#I currently only have five niblings

[captain-mozzarella]

I am SO TIRED

I’m not entirely happy with the watercolour (cuz I’m mostly not used to it lmao) but Im too tired to care at this point

(Individual photos under the cut :3)

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for correcting my niblings without my brother's input?

I had a massive falling out with my family when I was a teenager. I was into goth/edgy/horror culture and true crime before it was accepted by the mainstream, plus my parents were older when they had us and we lived on a farm. They needed my brother and me to keep the farm going, and I decided to pursue college instead. At some point after this they sold/lost their farm, but I do not know when, which fueled their resentment. At their request I did not speak to them until 2021, when my brother found me on Facebook to tell me my parents both died of covid and we held a Zoom funeral. After that he moved several states over to be closer to me so we could work on reconciliation and forgiving me for the farm incident.

So now I (45f) babysit his (44m) two youngest children (10m, 8f) for free, and have been since 2021. Initially he had full custody as his ex wife did not have a job or any job experience when they divorced (before we reconciled) but she now has a full time job so they share custody currently, although she is in our home state, so they decided the kids should go to school there still and spend holidays and summers with him. I am currently an art professor at a local university and for summer semester I only have morning classes and he works afternoons, so it works out.

Last week, his youngest asked me; "OP, how come you lie so much?" Her brother tried to shush her but I asked for clarification. Her brother told her she wasn't supposed to tell me, but she did anyway, and then he also chimed in to confirm. Turns out, whenever I told his kids about any vacations to other countries I took, he said I was making it up to sound important. When I told them I went to medical school, he said I was lying and was a glorified art teacher and only went to community college. I have a serious boyfriend who I have mentioned, although I do not spend time with him while babysitting per the mother's request not to have any adult with her children before meeting them and giving the okay, and so my brother insists I made him up.

I was very hurt, and so I showed them pictures, diplomas, videos, etc proving I was not lying. It is true I got into a community college near our home town on an art scholarship and an FHA grant, but I was able to skip generals due to advanced courses I was taking in high school. I quickly got interested in the medical field and was able to transfer to a medical school on several scholarships and obviously loans. I became a pediatric oncologist and was happy with that until my later thirties. I had kept art as a hobby but eventually realized I wanted to do more with it. I retired from pediatric oncology and then became an art professor five years ago. When I was a doctor, I met my current boyfriend (46m) who is a trauma surgeon. Starting in my late twenties, until covid, I was able to travel throughout the US and even to many foreign countries, sometimes for work, sometimes for vacation. There was no way for him to know this as we were not in contact, but I was very hurt that instead of believing me, he has been telling his kids I'm a liar for the past two years. So yes I did show them the photos and videos specifically because I was hurt.

The following day my brother called me and shouted at me, angry I had deliberately contradicted him. He was angry enough he was shouting at me. He has been dragging this on through text for the past few days. His ex wife also contacted me, asking for my version of events, as apparently their children called her crying about the situation. I told her exactly what I said here. He called me not an hour later screaming. Unbeknownst to me, she has been trying to get full custody of the children and he's convinced that this situation will get his kids taken from him, something he has a fear of due to the fact he has two adult children from a previous marriage who went no contact when they both turned 18. He insists that his ex wife turned them against him, and now he is terrified it will happen again. I was not aware of this until recently, nor did I think this would cause an issue with his custody. It has been very awkward babysitting his kids, as they have been very quiet since this whole thing happened. I don't have kids myself, nor have I been divorced, so I don't understand parenting or divorce etiquette, but I am still very hurt and even angry with him for calling me a liar to his children. Before I make any further decisions regarding an apology, I wanted to get advice as to whether I am the asshole for not bringing it up with him before showing his kids evidence that I did, in fact, do those things, and if so, how I can rectify this appropriately.

What are these acronyms?

[swallowedbyfandom]

Ant,

My courtship with Penelope is going fantastic this currently a source of great joy and great frustration. I am FRUSTRATED if you catch my meaning. If you do not, let me for safety sake clarify. Holding Penelope in my arms during our dances at balls and walking beside her during our promenades and watching her take in the world with her keen eyes at the museums has me almost at my wits end. Simply put her maid will not be able to stop me, should I put her over my shoulder and abscond with her to my home. I invited all three Featherington ladies to the Theatre Royal Covenant Garden Bridgerton Box thinking this would be enough and still I was so very close to getting charged with public indecency when the lights were turned down. Luckily Prudence opted to speak or I would have ended up crawling beneath Penelope's skirts and hoping the Orchestra was enough to drown out the sounds. Portia is chaos incarnate and would leave us alone just to see what happens and I assure what would happen would get us exiled from polite society. I know you are laughing at me but I don't care when I claim Penelope, I will do so as her damn husband. She will have my ring, my name and all the greed that lives in my bones. So get me a special license I plan to propose in five days. I want to be married no longer than a fortnight after. Portia has agreed already to the timeline as I know she can see how precarious my control is. My mother in law giggles every time she see me now, Anthony. I need you and mother to ensure I am not left alone with that walking temptation I wish to call my wife. We shall hold the wedding in my gardens I already have the gazebo almost completed and the catering and cake for wedding breakfast is already arranged. The flowers and music can be handled by mother and Portia. Our colors are sea foam and silver. Penelope already has her wedding gown and her trousseau ready. She prepared most of it during the off season rather than chance her mother contributing to it. I plan to propose during our outing at the Royal Menagerie at the Tower of London. I want my darling to see a proper menagerie not that sad attempt Debling tried to pass off to impress my beloved Pen. We want a small intimate wedding of family only. Eloise better get herself ready to be a bridesmaid, I am not above blackmail. I love you all but not one should expect to see us for at least a month but really closer 6 weeks. I have plans, Ant. We will see you in Aubrey Hall for the birth of our nibling. I know you are all leaving in a month. I know we will talk later this evening but I will probably catch sight of Penelope from your home and all my thoughts will go up in smoke.

Losing my mind,

Your most charming brother

Anthony falls out of his chair and ends up halfway under his desk laughing. Never has he laughed so hard, he is actually wheezing in between deranged cackling and hysterical giggles. Damn, this is what Colin has reduced him to.

[makeproshipfriends]

ah, hello, you may call me hubble (hubbs, hubby, hub(b) for short!) im 15 years old, andddddd im REALLY into FNAF and pokemon. i would name more medias but im very scared of my moots on my "anti" account finding this one! im gay and transmasc and i go by he/it/star pronouns (bro/bros/broself, and dude/dudes/dudeself is only for if you know me!)

im a shotacon, im OBSESSED with itty bitty fictional boys that look five ^_^, im profiction, im a proshipper (no shit), darkshipper, and comshipper. i really enjoy large age gaps in fanfiction and ONLY cousin x cousin or nephew/niece/nibling x aunt/uncle/auntcle(? idk the gender neutral term for aunt/ uncle :( )

im also a selfshipper! my only and current F/O is CC (garrett or evan, i refer to him as both) and im also taken by my lovely bf <3

i love to draw and write fucked up stories abt problematic age gaps because its super fun lmao. SPECIFICALLY i have these two ocs who are uncle and nephew and are in a forced/groomed consang relationship. i might draw them soon and make stories abt them on ao3 but who knows!

so. uhms. if you want to be friends, follow meeeeeeeee :DDD

Go say hi to Hubble! 🌻

[bazzybelle]

You Got Me Tripping on Sunshine - 3K - Teen - Calliope/Johanna Constantine

For Sandman FemSlash Weekend - Day 2: Meet-Cute

Yay! Another Fic done for the @sandmanfemslashfans !

The couple I've chosen to write for this time are Calliope and Johanna! Another popular Sandman couple!

This is completely unbetaed and was done in a bit of a rush... So forgive any errors on my part. I did the best I could to make it as neat and legible as possible.

The title of the fic was inspired by the song "Running on Sunshine" by Jesus Jackson.

You can read the story by clicking the link, or by clicking the Keep Reading bar below.

Click here for the Story on AO3

Johanna Constantine is not a wedding person. She never was. Not when she was a young girl, and her grandmother insisted she dress up in pretty pink clothes because so-and-so’s aunt or other was getting hitched and the Constantine family was always expected to be there. 

No matter that the family had fallen on hard times ever since great-great-great grandfather Stephan made several unwise investments during the early 1800s. Johanna, even then, was wise enough to understand that weddings were only useful as a way for snobby fucks to prance about, gossiping and criticizing. 

“Auntie Jo?”

Johanna glances to her right, and sees the main reason she’s even here. Well, and the fact that one of the grooms is her best friend (despite her repeated attempts to dissuade the man from associating with her), and the father of the child currently tugging on her deep navy pantsuit (the only way she’d even agreed to being Hob’s Mate of Honour was if she could wear a pantsuit). She had to yell at Hob to allow her to make sure Robyn was taken care of so that he could enjoy the day with his husband. Hob had wanted to keep Robyn with him all day, which would not have been fun for either of them. 

Plus she loves spending time with her unofficial godchild. They’re one of the few children Johanna can stand being around for more than 5 minutes. 

Little Robyn is beaming up at her, also dressed in dark navy, they’ve chosen to wear a long, elegant dress. Their long, brown hair is done in curls with several blue and white flowers pinned around the crown of their head. Ever since they’ve started wearing dresses and keeping their hair long, it’s like Robyn’s a new child. They’re smiling more and laughing and so incredibly affectionate. 

“Yes, my darling?” she responds, bending down to her favourite nibling.

“Are Daddy and Papa finished yet? I’m hungry.”

Unsurprising. She and the rest of the wedding party (by that, just Morpheus’ sister, Teleute) were done with their photographs hours ago. She had stuck around and waited while Robyn and Morpheus’ son took some pictures with the love-struck couple. It was all very sweet and wholesome, and if Johanna was the same person she was five years ago, she would have gagged at the display. 

But she isn’t, and she blames Hob and Robyn for that. She’d initially met Hob through her good friend, Eleanor. She’d fallen in love with this ridiculous, dork of a man, but he was kind and had a good heart. It didn’t take long for Jo to accept Hob into her very miniscule circle of friends. Her circle only grew with the addition of Robyn, and the promise of a new baby when Eleanor got pregnant a second time. 

Or, at least it should have grown. But pregnancy is rough and complications happen and—

Hob was a mess when he lost Eleanor. Robyn was a screaming toddler, crying for his mummy, and Hob didn’t know what to do. So Jo pitched in, and made sure they had an extra set of hands. Hob will always tell her that she’d saved them, but the truth is, they saved her. If she’d been left to her own devices after El died, she would have ended up dead drunk in some alley. 

Eventually Hob and Robyn learned to find peace in each other, and it wasn’t too long afterwards that Hob found love again. Jo was the first person he told when he first met Morpheus, and then when he asked him out, and once more when he was thinking about proposing. 

And so, her circle of influence threatened to expand even more with the inclusion of Morpheus and his own child. 

Which leads to today, and a hungry six year old. Lord knows with Hob and Morpheus, they might have snuck away from their photographers for some privacy. God, she hopes not. Like Robyn, she’s also getting rather hungry, and the hor d’oeuvres aren’t very filling. She has half a mind to sneak into the New Inn’s kitchen and grab some food for herself. 

Now there was an idea. If anyone asks, she could say that she’s just making sure the groom’s child is being taken care of properly. And part of her duty is to make sure Robyn’s well fed. 

(And if that meant she’d have to sneak in a few bites of food herself, well who was she to say no to that?)

“We can’t have that, now can we? D’you think your daddy will mind if we pop back into the kitchens to see if the caterers will give us a bite?”

“Daddy says I can’t go back there without an adult. He says it’s dangerous.”

“Oi, and what am I, chopped liver? I’m plenty adult, thank you very much.” Johanna takes their small hand in hers. Robyn giggles, leading Johanna through the small crowd of people already gathered at The New Inn, waiting for the happily married couple to arrive. 

“Where’s your partner in crime?” 

Robyn shrugs, “Orpheus is probably with his mamma.” 

