both boys were sat down in the dining room area behind the couch, waiting for their mother to come back from her night shift. Milo was given an ice pack for his head and some painkillers, and then they were both sternly ordered to take off their respective suits.

Miles turned inquisitive eyes towards his dad.

“If your mom comes in and sees you two wearing those outfits right after work, that woman will have a heart attack and faint. Take ‘em off,” was Jeff’s sharp explanation.

They were not gonna argue with that. To the bedroom they both went.

“And then you both come right back out the second you change, got it?”

“Yeah dad, got it,” was Miles’ unenthused mumble before closing the door.

Miles turned back around with his mask in his hands, and immediately threw it at Milo.

“What were you thinking?!?!” he hissed, arms flying up into the air, making grabbing motions at his twin brother’s neck. “You absolute idiot, my god, we are so. Freaking. Dead!!”

Milo ducked back, scowling. “Me?!” he hissed back, keeping his voice at a harsh whisper as well. “What did you want me to do, pendejo, just let our dad fry, just like that? I didn’t see you moving to stop the guy!”

They were both snapping at each other, hands flying everywhere as they argued in harsh tones and whispers. They only stopped when they heard a loud knock on the door.

“Don’t take all night, either,” came their father’s booming voice from behind the wood.

Miles hung his head. Milo rolled his eyes and moved towards the closet, ripping his jacket off and kicking off his shoes. “Yes dad,” they both intoned at the same time.

A few glares were exchanged as clothes were tossed onto the floor, and Miles sighed loudly as he pulled on a pair of pajama pants, throwing himself onto his bed to get them up his legs all at once. He glanced at his bedside alarm clock, knowing his mom would be home any minute now. He felt his heart beat in his chest much louder and faster than usual.

Milo pulled on a hoodie over his head, gingerly easing the fabric over his bruised chest.

“Did the blast hit your chest too, man?” Miles asked quietly, eyes playing over the mess of a bruise over slightly-scarred skin, wincing a bit.

Milo exhaled sharply. “Shuddup.”

Miles frowned. “You have to let mom know about that soon. Don’t ‘shuddup’ me.”

“Whatever. Let’s just get this over with.”

Miles knew his brother was sulking, but that really looked… bad. If he was responsible for not only dragging his brother into vigilantism, but also putting him in the hospital as well, he had no idea how he was getting out of this one alive. He was probably never going to see the light of day until college. Maybe not even then.

Once ready, both boys stood side-by-side in front of the door, hesitating. They both glanced at each other, then back at the door.

This was it, they both thought. The moment of truth. This was the night where it was all gonna go down, and their painstakingly-kept secret would finally be revealed to their parents. D-day. My god. He didn’t even know if the speech he prepared in the car on the way home was even gonna suffice against their mother’s explosive anger. She was gonna have a cow the second Jeff told her. Damnit.

Guess I can kiss the whole Spider-man thing goodbye, Miles thought, the very idea leaving a very heavy weight in his chest that he just couldn’t ignore. He leaned forward to turn the knob and swing open the door. With one last glance back at his brother, he stepped out. Then his brother followed him slowly, ice pack pressed to the side of his head again.

It was like a funeral procession the way they marched solemnly back to their chairs placed side-by-side by the table. Jeff leaned on the doorway to the hallway with his arms crossed sternly over his chest, still in his police uniform, hat already hung up.

As if on cue, Rio’s keys jangled against the door, and she stepped inside once the lock clicked open. Her slightly tired expression changed in an instant once she hung up her bag and walked into the apartment.

“Hello boys, I’m home!” She announced, a bit surprised. Not only were her husband and two sons all home at the same time, but they were all hanging around to watch her come home after work at such a late hour. Granted, it was summertime and the weekend, but still. Weird.

Jeff had texted her that something important came up and that she needed to be home ASAP, but didn’t elaborate further. She didn’t know what to expect when she got back. She crossed her fingers and hoped that it wasn’t that bad, if her husband texted her instead of calling. If it was an emergency, surely he would’ve called.

Right?

Her eyes widened once she saw the ice pack Milo held against his head, and quickly made her way over to him.

“Qué pasó?” She kneeled next to her boy, checking him over quickly.

Milo winced and tried to dodge his mother’s hands, holding a protective arm over his chest that no one missed. “Ma, stop. I’m fine, seriously. It’s… it’s fine.”

“Is it? What is going on, why is everyone so… so sad right now, and what are you two doing sitting here like this? Jeff…?” She turned to face her husband but he was already making his way back to the boys’ bedroom, scooping up their respective vigilante costumes and heading back out with the incriminating evidence in both hands.

Once he got back to the table, he tossed them onto the surface and crossed his arms again.

For a second, no one moved. The whole world held its breath for one precious moment.

Then, with deadly calm in her tone, Rio slowly stood up and placed her hands on her hips. “...What are those things?”

Both boys braced for impact.

“Well?”

Miles swallowed hard, hands gripped together tightly. “Uhm. They’re. They’re… our outfits. Y’know… for fighting crime.”

Rio gaped at her sons.

“He’s Spider-man, mom. Miles is Spider-man,” Milo clarified solemnly. His chin was at his chest now, avoiding eye contact with his mother.

“...And you’re the Prowler.” Rio finished.

She took a step back and exhaled, running her hands through her hair and rubbing her face. “Oh… oh my god. Dios mió, me voy a morir. I knew it, but still... me voy a morir!” ¹

Finally, Jeff spoke up behind her. “They’re not Halloween costumes, either. Guess where I found ‘em tonight?”

With tears in her eyes, Rio looked back at her husband, a pleading look on her face. “Don’t tell me,” she begged. But Jeff continued anyways.

“I took tonight’s shift on as a bit of extra, and when I was called to take care of an electric freak close to downtown, I found these two at the scene already.”

Finally, Rio exploded. “What?!?”

The twins flinched.

Jeff exhaled and pressed on, licking his lips. “Yeah, and not only that, but Milo here took on a direct blast of electricity to the face. He jumped in front of me and put himself in harm’s way!”

Scandalized, Milo leaped up from his seat, wincing only a little bit. “Wait a minute, I did it to protect you! That’s my job!”

The anger fizzled out immediately once both parents swung their withering glares around back to him, rage hot enough to almost burn two holes into his skull. Miles pulled Milo’s hoodie sleeve and quietly hissed, “stop making it worse!”

Milo clammed up and quickly sat back down, pouting.

“Your job?” Rio shot back incredulously, laughing angrily.

