Excusing bruce letting his kids be robin because "they would've found a way to fight crime regardless" tells me that nobody should ever leave a child in your care. At all.
When i was 16, i wanted to smoke cigarettes, and i used to go to the mall alone all the time. I could've bought them any time i wanted. Did my dad teach me how to smoke properly so that when i do smoke, I'm aware of how I'm supposed to do it? No! He banned that shit and checked my room every day. Set up a whole system to make sure i never went near cigarettes, and told me the dangers of smoking with first-hand accounts. the main goal of being a parent is protecting your child, not enabling them to harm themselves but excusing it by teaching them how to do said harmful thing more safely.
"Oh, every child after dick wanted to be robin, so bruce had no choice but to let them." No shit?? what child wouldn't jump at the chance to be a superhero? Hell, jason was only taken in by bruce after the ma gunn thing, and he referred to him as robin even then. If i was homeless and starving and got the opportunity to not only get out of a shitty situation but to become a hero. In no world would anyone ever refuse.
"without tim, bruce would've killed himself" if you need a prebuscent child to keep your mental health in check, and having an inexperienced child put themself in harm's way is the only way to prevent you from killing yourself, maybe quit? seek therapy? seek friends?
Kids ALWAYS want to do dumb shit. It's literally what being a kid is. If you can't monitor your kid enough that them sneaking out of a whole manor to fight crime is a genuine concern, then don't adopt.
Jiang Cheng wakes up gasping, full of terror because something is at his throat, something is choking him and he can’t get enough air, he can’t breathe, he’s going to die!
He claws at his neck, desperately trying to remove whatever it is that’s hurting him, that’s stealing all his breath, but it’s not working, he still can’t breathe and he’s gulping for air, trying to get as much as possible even though he’s barely able to take a full breath.
Someone removes his hands from his throat and Jiang Cheng sobs, because he doesn’t want to die, he just wants to take a breath, why is someone doing this to him?
“Please,” he chokes out, probably barely audible over his tries to get enough air into his lungs.
“Shh, my heart, it’s alright, everything is okay,” Nie Mingjue tells him and Jiang Cheng wants to rage and to yell, because nothing is alright, something is strangling him, he’s going to die so how can Nie Mingjue say that everything is okay?
Jiang Cheng starts to claw at Nie Mingjue instead but he doesn’t seem deterred because he reaches out for him again and suddenly Jiang Cheng can breathe.
“It was your shirt,” Nie Mingjue soothingly says as Jiang Cheng takes breath after breath but it’s still a long time before he calms down enough to properly look at Nie Mingjue.
“What?”
“You got your shirt all tangled up while you slept and it was tight around your throat,” Nie Mingjue explains and Jiang Cheng’s hands fly to his neck.
There’s no rope around it, and no obvious injury and now that he’s a bit calmer Jiang Cheng realizes that they are still in their bedroom, the alarm blaring and the bedside light on.
“That’s—it?” Jiang Cheng gets out, because it had felt so real.
“That’s it,” Nie Mingjue promises him and now that Jiang Cheng looks at him—really looks at him—he notices that Nie Mingjue seems scared.
“I’m sorry,” Jiang Cheng says almost on reflex, but of course Nie Mingjue shakes his head.
“For what?”
“Scaring you,” Jiang Cheng mutters and he moves to hug Nie Mingjue but that makes his shirt move again and suddenly the collar is pressed against his throat again; there’s no real pressure to it, but Jiang Cheng can hardly stand it.
“I have to—” he rushes out and then takes off his shirt before Nie Mingjue can even ask what’s going on.
“My heart, are you alright?” Nie Mingjue asks, his voice full of concern and Jiang Cheng doesn’t even know how to answer that.
“It’s better now,” he says, one hand hovering over his neck, careful not to touch but when Nie Mingjue hesitantly reaches out for him he lowers it. “Please hug me,” he encourages him and Nie Mingjue pulls him into his arms immediately.
“That scared me,” Nie Mingjue admits and Jiang Cheng closes his eyes, presses his face into Nie Mingjue’s shoulder.
It scared him, too.
