#like no concern for his younger siblings or if his dad will miss him

[villainvillain]

the only thing about the last two episodes that im actually mad about is just that we dont get confirmation if FW finn is alive or not even tho they literally bring that dudes son into fionna's world and he just does not mention his family at all

[chimindity]

father figure

summary | jj decides to become a father figure to his younger sister. request by @/anon

-> headcannon

pairing | jj maybank & sister!reader

warning | soft ; a bit of daddy issues?

a/n | jj icon by @tinylilacbun

✦ ⎯⎯ㅤִㅤ୭ ୨♡୧ ৎㅤִ  ⎯⎯ ✦

jj has always been someone you can count on. he isn’t the typical mean older brother; instead, he’s the first person you turn to whenever you need support. the two of you have always been inseparable, especially since your dad started hurting both of you.

initially, you didn’t mind not having a father figure, but as you’ve grown older, the absence of one has become more apparent in your life.

you spend every day by your brother's side, often getting into mischief together. when things get too risky, he insists you stay back while he takes charge. what you cherish most about him is his protective nature, treating you with the same care a father would.

but the moments you cherish the most are when you get to relax in front of the tv after an exhausting day. he would make you dinner, allowing for some peaceful time together.

as you hurry down the stairs, excited to sprawl on the couch with your brother, you accidentally trip and fall onto all fours right in front of the living room. jj quickly reacts, crouching beside you to see if you’re okay. “hey, be careful! i don’t want you to break an arm or anythin'. c'mere,” he playfully says, ruffling your hair while helping you back to your feet. you cling to him as he settles back onto the couch.

you can’t help but giggle at his protectiveness. when he expects you to loosen your grip around his arm, he furrows his brows, realizing you’re clinging even tighter. as you look up at him, he glances down, raising his eyebrows and sighing as it finally clicks in his mind what you’re waiting for. “fine, get over here,” he chuckles, pulling you into his lap. you both settle in to watch tv, and you snuggle closer, savoring this peaceful moment with your brother.

you smile at him warmly, gently taking his arms and wrapping them around you to pull yourself closer. he chuckles, teasing, “feeling a bit clingy tonight, huh?” as he presses a kiss to your temple. “i just—just want cuddles,” you whisper, your voice already sounding half-asleep.

you feel his arms tighten around you, pulling you in closer. the deep bond you share as siblings is a source of healing for both of you, particularly in the absence of your father. yet, he senses that you need more than just a brother at this moment. jj nervously bites his bottom lip, uncertain if he should address the topic.

he clears his throat while you fidget with his bracelets, completely absorbed in the movie you're watching. “ i finally decided to tidy up my room today,” you say quietly, hoping for his approval. he lifts his hand, waiting for you to give him a high-five. “you must be kidding me, i'm really proud of you, cupcake. just make sure it stays that way for a while,” he smirks, pulling you in closer.

you laugh along with him until he clears his throat once more. “cupcake, uh, well, i think we need to have a serious talk.” you can feel him tense up beneath you, his voice trembling as he searches for the right words. you nod, a wave of concern washing over you about what he’s about to say.

you slide off his lap and stand in front of him, nervously toying with the hem of your pajamas. “what is it?” you ask softly, a hint of concern lacing your voice. you watch as he takes a deep breath and gently holds your hands. “do you ever miss having a dad? like, emotionally or something?” he stammers slightly. you tilt your head in confusion at his question.

he knows the answer, but you shyly nod your head, reluctant to fully admit that you’ve longed for a father figure ever since your dad was no longer allowed to take care of both of you. he looks up at you, seeking more than just a quick nod of approval. “sweetheart, didn’t we already discuss this? just speak up,” he says, giving you a reassuring smile to encourage you to open up. “yes, i do—i really miss it,” you admit, glancing down at your feet, feeling a wave of shame wash over you for what you’ve just confessed.

“i've been thinking about this for a while now. what if you started calling me dad? i know it might sound like the craziest idea you’ve ever heard, but—” he stops abruptly as you leap into his arms, a wave of emotion crashing over you at his suggestion. you can feel him relax at your response, and he gently rubs your back in a comforting manner while you nearly break down against his chest. "yes, yes, i want that. i want to call you dad,” you say through sniffles, sinking deeper into his embrace as he continues to soothe you.

he gently cradles your cheek, lifting your chin to meet his gaze. “daddy's here; i'll always be right by your side, sweetcheeks, always.” he plants a soft kiss on your forehead while you giggle nervously. “i love you, dad,” you whisper, looking up at him. “love you too, sweetcheeks,” he replies, drawing you closer into his warm embrace.

taglist

@jjsfavgirl ; @nemesyaaa ; @mrvlxgrl ; @tinylilacbun ; @jjmaybankssurfergf ; @mylettterstoyou ; @sweetstars-posts ; @hallecarey1 ; @aariahnaa

[luxaryllis]

hi!! if you're accepting requests rn could you pls write just pure angst of azul with a younger sibling who he was super close to before, but when their parents got divorced they grew distant bc the sibling went to live with their dad instead of with him and his mom. then a few years later sibling ends up attending nrc and azul recognizes them and is excited to talk to them again only to discover that they're not the same as before.

rlly loved your scared younger sibling fics. they gave me chest pains bc of how damn sad they were. keep up the good work :)

Brother Knows Best

Note: OMG!! What is this!? I, Lux, FINALLY finishing something and posting it?! Has a miracle truly happened?!

Anyway, I'll just write the sibling of this one as a year younger than Azul, and the sibling was also be an octopus merfolk. I'm going to mention the reader having interests in some stuff, so please don't get offended if it doesn't apply to you. You can always just replace the traits I put as a trait of yours!

And imma just use Ashengrotto as the family name, cuz idk if Ashengrotto was the last name of Azul's bio father, or step-father, or the maiden name of his mother.

Warning/s: Parents divorcing, Split custody, Angst, Spoilers to Azul's backstory and past, Spoilers to Azul's Ceremonial Robes vignettes, Reader is mentioned to have somewhat similar features to Azul (specific features aren't specified), Tell me if I missed anything

Full post under the cut!

-----

"Big brother! Why are you crying?" A slightly smaller mer-octopus swam closer with a concerned expression.

Azul, who was hiding in an octopus pot, looked up to his sweet and innocent little sibling. The 7-year-old boy's eyes soften, and Azul knew that it was only a matter of time before his baby sibling, [Name], would go through all the bullying and teasing as well.

But Azul didn't want that. He wanted [Name]'s cute smile to last forever. He wanted [Name] to not have to see and experience the horrors of simply being themself. He wanted to protect [Name] from everything and everyone who dared hurt them.

Azul's heart squeezed in his chest as he realizes that he can't. He can't protect [Name]. Azul couldn't even protect himself! He truly was... a weak, dumb, slow little octopus...

Tormented by his thoughts, Azul continued sobbing, hiding further into the octopus pot, hiding his chubby face from his little sibling.

"Don't look at me!!" Azul cries out, accidentally spitting out ink from his tentacles, staining the waters around them. The mess caused Azul to cry even more, the ugly black liquids reminding him of what the other kids told him.

[Name] frowns softly, they didn't know why their big brother was upset. The younger mer-octopus moves closer to the octo-pot, trying to coax their older brother to come out.

"Zul-ie.. what's wrong? I don't like seeing you sad..."

Upon receiving no response, the younger child purses their lips in a pout.

"Come onnn...! Mom and dad made dinner! They made fried chicken! Your favorite!!"

---

"Big brother!! Look, look! Wanna hear this song I learned on the piano?!"

Piano keys played a gorgeous melody under [Name]'s fingers, and Azul watched with wide eyes full of wonder and pride. Azul felt a small sense of envy in him, but he couldn't find it in himself to acknowledge the jealousy, because Azul was too proud of his younger sibling to do that.

And yet...

As [Name] learned more and more, Azul couldn't help but feel... left behind.

As though [Name] doesn't need him anymore.

But... but that isn't true right? [Name] needs Azul... right...?

As days and years pass by, nagging feelings of envy and worthlessness bubble up in Azul as he watches his sibling shine.

'I should be proud of them,' he thinks to himself as his mind wanders while he was studying.

---

'Mom and dad don't love each other anymore...'

Those were the thoughts in the two siblings' heads while they listened to their parents argue for what felt like the umpteenth time. And today, it seemed as though everyone in the house had finally had enough of the screams and shouts.

Around a month or so later, the Ashengrotto family were in court, for a divorce trial. It was a somewhat long process, but the judge's words hit the two children like a truck.

"Mrs. Ashengrotto is to be given custody over Azul Ashengrotto. Whilst Mr. Ashengrotto is to be given custody over [Name] Ashengrotto."

When the Ashengrotto family split up, Azul and [Name] were desperately trying to stay together. It went to the point that their parents had to pull the crying siblings apart because [Name] and their father had to leave.

"Big brother!!! NO!!"

"[Name]!!! Don't leave me please!!"

---

"DON'T LEAVE ME!!"

Azul wakes up with a start, sitting up from the bed with wide eyes and heavy breathing. His hair was frazzled in a bedhead, and he quickly looks around.

The Octavinelle Dorm Leader recognizes his dorm room, and breathes a sigh. Not one of relief, but one of exhaustion. Azul reaches to his bedside table and takes his glasses, putting them on as he checks the clock. 5 am.

Next to the clock, Azul sees the small picture he placed. A family picture of him, his mother, his father, and his younger sibling. It was taken before his parents had divorced. When they were all happy...

Azul stares at his younger sibling in the picture, yearning to see them again. He reaches out a bit, but stops himself and shakes his head. 'Now is not the time', he thinks to himself. He shakily stands up and starts getting ready for the welcoming ceremony of the new first years of NRC.

Azul leaves the room and passes by Jade and Floyd's shared room. The house-warden could hear Floyd's complaining through the door and he sighs, knocking on the door and speaking.

"Floyd, would you stop complaining? Jade and I have to get ready for the Welcoming Ceremony, and you and the others have to start preparing for the welcome party for our new first years."

Almost immediately, Floyd replies with a slight whiney tone. "Says the person who wasn't wrung out like a rag for some lotion! I can barely walk!!" Azul could almost hear the pout in Floyd's voice and sighs in exasperation, listening to Jade trying to calm his brother down.

Deciding to leave the twin eels alone, Azul starts to walk away and head to the Lounge to make sure the preparations are going smoothly. As he walked, his mind can't help but wander to thoughts like if he and his own younger sibling would have a similar dynamic to Jade and Floyd. Hm, or would their dynamic be more like Idia's and Ortho's? Likely not, perhaps.

These thoughts weighed in Azul's mind, and he feels himself shaking his head, trying to rid himself of those thoughts. He hasn't seen his younger sibling for a long time; but Azul certainly hopes that [Name] didn't have such a drastic change like he did.

For some reason, Azul couldn't bear the thought of his previously happy-go-lucky and outgoing [Name] to be anything else other than such a happy mer-octopus. It was wishful thinking, but what kind of older brother would he be if he didn't wish only the best for his younger sibling?

---

When the time came for the Welcoming Ceremony to begin, the Housewardens (exceot for Malleus Draconia, who likely didn't receive the invitation, Azul thinks) were all lined in a circle surrounding the mirror, waiting for students to be sorted into their own dorms.

As each student was being sorted to their dorms, Azul takes the time to look at each student that seemed to catch his attention. None seemed very relevant thus far, maybe a few people he could exploit here and there.

"Next student!"

A student dressed in the NRC Ceremonial Robes stepped out of the crowd of the unsorted first-years. Their hood was on and casting a shadow down their face as they walked towards the mirror.

"State thy name." The mirror said when the student stepped up.

Suddenly, the student spoke a name that ran a shiver down Azul's spine. A name that Azul never thought he would hear no matter how much he wished to hear.

"[Name] Ashengrotto."

Jade raised an eyebrow and turned to Azul curiously, and some other students who recognized the last name also snuck some glances to the Octavinelle Dormleader. Azul could vaguely hear Idia's voice through the floating tablet, saying things like, 'Plot twist?!', but he paid no heed to it.

Azul's eyes were wide, and his mouth was lightly agape in surprise. His younger sibling... studying in NRC?!?

Questions ran through Azul's head in that moment. How is his younger sibling doing? Do they still like to play the piano? Or perhaps they still continued collecting those sea shells? Did [Name] still want to be a singer when they grew up? Do they still enjoy chasing their tentacles like a dog liked chasing its tail? Do they still have that same smile they always did; the one that brightened any room they were in and made their eyes glimmer like the stars land-folk liked to gaze at?

The Dark Mirror spoke again, "The shape of they soul is..."

Azul was beside himself with worry and anticipation. What dorm would his younger sibling be sorted into?

'Octavinelle, Octavinelle, Octavinelle', Azul chanted in his head, hoping for the Dark Mirror to sort [Name] in the dorm he was in.

"... Octavinelle!"

It took almost everything in Azul not to let out a sigh of relief, but he was celebrating in his mind. Suddenly remembering that he was the Dorm Leader of Octavinelle, he stepped up and made himself known to his beloved younger sibling.

Azul mustered up an amicable smile (and those who knew him were rather surprised at how genuine Azul's smile looked), and spoke. "Welcome to Octavinelle, right this way please."

[Name], not having realized who the person underneathe the hood was, nodded and walked to the crowd of Octavinelle students, waiting for the Welcoming Ceremony to be over.

---

After a rather tiring Welcoming Ceremony, with an entire fire getting started by a racoon-cat-monster named Grim, all the students (save for that one student who couldn't get sorted to a dorm) were allowed to leave and go back to their respective dorms.

The Octavinelle first-years were granted a delicious meal and celebration, and were all briefed on their duties in the Mostro Lounge. The entire time, Azul kept sneaking glances at [Name], which wasn't really left unnoticed by the twins or by [Name] themself.

Azul eventually mustered up the courage to approach his younger sibling and struck up a conversation.

"[Name], it's very nice to see you..! I'm Azul, remember? Your older brother?" Azul's voice was one of slight anxiety, did [Name] eveb remember him? It has been a while since they last even heard from each other..

[Name] turns to look at Azul and nods a bit, smiling a little. "Ah, right. It's so nice to see you again, Zulie."

Being referred to his favorite childhood nickname made Azul smile softly, but he couldn't shake off the surprise at seeing the change of demeanor in [Name]. Back when they were younger, [Name] was much more outgoing and enthusiastic compared to this [Name], who seemed to want to curl up in a ball when someone else tried making conversation with them.

Not even their smile fully reached their eyes anymore. Just what had happened to his beloved younger sibling in the time he was gone?

Internally hoping that his younger sibling hadn't changed too much, Azul tried to continue the conversation. "Ah, do you.. still play the piano?"

[Name] shook their head and smiled a little sheepishly in reply. "Oh, no I don't anymore. Atleast, not as often as before. I still play it occasionally, but I don't exactly find it as fun now."

"What about collecting sea shells? Surely, you still find that enjoyable?"

"Dad and I lived in a more colder part of the ocean, and there weren't a lot of sea shells to collect. So, no, not really."

"Ahh, I see... what do you like doing nowadays, then, [Name]?"

"Oh, well..." [Name] then proceeds to tell their older brother of their interests; though most (if not all) the things the younger Ashengrotto listed were things Azul weren't very interested in.

Regardless, Azul nods in understanding, trying not to mind how much his sibling had changed.

The next few weeks after that, Azul had found it hard to approach [Name]. Why? Well, maybe it was because of the fact that his younger sibling had grown rather attached to the Ramshackle prefect and a certain trouble-making trio (Ace, Deuce, and Grim).

Azul had enough of it, seeing his younger sibling get roped into trouble from their group of friends. When [Name] had came back to the dorm with the Heartslabyul's dorm leader's collar on them, Azul had to pull his younger sibling aside to talk.

"[Name], may I ask exactly why you have Riddle's collar on you? What did your friends bring you into this time?" Azul asked [Name] as they spoke in Azul's office. Azul was looking at his beloved younger sibling with furrowed brows and a scrutinizing expression.

[Name] replied, "It's a.. long story, big brother. Yuu, Ace, Deuce, Grim, and I were at Heartslabyul's Unbirthday Party. Dorm Leader Rosehearts got mad at us and collared us and kicked us out of the party because a rule was broken.."