“That is not your job, Milo! That is mine! My job! I wear this badge every single day so that I can protect the people of Brooklyn. You are a kid with homework and chores to do, not fighting dangerous bad guys on the streets like some kinda—” Jeff worked himself up but then stopped, as if he suddenly ran out of steam. He placed his hands over his head, clearly stressed, and exhaled loudly.

“How long?” Rio’s tone was sharp.

They were definitely not getting out of this alive. Damn. Rest in power, Morales twins.

Miles shuffled his feet, hesitating. “Uhm—”

“Speak up, Miles. How long have you two been running around behind our backs and lying to us like this? Huh?”

Miles sighed. “I, uhm. We’ve been doing this… for a while now.”

“A while?”

“…A -a year.”

“A YEAR?!”

“I mean I’unno about Miles, but I’ve only been doin’ this for like a couple months, so…” Milo mumbled half-heartedly beside his brother. That comment earned him another set of glares, including one from Miles.

“A year. A year! A year, that’s how long you’ve been lying to us?” Jeff was pacing now, clearly stressed out. He was mumbling things under his breath that both boys would rather not know anything about.

Miles jumped up from his seat, seizing the opportunity when he could. “Wait-wait-wait-wait-wait, guys. Mom, dad. Listen to me, please,” he begged, hands splayed out in front of him.

He took a breath. He opened his mouth.

“Until college.” Rio interrupted, holding a finger up. “Both of you. Grounded! Until college! You will both be adults before you ever go out without my permission ever again!”

Miles deflated. “O-kay but mom, please! Hear me out first!”

Rio held a hand up. “I don’t wanna hear it! I cannot believe that both of my sons would lie to me like this! For an entire year, no less! Dios, dame paciencia, coño!” ² She shook her head as she held her face in her hands. “Do you two know what you’re doing to me? Look at me, I’m getting grey hairs as we speak!”

Jeff immediately took her side. “Do you realize what you’re doing to your mother? You’re killing her! And you--” he rounded on Milo all of a sudden, jolting the poor boy into sitting up straight. “You are killing me! You’re going around wearing those godforsaken gloves around, punching bad guys just cuz you wanna feel like a big man, huh? Do you know what that does to me?!”

Milo visibly prickled up, hunching in on himself. “I’m not doing it for me,” he bit out angrily.

“Then for who, huh?”

“I wanted to save the little guys on the street... when the cops couldn’t. I wanted to help Miles.” Milo sounded tired, and for a split second he looked much older beyond his years. Both of his parents softened for only a fraction of a second before Jeff rubbed his eyes and turned back to Miles.

"And who made you Spider-man all of a sudden? What happened a year ago? Tell me the truth. I don't want any detail left out!"

Ah, interrogation mode already, Miles thought humorlessly.

He sighed and dutifully got started on the whole backstory, careful to leave out the fact that he was with Aaron the moment he got shot, skipping to the part where he "found" his uncle's nearly lifeless body in that alleyway that fateful day. It was a harmless enough lie… Miles presumed. Right?

"Did you… then... h-how did you see who shot Aaron, Miles? Were you there?" Jeff asked quietly, also looking as tired as Milo did. Miles paused, not expecting the question.

Rio shot him a look. "Jeff, mi amor, please. Now is really not the time." She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Right now, we have to talk about this... this... situation we have going on here. What's next?"

Miles shrugged, palms facing forward as if to say and the rest is history. "I'm... pretty sure you guys know the rest. Dad... you were uh, there. At the collider. I stopped Kingpin and then I just. Well, yeah. Y'all have already watched all of the news stories and the videos. So," he finished lamely.

Then, a surge of confidence as he looked at the concerned expressions dawning on his parents' faces. It's now or never.

"...B-but I love being Spider-man! Dad, you've seen me out there, the way I fight, the fact that you guys have less to deal with cuz I'm out there kicking ass!"

Oops. Wrong words.

Miles' confidence deflated as soon as those concerned and sympathetic looks turned into ones of anger.

"Kicking ass?! More like getting your ass kicked, little boy! How many NewTube videos are out there of you getting crushed by cars," Jeff started to count off of his fingers, "hit by buses, tossed in the air, punched and flung halfway across the block--"

"Jeff, please!" Rio cried, wobbling a bit. She pulled out the chair closest to her from the table and slumped down into it, rubbing at her temples.

"S-sorry, hon..." Jeff placed an apologetic hand on his wife's shoulder.

Rio sighed deeply.

"I get it. I know. But dad..." Miles steeled himself this time. "When you put on that badge every single day and you go out into those streets to protect the city, you think you're never gonna get shot at? Jumped? It is literally your responsibility to put yourself in the way of danger so no one else has to." He turns to the table and grabs his mask.

"For me," Miles continues, "this is my badge. Okay? I put this on every single day and swing out into the streets so people can shoot at me, or ask me for directions, or wait for me to get weird guys in stupid costumes away from the train tracks. I do this every single day, because if I don't, who will? Peter is dead--" ...wow, that feels weird to say.

"Miles..." Rio's big brown eyes gaze sadly at her boy, standing tall with this awful mask in his hand. A mask that she desperately wished wasn't his.

"Mom. Peter is dead. He is. Okay? If I don't step up and take his place, knowing what I can do? Then I might as well not even be alive at all." He tosses his mask dramatically back onto the table to punctuate his point. "I can shoot webs from my wrists and I have strength like y'all wouldn't believe. I can stick to walls and do everything that Peter Parker was able to do before he passed away. If I just sit here doing nothing with these abilities while everyone struggles to live their lives every single day, letting bad guys with superpowers do whatever they want, then what's the point of anything? The exact same reason why I put on this suit to go fight crime is the exact same reason why you do, dad." Miles turns to his father now. "You have your suit, I have mine."

Milo jumps in, enthused. "And the reason why I put on my mask is because of him. And the civilians, too... of course. But it's not because I 'wanna feel like a big man', dad. It's because it drives me crazy seeing my own brother taking on all of this responsibility on his shoulders all by himself. Miles is gonna do crazy things now that he got bit by a super-spider, right? We literally cannot stop him, even if we tried. Trust me. Might as well go along with him and support him so he doesn't get himself killed out there. That's why I do this. Every single day."

Jeff opens his mouth to say something, but is then cut off by Rio's own small, sad voice. "... Why does it have to be you two?" She asks quietly.

She looks so small sitting there on their wooden dining room chair, and a million times more tired than when she came in through the door. She wasn't even out of her own nurse's uniform yet, either. Miles felt a pang of sympathy for her.