Oh yes, Jo had heard a lot about the mysterious former Mrs. Athanasiou (although apparently since the divorce, she’d gone back to her maiden name). She’d never met the woman, but from what Hob had told her, she was one of those pretty, delicate little things that came from a long line of wealth and prestige. The type of person that Hob’s posh husband would have gotten saddled with. 

Was she being slightly unfair? Probably. Hob hadn’t explicitly used the words “pretty, delicate little thing” to describe her, but he did say she came from a posh family and was pretty well off. 

The rest came from Johanna’s own assumptions. 

And from doing a background check on the woman. Look, it was her job as Robyn’s auntie and unofficial godmother to make sure that the people in his life were not of the shady sort (and she loves Hob, but the man can be far too trusting of other humans). She did one on Morpheus when Hob first told her about him. Not that she really needed to. As soon as she heard the Athanasiou last name, she knew exactly who he was. That family was well known to her grandmamma, and she spoke of them often. The third born, Morpheus, was a famous composer and songwriter back in Greece. With money like that family had, he could afford to do whatever he wished. 

As for Calliope, she was another child of some powerful Greek family, who became a well known singer. One who preferred to perform Morpheus’ compositions. Apparently the two had been a power couple back in Greece, until the birth of their son. Johanna hadn’t bothered to read about the messy divorce. It frankly wasn’t any of her business. 

She did meet Morpheus’ son, Orpheus (interesting name for a child, if you asked her). He’s a very sweet child, even if he’s got the air of someone raised by an extremely well-to-do family. Not that he was spoiled, but as young as he was, Johanna got the sense that he knew that he was meant for some wild destiny. She understood how that felt, being a Constantine. 

A few of the caterers know Robyn as soon as they step inside the kitchen and are all too excited to give them some food. Robyn, like the Gadling they are, makes sure that Johanna gets some food as well. It isn’t much, a few pieces of chicken souvlaki, and some pita bread. Just enough to tide the two of them over until the grooms arrive. 

Robyn’s hair is starting to become a little undone from the excitement so far. The flowers are becoming loose, and the thin braided crown around their head is starting to look messy. She imagines a bunch of Hob’s other friends and co-workers have all been giving Robyn hugs and cooing over how lovely they look. Johanna did the best she could with Robyn’s hair that morning, but she isn’t really good at this sort of thing. Maybe they should sneak back upstairs to the flat Hob shares with Dream to see if she can salvage anything. 

Then again, is it really worth it with a rambunctious six year old? 

“Robyn! There you are!”

It seems that the elusive Orpheus has found his way to the kitchen. Johanna smiles and waves to Robyn’s new step-brother. Robyn runs to Orpheus and the two children wrap their arms tight around each other. It’s nice, Johanna thinks, that Robyn gets to have a sibling they deeply love. A sibling, according to Hob, who has already begun to defend Robyn’s choices in how they wish to present themselves. 

Clearly this child is better than most of the adults living in London. 

“Orpheus? Pou eisai, agapi mou? ” a woman calls out in Greek. Johanna’s knowledge of the language is non-existant, but she imagines this must be Calliope, asking after her son. 

“ Edo einai, mamma ” calls out Orpheus. 

A woman enters the kitchen, and greets the catering staff with a smile on her face. Now, Johanna has seen photos of Calliope Vandi in her research, but photos will never do someone justice when faced with the actual person. 

Calliope is, to put it in polite terms, bloody fucking gorgeous. She’s tall, and carries herself like a queen in her realm. Her long, chestnut hair is done up in elaborate braids that would make Daenerys Targaryan jealous. Strategic curls spill down her back, nearly covering her backless rose gold gown. 

Johanna quickly dusts herself off —no doubt having had crumbs spill onto her own suit— and tries to tidy herself as best as she can. She has always been a fucking disaster when it came to a pretty girl with a sweet smile. 

And Calliope has just that. She finds her son and gives a warm, kind smile to both him and Robyn. 

“Hello, Robyn,” she says, a musical lilt to her voice. 

Robyn smiles, and offers a tiny hand to Calliope. “Hello, Ms. Calliope. Ti kaneis? ” 

Calliope gasps, her smile growing. “Robyn, have you been learning Greek?”

Robyn beams at her. “Orpheus has been teaching me!” 

“Mamma, I’ve been teaching Robyn the alphabet and some phrases. They were so excited to show you.”

Calliope kneels down to Robyn’s level, her elegant dress carefully pooling around her. “Well, Robyn, your Greek is fantastic. And to answer your question, kala . How are you?”

Robyn blushes, tugging at their left ear (a habit they’ve acquired from their father no doubt). “ Kala ,” they say. 

“I am so happy to hear that.” Calliope gently brushes some of the hair off of Robyn’s face. “You look very lovely today. I love your dress, and your hair is very pretty.”

Robyn giggles, doing a little twirl to show off their fluffy dress. “Thank you. Auntie Jo did my hair, but she was complaining the whole time.”

“ Oi! Have some respect for your elders, you little bug.” Robyn laughs at the use of Johanna’s pet name for them. Little shit is what they are, calling her out in front of the beautiful lady. 

Weren’t adorable children supposed to help you look more attractive to other people? Leave it Hob’s kid to know exactly what to say to make Jo look like a complete idiot. 

Thankfully, Calliope doesn’t seem to take too much stock in what Robyn’s said. She stands up —ridiculously graceful, of fucking course— and approaches Johanna, slender hand held out. 

“You must be Ms. Constantine,” she says, embracing the name Constantine the way it was meant to be said, the Greek in her accent showing it all the love and care. 

“Johanna, please,” she says, taking Calliope’s hand and giving it a strong shake. She almost wants to lift it to her lips and plant a small kiss. 

And that makes her want to find the nearest bathroom in order to slap herself silly. 

For fuck’s sake, Jo. Don’t forget, she’s one of those high class posh sort . 

“It is lovely to meet you, Johanna. Orpheus has told me much about you.”

“Oh? Has he now?” Johanna looks over to Calliope’s shoulder to see Orpheus and Robyn in quiet discussion, sharing food between the two of them. 

“He has told me that you’ve taught him some rather interesting phrases for him to use.”

Crap . She was hoping that wasn’t what Orpheus had brought back to his mother. Then again, children do tend to hold onto curse words quicker than any other phrase, so she shouldn’t be surprised at all. 

There was an incident at a park several months ago. Jo had brought the kids to a nearby playground while Hob and Morpheus were doing some sort of important wedding planning nonsense. It was no big deal, but some of the other kids were giving Robyn a difficult time. Jo had gone to break things up before they got too heated, when some of the parents got involved, all too happy to tell Jo how wrong they thought Hob was to “indulge Robyn like this' ' and that he should make his kid “act normal' '. Jo was happy enough to ignore the stupidity and ignorance, and take the kids home. 

But then one of them brought up Eleanor, and said that Robyn was only the way they were because Eleanor wasn’t around. 

And Jo just lost it.

She didn’t remember exactly what her words were, but she definitely had several choice expletives she used. Of course Orpheus remembered each and every one and took them to his father. Morpheus, while happy that Jo had stood up for Robyn, was a little concerned that his son now knew phrases like “bigoted, useless prick” and that the “gormless nitwits” needed to “fuck right off”. 

She sighs, rubbing her eyes before remembering the makeup she’d spent nearly an hour putting on this morning. 

“ Fuck — No, I mean— Ah, piss it. Look, I’m sorry about that—”

Calliope lifts up a hand. “It is alright. Orpheus told me what had happened at the playground. How some of the older children were picking on Robyn, and how their ‘brave Auntie Jo’ yelled at the mean adults.” 

Jo scoffs. Well, that’s a relief. Good to know she won’t be barred from the Gadling-Athansiou household after today. She doesn’t regret anything she said (she rarely ever does), and would do it again and again. She doesn’t think she’s very brave. Being a decent person isn’t a brave thing to be. Loving a child unconditionally isn’t a brave thing to do. 

It’s one of the easiest things she’s ever done. 

“Yeah well, come after my little bug, and we’re going to have words.”

“We certainly have that in common. There is nothing I would not do for my Orpheus.” She glances at the two step-siblings giggling together, completely lost and innocent in the way that only children know how to be. “I think now, that includes Robyn too.” 

Calliope looks back to Johanna, and it’s at this moment where Johanna notices a fire in her eyes. For being a delicate, little thing, Calliope might be a whole lot tougher than she’d initially given her credit for. 

“I’ll gladly do the same for Orpheus, should the situation call for it.” 

“I am happy to hear that, Johanna.” She steps closer to her —a fresh scent of gardenia and bergamot surrounding her— and whispers conspiratorially in her ear “I’d even be happy to teach you some insults in Greek if you like. We have quite a colourful selection to choose  from.” 

Johanna turns to her, a smirk on her face, “Tough, pretty, and knows her way around a powerful curse. I like that in a woman.” 

Calliope smiles, reaching up to Jo’s suit jacket to adjust the collar slightly (bloody hell, she knew it was messed up). “Brave, strong, and knows her way around a powerful suit. I like that in a woman.”

Well , this wedding certainly got more interesting. Jo spares one last glance at Robyn and Orpheus, before leaning closer into Calliope’s space, her cheek just brushing hers. 

“You know, apparently there isn’t assigned seating,” Jo whispers softly in Calliope’s ear. 

Calliope’s eyes (Jesus, they’re pretty) (all big and brown and warm) brighten. “So I have heard.”

“Hmm. It would be silly to separate the little monsters, I think. They look so happy together, and there aren’t other kids around. They’d be so bored, otherwise.”

“That would be rather unnecessary, I think.”

“So, I propose, we all sit together. That way, we make sure Robyn and Orpheus aren’t separated,” Jo trails a pinky over Calliope’s thin wrist, a small move she does whenever she’s interested in someone. It’s important to start with slow, enticing movements, and not to rush too quickly into things. 

Calliope, it turns out, appreciates Jo’s flirtations, because she responds by dragging her thumb over her collarbone. “I believe that is an inspired idea, Johanna Constantine.”

Fuck , the way she says her name will have her ruined by the end of the night. Sassy, little minx that she is probably knows it too. 

“Auntie Jo!” Robyn calls out to her, interrupting what was clearly her laying down her A-Game (would Hob be upset with her if she called his spawn a cock-block) (what is the female equivalent anyway?) (She’s heard people use clam-jam and twat-swat, but even she has her filthy limits). 

“Yes, you impossible little demon?” she says. 

Robyn waves her mobile in the air (when the fuck did they swipe that from her?). “Daddy just texted you, and I’m not supposed to read your messages because you use too many swear words.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” she mutters, to Calliope’s amusement. If Hob’s messaged her, it means the love birds are finally finished their photo session. Which means it’s time to wrangle the hell-spawns and get them seated and ready for supper. 

Johanna turns to Calliope and holds her arm out. 

“Well, shall we head out then?”

Calliope places her hand in the crook of Jo’s elbow, “I would love to.” They collect the children and head back into the inn, where the rest of the reception eagerly awaits the arrival of the happily married couple. 

Johanna Constantine is not a wedding person. She never was.  But, with a pretty woman on her arm and the promise of a night of shameless flirting, she could learn to be one.

[bobbinalong]

Who's Arthur? He looks like he has a story attached

Arthur is an OC that has existed in some way, shape or form since ... 2015? 2016? A while. He only recently became a vigilante, though, because that's what I'm currently into, lol.

He's honestly just your basic average guy, committed relationship, some kids, his own business (either a record store or a comic book shop, right now I'm leaning towards comics), who also happens to fight some crime when he has the time, since he just so happens have control over seismic and sound waves.

These types of powers haven't existed for too long in their world (70, 80 years), so society is still grappling with all that to some degree. People just started getting born with them some day.

His nephew Zac (a speedster) finds out he's a superhero and decides to become his sidekick. Shenanigans ensue.

I'm still in the process of deciding if I want their story to be more wacky and fun or serious and grounded, so that's what I can tell you for certain. I just felt like drawing him a little gritty, to contrast with Zac, since technically that's only half of the drawing.

(Zac's side's gonna be pink.)

