What gets a person sorted into one dorm or another? What dorm might you end up in if you were to attend the illustrious Night Raven College? Well look no further than here for the answers to your struggles and questions!
Truth be told I saw somebody try and do this once, but their analysis felt rather biased and left me unsatisfied, so here’s a little something I like to call: “Soul’s Deep-Dive Analysis into the Morals and Values of the Seven Dorms of Night Raven College”!
Rating: Explicit (a cautionary measure)
Pairings: Jason Todd x Reader
Fandom: DC
Summary:
gotham is one of the most dangerous cities on the planet-- for everyone but you, at least. masked vigilantes, supervillains in capes-- too many big fish swimming around hungry for the man who wants you back. two weeks of running scared and you've made it to the promised land; now you just need to shake off the most dogged of your pursuers...
you expect batman. you get the red hood.
you're more alright with that than you thought you'd be.
---
It says something about the general state of Gotham that it takes two days before anyone really notices the people in black robes and eyeless white masks creeping through the city with the grid-sweep precision of the thoroughly prepared.
Red Hood's seen a lot of weird shit in his time-- to put it lightly. Gotham is a breeding ground for crime and psychosis, and it has more than its allotted yearly quota of people who deal with their issues by wearing costumes like a second skin and hanging their enemies upside-down over pits of acid or ravenous sharks. And yes, he's counting himself in that equation, along with the rest of his family. He's not about to sit here and pretend that any of the things he and the various Bat People get up to are signs of healthy coping mechanisms.
"They've been alarmingly quiet," Oracle says over comms. She sounds a little annoyed, a little confused. Mostly focused on the task at hand. "And... mundane? They rode in on a city bus and just started moving. It's..."
"Not what we usually expect from masked weirdos in Gotham?" Hood supplies. He stands on the edge of a rooftop with the new moon behind him, watching the robed figures slip through Crime Alley, their shapes silvery-green through his helmet's night vision. He counts three of them, though he knows there's at least three more somewhere nearby.
Six people all wearing the same thing. One of them should have gone home to change.
Oracle gives a soft hum of agreement. "They're pretty low-tech, too. Only one of them has a cellphone, and it was old-school ten years ago. And they barely say anything over comms. I'm starting to wonder if there isn't some sort of low level psychic communication going on here." She puffs out a sigh, annoyed by their tech's refusal to offer up any simple answers. Hood has to admit that it would make things easier. "But I'm not picking up any sign of that, so..."
"Can't tell if they're smart or just out of touch," Hood says, watching as two of the Robes climb into an abandoned apartment building's first floor through a broken window. Their movements are too clumsy for them to be trained assassins or hired killers. This is something else. Something that would usually be the strict purview of the GCPD.
Honestly, this newest sect of poorly-handled personal issues would probably have escaped vigilante notice entirely-- it isn't actually illegal to walk into Gotham in a weird costume, despite any number of rumors saying otherwise-- if not for their run-in with a couple of Hood's informants the night before.
Hobb and Stig were low-level thugs, and yeah, maybe they were a little slow, a little too given to holding people at knife point and then forgetting which end was sharp, but they were mostly harmless. Stupid, in a way that made other people talk a bit more freely around them. Not smart enough to hire on as henchmen, but still thugs, and even Hood can recognize that neither of them deserved what happened to them.
"They're looking for something, clearly," Oracle continues. She's probably watching them all through her network of cameras, some of which Hood spent a lot of time installing himself-- hidden, of course, since Crime Alley isn't exactly the best place to leave high-end technology just sitting around. "It would help if we could figure out what."
i think that every time someone asks something like "what do you wanna do" or a question that is centered around her or is js genuinely curious she is caught really off-guard and kind of has a weird look on her face
"i think" its canon
anyway i THINK that if she were to end up with someone who has the goal of erasing that look and slowly working towards a future where she finds it natural to talk about herself and smile i think that'd be beautiful
meadow is
meadow purposefully puts distance between her and other people and isolates herself
ummmmm idk what it exactly translates to, but from the song fragile by nulut
its roughlyyy
"don't look for me. the distance between us is special. one where i could disappear without you knowing."
she lives by that basically.
ruggie bucxgi pls you arw so fine accept me i will literally give u the best things ever in life ill work so hard for u ill invest in stocks for you iblvoe you ruggie plwaase youre so cute and beautiful and amazing and lovwebable and i find it rlly xool that you cna bite theough bone please one dhnace
Includes general info about her, her tragedy, and her childhood.