Miles... did not know the answer to her question either. He really didn't. Why was it him-- out of all of the people in Brooklyn-- that got bit by that spider? Clearly, the universe had a grand, elaborate joke planned for him. That was really probably the only explanation for it all. But, no. No, there had to be something else in the cards for Miles. After all, he was bitten by the spider while out with his uncle who was secretly the Prowler, and he was present for not only Peter Parker's death, but that same uncle as well.

He squared his shoulders. And then told the truth.

"I... don't know," he admitted. "But... I do know this. Growing up, I always knew Spider-man was there to answer the call no matter what. He didn't pick this life of battling bad guys that wanna tear the city up all the time, a spider bit him, too. But he made me promise something before he died, and I have to live up to that promise. What else am I gonna do when I'm able to pick up cars with my bare hands?"

Granted, it was only a promise to stop the collider from opening a black hole inside of the city they lived in, but. Details. Anyways...

Rio hid her face in her hands again.

Miles softened his tone, sitting down. "This is something I worked really, really hard for and it's important to me. Milo... is kinda right. You can ground me. Until college. Or whenever. But as long as I've got these powers," he held his hands open, propping his elbows on his knees and meeting his mom's eyes, "and there's people out there that need saving? I gotta do what I gotta do, mami."

Milo leaned forward, too. "Yeah. Same here. He's not alone. The same reason we do this stuff is cuz... ever since we were little, we also watched you guys answer the call, no matter what. I never met Spider-man, before... y'know, but it doesn't matter. We do this for New York City."

Neither of their parents spoke for a bit, digesting all of this information in solemn silence. The anger from earlier all but melted away as they ruminated over all of this. All this time, their little boy was running around in a spandex costume, swinging around, punching bad guys and lifting fallen buildings off of people. There was... a hint of pride underneath all of the fear and anger and betrayal and anxiety, even Rio couldn't lie.

But god, how would things ever be the same again after knowing that the very hero who swung from building to building and knocked villains down before webbing them up was the very same boy with the brightest brown eyes they've ever seen; the boy who brought home A's on his test like he won a medal, the same boy who sang horribly off-key while doodling all over his sketchbook, who refused to tie his shoelaces and drove Jeff up the wall when he found graffiti and stickers all around the city in Miles' name? It was impossible... Rio's heart broke into two pieces.

And Milo... a tougher counterpart to her little ray of sunshine, but just as sweet. The same boy who would feed stray cats on the block, beam like a ray of light after winning a boxing match against a tough opponent, who would hide behind Rio at parties and join her happily to watch the latest episode of the new telenovela they both got hooked on... that same boy was wearing those gloves, swinging around the city looking like a bad guy himself. Rio's shattered heart gained another huge crack before finally breaking into three pieces.

Finally, she sighed again.

"You have superpowers?" She asked, hesitantly.

"... I... yeah, I do." Miles answered, fearing that this was a trick question.

Rio nodded sadly. "Of course. Of course..."

Jeff spoke up, now kneeling beside his wife, caressing her hand clasped in between both of his. "Just because you have superpowers, doesn't mean you're invincible. Miles, we do this because we care about you. Maybe we won't be able to stop either of you from putting yourself in harm's way... I mean, hell, nobody can stop me. But... god, isn't there any other way?"

Miles raised a brow. "Any other way to...?"

Jeff blew out a breath. "I-I dunno, can't you use your super strength to... well, maybe help the transportation department move some tracks around, build some new stations... that'd help the city. Swing around and deliver medicine to people for free? God, I don't know. I just don't want either of you to jump in front of bullets for other people... man..." he shook his head.

Miles and Milo exchanged glances. "I... I know it's tough to accept this," Miles started, unsure of what to say. "Maybe I can scale back the dangerous stuff some but... I... can't just stand around directing traffic when someone's getting mugged. Or a bank is getting robbed. Dad, I just can't. Maybe you guys will hate it every time I put the suit on and swing outside but... I can't give this up now. I'm sorry." He dipped his head apologetically.

Another long stretch of silence.

A clock ticks on the wall in the kitchen, and the ice maker in the fridge starts humming again. It's all so painfully domestic, painfully ordinary, it's almost an insult to the people living in this apartment facing these serious revelations all at the same time. It sure is a sharp contrast to the solemn mood settling all over everyone right now.

Rio looks deeply into Miles' eyes, then Milo's. After a while, she turns to face Jeff. "Jeff. You will not like what I'm about to say."

Jeff returns her look with one of confusion. "Honey..."

Rio shrugs, a small gesture but one that makes Miles and Milo's hearts skip a beat. "Mi vida, these are our boys. They have... this big responsibility now, to the people here in this city. Just like you. Just like me," she swallows and continues. "You and me? We've seen what Miles is capable of. Well, the both of them. And as much as it hurts, it would probably hurt even more if we kept them both back from being the heroes they need to be. What we need to do now is... we need to support them. We love them. They need us. We need them! Qué más puedo decir?" ³

Jeff looked deeply into his wife's eyes and then inhaled deeply. Not quite a sigh. That was maybe a good sign?

He stands up.

"...Boys."

The twins took their cue. They both stood up, too. Milo quickly discards his ice pack on his chair. Rio joins them, leaning on Jeff for support.

"When police officers get sworn in, they usually just have to do paperwork nowadays. Not too much of the whole bells and whistles due to high turnover rates, but tonight... if either of you want to continue to fight crime in this city, you both have to put your right hand up. Right now."

Miles could cry. Milo bit his lip to try and hide his grin, and they both dutifully raised their right hands at the same time. Jeff does the same, and reaches his left hand out to take Miles'. Rio takes Milo's.

"Pretend we are the Bible. Not paperwork. The Bible."

Both boys nod with all the seriousness they could manage, looking their father in the eyes.

"Do you solemnly swear on your mother and father's life that you will uphold the law and do right by the citizens of Brooklyn, New York, so help you God?"

"I mean... the law law? Cuz sometimes we--" Milo started, immediately earning an elbow to the side. He shut up.

"Yes, the law. I will not be having the DA of New York City up in my home lookin' for you two in case anyone gets badly hurt. I don't want him in my office, either." Jeff gives them both a look.

Miles pipes up. "Yes, we swear, so help us God."

"Milo?"

Milo nods emphatically. "Yes, I swear, so help me God."

Jeff nods once.

"Mijos. You will both be allowed to go and fight crime outside, con mi bendiciones. But. But... you will both also do it under two conditions. If either of you break my rules, you will have wished that spider never bit you," Rio glared at Miles. Then to Milo, "and you will have wished you never stole your uncle's gloves from his apartment. Got it?"

Both boys nodded, still holding onto their parents' hands.

"So, my two rules are this. Only two. Easy to remember, okay? Number one. Milo, you will take care of your brother as best as you can. Miles, you will take care of Milo as best as you can. Both of you will always be seen together when going out and doing hero things, do you understand?"