So. Yeah. Here's some more miscellaneous facts about him:

He's one of five children. He has an older sister named Natalie, a twin brother named David (Arthur was born first), a younger sister named Mila and a younger, enby sibling named Emil. Zac is Mila's son. He's got a bunch of other niblings, too.

He's in his early/mid thirties, has been with his partner, Lena, for eight or nine years and they have three children together (Lisa, Marlene and Joseph).

He's fairly close to all of his siblings, but closest to David (after some head butting in their teens) and Mila (she's his partner's best friend, so they spend a lot of time together. also because they're the only siblings with powers).

He goes by Seismik as a hero.

He's a very talented musician and especially enjoys playing the piano.

He's very much a family man, a bit hard to get to know at first if you're not family, generally a quiet dude but charasmatic when he wants to be. A bit of a perfectionist. Had some issues with anger in his youth, which he's got a handle on by now.

He's a quarter Russian and speaks some (bad) Russian. Mostly, he's German, though.

He doesn't kill as a vigilante but he has come close to killing a man at one point (though only if I go with more a more serious tone).

He might be ace.

Aaand he was not originally the protagonist of any story. His parents were, actually, and his big sister and that was generally slice of life with a touch of romance. I just started projecting onto him, Mila and Emil and he happened to fit the vigilante mold the best, as far as I was concerned.

[kennyomegasweave]

List five things that make you happy, then put this in the inbox of the last ten people who reblogged something from you, get to know your mutuals and your followers!

My niblings. I have twin 3.5 year old nephews and a 1.5 year old niece. They are everything.

My new fridge. My fridge was slowly dying and then it died over two weeks ago. I finally got a new one delivered on Thursday. I cried.

My cats. I have so many, so so many. Basically any cat that comes through my dog door is welcome in my home and so many come in.

My silly little gay shows. I am currently Unwell over Only Friends and it's only been one episode.

The ocean. I live about 1.5 hours away from the pacific and it's the best thing ever. I like to go every so often and submerge myself fully clothed in the water. It is very charging.

[currentfandomkick]

Look me in the eye and tell me danny’s ice core—which going by the Far Frozen (main sample for other cold cored ghosts) is not going to have a fixation on knowledge at the weirdest times. Usually its S P A C E or engineering or Infinite Realms things. But ‘i went through a whole ass ghost pregnancy, popped out two kids, AND was flung into another dimension’ Danny? He craves New Knowledge of his surroundings and the new people who kidnapped him.

Tim and Damian’s own files were main loss due to them being the biggest offenders. Damian knocked him out, Tim wanted his and /his/ babies DNA? Fuck that.

Steph would have been a target but Danny got info on the teen pregnancy thing early in his binge so she’s safe… mostly. He ate her patrol playlists.

Jason had no current files under his name, so. Danny just flung random old jason cases about and ate the list of suspected and recent crimes for Crunchy Flavor. No, Danny won’t elaborate.

Danny is probably still in a data munch mode when he goes back with Dan, so they’re probably finding random pdf textbooks to feed Danny while he’s hangry.

Dan is bouncing his niblings on his knee while Clocky throws cookies at Danny to get /some/ ectoplasm in him already!

Jazz shows up and just. Feeds the babies ecto water in a bottle mixed with formula and mentions she did this for Danny offhandedly.

Sam is laughing at Tucker, who is hiding his PDA from an info hangry Danny.

Tucker mourns the loss, only for Clockwork to hand him a replica. Tucker then sits by his bestie dealing with all sorts of body dysmorphia, ‘who makes someone give birth jfc’ violation feelings, post pregnancy hormones, post kidnapping and Core Almost Cracked things.

Sam joins him in teasing Danny into a better mental state with video game jokes. Probably ends up with the three in a cuddle huddle as Jazz hands the baby halfas back to Dan and Clockwork before grabbing a FentonPhone, stealing a soundproofed room and tearing into her mom about using the W-word and how her trans son’s dysmorphia hit real hard after being forced to go through and carry out a pregnancy after a Desiree-napping and “you better have her captured and she better not be sustaining my neice and nephew or so help me, I’ll find the reality gauntlet myself to keep them safe! Am i clear!”

Maddie doesn’t even try to defend it as “i’m sorry—Danny was what!!!”

“Transdimesional Kidnapping turned another universe kidnapping, forced pregnancy by Desiree with Some Guy from said dimension, baby-napping, danny saving his babies /hours after giving birth/, danny and his kids kidnapped again, and now we’re with grandpa Clockwork while Danny processes and /you/ figure out how to capture Desiree if W-wording her into telling you if the w-word you made is only kept alive by her magic, then w-word her into the thermos. I expect a text from Red Huntress when you know—am I clear?”

“Of course! I—tell Danny I’m sorry and I’ll make it up to him. Somehow.”

“Work on labsafety and free reign destruction on designs of his choosing. For five years. Minimum.”

“I—okay fine just, how are they?”

“Newborns. Dan is taking care of them right now.”

“… isn’t that the ghost who tried to kill us?”

“Yep.” Jazz checked the door. “And he’s also Danny’s kids’ favorite uncle. Who should be playing with then and not eavesdropping.”

Dan Turned tangible with a sheepish smile. “Hey Mo—Maddie. I uh, got therapy and not from spectra or another depression eater this time.”

Jazz shook her head.

“And uh, Danny and i are co-princes of the Infinite for a while now—I think he wanted to ease you into this but well. Babies need an ecto-sitter.”

“Right.” Maddie breathed into the phone. “Right that, i didn’t think of that.”

Dan twitched, hands itching to grab the phone. But he didn’t. /his/ old fright is dead. He… still has right of retaliation against the Observants actually. So does Danny. Hm. Things to run by his therapist before doing: slaughtering the organization that ordered his timeline’s creation, death of his fright and current state as a paradox with his traumatized and new-mom aggressive baby brother. For bonding and stress relief.

Clocky wouldn’t stop them.

Jazz gave him a look.

“So um, if it helps, Clockwork is my parole officer and he can always throw me out of existence so.”

“That does not help, thank you.”

Jazz took pity on him. “He’s an alternate Danny from when we all died. In a planned assassination.”

“Oh.” Maddie was quiet for a moment. “Then why kill us again?”

Dan flushed. “I thought it would make sure that my timeline wouldn’t exist… it’d mean the Ancients would have to stop it before it happened one way or another… and devastating a timeline didn’t work so. I also may or may not have been dealing with anchor-death, a lot of grief over you guys and over dying, again, and uh yeah. I’m going to play with the twins. I think Danny’s going to go star names and i need to talk him out of Castor and Pollux.”

Jazz shook her head as he left.

——

Meanwhile Bats star at the wreckage Danny left them and turn to Tim. Tim who’s baby momma is That.

Stephanie just burst into near hysterical laughter. “You can’t have one person who doesn’t fight you before growing on you, huh?”

Tim opened and shut his mouth. Ran over his friendships. Ran over his allies. Ran over his disaster string of romantic relationships.

“Fuck.”

“Pretty sure you had to for the baby momma part,” Jason commented as he got up and began fixing hardware.

“Pretty sure we respect trans people in this house, so baby daddy?” Dick countered

“I doubt the pit demon care either way,” Damian hissed.

“So, how long do you think i should wait before harassing Constantine into contacting Danny?” Tim asked.

“You are not raising put demon children,” Damian said with a shake of his head. “They are deadly as adults, let alone as young.”

Tim shrugged. “Can’t be much worse than when my team was de-aged. I had to change so, so many diapers. And they still had all their powers. Everyone.”

“I, i’ll leave that to you,” Stephanie twisted about uncomfortably while organizing the IV bags in medical. “I’m gonna need some time to… process.”

Before Damian or Jason said something insensitive by accident, Cass shot them a look.

Neither spoke.

“Uh, what happened?” Duke asked as entered the Cave. “And who put the glowing stickynote on the clock?”

Tim snatched it. Three weeks was written in a too fancy cursive with a cuckoo clock staff doodled on the side.

“Drake’s baby daddy doesn’t do well with kidnapping.”

“And is a pit demon,” Damian reminded them again. “Who knows where we live. And our secrets.”

“And is a new parent that just popped the kids pit before his kiddos were ransomed to the wrong guy that happened to be the other parent by some miracle, only to be chased around the city after saving them and kidnapped with his kids,” Jason stated a bit too calmly. “Most of the working girls in my territory would kill for less.”

Duke shook his head. “Cool. I’m getting ready for patrol, grab my gear and go. Anything else i should know?”

“We harass Constantine en masse in less than a month. Apparently Danny’s the heir to some place called the Infinite Realms and John’s their thrall on a technicality. So he’s our direct line,” Tim answered, making mental notes on which magic users to bother about the Infinite Realms, their cultures and governments and any political tensions he needs to know to fortify against for his kids. He’s not half assing it like his parents or botching it like Bruce did for him. Tim is going to parent them so hard and so well.

He should read the updated parenting books. And ones on meta kids for nonmeta parents. And ask Jonn for parenting tips for green martians—the power sets he noted aren’t too far off and might have some overlap for coping.

Tim’s a dad. He hopes he gets a chance to be a good one.

Tags:

@yjfk @dulceringo @09shell-sea09 @skulld3mort-1fan @dannyphantomphan @screamingtofillthevoid @lovingempress @plushbookworm @somanyfandomssolittletime @mnemovoid @wolfeyedwitch @hazelriver74

Bruce Wayne is used to ransom calls. They happen often enough despite his children's training, though it doesn't help that they sometimes purposely get themselves captured to later mock the kidnappers but he digressed.

This call was different. "We have Tim Drakes children" what did that even mean? Did they kidnap some random infants with black wisps of hair and blue eyes and just hope that Tim miiight have had a night of indiscretion in the last year or so to be concerned about?

Spoiler was the first on scene, actively teasing Red Robin about the whole fiasco. He swears they couldn't possibly be his and this had to be a scam of some kind. They had been assessing the situation from the rafters of the warehouse when another guy who looked like prime Batman Adoption Bait stormed the place and beat the crap out of the guys before zooming over to the infants.

The pair nodded at eachother and leaped down from the rafters and landed behind the man. He whirled around, holding the kids protectively to his chest, careful to support thier heads.

They asked him to confirm if he's the father which he did so readily. Red Robin got a wierd feeling though and asked to get a swab for testing, just to be sure.

The guy refused. That wasn't overly suspicious but the defensive way he acted was. Were these not his children? The bats chose to try a different tactic and asked him to wait for the police to arrive so they could confirm he was the twins father.

He ran.

Danny was having one of the worst days of his afterlife, and trust him, he's had some rough days. Being chased through Gotham at night by its local terrifying vigilantes while trying not to drop or harm the babies was hard, especially since he was trying to hide his powers. But really, what was he supposed to do?

He can't exactly just say "a ghost with genie powers overheard my mom wish for grandbabies from me and granted that wish but screwed us by making the other half of the babies DNA that of some random rich guy from another reality?" Cause thats going to go over soooo well.

Why do they care so much anyway? He doubts they're going to make the guy pay child support, not that Danny needs it. Then again its probably better to stay in this world where no one knows who he is and his children are safer...from his parents OSHA violations if nothing else.

Vlad couldn't enter this universe cause he couldn't get past the "source wall" whatever that was, but Danny and his babies had no problems so meh.

The bats had him cornered and hiding invisibly inside an abandoned arcade (why were so many places in this city abandoned???) the bats kept combing through the place looking for him. He knew they were about ready to give up looking for him when one of the babies sneezed.

The next thing he knew the littlest bat, Robin was right next to him, "Found you." Then he was knocked out.

[canyouhearthelight]

The Miys, Ch. 149

So, I was super busy on my normal queueing day and wasn’t able to set this up. And by ‘super busy’ I mean ‘doing laundry, weeding flower beds, and taking several naps’, bc I have upwards of 24 niblings and a super-full time job that make me exhausted.

I’m not kidding, I recently told @baelpenrose “I had a birthday party to go to, yes it’s the third Saturday in a row, don’t worry about keeping track because there are SO MANY”. 