Jiang Cheng wants to enjoy this, wants to stay like this forever, but their alarm is still going and he knows that he has to be at work in less than an hour.
“Let’s get ready,” Jiang Cheng says after giving himself another minute in Nie Mingjue’s arms and when he pushes away from him, Nie Mingjue only allows it reluctantly.
“You sure you’re okay? I can call in for you,” he offers but Jiang Cheng shakes his head.
His father is not going to accept a sick day, so it’s useless to even try. Jiang Cheng dragged himself to work feeling much worse than today, after all.
“It’s fine,” he tells Nie Mingjue who looks dubiously at him, but doesn’t comment on it.
“I love you,” he instead says and pulls Jiang Cheng in for a soft kiss, uncaring of their morning breath.
“That’s gross,” Jiang Cheng says when they part but he belies his own words when he darts in for another quick kiss.
“Sure,” Nie Mingjue says with a knowing smirk, but Jiang Cheng can still see the worry in his eyes and he wishes he could do anything to make this alright.
But all he can think of is making them some breakfast, so that’s what he’s going to do.
Breakfast is quiet, much like it always is, and when Jiang Cheng is finished he leaves Nie Mingjue to the rest of his meal to get dressed.
Jiang Cheng puts his clothes for the day on the bed and putting on the pants and the undershirt is fine, but when he reaches for the dress shirt, he hesitates.
He’d have to close it up all the way, especially if he wants to wear his tie and his hands shake just thinking about it. Jiang Cheng still forces himself to put on the dress, and he manages to button it up all the way—even if it leaves him shaking and the feeling of being choked is creeping back in—but when he has to reach for the tie he can’t bring himself to do it.
His breath is already coming faster than before and Jiang Cheng is pretty sure he’s on his way to another one of those attack when arms encircle him from behind and pull him into a warm chest.
“Don’t wear it today,” Nie Mingjue whispers into his ear and reaches up to undo the first two buttons of his shirt as well.
“I can’t go like this,” Jiang Cheng gives back, but he has to admit that he’s already breathing easier. “I have to dress properly.”
“You are properly dressed. No one is expecting you to wear a suit to work every single day,” Nie Mingjue argues, but Jiang Cheng knows better.
“My father—”
“Can deal,” Nie Mingjue vehemently says and Jiang Cheng snorts out a laugh.
“I wish,” he then whispers and he allows Nie Mingjue to turn him around.
“When are you going to quit?” Nie Mingjue asks him and Jiang Cheng blinks at him.
“I can’t.”
“Why not? He’s treating you like shit and I’m going to take a wild guess here and say that working there drove you to a panic attack this morning.”
“That wasn’t—” Jiang Cheng starts but he can’t even lie to himself.
Yes, it was a panic attack. And going by how reluctant he is to dress for work, Nie Mingjue’s assumption is probably not completely baseless.
“What would I do if I quit? No one would take me,” he mutters and Nie Mingjue sighs.
“You can work with me,” he says and before Jiang Cheng can protest he goes on. “And if you don’t want to do that, do you really think that Lan Qiren wouldn’t happily employ you? Hell, even Jin Zixuan would give you a job, you know he respects the hell out of you. And if you don’t want to work with any of these companies, you’re smart enough to get into any other company you want to.” Nie Mingjue sighs. “I just wish you would see how much you are worth. You’re worth so much more than your shitty father makes you believe.”
Jiang Cheng worries his lip at Nie Mingjue’s words. It’s not the first time he tells him that, but Jiang Cheng has a hard time believing it, and it’s no different this morning.
“I can’t,” he whispers and slings his arms around Nie Mingjue’s middle. “But I can forego the tie today,” he then adds, because just the idea of putting it on makes him shudder and Nie Mingjue squeezes him in response.
“Good,” he says and presses a kiss to Jiang Cheng’s head and even though it’s not exactly what Nie Mingjue wanted to hear, he never gives Jiang Cheng the feeling of being disappointed with him and for that alone Jiang Cheng loves him.
They stay like that until Jiang Cheng is almost late.
~*~*~
Jiang Cheng feels strange without his tie and the top button unbuttoned but no one commented on it yet, and so he guesses it must be fine.