"Yes, mamí" the boys say simultaneously.

"Never, ever go out alone, ever. Neither of you will be alone for even a second, especially during the nighttime. Promise me this."

Miles puts his right hand down to take his mother's other hand in his. "Yes, mom. I promise. We both promise."

Rio bows her head. "...And as for my second rule."

"Do we have to have a curfew?" Milo asks quietly. Everyone shoots him a look again.

"No, no curfew." Before the boys could get excited, she quickly adds, "except for on school nights." They both calm back down.

"Your education is always, always more important. Don't forget this," she lets go of their hands to hold up a finger. "But as for my second rule? No more secrets between us. All of us. Okay? You tell me exactly when it is you leave to go and do what you need to do, and exactly when you come back. Promise me this, too."

This time, it was Miles' turn to start saying something dumb. "I meaann, like every single time? Cuz sometimes it's not really a one-and-done kinda thing, like a shift or--"

Everyone glares at Miles. Miles promptly shuts up.

"...Sí, mamí. Te prometemos todo eso." ⁴ Milo answers seriously.

Rio sucks in a breath. "Okay. Okay..."

She looks as if she's about to burst into tears, so everyone draws in tightly for a group hug. Rio sniffles against Milo's shoulder and Jeff leans his chin on Mile's head. Miles laughs wetly.

"Geez, y'all are crying? Man, for what? Ain't nobody dying or anything..." Milo interjects suddenly, causing the whole mood to dissipate all at once. Everyone laughs incredulously.

"Boy, if you don't know how to read a room..." Jeff starts, a warning tone laced into his playful grin.

"Man, I was just trying to lighten the mood! Damn, I mean shouldn't we be celebrating? Miles literally has super strength, you guys. Like c'mon, right? That is literally the coolest thing in the whole world!"

Rio groans, tossing her head back. "Mira esté, 'coolest thing in the whole world'... déjame agarrarte, maldito cabron..." ⁵ she mutters sarcastically, moving to grab at Milo's neck in the exact same way Miles did not even an hour earlier. He playfully dodged out of the way, putting his arms up to block, out of habit.

"Cabron?! Mom, you're so mean!" Milo complained.

"C'mere!"

Jeff leans in and interrupts their banter. "Milo. Son. You have to sit with me on the couch now, cuz we have to have a little chat about how you got your hands on those gloves, actually..." He grabs at one of Milo's arms, his smile just a tad bit too wide. Milo gulps.

Jeff continues, steering them both away from Miles and Rio. "And we also have to talk a bit about the history behind those things, too..."

Rio turns to Miles and cups his cheeks in her hands, looking into his eyes. "Do you actually, actually swear to me that you will try your hardest to stay safe?"

"Yes, mom, I do! We said it like a hundred times."

"Your father was right. Just because you have super strength now--"

"And super-healing."

Rio stares at him for a beat.

Miles squirms nervously. "...What? I do!"

"Super-healing, sure. Uh huh. If I catch you with bullet holes inside of you, I am not taking you to the ER then, Mr. Invincible."

"Ouch. Harsh."

"I warned you! I'm smiling like I'm joking but I'm really not!"

"Okay, okay, geez. C'mon, ma. It's really not that big of a deal. I don't get shot at as much as you'd think! Seriously! I'm fast. And... and I've been doing this for a while now. You have to trust me, okay?"

Rio sobered up. "I know. I know. I just... mi amor, I am your mother. I worry about you. You know... I've been taking care of my two little boys for so many years now. I just... I care about the both of you even when you two drive me completamente loca! I trust that you can both handle yourselves, I really do. It's just hard. It is. I-it'll... take some time to get used to."

Miles nodded. "Growing up is tough. I get it."

Rio smacked him on the shoulder.

"Ow! What, it's true! We're all growing up right now, I'm not a little kid anymore and... and you're not the mom of two little kids now. It's just... it's a transitional period! Life's tough!" Miles shrugs, smiling warmly.

Rio smirked, crossing her arms. "Uh huh. It sure is."

Then, she opened her arms for another hug from Miles, which he happily returned.

"I mean it, Miles. Whatever happens, I want you to keep yourselves safe. And ask for help. Papí, your father is a police officer. And whatever you need, whatever you need... I'm here, too."

Miles beamed at his mother with tears in his eyes.

"I know, mom. Thank you."

☆ translations:

¹ "my god, i'm going to die."

² "god, grant me patience, fuck!"

³ "what more can i say?"

⁴ "yes, mom. we promise you all of that."

⁵ "Lookit this guy, 'coolest thing in the whole world'... lemme get my hands on you, fucking bastard..."

#mine #miles morales #miles g morales #spiderverse #i'm getting soft..... deadass tearing up at the end while writing and editing GOD how embarassing #ugh anyways #hope all that wasn't like ooc or anything #i know miles will eventually have to reveal his identity in btsv so i'm not even going to attempt to imagine that #but writing TWO hero identities getting revealed was actually more fun than i imagined #also did yall like the movie lines i slipped in there? ahaha #yes i HAD to make miles' speech mirror gwen's cuz... well yeah #they're both spiderpeople and so they obvi mirror each other in a lot of ways #esp cuz they both have/had cop dads #so anyways hope yall enjoyed this one :)#will i write more after this? who knows #i MAY have more hc posts up my sleeve for the future but We Shall See #oh yeah also the aesthetic pics used as dividers in both posts are not mine ofc #i mostly found them trawling thru pinterest and tumblr 🤙#thx 4 reading ♡

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andthebeanstalk · 1 year

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One of the things I love about Glass Onion is the way that the camera and music work together to tell nonverbal jokes.

Like when Benoit basically has to hold Miles' hand to get him to the conclusion that someone reset the puzzle box Benoit lies about receiving:

Benoit asks if it's possible that someone reset the box, and Miles then declares that someone must have reset the box like it is this huge reveal - and the camera zooms out while the music subtly swells as though he really has figured out something smart, when actually he literally restated what Benoit just said.