What doesn’t make me exhausted? Y’all. The likes, the comments, the reblogs, the ‘hey, this person reads my stuff AND Bael’s stuff’ ( @feral-possums-in-the-bog, @drbibliophile, looking at you in a very loving way). Also the speedrunners... all of you who have ever, at any point, found this fic and decided to read every single chapter as quickly as possible ( and have or haven’t shamed me for needing to update the masterpost or page links), you keep me going like nothing else. I, too, like a good binge read, so I know I’ve done something worth... something... when someone else binges like that.

“So the Ark is semi-organic?” I glanced over and resisted the urge to trail my fingers along the walls of the corridor.

“That would be the closest Terran approximation, yes,” they confirmed. “It is not sentient in any form, but all exposed surfaces, for example, are grown in-place of a material native to our home planet.”

“So cool,” I whispered. “Is there a benefit to that, aside from being more sustainable?”

Noah rubbed two liw alongside their sensory organs, and let out a soft buzz - essentially rubbing their face with a sigh. “It is very rare for any species that achieves sentience to reach a level of technology that allows for faster than light travel without what you refer to as sustainability being included in every aspect of their culture.”

“Oh.” I felt ashamed and focused on my feet for a few steps, paying close attention to the feeling of the deck plating through my soles, any uneven textures that I came across turning into canyons of perception.

“In the case of the material coating the surfaces of the Ark,” Noah continued, clearly picking up on my discomfort, “it serves a largely hygienic function, much as Else currently provides.”

“So, that’s what Xio was referring to when she said that Hujylsogox ships largely decontaminate themselves?”

“Indeed. Where my species absorbs impurities from the air and any surfaces we come in contact with, the lining of the corridors, rooms, and vents can purify the rest within a Galactic week.” That worked out to eleven and two-third days as we currently measured them on the Ark, or fourteen and a half days on Earth. “Biofiltration is a very common way to sanitize spaces that often house multiple species to avoid destructive interactions, although the coating we use is known to be the most efficient organic solution.”

Surrendering, I ran my fingers over the wall.  Even knowing that it was grown, it still felt like sandstone under my touch. “If it is so efficient, why don’t the Ekomari use it on their ships?”

Their fingers on both vomu clacked as they tapped them together. “In absence of another organism to ingest the larger particulates, sypo is what you would consider to be too efficient.”

“Feathers clog it up?”

“Like you would not believe,” they hummed deeply - a groan, clear as day. “It actually ends up starving the sypo.”

Unbidden, my mind’s eye flashed back to the nightmares that Else had shown me early on: large flakes of the walls falling away and littering the corridor floors. “So, that was a very real thing?” There didn’t seem to be any reason to clarify, given how clearly the images had blared in my head.

“Correct. We believe that Else understood the nature of the material and was trying to show you what was happening in a way they thought you would understand.” A heavy liw gently patted my shoulder. “They meant well, even if they did not realize that it would backfire.”

I was about to ask what the Ekomari use in place of sypo as a biofilter, but my databand signaled me. Judging by the fact that it chimed, flashed, and vibrated against the bones in my wrist, this was incredibly urgent. “I’m sorry, Noah, one mom - ah, fuck…” Pinching the bridge of my nose, I mentally braced myself for what I knew would be coming in the next several days.

“Wisdom, you are distressed.”

“Departmental notification from Pranav and Zach that they will be doing system security testing over the next week. Which means Derek will be doing his best to hack into our systems and take them out, while Pranav and Zach take notes of vulnerabilities and then fix them afterward.”

The face-rubbing sigh was back. “They are not including basic ship functions in this testing, correct?”

I shook my head, relieved that I could at least provide that assurance. “Negative. Only the systems that humans will be replicating on our own once we are on Von.”

“This is still terribly inconvenient. These tests increase tension across the Ark to quite difficult levels to be around.”

“I know, and I’m sorry. It’s mostly from what happened Before, at least for the older members of the crew.  I mean, we got a Global Parliament out of it, but… there were a scary few years before we got there. And then the End happened, and the hack felt like some kind of warning looking back.”

Noah buzzed thoughtfully. “You are speaking of the gap in data we found when we were trying to download your planetary database.”

A part of me wanted to laugh at the fact that Miys continued to refer to the internet as a ‘planetary database’, but the topic was so upsetting that any kind of joy felt obscene right then. “It was… another terrorist attack, honestly.  They weren’t unusual, as terrifying as that is - I mean, you admitted yourself that not all of us were worth saving.  There was a petrochemical hack maybe five years before this one, and the attacks had been ramping up slowly even before that.  But this one.”  I shook my head trying to clear the thoughts from my head. “What we were told is that this group knew we would never take action against climate change, something about how the rich corporate would never take it seriously until they had to actually live in the nature they were destroying.”

“You are doubtful of this.” Noah’s statement was far from being a question.

Couldn’t blame him, since I didn’t believe half of what we had been told, or maybe that it was only half the story. “I wasn’t old enough to remember, but it is a recorded fact that there were actual people on Earth who had more wealth than any single country on the planet, and one was particularly known for building his fortune on the backs of employees who were worked to death or nearly to death.  It’s hard to believe that had nothing to do with it, you know.”

“If being reminded of this event causes such distress among your people, why run so many tests?”

“The hack killed people, Noah. It destroyed entire small countries, caused a lot of violence and wars. The ultra-rich may have been the targets, but the casualties were mostly people who never knew what was happening.  We want to make sure it can’t happen again.  That’s why we warn everyone what’s going on, so they know it’s not the same thing, but still do the testing.”

More clattering of vomu signaled Noah thinking again. “Your global economy depended strongly on the concept of wealth and the concept of money.  But with the current economic model you exercise, such a data security breach would not impact it.”

I shrugged. “We still worry. Not to mention the fact that, at some point, someone may try. We can try all we want to avoid the catalyst of the original events, but some of our better qualities can be just as terrible with just a twist.  Curiosity, confidence, and justice and easily turn into pride, vindictiveness, and prying. Which can lead to blackmail. And that’s just one example. Still sure we’re worth it?”

Another thoughtful buzz with some mild clicking. “I have seen your people endeavor to save a species that could have destroyed you.  I have seen you, specifically, mourn someone who deliberately attempted to end not only your life but the lives of the entire Ark.  There is much evidence to give us faith in your compassion.”

All I could do was shake my head. “I’ll try to have faith in your faith,” I murmured with a weak smile.

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[secret-engima]

spideypoolalways

Does Regis ever ask how Titus has papers for the boys? Whats Cor or Clarus' PoV of this? What are some things (fluff or humor) that the boys get up to? Because I can see them getting adopted into the Ulric Clan because of shenanigans and Nyx going 'Yes, these are my people' since LCs just remind me of Ulrics with magic. And how do the Galatians take to the nephew of the Nif Chancellor and clone of the Crown Prince? Since I'm imagining that Titus told some of them and the

spideypoolalways

rest are guessing anyway. And does everyone assume that Noctis and Nox's magics resonated since they're kinda sorta close to each other/are the same person? How does Regis take the news that the only reason that Noctis got healed is because Nox pretty much felt everything Noctis did? /Both/ of his sons were basically attacked by a daemon and he only knew about one of them at the time and didn't do anything to calm or reassure Nox? (Clarus: Only because you didn't know

spideypoolalways

About him, Regis. Regis: Thats no excuse, Clarus.) Does Iris get to be a Shield or did Nox latch onto Axis or one of his kids? Does Acastus find Prompting and drop him off with Noct/Cor? Does Nox hang out with Noct, Ignis, Gladiolus and Prom all the time or does the memories act up enough to make him feel weird about it? How does Regis take his brother and son's Sick Days? What about Dissidia? The 3 youngest Royals getting snatched and the group watching on Crystal

spideypoolalways

Vision? Dad Titus/Regis freaking out over their kids having been summoned to a death match? And how exactly does Titus see the boys? Sons, brothers, cousins? Oooh, more Trauma. Noct, Nox and Acastus w/others playing and end up in the Crystal room. Cue the boys lighting up, maybe passing out because the magic hits their young system really hard (its why Royals aren't supposed to be Presented until 18) and everyone freaks out, and news makes it to Regis and Titus that they

spideypoolalways

Are in the infirmary and the gist of what happened via panicked guards and rush there immediately and are jumped by panicked kids talking and crying about what happened. I didn't realize I had so many questions. But now I need to know. 👀👀 Please!🙏

spideypoolalways

Oh! Just remembered a little more! Does anyone pick up on the people/places that he shouldn't know? Do they assume that Nox got some of it from Noct, like with the Marelith? Or are they assuming LC/ Oracle DNA mix?

Me: Yes, Regis asks about the papers and Titus doesn’t OUTRIGHT admit he did an illegal but he does grudgingly explain that he needed papers in case the NIfs came looking and he ... knows ... a few people who can help ... “recreate” papers for refugees who lost theirs in whatever fire or tragedy drove them from their homes.

Regis mulls over that for ten long seconds then blatantly pretends he never heard it in the first place. Those “people” likely saved the life of his son and half-brother, he can let it slide this once.

I need Nyx Ulric to adopt these two now JUST so Nyx can tease that he’s related to Captain (then later when he learns that they’re Lucis Caelums he can quietly die in a corner because OH NO HE’S RELATED TO THE KING). Not sure how or when Nyx adopts them, but he absolutely does.

It probably happens when he's just a wee bit sloshed. Not enough to be incoherent or insincere, but enough that he doesn’t feel any fear offering to adopt the pair while babysitting them because Captain had to work late and Nyx is off the combat roster until his ankle heals. Once he’s sober he is a Panic™, but Captain takes it surprisingly well and Nox loves his new braid. Acastus just looks Amused™.

Lib slaps Nyx over the head because IDIOT THINK THIS STUFF THROUGH then gives him another drink because TWO MORE ULRICS. It’s a good thing Nyx is an Ulric Keeper in this AU, because he can teach them most of the Ulric Clan stories and dances and make them proper Ulrics.

Acastus loves introducing himself as Acastus Ulric Drautos, both because it’s fancy like “Lucis Caelum” is and also because it made both Titus and Nyx spit their coffee the first time they hear it.

The Galahdians ... have mixed feelings at first. But the predominant one is that it doesn’t matter that this kid is clearly related to the Chancellor (at first they all think the Chancellor bedded Captain’s Aunt, since they don’t know about the LC blood, and that’s why he looks like Ardyn) because Captain has clearly staked a claim on him. Galahd (in my HCs) is a Very Adoption Heavy culture and big on judging people by their current family rather than any previous blood ties, so ... mostly the Chancellor thing gets intensely ignored. Acastus isn’t an Izunia, he’s a Drautos (and then later an Ulric). So they will treat him as such.

But in private there is some debate on exactly what happened, for the Chancellor to vanish around the time his ... relation (son? They mostly assume son), shows up in Drautos’s care.

No few number of them think Titus stumbled on Ardyn with the two kids and killed the Chancellor to save them.

For Nox ... the Lucis Caelum blood is basically impossible to hide. This boy LOOKS like a literal carbon copy of the Prince but younger and he’s young so his control over his magic is ... not. Not that good. Especially not when there’s so mUCH of it.

All of Galahd listened to the Glaive who was on babysitting duty when Nox had a rare tantrum and skewered the wall with ghostly blades and all privately, immediately agree to Never Tell Anyone. Ever.

Well. To be fair, they do debate whether they have a duty to tell Regis, but again the Adoption Culture comes into play and they decide it’s up to Titus to spill that secret. A few Glaives do ask Titus about it (Titus nearly has a heart attack because SINCE WHEN DID THEY KNOW) and when they ask if they know who the mother was, Titus looks very grim and very, very quiet for a long time, then admits:

There is no mother. There never was.

They stare at him in confusion until Acastus, lurking nearby with too-sharp eyes, gives a smile that could cut and says brittlely that “amazing things that can be done with science these days you know. Truly amazing. Why, get a blood sample and a tank of the right solutions and you could probably grow anything you wanted”.