Azul sighs in disappointment and exasperation. He can't believe his younger sibling associated themself with such troublemakers.

"[Name], honestly, why do you even hang out with such people?! They're getting you into trouble!"

[Name] tries to defend themself, "They don't mean to! And I can't just stand by and watch as my friends suffer on their own!"

Azul starts to get a little frustrated. Can't they see, those group of 'friends' as [Name] calls them are terrible influences. It's only a matter of time before they start using [Name] for their own benefit, Azul is sure about that. After all, [Name] has always been rather straightforward in the way that they won't hesitate to help (such values were strange to see in a school like Night Raven College). And Azul knew what happened to people like that; they get exploited, wrung out like a rag, draining them out until there's nothing left to give.

If [Name]'s friends were anything like the other students of NRC (like how Azul would treat his 'clients'), it would be so, so much worse for [Name]. Oh, Azul could practically see it now; it'll start small, like helping out with homework or lending some money. Eventually, it'll be like his younger sibling got the life and kindness sucked out of them, leaving them burnt out like a poor, unfortunate soul!

And Azul can't and won't let his beloved younger sibling go through that. He won't let [Name] fall from grace so terribly like the people who've broken their end of the deal with him.

And that is what Azul tells [Name] (leaving out the parts that paint Azul as the scheming businessman he is, of course) in an effort and attempt to dissuade his sibling from staying friends with their troublemaking friends.

"Don't you see, my dear sibling? They're only using you and their troublemaking schemes would run your student record through the mud. They're getting you involved in so much drama and troubles, and as your older brother, I'd hate for you to be surrounded by such terrible influences," Azul says.

[Name] frowns a bit. Azul worded it as though they hadn't done anything wrong, which wasn't all that far from the truth, though. However, [Name] also knew that Azul was thinking that they were being dragged against their will to help out, which they weren't.

"Big brother... I'm helping out willingly, because I want to. Besides, they're my friends. Didn't the Sea Witch always help other people? We're Octavinelle students, we must always follow the Sea Witch's values."

[Name] replies. The facts about Octavinelle and the Sea Witch were things that the younger Ashengrotto used to try convincing Azul to let them go.

Azul clicks his tongue, his eyes narrowing as he pushes up his glasses that were starting to fall a bit. "Then perhaps you should try getting better, more behaved friends instead of the ones you have right now. What happened to the well-behaved [Name] I used to know?" Azul mutters under his breath, but [Name] could still hear Azul's words.

[Name] frowns at the last question. "What 'happened' is that life happened, Azul. Not everyone stays the same! I've changed!!"

Azul, however, has difficulty getting behind the thought, shaking his head in denial, "Then change back!! [Name], I want the old you! The one who'd listen and trust me without a second thought! The one who was dependent on me! The one who actually made me feel special!!"

That was the last straw for [Name]. They have grown tired of their older brother trying to keep them the same as they used to when they were a child. Can't Azul just let go of the past? "Well that [Name] is gone!! I'm independent now, Azul! I'm not a child! Stop treating me like one!"

[Name] shouts in a burst of anger, before their eyes widen, not having expected themself to actually blow up like that. Not necessarily regretting it, though, the young Ashengrotto quickly turns away and leaves Azul's office, ignoring their older brother's shouts for them to come back.

---

Azul breathes heavily as he falls to his knees, watching as his younger sibling walks away from him, closing the door behind them. The sight can't help but remind Azul of the time when he and [Name] were separated; just this time, [Name] was being pulled away by their 'friends' instead of their father.

Azul can't believe this!! Did [Name] really just walk away from him?! After everything Azul did in hopes of having his dearest sibling back?! How dare they!

How dare they change! How dare they change so much to the point Azul barely recognizes them! How dare they move on from the past so quickly, as if it didn't bother them! And how dare they even think of choosing their friends over him!

How dare they make him cry! How dare they say words that hurt far more than when those pesky merfolk would bully him!! How dare they leave him there, with tears falling down his eyes and with a heart aching for family!

How dare they, how dare they, how dare they!!

Azul takes a deep breath of resolution, his eyes narrowing behind the glint of his glasses. Never mind, then. He'll show them, he just knows it.

Azul calls the Leech twins over to the office, preparing to make a plan for the upcoming exam season, a list of specific names he wants them to target.

He'll show [Name]. He'll show them that he's right. That big brother knows best.

[yukasyukasyukasyukas]

Random valorant agents headcanons bc I'm sleep deprived

(this means I didn't get my 12 hours of sleep today)

Brimstone

Hugest ally on the VP (which, lets be honest, doesn't mean much since they're all gay)

First person KJ came out to and he was so emotional about it

Constantly tries to get the agents to get closer or at least respect each other but after Cypher mentioned how him and Breach treat one another he gave up

Calls some agents (Viper, Sage and Killjoy) by their first names on the everyday and calls Sova, Chamber and Deadlock (the other ex militars) by their last names

I wanted to hc him an American football team but idk any💞💞💞

Viper

Brimstone and Vyse are the only ones to call her Sabine bc they know her since before the "incident"

KJ also used to call her Sabine before the VP but Viper was bitter abt agents calling her by her first name

Scared for her life of failing Reyna, not because she actually fears her, but because she actually cares about Lucia

Older sister who lost contact with her family

Aroace

Has a snake named Viper that is older than the protocol

Omen

Is annoyed by people mistaking knitting with crochet

Very kind to the younger agents

In his own way though

Killjoy

Has an older sister who doesn't talk to her since she was a teenager

HOW DOES ONE BECOME THE LEAD OF A WHOLE DIVISION ON SUCH A HUGE CORPORATION AT THE AGE OF 18???!$+2+_(not a hc, just a concern)

The fact her dad died before she was born probably has something to do with her closeness to Cypher and Brimstone

Rich af but rents an apartment with another girl and that place is absolutely precarious

Pays the rent monthly even if she doesn't spend a single night there

Has a huge lesbian flag on the living room and that has gotten her very straight roommate into delicate situations with her boyfriends

Her roommate is Brazilian from São Paulo bc I want her to

Very easily impressed by anything Raze does even if it's something she can do a thousand times better

I feel like she would main a duelist if she played val, probably Reyna or Raze

Cypher

Has a picture of his wife and kids on his bedside table

He keeps Nora's favorite clothing and his children's baby toys

Girl dad obv

Killjoy reminds him of his oldest daughter and sometimes he calls her his daughter's name

Hates kingdom but since he joined the protocol he learned how to convive with their workers, even if he doesn't like it most part of the time

Scares little kids on Roblox for fun

Wouldn't mind having a relationship with a man but after Nora he can't imagine himself in another relationship so he doesn't give it a try

(I love him and Nora😭)

Sova

Calls the other agents by their first names

Was friends with Sage since before the protocol

Recommend Sage to Brimstone

One of the only coworkers Viper enjoys the company of

Once he tried to speak Spanish to mess around with Reyna and Raze swore he was speaking Portuguese bc of the accent

Trans bc I want to project into my fav characters

Morning walks

Sage

Calls everyone by their first names

Has two younger siblings but she hasn't had notice of them since she started the monk training

Misses them

Met Skye when researching about her healing powers, Skye was doing the same

Born radiant

Great at cooking but Jett gaslit her into thinking it was bad as a joke and she still believes it

After Harbor joined the VP she got back into cooking

Lesbian bc I said so

Not much close to the other women in the protocol, only Skye, Jett, Neon and Reyna

Closer to the men on the VP (Sova, Brimstone, Cypher, Iso, Omen etc)

Doesn't have a clue of why Clove doesn't like her

Phoenix

Nerd

This man is a canon theater kid, he absolutely LOVES musicals, specially Hamilton and Jett and Raze tease him Abt being British and liking it

Bi

For some reason Jett gaslights him into thinking he's actually gay, obviously never worked

Him and Jett break up for the most ridiculous reasons, they've already broken up more times than one can count on fingers

Banned from every kitchen he steps on

Learned Korean só Jett would shut up about her being bilingual while he only spoke English

Once he let Astra undo his dreads to give him braids, it was the saddest day of his life

Raze bullies him for his style💔💔💔💞

Jett

Can cook five stars dinners but insists on eating leftovers she finds on the fridge and steals from the other agents

Doesn't dare touching Chamber's "monstrosities of dishes"

Makes people their favorite dinner and a special breakfast on their birthdays

Cooks for the whole protocol on weekends

Most my hc surround on the fact she's always eating something and was a chef😔

Gaslights everyone into believing the most random and/or stupid things and has actually convinced Gekko that dog is a common dish in east Asia

First thing she asks every east Asian she meets outside of east Asia is if they eat dog

Sage was mad at her for this

Also bi

Reyna

Actually very caring and worried for most agents

Siblings relationship with Yoru

Randomly starts speaking Spanish to Sage just to annoy her

Learned Chinese just to mess around with Sage

Lesbiana

Flirts with Breach as a joke

Iso actually believed she and Breach were a couple when he arrived

Homophobic to Raze and Killjoy

Non ironically has offered to find Raze a better girlfriend than Killjoy

Wants to be a mother but can't because of her duties and Sage doesn't like children

Raze

BRAZILIPPINES

Hugest anarcocomunist

Grafitti artist

Has sent Kingdom, Killjoy and Viper dozens of blackmails before joining the protocol

Didn't like Killjoy for her first years in the protocol

Boombot was created as a "rebellion" from Killjoy's tech with an alarmbot that Kingdom placed near her house

Has a younger brother who is her absolutely whole world

Capoeira.

Breach

Actually speaks Portuguese very well

Dad jokes

Hates children and the only exception is Raze's younger brother

Please please please please please read the joke I posted😭

Didn't get along with Deadlock nor Chamber at first

Gets along well with Cypher, Harbor and Fade

Likes men and makes it everyone's business and is very annoying to homophobes about it (bi)

Has kissed Harbor once just to see the look of terror on a homophobic guy's eyes

Skye

Lesbian

Owes a personal gun that she uses to scare bigots and idiots in general

Was guilty about rejecting Yoru

Still is very close to him

Skyelock beloved

The ship name should be changed to Hiking Buddies or something

Can make a cat with her powers and it plays with Nightmare when it's starting to affect Fade too much

Closer to Fade than most agents think

Morning walks with Sova and Deadlock

Yoru

Has a huge knowledge on east Asian culture in general

Speaks ainu and a little uchinaguchi

Values culture and tradition more than his life

Constantly educating Jett on Korean traditions???

Mansplains a lot

Neon (single) teases him for being single

Has the "lesbian curse" in which every woman he likes is a lesbian and it's starting to develop into an "aroace curse"

Homophobic to Killjoy

Misogynist to Killjoy

everything you can think that is bad against Killjoy

And Reyna is with him on these

Astra

Pansexual

Nerd on physics

Knows a lot about quantum physics

That was me projecting, sorry

I need more astra content to make more headcanons 😔😔😔

Galaxsea/ astrarbor/ Neptune/ sea star

Born radiant

KAY/O

Doesn't actually have feelings, he's just programmed to make humans feel loved (besides, obviously, being a war machine)

It was a way of keeping the non radiant soldiers hopeful during the radiant war

He's a robot, of course he doesn't have feelings

Killjoy is absolutely fascinated by him and wonders if it was her who built him or at least made his project

The "hatred" he has for the radiants is also a way of keeping the non radiants feeling safe and appreciated

Sage is the exception from his radiant hatred because she's always appeared to be against Reyna's radiant dominant ideal world and he read that as a powerful ally to his cause

He's AI ofc he's gonna be a little dumb even though he's from like 2060

Chamber

I refuse to

Does he like men?

Was homophobic to Killjoy and Raze when they started dating and to Sage and Reyna

Was actually homophobic

Turned out he likes men???

I'm confused

I don't like him

Neon

BRAZILIPPINES

She probably knew Killjoy before the VP or at least heard about her not as an professional but as a person

Definitely likes women

Since she became a radiant at such a young age and os so powerful there were probably lots of accidents

Was mostly isolated from the outside for a long time before the thing that is sticked to her back was finished

That'd explain why she doesn't like making new friends, she doesn't know how to

Knows a lot of stuff involving quantum physics and science since her parents work at kingdom and she has worked with them

Fade

Constantly found sleeping on the floor

Sometimes she leaves Nightmare out of her bedroom to get a peaceful night of sleep

Goes to sleep on about the same time Skye is waking up

Fadelock goes hard too

You'll rarely see her awake but when you do she looks like she hasn't slept in a decade

Doesn't actually sleep, just take 30 min naps throughout the day

Took a while to stop calling Harbor "agent Batra" during missions

I just checked and that is lore inaccurate but idc

Likes men and women, never stopped to think of it as "oh, I'm lgbt" that's just one more small detail about her

Had a cat that her brother gave her when she was a kid, it died of kidney failure a few years before she joined realm

Harbor

History and architecture nerd

Also a philosophy enthusiast

Has a tattoo that says "Memento mori et memento vivere" and that's what caught Astra's attention at first

Him and Astra spend a lot of time just nerding around

He's very caring yet not much protective to the younger agents

Randomly throws water at people who walk by

Breach and Deadlock learned on the hardest way not to be around him with a glass of water

Calls Fade Hazel because at first he thought that was how it was and never corrected it

Older brother of two sister

Pansexual

Gekko

Grafitti artist

Is an only child but is very close to the children is his neighborhood

Gay

That guy looks so gay I'm gonna cry

Has a dog named Lizard

Him and Raze talk to each other in Spanish and Portuguese and it's an absolute nightmare for others to decifrate their alien language

Asked Sage if people actually eat dogs in Asia and was punished for a week, Reyna had lots of fun

Jett still teases him about it

She told Iso about that and every time Gekko asks him what he's eating he says it's dog

Him and Deadlock are actually chill about each other for as long as one doesn't cross the other's boundaries when it comes to his radivores

Deadlock

This woman doesn't have a drop of heterosexuality on her body

She thought she liked Iso but it turned out he was just the only one not asking her to get along with radivores and radiants

Hates when she's called by her first name

Skye, Sage and Sova call her Iselin or Ise

Lost contact with her family and legally got rid of her last name Legally got rid of her last name as a way to try to protect her parents from potential threats related to her missions (edited bc apparently Fr��ya and Anna were indeed Iselin's sisters and I was too stupid to notice)

Fadeskyelock(?)

Used to go on lots of missions involving radivores before the VP but after the polar bear she didn't trust herself near them again

Graduated in biology

She wanted to be a scientist when she was a kid

Used to be obsessed about radivores and radiance before the bear

Iso

Can't cook for his life

Used to think he liked Deadlock but it was just compulsory heterosexuality

Aroace

Not much close with most agents but Sage and Deadlock

Him and Raze are absolute nightmares to go in mission with, those mfs listent to music so loud they can't hear anything else

KJ was scared of him

Only listens to music that are on languages he doesn't speak

Raze showed him Brazilian funk and he started listening to it during missions

Clove

Don't give a shit if they're misgendered

The pet rock is to throw at those who insist that they're a woman even after they correct them

Sleeps the whole day and is awake during the whole night

Immortal, queer, sleeps during the day... Are they a vampire?!

Randomly dresses up fancy and stays on that fit for the whole day, they can be seen wearing a suit during missions in breeze

Spends all their time awake doing unproductive stuff

Vyse

Was a physicist and later got into engeneering

She can't really remember those last years before the scions took her

Was took by the scions by Omen but none of them know

Doesn't like Iso

Her and Viper used to be very close friends, their friendship cou be compared to Jett and Phoenix's, they were very spontaneous

The "incident" was something involving her but no one really remember how it was

Ace

Had a cat named Jaguar

[shankss-magnificent-ass]

Imagine the red hair pirates reminiscing about your childhoods

You: Wait so if your family lived in a one-room house

Howling Gab: Calling it a house is generous, but yes

You: And you have two younger siblings who are 10 and 14 years younger than you, the that means....

Benn: That means you've seen your parents doing the deed.

Shanks: Making the beast with two backs

Yassop: Boinking

Lucky Roux: Doing squat thrusts in the cucumber patch

You: Putting the bun in the oven

Hongou: Literally present for the conception of your siblings

Howling Gab: *rolls his eyes* Yes, I saw my parents fucking, and no it's not weird. What's weird is you haven't seen your parents fucking.

