Headache-inducing categorization

[estirose]

So, I am finishing/getting ready to post a fic on AO3.

It's got a science fiction premise - the pov character is a canon character that was deaged permanently and had to grow up again, has no real idea of their original life, is for all intents not the same as the canon character. They're attracted to the original's girlfriend/boyfriend, but there's no relationship there, the pov character is underage and the original's partner isn't about to date an underage version of the canon character.

I have no clue on whether to mark this gen or not, because while there is one-sided attraction on the part of the pov character, all actual relationships happened in the past.

Sometimes I wish my brain didn't go off on weird writing tangents. Particularly in fandoms I've been writing a lot in lately.

Comments

[reka]

How much has Dillon been there for Ziggy as he grew up? That would have a pretty significant effect on how he sees Ziggy, I think. Knowing Ziggy is interested would mess him up, I agree, but what sort of relationship did he have with Ziggy while he was growing up? How present was he?

Summer needs to have a Talk with Dillon, I think.

[estirose]

Dillon played with Ziggy when he was really little, partly because he was right there. But after they defeated Venjix, Dillon went back to his loner tendencies to minimize the pain, though he checked back every so often. Ziggy mostly knows him as kind of the mysterious, protective guy who was his parents' teammate. Dillon would have been better off playing uncle like Summer wanted him to.

Summer is hoping Dillon, as an adult, realizes it's a bad idea before she has to play the "minor son" card. Scott & Flynn will grimly back her up, if needed.

[reka]

I wonder if Summer should (or would, since it could be considered invading her son's privacy) talk to Dillon beforehand. Scott, too, since he's had an equal part in raising Ziggy, it seems.

Dillon probably makes it worse by continuing to play that very appealing mysterious loner role.

[estirose]

It's a tricky issue (which is not helped by the role that Dillon is continuing to play, not at all). Summer is reluctant to invade Ziggy's privacy and hopes that all parties involved show common sense. Scott is more straightforward, because in some ways, this is going to cause a problem. I think Scott would be more likely to confront Dillon in anticipation of a problem, and Summer if it happens to become a problem.

[reka]

Would Summer share what Ziggy told her with Scott, or would she think of it as more of a mother-son conversation?

[estirose]

Not as a concern, I don't think, because she trusts Ziggy to think and to tell her there's a problem. She might mention it casually to Scott as something they might want to talk to Dillon about eventually, but she's shying away from actually telling Dillon that Ziggy's attracted to him because she knows how he's going to react even if Ziggy shows sense. In her mind, if she tells Dillon that Ziggy's attracted, she thinks that Dillon will pursue Ziggy even if Ziggy's basically decided it's not a good idea.

Incidentally, Flynn's solution to this whole thing is to toss Ziggy at Dillon so that Ziggy can get to know Dillon (therefore removing the mystery) and Dillon can be reminded that this isn't his Ziggy.

[reka]

I think there's something to be said for making them interact, but it would have to be carefully done, or it'll just end up being entirely ineffective if both parties are too embarrassed to interact with each other.

[estirose]

Hm.

Flynn would throw a party, but that wouldn't do much because they'd be able to avoid each other - Dillon because he again doesn't want to be hurt, and Ziggy because he doesn't want to hurt Dillon. And of course, Gemma's little talk included a few details that Ziggy will be very uncomfortable about upon seeing Dillon, because, apparently, she walked in on Dillon and the original Ziggy once, and she told Ziggy about it.

(I have this horrible image of Gemma, overhearing Flynn talking to Scott and/or Summer, deciding that it would be a really good idea to seat them together and then tell Dillon about Ziggy's feelings as she perceives them. Which is colored by the fact that she tends to have a skewed perspective of who the present Ziggy is.)

[reka]

I don't think it would be out of character for Gemma, so I'm just hoping that somebody realizes it could happen, or Flynn is persuaded to not throw this party.

[estirose]

Yes, because that would cause poor Ziggy to go weep/hide in the corner or something because he's so embarrassed. And then Dillon would probably get half his team having to stop him from chasing after Ziggy. And then the conversation would get incredibly more awkward.

(On the other hand, maybe it would persuade Dillon that Gemma's perception is... off.)

I also have an amusing perception of a much less embarrassing event where Gemma is stopped, Flynn gets Ziggy to stop blushing every time he sees Dillon, and sits the two of them down, telling Ziggy to tell Dillon all about how he's doing in school, his favorite subjects, etc.

[reka]

I hope Dillon wouldn't be quite as insane about it as his teammates think he will be.

[estirose]

He is stubborn. On the other hand, he isn't stupid. (In my head, since Summer and Scott would likely step in the way, his reaction would be "Lemme guess. We need to talk." And then go on to have a perfectly rational conversation about Ziggy. Who might even wander back from his corner because he's curious.)

(Which might even lead to a whole idea on how to demystify Dillon for Ziggy, and get Dillon used to the 'new' Ziggy - though that will still be hard. Flynn favors having Ziggy stay over with Dillon for a week so they can't avoid each other, but that's because my brain likes to go in weird directions.)