Formatted kind of idk THE NON-TWST VERSION
General
- mea has a very... tempered personality. shes kind of always smiling like .u.
- OBV a mask but ykykyk
- your go-to person to fix things
- shes smart but she still studies rlly hard to get to where she is now! its not effortless intelligence!!!
- shes actually just sopping wet :((( shes sad and lonely and yearns for human connection but at the same time deliberately creates a certain distance between herself and others
- she doesnt have any future ambitions
- favorite snack: candied apples
- favorite food: bao buns (fluffy savory pork)
- loves fruity things
- hates anything bitter ("it's just not right," she says.)
she actually grew up in poverty. she was a very spiteful baby 😭 but as she grew up she started to mask bc she had to work hard to get where she was (comfortable living situation). shes more socially aware of her survival than physically.
her character is more focused around seeking a place of belonging and liberating freedom and being loved those are her struggles but she also thinks very logically as in "i should do this because its expected of me even if i dont want to" which is why she acts the way she does
mea is all about the meaning of life and existence and belonging.
> mea holds a strong belief that she does not belong in this world and shes incapable of being loved
> which is why i constantly mention her world view contrasting with others because she is all about where you fit in the world and belonging
mea values friends and family and relationships even though she feels incredibly lonely. freedom is also important for her.
shes used to losing people and she hasnt really experienced a bunch of freedom.
shes a character built upon desperation
funfact: meadow has great endurance but poor physical strength/build
so she can take a stab to the side of her stomach and still move pretty good but like
yk theres a higher chance of her dying
she pushes through period cramps but sometimes if its really bad like knife wound bad she'll allow herself to stop and rest
she does photography a lot. i feel like shes a big daydreamer too. in the clouds a lot.
id say when shes truly in her element shes creating and i think that part of her hasnt changed its mostly what shes doing instead like if its music or baking or photography
meadow is religious. she wont mention it in conversations but at home you'll notice she has a few religious items around (cross, those jesus/god loves you signs, rosary). the thing she wont share with anyone, though, is that she doesnt actually believe in god. again, it's a desperation thing.
whats her tragedy
her brother died when she was 6 and she was orphaned thats the short version.
slightly longer version is that she witnessed a man beating her brother to death (to put it lightly) and then her father left out of shame (of himself) so she lived on the streets for a year before being found by the police and put in an orphanage.
Childhood
HOMELESSNESS
mea lived on the streets for id say maybe 6 months to a year before she asked for legal help. she was quick to kind of stay in the shadows in the beginning. i think especially at first from the shock and experience of watching someone murder your family and being left by your caretaker it would take a mental toll. she mostly just stayed in a secluded alley and slept for a few days before she forced herself to go out and either steal food or dig in trash for food.
ofc you get tired of doing this. no one wants to be in this situation. thats why i think mea would probably start asking people to spare shit for her and become more of a beggar. as a child she's quicker so she can snatch. but also i think ppl are quicker to take pity on a child so she may benefit from that. people arent quick to help homeless people bc theyre so judgemental so i think she'd garner some mixed results
over the progression of months, from living alone like this it would wear down on mea and she would eventually turn to maybe someone who regularly spares her money for help. keep in mind at this age shes the most skeptical of people and also the most cynical. hateful little child (for good reason).
they would then, consequently, take her to an orphanage. at least the police would. no one knows what happened to her brother except for her father and that man. the body was never identified and meadow refuses to speak about it.
more tidbits
- being looked down upon for being dirty
- probably scruffed up from either fighting for food or harassment
- never going out during the night shes very cautious. also the dark scares her, so at first, when she was sleeping all alone in an alleyway, she cried like the first month bc baby was scared of being alone, but she was too scared to ask for help.
ORPHANAGE
i think arriving at the orphanage, feeling at least somewhat confident that her survival needs will be met, she will isolate again. there is one thing meadow always trusts: retreat. the staff deliver her meals and she eats them but she does not socialize with other children, hindering her growth developmentally.
meadow doesnt do anything but lay around. she doesnt attend school and she doesnt play with the other children. the staff get a bit tired of this so they try and find something for her to do instead. introduce: the television ✨️
this is where mea learns about socializing. since the orphanage isnt the perfect example, meadow learns early on that from reality tv shows the most liked and successful characters study hard and are nice (jp setting).