Shanks: *slaps his knee and laughs* Maybe so, but I'm all the happier for it.

You: Yeah, I'm glad I can't say I know what my dad's balls look like.

Benn: I wish I could.

The crew: *concerned silence*

Benn: *reads the room* OH! No, no, no, not like that. It wasn't anything bad.

You: Then what was it?

Lime Juice: Do ya wanna talk about it, buddy?

Benn: I told you it wasn't like that! I wasn't diddled as a child... He was taking us swimming, and I was clinging to his leg because I thought it'd make him hurry. When I made the mistake of looking up while he was wearing swim trunks. And BOOM, I got a front row seat looking directly at his taint and ball sack.

You: *covers your mouth to contain your laughter* oh gods.

Benn: they were pale and veiny. And they hung so low *shudders* I don't wanna even think about it.

Hongo: You are all so dramatic, like your balls aren't as perky as they were twenty years ago.

Benn: They've definitely migrated a ways south. And my dick kind of just always leaking.

Shanks: Yeah what's up with that? Nobody told me about this, and the fake I'd piss myself so much. That's something I miss about my childhood, my undies were always dry.

You: I miss that my back didn't hurt

Yassop: or my fucking knees, the damn things click so often you could mistake me for a reindeer. (their tendons click)

Lucky Roux: Yes! It's the fucking worst.

Author's note: the swimming pool incident is based on a true story. And unfortunately it's a memory that won't fade no matter how much I wish it would.🙃

List of Up-and-coming works

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[titi-1188]

Always in your corner

“You know that Chan would truly always be in your corner and you hope he knows you’ll always be in his. Neither of you asked to be born to parents who had no care in the world but at least the two of you had each other.”

—

WARNINGS: Parents who don’t care(?)

PAIRING: Older Brother Chan x Younger Sibling Reader

WORD COUNT: 2.1K+

EXTRA INFO: Angst(?)/comfort, Christmas, Cringy Frozen reference, Life Advice from Older Brother, ‘Baby’ used as a term on endearment in a ‘omg you’re literally a baby’ way. SAFE FOR WORK ONLY!!!

A/N: Happy Christmas to those who celebrate and in general Happy Holidays to all!! As always, sorry for any mistakes, my english writing skills are NOT the best, I try to look over it and make sure everything makes sense to an outsider perspective of someone who ISN’T in my head but yk how it can be🩷 hehe i hope u like it!!! (can u tell what kind of issues I may have…)

Every Christmas since Chan started college whenever he’d come back, you’d be there, ready to greet him with a hug and some sort of small ‘welcome home’ gift. Christmas was probably the only time in the year year you got to see each other with how busy you both were; you being in high school and Chan attending college, working his ass off to get his degree. You and your brother couldn’t even see each other during the summer holidays-your parents sent you off on exchanges to other countries, so far, you’ve been to Spain, France and Italy (twice), and your other breaks from school just never lined up. Safe to say Christmas was like a blessing. An opportunity for two siblings to reunite.

So, this year when Chan got out of your dad’s car after a very awkward three hour long ride from the airport and walked into the house and wasn’t met with you he was surprised, disappointed even.

“Where is she?”, he asked as your mother came out of the living room. She rolled her eyes as if the mere question was a bother and replied simply

“Probably moping around in her bedroom again”. Chan frowned. You? Moping around? That didn’t sound like you. “What do you mean?”, he questioned.

“Your sister is just going through an emotional phase—but honestly she needs to get over it, at her age she should be able to just get up and move through it.”, your father spoke up and Chan watched in mild disgust as your mother nodded along.

Your parents made it abundantly clear before that they never wanted kids and yet somehow ended up with the two of you because of societal pressure but at least years ago they would at least pretend to be concerned parents. Now that Chan was a young adult and moved out and you were a teenager they probably didn’t see the need to.

“I’m going to go up then”, he announces. Your parents shrug, mumbling a quick ‘do whatever’ before retreating back into the living room.

Meanwhile, Chan hauled his suitcase and bag up the stairs, dropped them off into his room (that definitely needs to be dusted down) and went to your room at the end of the hall, on the right. He smiled seeing the pink, bedazzled wooden sign on the door to your room with your name on it—he remembers watching you make it all those years ago and likes to see you haven’t taken it down yet.

In Chan’s head, you’re not just a regular set of siblings, although he only is almost seven years older than you, he always felt an almost paternal instinct with you.

He had a huge part in raising you and as much as he hates to admit it for purposes of being too sappy and cringe—he hates that you are growing up so quick. He sometimes wishes you were a kid again and often finds himself reminiscing all the tea-parties he was forced to attend, all the times he’s sat over you helping you with simple maths sums while he had an essay to do, all the extravagant games you two used to make up as something to do while your parents were working.

God he misses it. And he would pay so much money to get to relive it, because even without the regular caring parents who are involved in their child's life-watching you grow up all over again would be worth so much more.

Chan snaps out of his thoughts and regains his composure before knocking on the door gently.

“Y/N, it’s me—can I come in?”. He’s about to open the door and enter when it opens in his face, and there you are, wearing a comfy set of clothes.

Chan takes your appearance in and notices immediately that you look…not like you. The light that normally shines in your eyes is dimmed, there are bags under your eyes and your normally well kept hair is disheveled.

“Y/N…”, he starts but you cut him off with a hug.

“Channie”, you murmur in a soft voice. “I’m sorry I wasn’t ready this year.”

Oh the way you sound so defeated breaks his heart. “Y/N baby—it’s okay, don’t worry about it.”

“I swear I knew when dad was picking you up and I had everything planned and stuff and then I got distracted and everything I planned just went out the window-”

“Y/N. It’s fine.”, Chan reassured, pulling back from the hug but keeping a firm hold on your shoulders. “Let’s talk?”

You nod at him and let him into your room, closing the door behind him. He flops down onto your bed and pats the spot beside him. “Come on over”.

You don’t hesitate and take your spot next to your brother. Words can’t describe how grateful you are that you’re not the only child in this fucked up family and that Chan is here. Every christmas is a blessing in your eyes because he’s here, a family member who cares.

His arm wraps around your shoulder and he pulls you in closer to him, pushing your head down to rest on his chest. “There, just like when you were a baby”.

“You mean a kid?”

“Fine, just like when you were a kid”, he states again, although in his head you will always be a ‘baby’.

“Oh please, when I was a kid you were just a teenager”, you scoff but don’t make the effort to move.

“Yeah but you still clung to me like a koala, so my point still stands.”

“Okay fine..”

“You’re still clingy”, he teases, when you don’t give your usual sarcastic response he clears his throat and starts speaking in a softer, more serious tone. “Mom said you’re ’moping around’..wanna tell me about that?”

“Things have just been…utter shit”, you respond simply.

“Utter shit?”, he questions, prompting you to further explain as he starts to run his fingers through your, messy, hair.

“I just…I feel like I’m stuck in time. Everyone else around me is moving on and I’m stuck in this spot. All my friends are starting to go to all sorts of house parties and get drunk off their heads, in school they keep shoving down future career paths down our throats and in general there’s just more and more work to be done ever single day...even mom and dad are talking about having me move out soon since technically it’s legal for me to move out after I turn sixteen—but I’m just, I don’t want to do any of that. I want to just be a kid for a little longer. In my head I’m still like eleven or like twelve—I’m not ready for all of this, I don’t want to be ready for all of this!”, you start rambling, your words flowing out quickly, as if you’ve been waiting to say all of this to someone.

“I see”, Chan responds. “I think…and hear me out, I think you’re just craving a normal childhood-one where you weren’t basically left to fend for yourself.”

You nod and he feels it’s safe to continue.

“You don’t want to grow up because you already feel like you have been at a higher maturity level since you were learning your ABC’s..”.

“How do you know exactly how to put this into simple words?”

“Because I know exactly how you feel. You know, I suppose when you were born I not only had to fend for myself, but also for you—and I do not hold it against you Y/N, you are the best thing that could’ve happened to me. I think if I was an only child in this family I would’ve gone insane.” You both giggle at his words but you both know he’s right. You know especially now in his absence that living in this house by yourself is not a nurturing and caring environment.

Chan continues speaking, “So you could say that from a young age I was acting like I was in my 30’s, taking care of myself, you, teaching you life lessons while learning them myself..and when it came to actually being a grown up..I didn’t want to do it because I felt like I already have been doing it. I wanted to just be able to I don’t know…play around with fucking legos or just go to the beach and build as many sandcastles as I desire, I wanted to reverse time and somehow get our parents to care for us and give the both of us the childhood we deserve. I still want that. I still wish that there was a switch I could flip and suddenly they’ll be asking more than the ‘required’ mundane questions…but…”, he trails off with a sigh.

“…That can’t happen”, you say. “Mhm, it can’t. So, trust me when I say that I understand how you feel.”

“How did you get over it?”, you ask.

“Well..it does turn out that adult life is a bit more complicated so I had to figure that out..but to heal my inner child..I did exactly what I wanted to, I realised that because I was an adult, no one could actually stop me from building sandcastles at the beach, or spending my first entire real pay check on all the lego sets I wanted and building them all”.

“Did it help?”

“Honestly, yeah. I gave myself what our parents couldn’t..or well wouldn’t and I felt much better about myself.” He pokes your arm, laughing a bit “Just don’t spend your first entire pay check on lego. I’ll teach you how to be smarter with money.”

“I feel bad you have to teach me these things.”

“Don’t. I want to.”, Chan replies. “The only reason I didn’t completely cut contact with mom and dad after I moved out was so I could see you like this, so I could continue to parent you because..you have so much potential Y/N..and our parents don’t provide you with an environment to encourage that kind of growth, they just want you to grow up and move out so they can be at peace, but I want you to thrive. I want you to be prepared and ready for whatever life throws at you. I want to encourage you in everything. I just want to help you. Make sure you have it better than anyone else..”. Chan’s words make you feel a pang in your chest, you close your eyes and slow your breathing, feeling his heartbeat as his fingers comb through your hair.

“Obviously, since you seem to be so nervous, I’ll tune my coaching down to a slower place, we can take this one small step at a time”.

“Thank you Channie. Really.”, you reply. “Mom and dad are no help at all…like no help. They just want me out of here.”

“I know…but it’s okay, you’ll figure yourself out, you’ll figure out what you want to do with your life, in your own time and I’ll be here in your corner supporting you every step of the way and teaching you things and well…everything I already said”, Chan reassures, patting your arm.

“Now…what if…we go and build a snowman or something?”, he suggests.

“A snowman?”, you laugh and sit up, meeting his eyes.

“What? It’ll be fun! I promise!”, Chan exclaims, “Come on don’t be a loser! Just come build a snowman with me!!”

“What you need me to sing it for you??”, he clears his throat. “Do you want to build a snowman? Come on let’s go and play-“

It’s only when you start laughing he does too. God when Frozen came out you both went through a terrible phase where you were obsessed with the movie..and when the second one came out god it all came back again.

“Okay Anna—let’s go build a snowman”.

That’s how your day ends. The two of you building multiple snowmen in the green in your estate (while your parents sat inside, oblivious to what their kids are doing). And honestly, you wouldn’t have traded it for the world.

You know that Chan would truly always be in your corner and you hope he knows you’ll always be in his. Neither of you asked to be born to parents who had no care in the world but at least the two of you had each other.

a/n: hope you liked this! i had to rush the ending a bit because I wanted it to be done by at least Christmas day so apologies!!!

p.s: if you have any reqs, feel free to ask!! just keep it sfw!!!

[sheepheadfred]

Ectoberhaunt Day 24- Time Loop

Summary: Jazz came back home after being away for some time, but something feels wrong. Her hair is down and she lost her glasses and seems more serious and sullen. And why does she look so sad when she looks at him?

dp magia au

Ao3 link

Jazz came home.

Danny was excited that he didn't care if his parents would now gush about her achievements to her face instead of just comparing them. He got good marks but not as good so he understands, he missed her, too.

He put on his trusty space themed headband he got once to match her, she helped him pick it out before she left for that exchange program. He was practically vibrating with excitement to see her again. Being an exchange student for so long, he hopes she wasn't lonely like he was. He has Sam and Tucker but it's not the same, they don't live here for starters. He hopes she made friends there, even if she wasn't going to stay.

But now, he's concerned.

She looks different, that can be expected after being away, but why is she so cold?

Like she has been through heartbreak many times and has become numb to it.

She looks like the version of herself from his dream. The one from last night.

What happened?

Who hurt you?

He tries not to think about it too much, for now. He just wants to spend time with her, his big sister.

Mom and dad already went back to the lab, doing who knows what, allowing them to catch up. Danny found a cool space exhibit and wanted to show her! And tell her about all she missed! And maybe she will do the same! And-!

"It's so nice that you're back, Jazz! It's been quiet without you around to drag mom and dad out of the lab. Well, I guess the lab might have been noisy but that doesn't count. Don't worry, when we didn't have much Tucker had me over. But it's mainly been Nasty Burger honestly. It became kind of embarrassing getting food from them all the time when his parents aren't that much more well off. Sam offered, but we both know her parents hate me just for being related to our parents. You know how it is."

Jazz's hands clench into fists. Not the first time this has happened for either of them.

"I mean," Danny continues, wanting to tell someone who'd understand, "They must have been caught up in some project again. They still believe that things like missing person reports to suicide are linked to some supernatural phenomenon making them do it!"

Danny laughs it off for how unbelievable that idea is, trying to get Jazz to join in.

(Maybe she would have long ago.)

Instead, all it did seemed to make her more upset. This was not how he wanted today to go at all.

"But! Now it can just be us for now! You can even tell me all about whatever you did during the exchange program. You must have helped other people quite a lot over there, right? Betcha got some new, nerdy friends, right?" Danny tries to nudge her, giving a smug smile and pulling out all his 'obnoxious younger sibling' energy into it.

That was enough to get a reaction. Though, not the one he was hoping for.

She turns to look Danny dead in his bright, hopeful eyes. Halfway to whatever destination her brother wanted to show her. Bright and enthused and so full of life.

"My dearest brother, do you treasure the life you currently live? Do you consider your family and friends precious?"

"Jazz, what are you talking about," Danny is taken aback. What has gotten into her to make her this cryptic and cold? "Of course I do! You should know this!"

His sister somehow managed to look more serious, "Then don't change who you are. You must stay as you have been or everything will be lost." She sounded so desperate for him to agree.

She then just walked off, as if looking for something.

Something that has caught her ire.

Leaving him there, excitement extinguished and replaced by confusion.

"Man, that is wack! Not even back for a day and she says some weird stuff and jets?! What the hell, man?"

Tucker voiced Danny's thoughts without needing to read his mind. He and Sam met up with Danny to hang after Jazz decided to be cryptic and ghost him. All Danny could do was shrug in response.

"I don't know, Tuck. What's crazier is that I've seen this version of Jazz before. Being all cool and weird, not her usual psycho babble weird. I saw her in a dream, or something. Last night's dream, actually."

"Maybe that dream just meant you missed her. It's been a while and you have been thinking about her a lot, right? On top of your parents saying all that stuff about otherworldly creatures." Sam offered. It wasn't an unreasonable suggestion, after all.

"Oh! Or maybe it was some kind of premonition. That she traveled across time and space to see you again after some kind of tragic fate!"

"Tucker, you buffoon! that doesn't make any sense! If that was true, why'd she ditch? Be serious!"

Danny, not wanting to deal with another argument between them on top of Jazz's odd behavior, snaps at them. Tucker was joking, he knows that, but that cryptic warning and her sad eyes makes him concerned his friend had a point. He needed a subject change.

"Shut up! Just- Can we not... for one day?"

"Sure, man. Sorry." Tucker apologized, "I was just... trying to lighten the mood. Didn't realize I crossed the line."

"Hey," Sam started, "let's go to the music store in the mall! Something nicer to think on and the new Dumpty Humpty album is probably out by now."

"Don't your parents want you home for something today?" Danny doesn't want to be the reason she gets in trouble. Her parents already hate him for his parents and encouraging her true goth-y self as it is.

"Pssh! I don't care," she replies with a devious smirk, "Besides, my friend needs me more than whatever they want to force on me this time."

With no other objections, the trio heads out from Nasty Burger. Eager for a new topic and distraction.

