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#(and also frustrates her. because having been an unofficial translator that shit is so frustrating!!! when you are the only one!!!)
appleciders · 2 years
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simply think lupe garcía deserves to be lovingly put into one of these bad boys until all the self-loathing evaporates out
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#she wants to play baseball more than ANYTHING and she loves herself for that and she hates herself for that#she wants someone anyone to tell her she did good.#to look at her and choose her#because she has chosen herself but is she really so wrong that she could be the only one to ever do it?#how can she look at esti and take care of esti and care for her when she turned her back on doing the same for her daughter?#she's asked to be by the kid's side day and night and being needed in that way terrifies her and chokes her#(and also frustrates her. because having been an unofficial translator that shit is so frustrating!!! when you are the only one!!!)#and she's specifically needed to speak spanish and roberta colindrez has talked about her shame in her language#and not to bring anzaldúa into this but. shame in language being shame in self.#her past and her self stripped from her to make her palateable to a white audience and yet she's constantly singled out for it by the team#but how can she keep hurting esti the same way she's been hurt?#how can she look into esti's eyes and see the pain she's caused there and not imagine that pain reflected a thousand fold down in texas?#and she tries not to feel it because it hurts but she cares SO deeply but she is so fucked up about it#man. character of all time.#a league of their own#lupe garcia#roberta colindrez embodies her with so much care and nuance this can't even begin to cover it#anyway somebody please put her in the rotary evaporator. or better yet. the arms of people who love her!!
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opheliawillowbrook · 3 years
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How the Cookie Crumbles
To say his brothers fought would be an understatement: They warred. That. That was the better word. However, it was Dick who was the peacemaker among them. The mediator extraordinaire, translating all his brothers’ woes and misunderstandings into less doom-pending transgressions. But to say this unofficial, yet very necessary part he played was tasking was yet another understatement of unspeakable proportions. It was a FUCKING LOT.
“I swear to God, Drake. You and Brown are a special kind of stupid.”
“Shut up, Damian! It’s a good idea!” Tim grumbled in reply.
“Yeah! You’re just mad you didn’t think of it first!”
Dick’s face fell upon hearing the argument and considered turning the other way, but he’d learned the hard way that his lack of interference could result in bloodshed. Damian did have a history of stabbing Tim, and Robin had an impressive body count, according to Jason. I’d better  make sure he doesn’t add two more.
“Well, fuck me and my  entire life,” Dick droned in frustration. “What are you three bitching about now?”
“Damian keeps saying our idea is stupid,” Stephanie tattled.
“Yeah!” Tim added with crossed arms. “He says we lack the fortitude for good ideas!”
“You do!” the current robin exclaimed.
“Damian?”
The youngest batboy rolled his eyes and reasoned, “Listen, I know these two brain donors barely have two brain cells to rub between them—”
“That’s not the only thing they rub!” Jason called from the other room.
Damian again rolled his eyes in contempt and continued, “And I’ve accepted, as a member of this family, that everyone gets to act a little stupid from time to time. However, as much as I would like to respect their commitment to their shared stupidity, I feel as if they are abusing the privilege and it needs to stop before one of them gets hurt.”
“Wow, he actually cares,” Jason added from still in another room.
“Have you been sitting there listening the whole time?” Dick asked, near facepalm.
“Affirmative,” Jason confirmed, entering from the hall.
“And you did nothing to stop them fighting?”
“It’s funnier this way.”
“Do I always have to be the responsible one?”
“Affirmative,” all four said with little thought.
“Okay then,” Dick sighed with reluctance. “Damian, I know you find it hard to accept the choices of others, but you need to understand that free choice and expression is about accepting that others may not make the same choices as you, and that’s okay. It’s the same as you choosing not to take my dating advice and ask Raven out because you’re afraid of rejection—”
“Shut up, Grayson! This isn’t about me!!!” Damian spat.