i think that because of this, to remove herself from her very low position in an effort to be loved and also have sustainable needs met, mea will start to mask from a very young age and will also put more effort towards her study aka actually attending school and doing her work
in hopes that in the future she will not have to worry about things she did when she was a child
since meadow is now:
- cute
- nice
- friendly
- approachable
i think that she'd gain more traction as potential parents might see her as someone they'd want to adopt or foster. she is never adopted, but she does go through the foster care system, which is, frankly, a disaster.
so the problem with her going into foster care is that it will cause her high amounts of stress, and when children are very stressed, they tend to act out, as all humans do. meadow will go back to retreating and lash out, and eventually, she'll be returned to the orphanage.
oh yes great point also due to meadow being favored i think at some point in her life she'd also get bullied due to special attention (have u seen her)
which would not be addressed
the orphanage had high hopes for her and entered her into a prestigious hs in hopes she'll do good bc she's a picture perfect student. because of her hard work and js basically being a model student she was offered a full tuition to gotham university. the expectations haven't changed in life.
I cannot explain how annoyed I am, as a survivor, at the Batfam fandom for how they treat child abuse. There is no issue calling out Bruce's canon abusive behavior, and that's great, but the moment it's another parent of the Batfam, everyone become an abuse apologist. It's clear that y'all don't see it as abuse unless it's extreme or if there's any love, but, fun fact, it is still abuse. Or worst, y'all call THE CHILD in the relationship the bad/abusive one for reacting to the abuse they have endured. Truly disgusting, imo.
I love my father very much. If anything happened to my father, I would be devastated. It is also clear to me that my father loves me very much and would not recover from anything happening to me. However, this does not erase that he has been abusive to me, that he has enabled my abusive mother, that he will continue to defend my mother's abusive behavior. I love my father and I am still in contact with him, I call him if I have an issue he could fix, but I also don't call him for most issues because he failed as a father. My psychiatrist also believes my mother does love me (not sure about this one) and my siblings, but it doesn't change that she is an abusive person to her core. And my siblings still love her even after everything she has done to all of us, and they will defend her. Love doesn't erase abuse.
Also, STOP with the "well, they were fed and had a roof, so it's not abuse". This is LITERALLY the same excuse abusers use toward their kids, that they fed them and gave them a bed so they cannot complain. THAT'S THE BARE MINIMUM AND GIVING THE BARE MINIMUM ISN'T ENOUGH.
YES, Jack and Janet Drake were abusive because they neglect Tim emotionally. It doesn't matter that they love him and he loves them, it doesn't matter that this was "normal at the time" (it is called out in the comics by Tim, Bruce and Jack himself, so not really. Also, even tho it was normal at the time for a father to hit his child if he disrespects him, Bruce hitting Dick after Jason's death is seen as abusive by the fandom, and Dick is a grown adult. Abuse was, and still is, very normalized), it doesn't matter the kid always had food and a warm bed, it doesn't matter he had adults looking after him when his parents were away, it is still neglect and neglect is abuse.
YES, Crystal Brown was abusive because she enabled Arthur's abuse, defended him and did not protect her daughter, prioritizing her addiction over Stephanie. Being an addict is hard, but that doesn't mean they are exempted from being responsible of their actions, especially if said actions is putting a child in danger. It doesn't matter that Stephanie loves Crystal, it doesn't matter that Crystal loves Stephanie, it doesn't matter that Crystal got better, she still has abused Stephanie. Stephanie sees herself as responsible of protecting and caring for her mother because her mother failed as a parent. Crystal failed to protect and care for Steph, leading to her daughter being abused. Enabling abuse is still abuse, being a bystander is still abuse. It doesn't matter Crystal wasn't hurting Steph like Arthur was, she stood by and didn't help, defending him, and that's abuse.
I need y'all to also realize that these situations are things people go through in real life, and how it would affect them to read y'all defending them being good parents.
"They still love their parents so that means they aren't bad/abusive" You are failing to defend children from abuse and to understand the complexity of child abuse. This complexity is that human children have no say in building an emotional connection with their parents/caretakers, so even when they are hurt deeply by them, they still love and care for them. Which is why, even after having been hurt or/and harmed and realizing it, a child is more likely to preserve a relationship with their parent than a partner with an abusive ex.
Some of y'all will go "Bruce is a bad father because he didn't kill the Joker for Jason or let Jason kill the Joker" and then be like "Janet was a good mom, even tho she barely talked to Tim and only saw him a couple of times in the year, because she loves him", and that's not acceptable.