Finding some tunes to try, they all separate and spread throughout the store. Danny tries to listen when he hears a cry for help echo in his head.

It sounded frantic.

Desperately calling for him.

Danny assumes so as he seems to be the only one reacting to this voice.

This scared voice.

Something inside him told him that he had to find whoever this voice belonged to. Had to make sure they're alright.

Making up his mind, he left the music store by himself and headed to where the voice seemed to originate from. Mentally apologizing to his friends for ditching.

A shady looking back alley feeling a darkness settle around him. An almost unnatural darkness.

He continued on into it, looking even when common sense screamed at him to turn around and find his friends. He was drawn to the voice and he needed to know why.

It wasn't until something shifted and fell in front of him that he found the source.

A small, cat-like creature of green, gold, black, and white with a large singular eye on its head above a cute, cat-like mouth. It's ears twitched and its tail shifted, it limped to him before collapsing.

Danny can't believe something this odd would exist! Its hurt, though, covered in scrapes and burns and open wounds and struggling to breathe.

So naturally, Danny scoops it up. He's not sure how it can speak in his head but something in him knows that this thing is where the voice came from. And something out there wants to hurt it!

Danny holds the creature close as an unknown person approaches him, realizing just how much danger he is in right now.

And out comes... Jazz?!

What?

She seems to be wearing the strange clothes she had on in his dream. Serious and scholarly but still a bit childish with long flow-y garments and small bows adding in for flair.

In her hand is... a weapon?!

A bow with energy where the arrows would go that turned into some kind of staff, a bo staff like his mom uses maybe, as she noticed him. Possibly it's inactive form, he thinks.

"Jazz... What's going on? Why are you attacking this poor creature?"

She looked hurt but determined as she tried to approach when Tucker unleashed a fire extinguisher on her, clearly still irritated at how she treated his best bro, and pulled Danny away.

Sam met up with them on their way out, having followed but lagged behind for one reason or another as Tucker ran ahead with the fire extinguisher.

The three run further into the alley, deeper and deeper into the dark as the world distorts around them.

None of them knowing just what they were walking into.

--------------------------------

Again!

She failed to stop first contact again!

Jazz doesn't know how long she's been at this, having long since lost count, but nothing will stop her. Not now. It can't.

She refuses to stop until she can find a timeline that allows him to grow up away from this wretched life style.

So he can live. Whether they live in it together is something she tries to tell herself that she doesn't care about. Trying to convince herself and failing.

He's always so quick to throw his life away. Making a wish for someone else when he could so easily use it selfishly, like against bullies or to get more attention from their parents.

Danny, her baby brother, for him she will loop this same cursed month again and again to protect him. Like she always has.

She barely remembers a time when she didn't try to warn him. Where she just stayed and listened to his excited rambles from space to their parents' usual neglect. When she stayed and they had a blast together. Before the horrors.

It's been a while since she paid attention to what they were up to at the beginning. She really hates that they were right now that it finally registered what they were doing and theorizing about. One thing she's grateful they don't know the whole story about.

They wouldn't be able to see it, anyway.

She almost wishes they could.

Not like it would come true, she already used her one wish. No regrets, can't afford them, but it has still made her bitter in some aspects she misses about her past self.

She's been doing so well these first few days back at the beginning of her loop, keeping that creature from contacting and contracting her brother. Not saying much, the first days back tend to be the simplest.

How she hates them. Those creatures who grant wishes promising miracles and purposefully neglecting the cruel truths paired with said miracles.

Calling for his help, her kind baby brother of course would check it out. Whenever this happens, that's the exact path he chose no matter the other variables.

Those damn Observii and their sinister cute act! Their stupid manipulations! Their honeyed words and misleading wording! Always keen to take full advantage of any and every little weakness and vulnerability!

Jazz can feel tears prick at her eyes thinking about it.

She must stay strong, be strong, for Danny.

To keep him safe from that horrible fate that befell him time and time again.

[obxsummer]

Gut Feeling // The Pogues

as john b's younger sibling, it was your job to make sure he didn't do anything too stupid. when he leaves with ward to go on a fishing trip, you find out just how cruel the cameron family can be... little did you know john b was finding out the exact same thing.

john b x gn!sibling!reader, platonic!pogues

warnings: the usual shitty cameron parenting, verbal threatening, no use of y/n, tried to keep things gender-neutral but let me know if I missed something!

a/n: sorry if things are out of character, I couldn't really find a way to make this flow the way I wanted. thanks for your patience with this request anon!

navigation 

--

John B getting pushed off the Hawk’s Nest was definitely not on your bingo board for this year. Ward Cameron offering to be your legal guardian on top of that wasn’t even a thought in your mind. So what the hell was going on?

Your bond with your older brother, John B, was unshakable. Only a year separated you in age, yet your connection ran much deeper than that. You were best friends as kids, guardians of each other's secrets, and steadfast anchors in each other's lives. Everything only became more intense when your father disappeared. 

Sharing friends was expected, as well as the fact that where there was one of you, the other wasn’t far behind. Everyone in OBX knew the Routledge siblings traveled as a pack alongside their friends. 

Topper shoving John B off the ridiculously tall spot created more than just sprained joints and concussions. Sarah told her dad, and to your dismay, Ward Cameron, was suddenly in front of you, offering to be your legal guardian.

The offer hung heavy in the air as the older man dismissed himself for the two of you to take some time. The expression on your face must have said everything since John B instantly tried to assure you. "Listen, I know you're skeptical, but we're running out of options here. Ward can help us."

You stared out the window, a mix of worry and doubt tugging at your heart. "I don't trust him, John B. There's something off about him." The idea of being in Figure Eight, away from your friends, was terrifying. 

John B let out a heavy sigh, his gaze fixed on the ground. "I get that feeling too, but we need his help. We need to keep DCS off our backs. Nobody said we had to stay there all the time. It’s just a cover."

Despite your hesitation, you nodded, knowing that he had the right idea. The bond between you and John B was your anchor, and you were willing to trust him, even if the circumstances were far from comforting. “I’ll go where you go, JB. But I really have a bad feeling about this.”

--

Moving into the Cameron house was extremely awkward. The walls felt unfamiliar, and Ward's presence seemed to loom over you. The first change came when you and John B were assigned separate bedrooms, a decision that made your unease grow.

Standing hesitantly in the doorway of your new room, you looked at John B with a mixture of concern. "Why can't we share a room?"

Ward exchanged a glance with John B, and the unspoken conversation between them only fueled your anxiety. Was this John B’s decision? "It's important for both of you to have your own space," Ward said, his voice carrying a hint of finality. “Gives you time to grow in your own way. You don’t share a room at home now, do you?”

“I’d feel a lot better by him,” You replied without any regard for your ungrateful attitude. It seemed like Ward was doing a great job at driving a wedge between you and your brother. And even though you did have your own rooms at the Chateau, being separated here felt much worse. Usually, there was just a wall between you, not three hallways, a set of stairs, and locked doors. 

“We can share a room, Mr. Cameron, it’s really no-”

“You will have separate rooms. That is final. I already have a lot on my plate getting you two adjusted, please don’t make it harder.”

As night fell, the unfamiliarity of your surroundings only intensified your discomfort. Unable to bear the thought of being separated from John B, you found yourself sneaking into his room. The floor became your refuge, a makeshift bed where you sought solace in his proximity.

Your unease didn’t disappear overnight. The gold was still waiting to be pulled out of the well and when Ward interfered with the plans for that too, your anxiety resurfaced. You couldn't shake off the feeling that something was amiss.

You had been standing awkwardly on the sidewalk when Ward approached John B and Sarah to bring up the idea. He finally acknowledged your presence. "This trip is just for John B and me. Some bonding time while we talk things out, man to man about dating my daughter…"

John B leaned over, ruffling your hair affectionately even though he wasn't a major fan of this himself. "It's just fishing, Birdie. I'll be back before you know it." He could tell you didn’t like being here by yourself and he didn’t blame you. “Plus, Sarah will be here. You guys could hang out?”

Despite his attempt to reassure you, the feeling of unease clung to you like a second skin. "Promise you'll call if anything goes wrong?"

John B's eyes softened as he nodded. "I promise. Can always hang with JJ and them too, you know. Figure out some plans.”

He hinted toward what you were supposed to be doing the following morning: pulling the gold out. 

With a heavy heart, you watched them head out to the dock the next morning. It felt so silly to be worried about being alone without John B. You retreated to your room, the morning sun casting golden rays across the floor, hoping for the best.

Minutes dragged on like an eternity as you cowered in the suffocating darkness of the room. Every creak of the floorboards, every rustle of leaves outside, sent shivers down your spine. The air was heavy with fear, your heart beating in a frantic rhythm as the minutes ticked by.

Suddenly, the door swung open, and your heart jumped into your throat. Ward's sinister smile greeted you, his presence casting a shadow that seemed to engulf the room. 

“What are you doing here?” You asked, confused by his presence. “Where’s John B?”

He completely ignored your question and threw the light on as he stepped closer. "I think we need to have a little chat."

“Don’t touch me!” Your breath caught in your throat, and you stumbled back off the bed, your hands pressing against the closet wall as if it could shield you from the threat before you. His grip on your arm was like a vise, cold and unyielding, as he pulled you into the dimly lit room. 

"You see, I have a problem here," Ward hissed, his eyes locking onto yours with a predatory intensity, "Your father thought he could outsmart me from the gold. I killed him for it. You and your brother don’t stand a chance, especially if I take you out one by one…but just how do I go about it?"

As he spoke, his words were a twisted dance of intimidation. His threats were like icy daggers, each word digging deeper into your psyche, igniting a firestorm of panic. The room felt like a cage, and you were trapped in its suffocating grasp.

Your heart raced, your breathing shallow as your mind raced to find an escape route. The weight of his words bore down on you. The room seemed to close in on you, the walls narrowing as Ward's presence loomed over you. Your dad. Ward Cameron killed your dad.

Before you could respond, the door swung open, and another figure entered the room—Rose Cameron. Her demeanor was cold and calculating, her eyes scanning you with an unsettling intensity.

Ward's gaze flickered between you and Rose, and a knowing smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. "You remember Rose, right?"

You felt a knot of unease tighten in your stomach. Rose's presence seemed to amplify the danger, and you couldn't shake off the feeling that you were trapped in a spider's web.

Rose's voice was silky, her smile masking an undercurrent of manipulation. "Ward and I are only concerned for your well-being, sweetie. We want what's best for you. You don’t have to worry about going back to the Cut ever again, okay?"

The words felt like a strong hand tightening around your throat, and you backed away, your heart racing as you tried to maintain some semblance of control. "I don't need your concern, I need my brother."

Ward's laugh was chilling, his amusement a stark contrast to the terror that gripped you. "John B’s gone. Why do you think I took him out on the boat? Easier access to dump the body where someone won’t find it."

A wave of panic crashed over you, and you instinctively turned to flee, only to find Rose blocking your path. The realization struck you like a lightning bolt—this was a trap, and you were caught in their twisted game.

Before you could react, Ward lunged forward, his grip like a vice as he forced you into the closet. The sound of the lock clicking shut sent a shock of terror through your veins, and you pounded on the door, desperation fuelling your efforts.

"Let me out! Let me out of here!" Your voice cracked with fear, each thud against the door a desperate plea for escape. “John B!”

From the other side of the door, you heard Ward's voice, his tone taunting. "You're not going anywhere. This is where you'll learn your place. And stay quiet until we finish digging out the gold. Actually, thank you. Without your help, we wouldn’t have even gotten this far."

The reality of your situation hit you like a ton of bricks. Trapped, alone, and at the mercy of their manipulation, you felt a surge of panic rise within you. You were a pawn in their game, a helpless victim in a twisted power play. And they knew about the gold.

As you sat in the darkness, the silence was deafening, broken only by your ragged breaths. The taste of fear lingered on your tongue, and you knew that escaping this nightmare would require every ounce of strength you possessed.

You waited until silence covered the house before slamming your body against the closet door. Pain radiated through your shoulder, but you remembered JJ’s direction on kicking a door out before putting it to practice as best as you could.

The adrenaline coursing through your veins was a lifeline, propelling you forward as you lunged for the door and finally broke the lock free. Panic fed your speed, and your heart pounded in your chest as you burst into the hallway, your breath ragged and harsh.

As you fled down the corridor, the taste of freedom was tantalizingly close. You turned a corner, your pulse racing, and then… silence. Panic surged as you realized you were trapped in a dead-end hallway, the walls closing in on you like a vise.

Footsteps echoed ominously behind you, and you whirled around to see Rafe's approaching shadow—no time to spare. Your heart hammered in your chest, and desperation surged within you. With a gasp, you spotted the open doors to the upstairs balcony. Adrenaline-fueled strength carried you forward, and you sprinted toward them. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” Rafe’s voice taunted as he started to round the corner. You pushed yourself over the balcony rail and tried your best to hang on as you slowly slide down the column to the ground. Until you lost grip, that is.

The world outside spun in a blur of green and blue, and your body collided with the ground, the impact sending shockwaves of pain through your limbs. Dazed and disoriented, you scrambled to your feet, your breath coming in ragged gasps. 

Rafe's voice echoed behind you, but you didn’t dare look back. 

The sound of your own breath, the rustling leaves, and the pounding of your heart filled your senses as you ran. You thanked JJ for dragging you through these paths as kids so you never got lost by yourself. 

And then, suddenly, your foot caught on a root, and you were tumbling, colliding with something solid. Pain radiated through your limbs as you groaned, disoriented and breathless. You looked up, blinking away tears, only to find yourself staring into a pair of familiar eyes.

"Birdie?" John B's voice was a mixture of disbelief and concern as he rushed to your side, his hands reaching out to steady you.

Your heart raced, emotions swirling within you as you tried to process what was happening. Your eyes widened in panic, and your hands shot up defensively, a guttural gasp escaping your lips as you stumbled back.

John B's expression shifted from surprise to a gentle concern, his voice cautious. "Hey, it's me, it’s me. You're safe. I'm here."

The flood of emotions was overwhelming, and your chest heaved as you struggled to catch your breath. Slowly, you lowered your hands, your vision clearing enough for you to see your brother's worried eyes, the deep lines of concern etched into his forehead.

"John B?" Your voice trembled, a mixture of disbelief and relief coursing through your veins. “You’re alive?”

He nodded, his voice soothing as he extended a hand toward you. "Yeah, it's me. You're okay now."

You felt your legs give way, the tension and fear of the past hours finally catching up with you. John B caught you, his arms wrapping around you protectively as he eased you to sit. He held you close, the warmth of his embrace grounding you in reality.

As the tears spilled over, you clung to him as if he were the lifeline you had desperately needed. He whispered reassurances as he held you close, reminding you that you were with him and everything was fine.

Gasping for breath, you clung to John B as if he were your anchor in the storm. Tears streaked down your face, your voice trembling as you struggled to find the words to explain the terror you had just experienced.

"John B, I… I couldn't stay there. Ward…" You choked on the words, your voice a fragile whisper. “He said you were dead.”

John B's arms tightened around you as he gently brushed a strand of hair away from your face. "Shhh, take your time. Just tell me what happened."

Taking a deep breath, you began recounting what had just happened—how Ward had cornered you, the sinister threats that were enough for you to kick a door out, and the desperate flight through the woods. As you spoke, you finally let your shoulders sag in relief. Your brother was okay.

John B's grip on you tightened even further, his voice shaky when he realized how fucked up this whole thing was. "He attacked me on the boat. Said he was the reason Dad is gone and… he-he tried to get me to share the gold with him - lashed out when I said no."

As the reality of the situation settled in when you didn’t answer, John B's protective instinct kicked into high gear. He helped you to your feet, his gaze never leaving yours. "Are you hurt? Did he… did he touch you?"

You shook your head. "I'm okay. He didn't… he didn't hurt me."

John B's features softened with relief, but his anger remained simmering beneath the surface. "We're getting out of here. Right now. Let’s go find the others."

Your friends were waiting at the Chateau when you arrived. They attempted to share their progress with the tools to remove the gold but you and your brother moved past them wordlessly

Kiara, Pope, and JJ filed into the house instantly. "Guys? What's going on?" Kiara's voice carried a note of worry. It only got worse when JJ got shoved aside by your brother. “John B!”