“Damian has the hots for Raven?” Jason teased. “You have good taste, Mighty Mouse. She got a great—”
“Don’t even finish that sentence, Todd!” Dick and Damian ordered in unison.
“I was gonna say personality,” Jason droned. “Get your minds out of the gutter. I mean for fuck’ sake.”
“Sure you were,” Tim replied with a glower.
“Yeah Tim, cause you never stare at her tits while you talk to her,” Jason added, throwing him doubly under the bus.
“Dude, are you trying to get me killed?” Tim said, shooting an elbow into his brother’s ribs as Damian and Stephanie both glared. Spurring Dick into a further mood for murder.
“My point being is, just because you don’t like other peoples’ ideas, doesn’t mean they’re stupid.”
“Tell them the idea, guys!” Jason urged, stirring the pot.
Stephanie and Tim looked at each other and nodded, as though they’d discovered the holy grail itself. “We’re gonna write a series of YA novels and sell them on the web!” Steph sang optimistically.
“Yeah, it’s a huge and diverse market,” Tim added.
“And with established characters, we’ll make a killing.”
Dick’s brow furrowed. “That sounds like fanfiction?”
“It sounds like utter bullshit,” Damian sneered, not single fuck given.
“It’s not bullshit,” Tim snapped. “YA novels make up a huge portion of the market. People love those things.”
“Then name one YA novel that has sold more than a manga in the last 10 years?”
Tim shrugged. “I can’t think of one at the top of my head, but there they definitely exist and sell.”
“Yeah, so does my fanfiction based on this family,” Jason added under his breath.
“What?” Everyone asked.
“Nothing. Continue.”
“So anyway, I told Damian it’s a foolproof plan.”
Dick rolled his eyes with a bit of doubt, but who was he to judge or discourage their creativity. I mean, he dropped out of college after all? “I’m not saying I believe it’s bulletproof, because frankly, nothing is. But I’m curious why you would consider telling Damian? I mean, he hates most things.”
“And Drake. I hate Drake.”
“We’re all very aware, Dami,” Dick drawled in annoyance. “But yeah, why would you tell him anything important to you? Especially that?”
“Well, we kinda needed a loan. I knew Bruce would undoubtedly say no and, well, Damian has money.”
“Because I make good business decisions.”
“I don’t know why I thought of asking you?”
“You didn’t, Jason told you to,” Stephanie confessed, recalling an earlier conversation.
“Jason, really?” Dick tsked.
“Hey, Damian does make good business decisions. Who do you think cleans and invests money? It’s certainly not Alfred.”
“Because Alfred would have nothing to do with your blood money, Jason. And Damian, I’m very disappointed in you!”
“Grayson, I don’t know what high horse you are riding on today, but you better come off it. Father told me if I wanted money, that I needed to earn it and that I should get a job. So I got one.”
“Laundering money for Red Hood’s criminal Enterprise is not a job!”
“Actually it is. Mighty Mouse made us an LLC and everything. I own several Wash & Folds, all legitimate! Thanks to Hell Spawn here! I’m actually considering making him a partner.”
“So will your LLC fund our YA Novels?”
“Oh fuck no!”
“Come on, Jay! We have a solid business plan,” Stephanie pleased.
“You’re business plan is a bunch of meaningless numbers written on the back of a napkin and poorly illustrated versions of us,” Damian said, holding up the napkin in question.
“Okay, so it’s not the final draft, but we’re working on it!” Tim said pointedly.
“Yeah, as tempting as this all sounds, I didn’t make my money making half baked business decisions,” Jason reasoned
“No, you made it by taking over Gotham’s drug trade,” Dick clarified with disapproval.
“Which was a solid business decision.”
“Why do I even talk to you?”
“I don’t know why I talk to any of you,” Damian scowled, arms crossed, grateful there was no shared genetics between him and his adoptive kin. “I don’t understand what father saw in any of you.
“I can’t answer that,” Jason replied. “However, I can tell you, from personal experience, what he saw in your mom.”