The Glaives are Horrified™. So is the rest of Little Galahd when it gets around and then is made a Clan Secret by all the Clans unanimously. The secret never leaves the borders of their little slum.

Also yes, people assume that Noctis’s and Nox’s magic resonated because Nox is a clone and it freaks them out.

Regis is Such A Guilt when he finds out how Acastus knew about Noctis’s injury. No it doesn’t matter that he DIDN’T KNOW NOX EXISTED. One of his son’s (his FIVE YEAR OLD son) was suffering. Was screaming in agony and terror and Regis didn’t do a THING about it and no amount of logic can make that better.

Nox latches onto Axis’s triplets in this AU so while Iris will be best friends with him, his Shield, Hand, and Sword are actually all made up of Axis’s three kids. Axis is a BIT of an internal Scream when Nox is at the age people start making noises about him building a Retinue and taking Iris as his Shield and Nox goes, “NO. I have a Shield already! A Hand and Sword too!” And stuff spirals out to reveal Axis as Clarus’s kid (Clarus takes it much better than Axis thought he would, tho Axis didn’t expect to see Lord Amicitia go deathly pale and sit down hard in the nearest chair).

Honestly Iris might be the future love interest in this AU you never know. It would be hilarious if nothing else.

Bold of you to assume Acastus didn’t find Prompto early and bring him home to NOX because “Look Beloved Nibling I Found You A Friend!”. Prompto is a confusion because Nox is like- 4 at the time. But Prompto likes babysitting and playing with Nox and hearing Acastus’s stories and Titus just kinda- sighs his way through the playdates until he realizes that Prompto has been staying in his house for about two weeks with no sign of the parents.

Titus, after much snooping later, sitting at the kitchen table of Grandma Ostium quietly pulling his hair out: HOW DO YOU ADOPT A THIRD CHILD. DOES IT COUNT AS KIDNAPPING IF THEY COME OVER AND STAY WITH YOU FOREVER AND THE LEGAL PARENTS NEVER NOTICE. ACASTUS WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME.

Acastus: I regret nothing. Do you want me to fake Prompto’s death? I’m sure there’s enough Prompto’s out there that nobody will notice if you gain a nephew called Prompto Drautos.

Titus, holding his face in his hands while Grandma Ostium laughs at him in the corner: NO, ACASTUS. DO NOT FAKE THE DEATH OF THE CHILD. How do you even know how to do that? Nevermind I don’t want to know.

Roughly a year later when Everything Gets Revealed, Titus and Cor: *intense staring contest over Smol Blond Child*

Cor: You don’t know where he-

Titus, growling like a cranky Behemoth that might very well bite off someone’s head: He’s a Niflheim created clone. I know.

Cor: ....

Titus: He's been living in my house for a year. I’ve seen the barcode. It’s not like I wasn’t raising one already.

Cor: His legal parents-

Titus: Is me. The Argentums were emotionally neglectful and didn’t even notice when he hadn’t come home for a week and a half.

Cor: *guilty angry silence*

Titus: ...Kid could use an uncle. If you want to man up and be part of his life.

(hgfhg this is post is getting long Imma try to speed through the last questions a bit)

Yes, Nox hangs out with the Chocobros when he can because he adores them (especially Brother Prompto and Team Mom Iggy) but he also has his own friend group in the Little Galahd community so it doesn’t strike anyone as odd really. Nox is a naturally loving child for all he’s shy and Iggy and Gladio are Noctis’s friends and Prompto is his adopted brother (and later Noctis’s best friend).

Regis does Not take the Sick Days well. It makes him alarmed and angry because Lucis Caelums aren’t supposed to get sick days from their own magic and it speaks of BAD THINGS that both of the presumably experimented on and tortured LCs have them.

I’m going to have to come back to Dissidia another time (someone remind me) because this post is too long to ramble here but it would be- it would be Great. Honestly. It would either be the 3 littlest, just Acastus, or just Acastus and REGIS for some brotherly bonding and any of them would be Great and Chaotic. Crystal-o-vision absolutely happens.

The Crystal Room is under 24 hour guard so I don’t think the kids could wander in by accident, plus Acastus would actively avoid the area because of his Trauma.

Now Acastus being presented when he turns 18 on the other hand... >:))))))

Short Version: Much shouting, much alarm, much angst from Regis and Titus and everyone and also the first Sick Day Acastus has had since he turned 17 and by far one of the worst he’s ever had in his (second) life.

I might to a longer version later but not right now.

For Nox’s oddities and odd knowledge they kind of assume both? At first they think it’s just him resonating with Noctis so deeply that there’s a transfer (cue angst from Regis because what is going to happen to Nox when Noctis fulfills his destiny as Chosen King???) but then when Nox starts knowing stuff Noctis doesn’t/can’t know, they start to wonder if the scientists ... Tampered with his DNA. If they got their hands on Noctis’s, which should have been impossible, then it’s not all that out there they got their hands on Oracle DNA.

Sylva is ... very alarmed and very confused when Regis secretly contacts her on a secure encrypted line to ask if there were any ... symptoms to look for in an Oracle child. Because- yes there were but WHY DO YOU NEED TO KNOW?

Regis: they wouldn’t happen to be *lists very specific things*

Sylva: ....Have you seen any Messengers nearby lately.

Regis: Carbuncle, a black puppy that disappears into thin air, and a bird woman who can summon wind storms. She calls herself Garuda.

Sylva, having a minor crisis behind her Queenly Facade: I am Very Sure I only have two children so please explain this. Right Now.

Regis: Well............. NiflheimclonedmysonandIthinkmixeditwiththednaofyouoryourdaughterandhehasseerpowersandImayormaynotbepanickingrightnowpleasehelpme.

Sylva, slowly running that over in her mind and figuring out what Regis just said:...

W H A T.

XD Honestly Niflheim might invade Tenebrae only to find the royal family gone because Sylva coincidentally packed her backs and took her and her children on a secret trip to Lucis to have a look at Nox, then since they’re there when Niflheim invades and a spy gets word on what just happened Sylva and Co just- stay there. Oracle Mom Death averted.

Also they absolutely think that it’s Luna’s DNA they used to make Nox because of how instantly Nox gloms onto Luna like a limpet- JUST like he did with Noctis and Regis, and how Luna gets this dazed look in her eyes as their magic tangles and she whispers, “I ... I know you. I know you, don’t I Little Prince? I met you in a dream.” Luna starts crying softly as she pets Nox’s hair and when Sylva asks in alarm why she’s crying, Luna blinks and whispers, “Because he was crying in the dream, and I couldn’t comfort him.”

Acastus lurks in the shadows, watching it all with ... very mixed feelings.

Oracles. He could have gone his entire second life without meeting anymore Oracles. Aera she looks so much like you is that what our daughter would have looked like and oh astrals I KILLED her. I killed the girl with your eyes and your smile and laughed about it later.

[dellyduck]

A Pirate’s Life For Me

@rip-in-pieces-my-last-braincell It took me a day and a bit but I DID IT! 2.145 words, I hope you like it!

Just so you know, it has been ages since I’ve watched the movies, and this is not an official version, I just wanted to use as many characters as possible. The only characters that are mean to be in place are Kit, Della and Wildcat.

-

At some point of their long travel, even Della’s endless energy had come to an end. Donald felt relief for that at first, enjoying the rare peace and quiet in his life. However, as time passed by, the minutes being dragged at the same pace their ship calmly, quietly sailed through the fog, Donald almost wished his sister would still be running and climbing and screaming around.

The small twins were sitting side by side on a crate, eyes on the fog and ocean ahead without really paying attention to it. Donald didn’t know why or exactly when, but Della suddenly broke the silence by humming a not so unfamiliar melody. His fingers moved almost like an involuntary reflex and before the boy noticed, he was carefully playing the melody on his guitar. That was the moment Della chose to turn her humming into words.

“Drink up, me harties, yo-ho. Yo-ho, yo-ho... A pirate’s life for me. We extort, we pilfer, we filch, we sack, drink up-”

Della’s voice and Donald’s fingers where abruptly stopped when each twin had an adult hand grabbing their shoulders.

“Hush now, kids,” said the adult, in a tone of warning and looking around in agitation. “Real pirates travel in these waters, and the legends say that singing their songs is basically calling for them.”

“Wildcat!” shouted the voice with a tick Scottish accent that the kids knew very well. Their Uncle Scrooge didn’t look pleased as he approached them with his cane. “Ah would appreciate it if ye could not fill ma nephew and niece’s heads with untrue legends of the sea.”

“But they are true, Mr. McDee,” Wildcat insisted. “It’s bad luck to sing about pirates, everyone knows that.”

Donald gulped at these words, dropping his guitar at once; as if he needed more bad luck. Della, by other hand, didn’t look frightened in the slightest as the talk continued, captain Baloo breaking in to add his two cents.

“Wildcat’s not lying, Mr. McDuck, it’s common knowledge between us mans of the sea. And specially with us in the middle of this weird fog, I dunno ya but I’m not here to take risks.”

“Bah, fine,” Scrooge dismissed the topic with a hand. “If ye two are so bothered, they will stop singing.”

For Donald, his uncle didn’t need to say twice, looking forward for when the adults decided to change topics.

But Della didn’t seem ready to let go of this talk yet, “I think it’d be exciting to meet a real pirate,” she declared with her usual, innocent cheer.

Scrooge chuckled humorless, “Think again, lass.” He narrowed his eyes at the fog, as if daring the pirates who could be hiding behind it.

“Vile and dissolute creatures, all of them. Stealing without a care from those who earned their belongs fair and square.” Scrooge felt very much like spitting on the floor, but that was a habit from his old life and not a proper reaction from a governor. “If ye ask me, any person who dares to answer by the name pirate deserves the same fate: A short drop and a sudden stop.”

While Donald’s confused eyes didn’t move from their uncle’s face, Della turned her head to Baloo in search for answers. The captain hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he dropped a hand from the rudder, using it to grab the kerchief around his neck. By the way he stretched the tissue, dropping his head and letting his tongue roll off his mouth, Della quickly caught the message.

With a now frightened gasp, the girl snapped her head back forward, her wide eyes staring at the ship’s floor.

It was her reaction that made Scrooge notice his wee niblings’ faces to his last commentary. He then dropped his vexed expression for a concerned one. Oh marvelous, Hortense was going to kill him.

“Erh, but enough of pirate talks, aye? Ye kids enjoy the rest of the trip, with no singing,” he added before walking away to another part of the ship.

The twins just exchanged a look between each other, as if asking “what now?”. After a moment with no answer, Donald simply decided to jump off the crate and walk towards Baloo. Donald loved ships, boats, and the sea itself, and he was always eager to learn more about them, so it wasn’t hard for Della to imagine her brother’s plans.

Because of that, she stayed behind, looking around for something that would be of her interest. She found it when her eyes once again fell over the nets that leaded to the crow’s nest. Della had climbed it not even two hours ago, but the current boredom and the memory of the way she felt being up there were enough to make up her mind.

Della was lucky. Her parents were less strict than her friends’ about how a young lady should behave (although dresses and good manners were still a must) and her uncle didn’t give a feather if his ten-year-old niece acted boyish during their expeditions. That was how the girl got so good on activities like climbing.

Firmly grabbing the ropes, Della climbed up every step with patience, but no hesitation until she hit the middle of the net. There, she stopped. Dropping her right hand from the net, Della turned around on a complete 180°. She was facing the ocean now.

The fog turned the view way less appealing than it was a couple hours ago, but the duckling didn’t really mind. Just being up there, with wind in her hair, felling so free that it was almost like she could fly, was everything the young girl could wish for.

Della closed her eyes to breathe in deeply. But when she opened them again, her smile was quickly dropped when something through the fog caught her attention.

There was something on the water, floating.

Della needed to narrow her eyes to recognize a large wooden board. And laid on it, there was…

“A boy!” she exclaimed, starting to climb down the fastest she could, while still shouting. “Uncle Scrooge!! Baloo, Wildcat, look!”

The three men rushed to her, Scrooge grabbing her shoulders and checking his niece up and down after any wound in the instant Della was back on the ground.