John B's gaze darted around the room, his eyes finally settling on yours before he looked away, his jaw clenched tightly. Without a word, he made his way past your friends, his steps determined as he headed for the door, this time with JJ’s gun in his hand.

“Where are you going?” You screamed after him in shock and ran onto the porch. This was not what you figured he would do. 

John B ignored your shouts and kicked JJ’s dirt bike to life before speeding off with no explanation.

JJ exchanged a confused glance with the others. "What's up with him?"

You groaned and flopped on the couch, the heaviness of the truth threatening to consume you. "Ward... Ward killed Big John."

The room fell into stunned silence, the weight of your words hanging heavily in the air. Kiara, Pope, and JJ stared at you in shock, their expressions a mix of disbelief and horror.

JJ's voice was barely a whisper. "What?"

Tears pricked at the corners of your eyes as the memories flooded back, the pain of the past resurfacing with a vengeance. "He was investigating something about the Royal Merchant, and Ward killed him when he wouldn't agree to share the gold."

Pope's voice was filled with anger and disbelief. "That son of a..."

Kiara's hand covered her mouth, her eyes wide with shock. "Oh, my god."

As the truth settled in, the room seemed to close in around you, suffocating you with its weight. John B's abrupt departure on the dirt bike now carried a new layer of meaning—if he killed Ward, they would turn this all on your brother.

Hours passed, each moment heavy with the weight of the revelation. The sun dipped below the horizon, casting a somber glow across the Chateau. No one spoke, the tension growing with every passing minute.

Kiara eventually got up to grab you something to eat in hopes of calming your nerves. You appreciated the gesture but as you huddled together between JJ and Pope, the reality of the situation began to sink in. 

What the fuck were you going to do now?

--

navigation

read my outer banks x the summer i turned pretty crossover

[the-fandom-queen]

Seth and his Brothers

“Seth Gordon was one of the first Foxes signed to Palmetto State University. Born and bred in Birmingham, Alabama, he was the fourth of seven sons.”

Sibling relations that haunt the narrative but it’s me thinking about the Gordon brothers.

Stetson

Jeremy (only one canonically named)  

Beau

Seth 

Charlie

Cooper

Tommy 

Stetson - Oldest brother (6 years older than Jeremy, 10 years older than Seth)

The first child

Never got along well with his parents, specifically his dad.

Moved out as soon as he turned 18, 2 months before his dad left

Seth only holds vague memories of him playing baseball and teaching him to swim. 

Jeremy (4 years older than Seth)

Dark brown hair, Dark brown eyes, crooked nose from that one time Seth broke it, 5’11

Became the oldest when Stetson left

Used to look up to his big brother, even though Steson never really wanted to hang out with his younger brother a lot.

Became the ‘Man of the House’ and parent overnight the day after his 12th birthday

Had to figure out how to get 5 boys under the age of 10 to eat vegetables and shower

Of course he resorted to violence

In all seriousness, this child was just going off the examples he had

Being raised in the south by parents who clearly didn’t have much concern with their children’s development, Jeremy had already received his fair share of spankings

And to a child that age, there really is no difference than a spanking for misbehaving and being hit for no reason

So he used the skills he had to make sure Seth and his brothers didn’t wander too deep into the woods and hosed themselves off in the backyard before they tracked mud into the house

Missed his fair share of school to take care of the others

The baby’s got hay fever? That pre algebra test is not of importance right now

Never cared for school too much anyway, always preferred to work with his hands

His dream is to build himself a log cabin out in the woods and live out there alone

Favorite color is green, favorite season is summer, favorite genre is dad rock (they parentified the fuck out of him)

Is closest to his brother Beau

Is aro ace but doesn’t really care? He’s never had an interest in dating or sex but he chalked most of it up to just being to stressed

Goes to trade school once he finished high school and becomes a welder

Doesn’t leave home until Tommy is 16. He feels like he can’t

Tries to keep in touch with all of them but sometimes it's just too much

Has a gorgeous cocker spaniel he named goldie. 

Beau (3 years older than Seth)

Dark brown hair, Dark brown eyes,freckles, 5’10

Brother closest in age and relationship to Jeremy (it helps that they shared a room growing up)

Was the quiet one out of the older 4

Hates haircuts so his hair is grown out all skater boy mophead-like (teen wolf season 1 scott mccall haircut fr)

Picked up odd jobs throughout middle and highschool to help his mom with the bills

He’s been a tutor, a shelver at the library, a busboy, you name it and Beau did it at 13

Knows how to sew really well from constantly patching up everyone’s clothes

Because he’s quieter and one of the shorter brothers, the average outsider assumes he’s fragile

He’s actually the most violent of them

Him and Jere once broke the dining room table roughhousing because Jeremry tried to force him to cut his hair

Beau picked up the scattered splinters with a bloody hand while Jeremy tried to fix the table 

The table still wobbles a bit

Got into a lot of fights at school, ended up being recruited for his school’s wrestling team

Was almost a state champion but got ill before his last match because Cooper brought home some stomach bug and got everyone in the house sick.

Moves in with his friend when he graduates and takes classes at community college

Comes home every now and then to make sure they don’t burn the house down or kill each other

Favorite color is blue, favorite season is winter, favorite genre is country (couldn’t free him)

Is now an ESL teacher at an elementary school

Has an on again off again girlfriend (like his brother) who is a librarian.

Charlie (one year younger than Seth)

Dark brown hair, Hazel eyes, uneven undercut and snakebites 5’11

Was once Seth’s other half

They shared everything growing up: a room, clothes, music tastes, girls

Got into less trouble than seth in school but outside of it was a different question

Got caught shoplifting and vandalizing buildings like every tuesday

Once tried to steal the tip jar at this small grocery store but the owner caught him

The owner, Owen, offered to workout some kind of deal with Charlie instead of calling the cops (after charlie begged him not to, because one more report and they were going to send him away, potentially for good-)

So charlie starts working at the store

Granted, he’s making pennies on the dollar but he's 14 and he doesn’t mind too much

Owen is the first kind male authority figure he’s had like ever so he enjoys spending time at the store.

And this has nothing to do with owen’s son whose the same age as charlie and really cute 

He kind of hates school but only goes because he truly cannot give the local sheriff's office another excuse to get him in trouble

He does enjoy witnessing the store function as a business though

The budgeting, the inventory, payroll, he wants to learn all of that

Seth thinks he’s a maniac but what does Seth know? He literally joined the chorus 

Graduates school by like the skin of his teeth but when he does Owen promotes him to associate manager (he’s the longest working employing second only to Owen himself)

Obviously doesn’t go to college but when Seth gets recruited to Palmetto he’s decked out in orange trust

He makes it to one game prior to Seth’s 5th year and he lost his voice cheering (they lost)

Is queer but also doesn’t care, he just likes what he likes and never really tells anyone

Favorite color is red, favorite season is summer, favorite genre is rock/midwest emo (same as Seth’s) 

Floats in and out the house after graduating depending on if he is currently in  a relationship and if he’s staying with them

Cooper (3 years younger than Seth)

Light brown hair, Dark brown eyes, almost constant tan somehow, 6’1

You know how Noah Kahan said “Attention deficient kids in their gym clothes”? Yeah he was singing about Cooper 

The brother with the most property damage under his belt and not even because of anger issues and lashing out, he’s just impulsive as fuck

He’s also very angry but that doesn’t really change anything, he is a Gordon after all

Truly spent the first 16 years of his life just doing shit and trying to avoid the consequences

Gives him great uncle lore though

Wanna hear about the time he played Mercutio in his school's production of Romeo and Juliet? What about the time he stole a catalytic converter? 

The others are kind of scared of him only because they never know what to expect

He joins his school’s JROTC his junior year and uses the national guard as a reserve officer to pay for college.

He majors in kinesiology and becomes a physical therapist 

He moves out after he gets his degree

He’s not particularly close with his brothers but he loves them all

He’s shit with birthdays so he usually doesn’t remember to call them until 2 months after

They don’t mind.

As mentioned before, he does have adhd

His guidance counselor points it out to his mom but she never does anything with that information so he never gets an official medical diagnosis

Or medication 

Safe to assume he tried his fair share of substances as a teen

He had to stop all of that when he started basic though, and he will admit he’s better for it

He finally gets an official diagnosis and medication after he completes his service obligation

Favorite color is orange, favorite season is summer, favorite genre is rap (is also a surprisingly big folk pop fan)

Has 2 orange cats names lulu and lemon

Romance status: crushing on the receptionist at his job, hard.

Tommy (5 years younger than Seth)

Dark brown hair with gray streaking through, Hazel eyes, birthmark on his cheek that looks like a bruise, 6’0

Is the youngest Gordon brother

When he was first born they used to just call him “the baby” and the nickname has stuck, despite tommy’s protests

Started graying early at 16 like all the other Gordon brothers but chose to not dye his hair and cover it up like they do.

Dyslexic and chronically online, the worst combination

Looked up to Seth and Charlie the most growing up

He played exy for a bit because Seth did but he didn’t really care for the sport

Took up soccer and found a really joy for it

He was also really good

Is probably the loudest brother

Felt quite lonely growing up because he was treated as the baby brother everyone had to take care of but no one wanted to hang out with

Is disastrously bisexual but prefers to not say anything and let others figure it out on their own

Loves birds but couldn’t have one growing up because Jeremy and Seth were always bringing home random dogs and natural enemies you know

Gets a soccer scholarship to Palmetto (almost didn’t take it because he hates orange)

Majors in Real Estate and becomes an agent when he graduates

Favorite color is blue, favorite season is fall, favorite genre is indie (his spotify wrapped is the most random thing ever)

I could talk about how they react to Seth’s death but in my mind he’s still alive! So instead I will use the idea someone else had i forgot who, where Seth survived the overdose but was in rehab for the year so he has to repeat his 5th year.

Jeremy’s phone wakes him up in the middle of the night and he’s pissed. He looks over and sees a number he doesn’t have saved but looks vaguely familiar. He answers and it's Allison, Seth’s sorta girlfriend.

She’s crying

She tells him Seth overdosed and that this one is bad. (She seems to be holding something back but he doesn’t push. He assumes it’s just preemptive grief)

He asks her if there’s anything she needs from him but he already knows her answer, they’ve done this dance before, this isn’t Seth’s first overdose.

She just tells him to stay close to his phone and hangs up.

Jeremy sighs, sends a text off to the family group chat saying Seth overdosed and went back to sleep. Sue him, he has an early shift in the morning.

Midway through the next day he gets a text from Allison telling him how Seth is being forced into rehab for the next 9 months.

He leaves work early and goes to Beau’s school because clearly this was more serious than he thought

He feels guilty for not being more concerned earlier but he’s in Alabama and Seth is in South Carolina there wasn’t much he could do but now that he’s really thinking hecould’vediedBeauhepropbablyalmostdied-

They take off work the next day and drive up to SC

By time they get there it's too late and Seth has already been admitted into Easthaven and he is not allowed visitors.

They still see Allison though, who fills them in more about Seth

She’s clearly upset but it feels like more than his overdose, or even his institutionalization 

She doesn’t say anything about it though

They go home and tell the others everything they know

So they can’t see Seth until April of next year

They write him letters instead

He never responds, they don’t know if he’s not allowed to send mail out or if he just doesn’t want to

They tell him everything in the letters

Beau talks about his girlfriend and their latest fight, Charlie about how Owen fell on his ass the other day, Cooper about his ass of a professor, Tommy about his offer to play at Palmetto, Jeremy about his dog and her beef with the neighbor’s Siamese cats

They write and write and what they don’t know is, Seth reads them all

The letters help keep him sane in there

And when he is released in April, right before his birthday, they all come down to pick him up

[mjonthetrack]

R1

Tamika Sela Diggs, Mika to those who

rare few who got the opportunity to get close,

Tami for the even less. Her family name carried

big weight in Cali, it was no secret her daddy

was a big time OG who alongside a few other

Samoan families ran a gang profiting in areas

from hire to kill and drug trafficking. It was

through the late eighties her daddy was a

boss in the area, beloved by neighborhoods

around for what he brought to the bottoms

where they were from. How her mother

met her father and got to creating her was

a true hood classic, she was a well known

stripper in the local club that held all the big

family meetings between the men, it’s where

her daddy always sad he would make a

house wife out of her. Her mother didn’t

play too much into the role when she’d gotten

pregnant with Tamika she had informed

her own family to stay out of her black ass

business , that attitude carried on to her

daughter. The tribal tattoos on her body gave

away her heritage to those who realized the

woman was mixed and knew anything of the

local bosses. Tamika was only seven when

her pops was gunned down by the police, they

falsely accused him of robbery, it was a white

man who had held up a local bank and yet

seeing a man of color walk out moments before

it all went down with a duffel of hundreds them

pigs hated it. The man didn’t even make it to

his car and was laid out bullet ridden on the

sidewalk, the pigs didn’t even call any

emergency in, it was a different og who’d seen

Big Rome as they knew him gone. To say

the woman hated the law was an

understatement they took her mama away when

word got out who her daddy was in the local

news, instead of an investigation or even a

city funded cremation of the man they’d killed

Tamika found herself playing house in a very

harsh light, by age fourteen she was the woman

and the man of her house and not just that she

had her dads legacy looming to be on her

shoulders. Now the woman was 31 years old,

she’d made sure her two younger siblings got

out of the hood, her brother went pro for the

NFL, her sister was a brainiac working for some

legal firm out in New York. The fate wasn’t

so kind for the woman, she realized mama and

daddy weren’t coming home way too young. A collect call after weeks of her mothers missing

a young Tamika found out where her mother

had been taken to, the local county pen when

she mysteriously had been found brutally raped

and with ligature marks around her neck. The

young girl knew nothing of what it meant, she

had been waiting for her siblings to get off

the bus from school, so she ventured out by

herself, something her daddy told her countless

times not to do. She wandered a block down

the road surprisingly no one bothered the small

girl as she wandered up a small porch, the smell

of weed being passed around by heavily tatted

men splayed all about the front yard and steps

did not bother the little girl tugged on a familiar

face’s tshirt. The man furrowed his brows

seeing the little girl,”what’re you doing here, you

shouldn’t be out by yourself Mika, where is

your mama at?” The man she knew was a friend

of her fathers happened to be a Fatu, He lifted

the girl up taking her inside to his wife and

sons who called out to greet the little girl. “Baby

where is your mother at, you can’t be walking

out like this alone it’s not safe,” Talisua

overlooked her friend’s daughter concerned.

“Daddy’s phone ring, he said not to touch it but

it wouldn’t stop, some strange man said

mommy was raped and she wouldn’t wake up

in a cell.” The grownups froze knowing the

little girl was unaware of the weight of her words

and so began the close ties to the Fatu family.

Tamika was raised in the streets, by the many

OGs and aunties her daddy and mother left

behind. It wasn’t some fully functional set up,

they taught her how hard life was for people

like them, she grew up to survive.

“Ayo you hear some of the old heads still

around,” Jonathan nudged Jey as they’d walked

out of a corner store with some glass bottles

of lemonade, rolling papers and snacks. The

twin laughed a bit,” some things don’t change

Uce, but we couldn’t stay gone forever, business

calls and we got to step up our pops too damn

old for this bullshit.” “It’s been what twelve

years, this place got room for some old faces?,”

Sefa added taking a swig of his Tahitian Treat.