It’s not like a lot of people at work even wear suits in the first place. He probably fits in more now than he ever has before.
Jiang Cheng’s day is going decently well, right until he runs into his father on his way to the bathroom.
“What is this?” Jiang Fengmian wants to know, levelling Jiang Cheng with a look that almost makes him shrink back.
“What is what?” Jiang Cheng asks, because he needs a bit more to properly answer the question.
“Where is your tie? Why are you running around like a slob at work?” Jiang Fengmian demands and Jiang Cheng looks down at himself.
He’s still wearing the suit and he thinks that alone should be enough to not be classified as a slob.
“I thought I could leave it today,” Jiang Cheng says, not even half as firm as he wants to and he shrinks back even more when Jiang Fengmian scoffs.
“You thought,” he almost sneers. “Well, you thought wrong. You have to look your absolute best at all times and this is simply unacceptable.”
Normally, Jiang Cheng would nod and agree and apologize, but he still remembers how it felt that morning to almost choke on nothing and maybe, just maybe, Nie Mingjue is right.
Maybe this job is not good for him at all.
“And why would it matter?” Jiang Cheng asks, clearly catching Jiang Fengmian off guard, which makes sense. He never talks back to him. Until now, it seems. “Who would care? You keep me in my office at all times. When you have an important meeting you make sure to bury me in unimportant paperwork so I don’t run across anyone. Tell me, father, who here would really care what I wear?”
“That doesn’t matter! You represent the Jiang family. You have to look your absolute best.”
Just as he’s saying that, Wei Wuxian walks past, his eyes glued to a phone. He’s wearing torn up jeans and a shirt with at least a dozen suspicious stains on it. There’s even a hole near the collar and Jiang Cheng looks after him before he turns towards his father again.
“But that is okay?” he wants to know and Jiang Fengmian rolls his eyes.
“That’s different.”
“Of course it is,” Jiang Cheng mutters and then louder says “But you do take him with you to meetings. He gets to meet the important people.”
“Because he’s inventing the things I sell,” Jiang Fengmian explains but Jiang Cheng shakes his head.
“And that allows him to walk around like this?”
“Don’t shift the blame now, Wanyin. This is about your poor conduct. And besides. A-Ying isn’t made to wear formal clothes,” his father says and Jiang Cheng nods.
“I see,” he says, and while there’s already a smile forming on Jiang Fengmian’s face, Jiang Cheng only hears Nie Mingjue’s voice, telling him that he should quit.
And this time, Jiang Cheng listens to it.
“I quit. Expect my letter of resignation on your table by midday,” he says to his father, watching as his face slowly morphs into surprise before it turns to shock and at that point Jiang Cheng simply turns around and leaves.
It feels good to walk away from his father for once.
Jiang Cheng doesn’t listen to whatever nonsense he’s calling after him. He makes his way back to his office where he immediately writes down his resignation and when he packs his things he realizes that he doesn’t even have anything to take with him.
There’s not one personal item in this office and that alone should have been clue enough for him, Jiang Cheng guesses.
He takes his bag and leaves the letter with Jiang Fengmian’s secretary before he steps out of the building, feeling free for the first time in years.
Jiang Cheng itches to call Nie Mingjue but he thinks a surprise visit would be much better, so he goes to do just that.
Nie Mingjue’s secretary lets him into his office without much of a fuss, because unlike Jiang Cheng Nie Mingjue keeps personal items in his office and not a few of those are pictures of Jiang Cheng.
“My heart, what are you doing here?” Nie Mingjue asks, clearly surprised when Jiang Cheng walks in, and Jiang Cheng doesn’t stop until he walks right into Nie Mingjue, who hugs him immediately.
“I quit,” he mutters into Nie Mingjue’s chest.
“You what?” Nie Mingjue asks for clarification, but he already sounds delighted and when Jiang Cheng pulls away from him, he’s smiling down at him.
“I quit. Just now. I’m unemployed.”
“And how does that feel?” Nie Mingjue wants to know and Jiang Cheng beams up at him.
“Fucking amazing!”
“That’s what I want to hear,” Nie Mingjue nods and then kisses the breath right out of Jiang Cheng. “What are you going to do now?” he asks when they part and Jiang Cheng shrugs.