“Lass, what’s the meaning-”

“A boy!” Della didn’t wait her uncle to finish, this time pointing a finger to where the floating board was. “Look, there’s a boy on the water!”

In the meantime that it took Della to climb down, the board had floated to even closer to the ship. Which allowed the three men to easily catch sight of the young, unconscious, brown-furred bear on it. Baloo’s eyes went wide, and he shouted,

“MAN OVERBOARD!”

Five more men from the crew came running to help, and with all of them working fast and together, it was a matter of seconds before the boy was out of the water and in Baloo’s arms. Della could just watch all the commotion from some steps behind, trying to get a better look, but the men were too tall and crowded to allow her any sight. She was able, however, to hear when Baloo declared,

“He’s still breathing.”

“For all the seven seas!” Della almost yelped at that sudden scream. When had Donald stopped by her side??

Nonetheless, her brother was looking even more frightened. Turning around and following his gaze, the girl could easily see why: hundreds of different types of merch floating on the water, them all coming from a ship, not so different from the one they were, crashing and burning in the middle of the ocean.

Scrooge, Baloo and Wildcat rushed to approach them and see it too, every man around trying to understand what could’ve happened there. Baloo wanted to believe in the easiest option, that merchant ships carry a lot of weaponry and somehow, accidentally, the powder was lit. But a tiny, distant voice in his mind wouldn’t let another, more scary option rest.

“P-p-pirates?” Donald gulped.

“Ah donnae know, lad, but we better be prepared for everything. Captain!” Scrooge started to command, and quickly everyone on the boat had a new role to play. Except for the little ones. “Donald, I want you to stay with me. Della-”

Scrooge cut himself off when he saw his niece wasn’t standing by her brother’s side anymore. Luckily, he just needed a quick look around to find the white duckling in a gray dress. It shouldn’t have surprised him that she was standing near their new crewmember. Scrooge walked to them, arriving just as a sailor took the boy from the ground, to take him away from the ship’s side edge.

“Della,” he called again, this time getting her attention. “I want you to accompany the boy. He will be in your charge. Take care of him.”

“Yes, Uncle Scrooge,” Della nodded, before following the sailor.

The brown cub was put to rest over the same crate the Duck twins had been sitting just some minutes ago. As she approached, Della knew she had a better chance to observe the boy now. He looked her age, maybe older for one or two years, if that much. His worn, patched up green sweater was completely soaked, and so was his fur, causing some of hair to fall over his eyes.

Gingerly as her housekeeper had taught her, Della touched his locks, gently moving them away. But no matter how gently, that disturbance alone was enough to wake the boy up with a chocked scream, grabbing her wrist with a shaking, yet strong hand.

Della sighed, trying to calm down her heart from the scare, before meeting his eyes. Petrified browns against calming light blues.

“It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you. You’re safe now,” she guaranteed. “My name’s Della. Della Duck.”

“Kit,” he sounded breathless, scared, and tired. “Kit Cloudkicker.”

At that new piece of information, Della smiled.

“I’ll be watching over you, Kit.”

It’s like that was all the boy needed to hear, his grasp on her wrist loosening as his body fell unconscious once again.

Della kept her promise and stayed by his side, glad that now Kit looked more asleep than dead. It was while watching him that she noticed something loose around his neck. Touching it, Della easily recognized a red kerchief. Chances were high that it was just a piece of tissue, a cheap, meaningless adornment… But what if it was something his parents gave him? A memory of his family who, if traveling on that now burning ship, were probably no long in this world?

Biting her cheek, Della carefully took the kerchief within her hands, planning to keep it safe, maybe even wash it, before giving it back to Kit when he woke up-

Any thought was frozen, her heart leaping in surprise when she saw the drawing printed on Kit’s kerchief. She had never seen it before herself, but by the stories, Della knew exactly what the drawing of the white skull meant.

“You’re a… pirate?”

“Vile and dissolute creatures, all of them,” Uncle Scrooge’s words echoed in her head, alongside everything Della had heard about the bandits of the sea. But as she looked up to the boy again, she couldn’t see it. Kit didn’t look vile; he didn’t sound vile. He was just a kid, like her and Donald.

“Did he say anything?”

Della jumped, quickly crumpling the tissue in her hand, and hiding it behind her back as she turned around to face Baloo. He was accompanied by some other men of the crew, and not so distantly, the girl could see her uncle as well. Before she could even notice there was a choice to be made, Della was already executing her decision.

“His name’s Kit Cloudkicker. That’s all I found out.”

Baloo simply nodded, not looking suspicious of anything. After the last events, it was normal that such a young girl would be a little jumpy.

“We’re gonna take him bellow, alright missy? Our doctor can treat him better there.” The captain explained.

It was Della’s turn to nod, stepping behind so Baloo could take Kit in his arms again. The girl watched as they left, knowing she should be following them, but first and foremost, she needed a better place than her closed fist to hide that kerchief.

Confirming there was no one around her, Della opened her hand and the tissue again. Her eyes meticulously scanning the red fabric as her fingers caressed the skull figure.

At this point, this day was clearly one to be remembered by Della. But when she raised her head to catch sight of another ship on the distance, the same skull figure flapping on a black flag at the mast… Those few seconds were marked in her memory like a burn.

[fan-clan-fun]

Clans of the Wood Ranks

On second thought, I just want the rank system looked over. Also because I’m frustrated at having to write the same thing over and over again (this is attempt four).

Yay! Good news is I figured out a workaround to finally access submissions and comment on them appropriately! Im so excited to read all about this!

Just know a lot of realistic cat behavior is taken into account, such as toms killing foreign kits and cats relying on their ears and nose for perception over their eyes.

When a cat of the Woodland Clans is born, they’re called kits or kittens. For the first month of life, they have minimal interaction outside of the nursery. The second and third months of life are generally spent playing and learning about clan culture through stories. Kittens four months old begin assisting other ranks that largely stay within camp. Upon five or six months old (depends on the maturity and size of the kittens), they can begin to help ranks that may be considered more dangerous. Cats are considered kittens until they are fully accepted within a rank, which usually happens between a year and a year and six months.

Interesting, I see you have done away with the apprentice rank. I feel like there are pros and cons with this. For one there isnt any illusions that kits are minors in every sense of the word, and it would be entirely inappropriate for them to hold certain responsibilities or expectations with relationships. But I can also see older kits being extra hurried to become warriors or the equivalent since being so much older than the younger kits but still being considered kits would be frustrating. I can certainly remember as a teenager  being annoyed when I was considered a child (even if I was still a minor and therefore technically a child).

A handful of cats take up the role of healers. They are to look after the health of cats within the clan and maintain a good supply of medicine in storage. While every cat in the clan gets basic medical training, these cats specialize in it and memorize remedies to every known injury and illness. Mollies also tend to double as midwives.

I like how this is worded, because it is important for the entire clan to have at least basic first aid, but also of course to have cats to specialize in it. I had always seen medicine cats to share like the medical side of birth, while older more experienced queens provided the emotional support, but I suppose these healers could do both. 

A handful of cats stay within camp as guardians. They are to protect camp, fight off predators and aggressors, and escort weaker members to other camps. Every cat does receive battle training, these cats also study strategy and the weak points of predators like wolverines, birds of prey, foxes, dogs, and coyotes. Tom guardians sleep with the rest of the clan and molly guardians sleep in the nursery.

I find it interesting you split up warriors into two groups. I have an image of some gorgeous big buff cats. And also female guardians protecting the nursery! Super cute.

Two or three cats within each clan are messengers. They stay within camp and are sent to camps of other clans when urgent matters need to be relayed. Only swift cats become messengers and must be disciplined in the art of remembering messages.

As nice as this is, I feel like the messengers wouldnt be able to be only messengers, as there isnt a constant need for messages to be carried (unless there is, Im just going off what I have been given). Maybe they are just some of the fastest hunters?

Seers are the one or two cats who are highly attuned to the earth, listening to her whispers and echoes. They can assist with daily life and have mates and bear kits, but must remain open to the earth’s voice. Many cats are born with an innate attunement to the voice and it’s partially hereditary. Commonly, a current seer’s kit, grandkit, or nibling will have this affinity.

I do like me some spiritual cats, I would love to hear more what they see about the earth!

Hunters is everyone else in the clan. They hunt for most of the food and patrol the borders, bringing friendly tidings from other clans. They take up the bulk of the population and have a wide array of personalities and skills.

Ah I see, so the Hunters are basically the warriors of the clan, with the guardians being like the equivalent of -claw cats being extra skilled in fighting

When a cat decides to bear kits, she can decide to move to the nursery at any time and become a mother. Because of the often stressful situations cats can get into, it’s imperative a pregnant mother remain calm lest complications will arise endangering her and her kits. Once they’re born, she will be with them at almost all times during their first month of life. After that, she can leave them for longer periods of time until they’re fully weaned. Once weaned, she can decide to stay with them until they’re all around six months old (when they’re kicked out of the nursery), or can return to her duties, checking up on them periodically.

Elders are the clan’s history and are just as protected as its future. They’re cats normally over a hundred months (eight or nine years) old, spending their days sleeping, bestowing wisdoms to all who ask of them, and gossiping on inter-clan politics and relationships.

The matriarch is the overseer of mothers and kittens. She will usually try to get restless pregnant mothers to calm down for a safer labor and look after the young kittens of nursing mothers when she needs me time. If any orphaned kittens are taken in, she will be their mother. In a way, all kittens born under her care are her kittens, and many young cats call her “Mother” alongside their own mother. She doesn’t even have to be fertile or have her own kits to be the matriarch; if she has a strong maternal instinct and knows a lot on mothers and kits and has the skill to back it up, she can be the matriarch.

I have had a similar role in one of my clans before, and I do really like it. Its something of the idea of a permanent queen, but only one and with a serious amount of authority in the clan.

The keeper is the diplomatic leader, not only in charge of maintaining friendly relations with other clans, but also other feline societies outside of the clans. Their job also includes relaying their diplomatic information to the leader and let members of the clan know when they should probably stop fraternizing with that sexy otherclan cat because tensions are high, so it’d be better if one of them moves to the other’s clan instead. A keeper is likely to have formerly been a hunter.

This is quite clever and makes me wonder about the existence of informants and primitive spy networks. 

The captain is the military leader, in charge of organizing a quick response when the lives of their cats are endangered. They are almost always a former guardian and normally a brilliant strategist. They are also in charge of overseeing the kittens’ battle training.

I appreciate that you have sort of deputies for the two major  ranks in the clan, which is nice because Im getting the vibe that these are fairly large clans, so the extra organization is helpful.

Lastly is the leader, the head of the clan. They are to make decisions for their clan as a whole based on the information gathered from their council of elders, senior clan members, seers, matriarch, keeper, and captain. Should the keeper or captain die, retire, or be exiled, the leader is to choose their replacement, knowing which cats are skilled for the role and who the clan would find a good decision. A leader is the final authority on all decisions, but the seers can authorize their overthrow if the clan is overall displeased with their rule and the seers receive an omen confirming this. A new leader is chosen upon their death, retirement, or exile through a vote of all adult cats between the matriarch, captain, and keeper. Everyone votes for who they are okay with being leader, not for who they prefer, so you can vote for everyone if you like everyone. The one with the highest votes wins. Ties should be non-violently resolved between the tied parties.

I like this because  it doesnt necessarily require votes for every decision, but there is a vote for a leader, which would then lead based on those votes and the advice of their council and others who are most familiar with different aspects of the clan. That said I can just imagine the shenanigans involved when it comes to an election, like do they campaign? What does a campaign look like? Are there any restrictions as to who can be voted for or is it just anyone? Has there been a time where a young and maybe inexperienced  leader was voted for? Its an intriguing possibility.

So yeah, I’d like to know what you think of this unusual setup for my clans. Thanks for taking the time to look it over!

This was lovely to look over! Sorry it took so long! Thanks for sending it in.