“Aye man, Florida was cool we got to walk away

from this for a good reason, if we hadn’t left

like our father suggested we could’ve been

tshirt designs a long time ago,” Jimmy pointed

out with a turn of focus to a group of women

coming out the old Hollywood nails salon,” aye

there goes some real ass women, none of

that fake Miami shit.” Jey turned his attention

to look at the group but he choked out roughly

when he saw the woman getting into a escalde

first. “Tamika?!,” he coughed trying to regain

his composure, that sure as fuck wasn’t the

body of that tiny thing he had left behind at

nineteen with his brothers. Sefa lifted his head

his eyes went wide,” oh shit, man times changed

for real,” he noted the Polynesian art decorating

the skin of her bare back. Jimmy was already

walking in that direction, he’d spotted his old

girlfriend Trinity and he called after her catching

the group of women to stop to see what the

commotion was. Tamika looked over her

shoulder, she squinted her hand went to her

waist where she had a glock tucked flashing it

but she gasped,” oh shit, what the fuck,

Jimmy?!” She had a bright smile on her face

hugging the tall man,” what are you doing back

here-,” she the saw Sefa and gaped,” you done

slimmed down on us chubs look at you,” she

teased making the man mumble rolling his eyes

pulling the woman in a hug asking her how she’d

been. Trinity and Jimmy were already back like

old times cussing and fussing at each other

followed by a very public display of affection. Jey slowed up to join taking in the sight of this

new version of the girl he used to always be

side by side with. He hadn’t a choice to leave, he

remembered promising the then eighteen year

year old Tamika he would be picking her up for

Prom, he never came. Jey sucked in air noting

her ring finger was empty, “what’s up Tami,” his

deep voice shook her core into focus. Tamika

gaped at the now very muscular and tatted

Joshua Fatu, “J-Jey that’s not you, you’re lying,”

her eyes welled up making her bottom lip quiver. Everyone on the block knew how inseparable

the two were, damned if he didn’t spend most

of his time with her back then than his own twin.

Jey felt his heart ache those old feelings and

memories bubbling up, they’d never dated

or had any sort of physical intimacy but they

at one point were each others person, until he

vanished leaving her alone just as her parents

had. Time healed those wounds as best they

could for Tamika but seeing this grown man

standing in front of her where that scrawny

teen once was broke her heart,”I’m sorry baby,”

he frowned deeply pulling her into a tight

embrace. This Mika was damn attractive having

filled out very well since the last time he’d

felt her in his arms, it was no shock to his

brother’s that Jey had been feening for the

woman since puberty hit for them. Jey took

in the scent of her perfume, his large hands

rubbing at her back,” how you been baby

mama?” She laughed weakly at the old

nickname, “you fucking suck,” she wiped

her own tears away, her hands cupped the sides

of his face stepping back,” let me look at you

boo,” she inspected her old friend grinning,”

you look so good Jey it was nice to see you.”

Jey scrunched his brows seeing the woman pat

his back like they’d met at a church service and

step to her other friends,” huh what you mean,

we gotta catch up?”, he spoke up, but his eyes

noted a glock shining on her hip, so she never

got to escape, he swallowed feeling more

guilty. Tamika smiled friendly,” sure thing it was

good seeing you,” her attention turned back

when a few men walked up to her handing her

some stacks of cash. She counted it up and

sighed clicking her tongue, Tamika pulled her

tool out tapping the man’s temple,” do I gotta

make a mess of this new outfit or you just think

I’m fucking stupid huh?!” The twins alongside

Sefa stood still, this wasn’t the same little

girl who cried when they wouldn’t come to find

her during hide and seek pranks. Jimmy

grimaced at the woman harshly whipped the

man’s jaw with the barrel of her piece,” I don’t

fucking pay you to stutter I pay you to bring

me my funds when it’s time to collect.” The man

began fumbling his words trying to formulate

over the excuse that he didn’t think, the woman

laughed, she turned away tucking her gun but

when she shifted putting her whole weight

into the force of her knuckles connecting to

the man’s jaw sending him to kiss the

pavement. Sefa swallows harshly, this was

the girl who used to sneak over to their house

and beg Jey to watch tv with her when things

got too much at the Diggs residence. Jey

noted they were very much in the open,

stepping up placing a firm hand on her

shoulder,” aye ma I think,” The woman’s face

was unrecognizable from the one he saw when

they connected moments ago. Cold eyes mixed

with a equally unforgiving scowl sent a few

shivers down his own spine,” who the fuck you

talking too huh?!, this ain’t the playground

anymore pretty boy, it was cool to catch up

but I suggest you find your way back to

wherever you and them brothers of yours hid at

and don’t ever try and check me again.” Jey felt

his eyebrows shoot up holding his tatted hands

up defensively,” it ain’t even like that Tami.” “It’s

Tamika or Miss Diggs around here, ima let you

slide on this slip up but the next time any three

of yall step in between my business again I’ll

send you on a first class flight to catch up

with my damn daddy, ya hear?” Jey swallowed,

this is what happened to the people he’d had

to leave behind, but not her, not his baby, she

was soft back then, innocent despite it all, this

woman in front of him was calculated and cold.

Jey cleared his throat nodding his head,”

respect, I guess I’ll see you around, take care

of yourself baby.” The woman’s armor built

up from years staying in these gutters wavered,

but it was Trinity who went to see them off

leaving her to deal with one of her many

foot soldiers. “What the fuck happened to

her?!,” Jey cussed out as Trinity rounded the

corner with them. “Surviving on her own did,

when you all left she was back alone, spent

her summers working three jobs to eventually

put her siblings in college and get them out,

Tami changed to survive, it’s not like any of

you bothered to stop by.” Jey winced at the

jab,”she wasn’t like this,my baby got to be

in there somewhere I know her.” “You knew

her,” Trinity said plainly then turning to her

twin she invited him to a kickback the block

was throwing later in the evening the following

day. Despite her better judgement, Trinity

invited the other brothers as well,” don’t

bother her,” she instructed Jey who sat in the

passenger side of his brothers truck with a

clenched jaw, tears stung his eyes,” look I

know you loved her but it’s different now, you

left respect that things aren’t the same

anymore.” Jey sniffled in response slamming

his door shut placing his AirPods in bumping

some rap to drown out the conversation and

kissing his brother had with Trin.

[anewnewcrest]

From the Payne Family Simstagram

WHAT HAPPENED SO FAR

The Payne family is so excited to see what this new season of life will bring! We're a Watcher-honoring family raising our ELEVEN children in Newcrest in a Watcher-honoring community, and a servant's heart is such a big theme in our family! We love serving the Watcher!

My husband Jacob was recently elected into the Newcrest City Council to be a Watcher-honoring presence in politics, making sure that the right people and businesses move to Newcrest, and to champion faith-based policies! I am so proud of him for putting the Watcher first in all of his endeavors, and for serving the public. His duties sadly take him away from our family more than we're used to, and when he's at home, he has to decompress in his woodworking shed, but we're all adapting to this new season of life together, and the children barely miss their dad anymore.

Our oldest son Aaron, who is 23 now, has taken up the family tradition of serving the Watcher by spreading the gospel through his music. He is a talented musician who is awaiting his big break in the business, and currently working a number of odd jobs to help provide for our large family.

Our second son Jason, 19, is preparing to enter university. He is called to be a doctor and serve our community that way, and while sending him to get an advanced education is a large expense, we have faith in him doing well after his excellent results at his Watcher-based school.

Our oldest daughter Joanna (almost 18) also has such a servant's heart! She is not very pretty, but she works so hard, taking care of her younger siblings and helping out with chores. I'd be worried how I could get anything done without her if she got married, but luckily, there are no young man asking for her hand yet!

Bennett, 16, is a bit of a problem child. He just doesn't have the right temperament to be a good leader and provider, like his brothers, and while he works, he chose food service instead of a more manly occupation, and I just don't know what to think about that!

Cordelia, 14, and Cecilia, 12, are like twins, they are so inseparable! They're best friends, and both have a servant's heart and help out with chores. But Cecilia has a really special talent for art, and she draws so well already for her age! She loves glorifying the Watcher in all that she does, and I've made sure that she has fewer chores and less schoolwork to do so she can work on that Watcher-given talent.

Nolan, 11, is another problem child! He is just so willful, and no amount of punishment makes him stay on the straight and narrow! I'm so concerned that he'll turn to a life of crime and drugs if we don't manage to break his spirit soon!

Eleanor, 9, Avery and Brianna, 5, and Elizabeth, 1, are our four little ones. Eleanor has such a servant's heart like her other sisters, and Avery and Brianna are as close as two twins of opposite gender can be, spending all of their time together, while Elizabeth is our smiley little baby (for now!).

Of course, we would love to welcome another blessing from the Watcher to make us a family of FOURTEEN (a dozen children, how amazing would that be?) and I'm diligently praying for the Watcher to open my womb again and bless us once more.

FAMILY TREE

[tagsecretsanta]

From @scribbles97

From @scribbles97 to @angelofbenignmalevolence

It was cold. 

There was ice in the air and snow promised in the heavy clouds that blanketed the city. 

If it weren’t the week of Thanksgiving, Scott might have felt that the atmosphere was perfectly fitting for Christmas. Sure, he’d been to New York plenty of times over the winter months, but that had always been for work and had involved fancy cars ferrying him from meeting to meeting. He’d missed the crisp air against his cheeks that he remembered from his childhood, and the way the city lights seemed to shine all the brighter against the backdrop of snow clouds. 

Though he had to admit, of all the cities in the world, Edinburgh hadn’t ever been high on his list of favourites. The antique charm built up around the castle was something John had always been one to appreciate, and was probably one of the reasons his brother continued to agree to guest lecture at the university. 

A city with a historic relationship with the arts, and a university that excelled in both arts and engineering -- Scott was sure there was another brother that would have been better suited to walking the historic streets. 

Hell, even Gordon might have been better, if his chatter about Sports Science at the college a few months prior had been anything to go by.

“I still don’t get,” Scott huffed, watching the ghost of his breath float away in the crisp winter air, “Why you wanted me to come with you?”

John tutted, digging his hands deeper into the pockets of his long woolen coat, “Come on Scooter, you were the only one that used to even try to keep up with my mathematics.”

Scott smiled as his mind cast itself back to far simpler times, when getting through the school day without a brother getting in trouble had been his biggest concern, and math class had been a straight race between he and his younger brother as to who could finish their work first. He remembered teachers and parents alike rolling their eyes at the quiet sibling rivalry, John had always acted like he didn’t care, but Scott had seen the fond smiles that crept through when both had stood at the same time to hand in their papers. 

Never in a million years did he anticipate simple races would end in his brother cajoling Scott to join him in Edinburgh for a week of guest-lectures. 

He had been promised he would enjoy the time away, not that he would spend the time in Astronomy lectures that went eighty percent over his head. 

Not that he would complain, despite the below freezing temperatures of the city, it was nice to get away for something non-work related. Dad had a handle on the business, and their new GDF recruits had demonstrated exceptional capabilities in supporting International Rescue. 

For the first time in years, he and John could sit and enjoy their coffee without the looming threat of some disaster. 

Well, they had been, until John had realised the time.

He had rushed them both out of the little shop and along the streets towards one of the older buildings that reminded Scott of their university days and long forgotten visits to Oxford. 

“This is the math building?” Scott frowned, catching the sign drilled into the brickwork next to the oversized old oak door, “You’re not lecturing in math this week.” 

John rolled his eyes in that fond exasperated way he always had in school when Scott had lost their races due to rushed silly mistakes. 

“Well, big brother,” He smiled, leading them up the stone stairs, turning to look at Scott as the doors opened automatically, “You might not know this, but having a name for yourself and being pretty good in your field means you can pull strings to get what you want.”

Scott paused, hand on the railing, as he looked to John, “What did you--”

John didn’t wait, stepping into the building as he explained, “Did you know Doctor MacGregor is doing a guest lecture here today, presenting her work on Banach Space and the Invariant Subspace Problem?”

Scott had known MacGregor was due to give a guest lecture on her work in the city. What he hadn’t known was that it had coincided with their trip. 

Dates of lectures were things that had long since vanished from his radar, too busy on all fronts to consider having or taking time for things that wouldn’t actively contribute to his work. 

“That isn’t even your early Christmas present.” John grinned, clearly smug with his plot, “Now, come on, I don’t plan on being late.”

He headed straight for the original stone staircase, clearly already knowing where they needed to be and how to get there.

“But--” Scott stuttered as he went to dart after his younger brother, unphased by the grand architecture of the old building, “But Doctor MacGregor! John! Do you--”

“I do.” John’s smile was wicked as he dipped a hand into his satchel, “Which is why Virgil sent me with this.”

Both ducked to the side as students tried to pass them, clearly unimpressed by being held up on their way to their own lectures.

Scott was transfixed on the data-pad John was holding out to him, something already brought up on the screen with his own familiar scrawl adorning the margins.

Scott’s annotated version of MacGregor’s previous paper.

As soon as recognition dawned, John snatched away the tablet, turning to continue up the stairs.

Scott was quick to follow, not daring to be late as his brother had said.

“But, she’ll have places to be--”

John paused at the top of the stairs, letting Scott catch up before heading down a hallway, “If by places you mean dinner on Princes Street with us, then yes, she will.”

“But--”

His younger brother raised an eyebrow as they stopped outside a lecture theatre, the doors pegged open and students still filling seats. When Scott glanced in, he could see the Doctor in question chatting to a member of faculty.

They were about to listen to a Doctor MacGregor lecture, live and in person. 

John’s hand on his shoulder grounded him before Scott could die on the spot.

“Few people enjoy math as much as you do, big brother. Besides, MacGregor was quite keen to discuss your annotations with you, though she did ask why you hadn’t pursued the area further.”

“You gave her my notes?”

Never mind, he was ready to die on the spot. 

Those notes weren’t meant to be read, they’d been rough and full of silly mistakes like those John had used to roll his eyes at. He had meant to go back after he had slept and correct them, but rescues had happened and he had all but forgotten them.

As first impressions went, it hadn’t been the one that Scott had wanted to make. 

“It’s your Christmas present, albeit a month early,” John shrugged, glancing into the theatre before looking back to Scott, “You don’t get out enough, perhaps you’ll take this as a hint to do the things you enjoy more. Doctor MacGregor was quite eager to help me convince you to go back to school.”

Scott had to admit, the astrophysics lectures that week hadn’t been the worst thing in the world. It had been soothing to listen to the explanations given of various theories, and refreshing to take the time to learn something that had nothing to do with his lines of work. 

Judging from the smug smile John had let slip again, that realisation had been part of his plan all along.

Scott couldn’t help but be grateful, not that little brothers needed to know as much.

Folding his arms, he fought his own smile, “You’re a shit.” 

John nodded, eyes drifting to the people within the theatre, “I love you too.” 

Scott reached across to him, waiting for him to meet his eye before nodding himself, putting everything that he could into the words, “Thank you.”

For all his little brothers could be a pain in his butt, he knew that they looked out for him as much as he did them.

“You’re welcome,” John’s shoulder rolled under Scott’s hand, “Can we hurry up now? We’re going to be late.” 

Chuckling to himself, Scott gestured for his brother to lead the way.

If he stumbled slightly on the steps down to the front row seats, that was between him, John, and Doctor MacGregor. 

[blackbat05]

Back Home

Dad Rick Flag x Reader

Plot: Rick comes back from another assignment at work and makes a big decision.

Genre: Fluff, PG-13

A/N: This can be read as a standalone or a continuation from <Exploring>! Actually, if you visit my Rick Flag masterlist, if you're looking for Dad Rick Flag, I'll recommend reading <Fresh Start> first and go in order until <Exploring>! Feel free to ask me any questions and reblogs are always appreciated!

Tags: @the-slumberparty

Blinking the sleep away from his eyes, Rick reaches out for the familiar body warmth only to be met with an empty bed.

He turns to check the time. 11.40am. Looks like he slept longer than usual. Entering the private contract business wasn’t easy. The week was filled with endless schedules that seemed to never end.

Rick hears a clang from the kitchen and decides that it was time to get out of the comfort of the sheets. Walking down the hallway, he could hear your whisper followed by an outbreak of giggles from his lovely daughter.

He peeks into the living room to see his two boys, Daniel and Robin Flag playing with their figurines. The former teaching his younger brother how to make them stand. Rick smiles and couldn’t be prouder of Daniel. It felt as if like it Daniel was just a baby just yesterday.

Rick continues further towards the kitchen undetected, heart growing at the beautiful sight of his two favorite girls cooking up a storm in the kitchen.

“We don’t want to wake Papa up yet do we?” Rick sees you carefully plating the eggs onto the plate of toast and bacon.

Freya Flag, the oldest of the three shakes her head. She grabs a cup, pouring orange juice into it. “We’re going to surprise Papa!”

“Consider me surprised pumpkin.”

Freya turns around to see Rick standing at the entrance of the kitchen, arms extended. “How about a hug?”

“Papa!” She squeals, attracting the attention of her siblings from the living room. A patter of footsteps could be heard, before all three bodies converge onto Rick.