“Do you wanna die, Todd?”
“Do you wanna not have a job?” Jason wanted. “Also, been there done that. But hey, if I died twice then I’d have buffy status so don’t threaten me with a good time, kid.”
“On that note, I’m leaving,” Damian grimaced. “I have to meet Raven, anyway.”
“Oh,” Dick sang. “You have a date!”
“It’s not a date.”
“Bet you wish it was a date,” Stephanie teased. “Y’know, if you just stopped acting like a dick all the time, I bet she’d go out with you.”
“Shut up, Brown.”
“Oh no,” Dick smiled. “I know it’s hard to believe, but he’s nice to Raven.”
“Hey keep that shit up,” Jason added. “If you’re nice to her, she’d be nice to you!”
“I hate all of you,” Damian proclaimed and stormed away.
“Fuck you too! See you at work Monday! Jason called, earning a tiger middle finger.
“He might be an asshole, but he’s a good kid,” Jason nodded with a sense of pride, causing to Dick to silently scoff. “Still needs to get laid though.”
“Bruce is gonna be so pissed when he finds out you pulled Dami into your bullshit.”
“You’re using Raven’s pet name for him now?” Jason mocked. “And fucker’s gonna have to prove it first; there’s a reason I hired ‘Dami’ for that job.”
“Dude, fuck you; dig your grave,” Dick lamented. “And don’t come at me with one of your tired ass death jokes, they’re getting old.”
“Suit yourself,” the Outlaw glowered as silence set in.
“So Dick,” Tim dared sheepishly. “You, um, wanna invest in--”
“Absolutely not,” the elder hero replied.
Leaving Jason to chuckle. “And that’s the way the cookie crumbled.”
If you enjoyed that feel free to leave me kudos 👉 here on Ao3 lol. If you have any remdom prompts send them my way; maybe I’ll feel inspired 😘
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mysleepdeprivedass · 4 years
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Okay. It's like 4am and I need to share with you my AU over this fandom.
The post must be filled with misspelling or some sentence can make no sense buuuttt sorry I guess.
I'm not completely in the fandom but I freaking like the fancontent (I read a LOT of fancontent) sooo anyway. I saw this headcanon time to time so I put my idea in.
MIRACULOUS LADYBUG (honestly right now I have a fever for Ml fancon and fic sooo probably my next post will be ML content )
Honestly the headcanon risk to be kinda messed up and just a big less to read.
Anyway.
Rock/metal! Marinette (with a lil' bit of nerd!Adrien) AU
Sooo (I'm going with point and plus I just translate what I've written
• listening Jagged Stone (and she is a big fan)
• listen a lot a rock band, punk and metal band too.
• Like the old rock French band (like telephone - Which is a real French band if you want listen -)
• Under cut, that's she cut herself. Because she not going to paid 30€ for that and because she did that behind her parents back. She used to cut her mother and father hair (she like doing her family's hair -don't know it's the sentence lean something-)
• she have short hair cut (like at the base of the neck)
• Have few piercing (ear and some on her face (one rand of helix on her left ear, two conch and a industrial on her right ear, tragus on her right ear, stretch on each ear and 2nd earring on each ear. Septum and smiley, tongue and transversal labret.
• she's done almost all a piercing during her rebellious phase (in middle of her middle school) because dang she not going to paid 75€ for a hole on her ear (disclaimer : do not pierced yourself it's dangerous and must be do by a professional, I know that because I have personally some piercing and it's better to do it in a shop with someone you can trust)
•Nor is she oblivious about her piercing. She saw a LOT of video about piercing. She clean the space that's she wan going to pierced like a pro, an she use medical needless (that she buy in pharmacy - you can buy catheter on pharmacy-) She only go on shot for four of her piercing (her tongue, her lip, nose and mouth piercing)
• For a long time, her classmates thought that she pierced in a shop.