[wrensfm]

intro.

do I follow everyone else? yes. do I want to be the only one that doesn’t share insight on their life? absolutely not.

so, I’m rachael, sometimes known as bob if you were given the story behind that nickname. if not, you’re still welcome to call me that because I’m more likely to answer to it. I’m 27 years old (yeah, I’m fkin old), and I have the stupidest, weirdest sense of humor I’ve ever encountered. lots of dad jokes. lots of screaming. 

I have five (FIVE) nieces and nephews. they range from eight years old (my sweet eldest niece) to one year old (my goofball baby nephew), and I talk about them most often than not. there’s one in particular that gets a lot of storytime, but it’s because he inherited my weirdest traits. I also have a dog who is neurotic, anxious, and allergic to everything. so if you want puppy pictures, just slide into my DMs and I’ll provide. 

I’m EST and I work in an office setting. we aren’t working from home currently, but my hours did gt cut so some days I’ll be around with full attention and others will be like today where I have to just stalk the dash and harrass people (summer. I harrass summer). sometimes at night I can be caught watching Sims Let’s Play videos and making Sims. currently I’m working on the Disney princesses and have photos in case you want to feed my need to show them off like my children.

I only have two muses currently, but I know my lack of self control and know I’ll have five when all is said and done. I like to think they’re diverse, but in all honesty they have bits of me in them. I don’t control them, they control me. sometimes I can be pretty bad at getting plots going, but I promise I want to write with each and every one of you, so if you see me online and I’m silent, just shoot me a DM!

 I only bite on Tuesdays but I crack jokes on the daily.

edit: honorable mention to Anna’s baby niece for being my pseudo nibling, but an even bigger shoutout to her dog, Willie Shakesbeard, as he is my child. thank you and carry on. 

[ebhenah]

 Gloriously Weird

#Fictober19 Prompt: 5. I might just kiss you.

Fandom: Voltron

Pairing: Older, Married Keith/Lance; background Krolia/Kolivan; background Allura/Romelle; background OC/OC

Rating: T (language, no warnings apply)

Wordcount: 2015

Tags: domestic fluff, tooth-rotting fluff, klance kids, klance raising teenagers, rocky horror picture show references, Keith has a younger brother, flashback sequence, smitten hubbies, brief mention of medical support device

Read on AO3 Part of the Future Klance Family Fics Series

 “So... uhhh... who are you supposed to be?” Lance asked, knocking the fridge door closed with his hip. His brother-in-law stopped fiddling with his hair and shot him an incredulous look, “you can’t tell?”

“I have my theories... but I didn’t think the kids would be able to convince you to take part in the whole ‘group costume’ thing they’ve got going on this year. Did they?”

“I love my niece and nephews, Lance,” Yorak growled, tugging at his jacket uncomfortably.

There it was. The growl. He had no idea why the kid insisted on doing it, but every. single. time. they were in the same room, Yory ended up growling at him. Despite assurances to the contrary, Lance was sure the kid couldn’t stand him, but whatever. Lance had known him since birth and he was family, so little Yorak Gayth of the plentiful growls could just deal with the fact that Keith’s husband loved him, even when he was a little shit.

“So... that’s a yes,” Lance fought the urge to smirk. It was a decent costume, especially considering that the Galra had no equivalent to Halloween for Keith’s brother to draw on. “Did you pick this one, or was it assigned to you by a certain girl with big, blinky eyes and the ability to make her uncles cave in ten seconds flat?”

“I didn’t really care what costume I got,” shrugging, Yory glanced through the door and up the stairs to where the others were still getting ready. “Everyone else did.”

There wasn’t a strong resemblance between Keith and Yorak, mostly due to the fact that Keith looked human and Yorak, being full-blooded Galra... didn’t. Krolia’s son with Kolivan was probably going to end up being a huge guy, but he was currently just shy of his eighteenth birthday and was even more slight than Keith had been at that age. At the moment, he was wearing a tailcoat tux over a false hump. His coloring and markings matched his father’s pretty closely, but the eyes... those were his mother’s, and so was the sharp chin and comparatively delicate ears. (Oddly, this particular combination of bone structure and coloring made Yorak look a lot like Axca, and he was often confused for her sibling or child.) 

Even now, Lance couldn’t see Yorak in profile without having the memory of the first time Keith had gotten to hold him flood him. 

Keith had been a wreck. 

The whole pregnancy had been difficult for him, but the few hours between the announcement of the arrival of a healthy son and Keith getting to see the reality of it for himself were... a whole new level of stress. They’d already been en route to the station that was serving as a temporary home to Lance’s in-laws with Thace in tow. Galra babies were tinier than Lance expected. Yorak had been barely five pounds and was seen as being an unusually robust newborn. 

After greeting an exhausted but happy Krolia, Lance had hung back and given Keith some space to adjust to the shift in his family. He’d been nervous and skittish and kept glancing to Lance and Thace like they were a touchstone... and in a way, maybe they were. Maybe they reminded him that even if his worst fears panned out, he wouldn’t be alone again. No matter how enthralled Krolia became with the son she didn’t have to leave behind, Keith had a husband who loved him, a son that adored him, and a family in Voltron that had been forged in battle and peace and he would never, ever be isolated again.

Yorak had been sleeping, nestled against Kolivan’s chest, a blanket draped over the tiny boy. When he’d woken, Kolivan had quietly, confidently handed him to a very surprised and nervous Keith with the soft command to ‘meet your brother’ and Lance had gotten to watch his husband fall in love with a sibling he’d only been able to see as a threat until that very moment. 

Just like he had when Thace had been born and placed in his arms, Keith melted. His breath had escaped him in a soft coo, one fingertip tracing the line of the baby’s brow and the shell of that tiny, softly fuzzed, pointed ear. Yorak had rooted around like he was hungry and Keith had offered a knuckle for him to gnaw on. “Hey,” Keith had whispered, “I’m your big brother..”

Yory wasn’t often around, due to the nomadic nature of life for the remaining Blade members, but when he was, he spent as much time with the kids as he did with Keith- their relationship closer to that of cousins than uncle and niblings because they were all around the same age. This time around, that meant the Galran youth was getting to join them at the Halloween Dance that the school was throwing. The twins and Talia’s boyfriend had each listed one of the non-students in the group as their official guest, which meant that Yory, who had never been enrolled in the Atlas school system and Thace and his girlfriend Juanita, who’d graduated in the spring, could attend.

“The costume looks great,” Lance reassured him, his attention returning tot he present moment. “Have you even seen the movie?”

Yorak nodded, “it was... odd. But I liked the music!”

Lance chuckled, “yeah, Rocky Horror is kind of gloriously weird. Ahh! There they are!”

Rai was the first one to descend the stairs and his costume actually managed to leave his Papi speechless. Rai was the quiet one! He didn’t like being the center of attention! When the kids had told Lance of their plans, he never, ever, ever would have figured that sixteen year old Rai would be the one to dress as Frankie! Granted- it was the most modest of the Frankie costume options: old-fashioned surgical garb, long pink rubber gloves, clunky heels, pearls, and a full wig and make-up combo- but, still! “You look great!” he gushed, because it was the truth. They’d even gone so far as to splatter him with some fake blood and arm him with a plastic pickaxe. 

“Thanks, Papi! Oh, hey, Yory!” Rai punched his uncle lightly in the shoulder by way of greeting, “you look awesome! Tonight is going to be a blast.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Yory answered, relaxing a little.

The girls were next- Talia as Magenta and Juanita as Columbia, also both in the more modest costume choices from the surgical scene, with white aprons and paper masks over the maid outfit and tap shorts. They were closely trailed by Thace, dressed as Eddie. With his skin powered and painted to be corpse-pale, his brown hair darkened to black courtesy of Halloween hairspray, and the combination of the leather jacket with the slight snarl he looked eerily like Keith had at his age and Lance had to take a moment... because... “Quiznak, you are all so grown up! How did that happen? Keith! Come see the kids before they go!!”

“We can’t go anywhere just yet,” Talia pointed out, fussing with her costume so the compact oxygen tank strapped to her leg was better hidden. “Bailey is meeting up with us here!”

“Besides,” grinned Juanita, “I’m sure you are going to want to get pictures of us, Mr. McClain!”

“See? You get me, Juanita!” He answered, “it’s why you are my favorite.”

“Your favorite? How many girlfriends has Thace had??” she laughed, but Thace was glaring daggers at him.

“Just you, mijita,” he answered easily, “proving how smart my boy is.”

“You’re the only one allowed to call him ‘Mr. McClain’, too,” Keith pointed out, appearing behind Lance without warning and slipping his arms around him.

Lance squawked, reaching down automatically to pet the massive space wolf, “did you seriously just Kosmo-poof out here from the next room? That seems excessive!”

“That’s only because it was so confusing with me calling you both ‘Mr. Kogane’ and I wouldn’t use his first name!” “My first name is still a valid option. You can always call me Lance. You know that.”

“I could never!” she protested, “my Mami would throw chanclas! She’d know!”

Keith shook his head. He didn’t really understand, but Lance did, and that was all that really mattered.Dropping a little kiss to the curve of Lance’s neck he turned his attention back to the kids, “okay... we’ve got... Eddie and Columbia, Magenta and Riff Raff, and... of course... Frankie. So, we are missing... who are we missing?”

“Brad and Janet,” Lance pointed out, “the supposed leads.”

“That’s gonna be Bailey’s friend Silas and his girlfriend Elodie,” Talia answered eagerly. “They’re doing the wedding outfits and she showed me pics and they are gonna look soooo adorable!”

“We don’t have a Dr. Scott,” Rai pointed out, just as the door buzzer went off and Talia pushed past him to answer it. “But a few of the kids from class are going to be revelers.”

“Sounds like you’ve got a good bunch of kids working together,” Keith chuckled. “You should get the good camera, Tumbleweed... you’ve got to get your requisite four hundred pictures, and we don’t want to hold them up!”

“Do you remember my mother’s reaction to the lack of pictures from Thace’s first Christmas?” Lance muttered, reluctantly stepping out of the ring of his husband’s arms, “because I remember and I have no interest in repeating that whole mess!”

By the time he returned with the camera, the group was complete. “Bailey,” he said evenly, smiling at the boy and faltering a little. Seriously, what was he supposed to say to the teenager dressed in gold booty shorts and a liberal dusting of body glitter? Any compliment he could come up with would be seriously creepy for him to say to his daughter’s boyfriend. “You... make a great Rocky.” That wasn’t too bad, right? 

“Everyone looks great,” Keith agreed. Lance fought the urge to glare at him for taking the easy way out and lumping all the kids together, because it was petty to punish his husband for thinking of something that Lance hadn’t and Lance was better than that, dammit.

Familiar with the routine by now, all the kids squished together in the frame and smiled as he snapped picture after picture of them until Keith declared them done. They did a quick run through of the rules (which Lance was sure that Yory would find some way to circumvent, as per usual) and Keith double checked that they all had sufficient spending money for snacks at the bake sale table.

“Have fun,” he said as he closed the door behind them. 

Keith glanced at the clock on the wall, “so... it’s six now- when does the dance wrap up?”

“Eleven,” he replied, automatically moving to sort the tangle of shoes  that was taking over the entrance.

“So, five hours, plus an hour of milling around and dawdling at the various quarters on their way back here.”

“Mmhmmm... want to put on a movie for us to watch with Kashi and Lucas?”

“They aren’t here,” Keith grinned at him. “I sent them off for sleepovers! Kashi is with Pidge, and Lucas is keeping Romelle and Alban company while Allura and Coran are on New Altea- she promised to make pie. I’ve never seen that kid pack so fast!”

“When did you do that?”

“While you were catching up with my brother. Kosmo dropped them off. Sooo,” he tugged Lance into his arms, ignoring the soccer cleat in his free hand, “we’ve got the evening to ourselves, Tumbleweed. What do you think of that?”

“I think,” he answered, looping his arms around Keith’s neck and smiling into that handsome face, “I might just kiss you.”

“You might?”

“Oh no... you heard that wrong, babe. I am definitely gonna kiss you. I might just kiss you... but I’ll probably do a lot more than that... you know... if you’re interested.”

"I love you," Keith laughed, eyes dancing, "of course I'm interested."