“Take a few weeks off, probably, to figure that out,” he tells Nie Mingjue who nods.
“Sounds like a good plan. You deserve it,” Nie Mingjue proudly says, relieving a lot of the fears Jiang Cheng still had.
Nie Mingjue is different than his father, but Jiang Cheng is going to be unemployed for a while and he was worried that Nie Mingjue would mind.
“That calls for a celebration. I’m taking the rest of the day off, we’re having lunch,” Nie Mingjue decides and Jiang Cheng is still a little bit too shocked by his own actions to stop him.
“I love you,” he tells Nie Mingjue who goes all soft at hearing it, even though Jiang Cheng tries to say it often.
“I love you, too, and I am very proud of you,” Nie Mingjue tells him and Jiang Cheng has to fight back a few tears at hearing it.
He’s going to take his time to figure out what he’s going to do next, just so that he can be sure it’s something he really wants to do and knowing that Nie Mingjue will support him—and even encourage him—is so important to Jiang Cheng.
“Thank you,” he whispers, but of course Nie Mingjue shakes his head.
“None of that, you know I always support you,” he gives back and drops a kiss to Jiang Cheng’s head. “Now come on, what are you in the mood for?”
“You,” Jiang Cheng says with a cheeky grin and threads their fingers together, enjoying how Nie Mingjue’s cheeks take on the faintest blush.
“Shush, you, we’re at my work. I meant what are you in the mood for regarding food?” Nie Mingjue clarifies and Jiang Cheng laughs.
He feels happy and free and as long as Nie Mingjue is by his side he doesn’t care what they are going to do or choose.
Hawkmoth akumatized Lila the first time knowing that she lies constantly. He literally says “aHhHhh jealousy, deceit, and the desire to be a superhero,” while he’s opening his secret lair window. Then he tells her “I’m giving you the power of illusion. From now on your lies will come to life.”
I see in fics a lot that people are saying he’s trusting her now, by letting her hang out with Adrien. He even says he is trusting her to her face. I had totally forgotten that he knew 100% that Lila is a potato sack filled with lies when he got into this agreement he has with her. He didn’t just think she was suspicious. He knew she thought she was pulling one over on him and still allowed her (and not sweet, kind, innocent Nino) to hang out alone with Adrien in his room, to hang all over him, to attend photo shoots with him... He isolated his son from people who care about him in the name of protecting him, but threw Adrien to the lions because it might help him get some fancy jewelry.
Gabriel Agreste’s parenting is always shitty. This is just another example where he knows how much he’s hurting Adrien and doesn’t care.
you know what angers me to my very core? the fact that parents just keep ridiculing their children and calling them lazy and not noticing the very visible signs of deteriorating mental health of their child? and taking away every single thing that the child finds comfort in? and cutting off any sort of downtime? and policing their social interactions and their friendships?
I know Mother’s Day is over now, but I wish there was a way to reliably block the posts about idk Fun Prank Gifts For My Loving Mum, because I actually remembered and bit the bullet and called my mum, and she spent the first ten mins of that conversation gaslighting me, so like. that’s that on that.
me: welp i’m tired and i wish my parents would give their money to the poor and ppl who actually need it instead of going on a vacation in the middle of a global pandemic so i’m extremely angry but i can’t change their minds or reason with them and I have no control over my finances because they monitor that shit so i can’t do anything and it makes me so fucking angry that we could be out there helping people by getting them food and giving them money instead of renting a house to go to a beach for a vacation jfc can’t y’all be decent human beings but nope! every time i try to reason with them they get mad i just want to get out of here and leave ffs i’m so pissed off
me: mom, you feel the need to do everything for me cause i "cant do it right" which makes me feel incompetent. this led me to never ask for your help when i've been in a bad place to prove that im not as useless as you make me feel. thats why most of my mental health problems have gone unchecked until its too late. so if you could put some faith in me and stopped treating me like an idiot then maybe i'd start opening up abput my issues before being on the brink of death.
my mom: mhm cool just fyi you dont have a job so you actually cant do anything by yourself and you do need me