• They know the truth during a party at Juleka's place. They're was playing truth OU dare and Alya (who dream to get a piercing) Say that she would love to have a piercing (her parents said that will never happen under theire roof) Marinette tell her that she can pierced her because she have already pierced herself (begging in 6eme -I think it's the equivalent of the 6th grade-) Her first piercing was the helix's (all her classmates are kinda shook )
• oddly a week after the party, when Alya Returned from Marinette home she got home with two new helix on her right ear.
• la class décide de faire une soirée et Marinette percé tout le monde au moins un truc sur leur corps (elle part dans plusieurs pharmacie acheter des aiguilles et acheté sur un site qu'elle connais des prothèses de piercings et des truc pour clipé l'endroit a percé)
• she plays drums
• she like to brings her battery bench at school and she do some impro during break.
• She still love the color pink. One of her motto it's " Punk and rock need more pink" because dang because she love punk and rock doesn't mean she can't love pink.
• Her bedroom it's a weird but pleasant mixed of skull, pink skull, and random things associated with rock/punk style with pink
• like in her bedroom, you can see some studded and chains object and just Beside and little stuff pink kitten teddy and sit beside the kitten she have A goat with static crosses teddy (also pink )
• She have some satanic cercle and gems in her room (she kinda interested with Wicca stuff even she's not doing it everyday)
• she like cute and pink stuff
• her terrace/balcony have a mini-garden with roses, dahlia and a lot of succulents.
• Slay cat eye-liner and eyeshadow pencil.
• She ended by dye her hair, first she got a lock of hair pink and she just got a split hair black and pink (she's dyeing her hakr by herself, when she met Luka, Luka help her)
-To be honest now, it's like 5am and I never thought that translate some shitty idea take so long xD need to take a break. Now it's midday Soo let's go continued-
• When her class know she can do hair, she became theire unofficial hairdresser ( everyone paid her event if in the beginning she refused to be paid. Everyone try to snuk in their money in her stuff in the weirdest way possible) and when she opened deisgn commission she do some on their clothes.
*Scene *
- Alix what are doing IN my locker ?"
- I want to see the inside. Lovely locker, where I haven't been absolutely stuck for 30 mi.
- Just get out and get your butt out of my backpack.
• Her parents a 100% supportive over her chose. But sometimes they said no for some of stuff she want to do.
*Scene*
-No Marinette , believe me that's you're going to regret to do a hawk.
- Come one mom !
- * sigh* Imma going to hide your father's hair clippers and scissors. Believe me it's for your own good.
- No Marinette you are not going to shave your eyebrows !
- But Mom !
- No "But Mom,"! I take away your scissors and shaver
- You will make yourself a split tongue when you no longer live under this roof. Out of the question that I see a tongue split in half under this roof !
- No Marinette you're not too "cool" and to "rock'n'roll" for not eating your carrots. Now get your butt here and finish your vegetables.
- *sad Minecraft villager sound *
• People think that Marinette is some cold deadpan mean bitch before Alya come in her class. Alya had always know people like that (who look cold but are more afraid and shy to talk to people and just look scary ) Alya is the first friend (really friend) of Marinette because she don't give a shit about her look. When the two begging to be friends, the class notice that Marinette it's not mean like that though she is. And the class begging to talk to Marinette and be friend with her.
• She become deputies of her class because she's done with Chloe's bullshit and everyone accepted rapidly to have her like class president. Everyone is kinda shook about organization et Benevolent's Marinette can be. After that everyone really like Marinette and she like the mom friends of everyone but everyone know that she can always be scary especially if she angry and someone pissed her off more.
• Her class know about her deisgn hobit and dream during de hats conteste and that's she made almost all her clothes.