#original #I love the reveal that he's not even a smart con artist he's just a piece of shit #he's just a shameless copycat that people keep enabling to do bad things bc they assume he knows what he's talking about bc he's rich #like that line in Fiddler on the Roof - 'it won't matter if I'm wrong or if I'm right cuz you're rich they think you really know!'#glass onion #knives out glass onion #benoit blanc #Daniel Craig #ed norton #I hope the YouTuber sideways does a video about this because he does incredible music theory videos about movie scores #and I bet there are a bunch of hidden meanings within the music that I have no idea how to pick out #that man is like a wizard to me I don't understand how someone can understand music that much!#So cool!#I started this movie like 2 hours ago and I'm barely half an hour in cuz I keep stopping to write film theory essays on Tumblr #oh Adderall you cad!#I have no regrets I feel like this is helping me understand film better. i care a lot about the language of Storytelling #and I must say my favorite medium is film. I am writing a graphic novel right now but if I knew I could just skip that part and make it #into a show. I would do that. I don't wanna draw that much! I like drawing! but I want to see it as a show!!#this is too many drawings!!!!!#but for various reasons the film industry is not really a great place for me - or even possible as a physically disabled person #hard to work yourself up to the director's chair when all the entry positions involve standing for 14 hours at a time #I hope that if I ever do manage to make my graphic novel into a TV show that I will maintain enough control over the project to ensure #accessible hiring practices and workplaces #but in the meantime I guess I have to make waaaay too many drawings #no I can't shorten the story I don't have that kind of control it is an epic saga and the world's longest Slow Burn and that is that

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vanlegion · 24 days

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Lost in feelings... about Faces

So like, I'm just kinda feeling a little out of sorts. Kinda sad. Kinda meh. Kinda introspective.

Back when the Freelancer Arc was first airing, I had held hope that this was all a test run for us getting Canon Face reveals of our main teams by the time the show ended. Double that when S14 came out and showed us Felix and Locus. Triple that with all the new animations in the following seasons.

But then I guess Bernie said there wouldn't ever be Canon faces for the main rvb charatcers. . . But yet we got one for Church and Tex. (Technically*)

And I guess it was to not like overstep the fandom... but like, the Fandom is either gonna accept it or keep their own idea.

Like people are already basically saying they will not acknowledge the retcon of 15-17 (rightfully so) because of all the amazing things it gave us. Things people have been begging for for yeeeeaaaarrrs. All the beautiful animations, small inside jokes... A Red Finally Advancing/Getting A Plot and it was Grif and Donut of all people!

Donut vs Doc fight!? Like holy shit I never knew I needed that in all my life?!

But anywho... You're not gonna make people sad/mad by revealing Canon faces of the rest of our favs.

Like, I am happy for but also envious of the people whose favorite charatcers like Tex, Church, Locus, Felix and others got faces. It makes them so so so much more human. Me being able to see the faces, see the animations for the Freelancer arc... it made me connect to them in a way I haven't and won't ever get to connect with the core charatcers I love more than anything.

It keeps me up at night.

SO then I guess the best thing I can ask is this:

Do we have any interviews or podcast in which some of the VAs give their own headcanons for how their charatcers look? Has Geoff or Gus or Mike or anyone ever imaged what their charatcers look like?

Of course I have my own headcanons.... but for me, having knowledge of a Canon or semi-canon face idea is more rewarding.

#rvb #red vs blue #rvb simmons #rvb tucker #rvb caboose #rvb grif #agent washington #rvb church #*Cause we got to see a clip of Alison and Leonard's face so to me that's their faces- that's real #And sure headcanon is fine and great #But sometimes the reveal of the real thing and seeing how close we got it right are a HUGE payoff feeling #Plus also I just wanna know how Simmons eye is suppose to look #How is Griffs scar? How long is his hair?#What's Tuckers hair look like?#Washington never got revealed at all but Carolina did line wtf?#I dunno I'm just moody and sad

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wundrousarts · 8 months

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I was going to save this until I reread Hollowpox, but that last ask reminded me that I should share this here, so I present:

Musings on Maud: Why is she considered so powerful, how does this affect her dynamic with Squall, and why is he so scared of her?

(Bonus: How can I connect it to Silverborn?)

Two disclaimers: I haven't reread Hollowpox in ages, so if there's anything that could prove or disprove stuff in this post, send it my way. Honestly send any discussion my way. I love discussing theories. Second, this was originally a reply to a Reddit comment on a post, to which you can find here. The comment discussed Maud being a signatory for a Squall safeguard, so since this comment is copied verbatim, it references that.

---

If it’s not outright stated, it’s at least heavily implied that Squall helped create/build up the Republic. It’s only existed for about 90 years, and Squall has been exiled for about 100. He mentions in Hollowpox how he knows that Maud’s plan is to take over Nevermoor/The Free State, because the Republic took over the other states in the realm and he “helped them do it.” However, unless Maud is immortal and also 100 years old, she is not the one who started the Republic from the side of the Republic. Also, no clue how long it’s been around, but Squall Industries has likely been around for awhile as well (this is how he gets his connections and power in the Republic), with Squall just constantly grandfathering himself in with the vampire trick or something.

Interestingly, Squall says two things in this scene (Chapter 34 of Hollowpox) that stick out to me:

“I made the so-called Hollowpox,” he raised his voice above hers, “because I was asked to. Because I was compensated handsomely for it. And because when the most powerful person in the realm asks for a favour, even I don’t refuse.

And

“But you’re a Wundersmith.” Morrigan was utterly baffled. “Why can’t you just stop them if they’re such a problem? I don’t understand!” “Do you THINK I HAVEN’T—“ Squall shouted, then cut himself off abruptly.

He also mentions how the Hollowpox was initially meant for the Republic, but Maud snuck in an infected otter across the border into Nevermoor— “That was never part of our deal.”

There’s definitely a business relationship between the two of them of likely consistent deals, one favor for another, quid pro quo. However, we also see that Squall can’t really go against her, something he seems to have tried before. Two chapters before this scene (Chapter 32), has this moment:

“Yes, shush. Maud said the Wintersea Party might help if there was a squid crow po.” “Quid pro quo?” “Right, one of those. She said they won’t do something for nothing, but if we could convince Prime Minister Steed to meet with her, just to have a conversation, then she would try to convince her party to share their cure.”

While it could be easily explained as part of her job, Maud seems to get most of her power and do things by extracting deals from other people. Maybe she’s knackless, or maybe she has some sort of connection to Puppeteering or a knack related to that. Not Mesmerism, but something that allows her to be persuasive, manipulative, convince people of things, and get them to do what she wants. A sort of parallel or companion to Squall’s connection with Puppeteering that we see in Wundersmith.

It’s interesting that when we first meet Maud, there is this exchange directly after she tells Mog that the Wintersea Republic would only agree to help the Free State if there was some sort of deal:

“But they’re your party,” Morrigan pointed out. “Aren’t you the one with the power? Maud stiffened slightly and cast her a wary, calculating look.

And then soon later she says this:

“Even if I could persuade my party to do the right thing – and I’m not saying I won’t try – there’s no guarantee Steed and his government would come to the table.”