“Papa! Papa! We missed you!” Freya clings onto Rick like a koala, not wanting to let go anytime soon. “Mama said you were supposed to be back on Tuesday but you didn’t back and I was sad.” Her pout made Rick’s heart melt. Bringing his daughter close, he attacks her with kisses.

“I know, the flight was late so I came back late.” Rick apologizes. His current job was anytime better than being the leader of the suicide squad but if he had a choice, he wouldn’t want to leave his family forever. “I’m sorry pumpkin.”

The children seem to accept his apology as they drag him to the living room. You follow behind with the tray of food that you and Freya had meant to surprise him with.

“Papa! Did you know, Miss Wilson gave me this pencil case as a present because I got the highest marks in spelling?” Freya whips out her prized possession, showing it to Rick who was impressed.

“Did you now? I didn’t know my little girl was a genius!”

Freya beams, satisfied at the compliment. Daniel then lays out his newest figurine collection gifted to him by your parents, telling him about each figurine in detail while your youngest climbs all over Rick.

“All right lightning McQueens,” you chuckle. “How about we let Papa eat first before we continue?”

You settle with Rick at the dining table, watching over your children play with the figurines and toys that were scattered on the sofa.

“Why aren’t you eating?” You see Rick looking at you, plate yet to be touched.

He smiles at you, unable to form words at that moment. But there weren't any words that need to be exchanged between the two of you.

"Maybe I should quit."

"Quit? Did something happen?" After Robin's birth, Rick had bought up the conversation with you, that he was prepared to go back and do what he did best. Minus the superhuman threats he had to face on a frequent basis. You were concerned, but who were you to stop him?

Rick takes a deep breath, looking at his children playing noisily in the living room. Sure, he was used to being away for long periods of time. But this time he wasn't alone. He finally had a family to come back to.

"I just don't want to miss our little ones growing up. I want to be there for them, no matter how big or small. I want to be there for you."

You lean forward, taking his hands into yours. "And you are. You are always there for us. You have no idea how proud the kids are of you. Should have seen Freya telling her friends and teachers all about her daddy. But if you must, whatever decision you make, you have our support."

At this moment, Daniel runs to the table with a ball in his hand. "Daddy! Come and play catch with us!" He takes Rick by the arm, dragging him towards the garden where his older sister and younger brother await excitedly to finally play with their dad.

Rick turns back and you make a shooing movement. "Go! You have been summoned, Mister."

These moments remind Rick that he was so blessed. His children, were so full of life, always giving him the energy that he needed. And you...

You were his rock all these years. When he first met you while volunteering at the children's center, stumbling back after months - away from the clutches of Amanda Waller and created a family that he always wanted.

Focusing his attention back on the kids, Rick puts on the glove.

"Alright, let's play!"

As the kids scramble to their position, he sees you washing the dishes in the kitchen and catches your eye. You can't hear him, but he's sure you know what he's saying exactly.

"I love you so much."

[witchyleehibernates-fics]

High School Performances (Why Are You Acting At Home?)

Summary:

Tommy smiled as he pet the kitten laying on his chest, he had one hand underneath his head and the other gently petting the purring kitten, who was then joined by a second kitten… and a third… and then a forth… and then there was an adult cat, maybe the momma cat, laying on his lower stomach, and he could see Purpled taking pictures out of the corner of his eye. Which was fair, since Tommy had been taking pictures of his friends all morning. “You know, you’re a pretty alright kid,” Niki said quietly, Tommy blinked, looking over towards her as she sat nearby. She had two cats curled up together in her lap, and she was gently petting them. “I try, sometimes.” Tommy responded, shrugging as carefully as he could. A fifth kitten joined the pile, courtesy of Purpled, who was ignoring Niki for the moment. Tommy flinched slightly when a paw smacked him in the face. “Hey, that’s not fair!” Tommy laughed lightly. He got smacked by the kitten two more times, with Purpled taking pictures and Tubbo and Ranboo laughing at him. Even Niki was laughing quietly at him.

Content Warning's/Trigger Warnings: Bad Dad Phil, though he doesn't mean to be... for the most part. Implied Child neglect, but not overly so, fights and arguments, sick character near the end

Let me know if you feel I missed something!

Characters: TommyInnit, Purpled, Ranboo, Tubbo, Niki, Technoblade, Philza, Chayanne, Tallulah

Chapters: 1/1

Words: 3,192

Status: Complete

Fanfic Links:

|| Ao3 || Fanfiction Net ||

......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .........

Tommy frowned as he stared out at the crowd from the side of the stage that was hidden by a curtain. He was gripping the curtain tight in one hand while leaning against the wall as his eyes scanned the crowd looking for either his dad or his Uncle, maybe he would even see one of his younger siblings running down one of the aisles or sitting on uncle Techno’s shoulders near the back of the theater.

But he didn’t see anything that he expected. He didn’t see his dad in the crowd, or his uncle, and he most definitely didn’t see either of his siblings. He swallowed as he felt the beginnings of tears welling up in his eyes. His dad said they would be here, his dad promised that they would be here. But Tommy didn’t see him. Tommy didn’t see any of them.

He backed away from the side of the stage, turning and finding Purpled watching him from a distance, a frown filled with nothing but concern on his face. It was hard to spot the concern on Purpled’s face, but Tommy had known them for several long and good years by this point and was able to spot it nearly immediately.

“I’m fine.” Tommy told them, though he was sure that Purpled didn’t believe him. “I’m going to check my phone, see if dad messaged me.” Tommy told him, though it was words falling on deaf ears. Purpled most definitely didn’t care about what Tommy was doing, or who he was going to message.

Purpled followed behind like a shadow.

Tommy ignored that for the moment, knowing it was born from a concern that Purpled held over how often Tommy’s achievements went ignored. Tommy saw no issue with having plays or recitals missed, his younger siblings were still young and Tallulah got sick really easily, and his dad once explained that Techno struggled with staying in one place for long, due to a long history of being trapped places.

Tommy relaxed when he saw his bag, a solid red with charms hanging off of the zippers, all gifts from his friends. He moved a little quicker, barely noticing Purpled disappearing from behind him as he knelt by his bag and opened it. Inside were all his textbooks and two changes of clothes since he was going to Ranboo’s house afterwards. He hummed as he spotted his phone, it having slid down the inside front of his bag. He powered it on to see a single message from his dad.

Father the Bird

Hey Toms, not gonna be able to make it tonight, Tallulah got really sick and Chayanne and Techno still just got back from their trip.

Good Luck! Break a leg! Or whatever it is you say

Tommy felt his heart drop and his face fell even further as he stared at the two text messages. He swallowed the lump growing in his throat, powering his phone back off and dropping it back into his bag. He zipped his bag and turned to sit with his back against the wall. They weren’t coming. They… His father promised that nothing would stop him from coming to see Tommy tonight.

“Tommy?” Purpled had walked up, silently, to Tommy again. “What’s wrong?” Tommy scoffed lightly, carefully rubbing at his eyes. They were burning with the set of tears that were beginning to build.

“They aren’t coming.” They meaning He. He wasn’t coming. Purpled sighed as they crouched down beside Tommy, a hand resting hesitantly on Tommy’s shoulder. “He promised that nothing would stop him from coming tonight…” Tommy uttered quietly, eyes watering and blurring his vision. He hoped he wouldn’t cry, having to redo the make up he was wearing would be a hassle, and he was almost sure that he was about to be called up by Sam to head out onto the stage.

“I’m sorry.” Purpled uttered quietly. Tommy knew that this was probably awkward for Purpled, and Tubbo or Ranboo were much better at handling emotions than they were. “But hey, at least you won’t have to see them tonight? We’re all heading to Ranboo’s after and you know Niki is absolutely going to gush about all our performances.” Maybe. Niki didn’t quite like Tommy most of the time.

“Yeah,” Tommy sighed, letting Purpled pull him up and hand him a bottle of water with his name written on it. “Thanks Purp.” Tommy swallowed slightly as he opened the bottle and took a drink. He could see Sam approaching quickly, a light in his eyes that only dimmed with concern when he saw Tommy and Purpled.

“Everything alright?” Tommy swallowed his water and capped the bottle again as he nodded.

“Yeah, yeah everything’s great big man!” Tommy nodded, shoving as much cheer and excitement into his voice as he could. He no longer felt like crying, and he knew that as soon as he stopped feeling like it, his face hid everything that could have hinted at it.

“Great, awesome, ready to head out on stage then?” Sma asked, though his eyes darted to Purpled as he responded. Tommy knew, realistically, that Purpled’s expression did not tell Sam that everything was fine. Fine by Tommy, he just wasn’t willing to acknowledge it himself. Tommy set his water by his bag, offering a smile at Purpled who offered a tiny one in response, encouragement Tommy knew.

Tommy followed Sam afterwards, spotting that Ranboo had just come off with a look of thrill and anxiety. Tommy offered a bright smile at them, which seemed to ease their anxiety.

“You ready?” Sam asked, patting Tommy’s shoulder. Tommy turned his head and smiled brightly.

“Fuck yeah!”

“And there’s your one swear for the night,” Sam laughed quietly. “Break a leg!” Tommy smiled as he headed out from behind the curtain.

For the briefest second, the lights blinded Tommy, leaving him blinking quickly for a moment before his eyes adjusted and Tommy could see the crowd. For a moment, the quickest and briefest moment, he forgot his lines. And then he remembered them and he smiled as he opened his mouth to speak.

Tommy laughed lightly with Tubbo and Ranboo as Purpled smirked in amusement. Tommy had stumbled only two lines that night, which is what they were laughing over. The easiest lines too, which Tommy was a little embarrassed by, but he’d gotten into his groove afterwards.

Sam said that it was hard to tell that Tommy stumbled at all, just before they left for the night. And now they were piled into Niki’s car, all talking about their favorite parts of the night, and applauding each other on their performances.

“Well, I think tonight was an amazing performance for everyone, how are we celebrating?” Niki asked, Tommy tilted his head in confusion as he glanced towards Purpled and Tubbo, both being in the backseat with him; Ranboo was in the front with Niki.

“Oh, oh, can we go to that one cat cafe in the morning?” Ranboo asked. Niki hummed, eyes darting towards the rearview mirror as if gauging the reactions of the three in the backseat. Tommy noticed that her eyes rested on him the longest, only a few seconds longer, but longer nonetheless.

“If everyone is in agreement, then absolutely.” Niki said after thinking about it for a few moments. Tommy felt a little off kilter. He’d never celebrated a performance before, normally Niki only celebrated with Ranboo; and only after the other three had gone home.

“Oh, a cat cafe sounds like fun!” Tubbo chimed in, bobbing his head to the quiet music that was playing from the radio.

“Cats and food on a saturday… Sounds like a good time.” Purpled added, glancing towards Tommy.

“I like cats,” Tommy nodded, and Ranboo cheered quietly from the front seat. Tommy smiled fondly, letting his head fall against the window and smiling as everyone fell back into talking about their performances. Tommy was content to just listen, his energy disappearing almost as quickly as it had appeared. Besides, he could take a picture and post it online if he really wanted too. Sam had assured him there would be pictures and videos sent to Tommy if he wanted.

Tommy had actually taken him up on the all package offer, normally only accepting pictures of him and his friends. It always made his friends flustered when they saw that he’d been bragging about them and their performances.

A celebration post could also be a quiet jab at his dad if he felt like being petty.

He smiled as Purpled grabbed his hand, a friendly gesture as they talked about their favorite part, which was apparently when they and Tubbo were acting out a fight scene that ended in Purpled’s ‘death’. His second favorite being when Tommy, playing Purpled’s brother, mourned him. That one earned him a playful jab where Tommy knew he was absolutely ticklish.

Tommy was happy and content with his friends all laughing and talking around him.

Tommy smiled as he pet the kitten laying on his chest, he had one hand underneath his head and the other gently petting the purring kitten, who was then joined by a second kitten… and a third… and then a forth… and then there was an adult cat, maybe the momma cat, laying on his lower stomach, and he could see Purpled taking pictures out of the corner of his eye. Which was fair, since Tommy had been taking pictures of his friends all morning.

“You know, you’re a pretty alright kid,” Niki said quietly, Tommy blinked, looking over towards her as she sat nearby. She had two cats curled up together in her lap, and she was gently petting them.

“I try, sometimes.” Tommy responded, shrugging as carefully as he could. A fifth kitten joined the pile, courtesy of Purpled, who was ignoring Niki for the moment. Tommy flinched slightly when a paw smacked him in the face. “Hey, that’s not fair!” Tommy laughed lightly. He got smacked by the kitten two more times, with Purpled taking pictures and Tubbo and Ranboo laughing at him. Even Niki was laughing quietly at him.

“We are all sharing pictures after, right?” Tubbo asked, taking a drink of his hot chocolate he insisted on getting. It was nearly summer, so Tommy couldn’t fathom why someone would want to drink something hot. But Tubbo insisted.

“Definitely, I want-” Ranboo’s eyes lit up. “Niki, could you take a picture of all of us?” Ranboo had been laying on their stomach, with a couple cats lying stretched out over their back. Tommy realized after a moment that they were all group together in a small circle, with Niki just outside of it.

“Oh, I’d be willing to take a picture of you all!” Tommy looked and found that another small group of people had come to also play with the cats. Niki smiled, offering her phone with the camera already up.

“Thank you so much!” Niki smiled sweetly, and the woman happily took a picture of all of them grouped together, with all the cats taking turns either jumping from person to person, or swatting at them, or the cats and kitten just curled up together. Several pictures had to have been taken before the phone was passed back to Niki.

“What are y’all celebrating?” The woman asked.

“The four of them had an amazing performance last night that I felt deserved an equally amazing celebration. They chose that Cat cafe.” Niki offered, and the two women had gotten into a conversation together. Tommy barely heard that the woman’s name was ‘Puffy’, he was more interested in laughing as Purpled had a cat curled up in their hair.

Tommy got his picture, which would absolutely be his new contact photo of Purpled.

“I’m home!” Tommy called out quietly, not wanting to wake Tallulah if she was napping off whatever cold or fever or whatever it was she’d gotten. He smiled as he saw Chayanne come running into the room, the eight year old had a look of excitement on his face.

“Tommy! Tommy! Tommy!” Tommy caught Chayanne in a hug when the younger threw himself at Tommy.

“Hey Chayanne, how was your trip with Uncle Techno?” Tommy asked, releasing his brother and taking his shoes off.

“It was so cool! Did you know that fish can swim up waterfalls? I didn’t! I got to see it too!” Chayanne exclaimed excitedly, Tommy tilted his head as he exaggerated his response slightly.

“Really? Oh tell me all about it!” This was easy, this was normal, this was familiar. That, and he was genuinely excited for his brother, getting to explore with their uncle. He remembered the trips he’d gotten to take with Techno, typically it was to colder places, but that was okay. He could handle the cold, and it was some amazing memories for Tommy.

“Okay so-” Tommy followed Chayanne to the living room, where his uncle and his dad were talking quietly. For the briefest moment, Tommy saw the quiet annoyance in Techno’s face that melted away as Chayanne started talking about their trip.

“Tommy?” Tommy looked up from his homework, finding Tallulah leaning against his doorway, eyes downcast as she shivered.

“Hey, ‘lullah, you okay?” Tommy asked, pushing from his desk and staring worriedly at Tallulah. Tallulah was five years old, and really small for her age. She got sick easily, which is why he usually understood when his dad couldn’t make it to Tommy’s performances or recitals. He too, would have skipped his own performance if it meant taking care of Tallulah.

“Can… Can I lay in here?” Tallulah asked, rubbing her eyes slightly as she swayed.

“Of course, can I ask why?” Tommy asked in confusion.

“Dad’s fussing over me again… and Uncle Techno and papa are fighting.” Concern flashed through Tommy, though he moved and picked Tallulah up when she lifted her arms. Now that he was closer to the door, he could hear words being exchanged between his dad and uncle.

“Let’s get you laid down, it’s quieter in here, huh?” Tommy asked, and Tallulah nodded. Her room was much closer to where the two adults were arguing, he could understand her wanting to be somewhere quieter.

Tommy moved towards his bed, pulling back the blanket and laying Tallulah down, smiling as she grabbed his stuffed moth with a smile on her face. He tucked her in and kissed her forehead.

“Get some sleep.”