• When she hang out with friends concerts (people she met at some rock concert ) they decided to have a tattoo. Marinette have a Ladybug under her right foot. Alya is the first to know because during a sleepover, Marinette forget to hide it. Her parents are the seconds to know (same mistake she forgets to hide it with socks). Adrien know while being Chat Noir (he was hang out at her balcony and she was laying on the floor and he see it )
• inverse Crush au. Adrien fell in love to Marinette because she's the first to see who he is and don't try to put him on a pedestal and Adrien can see that's she is very different that her look can send like personality. Marinette love Chat Noir because he is her very first friend that she thrust completely regardless of her look. (Because even in the beginning she still suspicious about Alya)
• When she is Ladybug almost all of her peircings disappeared (her nose ring, stretch, helix's and her miraculous stay)
• she were her miraculous on her second ear lobe holes
• Tikki listening rock and punk music (honestly I want to see Tikki dancing with eavy hard metal in the room)
•Even she know she can't do that. she brings abandoned animals at home. She clean them and feed them in her rope before take them to a refugee or a veterinary. She let for the first time Jagged Stone because she found Fang hidden in a alley. She noticed that he have a collar so she bring him up to a veterinary where she have the habit to go. The collard have the information for contacted Jagged. Fang letting Marinette take him because she have the same smell that Jagged, some metal and vegetal leather.
• Marinette help Adrien to scare his fan. All of them just run away from Marinette. She become unofficially his bodyguard in school.
•She know how to defend herself and scare people because she go to a lot of underground concert and it's not always nice.
• She swear like a sailor. Not in front of her parents. She swear a lot when she frustrated or angry. And know Hawkmoth know that he is forbidden to send a Akuma past 2.30am, because the last Akuma have to deal with a really really angry ladybug (that was the first night since a very long week of sleep deprived and anxiety and a lot of work plus she was on her period which hurt like hell so she was pissed) No one speak about this day. Because the Akuma was running away from her
• Marinette smoke a little bit (most of the time during concerts when she hang out with older people and in rare occasion when she really really freaking out and her anxiety is very high)
• Woke up with eavy metal and hard rock. Tikki just well, have to take the habit
• Adrien is a big dork and nerd. Wear glasses and more "nerd" clothes during school, He is just a big weeb, and do 24h/7d anime and manga ref, Marinette laugh a lot about it +except pun she don't like them)
• Marinette save his phone number with nickname " cutie weebo"
• Adrien save her phone number with nickname "Iron princess"
• Discord group t'chat with Nino, Alya, Mari and Adrien. Name of the group : Rejects of the society Aka. DjDiscount (Nino), Almost-A-Reporter (Alya), Pinkipie-turn-to-emo (Marinette), KingOfTheWeebWorld (Adrien )
• Discord group t'chat for the class (because during my idea have this fever about texting fanfiction so why not, I always read texting fanfiction btw)
Marinette : Prez'AndPunk.
(given by Adrien)
Adrien : Usui Takumi (Weeb).
(Give by himself, everyone know the ref at Kaichouwa maid-sama, excepted Marinette who don't watch anime le read manga. and nobody explain to Marinette the link between their usernames)
Alya : Laydbloger
(By herself )
Nino : SmookWeedNotEveryday
(Giving by Marinette, who saw him hang out with smoker pal and she saw him smoke one, she know the people with who he was.)