The whole exchange seems very manipulative, like, “oh, I’d LOVE to talk and get this figured out, but I can’t…” There’s a big focus on conversation. Maud is wary when Mog mentions power— she thinks she means a magical power, something secret that gives her an advantage, when really she just means politically— so I wonder if she was worried for a moment that Mog realized she had some sort of coercive power.

I wonder what exactly her power is that makes Squall so scared of her, and why it possibly makes it so that he can’t fight make and overthrow her. Aside from their business relationship, which allows Squall access to Wunder and being a Wundersmith, there’s this other layer as well.

As for safeguard: I don’t know if Maud would be a signatory for a Squall safeguard, as that seems to just be for Wunsoc students, but I think that whatever their deal is and whatever her power is allows her to keep him in check. Jess said that we will learn more about safeguards in Silverborn, and I think it would be interesting if Mog learns more about them from Squall instead of Jupiter— and maybe it does end up being similar to whatever he has going on with Maud, who knows! I don’t really have any safeguard theories myself, but I will keep an eye out for what you add to your comment.

A Silverborn “silver” side note: A “silver tongue” means that someone is persuasive when they speak….. perhaps this idea, theme, power, etc. will be expanded upon in the future 🤔

#nevermoor #nevermoor theory #hollowpox #president wintersea #ezra squall #maud lowry #whatever their deal is it prob involves squall's access to wunder #anyways. enjoy folks! would love to know people's thoughts on this lol #difference between reddit and tumblr in allowing you to do new lines or not in indentations is so funny to me lol #hollowpox is so crazy bc the chapters in the 3rd act are like BAM BAM BAM so much important stuff happening and being revealed #'jam why do you use so many quotes' bc I am insane and like to have sources #but also when you spent months putting 1016! quotes into a quotebot you develop a decently specific memory for a lot of this stuff lolll #anyways turns out somehow I had the chapter numbers TOTALLY WRONG so had to go back and fix them lol. how did that happen.#this theory wasn't noticed on reddit. tough crowd. so hope some folks here appreciate it lol #real question is 'why is Maud + Mog so similar and is there a reason for this. and is this related to Mog saying Maud reminds her of a mom.#might develop it more once 1. i'm no longer in a heat wave that's frying my brain and 2. after I reread. bc might be hints I'm missing idk

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screamingatanemptyroom · 3 months

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Okay I was NOT expecting dragon poop to be the trap but on the other hand it is SO IN CHARACTER for Bel - and also Liam being a dragon!! I mean honestly I assumed he'd be some kind of demon/dark magic based creature cos of the whole 'I'm a monster/he's a monster' thing but I love dragons!! And of course what they've been saying about him is because of the Archetype Story, the basis for the System...and now the two of them are going to take down the System however they can!!! But oh, there are so many questions left!! Who is behind The System? Why the insistence on Following/Accepting Fate when clearly Bel's been able to complete and save worlds by doing her own thing? Are Adonis's actions down to the fact that he is unwiling to admit this because he's the Hero and Heroes always end up with Heroines and at this point it's all gone too far to take back, or is he just plain delusional? What was the deal Liam made that allowed him to follow her and who did he make it with - was it the person he talked with way back, and is this person connected to the System or not? I very much look forward to the last parts (though I'll be sad as well because I've followed this story from the start and I've loved it and I'll miss so much!!!!) and I'm interested to see the Mermaid world!!

I'm glad you liked the new part! Bel often has unconventional ways of dealing with heroes, but this one might have traumatized Liam a bit. I'm also a huge fan of dragons! Those are all great questions, that hopefully will be answered in the end, the last part is going to be packed, but I do have a plan... and now we just have to hope everything goes according to it!

Second to last part dropping today, and then the last part is the final face off with the system, with answers!

#not writing #response #spoilers #i'm so happy that the questions were in line with the final reveals I had planned #which hopefully means that the plot makes sense #even after all this time #ahhh #so close!

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deep-space-atomic-clock · 5 months

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new merch askjkosol mention :D

#they revealed a lot of sick merch here!! augh the el band stuff is so nice #I'm trying to translate the text there but I can't discern the characters very well. the last line just seems to be 'soba' though so. yknow #guilty gear #radio navigation

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allthoseotherworlds · 5 months

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I'm so excited to see what Ncuti Gatwa I can do as the Doctor! So far everything he's been in for trailers and stuff has shown him as being pretty charismatic, which is nice of course, but I'm also really hoping that he can pull off the weird awkward dorkiness that is also critical to the Doctor's personality.

Like, Ncuti Gatwa as a person seems very cool, but I'm hoping he can be a little uncool too as the Doctor. It's important to me

#Doctor Who #Fifteenth Doctor #I am talking #I am just some guy (gender neutral)#this is so strange because we've had so much longer than normal to think about him in the role #also I saw someone say (maybe jokingly I guess? but I'm autistic so it's sticking with me anyway)#that because of how revealing his outfit is and the line with David Tennant and Isaac Newton that they're going to have like.#gay sex scenes in his season? and I cannot stress this enough how much I do not want there to be any sex scenes in doctor who #and I cannot possibly stress how much I do not want there to be any sex scenes in Doctor Who. regardless of the genders involved #my logical brain knows that is incredibly unlikely because Doctor Who is so established as a family show #but like. please do not force my sex-repulsed self to watch sex scenes in order to engage with my special interest. please #anyway that's not strictly relevant to Ncuti himself #but people are speculating about him in kind of weird ways based on as far as I can tell nothing more than a v-neck shirt

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bungobble-my-balls · 6 months

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What's the deal with the Tanizaki siblings?

(Very long headcanon on what I think is actually up with the Tanizaki's, which at this point might be more of an AU than a headcanon)

So the Tanizaki's have been a point of debate in the fandom for years now, mainly on the fact that we have no idea what their deal is outside of the 'incest joke', and because of that joke and the lack of anything else to them they unfortunately get shoved to the back pretty often (mainly in Naomi's case).

That being said, it's still clear that we'll get a backstory on them at some point and that there's more to them than what they're letting on.

The questions we have on them are:

Why does Juunichiro see Naomi as a God?

Why is Juunichiro so ruthless and why does he pretend he's not?

Is Juunichiro a reliable narrator?

Are they actually siblings?

What led these two to join the agency?

Why do they stick together so much?

And most importantly

Why do they act like that? (and can they please stop)

Idk when we'll get a backstory for them, but I know people already have their theories like how Naomi is one of Juunichiro's hallucinations based on a real girl he knew that died, which were mostly sparked by certain official arts of the two.