“Thank you, Tommy.” Tallulah smiled, Tommy ruffled her hair and moved back towards his desk. He smiled softly when Chayanne slipped into the room, tears in his eyes. He motioned towards his bed, and Chayanne carefully joined Tallulah, who only turned to hide against Chayanne.

“Tommy!” Tommy looked up quickly, noting that his dad’s voice was much closer than before. He sighed, staring at his unfinished essay, and decided he would finish it tomorrow. He glanced and found both kids staring worriedly at the door.

“Lay down.” Tommy murmured, both kids nodded as Tommy got up and walked towards his door. Slipping out of his room, he shut his door and walked down the hallway.

“Tommy!” His dad called again, and there was a hint of anger in his voice. Maybe also despair? Tommy didn’t know, his dad’s emotions confused him on a good day, nevermind a bad one.

“Yeah?” Tommy jogged down the stairs and found that his dad and Techno were in the kitchen.

“Tell your uncle that he is overreacting.” His dad sounded stressed. Tommy’s eyes widened, he hadn’t been dragged into a fight since he was eight years old. That was well before they even had Tallulah, and soon after they’d gotten Chayanne.

“What? I don’t even know what’s going on.” Tommy responded, annoyance on his face. He knew it slipped into his voice. Techno’s face softened, momentarily, before he was arguing with Tommy’s dad.

“I told you, you shouldn’t be bringing him into our disagreements, Phil.” Techno hissed. It was unnerving to hear his normally stoic uncle sound, in other words, pissed. “Tommy, did you know that I offered to watch Tallulah so he could see your performance?” Techno turned towards Tommy.

For the briefest second, Tommy felt his heart drop. His dad, his father, had decided to break his promise to Tommy.

“What?” He could hear the heartbreak in his voice.

“Tallulah got sick, Tommy knows this!” His father exclaimed, sounding annoyed. “I needed to take care of my daughter.”

“And I offered to watch her for the two and a half hours you’d be gone, Phil.” Techno shouted, Tommy flinched back. It was silent for several minutes after that. Tommy had been staring at the ground, before looking up to see horror on Techno’s face, and shock on his father’s.

“You said you would be there.” Tommy’s voice sounded… weak. It wavered as he looked at his father. “You said that you would be there. No matter what, you promised.” Tommy’s voice cracked part way through his statement.

“Tallula-”

“No.” Tommy shook his head. “You told me that Tallulah got sick, yes that was fine. What’s not fine is telling me that Uncle Techno didn’t want to take care of her so you could come watch my last performance of the year.” Tommy shouted, surprising himself as much as he surprised his uncle and his father. He swallowed as he looked away.

“Tommy-”

“I’m going to my room. By the way, you woke up Tallulah, both of them are in my room to lay down.” Tommy walked away. He ignored his father and uncle calling out after him. He ignored the shouting that started after he’d run up the stairs.

He made his way back to his room and found Tallulah standing at the door, crying. He noticed that she’d gotten sick in his bed, and sighed. He offered her a comforting smile.

“Hey, what are you crying for?”

“I made a mess…”

“That’s okay, messes can be cleaned up.” Tommy assured her, picking her up and noticing that Chayanne had tried to start cleaning it himself. “Chayanne, I can do that,” Tommy assured as he sat Tallulah on his desk chair.

“I… don’t feel well…” Chayanne murmured.

“Okay, well, sit by Tallulah for now. Let me clean that up.” Tommy assured him. Chayanne nodded and Tommy set to cleaning everything. He’d only managed to make it to the bathroom for two buckets and come back. Just in time for both kids to throw up in them. He rubbed their backs and held back their hair. Both would need baths, but that was something Tommy could do in a little bit.

He had to make sure nothing stained first.

“I’m sorry,” Tallulah cried slightly, after heaving in a large breath of air.

“No, no, don’t be sorry little butterfly.” Tommy assured, “you either, little lion.” Tommy laughed lightly as Chayanne stuck his tongue out at Tommy. He was clutching the bucket tightly though. He let Chayanne choose some music to put on to distract them, even ignoring that they put on a youtube video as he set to cleaning.

[temnurus]

WWX POV Fic Recs

So! As a diehard Wei Ying fan, I thought it would be rather timely to come up with a rec list that showcased him in all his clever, chaotic, charming glory. This mostly some of my more recent reads, as I tried not to duplicate recs from my top ten list and the 10 extra honorable mentions because I couldn't stop myself.

Ahem. Anyway, this is a good mix of stuff. We've got everything from accidental baby acquisition, to case fic, to monsterfucking! (You're welcome, fellow deviants. 😉) Happy WWX day, folks! Now onto the recs!

hold up a mirror by spookykingdomstarlight (E, 36,170)

Thoughts: Another brilliant friends to lovers fic by one of my favorite authors. They wow me every single time, no exaggeration. In this one Wei Ying is lonely. He’s also tired of being set up on blind dates by his concerned brother when he stumbles upon the fact that Lan Zhan is pining for some idiot who has somehow failed to see how great he is. Obviously them pretending to date will solve both of these problems. Jiang Cheng will get off his back, & they’ll be able to make Lan Zhan’s crush jealous enough to realize what he’s missing. Cue me banging my head against my desk while muttering about their joint stupidity, & we have the recipe for yet another fic making it to my favorites list.

(we've got) time for one more by impossibletruths (E, 71,504)

Thoughts: I felt Wei Ying’s longing in my bones in this fic. For the music, for Lan Zhan, for all the things that could’ve been. He was such a good dad to A’Yuan, & their relationship was so touching. I cried several times in this fic, one of which was inspired by Wei Ying & the Jiang siblings trio. The feelings surrounding them & the planning of Yanli’s wedding were so bittersweet with canon lurking in the background. I really loved getting to see it come together differently here, though. Seeing Lan Zhan through Wei Ying’s eyes was also a huge treat here, & I loved their dynamic, angst & all. This was a great fic, highly recommended!

Stumbling Into You by Magnolia822 (E, 39,332)

Thoughts: I really enjoyed this one. Wei Ying & Lan Zhan’s relationship felt very soft here, & sometimes I love that. It really worked with the whole tone of the fic. I liked Lan Zhan’s characterization in particular, which was neat since the story is told from Wei Ying’s perspective. There was a touch of angst, mostly towards the end, but the fic definitely earned its happy ending tag. I recommend it if you enjoy college AUs & our boys being soft idiots in love.

Tripped at Every Step by brooklinegirl (E, 28,758)

Thoughts: This fic was such a fun read. Wei Ying’s confusion was just delightful, & seeing Lan Zhan shower him with love in every way he knew how was breath-takingly sweet. There was a lot of fun teasing & banter, as well as an incident with a hickey that had me laughing until I cried. Nothing hurt in this, & I appreciated that so much because sometimes you just need a little softness. This did that just right. I highly recommend it.

The Golden Cutsleeve by syrus_jones (E, 77,020)

Thoughts: This is one of the most glorious things I’ve ever read in my life. I am not exaggerating when I say that. I cannot tell you how many times I laughed so hard I cried. This fic was hilarious, sexy, & full of Wei Ying being his chaotic best self. I nearly lost my mind at how hot some of the smut was, & it definitely earned the Crack Taken Seriously & Porn with Feelings tags. I’m not normally a crack fic person, so my ringing endorsement of this fic should not be taken lightly. 10/10, will absolutely read it again. As should you!

so take my hand (take my whole life too) by cicer (E, 92,343)

Thoughts: This is the second accidental baby acquisition fic I read for Wangxian, & A-Yuan is much younger here, not even a year old. There are lots of cute baby moments, including Wei Ying & Lan Zhan figuring out how to be parents together on the fly. Wei Ying had a huge crush on Lan Zhan and was, of course, convinced that Lan Zhan didn’t like him back. He is very, very stupid, but that’s okay because he’s obviously always very wrong about that. I laughed a lot at this fic, but it was also very touching. Not a whole lot of angst here besides the unfortunate reason for A-Yuan being left with them, but those subjects aren’t graphically described or deeply gone into.

In Love and War by Cataclysmic_Calamity (E, 68,321)

Thoughts: This is A/B/O dynamics done right & is easily the best of the trope that I’ve read for this ship. Mind the tags, of course, but I do recommend this if Omegaverse is your thing. Wei Ying’s plan to make himself insufferable didn’t go quite as well as he’d hoped, & before he knew it he was suffering the indignity of falling in love with his own husband. The nerve! Haha. There’s a good amount of angst, & the depth of feeling was gripping. I also enjoyed the side pairing of SangCheng. This author wrote a Hualian fic that’s one of my favorite fanfics period, so that certainly lends itself to the quality of the writing.

Full Moon Blues by Unforth (E, 39,034)

Thoughts: Alright monsterfuckers, this one’s for you. It’s exactly what you’d expect. Wei Ying’s phobia of dogs plays a large role. The depiction of panic attacks is very visceral in this fic, so be warned if that’s an issue for you. The angst is all emotional in nature & does pass eventually, leading to the star of this fic, the fucking. Oh my goodness, the fucking. The smut is so hot it nearly melted my face off! If you like werewolf sex, you’re in for a treat here. But don't let that fool you, their emotional connection is just as satisfying as the smut! I recommend anything by Unforth, to be honest. I’ve loved everything I’ve read by them.

for sale: eboy bathwater, never used by lewdwife (E, 25,123)

Thoughts: This was absolutely hilarious, boarderline Crack Treated Seriously almost. The Sugar Daddy thing is a sort of almost/but not really kind of thing, but I honored the author’s tag anyway. I could feel the convention energy as Wei Ying & the gang geared up for it, & it was a whole lot of fun. The smut was absolutely filthy & very, very good. I definitely recommend this one. It was adorable.

a stone to break your soul, a song to save it by rikke (M, 179,769)

Thoughts: Despite this being rated Mature it actually does contain smut! It’s maybe tame smut compared to most Explicit rated fics, but I’ve always found there to be a very fine line between the two ratings that no one can really agree on. I digress, though. This fic is plot-heavy & plot-driven. It’s an interesting case fic that also features an arranged marriage between Wei Ying & Lan Zhan in order to redeem Wei Ying in the eyes of the cultivation world after the events at Qiongqui Path. The Wens end up being sheltered by the Lans at Cloud Recesses instead of the Burial Mounds as a result. I enjoyed the twists & turns of this, & watching them slowly get closer was as rewarding as always. There was some interesting cultivation theory featured as well.

[shih-coulda-had-it]

that dfohiko verse AU with toshinori and rikiya as test tube twins

//

WC: ~1000. Fun detail that I didn't actually incorporate in the snippet but I feel compelled to tell you anyway: All for One named Rikiya ("power" + "to be"; riki + ya), and Sorahiko named Toshinori ("genius" + "law"; toshi + nori). This absolutely positively does not give the twins issues about which parent loves them more (big lie).

//

(age seven)

“Who’s older?” Rikiya demanded, because he was canny enough to know that there was something to be held over his brother’s head if he could secure the status. 

“What does that matter?” their dad asked, levelly.

Toshinori had other concerns. Dinner, mostly, because their dad had cooked. He usually did when their father was out on business. “I told you they don’t know,” he told Rikiya, digging into his omurice with barely restrained glee. “We got dropped off by a big white bird, so they can’t tell.”

“That’s not what happened,” Rikiya said. “Garaki-hakase said--”

Their dad’s head tilted. “Said what?”

It was not like the doctor had told Rikiya to keep what he had said secret. And, anyway, Rikiya was pretty confident that everyone had to follow what his dad told them to. If not his dad, then definitely his father.

“He said that you and otou-sama ‘knew us from the beginning,’ and that he ‘was there to scream our lungs out for the first time,’” he recited. “But even Garaki-hakase wouldn’t tell me who was older! All he said was that you’d know.”

Their dad made a noise in the back of his throat, like a scoff. 

“I guess I could call you Riki-nii,” said Toshinori dubiously. “But Toshi-nii sounds just as good!”

Rikiya looked first at Toshinori’s guileless face, then at the spoon clutched tight in his hand. Before he could throw the spoon, their dad reached over and curled his fingers over Rikiya’s fist. Firm enough to prevent further movement, but not enough to hurt. It was warm.

“What does it matter?” their dad asked again.

“I wanna be older than Toshinori.”

“Because?”

He frowned down into his bowl. Saying what he really wanted out loud would alert Toshinori to what he was missing, and the last thing Rikiya could win at was a competition with his brother to get what he wanted. Toshinori always got what he asked for; Rikiya needed to take it.

“Because I want a younger brother,” he said.

“Can we have a younger brother?!” Toshinori interjected, and at his words, their dad twitched back. Rikiya’s hand felt cold without the restraint.

“No.”

Stated so plainly, flatly, forcefully--it was clear that their dad wasn’t even up to entertaining the idea of a third child, which Rikiya was fine with. But Toshinori didn’t get the message, because he only made an idle humming noise and then said, like it was a cunning loophole, “What about a younger sister?”

“No,” their dad repeated. “The two of you are enough. For us and for yourselves. You don’t need another sibling.”

“Okay,” said Rikiya, “but otou-sama talks about his younger brother all the time.”

“That’s his own deal.”

“Do we have to fight for it? Like, whoever wins is the older one?” It was surprising to hear the question not come out of his mouth, but his brother’s. That was a concern. Toshinori was getting the gist of what was going unspoken. Well, Rikiya thought blackly, it was only a matter of time.

“If I catch either of you starting a fight about who’s older,” their dad intoned, “I’ll end it. The two of you are twins. You’re equals.”

There wasn’t really anything to say back to that. Rikiya sulked into his dinner, and so did Toshinori, but it was definitely for different reasons.

(age eleven)

Toshinori knew Rikiya was glaring at the wall, picturing Toshinori’s neck, and he refused to quail. He got dared, so of course he would follow through. It was just… It was just a little daunting, to have the question put to him, to put to their dad, who wasn’t exactly the greatest at emoting soft feelings.

Still. Toshinori got dared, and so he would dare.

“Tou-san,” he says carefully. He is sprawled on his belly in bed, covers drawn up to his shoulders, sleeping cap wrestled over the ruffled mess of his hair. Half of Toshinori’s face is squished into his pillow, but even half is good enough to peer anxiously up to their dad’s face.

“Yeah?”

“You wanted the both of us, right?”

A strange expression crosses the usually grim countenance. Neither Toshinori nor Rikiya got the eyes of their parents. Toshinori sometimes wishes he looked a little more like Rikiya, who had the curve of their dad’s nose. Their father liked to tease Rikiya by tracing its bend and delighting in its prominent trait, and Rikiya pretended to hate the attention, but Rikiya once told Toshinori that it was definitely preferable to, you know, not having any defined features of their parents.

Probably the worst thing Rikiya’s ever called Toshinori was ‘donor-child’, but considering Toshinori came out of that fight on top, teeth bared and knuckles bruised, Toshinori’s inclined to leave the incident behind them. His father had been weirdly pleased, hauling him off his brother.

“You’re my child,” his father had said, before picking up Rikiya too. “And you are too, Riki. The things we pass on aren’t purely about appearances or meta abilities.”

Backlit by the hallway light, dressed down in casual clothes--their dad wasn’t a househusband the way their father teased him, but Toshinori noticed him wearing the trappings of normalcy for once, and some part of him had thought vulnerability. 

“... Yeah,” their dad says, gruffly. “The both of you.”

Toshinori quails first. He lets his eyes slide away, burning in shame, and clears his throat to say a quiet goodnight. Their dad inclines his head, the dusty gray of his hair catching yellow glares, and then he leaves, closing the door shut behind him. They wait in the dark for a long, long minute.

And, quietly, Rikiya says, “He hesitated.”

“He still said it,” says Toshinori, staring at that closed door. Something had gone through their dad’s face, and Rikiya had definitely had his back to them, so it’s up to Toshinori to decipher it. He doesn’t think it was a bad expression. Their dad loves quietly, that’s all. Toshinori shouldn’t have pushed the matter so clumsily into the open.

“He had to. He probably thinks we’ll run to otou-sama and get him in trouble.”

“Stop talking about the worst case scenario like it’s gonna happen,” Toshinori mutters, and he digs his nails into the pillow.

“It’s because you won’t that I have to,” Rikiya sniffs, and there’s a creak of the bedsprings. He’s curling tighter in his blankets, Toshinori would bet anything, because he’s doing the same thing.