Mylène : ImNotAMonster
(Giving by herself)
Ivan : TeddyBear
(By Mylène )
Alix : AlixDontPlayDespacito
(By herself, because Kim just do a full straight week with the same lame joke with Alexa play despacito but put Alix, at the first Alix going for AlixDontPlayDespacitoYou'reShithead but she changed it )
Kim : ICanDoAllBet
(by himself)
Max : Smartass
(By himself, kinda help by Kim, Alix and Marinette, during a all night up when Max and Marinette help Kim and Alix for school homework)
Nathanaël : TryToFoundSomeStreetCreedArtist
( inside joke between Marinette, Alix, Nathanaël and Marc)
Chloé : MyFatherWillKnowAboutThat
(Given by Adrien, Alya, Nino and Marinette after they have do a Harry Potter marathon. Because of the Look like between Chloe and Draco. It's Adrien, who change her username)
Sabrina : NotAWitchYet
(Inside joke between Chloe and her. Given by herself)
Rose : ILiveForMyOTP
(Given by herself, after a discussion between Juleka, Luka and her when she hang out at Juleka's home )
Juleka : IDrinkDarkCoffeeLikeMySoul
(Given by Luka, who stole her phone, inside joke between the two and for some revenge)
• Marinette hide her shyness with her "cold" style. But when she became friend with her classmates she more confortable and became very protective around them, a dont' hesitates to become physically violent. (Happen most of the time with, Alix (because she don't know when to stop before begging a fight) Rose Juleka and Nathanael (who are most of the time bully) and Adrien (she save him from his fan and stupid fuck boy ))
• After she became president of her class. The other class rep and professor don't like her (because of her look) and Marinette disregard all of them because on had they handle Chloe's bullshit. When class rep's and professor see that she competent and do a great shot they tolerate her and begging to appreciate her.
• She hang out with bullied people, she protected them (scaring their bully)
• she still a cinnamon rolls, especially with Tikki, Tikki is also the first to know that Marinette have anxiety. honestly she just a cinnamon rolls with her closest friends and family.
• Sty all night speaking with Tikki about ancient holder while they listen music.
• Sassy, like so much sass from her that it should illegal, when she's Ladybug she gives security and leadership vibe, people juste like her. And no one is afraid of her (Conversely when she is "Marinette")
•Sass a lit Hawkmoth about he fashion style about his Akuma. And during latest Akuma she just swear a lot again him. Because Hawkmotherfucker I need to sleep. And my coffee privileged just go revoked.
• She love hang out with Chat Noir. She try to flirt with him (when she's Ladybug) but he is so oblivious that he never understand and just friendzoned her very hard. (And because I'm a sucker for oblivious Adrien and Marinette)
• She fight some bullies (because fuck it I went a scene after she fight for Adrien and he heal her)
•Also kinda buff! Marinette ?
• She have anxiety and can have Anxiety attack (she can control them sometime ) She hide her anxiety very young. Because little she was shy and have anxiety and wearing and listen rock and punk music help her for be more protected like a shield against everything around her.
• Marinette is vegetarian (because why not) since primary school. And most of a leather clothes she make are vegetal leather or false leather.
•And she love wearing leather, like combat boots, jacket and pants.
Sooo it's took a day to finish to translate everything but Voilà. If you want pick some of the idea feel free to do it just tag me please. You also can reblog and feel free so add more.
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sirandking · 7 years
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I’m not entirely sure where I’m going with this, but I really want to talk about how the upperclassmen and the monsters mirror each other. How each member of the monsters has a counterpart in the upperclassmen, someone with a similar backstory and similar motivations and goals, but with certain crucial differences that serve to highlight all the character development that happens throughout the books.
For instance, there’s Andrew and Renee: both foster children with harsh pasts who murdered and feel no remorse for it, but forced to face the consequences regardless. Andrew is left with a brother who can’t forgive him; Renee has to deal with the knowledge that she’ll never be the good person she wants to be. They have the same fighting style - defensive, reactive, but knowing that the only way to win is to stop your opponent from ever hurting you again; they both play goalie because they’re both best when they stand at everyone else’s backs and prevent anything from getting past them. There’s a reason Andrew charges Renee with protecting her half of the team, and not Dan, the official leader; where Dan is focused on moving forward and charging down the opposition, Renee and Andrew are about making sure everyone under their wing survives.
Then there’s Dan and Kevin, the team leaders (one official, one unofficial), a striker and an offensive dealer/occasional striker sub, #1 and #2. They’ve both been pushed down and shoved aside, marked as second-best or second-rate, and they both refuse to let that stop them. They both fight because they don’t know how to lose, because they can’t know how to lose, and they expect the same from everybody else. Kevin won’t accept anything but the best because that’s what he’s been taught, that’s the only way he knows how to live; Dan knows that anything less than perfection gives everyone else the right to stomp all over you, and is determined to never let that happen again. (And then there’s the fact that they both see Wymack as a father).