I think based on the art I can definitely see why people have that theory, but I don't think it's true and I personally don't want it to be true because I want Naomi to be a real person.

I don't exactly have a theory on what their deal is, but I do have a headcanon. So before the Tanizaki backstory comes out in however many years, I'm putting my shots in now for me to see in the future if I got anything right or close.

My Tanizaki's headcanon

So when it comes to these two obviously most of the fandom wants to ignore the incest joke, so we usually headcanon them as just being normal siblings and take out the weird stuff.

When it comes to canon though, I think it's the other way around. Despite what they say and how they refer to eachother, I genuinely don't think they're siblings or related at all. I'm not the first to think this either, as other people have pointed out that the real Juunichiro had a story on two lovers who pretended to be cousins so they could live together. That, and how in their introduction it started with Atsushi questioning if they were related, and Naomi both insisting they were and acting weird about it enough so that the others tried to ignore them. Having Atsushi even question if they're related already made me suspicious enough that the question will be bought up again when the two start to get put in the spotlight again.

Going into more headcanon/fanfiction territory now, here's how I see their backstory:

Naomi had rich parents, and was an only child. She would get bored easily, and her parents were never the attentive type, so she'd wander off through the streets pretty often.

Juunichiro was a street rat, that Naomi saw and decided she found interesting.

Juunichiro was hostile to Naomi at first, but when she kept bugging him he made plans to get close to her only to trick her and steal from her wealthy family. Unfortunately for him, Naomi herself was both clever and also verbally ruthless. She was having none of his attitude and seemed to have fun talking back to him, which surprised him since he'd always been the most ruthless kid on the streets. She wasn't scared at all. He kept to his plan, but found himself getting meeker around Naomi and following what she said more often than the other way around.

At some point Naomi wanders too far and gets into trouble, until Juunichiro comes to save her and deals with the threats.

Naomi's parents find out, and decide that this boy who seems willing to use violence to protect their daughter could be useful. So they 'adopt' him to be Naomi's bodyguard.

Having a purpose and a home made him not want to lose it at any costs, which also made him obsessive over protecting Naomi who was his purpose. That, and the fact that Naomi was the sole reason he now had a home, food, and a family, made him see her as his saviour. He devoted himself to her, and Naomi enjoyed now having the constant company that her parents wouldn't give her, and being able to boss someone around.

Throughout their time together, mingled in with their co-dependency and obsession, the two of them developed feelings for eachother.

However, now that Juunichiro, lived in the same home as Naomi, he was also able to see what happened behind closed doors. He'd discovered that despite their neglect, Naomi's parents were still perfectionists and they would often punish or physically abuse her if she did something wrong or not up to their standards.

Despite his gratitude to the parents for giving him a home and him initially seeing them as family, his loyalties and devotion stayed with Naomi. His purpose was to protect her. So, him and Naomi staged a plan, for them to runaway together.

Juunichiro doesn't feel like just running away is enough. The parents hurt Naomi, and anyone who hurts Naomi needs to be punished. He doesn't act on this though until the parents find out and their plan, and he attacks them both for revenge for Naomi and to prevent them from stopping them from leaving. His intention was to hurt them, but he hadn't realised until after that he'd also killed them. Despite his brutality, he'd never actually killed someone before. He's in shock and doesn't move, until Naomi urges him to run before anyone finds out and they get into big trouble.

Between the two of them, surprisingly Naomi is the more stable one right now. She's clear headed and ordering Juunichiro to follow her and what to do as they grab their few belongings and act on their runaway plan with more urgency than they initially expected. He just follows along to whatever she says, clinging to her directions as his current only form of stability.

The high energy calms down a bit when they finally make it onto a train, one that'll take them to another city far away from the one they grew up in and now never planned to come back to.

Naomi is both surprised and not to realise that she doesn't feel much grief from her parents' death. Not even at the gruesomes of it caused by the same boy that she's now comforting in her arms while he stays confused and dazed, and maybe even a little horrified at himself.

At this point, Naomi fake sighs and tells Juunichiro that without her parents, she's more alone, and can't rely on them anymore. So as punishment for killing her parents, he has to stick by her side forever and do whatever she says until they both die.

That was her weird way of comforting him. She could tell he felt like he needed to be punished in some way, and he needed something stable to rely on right now. And she wanted someone she could rely on too, to give her the life she wants and never leave her. So she would be there for him, and he would be there for her. It's not exactly a healthy relationship, and it's definitely co-dependant, but they've gone through enough now that would make seperation unbearable for either of them.

They make it to a new city with their belongings and as much money as they could grab from their old house. Unfortunately, they're still teenagers and unwed, so the only way they can live together without drawing attention is to pretend to be siblings. They plan to marry as soon as possible, and even already consider themselves life partners, but until then they stick with a cover story.

They both work different jobs in order to live a decent life and they both save up with the intention of buying a place for themselves one day. They'd like to save up for a nice wedding too, but they'd have no one to invite anyway.

Unfortunately for the two, they're still always on edge. They're wanted murder suspects to high class citizens, and have been unable to have a stable home due to constant moving to avoid detection. They'd stick close together often and barely go anywhere alone, so that they could cover using Juunichiro's ability and could both be sure the other is OK.

(This part gets a little weird, but this headcanon is more about me trying to find ways to make their dynamic more interesting and less weird while not ignoring what happens in canon so that it could be a plausible headcanon)

So unfortunately because I'm trying to make this fit into canon, their incest joke still exists, but here's how it works in this au/headcanon where they're not actually siblings

Naomi and Juunichiro are still pretending to be siblings. They're the Tanizaki's, which to them is a sign of their marriage. Naomi abandoned her family name, and Juunichiro doesn't know what his originally was, so they decided on one together. To everyone else, for the sake of avoiding attention as legally-unwed teens living together, that's their blood family name. The neighbours are unfortunately chatty and nosy, and despite the two rehearsing their cover stories it's still hard to constantly try to come up with and stick to fake details as people pry more in 'polite conversation'. At one point, the two are out in public, in a neighbourhood were people know them as siblings. Naomi without realising people are watching them, gets a little too close to Juunichiro. When she realises she goes to back away, until she notices that everyone seems to be trying VERY hard to ignore the two. So she gets curious, and doubles down a little, getting more uncomfortably close to him. Naomi has picked up that people are very nosy, but it seems that when they're seeing something that makes them uncomfortable it's as if they're trying to pretend the two of them don't even exist. So, the sibling sthick takes a new turn.

She notes that It's important to still be upstanding or useful members of the community despite this, since that will make people more willing to just ignore your faults to keep your benefits, rather than wanting to kick you out for being degenerates.