"Good... and I love you, too."

[rosecoloredknight]

pssst... mind if I share with you my day? (It's okay if not 😊 go ahead and keep scrolling) so today my day started off a-okay; I procrastinated a lot before finally taking my exams in which I aced!! *high fives myself* heck yeah. I then helped someone in the library look for and print articles for this research paper they need done for next week! she ended up choosing articles based on immigration 👍. After that I headed out to find new jeans because the ones I currently use were just too tight and uncomfortable, why on earth would I wear slim fit for so long? Which by the way, !!!!!! I finally found my style of jeans! it's basically straight fit, however, straight fit stretch is a plus!! 😊👍 Soon after that I met with Fr. Andy, we had well needed talk. Finally after all that I went for a needed run 😊. My sister then texted a little while later inviting me to a BBQ she was doing, I said yes only because I planned to visit the kiddos anyways haha. My niblings wanted me to watch a movie with them and although I'm all in for movie watching, the movie we ended up watching was "It" (the Stephen King book? With the clown? well it's like a mythical something but it-- I'm going to stop myself there) 😬😅😅😐. I'm not a big fan of horror films, but I couldn't say no to them. Anyways, we had good scares and laughs 😊. I headed to supermarket to buy some well needed groceries. Now I'm just here reading chapter 4 for one of my classes while I wait for these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (my favorite) to come out of the oven.

Why am I sharing this? -- I'm a "victim" of someone who feels like they're behind in life, or that life has to be more than what it is right now.. i fail to appreciate what life is giving me now and be excited for what it has in store for me. My life isn't always adventurous or over the top, but it's simple little things that help me appreciate what I have now is okay.. regardless of my past mistakes, loses, regrets, etc. I'm learning to love my life.

Am I doing okay in life right now? not really, but I'm managing. And while I manage, I'm trying to appreciate the good life is still gifting me with; and the good I hope I have, or am in me.

side note: I'm also using this as my journal/diary.

Anyways, rambling done. Hope whoever read this had a great day 😊.

[bloody-bee-tea]

Remember Us (like we used to be)

This is for Deter Week Day 5 - Dealer’s Choice and I went with temporary amnesia because I can, and because the idea wouldn’t leave me alone. Read it here on AO3 or watch out for the read more, since it’s longer than 2.1k.

~*~*~

Derek could feel the pack bond springing to life inside his chest. He had no clue what was happening, or where it suddenly came from, so cautiously following it seemed like the best course of action. He hesitated briefly when he realized that it was leading him to the old house, frozen almost mid-step in the middle of the preserve, because why would anyone even go there?

But he eventually marched on, determined to find out what the hell was going on here. He stopped again, right in front of the house when he heard a heartbeat, too fast to be anything else but confused and afraid and Derek distantly thought that it sounded familiar.

He tracked the beat around the house, the person clearly going into every room, and they became more agitated with each one. Derek waited until the heartbeat was coming off the upper level before he crept into the house, silently making his way upstairs.

He was counting on the fact that the person would be too distraught to listen to any heartbeat and when no reaction came, he allowed himself a small smile at being right.

The smile fell from his face quickly enough though, when he carefully walked up to the doorway to get a good look at the intruder.

“Peter?” he croaked out, because he would know Peter anywhere.

Peter whirled around, clearly surprised, but he looked at Derek with confusion. He tilted his head, subtly scenting the air and Derek’s heart fell.

“Derek?” Peter asked, clearly unsure and Derek felt like throwing up.

“Peter,” he whispered again, because it couldn’t be.

Peter was dead, killed by Derek’s own hand because nothing of the man he loved had been left, and Derek had buried him here, in this house, not even five days ago.

“Look at you,” Peter said, and he sounded awed, though his scent was panicked and sad. “You grew up so gorgeous.”

“What—,” Derek started but then couldn’t help but run forward and pull Peter into a bone-crushing hug.

“I have missed you so much,” he whispered into Peter’s neck, and while Peter returned the hug, he didn’t relax into it.

“Derek, sweetheart, what is going on? Last I remember, you were sixteen. And look at you now. How old are you?”

Derek froze right up, stiltedly extracting himself from Peter’s arms and taking several steps back.

He should have known. He should have known right away, because there was no way in hell that after everything Derek did to their family, and to Peter, that Peter would still want anything to do with him.

“I’m twenty-three,” he told Peter without looking at him, so he only heard the sharp intake of breath.

“Holy shit,” Peter said with emphasis. “What happened? Where is everyone?”

Derek’s heart clenched painfully in his chest, because he had never needed to say it out loud, had never needed to tell anyone that their whole family was dead, and he didn’t know how to break it to Peter. Let alone explain that it was all his fault.

“Derek, darling, just tell me what happened,” Peter coaxed, and Derek swallowed against the lump in his throat.

“They are all dead,” he mumbled. “There was a fire,” he went on, but then stopped when Peter reeled him in for another hug, this time melting against Derek like he used to.

And Derek had intended to tell him the truth, the words I killed them all on the tip of his tongue, but this Peter didn’t look at him with barely concealed hate and Derek couldn’t bring himself to say it. This was Peter from before the fire, the one who loved Derek and who knew how to laugh and who played games with his little niblings; this was the Peter Derek missed every day, like a chopped off limb.

And he just couldn’t destroy all of that.

He figured the amnesia would go away sooner or later; Laura had watched enough rom-coms for Derek to know exactly like this would go, especially considering the enhanced healing, so he thought it couldn’t hurt to just keep a few details to himself.

Peter would hate him again soon enough after all.

~*~*~

It wasn’t quite that easy.

Peter took two days to digest that everyone he loved was dead and buried, that he had lost the better part of a decade to a coma and then to death (at least that was what Derek told him) but it didn’t change the fact that he was as easily affectionate with Derek as he had been before the fire.

Peter grieved for the two days he allowed himself, keeping Derek close and in reach, clearly afraid that he would vanish too, and he peppered Derek with love and kisses and hugs.

Derek, in turn, allowed himself those two days to bask in that affection, in that love, before he distanced himself again. It would be hard enough already, once Peter remembered and started to hate him again, and Derek didn’t need that to happen while he was cuddled up to Peter.

On the third day Peter sat Derek down and very imploringly begged Derek to “Please don’t tell me you live here, in this burned out shell of a home.”

Derek shook his head, and watched relieve wash over Peter’s face, only to be replaced with horror when Derek told him that he was currently staying in an abandoned train station.

Peter didn’t like that answer much better.

Derek didn’t know how Peter did it, what strings he had to pull, but a week after Derek had found him in the house, Peter was leading him into a new apartment.

“Isn’t that so much better, pup? Isn’t this a much better home?” he asked when Derek looked around and he could see it.

Could see them curled up on the couch, arguing over movies like they used to. He could see them in the kitchen, Peter despairing over Derek’s non-existent cooking skills while Derek laughed and laughed. He could see them in bed together, sleeping and comfortable, could imagine them fuck there to their hearts content but also just exist next to each other.

It would be so easy for this apartment to become their home, their den and something sharp and ugly twisted in Derek’s chest.

He didn’t unpack his duffle bag. Like this, it would be easier to run at a moment’s notice, once Peter remembered what Derek did to him. He wouldn’t want Derek around then.

~*~*~

“What did I do?” Peter asked out of the blue one evening, while they prepared dinner. Or rather as Peter prepared dinner and Derek watched from a safe distance.

“What?” Derek asked, startled out of his thoughts and when he looked up, he found Peter watching him.

“You’re distant. You’re deliberately keeping yourself closed off, and I want to know what I did. And how I can fix it.”

Derek pressed his lips together. He didn’t know how to explain that he was keeping his distance to protect himself. Didn’t know how to explain that he would love nothing more than to fall into this thing with Peter again, go back to the easy, comfortable, loving relationship they had before, but couldn’t because he could never stand losing Peter again.

Like this, it was easier for him. There was nothing for Derek to lose, if he didn’t let Peter close again.

But he didn’t know how to explain that without making Peter hate him again and so he just awkwardly shrugged.

Peter’s face fell at that, and Derek wrecked his brain for something reassuring to say.

“It’s not—,” he started and then took a moment to actually think it over. “I’ve been alone so long. I don’t—I just don’t remember how to be with someone anymore,” he explained and when he looked at Peter again, he wasn’t sure if the pain and worry on his face was any better than his hurt look from before.

“Oh, sweetheart,” Peter breathed out, food forgotten on the stove as he came over to cup Derek’s cheek in his hand. “You’re not alone any longer.”

“Yeah,” Derek said, but didn’t voice what he was really thinking. I just wonder how long that lasts.

~*~*~

Derek had only been gone for an hour but when he came back, Peter was sitting at the table and Derek could tell that he had his memories back in an instant. Gone was the open look on his face, the ever-present faint smirk on his lips. Instead, his face was hard and closed off and his eyes told Derek all he needed to know.

Their time together was over.

“I’ll—just get my bag then,” Derek said, heart in his throat, eyes burning like he was about to burst into tears any second now.

He had prepared for this; knew that it was inevitable. But it still hurt more than anything else.

“Is it because I killed Laura?” Peter asked and Derek stopped in his retreat, confused by that question.

“Is what because of Laura?”

“You keeping your distance. Did I—did I kill whatever we had, every chance we ever had, when I killed her?”

“She was your alpha and left you behind when you needed the pack the most. I hate that she’s gone, and I hate how she died, but you were feral at the time and I don’t hold it against you,” Derek explained and watched Peter’s face twist.

“What is it then? What did I do to make you hate me like this? You won’t even relax around me, don’t think I haven’t noticed. You didn’t even unpack. Why would you come here in the first place if you were always going to leave me again?”

“It’s not what you did to me, Peter, it’s what I did to you,” Derek chocked out. “I killed them, I killed them all and I left you just like Laura did and then I killed you. I know that even one of those is unforgivable, but all three—I always knew that as soon as you remembered I would have to leave again, that you wouldn’t want me around anymore. It’s you who hates me, and I get it, I really do, Peter, but I can’t—I couldn’t pretend that everything was fine for the last few weeks.”

Derek was breathing hard at the end of his triad and Peter was staring at him with wide eyes, surprise clearly written all over his face.

“I don’t hate you,” Peter told him, and Derek scoffed. “Hell, I don’t even blame you for any of these things.”

“Right,” Derek spit out. “That’s why you almost killed me, why you looked at me with such hate. Because you don’t blame me.”

“Darling,” Peter started and Derek flinched at the endearment, causing Peter to frown. “I really don’t hate you, and I don’t blame you. Kate killed our family, not you. It was Laura’s decision to leave me behind; she was your alpha and you had to obey. And you killing me was the kindest gesture you could ever show me. I wasn’t only feral, Derek, I was completely insane.”

But Derek couldn’t believe it. It just didn’t make sense in his head.

“You hate me,” he whispered, clinging to the one thing he had believed for the last few months, and Peter stood up at that.

“I don’t, darling. I love you,” he said, carefully coming closer. “I love you the same I have always loved you,” he told Derek softly and Derek could see the Peter from last week, the one who was still happy and content and a lot softer around the edges.

Derek couldn’t stop the trembling that started in his hands and just spread out, but Peter was right there, taking his hands in his and bringing them up to his chest, pressing them right over his heart, as if Derek hadn’t been listening to his heartbeat all this time.

“I love you,” Peter repeated, and Derek almost choked on a sob, wrangling his hands free so he could sling them around Peter’s neck and pull him close, hiding himself in Peter’s embrace.

“I love you, too,” Derek muttered, pressing the words into Peter’s skin.

They stayed like that for a very long time.

“Does that mean you’re finally going to unpack?” Peter eventually asked, but he still didn’t move away. “Because it doesn’t much feel like a home when you always have one foot out of the door.”

“I’m going to unpack,” Derek promised and pulled away only to lean in and press a soft kiss to Peter’s lips. “We’re going to make this a home.”

He still remembered what he had thought the first time Peter had shown this apartment to Derek; how easy it would be to just fall into a domestic life with Peter here. And now there was nothing keeping him from doing exactly that.