There’s Nicky and Allison, both cut off from their parents for not following the path their parents wanted for them, but choosing their own way anyway; a defensive dealer and a backliner, #7 and #8, who don’t back down from a challenge and don’t always know the best time to quit. They’re both blunt, protective, unapologetic; open with their sexuality and their personality and their history; they both make sure they look after their family, although Nicky is a bit more obvious about it. Neil once guessed that Nicky’s over-the-top extroversion was a front to compensate for the twins’ antisocial personalities, but it also compensates for the way he closed himself off as a teenager; Allison’s cattiness is a direct fuck-you to her parents and to everyone else who made assumptions about her or tried to tell her what to do.
There’s Aaron and Matt, both backliners, #4 and #5, and both protective to the point of violence. They have a shared history of abuse, both drug abuse and physical(/sexual, in Matt’s case) abuse, and for both of them it started with a parent. They were both forced to face their drug addictions head on by Andrew, and in an extreme way, almost breaking them in the process. But they both held on, and fought to improve, and both of them ended up with plans and a future and a way out.
And then there’s Neil and Seth, the dead and the dying, the oldest member of the team and the newest, both strikers with loud mouths and short tempers. They both refuse to take shit, Seth from people who disrespect him and Neil from people who disrespect his family. Seth is the biggest instigator tearing the team apart; Neil is the one who brings them together.
But where the monsters are still in the middle of their character arcs, still left with things holding them back, the upperclassmen have already moved past them. Aaron is still frustrated with and confused about his mother and angry at Andrew; Matt has forgiven his abuse as a product of the times and accepted Andrew’s intervention as necessary. Nicky is still hoping that his parents will forgive him, while Allison has cut hers out entirely. Kevin is still afraid of surpassing Riko, while Dan refuses to let anyone stop her. Neil keeps trying to hold his tongue and adhere to his mother’s rules for staying hidden, while Seth refuses to be anything but a loud-spoken, aggressive asshole. Andrew is held back by his belief that he’ll never be anything more than a knives and promises, while Renee had Stephanie Walker and her faith to teach her that she could still be worth something despite her past. The upperclassmen still have problems, but when it comes to the traits they share with the monsters, they’re several steps ahead in terms of healing.
So at the beginning, the upperclassmen are foils to the monsters, almost a parallel universe version of what the monsters could have been if they’d had the right supports, the right interventions at the right times. And of course they fight each other; how could they not, when all they can see when they look at each other is the person they could have been? But by the end, all of those problems have been overcome: Nicky has cut ties with his parents, Aaron is talking things over with Andrew, Neil has let go of his mother’s ghost, Kevin has stopped being afraid of Riko, and Andrew has found something to live for that isn’t wrapped up in promises and deals. Suddenly, the upperclassmen and the monsters aren’t opposites anymore: they’re parallel lines, not clashing colours, and it translates directly into their team dynamics.
Which is what the whole series is really about: Exy. Even though Neil is the main character, the story doesn’t end when Neil’s father dies, or when Neil and Andrew get together, or when Neil makes the deal with Ichirou and settles his future. It doesn’t even end when Riko dies; that’s only in the epilogue. It ends with the Foxes, when they do what they’ve been striving towards all year and beat the Ravens with the force of sheer determination and teamwork, when they prove to everyone else that they can be strippers and murderers and drug addicts and gang members and still deserve respect.
Neil is the linchpin who drags the two sides into the same orbit, the one who stands in when Seth dies and bridges the canyon between the monsters and the upperclassmen, the one who sets Riko’s death in motion, but this isn’t just Neil’s story. This isn’t just Neil finding a home in a team, getting everything he wanted and never letting go.
It’s a team of misfits and outcasts proving to the world that every single one of them is worth something. It’s people who were too similar to ever get along finding a home in each other.
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