So they work to be helpful and hardworking members of every new community they end up in, and whenever people start asking questions or prying to much, Naomi gets weird until they're uncomfortable enough to drop the subject.

Juunichiro still feels awkward with this plan, but it's worked for them and he trusts that Naomi knows what she's doing. He doesn't like that people probably see him as weird freak at times, but since he's basically accepted this plan he also doesn't entirely hate the attention from Naomi. It still makes him feel embarrassed though both at the weird assumptions people have of him from this and from Naomi being so forward in public.

At some point Naomi just enjoys getting an excuse to be able to tease Juunichiro in public too.

So yeah in the headcanon that these two are actually lovers pretending to be siblings, the only way I can see the 'incest joke' being written off as anything but a weird fetish is if Naomi is purposely trying to get people to ignore them by making them WANT to ignore them. Then in a weird way, less attention is focused on them and people are questioning their relationship and their past less because they're trying not to think about them.

Like, you know how Dazai will use comedy and acting like a clown sometimes so people underestimate him and don't focus on the fact that he grew up as a genius ex mafia leader or that he's depressed? That's kind of how I see it with Naomi and Juunichiro. Naomi is cunning, and the more forward one between them when it comes to this trope. It's possible that she's purposely encouraging people to not want to ask them questions or think about them by being weird and making them uncomfortable.

Like how after Atsushi questions if they're siblings, Naomi gets weird and then Kunikida tells Atsushi immediately after that it's best to ignore them. If that was the plan, then it's clearly working and people are being encouraged to not think to hard about 'what their deal is'.

It's still weird, very weird, but the joke is still unfortunately canon. So I'd much rather prefer this outcome than for it to be a fetish or for them to be actual siblings.

Anyway back onto other stuff, now with the ADA:

I still don't exactly have an idea of how they'd join the ADA, but at some point they join.

Naomi was homeschooled in their old life, and after a lot of encouragement and reassurance that he can take care of things and is fine to work more for her, Juunichiro encourages Naomi to enroll into an actual school now that they have a place they can stay at for a long time. Naomi refuses to not work as well, staying as a secretary with the ADA, but she is swayed into the idea of attending school alongside her job. It's not so much that she needed the education, but she enjoys the experience of feeling like a normal teenager that she never had before. Naomi is actually just a year younger than Juunichiro in this au, so she fakes her age and joins school just for the final year, then she'll consider college.

Part of their dynamic after just having run away was Juunichiro being the physical strength between the two and Naomi being the mental strength. She made their plans and kept Juunichiro distracted from bad thoughts by getting him to do stuff for her like tidy around the apartment, cooking, shopping errands, etc.

With the ADA, Juunichiro has basically locked the memories of their life before running away into the back of his brain. He's essentially gaslighting himself into believing that most of their cover story backstories are true. That he really is just an average person and that his biggest secret is just him and Naomi being lovers and not siblings. Naomi instead keeps the memories, and makes sure for Juunichiro's sake that he doesn't have to deal with them.

Naomi notes Ranpo as their biggest threat in the ADA, since with his deduction he's likely already figured out a lot about the two of them. She was nervous around him early on, but now she understands that it's not hard to stay on his good side. She feels more comfortable around him since she knows there's no point in hiding things from him, but at the same time she never admits to him or let's on that she's lying, and he never let's on that he knows. But they both know anyway. Like with every member of the agency, Ranpo has an unspoken agreement to not bring up anyone's past that he figures out, unless it directly endangers the agency or affects him. Ranpo does however, know from this that Naomi is smarter than people think she is, so she appreciates having someone that doesn't underestimate her. Ranpo noting this about her also helps her get a good position as one of the president's main secretaries, as she assists him in meetings and advices him on minor things.

She doesn't, however, expect Dazai. Dazai hadn't figured everything out, but he had picked up on the fact that Naomi was using a similar 'distraction' method that he uses and got curious on what she was deflecting on. He didn't dig too deep, but found enough to know that the Tanizaki's had moved pretty frequently over the last few years, and seemed to have different names in each place. Obviously this throws her off guard, and she's thinking of the quickest methods and whether they should ditch for another town, deflect again, or try to get rid of Dazai before he blabs or uses his knowledge against them. Dazai instead, gives Naomi advice on how to better cover her and Juunichiro's tracks. This then becomes a regular thing, where Dazai will teach Naomi a bit more on solid strategies and some combat too so she can fend for herself more when Juunichiro's not there. Dazai could see that Naomi was smart, and she clearly knew this, and there was definitely something that she was trying to hide and had succeeded at so far. She doesn't seem like a bad person, and neither does Juunichiro, so whatever they were covering up Dazai decides could stay covered for now. But as of now Naomi was overestimating her strategies and it could be unraveled easily by someone dedicated enough, so Dazai decided to help a fellow runaway out by building up her mental defences and showing her the right tricks.

So there's my headcanon for the Tanizaki's. I think I'd honestly prefer for them to be fake siblings and actual lovers even with the weirdness because their dynamic is a lot more interesting to explore from that angle. Those two definitely give me the vibe that they're hiding things and this is just a possibility I made up from what we know about them rn.

Even if you remove the incest jokes, Juunichiro's obsession with Naomi and him seeing her as a God still feels too weird as a sibling dynamic for me. I personally am not a fan of the 'older brother obsessed with and protective/possessive of his younger sister' trope.

Even if they do end up being canonically related or actual siblings in any way in the future, I think I'm just gonna ignore it cause:

1) Ew

2) I like my version better and I'm more interested in this version of them.

I still like the fanon version of 'normal siblings Tanizaki's' too though, I just think it's unfortunately too far from canon to happen like that.

#bsd #tanizaki junichirou #naomi tanizaki #like a 'co-dependant runaways with an unhealthy obsession and a love strengthened by shared trauma #just seems really interesting to think about #like if it wasn't for that one line with Atsushi pointing out that they don't look alike and Naomi deflecting it immediately #and THEN someone bringing up the 'fake cousins' lovers plot in one of irl Tanizaki's books I probably would never have thought they weren't #- siblings #bungou stray dogs #plus naomi lore #I think I'm just really hoping characters I like aren't actually incestuous too 😭#I'd rather have 'lovers that pretend to be siblings' than 'siblings with that are way too uncomfortably close and likely fuck'. Both weird-#- but one considerably less so #that and most official art and mayoi cards of them together have them looking like a couple is just..... yeah. I'm really hoping for the-#-'fake siblings' reveal 🙏#Also can you tell that Naomi is one of my favorite underappreciated characters to explore can you?#Naomi #Juunichiro #Tanizaki's

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